Turn with me, if you would, tonight
to John 10. John chapter 10. John 10, what a wonderful chapter
John 10 is. We have been in John 10 much
lately. Our brother Luke just preached
from it a couple of weeks ago and brother William preached
from it and I have preached from it and it's just such a wonderful
place to be. So comforting. And it's so comforting in times
when we truly need our Lord. I'm so thankful for the Gospels,
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the direct word and dealings
and accounts of our Lord. I'm just so grateful. We all
have moments when we desperately need our Lord. We all have moments when we desperately
need an inner audience with him, an inner intimate communication
with him. And whatever means our Lord brings
us through to have that need and have that sincere connection,
that's a good thing. But usually it comes from desperation. Usually it comes from desperation.
When we find that we need our Lord, And we need to hear from
him. We need an intimate connection
with him. Usually that comes from desperation. And we find ourselves in that
place of desperation all the time. It's all the time. God's people find themselves
in need of the help of their Lord and the spiritual touch
of their Lord and the nearness and the comfort of their Lord
all the time. We need it all the time. We need
him all the time. I need the every hour. And if
that's our need tonight, then I'd like to see if our Lord would
fill that need by giving us an audience with him through his
word. My prayer is that each one of
us here might enter into the quiet closet of our heart. When
you pray, enter into your closet. Isn't that what our Lord said?
Well, here it is right here. The quiet closet of our heart,
and I pray that everything outside of that closet might be drowned
out. so that all we hear are the comforting
words of our Savior. The scripture says that the Lord
met with Moses face to face as a man speaketh with his friend. I can't wait for that. I cannot
wait for that. But I pray spiritually speaking,
the Lord might do that tonight. I pray that individually, one-on-one,
The Lord will meet with us. Let's listen to these words. Let's listen to them intently
and desperately and personally. All right, listen to verses 27
and 28. John 10 verse 27, our Lord said, my sheep hear my voice and I
know them and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. That makes me want to say, amen,
I'll see you Sunday. What more can we say? That's
just, hmm. My sheep hear my voice, and I
know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hands. I love it when we have messages
where we really focus on the text and give attention to every
word in that text. And that's what our message is
tonight. I pray God will let us enter
into every word in those two verses, every word, starting
with the word my. My sheep. Who's saying that? Who owns the sheep? The shepherd
does. Who's the shepherd? We just read
in our scripture reading, the Lord is my shepherd. Who's the Lord? Jesus Christ
is the Lord. God made him to be Lord. God made him to be Lord and Christ. And he is the owner of the sheep. He's the one that the father
gave all the sheep to. Aren't we so glad? I tell you
who I want to belong to. Jesus Christ. I want to belong
to Jesus Christ. He is the one who leads. He's the one who leads. Every
step of his people, he leads us in the paths of righteousness. What's the paths of righteousness? That's anywhere he goes. Anywhere righteousness himself
goes. That's the path of righteousness.
He's the one who leads. He's the one who feeds. I want
to be fed tonight. And I want you to be fed tonight,
but I really want to be fed tonight. And I can't feed me. I can't
do it. He's the one who feeds. I go
to him. I go to him. He's the one who
leads. He's the one who feeds. He's the one who guards and protects
and provides. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
shepherd. He's our shepherd. Verse 11 right
here in John 10 says he is the good shepherd. who was willing to give his life
for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, the good
shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. He said, I am going
to give my life. Verse 16, he said, other sheep
I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring
and they shall hear my voice. and there shall be one fold and
one shepherd. Therefore, doth my father love
me because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No
man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power
to lay it down and I have power to take it in, take it again.
This commandment have I received of my father. He is the good
shepherd who was willing to give his life for the sheep. What
shepherd is willing to give his life for a sheep? He was. Hebrews 13 says, He is the great
shepherd who actually did give his own life for the sheep. Hebrews 13 20 says, Now the God
of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that
great shepherd of the sheep. through the blood of the everlasting
covenant. He's the good shepherd who promised
to. He's the great shepherd who did.
And first Peter five verse four says he is the chief shepherd
who accomplished the crown of glory. For all of his people
in doing so, what depth there is in the word, my, just that
word, Verse 27 says, my sheep, my sheep,
how interesting, how amazing and how telling it is that of
all the animals that there are in the world, the Lord selected a sheep to
represent his people. How amazing is that? Sheep are not smart. Sheep are not cunning. Sheep are not good smelling animals. Sheep cannot provide for themselves. Sheep cannot defend themselves. They cannot defend themselves. Sheep cannot even care for themselves. like most every other animal
on earth can. A sheep cannot even care for
itself. Even the wool, you say, well,
we get wool from a sheep. Well, even the wool that we get
from a sheep, that wool is a detriment to the sheep. Have you ever seen
on the internet a picture of a sheep that's never been sheared
by a shepherd? You ever seen what happens to
a sheep when they're never sheared? It just keeps growing and growing
and it becomes just all matted and they're just weighed down
in their own filth. It's awful. It's horrible. A
dog or a cat can shed its fur and get rid of unneeded excess. A sheep can't do that. A sheep can't do anything. A
sheep cannot do anything but be a burden and a work for the
shepherd. All that can be said about any
sheep that's ever walked this earth is, thank God for the shepherd. Thank God for that sheep's shepherd. That's all that can be said. I want to thank God for my shepherd. I'm a sheep. All that can be
said about me is thank God for my shepherd. That's all that
can be said about me. Thank God for my shepherd. I
want Jesus Christ to be my shepherd. I want to hear him say to me,
thou art mine. I have redeemed thee. You're
mine, thou art mine. Verse 27 says, my sheep hear. My sheep hear. How? How do God's sheep hear? They
hear by faith. Faith comes by hearing the word,
but hearing the word comes by faith. truly hearing God's word, truly
hearing God's word. It comes by God giving faith
to truly hear God's word. That's how it comes. And I want
to truly hear God's word. We don't hear his word with the
ear. We don't hear his voice with the ear. We hear it with
the heart. We hear it with the soul. I want to hear this in
the heart. I don't want to just hear it in the ear. And everybody
here knows what I mean by that. How often do we just hear it
with the ear? I don't want to hear it with the ear. I want
to hear it with the soul. I want to hear it with my soul. We draw near to him and we commune
with him in the heart. Verse 27, he said, my sheep hear
my voice and we do. We do in the heart. You can't explain that to people.
You can't explain that to someone who's never heard his voice. I've thought so many times, I
wonder what his voice really sounds like. I cannot wait to
see what his face looks like. I want to see what color his
eyes are. I can't wait to see how tall he is. I want to hear
what his voice sounds like. The scripture says it sounds
like many waters. I can't honestly imagine. I can
envision what an ocean wave sounds like or something like that. I cannot wait to actually hear
His voice, but by His Spirit and by the truth of His Word,
by the faith that He has given to His people to know things
and to believe things and to trust in things that we have
not yet physically experienced. I mean, we know things we haven't
experienced yet. We believe and we trust things
we haven't experienced yet. But by His work of faith in us,
we do hear His voice. We do. And when we hear His voice, when
we truly do hear His voice in the Spirit, what do we hear?
What does He say to us? When we hear Him, really, what
does He say? This is what He says, I know you. I know you. Verse 27, my sheep hear my voice
and I know them. I know them to some to those
who are not his sheep. He calls them goats. They're
going to hear his voice too. They will hear his voice too.
But they will hear him say, depart from me, I never knew you. That's what they're going to
hear, I never knew you. But to his sheep, he says, I
know you. I know you. Before I formed you
in the belly, I knew you. I know your frame. And I just love the thought of this.
I love seeing this from his point of view. I know your frame. I
know your dust. I know from dust you are. I made
you from dust. I know that you need my pity
and my compassion and my mercy. I know you do. I know everything you have need
of. I know you need my love. I know you need my favor. I know
you need my forgiveness. I know you need my redemption. I am your way. I am your truth. I am your life. All of that can only be had by
me. Your acceptance with the Father can only be had by me.
And you're accepted in me. The love of God toward you is
in me. You come to me. You follow me. Follow me. I love thinking about
when the Lord called Peter, Andrew, James, and John. They were fishermen.
They had boats. They had nets. They had stuff.
They had businesses. The Lord walked by and he said,
follow me. They left it all. They followed
him. Don't you want to see him do
that again? Follow me. They heard his voice
though. They really heard, many heard
His voice who went away. They heard His voice and they
followed Him. And we will too if He calls us,
follow me. That's what God's sheep hear
when they hear the voice of Jesus Christ, follow me. Verse 27,
my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. They say, to whom else can we
go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. Eternal life is what we
need. Therefore, good, great chief
shepherd, we come to thee. We come to you. My sheep hear
my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give unto
them eternal life. Eternal life. How much does it
cost? It doesn't cost them anything.
I give to them eternal life. He said, I give to them. I freely give to them eternal
life. The blood has been paid. The ransom has been found. Who
paid it? Who paid that ransom price? He
said, I did. I give it to them. And because of that, they shall
never perish. I know there are times that we
all think I'm not going to make it in Christ. We're going to make it in Christ. We are going to make it in Christ. We have already made
it. Verse 28, he said, I give unto
them eternal life and they shall never perish. How does he know
that? How can he say that? Well, he knows that because he's
God and he can say that because he's God. And if he says the eternal life
of my sheep is ordered and secure, then the eternal life of his
sheep is ordered and secure. Verse 27, my sheep hear my voice
and I know them and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal
life and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man, not any
physical earthly man, not any evil, wicked principality man. And I love the fact that the
word man is in italics. He just said any, that's what
he said. Any one, anything. I give unto
them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall any
pluck them out of my hand. His sheep are in his hand. secure in his hand, complete
in the work of his hand. And he said in verse 29, my father
which gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to
pluck them out of my father's hand. I and my father are one.
If that's not enough, he said, I'm in my father's hand and no
man can take us out of my father's hand. In Isaiah 41 verse 10, he said,
fear thou not for I am with thee. Be not dismayed for I am thy
God. I will strengthen thee. Yea,
I will help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with
the right hand of my righteous. He said, I, the Lord thy God,
will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, fear not, I will help
thee. Fear not, thou worm Jacob and
you men of Israel. I will help thee, saith the Lord
and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Fear not, fear not. I love this. Turn with me over
to Ezekiel 34. Our Lord, I'm gonna read the
beginning of this because it just shines more glory on him,
but he is saying, woe to those who are not shepherds, who are
not the shepherds of my people. Ezekiel 34, verse one, the word
of the Lord came unto me saying, son of man, prophesy against
the shepherds of Israel. prophesy and say unto them, thus
saith the Lord God unto the shepherds, woe be to the shepherds of Israel
that do feed themselves. Should not the shepherds feed
the flocks? You eat the fat and you clothe
you with the wool. You kill them that are fed, but
you feed not the flock. The diseased have you not strengthened,
neither have you healed that which was sick, neither have
you bound up that which was broken, neither have you brought again
that which was driven away. Neither have you sought that
which was lost, but with force and with cruelty you have ruled
them. And they were scattered because there's no shepherd,
and they became meat to all the beasts of the field when they
were scattered. My sheep wandered through all
the mountains and upon every high hill. Yea, my flock was
scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search
or seek after them. Therefore, you shepherds, hear
the word of the Lord. As I live, saith the Lord God,
surely because my flock became a prey and my flock became meat
to every beast of the field. Because there was no shepherd,
neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds
fed themselves and fed not my flock. Therefore, O ye shepherds,
hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God, behold,
I am against the shepherds and I will require my flock at their
hand and cause them to cease from feeding the flock. Neither
shall the shepherds feed themselves any more, for I will deliver
My flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them. For thus saith the Lord God,
Behold, I, even I, will both search My sheep and seek them
out. As a shepherd seeketh out his
flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered,
so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of
all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark
day, And I will bring them from the people, and gather them from
the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed
them upon the mountains of Israel, by the rivers, and all the inhabited
places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture,
and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be. There
shall they lie in a good fold and in a fat pasture shall they
feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock and I will
cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God." Isn't that wonderful? Skip over to verse 22. Therefore
will I save my flock. and they shall no more be a prey,
and I will judge between cattle and cattle, and I will set up
one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant
David." Who's that? That's Christ. He shall feed
them and he shall be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their
God. And my servant David, a prince
among them, I, the Lord, have spoken it. And I will make with
them a covenant of peace and will cause the evil beasts to
cease out of the land. And they shall dwell safely in
the wilderness and sleep in the woods. And I will make them and
the places round about my hill a blessing. And I will cause
the shower to come down in his season. There shall be showers
of blessing. And the tree of the field shall
yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase. And
they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the
Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered
them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them.
And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall
the beast of the land devour them, but they shall dwell safely,
and none shall make them afraid. And I will raise up for them
a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger
in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more.
Thus shall they know that I, the Lord their God, am with them,
and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith
the Lord God. And you, my flock, the flock
of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God. That's just one, that's something
to look forward to. That's something to hope in.
That is secure right now. That is secure right now. And
that's the end for all of God's sheep. I was gonna read Psalm
23 again, but I won't. The Lord is my shepherd. We shall
not want. We shall not want. He makes us
lie down. He leads us. He feeds us. He
protects us. His goodness and mercy follows
us all the days of our life, and we're going to dwell in the
house of the Lord forever. He said, my sheep, hear my voice. I know them. They follow me,
and I give unto them eternal life. They shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. I pray the Lord
will speak that to our hearts. I pray we might hear his voice
tonight.