Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee, would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. Our message today is going to
come from the book of John, chapter 10. And I believe that this message
is for some very particular people. I believe it's for those who
feel lost. And I believe it's for those
who are spiritually hungry. And those who are spiritually
needy. And if that's you, I pray that
this message might be a comfort to you. In Psalm 23, David said, the
Lord is my shepherd. What a comforting word that is. The Lord is my shepherd. How much we need reminding of
this. We need reminding of this all
the time. The Lord is my shepherd. Well, what is a shepherd? A shepherd is the one who tends
to the flock. He's the one who takes care of
the flock. A shepherd is the one who pastures
The flock feeds the flock and leads the flock and defends
and protects the flock. But listen to this glorious fact. This is so wonderful. The word
shepherd means, along with all of those other things, it does
mean all of those other things, but along with that, the word
shepherd means, to associate with as a friend. To associate with as a friend. David said, the Lord is the one
who will associate with this sinner as his friend. As his friend. is my shepherd."
The shepherd is the true friend of the sheep. And then our Lord said in John
15 verse 13, greater love hath no man than this, that a man
lay down his life for his friends, his sheep. And he says right here in John
chapter 10, our text, verse 11, he says, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. A man came to our Lord one time
and he said, good master, And our Lord said, why do you
call me good? There's none good but God. And right here our Lord says,
I am the good shepherd. I'm the good shepherd. I am the
God shepherd. I'm the chief shepherd. Now verse 10 right above that
says, the thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill and
to destroy. He says, I am come that they
might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.
Had Christ not come, there would be no life, none. He said, I am come for one reason only. I have come to earth to a place
that is vile and wicked, to a place that is lost, a place
that is full of sin. I've come for one reason only,
so that my sheep, my friends, The ones that I've put my love
and affection on, I came so they might have life. I came so that
they might have life. A man named Charles Spurgeon
said, don't look to yourself for this life. You know, that's the mistake
that every soul makes who has not seen Christ. Every single
one. That's the mistake that this
world makes. They look to themselves for life. But Mr. Spurgeon said, don't
look to yourself for this life. And another man named John Newton,
he wrote, when I turn my eyes within, within myself, all is
dark and vain and wild, filled with unbelief and sin. Can I
deem myself a child? Can I deem myself a child? When
I look within, there's nothing good in there. So Mr. Spurgeon said, don't look to
yourself for this life. And then he said, don't look
to the pasture for this life. Eternal life is not in the things
of this world. Eternal life is not in living
right. It's not there. It's not in being
here or being there or not being here or not being there. It's
not in doing this or that or not doing this or that. It's not in anything that your
hands can touch in this world. So he said, don't look to yourself
for this life. And don't look to the pasture
for this life. He said, look to the Good Shepherd. Look to the Good Shepherd. Do you desire eternal life? Then you turn to the Good Shepherd.
Don't turn to yourself. Don't turn to this world, you
turn to, you look to, you run to the Good Shepherd. He said, I am come, I am come,
that they might have life and that they might have it more
abundantly, more abundantly. Those who have been placed inside
Jesus Christ by God the Father, those who are in Christ, they
do have life. If you and I are in Christ, right
now we are alive. We've been made alive. In Christ
we do see But the scripture says it's through a glass darkly.
In Christ we do have faith, but the scripture says it's as the
grain of a mustard seed. In Christ we do know, but the
scripture says it's in part. But when that which is perfect
is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." We do have life. We do. But our Good Shepherd said, I'm
going to give it to all of my sheep more abundantly. More abundantly. I'm going to
give it to them in a way that is more than they could ever
even need. More abundantly. Turn with me over to Ezekiel
34. If you have your Bible open, let's look at this glorious passage
of Scripture. This is such a precious word
from the Good Shepherd. He says in Ezekiel 34, verse
12, 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 out 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 in 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." Is that not wonderful? In verse
25 he said, And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and
will cause the evil beast to cease out of the land, and they
shall dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. And I
will make them in the places round about my hill a blessing. And I will cause the shower to
come down in his season, and 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 he says in verse 30, 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." What a good shepherd. What a good, good shepherd. Oh, I want to be a sheep in that
flock, don't you? Well, go with me back over to
John 10. Verse 10 says, The thief cometh not, but for to steal,
and to kill, and to destroy. I am come that they might have
life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the
good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and
not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf
coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth. And the wolf catcheth
them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because
he is a hireling, and careth not for the sheep." Now there is a difference between
a God-sent preacher and a false preacher. There is absolutely a difference.
There is a big difference. It's a life and death difference. But the context of this passage
is talking about Christ Himself. And God-sent preachers are called
under-shepherds. They're just under-shepherds.
Thanks be to God, they're not the shepherds. No man, no mere
mortal man has the ability to keep and protect and feed God's
sheep. Only Christ has that ability.
Only Christ can keep His own. And only Christ can protect His
own. And only Christ can truly feed
His own. Only the Great Shepherd. Christ is the one leading His
congregation. And Christ is the one feeding
His congregation. And I thank my God that it's
not me. And all who listen to an under-shepherd
need to thank God that it's not that under-shepherd. We don't
gather together to hear the words of a man. We gather together
to hear the Word of God. We gather together as sheep in
a fold to be fed from our Shepherd Himself. Without Christ, we're all nothing. I'm nothing. Without Christ,
I'm nothing but a hireling. That's all I am. And not one person belongs to
me. None of God's sheep belong to me. I have not fought for
anyone. I did not die for anyone. Jesus Christ, the Great Shepherd,
did. He did it for every sheep that
God His Father gave to Him. Thank God. We're in the hands of the Good
Shepherd. If you're one of God's sheep
and if God the Father puts you in the fold and the care of the
shepherd, then you're in His hands and
you're safe. You're safe. Verse 14 in our text, John 10
verse 14 says, I am the good shepherd. He says it again. I am the good shepherd. One of the meanings of this word
good is beautiful. Beautiful. I know that when our
Lord walked this earth, He veiled His beauty. Isaiah said, He hath no form
nor comeliness, and when we shall see Him as He was on this earth, as He
had veiled himself on this earth. When we shall see him, there
is no beauty that we should desire him. He was a common looking
man. But his work on this earth is
finished. And David said, one thing have
I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after. that I may dwell
in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold
the beauty, the beauty of the Lord, and to
inquire in His temple. I cannot wait for these eyes
to lay hold of His beauty. All of His glory. I cannot wait
to see my King high and lifted up on His throne physically.
He's given us eyes of faith to see these things now. As we just
said, it's the grain of a mustard seed. We do see it, but one day,
Job said, I know with these eyes I'm going to see my Redeemer. And I can't wait to see Him in
all of His glory and in all of His beauty. The beautiful shepherd. That's who He is. The beautiful
shepherd. Verse 14 says, I am the good
shepherd and know my sheep. I know my sheep. Our shepherd
does not just know us. He knows each one of us. The Good Shepherd doesn't just
know who they are. He knows them. He knows them. That's so comforting. It's also
fearful. You know, we're all sinners.
We're all sinful sheep. All have sinned and sin is mixed with all that we
do and it's in every fiber of our being. And the fearful truth
is God knows His sheep. He sees us. He knows everything
about us. But in comfort and in mercy,
He said He knows our frame. He remembers that we're dust. He knows our frailties. He knows
our weaknesses. Just like an actual shepherd
would his own flock that he watches every day. He knows the sheep. He would know if one of those
sheep slipped and sprained his leg, limping. He would know that
and so does the good shepherd. He would know if one of them
got caught up in some thorns. was in a place he shouldn't be. And the pricks got to him, caught
up in the thorns, and he's still tender, and he's still hurting,
and he's still wounded. The Good Shepherd would know
that. And the Good Shepherd provides comfort where it's needed to
all of his sheep. He knows this one's been a little
bit sad. This one is a little down, a
little bit depressed. He knows this one has cancer. Don't you know a shepherd would
know every bit of that about his sheep? Our good shepherd said, I know
my sheep. I know my sheep. Look right here
in John 10 at verse 3, it says, to him the porter openeth, and
the sheep hear His voice, and He calleth His own sheep by name."
He calls them by name. I know my sheep and I call them
by name. And I whisper words of comfort
in their ear, individually as they need it. Verse 14, I am
the good shepherd and know my sheep, and am known of mine."
The sheep don't just know who their shepherd is, they know
Him. They know Him. They know Him through His Word. They follow their shepherd. And the reason is because they
love him. They love what they know. They don't just know who
he is, they love who he is. He's their shepherd. When they have a good and a kind
and a tender and a loving shepherd, they're happy sheep. Happy is
he that hath the God of Jacob for his help. They know that they love their
Shepherd and they also know that they are loved by their Shepherd.
They know that. They know what they are. They
know their sin. They know that their Shepherd
sees everything they are. They know that their Shepherd
has given His life that they might have life. And they love
Him because of that. And they know through His Word.
that they are loved by Him. Truly loved by Him. Verse 15
says, As thee, Father, knoweth me, even so know I the Father,
and I lay down my life for the sheep. Have you ever heard of
any shepherd ever doing that? Any shepherd on this earth is
any sheep worth his shepherd giving his life for him. Any
sheep, is any sheep worth a man, the shepherd, giving his life
for that sheep? Absolutely not. What a shepherd
we have. What a shepherd, the great shepherd. 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." Our good shepherd
is not partial. He's good to all his sheep. There
are no favorites in his fold. He's just as loving to the last
one that came in as he is to the first one that came in. Mr. Spurgeon said, while his
eye was on the Jews, his heart was on the Gentiles too. That's
amazing to think about. Can you fathom the thought that
back then, back then as our Lord, our Shepherd, as He was going
through His travels on this earth, accomplishing His work, accomplishing
a perfect righteousness, a perfect innocence for His people. All of the time He spent here
for 33 and a half years, those quiet times when He was thinking
and praying, He was thinking about every single one of His
sheep, every one, throughout all time in eternity. And he said, other sheep I have
and I must bring them. Who was he talking about? I pray he was talking about me.
I pray he was talking about you, us. Well, the sheep of the good shepherd,
they love him and they need him and they follow him. Is that
us? Do we love Him? Do we need Him
and are we following Him? These sheep that He's talking
about, they want to be near Him. Is that us? Do we say, Lord,
draw me nearer? They want to sit there with His
arm around their woolly coat. That's all they want. And they
say, Good Shepherd, Dear Lord and Master, we don't want you
to ever leave us. Is that you and me? Is that our
desire? Lord, don't leave us. Be our
shepherd forever. Master, please don't ever leave
us alone. We don't want to ever be without
you. Well, every sheep who says that,
the good shepherd gives comfort by telling them in verse 17,
therefore doth my father love me because I lay down my life
that I may take it again. No man taketh it from me, but
I lay it down of myself. I have the power to lay it down
and I have the power to take it again. This commandment have
I received of my father. Oh, the sweet words of sovereignty. Sovereignty, the comfort of God's
sovereignty, His authority, His power. He said, no man can take
me from you. I'm going to lay down my own
life and pay the debt of your sin. But fear not, little flock. I'll never leave you and I'll
never forsake you. I will take my life again, and
I'm gonna dwell with you forever. Do you know what God's sheep
say when they hear that? They say, good shepherd, would
you tell us that again? That's all we wanna hear, tell
us that again. Run to him, little sheep. If
you're in need, run to him. He will in no wise cast you out. Until next Sunday morning, may
our Good Shepherd bless His Word. You have been listening to a
message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport Sovereign Grace
Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like a copy of this
message or to hear other messages of Sovereign Grace, you can write
to our physical mailing address at 905 Yadkin Street, Kingsport,
Tennessee 37660 or log on to our website at kingsportsovereigngracechurch.com. If you would like to come and
worship with us, our service times are Sunday morning Bible
study at 10 o'clock a.m., worship at 10.45 a.m., and 6 o'clock
p.m. Wednesday evening at 7.30 p.m. Please tune in next Sunday morning
at 8.30 for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.