John 10, I want to begin with
verse 2. John 10, verse 2, it says, He that entereth in by the door
is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth, and
the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own sheep by name,
and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his
own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for
they know his voice." Now I've got to read this to you. This is some years ago at a social function
in England. A great actor, was asked to recite
something for the pleasure of his fellow guests. He consented. He asked if there was anything
special which his audience would like to hear. An aged minister,
who was present, arose and said, Could you, sir, recite the 23rd
Psalm? The great actor replied, I can
and I will if you, my friend, after I have finished, will do
the same. The minister reluctantly consented. Impressively, the great actor
recited the psalm. His voice was perfect. His intonation
was flawless. The audience was spellbound. As he finished, the guests applauded. Then, the aged minister arose
and began to recite the psalm. His voice was not remarkable.
His intonation was not faultless. When he finished, there was no
applause. There was silence. There was
not a dry eye in the room. Many heads were bowed in reverence. The great actor again arose to
his feet, and with great emotion, he said, my friends, I have reached
your eyes and ears, but the minister has reached your hearts. The
difference is this. I know the psalm, but he knows
the shepherd. I want to know the shepherd.
You know that? I don't want to just know the
song. I don't want to know the book. I don't want to be able
to just write good outlines. I don't want to just raise my
voice at the right time. I want to know this shepherd.
I really do. I want to be one of the shepherd's
sheep. Our Lord, we're going through this, our Lord told the
Jews, He told the Pharisees, those that were in religion,
He said, there's one door. And He said, I'm it. And He said, if anybody tries
to get there any other way, he's a thief and a robber. And He told them, I am the Good
Shepherd. I'm the Good Shepherd. Everybody
else is a hireling. Everybody else. He said, I lay
down my life for the sheep. For my sheep. He said, no man
takes my life from me. I have the power to lay it down,
I have the power to take it again. That's what he said up to this
point. Verse 19 says, There was a division therefore again among
the Jews for these sayings. There always is. There always
is. The flesh does not want to hear
that Christ is the only way. And there's nothing I can do
to earn my own salvation. Nothing. Just nothing. The flesh
does not like to hear that. The flesh does not like to hear
that he's the only good shepherd and I'm a hireling. It doesn't
like to hear that. The flesh does not like to hear
that all power has been put into His hands. Doesn't like to hear
that. But the Spirit does. The Spirit does. The Spirit does. The Spirit wants
the truth. The Spirit loves the truth. It truly loves the truth. And
it craves the honor and the glory and the praise of Jesus Christ
our God, our Shepherd. And that causes a division. It
always does. It causes a division. Verse 20
says, And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad. Why hear ye him? Thinking themselves to be wise,
they became fools. The fool hath said in his heart,
there's no God. Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? I don't want to know anything
save my shepherd and him crucified. Do you know that? That's it.
That's it. To think of watching God, and
listening to God and deducting, he's mad, he's insane. That's
what it means. He's insane. He has a devil. Verse 21 says, Others said, These
are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open
the eyes of the blind? If this really happens, if it
really and truly happens, it has to be God that's doing this.
It has to be. This has to be of God. If a man
who is truly blind is made to truly see, it has to be God doing
that. It has to be. Only God can do
that. Verse 22 says, And it was at
Jerusalem, The feast of the dedication and it was winter. It's interesting
that our Lord told us what time of year it was. He said it was
winter. It was dead. It was cold. It can get down into the 30s
there in the winter. It was gray in more ways than
one. Physically, spiritually, it's
winter. Verse 23 says, And Jesus walked
in the temple in Solomon's porch. Now what a moment, what a solemn,
solemn moment that is. Our Lord, what unsearchable riches
it would be to know what was going through His mind as He
walked this porch. Walking Solomon's porch. That's the same porch that he
told Solomon to build. You know that? Very same porch. David wanted to build that porch,
but he said, no, Solomon's going to do it. He's walking on the same porch
that he gave all the dimensions to. Sitting there walking it.
Standing there walking it. He is walking on the same porch
that after Solomon prayed over the sacrifice at the dedication
of this temple. It was back in 2nd Chronicles. Turn over there, 2nd Chronicles
chapter 7. 2nd Chronicles chapter 7. This is the dedication of this
temple. And Solomon prayed a prayer. Okay? Verse 1 says, Now when
Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven
and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory
of the Lord filled the house. And the priest could not enter
into the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled
the Lord's house. They couldn't get in. And when
all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, And the
glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their
faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped and
praised the Lord, saying, For he is good, for his mercy endureth
forever. You know, they were thinking,
they saw that fire, this pillar of fire came down, and they were
thinking, Oh, I'm so glad he just consumed that sacrifice
and not me. Oh, the Lord is good, for his
mercy endures forever. Verse 4 says, Then the king and
all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord, and king Solomon
offered a sacrifice of twenty and two thousand oxen and a hundred
and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people
dedicated the house of God, And the priests waited on their offices,
the Levites also, with instruments of music of the Lord, which David
the king had made to praise the Lord, because his mercy endureth
forever. When David praised by their ministry,
and the priests sounded trumpets before them, and all Israel stood. Now he's standing on the same
porch that he dropped fire from heaven on. And all the people
put their faces on the pavement and said, Oh, the Lord is merciful. Now he's standing on the same
porch and they're all saying, Who are you? Who are you? Back over to John
10. Verse 24 says, Then came the Jews round about
him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If
thou be the Christ, tell us plainly." Is that not the most ridiculous
question that you've ever heard? Really? After all that they have
seen him do, we've been going through John, all that they've
seen him do, they said, How long dost thou make us to doubt? make
us to doubt? He made the blind see. That's the reason they're all
gathered around him. He made the blind see. He turned
water into aged wine that fast. He made the lame walk. He fed
5,000 people with five loaves and two fish. And they said, how long are you
going to make us doubt? Isn't that amazing? How foolish. But do you know that, but for
the grace of God, there go I. I'm going to show you something
that's going to prove to us, really, but for the grace of
God, there go I. We say, but for the grace of
God, there go I, thinking, that's really not me. This is, this
is something. Turn with me over to Matthew
11. Matthew 11 verse 2 says, Now
when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent
two of his disciples, and said unto him, Art thou he that should
come, or do we look for another? That's John the Baptist. John was prophesied of in the
book of Isaiah. to be the forerunner of Christ.
Alright? The scripture says John had the
Holy Ghost from his mother's womb. Mary was carrying our Lord. And her cousin Elizabeth was
carrying John. And Mary went to go visit Elizabeth. They were both pregnant. And
when Mary walked into Elizabeth's house and greeted her, as soon
as John in Elizabeth's womb heard the voice of Mary, he leaped
for joy because he knew, my God, just walked into the room. That's
what it says about John. He knew. He knew. He knew who
this was. It was John who was preaching
when the Lord walked up and John cried, Behold the Lamb of God
that taketh away the sin of the world. That was John. John baptized him. And John is the only person,
the only mortal person who has ever seen the Spirit of God,
the Holy Spirit, the invisible Spirit. He said, I saw the Spirit
descend from heaven like a dove and it landed on Jesus of Nazareth,
Jesus Christ. It landed on Him. And now John
is cast into prison. And he sends two men to ask the
Lord, Art thou he that should come? Or do we look for another? Isn't that something? Look at verse 4, Jesus answered
and said unto them, Go and show John again those things which
you do hear and see. The blind receive their sight,
and the lame walk. The lepers are cleansed, and
the deaf hear. The dead are raised up, and the
poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he whosoever
shall not be offended in me." You cannot put any confidence
in the sheep. You just can't. It's got to be
in the shepherd of the sheep. It just has to be. Back over
to John 10. Verse 24 says, Then came the Jews round about
him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If
thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you,
and you believed not. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me. He plainly told them. He has
plainly told us. Very plainly, very clearly, he
said, Moses wrote of me. He said, you know, Moses kept
talking about God, Jehovah God. He was talking about me. He was
talking about me. Moses met with God. He met with
me. He just told him, Abraham rejoiced
to see my day. Abraham saw me. I'm the one who walked in the
garden with Adam and Eve. I'm the one who shut Noah in
the ark. It's me. He told them, but they
didn't listen to what he had to say. Neither do men and women
today. Bless their hearts. Bless their
souls. I don't have any idea where man
got the phrase, he wants to save you if you let him. He never
said that, not one time. Not one time. What he said was,
I will work and who shall let it? The Lord helps those who
help themselves. He never said that one time.
Not one time. What He said was, right here
in verse 25, Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not. The works that I do in My Father's
name, they bear witness of Me, but ye believe not, because you
are not of My sheep, as I said unto you. Man, that's clear,
isn't it? There are so many reasons why
men and women don't believe God. Sin. Just rebellion. Ignorance. Death. Spiritual death. But it all boils down to this.
Verse 26 says, You believe not, because you are not of my sheep.
As I said unto you. He didn't say, He did not say, You are not of my
sheep, Because you believe not. He didn't say that. That would
be making salvation depending on something you do, you know.
What he said was, you believe not because you're not of my
sheep. That's the reason. Faith is a
gift. Will it exist? Absolutely. It must exist. But it is a gift. A sinner does not believe to
become one of God's sheep. A sinner believes because he
is one of God's sheep. Look at Acts chapter 13 with
me. Acts 13 verse 48 says, And when the Gentiles heard this,
they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord, and as
many as were ordained to eternal life, believed." He did not say,
as many as believed were ordained to eternal life. He said, as
many as were ordained, believed. Every one of them. Back over
in John 10, verse 26, it says, But ye believe not, because ye
are not of My sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear My voice,
and I know them, and they follow Me. They believe Me. They love Me. They go where I
lead them. That's what My sheep do. Verse
28 says, And I give unto them eternal life. Eternal life. Now we cannot get our minds around
eternal life. And the reason is because everything
that we know on this earth has an end. Every single thing we
know. But the words and the spirit
and the person of the Lord Jesus Christ is a saver of life unto
life. Life unto life. He is never ending. He's never
ending. He that hath the Son has life. Life. Whosoever liveth and believeth
in Christ shall never die. They'll just be changed in the
twinkling of an eye. That's all. A man said this one time. He said that in preaching the
gospel, he was preparing men and women to die. You've heard
that. Preaching the gospel, we're preparing
men and women to die. Well, if they're in Christ, and
if they're the sheep of the Good Shepherd, we're actually preparing
men and women to live. Get ready to live. Get ready. This book teaches God's sheep
how to live. They're going to live. He said,
I'm going to give them eternal life. In Christ, you are about
to start living. You're going to start living
with no fear of death. Eternal life. Eternal life. No fear of death. We can't sit
in our cars without buckling our seatbelts. Sometimes I get
in my car and buckle it if I'm just going to eat lunch in it.
I think, why did I do that? Do you know why? Fear of death. That's a whole reason I reach
over. and click it. Fear of death. It governs everything
I do. Fear of death. Everything I do. We can't go to sleep at night
without locking our door. You know why? Fear of death. That's the whole reason. We tell
our children, take smaller bites, take smaller bites. You know
why? Fear of death. There are certain places I don't
want to go. I don't want to travel to them. Fear of death. Really. We go to our doctors with no
pains for wellness visits. We go have milestone procedures. You know, you turn 50, everybody
knows what you have to go do. Why? Fear of death. That's the
whole reason. Fear of death. It governs everything
we do. Well, real soon, If you're a
sheep that God the Father has given to the Good Shepherd, you're
going to start living with no fear of death. No fear of death. As soon as we physically make
it into the fold of our Good Shepherd, we're going to cry,
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin. The
strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I'm going
to give them life, life, eternal life. Eternal life. That is so
glorious. Did He? Did He do it? Did He accomplish what He said
He would do for us? He has by Himself purged our
sins, and these apostles witness Him ascend up where He is seated
on the right hand of the throne of God. It's finished. Verse 28 says,
I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. One man falsely
wrote this. Very falsely he wrote this about
this verse. He said, true, no one can pluck
or snatch him, but he can himself desert the Lord. That is just
not true. That is just not true. When our
God said, no man, Why would I be excluded from that? Am I a man or a woman? No man. Not even myself. No man. No man. Just listen to this. Romans 8,
we know this. But it says, Romans 8 verse 33,
it says, Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
is He that condemneth? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather,
that is risen again, who's even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from
the love of Christ? Shall tribulation? What about
distress, my own personal distress? Will it make me jump? No. or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or peril, or sword. He says, I'm persuaded that neither
death, nor life, nor angel, nor principalities, nor powers, nor
things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the
love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. No man, no thing. Well, He says in verse 28, I
give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father which
gave them Me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck
them out of My Father's hand. Do you know what that means?
That means we are in two hands. That's what it means, two hands.
We're in the hand of Christ, and His hand is in the hand of
His Father. And He tells His sheep, in order
for anybody or anything to get to you, before they can even
attempt to go through Me, they've got to go through My Father.
And nobody can do that. Double security. Double security
for the sheep. Christ said this, He said, once
you're in my hand, once saved, always saved. That's what it
is. Do you believe in once saved,
always saved? Somebody said, well that depends
on who saved you. If you saved yourself, no. If mama saved you
or the preacher saved you, but if Christ saved you, Double secure. Once saved, always saved. In
two hands. All right, let's stand together.