All right, thank you. Getting old is so much fun. Goodness me, goodness me. Let's take our Bibles. Turn to
John chapter 10, and we'll read virtually all of that chapter
as our reading, and then we'll pick a text from a different
one of the four Gospels. One reason I'm so worked up on
that subject, I'm going to address that this morning anyway. And
it just, I thought it would be something you might be interested
in hearing. in regard to the chorus that was added to that
wonderful hymn. John chapter 10. Our Lord is here addressed to
his people as the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd. Now, before we start to read,
let us pray. Lord, thank you for letting us
gather in this place this morning. We are sinful people, every last
single one of us. We do not deserve your mercy. but deserve your wrath. And yet, in spite of what we've
done and what we've said and what we hoped to come to pass
and all other kinds of wishful thinking, yet indeed and in fact,
you sent your blessed Son, the Lord Jesus, into this world to
live for us, to die for us, and to save us. Oh Lord, have mercy
on our souls. Bless our time together this
morning, both in reading and in preaching on the passages
that we will be confronted with. But we cannot do it apart from
your aid and help. You alone can give us sufficient
grace, cause our minds to think clearly, our voice to speak easily
understood. We beg for Your mercy upon us.
Bless our time of worship together around our precious Lord Jesus
Christ. We pray in His dear name. Amen. John chapter 10, verse 1. Verily,
verily, I say unto you." Now John uses that term, verily,
dozens of times. Some people translate it, amen,
amen. I say unto you, He that enters
not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way,
the same is a thief and a robber. But he that enters in by the
door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter opens and the
sheep hear his voice. Now there are countless flocks
of sheep in this wintertime, nighttime place for sheep to
be kept. And they take them out every
morning and bring them back every evening in that, during that
period in which the weather is so cold. And so we're told in
no uncertain terms here that this porter opens. Now the porter
knows all the shepherds. In our case, we're only interested
in one shepherd, and that's the Lord Jesus. And our Lord is the
one giving this statement in regard to these things. To Him,
the porter opens, and the sheep hear His voice, and He calls
His own sheep by name and leads them out. Christ is not ignorant. of who his people are. We're
the ones that have problems. Perhaps we need to have problems
if we're not really and truly and honestly and blessedly a
part of him and he's our shepherd and we're his sheep. Just like
David quoted and wrote in Psalm, oh, what's that Psalm number?
I can't remember. That's awful. Verse 4, when he puts forth his
own sheep. Now don't let that slide. Who? When he puts forth his own
sheep. He goes before them. And the
sheep follow him, for they know his voice. And a stranger will
they not follow, but will flee from him, for they
know not the voice of strangers. This parable spoke Jesus unto
them, But they understood not what things they were which he
spoke unto them. Then said Jesus unto them again,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All
that ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the
sheep did not hear them. I am the door. By me, if any
man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find
pasture. The thief comes not, except to
steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I am come that they might have
life, and that they might have it more abundantly." And here
are some immortal words. I am the good shepherd, and there
ain't but one. I am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd gives his life for the sheep. Some preachers call themselves
under-shepherds. I don't know if I even like that
term or not, but I'm just Rupert, and I'm dumber than dumb. Verse
12, But he that is on hireling, and
not the shepherd whose on the sheep are not, sees the wolf
coming and leaves the sheep and flees and the wolf catches them
and scatters the sheep. Verse 13, the hireling flees
because he is a hireling and cries, cares not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and am known
of mine. He knows us, and we know him.
As the Father shows me, knows me, even so know I the Father,
and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have
which are not of this fold, that is, not of the Jewish persuasion,
Them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there
shall be one fold and one shepherd." There's not an American fold
and an African fold and all this stuff. There ain't but one. Believers
have more things in common than you could ever dream. Why would
we want to be elsewhere? Verse 17, Therefore does my Father
love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again? No man takes it from me, but
I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down,
and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my Father. There was a division therefore
among the Jews for these sayings. And it's still that way. If Christ
is not loved and honored and praised, I hope it makes you
sick if you go sit under it. I don't think you have to even
go to get sick. Many of these Jews said he has
a devil or a demon. and is mad. Why hear you him?"
Others said, these are not the words of him that has a demon. Can a devil open the eyes of
the blind? And it was at Jerusalem, the
feast of the dedication, and it was winter. And Jesus walked
in the temple in Solomon's porch. Then came the Jews round about
him and said unto him, How long do you make us to doubt? If you
be the Christ, tell us plainly. Our Lord answered them, I told
you, and you believed not. The works that I do in My Father's
name, they bear witness of Me. But you believe not, because
you are not of My sheep." Whoa! Did you hear that? The reason
people don't believe is because they are not one of
Christ's sheep. Now you can twist that and turn
it every which way, but it will still say the same thing. As I said unto you, 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 pluck them out of my hand. My Father who
gave them to 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. Then the Jews took up stones
to stone him to death. Boy, these are generous people,
aren't they? The miracle is that you and I
aren't there with them. Then the Jews took up stones
to stone him. And our Lord put this question
to them, many good works have I done, Have I showed you from
my Father for which of these works do you stone me? The Jews answered, saying, For
a good work we stone you not, but for blasphemy, because you,
being a man, make yourself God." Now, you can't even read one
of the Gospels. and with an unprejudiced mind,
and conclude that Christ cannot make miracles. They're everywhere
in our Bible, but in the gospel accounts, they occur more frequently. Our Lord answered them, Is it
not written in your law, I said you are gods? If he called them
gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot
be broken, Say you of him whom the Father has sanctified and
sent into the world. You blaspheme because I said
I am the Son of God. If I do not the works of my Father,
believe me not. But if I do, Though you believe
me not, believe the works, that you may know and believe that
the Father is in me, and I am in the Father. Therefore they
sought again to take him, but he escaped out of their hand."
I'm going to stop there and jump over to Matthew chapter 20. Matthew 20, verse 28. Matthew 20, 28. This is our text
this morning. Even as the Son of Man came not
to be ministered unto, but to minister, and He gave His life
a ransom for everybody that's ever lived on this planet. No,
you can get that down that road, or that road, or that road, or
that road, because everybody else, that's what they're telling
you. That ain't what it says, and you know it. to give his life to die on a
cross a ransom for many. What a statement. Now let me see if I can Add just a few more statements
and then we'll get down to business. I'm still on the introduction,
y'all. I can't help it. There's a hymn in your hymn book.
There is a fountain filled with blood. I think it's 222. And the third stanza, Dear dying
Lamb, thy precious blood shall never lose its power till all
the ransomed Church of God be saved to sin no more. No more. was all it took for us to lose
our hope in Christ, then we don't stand a Chinaman's chance. Everything we do is tainted with
sin. Our thoughts, our likes, our
dislikes, all of this has bearing on these very things. In Matthew 1.21, to which we'll
not turn, Joseph was trying to decide how
he could put away his proposed wife upon finding out that she
was with child. And he's pondering this, and
the angels come and appear to him, and they tell him in no
uncertain terms, Marry this woman. And here's the name you're going
to name him by. His name is Jesus. Which meets
the definition in Genesis, Jehovah is salvation. That's true of
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Dear dying lamb, thy precious
blood shall never lose its power till all the ransomed church
of God be saved to sin no more." And that statement to Joseph
in regard to the Lord Jesus, you can find this in Matthew
chapter 1 verse 21. He tells Joseph what this baby
is going to be named. And there isn't anybody in those
families for which this name could be expected. It was totally
foreign to them. But Joseph realized that it was
well above his head and his hands as far as his mind and his thoughts. He said, you shall call his name
Jesus for or because He shall save His people from their sins. We're right here in Matthew.
If you'll just go back to chapter 1, I want you to see it. Matthew chapter 1. See if I quoted it right. Matthew 1 verse 21, and she, that is Mary, shall
bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, all capital
letters, for he shall save, save who? Just his people, that's
all. But I promise you, there'll be
plenty of room in heaven. He has a pretty large family,
you know. He shall save his people from
their sins. Even Mary has to have that salvation
or she won't be in glory. Same is true of Joseph. The same
is true of me and it's true of you. Let me see. I won't ask you to turn this
time, but I want to read you a statement out of the Gospel
of John. I'll tell you where I found it
after I get through reading it. speaking of our Lord reproving
the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment, of sin because
they believe not on me." Unbelief, not trusting Christ, not believing
Christ, is the worst sin a person could be guilty of. I mean, our
Father, God the Father, Loves his son with an everlasting love. It is a mutual love between the
divine three. And then he goes on to add, of
sin, because they believe not on me. Of righteousness, because
I go to my Father and you shall see me no more. Of judgment,
because the prince of this world, that would be Satan himself,
is judged. Then one more verse. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, that you shall weep and lament, but
the world shall rejoice, and you shall be sorrowful, but your
sorrow shall be turned into joy. Praise the Lord. I'm longing
for that day. For that day. That was in John
chapter 16, by the way. All right, let's see if we can
work on a brief little outline here without
punishing you too much this morning. Our subject is particular redemption. That is that Christ died for
a certain people, the same people that God gave him before time
ever was, before there was ever a human race, before this world
was ever made. This is all taken care of before
time ever was. So here are five ways to measure these matters regarding particular
attention, measured in five different ways. And the first one is by
our own sins, with an S, our own sins. And let me make you
a quote from Romans chapter 3. Are we better than they? No and
no wise, for we have before proved, both Jews and Gentiles, that
they're all under sin. As it is written, there's none
righteous, no not one. There's none that understands,
there's none that seek after God. They're all gone out of
the way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that does good. No, not one, not me, not you,
not anybody except Christ. We're in bad shape, looks to
me like. Second measurement in regard to measuring this particular
redemption is by the strictness of divine justice. You will say then unto me, why
does God still find fault? For who has resisted his will?
Nay, but O man, who are you that replies against God? Shall the
thing formed say to him that formed it, why have you made
me thus? It is by the strictness of divine
justice this matter will be determined. Oh, and how big a matter it is,
it is indeed. Now the third measurement is simply by the price that the
Lord Jesus paid for the redemption of his people. It is an infinite, infinite payment. Nothing else in this world could
come even close to that. There's nothing to compare it
with. I can't find this particular
verse of scripture. Here we go. Now we know that what thing soever
the law says, it says to them who are under the law, You and
I might object and say we don't want to be under the law. Well,
you're under it anyway. God doesn't ask our permission.
He just does it. And it's done. It's done one
time and it's done forever. Why does he still find fault
who has resisted his will? Nay, but, O man, who are you
that applies against God, shall the thing formed say to him that
formed it, Why have you made me thus? And in Romans, that
was in Romans and so is the next one. The second matter in regard
to these things, if I can find my spot here, It is by the price that the Lord
Jesus paid. The price of his blood, the price
of his life. My, how awful we must be. In 1 Peter chapter 1, for as
much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible
things such as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received
by tradition from your fathers, But with the precious blood of
Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, who
verily was foreordained, predetermined before the foundation of the
world, but was manifest in these last times for you." Now we turn to the book of Acts.
I'm not asking you to turn, I'm just trying to get there myself.
Chapter 13. We have these words. Are y'all going to turn anyway,
no matter what I say? Shucks. Acts 13, verses 38 to
39. Two verses. Be it known unto you therefore,
men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you
the forgiveness of sins, and by him all that believe are justified
from all things, from which you could not be justified by the
law of Moses. Now we got Jewish Baptists and
Methodist Baptists and every kind of Baptist there is in religion. And they think, and if you haven't thought this
about yourself, and if I haven't thought it about myself, something
ain't right. I used to think I kept the Ten
Commandments. That's because I had both eyes
closed. But I'll tell you the day that
God showed me what really was in my heart. What can you do? Just fall on your face and beg
for mercy. That's the only thing that will
do sinners any good is divine mercy and grace in Christ. Through this man, this God-man
Christ Jesus, is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins.
And by Him all that believe, every believer without a single
exception, every one that believes are justified
from all things from which you could not be justified by the
law of Moses. So you can just throw that one
out the window. You know you're lying if you
say you keep the Ten Commandments. We can't keep one of them. But not as the offense, so also
is the free gift. Through the offense of one, many
be dead. Much more, the grace of God and
the gift by grace which is by one man, Jesus Christ, has abounded
unto many. And not as it was by one that
sinned, so is the gift. For the judgment was by one to
condemnation. But the free gift is of many
offenses under justification. Yet by one man's offense, death
reigned by one, much more shall they receive abundance of grace,
and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus
Christ. Therefore, as by the offense
of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so
by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men under
justification of life. Or as by one man's disobedience,
namely our forefather Adam, a despicable creature, he was born absolutely
perfect, given only one rule to follow, and he just had to
have that fruit off that tree. Oh, I could tell you that his
wife took it first and maybe tempted him, but that ain't no
excuse. As by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one, namely
the Lord Jesus, shall many be made righteous. Well, how many? Nobody knows. The Bible says
it's a number that we can't even comprehend. You wouldn't know that by looking
at this room, but this is a pretty big world and this is just not
even a top of a pen. That came out of Romans chapter
5, now finish in Hebrews. So Christ was once offered to
bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for Him shall
He appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Praise His name. Praise His name. All right, there's one other
little spot here I wanted to use as a measuring device. How do we know that this gospel
is the true gospel? We can know it by the extent, how far it reaches, how encompassing
it is. by the extent of that wonderful
gospel of Christ or of the design of it. What it's designed to
do is to give His life, we are told, a ransom for many. A ransom for many. Let me leave you with this one
Oh, I still got an hour, hadn't I? I know better than that. But
you've heard this statement countless times. It's in one of our hymns
at least and probably some others. Payment God cannot twice demand. First, at my bleeding surety's
hand, the Lord Jesus, and then He's gonna charge me with the
same crime? And Christ has paid for that
fine? Have you ever paid a debt twice? I mean, I could get really
hot. I had that experience once. I should have blamed it on Ed
Parker because he was in the vehicle with me. Stopped on Grove
Street in Fayetteville and fueled up and headed somewhere to eat. And some guy was in a small car
riding down the sidewalk trying to flag me down. So I pulled over. He said, you didn't pay for that
gas, you gotta go back and pay for it. I said, Buster, I paid
for it. And when we first drove in the filling station on the
way back, they were at the door. No, no, that's all right, everything's
fine. No, buddy, I'm coming inside.
And I'm here to tell you, that'll jar your grandma's preserves. Oh, lordy, lordy.