You want to turn to John 10 and
hold your place there. I began the study with you on
the book of John after I was reading this particular chapter.
one several weeks ago, months ago. It's been a while. Anyway,
I was looking at this particular chapter and I thought, I want
to go through the whole book, and so here we are. John chapter
10. Such tremendously comforting
words. Now, in this particular chapter,
The Lord Jesus Christ is following actually chapter 9, which we
went over last week. Remember the blind man, the man
who was born blind. He never had seen before, and
he was the only one ever healed who was born blind. And the Pharisees
were beside themselves because they could not explain it away. They couldn't figure out how
to allow for the miracle that was obviously done. His parents
knew it, all the people knew it, he certainly himself knew
it, but they wanted to deny it, but they couldn't, and yet they
had the problem that if they attributed that miracle to the
Lord Jesus Christ, they would have to admit that God was with
him, and that's the last thing they wanted to admit. And at
the end of that chapter, Jesus came to the blind man after a
lot of wrangling between himself and the Pharisees, and he asked
the blind man in John chapter 9, He said he heard that they
had cast him out because the blind man who was healed said
that Jesus had healed him and he told them how could it be
that he's a sinner because they said that Jesus was a sinner,
the Pharisees said that, and the blind man said how could
he be a sinner if God is with him to do these works? And so
then after they cast him out, Jesus said in verse 35, he heard
that they had cast him out. When he found him, he said to
him, do you believe on the son of God? And the blind man, in
all honesty, answered, who is he, Lord, that I might believe
on him? Clearly, he didn't know that
Jesus was the Son of God. He hadn't heard him say that,
make that claim. Jesus said to him, thou hast
both seen him, and he it is that talketh with thee. The one talking
to you is the Son of God. The Son of God is God. He's nothing
less than God. All that God is, he is. And so
Jesus was telling this man whose eyes he had just opened, his
physical eyes, now he's speaking to him in his spiritual eyes,
revealing himself to be God the Son. And so the blind man said,
after the Lord Jesus opened his eyes, his spiritual eyes to who
he was, he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshiped him, which was
appropriate. He was God the Son. You don't
worship any but God. And then Jesus made this amazing
statement. He said, for judgment, I am come
into this world that they which see not might see, and they that
see might be made blind. And so the Pharisees were still
hanging out, and they said, when they heard these words, they
said, are we blind also? And Jesus said, if you were blind,
you would have no sin. But now you say, we see, therefore
your sin remains. That verse is hope for sinners.
That verse gives me hope. Sinners, if you were blind, you
would have no sin. Amazing, isn't that amazing?
How can you be without sin? Your neighbors know that you're
a sinner, not to mention what you know about yourself. God's
Word tells you that you're a sinner. And here, the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of God says, if you are blind, you would have no sin.
And what does it mean then to be blind? It means to not know. To not know, as this man said,
who is he, Lord, that I might see him, might believe on him.
He couldn't see from birth. He knew what it was to be blind.
But these men, these Pharisees, held to the thought that they
themselves not only could see, but were teachers of the word
of God. And yet, what they taught was
wrong. It was so wrong. Because they
taught that it was by what we do that God accepts us. where
Jesus did everything for the blind man. He had sin, he was
a sinner, and he was blind, but Jesus took his sins away. And
so he opened his eyes to that fact. Now John 10 is spoken right
after that. He says in verse one, verily,
verily, I say to you, he that entereth not by the door into
the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a
thief and a robber. So Christ here is speaking against
those who try to come to the sheepfold. And the sheepfold
is the place of God's people. It's the place where God is with
his people. God keeps them. They're with
him. He's with them. That's the sheepfold. This is a place of safety. And
so Jesus is speaking in a parable. And he calls his people sheep,
and he calls the gathering of them together to God a sheepfold. And he says, whoever tries to
get into the sheepfold, where God is, where there's people,
in some other way besides the door, he climbs up another way,
that one is a thief and a robber. And then he says in verse two,
but he that enters in by the door, is the shepherd of the sheep.
So the only one who comes through the door into the sheepfold,
that one is the shepherd. So we see in this parable, it
conjures up a picture of spiritual things, just like in the case
of the blind man. Spiritually, he was blind. Physically, he was blind. And
his spiritual blindness was evident. God showed what that was like
spiritually by his physical blindness. Each one of us are born spiritually
blind. And God has to open our spiritual
eyes that we might see our spiritual blindness, meaning that we're
sinners. And we can't know God. We can't
see how God could save us. How would he be merciful to me?
I'm a sinner. How could God accept me? How
can I be with him? How can he be with me? How can
I know him? How can I possibly claim that
I'm accepted by God? That's blindness. And God has
to open our spiritual eyes in the same way. Spiritually, we
are his people and we're called sheep. When the Lord has a people,
he calls them his sheep. That's a spiritual term to refer
to his people. All of God's people are called
sheep. They're his sheep. They belong
to him. and he cares for them, he's the
shepherd. And so he says here, the Lord Jesus Christ, who we
know now is the Son of God, and he's the Christ, he just opened
the eyes of a man born blind, had never been done, now he also
says that he enters in by the door into the sheepfold. In verse two, I'm sorry, verse
three, he says, Reading verse two again, he that enters in
by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter
openeth, and the sheep hear his voice. So a porter, if you've
been to a fancy hotel, I've never been to one where they had one,
but they have a man standing out front. And the man is the
one you have to go to to get into the hotel. He allows you
in, and he greets you, and he gives you entrance. He opens
the doors. He might even help you or get someone to help you
with your bags. You've seen it probably on TV.
That's a porter. A porter is someone who provides
access to those who are trying to enter, or he prohibits. He
forbids access to those who are coming. And so God is saying
that his place, where there is life, eternal life, the place
where he protects and saves his people. There's salvation, there's
life, there's safety, there's this communion with God. That
place is called the sheepfold, spiritually, and God gives entrance
to it through one door. And the Lord Jesus Christ comes
through that door. He says here, he comes to the
porter, the one who guards the entrance and allows access or
denies access to him, the porter openeth. The porter is the one
who gives access to Christ into the sheepfold. So the porter
is God the Father. He's the one who the sheep belong to. The sheep
belong to God, the Father, and now he grants entrance to them
to Christ, his Son. He's the porter, the Father is
the porter, the Lord Jesus Christ is the shepherd. And he opens
the door to the sheepfold, in other words, think of it as not
a physical door, but the permission, the granting of God the Father
to Christ as the Son of God into the place where his own sheep
are. Notice that God the Father has
a people called his sheep, and he gives access to one, which
is the Lord Jesus Christ, into them. So that now he's with them
too. They're his sheep. He's the shepherd
of the sheep. He says in verse 2 again, He
that entereth by the door is the shepherd of the sheep, to
him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice. Now in
the olden days, a sheepfold was surrounded by usually stones
that were stacked up to make a wall to protect the sheep.
And it wasn't just one flock of sheep there, but every shepherd
would bring their sheep into the sheepfold. But when the shepherd
of the sheep, a particular flock, would call his sheep, the sheep
recognized the shepherd's voice. And those sheep that belonged
to that shepherd would go out when he called them, and he brought
them in for safety. And so here he says, the Lord
Jesus is talking, the porter opens to him, God the Father,
and the sheep, his people, hear his voice, and he calls his own
sheep by name, and he leads them out. So you can see there's a
very intimate knowledge that the shepherd has of his people. He knows them. In fact, he's
given them names. You know, people give names to
their pets. The shepherd names his sheep.
Remember when the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to Saul on the
road to Damascus, and he says, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me? He called him by that name. But
then after he opened his eyes to see who he was and believed,
he called him, he referred to him as Paul. He changed his name. Because a name is who we are.
And the name that Christ knows his people by is the name, is
who they are. And it's how he sees them. Now,
when Paul was unconverted, when the Lord had not revealed himself,
he was Saul. But after his conversion, he
was Paul. And this is true of lots of people
in the Bible. God gives them a name because
that is a name God assigns to them. For example, in the Old
Testament, Jacob was the name his father, Isaac, gave to him. And it means scoundrel, liar,
cheat. But when the Lord made himself
known to him, when he appeared to him as he was sleeping, And
the angels of God were ascending and descending upon the ladder
that reached from earth to heaven, and Jacob saw that. After that,
the Lord called him Israel. That was his name, and it means
prince with God. Actually, it was after his wrestling
with the Lord Jesus Christ, when Christ wrestled with him. So
God gave him a name, because the name reflects God's assignment
is statement of who they are. And so the Lord knows his people,
and we're called his sheep. And he calls us his people, he
calls us his brethren, he calls us saints, those who have been
sanctified, he calls us by many names. He calls us his bride,
he calls us many things. But here he says he knows his
own sheep by name, and he leads them out. That means that Christ
knows each one of his people, and he knows them intimately.
He knows you. If you're His people, He knows
you in a way that is a saving knowledge. Okay? He leads them out. It means that
they're going to go out. How are they going to go out?
They're going to go out through the door. Verse 4, he says, and
when he puts forth his own sheep, he goes before them, and the
sheep follow him. He doesn't lead from behind.
He doesn't drive them. He goes before them, because
if there's anything in the way, he has to protect them. And he
knows where he's taking them because he's going to lead them
to pastures of green grass, by still waters, and cause them
to lie down and be at peace and at rest. Even in the presence
of their enemies, they won't fear. And he's going to be with
them. So he takes them out. He puts
them forth, his own sheep. He goes before them, and the
sheep follow him, for they know his voice. What this is teaching
here is that all of God's people, when they hear Christ, they follow
Him and they will not follow another shepherd. And what does
it mean to hear His voice? What does it mean to follow Him?
We'll get to that in a minute. It says in verse 5, a stranger
they will not follow, but will flee from him, for they know
not the voice of strangers. I remember in our neighborhood,
they have these sheep that graze down the grass in order to keep
the grass from starting or catching on fire and becoming a larger
fire. So every spring and sometimes
a couple times, they'll surround the area where they want the
grass to to be cut down by the sheep, and the sheep will be
in there. A shepherd brings those sheep,
and the shepherd is with the sheep, and the sheep are not
afraid of the shepherd. But if I go by them, sheep back up,
they're looking at me like, strangely, because they don't know who I
am. And there have been experiments done where someone dresses up
in the same clothes as the shepherd, and he'll go to the sheep, and
the sheep will not come to them. They'll back up, and he can call
them, and they will not respond because they know the voice of
the shepherd. They'll run from those who are
not the shepherd, who are strangers to the sheep. Now, this parable
spake Jesus to them, but they understood not what things they
were which he spake to them. Then Jesus said to them again,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, notice, I am the door of the
sheep. Well, that might seem confusing
at first, because he's not a door, he's a person. And how is he a door? And besides
the fact that it says in the first part here, that if anyone
does not enter by the door but tries to climb up another way,
that one is a thief and a robber, but he who enters or he that
enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. How can the shepherd
also be the door? And how can the shepherd go through
the door if he's the door? It seems confusing to us, doesn't
it? But it's because we don't understand that God is describing
here a spiritual scene. with physical terms. And he wants
to emphasize the one who is describing this scene is Jesus Christ, the
Son of God. He knows what it's like. He knows God's people. He knows
how they become God's people. He knows how they are saved.
He knows how they have life. He knows how they're protected.
He knows how they're provided for. He knows all about it. And
he's using these metaphors of door, and shepherd, and sheep,
and robbers, and thieves, and those who are wolves, or the
wolf, and all these things in order to teach these spiritual
things to us. And that's why it says here he
spoke this in a parable. And so when he says, I'm the
door of the sheep, he's saying that the only way that a person
can enter, can come to God, is through him. The only way that
a person can be saved, because that's what he says in a moment
here, in verse 9, he says, I am the door, by me if any man enter
in, he shall be saved. The only way we can be saved
is if we come to God, the porter, through Christ, who is the door. In fact, he himself is the door
because he himself was admitted entrance into the role of shepherd,
to be with his people, to call them to himself, and to bring
them to the pasture, and feed them, and give them water, and
rest, and all these things that he does for them to protect them
and save them. He's the one who would do that.
And God appointed him to that. God made him the door. And so
when he comes to the Father, he comes to the Father for the
sheep. He comes there to have them,
to save them, to give them life, to protect them, to keep them. to bring them to God. He does
all this, and so in this way we see that he's both the door
God appointed and the one who comes to the Father according
to his will and appointment. God anointed him for that reason,
and he's also the one we come to God through. And he's going
to explain how that works. He's going to explain how we
as people are made God's people, how we're saved, how we're given
life, how we're kept. We can't save ourselves. We can't
keep ourselves. We can't come to God ourselves.
We're like sheep. If you know anything about sheep,
you'll see that sheep can't take care of themselves. There's many
things about sheep that are very interesting. One of the things
that I learned about sheep is that sheep do not like to be
alone. They do not like to be alone.
In fact, if you would, well, this is kind of a strange thing,
but if you're ever going to take the life of a sheep, then you
always put that sheep with another sheep and you perform that act
with the other sheep present so that they see that they're
with another sheep and they don't feel afraid. So sheep have to
be together. That's one thing. Sheep can't
protect themselves. Their teeth aren't big. And they
don't have claws. And though they can run, they
can't run as fast as the lion or the bear or the wolf. And
so they're prey. They're victims of animals that
eat them. And so they don't have strength
against the animals who would eat them, like
a bear or a lion. That's another thing about sheep.
The other thing about sheep is that they're always going the
wrong way. They go astray. He says in Isaiah
53, we've all gone our own way. Each one of us has gone his own
way. We each one have this spiritual
stupidity, this foolishness of going the wrong way. And we can't
keep from going the wrong way. We have to be saved by the shepherd.
The shepherd has to come and find us. He has to find us and
then pick us up and carry us back to the fold. In Luke chapter
15, he describes this, that the shepherd has a hundred sheep
and one of them has gone astray. He leaves the 99, he goes out
to find the one that has gone astray. And when he finds it,
He puts it on his shoulders and he brings it back. And when he
comes back, he rejoices and he calls all of his friends because
heaven rejoices when Christ finds his sheep. Okay, so we see that
this account here is a description of spiritual things, of people
called sheep, of the father who is the porter and of Christ who
is the shepherd and the door through which the sheep come
to God and are brought to God through him. The Lord Jesus Christ
doesn't talk about another shepherd. He talks about himself. And this
is something that offended self-righteous Pharisees. When Jesus Christ
talks about himself. Men love to talk about their
own knowledge, their own goodness. They want you to think of themselves
as the only way you can get to God. As an expert, you can't
understand the scriptures, you have to come to me to get that
understanding. But the Lord says, no, a true servant of God will
point you to the shepherd, to the door, and he will not point
you to another. To do so would be a thief and
a robber trying to steal the sheep, to scatter the sheep,
to hurt the sheep, to destroy the sheep. All right, verse 7,
Jesus said to them, again, verily, verily, I say to you, I am the
door of the sheep. All that ever came before me
are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
You see, God has a people, and they are his people before they
hear the voice of the shepherd. He calls them, then they hear
him. They hear his voice, then they
follow him. And he gives to them eternal
life. Notice in verse 9, 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 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. What is this
abundant life? Well, what is the door? Who is
the shepherd? You see, all of these things
are different vantage points of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. He's the door. He's the way into
the sheepfold. He's the way, once we're in the
sheepfold, that we're allowed to come into the pastures, the
green pastures, and the rest, and peace, and the water, the
still waters. He's the one who protects us
and causes us to lie down in rest, even in the presence of
our enemies. And not only that, He's the one
who is the life itself. The abundant life is abundant
because Christ is our life. Okay, so I'm getting to these
things so we can see the significance here. The tenderness of the Lord
Jesus Christ for his people. He has a people. They're called
his sheep. He cares for them and he saves
them. and he gives them life, even
eternal life, abundant life. By themselves, they have no protection. By themselves, they would never
find the sheepfold. By themselves, they would never
find pastures, green pastures, or still waters. They would be
victims of the enemy of their souls. But by the Lord Jesus
Christ, he saves them. And he doesn't leave one of them
outside of the sheepfold. He brings all of his sheep into
the sheepfold. And so as we read this, I want
you to get that. Notice in verse 11, I am the
good shepherd. Not the thief, not the robber.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life
for the sheep. How do you know who the shepherd
is? The one who gives his life for the sheep. That's who he
is. All right, so this immediately
shows us the relationship between the shepherd and the sheep. Who
is the shepherd? The one who gives his life. Who
are the sheep? Those Christ gives himself for. He gives his life for the sheep.
That's what he says here. The good shepherd gives his life
for the sheep. Now, let me ask a question. We
know from this parable, this explanation Jesus is giving,
that the sheep are people. They're not animals, they're
people. And so here's the question, is everybody a sheep? Is everyone
a sheep? Look over at verses later. It says in verse 24, the Jews
around about him came to him and said, how long do you make
us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us
plainly. They were blaming him because
they didn't believe. And he answered, I told you,
I told you and you believe not. The works that I do in my father's
name, they bear witness of. You see, Christ had just healed
this blind man. They saw it and they would not
believe him. The works I do, what I do tells you who I am. But he says in verse 26, notice,
you believe not. because you are not my sheep."
Is everybody a sheep? No. Those who do not believe
are not God's sheep. If we die unbelieving, we are
not His sheep. But if in our life the Lord calls
us and we hear His voice, He goes on, as I said unto you,
notice, you don't believe, but, verse 27, my sheep hear my voice,
I know them, and they follow me. So what does it mean then
to hear his voice and follow him? According to this, you believe
not, because you're not my sheep, but my sheep hear my voice and
I know them and they follow me. So to believe on Christ is to
hear his voice and follow him. What does it mean to hear his
voice? It means to hear the message of his gospel. It means to hear
what he says and believe on him. That's following Him. And those
who are not His sheep hear, but they don't believe. And those
who do hear and believe are the sheep of Christ. You see? So is everyone a sheep? No. Not everyone believes. The reason
we either believe or do not believe is because we are his sheep or
we are not his sheep. Does that make sense? Look at Matthew chapter 25. In
Matthew 25, this is the last judgment. The Lord Jesus Christ
is on the throne. It's the last, it's the end of
time. Everyone is gathered together. In verse 31, When the Son of
Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with
Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory, and notice,
verse 32, and before Him shall be gathered all nations, and
He shall, notice, separate them one from the other, as a shepherd
divides his sheep from the goats. You see that? Is everybody a
sheep? No. Some are sheep and some are
called goats. And on the last day, Christ will
separate. He'll put the sheep on one side
and he'll put the goats on the other. He'll separate between
one and another. And it says here, and he shall
set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. You
see the distinction? This is a separation. Jesus knows
his sheep. And so he says, you here, you
there. You see? Look at Matthew 27.
I'm sorry, Matthew chapter 7. Matthew chapter 7. In Matthew
chapter 7, He says in verse 13, enter ye in. Doesn't that sound
like what Jesus was talking about in John 10? You go into the sheepfold. He says, enter ye in at the straight
or the narrow gate. Straight doesn't mean like an
arrow straight. It means compressed, narrow.
You can't find it. It's too tiny to get through,
but that's the way you have to go through. Enter ye in at the
straight gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that
leads to destruction, and many there be that go in there at,
because straight or narrow is the gate, and narrow is the way
that leads to life. This is the sheepfold, and few
there be that find it. What does it mean to be narrow,
to be straight, to be compressed? It means that you can't get through
this gate because it's too small. You can't find it, you can't
see it, and then once you find it, it's very compressed. You
have to, it's a narrow way. And he goes on in verse 21, he
says, not everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord shall enter
into the kingdom of heaven. So this is not only the way to
life, but it's the way to heaven. But he that does the will of
my Father which is in heaven, many will say to me in that day,
they'll claim to have done the will of God, Lord, Lord, have
we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name cast out devils,
and in thy name done many wonderful works? You see this on TV all
the time. Here's a guy on TV, he's talking
about all the wonderful things he's done or can do, please send
me my money, or send me your money, so it'll be my money.
That man would be here. He would be saying, we preached,
we taught, in your name, in Christ's name, we cast out devils. We
did many wonderful works. What are these people saying
here? They're saying to the Lord, look into the books and take
notice of what I have done. and recognize my work and allow
me to enter." You see, that's what they're saying. This is
what they believed would gain them entrance, that God, the
Lord Jesus Christ, would consider what they did. Even done in his
name. They claimed to be Christians.
They taught other people. Those people followed them. But
their message and what they believed was not the way, which is Christ. They believed something other.
They believed something else. They thought there was another
way. What they did. God would recognize what they
did. And he said, he says, no. He says, I will profess to them,
I never knew you. Depart from me, you that work
iniquity. I didn't know you. He knows his
sheep. He never knew these people. Is
everyone a sheep? No. Does Christ know everyone
in a way that's saving? No. Not all enter into life. Not all enter into heaven. What
makes the difference? The shepherd. And this is very
important. There's only one way into life
and into heaven. One way to God. It's the Lord
Jesus Christ himself. You see, we can't make the way. God made the way. We can't provide
the way. God provided the way. We can't
understand the way. We're stupid sheep, spiritually
stupid. God has to open our eyes. He
has to give us. Find us, carry us, bring us. And this is what the Lord Jesus
did. This is what he's talking about in John chapter 10. Not
everyone is a sheep. The way into heaven and life
and salvation is a narrow way. The only way to get into this
gate The only way to get into this gate is to be in the shepherd. You can't get in by bringing
something like these men did. Well, what about this I did?
And what about that I did? I mean, I was working hard in
order to be a good Christian. That won't help. It doesn't matter
what you've done. It doesn't matter what you think
about yourself. You're excluded if you consider
anything of yourself. This gate is so narrow, the only
one who is allowed in is the shepherd. And we have to be in
the shepherd. He has to bring us in, you see. And you might think, well, yeah,
but what do I do? You look to Christ who did it
all, you see. That's the only way in. And then
he goes on. In John chapter 10, in verse
12, he that is a hireling, a hireling is someone you hire, you pay
them money to do a job. He's an employee, a servant who
gets paid. He that is a hireling and not
the shepherd who's owned the sheep or not, sees the wolf coming,
that would be Satan. And he leaves the sheep and he
runs, he flees. And the wolf catches them and
scatters the sheep. You see, sheep like to be together,
but the devil is scattering them. A hireling fleeth because he
is a hireling. He does not care for the sheep,
he only cares about money. You see, this is the difference
between one scent of God and one who's not. The one scent
of God declares and points you to the shepherd, who is the door. And the one not sent of God,
he talks about himself, he talks about another way. Well, you
can do this or that in order to get saved, in order to have
life. It's all up to you. God's done his part, now you
gotta do your part. No, that's another way. There's
only one way, it's the Lord Jesus Christ. He says in verse 14,
I'm the good shepherd, and I know my sheep, and I am known of mine. Now see, when the Lord teaches
us, when Christ himself convinces us and persuades us, look, I
know you, you're a sinner. And I know you also, so that
I myself have given myself for the sheep, laid my life down,
God himself, gave me this to do, and I've completed that work,
and now I've come to save sinners, to bring them to God. And you
see, you're persuaded, the only way to come to God is if Christ
himself died for me, if he lived for me, if he gives me this faith
in order to believe him, to see that he's my everything. And
so when we see that, that's the Lord's work. I'm the good shepherd.
I call my sheep, I know my sheep, and I am known of mine. He convinces
us there's no other way but Christ. Him alone. First, last, and only. There's no other one except the
Lord Jesus Christ. See, the sheep are convinced
that they would be left out if it were up to them. But the sheep
are also convinced, God's people are convinced, that because Christ
is the shepherd, and he laid his life down for the sheep,
that they are saved because of him only. And they're trusting
that. They're trusting Him. They hear
His voice. This is good news. It gives them
rest. It gives them peace. They feed
on this. They feed on this. And they go
in and out through Him. They go out to feed on Him. They come in to be safe with
Him. They have communion with Him and they go out in order
to rest in Him. They do all these things. It's
all through Christ. He goes on, he says, as the Father
knoweth me, even so I know the Father, and I lay down my life
for the sheep. And then in verse 16, and I want
to stop here after we read this verse. He says, and other sheep
I have, which are not of this fold. Around the Lord Jesus Christ,
while he was talking, were these people. And there were other
people, he said, I have, that are not part of these. He says
here, them also I must bring. I must bring them, and they shall
hear my voice." They hadn't heard it yet. but they shall and there
shall be one fold and one shepherd. He's not talking about these
disciples only or the people who lived while he was on this
earth only, who heard him and followed him. He's talking about
all of his people throughout all of time that would be finally
gathered into heaven and be separated as his sheep on his right hand.
That one fold, that's who he's talking about. And he says, I
must bring them. He won't fail. They're His. He cares for them. He laid His
life down for them. He will give them life. They
will hear His voice and they will follow Him. You see, the
Lord is describing His work here, and He's describing the result
of His work is that they hear His voice, they follow Him, He
gives them life, He keeps them, He saves them. He's with them,
and He's always with them. He's the shepherd of the sheep. Does that make sense? Does that
seem clear? I hope that you can see that
these scriptures are describing the scene from God's vantage
point of his people. And also describing our helplessness
and our complete salvation in Christ alone. We can't do anything
to help God save us. We're helpless sheep. We will
believe a lie unless the Lord keeps us. But because of God's
grace, we won't hear anything false until we hear the truth
of Christ. He protects us. He causes us
to know this is the work of God. This is my salvation. This is
my life. And the Lord is all, the Lord
Jesus Christ is everything. I have no other hope, no other
confidence, no other life, no other justification or any part
of salvation. Everything is in Him completely,
all sufficient to save even me. And because everything is in
Christ, therefore we are confident We're confident, aren't we? We
rest. Sheep rest when they're at the
pasture and the still water. They just lay down and they rest. And that's exactly what Christ
does when he saves us. He causes us to rest in him. It's amazing grace, isn't it? And I'll stop there. We will
spend some time in this chapter, but I wanted to give you just
a sense here of what is meant in this chapter. The Lord Jesus
Christ brings his people who have no sight spiritually, no
understanding, no life spiritually, and he gives them life and life.
He gives them heaven. He brings them to himself. He
keeps them. He will not let them perish.
He will not let any take them from him. He will save them all. Let's pray. Father, thank you
for the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, our Shepherd. We are
so helpless and we are so foolish to go our own way. In fact, going
our own way would separate us from you, were it not for your
grace. If left to ourselves, we would separate ourselves from
life and from God and from heaven. But here we find that even when
we were lost in our sins, that God himself laid our sins on
the Lord Jesus Christ and commanded him to lay his life down with
our sins and for our sins, to save us from our sins, and then
to raise himself up again to give us this life, eternal life,
through the atonement of our sins, through the forgiveness
of our sins, through the redemption of our sins. Thank you, Lord,
for this great grace that Jesus Christ is to us. All that He
is. All that He is to us. We have
nothing but what we have in Him. What a blessing that is to us.
We rest in Him. We find nothing more satisfying,
nothing more that our souls want than Him. And we will not listen
to any who would teach us otherwise. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.