Some through the water, some
through the flood. Some through the fire, but all
through the blood. some through great sorrow, but
God gives us all infinite freedom and all the day long." Thank you, Jeanette. All right,
back to John 10. Let's look at verses 11, verse
11, and verse 14 again, these two verses. Christ says, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. Verse 14, I am the good shepherd. and know my sheep, and am known
of mine." Christ calls himself the Good Shepherd. We saw Sunday night where he
said, I am the door. He doesn't say, I am a door,
nor does he say, I am a shepherd. Just as he says, I am, he does
not say, I am a truth or a way, does he? He says, I am the way,
the truth. I am the good shepherd, the one
and only good shepherd. This is a fitting title for the
Lord Jesus Christ, because we are so much like sheep It's so much like sheep. Mindy, Hannah, and I have had
the opportunity recently of observing some sheep, and they remind me
so much of me. Sheep. Everything about sheep
relates to us. They're helpless. They are totally
helpless. There's no animal anywhere who's
more helpless than a sheep. And they're dumb. They really
are. They're not real intelligent
creatures. They're not. They're dumb. They're
dependent. They are totally dependent. They could not fend for themselves
for one day. They're fearful. They're easily
frightened, easily afraid, fearful. They're easy prey. Sheep are
easy prey for any and all predator. I read a story. I like to read about these. Virginia
has quite a few sheep farms. And in north central Virginia,
that's where many of them are located, northern Virginia, especially
in Highland County and all, they had a real problem with coyotes. It was a real, they were a real
menace. I read where that one coyote
killed 19 lambs in one night, just for the sheer pleasure of
killing them. They're easy prey for any predator,
and they're prone to wander. Sheep are prone to wander. That's their nature. They will
wander off very easily. They need good folds to keep
them here. And so they're pitiful, helpless
creatures whose sustenance and safety depends entirely on their
shepherd. And so are we. We need a shepherd,
and not any shepherd will do. We need a good one. We need the
Lord is my shepherd, David said. Let's go over these verses again,
men, and look at them as they apply to our shepherds. John
10, look at verse 1. He says, Verily, verily, I say
unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold,
but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. Now, as we saw Sunday night,
the sheepfold, many years ago, and still today, over in eastern
countries, sheep-raising countries, they had these sheepfolds, these
enclosures or pens or corrals, if you will, that were surrounded
by either stone or wood or something, and there would be only one entrance.
only one entrance one door into this sheepfold and only the shepherd
had rights to go in that door only the shepherd could go in
anyone caught trying to get in any other way was a thief was
considered a thief and a robber or maybe a wolf trying to get
in only the shepherd look at verse two but he that entereth
in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep, the true shepherd,
always went in by the rightful way, the door. And we saw how
that Christ is that sheepfold, Christ is that door, Christ is
the shepherd, Christ is all and in all. Christ went in the door
That is, he went by the way of the law. He went the proper way. He went by the way of the flesh.
He became the shepherd by going through that veil between spirit
and flesh. He came this way. He tabernacled
among us. And he became the sheepfold in
whom we come for rest and safety and sustenance and care and so
forth. So Christ came through the door,
all right? And also it says, anyone that
cometh any other way than by Christ, or that is, any man,
any woman, any young person who attempts to get to God any other
way than by Jesus Christ only, God will consider them a thief
and a robber. A thief and a robber. and not
come in the rightful way. There's only one way. Christ
said, I am the way. All right, verse three. Now he
says to him, speaking of Christ, the porter openeth. To him the
porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice, that is the shepherd.
And he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. Now the porter, sometimes the
porter was a man who The shepherd would rent. The land or lease
the land from and and when the shepherd would go away this porter
of this landowner would let him come back at any time and give
a sheet. Well that would work with that
being. God the father who owns all things. And he gave the sheep to the
Christ Or the Holy Spirit. I prefer to believe this is the
Holy Spirit. But sometimes a shepherd would
go away and leave his sheep in the care of a fellow while he
was away. The word porter here means doorkeeper
or gatekeeper. And it says here, to him the
porter opened I believe this is the Holy Spirit. Who opens
the heart to hear Christ for the Holy Spirit who is in charge
of Christ he said. I will not leave you comfortless,
I'll send a comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom Christ has left
in charge of his sheep until he comes again. Well, sometimes
the shepherd, as I said, would leave a man in charge of the
sheep while he was away, and when the shepherd came for the
sheep, this porter who was keeping the sheep, the shepherd would
say, I'm here, I want my sheep. And the porter would open the
door to him. Nobody else. No one else. The shepherd would
then, the porter would open the door, and the shepherd would
then start calling out his own sheep. I like that. It says that twice in these next
two verses. His own sheep. You see, sometimes in these foreign countries
they would put more than one block in the one phone. Sometimes
they would put many blocks in one phone they would make the
many shepherds. I believe this is what our Lord
is alluding to. And all the time there would be these go to. The
kind of total of the bill Clark told us about you know that look
like you but I'm not a walker on the tail sticking up. Goat
sheep, or shoaks, or geats, or whatever you want to call them.
They look like sheep, but they're goats. Well, oftentimes it would
be goats and sheep and many different flocks in this one fold. Okay? And the various shepherds would
come and start calling sheep their flock. This man would call
his flock and they'd follow him. This man would call his flock
and they'd follow him. And this goat herder would call
his goat and goats would follow him. But this, the good shepherd
now, came, and he called his own sheep, and only his own sheep
would come and follow him. Read on. It says in verse 4,
in verse 4, it says that when he put forth his own sheep, he
goeth before them, and the sheep follow him. They know his voice. Verse 5, they don't know a stranger.
A stranger will they not follow, to flee from him? They know not
the voice of a stranger. So the shepherd knew his own
sheep, and they knew their shepherd's voice. And one by one, he would
call out these sheep out of the fold, and he would gently prod
them. And you know how you can picture
the scene, can't you, as he goes into this fold, and there are
many, many sheep and goats and so forth in this mixture. Well,
how are you going to know who are the sheep? How are you going to know who
sheep the shepherds are? Which sheep belong to this shepherd?
How are you going to know? His goal. He called them. And this is the gospel. The gospel
about the shepherds. About the way, the door, the
truth. The gospel. Our gospel. Right,
Sam? The gospel. The gospel is what
identifies Christ's sheep. Well, he'd go in, in the midst
of this flock, and he would start calling out his sheep, and prodding
and so forth, and bringing them out, and one by one, and wooing
and leading, and all the time, and one by one, he'd be leading
them out the gate. He'd have his staff, his rod
and his staff, and he'd be counting his sheep. And he'd have them
named. He knew every one of them by
name. And he'd count them with that rod as they passed under
that rod. There's Flossie, there's Fluffy,
there's Duffy, and there's Huey. And so on and so on, right? He
knew them all by name. There's Joseph and there's Stan. And they'd go out and he'd count
them all. Now, if some fellow would come, some
stranger would come to the fold, first of all, the porter won't
let him in. Porter wouldn't open the door. But suppose the stranger
did try to get in some way and start calling him. Suppose he,
instead of going through the door, he over the fence kind
of started calling. Hey, Flossie! Come, Flossie!
Flossie wouldn't come. She didn't know his voice. We
tried that, didn't we? We went up to this place and,
you know, I looked friendly enough. I tried to put on my Come here,
come here. He worked with mine, but they
didn't know me. And those sheep were frightened,
and they'd run away from them. And a stranger they don't know.
They run away from strangers, and they'd press closer and closer
together until the shepherd came. They don't know a stranger, but
they're afraid of him. Well, the shepherd would gather
up his sheep, and it says here, look at verse three. he calleth his own sheep by name,
and leadeth them out." Verse 4, "...when he putteth forth
his own sheep, or that he separateth them from the others." That's
sanctification. Sets them apart from the others
by the gospel, and gathers them together. Sets them, he putteth
forth his own sheep, then what does he do? Well, he gets in
behind them and hopes they make it. He goes before them. He leads them. He goes before
them. He leads them. After he's counted
them and called them and so forth, then he goes around in front
of them and starts walking. And all the time he's calling,
come on, come on, Flossie. And there's old Stan back in
the bay. He's lagging behind. He's turning around. He's going,
heading the other way. thing. Come on back now. Or he
sends his two watchdogs. He's got two watchdogs. You know
what their names are? Goodness and Mercy. Surely goodness
and mercy will follow me." They'll not let Stan or Flossie fall
away or fall behind or become prey to a predator. No, he's
going to keep them. That's the reason he's called
a good shepherd. Do you understand this parable? And he gets in, and you know
where he leaves them? Where do you reckon this good shepherd
leaves his pastures? I just said it. He leaves that
flock to green pastures. That's where he's taking them.
He's taking them to green pastures. Something else you've got to
have. What? Water. Livestock have to have
water. And he makes them lie down in
green pastures and leads them beside the still water. All right,
look at verse 7. Christ said, I am the door of
the sheep. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
I am the door. I am the way. Christ is the only
way to God. Only by his righteousness imputed
to us will God accept us. only by his blood shed for the
remission of our sins are we declared justified. I am the
way, the door." Read on, verse 8. All that ever came before
me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
All other ways are false ways, stealing, God's Word, robbing
Christ's glory. Verse 9, I am the door. Do you notice how he says, barely,
barely? And then he says, I am the door.
I am the door. You know what that's saying? He says, barely, barely. He keeps
saying things twice. I am the door. Twice, Joe. I
am the good shepherd. Barely, barely. I am the good
shepherd. Once. I am the good shepherd. Twice. God has spoken yea once
and yea twice. But men perceive it not. Sheep
perceive it. hear his voice. They know he's
the door and he's the shepherd. Verse 9, By me, if any man enter
in. You see, we only go in by him,
by Christ. By him, I say. By Christ we go
in. He shall be saved. Not might
be, not hope to be. He shall be. He shall be saved. How? By him, I say. By this shepherd. and shall go
in and out and find passenger." You think we covered that verse
last Sunday? Not nearly enough. By him, by
Christ, we are saved. And when we go in Christ, in
Christ out of sin. In Christ out of the world. In Christ out of bondage, to
sin. The song we sing, Jesus I come,
out of my bondage, sorrow not. In Christ, out of condemnation. No condemnation. And it says
there, if they go in and out, what'll they find? What'll they find? Pasture. Pasture. What does that mean? Go in and out and find pasture.
Well, in Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
In Christ. This is the Word. Well, if you're
in Christ and you see that Christ is in this Word, you're in Christ
by faith, you go in this treasure house or in this field. You remember my pastures? My
pastor's message on the field, when a man bought the field,
you remember that? The treasure was hid in the field. OK. In Christ, the treasure is
open. You'll find pastors. Only in
Christ. Otherwise, you'll read things
like the Psalms and say they're boring. Otherwise, you'll read Old Testament,
say that doesn't apply to us. But if you're in Christ, you'll
start in Genesis one and say, well, there he is. And Genesis
two, even clearer. Genesis three, and so on and
so forth. You'll find pastures. You'll
find pastures. Green pastures, full pastures. My pastures right now, Stan,
are just beautiful. I mean, they're so beautiful
and green and fertilized, and they're just gorgeous. And those
horses, if they wanted to, they could stand in one spot for about
ten days and just chew. Just one spot, if they want. But they roam all over the place.
And same way with this. We could chew on one verse for
weeks if we wanted to, and then chew on the cud the rest of the
week. Right, Joe? That's what you need to do with
what you hear tonight. Go tomorrow and chew on that
cud. Bring it up again. That's the
way clean animals do, you know it? Clean animals? What were
the remarks of clean animals on the ark? part of the world. You could. That's part of your family. You're on the go. Clean animals. The price you need to clean and
look at her team. The thing that was not but for to steal and to kill
and to destroy. The thief, I believe the Lord
is speaking of pretended shepherds or false Christs, wolves in sheep's
clothing, they're called. They come to steal. Our Lord said that about these false prophets
in Jeremiah 23 and Ezekiel. They steal God's Word from the
sheep. They tell their dreams. But don't tell God's Word. They
steal in the sheep food. Steal from the sheep. They kill
by their soul-damning doctrine. They destroy the foundation.
David said, if the foundation be destroyed, what can the righteous
do? And that's what these pretenders do. They destroy the foundation.
All right, what's the foundation of our faith? This is what men
talk about. They talk about the love of God
and the blood of Christ, don't they? They talk about, Joe, don't
they? This is, they call it fundamentalism. God loves you and Christ died
for you. Well, that is the foundation of faith. The love of God and
the blood of Christ. But they have destroyed that
foundation where the love of God means nothing. You might
go to hell anyway. The blood of Christ means nothing.
You might go to hell anyway. If those foundations be destroyed,
what can the righteous do? Where are we going to turn? So
they destroy. They think they do. They attempt to. But read on
in verse 10. He says, I am come, that they might have
life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am come. Verse eleven, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. Who is the shepherd? I am come. I am the good shepherd."
Who is this? Look over at Isaiah 40 and prepare
to rejoice. Who is this shepherd? I am come. I am the good shepherd. Do you hear his voice? Do you
know who's speaking? I am. Come. I am the good shepherd. Look at Isaiah 40 verse 9. O Zion thou that bringest good
tidings, get thee up into the mountain. O Jerusalem that bringest
good tidings, lift up your voice. With strength lifted up, be not
afraid. Say unto the cities of Judah,
Behold your God, behold the Lord God will come. I am come." With
strong hand," look at this, "...with strong hand, and his arm shall
rule for him." Well, they say he didn't say he was God. I am
come. Well, they say he has no hands
but your hands. with strong hands." Read on, "...behold, his reward
is with him, and his work before he shall feed his flock like
a shepherd." I am the good shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with
his arms and carry them in his bosom, shall gently lead those
that are with him. I am come, I am the good shepherd. He shall carry them." Look over
Isaiah 46. It says he gathers them, he carries
them, he leads them. But how long? He says he carries
them. How long will he carry them? Well, he's not like these
false shepherds or these. This other Jesus they're preaching
today. This other Jesus, you know, who
puts you down a while and you walk a while and then he picks
you up a while and you get in trouble and then he puts you
down, he picks you up and puts you down. You know, there's two
sets of footprints in the sand. No, that's not a good shepherd. Look at it. If the Lord is your
shepherd, look at this, Isaiah 46, 3, Harken unto me, O house
of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are
born, that is, carried by me from the belly, carried from
the womb. Well, how long will it carry
them? Even to your old age. I am he, and even to your whoreheads
or your no-heads. I will carry you. I've made,
I'll bear, I'll carry and deliver you." There ain't but one set
of footprints. Never has been, always will be,
one set. That's what he says. I know the
poem says otherwise. Well, back to the text. See,
I am come. Did you hear his voice? I am
the good shepherd. Who is this? Behold, your God
will come. And carry. Gather, carry, and
lead. Now, how good is it? How good
a shepherd is it? Well, he's never lost a sheep. That makes him pretty good, doesn't
it? Oh, that makes him the good shepherd.
You know, there are three titles for this shepherd. Good, the
Great, the Chief. They said the Good Shepherd,
the Great Shepherd, and the Chief Shepherd. The Good Shepherd. I'll tell
you how good a shepherd he is. He leaves the ninety-nine and
searches one. He won't let one little straggling
black sheep fall away, although they don't, he doesn't need that
last sheep. his reputations at stake. He was a good shepherd. He couldn't call himself the
good shepherd, could he? He could just say, I'm one of
the good shepherds. I lost one, but ninety-nine out
of a hundred ain't bad." No, he said, "...all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me." He said he's going to say in
the end, when he presents his flock to the Father who gave
them to him, he's going to say, "...behold, I and the children
which thou hast given me." None of them shall perish. Oh, boy. Look at verse 11. I am the good shepherd. How good
a shepherd is he? He giveth his life for the sheep. He giveth his life for the sheep.
A good shepherd will hazard his life for his flock. That's what
David did, didn't he? Remember when David slew a lion
and a bear? Well, that's exactly what Christ
did. That's exactly what he did. He
faced down, he met Satan, sin head on, was mortally wounded.
He gave his life. Verse 15 says, I laid down my
life for the sheep. He did. He laid his life down.
He was mortally wounded, said, I might live. But verse 18 says,
though, I have power to take it up again. He laid it down,
but he took it up. He has all power. He takes his
life up again. Verse 12, he said, he that is
in hireling and not the shepherd who's on the sheep are not. Well,
they see the wolf coming and leave it to sheep and flee it.
The wolf catches the sheep and scatters the sheep. A hireling,
this other Jesus I was telling you about, he's a hireling. He comes when the sheep call. Doesn't he? This Jesus they're
preaching to, he comes when the sheep call. He doesn't carry
them, they carry him. Right? What will you do with
Jesus? He's in your hand. That's a hireling. That's another Jesus, isn't it? He can't come in the door. That
other Jesus, he can't come in the door unless he's invited,
unless they let him in the door. He's just a hireling. He comes
when they call, when they invite. That's another G. That's a hireling.
And I believe it means he profits to the P-R-O-F-I-T. He profits
hireling in it for money. They see trouble coming and they
flee. They flee for more money. Verse thirteen, the hireling
flees because he's a hireling. That's why. And chariots not
for the sheep. But Christ said, I'll never leave
thee nor forsake thee. Never. Why? Because I am a good
shepherd. I am a good shepherd and know
my sheep. I know my sheep. And he said
in verse fifteen, or verse fourteen, I am known of mine. We know the Good Shepherd, that
he is indeed the Good Shepherd, and he is the Lord our Shepherd. He is God manifest in the flesh. Verse fifteen, As the Father
knoweth me, even so know I the Father. And I lay down my life
for the sheep. You see, the Father is the porter
who gave the sheep to the Shepherd. He knows the Shepherd. He knows up there, Christ by inheritance.
And it says they are known of him also. And he says in verse
fifteen, I close with this, we're going to pick it back up Sunday.
He says, I lay down my life for the sheep. Who did Christ die for? Well, the good shepherd layeth
down his life for the sheep. He said, I'm the good shepherd,
I know my sheep, and I'm known of mine, and I lay down my life
for my sheep, not goats. He went on to say to those Pharisees,
you're not my sheep. Well, if they're not sheep, what
are they? Goats. That's what Christ said. He said
they're coming a day when the Father shall separate the sheep
from the goats. There's only two kinds, sheep
and goats. And Christ said, I lay down my
life for the sheep. So that means Jesus Christ died
only for the sheep, right? Not the goat. And he said, went
on to say, and I give unto them eternal life. How? The blood. The blood. So Jesus Christ did
not die for every single man and woman that ever lived. He
died for the sheep. This is one of those foundations
that they're attempting to destroy. That Christ laid down his life
for all men everywhere, without exception, sheep and goats, and
whoever does with it, you know, whoever has enough faith and
uses the blood, then they'll be saved. No. That's a lie and
that's blasphemy. You see, He's the good shepherd. His reputation's at stake. His power's at stake. The love
of God's at stake. The wisdom of God's at stake.
The power of the blood's at stake. My soul's at stake. And he says,
I lay down my life for the sheep. More than a point of doctrine
to argue, this is my salvation. And this is his glory. This is
all his glory. This is not particular redemption.
This is particular glory. This is particularly his glory,
by which he particularly redeemed a particular people. He's the
Good Shepherd. All right, let's stand and be
dismissed. Our Lord, we thank you. that
you recorded John 10 for us to read. It brings us great joy. It brings you great glory. It
is a sure foundation which we can stand on. It is a rock solid
truth. The truth. You are the good shepherd. This is the gospel. This is salvation. And we can stand right here.
Stand on the promises and be sure that salvation is sure for
all those in Christ. Thank you, Lord, for John 10.
And open our understanding even further to the rest of this glorious
book and chapter. In Christ's name we pray and
let together this night. Amen.