The Lord Jesus Christ spoke in the plainest language. He used very simple one- and
two-syllable words, for the most part. Some of them said, when
they came back from hearing him, they said, he doesn't speak like
the Pharisees. We can't understand the Pharisees. They speak in
high and mighty lofty terms. Christ spoke in very simple language. He could have said things that
no one would understand, being God But everyone who heard him
knew what he was saying. They knew what he was saying.
Educated and uneducated knew what he was saying. Pharisees,
religious, irreligious knew what he was saying. He spoke very
plainly. The problem was not in understanding
what he was saying. But the problem was just some
people just did not believe. It's the same thing now concerning
the Word of God. The problem is not that the Word
of God, per se, is difficult to understand, but man's problem is he just
won't believe it. He just doesn't believe it. That's the problem. The Word
of God, for the most part, is very clear. Very plain, speaks
in very plain language. All right, look at verses 14,
John 10, verses 14 through 19. Look at these verses again. The Lord says, I am the good
shepherd, and know my sheep, and them known of mine. As the
Father knoweth 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, or this Jewish fold here. Them also I must bring,
and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and
one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love
me, because I lay down my life." that I might take it again. No
man taketh it from me. I lay it down of myself. I have
power to lay it down. I have power to take it again.
This commandment, this power have I received of my Father."
There was a division, therefore, again, as always. Again, there was a division among
the Jews, among the religious. always represent religious people.
There was a division among them for these sayings because of
what he said. Arguments. He wasn't over what
Christ was doing, his works, his good works. One time they
were about to stone him. And he said, for which good work
do you stone me? What have I done that you're
about to try to kill me? Try to kill me. And they said,
for a good work we stone thee not. You can heal all you want
to. You can feed all you want to. You can do all you want to. Humanitarian
efforts. Do good works. Fine. But you're
just a man and you say you're God. That's why we're stoning you,
or trying. Trying. And there are divisions
and arguments today, the same, not because of a good man named
Jesus, a healer, a helper, a friend, a worker of good, but because
of what he said. And because of what those who
are saying what he said, or preaching, merely declaring what he said. It's his words. It's what he
says, not what he did. It's what he said. It's his claims
about himself that causes the division. It's the same today.
Look at verse 20. Many of them said, he hath a
devil. He's a devil. He's mad. I'm not going to hear him." And
others said, Oh no, this is not a devil. This is not the words
of a devil. This is the word of God. And the same is said about preaching
that goes on from this place and other places, which merely
try to say what he said, just repeat what he said. Many people
say, that's the doctrines of devils. But some say, oh no, not the
doctrines of the devil. It's the Word of God. The Word
of God. Verses 22 and 23. Well, he was
at Jerusalem, the Feast of the Dedication, and it was winter. A religious feast was going on,
it was winter, and verse 23, Jesus walked in the temple in
Solomon's porch. Sounds as if he maybe was alone
and walked out of the crowd or wherever and walked into that
temple, into Solomon's porch, into the temple. For those of
you who know it and have read it, Malachi 3.1 says this, the
Lord shall suddenly come to his temple. I immediately thought
of that verse. The messenger of the covenant
shall suddenly come to his temple. The Lord God himself walks into
that temple. Well, verse 24, the Jews. Here's
it like a Sunday go-to-meeting crowd. The Jews, they saw him
walk in there, and they followed him and came in and surrounded
him. Verse 24, the Jews came round
about him, surrounded him, and said unto him, How long do you
make us to doubt? How long are you going to make
us doubt? If you be the Christ, tell us
plainly. These Jews, these religious these. Now these Jews like I said the
Jews back then. Well the same today pretty much
Pharisees Sadducees scribes Jews religious people they were devout
devoted religion they were scholarly the Old Testament they were religious. This particular group of Jews
were doctors lawyers real pious people strict Everybody, these
Pharisees, they liked to pray on the street corners, read their
Bibles. They were public religious leaders. And how did they come to the
Lord of Glory? You know how they came? They
came with argument and debate. Not with reverence and respect.
They came with argument and debate. And they demanded of Him. They
demanded of the Lord of Glory. Tell us! How long are you going
to make us to die? I can see some of them pointing
their fingers at Him. The Lord of Glory. Tell us! Don't keep
us in suspense. Keep us waiting. There's no fear,
no reverence, no respect for the Lord of Glory and these people. You know, and the Lord He didn't
have anything to say to them. He didn't come for them. You know, and humility. Scripture
says humility is the first and the last and the all-in-between
sign of one of God's people. Humility. And they approach the
Word of God, the preaching of the Word, they approach Him. with fear, with awe, with reverence,
with respect, to worship, not to demand answers, not to argue
and debate, but to hear what He has to say and receive it.
Well, verse 25, look what Christ, how He did answer them. He did
answer them roughly. Verse 25, Jesus answers them, I told you, and you believed not." How often had he told them plainly? Huh? From the beginning. He was telling people who he
was. How often had he told them very
plainly? John the Baptist came as his
forerunner, which Malachi 3 speaks of him. It says that the messenger, the
forerunner, will come, and then the Lord shall suddenly come
into his temple. John the Baptist came preaching
Christ. John said, Behold the Lamb of
God, and pointed at him. And all those Pharisees and everybody
was standing around who were just interested in John and religion
And John said there he is. John told the disciples told
him by this time the disciples were traveling all around and
they were saying Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ the son of the
living God. The Old Testament which they
had preached which they had read which they were studying which
they were supposed to be scholars or experts. They were D.D.' 's
back then, doctors of divinity, masters of divinity. They had
mastered the Old Testament, the law, but they were ignorant of
it. They didn't know who the law
was speaking of. They didn't know who the Old Testament was
speaking of. The Old Testament declared Him
without a doubt. Christ said, I told you. The
Scriptures told you. John told you. The disciples
told you, I've told you who I am, but you believe not. And I want to ask the same question
to everybody in here. How often has he told us from
this very pulpit and from other places, plainly How many times
has Christ been preached? Has he been declared? Has God
been declared? How many times? How many times
has this gospel been preached, and how many times have you heard
it preached? Plainly. who God is. How many times has
God, every time I stand up here and try to say who God is, that's
what men, first thing men and women have to see, they're going
to have to see who God is. The one in whose hands our breath
is. Now because we're breathing,
God's the one that gives it. The ability to sit here in our
right minds and hear, God's the one that sustains it. us, this
life, the God who made us. How often have you heard of this
God, the Scripture says, whom we have not glorified, whom we
have not served, whom we don't care about. And what we are before—how many
times have we heard from this pulpit and other places what
we are before this God, what we are, not what the preacher
is saying today, what this Bible says. I know what preachers are
saying. They're saying, God loves you,
and you are worth something to God, and God needs you, and all
that. That's not what this book says. How many times have we heard
from the Scriptures that there's none righteous, no, not one,
and all flesh, the Scripture says, is just grass. The Scripture
says that God sitteth on the circle of the earth, and the
inhabitants thereof are grasshoppers." Grasshoppers, that's Isaiah,
right? And what we are before this holy
God? Nothing. He doesn't need us. And one,
someday God's going to put all those people that He does not
need, who did not need Him. You don't put them in one place.
How many times have we heard that? How many times has everybody
in here heard that? And who Christ is. How many times
has a man stood from here or another place, or you've read
from this book, who Christ is? There's only one hope. Only one
way to know this God is only one way to get to God whom someday
we're going to fake. Only one way that God's going
to accept us. Only one way we're going to be
saved. Only one way. Not this, that, and the other.
Not doing, not being, not that. It's through Christ. And we've got to bow and know
Christ and submit and commit to Christ. That's by His grace
too. But by His grace, we're going to have to see Him and
fall in love with Him and commit to Him and follow Him and be
one of His sheep, or we're not. We're going to be judged. In Christ, there's no condemnation. All those words are going to
ring. There's going to be glory to believers. No condemnation. That's what they're going to
be saying throughout eternity, saying, no condemnation, no condemnation,
no. In Christ, because of him, because
of him, because of him. But the others, that's going
to ring in Christ. I heard that, how
many times did I hear that? In Christ, in Christ, no condemnation. How many times? God. Christ is
God. Who is this Jesus? Who was this
one that walked the earth? How many times have we heard
that? How many times has he told us who he is? Who was this Jesus
that walked the earth? I know what religion is saying
about him. That's the reason men have no respect for him,
have no need for him. They call him gentle Jesus, meek
and mild. That's what the Catholics say.
They went about just loving everybody and doing good, and they killed
him because he was a You know, he tried, and they... This is God walking this planet. God walking this planet. He had
a job to do. He came for a purpose, and a
job to do it. And he got the job done, and
he led, he said here, he said, and he laid his life down, like
taking off a suit of clothes, work clothes, put them down,
went back. Said, it's done. Got the job done. God, what'd
he do? What'd he come to do? He came
to be a righteousness for some people. He came to live a perfect
life for some people. Say, I don't need that. Didn't
do it for you. He came to establish a righteousness
for some that don't have one. You say, I don't have one. I
need it. Did it for you. He came to die a death to pay
for the sins of his people. You say, I ain't no sinner. He
didn't do it for you. But he came to put away the sins
of his people, which God's going to punish people for. And his
people, some people say, I made that sacrifice. He did it for
you. Came to, he did all that, took his work clothes off, went
in the grave, took his work clothes off, went back to the Father.
Job done. Finished. I'm talking about the
Savior. Only, on the way to God, only
life and the rest of it is condemned. How many times has he told us
that? I've told you. I've told you. You know, we looked at, we studied in here one time,
not too long ago, the only times when the Lord raised His voice
in the Scripture. Scripture says Christ He shall
not cry nor cause his voice to be heard in the streets." He
didn't go running around crying, oh please believe on me, hey,
hey, hey. He didn't cry, no. He very seldom raised his voice. Generally you raise your voice
when you get mad or you're upset and you're not getting your way,
aren't you? You're trying to convince somebody.
You husband and wife, when do your voices start raising? when
you disagree, and she won't listen to you, and you know you're right,
and she won't listen to you, so you keep raising her boy,
or vice versa. He didn't raise his boy. He wasn't
trying to get anybody to believe anything. He wasn't raising his boy. He
went about calmly and quietly calling his sheep, and they heard
him. But a few times he did raise his boy. And the last time quoted
in Scripture, the last time it says in Scripture that he's going
to raise his voice, the last time, do you remember that? Or
when Revelation says one more time he's going to raise his
voice, it says God with a loud voice cried. Do you remember
that? And it doesn't say what he said. Do you remember looking at that? It does not say what he cried
with a loud voice. You know what he could say? You know what he could say? I told you. In other words, this
is when he's rolling this old ball of dirt up and kept throwing
it away. When he's destroying this whole thing, he could say,
this is what the last thing he could say. I told you. And now, to stand to the believer,
that's going to be a great, glorious sound. You told us. That's right.
You told us. And by your grace, we heard you. But to the unbeliever, it's going
to be, I know you told us. Can we believe that? Now, he said, look here,
in verse I told you, and you believe not,
the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of it."
He said, the works I do. Documented, undeniable, irrefutable,
documented evidence of what Jesus Christ did when he walked this
planet. It's been passed down for generations. The blind. Blind people. I'm not talking
like Ernest Hangsley, you know. He gets somebody's nearsighted
and says, take your glasses off and now you can see. Not that. Blind people. Born blind. A man
is born blind. Everybody knew he was born blind. He wasn't some hocus, some charlatan
thing, you know, where they planted this fella in the audience and
he's supposed to be blind. Everybody knew this guy was blind.
And there's more than one, there's several. And the Lord came and
gave him eyesight. He saw, the man was over 40 years
old, and he, all of a sudden he had eyesight. Everybody saw
that. And that's what they, again,
that devil opened the eyes of the blind. Who could do such
a thing? Except God. Swear to me. Never
been heard of before. No man has ever done something
like that before. This man did. Deaf people. I mean, still couldn't
hear. Had their ears open. Lame people. I'm talking about people that
had palsy. Whose limbs were withered. Not just sitting in a wheelchair.
Not just walking with a cane. I just summed up walking with
a cane, and he said, throw away your cane. Now walk, stand up.
Oh, these were withered, little bitty skinny ankles and legs. They hadn't been on them since
they were born. Christ said, get up. Walk. And the people said, oh God,
this is God's with us. No man can do this. This is God. So Christ said, and He raised
the dead. I've often said that. If these
so-called healing preachers want to really convince me anyway,
go down here to Franklin Memorial Park. I'll come with them. I'll go. Let's go down there
and stand. And if one of them can raise
somebody out of one of those graves, I believe Jesus Christ
did. As I said, he never attended
a funeral that he didn't raise the person
from. You can't stay dead in the presence
of life. Every funeral he attended, he
said, what are we crying for? Get up! Except his own. And he raised the dead, and one
day he was killed. He was killed. They thought they
killed him. He laid it down. He said, I'm
going to die. Let's see anybody try that. I think I will die. We use that as a figure of speech,
and I'm just going to die. Christ, that's what he said here.
He said, I laid down my life. One day on Calvary, it wasn't
the spear that killed him. They came by later on with a
spear and they saw he was dead already. He died a lot sooner
than most people die from crucifixion. Why? He said, I'm going to die. He died. He laid his life down. Three days later, he said, I'm
going to live. I'm coming back. And he got that
body back on. He put back on that human body
and rolled the stone away and walked out of there. He said,
the works that I do, they bear witness to that. And we're going to see, and the
scripture says, every eye shall behold him whom they have pierced. People were shocked when they
saw him walking around after he was dead. Well, isn't this
the one we pierced? Yes. And nobody's going to wonder
who this is when we leave this planet and go into the other
life. Nobody's going to wonder who that is. They don't know. And salvation is to know Him
now, and bow now. Vast number of people saw his
works. They all said, this is God. Scripture
says Jews, listen, Scripture says Jews seek a sign. Religious
people want a sign. These Jews said the same thing
later on. Moses gave our fathers bread from heaven. What sign
show us now? Jews seek a sign. Sign! Signs
and wonders! Oh my! The whole book is full
of signs and wonders, aren't it? His whole life was one sign
declaring who he was. Signs! And God says, you want
a sign, Jew? Here he is! Everything about
him is one glorious wonder, an amazing sign. No mere man, it's God. It says
Greeks, scholarly, educated, they seek wisdom. They want wisdom. Greeks today, religious, educated
people, they're not convinced about this old Bible stuff. They
want some wisdom. You know, a bunch of them came
to hear him. I love this passage. Said a bunch
of them, doctors and lawyers much of them came to hear him,
and they heard him, and then they started asking him questions.
And they asked him this question, and he answered it. And a lawyer
had asked him this question. He thought, I got him now, and
he'd answer it. And a fellow would be scratching
his head, leaving that play. And another fellow, a doctor,
would ask him, and he'd answer it. And before long, the Scripture
says, and after a while, nobody Asked him any more questions. He answered them all, and they
said, Wisdom? No man spake like this man. Wisdom. You know, even every religion
today, every religion today. I used to read the Eastern religions,
Buddhism, Hinduism, and all that. Every religion, even the Muslims
today, quote Jesus. Oh, yeah. Even they consult his
wisdom. They acknowledge his wisdom.
No man speaks like this man. Well, look at verse 26. Verse
26. He said that these works bear
witness of me, verse 26, but you believe not, because you
believe not. Now, when I told you, he said,
I told you, I told you how many times have I told you? I told
you, but you believed not. Why? After undeniable proof,
this gospel has been declared Thessalonian. Paul said in 1
Thessalonians that the gospel came here, it's come here in
this place with Not just in word only, not some silly little sentimental
sermonette, as Brother Bell would say, about some little
sermonette against women smoking cigarettes, dressed like majorettes. Not some silly little moral story,
you know, some effeminate fellow standing up in a robe a pointed
hat on his head, throwing water in your—some stupid little ridiculous
ceremony we're going through in that choir, everybody—all
that nonsense. The Word come here, just a flat
old preaching of the Word, and it's come with authority and
power. That's what they said about him
preaching. No man speaks with authority. He says this is the
way it is, and it ain't no other way. And it's been heard here
like that. Why don't folks believe that? Why don't folks believe? I'd
venture to say everyone in here has heard that he's told us. It's been told us. We've heard
this message. Why? Why don't people believe?
Why don't people fall on their faces before this Christ? I'll give you a few reasons,
and then I'll give you what Christ is. Number one, the reason men
don't believe, because they don't know the character of God, really.
They hear it, but they don't believe that, the character of
God. They don't believe that God is God. and come, you know, anything
can happen, you know, and they believe that. Instead of a preacher
standing up and preaching the holy character of God and the
sovereign character of God, and he doesn't need anybody, and
they better come begging for mercy, and they better fear God
and bow down to full God. Fear of God. That's what the
Scripture says. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
And men don't know. The God that's preached today,
they don't fear Him. Nothing to fear about it. I wouldn't
fear Him. In fact, I think I can whip Him.
He has no hands. I'd whip a no-hand man. That's
what preachers say. No hands but your hands. No arms
but your hands. I'm sure I'd whip a fellow with
no arms. That's what preachers are saying,
too. And He wants to save you, and you won't let Him. As the
old farmer said, well, when he tries to send me to hell, I won't
let him do that either. I'm telling you, men don't know
the power of Almighty God. But God in whose hands our breath
is. Our breath. I just breathed. I just did it again. Scripture
says that God in whose hands our breath is, in all our ways.
The very simplest of things, the very naturalist, most natural
thing that we do, seemingly a reflex thing, a thing that we'd never
even think about. Breath! He said, that's God. God gave
it. You're breathing right now. Henry, God said, breathe. Breathe.
Breathe. And someday, Henry, you're going
to die, God. And when you're going to die is when God says,
stop breathing. That's who God is. He controls all. And if men did
know that, they'd create fear in them, wouldn't they? We haven't
worshiped this God. If men knew God's utter holiness,
that He absolutely hates and despises sin of any sort, and
He's going to punish everyone. They run to Christ so fast. They'd make haste. Secondly,
men don't believe because they don't know themselves. They don't
know their own nature. You know why people don't know
their own nature? You know, there's nothing that you and
I wouldn't do apart from the grace of God. There's not a man
in here who wouldn't be a mad murderer and a rapist and just
the worst hellion that ever walked this planet if it weren't for
the grace of God. The seeds are there. Every guy
that went wild, that went on a killing spree, serial killer
or what have you, ever started out as some mama's boy,
well, he's a good boy. Well, we raised him right. I
don't know what went wrong. God took his hand off of him. There's not a woman in here who
wouldn't be the worst harlot on the streets of New York City
if it weren't for the restraining grace of God. Those of you who know a little
inkling of yourself, you know it's so, don't you? You know
there's enough hate and wickedness within your own heart and mind
to create another hell. restraining grace of God's what
keeps us from being the worst of sort, nothing we wouldn't
do if it weren't for the grace of God Almighty. Men don't know
that, don't realize that. And they attribute, you know,
their goodness to themselves. And religious people, the righteous,
the self-righteous, religious people. Churches are full of
them today, religious people. who think they're doing God a
favor by coming to church and sitting there, and here I am. God's going to be pleased with
this. I'm going to give my ten bucks. And as God says in Isaiah 1 and
other places, he said, they're righteousnesses. He said they're
righteousnesses. They're best deeds. are filthy
rags in my eye." If men realize that, that they stink to God,
that religion, our religion stinks to God, our so-called sincerity
stinks to God. Your heart's not in that. God
says that. And they go running to Christ
with that. Oh, Lord, help us and save us
or we perish. Save us, don't let God speak
to us, you speak for Him. We're sinners. See, men joke,
men don't realize themselves. Another thing, why don't people
believe that they don't need Christ? That's just plain and
simple. Why don't people believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ? They don't need Him. They're
either too good to need a Savior, or too bad to carry on your body. Not broken, not hungry. Hungry. The only man that wants food
is a hungry man. The only one that wants Christ is a sinful,
guilty man. And lastly, they don't bleed
because they don't want Christ. They don't want Christ. Why don't
people bow and commit and submit and believe and cry, they don't
want it. I'm having too much fun. I don't want to do that. That
would cost me too much. I don't want to be a Christian
disciple. I'm not ready to give up my friend.
I'm not ready to give up the world. And if you don't have
to, they'll give you up, but you don't have to do anything. But I'm not ready. I don't want
to. I'm not having fun. I don't want Him, Christ." Boy, His people do. They want
Him more than anything else. And ultimately, this is what
Christ said, why people don't believe. Look at it. And this
is just ought to shatter our brains, our hearts, ought to
break every heart in here who doesn't, who just doesn't care
about Jesus Christ. It ought to just absolutely kill
us. Verse 26, you believe not because
you are not my sheep. You're not my sheep. You're not my sheep. He says, verse twenty-seven,
I said unto you, My sheep, hear my voice. And I know And they follow me. They believe,
they trust, they confess, they commit. Follow somebody means,
that means leave everything else and follow him. Now, I can't
follow Henry. Henry's gonna go down the road.
I can't follow Henry and follow Stan, too. Can't be done. It's impossible. That's impossible.
I mean, you're gonna follow Henry and I'm gonna follow Stan. I
can't go that direction and go that one, too. I can't even try
to do that. I can't get on one side of the
fence and be on the other, too. Straddling the fence. Christ
said, My sheep hear my voice. I know them. And they know me. And they follow me. They follow
me. They commit to me. They abide by my grace. Do you
believe? Do you believe? Do you believe that this God,
what you are, and who this Christ is, and see your need of Him,
and by His grace you endeavor Him as much as life within you,
and follow Him? You love this Christ? You need Him? Do you believe? Do you? You're one of his sheep. What ought to chill a man who
doesn't care anything about Christ, or a woman or a young person
who doesn't care anything? It'll chill them. You're not
my sheep. You're going to separate one
day sheep from goats. What ought to chill them ought
to make the believer shout for joy. I believe. I do. I love this Christ. You are my sheep. I know you. I know you. And you're going to follow me. You're going to follow me. Ah,
boy, verse 4, look at it. Look how many times he says,
his sheep, my sheep. My sheep. Verse 4, he says, when
the shepherd put forth his own sheep, his own sheep. He goes
before them. Oh, every verse is a message
in it. The sheep follow him. They know
his voice. His own sheep. Verse 14. He said,
I'm the good shepherd. I know my sheep. My sheep. Look at verse 15 and 16. As the
Father knoweth me, I know the Father, and I lay down my life
for the sheep. Other sheep I have. which are not of this fold, not
just Jews, they are of some where, I must bring them. They're mine. They don't hear my voice, because
they're mine. My sheep. They're mine. Look at verse 29. Their mind,
their Christ, because they're of a gift. Verse 29, My Father
which gave them Me. God gave them to Christ. All that the Father giveth Me
shall come to Me. Shall come to Me. His Father
is the great landowner and the sheep owner. He chose the sheep
and He gave them to Christ. That He should give eternal life
to as many as Thou hast given him." They're mine, Christ said.
God gave them to me. I came down to earth to find
them. I'm going to find them all. They're mine. As I said in that article in
the bulletin, if I had more than one child, they were mine. My child. I had two, three children. If I came to the table one day
and one of them was missing, I'd say, Where's Billy? He's not here. Where is he? He's
lost. Well, would I say, would I say, well,
I sure hope Billy makes it. He's lost. My Billy, whom I love,
my son. Yeah, he's lost. I'm going to go find him. Y'all
wait right here. I'm leaving you. I'm going to
go find Billy. And according to my power and my ability to
find him, I'll find him." Christ said, all power is given unto
me in heaven and earth. It says the great shepherd left
the ninety and nine to find his lost sheep. It doesn't say, and
when he can't find them, he comes on back dejected. No, it says,
and when he has found them, it says he picks them up. And take
some home. Take some home. My sheep, the
Father gave them to me in a covenant before the world began. Gave
them to me to do something for them. They can't do anything.
They're just sheep. Sheep can't do anything but shed and other
things. Sheep can't do anything. The
most helpless creature on earth. Sheep. Christ said, I'm the good
shepherd. I came down to do the work for the sheep, to be their
righteousness, to be their substitute, to be their surety, to be their
mediator, to be their master, to be their Lord, to be their
shepherd, to lead them, to guide them, to take them home, to lead
them, to make sure they get there, to destroy the wolves and their
enemies, to protect them, to lead them. I'm the shepherd.
I'm the good shepherd. I ain't lost a sheep. They're Christ's by death, too.
They're his sheep because God gave them to him. And they're
also his by purchase, death. He said he laid down his life
for the sheep. And he said in another place,
You're not your own now. You're not your own man. You belong to another man who
bought you for the price. John, you belong to somebody
else. by death and by inheritance. It says, since Christ did this,
he says he's given him the heathen for his inheritance. So Christ
said, I have some sheep. I have some sheep. God has an
elect people, some sheep. Like it or love it, he has some
sheep, some elect that he gave to Christ. Christ, the good shepherd,
came down to this earth to seek those lost sheep who didn't know
the shepherd. They were chosen by God, given
to Christ by God, bought with his blood. Christ said, I'm their
shepherd, I come to give life, and they shall, they shall hear
my voice. Verse 3 says it, the sheep hear
my voice. Verse 4, they know his voice. Verse 16, them all I must bring
them, they shall hear my voice. Verse 27, my sheep hear my voice. Sheep, sheep, sheep, sheep. And they thought That voice that said, Let there
be light, and there was light, said, Let there be light in that
old dark heart of Sherry, whatever her name was before she got married.
Let there be light. Open her eyes to see the sun
as she shone in of righteousness, her righteousness, who was risen
with healing for her sin-sick soul in his wings. And she said,
Shepherd. Sheep. Shepherd. Where are you going? Prepare
a place for you. I'm coming, too. Oh, my, how blessed. Our Lord
said to Peter and the disciples one day, He said, There's a lot
of people saying some things about me. He said, I hear the
talk. They're talking about me. I hear
it. What are men saying about me?" He knew. One of them said, well, some
say you're Elijah, come back to earth. Some say you're one
of the prophets. Some say you're John the Baptist,
risen from the dead. He said, who do you say I am? Who do you say I am? And Peter
said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Oh, blessed
art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, he said. Flesh and blood didn't
reveal that to you. Your mama and daddy didn't reveal
that to you. But my Father which is in heaven,
why? You're one of my sheep. He gave
you to me and me to you, to hear my voice. But he said of some,
you don't hear my voice. Some are here in this message
right now. Why? Turned on my sheet. That just chills me to think
about, you know, there's somebody in here. It's just, it's just water off
a duck's back. He said, My sheep hear my voice.
That's the difference between goats and sheep, you know? Sheep
hear. Goats, but. Those goats hear something, but
they end up butting. But, yeah, but. Sheep rejoice. You know what it is to hear his
voice? It's to rejoice in it, to hear the gospel. Here are
two people come in and sit. Two people come in and sit. It
can be two sisters or two brothers. raised by the same family, same
mother and father, basically the same upbringing, come in
and sit where the gospel is. Two sisters. And a man get up
and preach, and they both hear the same thing, and one of them
just, did you hear that? And her heart
just lifts with joy, and she goes out, that's the greatest
message I've ever heard. Isn't that great? Isn't that
gospel great? And the other one says, I didn't
hear anything. I didn't. What's so special about
it? It was a good sermon. What's
the difference? Sheep. My sheep hear my voice. They
hear it. They delight in it. They delight
in it. They must hear it, too. Sheep
must hear it. You know, sheep have to have
good pasture. They do. Sheep won't eat anything.
Sheep just won't eat anything. They have to have good pasture.
They're particular grazing animals, and they won't eat anything.
Goats will. Goats will eat anything. They'll take it all in. Ten cans
and all. But sheep won't. They've got
to have green pasture. And God's people Once they've
heard the gospel, once they've heard Christ preached, they're
not satisfied with anything else but Christ preached. And some
go to, so come on down here, we'll eat down here. No, there
ain't no good food down there. Are they serving Christ down
there? No, but you've got a good sermon against abortions and
that. Well, I don't need that. I want, I need feeding. I need,
I'm hungry, I need crying. Goat will eat anything. Sheep
must have green pasture. They must hear it. They'd like
to hear it. And they'll go a long way to
hear it. They'll go a long way to hear it. Sheep will go a long
way to find good food. And shepherd, that's the shepherd
leading them, leading his sheep to good pasture. What kind of
shepherd would just throw his sheep some scraps? And if you see no difference
in this place, or a place where they do preach the gospel, such
as, well, I can name many. But if you see no difference
in this one and another place, maybe you're not one of the sheep.
A sheep must have good, and they must hear the gospel, must hear
Christ. He said, they hear my voice,
they wait for it. They must hear the voice, and
they're going to snore. They love it when they hear his
voice. The sheep love it when they hear his voice. What are
you going to preach on today? Preacher? I'm going to preach Christ. Oh,
good! That's just what I need to hear.
They love the shepherd's voice. The gospel is the shepherd's
voice. You know Molly. Most everybody knows Molly by
now. I've talked about her. with affection at Turner. There's
a big draft horse over at our place, a gold draft horse, a
Belgian draft horse, and she's mine. She's mine. That's my horse. That ain't Mindy's
horse. It's not Hannah's horse. It's my horse. and she knows
I purchased her I took my money and I went and I bought her and
I brought her home and I fed her and fed her and I washed
her washed her down sixteen hundred pounds and all every square inch
I scrubbed her and cleaned her and picked her feet and washed
her, and fed her, and watered her, and wooed her, and ridden
her. I got on her and rode her. I ride her. She's mine. I know her. We've come to know
each other. You say, an old horse? Yeah. And she knows me. Doesn't she? Doesn't she, Hannah? Who does Molly like? And sometimes I'll go out there
on the farm there, and it's dark, and they're in their stalls,
and Molly's stall is where you can't see somebody walk up. And I walk in the shed, and the
other two horses are in the barn there where they can see, and
I'll speak to one of them, and Molly, here's my voice, and Molly
goes, It's like, don't talk to them.
Come see me. Or is that you? Master, is what
she's saying. That's my master. And I'll go
around the corner. It's me, honey. And there are
other things I won't go into. And Christ said, my sheep hear
my voice. I know them. They hear my voice. And they
say, shepherd. In the gospel, in the preaching
of the gospel, the sheep say, is that you? And I know them. I've always
known them. Like I said, Christ didn't come
down here begging, pleading with folks to let him be their shepherd.
He knew who his sheep was, and he came down to find them. And
he found them all, and spoke to them. He said, you're one
of mine. Zacchaeus? Yes. Come on down. You're mine. Master. Peter, Andrew,
get out of the boat. Get out of the boat. Come on. Master. John, James, leave your
dad, leave your living, follow me. Master. And he says, and I give them
eternal life. Verse 28, I give unto them eternal
life and they shall never perish. Never, never. Goats, those are
not my sheep, oh yeah. He's going to say in one day,
but, but, but, but we tend to church, but, but, but, but we,
we preach, we probably good people, we did our best. I never knew
you. You're not my child. My sheep
hear my voice, and they follow me. Depart from them. Depart from them. But he says
to the sheep, I give unto them eternal life. Now, eternal life
is not just the duration of it. In a sense, all men are going
to live forever. and sin, but not with God. Eternal
life is who you're going to live with. It's the quality of life,
the quality of... We have another horse over there
at the place, another horse that we purchased also, another horse.
And when we purchased this animal, it was fit for the slaughter. Some of you saw that animal.
I've got a picture of it. It was a bag of bone. I mean, pitiful sight. You could
see his hip bones, his back, all of his, count his vertebrae,
count every one of his ribs. It was, it was, there was no
food. The place we found it was in a herd of other horses and
they picked on it and wouldn't let it eat. And it hung its head down. You
could lead it like a little sick, it's sad. No food. Had a shaggy coat, wasn't it
mean? Gee, look, it was awful looking. My wife said, I want
that horse. I said, oh, that one, yes, yes,
I think we can do something with it. So we bought that horse. We saved
its life. The fellow that sold it to me
said, I can get as much as you pay for her. I can get that much
in the price of meat. Sixty-five, seventy cents a pound. And we took that horse home. And we gave her life. We turned
her loose in a green pasture. If horses could talk, she'd say,
I've never seen this much grass. And we scrubbed her. We did all
those things. Scrubbed her down. You ought
to see her now. You ought to see her now. I'm
going to send in a before and after picture in one of these
magazines. You ought to see her now. She's healthy, a rose bush. She's beautiful. She runs down
through that pasture. She's solid black, long hair
and tail, mane and tail flowing in. She's beautiful when she
runs. And when she runs, she's kicking up her heels. It's like
she's saying, Life! Life! I've got life! Before she's
hanging her head, she was dead! Good is dead. We came and bought her, took
her home and washed her and fed her and laid her to green pastures.
She runs around kicking up her heels. She has life and life
more abundant than she'd ever known before. This old boy was
dead if you'd seen him in the gutter one day. Some 15, 20 years
ago, however long, when you seen him lying in the gutter, looks
like that old man's a horse. And not even good for meat. Until
the Lord of Life came by and said, Live, son. You're coming
with me. You're coming home with me. I'm
going to wash you in the blood. I'm going to lead you to green
pastures. You're going to fill up and get
fat. Get you so fat. And you're going to kick up your
heel. Life! I used to think, now boy, I used
to think a couple of Budweiser's and a, you know, this is living. Boy, it don't get no better than
this. Whoa, man, if that's as good
as it gets. And some of you right now are
saying, it doesn't get any better than this. Aren't you? This is living. Well, listen to this version,
I'll quit. It says, Thou wilt show me the path of life. And in thy presence is fullness
of joy, and in thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore."
Life, life. Have you heard the shepherd's
voice? Well, boy, if you have, it's
that this gospel interests you, and you see your need, and boy,
it's sweet to you. Oh, you don't know how sweet
it's going to get. This is life, but this is just
a taste, a foretaste of glory to man. It does get better than
this. It does get better than this.
As a matter of fact, the eye has never seen or ear heard or
entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared
for them to learn. Do you love the shepherd? If you do and have heard his
voice in the gospel, it's because a good shepherd came down and
said, You're one of my sheep. I bought you. You're coming with
me. All right. I hope so. You got
a message or a song and message picked up. Message and song.