Well, it's a delight to be back
up here in Asheville. Probably hindered for a while,
weren't we? Different things. We're thankful that we're here.
Good to see so many dear faces. Somebody, for some reason, told
me Phil was in the nursing home. And I was so glad to see her
when I first come up. I said, I'm so glad you're out of the
nursing home. She wasn't in the nursing home. I don't know where
I got that idea, but it is great to see her. We're old heart patients
together. I'm thankful to be here. Turn
back with me to John. My text tonight is John chapter
10 and verse 11. Our Lord said, I am the good
shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. That's quite a statement. It's
quite a statement. Now these words of our Lord are
part of a parable. And generally speaking, a parable
is a comparative story designed to teach or declare a single
truth. And this parable is found in
verses 1 through 6 and illuminated in verses 7 through 18. And the
reason that our Lord spake in parables was twofold. The first
was to illuminate the truth to the elect. The second was to
confuse and confound the non-elect. That's why he taught in parables. In Matthew chapter 13, that's
what he told his disciples. Verses 10 and 11, he said, And
the disciples came and said unto him, Why speakest thou to them
in parables? And remember, he said to them,
not to us. They didn't say, why do you speak
to us in parables? Why do you speak to them? He's
talking about the Pharisees, religionists. He answered and
said unto them, Because it's given unto you to know to know
the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is
not given. Not given. That's why he spoke
in parables. Now he spoke in parables because
his children would understand. In verse 5 of our text, back in
John chapter 10, It says, A stranger will they not follow, but will
flee from him, for they know not the voice of a stranger.
Talking about his people, they won't. They won't follow a stranger. Our Lord said in Proverbs 25,
It's the glory of the Lord to conceal a thing. To conceal a
thing. When those two groups of people
began to give Christ trouble, and to give John the Baptist
trouble, Because of the way they were and the way they preached,
they laughed at them and mocked them and they said to John, we
don't care how hard you are. We don't care how tough you are,
how tough your messages are, we are simply not going to mourn
when you preach. And then when Jesus Christ came
along and preached the message of grace and mercy to poor wretched
sinners, they said, you sound like somebody blowing on a flute. piping a little tune. And no
matter how sweet your message sounds, we're not going to dance
to it. And our Lord looked to heaven,
and he said, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I thank thee
that thou hast hid these things from the wise and the prudent,
and revealed them unto babes. For even so, it seemed good in
thy sight. You see, the word of God, the
gospel, is for the eternal benefit of those who are made spiritually
alive, and that through the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And the gospel is at the same time for the demise
of those who remain in their unbelief. That's what its design
is. Paul made that clear in Corinthians
when he said, we're always triumphant when we preach the gospel. Smells
like a sweet smelling savor to God, which is pictured as Christ's
sacrifice throughout the Old Testament. Now to some it's going
to smell like death. And others it's going to smell
like life. He said, but it's the same gospel, it's the gospel
we preach. And that matter of how it smells to people, we don't
have anything to do with. We just declare the gospel, and
God says we always are triumphant in doing so. And then he applies
it, as he will apply it. To some, he makes that gospel
smell like death. To others, he makes it smell
like life. And Paul, knowing that he was glad that he had
nothing to do with how the results turned out, he said, we're not
sufficient for these things. It's not up to us, but to preach
the gospel of Jesus Christ. And the gospel lifts the children
of God and drives down those who oppose the truth. A parable
is a comparative story. Being a comparative story, the
truth that it sets forth is a truth that makes a distinction, always
makes a distinction. And its end result will be that
the true is distinguished from the false. When a parable is
preached by our Lord, it distinguishes the true from the false. And
we can see this take place. here in these very words that
our Lord speaks. In verse 19, it says this, There
was a division therefore, a division therefore among the Jews for
these things. And many of them said, He hath
a devil, and is mad, ye hear him. Others said, These are not
the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of
the blind? There you have the division. One group said he has
the devil. Another group says he doesn't
have the devil. because he spoke to them in parables. In verses
24 through 26, here are the Pharisees. Now, he's talked to them, and
this is who he's talking to in this passage of Scripture. He's
talked to them, and they have come to the conclusion that they
don't know what he's talking about. Well, they don't, because
the parable was meant to confuse them. And then came the Jews
round about him and said unto him, How long dost thou make
us meet a doubt? Now, he's been pretty clear about
who he is and what he's done. And they didn't get it, because
he spoke to them in parables about a shepherd and a sheep
coat and doors, and they didn't get it. So they said, how long
are you going to make us to doubt? Tell us if you are the Christ. If thou be the Christ, tell us
plainly. Not in parables, but just say
it. And Jesus said to them, I told you. I told you. And you believe
not. The works that I do in my father's
name, they bear witness of me, but you believe not. Why? Because you're not my sheep. That's why you don't believe.
You're not my sheep. Now, he is speaking here in this
parable that he's speaking to those who are not his sheep. And the proof is just what we
read. And it's important to know who Christ is speaking to because
text and context have to be right. There are four things that determine
context. Who is speaking? Who is being
spoken to? What is the subject being addressed?
And what is the conclusion of the result of the context? Now the translators of the King
James Version made a chapter division between verse 41 of
chapter 9 and verse 1 of chapter 10, but that's the conversation
that continues what our brother just read. Now he said to these
Pharisees, Jesus said in verse 39 of chapter 9, For judgment
am I coming to this world, that they which see not might see,
and they which see might be made blind. Now he's saying this to
the Pharisees. And some of the Pharisees which were with him
heard these words and said, are we blind? You talking about us?
Are we blind also? And Jesus said, if you were blind,
and the reference here is to this one poor, wretched sinner
that the whole ninth chapter is about. If you were blind,
like that fellow was blind, you'd have no sin. But now you say, we get it. We see it. We understand the
Bible. And your sin remains. And the
next thing he says to them is, verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that entereth not by the door of the sheepfold, but climbeth
up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. And is he talking about some
bank robber? He's talking to those who believe with all their
heart that they can merit a righteousness before Almighty God that will
please God and they can do it by their own will and by their
own power. He says you're a bunch of thieves
and a bunch of robbers. He's speaking to the Pharisees
who have cast out the man whom Christ has made to see, even though he had been born
blind. Christ has received this one man. He's rejected these
religious men. He speaks to those who say they
see but are blind and remain in their sin. He speaks to them
in a parable because He said in Matthew 13, They seeing see
not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. He
takes that from Isaiah chapter 6 and verse 9. When Isaiah, who
had been seen, who had seen some things, in the year the king
was died, I saw also the Lord. I lifted up, and His train filled
the temple. The doorposts shook, and these six creatures were
flying backwards and forwards, singing, Holy, holy, holy is
the Lord of hosts. The word, the Lord has done this.
I saw the King in his glory. Man, he's got something to say,
doesn't he? I got a message. I've seen the King in his glory.
I've seen angels flying and saying, holy, holy, holy. I want to tell
the people. I want to go out and tell the people. The Lord
said, okay. Go on out. Go on out and tell the people.
He said, tell them what you've seen and what you've heard and
make them fat. and close their eyes and shut
up their ears because I'm not going to convert them. And this
is what he's quoting in Matthew 13, 13 because he goes on to
say, as Isaiah said, seeing they see not and hearing they hear
not. He makes distinguishing statements
that further teach that these he speaks to are not the people
of God, though they claim to be. These Pharisees are the thieves
and robbers of verse one. They are those who hear the voice
of strangers. The use of the metaphor of the
door is particularly precise. The door of the sheepfold at
tithing time was so narrow that two lambs could not go through
at the same time. Just one at a time. This not
only refers to the straight and narrow way, but is purely a statement
that the healed, believing, blind man was the singular one who
had entered in and found pasture and went in and out, while the
multitude of the morally religious upright icons remained outside
the fold. Just one can go through the door,
you see. These to whom our Lord makes this parable are, in another
place, described as those who shut up the kingdom of God against
men and would not enter in, and further would not suffer them
to enter in who would. This is certainly true of this
crowd as seen in their treatment of the man whom Christ healed.
They wanted to cast him out. In fact, they did. They cast
him out of the temple. His peril is spoken to the self-righteous
to confound them, to show that they were not the sheep of the
Father's fold, and they did not hear and did not follow the shepherd
whom God had appointed." They didn't do it. But He said this
about them in an earlier place in John chapter 8. He says, Your
father is the devil. Do you know what it is to be
demon-possessed and not draw pentagrams on the wall? Do you
know what it is to be demon-possessed? To believe that you can marry
the righteousness before God. You fool of the devil if you
believe that. Because that's what he said, you believe what
your father believes and he was the father of lies. He said,
I speak to you and you can't hear me because I tell you the
truth. He said, if you were of God, you'd hear God's words,
but because you don't hear them, you're not of God. When the truth that is declared
in this parable, it is the same truth that elicits the same response
from the Pharisees of this day. When spoken, it raises their
ire to the place they would kill Christ if they could, which it
says in verse 31 of the same chapter. The truth, this truth
that our Lord speaks in a parable is the truth of particular redemption. Redemption of the elect. Folks say, well, what is election?
You know what election is. It means chosen. Anybody have
difficulty with that? We got a dictionary in the library
over here. We can look it up. It's not hard.
Chosen. That's what election means. It's not hard to understand. If you're a Pharisee, it's hard
to swallow, but it's not hard to understand. You see, people
hate the gospel because they know what it says. It's our job
to be as clear as possible in saying it. As Scott Richardson
said one time, if you leave this place tonight and don't believe
the gospel, I want you to know what you don't believe. I want
you to know for sure what you are rejecting and turning away
from. I want you to know that. Remember what our Lord said. He said the good shepherd giveth
his life for the sheep. And the Ethiopian version reads,
the good shepherd giveth his life for the redemption of the
sheep. Remember that Christ is distinguished
between this one sinner saved by grace and the religious multitude
who thought they saw the truth, but were actually blind to it,
were indeed blinded by it. He was, by this parable, declaring
that he did not give his life for their redemption, but for
that one lone pariah, that poor blind outcast, that beggar. And to explain the attributes
of that single elect sinner, he uses the analogy of the shepherd
and the sheep. He speaks to those who are not
sheep, concerning the one man who is a sheep. He speaks to
the ninety and nine who need no repentance about the one lost
lamb who he will search for until he finds it and brings it safely
to the fold. He speaks to the righteous that
he did not come to call about the sinners who he did come to
bring to repentance. The sheep are described as those
whom the shepherd knows personally. He said, I call them by name. He knows them lovingly and those
who hear his voice and the sheep will hear his voice. What is
the voice of Christ? Well, I've never audibly heard
it. Have you? And yet every time
this fellow stands up and preaches the gospel, Every time Lance
stands up and preaches the gospel of Drew, Bruce stands up and
preaches the gospel. Brother Allen stands up and preaches
the gospel. Every time. You know what the sheep hear?
The voice of Christ. It's the Word. It's the Word. That's the voice of Christ. You
remember what our Lord said in this new covenant that He made?
He said He's going to put His Word, His Law, His Book in their
hearts. Put it in their hearts. Now,
do you know all the Word of God? No, I don't know it all. I've
been looking at it as a pastor for 43 years and I just feel
like I've touched the hem of the garment only. And yet, you
know what you do when you hear the truth? That's the truth. That's what
you say. I know that's the truth. Well,
how do you know that? because God has already put in your heart
that which responds to it when you hear the truth. That's the
truth. That's the truth. That's the glory of it. That's
the voice of Christ. These hear his voice. He said,
they hear my voice and they follow me. The sheep are those for whom
Christ died. Verse 15, he says that, As the Father knoweth me,
even so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep.
Note that in our text there is no separation between Christ
and His work. It's an impossible thing to do.
The defining of the Good Shepherd is this. How do we know He's
a Good Shepherd? He gives His life for the sheep.
That's not a real hard equation, is it? We're not talking about
Algebra 2 here. This is a pretty simple equation.
How do we know He's the Good Shepherd? The Good Shepherd gives
His life for the sheep. This is not a generic thing.
He does not give His life as a martyr or an example of some
ersatz declaration of the unrequited love He has for the Father. He
gives His life. He lays down His life to deliver
His sheep. from thieves and robbers, from
the blind who say they see, from the hireling who knows not the
sheep. He gives His life for the sheep that they would be
delivered from the ravening wolves of religion. He gives His life
for the sheep for the glory and honor of the Father, for the
salvation of their souls. He gives His life for the sheep
because He must bring them into the fold. He must. He simply
must. He gives His life for the sheep because He alone has the
power to die. and live again. We never equate power with death.
Some of us have come close in our lifetimes. Some have died. I buried a dear brother last
week. He got the COVID, about got over the COVID and had a
heart attack. Died. Had to put him in the ground.
He was a dear friend. I would not, I did not look at
the bodies laid there. He had lost 24 pounds. I didn't look at the body and
say, there's an example of power. Do we ever talk like that? Of
course not. But there is one case in all of human history where death was an accomplishment. Moses and Elijah came back across
time A folded time, perhaps, as Einstein said. And they came
and they stood at the Mount of Transfiguration to talk to Jesus
Christ about the death which he should accomplish in Jerusalem.
You know, he who his life must have some kind of power if he's
just going to stop living. What an accomplishment. He gives his life for the sheep
because he has power to do it. He has power in that death, and
He has power to live again. He lays down His life for the
sheep because He knows them, because they've always been His
sheep, and their destiny is secure and always has been. My sheep
hear My voice and they follow Me. And I give unto them eternal
life, and no man is able to pluck them out of My hand. My Father
which gave them Me is greater than all, and no man is able
to pluck them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one.
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of Christ, the firstborn. And he might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, him
he also called. And whom he called, him he also
justified. And whom he justified, him he also glorified. What shall we say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He spared not His own Son, but
freely gave it up for us all, and how shall He not with Him
freely give us all things? Now lay down my life for the
sheep. I have power to lay it down.
I have power to take it up again. He would not be the Good Shepherd
if He did not give His life for the sheep. He gave his life for
those he had rejected and who rejected him. He would not be
a good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life
for the sheep. He gives his life for the sheep because that is
what the good shepherd does. To assert that Christ's death
was a generic effort to save all men is to disqualify him
as the good shepherd. He's saying to these Pharisees, I didn't die for you. I didn't
lay down my life for you. Try as men may to make this say
something else, it still says what it says and means what it
means. He spoke to those who despised
him, those who felt they had spiritual understanding, those
who said they see and refuse to own their own blindness, and
told them that they were not his sheep. they would receive no benefit
from his death because it was not for them. It was for the lost sheep. It was
for that one blind man that sat outside the temple. Blind since
birth. His disciples couldn't figure
it out. They said, he's blind. Is he blind because his mom and
daddy sinned? Or is he blind because he sinned? Christ said
he's blind for the glory of God. Because I'm about to save him.
He's one of my sheep. And I come down here to call
him that one lost sheep. I've been looking for that fella
for a long time. I used to look for him every time I'd get up
here and preach. How do I know if I'm one of his sheep? Do you
hear his voice? Do you follow him? If you do,
you don't become a sheep by doing that. If you do, it's because
you're one of the sheep. God be the glory.