Let's open the scriptures to
the book of John once again. And this evening we go into a
very familiar chapter in John, John chapter 10. John chapter number 10. Our subject is the first, the
text is the first six verses. Our subject is the, our Lord's,
parable of two shepherds, the parable of two shepherds. Well, this is a chapter that's
about the shepherd and his sheep, and you've studied it, I'm sure,
a good many times. But I think we need to be reminded
that this is a chapter that won't be understood unless we take
into consideration that which has just happened in John chapter
9. The reason being that these divisions
of chapters, lots of times they lead us to think that this is
a brand new situation, a new event, and not connected to what
has just been said, and that's not the case at all. This is
still connected to John chapter 9. Back in John 9, we've had
our Savior. He's given sight to a man who
was blind and who was a beggar, a man that the Savior drew unto
himself. He revealed himself to him. later
in the chapter, and it ends with the Lord Jesus having some things
to say to the Pharisees. These are the most religious,
self-righteous bunch that existed back in those days, and they
thought that their righteousness put them in good standing with
God. They had no use for Jesus of
Nazareth. They didn't need a savior. They
didn't need a sacrifice. They were good people, at least
in their own minds. They were men of good character.
They were very, very religious, and they thought that their religious
deeds would provide for them a suitable righteousness that
God would accept and God would be pleased with. And so they
had no use for Jesus of Nazareth. They'd had no use for one who
said he's the Mediator. They did not consider him to
be the promised Messiah. They considered him to be a phony. He's a fraud. He's not at all
the real Messiah. They were still looking for the
Messiah. And our Lord had some things
to say to them, especially to them, in the last few verses
of John chapter 9, in speaking to these people. And then we
get into chapter 10, and guess what? He's still speaking to
them. But he's also speaking to his disciples. They're there. And he's also speaking to the
man that he had just given sight unto. So here they are. Here's his congregation. Here
are the Pharisees. Here are the religious teachers.
These are the elite of the Jews, of Judaism. And then here's this
man who had been an object of our Lord's sovereign mercy. The
Lord has graciously given him not only physical sight, but
even more importantly, spiritual sight. God gave to him lots more
than he's looking for. I know he was mighty glad to
get physical sight because he had been blind from birth. And that pictures our dilemma
spiritually. We're blind to the things of
God. We're blind to our own depravity. blind to the beauties and the
goodness and the graciousness of the Lord Jesus, blind to the
necessity of His sacrifice. This man is blind to spiritual
things. It's a wonderful thing that God
gave him physical sight, but oh, it's much more wonderful
that He gave him spiritual sight. He quickened him from the dead.
And if you see yourself tonight to be a one who is in need of
the Lord Jesus, who needs the forgiveness of sins, and you
need a righteousness that God approves of, and you've been
made to see that you don't have that kind of righteousness, and
you can't produce it. You can't work it up. You can't
work yourself into God's good favor, and if God's made you
to see, enabled you to see, that the Lord Jesus is the only mediator
between God and men, that one who is the man Christ Jesus.
If God has made you to see salvation by grace alone, in the Lord Jesus
alone, by his sacrifice alone, and you've been brought to rest
in and to believe this great Savior, then that's the greatest
miracle that can happen to you in this life. That's a gift of
spiritual life. And it's due to God's effectual
grace given to you in Christ Jesus before he ever made the
world. That's the reason the Spirit
of God dealt with you graciously. It's a result of the death of
the Lord Jesus on your behalf. And so here's this man who had
been healed. He's in this congregation. And
here are the disciples as well. So the Savior really had a mixed
number here. He's got a mixed audience. But he begins to speak again
in chapter 10. Remember, chapter divisions are
beneficial, they're good, they're sure helpful, but they're not
inspired. Let me just read like the last
verse of chapter 9 and then just keep on reading because actually
that's the way it was. This is the way it was when our
Lord spoke these words. In the last verse of chapter
9, Jesus said unto them, he said unto the Pharisees, these religious
folks, Jesus said unto them, if you were blind, if you were
blind, That is, if you were blind and you knew it, if you knew
it, then you should have no sin. Those who admit to being blind,
Lord, I don't understand. Lord, I don't see what you're
saying. I need to be instructed. Lord,
teach me. Then he said, you wouldn't have
sin because your sin would be forgiven. You see, when you're
admitting When you're made to admit your guilt, admit your
neediness, well, you're on your road to forgiveness. Isn't that
right? You're on the road to forgiveness.
In fact, actually, the Lord has already forgiven your sins through
the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus. You just don't
know about it yet. But they've already been washed
away. So he says, if you were blind, you should have no sin.
But, but, In your arrogance, in your stubbornness, in your unbelief, you say, we
see. We don't need a teacher. We don't need a revelation. We
don't need you to show us anything. Now you say, we see. Therefore,
your sins remain. Verily, verily, I say unto you."
See, he just keeps on going. Verily, verily, I say unto you.
He's the true and faithful witness. Verily, that's what that means.
Faithfully and truly. He is the one who is the truth. And he speaks the truth. Verily,
verily, I say unto you. I got some else to say to you.
He said, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold,
but climbeth up some other way, that one is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the
door is the He's the shepherd of the sheep. Now in the first
verse, he's talking about, he's actually talking about all the
Pharisees because they were all teachers, they were all preachers,
but he speaks of them as though they were just an individual,
just one. You notice how the singular,
the same as a thief and a Robber. A thief is one who steals because
he's very, very clever. What's the difference between
a thief and a robber? A robber is one that he robs
by violence, and that's these people. He's still speaking about
them. He's already said to them, all
of your sins, they remain. They're still yours. They're
still yours. And that's an awful thing. That's
an awful thing because you see, all of the iniquities, all of
the sinfulness of all of God's elect would meet upon the Lord
Jesus when He dies on the cross. But he says, all of your sins,
they're still yours. They're not going to be charged
to me. They won't ever be charged to the Lord Jesus. He's not going
to die in their stead. These folks are going to live,
they're going to die in their sins. And he says to them, you are
thieves. You are robbers. But he uses it in the singular. As though they're all one, they're
just, you see, here's the contrast, two shepherds. You see, each
of these, they're like the shepherd of the sheep of Israel. Here's the false shepherd, and
here's the true shepherd. Who is the true shepherd? Well,
in verse two, he that entereth in by the door, he's the shepherd
of the sheep. These other men, they're not
the shepherd of the sheep. They don't really give a hoot
about the sheep. They don't love the sheep. They
don't care for the sheep. They're fleecing the sheep. They're
thieves. They're robbers. And ultimately,
their biggest issue or the biggest area where they need some correction
is that they don't enter in by the door into the sheepfold. Rather, they try to sneak in
some other way. Now remember, these first five
verses, these are words that our Lord speaks in a parable.
He even says that in verse number six. The scripture says this.
John says this parable spake Jesus unto them. They didn't understand the things
that he was saying. I was reading several writers,
of course, on this passage of Scripture today, and some of
them said things like this. Well, it must have been the words
of the Savior in verse number one when he said to a thief and
a robber, it must have really hurt the feelings or aggravated,
made mad these Pharisees. No. Because they didn't understand
what he was saying. The scripture says very clearly
in verse number six, they didn't understand what he was saying.
He's speaking in a parable. And so one of the things then
we need to remember about the first five verses is we're not
supposed to figure out what every single thing means in these first
five verses because that's a mistake whenever you deal with a parable.
Here's what we're looking for, a main thought. That's what you
look for in a parable, a main thought. And here's the main
thought. There is a false shepherd. And that's all the religious,
false religious teachers. False shepherd, then there's
the real shepherd. There's that one who is the true
shepherd of the sheep, the Lord Jesus. And here's the thing about
a false shepherd. Number one, he's a thief. He's trying to rob God of his
glory. He's a robber. He's violent in seeking to rob
God of His glory. These men who ultimately were
responsible for having the Savior arrested, don't they give some
revelation the fact that they're robbers? They're not just merely
thieves attempting to steal God's glory and steal His sheep. Oh no, they're violent. They're
violent men. That's the reason when Pontius
Pilate said to them, said to them, what shall I do with Jesus
who is called the Christ? They indicated their violence.
They said, let him be crucified. That's what we want done with
him. These men are not only thieves, they're robbers. They're robbers.
And the biggest thing is this. They seek to get into the kingdom
some other way. That's it. And this is always
true. It's always true of every false
prophet, of every false preacher. They're thieves, they're robbers,
and they always lead others to think They can get into heaven,
they can get into the kingdom of God, they can get into salvation
some other way. But there is but one way, the
scripture says. The Lord Jesus said, I am the
way, the truth, and the life. I am the way, but these men say,
oh, the way is broad. Our Lord Jesus said, it's a straight
gate. We talked about that Sunday morning.
It's a straight gate. It's a narrow way. But here comes
the false shepherd, the false shepherd, and the false shepherd. He says the way is wide. There's
room for all kinds of different beliefs. As long as you're sincere,
as long as you're basically a good individual, God will let you
in. Well, what is that guy trying
to do? Well, he's trying to steal God's
glory. He's even being violent in a sense because his words,
his words, they're killing words. They're killing words. The most
dangerous individual, and listen to me now, the most dangerous
individual in the world is the man who'll lie to you about the
things of God. He's the most dangerous man in
the world. Because here you are listening
to Him, you're trusting Him. He may even come to you with
a Bible. He may even use the name of Jesus
and talk about grace and even talk about the cross. But if
He doesn't set forth our Lord Jesus' sacrifice as being substitutionary
and just as satisfying, And if He doesn't set forth salvation,
all of grace, He's a thief, He's a robber, He's trying to get
in some other way, and He's leading you to try to get in some other
way, and it's a way of death. It's a way of death. That's what
the Savior said there in Matthew chapter 7. Wide is the gate. Broad is the way that leads to
destruction. Destruction. Many there be that
go in there at. And you know what with these
Pharisees? They had a big following. They had a big following. Our
Lord Jesus, toward the end of His life, He just had a few followers. Just a few folks that meant business.
because people were offended when he said, straight is the
gate, narrow is the way that leads to life everlasting. And
he said, F-E-W, few there be that find it. Just a few that
be find it. These men, they're crooks. They're thieves. They're robbers. They seek to get in some other
way. And they tell others, you can
get in anyway. You don't have to believe all
that stuff. Just believe on Jesus. That's
all you got to do. Just believe on Jesus and go
on your merry way and you'll be okay. But you see, these men,
They don't enter in by the door. The door. And our Lord Jesus,
later in this passage of Scripture, He makes it very obvious. He
says, I am the door. I am the door. By me if any man
enter in, he shall be saved and go in and out and find pasture.
That's what the Savior said. The false shepherds, they say,
you can get into the sheepfold anyway. Christ says, I'm the way. He's
the true shepherd. He says, I'm the way. The false
shepherd says, there are other ways. Our Lord Jesus, the true shepherd
says, enter ye in at the straight gate. The false shepherd says,
the gate to heaven is wide. Our Lord Jesus declares, it's
not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God
that showeth the mercy. The false shepherd says, God's
not going to infringe on your will. It's all up to you. Our Lord
Jesus, the true shepherd, says, I lay down my life for the sheep. The false shepherd says, Christ
died for everybody. Our Lord Jesus, the true shepherd,
says, by my blood, I've purchased you, I've purchased forgiveness,
I've put away sin, I've obtained eternal redemption, I've brought
in everlasting righteousness. I've done those things. The false
shepherd says forgiveness and righteousness and redemption
are possible because Jesus died, but you've got to accept it. Our Lord Jesus says, it's the
spirit that quickeneth the flesh, profiteth nothing. The false
shepherd says, it's all up to you. And our Lord Jesus, after exposing
these men, though in a way that they didn't understand his talking
about them, He then says, he that entereth in by the door
is the shepherd of the sheep. Throughout the Bible, there are
lots of names of our Lord Jesus. Names and titles of which he's
made known to us at least 200. But one of the most endearing
names of our Lord Jesus in most endearing titles is this one. He's the shepherd of the sheep.
And we get a lot of comfort from that. And in fact, in the book
of John, it's only in the 10th chapter that John uses this word
shepherd. And he uses it in John chapter
10 six times. Six times. The Lord Jesus is
the shepherd. He said, I'm the good shepherd.
The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. And we'll
look at that in more detail next week. But this name, our Savior's
Shepherd, is not only found in the Gospel of John, it's found
throughout the Bible. Throughout the Bible. Go back
to Genesis with me. Let me show you the very first
time the word shepherd is found in the Bible. Genesis chapter
46. I'll just give you this briefly.
Genesis chapter 46, this is the first usage of the word shepherd
in the Bible. Genesis chapter 46, look at verse
32. Joseph was speaking and he says,
the men are shepherds for their trade hath been to feed cattle.
Genesis 46, 32, the men are shepherds, their trade has been to feed
cattle. They brought their flocks and their herds and all that
they have. It shall come to pass, he says
to them, when Pharaoh shall call you and shall say, what is your
occupation, that you shall say, thy servants' trade hath been
about cattle from our youth even until now, both we and also our
fathers, that she may dwell in the land of Goshen. And then
he says this, Joseph says this, for every shepherd is an abomination
unto the Egyptians. Now some of the Egyptians were
shepherds, but they used the sheep to get the wool. Unlike the Israelites who used
the sheep not only for wool, but for meat. You see, the Egyptians worshipped
the animals, so they worshipped the sheep. And to them, these
shepherds who actually ate the sheep, who sacrificed the sheep,
who offered the sheep on an offering of fire, as an offering of fire,
Well, they were an abomination to them. And doesn't that kind
of put you in mind of the fact that our Lord Jesus, the shepherd
of the sheep, is despised and rejected of men? He's an abomination
unto the Egyptians. In the Scriptures, back in the
book of Genesis and Exodus, Pharaoh is a picture of Satan. And Egypt
and the Egyptians, that's a picture of the world. Our Lord Jesus
is an abomination to the world. The world sees no beauty in the
Lord Jesus Christ. John chapter 1 says, He came
into His own, His own received Him not. He's the Great Shepherd. He's the Good Shepherd. He's
the Great Shepherd. He's the Chief Shepherd. He's
the Seeking Shepherd, the Nourishing Shepherd, the Finding Shepherd.
He's the Shepherd who gave His life for the sheep, and yet to
the world They despise him, and they reject him. This is the
first usage of shepherd in the scriptures, and they move to
Genesis chapter 49. Genesis chapter 49. This is the
first occurrence where we see that our Savior is said to be
the shepherd of the flock. It's right here in Genesis 49,
and it's when Jacob has gathered his sons around him as he lay
on his deathbed. He has something specific to
say to each of them, and he comes to Joseph. Joseph, who's the
firstborn son of Rachel, and she had another son, and his
name was Benjamin. Joseph and Benjamin. And Joseph's name means Jehovah
is adding. And Joseph is in many ways, as
you know, a beautiful picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. I think
of that passage in Acts chapter 2. Our Lord had given his life
a sacrifice on the behalf of the sheep and he has been raised
from the dead. He's ascended back to heaven.
Ten days go by to the day of Pentecost. Ten days from Passover
to Pentecost. Our Lord had told his disciples,
excuse me, 50 days after Passover, our Savior ascended 40 days after
Passover, and then 10 days later, as he told his disciples to wait,
10 days later at Pentecost, he gave the gift of the Holy Spirit,
and Peter preached there in Acts chapter 2, that great message
on the day of Pentecost. And then the scripture says when
God was saving all these people, the Lord added to the church
daily, such as should be saved. Joseph's name means Jehovah is
adding. And he's still adding, he's still
gathering, and he might add tonight, he might add to the visible church
tonight. Of course, we've always been
members of the body of Christ Jesus since old eternity when
God the Father put us in his son. But as far as our experience
of grace, experiencing the gospel, believing the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Lord adds daily such as should be saved. Genesis 49.22, so Joseph is who
he's talking about. Joseph is a fruitful bough, 49.22,
Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well, whose
branches run over the wall, and that's our Lord Jesus Christ,
who is fruitful. He said, I'm the vine, you're
the branches, and I tell you, his branches run over the wall.
I said a while ago, he talked about his flock being few. Narrow
is the way, and few there be that find it. That's few at any
given time. But I tell you, when all of us
are added up at the end, it's going to be a great multitude,
and we'll find out the branches run over the wall. He's very
fruitful, very fruitful. He says, whose branches run over
the wall. Verse 23, the archers have sorely
grieved him. and shot at him and hated him. And doesn't that put you in mind
of our Savior there? The archers, as it were, they
hurled fiery dart after fiery dart at him, accusation after
accusation at him. They hated him. Our Lord Jesus
said, they hated me without a cause. But verse 24, his bow abode in
strength. The arms of his hands were made
strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob. And then comes
a little parenthesis. And Moses writes this in. Moses
is the inspired writer. From thence is the shepherd,
who's the stone of Israel. He's the stone. He's the rock.
He's the rock in a weary land, the scripture says. He's the
rock in whom we hide. He's the rock upon whom we build. He is the rock. He's the cheap
cornerstone. He holds everything together.
Everything together. And then he says, Before he says the stone of Israel,
he said he's the shepherd. He's the shepherd. And you know, Joseph was as a
shepherd to his family. He's the one who, and I don't
have time to go through the whole story of how Joseph wound up
in Egypt. I'm sure all of you are very
familiar with this story, but his steps were led by divine
providence. And even though his brothers
hated him, and they would have killed him, except that Reuben
spoke up and said, let's don't do that. Let's don't go that
far. Let's sell him and make some
money out of this. And of course, he winds up in
Egypt. He's sold into slavery. And through, of course, the process,
various steps that God put him through, finally he was exalted
to the right hand of Pharaoh. And after he had interpreted
one of Pharaoh's dreams, And the butler remembered him, and
the butler said to Pharaoh, and Pharaoh had this dream, and he
couldn't figure out what it meant. And the butler said, you know,
there's a fellow back in prison that I met, and he can interpret
your dream. And so Pharaoh said, well, bring
him in here. And Joseph went in. Pharaoh said,
well, here's a dream that I dream. Can you unravel the mystery for
me? And Joseph said, well, the Lord
will give me an understanding. And he said, it's going to be
seven years. You're going to have plenty of food. But you
better stock up. You better stock your shelves,
because then it's going to be seven years of famine. And Pharaoh
said, you're a wise man. And I'm exalting you. And you
take over all the storehouses of Egypt. You serve at my right
hand. You are my assistant. And everything's
under your charge. And during these seven years
of planning, you make sure that people give to the government,
and we'll save all this. And then when the hard times
come, we'll have it to sell, and our people won't starve to
death. And then when times of famine
came, it's Joseph who gathered his family like a shepherd gathers
his flock, took care of his family. Because He's got charge of all
the storehouses of Pharaoh. You see, our Lord Jesus has been
exalted to the Father's right hand by virtue of His successful
work of redemption. He's the Lord of glory. The Father's
exalted Him. And if you want God's mercies,
if you want God's grace, if you want God's salvation, if you
want God's blessings, there's only one place, one person you
can get it from. That's the Lord of glory. The
shepherd of the sheep. You've got to go to Christ Jesus.
The Savior said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man
cometh unto the Father but by me. You can't go any other way. People said, boy, I hear that
they've really got a lot of food down in Egypt. Yeah, that's right.
Well, I think I'll go down there and buy some grain down there. I'm going to go down there. I
said, well, you can go down there, but I tell you, the only one
you're going to get it from is Joseph. You're not going to get
it from anybody else. Well, I think I can probably,
I can finagle around. I can barter with somebody. No,
you can't. There's one man to deal with.
And I'm telling you tonight, there's one man to deal with
about salvation and righteousness and forgiveness and everlasting
salvation. One man, and he's the God-man,
Christ Jesus the Lord. You've got to come to God through
Christ. It's not through this church.
It's not through religion. It's not through the denomination.
It's not through Mary. It's not through some dead saint.
It's through Christ Jesus, whoever living, to make intercession
for His people. You come to Him and the Father
will receive you. You try to bypass Him, God the
Father will cast you into hell. That's just the short, that's
the long and the short of it right there. These people said,
I'm going to Joseph now. Me too. Me too. I'm in a land of famine. The
Lord has made me to realize I'm in a famine myself. He's given
me a hunger and a thirst after righteousness. He's given me
a hunger and a thirst after salvation. He's given me a hunger and a
thirst after acceptance with God. He's given me a hunger and
a thirst after everlasting forgiveness and pardon of all my sins. Full pardon. He's given me a
hunger for that. And I found out Christ Jesus
is the bread of life and I come to him to feed. I come to Christ
Jesus who is the water of life. I come to him to drink. And I
tell you, I compelled you to come too. They went to Joseph. He's like a shepherd. He's like
a shepherd to his family. The way he conducted himself.
The way he provided for them. And you know, when he sent word
finally for his dad to come to Egypt, he sent wagon loads after
wagon loads. And the scripture says, when
Jacob saw the wagons full, he said, I'm going to my son. I'm going to Joseph. And I'm
telling you, the wagons are full, folks. Sent by Joseph. sent by Joseph,
that is, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the shepherd of the sheep.
And this is the first time in Genesis 49 that our Lord Jesus
is referred to as being the shepherd. I can give you several other
illustrations. One of the best known, of course,
you know about is Psalm 23, when David said, the Lord is my shepherd.
Who's your shepherd? David said, the Lord is. Who's
the Lord? Jehovah, my Savior. He's my shepherd. Therefore, I shall not want. That's the reason I don't want.
That's the reason God's people don't lack for any good thing.
Because the one who is our shepherd is the Lord. He's the Lord of
glory. I don't lack for any good thing.
He's the one who restored my soul. My soul has been restored
by my shepherd. That's why goodness and mercy
shall surely follow me all the days of my life. That's why I
will dwell in the house of the Lord forever because my shepherd
is the Lord of glory. Christ Jesus, the Lord. Christ
Jesus, the Savior. In Psalm 80, we find the church
of our Lord Jesus says, Says to him, Psalm 80 verse 1, Give
ear, O shepherd of Israel! Give ear! Thou that leadest us
like a flock. And in Zechariah, Zechariah chapter
13, God the Father identifies him as being the shepherd. Smite the shepherd! The sheep
will be scattered. The sword of vengeance was raised
against one who is God's fellow, one who is God's associate, one
who is God's equal, even the Son of God, the shepherd must
be smitten. The sheep are saved. When you get over into the New
Testament, I'll give you this and then we'll go in Hebrews
chapter 13. The writer writes about the blood
of the everlasting covenant. The blood of the great shepherd
of the sheep. You know when that was ordained
for that blood to be shed? Before God made the world. When
was our Lord Jesus? When did He become our shepherd?
Back on earth when the Father gave Him His flock. A great flock of sheep. He became
our shepherd. And I'll give you this verse.
Go from Genesis all the way to Revelation. Revelation chapter
7. Revelation chapter 7. I preached
from this not too long ago. But this is the shepherd. This
is the shepherd that Ron read to us about there in Isaiah chapter
40. He shall lead his flock like
a shepherd. Like a shepherd. In Hebrews 13
we have that he's our shepherd from The very beginning from
old eternity. Now here is the end. Here is
eternity in the future. Verse 17. For the lamb which
is in the midst of the throne. Revelation 7, 17. For the lamb
which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them or literally
shall shepherd them as his flock. That's what that word feed means.
Shall shepherd them as his flock. and lead them unto living fountains
of water, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."
Now listen, this is a parable in John chapter 10 of two shepherds. There's a false shepherd. They're
greedy, they're robbers, they're thieves. And they always try
to come in some other way. Then there's the true shepherd.
Christ Jesus. And those shepherds whom he commissions
to preach the gospel, they always direct people, the sheep, and
the goats as well, because I don't know who the goats are. I know
that they're out there. But I preach to everybody that
there's one door into the true sheepfold. That's Christ Jesus. And don't you try to sneak in
some other way now. You ain't going to make it. I
tell you what, I'm interested in making it, aren't you? I'm
interested in going in. And the only way in is the Lord
Jesus, who is the new and the living way.