Welcome to the Reign of Grace
radio broadcast. My name is Bill Parker. I'm the
pastor of the 13th Street Baptist Church in Ashland, Kentucky.
This program is sponsored by the members of Eager Avenue Grace
Church in Albany, Georgia, located at 1102 Eager Drive, Albany,
Georgia. I'll be bringing you a gospel
message of the sovereign grace and glory of God in the Lord
Jesus Christ from God's holy word. And now, the message. Welcome to our program. Now today
I'm going to be preaching from the book of John, the gospel
of John, chapter 10. This is the great chapter concerning
Christ the shepherd. And I've entitled today's message,
The Shepherd and His Sheep. Now when we speak of Christ as
the Shepherd, the Bible refers to Him as the Great Shepherd,
the Good Shepherd, and the Chief Shepherd. And it's a beautiful
type, an illustration of the glory of Christ who is the Redeemer,
the Savior, the Protector, and the Gatherer of His people. And
when we speak of the church, God's elect, Christ's people
as his sheep, that is a perfect example, perfect illustration
of God's people lost in their sins. You know, the Bible says
back in Isaiah chapter 53, in speaking of the ones whom Christ
redeemed, it says, all we like sheep have gone astray. The Lord
spoke of the lost sheep of the house of Israel, And then he
said, other sheep have I bestowed. Over here in John chapter 10,
verse 11, he said, I am the good shepherd. And he said, the good
shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Someone might ask
the question, for whom did Christ die? Many today would automatically
say, well, he died for everyone. Well, not according to his words.
It says, he gave his life for the sheep. Now, who are the sheep? Well, hold on, we'll look at
this passage. In other words, whenever we ask a question like
that, let's be sure that we get our answer from the Word of God
and not the Word of men. But the Good Shepherd is one
who loves the sheep so much that he would give his very life for
those sheep. And that's exactly what Christ
did for His sheep. Now, as I said, His sheep, sometimes
they're referred to in the Bible as God's elect. There are people
chosen by God before the foundation of the world, and all of the
responsibility of their salvation was placed upon Christ, who is
their shepherd. And Christ came into this world,
He became incarnate, that is, the Word made flesh and dwelt
among us, and as God-man in one person, He walked this earth
and He kept the law perfectly, And he went to the cross of Calvary
and died in the place of his sheep." You see, God's justice
had a matter against them. God's justice must be satisfied. Who were these sheep? They were
sinners who could not save themselves. They were lost in their sins,
dead in their sins. The Bible says dead in trespasses
and sins. And therefore, if they're going
to be saved, the good shepherds had to come and save them by
giving his own life in their stead. He had to establish righteousness
whereby God could be just and justify, and then he had to go
get them. The lost sheep are not going
to find their way home. Christ has to go get them. The
shepherd has to go get them. He says in verse 14 of John 10,
he says, I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep, and am known
of mine. He knows who his sheep are. And
that's one of the qualifications of a good shepherd. Back then
there were several sheepfolds and several shepherds and they
would all come into a particular city and they'd put them all
in the same pen or the same fence. But the shepherd and the sheep,
the shepherd would come on and he'd have a certain call for
his sheep. And they heard the shepherd's
voice, and those particular sheep would go to that particular shepherd.
And that's the way it is with Christ and his people. He says,
I know my sheep. He knew them. Christ knew the
ones he came to redeem. And he says, I'm known of mine.
They will know him. He says in verse 15, he says,
As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and I lay
down my life for the sheep. Now he's laying down his life
for the sheep, remember that refers to Christ on the cross,
dying for the sins of his sheep, paying their debt to God's law
and justice, satisfying every requirement of the law and securing
their eternal salvation. Now he says in verse 16, he says,
and other sheep I have which are not of this fold. Now what
he's talking about there is that he has a people out of every
tribe and nation. Christ had some sheep who were
Jews. Christ had some sheep who were
Gentiles. And that's what he's talking
about. Right now he's standing here in Judea and he's preaching
and teaching the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But these
were not his only sheep. He said, other sheep I have which
are not of this Jewish fold. You see, God chose a people out
of every tribe, kindred, tongue and nation and gave them to Christ.
And He's going to have them, and it says in verse 16, He says,
them also I must bring. He must bring them. In other
words, they're lost, but they cannot remain lost. Christ, in
His substitutionary death on the cross, redeemed them, and
they belong to Him. He paid their debt, He justified
them by His blood and His righteousness. The law cannot curse them, you
see, and therefore He must go get them. When He died, listen,
when the Father gave them to Him and He agreed in the everlasting
covenant of grace to fulfill all the responsibility of their
salvation and to redeem them from their sins and justify them
by His death on the cross, He obligated Himself to go get them,
to bring them. His blood cleanses them from
all sin. His righteousness makes them
accepted unto God in Him. And therefore, He must send His
Spirit. Now, when He brings them, that's
what He does. He sends His Spirit, and in the preaching of the gospel,
He reveals Himself to His sheep. He calls His sheep, and they
come into the fold by faith. They come to Christ. That's what
the new birth is all about. That's what regeneration and
conversion is all about. Here's a lost sheep, and he finds
out he's lost, and he sees his sinfulness and his depravity
and the impossibility of salvation based on his best efforts to
save himself. He sees that he's in need of
a substitute. He's in need of mercy and grace
from God. He sees that he's in need of
a righteousness he cannot produce. He sees that if God leaves him
to himself, he will remain lost and dead in his sins. And therefore
the shepherd reveals himself to the sheep. He goes on, he
says, I must bring them. And they're not going to come
on their own. They're not going to come of
their own free will. He's got to bring them. He's got to go
get them. And he says, and they shall hear my voice. That's the
voice of the shepherd. And that voice of the shepherd
is in the call of the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Paul wrote in Romans chapter 1 and verse 16, he said, For
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power
of God, unto salvation to every one that believeth, to the Jew
first, and to the Greek also, those sheep of the Jewish fold,
and those sheep of the Gentile fold. He said, for therein is
the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, for as it
is written, the just shall live by faith. You see, in the call
of the gospel, the shepherd sends out the truth by the Spirit that
pierces the hearts of his sheep and shows them their need of
Christ, shows them their need of mercy and grace, shows them
that they have no hope of salvation, but in Christ in Him crucified."
And he brings them to himself. They'll hear my voice, he said.
And he says, there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Now, I
tell you what, you look around this world today, you see so
many different religions, you see so many different denominations,
so many people who call themselves Christian, but they're fighting,
fussing, dividing. They disagree on the gospel.
But not so in the sheepfold. In the shepherd and his sheep,
you see, there's going to be one sheepfold. One fold of sheep. And that is Christ's sheep. And
one shepherd. You see, there's not many shepherds.
There's one shepherd, and that's Christ. He's the head of the
church. The church is His body. So he says in verse 17 of John
10, he says, Therefore doth my Father love me, because I laid
down my life that I might take it again." The shepherd gave
his life for the sheep. He laid it down. He wasn't forced
to the cross. He wasn't driven to the cross
by force of men. You remember in the Garden of
Gethsemane when the soldiers led by Judas Iscariot came to
get him. And he went to them and he said,
who do you seek? Who are you looking for? And
they said, we're looking for Jesus of Nazareth. And he said,
I am. He spoke those blessed words
that identify him with the Godhead, the eternal Godhead. I am is
what he said. And you remember what happened
to the soldiers? They fell backwards. That was the power of Christ.
They didn't force forcefully take him. He went voluntarily. And that's the way it is with
the shepherd and his sheep. The shepherd willingly gives
his life for the sheep, and he said he laid it down that he
might take it again. He laid his life down. He died
and was buried, but he didn't stay dead. He didn't stay buried. It was not possible that he should
be corrupted in the grave, for in his death there was victory. In his death there was satisfaction
in law and justice. In his obedience unto death there
was righteousness established, and it demands life, and that
was proven when he was raised from the dead on the third day. He finished the work that he
came to do, and therefore the Father, by the power of the Spirit,
raised him out of that grave. And he walked on this earth,
he ascended unto the Father, and he ever lives now to make
intercession for his people. So that the Bible says of his
sheep now, the shepherd and his sheep, that the law of God cannot
curse and condemn them. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Who are they? Christ's sheep.
And he said that I might take it again. He says in verse 18,
no man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself." I have
power to lay it down and I have power to take it again. This
commandment I have received, have I received from my Father.
No man took his life. You see, men were instrumental
in taking his life on the cross, but it was not by their own power. They didn't overcome him, they
didn't defeat him. As I said, his death was an accomplishment. His death was a victory for his
people. Now, when Christ finished speaking
these words here, it says in verse 19, there was a division,
therefore again, among the Jews for these sayings. Now, any time
the gospel is preached, men by nature are going to divide over
it, they're going to hate it, they're going to disbelieve.
Listen, if anybody loves and knows Christ and believes his
truth, it's by the power of God. It's not by the power of men.
But they were divided. Now listen to what men say. Men
by nature. This is us by nature. He says
in verse 20, and many of them said, he hath a devil. He's mad. That is, he's lost his mind.
Why hear ye him? Why are you listening to this
man? That's what they said. This was the religious majority
here. Why are you even listening to
this fella? He's lost his mind. He has a devil. Verse 21 said,
others said, these are not the words of him that hath a devil.
Can a devil open the eyes of the blind? You remember back
in John chapter 9, he had opened the eyes of a blind man? You
remember he had caused a lame man to walk? Well, they said,
well, can a devil do that? Satan can't do that. Satan doesn't
have that power. Satan has power to deceive. Satan
can work false miracles, false healings, But only one who is
sent from God has the true power of life and death, the true power
to heal. So that was a good question.
Can a devil do that? Verse 22 says, And it was at
Jerusalem, the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. It was a special
time for the Jews. This was a feast of their history
when they had been delivered in time past from conquering
enemies. But it says in verse 23, "...and
Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch." This was a
religious setting, standing among religion, you see. And remember
how ironic this is, because here's the Lord of glory, the very Messiah
whom these religionists should have been looking to and bowing
to, and yet they rejected him. And it says in verse 24, Then
came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost
thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us
plainly. If you are the Messiah, tell
us plainly. And Jesus answered them, He said,
I told you. And you believe not? My friend,
He had told them plainly. It is amazing. how man by nature
will not receive and submit to and bow to the simple, plain
teachings of the Word of God. Man has to complicate it, confuse
it, dress it up, water it down, compromise it. But the plain
teachings of the Word of God, man by nature will not accept.
And I'm including myself. Listen, I would not believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ were it not for His power, His grace,
in the Spirit to bring me to Christ." And he says, I've told
you, and you believe not, you remember. He told them back in
John chapter 5, he said, he's talking about the Scriptures.
He says, you do search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have
eternal life. He said, they are they which
testify of me. That's one time he told them
plainly that he's the Messiah. He said, the Scriptures don't
speak of just any mere man. The Scriptures don't point to
any mere man as being the savior of his people. The Scriptures
do not speak of just any mere prophet, even a great prophet,
who is nothing more than just a man, or a do-gooder, or even
a healer, physically. But the Scriptures point sinners
to the Messiah, to the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what he said
here. I've told you plainly And then
he says in verse 25, the works that I do in my Father's name,
they bear witness of me. Now that refers to all of his
works. It refers to his works of healing.
He healed the sick. And that was a testimony to the
glory of his Father and the works that he was sent to do. But he
kept the law perfectly. That was a perfect work that
he was given to do of his Father. for the salvation of his people.
And he said, those works bear witness of me. But he said, now
look at this in verse 26. This is a very telling scripture
here. He says, but you believe not
because you are not of my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice. Now let's stop right there. Somebody
says, well, why do some believe and some don't believe? Well,
the plain answer is right here. He looked at these who believed
not, and he said, you believe not because you're not of my
sheep. He didn't say, you're not of
my sheep because you believe not. Now, my friend, all men
and women who hear the gospel are commanded to believe it.
All men and women who hear the gospel are fully accountable
and responsible to believe it. And those who do not believe
it, who refuse to believe it, who will not bow to Christ and
His righteousness and His blood as the only way of salvation,
who will not submit to Him but insist on their own way, their
own works, their own thoughts, any who don't, if they die in
unbelief and perish in eternal hell, they'll have nobody to
blame but themselves. But the reality of scriptural
truth is this. All of Christ's sheep will believe. They will come to faith and repent. It's the gift of God. Christ
died for them. He must have them. Now, you may
ask the question, well, how can I know if I'm one of those sheep?
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. It's
as simple as that. And you may say, well, preacher,
I cannot get all that to fit in my mind or to work together
in my mind. I know you can't, and it's just
like I tell people all the time. Somebody says, well, I just don't
understand how all that fits together. And I say, well, join
the club, because none of us do. This is God's business. And our Lord's standing here
dealing with these men, and they refuse to believe, and they have
nobody to blame but themselves. But what do they reveal with
their unbelief? That they're not of His sheep.
My friend, seek the Lord while he may be fast. Rest in him. Trust him. Believe in him. Submit
to him and his righteousness alone as that which saves you
and keeps you and preserves you and entitles you to heaven. Don't
wait another moment. Don't go another second in your
own way, your own works, your own thoughts, but run to Christ. Rest in him, whom to know is
life eternal." Look at it again, verse 26 of John 10, "...but
you believe not, because you are not of my sheep, as I said
unto you." Now, who are his sheep? Now listen to this. He says in
verse 27, "...my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they
follow me." Are you one of his sheep? Well, I'll tell you exactly
what. If you are, you'll hear his voice. You'll hear His voice. That's not talking about in a
dream or in an audible voice through the air. That's talking
about the preaching of the gospel. It's talking about the preaching
of Christ and Him crucified. It's talking about the preaching
of the person of Christ, who He is. He's God and man in one
person. Do you believe that? That's the
kind of Savior we need. We need a Savior who is God,
because God alone can give and sustain life, spiritual, eternal
life, and even physical life. We need a Savior who is perfect
man without sin, because He must die in the stead of His sheep,
who are men, sinful men and women. He must identify with us in our
name and in our nature, yet without sin, and He must give up His
life The Bible says without the shedding of blood there is no
remission of sin, there is no forgiveness. Christ had to have
blood to shed and therefore he had to be perfect man without
sin. He went to the cross as God-man. He obeyed the law perfectly and
went to the cross having the sins of his sheep imputed or
charged or legally accounted to him. And when he died on that
cross, he brought forth an everlasting righteousness of infinite value
that would be imputed, accounted, or legally charged to them. This
is the issue of salvation. He said you hear his voice, his
voice in the preaching of the gospel that draws men to Christ
by the power of the Spirit, brings them to faith and to repentance,
and causes them to love him. and to follow him and rest in
him. And these issues of the shepherd
and the sheep are vital in the life of a believer. Christ says
this. He said, I know them. He knows
his sheep. Now listen to me. Salvation is
not based upon our knowledge of Christ. Salvation is based
on his knowledge of his people. You see that? Now, His people,
His sheep, will know Him. They will come to see Him for
who He is. They'll come to see themselves
as sinners in need of mercy. They'll come to see Christ in
His glory as the Redeemer and the Savior, as the Lord their
righteousness. But that's the fruit and the
effect and the assured result of Christ's saving knowledge
of them. And this word, know, he says,
I know them. That means more than just that
he's aware of them or that he has an intellectual awareness
of who they are and their name. This word, know, here means he
loves them. This word, know, means here he
chose them. He's connected to them. He is
their Savior and they are his sheep. He said, I know them and
they follow me. Somebody said to know Him is
to follow Him, and that's so. If you truly know Christ, you'll
follow Him. You'll follow Him for salvation.
You'll follow Him for truth and for counsel. You'll follow Him
for rest. And look at verse 28. He says,
And I give unto them eternal life. You see, eternal life is
not the result of something you do or I do. It's a gift from
God. It's based upon what Christ did. It's a gift. free gift. You can't
earn eternal life. Salvation is by grace, not by
works. And he said, I give unto them
eternal life. And he says this now, now look
here, with the shepherd and the sheep, the sheep will never perish.
He said, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man
pluck them out of my hand. My friend, that's the eternal
security of the saved. This notion, that some people
who call themselves Christian are floating around and saying,
well, you can be saved and then lost, is not scriptural. It is not the gospel. It is not
salvation by grace. Listen, if the shepherd saves
those sheep, the sheep will stay saved. He says, they shall never
perish, and neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
And I've heard people say, well, it says there that no man can
do it. Well, that word man in verse
28 is in italics. It means it was set there by
the translators. Literally, it would be, neither
shall any pluck them out of my hand. Satan can't do it. He's been defeated at the cross
when God, the Son incarnate, justified his people and redeemed
them. Satan can't do it. The law can't do it. The law
has nothing against them, for who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Who can condemn us? Man can't
do it. Man doesn't have the power to
save himself. All man can do is sin on his
own. So he says in verse 29, "...my
Father which gave them me is greater than all." That's the
reason the sheep can never perish, because the Son saved them and
the Father is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them
out of my Father's hand. He holds them. That's another
point here. Salvation. and eternal security
is not based upon our hold of Christ. It's based upon his hold
of us. You know why we cannot be lost
once we're saved? Because he won't let us go. That's
the promise of the shepherd. That's the shepherd, the good
shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep. The good shepherd
who calls the sheep into the fold and goes and gets them.
The good shepherd who gathers them together and feeds them
and protects them. The Good Shepherd will not let
them go. Now, we'll hold on to Christ
by His grace, but salvation is based on His hold of us. And
he says in verse 30, I and my Father are one. You see, Christ,
God the Son incarnate, is one with the Father in this matter
of the salvation of His sheep. Christ is the Good Shepherd.
And all who hear His voice and follow Him are His sheep. Now, are you one of His sheep?
Well, let me tell you what you'll do. You'll hear His voice. You'll
follow Him. You'll trust Him and rest and
you'll repent of thinking that anything else could have ever
recommended you unto God. I hope this message has helped
you to understand these issues of the gospel of God's grace.
If you'd like to get a copy of this message on an audio cassette
tape or a CD, listen to the announcer, he'll give you the details. The
title of the message is The Shepherd and His Sheep, and I hope you'll
join us next week for another message from God's Word. We're glad you could join us
for today's message. If you would like to receive
a copy of this message, or if you would like more information
about Eager Avenue Grace Turk, remember we are located at 1102
Eager Drive in Albany, Georgia. You can call us at 229-833-9000.
432-6969, or visit our Reign of Grace website
at www.rofgrace.com. Thank you, and may the Lord be
with you.