Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening and now
for today's program. Welcome to our program today.
I'm glad you could join us. If you'd like to follow along
in your Bibles, I'm continuing in the book of John, the gospel
of John chapter 10, concerning this subject, the shepherd and
his sheep. Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ
as the good shepherd, the great shepherd, the chief shepherd,
and his people, sinners saved by grace, believers in the Lord
Jesus Christ as his sheep. And I began this last week, and
this is the part two, this is where I'll conclude the message. So part one was last week, if
you didn't hear that, then get that message, look it up on our
website, or order it, or listen to it, and the various ways that
we have to get the message to you. But I concluded at verse
16, and I was making this point. Christ said in verse 11 of John
10, He said I am the good shepherd the good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep And the point there is this for whom did Christ
die on that cross? Now most people will say well
he died for everybody even those who end up in in perishing in
eternal damnation But that's not what the Bible teaches the
Bible teaches that he gave his life for the sheep and God's
elect, his church, which he purchased with his own blood, and they
will be saved. And somebody asked me one time,
said, well, it doesn't matter what I do. If he didn't die for
me, I'm not gonna be saved. You're not to look at it that
way because the Bible commands us to seek the Lord. I don't
care who you are. And those who seek the Lord,
you know, the Bible says in Romans chapter three, that there's none
that seeketh after God. And what that's talking about
is man in his fallen state of sin and death and depravity.
You see, the Bible teaches that we all fell in Adam, even God's
elect, even Christ's sheep. That's why they're called the
lost sheep. All we like sheep have gone astray, Isaiah 53 says.
And apart from a sovereign, invincible, powerful work of Christ sending
His Spirit to bring us under the gospel and give us life in
the new birth, we will not hear or see or seek after God. We'll
seek religion. There in Romans chapter three,
verses 10, it says, there's none righteous, no, not one. Verse
11, there's none that seeketh after God. That doesn't mean
we won't seek a God. We'll seek a God that's like
ourselves, an idol. But we won't seek the true and
living God until he seeks us and finds us and brings us to
seek him. And so, when we talk about for
whom Christ died, we're talking about all who are brought by
God to faith in Christ and repentance. And you're commanded not to sit
around and wonder who God's elect are or who the sheep are, you're
commanded to seek the Lord. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Christ said, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. And then he says, him that cometh
to me, I will in no wise cast out any sinner who truly seeks
God in his word and is brought by God to faith in Christ, believing
in Christ, resting in him for all salvation, for all forgiveness,
for all righteousness. That's one of God's sheep. That's
one of Christ's sheep. That's one of God's elect. That's
a member of the church. And that sheep was lost, but
he's been found. Remember the parable of the lost
sheep in the 90 and nine? You know, when one sheep goes
astray, the shepherd goes out and finds that sheep. And that's
what it is. And he says, now, if you think
you don't need salvation, you're okay. You're not, because you're
deceiving yourself. But here he says, the good shepherd
giveth his life for the sheep. And he says in verse 15, he says,
as the father knoweth me, And so I know I the Father, the intimate
knowledge and relationship between the Father and the Son. That's
the Trinity, it's Trinitarian language. God the Father, God
the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Not three gods, but one God in
three persons, and we can't explain it, but he says this, this is
how he knows his sheep. It's more than just knowing their
names. Knowing who they are. You see,
God in Christ is omniscient. He knows everything. He knows
everybody's name. He knows the hearts of people.
He knows who his sheep are and he knows the goats. Those who
go through this life in unbelief and die in that state, die in
their sins and perish. That's the goats. He knows who
they are. He knows their hearts. But there
is a saving love relationship between Christ the shepherd and
His sheep. And that's how He knows them.
That's what verse 15 is talking about. As the Father knoweth
me, even so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the
sheep. Why did He have to lay down His
life for the sheep? People say, well, it's because
He loved His sheep. Well, He did. He loved them until
the end, the scripture says. That means until the finishing
of the work. But the ultimate answer to why
he laid down his life for the sheep was to satisfy God's justice
against them for their sins. You see, before the foundation
of the world, their name, God chose them and their names were
written in the Lamb's book of life, the Lamb that was slain.
But we fell in Adam into sin and death. And so we, based upon
our works, based upon what we earn or deserve, we could be
damned. But God chose us and put us in
Christ, gave us to Christ, and Christ agreed to do what was
required to secure the salvation of His sheep. And what was required?
Justice had to be satisfied. Blood had to be shed. The wages
of sin is death, my friend. That's why Christ had to die.
The debt of sin had to be paid in order for God to be just to
justify the ungodly. God is a merciful God, but His
mercy cannot be dispensed without justice satisfied. That's what
the idea of propitiation in the Bible is about. The blood sprinkled
on the mercy seat, you remember in the Old Testament. Christ
is the propitiation for our sins. It's not, it is love, but it's
not just love. It's here in 1 John 4 10. Herein
is love, not that we love God. Now we need to understand that
His love is unconditional towards His people. So herein is love,
not that we love God, but that He loved us and gave His Son
to be the propitiation for our sins. The sin-bearing sacrifice
who brought satisfaction. Christ paid my debt in full.
God is satisfied. Righteousness has been established,
not by me, and righteousness has been imputed to his sheep,
charged to their account. And how do you know that you're
one of them? When you come to hear the gospel, the voice of
the shepherd, by the power of the Spirit, and are brought to
faith in Christ and repentance of dead works. So he says, as
the Father knoweth me, verse 15, even so know I the Father,
and I lay down my life for the sheep. Now look at verse 16.
And other sheep I have which are not of this fold. Now what
fold's he talking about? The Jewish fold. God has a people
out of every tribe, every kindred, every tongue, every nation, every
race. Not just the Jewish fold. Now
he didn't come to save all Jews or all Gentiles. He came to save
God's elect out of the Jews and the Gentiles. The gospel is the
power of God and salvation to everyone that believeth, the
Jew first. It came through the Jews first in the New Testament
here. But to the Greek or the Gentile
also, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith, that is from knowledge revealed to knowledge received
and believed, as it is written, the just, the justified shall
live by faith. And so he says in verse 16, and
other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I
must bring. He didn't say them also I'm gonna
try to bring if they'll let me. No, that's false religion today. He said I must bring them. He
must have his sheep. Why? Because he laid his life
down for them. He said over in John chapter
12, just over a page or two here, and he's talking about his death
on the cross. And he made this statement in
John chapter 12. He said in verse 31, he said,
now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out, talking about Satan, the accuser of the brethren.
And listen to verse 32. He says, and I, if I be lifted
up from the earth, will draw all unto me. All who? All his
sheep. Them also I must bring. He said,
this he said, signifying what death he should die. So go back
to John 10 now, verse 16. And other sheep I have, which
are not of this foe, them also I must bring, and they shall
hear my voice. and there shall be one foe and
one shepherd. They're going to hear his voice
at some time appointed by God. They're going to be brought under
the preaching of the gospel and they're going to be born again
by the Spirit. They're going to be able to see
things that they weren't able to see before because they had
no desire for it. They were spiritually dead in
trespasses and sin. Remember, fallen in Adam into
sin and spiritual death and depravity. If you want to talk about depravity,
somebody might say, well, I know I'm not perfect, but I'm not
depraved. How do you respond to the preaching of the voice
of the shepherd, the voice of Christ, the gospel? Because if
you walk away in unbelief, That's a sign of total depravity, spiritual
death. You must be born again or you
cannot see the kingdom of God. You must be born again or you
don't have ears to hear. Remember Christ told his disciples
in the kingdom parables, when they asked, why are you speaking
in parables? He said, well, they hearing, hear not. They seeing,
see not. They're spiritually dead, but
blessed are your eyes for they see. Blessed are your ears for
they hear. Do you hear what I'm saying?
Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. That
hearing that brings a sinner to faith in Christ is a gift
of God. It's a miracle of God's grace. It's the application of the resurrection
life of Christ to His people. It shows that they're elect of
God, shows them that they're the church of the living God,
part of the church. It shows them that they're the
sheep It shows them that they've been justified in God's sight
and sanctified and adopted into his family. Well, look at verse
17. He says, therefore doth my father
love me because I laid down my life that I may take it again.
The love of the Father to the Son. And this is speaking of
Christ in His mediatorial relationship as the Savior of His people.
There's an eternal relationship between Christ and the Father
that's attributed to His deity. The love of the Son and the Father
and the Spirit between each other. But this love was earned by His
mediatorial work as God manifest in the flesh. And listen to what
He says in verse 18. He says, no man taketh it from
me. That is his life. No man taketh
it from me, but I lay it down of myself. Christ volunteered
before the foundation of the world to be the savior of his
people. To take their sins upon himself as their surety. The
sins of his sheep, God's elect, his church, imputed charge to
him. And he willingly said, I'll do
what's required. I will come to this earth and
unite with human flesh without sin and die on the crops to put
away their sins and redeem them by his blood. He wasn't murdered. Now in the eyes of fallen humanity,
it was murder. But he said, I lay down my life
of myself. No man. He says, I have power
to lay it down. Look at verse 18. I have power
to lay it down and I have power to take it again. This commandment
have I received in my father. You see the father and the son
covenanted before the foundation of the world to do this great
work for the salvation of the people whom he chose and gave
to Christ. And so Christ, who in his deity,
as the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God, co-equal with
the Father and the Spirit in the nature of deity, he submitted
himself to the will of the Father as God manifest in the flesh
for what purpose? For the purpose of saving his
people to the praise of the glory of God's grace. You see, Christ
is not a lesser God. He is very much God. But in his office as mediator,
as the shepherd, as the savior of his people, the servant, he
humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross. Philippians 2 speaks of that.
So he submitted himself, not becoming less than what he was
or is, but in order to attain and obtain the relationship of
salvation between His Father and His people. Now look at verse
19, now here comes the opposition. In John 10, 19, there was a division
therefore again among the Jews for these sayings. Now, the Pharisees,
you remember we talked about that, how they had excommunicated
a blind man in chapter nine because he claimed to have been healed
of his blindness by Jesus of Nazareth, and then later on became
a follower, and they excommunicated him. And so he's speaking to
a mixed multitude here, the Pharisees, and then he has some sheep here.
And it says in verse 19, there was a division, therefore again
among the Jews for these sayings, verse 20, many of them said,
he hath a devil. He's mad, he's crazy. Why hear
him? Why do you listen to this man?
Verse 21, others said, these are not the words of him that
hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of
the blind? You remember in John nine, he
had healed a blind man. Verse 22. And it was at Jerusalem,
the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. And Jesus
walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. 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, if you're
the Messiah, tell us plainly. And in verse 25, listen to what
Christ said here. Jesus answered them, I told you,
and you believe not. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me. I've told you that I'm the Messiah,
and you don't believe. But now verse 26 is very important
here. But you believe not, because
you're not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice,
and I know them, and they follow me. Did you hear what he said
in that passage? He said, you believe not, because
you're not of my sheep. Now Christ, we don't, As human
beings, I don't know who everyone, I don't know every one of God's
sheep. I know right now that there are
some people that I know who believe the gospel, unless they fool
me. But I know they're my brothers
and my sisters in Christ. They're the sheep. They've been
brought into the sheepfold. But out there in the world, I
know this, that right now there's some lost sheep I don't know
who they are. How do you find them? Preach
the gospel. Go into all the world and preach
the gospel to every creature. I'm gonna preach the gospel to
anyone and everyone who will listen. And you know what? Christ
is gonna gather his sheep. He's gonna call them in. He's
gonna give them life and bring them into the fold. He's gonna
give them faith to believe. He's gonna bring them to repent.
He's gonna give them a new heart, new life. All of that, that's
his business. My business is simply to preach
the gospel and then leave it unto him. But now Christ, he
knew his sheep and he knew who the goats were. And sad to say,
right here in this verse 25, he tells them, or verse 26, he
says, you're not of my sheep. And he says, look at the order
of the language too. Word order in the Greek New Testament
is very important. Verse 27, you believe not because
you're not of my sheep, as I said unto you. He didn't say you're
not of my sheep, therefore you believe not, because you believe
not. He says the reason you don't
believe, the reason that you're continuing in unbelief and will
continue out unto death, because you're not of my sheep. He said
I said unto you, now verse 27, my sheep hear my voice. and I know them, and they follow
me. Who are his sheep? Well, another
passage that I quote all the time in this program is Romans
1, 16 and 17. Paul writes, for I am not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ, for it, that gospel, Empowered by
the Holy Spirit, it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believeth. To the Jew first, to the Greek
also. Jew or Gentile. Everyone who
believeth. To the Jew first, the Greek also.
And that Greek there means the Gentiles. For therein is the
righteousness of God revealed. And what is the righteousness
of God there? Well, it's the merit, the value, the worth of
the obedience unto death of the Lord Jesus Christ as the surety,
the substitute, the redeemer, the preserver of His people. That's what the righteousness
of God is. It's what Christ established on the cross in His death. It
was prophesied in the book of Daniel that when the Messiah
would come, that he would finish the transgression, he would make
an end of sin, and he would bring in everlasting righteousness.
And that's what he did. The sins of his sheep were put
to his charge. They're called God's elect. In
the book of Romans chapter eight, I believe it's verse 33 or 34,
I can't remember exactly, but it says, who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies, I believe
that's 33. And then 34 says, who is he that
condemneth? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather
is risen again and is seated at the right hand of the Father,
never living to make intercession for us. That's what it is. And so for therein is the righteousness
of God revealed. And listen, it says from faith
to faith in Romans 1 17. What does that mean from faith
to faith? Well, faith is knowledge. God revealed knowledge. That's
what faith is. The basic Greek word is the word
knowledge. In other words, you believe it
because you know it to be true. and you know it to be true because
God revealed it and it's backed up by His Word. Faith cometh
by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. So it's from faith
to faith, from knowledge revealed. This is a revelation of God.
You see, the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit
of God, neither can he know them, they're spiritually understood.
It has to be revealed by the Spirit through the Word. You
have to be given eyes to see it and spiritual eyes and spiritual
ears to hear. You have to be given a new heart
in the new birth to understand and to believe it and love it
and follow it. So it's from faith, from knowledge
revealed to faith, knowledge received. If it's revealed to
you, you'll receive it because of what Christ did on the cross
and because you're one of his sheep. And he says in Romans
117, as it is written, the just, the justified shall live by faith. They live by that knowledge revealed,
knowledge received in God's word. What is it to be justified? It's
to be forgiven of all my sins on a just ground. It's to be
declared righteous in God's sight on a just ground. And what is
that just ground? The righteousness of God. Christ's
righteousness freely imputed to me. And as a result, God gives
me faith to receive it. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness. That is, we look to Christ for
salvation and for righteousness. And so he says, back in John
10, he says, verse 26, but you believe not because you're not
of my sheep. As I said unto you, verse 20,
my sheep hear my voice. That's hearing the gospel. believing
the gospel as the power of God unto salvation. And he says,
and I know them and they follow me. My friend, sadly, if you
go through this life without coming to a saving knowledge
of Christ and believing in him and resting in him, repenting
of your dead works, All that past religion that you used to
hold dear, now you see it as dung, as Paul called it. If you
go through this life, never coming to a saving knowledge of Christ,
this is what it says, you're not one of his sheep, you're
a goat. And he'll separate you from the sheep. He says in verse
28, he says, and I give unto them eternal life. They didn't
earn eternal life. They don't deserve eternal life,
none of His sheep. What are His sheep? Sinners saved
by grace, who look to Christ as their only merit before God. I have no merit, nothing I do,
nothing I say, it will put me in a position where I can say
I've earned God's grace and His blessings, or I deserve it, it's
all Christ. So he says, I give unto them
eternal life, and they shall never perish. If he gives you
eternal life, you won't perish. People say, oh, that's once saved,
always saved. I don't care what you call it.
The eternal security of the saved is a biblical concept, a biblical
truth, and those who believe you can be saved and then lost,
they are misinterpreting so many scriptures. First John chapter
two and verse 19 says, those who went out from us were never
of us. We may have thought they were.
And that's why John's writing that because there were people
who claimed to believe the gospel and they were in with true believers
and then they totally turned against it and left it. And John
says, they never were really of us. They were never really
saved. Had they been of us, they would have no doubt remained
with us, but they went out from us that it might be manifested
that they were never of us. If God saves you, you can't lose
it. And so he says, neither shall
any man 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. And
that message offended the Jews so much that they took up stones
again to stone him, but of course he didn't. He didn't allow that,
he walked through. He was on his way to the cross. And that's where he set his face
like a flint to go, and he wasn't gonna go anywhere else until
he laid his life down for the sheep. Hope you enjoyed this,
and join us again next week for another message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us
at 1-1-0-2-3. Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia
31707. Contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
or email us through our website at www.theletterofgrace.com. Thank you again for listening
today and may the Lord be with you.