to see everybody out this evening. Add to your prayer list the Gary French's family, and the Cornwell family also. I think it's home it is, but I'm not sure. But remember these folks lost loved ones. Pray for them. And pray for each other. Call each other's name out a little bit. We're going to worship sure tonight with hymn number 272, Christ the Solid Rock.

272. My hope is built on nothing less. And Jesus' blood and righteousness, I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand. When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, My anchor holds within the veil. On Christ the solid rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand. all around my soul Christ the solid rock I stand All other ground is sinking sand All other ground is sinking sand When he shall come with trumpet sound Oh may I then in him be found Rest in his righteousness alone All the blest here stand before the throne. On Christ the sun is rising. All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand.

Hymn number 51, Praise the Savior, Me Who Knows Him. 51. Praise the Savior, ye who know Him, who can tell how much we owe Him. Gladly let us render to Him all we are and have. Jesus is the name that charms us. He, for conflict, fits and arms us. Nothing moves and nothing harms us while we trust in Him. Trust in Him, ye saints forever. He is faithful, changing never. Neither force nor doubt can sever. those He loves from Him. Keep us, Lord, oh, keep us clean.

Then we shall be where we would be Then we shall be what we shouldn't be Things that are not and never could be Soon shall be our own If you have your Bibles, turn with me to the 10th chapter of John. I'll read the first six verses. John chapter 10. Verily, verily, our Lord speaks.

I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door of his sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same as a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of the strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto them, but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them.

Let us pray. Our Father, we are thankful that you have given us faith to believe and to understand your words. We marvel at the clarity, the plainness of scripture. You know that we full of sin, and yet you remember our sins no more. You know that we're weak and frail, but you hold us up and strengthen us. We are thankful that as sheep of your flock, we have such a shepherd, a good shepherd, the good shepherd, the great shepherd of the sheep that holds us and keeps us and leads us and teaches us and guards our lives. We thank you, Father, that Jesus Christ is our shepherd. We can say with David, the Lord is our shepherd, and we shall not want him.

Father, tonight we ask that you'd be pleased to meet with us in the presence of your spirit. Cause us in our hearts to remember those who are suffering, going through trials and tribulations, especially those who've lost loved ones this week. Care for his family. Many of them we know or are familiar to. We ask the Lord to be pleased to cause peace there in the heart of turning their eyes to Jesus Christ.

We pray for ourselves tonight. Father, we need your presence. We need your spirit to take the things of Christ and reveal them unto us. We say with Paul, we look through a glass darkly, but then face to face. We are thankful for what you have taught us and our teaching We're thankful that you continue to do so until we cast off this body and find ourselves fully sinless in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. Help us now to worship you.

You're worthy, more than worthy. We ask these things in Christ's name. Amen. Now the Lord here is still speaking to the Pharisees that he has indicated in our last study that they were those who claimed to see, but were blind. Their blindness, as is all spiritual blindness, is relative to a singular thing, and that's relativity to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ is the center of everything. He's the center of everything. All sin relates to Him. All grace relates to Him. All mercy relates to Him. You relate to Him, and I relate to Him. Those who don't love Him, those who despise Him still relate to Him. He's Lord of the living and the dead, both spiritual and physical, living and dead. He's the Lord, so men relate to Him whether they want to or not.

The cross of Jesus Christ is the central event in all of human history and the cause of the Lord revealing Himself in His mercy and His grace and also in His wrath against sin. So when we're talking about anything relative in this world, it relates to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Their blindness is revealed in the fact that they do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. They do not believe that Jesus is the Christ. In fact, they put out an edict that anyone who confessed that Jesus was Christ would be cast out of the synagogue. Now, all who do not believe on Christ, according to the words of Christ, shall die in their sin and in the blindness of their sin.

The Lord speaks to them here in a parable. That's a parable, which is a preamble to what he will declare in verses 7 through 30. He's setting up in a parable what he's about to tell him tell him about what it is to be the good and great shepherd of the sheep. He's going to tell that in verses 7 through 30. And here he sets it up with this talking about the shepherd and the sheep.

Having declared that these Pharisees were blind, having said before that they were not of God because they did not hear God's words, that they will not hear him because he tells them the truth. He said all that in chapter 8. He now speaks in a parable because He has designed for them not to hear His words. This is by His design. This is by His purpose. He speaks in the parable so they won't hear and understand. That's the design of a parable. He said that over in Matthew chapter 13 if you want to turn there. Matthew chapter 13 beginning with verse 10. He says this, and the disciples came and said, why speakest thou unto them, that is, the Pharisees, in parables?

And he answered and said, because it's given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but not to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall it be given, and he that hath shall have more abundance. But whosoever hath not, from him shall it be taken away, even that he hath. That doesn't line up with any way of people's thinking today, but that's what the Lord says.

Therefore speak out unto them in prayers, because they seeing, see not. Remember what he said? If you say you see, you remain blind. Seeing you see not, hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them it is fulfilled, the prophecy of Isaiah, which said, by hearing you shall hear and shall not understand. And seeing if she'll see and not perceive, for this people's heart is waxed gross, their ears are dull of hearing, their eyes they have closed, lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. He said, I'm not going to convert them, I'm not going to heal them, so their eyes are closed.

So when he speaks to these men in parables, it's not to enlighten them. it's not to enlighten you it's to speak in a manner that they can never get what he's talking about this is by design according to divine purpose they will not hear they will not receive and they will not believe they will not understand simply stated it is not given to them to understand our lord said over in john chapter six when he was talking to his disciples about the lord no man could come to the father except by him he said this in verse verse sixty five of john chapter six he says as i said therefore unto you that no man can come to me except it were given unto them by the father the only way a person will come to christ is if the father gives him to do so simply stated it is not given them to understand the gift of faith The gift of faith, and faith is the wonder. Most people don't think there's anything to faith.

They think, well, I can believe if I want to. Well, go ahead. The fact is, when a person believes that, he trusts, he relies upon, he gives his soul to it. He acts upon that faith. The example given is that if I told you this was a pew, you would say, yes, that would be an intellectual agreement with the fact that it's a pew. If I told you if you sat on that pew, it would support you. Intellectually, you could agree with that.

That's about as far as most people's faith go. But it's not faith until you sit down on that pew. That's the faith. That's what faith is. And that's a sovereign gift of God. Many people believe on Jesus. The devils believe in God and they tremble. Many people say they believe on Jesus. Many people know the scriptures. But they've never fallen upon Him. They've never trusted in Him. They've never looked to Him for their life and for their eternal life. These men didn't. They had the Bible. They studied the Bible. They searched the Scriptures and they thought by searching the Scriptures they had eternal life.

He said that in John chapter 5 verse 39. But if you have faith, this faith is called saving faith in Scripture. If you have saving faith, it's a gift of God. sovereignly given to whomsoever he will. Now these men are esteemed as religious and holy and singularly they said that they were the voice of God. They considered themselves the ruler of the people and the shepherds of God's flock. But our Lord is about to tell them the truth about who He is and what they are.

A parable declares a single truth. It doesn't do well with exposition and that is by taking one verse out of it and preaching on it. It tells a singular truth. The true statement here is that Christ is the shepherd of God's flock. This is what's being taught in this single thing. Now he's saying it to the people who believe that they're the shepherds of God's flock. But he's saying that he's the shepherd of God's flock and there is no other than him.

There are under-shepherds, we know in Scripture, called pastors and evangelists, but there is only one shepherd and none of the Pharisees feel or are qualified for any of those posts, let alone the office of shepherd. Our Lord begins out with the word, verily, verily, verily.

Most people call this, interpret that, truly, truly, or of the truth, of the truth. which the Lord has already declared is the reason they cannot believe Him. He said in John 8, verse 45, Because I tell you the truth, you believe me not. That's an interesting phrase. Because I tell you the truth, you believe me not.

Also, the word can mean Amen. Amen. It's the same word in Scripture, which is one of the names of the Lord. Over in Revelation 3, verse 14, He says, He's the Amen and the faithful. The first begotten from the dead. He's the Amen. So here we have the truth speaking the truth or the word of God is speaking the word of God. This is the Lord Jesus Christ and that word is about the shepherd of God's flock and who is not the shepherd.

And he says in verse 1, Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door of the sheepfold, But, climb up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. And he says he is the, we know that he's the door of the sheep, according to verse 7.

He said, I am the door. And he may come in, he shall go out in, go in and out, and find pasture. But he doesn't refer to himself as the door, he refers to himself as one who enters the door. So this, the language of this parable is a bit confusing. Because Christ is the door and here he said to enter the door.

Now he has not yet said that he's the door so that doesn't really enter into this particular conversation. Remember this is a parable. It's teaching one thing. One thing. One thing. He said he's not yet said he's the door and this statement is a statement of distinction.

Remember he's talking to the Pharisees. He's talking to the Pharisees. He's distinguishing as to who is the shepherd of the sheep and who is not. the shepherd of the sheep. The Pharisees who say they see and are yet blind claim to be leaders of the flock. They claim that.

Christ declares that they're thieves. They're thieves and they're robbers. What's the difference between a theft and a robbery? Well, a thief steals without anybody knowing it. Nobody's present. A robber steals face to face. So he's saying not only do you steal, you do it face to face. Rob God of His glory. Christ bears the peace and knowledge of the glory that belongs to God as the shepherd, as the shepherd of the sheep.

They are climbers, he said. You climb in. You climb in. What does that suggest? Remember over in Romans chapter 10 and verse 4, or verse 3, it talks about those who go about to establish their own righteousness, having not submitted to the righteousness of God. That's the same concept here. They're climbers. They believe that, and they practice this, and they teach this, that by their works and by their efforts, they have attained to the office of being and qualifying to be the shepherd of God's flock.

But the entrance into the sheepfold is exclusively for the shepherd. Verse 2 says that. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. This is often the theme of our Lord's ministry. Often the theme of our Lord's ministry. In truth, the entrance of the sheepfold is exclusive to the shepherd only. The east in the east, the shepherd himself was the one who kept the flock from moving. In other words, he would put them down for the night or take them to a building for the night, and he would lay down in a certain area, and the sheep would never cross. And that way, there was a sense that he was a dog. But our Lord says he's entered that door, and that's exclusive to him.

In truth, these Pharisees, though holding lofty religious positions, had nothing to do with the elect of God, because the flock that he speaks of is not just a scattered bunch of nobodies. The flock is the church. The flock is the sheep of the Lord. Now he would spend a great deal of time distinguishing that fact of these fellows from verse 7 and verse 30.

The porter in verse 3 is God the Father. The porter is said to let the shepherd in the door. And that simply means that he's the one who sent the world or sent the Savior into the world to seek and save and save and find his lost sheep. This is often the theme of our Lord's ministry that the Father has sent him. In fact, over and over again, he said to these Pharisees, this proves that the Father has sent me. I'm doing what the Father sent me to do. I'm doing the works that the Father sent me to do. It says that in chapter 9.

And again, the distinction is made that these thieves and robbers dressed in religious garb face only a closed door when they come to the church. Pharisees are all around in religion. But none of them are in the church of God. None of them are among the flock of God. Now there will be some Pharisees who stop being Pharisees and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ over you. Paul was one of them. He was a Pharisee. But Paul turned to the Lord and never called himself a Pharisee after that except in the past tense. There are some Pharisees, but Pharisees in general. as they are used and set forth in Scripture, never enter into that church.

The sheep come through that door. The shepherd comes through that door, but nobody else. In fact, over in Revelation, the last book of the Word of God, in Revelation 21 and verse 27, it says this, There shall in no wise enter into it, that is into the flock, into the church, that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh an abomination, or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. They're the ones that enter into that body. The ones who enter in is none other than Christ the Good Shepherd.

He says three things about his sheep that enter in with him. that he brings into the fold. He says three things about them. Here's what he says in verse three. He says, to him, the poor are open, and the sheep hear his voice. The sheep hear his voice. That's the first thing. He also declares that these Pharisees are not his sheep. But in verse 27, he says, my sheep hear my voice.

Now, during this next passage of scripture, we'll study in weeks to come, he says several times that they will not hear anybody else. How do we hear the voice of Christ? How do we hear it? There's only one way to hear the voice of Christ, and that's through the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the voice of Christ. I can't explain it. Don't try to. Don't ask me to explain it. I can't explain it. You hear my voice. My voice can't do a thing for you. I'm just repeating what I've been told. I'm repeating what's been said in the book. You hear my voice.

I may beseech you and will beseech you to close with the Lord Jesus Christ, to believe on him, repent of your sins. I will beseech you to do that, but that's not gonna cause you to do it. That's a general call of the gospel. And that's what I do. Paul said that's planting the seed, throwing the seed out, watering it. but it's the Lord who makes it grow.

And that's the effectual call. Now the effectual call and the general call do not differ as to substance. They differ as to application. I make a general call which doesn't do anything for you, except tell you something. But God can take that gospel that I preach and make it find purchase in your heart. And that's the wonder of the gospel. No blame can be laid at my feet for doing anything for you, because I can't do anything for you except tell you something. But if you're saved, you're going to put all the blame on God. He did it all. He did it all.

The one who enters in is none other than the sheep. And the first thing he says is, they hear my voice. What do they hear? They hear the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this also declares that the Pharisees are not his sheep, because they didn't hear it. He says, why do you not understand my speech? Even because you cannot hear my word. I seem to hear my voice. And he says, the Pharisees, you can't hear my word. You cannot. That's an inability. Doesn't say they will not. We know they will not. But they cannot. That's why they will not. They cannot hear his words. And not his sheep. He says the same thing in John chapter 10 verse 26. He says, but you believe not because you're not of my sheep. You're not of my sheep. Which says that the sheep, all the sheep believe. Secondly, he calls his sheep by their name. By their name.

This refers to the effectual call of the Savior. Like I said, the preacher, it's usually a general call to all who will hear him. The Savior takes that general calling and calls His specific sheep. Calling them by name speaks of His eternal and intimate knowledge and foreknowledge of them.

He calls them by name. So this is no imitation that the preacher gives where everybody comes up from. If the Lord Jesus Christ is dealing with His sheep, He's going to lead them one-on-one, And he's going to call them in their heart. You're not going to be a part of a multitude when you hear him call them by name.

He said he will call those who are new and predestinated in Romans chapter 8 verse 29 and 30. In Jude 1 he says that those who are new and predestinated are the called. They're sanctified by God, the Father, and the Holy Spirit, and called. And we are called according to 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 16, we're called by the gospel. Brethren, we're bound to give thanks always to God for you, beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit. We believe in the truth of what He called you by our gospel through the obtaining of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Then it says, the third thing is He leads them He leads them to good pasture. He leads them to good pasture. That's what it says in Psalm 23, the Psalm that most people know by heart. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. My shepherd. He leads me in paths of righteousness. He makes me walk in green pastures and lay down beside cool waters. He leads me. Pharisees were known not to lead the sheep. They were known to drive the sheep.

And that's a whole different thing. They sat in their lofty seats and told men what to do, where to go, how to live, and how to be. But it didn't help them one leg. Matthew chapter 23, our Lord deals face to face with these vipers called Pharisees. verses two through four he says say the scribes and the pharisees sit in the Moses seat that's the top job all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe them because they tell you the scripture and do but do not after their works not do what they do because they say and do not You say you see, you are blind. They say and do not. Well, they bind heavy burdens on you. They lay the law on you, tell you to live this way and act this way. And it's grievous to be born. Lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. They won't help them whatsoever. Their job is to drive the sheep. not to lead the sheep. The Lord does not drive His sheep.

He leads them, going before them, and they listen to His words and follow His voice. That's what it says in verse 4 of our text. It says, And when He put forth His own sheep, He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice. The Voice of the Shepherd, as I said, is the preached gospel. It's true and precise as it proclaims how God has redeemed His people and saved His people. Verse 5 refers to the gospel preached by those who God has called to preach.

He says, A stranger will they not follow, but will flee from Him, for they know not the voice of Christ. We preach Christ and Him crucified. We preach Christ as the only hope of salvation. We preach Christ as the only salvation, that nothing else in the world saved his people but him and what he did on Calvary Street. That's the pure gospel. That's the pure gospel.

Any man who stands and adds anything to that, your faith, your will, your works, your righteousness, whatever you do, that person, the sheep will not hear him. Our Lord says, He has shortened the days of this thing called time, lest the elect be deceived. The elect will not be deceived. The elect will not be deceived. Preachers themselves may be strange, but the gospel they preach is the familiar voice of Jesus Christ. The familiar voice. You know it when you hear it. When the gospel is preached, You affirm it in your mind, that's the truth, that's the truth.

I told you many times about old Peggy Lambert, that time I heard George came for the first time. She'd been to every Baptist church on the reservation looking for something. Didn't even know what she was looking for. She was sitting right over there in that third pew. And I preached that morning on God's eternal election. About halfway through, she slapped George on the thigh and said, that's it.

God writes his word in his people's hearts. He said that. He said that's part of the new covenant. He writes his words in their heart. And when they hear the gospel, they know it. They know it's the gospel. I can remember many years preaching the doctrines of grace. Many years believing the doctrines of grace. Many years trying to get people to straighten out their lives. I use the doctrine of grace as a bludgeoning instrument. And one night, I sat in a little chapel in Winston-Salem. W.R. Cruz preached the gospel.

And I knew that night, this is it. I've missed it all together all these years. This is it. Because he set forth Christ as the absolute and only hope and my work meant nothing. And I understood. It wasn't because I was smart. It was because God had written that in my heart. When I heard it, I knew it.

Many have come and will come in his name. Some even claim to be the reincarnation of him, but the elect will not be deceived. The sheep will not follow such. They will flee from them. And Paul told us too. He said, if anybody preaches any other gospel than which I preached to you, let it be a curse. Let it be a curse from the Lord's coming.

Nothing will bear nothing. They know not the voice of strangers. They know not the voice of strangers. This is further distinction that true believers will not follow the voice of the Pharisees, of those who would bring them under the law for salvation, for assurance or for life.

That's why our Lord said this in Matthew chapter 15 to his disciples. In verse 14, he said of the Pharisees, let them alone. They be blind leaders of the blind. They say they see, but they are blind. And if blind lead the blind, both of them shall fall into a ditch. The believer won't listen to them.

He'll leave them alone. In verse 6, it's a declaration of a simple yet profound truth. Natural men will never understand the gospel. Natural men will never understand the gospel. They cannot. This parable he speaks, unto them, but they understood not what things they were, which he spake unto them. Natural men will never understand the gospel. They cannot.

We know that from the clear declaration of the Spirit. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit. Neither can he know them, nor discern them, or understand them, for they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man understandeth all things and discerneth all things. Yet he himself understood nobody.

Our Lord said basically the same thing to these people in John chapter 8, verse 47. He said, he that is of God, heareth God's words. And to the Pharisees he said, ye therefore, hear not, hear them not, because you're not of God. My sheep, hear my voice, and follow me. Father, bless this understanding. Pray for us. Amen. All right. God bless you.