John chapter 10. The title of the message is The Shepherd
of the Sheep. We left off last in our study
here in John chapter 10 looking at the characteristics of the
shepherd of the sheep. Today, I want us to look at the
sheep of the shepherd. We saw last time some characteristics
of the shepherd. Now, we'll see five characteristics,
Lord willing, of God's sheep. The sheep of the shepherd. Contrary
to popular opinion today, and I would imagine this has been
the popular opinion of the world throughout its history, God does
not love everyone. Every human being is not one
of God's sheep. God does not love everyone. Christ
did not come to die for everyone. God loves His sheep. He loves
those elect that He gave to His Son. Christ died for the elect. The shepherd came and laid down
his life for his sheep, not everyone, for his sheep. Christ didn't
come so that men of the world would have peace with one another.
If he had done that, we would have peace. That's not why he
came. Christ came so that his sheep would have peace with God.
That's why he came. Christ did not come to unite
men of the world together. Christ came to divide. There
is a distinction made between sheep and goats. And when you
leave here this morning, you can know whether or not you're
a sheep of the shepherd or not. Now, our text begins at verse
19. There was a division, therefore, again among the Jews for these
things. And many of them said, he hath the devil and is mad.
Why hear ye him? Nobody in their right mind would
believe that. Well, they're right. Nobody in
their natural mind would believe him. But others said, these are
not the words of him that hath the devil. Can the devil open
the eyes of the blind? Now, this division, what's it
over? It's over who is Jesus Christ.
That's the division. And believers will have division
from unbelievers because they're not alike. They have different
natures. They're total opposites. The gospel that the sheep love
is offensive to the natural man. They just say, who in their right
mind would believe that? So the gospel of Christ naturally
divides the sheep and the goats. It's a natural divider. But we
need to make absolutely certain of this, that the division is
over Christ. Now, we'll have division, but
let's make sure of this. The division's over Christ, not
over me and mine, over him, over who he is. We don't go out and
make it our goal to divide people. If we do that, we'll make a mistake.
We'll divide the sheep from the sheep. We'll bring in the goats
and kick the sheep out. That's what we do. That's the
parable of the tares we read in Matthew 13. You just leave
the dividing to the Lord. He'll divide the sheep and the
goats. And I'll tell you how the sheep will be divided from
the goats. It'll be his word. It'll be his
word. There was a division among the
Jews for the sayings of our Lord. It was his word. Division will
happen. when God's Word is plainly spoken. Now, I love plain preaching. I mean, I just love preaching
that's plain. And I would imagine every believer
does. We just love plain preaching for common, ordinary people.
That's the kind of preaching that believers love. I know that's
the kind of preaching I love. But goats don't like that kind
of preaching. Plain preaching will always lay men bare. It
will just lay us open for what we are. It will not take the
edge off what we are. It will declare us for what we
are. And plain preaching lets us see
ourselves as what we are. Plain preaching of God's Word
lets us see the filth and the ugliness and the depravity of
our nature. And the natural man doesn't like
that. It's offensive to his flesh. And someone would ask, well,
then why be sublime? You know, why not kind of take
the edge off of it and kind of be a little bit fuzzy on those
things so people will stay and at least they'll hear something?
I can tell you why. Because Christ is our only hope. Well, then let's declare him
plainly. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter
3. If Christ is our only hope, then we ought to be very plain
about that in our preaching. 2 Corinthians 3, verse 12, seeing that we have such hope,
we use great plainness of speech. Not as Moses, which put a veil
over his face. We're not going to put a veil
over it. We use great plainness of speech and that will always
divide the sheep and the goats. Now look at verse 22 in our text. It was at Jerusalem, the Feast
of the Dedication, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in Solomon's
porch. Now, the Feast of the Dedication
was a feast where they celebrated the purification of the temple.
Just like all throughout Israel's history, they brought in idols
and, you know, become idolaters. And one of the kings came in
and purged the temple of all the idols and restored the proper
worship of the Lord. And they celebrated that Feast
of the Dedication. And here Christ is tabernacling
among them. Here he is. Here's the embodiment
of the temple. And they had no interest in worshiping
him. Probably like all the other feasts, they had great interest
in the feast, but not in him that the temple pictured. And
yet, here's the goodness of God. Men didn't believe him. Men hated
him. Men who worked in that temple, whose life was all about that
temple, hated him and rejected him. But this is the goodness
of our God. Here's Christ walking in the
porch anyway. Making Himself available to them. Here's life.
Here's forgiveness of sin. Here He is walking in the porch.
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. Now on its face, that sounds
like a pretty good question, doesn't it? Just tell us plainly
if you're the Christ. But it's not. They're not interested
in knowing Christ. They're not interested in knowing
who he is. They're not interested in knowing he's the Christ so
they can bow to him. They want him to say the right
phrase. In their words, they want him
to say that he is the king of Israel. They want him to use
those words so they can go tell Rome he said it. And then Rome
will get rid of this problem for him. They're not going to
have someone come and say he's the king of Israel and Rome will
get rid of him. And they gathered round about
him. And the phrase that John uses there means they compassed
our Lord about like bees swarming around him, attacking him like
all these little bees. And this is so subtle, but see
what they say? How long do you make us to doubt?
They're trying to blame their doubt and their unbelief on him. See their nature? They got that
nature from Adam. You see how they're directly
related to Adam. It's not their fault. It's not
God's fault they don't believe. It's not God's fault they doubt.
It's their fault. They got that nature from Adam. Adam sinned and blamed God for
it, didn't he? I wouldn't sin if he didn't give me his woman.
It's your fault. And they're blaming their unbelief, their
doubt on God. But they have been told plainly.
They've been told plainly Jesus is the Son of God. Well, why
didn't they believe? Because they're goats. That's
why they didn't believe, because they have a nature of a goat.
They don't have the nature of a sheep. In verse 25, our Lord
told them, I told you, and you believe not. The works that I
do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. Now, our
Lord had told them plainly. He is the Son of God. Look back
in John chapter 5. We won't look at all the places,
but here's just a few. He told them plainly. John 5 verse 26, For as the Father
hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life
in himself. Now, if he's got life in himself,
he must be God. Only God has life in himself.
That's pretty plain. Look at verse 27, And hath given
him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of
man. Well, he must be God. Only God can be the judge. search the Scriptures. For in
them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which
testify of me." Now all the Old Testament Scriptures are written
about him. If those Old Testament Scriptures are testifying of
him, he must be God. Isn't that so plain? Look at
verse 43. I am come in my Father's name,
and ye receive me not. If another should come in his
own name, him ye will receive. He just said the Father is His
Father. He must be the Son of God. That is so plain. Look over
in John chapter 8. Verse 58. Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Now, no Jew could misinterpret
what our Lord is saying right there. They couldn't do it. They
knew exactly what he was saying. I am eternal God. I am spoke
to Moses at the burning bush, that bush that was not consumed.
I am. They understood exactly what
he was saying, but they didn't believe his words. They didn't
believe the words of Christ anymore than natural man believes the
word of God today. They don't believe the word because
they have the nature of a goat. And if they didn't want to believe
the words that the Lord spoke, they could have looked at his
miracles if they wanted to. The miracles that he did gave
witness, undeniable witness. Jesus of Nazareth is God because
only God could do what he was doing. But they didn't believe. There's several reasons for that. First, they didn't believe because
miracles don't save anybody. I mean, you could work signs
and wonders. Miracles don't save anybody. But the root of the
problem is still this. They don't believe God's word.
God's word, the Old Testament scriptures told when the Messiah
comes, he'll do these miracles, just like the recent thing they
did, he gave sight to the blind. The Old Testament scripture says
when the Messiah comes, he's going to give sight to the blind.
Why didn't they believe? They saw the miracles, undeniable. The man was blind and now he
saw. Why didn't they believe? Well,
the root of the problem is they did not believe God's word. That's the problem. And they're
trying to blame it on him. It's not God's fault. It's their
fault. Now, the only reason anybody
does not believe Christ, the only reason anybody does not
believe God's word is they're not a sheep. They're a goat.
That's what our Lord says in verse 26. But you believe not. because you're not of my sheep,
as I said unto you." Notice our Lord doesn't say here, you're
not my sheep because you don't believe. He says, you don't believe
because you're not my sheep. You don't believe because you're
not one of the sheep that the Father gave me in divine election.
You're not a goat because you eat a tin can. You eat a tin
can because you're a goat, because that's the nature of a goat.
You don't believe because you have the nature of a goat that
will not believe. Now, we can talk about these
Jews until the cows come home. But let's make this personal.
I want this to be applied to you and me. The gospel has been
declared plainly, boldly, clearly, powerfully for many years here
in Ashland. It's been declared to you and
me. We're without excuse. I'm not talking about them Jews
anymore. I'm talking about you and me.
We are without excuse. This has been declared plainly
to us. Man's lost an Adam. We're lost
in sin and we don't have any ability to do anything good or
anything righteous. We lost that ability when Adam
fell. We don't have any way in ourselves
to please God. None. We've been told this plainly. Christ came in the world to save
sinners. The great physician didn't come for them that are
whole. He came for the sick. He came to save sinners. We've
been told this plainly. God's elect have been justified
in Christ. They've been made without sin. Their sin has been removed by
the blood of the Lamb. The only way our sin will ever
be removed is in His blood. We've been told that plainly.
Salvation is had through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It
comes through faith, not by anything we do. It's through faith. Now,
we've been told that plainly. The only reason somebody does
not believe that is their goat. They're not one of God's elect.
The sheep will believe. People who don't believe, don't
believe because they've just got one nature. They've got Adam's
nature that does not believe God. People who don't believe
have the nature of unbelief and God has left them alone. The
problem is not that we have not been told. We can't say, how
long do you make us to doubt? We've been told plainly. God
told us. The problem is we don't believe.
The problem is not that we don't understand. We understand the
simplicity of the gospel. A lot of times people don't believe
because it's too simple. It's too easy. We understand
the simplicity of the gospel. The problem is we won't believe.
Man's problem is not that he doubts. Doubt is not the problem. Unbelief is the problem. We know we won't believe. There's
no doubt about it. The problem is not that we doubt.
It's unbelief. We have infinitely more revelation
from God's word than Abraham, Isaac and Jacob did. We have
much more revelation. The Gospel is much more clear
to us. We have the complete Word of
God in our laps. The Gospel is much more clear
to us than David and Daniel. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Daniel,
David, they all believed. Why don't we? Unbelief. It's not a lack of revelation
of the Word, is it? It's a wicked heart of unbelief
that's full of pride, and depravity, too proud to bow, too depraved
to bow. Men don't believe because their
heart is darkened. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter
4. They don't believe because they
have the dark, unbelieving heart of a goat. 2 Corinthians 4 verse 2. But we've renounced the hidden
things of dishonesty. not walking in craftiness, nor
handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth,
committing ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight
of God. But if that gospel be hid, that gospel that is plainly,
clearly preached, if it is hid, it is hid to them that are lost,
in whom the God of this world has blinded the minds of them
that believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ,
who is the image of God, should shine unto them. And people who do not believe
God don't believe because they're goats. The only people that will
ever believe are God's elect. And they believe because God's
given them faith in Christ. The sheep believe. Now, here's
five distinguishing marks of the sheep of the shepherd. The
first one is this. The sheep of the shepherd hear
his voice. Verse 27. My sheep hear my voice. They hear and they understand. It's not just that they can distinguish
there's noise going on. They hear and they understand.
They understand the voice of Christ. And they love the voice
of Christ. That's the voice that they go
to hear. The sheep hear and believe. Now,
we don't believe in order to become a sheep. We believe because
we are God's sheep. And God's given his sheep ears
that hear and faith to believe. And you might think now, Frank,
I only hear your voice. You're the only one talking.
Well, humanly speaking, that's true. But the sheep of the shepherd,
they hear the voice of Christ. They hear more than the voice
of the preacher. They hear the voice of Christ from his word.
They hear the sheep of the shepherd. They hear the voice of Christ
in regeneration. They've been born again. They
don't just have fleshly ears. They have ears of faith that
were given to them in the new birth. And they hear with faith. They hear and believe. They were
dead, just like every other son of Adam, dead. But God gave them
ears in the new birth and they hear, just like Lazarus. Lazarus
was dead. I mean, he's stinking. He's dead.
But when the voice of the Lord called to him, Lazarus, come
forth, he heard. And came forth, because God gave
him ears that hear. The sheep of the shepherd hear
in regeneration. The sheep of the shepherd hear
Christ speaking in His Word. God's Word speaks to that new
man, speaks to that new heart. And it speaks of Christ. It speaks
to us when we read God's Word. We read a forgiveness of sin
in Christ. When we read God's Word, we read
we're accepted in the Beloved. I'm so thankful. A sheep is thankful
to hear that. I'm not accepted because, you
know, I'm better than anybody else or I did X number of good
things. I'm accepted in the beloved.
That's good news to the sheep. The sheep, they read of being
made righteous in Christ. They don't want any righteousness
of their own, which is of the law. They read the words to see
Christ our righteousness. They see how we're chosen in
Christ, called in Christ, cleansed in Christ. The whole word speaks
to them of Christ. And the sheep of the shepherd,
they hear the voice of Christ in preaching, in preaching of
the word. And they not only understand
what's being said. They love it. The problem with
goats a lot of time, they understand. They hate it. They don't love
it. The sheep understand and they love it. They love Christ. When they hear the gospel preached,
they say, that's it. I know that's it because that
gospel message reached my heart. My spirit's testifying with the
spirit of the preacher. That's it. That's the gospel.
They hear and they love the voice of the Lord. Secondly, the sheep
of the shepherd, they know the shepherd and the shepherd knows
them. Our Lord says, my sheep hear my voice and I know them. Well, of course he knows them.
He's always known his sheep. In eternity past, he knew them.
He loved them. The Father gave them to him.
He loved them. He's always known them in love.
He's always loved his sheep. That's why he agreed to be their
servant. He knew what they'd be. He knew how they'd be falling
at him. He knew they'd reject him and
hate him. But he loved them. He loved them first. He knew
his sheep always by name. It wasn't just a mass of nameless
people. He always knew their name. This
is the sheep that he loved. He knew where they were at all
times. And when his time came, he came and called them by name
on purpose. It was his purpose to call this
sheep on this day to bring him to him. He's always known his
sheep. And when God calls his sheep
in power, the sheep of the shepherd know the shepherd. Look at verse
14. We looked at this last time.
I'm the good shepherd. I know my sheep. and am known
of mine." The sheep know the shepherd. Now this word know,
it means to understand. Christ understands the sheep
because he became a sheep. The eternal God became the Lamb
of God. He became what we are. So our
shepherd, he understands our weakness. Our shepherd is touched
with the feeling of our infirmity. The infirmity of the sheep. So
he has compassion on them. Now, sheep love a compassionate
shepherd, they love a shepherd and they need a compassionate
shepherd. We know him and know also means
to become one, like a husband and wife become one flesh. Christ
knows his sheep because he's one with the sheep, the shepherd
is one with the sheep. The sheep are one with Christ,
just like the body is one with the head. Just like the vine
is one with the branch. The shepherd knows the sheep
and the sheep know the shepherd. They know him. When they hear
him, they know him. Third, the sheep of the shepherd
follow Christ. Our Lord says, and they follow
me. Now, the sheep follow Christ
because they can't help it. They've got the nature of a sheep.
They can't help but follow him. The sheep are drawn to Christ. They're drawn to him by cords
of love. It's like Wednesday night, we
looked at it. They flow to him because they can't help it. It's
their nature. They flow to him just like water flows downhill.
And where Christ goes, the sheep go because they're connected
to him. They can't go somewhere he's
not. They're connected to him. They follow Christ. They follow
Christ. Because they want to know Him
better. They know Him. But they want to know Him better.
They enjoy His presence, but they follow Him because they
want more of it. They follow the way of Christ. They follow
the example of Christ. And they follow the commandment
of Christ. Now wait a minute. I thought I didn't have to follow
any commandments. He kept all the commandments.
What are you talking about? I don't know anything about this
following commandments business. God's sheep do. They follow His
commandment. What's His commandment to His
sheep? Believe. Believe. Follow me. Love me. Love your brethren. The sheep
do that because it just comes naturally to them. God gave them
the nature of a sheep. They believe Him. They love Him.
They love the other sheep. And they follow Him because that's
the nature of sheep. They're followers. Fourth, the
sheep of the shepherd have eternal life. Verse 28, and I give unto
them eternal life. Now, can you read that statement
and not understand that eternal life is a gift of God? It's not
something we earn. It's a gift. I give unto them
eternal life. It can't be earned. It can't
be deserved. It's a gift. We're going to have
a birthday party this afternoon over at mom's house. John is
going to get some gifts. He's 40. Some of them he's going
to like. Some of them he's not. But he's all going to get gifts.
You didn't earn them. You didn't pay for them. They're
gifts. Salvation is the exact same way. God gives it to his
people on purpose. Gives them the gift of eternal
life. And how glad should we be for that gift? We can't earn
it. We cannot earn eternal life. What's the only thing you and
I can earn from God? Death. The wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord. I earned death. I earned death in Adam. I earned
death in my own experience. I earned eternal death in outer
darkness. But in His sovereign grace, the
Lord Jesus Christ My shepherd gave me eternal life. Not because
I deserved it, because he's going to give it to me, because I'm
his sheep. Look at John 17. This is the gift that he gives
to every last one of his sheep. Verse 2. As that has given him
power over all flesh, that he should give. eternal life to
as many as thou hast given them." He's going to give this eternal
life to his sheep. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee, the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent. Now, how does the shepherd give
eternal life to his sheep? Is this some great mystery? How does he give eternal life
to his sheep? The shepherd gives life to the sheep by laying down
his life for them. Look back in our text, verse
11, John 10. He says this twice, I'm the good
shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Verse
15, as a father knoweth me, even so know I the father, and I lay
down my life for the sheep. Now, sheep are pretty helpless,
aren't they? They're not real bright. They're helpless, defenseless. So normally speaking, the sheep
would be in danger if the shepherd laid down his life. They'd be
left without help, be left without defense. But God's sheep are
given eternal life because the shepherd laid down his life for
them. Our shepherd died as a substitute
for the sheep and he imparted, he gave his life to his sheep. He took our death and he gave
us his life, his life, the life of God. Has to be eternal, doesn't it?
Can you lose it if it's his life? It's eternal life. I give unto
them eternal life. The glory of eternal life is
not the length of it. Everybody's going to live forever.
The glory of eternal life. I've got on my notes where that
life is spent, that's not even true. The glory of eternal life
is who that life is spent with. If that life is spent with Christ,
it's glorious. And if that life is spent without
Christ, it's condemnation. And the Savior is saying, I give
my sheep my life so they'll be with me forever. Look back at
John 17 again. Verse 24. Father, I will. Only God can pray this way. Father,
I will. That they also whom thou hast
given me be with me, for I am, that they may behold my glory
which thou hast given me. For thou lovest me before the
foundation of the world." The sheep have been given eternal
life by the shepherd. Fifth, the sheep of the shepherd
will never perish. Never. Look at verse 28. I give
unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. 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." Now look up this word perish. It
has a lot of meanings. I'll give you just a couple of
them. It means lost. Perish means lost. Well, we're
lost in Adam, aren't we? But found in Christ. Never to
be lost again. The word perish also means to
be destroyed. I should be destroyed because
of my sin. That's what my sin deserves. But Christ, my substitute,
was destroyed for me. Now, what would destroy me eternally?
I don't know if destroyed is the right word. He was destroyed
for me because he wasn't destroyed in the sense that we use the
word like obliterated or something. He was destroyed. He died for
me. But he was raised again and I
was raised in him. And one day, This vile body is
going to be raised in a body just like He is. Because He suffered
and was destroyed for me. Third, the word perished, it
means ruined. Well, we're ruined in Adam, but we're forever whole
and righteous in Christ. And last, this word perished,
it comes from the root word that means separation. We were separated
from God in Adam, but we've been brought back into fellowship
and made one with the Father. in Christ. The sheep can never
be separated from God because they're wrapped in the hand of
the son, the shepherd, which is wrapped in the hand of the
father. They can never be separated. They can never be plucked from
that hand. The sheep or the shepherd can never be lost in Adam because
they were in Christ before they were in the loins of Adam. The
sheep of the shepherd can never be lost because of their own
sin and their own rebellion because they were in the hand of Christ
before they ever sinned. They're in His hand, so they
can never perish. And this is comfort. If you're a sheep of the shepherd,
you know this. I'll leave him if I can. I'll
leave him if I can. I'll not believe if he lets me. I'll be apostate if he lets me.
Not only can Satan not pluck you, tear you out of God's hand,
you can't be drawn away so that you'll fall out of his hand.
Look back at verse 5, John chapter 10. And a stranger will they
not follow, but they'll flee from him, for they know not the
voice of a stranger. They don't know his voice. They
don't love his voice. They know the voice of the shepherd
and they won't follow a stranger so that they wander away and
fall out of God's hand. They'll never do it. They can't
be drawn out. The sheep of the shepherd, they
find joy in the shepherd. They find pleasure in the shepherd.
So they won't leave him. What's going to give you more
pleasure than being with him? You won't leave him. Once you see
the shepherd, once the sheep see the shepherd, everything
else loses its luster. They don't care where he goes.
They're just going to go with him because they want him. They don't
want all these other things. They want him. We're in his hand. Now, that's our security. Is
that right? We're in the shepherd's hand,
the hand of the almighty. That's our security. But the
sheep also know this. My little old weak hand is hanging
on to his great hand for all it's worth. He won't let me go. But I'm like Jacob. I'm going
to let him go either. The sheep cannot be deceived
and pulled away from his hand. You know, people love to argue
about the security of the believer. Do you believe once saved, always
saved? You know, people who don't believe
that, who don't preach that, you know why they don't say once
saved, always saved? Because they're afraid you'll
make a profession of faith and never come back. You know, because
they think that's salvation in some way. You've got to have
some control over people to keep them coming back, you know. That's
why they won't talk about the security of the believer. They
can't believe once saved, always saved. Would you believe once
saved, always saved? Well, that depends entirely on
who did the saving. Isn't that right? If you saved
you, you'll be lost again. If the preacher saved you, you'll
perish. If your mama saved you, you'll
be ruined. But if Christ saved you, you
can never perish. He's a successful Savior. Now,
trials are going to cause me pain, but I'll never perish. My body is going to become weak
and frail and full of pain, but it won't make me perish. I'll
become sad and tired. I don't feel like I can take
another step, but I'll not perish. My faith is going to waver and
I'll be ashamed of myself. My love is going to wax cold
And I'll be ashamed of myself and hate myself for it. But I'll never perish. Because
salvation's in Him. Security is in Him. If you have
eternal life right now, because He says, I give unto them. Now
I will give it someday. If you're one of God's sheep,
you have eternal life at this moment. How can you ever perish? By definition, doesn't eternal
life mean it lasts forever? Then you can never perish because
Christ is eternal. So, in conclusion, let me give
you this. The sheep of the shepherd. They've been touched by the shepherd.
Now, they're in his hand, so that's pretty obvious. We've
been touched by the shepherd, right? You know, he's touched our whole
being. His sheep. He's touched their ear. So we
hear His voice. He's touched our mind, so that
we know Him and love Him. He's touched our feet, so we
follow Him. He's touched our life, so we
have eternal life. He's touched our whole being.
Salvation affects the whole being. Christ touches our whole being.
We're wrapped in His hands. We're wrapped. Does that make
sense? We're wrapped. He touches our
whole being. Every sheep of the shepherd knows
this. He touched me. That's what we know. He touched
me. Oh, He touched me. And oh, the joy that floods my
soul. Something happened. Now, I may not be able to explain
it all, but something happened. And I know this. I know Him. He touched me. And He made me
whole. I'm going to follow Him. I'm going to love Him. And I'll
be secure in Him. The sheep of the shepherd. Let's
bow in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we bow before you a thankful
people. How thankful we are in your eternal
mercy and grace. You even have sheep. You chose
some out of Adam's fallen race. Injustice, you could have wiped
out the entire human race. But in your infinite love, and
mercy, you chose a people, you made them your sheep, you gave
them to your Son. Your Son came, became a sheep,
became the Lamb of God to be sacrificed for the sin of His
people. The perfect, holy, pure, righteous
Son of God was sacrificed for the sin of your people. And how
thankful we are that sin is gone. under his blood. And you leave
this world spinning in space to call out your sheep. And we're
thankful that it's not left to doubt. It's not left to chance. It's not left up to the power
of the church or the power of the preacher. But you and your
infinite mercy and grace and that voice that's heard by your
sheep call your sheep out through the preaching of the gospel.
You continue to feed and bless You bring us to the green pastures,
to the still deep waters, and bless your sheep. You lead and
guide and keep us safe. Father, we're thankful. How can
human language ever express the thanks that ought to be given
to you? We're thankful. Praise your precious name for
all the work that you've done for your people. And we do pray,
humbly and carefully, knowing that you've blessed us beyond
measure, we that for the glory of your name's sake, you continue
to call out your sheep. We know you're going to continue
to call out your sheep. We beg you, would you do it here?
Would you call out people from this town, from this congregation,
your sheep? Call them to the shepherd so
that they'll know you, so that they'll follow you, so that they'll
love you and have security and rest and peace in thee. Father, we're thankful. It is
in the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Shepherd and
our Savior, we pray.