So we're in John chapter 10 and
we're reading from verse 11 and we'll read down to verse 18.
This is the word of the Lord and it is indeed the Lord who
is speaking. I am the good shepherd, the good
shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an
hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not,
seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth. And the
wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth,
because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am
the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even
so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. And
other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I
must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be
one fold and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love
me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 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
have I received of my father. Amen. May the Lord bless to us
this reading from his word also. What a great salvation. the Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished
for us by his death. It was a substitutionary death
in the place of his people. And we are told in our verses
today that the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world and laid
down his life for the sheep. He carried our sin in his own
body. He bore God's wrath against our
transgressions. By his suffering and his death,
he paid our debt to God's law. By his sacrifice, he cleansed
our sin by his blood. By dying in our place, he gained
our pardon and reconciled us to God. He made us righteous
in himself and fit for his father's presence in his father's house. Well might this salvation be
described as a great salvation. Now, as you know, we have been
looking at the Lord's I Am Sayings, the I Am Sayings of the Lord
in John's Gospel. And we have noted that there
are seven. We've had a few already. We're
on the fourth one now. And the Lord has said, I am the
bread of life. The Lord had said, I am the light
of the world. The Lord had said, I am the door
of the sheep. And now we are being told I am
Good Shepherd. So this is the fourth in the
order in which John records them of these seven sayings of the
Lord Jesus Christ in John's Gospel. And Christ tells his church,
I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. Our precious Savior, well knew
the purpose for which he had come into this world. He had
come to seek and to save that which was lost. The saving part
is what Christ did on the cross. The seeking part is necessary
because Christ's sheep are all scattered throughout the world,
throughout time. And yet our great Savior came
to seek out every last one, so no one of his flock will be lost. Here's a little aside. Do you
ever wonder why the Lord does not just wrap up this old sinful
world and take his people home to glory? As we look around the
world and all the trouble that there is, we might well wish
that he would. Well, the reason why he doesn't,
the reason why he hasn't, is because he is still seeking out
some of his own sheep, still seeking them out under the proclamation
of the gospel. And it is only when the last
lost sheep is found that the whole flock will be gathered
together and taken to our eternal fold in heaven. I wonder if you remember back
in the time of the exodus. We've spoken about this with
the young people in the past and the plagues of exodus. I
wonder if you remember back in the time of exodus, the exodus
of the children of Israel from Egypt. In the midst of the plagues,
I think it was after the plague of darkness, in the midst of
the plagues, Pharaoh tried to negotiate with Moses. He said to Moses, go and serve
the Lord. You can even take your little
ones, your children with you. Only leave behind your flocks
and your herds. And Moses said to him, Our cattle
also shall go with us. There shall not an hoof be left
behind. And that little phrase has always
been an encouragement to the Lord's people who know the true
gospel. There shall not an hoof be left
behind. Because what that tells us is
that when the Lord gathers his people, he will gather them all. The Lord's people who trust in
him, they know that not a single one of his sheep will be lost
that won't be found. Not a lamb's hoof will be left
behind when the Lord gathers his church, when the Lord makes
up his jewels on that day and brings his people home to glory. And how will the Lord know when
he has found the last lost sheep? Well, he has a book. The Lamb's
Book of Life, and he is checking off each and every name as it
is found. Of course, he doesn't need a
book. He knows us all personally by
name, but he has a book anyway, just to reassure us that not
one hoof will be left behind. Our Saviour has redeemed and
delivered us from our enemies by shedding his own blood. Do
you remember how David bravely faced a lion and a bear to protect
his father's flock? Well that's a beautiful type
of Christ. Our Lord Jesus courageously undertook
a greater challenge and faced a greater foe to save his father's
flock from the just consequences of our sin and our guilt. The church was given to Christ
to be loved by Him, to be redeemed by His blood, to be delivered
from the condemning curse of the law. And here in these verses,
our Saviour is speaking about this very task, this very work,
job, role, responsibility. that he had been given. His great
quest when he came into the world was, he tells us here in verse
11. I am come, the good shepherd.
The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. And I want
you to notice here, I'm sure you already have done, that the
Lord says, the sheep. Throughout this chapter, he is
speaking definitely about this certain group. He speaks of the
sheep. He speaks of my sheep. He speaks
of his own sheep. And that is intentional. The
Lord always had and still has in view his own sheep. That's what this is all about.
It's about the salvation and deliverance and redemption and
ultimately the glorification of his own sheep. That sheep,
that flock committed into his hand by his father to be delivered,
recovered and restored according to the divine will. So that here
Christ tells us, I am the good shepherd, I know my sheep, and
I'm known of mine. And these two statements are
going to be our theme for today. Christ knows his sheep, and Christ's
sheep know him. Really, it couldn't be any more
simple. A child can understand this imagery. And yet the truths bound up in
this single sentence, I know my sheep and am known of mine. The truths bound up in that statement
from the Savior form some of the most profound truths of the
gospel of free and sovereign grace. So what have we here? A two-point sermon. So this is
not a three-point sermon, it's a two-point sermon. And the first
is this, Christ knows his sheep. And I just repeat, this is the
words of Jesus Christ, or these are the words of Jesus Christ. He is telling us, the church,
that he knows us. And it's not because our names
are in a book. He doesn't know us because our
names are written down in the Lamb's Book of Life. He wrote
that book. He knew us before he wrote down
our names. John tells us in the book of
Revelation that this book, the Lamb's Book of Life, has existed
from the foundation of the world. It's a figurative book. It is
the record of our election unto salvation. It is the assurance
and confirmation of God's predestination of certain sinners to everlasting
life. And Christ has known and foreknown
his church and people, his chosen flock from before time began,
or as we say, from eternity. Christ's knowledge of his sheep
is from everlasting. It is as eternal as his will
to save and as the covenant of peace. Therefore, it is called
the everlasting covenant. God the Son with his Father and
God the Holy Spirit have always known and loved the flock of
God. The flock of his pasture, he
calls it. And Christ tells us that from
the forming of the earth, my delights were with the sons of
men. that elect body, that elect group,
those individuals that comprised God's chosen and predestinated
people. And it is for this reason that
the Lord Jesus tells the church in Luke chapter 12, You see,
if it's the Father's good pleasure to give us the kingdom. It has always
been the Father's good pleasure to give us the kingdom, because
God never changes. His will never changes. His desires
never change. His purposes never change. And
it is God's good pleasure, the Father's good pleasure, to give
you the kingdom. To whom? To the little flock. Fear not, little flock, for it
is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. And
as every good shepherd knows his sheep, show me a shepherd
who doesn't know his sheep and I'll show you a surprise. Every
good shepherd knows his sheep. So our good and great shepherd
knows his own flock. These are the people for whom
he undertook to perform everything needful for their salvation. Because of our sin and our fall
in Adam, that salvation required a substitute. Because of our
sin and our fall in Adam, because we are sinners by nature, because
we are separated from God, because that flock knew not God at that
time, because we had fallen in Adam Our deliverance, our salvation
required a substitute. It required a Redeemer to pay
the price of our sin. It required a representative
to honour the holiness of God and a fit man to uphold divine
justice. And our Saviour, the Lord Jesus
Christ, freely and willingly undertook to fulfil these roles
when no one else could. He did not die for everyone. He did not lay down his life
for the non-elect, the reprobate, but for his sheep. That is what
he tells us in these verses. He says it in one-syllable words. I lay down my life for the sheep. He distinguishes his own people
from all others. There are sheep and there are
goats. Now the Lord tells us here that
he has sheep in another fold. That is explaining that he has
the sheep that are of the house of Israel to whom he had come
specifically at that time. And there were other sheep who
were out in the world to whom he would send his disciples in
the Great Commission for the preaching of the gospel and the
gathering in of that believing people. So those were the sheep,
but these were never goats. There are sheep and there are
goats. The sheep are God's elect. They are Christ's bride. That's
another name that they have. It's a different picture, a different
metaphor, but it describes to us something of the fact of the
love and affinity that the Lord Jesus Christ has for these sheep,
his bride. All those given to him in the
covenant of grace were committed into his care, and are beneficiaries
of his love and affection. He names the name of each one
given to him by his father in the eternal councils. And he
calls each one individually to himself in the gospel. And he
leads them providentially as a shepherd leads his flock. He leads them providentially
all the days of their lives. Psalmist says, surely goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. That is
God's or Christ's direction and leading and guiding of us providentially
in this world. Guiding and directing. They're
coming out and they're coming in. They're coming in, they're
going out. He has defended his own precious
possession to the point of self-sacrifice. That is what it cost him to win
this people for himself, to win this flock, to win this bride. That he might do his father's
will and deliver his loved ones from all harm. And let us note
something else here in this context of Christ knowing his people. Christ's knowledge of his sheep
under his covenant obligations is linked to his father's knowledge
of him and love for him as the Messiah. and also the son's knowledge
and love for the father. Now, that's a bit of a mouthful,
okay? So let me try and unpack that
a little bit. What does that mean? Well, I
think it means two things. The Lord Jesus links this love
that he has for his flock with the love that he has for the
father and the love that the father has for the son. He does
that purposefully. That's intentional. That is what
he is doing here in these verses. He is linking the love of the
father to the son with the love that he has for his people. The
Lord is emphasizing in doing so his shared covenant purpose
with the Father and the Son and of course the Holy Spirit as
well in the eternal salvation of the elect. Christ is speaking
here about his role under his covenant duty. He says, he goes
on to say, this commandment have I received of my father. So he
speaks about the father's knowledge of the son and the father's love
for the son, but he recognises that he is a man under authority
in his own right, for he has had a commandment from his father
that he is obliged and duty bound to obey. The son was sent as
the Messiah to be the redeemer of the church and to atone for
the sins of God's elect with his own blood. And consequently,
the son's willingness to come and lay down his life for the
sheep has earned God's love and pleasure for him as the mediator. That is why we read multiple
times of God the Father declaring, this is my beloved Son in whom
I am well pleased. The love and the pleasure of
the Father was bestowed upon the Son under these covenant
responsibilities. And then the Lord Jesus Christ
says, having obtained that knowledge and love and pleasure from my
father, that same knowledge, love and pleasure that the father
has for the son and the son has for the father is shared with
the elect. Now I think we need to just pause
and grasp what the Lord is telling us here. notwithstanding our
condition, notwithstanding our sin, because Christ has died
for our sin and taken it away and because we are united to
Christ and justified by Him, the Father, the Son and the Holy
Spirit Isn't that amazing? Isn't that staggering? Notwithstanding
our sin, which the Lord Jesus Christ has now taken away, The Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit take as much pleasure, have the same knowledge of, and
the same love for, you and me, as they have for one another. Our Lord Jesus Christ, in his
mediatorial offices, knows his sheep. you and me. He knows us
intimately, he knows us personally and he knows us affectionately
as he knows his own father. so that no matter what befalls
you or me in this life, do not ever doubt how precious you are
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Do not ever doubt how precious
you are to the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ knows and loves you like
he knows and loves his own Father. But Christ does not only know
his sheep, Here we're going on to our second point. Christ's
sheep know him. And this again is the word of
Christ. So we are getting these words
from the mouth of the Saviour himself. He says, I am known
of mine. This is as emphatic as Christ
knowing us. Christ knows us and we know Him. Christ's sheep know Him. Now, it cannot be said it has
always been true that we have known Christ. For every believer, there was
a time when we did not know Him as Saviour. Christ has always
known us. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday,
today, and forever. He is the unchangeable Lord of
glory. He has always known us, but we
have not always known him. In our life's experience, we
were born in sin. We were bound by sin. blinded by Satan, ignorant in
our understanding of all things holy. The Bible calls it spiritually
dead. Dead in trespasses and sins. It means we don't know anything.
Oh, we breathe, we have an existence in this world, but we don't know,
we cannot understand, we cannot discern, we cannot act towards
God or spiritual matters in any way, such as the state that we
are in, the inability in which we are by sin. In this state, we remained until
Jesus, having sought us, found us and brought us into his fold. But note again, We were always
his sheep. He had come looking for us in
that state and condition. He had come searching for us. He is the one who came in to
seek and to save that which was lost. We were always sheep, never goats.
He knew and loved us before ever we knew and loved him. Nevertheless, know and love him
we shall. He says so, and he promises to
effect that knowledge and love by conversion in our lives. Every elect child of God will
by grace be brought through conversion to know and love the Savior. And I'd like to make a couple
of points here. I won't be long, but this too is important. It's what it is to know Christ. Knowing Christ is the most important
thing in any of our lives. More important than anything
you would like to name. There are many who claim to know
Christ. but they do not. And here is
what I mean. Knowing Christ is knowing the
Christ of the Bible. You do not know Christ if you
do not know and trust the Christ of Scripture. Now listen to this. This is Matthew
chapter 24 and verse 24. The Lord is speaking and he says
this, Mark in chapter 13 repeats this. For false Christs and false prophets
shall rise and shall show signs and wonders to seduce, if it
were possible, even the elect. Now these are very solemn and
sobering words. They speak of deception. They
speak of seduction. There are more Christs in this
world than our Lord Jesus Christ. There are more Christs in this
world than our Lord Jesus Christ. And everyone except the elect
have been deceived by them. And the elect would have been
two, except that isn't possible because the true Lord Jesus Christ
has us safely secured within his sheepfold, under his care,
and for whom he is the door. I'm going to be blunt here. If your Christ came into the
world to save everyone, He's a false Christ. If your Christ
wants to save everyone, He's a false Christ. If your Christ
died on the cross for everyone's sin, He's a false Christ. If your Christ is busy trying
to seek and save all men and women, He's a false Christ. If your Christ is in heaven right
now, preparing mansions for an indefinite number of potential
residents, he's a false Christ. If your Christ is looking for
anything from you as a contribution to your salvation or your righteousness
or your sanctification, he is a false Christ. Now bear with
me. Why do you think the Lord Jesus
calls his father's elect a little flock? Fear not, little flock. It is your father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom. Why do you think the Lord Jesus
Christ calls his father's elect a little flock? I'll tell you. Because the vast majority of
professing Christians today do not know Christ. Not the real,
true, saving Lord Jesus. Now I'm not saying they never
will. That's the Lord's business. And we long to see many men and
women and boys and girls saved under the sound of the gospel
and coming into an understanding of the true identity of the Lord
Jesus Christ and believing and trusting in Him. But you can't
trust in a false Christ and get to heaven. I cannot tell who are sheep and
who are goats from the outside, but I can tell you this, until
we know the true Christ, we have no claim to be one of his sheep,
one for whom he died. In a day to come, many will say,
Lord, Lord, and he will reply, depart from
me, I never knew you. Knowing Jesus Christ is liberating. He is the truth and Jesus himself
tells his people, you shall know the truth and the truth shall
make you free. All who know Christ are free
men and free women. We are freed from the dominion
of sin. We are free from slavery to Satan. We are free to follow Christ.
We are free from the bondage of the law. We are free to enjoy
all the blessings and privileges of grace. And in due time, we
shall freely enter glory to take up our heavenly abode. We know Christ as the shepherd
who has brought us salvation. The one who supplies our every
need and causes us to feed in green pastures of gospel truth
and to lie down beside still waters of spiritual refreshment. We know Christ who has shouldered
every duty and obligation and burden for us, who takes responsibility
for our daily care and all our future needs. We know Christ
who has supplied us with grace today and promised us glory tomorrow. He leads us like the shepherd
leads his flock, like the shepherd leads his sheep, like the good
shepherd he is. He leads us day by day. He has
loved us eternally, and he leads us day by day. He receives our
gratitude. He accepts our worship. He sanctifies
our service. And soon, as a shepherd carries
a weary lamb, He will personally carry us over the threshold of
this life into the next and welcome us to our final rest. This is our Good Shepherd, our
Saviour and King whom we know and love and worship. These bodies
of ours They're growing weaker every
day. They are growing frailer every
day. I am at an age now where I see
people of my age being reported as having passed into eternity
every day. but these bodies of ours will
rise again. They will rise again to glory. He who laid down his life for
the sheep has won our redemption, has removed our guilt, has secured
our liberty, and granted us spiritual life as his spiritual body. We who are Christ's have the
promise of everlasting life because he died and rose again. May the Lord bless these thoughts
to us today. Amen.