Okay, well, we're continuing
the theme of last week. Last week, I brought a message
on discerning true preaching. This is how we tell that somebody
is confessing the true Jesus Christ. It was in 1 John chapter
4, verses 2 and 3, primarily. How to avoid antichrist, how
to avoid error. And the first point was, and
that's what I want to expand on today, the first point about
the true Christ of Scripture was that he is the elect head
of his elect body. That mark is essential because
if your Christ, if the one you call Jesus, is not the elect
head of his elect body, the Christ that you seek to follow is Antichrist
and not the true Christ. And that Antichrist will not
get you to heaven, will not save your soul. I mentioned As an
illustration, the BBC programme that I said was years ago, Fake
or Fortune, well it's absolutely amazing that the other evening
we sat down to watch the television for a little while and put the
television on and guess what? There was an episode of Fake
or Fortune, a brand new one. And the details were that somebody
owned a sketch by an early 20th century artist called Modigliani. And it was just a pencil sketch,
a pre-work. But, you know, some of these
things in the right hands, you know, they can be extremely valuable.
Now, they had all sorts of experts examine the sketch. I mean, they
went all over the place to experts of all sorts, seeking to find
out, was this a fake or was it worth a fortune? Because if it
was a fake, as the guy that was doing most of the presenting,
well, no, he wasn't the presenter, but you know, the one that was
the main contact said, he said, if it's a fake, He said, well,
you've still got a very nice wall decoration. It's a nice
thing to hang on your wall. And if you wanted to sell it,
you might get a hundred pounds or a few hundred pounds for it,
but that's it. But if it's judged to be the genuine work of Modigliani,
You could be talking about 100,000 pounds or considerably more for
it because there are people with money who would pay that sort
of price for that work if it was proven beyond reasonable
doubt that it was the work of that man and not the work of
a forger or a fake. Only the true Christ accomplishes
salvation and accomplishes eternal life. You need the true Christ. You must avoid the false Christ,
because beware, Satan is an extremely good forger. Satan is an extremely
good deceiver. Satan can bring signs and wonders
like an angel of light, even though he's the prince of darkness
and the father of lies. He can bring signs and wonders
that would deceive even the elect if that were possible, but of
course it isn't. If you trust in a fake Christ,
if you trust in a Christ that doesn't meet the criteria of
Scripture for the true Christ, then you're following Antichrist.
I don't care how popular your religion is, what a mistake so
many people make, in that they say, oh, if there's only two
of you in a room worshipping God, then that cannot possibly
be true. You know, God wouldn't have just two of you. He said,
where there are two or three in my name, there am I in the
midst. And by means of the internet, even those of you that are sat
at home on your own, you're amongst two or three others, as it were,
and Christ is in the midst of us. But if you trust in a fake
Christ, that's antichrist. And that's not true. That isn't
true, that will not accomplish your salvation. Come judgment
day, when we all stand before the judgment seat of Christ,
because you know it's appointed to man to die once and then the
judgment, we must all, it says twice in the New Testament, we
must all stand before the judgment seating of Christ. Come that
judgment day, if you've been trusting in Antichrist, however
sincere you've been, however nice the people have been that
you've been meeting with, however good the works appear that you've
been doing, Jesus says, I will say this to you. These are the
words of Jesus, who followed Antichrist and not the true Christ.
He said, he will say to them, I never knew you. Depart from
me. you nice but sincere. No, he
didn't say that. He said, depart from me ye that
work iniquity. That's why it's important that
the Christ that you trust is the elect head of his elect body. Oh, you say, oh, that's doctrinal
hair-splitting. I mean, what does that matter? So long as we're all good folk
getting on well together and we sing the praises, we sing
the hymns of Jesus and all that sort of thing, we do all, what,
is it not doctrinal hair-splitting? No, no. What saith the scripture? This is the test. I'll quote
it again. Isaiah 8 verse 20. To the law
and to the testimony. To what people say, to the doctrines
they believe, the things that they follow. If they speak not
according to this word, there is no light in them. There is
no truth in them. Judgment day, the day of judgment,
will be a division. It will be a division. Look,
turn with me to Matthew chapter 25. and verse 31. Jesus taught a lot in the latter
chapters of Matthew's gospel. It's recorded there. He taught
a lot about the end times. He taught a lot about the judgment
that is coming. And in verse 31, he said this. Matthew 25, verse 31. When the
Son of Man shall come in his glory and all the holy angels
with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory And before
him shall be gathered all nations. Nobody's going to escape. Nobody. We shall all stand before the
judgment seat of Christ. And he shall separate them. There'll
be a division. He'll separate them one from
another. As a shepherd divideth his sheep from his goats. You
can imagine it, can't you? Imagine the shepherd, and there's
a mixture of sheep and goats, and he's dividing the sheep from
the goats. He says it'll be just like that
on the judgment day. And he shall set the sheep on
his right hand, but the goats on the left. There's going to
be a division. Do you hear that? Do you hear
it clearly? The Son of God, the Lord Jesus
Christ, said there's going to be a dividing of humanity, the
sheep from the goats. Then shall the king say unto
them on his right hand, they're the sheep that he put on his
right hand. Verse 33 says it. He shall say to the sheep, come
ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world. Jump down to verse 41. Then shall
he say also unto them on the left hand, that's the goats,
verse 33, on the left, he shall say to the goats, that huge section
of humanity on his left hand, he shall say to them, depart
from me, ye cursed, cursed of God, into everlasting fire, hell. separation from everything that
is good, prepared for the devil and his angels. There's a division
coming, a great division, a division of the sheep from the goats.
So I want to think this morning about the sheep, the elect body
of Christ, and the shepherd, the elect head. And it is not
stated more clearly anywhere in Scripture than in John's Gospel,
chapter 10. But how to rightly divide this
Word of God, this bit of the Word of God we have here? How
to give God's sheep? It's always something that's
on the mind of anybody that's going to preach a sermon. It
says in Proverbs 30 verse 8, give us food convenient, meaning
give us that manna from heaven which is suitable for our spiritual
needs. How to give God's sheep that
manna from heaven which is suitable for our spiritual needs. And
you know, when you prepare something like this, there's so much here,
but how to order it. And I looked at what Don Faulkner
had, he's preached many, many, many sermons on this chapter,
and he came up with 10 points that characterized the sheep.
Well, I'm going to condense them into seven points, but I confess
it, that's where the idea came from, was Don's, treasure trove of things that
he's left us, absolutely wonderful stuff that that dear brother
has left us. So Jesus spoke of my sheep. blessed with life in God's eternal
kingdom. Here are seven points about the
sheep, the elect body of the true Christ. The true Christ
has sheep who are firstly chosen sheep. They're elected by God. That means that God consciously,
for no other reason than his own will and his love, his undeserved,
unmerited love, he chose some and he chose to pass by others.
In John chapter 15, just turn over a couple of pages, John
chapter 15, And verse 16, it's stated there so clearly, Jesus
again speaking. He says to them, you have not
chosen me, but I have chosen you. and ordained you that you
should go and bring forth fruit. You have not chosen me, I have
chosen you. The sheep are those who are sovereignly
chosen by God. They're not chosen because God
foresaw that they would choose him. They're not chosen because
God saw that compared with others, these would be rather better
than others. No, all of them, all of them are in themselves
sinners worthy of eternal condemnation, but God chose to save some. Moses asked him, I say this very
often. I don't mind repeating these
things that I tell you I say very often. They need underlining.
that in your minds, when you're going to sleep, when you're just
meditating, these things come to your minds. Moses asked God,
show me your glory, show me some magnificent thing that will show
me your glory. And this is what God said, this is my glory, that
I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. It's the grace of
God, the sovereign electing grace, that it's not of him that wills,
wants to, or of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy.
Savior, dear Savior, hear my humble cry. Whilst on others
thou art calling, please do not pass me by. As the publican prayed
at the wall of the temple in Jerusalem, the Pharisees stood
a bit further off and Jesus pointed them out to his disciples. And
he said, look at that Pharisee standing there saying, Lord,
I thank you that I am not as other men. I'm so much better
than the rest. But the publican stood there and beat his breast
and said, Lord, be merciful to me, the sinner, as if there was
no other sinner. Lord, be merciful to me, the
sinner. Jesus said, I tell you, that
man, that publican, he's the one that went home justified
because God heard his prayer, because God moved him to pray
that prayer. God moved him to seek him. So, false religion says it's
up to you to choose God. But no, it's clear, isn't it,
in this word? To the law and to the testimony,
what does this word say? God chooses whom he will. The division of mankind was in
eternity, before time began. You read that in 2 Timothy 1
verse 9. When did God determine to save
his people? When they decided to choose him?
No! Before the world began he chose a multi-ethnic multitude
because he chose them and he betrothed them in eternity to
his son, to Christ, to be saved. So that everything that related
to Christ related to them. As Christ is the Holy One of
God accepted in eternity, so all his people would be by virtue
of their union with Christ. But the rest, he passed by. It's
a divine choice revealed in time. In the book of Ezekiel, there
are lots of mysterious things, but there are some wonderful
things that are so easy to pick up and go with. We won't turn
to it now, but Ezekiel 16 and verse eight says, this is God
speaking to the people of his choice. And they were in such
a mess. They were like a child born in
filth and dirt and not properly cared for, not salted as it says. And he says, thy time was the
time of love, and thou becamest mine. When God chose at the right
time, each one who is a child of God now, you and me, if we're
trusting Christ, we can remember the time which was the time of
love. when He showed us that we were His. Chosen by God. We keep looking at it, but it's
so true. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3, blessed with every spiritual...
God has blessed His people, His sheep, with every spiritual blessing
in heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose them, chose
us in Him. before the foundation of the
world, predestinated us to the adoption of children. It was
all in the purposeful will of God, given by the Father to the
Son. Look at what John chapter six
says, verse 37 of John chapter six. This is Jesus speaking to
unbelieving Jews and Pharisees. He says, all, everyone, the people
that the Father gives me are. the Father has given to the Son,
a people. All those people that the Father
has given me shall come to me, shall come to me. And you say,
oh, well, what if I'm not amongst them? Oh, no. Him that cometh
to me, I will in no wise cast out. Pass me not, gracious Savior. Hear my humble cry. Whilst on
others thou art calling, do not pass me by. Call me, call me,
all that the Father gives me shall come to me, and him that
cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. I came down from heaven,
not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
Oh, that begs a question, doesn't it? What was the will of the
Father that sent the Lord Jesus Christ? He tells us, this is
the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he
hath given me, all what which he hath given me, of all the
people, all of the elect multitude, all of the sheep that were given
to the Son, that I should lose nothing, that not one of them
should be lost, but that should raise it up again at the last
day. Take it safely to eternal glory,
all of them. You see, belief doesn't make
us sheep. It isn't belief that makes us
sheep, but it shows that we are sheep. You know, again, another
oft-quoted one, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 13. We are
bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved of
the Lord. For God hath from the beginning, from the beginning
chosen you to salvation. through sanctification of the
spirit and belief of the truth. How do I know, says Paul, that
you Thessalonians are those that were amongst that multitude,
that multi-ethnic multitude that God chose and united with Christ
before the beginning of time? Because when you heard the gospel,
you believed the truth. That's the sign. Belief is not
the cause. Belief is the sign, the evidence
that you were amongst that number. And it's underlined in verse
26 of our chapter John 10. John 10, the Pharisees, the Jews,
are saying to him, come on, stop messing about, give us a clear
sign. He's given no end of clear signs. And Jesus answered in
verse 25, I told you, you believe not. The works that I do in my
Father's name, they bear witness of me. You've already had enough
evidence, but you believe not. Why do you believe not, you unbelieving
Jews and Pharisees? Verse 26, he tells them why. And religion doesn't like this.
He says, you believe not because you're not of my sheep, as I
said unto you. He doesn't say, oh, if only you
would believe you would become my sheep. No, he says, you're
not of my sheep. My sheep were determined in eternity,
and you're not amongst them, and that's the reason why today
you do not believe. I put a little article in the
bulletin to that effect. Look at it when you can. You're
not of my sheep, and the evidence that you're not is that you don't
believe when the truth of God, when the Son of God, when the
gracious Son of God has come down from heaven, bringing the
truth of the Lord, and you don't believe it. That's a clear sign
that you're not amongst the sheep. No, this choice of God, we often
think, well, didn't I choose? Yes, he makes his people willing
in the day of his power. His people willingly follow him
because the Spirit makes his people willing. There's a hymn
that we haven't sung for a long time now, but I always used to
like it. I sought the Lord. And afterward, I knew. He moved
my soul to seek him, seeking me. It was all of his doing.
He moved my soul to seek him. Tis not that I did choose thee. That couldn't possibly be. He
chose us. Not unto us, it says in Psalm
115, verse one. Not unto us, but unto thy name
give glory. Who gets the glory for the salvation
of a sinner? Answer. it must be God and God
alone. God cannot share his glory with
another. If a sinner ends up justified
in the eternal kingdom of God, it can only be to the glory of
God, for God will not share his glory with another. Is this your
religion? Think, if you go to another church,
for some sort of fellowship. If you go to another church,
is this your religion? Do they preach this choice of
God, this sovereign choice of God? Do they declare it? or does
your religion effectively rob God of his glory? Here's the
second point. These sheep are redeemed sheep. In Matthew 25 verse 34, we read
it before, he says, come ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world. How can they They're
sinners. How can they inherit the kingdom
prepared from the foundation of the world? Answer is that
they're qualified. How are they qualified when nothing
that defileth shall enter in? They're qualified by redemption.
Look at John chapter 10 and verse 11. Jesus says this, I am the
good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. Then look at verse 15. As the
father knoweth me, even so know I the father, and I lay down
my life for the sheep. The sheep are qualified to inherit
the kingdom of God by the redemption that Christ has accomplished
for them with his life. He gave his life. The payment
that ensures the release from the captivity, the bondage of
sin of the sheep chosen in Christ before the foundation of the
world is the life of God himself, the infinite God who cannot die
but became man so that he could die. The life of God for the
sin debt of his sheep. I've told you this many times
also. Paul speaking to the elders of Ephesus on the beach at Miletus
in Acts 21 verse 28. He says, take care of the church
of God. the elect of God, the sheep of
God, the people who believe God, the people who show that they
were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world by
their belief of the gospel. He said, take care of them, take
care of that church which God purchased with his own blood. Redeemed, redemption means payment,
purchase. He redeemed it with his own blood.
God cannot die, so God became man so that he could die. God
cannot shed blood, so God became man so that he could shed blood.
The life is in the blood. The life is in the blood. The
payment for the sin of the people of God was the lifeblood of the
Son of God, who came to purchase them. And it was settled in eternity. You say, surely, no, no, we only
read about it at Calvary. No, Revelation 13, verse 8, the
lamb slain from the foundation of the world in eternity in the
justice of God. When John looked in Revelation
chapter 5, and the cry has gone out for somebody that is worthy
to implement the plan of God's triumphant kingdom. and take
sinners to be with him in glory. And nobody is found, nothing,
nobody is found, and John weeps much, so he's told to look to
the throne of God, to look to the lion of the tribe of Judas. Somebody's strong, and he looks,
and instead of seeing a lion, he sees a lamb as it was slain. A lamb slain for the sins of
his people. These are redeemed sheep. But
who did he die for? Who did he die for? There's another
article by Don Faulkner in the Bulletin. It's for his sheep
that he died. He didn't die for anybody else.
He didn't die for the rest of the world. He didn't die for
people who ultimately end up in hell. No, he died to redeem
his people from the curse of the law, exclusively for the
sheep. Look at verse 28. I give unto
them eternal life. I give unto who? The sheep. The
sheep, the elect body. I give unto them eternal life.
Not everybody, to them. And they shall never perish.
Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. my father's greater
than all. No, he died exclusively for his
sheep, in the place of his sheep. Cursed is everyone that doesn't
continue in all things written in the book of the law to do
them. Galatians 3.13, but Christ has redeemed us, paid the price.
He has redeemed us from that curse. It's a terrible thing
to be under a curse. There are curses of all sorts
in life. It's a terrible thing to be under
a curse, but Christ has redeemed us from the curse of God's law,
which says the soul that sins, it shall die eternally. He has
redeemed us for it. How? by being made a curse for
us. For why? Cursed is everyone that
hangeth on a tree. They hung Jesus on a tree, a
cross, to shed his blood, to die in the place of his people. For us and only us. In Hebrews
9, it talks about him accomplishing, obtaining eternal redemption
for us. Eternal redemption. It's not
for everybody, it's for his sheep. The sheep, his elect sheep. But
thirdly, and I must hurry along, they're straying sheep. They're
straying sheep by virtue of their sinful nature in the flesh. Isaiah
53 verse 6, all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned
everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity
of us all. Straying sheep. In Romans chapter
3, if you want to turn there, but you don't have to, Romans
chapter 3, which we were looking at two or three weeks ago, Verse
22, he's talking about the righteousness of God being revealed, it's being
manifested. What righteousness? Verse 22,
even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ. It was accomplished by what Jesus
Christ did. For who? Unto all and upon all
them that believe. For there's no difference. It's
for the ones that believe that this was done. And you say, well,
doesn't that mean everybody should they choose to believe? It doesn't
say that. There's no difference. For all
have sinned. I know everybody interprets verse
23 to say the whole of humanity has sinned. And that is true.
I wouldn't detract from that. But in the context, the all of
verse 23, all have sinned, is the all of Jesus' sheep, of his
sheep, of all them that believe, of all them that are justified
freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus. It's very specific. It's very,
very pointed. All of God's chosen, justified
people have sinned and strayed. But Christ has redeemed his people
from the curse of the law. We who are believers, if you
believe and you're honest, you know that what Ephesians 2 says
about all who believe is that we were dead in trespasses and
sins. We were children of disobedience
who walked after the power, according to the prince of the power of
the air, the devil, the spirit that now worketh. in the children
of disobedience. We were, by nature, children
of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, has made us alive with Christ. By grace ye are
saved. We were straying sheep, but we're
entirely dependent on God to move in us. Psalm 85, verse 4,
says this, is nothing about turning over new leaves, new year's resolutions
to try better. No, we depend on God. And the psalmist says, turn us,
O God of our salvation. If God doesn't turn us, we're
lost. All our lives in the flesh, we
are, as that hymn says, prone to wander. Lord, I feel it. prone to leave the God I love.
Take my heart, Lord, take and seal it, seal it from thy courts
above, because we're so prone to stray. So we're straying sheep. The sheep of God, the elect multitude
of God are straying sheep, but called sheep, called sheep. John 10, verses three to five,
says this, when I turn back to it. John 10 verses three to five,
to him the porter openeth, the shepherd of the sheep, to him
the porter openeth and the sheep hear his voice and he calleth
his own sheep by name. He calleth his own sheep by name
and leadeth them out and when he putteth forth his own sheep
he goeth before them and the sheep follow him for they know
his voice and a stranger they will not follow. He calls them
by name. These are the ones that in Romans
eight it talks about being called and justified and glorified and
all of those things, it's all in the will of God. Where are we? Yes. You know the
verse, all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are called according to his purpose, for whom he did
foreknow in eternity, whom he chose in Christ in eternity,
for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate He predestinated
to be conformed to the image of his son, that his son might
be the firstborn among many brethren. There's a multitude of brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called. They're called sheep. And whom
he called, them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. If God be for us, who can be
against us? Called sheep. That sketch by Modigliani on
that fake and fortune program, Experts looked for several incidental
features to confirm it was his work. The way he sketched an arm on
that other drawing that we know was by him. Has he done it on
this one? Incidental features that confirm
it was his work. and that led to it being declared
a fortune. Does the creed of your religion
confirm the true Christ and the true title to the inheritance
of the saints in light? There's a personal call. He makes
them disciples. Look at this incidentally. Jesus
went on the road to Jericho for one reason. You know what that
was? because there was a little fraudulent tax collector hiding
in a tree out of mere nosiness to see who this man was that
people were talking about. His name was Zacchaeus. Jesus
wasn't introduced to him at all. He walked along that road and
when he got to that tree, he looked up into the tree and he
said, Zacchaeus, come down for I must dine at your house today.
And Zacchaeus came down and salvation came to his house. There was
a man called Lazarus who was dead in a tomb, a man whom Jesus
loved and his sisters. But this man had died. And Jesus
came there and wept, showing he truly was a man. And he prayed
to his father and he cried out, Lazarus, come forth. And Lazarus
came, bound in the grave clothes, out of that tomb. Just as Jesus
taught at Nazareth, not according to what men might think, but
according to the will and purpose of God. He said in Nazareth,
and they tried to kill him for it when he said it, he said there
were many widows in the time of Elijah in Israel, there were
many widows, but God sent him to a widow of Zarephath, of the
Zidonians, not even of the children of Israel. And there were many
lepers in the days of Elisha, but God sent him to heal Naaman
the Syrian. They were absolutely horrified.
They tried to kill him. No, God calls his people with
a holy calling. He saved us and called us with
a holy calling, it says in 2 Timothy 1 verse 9. As long as the world
continues, sheep are still being called. In verse 16, Jesus says
this in John, chapter 10 and verse 16, he says, where am I? There we go. In verse 16 he says,
other sheep I have, which are not of this Jewish fold, the
fold of Judaism, them also must I bring. Not only the Gentiles
in general, but in the days in which we live, there are other
sheep still to be called, else why is this world continuing?
There must be more, there must be more to be called. Well, I
must hurry. The shepherd, and his sheep know
each other. I'll be quick with these points.
Verse 14 of chapter 10, I am the good shepherd, and know my
sheep, and am known of mine. Verse 27, my sheep hear my voice,
and I know them, and they follow me. It says elsewhere, they don't
follow a stranger, as in other parts of the scripture. This
is eternal life. John 17 verse three. John 17
verse three says this. This is life eternal. Do you
not want life eternal? What is it? That they might know
thee. This is the prayer of Jesus to his father before he went
to the cross. That they might know thee, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. That's it. These sheep
are kept safely. Look at verse 28 of John 10.
I give unto them eternal life. Look at the comfort of these
words. 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. I and my Father are one. If you
can, turn to Ezekiel chapter 34. I just want to read a few
verses here from verse 11. Ezekiel 34, verse 11. For thus saith the Lord God,
Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep and seek them
out. As a shepherd seeketh out his
flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered,
so will I seek out my sheep and would deliver them out of all
the places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark
day. And I will bring them out from
the people and gather them from the countries and I will bring
them into their own land, and feed them upon the mountains
of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of
the country. I will feed them in a good pasture,
and upon the high mountains the Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want. He leadeth me by the green pastures.
On the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be. There shall
they lie in a good fold and in a fat pasture. They shall feed
upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock and will
cause them to lie down. This is what God says about his
church in these days, in the blessings of gospel truth. That
sounds like the true God of salvation, doesn't it? Of effectual salvation. Is that your God? Is that the
God of Psalm 23? I think so. And then, the sheep
follow their shepherd, in verse 4 of John 10. He putteth forth
his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him,
for they know his voice. I haven't used this illustration
for a long time. Oh, verse 27 as well. My sheep
hear my voice and I know them, and they follow me. When I was
growing up I did lots of help on local farms up in the Southern
Lake District and they keep a lot of sheep there and we used to
do a lot of rounding up of the sheep with dogs that used to
run round and chase. You know, you might have seen
one man and his dog, that kind of contest of herding up sheep.
But in parts of the world, and one of those parts of the world
was Spain, and we were on a family holiday driving through northern
Spain one day on one of the motorways, and I remember there was a bridge
over the motorway, and there was a shepherd with his staff
in his hand and his coat on and his hat on, and he's walking
along, and he's not driving the sheep, the sheep are following
him. because they know that he is their shepherd, and it's that
picture. They do it willingly, as I've
already said. He makes them willing in the
day of his power to follow his word, his spirit, his revealed
will. Why is it that I believe, you
who are believers, why is it that we're separated from this
world? Why is it that my thinking, the way we think, clashes with
those in the world around us? Why is it that most religion,
even that calls itself Christianity, hates us? Hates us. Hates what
we preach. Answer? Because I follow the
Good Shepherd. Let us run with patience the
race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Good Shepherd,
the author and finisher of our faith. Just finally, and very
briefly, you might ask, what about the texts that seem to
say God desires the salvation of everyone? That his sheep is
a flock that becomes that because they exercise their own choice
and they choose to follow him? Doesn't it say God is not willing
that any should perish? Doesn't it say that whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved? Yes, it
says those things. I think in some cases there are
quirks of translation that lead to ambiguity, but you know the
right way to approach this. Always interpret that which is
ambiguous in the light of that which is crystal clear. I'll
give you a quick example. In Hebrews chapter two, in Hebrews
chapter two, this is just a very quick example, but there are
others. But you adopt this approach. In Hebrews chapter 2 verse 9,
it says about Jesus being made a little lower than the angels
for the suffering of death. That's why he became a man. God
became man that he might suffer death. We see him crowned with
glory, that he by the grace of God should taste death for every
man. Oh, there they go, you say. Your
doctrine of election, your Calvinistic doctrine cannot be true because
it says he should taste death for every man. Read on. For it
became him for whom are all things and by whom are all things in
bringing many sons unto glory. Not every man to glory, many
sons. The every man of verse nine are
the many sons, which are the sheep of God. Look down at verse
16. How did he do it? He took on
him What did he take on him? The nature of Adam. Didn't he
become a man? Didn't he take on him the nature
of Adam, of all men? Didn't Jesus take on him the
nature of Adam to save all men from their sins? No. He took
on him the seed of Abraham. Who were the seed of Abraham?
The sheep of God. The sheep who believe the same
things. It's very clear. The scripture is very clear.
We could examine more texts, and I might do that at some time
in the future. But God chose his sheep before time. He redeemed
them, and only them, particularly in time. He quickened them by
Holy Spirit regeneration in the time of love, as Ezekiel 16 says. He separated, sanctified them
from this world, and will certainly take them to his eternal kingdom.
Oh, what about the goats, you say? What about the goats? Is
it not unfair? Genesis 18, 25, Abraham said
this to God concerning the judgment to fall on Sodom and Gomorrah,
shall not the judge of all the earth do right? The scripture
asks the question, it makes the statement, let God be true and
every man a liar. I know what the scripture does
say in Philippians chapter two, that at the end of time, When
the separation of the sheep from the goats has taken place, every
knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Amen.