I invite you this morning to
turn back with me to the tenth chapter of the Gospel of John. The tenth chapter of the Gospel
of John is about the great shepherd and his sheep. I was raised in
religion, and they taught and believed
that Israel, natural Israel, were the elect of God. There
was no elect other than the nation of Israel, the people, the sons
and daughters of Abraham. And the peculiar thing about
it is that they believed God's dealings with them and God's
dealings with the rest of the world were different. That is,
God's dealings with His church and God's dealings with His elect
were two different things. They dealt with them according
to covenant, but they dealt with us according to works. It was
kind of a nightmare of a belief, but this is being taught by so
many in our day that it's just accepted. I'll tell you how much
this doctrine is taught in our day. Our nation as a nation is
affected by it. So, if that be so, other than
a few more lessons in the Ten Commandments, the religion I
was raised in pretty much ignored the Old Testament, because there's
nothing in there for us. It's all written for the Jews. Later on, I come to know that
God has an elect people, and these people consist of both
Jews and Gentiles. And together they make up what
we call spiritual Israel. That's God's elect. That's God's
elect. Well, preacher, how can you be
so sure that the Jews as a nation are not the elect of God? How
can you be so sure? Because some of the old writers
believed that. Believed it until the day they
died. and wrote about the time, toward
the end of time, when God was going to smile on the Jews again.
And he may, as a nation, and call out of them more people
than he has over time. I don't know about that. But
there's not going to be a rebuilding of the temple and a re-institution
of the sacrifices and all those things that they talk about.
Well, I don't know. How can you be so sure? All these
religions are teaching this. All these people are teaching
this. What makes you so sure? that they're not God's elect.
Turn with me to Romans chapter 9. I'm sure that they're not God's
elect because God said they wasn't. I think we can take him at his
word, don't you? I can understand if you doubt
my word, but you shouldn't doubt his. In the 9th of Romans, Paul begins
by expressing a great burden for his kinsmen, according to
the flesh, who were Israelites. He goes on to say that to them
pertaineth the adoption. That is, all through the Old
Testament, the Israelites were called the children of God. They called God their father.
He referred to them as his children. And listen to this, to them pertaineth
the adoption, that is, being children, and the glory. What's he talking about there?
Belong to the Israelites, the glory. Well, the glory is the
revelation of God, isn't it? That's the only glory I know
anything about. It's the revelation of who God is. Israel had that,
nobody else. Israel had it. To them pertaineth
the adoption and the glory and the covenants. God didn't make
any covenants with the Gentiles. He made covenants with Israel. And the giving of the law. Who
did He give the law to? Israelites. Jews. And the service
of God. God elected from the Jews a people
that He referred to as the priesthood. They had a high priest and they
had a common priest, and they took care of the service of God
in the tabernacle. God ministered to Israel through
the priesthood. And then he says, also, all the
promises. The promises of life, all these
promises pertain to Israel. Verse 5, Romans chapter 9. He
goes on. He is still talking about his
kinsmen. Israelite, whose are the fathers. What's he talking
about there? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph,
Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, on and on. Verse
5, of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came. He of all
the people and all the nations in the world, When Christ came
into this world, he chose to come in as a Jew. Isn't that
something? As a Jew. Who is God blessed forever, God
over all blessed forever, or God and man in one glorious person. But here's the problem. The Jews
rejected Christ. Jews didn't believe on him. They
rejected him. They despised him. They treated
him as an imposter. Now watch this. Romans 9, verse
6. Not as though the word of God
hath taken none effect. What's he talking about there?
He's talking about that word concerning the adoption, that
word concerning the glory, that word concerning the promises,
the fathers, The Word of God, the priesthood, the service,
all of those things. Not as though the Word of God
had taken on effect. Now listen to this. For they
are not all Israel which are of Israel, neither because they are the
seed of Abraham are they all children. But in Isaac shall
thy seed be called. Verse 8, let's make it even plainer. That is, they which are the children
of the flesh, these are not, you see that? The children of
God. But the children of the promise
are counted for the seed. I just don't want to hear it
anymore. The Jews are the elect of God. No, they're not. He has
some Jews elect of God, but they are not, just because they are
children of Abraham, does not mean these are not the children
of God. The children of the promise are
counted for the seed. And if you wanted to explain
even further, you can go over to the book of Galatians and
read chapter 2 and 3, and he will tell you exactly what he
is talking about. That seeds, he saith not into seeds as of
many, but thy seed, which is Christ. And if you believe on
Christ and you're in Christ, then are you Abraham's seed and
heirs according to the promise. And then he moves down in Romans
9 and says this about Rebekah's two sons before they were ever
born, before they ever did any good or evil. He said the elder
is going to serve the younger. That's the exact opposite of
what's already been established for thousands of years. He said
the elder is going to serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob
have I loved and Esau have I hated. And he said these things and
brought these things to pass according to Romans chapter 9
that the purpose of God according to election might stand. Not of works, but of Him that
calleth. Now I said all of that to say
this. It is the Jews in our text who are resisting the Word of
our Lord. The Jews gathered around Him. And He taught them this parable.
And they didn't understand what He taught. So He explained the
parable. And then they got angry and they
said he had a devil. It's the Jews in our text who
are resisting the Word of our Lord and refuse to their own
peril to believe on Him. Now in our day, I could substitute
the word religion for Jews. Because it's religion today that
hears these things and fly up in anger and despise him that
we preach, despise those officers, despise that work, despise those
things which Christ has already accomplished and plainly told
us that he did. Just the word election riles
them up. And yet to these unbelieving
Jews, He declares that He has a sheep over which He is the
shepherd, and that they who are hearing Him are not His sheep. What a message. What a message. In the Scriptures, God calls
His people by many names. Sometimes they're called the
sons of Abraham. Sometimes they're called the
sons of Jacob. In other places, they're called
his bride, his brethren, and his church. But here in John
chapter 10, he calls them his sheep. And I would call your
attention to this. We're talking about God and man
in one person. I don't know what could be more
glorious than that. God and man in one person. And this person is declaring
that he loves his sheep. A sheep is a beast, isn't it?
It's just a beast. It don't have the ability to
reason. It doesn't have the ability to
do anything. It's a sheep. It does what by
nature allows it to do. It's a sheep. And he said, I'm the shepherd
of the sheep. And I love my sheep. And I lay
down my life for the sheep. Can you imagine? Can you imagine? Do you know that the blood of
Christ is called in the Scriptures the blood of God? That's what
it's called. The blood of God. Christ gave
his life. This is what he's telling these
Jews. The Good Shepherd, the Good Shepherd, He loves His sheep,
and He gives His life for the sheep. Oh, my soul. God has a people. How'd they
get to be His people? Ephesians 1 verse 4 says, according
as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world.
God the Father chose a people in His Son with the glory of
His name. That's how they got to be His
people. They don't get to be His people by... accepting Jesus
as their personal Savior. Somebody said, OK, here's how
it is. This fellow told me, here's how
it is. You accept Jesus as your personal Savior, and then you
come to God, and then later on, you're endowed with the power
of the Spirit, and you're born again, and then you become a
member of His church. Do you believe that? That's not
what the Scripture says. He chose us in Him. before we were ever born, just
like Jacob, before we were ever born, before we ever did any
good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to election,
might stand. He chose a people and put them
in Christ. Christ become their shepherd
and they become his sheep. The shepherd and his sheep were
born of eternal counsel. the eternal counsel of God, and
they're spoken of as such throughout the Word of God. You can't find
these things that preachers explain and declare to be how it is. You go into the Scriptures, you
can't find it. You can't even find it hinted
at in the Scriptures. It always talks about the shepherd,
the husband of the bride, and he's the sovereign, he's God. And we're His elect. And it's
referred that way all through the Scriptures He talks about
that. The shepherd and his sheep were born of the eternal counsel
of God and are spoken of that way throughout the Word of God.
Paul wrote Timothy. Listen to what he says here.
God has saved us. That's past tense. He saved us when He chose us
and put us in His Son before the world was. We saved back
then. And we saved back in the past
when Christ came with our names written on His heart and went
up before God and gave His life on the cross. We saved then.
And we're saved now when God the Holy Spirit applies those
things and calls us. But he writes Timothy and he
said, God has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works. Now here he's talking about way
back yonder. And I'll show you that. It's
not according to our works, which we do in time, but according
to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ
Jesus, now listen, before the world began. 2 Timothy 1.9. Or when was it manifest? 2 Timothy 1.10. Manifest right now in Christ. I don't know how you think on
Christ, but I can tell you this. Everything our Lord did was purposed
of God for the salvation of His elect. Everything He did. Everything
Christ did. The prayers He prayed, He said,
I pray not for the world, I pray for them which Thou hast given
Me. I've been given power over all things that I might give
eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Me. You go all through
the Scriptures, that's how you find them represented. The redemptive
purpose of God by His Son and for His elect is the reason,
are you listening? This is the reason behind all
things. It's the reason behind creation. God didn't create a world and
just send it out to spin out on its own and see what it would
do and like a great demonstration or a, what do they call those,
experiment? It's not the great experiment.
He didn't create a world and just let it go and He said, well,
we'll see what happens. Oh, man, fail. Now I've got to
do something. What am I going to do now? Well, I'll teach him something.
No, that didn't work. All right, I guess as a last
resort, I'll send my son. It's the reason behind all things. Jesus Christ was delivered. This
is what it says early in the book of Acts, I think it's chapter
2. Jesus Christ was delivered by
the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. Delivered into their
wicked hands by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. It also says that when Pilate and the Gentiles and all Israel
got together, they did what God's hand and God's counsel determined
before to be done. So that was the reason behind
all of that. So whatever else you may take
away from here today, I pray that God will convince you of
this. His sacrifice was for his sheep. It's for his sheep. The good
shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Now if you'll bear with me for
just a little while, I want to give you four things about the
death of the shepherd. for his sheep. The first thing
I want you to see is that his sacrifice was according to the
will of God. According to the will of God.
His death did not become the mindset of God after the fall
or somewhere in time, but it was God's eternal purpose to
manifest His glory through the person and work of His Son and
especially of His death. It was the Lamb, He was the Lamb
slain before the foundation of the world. Standing at the threshold of
the cross, our Lord prayed and said, this is in John 12, 27, now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father,
save me from this hour. But for this cause came I to
this hour." This is God's will. This is why I was sent. This
is why His providence was arranged to bring me to this place. And
then should I pray for Him to deliver me from it? In the book
of Hebrews, Paul's writing to believing Jews to show them that
the ceremonial law had to do with the coming Redeemer and
the salvation of their souls. This is what this whole book
is about. It takes the old ceremonial law and all the things involved
in it and in their history, and he shows them how these things
were types and figures and symbols of what was coming to be. In
Hebrews 9, verse 9, he calls them figures for the time then
present. He just described the whole of
the priesthood. And he said, these were figures
for the time then present. In Hebrews chapter 9 verse 23,
they're called patterns of things in the heavens. And then in verse
24 of Hebrews 9, they're called figures of the true. And then in Hebrews chapter 10,
they're called shadows of good things to come. Now he explains
all this in Romans 3, 24, and 25. And there they're defined
as God setting forth His Son to be a propitiation through
faith in His blood to declare His righteousness for the remissions
of sins that are past. In other words, those Old Testament
saints. And so that's what these symbols were all about. That's
what these figures were all about. Hebrews 10, Paul now moves to
his conclusion. Hebrews 10, verse 5. Wherefore, when He, that is,
Jesus of Nazareth, cometh into the world, He saith, that is,
by His appearance here, He makes this declaration. But sacrifice
and offering thou wouldest not. That's not what God, that's not
what these things were all about. God didn't take pleasure in lambs
and goats and calves. And I'm telling you, they sacrificed,
all of these people, they sacrificed these things night and day, every
day, and more so during the feast. Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest
not, but a body hast thou prepared me." Now, I'm not going to take
you all through the Scriptures, but in Colossians chapter 1,
it says His body, which is the church. That's what he's talking
about here, a representative body. Our salvation and His glory
could not be manifest or accomplished through those old sacrifices
and offerings, but a body. A sacrificial body, a representative
body, a substitutionary body, he said, hast thou prepared me.
Verse 6, in burnt offerings and sacrifice for sin, thou hast
had no pleasure. That word pleasure, it doesn't
mean that God didn't delight in those things. What he's talking
about here is satisfaction. God had no satisfaction. God has pleasure in what satisfies
Him. And He had no satisfaction in
these things. The blood of goats and calves
could never take away sin, and they weren't given under the
law for that purpose, but rather as patterns and types and figures
of the coming Redeemer. Verse 7, Then said I, Lo, I come. In the volume of the book it's
written of me, that is, His coming, His living, and is dying. That's
what he's talking about here. In the volume of the book, it's
written of me, to do thy will, O God. His death is according
to the will of God. All of it. All of it, right down
to the detail. All of it was prophesied hundreds
and hundreds of years before Christ ever died. Now, he says
in verse 8 above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt
offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither had pleasure therein
which are offered by the law. Then he said, Lo, I come to do
thy will, O God. He taketh away the first. He
takes away the patterns and the symbols and the holy days and
all of those things that religion relishes in. He took them away
to establish the second. to establish what these things
typify. That he may establish the second,
verse 10, by the which will, that is, the coming and doing
of the will of God, by the which will we are sanctified through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Once for
all. The death of Jesus Christ, the
great shepherd of the sheep, was according to the eternal
purpose of grace, according to the will of God. And then secondly,
I want you to see this about the death of the shepherd. It
was voluntary. It was voluntary. John chapter
10, verse 17. 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. Now, I'm going
to tell you something that you may not know. Sin bringeth forth death. Our Lord had no sin. They could
have stabbed Him, beat Him, threw a thousand spears in Him, cut
His throat. They couldn't kill Him. The only
way He could die is to lay His life down, Himself. You can't kill God. The only way he could die is
to lay his life down. He said, no man takes it from
me. Them nails didn't take it from
me. That spear didn't take it from me. That vinegar and up
here with no thirst and the slapping and the sun, that's not how I
die. No man takes my life from me. I lay it down of myself. And he said, I have this commandment
from my father. I can lay my life down, and I
can take it again. And voluntarily, for these beasts,
huh? David said, I was as a beast
before they. That's how you appear, too, if
the Holy Ghost ever convinces you of sin. He laid down his
life for me. Huh? The love of God for His sheep
is manifested in His willing sacrifice for His elect. Your death did not fall on Him
and force Him to the cross. He went there by His own will,
which is the will of God. Now, He said the hireling, He
won't give His life for the sheep. He's a hireling. And boy, when
those ravenous wolves come, He's going to run. You know why He's
going to run? He doesn't care for the sheep. You know, when that religious
mob came, here's a band of ravening wolves, came with clubs and spears
to take the Son of God. And when that religious mob came
to take Him away, He said, if therefore you seek Me, let these
go. Let these go. You who believe,
have you not wondered a hundred times over why He don't cast
you away? Why does He still care for me? Why don't He send me away? Why don't He just block my name
out? Because He loves me. He loves me. And I'll tell you
something about love. Love won't let its object go. I won't do it. I won't do it. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ, trouble, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness,
peril? No. All these things were more
than conquerors through Him that loved us. Nothing shall separate
us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So his death was deliberate. I know that. It was on purpose,
according to the sovereign, eternal will of God. His death was voluntary. Nobody could take it from him.
He had to lay it down, and he did lay it down freely and of
himself. Thirdly, his death was vicarious. What in the world does that mean?
His death was vicarious. It means he did not die for himself,
but he died for those given him by the Father before the world
was. It was vicarious. He died for
a particular people. Now, you know, to get the L in
TULIP, the Calvinists had to say limited atonement because
they needed an L for the word. We call that an acronym. I like the phrase particular
redemption. His atonement's not limited in
its power. It's not limited in its efficacious
nature. But it's limited in its objects.
Particular redemption. He died for a specific people. Boy, this world hates that. They
hate that doctrine. The good shepherd. Giveth His
life for the sheep. Who are the sheep? The sheep
are they which by eternal election were held in the sheepfold. The
whole of Christ's sheep have been safely kept by the porter.
They entered in by the door. Christ is the door. God chose
us in Him before the foundation of the world. He's the door into
the sheepfold. Nobody's going to get them out
of the sheepfold. They can't get in the sheepfold.
If they climb up some other way, they're a thief or a robber.
If they come to the door, the porter don't know them. He's
not going to set the sheep free. The whole of Christ's sheep have
been safely kept by the porter in his sheepfold. And throughout
the black night of the fall and through judgment and condemnation
and all those things, his sheep are safely kept by the porter
in the sheepfold. The shepherd's sheep are safely
tucked away in God's sheepfold and nobody can get in and nobody
can get out. They're there by the sovereign
grace of God. They cannot and shall not come
out until the shepherd comes to the door. He is the door,
but he comes to the door. And it says the porter recognizes
him. He's the shepherd. And he opens
the door and the sheep are all inside looking out. They said, Richard, come out. Sheila, come out here. Caleb, come out. And his sheep
hear his voice, and they come out. And when they get out, he
don't put a leash on them. He puts them out before him.
He leads them out, and he sets them right out before him. They
recognize the shepherd. The porter knows the shepherd,
and to him the door is open, and he calls out his sheep. The
death of Christ is particular in its objects. He died for the
sheep. Paul said he was delivered for
our offenses and raised again for our justification. Now listen
to this. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? God's what? His elect. Ain't that what that says? It is God that justified. Who
did He justify? His elect. Who is He that condemneth? It's
Christ that died. Died for who? For His elect. Yea, rather, who's risen again,
who's even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession
for His elect. Now, who's going to separate
us from the love of God which is in Christ? Oh, my soul. His death was vicarious. By divine union, both He and
the sheep are one. And when He died, we died. When
He arose, we arose. When He ascended into glory,
we ascended with Him. And God said, sit right here.
And you know what? He sent me with Him. If you can't rejoice in that,
you don't know God. Are you with me so far? His death
was deliberate. It was according to God's eternal
purpose of grace. His death was voluntary. He willingly,
lovingly laid down His life for the sheep. All right, now watch
this. Here's the fourth thing. His
death was effectual. His death was a fiction. I cannot
imagine a greater abomination to God than to present the death
of Christ as a failure. Now, if you say that a man can
believe on God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength, he
can believe on God and perish, if you teach that, You set the
death of Christ as a failure. You see what I'm saying? You're
presenting His death as a failure. If you preach universal atonement
that Christ died for everybody, you preach His death as a failure
because all men are not going to be saved. To even hint that there might
be a possibility that someone's unbelief might make the death
of Christ a vain attempt, that's an abomination before God. And
this is exactly what freewill decisionism in our day is preaching. God's done all he can do, and
now it's all up to you. Brother Mayhem broke that down
one time, and I got to thinking about, God who created the world, who's all-knowing, who's all-wise,
all-powerful, almighty, sovereign, He's done all He can do. And then we can save ourselves
who are nothing? One man said, if you persist
in your unbelief, His death will have been for nothing. That's
a lie. That's a lie. My friend, let
me tell you something. If you and I and a million more do not
believe, it does not make His death in vain. He died for His
elect, and His death put away their sins. And they're righteous
in Him and fully justified in Him, and they shall all be brought
to faith in Christ and live with Him forever. That's just so. And your faith does not make
his death effectual or ineffectual. It's his person and work that
does that. It's actually the other way around.
His effectual death has granted to you the power and grace to
believe. Had he not purchased you on the
Christ, faith would never have been given to you. Every spiritual
benefit given to his elect is based upon the accomplished redemption
of Christ. Through this man, that's how
the apostles preached, through this man is preached unto you
the forgiveness of sins, and by him all that believe are justified
from all things from which you could not be justified by the
law of Moses. That's Acts 13.39. And then having
heard this, Paul preached this to the church
at Antioch. The Jews despised it. They rejected
it. They cast it aside. They said,
we don't want any part of this. He said, OK, you judge yourselves
unworthy of everlasting life, I'll turn to the Gentiles. And
so he did. And he quoted them a scripture
out of the Old Testament that was in favor in talking about
this salvation being preached to the Gentiles. And it said,
when they heard this, they were glad. And they glorified the
Word of the Lord. Now listen to this. And as many
as were ordained to eternal life believed. They believed. Your unbelief
does not make void the death of Christ. It simply manifests
that you are not His sheep. Isn't that what our Lord told
those Jews? They assumed that they were saved men. They assumed
that they knew God. They assumed that they were sons
and heirs of the promises. They assumed all that. What they
were confused about is whether or not he was the Christ. If
you be the Christ, tell us plainly, he said, I told you. And here's
why. He said, you don't believe because
you're not my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice. And you don't hear it. Therefore,
the only thing you've manifested is that you're not my sheep. 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 can pluck them out of his hand.
And I, my Father, am one. My friend, I'll tell you this.
You be careful. You be careful about these things
that I preach to you because your response to these things,
this is what they manifest. That's exactly what our Lord
said to those Jews. He said, you believe not because
you're not My sheep. My sheep hear My voice and they
believe. They hear what I speak to them and they believe. Didn't say they believed it perfectly.
Didn't say they understood it perfectly. But they believed
it. They believed it. And with whatever faith they
had, they believed. They believed. May God help you
to do that very thing this hour. Thank you.