Turn with me again to John the
10th chapter, please. John chapter 10. This 10th chapter of John is
such a blessed, instructive portion of scripture. I'm going to spend
a little time in this chapter as we go through the book of
John. This morning I want to talk to you, if God will enable
me, about the sheep, the Lord's sheep. John chapter 10, verse
1. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth
up some other way, the same as a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the
door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth, and
the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own sheep by name,
and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his
own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for
they know his voice. And a stranger will they not
follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of
strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto
them, but they understood not what things they were which he
spake unto them. The whole human race is divided
into two groups of people, and these two groups of people are
distinguished variously in the Word of God. They're spoken of
as the elect or the reprobate. They're spoken of as vessels
of mercy and vessels of wrath. And they're spoken of as sheep
and goats. Sheep never become goats, and
goats never become sheep. God's sheep are his sheep from
eternity and shall be his sheep for everlasting. There's no changing
of God's purpose, his grace, or his works of grace. His purpose
stands sure and his people are safe and secure according to
his purpose. I've been studying this matter
of how the Lord's sheep became his sheep for a while. And I
can find only four ways in which sheep become a man's possession
legitimately. Sheep belong to a man if they
are given to him, bestowed upon him by one who originally owned
them. Turn over to John chapter six,
and you'll see that our Lord Jesus has his sheep by the gift
of his father. John chapter six, verse, uh,
verse 37. All that the father giveth me. See the present tense. May God
be pleased today to give some of his sheep to the son. Giveth,
giveth in effectual grace, giveth by giving them life and faith
in Christ. All that the father giveth me,
he says, shall come to me. All love them, none missing,
none but them. The only way the sheep ever come
is if the Father gives them to the Son. Read on. All that the
Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me
I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven not
to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And
this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which
he hath given me, Whenever you read the scriptures, always carefully
mark the varying tenses. All which he hath given me, I
should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last
day. All who are God's sheep were
given to the Lord Jesus Christ in everlasting covenant mercy
as the good shepherd before the world began. The father gives
his sheep to the son by the power of his spirit in effectual calling. And the father gave his sheep
to his son in everlasting love before the world began trusting
him as our surety and as our shepherd in eternal election.
Sheep are made the possession of a man also by a lawful or
legitimate purchase. Turn back to John chapter 10.
John chapter 10. We belong to the good shepherd
because the good shepherd gave his life for the sheep look at
verse 11 I am the good shepherd the good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep But he that is in hireling and not the shepherd
whose own the sheep are not see if the wolf coming and leaveth
the sheep and fleeth and And the wolf catcheth them and scattereth
the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because
he's a 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. The Lord Jesus bought us with
his precious blood. He bought the right to rule the
world and dispose of the world. With him is plenteous redemption.
But he bought us distinctly and particularly as his own property
with his precious blood. He died for the sheep. He laid
down his life for the sheep. He owns you because he bought
you out from under the curse of God's holy law. Because with
his blood, he ransomed your soul. He bought us distinctly. He bought us lawfully by the
price of divine justice being satisfied. He bought us particularly
his sheep and none others, and he bought us effectually. With
his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place, having
obtained eternal redemption for us. But sheep belong to man another
way. If a man owns sheep, And those
sheep give birth to other sheep than the sheep that are born
belong to him. Well, how does that fit in? Listen to this,
Isaiah 66 verse 2. As soon as Zion travailed, she
brought forth her children. You mean, Brother Don, somehow
we're connected with God saving his people? Yeah. He uses saved
sheep to save his sheep. He uses such things as we are
to give birth to his sheep. Oh, it's the work of God's spirit,
not our work. It's the gift of God's spirit,
not our gift. It's the performance and operation
of God, not our performance and operation. But he uses such things
as we are so that they may hear the word and be born again, not
of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God that lives
and abides forever. More than that, if a man leaves
his sheep to another as an inheritance, those sheep are his lawfully
and rightfully. And our Lord Jesus tells us that
we are the heritage of the Lord. We are his inheritance given
him by his father. He said, ask of me and I'll give
you the heathen for your inheritance. And he's given his sheep to his
son by his obedience unto death because of his obedience, because
he is the good shepherd. All right. Now that's how a man
obtained sheep. He obtains them by a gift. He
obtains them by purchase. He obtains them by birth and
he obtains them by inheritance. That's how we are the Lord's
sheep. But the scriptures speak distinctly
about the Lord's sheep and what he does for his sheep and describes
them in numerous ways. I can't begin to give you all
of them, but let me name for you in the scriptures Bible descriptions
of the Lord's sheep. Turn to John chapter 15, verse
16. God's sheep are here described
as those who are chosen of the Lord. The Master says, ye have
not chosen me, but I've chosen you. Chosen. Chosen of God our father chosen
by the good shepherd as his own sheep before ever the world was
chosen in special distinct electing love look at Ephesians chapter
one let me show you again what this book teaches about God's
election chosen sheep Are those sheep the father chose as the
objects of his love and chose unto salvation in Jesus Christ
before ever the world began? Ephesians chapter one and verse
three. Blessed be the God and father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he has
chosen us in him. He chose us in the Son. He chose
us in Him before the foundation of the world. He chose us to
make us holy, that we should be holy and without blame before
Him. In love predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to
the good pleasure of His will. Chosen of God. I realized that
folks these days look upon election and consider it some kind of
a horrible thing. You dare not mention folks. It
confuses people. They don't understand about it.
They get upset with it. Not God's sheep. Talk to sheep
about election. They love it. The Lord chose
me. Imagine that. He chose you. He
chose you. It's so silly how little folks
understand about this book in our day. This really happened. Several years ago, a friend of
mine, Ann Richards, lived in Fort Worth, Texas. Her son was
out working in his yard one day, one Saturday, and somebody was
out trying to buttonhole folks, get them to come to church, and
he got tired of listening to them. Finally, he said to them,
he said, you don't want me to come down there. Oh, yeah, we'd
love for you to. He said, well, tell me, what does your church
believe about election? And the fellow looked at him,
said, strange. election? He said, I'm not sure, but I
think almost everybody down there is Republican. That's a true story. True story. That's how utterly ignorant folks
are of this book. God's people, more than anything
else in the New Testament, are called the elect. God's sheep
are chosen sheep. But these chosen sheep, secondly,
are straying sheep. We saw it just the other day.
All we like sheep have gone astray. We turned everyone to his own
way. The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Straying
sheep. We went astray in our father
Adam and we go astray from the womb speaking lies. It is ever
the nature of sheep to stray. That's just their nature. Just
their nature. But that's not all. Not only
did we stray from him until he called us by his grace, stray
from him until he made us willing in the day of his power, even
after being saved by his grace, Rex, it is ever the nature of
sheep to stray. Prone to wonder, Lord, I feel
it. prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, O take and seal
it, seal it for thy courts above. Straying sheep. Let me see if
I can illustrate it for you. If the Lord allows it, there's
nothing you won't do right now. And justify yourself in doing
it. And even when you know it's wrong, you won't recover from
it. You'll never return, except he
return you. I think often of Brother Peter,
that strong man. Bobby, few of the disciples ranked
with Peter for strength. Few, if any. Few ranked with
Peter for commitment, devotion, Steadfastness, few, few. People
look at Peter and think he's somehow sort of a shifting fellow. Not at all. Oh, no, you misread
Peter. Peter, in the tenor of things,
he said, Lord, I'll die for you. And he did. He did. Peter was
a strong man as far as men go, but just sheep, just a sheep. And the Lord Jesus warned him.
He said, Peter, before the cock crows twice, you're going to
deny me three times. And Peter denied the master. And then he denied him again.
And that rooster crowed. Mark, can you imagine the fear
that must've stole over his heart? How he must've trembled when
he heard that rooster crow. I think of that and I shake to
think about it. And then it cussed and denied
him again. Because that's what sheep do. They stray. Turn us,
O God of our salvation, and we shall be turned. But only as
he turns us. turn to Him only as He causes
us to turn to Him, and we keep our faces turned to Him only
as He keeps our faces turned to Him. Sheep, being what they
are, straying sheep, are redeemed sheep, redeemed with the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written,
Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. The people of God
called sheep are distinguished from the goats, and they are
redeemed by the Savior, redeemed by the shepherd, redeemed by
his blood. So, well, that's true of all
being. Oh, no. Oh, no. This is what he says
here in John chapter 10. Back in the 10th chapter, John.
Lord Jesus talks about this this work of his grace. He's done
for his sheep and the Pharisees heard him talking he's talking
to the Pharisees and They said the Jews ran about him They came
to Jews read about him verse 24 and said unto him. How long
does thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ tell us
plainly Jesus answered and told said I told you and you believe
not and The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness
of me. But ye believe not. It doesn't
end there, does it? Because ye are not of my sheep,
as I said unto you. You're not of my sheep. The Lord
Jesus did not lay down his life for the goats and the sheep.
He laid down his life for the sheep. And the sheep believe
him as a result of him laying down their life for them and
the goats believe not Because they're goats the lord jesus
redeemed us with his precious blood And the sheep are called
back here in verse two He entereth in by the doors the shepherd
of the sheep to him the porter openeth and the sheep hear his
voice, and he calleth his own sheep by name." That looks kind
of special, doesn't it? He calleth his own sheep by name. What's that mean? He calls and
says, Don? No. Calls and says, Donald Stewart? No. He calls and says, Donald
Stewart Fortuner? You know, believe it or not,
there's even another one of them. No, that's not what it means.
That's not what it means. He calls in such a way that, you
know, he called you. He calls in such a way that you
hear his voice, and when you hear his voice, you know, he's
called you. He calls his own sheep by name. Oh, you labor and are heavy laden. I know that. Sinner, come and
welcome to the Savior. I know that name. But still,
when the shepherd calls, his sheep hear his voice, and they
follow him. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causest to approach unto thee. The Lord Jesus, come
by the power of His Spirit, by the gospel of his grace, and
calls his sinners, chosen, redeemed sheep, to hear his voice and
come to him. And they all come. We call it
irresistible grace. We call it sovereign grace. This
irresistible call of God the Holy Spirit, back in 2 Samuel
7, David describes it as fetching. Fetching. Remember how David
was looking for any who were left to the house of Jonathan
of the house of Saul that he might bless him for Jonathan's
sake and this fella named Ziba said there's one man left a fella
named the fibber chef down in loaded bark. He's lame on both
his feet, but he he's one of Jonathan's sons and David the
King said to Ziba his servant fetch it Fetch it. Yeah, that's a good word. I love
it. Fetch it fetch it We don't use it much anymore. We ought
to use it more often. Fetch him. That doesn't mean go down there
and ask if he wants to come. The king sent a command. He said,
fetch him. That doesn't mean go down there
and offer him an opportunity to sit as one of the king's son
at the king's table. That means fetch him. That doesn't
mean go down there and ask him if he pretty please will come.
Ziba goes down there and he says, Mephibosheth, King David sent
me to get you. Can you imagine how Mephibosheth
must have trembled? Can you imagine what horror must
have seized his mind? He knew that all his family had
been slain. He knew he was the only living
heir to Saul's throne. He knew it. He knew it. He's
the only one standing in David's way, if any could stand in David's
way. Oh, how he must have shook when
he was brought and sat down before King David. That's how he got
there, wasn't it? Is that how he got there? How
else do you reckon he got there? He was laying on both his feet.
Somebody picked the man up and carried him in and sat him down
before David. And when they did, David spoke
kindly to Mephibosheth. And Mephibosheth understood,
he's talking to me. He commanded Ziba to serve Mephibosheth. Commanded that Mephibosheth be
made to feed at the king's table as one of the king's sons. Adopted
him into his family. And there he sat all the days
of his life. It's called fetching grace. The Lord Jesus came to a man
by the name of Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was a religious fellow. tax collector, a republican,
and he was a little fella, so he couldn't see over the crowds.
He climbed up in a tree, curiously wondering who this man was, this
great miracle worker everybody was talking about. And the Lord
Jesus came right to where Zacchaeus was, and he looked up and said,
Zacchaeus, come down. Today I must abide at your house.
And he explained it this way, for he too is a son of Abraham. He's one of God's chosen. He's
one of God's chosen. And if the Lord calls you, your
being called doesn't make you one of his sheep. Your being
called makes manifest you're one of his sheep. When the Lord
calls you, that doesn't change you from a goat to a sheep. Oh,
no, that just makes manifest that you're one of those sheep
given to Christ. The world began. Oh, son of God, send your spirit
down and call your sheep. And look at this. My sheep, Hear
my voice. I know them. Or they hear his
voice and they follow him. Look at verse four. When he put
forth his own sheep, he goeth before them and the sheep follow
him. They follow him. They follow
his word, follow his will, follow his spirit, follow his example. They follow him. They follow
him. Sheep follow the shepherd. That's their nature. They follow
the shepherd. Oh, but they're stray. They follow
the shepherd because they need him. They follow the shepherd
because they got to have him. They follow the shepherd because
he makes them follow. He makes them follow. Somewhere
years ago, I don't remember where I read it, how I came to learn
it. But I heard that in old days
when shepherds, and I suppose in lands where they still tend
flocks like this, shepherds go before their flocks with a rod
and staff. They use the staff to tap the
sheep and keep them in line and keep them from straying, just
tap them on the butt and keep them in line. And if the sheep
just kept straying and the shepherd had to go get that sheep and
go get that sheep, go get that sheep, it couldn't keep a little
lamb in line. He'd take that long staff and
break its leg. Just break its leg. And then he'd splint it, and
the shepherd carried that sheep. Isaiah 40, verse 11. The shepherd
carried that sheep until his leg was healed. That sheep had
been up there in the shepherd's arms next to his heart all this
time, everywhere he went. takes the splint off, puts the
sheep down, and just can't keep him off his feet. He's there
at him all the time. That's what our Savior does for us. He chastens
his own and makes us follow him. Oh, God, thank you. Thank you
for such sweet grace. He says, they know the shepherd's
voice. And the stranger's voice, they
don't know. A stranger they won't follow.
Goats are religious creatures too. Goats, however, follow every
wind of doctrine. Goats are led astray by everything
that comes down the pike. Goats just, every strange sound,
they pick it up and they'll follow after it. not the sheep. They
follow the shepherd and know his voice alone. You have an
unction from the Holy One, John said, 1 John chapter 2. And you
know all things. You don't need somebody to tell
you truth from error. You know it. You hear something
and you say, man, that has the clanging sound of free will to
me. That's probably what it is. And
that sounds like works to me. It probably is. What was that? Oh, that's free grace. I know
that sound. That's marvelous mercy. I know that sound. That's
goodness and mercy. I know that sound. You know all
things. You just know. because you're
taught of God's Spirit. You have an unction from the
Holy One, an anointing that abideth on you. And that unction, that
anointing is the Spirit of God. You have the mind of Christ,
the mind of Christ. So you discern all things. First
Corinthians 2.16. Not only are the sheep knowing
creatures, they are known. The Lord Jesus said, I know my
sheep. I know them with everlasting
love. I know them by divine purpose. I know them so as to approve
of them and delight in them. I know them in as much as I watch
over them and care for them. know my sheep, and am known of
mine. And the sheep, once they're called
by the shepherd, are folded sheep. Turn over to Isaiah 34. Let me
see if I can find this in Isaiah chapter 34. Sheep were brought into the fold
by the shepherd. Now, I realize that in this day
There are lots of folks who belittle and deride the ordinances of
our God. They belittle and deride local
churches, the fold of the sheep. But I'll tell you what I've observed.
The only time you ever see sheep by themselves. The only time
you ever see sheep by themselves are when they're lost are real
sick. Otherwise, sheep stay together.
It's just part of their nature. They stay together. And when
the Lord God calls his sheep, he brings them into the fold.
The shepherd always brings them into the fold. Look here in Ezekiel
chapter 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 them,
his sheep that are scattered, so will I seek out my sheep and
will deliver them out of all 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 will bring
them to their own land and feed them upon the high mountains
of Israel by the rivers in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture
and upon the high mountain of Israel shall their fold be. There shall they lie in a good
fold and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains
of Israel. I will feed my flock and will cause them to lie down,
saith the Lord God. The Lord Jesus brings his sheep
into the fold and causes them to lie down safely in here. He
feeds them on the high mountains of Israel. on the gospel of God's
free grace causes them to lie down peacefully and secure. They're his sheep. They're his
sheep. And being in the fold is part of their blessed sense
of security. They're his sheep. And the sheep
are secure. Look at John chapter 10 again,
verse 28. John chapter 10. In Ezekiel 20, the Lord says,
I'll cause you to pass under the rod. I'll bring you into
the fold and bring the sheep into the fold and just pass under
the rod. He counts them as they go in.
Make sure they're all in the fold. I'll cause you to pass
under the rod. Now look here in verse 28, John
chapter 10. Verse 27 my sheep hear my voice.
I know them and they follow me and 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 the me is greater than all
and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand I and
my father What does that mean? Why does
the Lord Jesus talk like this? Nobody can pluck him out of my
hand. No man's ever plucked him out of my father's hand. I and
my father are one. The security of the sheep is
the triune God. God's purpose of grace cannot
be broken. The blood of Christ cannot be
wasted. The Spirit's seal can never be
broken. We are kept by the power of God,
all his sheep unto life everlasting, kept unto eternal glory. And then there's one other word
that's used to describe the Lord's sheep. Look at verse 16. And other sheep I have. other sheep I have, which are
not of this fold. Them also I must break, and they
shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd."
What does that mean? Must break? Skip, is there something
that he must do? That God the Son must do? Oh
yes, remember he's Jehovah's servant. He's the good shepherd. And the father gave the sheep
to him. Gave the sheep to him to bring
to glory. Gave the sheep to him to search
out and find and bring home again with himself. And he must bring
them, else he fails as the shepherd. You see, the salvation of the
sheep doesn't depend on the sheep. Does it depend on anything sheep
do? Does it depend on anything the
sheep choose to do or not to do? The salvation of the sheep
doesn't depend on you or on me. It depends on the shepherd. As
a matter of fact, it's his responsibility. I remember Brother Harry Gray
and folks want to argue and fuss about human responsibility. And
I recognize men are responsible to obey God. I understand that. But when all get down to the
nuts and bolts of the thing, Brother Harry Graham was talking
to me. He said, I'll tell you about responsibility. He said, it's
our response to his ability. The salvation of the sheep is
the shepherd's responsibility. If you're one of these other
sheep, these other sheep are just as surely his as the folded
sheep. These other sheep have been his
from eternity, just as all the sheep who are in the fold. These
other sheep he shall fetch. If you're his sheep, he's going
to get you. He's going to get you. He may
destroy your world, but he'll get you. He'll get you. And when he does,
you'll be thankful he destroyed your world to get you. He'll
get you. If his sheep, his sheep, these
other sheep, them also I must bring, must bring to myself and
must bring to glory because the glory of the triune God and the
glory of the shepherd as the good shepherd is wrapped up all
together All his glory is in the sheep.
Whoever heard tell of a shepherd without sheep, what a lousy shepherd
that be. Oh no, them also I must bring. And there shall be one fold and
one shepherd. Now, let's turn to this very,
very familiar text in Psalm 23. I want you to turn there with
me and read it. I know you've got it memorized
and you can recite it. I want you to read it. A long time ago, there was an actor
who was assigned at some great theater to read the 23rd Psalm. And he read it, I suppose, like
Alexander Scorby would read it. He read it well, read it beautifully. And folks were astounded at his
reading of the psalm. It was just so precise and so
well read. And that actor and one of his
friends were walking down the street and heard a man in a little
chapel stumbling through the psalm and reading it. And when
he got done, the congregation rose to pray. Every eye in the
building was wet with tears. And this fellow looked at this
actor and said to him, I don't understand. He said, what? He said, you read that psalm
last night and folks clapped. This man read the psalm and folks
are crying. He said, what's the difference? And the man said, I know the
psalm. He knows the shepherd. Oh, God make you to know the
shepherd so that you can read this psalm as David wrote it. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in paths of righteousness
for his namesake. Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou
art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me. Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil,
my cup runneth over, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all
the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house
of the Lord forever. Amen.