with me, if you will, back to
the Gospel of John, Chapter 10. John's Gospel, the 10th chapter. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, that 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 put 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, that is, unto the Pharisees, in this previous chapter he'd
been talking to. He spoke this parable unto them,
these religious leaders in Israel, these rabbis, these theologians,
these respected, reputed men who didn't know God from a gourd,
but they understood not what things they were which he spake
unto them. The shepherd, the good shepherd,
of the sheep is Christ himself. He says in verse 11, I am the
good shepherd, the good shepherd, and I know my sheep and am known
of mine. He is the good shepherd because
he laid down his life for the sheep. The sheep were condemned. The sheep were cursed. He was
made a curse for us. He was condemned for us. And
he willingly, voluntarily laid down his life for the sheep. He is the good shepherd because
he seeks his sheep. He seeks out his own out of every
nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue. He seeks them out wherever they
have been scattered in all the earth. He seeks them out of every
country. He seeks them out of every age
and time. He seeks out his sheep and finds
them. He's the good shepherd because
when he finds his sheep, He lays his sheep upon the broad shoulders
of his omnipotent grace and holds them in the grip of his almighty
mercy and he carries them all the way home. Nothing depends
at all on the sheep. The sheep's safety, the sheep's
salvation, the sheep's everlasting glory all depends entirely upon
the shepherd. the good shepherd, the Lord Jesus. Christ is the true shepherd.
And we will see this again and again when we get to the latter
part of this 10th chapter of John in the middle section and
in the latter part of this 10th chapter of John. But remember
here, as our Lord gave this parable to the Pharisees, he is showing
us in this parable a clear distinction between the Pharisees and his
servants. between the false shepherd and
the true shepherd. And they're identified in this
chapter as the false, singular, and the true. The hireling and
he that is not a hireling. The true shepherd and the false
shepherd. They are called one. All false
shepherds called one. and all true shepherds called
one, because every false shepherd serves one purpose, himself. They feed themselves. They fatten
themselves. They enrich themselves. They
do what they do because of their personal interest in it as the
servants of Antichrist, as the messengers of Satan. Every true
shepherd also serves one purpose, the sheep. That's the purpose of the shepherd.
What is there in this chapter about the good shepherd that
was for the benefit of the good shepherd? Nothing. The good shepherd
gives everything for the sheep and all true shepherds are men
who give their lives in the service of the sheep. Not to fleece the
sheep, but to feed the sheep. Not to serve themselves, but
to seek the sheep. Not to feed themselves, not to
enrich themselves, not to promote themselves, but to seek out the
saving of the sheep by the power and grace of God Almighty. What
does our Savior here tell us then about the true shepherd,
the true pastor? Verse 2, the true shepherd is
one who enters in to the sheepfold by the door. This is the primary
distinction between the true shepherd and the false. The Pharisees
would not enter in by this door. And the Pharisees of today will
not enter in by the door. They won't do it. They will not
bow to and trust that one who is God who came here so low that in his humiliation, in his
utter, abject humiliation, he was made to be everything you
are. Sin included. Brother Bruce Crabtree
yesterday in Ashland, or Friday night in Ashland, made an observation
that I thought was astounding. He's talking about the offense
of the cross. He said the offense of the cross
is the humiliation of Christ. That which makes the cross an
offense to those who stumble at it and stumble over the stumbling
stone into hell is that they must trust one who was made sin
for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
And those who are the false shepherds The Pharisees really don't believe
that there's any real problem with themselves. They really
don't believe that they are sin. Oh, now we've done some bad things.
We've, uh, we've acted wrong. We've, we've made some bad decisions,
but, but I wouldn't say I'm just sin. I know you wouldn't. That's the reason you won't trust
him who was made sin for you. The true shepherd, on the other
hand, enters in by the door. He that entereth in by the door
is the shepherd of the sheep. The door spoken of in verse two
is commonly thought to be the word of God. And Christ came
into this world and he came into the sheepfold by fulfilling the
prophecies of Holy Scripture, by fulfilling the word of God.
But our Lord says in verse nine, I am the door. Now, certainly
he did come here and he did enter into the sheepfold by the door
of Holy Scripture, fulfilling all the Scripture. But when we
interpret the word of God, let's find out what the word is saying,
where we are. And here he says, I am the door.
Did the Lord Jesus enter in by the door? And he calls himself
the door. Turn to Hebrews chapter nine,
let's see. Let's see. How did the son of God in human
flesh enter into heaven? How is it that he went back to
glory and sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high and
was accepted of God? You remember, he told us in John
16, when the spirit of truth has come, he'll convince you
of sin, of righteousness and of judgment, of sin, because
you believe not on me, of righteousness, because I go to my father. How
did he enter in? How is it that that man sitting
yonder on the throne is sitting there? What right does he have
to rule this universe? What right does he have to sit
on that throne? What right does he have to control
all things and to possess heaven itself? Hebrews chapter 9 verse
11. But Christ being coming high
priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building,
neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood,
he entered once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for us. He came here, Oscar, to save
his people from their sins by the sacrifice of himself. And
when he was made sin for us and he paid all that was due to our
sins, suffered all the wrath and justice of God to the full
satisfaction of justice. Now, by his blood, he entered
in and sat down. He entered in by the door. He
said, I am the door. And all true shepherds enter
in by that same door. He entered in having obtained
eternal redemption. And true, if he had remained
without sin, if he had remained here without taking on himself
our nature, he would not need to enter in by his blood. But
he who was made sin for us enters into glory by the very same door
that you must enter. The only door there is his own
blood. This is the first mark of every
true shepherd then. Christ sends those to tend his
sheep who enter in by the door by the blood of Christ. The true
shepherd speaks of sin because he knows what sin is. He's seen its greatness in himself.
He speaks of pardon because he has been pardoned by the grace
of God through the blood of Christ. The true shepherd proclaims continually
free justification by the blood because he knows what justification
is in the experience of it. He proclaims free, imputed righteousness
and righteousness imparted to him because he's been made righteous
by Jesus Christ, by God's free grace in him. He preaches free
grace, free grace, free grace because all he knows is free
grace, free grace, free grace. He delights in the word of grace
because the word of grace is only that which gives him hope.
He preaches the precious blood because to him the blood's precious.
He tells sinners of a new creation. of a new creation, not just some
day out yonder in the future when God's going to create the
earth anew and the heavens anew, a new creation that's in you
because he'd been created new. He speaks and preaches of eternal
security because he knows the sheep are secure on the shepherd's
shoulders and in the shepherd's hands. He that entereth in by
the door, our Savior says, is the shepherd of the sheep. Now,
without that, no other qualification will do. I have over the years
read numerous books on homiletics and pastoral theology, and I'll
tell you how all the good ones begin. Every good one begins
this way. I've never read a good book telling
preachers about how to preach and pastors about how to pastor
who didn't begin the first or second chapter with a chapter
on this. You've got to enter the door. You yourself must know the son
of God. You yourself must be converted. You yourself must believe on
the son of God. If you've not entered the door,
you can't lead others to the door or through the door. You
must enter in by the door. Without that, all the learning
of the best colleges and seminaries in the world, all the learning
of the greatest discipline in the world, all the eloquence
a man can muster, all the gifts and talents a man can have are
utterly meaningless. The number one qualification
for a preacher. You must enter in by the door. I had to preach behind the fellow
one time. Well, I didn't have to, I got to. Glad I was the
one doing it. He was sitting down, or sitting
down a principal in a congregation at a Bible conference and preaches,
and he thought he was brilliant. And he said, now, in order to
be a Calvinist, you've got to have some gray matter. I didn't
like the word Calvinist or gray matter. And he was talking about
how smart you got to be and you got to study and learn these
things. And the first words out of my mouth, I got up and was
introduced, and I said, in order to know God, you've got to be
born again. That's all. You've got to be
born again. You're a brilliance, my soul. Just what arrogance it must be
in a man to think that because he is smarter than you in academic
things, he can understand this book better than you can. No,
we know the things of God by revelation, because God teaches
us in the experience of his grace. The true shepherd is one who
enters in by the door, and he's one who cares for the sheep.
Look at verse three. 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 put forth his own
sheep, He goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for
they know his voice. To him the porter openeth. Of
course, the Holy Spirit opens the way for Christ. He also opens
the way for his servants, his true shepherds. Hold your hands
here and turn to 1 John chapter 4. The sheep hear the shepherd's
voice. Which of you have heard the Son
of God speak? Does he have a base voice or
a baritone voice? How does he talk to you? Well,
Brother Don, I've never heard him talk to me, not in an audible
voice. Of course you haven't. Neither
has anyone else, not who's living on the earth today. Well, how
does he speak? The sheep hear the shepherd's
voice through his gospel. as it is preached to them through
the raspy voice of a man like this. First John chapter four,
verse five. They are of the world, the hirelings. They are of the world. Therefore
speak they of the world and the world heareth them. We are of
God. He that knoweth God heareth us.
He that is not of God heareth not us. Well, that sounds like
everybody who is born of God listens to and heeds the word
of a man who is sent of God. That's what it sounds like. And they won't hear anybody else.
And those who will not heed the word of a man sent of God don't
know God. They're listening to somebody
else. Hereby, we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error
back in our text. He calleth his own sheep by name. Again, without question, this
speaks of our Savior's personal, particular, irresistible call. The gospel comes to you. I preach
the word. Another man stands here or some
other place preaching the word of God and you You hear the word
and hearing you believe. How come? Because he came to
call his own sheep by name. Zacchaeus, when Zacchaeus was
a straying sheep, he was up a tree and the Lord Jesus said, Zacchaeus
come down for today. I must abide at thy house. And
Zacchaeus heard his voice and came down and followed him. The
Lord Jesus came to a man named Nathaniel, who was a straying
sheep. He had not yet been called. He
was one of the Lord's sheep. One of them the Lord must break. But he had not yet been called.
And when he was sitting under the fig tree, the Lord Jesus
saw him and he called him. He said, Nathaniel. And Nathaniel
followed him. Our Lord Jesus, after the resurrection,
spoke to Mary, his sheep, who had heard his voice many times.
But you see, in order for you to hear his voice. It doesn't
matter how long, Ron, you've been hearing it. It doesn't matter
how many times you've heard it. If you hear his voice tonight,
he got to call you again. He must personally speak to you
by his spirit through the word. He said, Mary. And when he said,
Mary, she said, Oh, my best. Oh, my best. The good shepherd
calls his own sheep by name. And so it is still, Christ knows
his sheep and he calls his sheep by name and they follow him.
This also implies the Lord's love for his sheep. When you
love somebody, you love their name. Christ not only knows you, He
calls you by name. He loves the names of those for
whom he died. For his name is graven on the
palm. Your name is graven on the palms
of his hands. Your name he has etched on his
heart. He's etched it on his heart.
But there's more. Our Savior gives his sheep a
new name. You remember when he called Abraham?
He said, your name no longer be Abraham, it's going to be
Abraham. When he wrestled with Jacob,
he wrestled with Jacob in order to prevail over Jacob. And Jacob
wrestled with the angel of the Lord and said, I will not let
you go except you bless me. Looks to me like he prevailed.
He broke his thigh and he said, your name is no more Jacob. But
Israel, prince with God, for as a prince, thou hast obtained
the favor of the Lord. He came to Saul of Tarsus, unhorsed
him, revealed himself to him, and said, your name is no longer
Saul, your name Paul. Your name is that which I call
you. He said to Peter, your name is no longer Cephas. You're no
longer the same man as you were when I called you. Now your name
is Peter, a stone. a living stone in the house of
God. And when he comes to his own,
giving them a new name, calling them from above, each of these
given the new name are born of God and made new creatures in
Christ Jesus. Our Lord Jesus giving us a new
name because he's made us new. And when we come to the temple
above, our savior says, him that overcometh, will I make a pillar
in the temple of God, and he shall go out no more, and I will
write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city
of my God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh down from God out
of heaven, and I will write upon him my new name. That's what it said. What's the
name of God's church? Jerusalem, which is above. Jerusalem,
the mother of us all. That's the bride of the Lamb
coming down from God out of heaven. It won't bother you one more
time to see her name with it. Turn to Jeremiah 20, 33. Brother Donnie Bell told me yesterday,
he said, I'm going to be preaching in the morning on Jeremiah 23,
6, the Lord, our righteousness. I said, don't forget chapter
33. Don't forget chapter 33, verse 16. This is the name whereby he shall
be called Jehovah Sidkenu, the Lord our righteousness. Look
here, Jeremiah 33, 16. In those days shall Judah be
saved and Jerusalem shall dwell safely. And this is the name
wherewith Jerusalem, she, God's church, the Lord's bride, you
shall be called. Jehovah said, can you the Lord
are righteousness? Oh, I'll write on him a new name. Those who are Christ's true shepherds,
like Christ, the good shepherd. Love and care for the sheep.
They are sympathetic with the sheep. Faithful pastors understand
and know that God's people are just sheep. They don't beat them. They don't bind them. They don't
berate them. They lead them. They lead with sympathetic hearts,
understanding hearts. You remember how Paul wrote to
the Corinthians? These Corinthians, Rex, they they were embracing
fellows who came along and said Paul was a false apostle. I mean,
they, well, you know, Paul was here, but these fellows, they
can't all be wrong. And Paul writes to them. These
Corinthians were beginning to reject Paul as God's faithful
servant and were embracing in their midst, apparently someone
in their midst with some degree of reputation among them who
was living in incest, living in incest. These Corinthians,
They were despising the message of God's servant Paul. And they
come together at the Lord's table, as we're about to do now in the
simple ordinance of the Lord's Supper. And they'd throw a big
shindig. They'd have a party. And they
would invite all the wealthy friends around. And the poor
believer who couldn't contribute anything, they'd ignore him,
shove him aside. And they'd just have a drunken
revelry time at the Lord's table. Now listen to how Paul writes
to them. Oh, ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you. Our
heart is enlarged. You are not straightened in us,
but you're straightened in your own bowels. Oh, what a lesson
exemplified by our savior in this parable, the lesson the
Pharisees couldn't grasp. His lesson. to these religious
leaders and the religious leaders of our age, one that cannot be
grasped by men who don't know him, is one that all who serve
him as under shepherds must grasp. If we would influence men and
women for good, if we would lead people, we influence them and
lead them with affection and sympathy and tenderness. Hearts
are led by hearts. Can't be led another way. You
can force folks, you can intimidate folks, you can bribe folks, you
can, you've got all kinds of ways to get people to do stuff.
But if you want to influence the heart of a man, you can only
do it from your own heart, from the heart of God. Someone said on the news today,
And I use it for an illustration. Don't make more of it than that.
If I wanted to, I would. Shelby was telling me that they
said Mr. Obama's clout amongst the rest
of the world, amongst the Europeans, was proved that he didn't have
quite as much of a charming personality overseas as he had here. I said,
he ain't got a charming personality here. He just got a giveaway
program. That'll get folks to vote for
you. But it won't get their hearts. It won't get their hearts. Oh,
no. If you want the hearts of men,
they've got to know they've got your heart. Our Lord Jesus teaches us that
his shepherds go before his sheep and lead them. Our blessed shepherd
was and is one of his sheep. He entered into mortal life.
and he goes through everything we've gone through. Now he's
able to succor them that are tempted. Our Lord Jesus came
into this world through a mother's womb just like you did. He came
into this world a man of sorrows from the beginning to the end
and acquainted with grief. He passed through heartache after
heartache trouble after trouble, affliction after affliction,
adversity after adversity, foe after foe, slander after slander,
all the days of his life. He calls you to go through the
rivers of woe. He calls you to pass through
the furnace of fire. Yes. But he never calls you to
go where he hasn't been. He in his body bear our sicknesses,
our diseases, our infirmities, and our sins. He's now touched
with the feeling of our infirmities. And he left this world in a death
more painful in body, in spirit, in heart, in soul than you and
I can ever imagine. He left this world in a death
more painful than any death of a man or all the deaths of men
put together. He knows that which causes you
pain and heartache from experience. He knows it all. And now he's
able with tender heart to succor you, to help you through your
difficulties. Oh God, make me such a shepherd. Here's another characteristic
of the true shepherd. He goeth before them. He goes before them
continually in all things. He said, when thou passes through
the waters, I will be with thee and through the rivers, they
shall not overflow thee. And when thou walkest through
the fire, thou shalt not be burned. Neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. Thou art with me. When I know it and when I don't. When I sense it and when I don't. When I feel it and when I don't.
Thou art with me. The assurance of that Tells me
thy rod and thy staff, both the staff of direction and the rod
of correction, comfort me. So it is with Christ's true shepherds.
They call for God's people to follow them. Paul said, be you
followers of me, I am of Christ. Follow them that had the rule
over you, whose faith follow, considering the end of their
conversation. Follow the guidance of those God sent over you. Follow
them. The faithful man, the faithful
pastor, doesn't point to folks this way and say, go there. He
takes them by the hand and says, come with me. Follow me. God make me, God make me exemplary
to your people or take me from being a shepherd. I can't say that like I feel
it. Make me exemplary to your people
or take me from being a shepherd. True shepherds lead and God's
people follow them. We follow our Lord Jesus. Now
look at verse 11. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. Let's back up to verse 10. The thief. The thief. Who's that? That's the fellow
who creeps in unawares. The thief. Who's that? That's
the fellow who climbs up some other way. The thief, who's that? That's the fellow who will not
enter by the door into the sheepfold. The thief, who's that? That's
the fellow who will not trust Christ as his savior. Plus, minus, nothing. The thief. What's he doing in the pulpit?
He cometh not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy. Only reason he's there is because
he's getting something out of it. Either power or money or
a sense of importance or a sense of worth, he's getting something
out of it. I am come that they might have life. And that they might have it more
abundantly. Now, this is true of Don Fortner. And it's true
of every other preacher in the world. Either I am here and give
myself to the cause of the gospel because I want you to have life
and have it more abundantly, or I've come to get from you
what I can get from you. And there's no in between ground. Wow, that cuts pretty sharp. It cuts pretty sharp. For the
Mahan, I've heard him say it a thousand times. There are just
two kinds of preachers in the world. Those who use and those
who are used. They're not any other kind. Those
who use God's people are those who are used by God for his people. They're not any other kind. Read
on. Our Lord Jesus says, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd
giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an Ireland, and
not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf
coming, and he leaveth the sheep, and fleeth. The wolf catcheth them, and scattereth
the sheep. The hireling fleeth for one reason,
because he is 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." Hirelings are just hirelings.
That's all. God's servants are men worthy
of their hire, but they're not hirelings. Hirelings are men
who do nothing but for themselves. The true shepherd's life is wrapped
up in the sheep, in serving their eternal interest. The true shepherd
gives, lays down his life for the sheep. That's what Christ
has done for his own. And that's what Christ's servants
do for his own. The true shepherd is not a hireling. But he's worthy of his hour.
He laid down his life for the sheep. The hireling feeds himself,
not the sheep. He just fleeces the sheep. And
here's the difference. The robber who comes but for
to steal and to kill and to destroy, refuses to trust Christ. He won't do it. He got to put
something with Christ. The true shepherd trusts none
but Christ. He enters in by the door. The
hireling will point you away from the door. The true shepherd
will take you by the hand and lead you through the door. Oh
God, be pleased now to bring you through the door, Christ
Jesus the Lord, into life everlasting. Amen.