Would you turn with me to John
chapter 10? We will be having services this
Wednesday, and I'm going to be bringing a message on the doctrine
of Thanksgiving. And it's not a message about
the holiday we celebrate, but the Bible has a whole lot to
say about this subject. John chapter 10, I want to begin
reading in verse 22. And it was at Jerusalem, the
Feast of the Dedication, and it was winter. And Jesus walked
in the temple and saw on His porch. Then came the Jews round
about Him and said unto Him, How long does thou make us to
doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us
plainly. Jesus answered them. I told you. And you believed not. The works that I do in my father's
name. They bear witness of me. But
you believe not because you are not of my sheep. As I said unto
you, My sheep hear My voice, and 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. 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. Look once again at verse 26. But you believe not, because
you are not of My sheep. As I said unto you, My sheep
Hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." My sheep. I've entitled this message, The
Marks of Christ's Sheep. My sheep, hear my voice. My sheep. There are only two
kinds of people in this world, those whom Christ calls my sheep
and those who are not his sheep. He says to this crowd, you are
not of my sheep. Two kinds of people in this world.
Those who are Christ's sheep and those who are not. The elect. And those who are not elected. Those Christ died for. And those
he did not die for. The righteous and the wicked. Those who believe and those who
do not believe. The saved and the lost. Those who have eternal life and
those who do not have eternal life. There is no intermediate
state. Which one of these two groups
am I in? Now, that's the question I want
us to consider. Now, in this passage of Scripture,
the Lord tells us who His sheep are. And like I've already said,
I've entitled this message, The Marks of Christ's Sheep. And I want to see if I have these
marks. Don't you? Don't you want to
know if you truly demonstrate the marks of being a sheep of
the Lord Jesus Christ? Now, they have a mark in the
ear. They hear my voice, they have an ear mark, and they have
a mark in their foot. Our Lord says, they follow me. Faith, a mark in the ear, they
hear my voice, and they have a mark in their foot, they follow
me. This represents the works that
give evidence of the faith. Now, salvation is not by works,
it's by grace. But no man is saved without the
works that give evidence of the faith. Remember, faith without
works is what? Dead, being alone. So, Christ's sheep have these
two marks. They have the ear mark. They
hear my voice. They believe. That's what hearing
represents. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing
by the word of God. They have a mark in their ear
and they have a mark in their feet. Our Lord says they follow
me. Verse 22, John chapter 10. And it was at Jerusalem, the
feast of the dedication and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple,
in Solomon's porch, Then came the Jews round about him, and
said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou
be the Christ, tell us plainly." I've got a question. Did he ever
make them doubt? Did he cause them to doubt? Did
he fail to speak plainly? Did he speak in veiled, vague,
ambiguous language so that nobody could understand what he was
saying? You know better than that. Our Lord says in verse 25, Jesus
answered them, I told you. I've already told you. Why are
you asking me again? I told you and you believe not. The works
that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. He told
them by His words. You read through the Gospel of
John everything He'd said to them up to this point. There
wasn't any doubt as to who He was. Why, He said, before Abraham
was, I am. And then they took up stones
to stone Him. They had already heard who He was. He never made
them to doubt. By His words, He made known who
He was. No vague language, no ambiguous
language. He made known his words and he
also made known his works. Look what he said in verse 25.
He said, the works that I do in my father's name, they bear
witness of me, the miracles of Christ. He controlled the weather. I love that passage of scripture
where it says, what manner of man is this that even the winds
and the sea obey him? He controlled demonic forces. They couldn't make a move without
asking His permission. He healed the sick. He gave sight
to the blind. He raised the dead. Who could
do this? There's only one who could do
this, isn't there? Only God could do these works. He says, the
works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me.
Look what He says down in verse 36 of this same chapter say ye
of him whom the father has sanctified and has sent into the world thou
blasphemous because I said I'm the son of God if I do not the
works of my father Believe me not but if I do Though you believe
me not believe the works that you may know and believe that
the father is in me and I in him Truly, his works bore witness
concerning who he was, and this lets us know that there was no
excuse for these people's unbelief. I mean, there was absolutely
no excuse. His works said plainly, he's God. He's the Messiah. He's the Christ. There wasn't
any question about this. His works said this plainly.
But did you know that nobody ever believes because of empirical
evidence? seeing something and being convinced
by what you saw. There were a lot of people who
saw his works. There wasn't any doubt about it, but they still
didn't believe. Seeing something and being convinced
by what you saw never creates faith. You see, faith is the
gift of God. It's not something you can just
come up with. It's not something you're convinced of. Well, I
believe now. I'm convinced now. Faith doesn't work like that.
Faith is the gift of God. Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8
and 9 says, For by grace are you saved through faith, and
that is not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. Now look what our Lord goes on
to say. He says in verse 26 to these people who said, How long
are you making us to doubt? He says in verse 26, But you
believe not, because you are not of my sheep. as I said it
to you. Now you think about what he says.
He says the reason you fellas don't believe is because you're
not my sheep. He doesn't say you're not my
sheep because you don't believe. No, he says you do not believe
because you're not of my sheep as I said unto you. Now the force
of the Lord's words are unmistakable. He says you don't believe because
you're not of my sheep. Now who are the sheep? Who are
the sheep? What does the Bible say regarding
the sheep? Well, we know from a couple of
weeks back, the sheep are the people Christ died for. He said,
I lay down my life for the sheep. He didn't lay down his life for
goats. He laid down his life for the sheep. Look down in verse
29. Speaking of his sheep, he says,
my father, which gave them me. is greater than all, and no man's
able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. The sheep are
those the Father gave him. The sheep are the elect. That's
who the sheep are. Look back in John chapter 6, verse 37. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. Verse 39. This is the Father's
will which is sent me, that of all which he hath given me I
should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last
day. Those the Father gave him are the elect of God. Now that's
who the sheep are. They're God's elect. They are
those who Christ died for. And like I said, the force of
our Lord's words are unmistakable. He said, You believe not because
you're not of My sheep. Let me show you another scripture. You
see, the sheep believe. The fact that you don't believe
means that you're not one of His sheep because sheep always
believe. Look in Acts chapter 13, verse
48. And when the Gentiles heard this,
Acts 13, 48, they heard Paul preaching the gospel. When the
Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and they glorified the
word of the Lord, and as many as were ordained to eternal life
believed. Who believed? As many. No more, no less. As many as
were ordained to eternal life, they believed. Now He goes on
to describe His sheep. Turn back to our text in John
chapter 10. We know they are His elect, those
that Christ died for. And then He says in verse 27,
My sheep hear My voice. Faith cometh by hearing. Now here's the mark of Christ's
sheep. They hear His voice. Have you ever heard the voice
of the Lord Jesus Christ audibly? Somebody says, Jesus told me
this or Jesus told me that. Don't believe you for a second.
You're lying. You're lying. You haven't heard
His voice audibly. But I also know this. I have
heard His voice more powerfully than if I heard it audibly. The
Scripture says in John chapter 5 verses 24 and 25, the hour
is coming and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of
the Son of God and they that hear shall live. When you hear the Gospel, This
is what this means. It doesn't mean you hear His
voice audibly. It means when you hear the Gospel, you know
it is God's Gospel. You know it's the truth. You
hear the voice of the Son of God. You know this is God's Gospel. Somebody says, well, I don't
know that. Well, then you haven't heard His voice then. Because
if you've heard His voice, you know this is nothing less than
the very truth of God. They that hear shall live. That's
when you've heard the voice of the Son of God, when you hear
the Gospel and you know it's the very truth of God, God's
Gospel. They hear His voice. And this
also means you have a God-given ability to discern. You can tell
the difference between grace and works. If you have the Spirit
of God, you can. You can tell the difference between
law and gospel. You have the ability to discern.
You might not be able to give all the theological explanations
for everything, but when you hear that which is contrary to
the gospel, you know it. That's not right. You have an
understanding. You hear the voice of the Son
of God. Look in John chapter 10 verses 4 and 5. And He putteth forth His own
sheep, He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him, for
they know His voice. Every sheep? Every sheep. They know His voice and a stranger
will they not follow. But they'll flee from Him for
they know not the voice of strangers. If I can follow somebody who's
not preaching the gospel, if I can follow somebody who's a
stranger, All I prove by that is I'm not a sheep. That's it. That's what he says. My sheep
hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. Now look what he says next. My
sheep hear my voice and I know them. Here's why they hear my
voice. I know them. Now this means a
whole lot more than knowing about them. Turn back to John chapter
5, verse 42. He says to this crowd, I know
you, that you have not the love of
God in you. Now he knew all about them, didn't
he? Because he said, I know you. You don't have the love of God
in you. Now, when he says, I know you
to these people, he doesn't mean the same thing that he meant
regarding his sheep when he said, I know them. Adam knew his wife Eve. Everybody here knows what that
means. It doesn't mean he just knew who she was. It meant he
entered union with her. He had an intimate relationship
with her. He loved her. When he says, I
know my sheep, he's saying, I love them. You know, there are many
that do not know this kind of love because he says in Matthew
chapter 7 verse 23 to one group of people, he said, depart from
me ye that work iniquity, I never knew you. But he says regarding
his sheep, I know them. I love them. I know them all
together. Has something to do with his
foreknowledge. whom he did foreknow. Listen to this scripture. Whom
he did foreknow. That doesn't simply mean he knew
what their names was before they were ever born. Or knew what
their names were. That's not what that's talking
about. He foreloved them. He foreloved them. I loved them
before him. Whom he did foreknow. Them he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son. Listen
to this. Foreknowledge comes before predestination. Now I
don't know how to make we're creatures of time I realize that
is very difficult for us it's it's impossible for us to understand
eternity but I do know this the very foundation of the salvation
of the believers because God loved him because he loved him
because he foreknew him because he loved him therefore he did
predestinate everything that happens to to be used to be conformed
to the image of his son that's 2 Timothy 2.19 says, The foundation
of God standeth sure, having this seal. The Lord knoweth them
that are his. I love that scripture in Galatians
4.9 where Paul's talking to the Galatians. He says, Now that
you've known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again
to weak and beggarly elements? Here's what counts is him knowing
me. He says, I know them. Now, what is the evidence that
I am known of Christ? Let's go on reading. He says
in verse 27, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them. That
means I love them. I know them all together. And
here's the evidence that I know them. They follow Me. This has to do with discipleship. This has to do with obedience.
This has to do with the imitation of Christ. They, every single
one of them without exception, they all have this mark. They
follow me. You see, Christ's sheep also
have a mark on their feet. They follow Christ. They go where
he goes. They follow him in obedience.
Their works prove the reality of their faith. Now, while no
man is saved by his works, no man is saved without works. He that keepeth my commandments,
our Lord said. He it is that loveth me. Galatians 5, 6 says, For in Christ
Jesus neither circumcision avails anything nor uncircumcision,
but faith which worketh by love. I want you to turn to this one
with me. Turn to Revelation chapter 14. Revelation chapter 14. Verse 13, And I heard a voice
from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed, O how blessed are the
dead which die in the Lord! From henceforth, yea, saith the
Spirit, that they may have rest from their labors, and their
works do follow them. Now they don't go before them.
They don't go beside Him, but they sure enough follow Him.
And here's what the Lord is saying in this passage of Scripture.
Everybody without the exception that God has saved, there's going
to be evidence that He's done something for them in their walk,
in their work. Somebody says, what about the
thief on the cross? Did he give evidence? I mean, what kind of
evidence did he give? I mean, he was there at the last
second. I mean, he just saved the last
few minutes of his life. What kind of evidence did he
give? Oh, he gave abundant evidence. He knew the Lord. Lord! He knew
he was the Lord. Remember me when you come into
your kingdom. He knew that he was getting exactly
what he deserved. We're getting exactly what we
deserve, but this man had done nothing amiss. He knew who the
Lord Jesus Christ was. The way he rebuked his fellow
thief proves that he gave evidence that the Lord had done something
for him. regarding every one of God's people, they will have
works. They will have evidence. Remember,
faith without works is dead. Being alone. If I really believe
the gospel... Well, here's an example. Somebody says, I believe the
gospel. I believe the gospel of God's sovereign grace. Yet,
maybe they'll attend a place where the gospel is not preached.
What's their work say? What's their work say? You see,
there will be works that give evidence of your faith. They're
known by the mark in their feet. They follow me. Now, back to
our text in John chapter 10. My sheep, he says in verse 27,
oh, to be a sheep of Christ. Here's the mark of the sheep.
They hear my voice. And I know them, and they follow
Me. And he says in verse 28, I give
unto them eternal life. Now here is the reason behind
the mark in their ear and the mark in their feet. He says,
I give unto them eternal life. First, I like this word, I give
it to them. They didn't merit it. They didn't
deserve it. They didn't earn it. I gave it
to them. I give unto them eternal life. You see, salvation is by grace.
It's the gift of God. The wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, if you have eternal life, it's because He gave it to you.
Remember this about eternal life. That doesn't mean eternal existence.
Everybody's got that. Everybody in this room has a
never-dying soul, and we're going to spend eternity either in heaven,
in the presence of Christ, or in hell, suffering the wrath
of God. Everybody's got a never-dying soul. So in light of that, what
would a profit a man if he gained the whole world and lost his
soul? Or what should a man give in exchange for his soul? We
all have never-dying souls. So when he's talking about eternal
life, he's not talking about eternal existence. He's talking
about the life of God in the soul. He's talking about that
new nature. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creation. It's the seed of God in him. It's being born of God. It's
being born again. It's being given a new nature,
a holy nature, something that was not there before. There was
a time when you didn't have eternal life. Now you do because He gave
it to you. It's what's called being born
again. I give unto them eternal life,
this spiritual life. There was a time when they couldn't
hear. They do now. It's because I gave them eternal
life. There was a time when they couldn't follow Me. They didn't
even know what it meant. But they do now because I've
given to them eternal life. I give unto My sheep eternal
life and they shall never perish. Do you believe a sheep of Christ
can perish? No. He said, I give unto them eternal
life and they shall never perish. They are eternally secure. It is impossible for them to
fall away because they're kept by the power of God through faith
unto salvation. They will endure to the end.
I give unto them eternal life and they will never perish. They must persevere. Now, this
is what's called the doctrine of perseverance. All of God's
people will keep on keeping on. They won't quit. They won't give
up. They may feel like it. You ever
felt like quitting? Sure you have. You ever felt
like just giving up and just forgetting it all? Sure you have.
But if you're a believer, you haven't done it, have you? You're
still here. You still believe. Why? Because
you're kept preserved by the power of God through faith into
salvation. You see, all that God elected, all that Christ died for, all
that God the Holy Spirit has given life to, it's a necessary
consequence that they persevere all the way to the end. You see,
they've got their partakers of the divine nature. They're going
to continue in the faith. Oh, they may stumble, they may
trip, they may fall, but they're going to continue in the faith
because they're kept by the power of God through faith into salvation.
He said, they shall never perish. It's not going to happen. That's
dangerous doctrine. No, it's not. It's just the truth.
What's dangerous about that? I know all of God's people will
persevere all the way to the end. Well, that'll make them
think they can sin all they want. Listen, I sin a whole lot more
than I want. You can count on that. I don't want to sin at
all. I want to be just like Christ. And I want to persevere all the
way to the end. And I'm giving this blessed assurance. I will
persevere all the way to the end because He said, My sheep
shall never perish. Tell you this, if I could fall away, I would. And if I could fall away, I'd lose
a lot. Oh, I'd lose a lot. It'd be a
horrible thing, wouldn't it? I'd lose so much. But you know
somebody who'd lose more? Jesus Christ the Lord. He'd lose
more than I would because He would lose His honor as the complete,
sufficient Savior of sinners. Yeah, I'd lose, but He'd lose
more. He'd lose His glory. And that's not going to happen,
is it? He said, they shall never perish. And here's why they shall
never perish. Look in John chapter 10 verse
28, I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. You think of
the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ. Is that a strong hand? His hand, he said, nobody can
pluck them out of my hand. And here's why. Go on reading. 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 am my father one. You see,
my hand is the same hand as the father's. That's what he's saying.
I and my Father are one. Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy
God is one Lord. One God, God the Father, God
the Son, God the Holy Spirit. One God revealed in three persons.
But the hand of Jesus Christ is the hand of the Lord God Omnipotent. And He has such a strong hand
that He can't lose any of His people. We've already read this
scripture in John chapter 6 verse 39. This is the will of Him that
sent me, that of all which He hath given me, I should lose
nothing. but raise it up again at the
last day. Now, that's why His sheep won't
perish. I'm in the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that
a wonderful place to be, to be in His hand, the hand of His
power? My Father which gave it in me.
Turn over to John chapter 17 for a moment. Verse 2. Thou hast given him power over
all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as Thou
hast given him." Verse 6, I've manifested Thy name unto the
men which Thou gavest me out of the world. Verse 9, I pray
for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine. Verse
11, And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world,
and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those
whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are. While
I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name, those
that thou gavest me. I've kept, I've preserved, that's
why they'll never perish. Verse 24, Father I will that
they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am. Isn't that wonderful? truth that every child of God
is the gift of the Father to the Son. And the Son bears their
responsibility. The responsibility of my salvation
and my preservation and my forgiveness and everything about me lies
wholly on His shoulders. No pressure on me. None at all. Isn't that wonderful? My Father
which gave them me is greater than all. No man is able to pluck
them out of my Father's hands. I and my Father are one. You
see the issue. The issue is who is Jesus Christ. That's the only issue. If you
believe who He is, you'll believe everything that this passage
of Scripture says. You'll believe it all. And to
not believe this is really to not believe Him. He said, I and
my Father are one. All that God is, He is. And God's
people are secure in Him. That's why they'll never perish.
A mark of Christ's sheep as He endures all the way to the end. Now, if you endured up to this
point, well, that's because Christ has preserved you. And you will
endure. You'll persevere all the way
to the end. Now, am I a sheep? Am I really
a sheep? Can I say regarding myself, I'm
a sheep of Christ? Well, I know this. If I am, I
hear his voice. I know what I preach to you is
the gospel. I know it is. And I know anything
contrary to this is not the gospel. This is the gospel of God. This
is the truth. That's what it means to hear His voice. It doesn't
mean to hear His voice audibly, but you know it's the very Word
of God. It's not up for debate. It's not up for contention. There's
no controversy about this. This is the truth. I know this
is the very truth of God. I hear His voice. And I tell you what, if I'm a
sheep, I follow Him in obedience, in submission. I submit to His
Word. I hear His voice. And I continue
following Him all the way to the end. I want to close with
a Scripture in Jude, right before the book of Revelation. Verse 24, Now unto Him, the Lord Jesus
Christ, God the Father, God the Holy Spirit, now unto Him, one
God in three persons, now unto him that is able to keep you
from bawling and to present you faultless. Do you believe the blood of Jesus
Christ actually makes you faultless? Faultless? What a wonderful place
to be. I am faultless. That's how real and powerful
the blood of Christ is. Everybody He died for, they're
presented before the Father faultless. Now unto Him that is able to
keep you from falling and to present you faultless before
the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise
God, our Savior. God the Father, the only wise
God, our Savior. God the Son, the only wise God,
our Savior. God the Spirit, the only wise
God, our Savior, in the Trinity of His blessed person. To the
only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and
power, both now and ever. Amen. You know what my heart
says to that? Amen. Let's pray together.