I hope you pay attention to what
you sing. Beyond my highest joy, I prize
her heavenly ways, her sweet communion, her solemn
vows, her hymns of worship, of love and praise. God make that true for me and
for you. Let's turn to John chapter 10
together. We'll begin reading with verse
1, this very, very familiar passage of scripture. But very often
that which is most familiar is most unknown. I lived here for
I guess 15 years before I ever went to visit Ethan McDowell
house and wished I had gone much earlier, learned a lot. I was
raised in Western Salem, North Carolina. Folks come from all
over the world to visit old Salem. I walked through it almost every
day, drove through it every day as I was growing up, never paid
one inch. The only thing I knew about it
was it had a big teapot sitting out in the middle of the road.
The only thing I knew about it. And then I went to visit one
day. What instruction. I saw it every day, but never
saw it. I saw it every day, but never
saw it. Let's look at this very familiar text of scripture and
ask God the Holy Spirit to give us eyes to see and ears to hear
that which is here recorded of our Lord Jesus Christ our good
shepherd and his own sheep. John 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 is a thief and a robber. Now remember the context. Our
Lord has just healed that man who was born blind. And they
sought to cast the man out of the synagogue because now he
could see. And our Lord is identifying himself as the Shepherd of Israel,
the Messiah, the Redeemer of his people. And he says, all
who enter not by the door, that is, by this door you're holding
in your hand. the book of God, the word of
the prophets, all who enter not by the door into the sheepfold,
but climb up some other way are thieves and robbers. But he that
entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. He who
comes by the revelation that God has given, here's the door
now, he who comes in exact accordance with this word, He's the shepherd
of the sheep. To him, the porter, the Holy
Spirit, openeth. And the sheep hear his voice. Every one of them. And he calleth
his own sheep. All his own. He doesn't call
them so that they might become his own. He calls them because
they are his own. He calleth his own sheep, and
no one else. He calleth his own sheep distinctly,
personally, by name. Calls them one by one. No mass
evangelism here. He calls them one by one. And
when he calls them, every one of his sheep whom he calls, he
leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his
own sheep, he goes before them. He doesn't drive them out, he
leads them out. He doesn't drive them in the way, he leads them
in the way. He doesn't lead them in the way, he goes before them
in the way. And the sheep follow him, no
exceptions. For they know his voice. They
understand the shepherd's voice. They recognize the shepherd's
voice. And the stranger Will they not
follow, but will flee from him? For they know not the voice of
strangers. Just in case I forget to say it later, I'll pause a
minute. They're not interested in knowing the voice of strangers.
Lots of folks want to study cults and heresies and this strange
doctrine and that strange doctrine. We need to know what they teach.
What for? Why would I want to know what's all in that? Is it
poison? That's enough for me. Leave it
alone. Not interested in it. I want to know his voice, his
word, his doctrine, his truth. They know not the voice of strangers. Now this is plainly revealed
in the word of God. The whole human race is divided
into two categories. Sheep and goats. Sheep were never
goats and goats never become sheep. Hold your hands here in
John 10 and turn to Matthew 25. I want you to see this. The whole
human race is divided into these two categories. Sheep and goats. I want to talk to you tonight
about our Lord's own sheep. Those who belong to Christ, His
sheep. Our Lord's concern is for His
sheep. He laid down his life for his
sheep. He loves his sheep with everlasting
love. He cares for his sheep. He does
all things for his sheep. The reason the goats exist are
for His sheep. The reason the world was made
is for His sheep. The glory of God is wrapped up
in His sheep. His will, His purpose, His grace
is all about His sheep. Look in Matthew 25 verse 31.
There's a day coming when God's going to gather all men before
the throne of His Son to be judged. And when the Son of Man shall
come in His glory, and all His holy angels with Him, Then shall
he sit upon the throne of his glory. It's called the great
white throne in Revelation 20. And before him shall be gathered
all nations, and he shall separate them one from another. As a shepherd divideth his sheep
from the goats, and he shall set the sheep on his right hand. The hand of his power, the hand
of his honor, the hand of his care, the hand of his protection,
the hand of his choice. He shall set his sheep upon his
right hand, but the goats on the left. Our Lord said back
here in John chapter 10. John chapter 10 verse 16. Other
sheep I have which are not of this folk. Them also I must bring,
and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and
one shepherd. And he proceeds to tell how he
would lay down his life for the sheep according to the will and
command of his father, how that no man had power to take it from
him, and no man could take it from him, but he had power to
lay it down himself and power to take it again. And the Jews
heard this parable he gave concerning the shepherd and the sheep, and
they began to fuss and argue. We don't like what you're talking
about. We don't like the doctrine you teach. And our Lord says
in verse 26, You believe not, because you are not of my sheep,
as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice. My sheep
hear my voice. The whole world then, everybody
in this room, everybody in the human race, all who have been,
all who are, and all who shall be, are either sheep or goats. Now the division was made in
old eternity in God's sovereign purpose of grace. It is a division
that is manifest in time. At the time of love, when the
sheep are called by the Holy Spirit through the preaching
of the gospel, and given life and faith in Christ, then we
know who the sheep of Christ are, but not until then. But
this division of the human race is a permanent, immutable division. I'm not going to change it and
you're not going to change it. All the efforts of men won't
change it. The sheep are his sheep from
eternity. As all the human race is divided
into two categories, sheep and goats, all the sheep are divided
into two categories too. The large sheep are either straying
sheep or they're returned sheep. They're either lost sheep or
they're found sheep. They're either wandering sheep
or they're folded sheep, but they're all his sheep. You remember
the passage we read this morning in 1 Peter 2.25? You were a sheep
going astray. You were a straying sheep, but
are now returned unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls. The
returning has nothing to do with making you sheep. The returning
is the evidence that you are sheep. He returns his own sheep
unto himself. So whenever I preach the gospel,
my mind is on the sheep. I labor for the sheep. My heart
is fixed on the sheep. And I'm just not much concerned
in goats. I don't care much what the goats
say. I don't care much what the goats do. My business is with
sheep. And I'm in good company. I know
that I found the right object, because with my heart and my
mind and my labor fixed upon the sheep, I'm in complete harmony
with my Redeemer. His heart, His mind, His labor
is all together for His sheep. Now, this thing of sheep, how
does a man get to have sheep? Our text describes God's elect
as Christ's sheep, his own sheep. But how did they get to be his
sheep? Well, there's not but about three or four ways you
can get sheep. Turn to John chapter 6, I'll show you the first one.
A man can come into possession of sheep by gift. And we were
given to Christ as his sheep from eternity in the covenant
of grace. And we are given to him as his
sheep in time when he calls us by his grace. Look in John 6
verse 37. Our Lord Jesus declares, all
that the Father giveth me. You see the ETH ending? That's
the present continual sense. All that the Father is giving
me. shall come to me. Oh, Lord God,
by your Spirit, give the Savior some sheep tonight. All that
the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out. What on earth is he saying? Oh,
anybody who comes to Christ, he won't cast them out. That's
what he's saying. That's exactly what he's saying. Let the odd
minion reign all he wants to. That's exactly what he's saying.
Anybody who comes, he won't cast them out. And all who come, come
because the Father has given them to the Son. Verse 38. For I came down from heaven not
to do mine own will. I didn't come here to do what
I wanted to do. I came down here to do the will of Him that sent
me. And this is the Father's will which has sent me. This
is what the Father's will is. This is God's will, God's desire,
God's pleasure, God's purpose. that of all which he, look at
it now, hath given me. That's talking about something
done in the past once and for all with finality. In grace,
he's continually giving us to the Son. Don't you thank God
he keeps on giving you to him. Continually causing us to come
to the Son. But in grace, before we ever
were born, before ever the world was made, there are some people,
Lord Jesus here describes as those who have been given me
at one time in covenant mercy. Now this is God's will, that
of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing. that should
raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of
him that sent me, that everyone that seeth the Son and believeth
on him may have everlasting life, and I'll raise him up at the
last day. So there are those who were given
to Christ as the shepherd. before the world began. And being
given to him in covenant grace, they are continually given to
him, one by one as he calls them, into his fold. And continually
given to him as they are given grace to seek him and follow
him. But a man may also obtain sheep
by buying them. We saw this in John 10 this morning,
verses 11 and 15. The Lord Jesus says the good
shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Our Lord Jesus obtained
these sheep purchasing them, not from the hands of Satan.
Folks had the atrocious, horrible idea that somehow the sheep were
in Satan's hands and the Lord Jesus purchased them from his
hands. What absurd blasphemy! Oh no! The sheep were in the
Father's hands. But they were in the hands of
God's holy law and justice under the sentence of condemnation.
And he brought them out from under the curse and wrath of
God's holy law when he laid down his life for them. And thus he
obtained them as his sheep. And then, turn back to Isaiah
66, I want you to see something. A man can get sheep by a gift,
and a man can get sheep by buying them. And if a fellow has a flock
of sheep, and those sheep give birth to other sheep, then the
sheep that are born to the shepherd's original sheep belong to him
as well. And hard as this may be for good,
sovereign grace folks to get hold of, God's sheep are born
right here. God's sheep are born right here. Right here. In His fold. Through the travail of His sheep. Look in Isaiah 66, verse 8. As soon as Zion travailed, She
brought forth her children. Oh, God come upon this assembly and give us such earnest zeal
for the souls of men, for the glory of God, that our hearts
may be as a woman in travail. for the birthing of God's elect. As soon as Zion prevailed, she
brought forth her children. And then a man can obtain sheep
one other way, and that's by inheritance. Turn to Ephesians
1. I want you to look at this. If
the original owner gives his sheep to another person as an
inheritance, Then the sheep become his property by inheritance.
We are the inheritance of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. The inheritance. We're called
in the book of God, God's heritage. What a word. God's heritage. The key to Ephesians 1. Paul's
praying for the Ephesian believers and for you and I, that the eyes
of your understanding may be enlightened, that you may know
what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory
of his inheritance in the saints. You read that passage in Ezekiel
36 a little bit ago? That's exactly what it's talking
about. That His name be honored. Here's the riches of the glory
of His inheritance. It's in the saints, redeemed
by His blood. Our Lord God said to His Son,
our covenant surety in Psalm 2, before the world began asking
me, and I'll give you the heathen for your inheritance and now
we heathen gentiles, pagans, idolaters, unbelieving rebels
called by God's grace to be his sheep are the heritage of God
given to his son and the glory of his heritage so we are his
sheep because the father gave us to him as a trust into the
hands of the shepherd, his sheep Because He redeemed us. His sheep.
Because we have been born into His family. His sheep. Because
we are the heritage of God given to His Son. Now, who are these
sheep? Who are they? How do you know
who the sheep are? Obviously, I can't answer the
question fully, but I want to answer it in the language of
Scripture. I'm going to answer it briefly, and so you follow
me through the scriptures. Turn back to John chapter 15,
and I'll show you the first thing. John chapter 15. All who belong
to Christ as his sheep are chosen sheep. All of them. Our Lord says in John 15, 16,
you have not chosen me. But I have, again, once and for
all, with finality, I have chosen you and ordained you, that you
should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain,
and that whatsoever you should ask of the Father in my name,
he may give it you. Oh, you're talking about that
doctrine of election again. You'll never hear God's sheep
talk that way. Oh no, oh no. God's sheep love election. They
love it. They delight in it. We know that
had there been no such thing as election, had there been no
choice of God, had it not been for the fact that he chose us
and chose us sovereignly, chose us indiscriminately, chose us
freely, chose us just because he would, there would be no such
thing as salvation. We're His because He chose us.
We've come to Him because He chose us. I love this hymn. "'Tis not that I did choose thee,
for, Lord, that could not be. This heart would still refuse
thee, hadst thou not chosen me. My heart owns none before thee,
for thy rich grace I thirst, this knowing, if I love thee. Thou must have loved me first.
Sheep rejoice in God's sovereign election. You can't talk it too
straight for them. You can't preach it too plain
for them. You can't talk about it too often for them. Sometimes
I hear folks say, well I hear what other folks say, they don't
say it to me. He's going to seed on sovereign grace. This time
somebody did. This time somebody went to seed
on grace rather than free will. Went to seed on God's glory rather
than man's glory. Yes, God's sheep are chosen sheep
and they rejoice in God's electing love. But I'll tell you something
else about his sheep. They are by nature strange sheep. All we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
old way. Turn to Ephesians 2. And you hath he quickened, made
alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins. dead spiritually, dead
judicially, dead toward God, but very much alive toward ungodliness
and rebellion and sin. Wherein in time past you walked
according to the course of this world, you lived just like everybody
else in the world. Doesn't matter which side of
the street you lived on, you all walked in the same path.
According to the prince of the power of the air, under the influence
of hell, The spirit that now works in the children of disobedience.
That's how we all live by nature. Oh, not me. If you ever come
find out who you are, you'll acknowledge it. Among whom we
also, we all had our conversation. our manner of life in times past,
in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath. That is, we
were children under the sentence of condemnation in our minds,
enemies against God, even as others, deserving hell just like
everybody else. And then something happened.
Oh, wondrous intervention. But God. But God. Thank God He stepped in my way. Thank God He would not leave
me to myself. Thank God He would not take no
for an answer from me. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love, wherewith he loved us even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us to gather with Christ. What
does that mean? By grace you're saved. That's
what that means. By grace you're saved. We know
what it is to stray. We don't have any idea what it
is to return. I had an old German Shepherd
dog one time, and I decided I'd give him to a friend. I had to
be gone so much I couldn't take care of the dog. Good dog, good
dog. More loyal to me than I was to
him, as has been the case most of my life, most everything. I took him about six miles across
the mountain. Turned him loose, put him in
a friend's yard. He pinned him up. And I had some errands to
run. You know where that dog was when I got home that afternoon?
Sitting on the stoop, waiting for me to get back home. Dog
find his way home. Cat, try to get rid of one. They
can find their way back home. They can find their way back
home. Even a dumb chicken can find their way back home. Not
sheep. Not sheep. Never can. Let one out of the
fence, he's gone unless you go get him. And even after experiencing
God's grace and salvation, it is still true. The nature of our evil hearts
is to stray from our God. Prone to wonder, but Lord I feel
it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, oh, take and
seal it. Seal it for thy courts above. And even now when we stray, we would never turn to him again
if he left us to ourselves. and don't even have enough sense
to know we're straying. And so we pray, we're compelled
to cry, we're forced to cry, because we know something of
ourselves. Turn us, O God of our salvation,
and we shall be turned. Draw me, and we will run after
Thee. None of the Lord's sheep, none
of his same sheep, none of them, have any problem with the plain
revelation of God's word about man's depravity. Because depravity is the bitter experience of our
daily's not strong enough. Depravity is the bitter experience
of our every breath. Depravity. Depravity. Utter depravity. Utter depravity. That's our nature. And I rejoice
to declare to you that according to this book, God's sheep, every
one of them, in spite of what we are by nature, because he
chose us from eternity, a redeemed sheep. The good shepherd gave
his life for the sheep. He laid down his life for the
sheep. Redeemed, how I love to proclaim
it, redeemed by the blood of the lamb, redeemed through the
special atonement, his child and forever I am eternally redeemed. I don't know why folks have trouble
with talking about God doing things in eternity. If it's alright
for Him to do them in time, I guess it's alright to do them in eternity,
wouldn't you think? He redeemed us before the world was when
it looked at His Son and declares Him to be the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. Not only were we eternally redeemed,
We were particularly and distinctly redeemed. The good shepherd laid
down his life for the sheep. Not only is that the case, we
were justly redeemed. He redeemed us by paying that
Christ demanded at the hands of divine justice so that God
might be just in the justifier of the ungodly. And we were effectually
redeemed. What does that mean? That means
when he laid down his life to give us, he got us. That means
when he died to put away our sins, he put them away. That
means when he died to satisfy God's justice, he actually did
it. That means when he died to obtain eternal redemption for
us, he actually obtained it. Effectually redeemed. Oh yeah,
we love limited atonement. Effectual blood, particular redemption. You mean the Son of God loved
me? And gave himself for me? He loved me! Gave himself for
me. Now if that gets you upset, I
don't worry, it can't make you happy. He loved me and gave himself
for me. Now back in our text in John
10. At God's appointed time, in the
time called the time of love, each and every one of those chosen,
redeemed, straying sheep are called sheep. Verse 3, to him the porter openeth. The Lord Jesus comes and God
the Holy Spirit takes the word that's preached and he opens. And you see, that's him. That's
the shepherd. That's the one God spoke of back
in the garden when Adam fell. That's the one spoken of in the
prophets, that's the one typified in all the scriptures. The porter,
the Holy Spirit opens, and when he opens the book, and causes
you to see the shepherd, the sheep, hear his voice. They hear
him! They hear him! You had the same thing happen
to you. Hear what I believe to be wise, wise instruction. I
get calls from people, letters, visits. I'm traveling. I see
folks and they want to talk to me about getting saved. Well,
I can't get you saved. And I'm not going to try. And
I suggest you do the same thing. What do you do with folks? I
had a fellow wrote to me the other day. His sister-in-law,
they had lost somebody in the family. He led it in sinners
praise. He said, was that wrong? I wrote
it back and I said, the fact that you're asking that question
tells me you know it was wrong. Does somebody put words in somebody's
mouth and tell them to repeat after you? Of course it's wrong.
It gives a false hope to folks who don't know God. But what
do you do with folks? You preach the shepherd to them.
And when the Holy Spirit opens the word, you see Him. You don't
have to have anybody sitting around telling you what to say
next. What to do next. When He calls you to see Christ,
you see Him. When He calls you to hear His
voice, you hear it. When He calls you to believe, you believe.
It's not a matter of what you do or don't do. It's believing
Him. The sheep hear His voice. And
He calls His own sheep. He calls them distinctly and
personally by name. Isn't that amazing? You mean, but God, He speaks
from heaven and says, Don Ford, I'm calling you. No, He does
better than that. He does better than that. He
speaks in your heart by His word to guilty, helpless, desperate
sinners. And when you're made to identify
yourself as the worm, the straying sheep, the wicked, vile wretch
you are, He called you by your name. And when He calls you by
name, He leads you out. Out. of the bondage of sin and
darkness and degradation and helplessness. Out of the person
that in urgence is abundant for all your life, out of religious
ungodliness, out of worldly ungodliness, out of darkness and out of corruption
into life and life and liberty. He leads them out. And you know
what he does? He causes the sheep to follow
him. They follow him. They follow
Him. For they know His voice. That's
the voice I've been waiting to hear all my life. Voice of peace
and liberty. He called me. Voice of pardon
and forgiveness. He called me. More than that,
look at verse 27 of John 10. These sheep, they are specially
known sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I
know them. Oh, I know them. Well, preacher, we know the Lord
knows everything. That's not what he's talking
about. That's not what he's talking about. I find great delight in
the fact that he knows everything because he's God omniscient,
but that wouldn't give much comfort to my soul. That's not what he's
talking about. I know them. I know them with
the intimate acquaintance of personal love pitched upon them
from eternity. I know them as I know none others. I know them as my sheep. I know
all that they are. I know where they are. I know
what my plans are for them. I know what my grace will be
for them. I know when I'll call them. I know when I'll bring
them home. I know them. I know them perfectly. I know
them immutably. I know them so as to approve
of them savingly. The Lord's sheep. Rest in His
love. We rest in His distinguishing
knowledge of us. You see, it is His knowledge,
not our knowledge, that's the source and cause of our salvation,
justification, eternal life and assurance. I remember years ago, years ago,
Brother Scott Richardson and I were preaching together down
in Rocky Mount, Virginia. I was just a young man. And he
was preaching on this thing about the Lord's knowing us. God said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. He had just come from seeing
a relative who was in an insane asylum. He said, one of these
days, you may come visit Scott Richardson in one of those places.
Stacked in a wheelchair. His head hanging down in his
lap, drooling all over himself, doesn't even know his own name,
much less the name of his Redeemer. But my hope hasn't got anything
to do with that. My hope is that He knows me.
He knows me. He knows me. He knows me. Oh, now the joy of salvation
and the experience of it is to know Jesus Christ who is eternal
life. But the blessed fact of it is
that He knows me. I know my sheep. And then we're
told that the sheep, verse 14, are knowing sheep. They're knowing
sheep. He knows them and they know him. He says, I'm the good shepherd
and I know my sheep. And I'm known of them. I'm known
of mine. What? Hold your hands here and
turn to 1 John 2. Let me show you something. First John 2. Verse 20. Some went out from us because
they were not of us. If they had been of us, they
would have remained with us to this day. But what about God's
people? But you have an anointing. You've been sealed by God the
Holy Spirit. You have an unction from the
Holy One. Now watch this. And you know all things. Does
that mean all believers are smart as a wit and they know everything?
No. Matter of fact, if you talk to them, you find out they don't
know much at all. But he says you know all things. What's he
talking about? You know, it's amazing. Rex,
this is an amazing, profound principle of biblical interpretation. It's so profound, so deep, most
folks miss it. Listen carefully. If you read
the next line, you'll sometimes find out what it means. The next
line. I am not written unto you because
you know not the truth, but because you know it, and the knowers
of the truth. Anybody know who the truth is? the way, the truth, and the light. You know the truth. You know
the truth. You know Christ. If you're His,
you do. If you've been taught of the
Spirit, you know Him. You know the truth. I'm known in mine.
We don't. Who is a liar that he that denieth
that Jesus is the Christ? That's not talking about somebody
standing up and saying, I'm denying that Jesus is Christ. No! He
that denies that that man described in the Gospels, Jesus of Nazareth,
who came into this world, God incarnate, born of a virgin who
lived in obedience to God's holy law as our righteousness is indeed
the Lord our righteousness that he has fully satisfied the justice
of God and redeemed his people anybody who denies it he's a
liar he's antichrist that denies the father and the son he's denied
the whole Godhead Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the
Father, but he that acknowledgeth. There it is again. You know.
You acknowledge the Son. He hath the Father also. that
therefore abiding in you which you have heard from the beginning,
if that which you have heard from the beginning shall remain
in you, ye also shall continue in the Son and in the Father.
And this is the promise that he hath promised us even eternal
life. These things have I written unto
you concerning them that seduce you. Brother Lindsay, in teaching
in Galatians, those who would seduce you and turn you away
from Christ. But the anointing which you have
received of Him abideth in you, and you need not that any man
teach you. But as the same anointing teacheth
you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it
hath taught you, you shall abide in Him. The Holy Spirit came
and convinced you of saying, of righteousness and of judgment,
all with reference to Christ. And now having heard and learned
the truth, I am known and mine." Goats, they're always looking
for truth. Always looking for it. Get religious folks together
and they'll discuss all kinds of stuff. I mean, they'll discuss
anything under the shining sun. Anything! Except the gospel of
God's grace and glory in Christ. Anything else. You wonder what
that scripture means. The sun is going to be turned
into darkness and the moon into blood. Oh, let's get together
and study that. And you can get a house full
of them. Have pictures. Draw up movies about it. Wonder
what Battle of Armageddon is going to be? Wonder if it's going
to be over in Iraq? They study that! And you can write books
and sell a thousand of them a day. What's the scripture talk about?
The glory of God in the face of God. Oh, we know all that.
We don't need to study that. Goats are driven to and fro with
every wind of doctrine because they don't know. They don't know. The fellow asked me, he said,
how can you be so dogmatic? Because I know it's true. Well,
what if your doctrine changes next year? It ain't going to
change. How do you know? Because I'm not looking for anything.
I'm not looking. That's one of two things. It's
either arrogance or it's truth. One of the two. One of the two.
Sheep, they're not tossed to and fro with every windy doctrine.
I'm not the least bit concerned that any of God's people are
going to pay any attention when one of those Mormons comes around
trying to convince you of their religion. Or when one of those
Campbellites comes around trying to convince you that by baptism
you wash your sins away. Or when one of those Russellites
comes around trying to convince you that their way is the way,
you've got to follow their way. Or when an Adventist comes around,
or an Arminian comes around. No. I'm not concerned about it. I am not concerned about it.
Not God's sheep. Not God's sheep. No sir. A stranger. Look at verse 5. Will they not
follow? What's that mean? It ain't going
to happen, Ron. Egypt ain't going to happen. Then 7th. All of the Lord's sheep,
as soon as they are called, are folded sheep. We're told in Ezekiel
34, you don't need to turn there again, but Ezekiel 34, the Lord
says, I'll feed them in good pasture, and there they shall
lie in a good fold, and in fat pasture shall they feed upon
the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will
cause them to lie down, saith the Lord. Long and short of that is this,
I'll bring my sheep into the fold of my church and there I'll
feed them in the good pasture of my word and refresh them with
the living water of my spirit and cause them to lie down in
peace and safety in this good fold. Now I realize in this day
lots of folks seem to make baptism, church membership, commitment
to God's family and God's kingdom, things that are indifferent,
that really don't matter. Let me tell you something. By
baptism, we identify ourselves with Christ and his gospel, confessing
that we're his by virtue of his accomplished redemption and his
renewing grace. We come into the fellowship of
God's family and dwell with his sheep in the fold and uniting
with God's people, we identify ourselves with his people and
let them know we're one of you. You're mine and I'm yours. You
see, sheep need each other. Sheep need each other. You'll never find them alone. unless they're in real bad shape. They meet each other. These sheep are described in
chapter 10, verse 28, as folks to whom Christ has given eternal
life, who shall never perish. Never perish.