Good to see each one of you this
morning. I invite you to turn back with
me, if you would, to the 10th chapter of the Gospel of Saint
John. The Gospel of John, chapter 10. I'd like to read verse 14 down
through verse 18. Verse 14 through verse 18. I am the good shepherd, and know
my sheep, and am no one of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even
so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. And
other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I
must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be
one fold and one shepherd. Therefore doth my father love
me because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No
man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power
to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment
have I received of my father. I hope that you will bear with
me the things that I have to say. I recognize that sometimes
It may seem like I'm the only one saying some of these things,
but yet I feel that God has placed me here in this position to say
the things that I'm given to say, and I hope that the Lord
will be pleased to bless you and to strengthen you. and I
hope that you'll be pleased to take the attitude of the scripture
and consider that you're blessed indeed if you have ears to hear
and eyes to see some of these glorious truths of the Word of
God. Now, beloved, it is common to
hear conservative and fundamental preachers say in our day I just
don't make that an issue. I just don't make it an issue.
Well, they are not wanting to offend anybody, not wanting to
upset anybody. They just simply do not want
to make an issue of the doctrine of God's free, sovereign, amazing
grace. They don't want to make that
an issue. They don't want to make the doctrine of total depravity
an issue. It's so much easier, don't you
see, and of course one of the reasons why that evolution is
so popular in our time, that it's so much easier to talk about
how far we've come than it is how far that we've fallen. And it is so much easier to talk
about, oh glorious man that I am, than to talk about, oh wretched
man that I am. And so we're living in a time
and a day when preachers are not interested in talking about
or making an issue of the free sovereign grace of God. Now you
ask, what on earth do such preachers make an issue out of? What do
they make an issue out of? Well, I believe they make an
issue of human morality, but not the righteousness of God.
They make an issue out of man's free will, but not God's sovereign
purpose. They make an issue out of Christ's
second coming, but not the substitutionary work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
They make an issue of those things that raise no issues among men,
but they do not make an issue of that gospel of the grace of
God that has stirred up and irritated and made angry the masses of
humanity throughout the years of mankind. We remember here
that our Lord, after He spoke these words, Here in our text
this morning there was a division therefore again in verse 19 among
the Jews for these sayings and many of them said he hath a devil
and is mad. Why hear ye him? Why this man's
got a devil, he's mad. You think he didn't stir up these
people? Well he certainly did. These sayings of our Lord, this
gospel which our Lord is the gospel of God's free and
sovereign grace in Christ. That's the only issue that I've
got. And so I make an issue of it
about every time I get up to preach. Now in this place, I
want you to remember that that's what we'll make an issue out
of. That's the issue here. As far as we're concerned, who's
going to be God? And the issue here is the gospel
that saves sinners and the glory to whom it belongs and our Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And we'll continue to declare
those five blessed truths which are fundamental and essential
to the gospel of God's grace, the doctrine of depravity, total
depravity. the doctrine of unconditional
election. My friend, when you cross the
line and say, I believe the doctrine of unconditional election, you
have just simply, you just simply sentenced yourself to death spiritually
because you said, I don't have any life in me. And there isn't
anything in me that would attract God to me. I'm nothing. And God
is everything. And He chose me, not based on
anything that He saw in me, but He chose me according to His
own purpose. According to that which He had
purposed. According to His own will, for
reasons unknown to us. He chose us and determined that
we would be His own, that we would belong to Him. The doctrine
of the atonement, the doctrine of the irresistible grace of
God, the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, these things we
know are very offensive to the natural man. They run in opposition
to the tide of modern religion, but they are plainly revealed,
beloved, in the word of God. They're plainly taught in the
scriptures. They are the basis of our soul's
comfort, and they give honor to the Lord. They give honor
and glory unto God. Now, others may choose, and I'm
certain they have. Because I hear them preach. I
listen to them on the radio once in a while and on the television.
And I'm sure that they have chose to just deny these truths and
to water them down and ignore these truths and to be silent
about these truths that our Lord taught here in our text in John
chapter 10. But I'm not able to do that.
I'm sorry, but I'm just not able, I cannot do that because the
Spirit of God has so burned these truths into my soul that I cannot
help but preach, to open my mouth and to preach with the strength
that God gives me these blessed and glorious doctrines that we
find taught here in this text. Now when it comes to the gospel
of Christ and these truths of the gospel, we will not, we will
not water them down and we will not ignore them and we will not
be silent about them. If I could this morning, I'd
go into every religious camp in this state and I'd preach
the glorious gospel of God's free and sovereign grace and
I'll tell you what would happen. There'd be some folks that would
get sad and would get mad and there'd be a few people, that
is the Lord's sheep, that would hear the joyful sound, that would
glory in the sound of the message and probably would have to hear
it again someplace. They'd probably say, well, I
just have to hear that again because there's something about
that that just simply touches my soul and feeds my soul. And so, beloved, we would if
we could preach it to all men. Now the text this morning And
we never want to set one scripture against another. I don't want
anyone to think that there's, that we just simply just take
just certain parts of the Bible and that we're not interested
in all the word of God because all scripture is given by inspiration
of God and is profitable unto the purpose which our God wills
it. We believe that and know that,
but there are some chapters in God's word that are like a mountain
range. Well, I mean the peak of these
chapters and verses are just a little higher and meets the
particular need of our hearts and so therefore we just somehow
or other favor them a little bit. Now chapters like John chapter
1 and John chapter 3 and John chapter 6 and John chapter 10
here and John chapter 17 and Ephesians 2 and Romans 8 and
9 and many other chapters in the Word of God that we could
mention to you. Galatians 2 and 3 and so on. So many chapters
that just simply are a blessing to us and just seems to peak
out a little higher than some of the other chapters in the
Word of God. But now listen to me this morning.
In these verses that we've read to you here out of John chapter
10, Now the gospel which is revealed in these verses, now just listen
to me carefully if you will. Number one, the gospel that is
revealed in these verses here are in direct conflict with the
teaching of present day religion and they just simply will not
have it. How long has it been since you
heard anybody get up and take for their text John chapter 10
verse 14 through verse 18 and be religiously honest with those
verses? How long has it been? Well, What
our Lord says in these verses is a direct contradiction of
most of religion and most of the teaching of religion in our
day. Modern religion will just simply
not have this message of our Lord. They just simply will not
have it. They won't accept it and they
will not have anybody on their premises that are dedicated to
preaching what our Lord said here in John chapter 10. Number
two, listen to this, and the leading theologians and the seminary
graduates and the students of religion, the writers of religious
books, the leading denominational figures and the leading preachers
of our day. They'll discuss these things
that our Lord said here in these verses and say that these are
doctrines that were held by our ancient fathers and that men
like Augustine and Calvin and Luther and John Gill and Bunyan
and J.C. Ryle and Charles Haddon, Spurgeon
and others, why these things, these men, they'll admit that
the ancient articles and the catechisms and the confessions
of faith teach these things. But they just simply will not
preach them themselves. These men will not preach these
things. No, beloved, they will not. They
will not preach them. Now you can argue about whether
they believe it or not. You just make up your own mind.
Tell you, well now, I know that our old fathers believed these
things and I know that they're in the confessions, but we just
simply will not and cannot afford to preach these things. But I
say this, that what a man believes, he will preach. I'll say this,
that honest men always preach what they believe. They do! And
so you can make up your own mind whether or not these theologians
and Bible students and scholars and preachers and denominational
figures, whether or not they believe what our Lord said here
in these verses. Number three I'll bring this
a little closer to home this gospel that is contained in these
verses here this morning It contradicts what the average man on the street
believes about God Believes about Christ believes about sin believes
about salvation and eternal life I say the average man on the
street what our Lord said here contradicts what they believe
and It doesn't agree with what the average Joe on the street
believes. Now I'm talking about your kin,
folks, and I'm talking about my kin, folks, my relatives,
and your relatives, people who you work with, people next door
to you, people your children go to school with, They're all
religious just like people everywhere else is. They're all religious
and they got a view as to what the Bible teaches. They can always
tell you they're an authority on it. They're religious folks,
you know. And this gospel that we're preaching
here this morning contradicts. It contradicts what they believe
and what their preachers believe and what their preachers preach. Now, I've often asked people,
what do you believe? Well, I believe what my church
believes. What does your church believe? Well, it believes what
our preacher believes. Well, then, what you believe
is what your church believes and what your preacher believes.
You never read the Bible, I guess, for yourself. But I want you
to know this. When they find out, when people
find out that you believe This gospel, when they find out that
you believe what our Lord said in John chapter 10, that's gonna
build a wall between you and them. It's gonna build a wall
between you and them that will not come down. and you will not
be able to get it down. They'll mark you as being somebody
that's really odd and peculiar and somehow rather beloved and
it makes no difference how you try to bridge the thing, how
they try to bridge it. There's still a wall there and
you can feel it. There's a wall between you and
those people because you believe what our Lord said, you take
it seriously what our Lord said. Now listen to me, the only one
that can tear down this wall that's built between serious
men and women, children of God, sheep of Christ, that believe
what their Lord says is God Almighty Himself. And until God is pleased
by the revelation of His Spirit to open the hearts of men and
women and make them see and make them believe what He said, then
the wall will remain erected and it will not come down. You
better, and it's easier to tear down the wall in Berlin than
it is to tear down this wall between the fundamentalist of
our day and the Armenians of our day and a genuine Calvinist. There's a wall between them and
it won't come down unless God Almighty tears it down. I'm telling
you that it's a real wall. The gospel is a narrow way and
only and only the elect We'll find it. What we have here in
John chapter 10 is a treasure hid in a field, and there are
few that know its value. And those who do, they'll sell
all that they have, and they'll buy the field. I mean those who
know the value of these precious truths. There's a mystery here
in this text that's hid from the ages. Our Lord called it
a mystery. Paul about six times spoke of
the gospel as being a mystery. It's a mystery that's only understood
by the revelation of the Spirit of God to the heart. It's a mystery
that only only a man enters into when God takes the veil off his
face. I mean, when God is pleased to
tutor and teach the heart, then a man knows something about this.
It's not education, it's revelation. It's not your intellect, it's
the Spirit of God coming and taking away, as we said, the
veil so that you might be able to understand the glorious mystery
of the gospel. This gospel, beloved, contained
in these verses is the very glory of God. It's the very glory of
God. Now listen to me. Uh, we can
read first corinthians I wish you would turn there in your
bible chapter one. This is a blessed portion of
scripture Look at it beginning with verse 26 of first corinthians
chapter one For you see your calling, brethren, how that not
many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble
are called. But God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty. and base things of the world,
and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things
which are not, to bring to naught things that are that no flesh,
that no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are
you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness
and sanctification and redemption, that according as it is written,
he that glorieth let him glory in the Lord. And I say to you
this morning that this gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, this
gospel of free grace, this gospel of sovereignty is the very glory
of our God. And so if any glory, let them
glory only in the Lord. Oh the joy and the rejoicing,
the fellowship and the hope. Oh the pleasure and the privilege
of seeing the glory of God in the face of the Lord Jesus. Now Jesus said, blessed are your
eyes for they see and blessed are your ears for they hear. That's what the Lord Jesus said.
Turn with me to Luke 10. Luke chapter 10. I like these
verses. They've been a real blessing
to me. Let me read them to you quickly. We read in Luke chapter
10, and I wanna read beginning with verse 21. In that hour,
Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said, I thank thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from
the wise and the prudent and hast revealed them unto babes.
Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. all things
are delivered to me of my father and no man knoweth who the son
is but the father and who the father is but the son and he
to whom the son will reveal him and he turned unto his disciples
and said privately, blessed are the eyes which see the things
that ye see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings have
desired to see those things which ye see and have not seen them,
and to hear those things which ye hear and have not heard them. So don't you see, beloved, that
the Lord Jesus Christ pronounces a blessing upon the eyes and
the ears of them that both see and hear those things which have
been hid from prophets and kings, those things which pleases the
Father, and that is to reveal, that is to make known his blessed
gospel to whomever he will, to whomever he chooses. Now then,
look if you will at the text. Let's begin to look here at John
chapter 10 and verse 14. And here the Lord Jesus Christ
says, I am the good shepherd. I am thee, good shepherd. Now, beloved, whatever type our
Lord takes to illustrate his relationship with his people,
he always is the one and the only. He always is the one and
the only. Take a look at it. He said, here
I am thee. Good shepherd. Well, what did
he say about the door in john 10 and 9 here? He said I am the
door I am the door. I'm not a door, but I am the
door. I'm the one and the only Door,
what did he say about the bread in john 6 and 35? He said I am
the bread I'm not just one bread. I'm the bread. I'm the one and
the only bread that's come down from heaven that a man may eat
thereof and not die. I'm the bread. Well, what did
he say about the water? He said, I am the water. Walker,
I'm the one and the only in John 14 and 6. He said I am the way
He said I am the life He said I am the truth and so whatever
figure our Lord uses to illustrate His relationship with these people.
He is the one and the only I of the sheep. Now this great shepherd
of the sheep, our Lord Jesus Christ, we're to get a mental
picture here of a shepherd on a hillside protecting and providing
and sheltering his sheep. The Lord Jesus Christ, he protects,
he shelters, and he provides for his own sheep. The Lord is
my shepherd, says David, and I shall not want. Why is it,
David, that you won't want? It's because this good, this
chief, this great shepherd is mine. The Lord is my shepherd. Now note, if you will, the next
line of our text here, and it says, and know my sheep. He says, I'm the good shepherd
and I know my sheep. Well, how do you know your sheep,
shepherd? I know my sheep because they
have been given to me of the Father. The Father gave them
to me. And the scripture says the foundation
of God's stand is sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them
that are His. That's the foundation of God,
beloved, is that those that are His, the Lord knows them. He
knows them from eternity and the Lord said when I make up
my jewels Well, those are my jewels. They're my sheep. They're
my jewels. He said they're mine I bought
them the Lord Jesus Christ bought them and paid for them on Mount
Calvary that that sacrifice that he made that laying down of his
life that death that agonizing and cruel death on Mount Calvary
was in order that he might possess these sheep, that they might
be his. And he says, I know my sheep. Before I formed thee in the belly,
God said to Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1 and 5, he said, before I I
formed thee in the belly, I knew thee, I knew you, and before
you came forth out of your mother's womb, I'd already set you apart,
I'd sanctified you and ordained you to be a prophet unto the
nations. That was before you ever was
thought of. He said, I knew you, I knew you,
and he calls them by name. He calls them by name. He knows
their name. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
He knows Abraham. He called Abraham his friend. And Romans 9, 11 through 13,
I want you to listen to this. He said, for the children being
not yet born, the children being Jacob and Esau, neither having
done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand not of him that worketh, but of him that calleth. It was
said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. Before they
was ever born, it was said unto her, the elder. Well, who knows
who's coming out first? Who's going to be born first?
Well, God said, the elder shall serve the younger. And then as
it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. You think
God don't know his own? He knows his own. He knows his
own and he knows them by name. The scripture says, he says,
I'm the good shepherd and I know my sheep. He knows their name. They know me, he said, because
he says, and am known of mine. And am known of mine, in other
words, my sheep. They know me. Well, they hear
the voice of the shepherd, the voice of a stranger they will
not follow. But they hear his voice and they
follow him because they know him. They know him. Now then, John 17 and 3, it says,
and this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only
true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. This is life
eternal that they might know. And so Jesus says, they know
me. Now, it says in 1 John 5 and
20, And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given
us an understanding that we might know him that is true. Now we
might know him. I mean, the Lord has come and
given to his sheep an understanding so that they might know him.
You say, well preacher, I mean, doesn't it depend upon the amount
of the education? No, no it doesn't. You say, well
preacher, don't it figure somewhat on the preacher and his ability
and skills in preaching Jesus to the people? No! The Bible
says that the Spirit of God has come and has given us an understanding
that we might know Him. That is true, that we might know
Him. This is the true God and eternal
life that the sheep know. In Jeremiah 31 and 34, And they
shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his
brother, saying, Know the Lord, For they shall all know me from
the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord. For
I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin
no more. The Lord said no need to teach
anybody sin. I know the Lord because all my
sheep's gonna know me from the least of them to the greatest.
They'll know me. They'll know me because I'll
teach them to Christ. I'll teach them myself unto Christ. They shall all be, all the children
shall be taught. They'll be divinely taught. They'll
be taught to Christ. And they'll come unto Him. Do
you know Him? Well, the sheep know Him, the
sheep know Him, and they will know Him. There are many who
maybe have not yet been brought into the fold, and they're yet
to come to know Him, but they will know Him. They will know
Him. Jesus says, I know them, and they know Me. I'm knowing
of them. They know Me. Well, praise God,
that's a wonderful and tremendous statement. Well, how are they
knowing? Well look here, as the Father, in verse 15, knoweth
me, even so I know the Father. He's talking about knowledge
here. And he said, I know the Father. The Father knows me and
I know the Father. And just like the Father knows
me and I know the Father, our spirit is in the sheep, and they
know me and I know them. I mean it's just that's the way
it is now we may be getting in over our head here and we might
have tried to jump a creek that we all got our feet wet in but
I'll tell you this there's a oneness with God's people there's a oneness
with the Lord's people with the Lord and as he loves us we love
him back in return as he loved us as he loved Christ as the
father loved Christ then then Christ loved us and that we love
him in return and as the father knows him and He knows the father
they know us and we know them Somehow or other it's just so
I want you to understand what I'm saying that we're taught
to know him and we do know him We know him as the Lord's people
next I want you to look at this He says here and I lay down my
life for the sheep, verse 15. As the Father knows me, even
so I know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. Well, I've heard all the arguments,
the pros and the cons about the different and varied views on
the subject of the atonement. Some talk about a limited atonement,
some talk about a general atonement. But beloved, listen to me this
morning. Let me ask you some questions. Do you really want
to know Do you really want to look into the effectual redeeming
work of Christ Jesus? Do you really want to know and
look into it? Well, beloved, I do. Do you want
to understand covenant mercies? I mean, do you want to understand
what the Bible talks about? It talks about the sure mercies
of David. Do you really want to enter into
it? and understand it? Well, I do.
Do you want to know the efficacy and the sufficiency of the death
of the Son of God in one line? Well, beloved, I do. Do you want
to enter into that blessed body and the blood of the Son of God
by which we are made to live as the people of God? Do you
want to enter into that? Well, here it is. And I lay down
my life for the sheep. That's the whole doctrine in
a nutshell. That's the whole truth of a redemption
in a nutshell, in one line. And I lay down my life for the
sheep. And if they're ever to live,
it's because I died in their room instead in place. It's not
because of who they are, what they are, what they've done.
It's because I laid down my life for the sheep. I laid it down.
That's the whole doctrine of the atonement. Well, beloved,
listen. He did not say I lay down my life for all mankind
in hope that my sheep will in some way or another find their
way home. Oh, he didn't say that, did he?
He didn't say that. I've just laid my life for mankind
down, for mankind in general, in order that my sheep may finally
find their way through religion and through all of the pitfalls In pure heaven? No! He said,
I lay down my life for the sheep. Now consider this modern notion,
if you will, that Christ died for and provided redemption for
all men in the light of these questions that I'm about to ask
you this morning. Consider it, if you will, the
one line, and I lay down my life for the sheep. Listen to me. Number one, would Christ die
for a people that he refused? John 17 and 9, he says, I pray
for them, I pray not for the world, but, he says, for them
which thou hast given me, for they are thine. Would the Lord
Jesus Christ die, lay down his life for a people for whom he
refused to pray? That's the question. to honest
men? Would our Lord, who is infinitely
wise, number two, shed his blood to redeem men who were already
eternally damned when he died, such as Judas Iscariot, the sons
of Korah, and the inhabitants of Sodom? Would he do that? I'm talking about an infinitely
wise God. Would he lay down his life and
die for somebody that had already been eternally damned? I ask, would he? Number three,
would it be reasonable to suppose that the Lord Jesus Christ would
die for people who are positively the objects of God's hatred? Would it be, I say, reasonable
to suppose that Jesus Christ would die for those who are positively
the objects of God's hatred? Ah, eesaw, have I hated! That's what the Bible says. Now,
you consider it, if you will. I lay down my life for the sheep. That's my doctrine. That's what
I believe the Word of God teaches. It seems to me that any reasonable,
any honest individual, I'm not talking about religionists, Their
eyes are blinded with a blindness that reasonable and honest men
don't know anything about. I'm talking about people that
are reasonable. Most religious people are the
most unreasonable people in the world. You can't talk to them,
they're know-it-alls, and you can't tell them anything because
they're blind as bats and dumb as asses, and you can't tell
them anything. But I'm talking about this morning
those who are reasonable and honest people. Well, they must
consider these questions and must conclude that there are
some people for whom Christ did not die. There must be some for
whom he did not lay down his life. The doctrine is, and the
text says, and I lay down my life. for the sheep. The doctrine
of the Bible is just this, the Lord Jesus Christ died in the
place of his people. Isaiah 53 and 8 says, for the
transgression of my people was he stricken. It was for the transgression
of my people that He hung on that bloody, gory cross. He died
as the sinner's substitute, 2 Corinthians 5, 21. He was made to be sin
for us. He knew no sin, but that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. His death was an
effectual atonement for sin. It was fully satisfying to the
justice of God. For what? We had what it had,
the justice of God had against His elect and accomplishing their
redemption. Galatians 3, 13, Hebrews 9 and
12, you could read it, but I'll make bold to say in the short
time that I have here this morning that the sure results of our
Lord's death on Calvary is the eternal salvation of all those
for whom He suffered and those whom He bled and died for. I'm telling you, He laid down
His life to secure the salvation of His sheep. Else, how could
He ever see the travail of His soul and be satisfied? Isaiah 53, 9 through 11. And
the only question that remains is this. If Christ died to redeem
some, but not all, who are they that He redeemed? John 10 and
15 says, And I lay down my life for the sheep. That's who he
died to redeem, for the sheep. Now notice, if you will, as we
hurry on here in verse 16, and other sheep I have, and other
sheep I have which are not of this fold. He was looking at
his disciples when he said these words. And he's saying here,
I have other sheep besides Peter, James, and John. He would say
that I have other sheep besides the Jews. I must call out a people
from among the Gentiles for my name. And he's saying here that
I have other sheep who are not of this generation to whom I'm
now speaking. I've got sheep in other generations
that will come down through the ages and praise God we know that's
true that the Lord has sheep today and he will have sheep
maybe if the world stands in the next generations other sheep
I have now notice the next line he says this and them also I
must bring and them also Must bring now notice if you will
he says them also. I brought these These that are
I'm not mad all these sheep that I'm now talking to he said I
brought them and they have also also also I must bring them well
Shepherd are you certain of this? He says I must I must them also
I must bring I No question about it. I will bring them. They will
come. I will bring them. You see, he
brought these. And who will bring them? He says,
I am of a certainty. I must. You remember where the
scripture says, he must needs go through Samaria. He must needs
go through Samaria. I must. I'm going to bring my
sheep. I must bring them. Can you bring
them? I must. I'll bring them. I brought you and I'll bring
them. They will be brought into the
fold. They shall hear my voice. You know what it says? They shall
hear my voice. These sheep are going to hear
my voice. I'm the shepherd and I protect, I shield, I guide,
I deliver, I save my sheep. They will hear my voice. Say, Preacher, there's a lot
of voices clamoring to be heard in our world today. It's true!
But the sheep, they're going to hear His voice, and they'll
know it. when it's His voice. They'll know it. Listen to John
5 and 25. Verily, verily, I say unto you, 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. They hear. Well, how do
they hear? Well, now think about it a little
bit with me. I don't believe that God shut
up to any one means in talking to people. I believe He can talk
to people whenever He wants to, however He wants to. I believe
He can. But the scripture says in Romans
10 and 13, For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord
shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him
in whom they've not believed? And how shall they believe in
Him of whom they've not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher. How are they going to hear? How
are they going to believe? Unless somebody preaches the
word and so they're going to hear his voice through the word
preached. Just like it's being preached
here this morning. And I prayed, I prayed earnestly that God might
be pleased to make His voice heard to some poor sheep this
morning. That somebody might hear His
voice today that's dead in sin and be brought to life through
the hearing of His voice. Because I believe that that's
the way the sheep hear. They'll hear my voice. Now those
wandering goats and those rebellious goats out here in the world,
they won't hear, but my sheep, they will hear my voice. They'll hear it. They'll hear
my voice. Sometime when the Word of God
is preached, there'll be somebody speaking besides the preacher.
Somebody's going to come down to the chair where you're at.
Somebody's going to touch your heart. And somebody's going to
bring you to Christ. And you're not going to move
a muscle. You're not going to get up out of your chair. You're
not going to do anything. But the voice will come and your
soul will experience a spiritual Resurrection and you'll be born
again, and you'll be a child of God and knowing child of God
one who knows The voice of the shepherd you hear his voice.
He'll come to you one of these days Oh, we pray God that he
will now listen to me my sheep will hear and there shall be
one fold and one Shepherd the Lord said there's going to be
one fold and And there's gonna be one shepherd, one Lord, one
faith, one baptism, one fold, one shepherd. Turn with me, if
you will, to John 17. John chapter 17, and we read
verses 21 through 23. That they all may be one, as
thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one
in us. That the world may believe that
thou hast sent me, And the glory which thou gavest me, I have
given them, that they may be one, even as we are one. I in them, thou in me, that they
may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that
thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. Now are those tremendous scriptures? One fold and one shepherd. Now notice if you will verse
17 and 18. Therefore doth my father love me because I lay
down my life And we told you why he did that that I might
take it again No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of
myself I have power to lay it down and I have power to take
it again this commandment Have I received of my father now beloved. This is a tremendous gift a tremendous
statement here that the Lord Jesus Christ makes when he says
that I lay down my life that I might take it again and that
no man taketh it from me but I lay it down of myself you cannot
kill God even when he's in a body of flesh at your will and when
you cannot kill God Now listen to me, the scripture teaches
that he, the Lord Jesus Christ, was delivered by the determinate
counsel of God. He was delivered up by God's
determinate counsel. He said, no man takes my life
from me. Now he was the only man. Now
you listen to me. The Lord Jesus Christ was the
only man who ever chose his own mother. He was the only man who
ever chose the time in which he would be born. He was the
only man who ever chose the nation and the place where he would
be born and where he lay his head. He was the only man that
ever chose precisely when he would die and chose those people
for whom he would die. I'm talking about the Lord Jesus
Christ. I'm talking about the sovereign
Lord Jesus Christ. Now he said no man takes it from
me, but I lay it down of myself. We're talking about the God-man.
We're talking about the Son of God. No man takes my life from
me. I want you to notice something
that has always been of tremendous interest to me. In John chapter
18, Turn there, if you will, and listen just a moment here
to some scriptures that I believe will serve to prove, if you need
any proof, these things that I'm talking about right now.
I begin with verse 1, when Jesus had spoken these words, John
18, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Chedron, which
was a garden, where was a garden to which he entered and his disciples. And Judas also, which betrayed
him, knew the place, for Jesus oftentimes resorted thither with
his disciples. Judas then, having received a
band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees,
cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. Jesus
therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went
forth and said unto them, Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus
of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed
him, stood with them, and as soon, look at verse 6, as soon
then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward and
fell to the ground. He said, I am he. Who you looking
for? Well, Jesus of Nazareth. I am
he. And they just fell backwards.
I mean he just knocked a whole bunch of them down. He did. Now, beloved, there was sovereign
power in those words. I am he. No man taketh my life
from me. Nobody takes it from me. I lay
it down of myself. I'm a sovereign in this world
on a mission, and I've got a purpose, and an eternal purpose, and that
is to save my people from their sins. I'm here to secure Salvation
of my sheep. I'm here to get and to rescue
my sheep And nobody takes my life from me. I lay it down myself
Now to me Beloved that is a tremendous Tremendous portion of the Word
of God now, there are four things which we've learned from these
verses I'm just gonna Give them to you quickly. I'm not going
to preach on them. I'm just going to give them to you. I want you
to know what these four things are that I've learned from these
verses, from this text this morning. Number one, the Lord Jesus Christ
has a people in this world called His sheep. He's got a people. He does indeed. And those people
in the Bible are called His sheep. Number two, Christ Jesus The
Lord Jesus Christ, and you go out here and talk the rest of
your life about Jesus died on a cross. Well, the thing I've
learned from this portion of the Word of God this morning
is this, that Christ Jesus laid down His life for the sheep. That's what we learned this morning.
He laid it down for the sheep. You say, well, I don't know if
very many people are going to agree with that or not. I told
you before I started that it runs, it contradicts everything
that's taught in the religious world and people are not going
to accept that. They don't want to hear that.
But I'm telling you what the Word of God says. It says He
laid down His life for the sheep. The third thing was this, that
the Good Shepherd will effectually save all of His sheep. That means that he'll bring them.
He brought the ones that's already been brought and he's going to
bring the rest of them. Hallelujah! All of them are going
to be brought. He's going to effectually save
his sheep. And the fourth thing is this,
that Christ, our Good Shepherd, effectually keeps all his sheep
in his omnipotent hand of grace and will bring them all safe
to heaven at last. Every one of them. He must bring
them. and they all must be brought into that one fold where there
is one shepherd. All of them are going to be brought
in, every one of them, into the fold. Glorious hallelujah. Well
now listen, let me close by saying here that the singular purpose
of every true gospel ministry and every local church that is
a true church of our Lord on the face of this earth is to
seek out the Lord's sheep. Seek them out. I mean, find them. You say, well, should we kind
of mislead them about this business of the Lord having a people? No, no, no, no. Just tell them
the truth. Preach the truth to them. Preach
the gospel to them. And the gospel will find the
Lord's sheep. We have some that's been attending. They had to be away today, but
it's amazing how the Lord brought them in just to hear the Word
of God and a family from right here in the area, a man and his
wife. And how blessed it is to sit
and see them just taking in the word. No argument, no argument,
just I want to hear it. I want to hear it. We've been
looking for this sound. And well, you see, we should
seek the Lord chief. God has not placed us here to
entertain sinners on their way to hell or to provide entertainment
for the young people, religious activities for the young people,
wholesome activities, or to feed the world. That's not why he's
got us here in this world, but he's put the church in the world
to seek his sheep. And we know that our labor shall
not be in vain. We know that it'll not be in
vain because the word will accomplish that where it's sent. And John
6 and 37 says, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and
he that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. I want to read
to you a poem by Philip Dodderidge in closing. A song of Philip
Dodderidge. My soul with joy attend while
Jesus' silent breaks. No angel's harp Such music yields
as what my shepherd speaks. I know my sheep, he cries, my
soul approves them well. Vain is the treacherous world's
disguise and vain the rage of hell. I freely feed them now
with tokens of my love, but richer pastures I prepare and sweeter
streams above. Unnumbered years of bliss I to
my sheep will give, and while my throne unshaken stands, shall
all my chosen live. This tried, almighty hand is
raised for their defense. Where is the power can reach
them there, or what can force them thence? Enough, my gracious
Lord, let faith triumphant pry, my heart Can on this promise
live? Can on this promise die? May the Lord add His blessing.
Father, thank You for Your Word today and the privilege of preaching
Your Word. Grant that Thy people might receive
the message and be refreshed and blessed. And Lord, we do
pray for any lost sheep. I pray that they shall find The
truth of your word, sweet and precious, burden of sin will
be lifted, and their souls made to live abundantly in the Lord
Jesus, our Shepherd, in whose name we pray. Amen.