In John 10, verse 8, the Lord
says, all that ever came before me
are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I've entitled this message, All
That Ever Came Before Me. Now the passage that I read is
a continuation of John Chapter 9, really the same words spoken
to the same people in John Chapter 9 and John Chapter 10. Verse
40 of John Chapter 9 and Some of the Pharisees which were with
him heard these words and said unto him, are we blind also?
Jesus said unto them, if you are blind, you should have no
sin. But now you say, we see. Therefore
your sin remaineth. Verily, verily, I say unto you. You see, he's speaking to these
same people. Now, I have no doubt that when
he spoke of the shepherd, verily, verily, I say unto you that he
that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth
up some other way, the same as a thief and a robber, but he
that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. Now I have no doubt that they
understood when the Lord was speaking that he was calling
himself that shepherd of which David said the Lord is my shepherd. They knew what he meant. We read
in Psalm 80 verse 1 of the shepherd of Israel, who tendeth his flock
like a shepherd." They knew he was saying, I'm him. I'm sure they had pretty much
the same thought that they had with regard to everything else
he said. Who do you think you are? Who are you making yourself? To me, my reply is, he knew who
he was. And he knows who he is. The great shepherd of the sheep. Verse one, 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,
but he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep,
to him the porter openeth. And the sheep hear his voice,
and he calleth his own sheep by name. and leadeth them out."
Now in every village in Palestine where the Lord walked his 33
years, there were sheepfolds or sheep pens. It was an area
enclosed by walls where shepherds would bring their sheep in at
night. Maybe 15, 20 different flocks might be brought into
the walls of that sheep pen, and they would stay all night.
And they'd get mixed up. They didn't stay in their separate
flocks. They would all be mixed together
in those sheepfolds, many different flocks. And in the morning, when
the shepherd would come, he would call them out. Now he might have
had 50 sheep, there might have been 500 sheep in that pen, but
guess which sheep heard his voice? They came out. They didn't stay
mixed, they came in response to his voice. They would leave the sheepfold
in recognition of his voice and go with him, following him to
the place of pasture. The sheep, the people Christ
calls my sheep. Who are these people that Christ
calls my sheep? Not everybody's a sheep. In Matthew chapter 25, when we
read of judgment in verse 31, when the son of man shall come
in glory and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon
the throne of his glory before him shall be gathered all nations
and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divided
his sheep from the goats. There are sheep and there are
goats. Who are these sheep? Now, let me answer this question
as clearly and as simply as I can. The sheep are the elect. Look in verse 29 of John chapter
10. My father, which gave them me. All that the father giveth me
shall come to me. The sheep are the elect, those
the father chose before time began. Who are the sheep? They
are those whom Christ died for. Look in verse 11, I am the good
shepherd, the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Verse 15, as the father knoweth
me, even so know I the father, and I lay down my life for the
sheep. The sheep are those Jesus Christ
died for. The sheep are those he calls.
To him the porter openeth, verse three, and the sheep hear his
voice and he calleth his own sheep by name and leadeth them
out. The sheep are the people that
he calls and they respond to his. The sheep are those who
believe. Now you can tell if you're one
of the elect, if you're one that Christ died for, if you're one
that he calls, if you believe the gospel. Look in verse 24. John chapter 10. Then came the
Jews round about him and said unto him, How long dost thou
make us to doubt? If thou be Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you,
and you believe not the works that I do in my Father's name.
They bear witness of me, but you believe not because you're
not of my sheep. He did not say you're not my
sheep because you do not believe. He said, you do not believe because
you are not of my sheep. Sheep believe. Look in verse five of John chapter
10, a stranger, speaking of the sheep, a stranger, will they
not follow? but will flee from him, for they
know not the voice of strangers. Sheep are known by their hearing. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God. Sheep hear. They hear the voice
of the shepherd and another voice they do not hear. You know, someone
spoke of. seeing if this actually worked.
And they dressed up just like the shepherd to where you couldn't
tell the difference as far as sheep goes. Same clothes, didn't
have the same voice. He called out, come on. They
didn't respond. They fleed from him. They were
afraid of him. The only voice they know is the
voice of the shepherd. Look what he says in verse 27
of John chapter 10, my sheep, Hear my voice, I know them and
they follow me. Verse one, verily, verily, I
say unto you, he that entereth not by the door, into the sheepfold,
but climbeth up some other way, the same as a thief and a robber."
Now here we have this sheepfold. It's where the sheep went in
at night. And he says, anybody that tries to climb over the
wall, but doesn't come through the door is a thief and a robber. We're going to come back to that
term in a minute. A thief and a robber. is the way. I love saying this. He's so much the way that if
you're in Him, you're already there. He's the way to the Father. And
if you're in Him, you're already there because He's already there.
Scripture says we're seated together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.
He is the way to the Father. He's not a way, He's the way.
He didn't say, I'll show you the way. He said, I am the way. No man comes to the Father, but
by me. And as He comes to the Father,
being in Him, I am already there. As he is in the Father's presence,
all in him are in the Father's presence. He is the way. Anything other than this, he's
a thief and a robber. Verse two, but he that entereth in by the
door is the shepherd of Israel. Now, what I love about this is
Christ is both the door and the shepherd. Look in verse 7. Then said Jesus unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. He's the
shepherd of the sheep. He is the door of entrance to
the sheep. Verse 3, to him, only to the
shepherd, the porter opens. And the sheep hear his voice. And he calleth his own sheep
by name, and leadeth them out. Now what a beautiful picture
of the gospel call. He comes by the door himself. He's the only one the porter
opens to. He won't open to anyone else.
And he calls his own sheep by name and they hear his voice. Here's what this looks like. 1 Thessalonians 1, verses 4 and
5, Paul said, knowing brethren beloved your election of God. Don't you love that language? Here's how I know your election
of God. Our gospel came not unto you
in word only, but in power, and the Holy Ghost, and much assurance. Now what does that mean? If it's in word only, it's nothing
more than information to you. If it comes in power, it comes
in the power of the Holy Ghost so that you have much assurance,
not so much much assurance of your salvation, although we ought
to, but assurance that this is God's gospel. This is the truth. When sheep hear, they know. They know his voice. Another voice they will not hear. They know his voice in the preaching
of the gospel. They know this is God's gospel.
Somebody says, well, what if I don't hear? Then you're not
a sheep. Sheep hear his voice. Now in this thing of preaching,
and you know this, we're not trying to change the world or
get we're looking for a sheep that's what we're doing in preaching
we're looking for his sheep he's got a people he calls his sheep
his sheep hear his voice and this is one of the things that
makes me so confident in the preaching of the gospel this
is not about me being able to persuade somebody into something
God takes his word and he speaks to his sheep and they hear his
voice. And a stranger they will not
follow. Verse 5, a stranger will they
not follow, but will flee from him. For they know not the voice of
strangers. Now we're going to see exactly
what that means in the next couple verses. This Parables spake Jesus
unto them, but they understood not what things they were, which
he spake unto them. They had no idea what he was talking about. Then said Jesus unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. Not only
am I the shepherd of the sheep, I'm the door of the sheep. I
am the door of entrance. We're going to get back to that
in just a moment, but I want us to look at verse eight. All
that ever came before me are thieves and robbers. But the sheep did not hear them. All that ever came before me If there's something you must
do before he can do something for you, that's something that
comes before him. And that is a thief and a robber. A thief seeking to rob God of
his glory, a robber seeking to rob you of the only ground of
assurance, Christ only. Anything that comes before that
is a thief and a robber. Now, anyone that's come before
me, well, didn't Abraham come before Christ? Didn't Isaiah
come before Christ? Didn't David come before Christ?
As far as time goes, it seems like they were before him. Is he saying they're thieves
and robbers? Obviously not. When I was a young man, there
was a preacher that was known very much nationally. Probably
a lot of you remember him. He's dead now. His name was Jerry
Falwell. You remember him? Jerry Falwell. He was the head of what he called
the moral majority. He was kind of a political activist
trying to seek to bring people to the moral majority. I've always tried to figure out
who this moral majority is. Where'd you come up with a term
like that? the immoral majority, or the immoral everybody. But
at any rate, he came up with this political, and he was always
begging for money, trying to get money for his political organization.
And you can write this down. Anytime somebody's begging for
money, God's not in it. That's shameful, asking, can't
you help God out and get some money so his will can be done?
That's the biggest bunch of foolishness. If a preacher's begging for money,
he's a false prophet. Well, Jerry Falwell was always
begging for money, and here's what he'd do. He'd say, if you
send me this money, I'm going to send you a Jesus first lapel
pin. And you can put that lapel pin
on your lapel, and it'll let everybody know that you put Jesus
first. If you put him first, he's not
first. You are. Christ is called the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. What comes before that? He said, I am the Alpha and Omega,
the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Now, nothing comes before the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Before me or you
were, he was first. And last, the beginning and the
end. In creation, he's first. He created. Nothing comes before him. You
say, well, who made him? Nobody. He's not made. He's the
creator of the universe. He is first. In providence, he's first. He is the cause of everything,
and that's including the secondary and the tertiary causes, the
second and third causes. He's the cause of those causes.
He causes everything because He is first. Doesn't it comfort your heart
to know that no matter what's going on, He rules, He reigns,
He's in control of everything, everybody, every event, every
circumstance, nothing comes before him. Oh, he's first in salvation. Christ be my first elect, he
said, and then chose us in him our living head. If you're a sheep, You've never
been seen independently of Jesus Christ. He is first. No one came before him. Why were
you elect? Because you were chosen in him.
According as he hath chosen us in him, before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
him. He's first. He's first in forgiveness. You weren't forgiven because
you asked Him to forgive you. You were forgiven because He
forgave you. Father, forgive them. You know what? They were forgiven.
That's no generic prayer where He's hoping the Father will forgive
them. Everybody He prayed for were forgiven. You see, because
He's first in redemption. He redeemed us. You know why
you're redeemed? Because He redeemed you. He's first. No one comes
before Him. He's first in justification.
You know why you stand before God without guilt and justified? Because of Him. Not because of
you. Nothing comes before Him. In
your regeneration, you know why you were quickened? It's not
because you responded to the gospel. It's because He gave
you life. That's why you live. As the father raises the dead
and quickens them, even so the son quickens whom he will. Nothing comes before him. I mean,
even in the things of our experience, if you believe, why do you believe?
He gave you that faith. Faith is his gift. If you are
repentant before God, why? Because he caused you to repent. If you persevere, why do you
persevere? Because he preserves you and
causes you to. All that ever came before him
is what? A thief and a robber. A thief attempting to steal glory
from God and give it to the creature. A robber seeking to rob you of
your only ground of assurance. The only ground of your assurance
and my assurance is that Christ did everything. And He did it
before me. 2 Timothy 1.9, He saved us and
He called us with a holy calling, not according to our works. but
according to his own purpose and grace which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began. All that ever came before
me. And isn't that the message of
false religion? Before God can do something for you, you need
to first do this. That's called salvation by works,
plain and simple. All that ever came before me
is a thief and a robber. You know, we love him, why? Because
he first loved us. Now, I love the way he says this
in verse eight. All that ever came before me
are thieves and robbers, But the sheep did not hear them. Now, this is what a sheep does. He doesn't hear. anything that
puts something he must do before God can do something for him.
He won't hear that. He can't hear it. It's a message he hates and he
won't hear it. He won't believe it. He can't
get any assurance from that. He can't get any assurance that
he's even saved if there's something he must do before. She don't hear that. That's how
I know a sheep. A sheep hears the gospel. He
won't hear anything else. If you can hear something else,
you're not a sheep. If you can't tell the difference
between, and what I'm saying, well, that doesn't make any sense.
You're not a sheep. Sheep know. Sheep understand. Sheep hear
that their only way of salvation is what He did only. Do you hear that? In verse seven, he had said,
verily, verily, I say unto you, I'm the door of the sheep. The
sheep are the ones who enter this door. I'm the door of the
sheep. But I love verse nine. I am the
door. Now here he doesn't say the door
of the sheep, although he is the door of the sheep. He just
says, I'm the door. I'm the door. By me, if any man enter. Are you in any man? By me, if any man enter, he shall
be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. I'm the door. Now, he said the
same thing When he said in Matthew chapter seven, I am the straight
gate, I'm the door, I'm the gate, I'm the straight, narrow, restricted
gate. Now, what does he mean when he
says I'm the door and the straight gate and the narrow gate? What
is meant by that? He is the door that is so narrow
that if you have anything other than Him, you can't get through. And do you hear that? Right now. If you have anything other than
Him, you can't get through. All works are excluded. You can't get through the door.
He's narrow in that sense. But listen to this, this door
is so wide that you can't be too sinful to get through. It's
wide enough for the very chief of sinners, the worst man to
ever live, the door's open. The door's wide open. There's
nothing that would exclude you except for having something to
come with you rather than Christ alone. That's all that will exclude
you. You can't be too sinful to get
through the door, but you can be too righteous to get through
the door. I am the door of the sheep. Now, door has four uses. I'm not talking about decorative
uses, a door that looks good. I'm just talking about the practical
uses of the door, to let people in, to let people out, to keep people
in, and to keep people out. Those are the four uses of a
door. He says, I am the door. By me,
if any man enter in. Now listen to me. Christ is an
open door to any man who wants to come by the door only. Don't say, well, what if I'm
not one of the sheep? What if I'm not one of the elect? Don't
say that. The door is open for anybody
who wants to come. I know if you want to, it's because
he gave you that want to. Whosoever will, whosoever will,
let him take the water of life freely. The door is open to any
sinner who needs Jesus Christ. The door is open to any sinner
who believes that Jesus Christ is the son of God. This is an
open door. The message of the gospel is
come, come on in. You're welcome. And a door not only lets people
in, a door's used to keep people in. You're in, the door's shut. You can't get out. I like not
being able to get out of him, don't you? He shuts his people in. I love when Noah entered the ark and his
family. The scripture says the Lord shut
him in. That door was closed at that
time. It had been open, but it's closed now. And every believer
is shut into Christ. They can't get out. They don't
want out. A door is used to shut people out. If you come into Christ's presence
with your own works, anything other than Him alone, you're
gonna find Him to be a closed door. If you have anything to
recommend you to God, if you're not like that passage we just,
Claire read, there's none righteous, no not one, there's none that
understandeth, there's none that seeketh after God, They've all
gone out of the way there, together become unprofitable. There's
none that doeth good. No, not one. If you're not one
of those, the door's shut to you. It's open if you're one of those.
It's open to sinners. But it's not open to anyone who
has any personal righteousness. And it is a door open to liberty. Where the Spirit of the Lord
is, there is liberty. There is freedom. Freedom from the law. Freedom
from earning, trying to earn God's salvation. Freedom from
trying to pay. Your debts are paid. You're free. Oh, what a door of liberty He
is. Verse nine, I am the door by
me. If any man Enter in. He shall be saved. Saved to the
uttermost. And he shall go in and out. This
is talking about the freedom of the sheep. And fine pasture. Good grass to eat. The feeding
of the sheep by the Lord. He's gonna be well fed. He says in verse 10, the thief.
Now remember who that thief is. Anything before Christ is a thief. If someone comes along saying,
before God can do anything for you, you need to first do this.
That's a thief. That's a robber. That's a criminal. The thief cometh not but to steal
and to kill. and to destroy, I am come that
they might have life." Not only did Christ say I'm the
way, he said I'm the truth, I am the life. Now this is life, his life being
your life. Is that life? His life being your life before
God. Oh, what joy there is in his
life being your life. Not just counted as your life,
but your life. When he lived, you lived. When
he kept the law, you kept the law. Now that is life more abundantly. You know, I've, usually when
people I have come that they might have life and they might
have it more abundantly and they talk about the more abundant
life and how they're living above sin and they're living above
this and they're living life. The more abundant life is His
life being my life before God. That's more abundant, infinitely
more abundant than anything else. I've come that they might have
life and that they might have it more abundantly. Do you hear the voice of the
shepherd? I am the door. There's no other
way of entrance but me. I am the life. All that come
before me are thieves and robbers. But the sheep did not hear them. Lord, give me the ears of the
sheep. so that I hear your voice. Let's pray. Lord, would you speak to every
one of your sheep so that we hear your voice? Lord, Hal, we thank you for your
voice in the preaching of the gospel. For Christ's sake, give
us hearing ears. Lord, we want to be sheep. We
want to be sheep tended by, fed by our great shepherd, that shepherd
who laid down his life for the sheep. May we, for Christ's sake,
be sheep that believe your gospel. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.