Would you turn with me to John
Chapter 10? Want to remind you that next
week we'll have a church dinner together immediately after the
morning services. John Chapter 10. Before I read this passage of
scripture. I do want to say that in preaching,
I am not trying to convince anybody to believe the way I do. You know, I may be able to do
that, but somebody else, if that's all it is, can get you to believe
something else. And as far as that goes, if I
do convince you to believe the way I do, that doesn't mean you
trust the Lord Jesus Christ. I want us to actually trust the
Savior. May the Lord enable us to do
just that. Now, let's read John chapter
10, verses 11 through 21. Beginning in verse 11, the Lord
says, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life. For the sheep. But. He that is in Highland and
not the shepherd. Whose own the sheep are not,
seeth the wolf cometh. and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth,
and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling
fleeth, because he is a hireling, and careth not for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even
so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. 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." There was a division, therefore,
again among the Jews for these sayings, and many of them said,
ìHe has a devil. Heís mad. Why hear ye him?î Others
said, ìThese are not the words of him that have the devil.î
Can the devil open the eyes of the blind? Our Lord says, I am the good
shepherd. And he's the only one of whom
this could be said. I am the good shepherd, the good
shepherd that gives his life for the sheep. Abel was a shepherd. Jacob was a shepherd. So was
Joseph. David was certainly some kind
of shepherd. Do you remember how for a sheep he slew a lion
and a bear? What a shepherd he was. But what
is said of the good shepherd, the chief shepherd, the great
shepherd can never be said of any of these shepherds. He is
the shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep. That cannot
be said of any other Shepherd. He's such a great Shepherd, such
an almighty Shepherd, such an all-wise Shepherd in leading
and feeding and protecting His sheep that every one of His sheep
can say, the Lord is my Shepherd. And because my Shepherd is the
Lord, I shall not want. Isn't it wonderful to be able
to say that? The Lord's my shepherd. And because my shepherd is the
Lord, I shall not want. Let's turn to Psalm 23 for just
a moment. We looked at this a couple of weeks ago, but this is such
a wonderful psalm. Because my shepherd is the Lord,
that great shepherd of the sheep, the good shepherd who gives his
life for the sheep. Because my shepherd is the Lord,
I shall not want. Psalm 23. He makes me lie down
in green pastures. I'm not going to want rest. I'm
resting in the Lord Jesus Christ, lying down in the green pastures
of His Word. There's nothing for me to do.
I simply rest. Rest in what He has done. Now, to someone who's not resting,
that doesn't make sense. But if you know in your heart
that you can't come up with the goods as far as pleasing God,
what a blessing it is to rest. He says he leads me beside the
still waters, not babbling, noisy waters, but waters of quietness. I'm not going to lack peace.
Isn't it peaceful to know that what he did is all you need?
And that right now he's at the right hand of the Father representing
you. Isn't that peaceful? I don't
need anything else. I'm not going to lack peace.
He restores my soul. I'm not going to lack forgiveness.
Even the sins that I haven't committed yet, he knows about.
None of them take him by surprise, but he forgives all the sins
of his people. Isn't that wonderful? I'm not
going to lack forgiveness. He leads me in the path of righteousness
for His name's sake. I'm not going to lack righteousness.
I have righteousness before God. Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of the dead, I will fear no evil. I'm not going to lack protection
at all times. He protects me. Even though I'm
walking through that valley of the shadow of death, I'm protected. I'm not going to fear evil. For
thou art with me. I'm not going to lack companionship.
He's always with me. He's with me right now. He's
always been with me and he always will be with me. Isn't it wonderful
to have him as my companion? What a companion every believer
has. He says, Thy rod and thy staff,
they comfort me. I'm not going to lack comfort,
because my shepherd is the Lord. Truly, if the Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want. Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of mine enemies. I'm not going to lack provision.
Thou anointest my head with oil. My cup runneth over. I'm not
going to lack joy. Surely, goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life, and I'll dwell in the house
of the Lord forever." Now, isn't it wonderful to have Him as our
shepherd? I am, he says, the good shepherd,
and the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Now, here's why this can only
be spoken of him. He is the one who gives his life,
who lays down his life for the sheep. He's the only shepherd
to ever do this. There's never been another shepherd that died
willingly for the sheep. He did out of the good shepherd
that giveth his life for the sheep. Look down at verse 17
of what the father thinks about him laying down his life. Verse 17 of John chapter 10 says,
therefore, does my father love me because I lay down my life
that I might take it again. Oh, how the father loves him
because he willingly laid down His life for His people. Now, in Him doing this was His
act of obedience to the Father's command. The Father said to the
Son, lay down Your life. Allow them to nail You to the
cross. And He said, Yes, Father. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ
is the ultimate act of obedience. He became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. And he says, therefore doth my
father love me. Oh, the death of Christ. There's
never been an event like it, and there never will be. This
is everything, his death. This is why his father loves
him, because he laid down his life that he might take it again. You think of how angels adore
him for this. You think of how believers adore him for this.
Believers adore the Lord Jesus Christ. I do. Weren't you thankful
for His death? I glory in the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Satan thought that in killing
Christ, he was defeating Him, didn't he? He thought, I've won. But he didn't realize when he
killed Christ that he nailed the last nail in his own coffin. He didn't know that this was
his ultimate defeat. Now, the death of the Lord Jesus Christ,
you think of what the Father thinks of it, you think of what
angels think of it, you think of what believers think of it,
you think of what Satan even knows about it now, and yet men
think so little of the death of Christ. Isn't that amazing?
It's the event of all events, yet men think so little of the
death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let's spend some time considering
the good shepherd who gives his life for the sheep, and may God
direct our thoughts in considering. His death. Four times in this
passage of scripture that I read in our text, he speaks of giving
his life. And laying it down. Now, the
son of God. That great shepherd of the sheep
did, in fact, die. And there's a lot of mystery
in this, isn't there? There's no mystery in our death. We're
weak, sinful creatures whose breath is in our nostrils. God
can take it away. And it's not mysterious that
we die. It just seems like the natural
thing because it is the natural thing. There's no mystery in
our death. But this is not a weak, sinful
creature dying. This is the God man. This is
the uncreated, eternal son of God. He's called the Prince of
Life. There's certainly mystery surrounding
his death, isn't there? Just the fact that he could die.
I can't understand that. He did. When they took him down
from the cross, they took down a cold, lifeless corpse with
no breath in, and he died. And what mystery there is in
the fact that the Son of God, the uncreated, eternal Son of
God, could die. But he did die. He yielded up
the ghost. He's the only one to ever yield
up the ghost. You know what that means? Death
could not take him until he gave it permission. He said, OK, you
can come and get me now. Death couldn't make a move on
him until he allowed it to happen. He died. Now, here's the question.
Why did he die? He did die. He's the good shepherd
who gives his life for the sheep. Why did he die? I know this. He was no victim. But what he
says in verse 17 of our text, therefore, does my father love
me because I lay down my life? That I might take it again, no
man takes it from me. Was the death of the Lord Jesus
Christ a murder? Well, I suppose in some respects
it is, but I know this, the only reason he died is because he
willed to die. No man takes it from me. Because I, I have power to lay
it down and I have power to take it again. This commandment have
I received of my father. His death was not, as some would
say, a senseless tragic death. His death was no accidental death. He didn't die of old age. He didn't die of disease. But
he did die for a reason. Look what he says in verse 11.
He said, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. Now that word for could just
as easily be said in the stead of or in the place of the sheep. Verse 15, As the Father knoweth
me, even so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the
sheep. Now, he died for the sheep. Now, let's consider this for
just a moment. He said, I lay down my life.
I have power to lay it down. I have power to take it up. This
commandment have I received of my Father. I lay down my life
for the sheep. I die for the sheep. Now, what
is the reason for death? What is the reason for death?
There's only one reason for death, isn't there? Sin. The soul that sinneth shall surely
die. Wherefore, Paul said in Romans
chapter 5, verse 12, as by one man sin entered into the world,
and death by sin. So death passed upon all men
in that all have sinned. There's only one reason in this
world for death. There's not two reasons. There's
not secondary causes. There's only one reason for death. If there were no sin, there would
be no death. Sin is the cause of death. But the Good Shepherd never sinned. Look in John chapter 8. I could
read many scriptures regarding this, but he says in verse 46
of John chapter 8, which of you convinces me of sin? Now, can you imagine being able
to say that? What if I said to this congregation,
which one of you can convince me of ever committing a sin?
You reckon you have any hard time convincing me of it? You
just got to be around me for 15 minutes? 15 minutes, 30 seconds,
one second, I don't know what to say. You won't have a hard
time convincing me to sin. I won't have a hard time convincing
you to sin either. But our Lord could say, you can't
prove that I've ever sinned. Now there's only one reason He
could say that. Because He never sinned. The only holy man to
ever live. Aren't believers holy? Yes, they
are. Yes, they are. But he's the only man. The Lord
Jesus Christ is the only man to never sin. He obeyed God's
laws perfectly. Read the Ten Commandments. They're
so wonderful. He kept every one of them. He
didn't just have them posted up like politicians. He kept
them. He obeyed the holy law of God. He never He had no acts of personal
disobedience, not in his mind, not in his heart, not in his
thoughts, not in his deeds. He never sinned. So if he never sinned and he
died and the reason for death is sin, then why did he die? He died for the sins of his people. He died as a substitute. He died in their room and in
their stead and in their place. As my substitute, He became what
I am on the cross. The sins of His sheep that He
never personally committed became His. Now, to me, I know I talk about
this all the time and I'm going to die talking about this all
the time. To me, this is the most astounding, mysterious,
glorious thing I can think of. My sin. My sin became His. Who His own self bear our punishment? That's not what it says. Who
His own self bear our sins in His own body. on the tree. He said concerning my sin, Todd's
sin, He said, my sin, as a heavy burden has gone over my head,
it's too heavy for me. He bore the shame of my sin, the humiliation of my sin, the
guilt of my sin, all that my sin is, He was made to be, it
became His. Why did He die? Somebody says,
well, he died to give us a great example. Yeah, yeah, he gave
us a great example, but that didn't why he died. Well, he
died to show us how much he loved us. Yes, he demonstrated to us
how much he loved us, but that's not why he died. He died because
he was guilty. That's why he died. The soul
that sinned shall surely die, and my sin so truly became his
that he bore the wrath of God in my place. He was guilty. Now, let me show you this from
the scripture. Turn with me to Isaiah, chapter 53. Isaiah, chapter 53. This wonderful
chapter on the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ,
it would it would be a blessing to to read the whole thing, but
I just want you to look at verse 10. Yet, it pleased the Lord to bruise
him, to crush him. It pleased the Lord to do that.
He, God, hath put him to grief when thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin. He shall see his seed, he shall
prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in
his hand. Now see that statement, when thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin. I want you to turn with me for
a moment to Genesis chapter 26. I want us to see how this same
Hebrew word is translated here in Genesis chapter 26. Verse
10. And Abimelech said, What is this
that thou hast done unto us? One of the people might likely
have lined with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness
upon us. Now, that word guiltiness is
the exact same word that's translated an offering for sin. The exact
same Hebrew. When thou shalt make his soul
Guiltiness. Guiltiness. Christ died because
He was guilty. Guilty as charged. The sins of
God's people became His, and He stood before God as guilty. And just as truly as my sin became
His, His glorious righteousness is mine. Now, did my sin really
become His? Yes, it did. That's why He died. He wouldn't have died if it wasn't
for sin. That's why He died. And just
as truly, just as literally as my sin became His, His perfect
obedience, His righteousness is mine. And that's where my
boldness comes from. I'm coming to God's presence
with boldness, being made the very righteousness of God in
Him. Now, his death was because he
was guilty. He said, I laid down my life for the sheep. He did,
in fact, die, and it was because he was guilty. Now, here's the
second thing that comes to my mind in considering his death. He said, I laid down my life
for the sheep. Who did he lay down his life for? The sheep.
The sheep. Well, is there even an issue
as to who he laid down his life for? Is it an issue? I mean, does it matter whether
you understand who he died for? Is it even a point to make an
issue of whether he died for all men or just the elect? Is
this an issue? Well, when the Lord said he laid
down his life, who did he say he laid down his life for? He
said, I laid down my life for the sheep. If the Lord said that, yes, it
is. an issue. If it wasn't, the Lord
would have never said that. But did you know that if you
don't know who he died for, you can't really understand what
his death means in the first place. Now, I want you to listen to
this real carefully. If he died for the sins of those
who are now in hell, his death is meaningless. If Christ died for all men without
exception, what does his blood have to do with salvation? Now you think about that. Let's
take Judas and Peter. Judas is in hell. Peter's standing
in the very presence of God right now. Judas is in hell. Peter's in heaven. Take Jacob
and Esau. God said, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
We know Esau was an unbeliever. He's in hell. Jacob. God has called the God of Jacob.
He's in glory. Now, if Jesus Christ shed his blood equally
for them, if he shed his blood just as much for Esau as he did
for Jacob, if he shed his precious blood just as much for Judas
as he did for Peter, what's the blood of Christ have to do with
salvation? Not a thing. It's what one did that the other
didn't do. You see, you take the gospel
out of the gospel when you preach a message of universal redemption.
If Christ died for all men the same, that means it's my works
that's got to save me and not the blood of Christ. That takes
away my only hope of salvation. I love that passage of Scripture
in Romans 8, 32. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's
elect? It's God that justifies it. Who is he that can condemn? It's Christ that died. Do I need
anything else? It's Christ that died, yea rather
than treason again, who's even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. Yes, it's an issue as to
who he died for. He died for the sheep. And here's
what I love about this. If he died for me, I'm saved.
My sins are gone. They're put away. I stand perfect
before God. You see, you can't really understand
what the death of Christ means unless you know who he died for. You know, if we don't know who
he died for, we don't really even know how to preach the gospel.
You know, preachers standing up assuring all men, God loves
you and Christ died for you. God wants to save you. That's
not gospel preaching. That's the assurance of a believer.
Listen, beloved. If God loves you and Christ died
for you, you're saved. You're saved. I mean, you're
secure. That's not gospel preaching. Telling a mixed audience that
God loves them and Christ. Here's gospel preaching. Salvation's
in Christ. It's nowhere else. Bow beneath
Him. Believe on Him. Salvation is
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's gospel preaching. Salvation's in Him and nowhere
else. Believe on Him. I want to know who he died for
so I can know if he died for me. Looking back in John chapter
10. I guess we'll look at this next
week as we're looking through the Gospel of John, but I sure
like this passage of Scripture. Verse 24. Then came the Jews
round about him and said unto him, How long dost thou make
us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us
plainly. 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, as I
said unto you. Here's what God's sheep do. The
people that He died for, they believe. I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe He's God. I believe
He's man. I believe His death put away all the sins of everybody
He died for, and I'm resting in Him to save me. I trust the
Son of God. I believe. That's what God's
sheep do. They believe. He said to this crowd, you believe
not because you're not of my sheep. What is the evidence that
Jesus Christ died for you? You believe the gospel. It really
is that simple. But I don't believe that. Well,
if you die that way, then he didn't die for you. But he died
for all who believe the gospel. I lay down my life for the sheep. And what did he actually accomplish
in laying down his life voluntarily for the sheep? Let's turn to
Colossians 1. He's a good shepherd, isn't he?
He's a glorious shepherd. He's that great shepherd of the
sheep. Because my shepherd is the Lord,
I shall not want. You see, He laid down His life
for the sheep. And here's what He did in laying down His life
for the sheep. Colossians chapter 1, verse 20. And having made peace through the blood of His cross.
That's what He did in laying down His life. He made peace
by Him. to reconcile all things unto
Himself. By Him, I say, whether they be
things in earth or things in heaven, and you that were sometimes
alienated in the enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now
hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death to
present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in His sight. That's what the great shepherd
of the sheep has done. This is the heritage of every believer
right now because of my great shepherd. I am holy. You know, I used to have a hard time
saying that. I don't anymore. I'm holy. I'm holy. I'm unblameable. I'm unreprovable
in the very sight of God. Because of the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ, because my great shepherd laid down his life for
me. Now, let's go back to our text
in John 10. He says in verse 11, I am the
good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. Verse 12, but. He that is an
hourling. And not the shepherd who's on
the sheep or not, seeth the wolf coming. and leaveth the sheep,
and fleeth, and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep."
Now, there's a big difference between the shepherd who is the
owner of the sheep and one who is simply working for wages.
The Lord talks about a good shepherd, and He talks about a hireling. Now, the hireling demonstrates
he's a hireling in time of danger when the wolf comes in false
doctrine. in false prophets, in persecution
because of the word, the hireling does not stand up for the sheep.
He runs because he's a hireling. The sheep aren't his. He doesn't
really care about the sheep. Look what our Lord says in verse
13. He gives us an explanation as to why the hireling acts like
he acts. He says the hireling lives because
he's a hireling. That's why he believes he's a
hireling. He's a time server. He doesn't have any true love
for God. He doesn't have any true love for the sheep. He's
a hireling and he cares not for the sheep. He does what he does
because he's a hireling. He doesn't really care for the
sheep. Now, a man that pastors a church for a paycheck is no
true shepherd. If I'm doing this because this
is what I do, you know, you're a plumber, I'm a preacher. If
that's what this is all about, if it's about a paycheck, All
I am is a hireling. There's nothing to me. A hireling
careth not for the sheep. Now, I can't speak for others,
but I know, for instance, I couldn't leave this flock. If I'm a true
shepherd, I couldn't leave. I'm not going to speak for somebody
else, but I know I couldn't. I mean, this is the flock over
which God has made me pastor, and I'm here. You're going to
bury me here. I mean, I don't know when it's going to be, but
I'm not going anywhere because I'm I hope I'm a true shepherd. A shepherd stays with the sheep
and that's it. Christ is the true shepherd.
He's the good shepherd that gives his life for the sheep. And look
what our Lord says regarding this. The hireling fleeth because
he's a hireling. He cares not for the sheep. But
our Lord says, I'm the good shepherd. And I know my sheep and am known. of mine. Now the Lord knows me. Turn to Psalm 139. Psalm 139. Lord knows
you. You know, Lynn and I know each
other. We always kind of kid each other
about who knows who the best. I know you. I know you. Nobody
else around here does. I know you. And she didn't say
the same thing. I mean, when you live with somebody, you know
them. But you know, the Lord is the only one who truly knows
us. He knows us all together. Look in Psalm 139. I love I heard
somebody say this one time, and it meant so much to me. We're
all three different people. We're the one we think we are.
We're the one others think we are, and we're the one God knows
we are. He knows us. He knows us all
together. Nothing can take him by surprise.
You know, he even knows the sin. you haven't committed yet. He
knows them all together. I remember one time, I'll never
forget this, there's a guy I was working with one summer when
I was working at Armco and he was getting married that summer.
And I remember he got married and went on his honeymoon and
came back a week later. I can't remember the guy's name.
I said, well, how's it going? He said, I married a monster.
He said, I didn't know. I didn't know. That's what happened
with the Lord. He knows you all together. Look
at Psalm 139. Oh, Lord, thou has searched me
and known me. He knows us all together. You
know my down-sitting and my up-rising. You understand my thought of
far off. You compass my path and my lying
down, and you're acquainted with all my ways. There's not a word
in my tongue, but, O Lord, Thou knowest it all together. Thou
hast beset me behind Him before and laid Thine hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It's high, I can't attain
it. He knows me. He knows me all together, but
more than anything else, when He says, I know you, that doesn't
mean He knows things about me. It means He loves me. Remember
that crowd of which He said, Depart from me ye that work iniquity,
I never knew you. But that can't be said of His
people. He knows His people. He knows me. He loves me. And I know Him. I know the Lord. I know Him. And I know when another
Lord's not preached. I know when the wrong Lord's
preached. I recognize. I know His voice. I know Him.
I know who He is. I know the Lord. This is eternal
life, that they might know Thee, the only true God in Jesus Christ
whom Thou sent. Now that's eternal life. Knowing
the Lord Jesus Christ. I know Him. He knows me. I'm
not just name dropping. He knows me. And I know Him. He says in verse 14, I'm the
good shepherd and know my sheep and have known of mine as or
even as the father knows me, even so know I the father and
I lay down my life for the sheep. I know my sheep and they know
me even as the father knows me and I know him. Now that's glorious,
isn't it? That's glorious. That's how the
Lord knows me. And that's how we know him. Verse
16, he says, 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 foal and one shepherd. A lot of fellows
say that this is a reference to the salvation of Gentiles.
It may be. It may be. He says, Other sheep
I have, which are not of this foal. Them also I must bring
in. You see, He's going to have every sheep, Jew or Gentile. Richard, for it doesn't matter,
he's going to have his sheep. This is the will of him that
sent me, that of all which he has given me, I won't lose one
of them. But I'll raise it up again at the last day. He's going
to have all his sheep. And I want to close with this
thought, verse 17 and 18. Therefore doth my Father love
me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No
man takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I'm doing
this because I want to do it. I'm not doing this because I'm
constrained. I'm doing what I want to do. I have power to lay it
down and I have power to take it again. This commandment have
I received of my Father. Now here the Lord is talking
about His willingness. His willingness. Now, I'll bet
just about, I don't know, I don't know everybody here, but I'll
bet just about everybody here, maybe everybody here, but just
about everybody here believes that Jesus Christ died for the
elect. You believe that? I mean, it's so taught, obviously,
in the scripture. I mean, I don't have to convince
you that. You believe that and you see that and you're convinced
of it. But still something in you wonders,
is he willing to save me? Is he willing? I don't have any
doubt regarding his power to save. If he died for me, I'm
saved. If he does something for me,
I'm in good shape. I realize that. I realize his ability.
I don't have any doubt about that, but I sometimes wonder
about his willingness. Because I can see why he would not be
willing to save me. I mean, I can understand that. I take a look
at myself and I think, how can he save me? I understand somebody
thinking that way. Well, turn with me to Matthew
chapter 8. Verse one, when he was come down
from the mountain, great multitudes followed him, and behold, there came a leper. Luke's account tells us he was
full of leprosy, which represents sin. And what did he do? He worshiped him. Is Jesus Christ worthy of your
worship? If he sent you to hell, would
he be worthy of your worship? Behold, there came a leper and
worshipped him. That issue was settled. And look
what he said. Behold, there came a leper and
worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, Dawkins, make me clean. It's
up to you. If you will, I'm in your hands. I can't do anything about this.
If you will, this is what I want. This is what I need. I need to
be made clean. I can't make myself clean, but
if you will. You can make me clean. And Jesus
put forth his hand and touched him, saying. I will. Be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was
cleansed. Are you willing to be saved by
him? In a way that he gets all the glory and none goes to you? Well, if you are, I can guarantee
you he's willing to save you. Now, if somebody says, no, I'm
not willing, well, then why would you blame him for not saving
you if you don't want salvation anyway? I'm not willing for him to be
saved in a way that he gets all the glory. OK, have your way.
He's given you what you want. But are you willing to be saved
by him? Oh, beloved, if you are. He gave
you that willingness. And he's willing to and has saved
you. And I think it's interesting
that at the end of this passage of scripture in John chapter
10, there was a division therefore again among the Jews for these
sayings. And many of them said, why he's
demon possessed, he's plum crazy, why hear ye him? You know, it's
always like that. People respond to the gospel.
But others said, these are not the words of him that hath a
devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind? No, he can't. No,
he can't. Let's pray. more