Now John chapter 10, turn back
over there, John chapter 10. I'm entitling the message today
from these verses, the sheep of the shepherd, the sheep of
the shepherd. He said, my sheep, my sheep,
they hear my voice. Now last week I brought a message
on the shepherd of the sheep. talked about the Good Shepherd
that gives salvation to sinners by His sacrifice for sin. Four times it mentions in John
chapter 10 that the Lord Jesus Christ laid down His life for
the sheep. Look at verse 11 in John chapter
10. He said, I'm the good shepherd,
the good shepherd giveth his life for these particular people,
the sheep, who are the sheep, those given to the Lord in that
covenant of grace. And again, down in verse 15 of
John chapter 10, it says again, the Lord said, I, as the Father
knoweth me, even so know I the Father, I lay down my life I
lay down my life for somebody. He gives himself as a sacrifice
for sin for His people. Now today we see the effect and
the fruit of the Lord's atonement for sin. For the sin of His people,
putting away their sin. The sheep of Christ, His people,
are actually reconciled unto God through what He did. We are reconciled unto God through
the offering of the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus
Christ, through His atonement for sin, the sheep are brought
to Him in saving faith and saving mercy. They are called out of
darkness into God's marvelous light. When the Lord plainly
and simply declared the gospel of His grace to these Jews, as
it says there in verse 19, that there was a division therefore
again among the Jews for these saying, when the Lord had plainly
and simply declared the gospel of His grace, to these Jews,
they became very angry. They became enraged against Him. So much so, they accused the
Lord Jesus Christ, now being demon-possessed, they accused
Him of being insane, and the same crowd took up stones to,
look what it says in verse 31, this same crowd took up stones
to stone Him. They did not like what they heard. Turn back to John chapter 8 for
a moment. This is not the first time this
happened. In John chapter 8 verse 56, when
the Lord declared unto them his eternality, he said, Your father
Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and was glad. John
8, 56. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years
old. Hast thou seen Abraham? And the
Lord said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before
Abraham was, I am. He declared his eternality, that
he is the everlasting God. Verse 59, Then took they up stone
to cast at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out. of the
temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by." So
again, these same Jews take up stones to stone him. Why were
they so offended? Why were they so upset? I mean,
this is the man who had fed thousands, who had raised the dead, who
told the truth. He said, the word that I speak
unto you, they are the word that God had given me to speak. Why
were they so upset? Why were they so enraged that
they had murder in their heart? To pick up stones and to actually
dash his brains out. Now, that's being pretty mad,
isn't it? That's being pretty angry. What
got them so upset? What got them so enraged so as
to commit murder? Why is the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ so offensive to the natural religious lost man? I tell you why. The gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ is offensive to the natural man because the
carnal mind, the natural man, his mind, his thinking, his thoughts
are enmity against God. By nature men are not in love
with God. By nature men hate the true and
living God. Now they may love the God they
whittled out, the God of their imagination, but when faced with
the true and living God, and that's what the Lord does here.
He tells them the truth. And they were upset. They got
enraged. The Apostle Paul, when he wrote to the Galatians, he
said this, If I yet preach religious works or circumcision, for salvation,
then is the offense of the cross ceased. See what he's saying
there? If I just water down the gospel
and preach works and a little bit of grace, a little bit of
works and a little bit of faith, bring in some legalism and some
tradition, then he said the gospel that I preach, that message wouldn't
be offensive. But if I preach pure grace, sovereign
grace, sovereign mercy, grace alone, Christ alone, faith alone,
then he said there's an offense. There's an offense to the gospel.
Now let me give you five reasons why the gospel of God's grace
I'm not talking about just preaching, I'm talking about the truth of
the gospel of God's grace. That gospel that says that He'll
have mercy on whom He will have mercy. That gospel that says
that salvation alone accomplishes all of salvation. This gospel
that says the gospel of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, His blood
and His righteousness is all of our salvation. Why is that
gospel so offensive to the Unbeliever, to the natural lost man. I give
you five reasons. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ addresses all men as guilty, helpless, hopeless, defiled,
rotten, wretched, sinners. Wait a minute preacher, you're
not talking about, you're the very one I'm talking about. The
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ addresses all men as sinners
and this offends man's dignity. You mean to tell me I'm sinful?
You mean to tell me that I'm totally depraved? I believe other
folks are, but I'm just a little bit better. No, I'm talking about
you. You mean you're preaching to
me? Exactly. The gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ is offensive to the natural man. Now, if that
doesn't offend you, it's because you believe the gospel. You see,
I can't say enough bad things about you that are... Everything I say, according to
the Word of God, He describes us as all of our righteousness
is filthy rags. I can't say enough bad things
about you and you say, Amen, that's me. Wretched man, that's
me. Chief of sinner, that's me. We've
all sinned to come short of the glory of God. That's me. You
see, but that's offensive. That's offensive to the natural
man. Secondly, the revelation of the gospel by the sovereign
power of God the Holy Spirit offends man's intellect. You
mean to tell me I can't figure this out? That's exactly what
I'm saying. The gospel doesn't come by education,
it comes by revelation. He's hid these things from the
wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes. Thirdly, the
simple way of faith alone, in Christ alone, offends man's wisdom. He thinks he's got things figured
out his way. His way. It's not being justified
by faith alone, it's being justified by what we do, by the works and
deeds of the law. You see, the simple way of faith
alone offends man's wisdom. He thinks he knows better, when
in fact he doesn't. Fourthly, the effectual atonement
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ offends man's religious
pride. the effectual atonement. How
are sins put away? Most people think they put away
sin by something they do. Some people think if they're
sorry enough, long enough, and what they say is repentant, if
I repent hard enough, long enough, that somehow my repentance will
put away my sin. Wrong! Salvation is not put away
by something, or sin is not put away by something you do. Sin
is put away by the effectual blood atonement of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The effectual atonement of Christ
offends man's religious pride, doesn't it? Fifthly, the total
glory of the gospel of Christ alone offends man's self-righteous
ego, his glory. He thinks that somehow that he
should share in the glory. God's done a part and I've done
a part, therefore I pat myself on the back. And that offends
man's self-righteous pride. But the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ gives him all the honor and all the glory. It's shut
up to Christ alone, faith alone, to the glory of God alone. That's
why there was a division as it says in verse 19 of John 10,
there was a division therefore again among the Jews for these
sayings. Now the Lord told them the truth
and they were ready to kill him. Again look at verse 22 and 23
now, and it was at Jerusalem center of religion the center
of Judaism the center of the Jewish religion and it was in
at Jerusalem and it was at the feast of the dedication and it
was winter cold December middle of December and Jesus walked
in the temple in Solomon's porch now this was not the original
temple that Solomon had built that we read about back in the
book of Kings and Chronicles. That temple was destroyed and
it was rebuilt several times. Rebuilt and then destroyed again
and then rebuilt and later it was destroyed again. But this
is some sort of a reconstruction of Solomon's original temple.
Then the Jews came round about him and said to him, how long
do you make us to doubt if you're the Messiah? If you're the Messiah,
if you're the Christ, why don't you just tell us that you are?
He said, I've already told you. You want to hear it again? I'll
tell you again. Again we see the Lord Jesus Christ about the
temple. The temple. He is the absolute
Lord of all things, but especially of His own temple. Yet when He
came to His own temple, His own nation, His own people, His own
kindred. You remember John 1? He came
into His own, in His own Received him not. Rejected him. They would
not have him. They said, away with him. We
have no king but Caesar. We don't want this man to reign
over us. Now this particular feast that is mentioned here
is not one that was established under the law, but rather a memorial
to remember how the temple that had been desecrated by the pagans,
they actually brought in hogs I mean hogs, pigs, and sacrificed
them on the altar to desecrate that temple. But it was later
retaken by the Jews, recaptured by the Jews, and this happened
165 years before this time, and they had a remembrance of this retaking of the temple, and it's
called the Feast, with the Feast of the Dedication. Now, in verse
24, then the Jews circled their wagons, and they came about him
again and said unto him, How long, how long do you make us
to doubt? If you be the Christ, tell us
plainly." And as the Lord publicly and openly walked among the Jews,
they were on the lookout for Him. Not that they might honor
Him or believe Him. They were on the lookout for
Him. They spotted Him and surrounded Him that they might take Him
out and stone Him or to mistreat Him. And they had two questions
here. How long do you make us? Do you
see that? Do thou, dost thou make us to
doubt? They blame their wicked unbelief
upon Him. How long do you, you're the cause
of our unbelief, how long do you make us doubt? They blame
their unbelief upon Him instead of blaming and looking to their
own wicked heart. You remember the heart is deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked. Out of the heart proceeds
evil thoughts, blasphemy, these evil things, and yet they blame
the Lord. It's kind of the same thing Adam
did when Adam sinned against God and Adam fell. You remember
what he said when God said, Adam, what happened? What have you
done? You remember what he said? the woman that you gave me."
You see, he blamed God for his sin and his rebellion. Man is
no different today. These folks blame the Lord Jesus
Christ for their wicked thoughts of unbelief. Then they say, secondly,
if you are the Messiah, if you're the Savior, why don't you just
tell us plainly? If you're the Christ, tell us
plainly. You know, the disciples knew that He was the Christ.
You remember? Turn back over here to John chapter 6. The disciples
knew that He was the Christ. In John chapter 6, you remember
the Lord asked when a multitude walked away from Him? Denied
that he was the Christ and then the Lord said will you also go
away? Simon Peter answered and said
Lord to whom shall we go thou hath the words of eternal life
John 6 Luke verse 69 we believe and we are sure that you are
that Christ and the Son of the Living God. We believe and we're
sure you're that Christ, the one Son of God. So the disciples
knew that He was the Christ. The Samaritan woman, turn back
to John chapter 4, you remember the woman of Samaria at the well? The Lord revealed Himself unto
her. The Samaritan woman at the well, look at John chapter 4,
Verse 28, the woman then left her water pot and went her way
into the city and said to the men, Come and see a man which
told me all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ? Remember the Lord said, I that
speak to thee am he. Now look right across the page
in John chapter 4. Look at verse 41, "...and many
more believed because of his own word the Lord preached to
these people of Samaria, and said unto the woman, Now we believe
not because of thy saying, for we have heard him ourselves,
and know that this indeed the Christ the Savior of the world. So the disciples knew that He
was the Christ. The woman at the well had a revelation
that He was the Lord Jesus Christ, and He had told them on many
occasions that He was the Christ, yet they did not believe. Look at verse 25, down with John
10. And the Lord answered them. Now
what's He going to say? The Lord answered them, He said,
I told you, I told you, and you believed not. The works that
I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. I told you
that I'm the Christ. The works that I do reveal that
I am the Messiah, the one Son of God, the Christ of God. The
Lord had preached the gospel to them many times before. You
remember back in John chapter 5? Turn over there. Let's just
look at a few places. In John chapter 5. The Lord had
told them of His power and authority in John chapter 5, look at verse
21. For as the Father raiseth up
the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son quicken whom
He will. He told them He had all power
and all authority. For the Father judgeth no man,
but committeth all judgment unto the Son, that all men should
honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth
not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him. You
see, He told them, didn't He? To honor me as you'd honor God,
for I am God, I am the Christ. He told them of His power and
authority, and yet what did they do? They rebelled against Him. Stay right here in John chapter
5. He told them that the Scriptures testified of Him. Look at John
5.39. Search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have
eternal life. They are they which testify of
me." He told them that all the Old Testament Scriptures all
are written about Him, to Him give all the prophets witness.
Look at verse 40, "...and you will not come to me that you
might have life." He told them that the Scriptures said that
He was the Christ, testified of him, and yet they would not
bow to him, would not receive him. In John chapter 5 again,
look at verse 46. He told them that Moses wrote
about him. You see that in John 5, 46. For
had you believed Moses, you would have believed me, because Moses
wrote about me. And yet they would not own him,
they would not believe him. He told them, turn to John chapter
6. You see, he said, you can't claim
ignorance here. I told you. I told you the truth. And yet you rebel against me. He told them in John 6. Verse 32, and following, he said
to them, I am the bread of life. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
John 6, 32, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but my
Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of
God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the
world, the world of his people. They said unto him, Lord evermore,
give us this bread. And the Lord said, I am the bread.
He that cometh to me shall never hunger. He that believeth on
me shall never thirst. But I say unto you that you have
also seen me and you will not believe. You will not have me
as the bread of life. They weren't hungry. They weren't
thirsty. He told them that he is the only light of the world
in John chapter 8. Turn over there. John chapter
8. He told them, I am the light of the world. You see verse 12
of John 8. The Lord spake unto them, saying,
I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. The Pharisees
therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself, and
thy record is not true. He told them he is the only light
in this dark world, and yet they loved darkness rather than the
light. He told them he was a good shepherd
who would redeem his people, and they took up stone to stone
him. He told them of his eternality
before Abraham was I am, and yet they would not have him.
They could not claim ignorance. He said, I told you. Told you,
and you will not, you will not believe. You will not believe
the gospel, all the glorious works that he did. Look at the
second part of verse 25. I told you, I told you the truth,
and you believe not. The works that I do in my Father's
name. Now you think of all the works
that he did. He raised the dead. The blind He made to see. Those who were crippled, He caused
them to walk. He did all these mighty miracles. No one could deny that He did
not do these things. And yet, because of the hardness
of their heart, they did not believe. The works that I do
in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. Turn over to John
10. Look at verse 37 and verse 38
of John 10. If I do not the works of my Father,
believe me not. But if I do, though you believe
me not, believe the works that you may know, and believe that
the Father is in me, and I am in Him." You see, the works,
what He said and what He did. all declare that He is the Christ
of God, that He is the Messiah, the one Son of God, yet they
would not receive Him. They would not bow to Him. They
would not own Him. This shows us again just how
depraved and sinful we really are. Apart from the sovereign
revelation of God Almighty, we will never believe the gospel
of God's Christ. Turn back to John chapter 6.
John chapter 6. You see, God has to do something
mighty and powerful in us to enable us to believe and see
the gospel. In John 6, look at verse 44,
he said, No man can come unto me, except the Father which sent
me draw him, and I'll raise him up at the last day. There has
to be a drawing power of God Almighty We believe only according
to the working of His mighty power. Now look back at John
10, verse 26. John 10. If you be the Christ,
tell us plainly. He said, I told you. I told you,
you believe not. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me. Now look at verse 26. He says,
you believe not. Here's the reason. Here's your
problem. Here's your problem. Here's every rebel's problem.
You believe not because you didn't walk an aisle and pray through.
But you believe not because you didn't make a decision at the
right time. You believe not because you weren't
baptized. That's not what he's saying there,
is it? You look carefully at what he says. You believe not
because, because you are not my sheep. You believe not because
you don't belong to me. As I said unto you, my sheep,
they hear my voice. My sheep do. Now who are these
sheep? The elect of God, chosen in Christ
before the foundation of the world. My sheep hear my voice.
I know them and they follow me. You believe not because you're
not one of mine. You're not one for whom I died.
You're not one for whom I laid down my life. The Lord explained
and tells us why these folks did not believe and why any sinner
stays in the dark, remains in the dark, dead in his sin, and
holds to his self-righteous refuge of lies. Here's the reason why. Because You're not one of my
sheep. You're not one of the elect.
You're not redeemed by my sacrifice. Turn over here to John 12 verse
40. You see, our only hope we have
is His sovereign mercy. Look at John chapter 12 verse
39 and 40. You look at this carefully now.
Therefore they could not believe because that Isaiah said, Who's
Isaiah? Prophet of God. God's message.
Because Isaiah said again, he had blinded their eyes. God did that. God hardened their
heart that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand
with their ears, and be converted, and I should heal them. These
things said Isaiah when he saw his glory, he spake of him. You
see, if God doesn't do something for us, And something in us will
never be brought to saving faith in Christ Jesus. He says, you
will not believe the gospel, you believe not because, look
at verse 26 again carefully now. Because you're not of my sheep
as I said unto you. My sheep, hear my voice. These
who do not believe were not chosen in that blessed covenant of grace. Who are these sheep anyway? Turn
back to John 6 verse 37. John 6, 37. Who are these sheep? Who are these elect? Who are
these redeemed by the blood of Christ? These sheep for whom
he laid down his life. John 6, 37. All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. And those that come to me, I
will in no wise cast out." The Father gave him a people back
in that eternal covenant of grace. The Apostle Paul said this, We
are bound to give thanks to God for you, brethren, beloved of
the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you unto
salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth. or until he calls you by the
gospel. They believed not because they
were not chosen in that covenant of grace. Secondly, they believed
not because they were not predestinated to be conformed to the image
of Christ, for whom he did foreknow those he called, justified, and
brings to himself. They were not ordained to believe
the gospel, as we read in Acts 13, 48, as many as were ordained
to eternal life believed. They were not redeemed by the
blood of the Lamb, The Lord Jesus Christ did not die for them,
did not redeem them. They were not born of the Spirit
of God. Those who believe the gospel
are those who are born of the Spirit of God. These folks were
not born of the Spirit of God. A sinner does not believe to
become one of the Lord's sheep. He believed because he is one
of the Lord's sheep, one of the elect of God. Faith and repentance
are the sovereign gifts of God. They don't bloom in this dead,
wicked heart naturally. Faith is a gift of God and so
is repentance. He's exalted to glory to grant
repentance and give repentance unto his people. Now, in the
next verses, Verse 27, 28, and 29. I don't know if we'll get
to all this today, but we have here the marks of the sheep. The marks of the sheep. Now,
are you one of the sheep? I don't know. God knows. But here's some evidence and
marks of the sheep. Look what it says. He said, my
sheep, my people, my people, they hear my voice. I know them. That word there, know, means
love. I love them. I love them. I've
loved them with an everlasting love. My sheep hear my voice.
I love them and they follow me. They follow me. And, and the
reason that they hear my voice, the reason that they follow me
is because I give unto them eternal life. You see that? And this
eternal life that He gives Because He gives eternal life, they'll
never perish. They'll follow Him and follow Him and follow
Him and follow Him right to glory. And they'll never perish. Neither
shall any man pluck Him out of my hand. Now, I may have 10 minutes
here. I'll let you go. And we'll come
back and look at this again if I don't... I'm not going to get
through all this, but we'll go 10 more minutes. The mark of
the sheep. The mark of the sheep. The sheep
of Christ will hear the gospel and believe and receive what
they hear. My sheep, they hear my voice. Now, look back at John 8. John chapter 8. Now you look
at this carefully. John chapter 8 verse 47. You see the hearing ear and the
seeing eye, the Lord hath made both of them. talking about spiritually
hearing and spiritually seeing. Eyes of faith. In John chapter
8, look at verse 47. He that is of God, John 8, verse
47, you got this circled? He that is of God, heareth God's
Word. You therefore hear them not,
because you're not of God. Wow, what an indictment. Do you
hear His voice? Now I'm not talking about hearing
some audible voice. I'm talking about His Word, His
Truth, His Gospel. Do you love His Word, love His
Truth, love His Gospel? Well, you're one of His sheep.
You remember when the Apostle writes to the Thessalonians,
he said, Beloved, knowing your election is of God, for our gospel
came not unto you in word only, it came in power, it came in
the Holy Ghost, it came with much assurance, and you became
followers of the gospel, followers of the Lord. You see, the sheep
of Christ will hear the gospel of God. I'm often reminded of
that story when the Apostle Peter, the Apostle Peter, a Jew, was
sent to a house of a Gentile Roman soldier. You remember his
name was Cornelius. And God had been doing a work
of grace in that old hard-hearted Roman soldier. God has softened
his heart. We call that provenient grace,
grace before grace. And somehow he got in contact
with the apostle Peter and told him to come down and preach the
gospel to his house. This is Cornelius the Gentile.
And when Peter showed up by a direction of God sent unto him, Peter showed
up and you know what Cornelius said to him? He said, we're all
here to hear all thing commanded thee of God. The sheep of Christ,
they're here to hear the Word of God. They're here to hear
the Word of God. Believers hear not only with
the ear, but they hear with understanding given of God. They are swift
to hear, swift to hear Him, slow to speak, slow to wrath, slow
to anger. Our Lord said, blessed are your
eyes for they see and your ears for they hear. Now the sheep
of Christ, they have their mark in the ear. They're branded in
the ear. They're branded in the ear their
ear is in tune to the master. You remember in the parable over
here in John 10, he said, to him the porteth open, verse 3,
the sheep hear his voice, he calleth his own sheep by name,
and leads them out. When he putteth forth his own
sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for
they know his voice. The sheep are not only marked
in the ear, they're marked in the foot. The foot. They follow Him. They follow
the Master, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now they do so because my sheep
hear my voice. They do so, they hear and they
follow because I love them. I know them. And they follow
me and I give unto them eternal life. They follow me. They follow
me. Now, what a blessing it is to
follow the Lord. Remember I read, don't turn on
me, just read it to you again. The Lord said, I'm the light
of the world, he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness,
but shall have the light of life. What a blessing it is to follow,
to follow the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's being turned
from our idols, being turned to God from our idols to follow,
to look unto Him, the Good Shepherd of the sheep. Now when I think
of following the Lord, you know what I think of? I think of believers
that's recorded in scripture who followed the Lord. And I
often think of two. that says of them Caleb and Joshua. Caleb and Joshua, Old Testament
characters. We read of them back in the book
of Numbers and we read about them that they entered into the
promised land. Out of all the millions that
came out of Egyptian bondage, 400 years of Egyptian bondage,
Those males that were the years of 20 years and older, that whole
generation of those 20 years and older died in the wilderness. They didn't enter into the promised
land with the exception of two men, Joshua and Caleb. And you know what the scripture
says of them? They followed the Lord fully. They followed the
Lord fully. And that's a good description
of true saving faith. True saving faith is not diverted
back here, not diverted back here. Looking unto Jesus, the
author and finisher of our faith. We follow Him by looking to Him
to provide all things for us in salvation. I think of another
example of someone who didn't follow the Lord. I was reading,
I'm doing a study on Wednesday night through 1 Samuel, and I
was reading over in chapter 15 about King Saul. King Saul, he
was the people's king. They weren't satisfied with Samuel.
In essence, they weren't satisfied with God, and they cried out,
give us a king. God said, okay, I'll give you
one. What a mistake. What a mistake. Saul was a curse
to them. But it says of King Saul, this
King Saul was an ancestor or Saul of Tarsus. The Pharisee
Saul of Tarsus came from that same family, tribe of Benjamin.
But it says of King Saul that he turned back from following
the Lord. You see, saving faith perseveres.
Saving faith doesn't start for a while and then, well, wait
a minute, it doesn't skedaddle. It follows the Lord fully, follows
the Lord faithfully. Saving faith is persevering faith. What is it then to follow the
Lord? What is it then to follow the Lord? Saving faith does follow
the Lord. The sheep, they hear His voice,
they follow Him. Now what is it to follow the
Lord? Now think about that. You thinking
about it? What is it to follow the Lord?
Okay, you got your answer? Okay? Here's my answer. It's to forsake everything else. Isn't it? Now if you're following
the Lord, you're forsaking everything else. You're not looking to yourself.
You're not looking to a ceremony. You're not looking to a tradition. You're not looking to an emotion.
You're not looking to time and place. Are you? If you're following
the Lord, you're forsaking everything else. looking unto Him who is
the author and finisher of our faith. It's forsaking everything
else. You cannot partially follow the Lord and trust yourself.
Well, I'm just going to trust myself. I'm going to do most
everything myself. And what I can't do, I'll trust
the Lord for. Wrong. The Lord's not part Savior. He's not a part-time Savior.
He's not a part-time Redeemer. He is complete Lord and demands
complete surrender. Those who are completely surrendered
unto the Lord Jesus Christ, they run up the white flag. What does that mean on the battlefield
when you see the white flag? Surrender! I give up! I lay down! Lord save me, I'll perish. You
see the sheep, they hear His voice. And the sheep, they follow
Him. They follow Him. Now let me give
you another example of this. Turn to Matthew chapter 4. Matthew
chapter 4. Matthew chapter 4. Here's another
example of that. His sheep follow Him because
they're in love with Him. He's a good shepherd. He said,
I'm known as mine. Here's another example. In Matthew
chapter four, look at verse 18. And Jesus walked by the Sea of
Galilee and saw two brethren, Simon called Peter and Andrew
his brother, casting a net into the sea for they were fishers.
These were professional fishermen. They made their livelihood by
fishing. And the Lord said unto them, follow me and I'll make
you fishers of men. Okay, now wait a minute, I got
children and a wife at home. Wait a minute, now I've got to
pay the bills. The Lord said, follow me. What, they heard him,
didn't they? They heard him, follow me, I'll
make you fishers of men. And look at verse 20, and straightway
they left their nest and followed him. They followed him. And going on from thence he saw
two other brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his
brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. They were fishermen too. And
he called them. And immediately they left the
ship and their father. They left the ship and their
father. And they followed him. See what
I'm saying? These sheep, Caleb, Joshua, James
and John, Peter, Matthew, they heard His voice and they followed
Him. And the reason they did so, because
the Lord knew them, the Lord loved them, and the Lord gave
them eternal life. They were attracted by His beauty,
He's altogether lovely. They were captivated by His glory.
They were drawn by His power. They were hungry for the bread
of life. They were thirsty for the water of life. and they follow
the Lord Jesus Christ. My sheep hear my voice, I know
them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life,
and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of my Father's hand. Do you reckon the sheep of Christ
can perish? Those for whom the Lord Jesus
Christ can one day, they wind up in hell one day for whom the
Lord Jesus Christ died? Do you reckon one day that they'll
just stop following the Lord? Oh no. He says, I give them eternal
life. They'll never quit following
me. They'll never perish. They'll
never perish.