Now from John chapter 10, I'm
going to try to bring a message from verse 10 down through verse
18 and then conclude with what happens in verse 19 and 20. Some were made glad, some got
very upset and mad. Now I'm entitling the message
from what the Lord says in verse 11. In verse 11 of John 10, he
clearly says, I am the good shepherd. The Lord is the door of the sheep. The Lord is that bread of life. I am the bread of life. I am
the light of life. And the Lord Jesus certainly
is the, the only, one and only, salvation in no other, the one
and only Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd, because He
is a Good Shepherd, He does something for the sheep. You see what He
does here? He gives life. He gives life. He gives His life for the sheep. Now four times in these verses
in John chapter 10, four times, the Lord Jesus Christ plainly
declares that He died for the sheep. There is an extreme and
important value that the Lord Jesus Christ places upon His
death. He says it repeatedly, I lay
down my life for the sheep. And just in case you missed it,
he said to them again, I lay down my life for the sheep. And
then again, just in case you didn't hear it those two times,
he says, I lay down my life for the sheep. And just in case you
missed it, he says the fourth time, this commandment have I
received in my father, I lay down my life. Now, substitution,
satisfaction. The Lord places an emphasis upon
His atoning death, doesn't He? The great importance that He
places upon it. The Apostle Paul places that
same importance upon the Lord Jesus Christ dying for the sin
of His covenant people, where He said, I'm determined. to know
nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified." Jesus
Christ and Him crucified is our hope of salvation. And again
in Galatians chapter 6 verse 14, he said, God forbid that
we should glory saved or except in the death of Christ Jesus. Now the Lord Jesus Christ is
called in Scripture not only the good shepherd of the sheep,
and He is good. Everything about Him is good.
But he's also called the great shepherd of the sheep. The great
shepherd of the sheep. We're gonna study in Hebrews
13 where it says, the God of peace who brought again from
the dead the Lord Jesus Christ, that great shepherd of the sheep
to the blood of the everlasting covenant. So he is called the good shepherd,
but also he's the great shepherd. There's none great as he is. He's also called and identified
as the chief shepherd of the sheep who shall appear again. He said, I go away to prepare
a place for you and if I go away The Chief Shepherd, the Good
Shepherd, the Great Shepherd, He's coming back to receive us
unto Himself. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ identifies
Himself as the only Savior of sinners. He says, of all others
who came seeking the glory and preeminence before Him, He calls
them thieves and robbers. Did you notice that in verse
8? All that ever came before me, seeking the preeminence,
seeking the glory, promoting themselves as a way of salvation. He said, all that ever came before
me are nothing but thieves and robbers. But he said, the sheep
will not hear them. a voice of a stranger they will
not follow." Again, in verse 10, he calls these people, these
false prophets, those who seek the preeminence and the glory,
he calls them thieves who do nothing but steal, kill, and
destroy. And then again, in verse 12,
he calls them hirelings. who are not the true shepherd,
whose own the sheep are not. When they see the wolf coming,
they leave the sheep, and the sheep get scattered. They're
not destroyed, but they are scattered. The hireling flees because that's
what he is. That's what he is. He's a hireling.
And he does not care for the sheep, but the true shepherd.
The true shepherd, our Lord said, I'll never leave you. I'll never
forsake you. I'm with you always, even to
the end of the earth. Now there is a sharp contrast,
is there not, between the good shepherd and the thieves and
the robbers. The thieves and the robbers,
they come to take away from you. They come to take you and to
steal from you. The good shepherd, he gives.
He gives. And he gives. So there is a contrast
between the good shepherd and those false. Shepherds who are
really nothing but wolves masquerading as in sheep's clothing. There
are many warnings all through scripture about false prophets,
about thieves and robbers. There are many, many multiple
warnings, Old Testament and New, about false prophets, about false
preaching. Our Lord said in Matthew 7, Beware
of false prophets which come unto you in sheep's clothing,
but inwardly They're thieves and robbers. Inwardly, they're
hirelings. Inwardly, he called them ravening,
devouring wolves. Now notice the wicked and malicious
intent of the false prophet. of the false prophet. They thrust
themselves into the sheepfold without a call from God, without
any love for God or the sheep or His glory. It says in verse
10, these thieves and robbers, they come for three reasons,
to steal from you, to kill from you, and to destroy you. They
come only to do harm. The message they bring is not
one of salvation by Christ alone. The message they bring is not
one of God's grace and mercy in Christ Jesus alone. Rather,
the message they bring is man's doing. Salvation is conditioned
upon your doing, your will, your way, your work. What does that
lead to? Death? Destruction and condemnation,
eternal condemnation. Cursed is a man, Jeremiah said,
that trusteth in man. Cursed is a man that trusteth
in the flesh. Verse 12 and verse 13, the false
prophet and the false believer is revealed in their true character
when trouble comes. When the wolves come, they leave
the sheep. Or they leave the sheepfold because
they do not love the sheep. They don't have any regard for
the glory of God. Verse 12 says, He that is a hireling. One who is in it just for the
buck. He loves not the sheep, cares
not for God, cares not for the glory of God. He's not any true
shepherd who's owned the sheep or not. When he sees trouble
coming, he departs from the sheep and he leaves. And the wolf,
for a time, may scatter the sheep. He even may catch the sheep.
He will not devour or destroy the sheep because the good shepherd
saves the sheep. Verse 13, the hireling flees
because that's what he is. and he does not care for the
sheep." Now in Pastor Mahan's commentary on the book of John,
he had this comment, of a man is revealed by conduct,
his conduct in the time of crisis and trial. A man reveals what
he is by what he does in the time of conflict, in the time
of trial. True faith and conduct cannot
be separated. John said, they went out from
us because they were not of us. Now I could spend the rest of
the time this morning talking about the thieves and robbers. I could spend the rest of the
time this morning reading references in the scripture about warnings
against those false preachers. Bye. There's something here that
is of much more importance. There is a warning there that
we must not neglect. I must not fail to warn you of
these things, but I must preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ unto you. So we see the malicious and wicked
intent of the hireling, the thieves, and the robbers, and we need
to be warned about those things. But I want to talk about the
gracious and loving design of the good shepherd who keeps us
from these things. In verse 10, the Lord said, these
come just to steal and to kill and to destroy the thieves and
the robbers, the false preacher, the false shepherd. The Lord
said, I am come. I am come. that they, the sheep
of Christ, may have life, and that they, the elect of God,
may have it more, more, and more, and more, where sin abounded,
grace does much more, more, abound abundantly." Everything God gives
us, you know, He's not stingy in giving. He gives abundantly. He gives eternally. As a matter
of fact, the scripture says of Him that what He gives us, He
gives us freely. Freely. Freely. Justified freely
by His grace. The Lord said, I am come that
somebody might have life. Now forever, forever, those for
whom He comes and those for whom He stands and those for whom
He gives His life, is there any possibility that maybe somehow
they'll miss salvation? That they'll miss God's purpose?
That they won't hear the voice of the shepherd? That maybe they
won't follow Him? Maybe it could be that they won't
love Him? Oh no. He says, All that the
Father giveth to me, they shall come to me, and those that come
to me I will in no wise cast out. Look what he says in verse
10. I am come that they, well, they might have life. Now if
He gives life, He gives salvation, what kind of salvation and what
kind of life is it? Is it some kind of temporary
thing based upon the performance of the creature? Is salvation
based upon what I do or don't do? Is it based upon my morality,
whether I keep it or lose it, based upon how righteous I am,
how moral I am? God forbid he said I'm come that
they might have life and the life he gives and the salvation
he gives is right across the page identified in verse 27 he
says in verse 27 my sheep hear my voice I know them they follow
me and I give unto them what does that say right there life
but there's a word that identifies life, eternal life. Now, what does that mean? Just
what it says. He gives them life, eternal life. He gives them life abundantly. That which God gives, He never
takes back. never takes back. Whatsoever
God doeth, it shall be forever. Not based upon my performance,
not conditioned upon me, my morality, but rather totally upon His gift. You see, salvation is His gift.
And because He gives life, we have it. Because He gives life,
matter of fact, He gives His life, that we might have life
more, more, more abundantly. Now I'm interested in that. I'm
interested in abundant life. Abundant life. The Lord Jesus
Christ gives us eternal salvation. Christ did not come to steal.
Did He? He came to give His life a ransom,
a full payment for sin. Remember He said in Matthew 20,
28, He said, I came not to be ministered unto, but to minister
and to give my life a ransom for many. You see, He came to
give. He didn't come to steal from
us. We were already bankrupt, dead in sin. The Lord Jesus Christ
did not come to kill. Rather, He came to give His life
that we might live. The Lord Jesus Christ came not
to destroy, did He? He didn't come to destroy. He
came, rather, to restore and reconcile His covenant people
unto Himself. As a matter of fact, the Scripture
said God was, in Christ, reconciling a world of sinners unto Himself. That's the same ones that He
talks about here, that they might have eternal life. The Lord Jesus
Christ came to save sinners. He came to seek and to save that
which is lost. You see the Good Shepherd came
that we might have abundant life, abundance of salvation, abundance
of righteousness in Christ Jesus. And then he says in verse 11,
I am I am that good shepherd, the
good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life. He gives his life for, in the
room, in the stead of somebody. He died for the sheep. Now who are the sheep? Are all
men everywhere called the sheep of Christ? No. The Lord Jesus
Christ did not lay down His life for all men everywhere without
exception. That's a lie. The Lord Jesus Christ says here
that He gives His life for the sheep. Now who are the sheep?
All that the Father hath given to Him in that eternal covenant
of grace. Those are for whom the Lord Jesus
Christ dies. The Good Shepherd, the Chief
Shepherd, the Great Shepherd gave His life for our eternal
salvation. You see that? Now two things
here. The nature of His death. substitutionary. He died in the stead of his covenant
people. He dies as our substitute and
he does so freely, willingly, out of love for them. Here it is love, not that we
love God, but that He loved us. And that He sent His Son to put
away our sin, to be our propitiation. And then we see the extent of
His death. For whom did the Lord Jesus Christ die? Not for all
men without exception, but for His covenant people. Now, does
it really make a difference if we preach universal failure? or particular success. You can
have universal failure. I don't want no part of it. It's
a lie. I don't want a God who tries
and fails. Universal redemption is universal failure. Isn't it? You mean there's some in hell
for whom He died? What kind of Savior is He? Not much. The particular
good shepherd gives his life for the sheep and they must live. Matter of fact, his death demands
their life. His death demands their salvation. That's right, he's a good shepherd. The Lord Jesus Christ died the
appointed death at the appointed time for the appointed people,
achieving the appointed eternal purpose of God. Didn't he? When he by himself purged our
sin, he sat down at the right hand of God. Now look at verse
14 now. I am therefore the good shepherd. Now is he your shepherd? Is he
your shepherd? Can you say with David, the Lord
is my shepherd, I shall not want. If he's your shepherd, you've
got no worries. If he's your shepherd, you've
got no basis to worry about any eternal and spiritual matter. None whatsoever. He's taking
care of everything. The good shepherd. Look what
he says in verse 14. I am the good shepherd. And you
know what? He lays down his life for somebody.
You know what it says there? He says, I know my sheep. I know
them. You see, he just didn't die for
a blob, a mass of humanity. He died a specific death for
those he knows intimately. He says over here in this parable,
he says, I know my sheep by name. He knows us personally, intimately. I'm the good shepherd, I know
my sheep. And you know what? The sheep,
they know me. The sheep know Him. They recognize
His voice. They recognize Him. The Good
Shepherd knows His sheep by name. He has been intimately acquainted
with them. How long? How long has He known
His sheep? Did He just bump into them recently?
No, He's known them from all eternity. The foundation of God
standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are
His. They're His as the Father's gift
unto Him, chosen in eternal election. They're His as He purchased them
with His own blood. He bears an affectionate love
for them. Matter of fact, He dies for them
out of love for them. Turn to John 13 a minute. Look
at John 13. John 13 verse 1. You see, He
dies for them, He comes for them, because He loves them. You parents who have children,
if your child was in peril, Would you even think about coming to
the rescue of your child, even though it might put you in harm's
way? Would you jump in? Or would you think, well, maybe
I love him, maybe I don't. You wouldn't even think about
it, would you? You would jump in to the rescue of your child? Why would you do that? Love,
love, love. Look what it says here, John
13, 1. And now, now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus
knew that the hour was come, it's talking about the hour of
his death, that he should depart out of this world unto the Father,
having loved his own. which are in the world, he loved
them unto the end. He loves his people and gave
himself for them. Turn to John 15, 13. John 15,
13, he talks about this love in verse 13. Greater love hath
no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Oh, he laid down his life for
us out of love. Don't turn to this, let me just
read it to you over here in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 2 it says, walk
in love as Christ also had loved us and had given himself for
us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor. He loves his own. He loved the
church and gave himself for it. He takes special care of them.
He pampers them with intimate communion of himself with the
sheep. Look at verse 14 again. I'm the good shepherd and know
my sheep and am known of mine. Look at verse 15. As the Father
knows me, even so I know the Father." And
again he says, I lay down my life for the sheep. This intimate relationship between
the shepherd and the sheep is likened to that vital union and
oneness between the Father and the Son. And that union and oneness
between the Father and the Son are eternal And inseparable,
that is true of the sheep and the shepherd. Turn over here
to John 17. John chapter 17. He said in verse 20, John 17,
verse 20, neither pray I for these alone, but for them also,
which shall believe on me through their word, John 17, 20, 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've
given them, that they may be one. Even as we are one. Now, what kind of relationship
is that? I tell you, that's an eternal
one. That's an inseparable one. That's a blessed one. I in them,
thou in me. Verse 23, that they may be made
perfect in one, that the world may know that thou hast sent
me and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. Now you get a
hold of that. Look at that. This intimate relationship. As the Father knoweth me, back
to John 10 verse 15, even so I know the Father, I lay down
my life for the sheep. I lay down my life for the sheep.
Now look at verse 16. I lay down my life for the sheep.
Verse 16. Without the Lord Jesus Christ giving His life and atonement
for sin, we would have no pardon of sin, would we? We would have
no forgiveness of sin, would we? We would have no salvation.
We would have no reconciliation. We would have no righteousness.
We would have no regeneration. Without the Lord Jesus Christ
giving His life for us. Verse 16 of John 10. Other sheep. Now who are these other sheep?
Other sheep. I have, which are not of this
fold, of this nation. Now here he's talking about the
elect among the Gentiles. He has an elect among all nations,
tribe and kindred and tongue. Other sheep I have, which are
not of this fold, this nation, them also I must bring. And they also shall hear my voice,
and there shall be no more Jew, Gentile, No more bond or free. They shall be one fold and one
shepherd, one Lord, one gospel, one God, one faith. One fold and one shepherd. The Lord said, I must bring them. Other sheep, what are not of
this fold, this nation? How does he bring us? How's he
gonna bring these other sheep to the Father? How's he going
to bring them? Is he going to bring the Jew
one way? Is he going to bring the Gentile another way? No.
You remember in Acts 15 verse 11, where Peter stood up and
said about Jew and Gentile, we believe through the grace of
the Lord Jesus Christ that God's going to save us the same way
he saved those Gentiles, by the grace of God alone. We believe
through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved
and we shall be one fold, one church, one body in Christ Jesus. Turn over here to Galatians,
the book of Galatians chapter 3, let me show you that. But
the Lord said, I must bring them. Now, get a hold of that word
must. He said, I must bring them. And
He brings us only one way. And that one way is Christ. He's
the captain of our salvation, who's bringing, you remember?
In Hebrews chapter two, he's the captain of our salvation,
who's bringing many sons unto glory. Christ suffered for our
sins, the just for the unjust, that he may bring us unto God. Now, over here in the book of
Galatians, chapter three, turn over there. Galatians chapter
three. He must bring us. He must call us, He must save
us, or we'll not be saved. He must lay down His life for
us, or we will not be saved. But in Him, in Christ crucified,
because He brings us, we all shall be one. Galatians chapter
3. Look at verse 26, for you're
all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many
of you have been baptized into Christ. Now he's not talking
about water baptism, he's talking about being put in Christ, put
under the rule of Christ, have put on Christ. There is neither
Jew nor Greek. There's neither bond nor free.
There's neither male nor female. You're all one. You see that? You're all one in Christ Jesus. And if you be Abraham, if you
be Christ's seed, Christ's people, Christ's sheep, the elect of
God, then are you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Now what kind of promise is this?
It's a promise of grace, isn't it? the promise of grace. You remember that covenant that
described, the covenant of grace that's described in Jeremiah
32? You know it's the same language
here that's given in verse 16. They shall hear my voice and
there shall be one fold. They shall, I must bring them,
they shall hear and there shall be one fold. That covenant language
in Jeremiah 32 is this, I will be their God and they shall be
my people. Same God, same covenant, same
gospel, same Lord. Now, look at verse 17. Therefore,
therefore doth my Father love me, and here again He says, because
I lay down my life. I lay down my life. Now, you
remember back over here, turn to John chapter 3. The Father
loves the Son. Remember? John chapter 3. Therefore
doth my Father love me? The Father speaks from heaven
and said, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
Hear ye Him? John chapter 3. Remember verse
35? The Father loveth the Son. and had given all things into
his hand." The Father loves the Son and the Father loves those
in the Son, in the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing can separate
us from the love of God which is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord Jesus gave his life as a sacrifice for our sin out
of love. Love for the Father's glory and
love for his covenant people. He loved the church and gave
himself for the church. Now, verse 17, John chapter 10,
Therefore doth my Father love me, I lay down my life, that
I might take it again. Verse 18, no man takes it from
me. I lay it down of myself. I have
power to lay it down. I have power to take it again.
This is all authority, all power. He prayed in John 17, Father,
you've given me power over all flesh that I should give eternal
life to as many as thou has given to me. No man takes it from me. I lay it down. I have power to
take it up again. Now twice he declares. that he
says, that I might take it up again. Take it up again. Now,
what's he talking about here? That he might take it up again.
He died for our sin according to the Scriptures, right? He
was buried and raised again according to the Word of God, according
to the Scriptures. His resurrection declares that
all He said was true. As a matter of fact, the Scripture
said in Romans 1, He declared to be the Son of God by the resurrection
from the dead. What would happen if He didn't
come out of that tomb the third day? It would prove that He was
an imposter. Without His resurrection, we
have no salvation. His resurrection is an absolute
must. His resurrection declares all
that He said was true, all that He did was accepted of the Father,
because when He by Himself purged our sin, He sat down on the right
hand of God. His resurrection declares that
He really did put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, doesn't
it? Listen to this scripture, Romans 4, 25. Him being delivered,
He was delivered for our offenses and raised again because He did
what? Because He was raised again because
He did what? Because He justified us. Because He put away our sin,
death, it was not possible, it says in the book of Acts, it
was not possible that death should hold Him in the grave. It couldn't. Death had no claim on Him. The
law of God had no claim on him. He had to come out of the tomb
because he did make complete atonement for sin. He did justify
his covenant people. He did bring in an everlasting
righteousness for them. This commandment have I received
of my Father." Now the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is the
eternal command of God. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is the ancient gospel. It's called the gospel of God.
And the Lord Jesus Christ came by the commandment of God, by
the decree of God, Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. The Lord Jesus Christ came
by the decree of God. The Lord Jesus Christ died by
the decree of God. No one could take his life. He
laid it down. He yielded up the ghost. He died
by the commandment of God. He is raised again by the commandment
of God. And you know what? Our salvation,
our salvation comes by the commandment of God, for it's God who saved
us and called us with a holy calling. Not according to our
works, but according to God's own purpose and grace. This decree
have I received of my father. Now, He preached a great sermon. I mean, I just repeated what
He said. And that's what preaching is. It's just repeating what
God's already said. The Lord Jesus Christ preached
a true sermon with the words that God gave Him to declare
of the success of His atonement, the glory of His resurrection,
the fullness of His salvation, and everybody fell in love with
Him. Look at verse 19, there was a division therefore again
among the Jews because of these sayings. They were divided. You see the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ divides the sheep from the goats. It divides. Many
of them said he had the devil. Many of them said, he's a crazy
man. He's a madman. You see, Christ
crucified, the Apostle Paul put it this way, to those who were
perishing, to those who were perishing, the message of Christ
crucified is foolishness. But to those Jews or Greek, those
who are called of God, blessed of God, Christ crucified is the
wisdom of God. We see how in Christ crucified
God can be just and the justifier. Christ crucified the wisdom of
God and Christ crucified is the power of God to put away sin,
to save sinners. Many of them said He's mad. I
tell you what, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, when it's
preached and blessed in the power of God the Holy Spirit to a mixed
crowd of sheep and goats, I tell you now, the goats, they won't
like it. They say, well now wait a minute,
but, but, but, that's what goats do, but, but, but, but. But, mama said this, I don't
care what mama says. I'm not trusting mama or daddy.
What does God say? That's the issue. The sheep rejoice. He said, my sheep, hear my voice. I know them and they follow me
because I give them eternal life. Eternal life.