when he healed people on the
Sabbath day, these most religious Pharisees were up in arms. You
see, they cared more for their traditions and their ceremonies
than they did for the glory of God or for the good of anyone. I want you to look with me at
a few verses in chapter 9, beginning with verse 28. And these Jews
were talking to this man who was blind, whom the Lord healed,
in verse 28. And then they reviled him, and
they said, Thou art his disciple. We are Moses' disciples. We know
that God spake unto Moses as for this fellow, speaking of
Christ our Lord. They said, We know not from whence
he is. And the man answered, this is
the man who was blind, and he said to them, What herein is
a marvelous thing, that you, who are leaders of Israel, rulers
of the Jews, know not whence he is, and yet he hath opened
mine eyes. Now we know that God heareth
not sinners, but if a man be a worshipper of God, and doeth
his will, him he heareth, Since the world began, was it not heard
that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind? This is amazing. We never heard of anyone opening
the eyes of someone who was born blind, ever. It must be from
God, and you fellows who represent God don't know who he is and
where he came from. This is amazing. If this man were not of God,
he said, verse 33, he could do nothing. And here's their reply. They answered and said unto him,
You were altogether born in sins. Of course, they didn't think
they were. Dost thou teach us? And they cast him out. That phrase,
cast him out, it means a whole lot more than throw him out the
door. They excommunicated him. They excommunicated him from
the temple, from the Jewish religion, from the benefits or anything.
They said, you are officially out in the cold. And Jesus heard, verse 35, Our
Lord heard that they had cast him out, excommunicated him.
And when he found him, he said to him, Dost thou believe on
the Son of God? He answered and said, Who is
he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And the Lord Jesus said
to him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with
thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. I believe. And he worshipped
him. And then our Lord said to him
and to these Pharisees, because they were there too, because
you see in the verse after this one that they replied to his
charge. But our Lord said in verse 39,
immediately to these around him, to this man whose sight was restored
and the fire ceased too, he said, for judgment I'm coming to this
world. Now the word judgment is twofold.
You immediately think, for condemnation I've come into this world. But
the Lord Jesus did not come into this world to condemn the world.
The world was already condemned. He came to save. But he says,
for judgment I've come into this world. But judgment is twofold. A judge may hand down a decision
for or against. And you see what I'm saying?
For or against. For judgment. Either far or against,
I'm coming to this word. If you do not believe I am He,
you die in your sins. If you believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, you have life. Far or against, you see? Judgment,
far or against. For judgment, far or against. Watch it now. That they which
see not might see. Here's an example. Here was a
man born blind. I made him see. I've come that
those who are blind from birth spiritually might see. I've come for judgment, far in
their favor, that those who are blind from birth, who are in
darkness and know it, and know it, who truly desire to see,
who know they can't see and want to see and desire to see the
glory of God, I am come that they might see." And contrary to that, on the
other side, I am come that they would see. Who are they? I am come that those who think
they see, who boast of their wisdom and their knowledge, their
righteousness, like these fellows. You were altogether born in sin,
not us. We be not born of fornication,"
they said, Abraham's iPod. We see. We see. I've come that those who think
they see, who boast of their farsightedness, wisdom, and knowledge,
might be hardened in their blindness and further blinded. You understand what he's saying?
I've come, for judgment I've come to this world. I'm the difference. I've come that those who are
blind and know it. As long as they see, they might
see. And those who think they see
might be hardened in their blindness and darkness. And in the next verse, they said,
some of the Pharisees that angered them, they felt the sting of
his words. They felt the sting of his words. And they, some of the Pharisees
which were with him, heard these words and they said, are we blind?
Are you saying that we're blind? Are you talking about us? And Jesus said, now listen to
this carefully. If you were blind, you'd have
no sin. If you were blind, if you were
truly a blind person, if you were honestly, truly a blind
person, You would be, with all your heart and strength, seeking
sight. If you weren't, if you were truly
blind, one thing you'd want above all things, and that would be
to see, if you were truly blind. If you were truly blind, and
knew you were blind, knew you couldn't see, you would seek
him who could give you sight, who would give you sight. And
then you wouldn't be in darkness, and you wouldn't be in sin. You
would have no sin, you'd have no darkness. You'd have no condemnation. But now you say, now you claim
to see. You say, we see, therefore your
darkness remains. Look at that verse, Paul, if
you were blind, the blind are going to have their sight restored.
That's why Christ came. The lost are going to be found,
every one of them. Sinners are going to be saved.
He came to seek and to save the lost. He came to save sinners.
They're going to be saved. My brother, me and him, there
are a lot of sinners. Everybody's a sinner. They are not. Ask them.
These fellows weren't blind. Yes, they were blind. No, they
weren't. They said they weren't. It's what you say. You say you're
saved. You know what he said? You say
that. Therefore, your sin remains,
and it's going to remain as long as you say that. As long as you
say, I'm all right, you're going to be all wrong and stay wrong. As long as you say, well, I have
a hope, you'll rest on that hope until you perish with it. But
when you say, I can't see, I can't understand, I don't have any
righteousness, I don't have a hope, I'm lost, I'm a sinner, I need
help, you're going to get it. A man will never be saved until
he's plum lost. As long as he's got a place to
hold his fingernails, to keep them sliding down, he's going
to hang on. But once he's gone, he'll say,
Lord, save me, or I'll perish. God be merciful to me of sin.
That's what I love to say. I've come into this world for
judgment, pro and con. The things that don't see and
can't see and want to see are going to see, guaranteed. Every
one of them. Because they're going to seek
him. If a man ever finds out he's lost, he's going to be saved.
All that matter. But those who say we see, your
seeing remains. It remains. It remains on you,
in you. And then he gives them a parable
here in chapter 10. Verily I say unto you, let's
read the first six verses. 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, but he that entereth
in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. And to him the
port opened, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own
sheep by name. leads them out. And when he put
forth his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow
him. They know his voice. And a stranger will they not
follow? They will flee from the stranger. They don't know the
voice of a stranger. And this parable spake Jesus
unto them, but they understood not what things they were which
he spake to them. They couldn't understand him
either. We get discouraged because folks don't understand us, but
they don't understand him either. Those that understand him understand
you. But this is a parable to these people who know what a
sheepfold is. You and I don't. I've never seen
a sheepfold, but I've read about them. These folks knew immediately
what a sheepfold was. A sheepfold was a great enclosure protected by high walls. or stakes driven in the ground,
but all the way around was a high wall and with only one door.
And when night fell, these shepherds over in those countries, eastern
countries, would bring their sheep in from the hills, bad
weather or nightfall, and they'd bring their flocks into the sheepfold,
put them through the door. There'd be ten or twelve shepherds
with ten or twelve sheep apiece, maybe more. And he'd put them
all in that sheepfold, they'd go get a nice rest, and the sheep
would stay there in the sheepfold in the enclosure. And the porter
sat by the door, took care of the sheep. Any fellow that climbed
up any other way was a thief and a robber. The only fellow
that came by the door was the shepherd of the sheep, and to
him the porter opens, but not to anybody else. If anybody comes
around that sheepfold, he's a thief and a robber. But the next morning,
The shepherds would come down to the door, to the porter sitting
there. He knew the shepherds. And he
would let the shepherd in, and the shepherd would go in and
call his sheep. And then he'd turn, and here
they came, every one of them. They'd follow him. They wouldn't
follow a stranger. They knew the shepherds. The
shepherds knew them. And these eastern shepherds named
their sheep. Every one of them. They named
them. They'd sit on the side of the hill and watch them graze, and
name them. There's Billy and there's another one, like Europeans
named their horses. They named every one of their
sheep. Call them by name. Sheep knew them, they knew the
sheep. They'd lead them out. Now let's establish four things
here. This is the Lord Jesus speaking now. Let's establish
four things here. Now number one, he's the shepherd.
He's called the shepherd of the sheep. Down here in verse 11,
he says, I am the good shepherd. I am the good shepherd. I'm the holy shepherd, the righteous
shepherd, the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life
for the sheep. And secondly, he's the great
shepherd. That's what he says over here, Paul says in Hebrews
chapter 13. Let me read it to you. Paul says
in Hebrews 13, Now the God of peace that brought again from
the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep,
through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect."
So he's the good shepherd, he's the great shepherd, and then
Peter said, in 1 Peter 5, he's the chief shepherd. Peter says,
we're under-shepherds. He says here in 1 Peter 5, Two, he says to the elders, feed
the flock of God which is among you, feed the sheep, the flock
of sheep, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but
willingly, not for money, but a ready mind, neither being lords
over God's sheep, but being examples to God's sheep, and when the
chief shepherd shall come back, you shall receive a crown of
glory. So he's the shepherd. That's
established. Good shepherd, great shepherd,
chief shepherd. And he has many sheep. Look down
here at verse 14 of chapter 10 of John. I'm the good shepherd.
I know my sheep. He calls them mine. I know my
sheep. I'm known of mine. As the Father
knoweth me, even so I know the Father, and I lay down my life
for the sheep. And other sheep I have, I have
more sheep than this flock here, this Matthew, Mark, Luke and
John and James and Paul. I've got other sheep, they'll
hear my voice. That's why the other sheep I have which are
not of this group here, them I must bring. And they shall
hear my voice, and they shall be one fold. I don't have a whole
bunch of churches, I've got one. A whole bunch of flocks, I've
got one. A whole bunch of foals, I've
got one foal and one shepherd. Boy, the Pharisees murmured at
that. Look down here at verse 19. There was a division. There
was a division therefore again among the Jews for these things.
They said, He's got a devil. He's crazy. Why do you listen
to him? Others said, These are not the words of a man without
the devil. Can a devil open blind eyes, eyes of blind people? And
it was at Jerusalem, the Feast of the Dedication, it was winter,
and Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch, and these
same fellows, they just won't quit, will they? These Jews came
round to die, and they said, now how long, how long are you
going to keep us in suspense? If you be the Christ, tell us
plainly. They weren't wanting to know if he was the Christ.
They wanted to hear him say it so they could go tell the chief
priest or herald or pilot or somebody. So this man claims
to be the Christ, the Messiah, the King. We better get rid of
him. He said, now tell us plainly. Tell us in ABC words so we can
tell on you. That's exactly what he said.
You tell us plainly. Don't hit at it now. He said,
I told you. I told you. I told you. It's like I told these people
that do believe. I told you too. You heard the same thing they
heard. I told you. Not only I tell you, but the
Father told you. The works I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me. John the Baptist bore witness
of me. The works that I do, this blind man seeing, that bears
witness of me. Nicodemus said you've got to
be from God. No man could do these miracles except God did.
I told you. But you didn't believe me. Look
at verse 26. And you didn't believe me because
you're not of my sheep." That's why you don't believe. You know
why you do believe? You're his sheep. My sheep, hear
my voice. A man who doesn't hear his voice
is not his sheep. His sheep hear his voice. Those
who are following strangers are not following Christ, and they're
not his sheep. My sheep follow me. You don't
hear me and you don't believe me because you're not of my sheep.
Verse 27, my sheep, hear my voice, I know them. And they follow
me and I give them eternal life and they'll never perish. Neither
shall any man pluck them out of my hands. Now, that brings
us to this next verse. Where did he get these sheep? My father gave them to me. That's
where I got them. My father gave them to me. This
is undeniable. This is without question. My
father gave them to me. And he's greater than all. And
nobody's going to pluck them out of my father's hand. I'm
my father's one. If you turn to John chapter 6,
our Lord, he's the shepherd. He's the shepherd. Everybody
who quotes Psalm 23, listen, the Lord is my shepherd. How
did he get to be your shepherd? Did you make him your shepherd?
Well, I chose him to be my shepherd. He's not your shepherd. He's
not your shepherd. The Father made him your shepherd
if he's your shepherd. My Father gave him to me. My
Father gave him to me. He's the chief shepherd. He's the great shepherd that
God brought again from the dead through the blood of the everlasting
covenant. John 6. All that my Father giveth me
shall come to me, him that cometh to me out of no wise cast out.
I came down from heaven, not to do my will, but the will of
him that sent me. This is the Father's will which
he sent me, that of all which he gave me." Where did he get
his sheep? He says, My Father gave them.
Can we understand plain English? My Father gave them to me. And
he says here again, he says it over and over again. This is
the Father's will, it is what you have sent me, of all which
he hath given me. I'll lose nothing, not a one
of them. That's what he said over here,
no man can pluck them out of my hand, no man can pluck them
out of my Father's hand. They'll never perish. I won't
lose a one of them, not a single one. If one sheep could fall
away, I'd fall a thousand times a day, wouldn't you? If it's
possible, I'm not holding him, he's holding me. I'm not keeping
him, he's keeping me. He's not in my hand, I'm in his
hand. There's a difference. I'm going to raise him up. John
10 again. He's the shepherd of the sheep. He's the good shepherd who laid
down his life for the sheep. He's the great shepherd. He has
a sheep. He calls them mine. And the Father
gave them to him. But they're in the world. They're
in this sheepfold called the world. And they're scattered
among a whole lot of rag muffins just like them. fuzzy, furry,
blind, nearsighted, wandering lost sheep in the sheepfold. That picture, that sheepfold
he's talking about, there's the many people in the world. They
may be lost sheep, but they're his. They may be wandering sheep,
but they always have been his. So he comes down to the sheepfold
here in verse Now, verily I say unto you, he that entereth not
by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way,
is a thief and a robber. But he that comes to the door,
into the door, that's the shepherd. So there's just one door by which
this shepherd can come and get his sheep. And it's the door
of covenant mercies. It's the door of covenant mercies.
He's the great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the
covenant mercies. It's the door of perfect righteousness. Can't
be self-righteousness. That's the crook climbing over
the wall of self-righteousness over there, trying to get to
the sheep. That's the crook. The fellow that's talking about
free willism and self-righteousness and your morality and your holiness
and all that, that's not the door. The door where God is the
porter. Who's this porter? What, not
Moses? Not an angel? No angel's got that kind of power.
To let the shepherd in or keep him out? No, that's God. There's
one porter at the door. He opens and no man shuts, and
he shuts and no man opens. That's God. So the shepherd's
got to come to the door over which God has total rule. And it's the God of covenant
mercies, and it's the God of a perfect righteousness, and
it's the God of reconciliation, and it's the God of a blood atonement,
and it's the God of obedience, and it's the God of perfect holiness.
And no sheep's going to come out of there without coming through
that door. And the shepherds got to come to that door. But
thank God, look at verse 3, to him the Lord will open. To him,
oh, to him the porter opened. Only to him. Only to him. He said, The Spirit of the Lord
is upon me, he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the
poor. He hath sent me to set the captive free. He sent me
to give sight to the blind. He hath sent me to give deliverance
to the captives. In the volume of the book is
written of me, I come, O Lord, to do thy will. He comes to the
door of the Holy of Holies. He's the only one to whom it
will open. He's the one high priest with the blood of Thomas,
and the door opens to him. Listen to Psalm 24. I believe it's Psalm 24. Lift up your heads, O ye gates! Be ye lifted up, ye everlasting
doors! The King of glory will come in."
Who is this King of glory? It's the Lord strong and mighty,
it's the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates!
Even lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory
shall come in. Who is this King of glory? It's
the Lord of hosts. He's the King of glory. To him
the Lord opens, the Father opens. This door is the holy of holies,
this door is to the Father's throne." And he went up to the
throne and took the book out of his hand. Who is this? It's
the shepherd. It's the lamb. It's the high
priest. It's this king of kings. Heaven
itself. He said, I go to prepare a place
for you. Open up the everlasting doors.
The king of glory is coming in. And I tell you this, he's the
only one that can open a heart and come in. I'll take that stony
heart out and give you a heart of flesh. Amen. His sheep are there and he comes
to the door and the Lord God, Almighty God to him opens the
door. Read on now. And the porter opened
it and the sheep, the sheep hear his voice. Father opens to him. He represents us. He's our shepherd. He came to bring the proper sacrifice,
to present the proper righteousness, and they hear his voice. How
do they hear his voice? They hear the gospel. That's
what it says over here in Ephesians 1. It says in Ephesians 1, verse
13, in whom you trusted after you heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation, in whom after you believed you
were sealed with the Holy Spirit. And over here in 2 Thessalonians,
listen to this. We're bound to give thanks always
to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God has
from the beginning chosen you to salvation. You're his sheep. He chose you and gave you to
Christ through sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the
truth. by our gospel. He called you by our gospel to
the obtaining of the glory of Jesus Christ. The Father opens
to him who represents us, who is our great shepherd, and he
comes in, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls them
by name. Oh, look at that. Look at that,
verse 4, verse 3. And he calls his own sheep by
name. Yes, those old eastern shepherds,
they loved their sheep. They were with them all day long. They loved their sheep. They
gave each sheep a name. The shepherds could sit on the
hillside and call each sheep by his name. This expresses three
things. His love for those sheep. His knowledge of those sheep.
He knows them. He loves them, he knows them,
and his particular care of each one. Now, to somebody who doesn't
care, that's just a flock. But not to a shepherd. No, not
to a shepherd. That's my sheep. And when that
shepherd here had ninety and nine in the fold and one was
missing, that was you. He left the ninety and nine,
went in the wilderness, suffered, bled, and died. to put him on
his shoulder and bring him home. I love my sheep, you see. I know
my sheep. I call them by name. They know
me. They know me. I care for them. Each one. My distinct knowledge
of each one, each precious one, is real. And then listen. And
he leads them out. He doesn't drive them. I see
these preachers preaching on TV. And I wonder why in the world
would folks sit there and listen to them browbeat them and badger
them and bawl them out and scream at them and accuse them of being
all these different things. Why do they sit and listen to
those people? Our Lord doesn't beat his people
over the head with the law and beat his people over the head
with the whip. He goes before them and leads them by example, by love, by grace,
and they follow him. And here's what they're following
him. Listen. And when he puts forth his sheep
and goes before them, the sheep follow him. What are they listening
to? His voice. They love his voice. They don't love a bunch of people
standing around with microphones singing, you know. That won't
get it. They love his voice. Used to be an old, back when
cigarettes was so popular, back when I was a kid. Camels had
an ad, you old fellas remember this, I'd walk a mile for a camel.
A lot of people would if they didn't have one, you know. Walk
a mile. But a sheep will go a long ways for a field of clover. You
walk a mile. Loves the voice of his shepherd. And this is it right here. They follow him for they know
his voice. They know his voice. I don't
know much about real sheep, never owned one, and I don't know much
about their ability to detect the voice of their shepherd.
But my Lord says here they know his voice. But I do know about
spiritual sheep and their spiritual nature which God gives them.
And they know the voice of the shepherd, they know the voice
of Christ. They know the word of Christ,
and they know the difference. A sheep knows the difference.
When he's hearing error, that's a strange voice. That's what
he says here. A stranger, they won't follow. Oh no, that stranger
may be very compelling, he may have a lot of plans for him,
you know, he's going to do this, that, but they're suspicious.
They don't know the voice of a stranger. His doctrine is not
straight. They know the voice of their shepherd. They know
his word. They know his truth. They know in their hearts who
their father is. And they know when a preacher
is talking about their father. They know. The attributes of
their God. When they hear a preacher talk
about God wants to do this and wants to do that and you won't
let him, that sheep says, that's not my God. That's not the voice
of my shepherd. They know their Redeemer. I know
my Redeemer liveth. That's what Job said. I know
him. Paul said, I know whom I have believed. And when I hear a man
preach Christ, I know him. I recognize him. Don't you? A sheep does. They know his voice. A stranger they will not. They
know this glorious gospel. They know the truth about themselves
and about their Lord. They know the commandments of
their Lord. They know the word of their Lord, they love his
voice. And a stranger, verse 5, they will not follow, they'll
flee from him, flee from him. They know not the voice of a
stranger. In this parable, our Lord spoke to them and they didn't
understand it. But then our Lord said in verse
7, listen to this, I'm closing in a minute. He said, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, I am the door. I am the door. I know what a door is, don't
you? I know that's a door right there. And I know what purpose
that door serves. By passing through that door,
I leave where I am and enter where I wish to be, by passing
through that door. And that's the only That's the
only door from here to my office. I want in my office. I want out
of here. I want in my office. That's a door, and by passing
one step through that door, and I'm on my way to the office.
Jesus Christ said, I'm the door, the only door. And by passing through him, by
him, I pass from darkness to light, from death to life, from
condemnation to acceptance. I'm the door. He didn't come
to make a way, he is the way. He didn't come to destroy the
law, he is our Lord. He didn't come to promote righteousness,
he came to give righteousness. He didn't come to change the
Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday, he is my Sabbath. He didn't come
to provide an atonement, he is my atonement. He is my door. Now watch this, verse 9. I am, I am, that's God. Moses
said, when they asked me who you are, what am I going to say?
He said, you tell them I am that I am. So Christ said, I am the
only door for Moses and me, both. For Jew and Gentile, male and
female, harlot or mother, thief or honest man, I'm the door.
I'm the door. And by me, if any man, what? Knowing that door is there is
not going to get me through it. Admiring it is not going to get
me through it. Talking about it is not going to get me through
it. If any man, oh my, to as many as received him, to them
he gave you the power to become the sons of God. If thou shalt
confess with thy mouth, Jesus, to be Lord, and believe in thine
heart, to him I have committed my soul, go through the door. I believe. If any man, I am the door, by
me if any man enter in, he shall be saved. That's a precious word. Saved from the curse of the law,
from the guilt of sin, and someday from the very presence of sin.
And what's this? He shall go in and out. He shall go in and out. What
is that talking about? Let me suggest something. If any man, I'm the door, by
me, if any man enter in, he'll go into the Lord's Church. He'll
find fellowship and family and peace and joy. But he'll also
go out into a world of natural meaning, enemies of the gospel, where
he'll have to live and make his living. But he'll still find
pasture. He'll go in and out, and he'll
always be provided for. He shall go in to the throne
of God. Everybody here, there are times,
there are precious times, that we're able to lay hold in prayer
and worship of our God. Not all the time, but there are
times, there are times. But there are other times when
we're out yonder in an unfriendly world, working, laboring, conflict
all around us, but you're still in His pasture, whether you're
in that throne room, in the secret place of the Most High, under
the shadow of the Almighty, you abide in or out. Now this is
important, because you ain't always there. Sometimes you're
out yonder, isn't that right? Among folks you don't want to
be among. But you have to be. He shall go in to the still waters
of peace. He leads me by the still waters.
I've known a lot of those places. But you go out to a sea of trouble.
And this life, for every one of our little ships, this is
a rough sea sometimes, isn't it? Out yonder on the deep, on
the bramble. Pretty rough. I'm not always
sitting by that stale strain. Sometimes it's awful rough. But
whether in or out, he's my shepherd, and I find pasture. Provision,
provision, some day, some good day, no matter in or out, the
Lord will provide. The Lord is my shepherd, and
I shall not walk. I am the Dover. by me if any
man. So enter in. You'll be safe,
once and for all. You'll go in and out, and you'll
find pasture. May the Lord bless his word to
our hearts.