or His Redeemer and Lord, He
said, He's my Shepherd. The Lord is my Shepherd. And
because He's my Shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. He leadeth me by the still waters.
He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in paths of righteousness
for His name's sake. And then he wrote again, the
Lord hath made us, and not we ourselves. We're the sheep of
His pasture. And here in John 10, our Master
chose that type to identify His work and His relationship with
His people. He said in John 10, verse 11, the Good Shepherd. I am the Good
Shepherd. And I'll tell you, whatever type
or symbol that our Lord uses to reveal Himself and His relationship
with His people and His work on their behalf, He always uses
the definite article. He didn't say, I am a Good Shepherd.
He said, I'm the Good Shepherd. If he's not my shepherd, I don't
have one. I am the good shepherd. He said
I'm the door. There is no other door. By me,
if any man enter in, he shall be saved and go in and out and
find pasture. But there's not another door.
I am the bread. They said Moses gave us the bread
from heaven. He said, no, he didn't. Moses
gave you not that bread from heaven. My Father gave you the
bread from heaven. I'm the bread. He said, I'm the
way. They said, we know not whether
thou goest. How can we know the way? He said,
I'm the way. The truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but
by Me. I'm Thee. And He said, I'm the
Good Shepherd. Meaning by that, holy shepherd,
righteous shepherd, just shepherd, chief shepherd, great shepherd.
He has no rival. But I believe that he's meaning
something else here too. I'm a good shepherd. A good shepherd. Proof of it is, the good shepherd
giveth his life for the sheep. That's a good shepherd. Greater
love hath no man than this. They lay down His life for His
friends. I'm a good shepherd. Let's look at Isaiah 40 for just
a moment. Isaiah chapter 40, verse 9, where the Father speaks of this
good shepherd. Ozion, church, that's the word
for the church. true Israel, Isaiah 40, verse
9, O Zion that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the
high mountain. O Jerusalem that bringest good
tidings, lift up your voice with strength. Lift it up now. Don't
be afraid. Say unto the cities of Judah,
Behold your God. Behold, the Lord God will come
with strong hand, and his arms shall rule for him. Behold, his
reward is with him, and his work before him. He'll feed his flock
like a shepherd. He'll gather the lambs with his
arm, carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that
are with young." That's a good shepherd. I'm the good shepherd. The good shepherd loves his sheep. And proof of that love is John
10, verse 11. He gives his life for the sheep. Now then, if a man is a hireling,
verse 12 and 13, if a man's hired to care for the sheep, they're
not his. They're not his sheep. He doesn't
love them. He's taking care of the sheep simply because someone
is paying him to do so, and he says, If a man's a hireling and
not the shepherd, who's owned the sheep or not? See, if the
wolf cometh and he'll leave the sheep, he cares for his own skin,
his own welfare and well-being. He doesn't love the sheep. And
he'll leave the sheep. And he'll flee. He'll flee from
the wolf. He'll flee from the danger. He'll flee from the trial.
And the wolf catcheth them and scattereth the sheep. The wolf
can't destroy the sheep. They're his sheep. But he can
scatter them. He can divide them. He can cause them a lot of trouble.
And he fleeth because he's a hireling. He doesn't care for the sheep.
That's the problem. I'm the good shepherd. I love
my sheep. And I lay down my life for the
sheep. I give them all I have, my very life, he said, because
I love them. But the hireling doesn't love them. And he says
in verse 14, I am the good shepherd. He repeats it again. I am the
good shepherd. And I know my sheep. And they
know me. What does this mean? I looked
at this. The word know has many meanings. have used it to mean the word
love. I'm the good shepherd. I love
my sheep. And he does. I love my sheep. We'll get down
to that in a minute. But this word here, I believe,
carries about four meanings. I am the good shepherd. I know
my sheep. First of all, I own them. They're mine. He calls them,
I know my sheep. They're mine. He calls them my
sheep. He calls the church my church. On this rock I'll build
my church. He calls them my jewels when
I make up my jewels. He calls them my brethren. He
said, and the father and the brethren which he gave me. My
brethren. So, I'm the good shepherd. I
know my sheep because I own them. They belong to me. And then secondly,
These sheep are a gift from my Father. Look at verse 29. My
Father gave them me. My Father gave them to me. And
He's greater than all. No man's able to pluck them out
of my Father's hand. I know my sheep because these
are the ones in the eternal counsels of old whom the Father gave to
me, made me their surety. put them on and in my hands to
redeem. I own them. My Father gave them
to me. And then thirdly, He calls them
by name. I know them. I know their names.
Abraham, get thee out of thy father's house. Matthew, follow
me. James, John, Fold up your nets. Come after me. I'll make you
fishers of men. Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me? I know them by name. Look back
at verse 3, chapter 10. To him the porter openeth, and
the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out. A person's
name is important to them. precious to them. I'll tell you,
you've got a great advantage if you can remember someone's
name. Occasionally, I do remember somebody's
name. I haven't seen them for a long
time and go up to them and say, well, how are you, John? And they'll say, you remembered
my name. You remembered. You ever had somebody do that?
You remembered my name. I know one of the children here
in the church one day, I got a little confused and called
the child by the wrong name, and she looked at her mom and
said, he doesn't know my name. That's a shock. My pastor doesn't
know my name. I did, I just got confused. But
here it says, I know their names. I know, I call them by name.
Don't you ever think he'll forget your name. I know my sheep. I own them,
they're mine. I know my sheep because my Father
gave them to me. All that my Father giveth me
will come to me. And him that cometh to me I'll
in no wise cast out. I pray not for the world. I pray
for those whom thou hast given me. Thine they were and you gave
them to me. And all mine are yours and yours
are mine. I know them. I call them by name. Our Lord said to the disciples
when they came back from a missionary trip one day, and they were so
astonished, they said, Lord, the devils are subject to us.
We had such power that the devils, demons, were subject to us. You
know what he said? He said, truly I say unto you,
don't rejoice that the devil is a subject to you. Rejoice
that your names are written in heaven. Your name. Isn't that something? Written
in heaven. He knows your name. I'd rather
be known in heaven than known in Washington, hadn't you? A
lot of people think it's so big because they're known in Washington
or New York I ran into a fellow down at somewhere
I was preaching not long ago, and he came to hear me. He was
a wandering Jew. And he showed up in the service,
and he said, so you're Henry May? I said, yes, sir. Unfortunately,
that's who I am, you know. So you're Henry May? I said,
yes, sir. He said, you know, I heard your name out in Dallas,
Texas one time. He said, just think of that.
They know you all the way out in Dallas. I'd rather be known
in heaven than known in Dallas. That didn't impress me at all,
that they knew me in Dallas. Not a bit in this way. Did him.
He said, think about it. I said, I will. Oh, they know
you in Dallas. Who knows me? That's another
problem, isn't it? Oh, my. He said, I know them
by name. I call them by name. And then
fourthly, he said, I'm the good shepherd. I know my sheep. I've
always known them. Never was a time I didn't know
them. Never was an hour when they weren't on my heart, in
my hands. Yeah, he said, I've loved you
with an everlasting love and with loving kindness. I've loved
you with a what? Everlasting love. He said about Jeremiah, he said,
before I formed you in the belly, I knew you. Before you came out
of your mother's womb, I knew you and called you by name. He said about the two boys in
the womb of Rebekah, Jacob and Esau, wasn't that their
mother? Rebekah, yeah. He said, Jacob, before the children
were born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God, according to election, might stand. It was said to her,
Jacob, have I loved. Not, I will love. He didn't say,
Jacob, I will love. He said, I have loved him. I
have loved you with an everlasting love. And Jacob's one of those,
I have Jacob, have I loved? Esau, have I hated? Not I'm going to hate him when
he comes out of the womb and starts acting ugly. I hate him
before he's ever born. That's what it says in Jacob,
have I loved? Esau, have I hated? I know my sheep. I've always known them and always
will. I know my sheep, and they know
me. They won't know me till I call them, but they'll know me. He
knew me before I knew him, and that's how I know him, because
he knew me. He loved me before I loved him,
but that's why I love him. I love him because he first loved
me. Herein is love, not that we loved
him, but that he loved us and gave his life a perpetuation
for sin. I'm the good shepherd. The good
shepherd gives his life for the sheep. I'm the good shepherd,
and I know them. And they know me. Now, verse
15 should be read in connection with verse 14. We ought not stop
there. We ought to read verse 14, then
read verse 15, because verse 15 shows the extent and the glory and the beauty
and the awesomeness of this relationship and union between Christ and
His sheep, the shepherd and the sheep. He said, listen, let's
read them together, I am the good shepherd and I know my sheep
and am known of mine as the Father knows me. And as I know the Father,
that's how I know my sheep. Think about that. That's how
I love them, as the Father knows me. And as I know the Father,
I know my sheep." The love, the knowledge, the
union between Christ and His sheep is like that between the
Father and the Son. I know that's hard to comprehend,
but I can show you that again in John 17, if you care to look
at it. John 17, verse 21, 22 and 23. that holy ground prayer, that
sacred place and petition from the high priest. He says in verse
21 of John 17, that they all may
be one as thou art, 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 hast given me which thou gavest me, I have
given them, that they may be one as we are one. I in them, and thou in me, that
they may be made perfect in one, that the world may know that
thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as you love me." You see why I say those as the
Father and the Son are one, Christ and the sheep are one. As the
Father knows the Son, and the Son knows the Father, Christ
knows His sheep, and they know Him. As the Father loves the
Son, He loves His sheep. And verse 15 said, As the Father
knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and I lay down my life
for the sheep. Now there are some things I know,
and about which I have no doubt. A lot of things we do not know,
and about which we have great concern and conflict. But here are some things I know.
Number one, the Lord Jesus Christ, that great
Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting
covenant, came into this world. In the fullness of time, He was
made of a woman, made under the law to redeem somebody. I know
that for a fact. The God-man came to save sinners
and to call out a people for His name. I know that. He came
to save a people and they're called sinners in the Bible.
This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that
Christ Jesus came in the world to save sinners. I've come to
seek and to save the lost. He was their representative.
He's called the second Adam. The second Adam is the Lord from
heaven. As in Adam we die, in Christ
we live. They who have borne the image
of the earthly shall bear the image of the heavenly. As our
father Adam imputed and imparted to us guilt, our Savior, the
Lord Jesus, imparted and imputed and reckoned to us holiness and
righteousness. He had to fulfill all that God's
law and justice required of us, that God may be just and justifier
of those who believe. And he lived as a man, tried,
tested in all points as those people were, yet without sin. He obeyed perfectly every jot
and tittle of God's holy requirements. He died. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law being made a curse for us. He died just
for the unjust to bring us to God. He arose without sin unto
salvation. And unto them that look for Him
shall He appear the second time because He ascended and seated
at the right hand praying for somebody. Now those things are
true. Beyond a shadow of a doubt. The
question is, for whom did he do all this? Now, I know his sacrifice is
not just an offer. It's called a gift. I know he didn't pay the debt
partially. He said it's finished. It's finished,
paid in full. I know his redemptive work was
not just an attempt to redeem because his scripture says he
cannot fail. Well, he clearly defines those
for whom he died. He said, in verse 11, I'm the good shepherd,
the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. In verse
15, he said, "...as the Father knoweth me, even so know I the
Father. I lay down my life for the sheep." He died for the sheep. And he
further defines it in verse 24. Now listen to this. John 10,
24, "...and then the Jews came round about him, and they said
to him..." These religious fellows we've been talking about for
several days. How long are you going to keep us in suspense?
Make us doubt. If you are the Christ, the Christ,
the Messiah, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you. I told you. And you didn't believe
me. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me. My Father bore witness, the works,
the Scriptures. But you believe not. Now listen.
And I'll tell you why you don't believe. Some do. But you don't,
he said. And the reason you don't believe
is because you're not of my sheep. That's why you don't believe.
You see? As I said to you, My sheep, they
know Me. They hear My voice. And they
follow Me. And I give them, My sheep, not
you, but My sheep, eternal life. And they'll never perish. And
neither shall any man ever pluck them out of My hand. My Father
gave them to Me. And He's greater than all. And
you can't pluck them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father
are one. I lay down my life for the sheep. Sacrifice for the sheep. All this he did for the sheep.
Now look at verse 16. Oh, how precious this is. He's
talking about us in this verse. He's talking about you and me.
And other sheep I have. He looked on these twelve disciples
that were before him. And he says, other sheep I have
which are not of this fold, not of these disciples, not even
of this nation. Other sheep I have. He told Abraham,
he said, you'll have a seed, and he wasn't talking about the
Jewish nation, he was talking about the seed Christ and the
seed through Christ. We're children of Abraham by
faith. We're sons of God by faith. And
he said to Abraham, they'll be like the stars of the sky. That's
a great host of people, isn't it? He said to Abraham, my people,
your seed will be like the sands of the seashore. He told John on the Isle of Patmos,
I have a people out of every tribe. You know how many tribes
there are in this world? Every tribe, like families. Every kindred, every kindred,
every family, every nation, every tongue on earth. I have a people. A number which no man could number. And them I must bring, and they
shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd."
Now, how can you account for this when the Scripture says
so often, many there be that call, a few are chosen? Narrow
is the way that leadeth to life, few there be that find it. Fear
not, little flock. Scripture we read tonight before
we came to the service in here, There's a remnant according to
the election of grace. I'll tell you how I count for
it. Two scriptures. Turn to Numbers 14. I believe there'll be more people
in heaven than there will be in hell. Not that more adults, morally
responsible people, believe the gospel. Most of them don't. But
I can tell you this. In the history of this world,
from the time man fell to this present day, more people have died in childhood
and infancy than ever grew up. That's a fact. It's not a fact. It's just truth. I'm talking
about every nation through the 6,000, 7,000 years of man's history. Their families in some of these
places had ten children, and eight of them be dead. One woman
over here on the Blue Ridge Parkway, nineteen children was she had,
and they all died in infancy. Nineteen children. Not a one
survived. And God said here in Numbers
chapter 14, That's where I told you to turn, Numbers 14. When God told Moses to go take
the promised land, they were outside the promised land in
a place called Kadesh Barnea or something like that. He told
them to go take the land, and they didn't do it. They appointed
a committee, 12 men, to go and spy out the land to see if they
could take it. God didn't tell them to go see
if they could take it. He said, go take it. But they
appointed these men to go see if they could take it. And those
men came back and said, Johnson, that land, they're more than
we are and bigger than we are. It's a wonderful land, flowing
with milk and honey and grapes so big that it takes two men
to carry them on their shoulders. Can't do it. Only two men, Joshua
and Caleb, He said, we can do it because God's with us. God
told us we take the land. All right, the Lord said to them
in Numbers 14, 27, How long shall I bear with this evil generation
which murmur against Me? I have heard the murmurings of
the children of Israel which they murmur against Me. Say unto
them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as you have spoken
in My ears, so will I do to you, your carcasses, shall fall in
the wilderness. And all, everybody that was numbered
of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old
and upward, which have murmured against me, doubtless you shall
not come into the land concerning which I swear to make you dwell
therein, except Caleb and Joshua. But your little ones, which you
said should be a prey, them will I bring in. And they shall know
the land which you have despised. But as for you, your carcasses
will fall in the wilderness." I give comfort to anybody in
this building or anybody to whom I preach who's ever had a child
perish or a young person in your family, there'll be in glory. Our God's gracious. Every one
of them. The old time was used to call
them elect infants. They'll be born of the Spirit
of God. You say, well, how are they going to be born again if
they don't hear the gospel? John the Baptist was filled with
the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb. Christ purchased them. There'll be a people out of every
tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue under heaven. That's what my
Lord said. And I give you comfort about
I have much better hope for those who have died in infancy than
I do for most people who have grown up. The Lord is merciful. 2 Samuel 12, I'll tell you somebody
in whom I have a lot of confidence who believed this besides me.
David believed it. David believed it. He believed
infants were in the hands of God mercifully. He didn't believe
infants were in hell. In 2 Samuel 12, 2 Samuel 12,
you remember David had a child who died. Just a few days after
he was born, David prayed for the child, prayed for the child,
and the child died anyway. In 2 Samuel 12, 19, David saw
his servants whispering. Are you with me? 2 Samuel 12,
19. David perceived that the child was dead. Therefore, David
said to his servants, is the child dead? And they said, he's
dead. David arose from the earth and
washed and anointed himself and changed his apparel and came
into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he came to his
own house and when he had required, they set bread before him and
he did eat. Then said his servants unto him,
what thing is this you have done? You did fast and weep for the
child while it was alive, but when the child was dead, you
did rise and eat bread. And he said, while the child
was alive, I fasted and wept. I said, who can tell whether
God will be gracious to me and let the child live? But now he's
dead. Wherefore should I fast? Can I bring him back? I shall
go to him. He'll not return to me. Where
was David going? He said, I shall dwell in the
house of the Lord forever. And that's where he expected
to find that child. I'll go to him. That's David. You know,
if a fellow won't take the word of the pastor, take the word
of God, David wrote that by the Spirit of God. So if David's
child there, yours is there. God has no respect to a person.
He doesn't take one man's infant to glory and leave another. He
took David's infant to glory by His grace, and He takes yours
there and mine the same way. That's right. Well, I've got
to move on. Look at this verse 16 again. "...other sheep I have, which
are not of this fold, them I must bring." I love this. Them. You know, when we read the Word
of God so hurriedly, you miss so much. Them. Them. Them. All of them. Whom He predestinated
them, He justified. Whom He justified them, He called. Whom He called them, He glorified. Them whom thou hast given me,
I pray for them that they may be with me where I am. Them I
must, oh, our Lord uses this word, I must be about my Father's
business. I must work the works of Him
that sent me while it's day. The Son of Man must be lifted
up. He must rise from the dead. And now He said, other sheep
I have and I must bring them. And Luke gives us the meaning
of that word, bring. I must bring them. Bring them
to God. He died for the unjust that He
might bring us to God. Them I shall bring, accepted
in the Beloved, holy. He is able to present us holy
without blame in His likeness. I bring them to glory. And he says they shall be one
fold and one shepherd. Paul asks the question, is Christ
divided? One of the clear signs to me
that today's religion is false, one of the clear signs that today's
religion is false is the division which marks it. Division. Even among people who are called
grace people, division at odds. And Christ said, other sheep
I have, which are not of this foe, them also I must bring,
and they shall hear my voice, and there'll be one foe, one
shepherd." There's hope that people who
are divided will one day be united. But I'll tell you, when they
come to Christ, they're united. One foe, one shepherd. Now, let's look at these next
two verses, and I'll let you go. You have to understand federal
headship to really enter into this 17th verse. Therefore doth my Father love
me, because I lay down my life. Now, as the Eternal Son, He's
loved. an eternal love, an infinite
love. But He speaks here as our substitute. He speaks here as God's servant. He speaks here as a Redeemer
who came to do the Father's will. Listen. And the laying down of
His life was the supreme act of obedience on our behalf. And He said, therefore does my
Father love me? Because I laid down my life. Philippians,
let's look over there a moment. He's speaking, and this will
help you so often when you're reading things that the Master
said as the serpent, as the Messiah. I told you before, He said, the
works that I do are not my works. They are, He's God, but He's
speaking as the Messiah. They're the works of Him that
sent me. He speaks as a man on a mission. And here he speaks
that way. Now look at Philippians 2. Verse 6. Who, being in the form
of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation,
and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men, and being in fashion as a man, he humbled
himself and became obedient, even unto death. Therefore, God
exalted him. And let me tell you something,
when He exalted him, He exalted us. When He accepted him, He
accepted us. When He loved him, He loved us.
And that's what He's saying here about the sheep. Therefore does
my Father love me, as the obedient servant, and this is the supreme
act of obedience. I lay down my life. No man takes
my life from me, verse 18. No man takes my life. He chose
to be our surety. He chose to be our redeemer.
He chose to come into the world. He chose the woman through which
He would come. He chose the time He would come.
He chose the death He would die. He chose the place where He would
die. He chose the time when He would die. He chose the grave
where He would lie. He chose the time when He would
be raised. No man takes my life from me. I lay it down of myself. I have
the power to lay it down. I have the power to take it again.
This is the purpose, commandment, and will that I receive from
my Father for my sheep." Now then, verse 19, there was a division
because of these sayings. Many of them says, he's got a
devil. He's crazy. Others said, these
are not the words of a devil. These are the words of the Lord.
I want to be in that second group, don't you? These are the words
of the Lord. Can the devil open blind eyes?
Alright, may God bless that to His glory, to your profit.