The Shepherd of the Sheep

Now, I have tried so often to stress to you here, and to the people to whom I preach,
several things that are so important when you're studying the Word
of God. There are some things that are
so very important, one of which is this. Find out who's speaking. That's so important. You remember
when I told you a while ago when I was reading chapter 10 of John,
verse 6, this parable spake Jesus. Christ is speaking here. That's
so important to find out who's speaking. Who's speaking? It's
so important to find out to whom he's speaking. Our Lord spake
this parable to them. So much scripture is misused
and misapplied and abused because it's taken out of the context,
it's attributed to someone who didn't say it, and it's applied
to someone to whom it does not apply at all. Most of the Bible is written
to believers, believers, to the church. About the only thing
in this book for the unbeliever is judgment. There are no promises
to the unbeliever. The only promise to the unbeliever
is that God will punish sin. I hear preachers at funerals
saying, well, all things work together for good. All things
do not work together for good. I beg your pardon. All things
do not work together for good. All things work together for
good to them who love God. who is recalled according to
his purpose. For anyone else, things do not
work together for good. Find out who's speaking, find
out to whom he's speaking, and find out what he's dealing with,
what subject. I'm going to show you an example
of that. Turn to Galatians chapter 6.
Now, this will clinch this matter of what I'm speaking about here.
Galatians chapter 6. Turn there for just a moment.
And remember that the Bible was not written in chapters and verses. Did you know that? The Bible
was not written in chapters and verses. Paul didn't write the letter
to the Colossians in four chapters and so many verses. This Bible,
in the original language of Hebrew and Greek, was written in books,
epistles, and paragraphs. Now, I'm glad that the translators
have divided the Bible into chapters and verses. It helps me find
things. It's an aid to study. It's an aid when we want to find
some scripture. I'm glad it was translated into
verses because it helps me to find some particular verse that
I wish to use or you wish to use. But it's really devastating. when you're not diligent enough
to read what's said before that verse and after that verse. Now,
Galatians 6, verse 7. And I'd almost say this for certainty,
nearly everybody here has quoted this verse before. Be not deceived,
God is not mocked. Whatsoever man soweth, that shall
he reap. Have you ever used that? Have
you ever used, have you ever used, have you ever shot somebody
down with that? Some boy out here, so-and-so's
wife, you gonna re-purchase your soul, son? Thank God that's not
so. Thank God that's not so. What
is Paul dealing with here? Do you have the foggiest notion,
some of you do. You know what he's dealing with?
Giving. That's exactly what he's dealing
with here. That's what he's talking about. Giving. Helping others. Helping those who minister the
gospel. Helping the missionaries. Helping your neighbor who is
without. Helping those who need a helping hand. That's exactly
what he's talking about. And if we take the time to read
what he said before and what he said afterward and find out
who's speaking, what he's speaking about, to whom he's speaking,
we'd know that instead of standing up and declaring an error. Whatsoever
a man soweth, that shall he also reap." That's true in some cases.
But thank God the Lord Jesus reaped my crop on Calvary and
paid the debt. Just because I was wild doesn't
mean my children are going to be wild. You see what I'm saying? Because Christ put it away. Wouldn't
some of you hate to think that you're going to have to face
in your old age of some of the sins and the errors of judgment
and errors of words and errors of deeds that you've made in
the past. Errors. Christ paid for our sins, past,
present and future. Paul's talking about giving.
Now watch verse 6. Let him that is taught in the
word. Let those who are taught in the
scriptures. You learn the scriptures, you're
taught by a pastor, a missionary, a teacher. Communicate. unto
him that teacheth, and all good things." In other words, the
man who studies the Word, prepares the Word, and preaches the Word
to you, and you've been taught in the Scriptures and profited
by his ministry, then take care of his needs. Take care of his
needs. Supply his needs. Communicate
to him. Be not deceived. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever
man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his
flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption." In other words,
God gives me things. In other words, I have an income,
I have different things to use, I have clothes, I have food,
I have all these things. God has given them to me. And
he's given them to me to be a good steward of them, to give them
to others and to share with others. Now, if I take everything God
gives me. And I spend it all on clothes, and I spend it all
on the home, and I spend it all on an automobile, and I spend
it all on entertainment, and I spend it all on my pleasure,
and on my entertainment. You know what I'm going to reap?
I'm going to reap corruption, because the clothes are going
to decay, and the car is going to wear out, and the home is
going to fall down someday. Nothing but the chimney is going
to be left standing. And all the entertainment, I've
lavished this on myself, and I've spent it on myself, and
all of it turns to sand, and all of it turns to ashes, and
all of it turns to nothing, I shall of the flesh reap corruption.
That's the consequences. But, what's it? He that soweth
to the Spirit, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of giving, the
Spirit of grace, the Spirit of generosity, the Spirit of helping
others, He shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting, and let
us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap
if we faint not. As you therefore have opportunity,
let us do good to all men, especially them of the household of faith."
You're going to reap what you sow. If you sow plenty to the
Spirit, In the grace of God and generosity, you shall of the
Spirit reap a blessing. But if you sow it on yourself,
you shall of the flesh reap what the consequences are, decay.
All right, let's go back to John 10. Now, that's sufficient to
show you that you have to find out what goes on before in order
to find out what's going on here. In chapter 10, that I read to
you a moment ago, chapter 10 begins back in chapter 9. The
10th chapter of John begins back in chapter 9 of John. In chapter
9 of John, our Lord had healed a blind man. There was a blind
man. Look at chapter 9, verse 1. As
Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind from his birth.
From his birth, he was born blind. And our Lord healed this blind
man, and it caused all kind of commotion. You look up here and
I'll explain to you what happened, Chuck, tonight. We don't have
time to read it all and comment on every verse. But he healed
this blind man, born blind, blind from his mother's womb. And our
Lord healed him on the Sabbath day. And when this man was healed,
everybody gathered around him, his neighbors and friends gathered
around and said, who healed you? And he said, a man called Jesus.
They said, well, where is he? And he said, I don't know. I
just know that he put clay on my eyes and I can see. And so
they took him, they took this blind man to the Pharisees, to
the religious leaders. All these neighbors and friends,
they were excited and carrying on, and they took him to the
Pharisees, the religious leaders, and they said, this man was born
blind, and a man called Jesus healed him. And the Pharisees'
immediate response was this, he's not of God, this man's not
of God, verse 16. Therefore, chapter 9, verse 16,
therefore, said some of the Pharisees, this man's not of God, because
he keepeth not the Sabbath day. And so they began to say, well,
how can a man that is a sinner do such miracles, and there's
a division among them? And then they said to the man,
they said, well, he went and got his parents. And his parents
said, he's grown, let him answer for himself. They were afraid
of these Pharisees. Let him answer for himself. And they said, well,
what have you got to say? He said, this man is a prophet.
He's a prophet. Now look at verse 28. And they
said to him, they reviled him, and they said to the man that
was blind that crashed at heel, Thou art his disciple, but we
are Moses' disciples. We're Moses' disciples. These
are the Pharisees, the leaders of religion. They said, we're
Moses' disciples. We know that God's spoken to
Moses. As for this fellow Jesus, we
know not whence he is. Then the man answered and said
to them, now this is so interesting, listen. Here's the man that was
blind. Here's the fellow that probably
was a wayside beggar. Here's a man who was in Judaism,
under the bondage of these there Pharisees. He answered and said,
while herein is a marvelous thing, a marvelous thing, that you know
not whence he is. You who are leaders of the Jews,
you who are rulers, you who are teachers. And this man, you know
not whence he is, and yet he has opened mine eyes." Here's
a man that has performed what no man has ever done, opening
the eyes of a blind man. Never been done. And you don't
know whence he is. Now he says, we know that God
heareth not sinners. You said that yourself a while
ago. But if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him
he heard. Since the world began, was it
not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born
blind? If this man were not of God, he could do nothing? And
they answered and said unto him, you were altogether born in sin. Do you teach us? Do you teach
us? Now watch this, this is leading
right up to chapter 10, this parable. And they cast him out. The average person reading that
would think, well, they just cast him out of their presence,
they just cast him out of their fellowship. No, sir, you know
what they did? These religious leaders, these
Pharisees, these rulers of the Jews, excommunicated him from
the Jewish community. They not only withdrew their
presence from him, they withdrew his privileges from him. He couldn't
come back in the temple. Isn't that right, John? He couldn't
have any part in the sacrifices. He could not participate in the
Passover. In other words, they literally
excommunicated him from God. That was their intention. Now
look at verse 35. And when Jesus heard that they
had cast him out, they had literally excommunicated him from God,
from religion, from the temple, from the Passover, from all things.
When he heard they excommunicated him, and when he found him, he
said unto him, Do you believe on the Son of God? And he answered and said, Who
is he, Lord? that I might believe on him.
And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is
he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. Now then,
you have the beginning of chapter 10. And Jesus turned to these
Pharisees, these religious leaders, these rulers of the Jews, these
men that had excommunicated this man that he had healed. And Jesus
turned to these religious Jews, and if there's any way I could
explain to you the position of these men, they were Pharisees,
they were the Sanhedrin, they were the teachers of Scripture.
The power of these men, they were powerful, influential men. And the so-called outward party
of these men, they were the most moral men of their day. Strict. Separationist. Legalist. Ceremonialist. Ritualist. They were the strictest
of the strict. They were the guardians of the
scripture, and the guardians of the Bible, and the guardians
of the law, and the guardians of morality, and the guardians
of all these things. They were the fundamentalist
of their day. Is that too harsh? That's what
they were. And our Lord turned to them and he said to these
men, to these religious leaders, for judgment I'm coming to this
world that they which see not might see. I'm coming to this world so that
those who sit in darkness and those who sit in ignorance and
bondage spiritual ignorance, spiritual bondage, spiritual
darkness. I'm come that those which see not might
see. Those who sit in darkness and
blindness, who desire light, who desire to know God, who desire
some revelation of the glory of God, I'm come that they might
see, that they might have that light, that they might see God's
glory in me. That's why I'm come. Are you a candidate for that?
Are you a candidate? Are you a sinner? Are you lost?
Do you need mercy? Well, our Lord tells these religious
leaders, this is why I'm come. I'm come and this man that I've
made to see is an example of this man was in darkness and
knew it and desired to see. And our Lord healed him. He made
him to see. And I'm calm that those who are
in darkness might see, not just physical darkness, but in spiritual
darkness, in bondage. Now watch this next line. And
that they which see might be made blind. Here's a man in religion, a man
in Judaism, in all the legalism and ceremony of religion, And
he gave a testimony concerning Christ, the Lord Jesus. And these
religious people, he talked of the power of Christ, and the
glory of Christ, and our Lord Jesus' miracle of healing. These
folks just kicked him out. They just kicked him out of religion. And the Lord Jesus found him,
and he said, Do you believe on the Son of God? And he said,
Oh Lord, who is he that I might believe? I am he. I am he. And he believed. He worshipped
him. And then he turned to these religious leaders, and he said,
I've come into this world, I've come into this, the Son of God,
I've come into this world, the Son of God, the Son of the Father,
I've come into this world. Oh, he came into the world, and
the world didn't know him. He came to his own things, his
own tabernacle and temple and nation, and they didn't know
him. They received him not, but I'm come. That those who don't
see, and know they don't see, and are struggling in bondage
and darkness under this ritualism and tradition and all this religious
garbage, they'd like to see the glory of God. They'd like to
see the power of God. They'd like to see something
real about God, a relationship with Almighty
God. Not based on all the dead religious
organization, institutionalism and ritualism and legalism and
outward so-called piety, but something real, something they
don't see and they know they don't see. I've come that they
might see. And I'll tell you fellas this,
he said, I've come that those that do see, claim to see, might
be made even blinder. Those which see, who are they?
Those who profess themselves to be wise. They profess themselves
to be holy. They deny their sins. They talk
about their tradition, their religion. We know God. We know
God. We know God. Well, he said, I
come that they might be made even blinder than they are. Let
me show you a couple of verses. Matthew 11. Listen to verse 25. Our Lord
said in Matthew 11, 25, these same fellows had been harassing
him, and he said in verse 25, at that time Jesus answered and
said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
you've hid these things. These things. These things, the glory of God,
the redemption of God, the mystery of grace, you've hid these things
from the wise and the prudent, and you reveal them to babes. Turn to Matthew 6. Listen to
this. Matthew chapter 6. Matthew 6,
verse 22 and 23. The light of the body is the eye.
If the eye be single, If it be single, the whole body will be
full of light. If the eye be directed toward
God, toward Christ, toward truth, the whole body is full of light.
But if the eye be evil, your whole body is full of darkness,
and if the light, therefore the only light you have is darkness,
how great is that darkness. And so in verse 40 of John 9,
now listen to this. Our Lord said to them, I'm coming
to this world that those that do not see, they're blind, they're
born blind. That's the way we were born,
dead in trespasses and sin, born without the knowledge of God,
blind by birth, blind by nature. And those that are blind, that
they might see by God's grace. And those that claim to see.
that they might even be made blind. And listen to the response
of these men. And some of the Pharisees which
were with him heard these words. They heard what he said and they
said, Are we blind? Are we blind? They were shocked. Stunned. Now listen to what the Lord said. Verse 41. Jesus said, If you
were blind, if you knew you were blind, If you knew you were in
spiritual darkness, if you knew you were in need of a revelation
of God's light and truth, if you knew you needed God's mercy
and God's forgiveness, if you desired to see, if you were blind,
if you really were and knew it, you'd have no sin. Your sins
would be put away, pardoned, freely forgiven. But now you say, we see. We see. You boast of your knowledge,
you boast of your wisdom, you boast of your righteousness,
you boast of all these things, and your sin remains on you.
And if you die in your sins, you cannot come where I am. And
then chapter 10, verily, verily, I say unto you. Do you see that? Verily, 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." Now, all of these Pharisees, these men,
these Pharisees had set themselves up, these religious leaders had
set themselves up as shepherds of the flock and guides of the
people. And these men knew what a sheepfold was. And all this that led up to this,
this healing of the blind man. And he says to them, I've come
to put judgment into this world that those that do not see might
see, and those that think they see might be made blind. Are
we blind? Well, he said, if you were blind,
you wouldn't have any seeing. I'd do something for you. But
since you say you see, you don't need me. Therefore your sin remains. I say unto you, now watch chapter
10. In Palestine there was in each
village a sheepfold. A sheepfold. What was a sheepfold? Well, a sheepfold was the common
property of all the farmers. The sheepfold was protected by
high walls. The sheepfold. When night fell,
the shepherds would come in from the hills. Each shepherd has
his flock. 10 sheep, 20, 30, 40. Each shepherd would come in from
the hills at night, and to protect the sheep from robbers and thieves
and beasts and a number of other things, they would all bring
their sheep to the common sheepfold. Here was the sheepfold. You see? It was a sheepfold. High walls.
And it was one door. Only one door into the sheepfold.
And these shepherds would bring their sheep down to the sheepfold,
and they would put them into the sheepfold in the care of
the porter at the door. And then they'd go get them a
room in the inn or somewhere to sleep. And when the morning
came, each shepherd would come down to the sheepfold, and this
shepherd would identify his sheep. He'd call them by name, and the
porter would open the door to him, and the sheep would follow
him. He'd lead them out. Here comes another shepherd,
and he'd lead them out. his sheep. And our Lord said,
and these fellows are familiar with that, now watch. And our
Lord said in verse 1, he that entereth not by the door into
the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, is a thief and
a robber. In fact, goes around and climbs over the fence and
steals sheep is a thief. But he that entereth in by the
door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth, and
the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name,
And they follow him, for they know his voice. And a stranger
will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know
not the voice of the stranger. And this parable spake Jesus
unto them. But they understood not what
things they were which he spake unto them. And then he said in
verse 7, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door. I am
the door of the sheepfold. Now, where is this sheepfold?
Well, I believe that the sheepfold here, he refers to right here,
is the Judaism, or the types and the tabernacle and the patterns
and the pictures. These people were kept in a sheepfold,
they were kept under the law, so Christ came and redeemed them
from the law, redeemed them out from under these things. In other
words, they were kept, look at verse 16. of John 10, other sheep
I have which are not of this foe." That's the Gentiles he's
talking about there. That's the Gentiles. But he's
saying to these Pharisees, now this is the sheep foe, Judaism,
tabernacle, and all these things, and I am come, I am the doer
of the sheep. All that ever came before me,
professing to be saviors and messiahs, or thieves and robbers,
but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door, by me if any man
enter in, he shall be saved, and go in and out and find pasture."
What is the door of the sheepfolk? It's the door of righteousness.
It's the door of atonement. It's the door of fulfillment
of all that God requires. And Christ said, I am that door.
I am that door. And he says, to me, back here
in verse 3, to him the porter openeth, the father opens to
Christ. Christ comes to redeem his people
out of Judaism, out from under the law, out from under the types,
out from under the pictures, all these things, that he is
the fulfillment of all these things. And he says in verse
14, I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep, and am known
of mine. And as the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father. And I lay down my life for the
sheep, and other sheep I have. There are not of this foal, there
are Gentiles, and them I must bring, I will bring, they shall
hear my voice, they shall be one foal, they shall be one shepherd,
therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life. that I might take it again. Now
watch verse 18. No man taketh 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 commandment have I received of my Father. Now I want you
to go with me to John 17. John 17. This is the fulfillment
of the purpose of which our Lord is speaking here. In John 17.
before he went to the cross. This is what our Lord prayed.
Now watch it. John 17, verse 1. And these words spake Jesus,
and lifted his eyes to heaven, and he said, Father, the hour
is come. Glorify thy Son, that thy Son
may glorify thee. As thou hast given him authority,
power over all flesh, power of judgment or power of But he has
power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as
many as thou hast given him." This is the sheep, whether the
Jewish fold or whether this other fold. But you've given him the
power, the authority over all of these whom you've given him,
that he should give them eternal life. That he should give eternal
life to as many as thou hast given him, and this is life eternal,
that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
whom thou hast sent. Now back to chapter 10 for just
a moment. Chapter 10. John the 10th chapter. And verse 19. This is where I'm
going to pick up tonight. And there was a division therefore
again among the Jews for these sayings, there was a conflict.
He told them, I am the shepherd of the sheep. I am the shepherd. I am the doer. I am the redeemer. I am their righteousness. I am
the one who comes to set them free. And I have a people whom
I've come to set free. This is the shepherd of the sheep,
and there is a sheep of the shepherd. And they will hear his voice,
and there will be one foal and one shepherd. Let's bow for prayer. Our great merciful Father, O
that we might see the glory and the beauty of our Lord Jesus
Christ in his redemptive work. That we might see, by nature
we do not see, By birth and by nature we cannot see. We are
blind spiritually, without eyes, but how thankful and grateful
we are to thee that in thy mercy and thy grace thou hast given
us eyes to see that Christ is indeed the door. Christ is indeed
our righteousness. Christ is indeed our justification. And all things that thou hast
required and all things that we need are found in our Lord
Jesus Christ. The Father loveth the Son hath
given all things into his capable hands. And we pray, O Lord, that
you would be pleased in this hour to open eyes to see the
glory and beauty of Jesus Christ. That men and women and boys and
girls might love him, believe him, trust him. and rest and
find rest in him. We pray in his name and for his
sake. Amen.

The Shepherd of the Sheep

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The Shepherd of the Sheep

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