The Sheep of the Shepherd

I'm going to get a little plain
tonight, but I think most folks here like plainness. Bob said
keep it straight, simple, Christ-glorifying, and God will honor it. And he
will. John chapter 10. And our Lord
declared in verse 9 to these religious leaders and to the
people who stood He said, I am the door. I am the door. I am the only way to God. I wish
I had the ability to stress that and preach it like it ought to
be preached. Christ is the way. Other foundation can no man lay
than that which is laid, Christ Jesus. There is none other name
unto heaven given among men whereby we must must be saved. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. I am the door. I am the only
way out of bondage. I am the only way out of darkness. I am the only way out from under
the curse of the law. I am the only way out of ignorance
into a knowledge of God. I am the door. Did you notice the definite article?
He's not a doer, he is the doer. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved and he shall go in and out and find pasture. They understood what he was saying.
I am the doer. All right, in verse 11, the Lord
Jesus said, I am the good shepherd. I am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Our Lord gave his
life that we might have life. He gave his life that we might
have holiness and righteousness. Now, watch where I am here. He
gave his life. Our Lord Jesus left heaven. He never left the bosom of the
Father, but he came down to this earth. And he was made in the
likeness of sinful flesh. He wasn't made sinful flesh,
he was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. He knew no sin.
He did no sin, he had no sin. But he was made bone of our bone
and flesh of our flesh. He's God, their God, their God,
and yet he became man. He took the form of a servant,
the likeness of flesh, was born of a woman. And he lived on this
earth. And he endured every trial and
every temptation and every tribulation and every bit of the suffering
that you and I could possibly endure, and he did it perfectly.
And by that life, we have a righteousness. That's mainly what he's talking
about here. I give my life for the sheep. Hold that place there
and turn to Romans 5. Let me show you that. In other
words, what I'm saying is this. We're not only saved by the blood
of Christ. We are not only saved by the
death of Christ as a sacrifice, sin offering, and atonement,
but we have to have, and do have, and are saved by the life of
Christ. Look at Romans 5, chapter 5,
verse 10. For if when we were enemies we
were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more being
reconciled we shall be saved by his life. His life not only
here, but his life there. His life is surety. His life
is representative. His life, John, is federal head.
His life is intercessor. It's by his life that we're redeemed. Alright, that's clear. I give
my life for the sheep. We'll get to the death of Christ
in a moment. We're talking about his life. He gives his life for
the sheep, alright? Then in verse 14, I am the good
shepherd, and I know my sheep. and am known of mine. As the
Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and I lay down
my life for the sheep." Now listen to me. You have here, I, you
have the Father, and you have the sheep. And Christ said, I
know the Father, and the Father knows me, and I know the sheep,
and the sheep know me. And the Father knows me, and
the Father knows the sheep. They're one. That's the covenant
of grace. That's the covenant of mercy.
That's the covenant. I want you to look at John 6.
Just hold the place there and go back. I want you to understand
perfectly what I'm saying, or at least in your mind, in your
head. In John chapter 6, verse 37. All that my Father giveth
me shall come to me. I know the Father. And the Father
knows me, and I know the sheep, and the sheep know me. And the
Father knows me, and knowing me, the Father knows the sheep.
I love the Father, and the Father loves me, and I love the sheep,
and consequently the Father loving me loves the sheep. They are
one. In John 6.37, All that my Father giveth me shall come to
me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For
I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the
will of him that sent me, and this is the Father's will which
hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I lose nothing,
but raise it up at the last day." That's the covenant of mercy,
that's the covenant of grace. Look back at verse 15 now. I'm
the good shepherd, I know my sheep. And he said in verse 15,
And I lay down my life for my sheep. I am the door and the only door. I am the good shepherd and the
good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. I know my father,
my father knows me and I know my sheep and I lay down my life
for the sheep. I do not believe that Jesus Christ
our Lord suffered in vain. I do not believe he shed his
blood for those who would never come to knowledge of him and
never be saved. He laid down his life for the
sheep. All right, now verse 16. Now watch this. And he said,
every sheep I have, every sheep I have, which are not of this
foal, not of this Gentile foal, of this Jewish foal, they're
Gentile. Now I want you to go to another scripture. Go to Ephesians
chapter 2. Now, our Lord is standing here
talking to the Pharisees and to the Jewish people assembled
about here, and he talks about that sheepfold that I preached
about this morning, which is Judaism. He came to deliver this
sheep out. He is the door of righteousness
and redemption. And he said, I know my sheep,
but other sheep I have, sheep of other nations. Gentiles, and
he said, other sheep I have which are not of this foal, them I
must bring. I must bring. And they shall
hear my voice, and they shall be one foal, one shepherd. Now
watch Ephesians 2. And Paul writes about these very
people in Ephesians chapter 2, beginning with verse 11. And
he says, Wherefore remember that you, being in time past, Gentiles
in the flesh, You were called uncircumcision by that which
is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands. In other
words, you weren't Jewish people or Gentiles. You weren't of Israel,
you weren't of the twelve tribes, and verse 12 says, and at that
time you were without Christ. You were aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel. You were strangers from the covenant
of promise, having no hope without God in this world. Had no tabernacle. You had no priest. You had no
atonement, you had no sin offering, you had no sacrifice, you had
no peso, you had none of these things. So you were without God
and without hope. But now, verse 13, but now in
Christ Jesus you who were sometimes or at one time far off are made
now by the blood of Christ for he is our peace who hath made
both Jew and Gentile, both Jew and Gentile one. there shall
be one foe, one shepherd. One foe, one shepherd. And hath broken down that middle
wall of petition between Jew and Gentile, having abolished
in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained
in ordinances, but to make in him one foe, one shepherd. In him are two, two people, Jew
and Gentile, one foe, one new man, so making peace. Isn't that
it, Cecil? Isn't that what he said? And
that he might reconcile both Jew and Gentile unto God in one
foe, one body, one church, by the cross, having slain the enmity
thereby. Oh, let's look at another one,
John 11. Turn to John chapter 11. Every sheep I have, which
are not of this immediate foe, and them I must bring. I must,
but they'll hear my voice. Now, we preachers, while you
turn to John 11, we preachers and you who witness,
we preach the gospel to the whole world. I preach the gospel wherever
they'll invite me to preach the gospel. It doesn't matter where.
We preach the gospel indiscriminately over television every Sunday
morning over a wide area covering a 120 mile radius to whomever,
turn it on, whoever may listen. But I tell you this, in this
heart of mine and according to this word of God, I'm looking,
looking for God's sheep. I'm looking for his sheep. I'm
looking for his sheep, like Barnard preached a sermon one time on
God's bloodhounds. God's bloodhounds are out here
sniffing everybody, hoping to discover a sheep. That's right. I know this. I know that, like
our Lord said, you know, he walked under that tree and said, Zacchaeus,
come down. And when he came down and said
what he said, our Lord said, he also is a son of Abraham. Well, the woods is full of sons
of Abraham. There were sons of Abraham standing around everywhere,
but this man was a son of Abraham. It said he took not on him the
nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham. And that seed is
Christ. And everybody in Christ is seed
of Abraham. I'm looking for the sheep. A pastor told me just
three days ago that we were at a Bible conference in Fairmont,
West Virginia, in May, and there was a young mother there, a mother
of three children, and she's been very disinterested, uninterested
in the gospel for a long time, unfaithful to the church, uncaring,
evidently. And I preached a message from
Psalm 91 at that conference, and that young mother heard that
message. And she came home and told her
pastor, and she's fulfilled this promise. She said, I'm going
to be in every service and hear every sermon until I come to
the knowledge of Christ. I've never had a true profession,
and I'm not going to make another false one, but I'm going to find
Christ. And she's been there May, June,
July, and August, listening to every sermon. Maybe she's a sheep. That's what I'm talking about,
looking for the sheep. Looking for the sheep. Jew or Gentile.
Watch John 11, listen to this, verse 49. John 11, 49. John 11,
49. And one of them named Caiaphas,
being the high priest that same year, said unto them, you know
nothing at all. In other words, they were talking
about killing Jesus of Nazareth. Nor consider that it is expedient
for us that one man should die for the people, that the whole
nation perish not." In other words, this man was saying, this
man was saying, if we let this fellow Jesus roam around much
longer claiming to be a king, the Romans are going to kill
every one of us. They're going to kill every one of us. So the
thing to do is kill him, that the nation perish not. In other
words, he's saying, John, let's kill him and we'll save the nation. If we kill him, they won't kill
the nation. And he was a high priest. But he didn't know what he was
saying. What's the next verse? And this spake he not of himself. But being the high priest that
year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for that nation. If
Christ dies, we don't die. You see what he said? But he
meant it in the physical sense, and I mean it in the spiritual
sense. And that's the way God was speaking through him in the
spiritual sense. Christ said, I lay down my life
for the sheep. I lay down my life for the sheep. And if the
shepherd dies, the sheep live. But now what's the next verse?
And not for that nation only, not just for Jews. John said
that. He died not only for our sins,
but for the sins of the world. Every nation has some sheep in
it. In fact, the scripture says every tribe, nation, kindred,
and tongue under heaven has some sheep in it. And verse 52, and
not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together
in one, whom? The children of God that were
scattered abroad. Who are you looking for, Christian?
Looking for the children of God? Looking for the sheep of God?
That's right. That's exactly right. I'm looking
for the sheep. Back to our text. Now, like I
said, I'm being plain. Our Lord said I'm the doer. By
me. Me. Not by the law, not by baptism,
not by decision, not by profession, not by good works or morality.
By me, through faith, you'll be saved. You'll go in and out
and find pasture because I'm the good shepherd. And I give
my life for the sheep. A life of obedience and righteousness. I lay down my life for the sheep.
I die for the sheep. And every sheep I have, and not
of this fold, them I must bring. I will bring. Now look at verse
17. Therefore does my Father love me, my Father loves me,
because I lay down my life that I might take it again. No man
takes it from me. But I let it down of myself.
I have the power to let it down. I have the power to take it again.
This commandment have I received of my Father. I looked up that
this commandment. This commandment have I received
of my Father. You know what that word is? These
orders. These are my orders. I have my
orders. I have my orders. This mission
I received of my Father. When did he receive this mission?
From the foundation of the world. From whom did he receive the
mission? His father. What was the mission? To lay
down his life for his sheep. Where was the mission to be performed?
On this earth. Did he accomplish the mission?
He said he did. And no man takes my life for...
You see, this Christ speaking here, it doesn't sound like the
Jesus I hear preached today. They talk about this movie, The
Last Temptation. Well, what about Superstar? What
about the pitiful Jesus that the average preacher is preaching
out there tonight? The little sad, feminine, frustrated, confused
Jesus that's knocking on everybody's heart's door and nobody letting
Him in. What about the... This Jesus here stands before
these religious men and said, I'm on a mission. I'm on a mission
carrying orders from my Father. And no man takes my life from
me. I lay it down, and I lay it down for my sheep. And I lay
it down and I got the power to take it up again. And boy, I
tell you, they heard him. Look at verse 19. And there was
a war over these words. There was a division. Therefore,
again, among the Jews for these sayings. Now, did you hear these
words? Did you hear these words? They're exactly what I've been
trying to preach for 38 years. Christ is the door. Christ is the way. Christ has
a sheep. And by his life, those sheep
live. And by his death, those sheep
have an atonement. And he's going to bring them.
He has sheep. He has other sheep. He's going
to bring them. They're going to hear his voice. They're going
to hear his voice through the voice of a preacher. They're
going to hear God's messenger. Is this what he's saying? That's
exactly it. They're going to hear my word,
and they're going to be one foal and one shepherd. My father gave
me these altars, and I finished the work you gave me to do, he
said. And then they began to get angry. Verse 19, there was
a division. That's the reception we get today.
That's what happens when we preach this message. Listen to what
they're saying. And many of them say he's demon
possessed. He's got a devil. He has a devil. I've heard people say that about
the message we preach, the gospel of God's grace. Why, one preacher
said that was hatched in hell. When you preach the sovereignty
of Christ and his elective grace and his particular redemption
and his effectual call, why, I said, that's right out of hell.
That's what they said here. Said that man has a devil. And
then they said he's crazy. He's crazy. He not only has a
devil, but he's mad. That's the word for insane. He's
insane. And then they said, why do you
listen to him? Why do you listen to preaching
like that? Why do you listen to preaching like that? So there was a division because
of him. Others said, there were some
other folks there that had a little more sense. And they said, these
aren't the words of him that have the devil. Can a devil open
the eyes of the blind? These aren't the words of the
devil, these are the words of God. These are the words of God. This is the character of God.
Christ reveals God as he is. If you go back over the scriptures,
now go on back down to when sin first came into the universe.
What was the first sin that came into the universe? Well, the
angels failed, didn't they? Lucifer and a third of the heavenly
hopes, they failed. What did God do about that? What
did God, what was his purpose, his plan? Well, he reserved them
in everlasting change. In darkness, under the day of
judgment, the angels have no savior. In fact, Paul, whoever
wrote the Hebrews, said deliberately he didn't take on himself the
nature of angels. He didn't do it. But then man's
sin, man whom he created in his own image and in whom he breathed
the breath of life, man fell and God preserved him. He didn't
cast him into darkness or reserve him in chains. He left him on
an earth and announced to him that the seed of woman would
become also a man and redeem this man. He took not on him
the nature of angel and he didn't take on him even the seed of
man, but he took on him the seed of a man out of that man. Abraham. That's right. Abraham. And the division, the division
today in religion is not over the days we keep. I know there's
a lot of static about Saturday or Sunday or holidays or holy
days. One preacher down in Pikeville
had a sign on his church billboard, Sunday's a holy day, not a holiday.
That's not the issue. And the issue is not the way
we worship. Somebody's always saying, well, if you don't shout,
you're not spiritual. If you don't speak in tongues,
you don't have the Holy Ghost. And if you don't wave your hands
and shout and sing, you're dead. I hear all this. The issue is
not the way we worship. It's not the day we worship,
not the way we worship. And the issue is not the ordinances.
There's a baptistry up here. In different churches, there's
no baptistry. There's a font. Is that the way to pronounce
that? In some churches there's no font. There's all kind of candles,
and there's priests with robes, and there are beads, and there's
burning. But that's not the problem. That's
not the difference. That's not the issue. It's not
the ordinances or how we observe them. And it's not the government
or the assembly. Ida Feller tell me this, well
I'm not going to say when, but recently, that their pastor was
not going to be allowed to travel and preach. He used to be given
his vacation every year and then he could be gone two Sundays
and the rest of the time he was going to be home preaching to
the home folk. Because we are going to keep him around. That's not the issue. The government
of the church is not the issue. That's not our problem. And the
lifestyle of the people. That's not the issue. That's
not the issue. Some folks wear black, some wear
white. And it's not the millennium. It's not the millennium. The
real division is found here in verse 19. There was a division
therefore again among the Jews for what I've just said and what
Christ said. These words, that's the problem.
I'm going to ask you some questions, are you with me? Will you come to God with Cain
or with Abel? Now you just decide. There's
no way to come both ways. You've either got to come with
your efforts and your works and your righteousness and the labor
of your hands, or you've got to come with nothing in your
hands. before an altar of blood, where a lamb has died for your
ungodly sins, and you stand helpless before God, looking first at
the lamb and then at him, to see if in his grace you show
mercy on yourself. or our work. Secondly, is salvation
by God's will or by your will? Now, which is? It can't be both.
I'm saying there is a free will in this universe, but it's not
yours, it's his. Of his own will begat he us. I'm saying it's not of him that
willeth nor of him that runneth, it's of God that showeth mercy.
That's what I'm saying. That's what Christ said here.
Other sheep I have, and them I will bring." Is he going to
bring them unwillingly? No, he's going to make them willing.
But he's going to bring them. And they shall hear my voice.
They will hear my voice. And they're going to be one folk. They come by his will, but he
makes them. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power, in the day of thy wooing, in the day
of thy grace. He enables us to come to Christ.
But it's by his will. You see, here in his love, not
that we love God, he loved us. We call him because he called
us. Third question. Is righteousness, holiness, this
holiness of God, is this righteousness in Christ alone? Or is this holiness
and righteousness in Christ and my deeds? Actually, if you come down to
this, do you think you have ever done any work, thought any thought,
performed any deed, did any service that was acceptable in itself
before God? Never. Never. Because it must
be perfect to be accepted. Our works are filthy rags. His
works are perfect holiness. So it's not by my righteousness.
Let me ask you this firstly. Is atonement a full atonement? Is that redemption a full redemption
by Christ alone, or does Christ's atonement await my faith? Now, does it await my faith?
Listen to this scripture. By his own blood he entered into
heaven and obtained eternal redemption for us. Did he? Did he? That's what it said. He said,
He entered not the holy place made with hands, but into heaven
itself, and obtained eternal redemption for us. Did he? What's
it wait on? What's it waiting on? What's
that redemption? It's not waiting on anything. Our Lord is not
standing, He's seated at the right hand of God. I'm telling
you what this Word teaches. Atonement is complete in Christ.
Fifthly, is salvation the gift of God? or an offer. Is salvation the gift of God?
The gift of God through Christ, a gift that's complete, a gift
that's full, a gift that's lacking nothing, a gift that's free?
Is it a gift, or does God put it out there with a string on
it? Depending on you, or he takes it back. Most of it's a gift. In the sixth place, does God
indeed, now you answer this, does God indeed, as he says,
have a sheep? Does he have a sheep? Does he
know his sheep? The foundation of God standeth
sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his. Does
he know his sheep? Does God indeed have an elect
people? Does he indeed As he says in
his word over and over and over again, the angel shall go and
gather mine elect. Perhaps Christ shall come and
deceive, if it were possible, the elect. Does God have an elect? Does God Almighty actually indeed
have a church which he loved and for which he died and which
he perfected by his sacrifice? Does he indeed have a church? Or let me ask you, or is the
number uncertain until all the votes are in? Now, come on. Is the number uncertain until
all, the votes aren't all in. I vote for Jesus. How about you? Well, the more people we can
get to vote for Jesus, the more it's going to be in heaven. Well,
that's true. But I'll tell you this, those who have the understanding
to vote for Christ, have been given that understanding from
above. Does God indeed have a sheep?
He said he did. Does he have an elect? Does he
have a church which he loved, which he purchased with his own
blood? In the seventh place, does the Holy Spirit call men? Does the Holy Spirit mightily,
effectually, does the Holy Spirit like the wind? Have a target,
a goal, an objective. Does he call men invisibly, irresistibly,
effectually, and make them willing? Does he? Or does he just pass by everybody's
door to see who is willing? Maybe somebody here will be willing.
Well, let me tell you, if that were the case, God wouldn't have
any people. Because you will not come to
me that you might have love. Nobody's willing. But those he
makes willing. Huh? Now does he? Did the Holy
Spirit zero in on Abraham? Did no one find grace in the
eyes of the Lord? Was Moses looking for God when
God called him? Was Matthew looking for Jesus?
Was Saul of Tarsus looking for the Lord? Saul of Tarsus was
looking for some sport. He liked to kill Christians,
and he was looking for someone he could kill. The Lord was looking
for him. And I'll tell you this, if you
found Christ, he found you. He found you. The last question. Do you believe the words of Christ? Do you? There they are. There they are. These people
didn't. You see, here's the Lord of Glory speaks. And I know everybody
loves Jesus, but everybody doesn't love Jesus. And I know everybody
likes their Bible with the words of Christ in red, but they don't
believe it. Because our Lord said these things to these people,
and it says there was a division for these sayings, and they said
he's crazy, he has a devil, why do you listen to him? Others
said these are not the words of the devil. Now watch verse
22. And it was at Jerusalem, the feast of the dedication,
it was winter. The same time now. And Jesus
walked in the temple in Solomon's porch, and then these Jews came
round about him. And they said to him, How long
do you make us doubt? If you be the Christ, tell us
plainly. Now, the disciples believed him
to be the Christ, didn't they? They knew he was the Christ. Peter said, We believe and are
sure that thou art the Christ. Who is the Christ? Well, he's
the Messiah. He's the promised Redeemer. He's the consolation
of Israel. He's the one for whom Simeon
looked. He's the one for whom John the Baptist said, the Lamb
of God. The disciples said, you're the Christ. And then that woman
at the well, she said, well, the Messiah's coming, the Christ
is coming. Christ said, I'm he. I will speak
to thee, I'm he. And then that blind man said,
when he said to the blind man in John 9, I read this morning,
he said, do you believe on the Son of God? He said, Lord, who
is he? Where is he that I might believe? He said, I'm speaking
to you. I'm speaking to you. And then in Nazareth, he stood
before that whole crowd and he said this, this day, this Messianic
scripture is fulfilled in your ears. Now, so some people knew
him to be the Christ, and here comes these Pharisees. By the
way, do you think they were really inquiring out of interest? No,
sir. I do not. I do not. I do not at all. These Jews were
not seeking a revelation. They hated him. This is what
bothers me. There are people who come here
to hear me preach. There are people who come to
hear other men of grace preach. There are preachers who send
for our tapes. There are other people who send for our tapes.
And there are people who listen with a critical ear. There are
people who listen to us preach. And they deny this gospel of
grace, this truth of grace. And when they listen to these
tapes and even come here, They don't come with a sincere interest
and desire to know the truth. That's right. If they did, they'd
know the truth. He said, if you want to do the will of God, you'll
know the will of God. If you want light, you'll get
light. But what these fellows here came, they came to trap
him. And this is the reason they asked
him. They said, how long you make us die? If you be the Christ,
tell us plainly. Put it in your word. You say,
I am the Christ. You say that. You say, I am the
Christ. You say it plainly. You say,
I am the Christ. And you know what they do then?
They run to Caesar and say, he claims to be the king. He's come
to take over. He's that promise. He says he's
the Christ. That's exactly what they want him to do. He knew
that. He knew that. Tell us plain, come on, come
out and say it. Come out and say it. That's what one time
his brother said, why don't you go to Jerusalem to do a feast?
The fellow that wants to be known doesn't hide. Go up there and
tell them who you are. Force the issue. Force the issue. Our Lord healed some people and
he said, don't you tell anybody. God will be revealed in his own
time to his sheep. Don't you try to force it. And
our Lord looked at them in verse 25, now listen. Are you the Christ? Declare it. Take your stand.
And Jesus said, I told you. He didn't say, I told you I was
the Christ. He said, 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 to me. He gave a four-fold witness.
He said, John the Baptist bore witness to me. The works that
I do bear witness of me. The heavenly father bears witness
of me. The scriptures which you search daily bear witness of
me. And you won't come to me. I told you. And all the witnesses
bear witness of me. But, hang on now. You talk about
a roller coaster now. We're going to hit the, it comes
back up now. I'll tell you why you didn't
believe me. I tell you why you couldn't see the glory, you couldn't
see the mystery, you couldn't see the purpose, you couldn't
see the person, because you're not a machine. I told you, you heard what they
heard, you saw what they saw, and you didn't believe. And I
tell you why you don't believe. I'll tell you why people still
try to work their way to heaven. I'll tell you why people still
won't bow to Christ. I'll tell you why people still
won't give God all the glory for sin. I'll tell you why they're
not his sheep. That's why you don't believe.
And that's why you're not going to believe. Because you're not
my sheep. Verse 27. My sheep hear my voice. Did you hear what I said this
morning about reading what's before and what's after something?
And all my life, I'm going to tell you, from the time I was
a kid, Baptist preachers preached on once saved, always saved.
And this is the scripture they used. John 10, 27, 28, and 29. That's the scripture. They wore
me out with that scripture, preaching eternal security. But they never
did read what was before it. Never did. They never put it
in its proper setting. Our Lord said, here the mystery
is revealed, the glory is revealed, manifested, the glory of God,
the redemption of God, in the person of Christ, and you don't
believe because you're not my sheep. I tell you, my sheep hear
my voice. Those sheep I love, who were
given me by the Father, whom I must bring, who will hear my
voice, they do. And he said, I know them, I know
them, and they follow me. And I give to them, to no one
else but to them, eternal life, spiritual life, divine life,
the life of God. And they'll never perish. Oh,
listen to me. Eternal security is true. Once
saved by Christ, saved eternally, no question about it. Once in
His grace. And you know what that grace
is? It's sovereign, eternal grace. Once in His grace, always in
His grace. Once in the church, always in
the church. Once in the body, always in the
body. But I'll tell you why. Not because you're faithful,
or you're determined, or you hold out, or you keep the faith,
or you stay in the church. Here's sheep are kept by the
shepherds. The shepherds are not going to
lose any sheep. He leads me beside still waters, He restoreth my
soul, He leadeth me in passion of righteousness for His name's
sake. My cup runneth over, surely goodness and mercy will follow
me all the days of my life. Why? Because the Shepherd is
with me. Thou art with me, Thou rod and
Thou staff comfort me. Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of mine enemies. I nourish my head with oil, my
cup's just runneth over. I will dwell in the house of
the Lord, because I'm His sheep. It's got nothing to do with my strength. I don't have
any. It's got all to do with His. Oh, He gives me perseverance,
and He gives me grace, and He keeps me, and I'm kept through
faith. But I just know this, He said,
my sheep, you're not of my sheep, or you'd hear me, and you'd love
me, and you'd come to me. Yeah, you would. You'd believe
in sovereign mercy. There ain't no other kind. We
don't. And I give them eternal life
and they'll never perish. And no man's going to put them
out of my hand. My Father which gave them me. Where did he get them? Father
gave them to him. Where does the Lord Jesus get his sheep?
I'll give our preachers a three-fold outline. They'll preach for a
week. Listen. Where did he get his sheep? He got them from the
Father. Father gave them to him. He got
them through his blood. He bought them. He flat paid
for them. What I buy is mine. He got them
from the Holy Spirit who sought them out and brought them to
him. Isn't that right? Verse 29, My Father which gave
them me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them
out of My Father's hand, because I and My Father are one. Well, you know what the response
to that is in this day, don't you? You know what the response
is to that sovereign mercy in this day? People hate it, don't
they, Don? They despise it. They hate it.
They did here, too. They took up stones to stone
him. That's how much they hated it. You don't feel all alone
if you hate sovereign grace. These folks did, too. There's just one difference.
They could throw stones and nobody would do anything about it. The
only reason they don't throw them today is because they get put
in jail. They took up stones to stone. I want to show you
one thing and I'll quit. I want you to just flip to 2 or 3 passages
of Scripture. Go to Luke 4. Luke 4. The wrath of natural religious
people has always been and is now and always will be against
sovereign mercy. They like mercy, but not in the
hand of God. They'd like to have grace, but
not His grace, not sovereign grace. They want something to
do with it. And every time, every time in the Bible, when people
tried to kill Jesus Christ, they did it when He announced that
He was sovereign in salvation. Every time. Look at Luke 4. He's
talking to those Jews in Nazareth. Verse 25, Luke 4, 25. And I tell
you a truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days
of Elias, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months,
when great famine was throughout all the land. But unto none of
them was Elias sinned. Who sinned Elias? God did. Save
unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
And there were many lepers in Israel in the times of Eliseus
the prophet, and none of them were cleansed except Nahum and
the Syrian. That's sovereign mercy. Now look
at the next verse. And all that were in the synagogue, religious
people, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
and rose up and thrust him out of their city, and led him on
to the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they
might cast him off the cliff. That's their response. Now, turn
to John chapter 8. John chapter 8, listen to this.
John chapter 8, verse 54. John 8, 54. Jesus answered, John 8, 54, If
I honor myself, my honor is nothing. It is my Father that honors me,
of whom you say he's your God. Yet you've not known him, but
I know him. And if I should say I know him
not, I'd be a liar like you. But I know him, and I keep his
sayings. See, your father Abraham rejoiced
to see my day. He saw it and was glad. And then
said the Jews unto him, Well, you're not fifty years old. Have
you seen Abraham? And Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, watch it, I am. I am. They know who I am is,
don't they, John? I am, and that am's not in italics
either. I am. Moses says, Lord God of
heaven, what's your name? He said, I am. And when he said
that, they took up stones to cast at him. They're not going
to have a sovereign God, a sovereign Lord. And I could keep on going. Look at John 6, back just a couple
of pages. John 6, verse 65. John 6, 65. And he said, Therefore said I
unto you, that no man can come to me, except it were given him
of my father. And from that time, many of his
disciples went back and walked no more with him. Not going to
have it. So our Lord turned to the twelve.
And he asked this question, he said, will you also go away?
Peter said, Lord, to whom shall we go? We believe and assure
that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. I do too. I believe he's the Christ, the
Son of the living God. The sovereign Savior. The satisfied Savior. And the solitary Savior. and the seated Savior. It is
to him be all the glory and the praise, both now and forever.
I'm willing for salvation to be in the hands of my Lord.

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The Sheep of the Shepherd

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