We're opening our Bibles tonight
for the message to the 10th chapter of John. John chapter 10. Our Lord Jesus Christ is called
in verse 11, the Good Shepherd. He said in verse 11 of John 10,
I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. He is the shepherd appointed
by the Father. He is the shepherd ordained by
the Father. He is the shepherd who has been
given the care of all his sheep. And the good shepherd goes out
into the wilderness to seek the lost sheep and to bring it home
again. The good shepherd gives his life
to redeem the sheep and to ransom the sheep. And Christ was fond
of this title, the shepherd of the sheep. And he is the good
shepherd. But then in Hebrews, if you'll
hold John 10 for a moment, turn to Hebrews chapter 13. And here
in the 13th chapter of Hebrews, verse 20, our Lord is called
the Great Shepherd. He is the Good Shepherd, ordained
and appointed of the Father and given the care of all the sheep. And the Good Shepherd does not
hesitate to lay down his life for the sheep. In Hebrews 13.20
he is called the Great Shepherd. 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.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Great Shepherd because he has
accomplished the task given him to perform. He is the Great Shepherd
because He is victorious over sin. He is the Great Shepherd
because He has defeated the enemy, He has redeemed the sheep, and
He is victorious over death, over hell, over the grave, and
over the judgment for sin. But turn to 1 Peter chapter 5. He is not only called the Good
Shepherd that giveth His life for the sheep. As I said, He's
fond of this title, the Shepherd. And it's used frequently, not
only in the New Testament, but in the Old Testament, in reference
to the work of Christ. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep, and the great shepherd was brought again from
the dead because he won the victory. The great shepherd was victorious
over sin, defeated the enemy, and redeemed all the sheep. Not
a one of them shall be lost. Not a one of them shall be lost. And he frequently declared this.
This is my Father's will, that of all he hath given me I'll
lose nothing, not a one of them shall be lost, like the people
coming out of Egypt, the redeemed Israel, not a hoof left behind."
And here in 1 Peter 5, verse 4, our Lord Jesus is called the
cheap shepherd. And when the cheap shepherd shall
appear, he's the good shepherd who giveth his life. He's the
Great Shepherd who is victorious, but here is a new title. He is
called the Chief Shepherd. Now, there are three reasons
for this, the first of which is this. He is the Chief Shepherd
because He is God. God over all, blessed forever. Christ is the Chief Shepherd
because He's the chief of everything. He's the head of the body. He
is the president of the church. He is the chief shepherd, he
hath all authority in heaven and earth, all things shall bow
and confess that he's Lord, all things in heaven, earth, and
hell. He is the chief shepherd because he is God over all. And then he is the chief shepherd
because the sheep belong to him. They're his. Over in oriental
countries they used to have under-shepherds. And the chief shepherd was always
the owner of the flock. They were his, and therefore
that made him the chief shepherd. And then he is the chief shepherd
because all other bishops, all other pastors, all other elders
are under him. They are sent by him. Go back
a few verses in 1 Peter 5. In verse 4 he's called the chief
shepherd. But now watch verse 1 through
3. The elders which are among you, Paul said, I exhort. I am also an elder, and I am
also a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also I am a partaker
of the glory that shall be revealed. And I exhort you elders to feed
the flock of God which is among you, and to take the oversight
thereof, not by constraint, not being forced to do it, but willingly.
And not for filthy lucre, for payment, but of a ready mind. And not being a lord over God's
heritage, a dictator, but being an example to the flock. You
under-shepherd, you elders and pastors and teachers. And when
the chief shepherd shall appear, he who owns the flock, who is
chief of all, when he shall appear, if you've been faithful, You
shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away." Our Lord
was fond of this title, the Shepherd. I'm the Good Shepherd, riding
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Paul called him
the Great Shepherd, and riding also under the inspiration, God
breathed the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Peter called him
the Chief Shepherd. In our text, the chief shepherd,
the great shepherd, the good shepherd, talks about his sheep.
Now here's my text tonight, John chapter 10, verse 27. Our Lord
Jesus Christ talks about his sheep. He's the good shepherd
who redeems them. He is the great shepherd who's
won the victory for them. He is the chief shepherd, God
over all, who controls all things, whose sheep to whom the sheep
belong, he is the chief shepherd, and now he talks about his sheep.
First of all, in verse 14, he says, they are my sheep. I am
the good shepherd, I know my sheep. They're my sheep. He says in verse 27, my sheep.
My sheep hear my voice. Years ago, a great old preacher
of the gospel, now dead, preached a sermon from this text in John
chapter 10, and he called his message, How the Good Shepherd
Receives His Sheep. And he had a three-point outline.
And he says, first of all, the Good Shepherd received his sheep
by divine decree. Where did Christ get his sheep?
He says, they're mine. They're mine. I know my sheep. and my sheep hear my voice. Well, first of all, he received
them by divine decree. Now read verse 29. My Father,
which gave them me, is greater than all. Now, the proper translation
of verse 29 is this. My Father, who has given them
to me, is greater and mightier than all else. Where did Christ
get his sheep? the Father gave them to him.
The Father gave them to him. Turn to John the 6th chapter,
verse 37, and listen to Christ here. This is the Lord Jesus
speaking in John 6, 37. He says, All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. Where did he get his sheep? The
Father gave them to him. That's where he got his sheep.
All that the 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 should lose nothing, but raise
it up again at the last day." Where did Christ get his sheep?
The old white-haired preacher who was preaching this sermon
said, first of all, he got his sheep by divine decree from the
hand of the Father. Turn to John 17. We find the
Lord Jesus talking about these sheep again. Here in John 17,
which everybody knows, is the high priestly prayer of our Lord.
It is the high priest interceding for his own. It is the high priest
taking the names of the beloved before the throne of the Father,
right into the Holy of Holies, and pleading his righteousness
in his blood, and six times, six times in this one prayer,
he prays for those that the Father hath given him. Look first of
all at verse 2. Christ said, Thou hast given
him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to
as many as Thou hast given him. And then in verse 6 he said,
I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me. And then in verse 9 he says,
I pray for them, I pray not for the world, I pray for them which
thou hast given me. And in verse 11 he said, And
now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world. I
come to thee, Holy Father, keep through thine own name those
whom thou hast given thee. In verse 12, While I was with
them in the world, I kept them in thy name, those that thou
gavest me I have kept. And then in verse 20, neither
pray I for thee, verse 24, father I will that they also whom thou
hast given me be with me where I am. Where did the Lord Jesus
get his sheep? He calls them his, he says they're
my sheep. He got them first of all by divine
decree from the hand of the Father. Secondly, the old man went on
preaching the sermon. He said, secondly, the Lord Jesus
receives his sheep by his death. He bought them. He bought them. Turn to 1 Peter 1. He bought
them. The Lord Jesus bought them. The
scripture says, you're not your own, you're bought. You're bought
with a price. It is the blood of the Son of
God. He bought his sheep. I'm the good shepherd. I laid
down my life. I gave my life for my sheep.
That's how I got them. The Father gave them to me, but
I had to redeem them, first of all, from the captivity of sin.
And then I had to redeem them from the captivity of the law.
And then I had to reconcile these sheep unto the Father, for they
were enemies of God." In 1 Peter 1, verse 18, it says, "...for
as much as you know, you were not redeemed with corruptible
things, such as silver and gold." Now, you pawn a watch, you go
down to the pawn shop, You pay for it with silver and gold.
But when a soul is pawned to sin and to the law, you don't
pay for it with silver and gold. You pay for it with blood. So
we're not redeemed with silver and gold, but we're redeemed,
verse 19, with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish
and without spot. Where'd Christ get his sheep?
The Father gave them to him. The Father gave them to him.
Before the world began, the Father in an eternal covenant of mercy
gave a people to his Son. But the Son came down here to
this earth in the likeness of sinful flesh and bought those
sheep. They're His not only by divine
decree, they're His by death. He died that He might be Lord
of the dead and of the living. He knows them for He died for
them and He intercedes for them. He paid for them. And then thirdly,
where did he get his sheep? Well, he received them by a divine
call. In Galatians chapter 1, Paul
describes this in Galatians 1, verse 15. Now listen to this. But when it pleased God, who
separated me from my mother's womb, back before I was born,
he gave me to his son. Back before my mother's womb,
before I was ever fashioned in the womb and brought forth into
the world, the Father chose me. He knew me. He sanctified me. But it pleased Him in the fullness
of time to call me by His grace, to call me by His grace and reveal
His Son who died for me in me. God calls the sheep to Christ,
first of all, by His Spirit. The Lord Jesus said in John chapter
16, when the Holy Spirit has come, he will convince the world
of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. When he, the Spirit
of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth. He will not
speak of himself. He shall glorify me. God calls
his people by his Spirit, and he calls them by his word. He
says, my word will not return unto me void. it shall accomplish
that whereunto I have sent it." The sword of God is the word
of God that pierces the heart, the imaginations, the thoughts,
and the mind, and God calls his people not only by his spirit
and by his word, but he calls them by his ministries. Turn
to Acts chapter 13. How did Christ get his sheep?
First of all, the Father gave them to him. They were the gift
of the Father in the covenant of mercy. He gave His Son a people,
a people innumerable out of every tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue
unto heaven, a people as the sands of the sea shore, a people
as many as the stars of the universe. He gave them to Christ. Christ
Jesus bought them. He bought them by his blood,
bought them from the law, bought them from sin, reconciled them
to the Father. And then in the fullness of time,
the Holy Spirit comes to those people whom the Father has given
to the Son, those people for whom Christ died, those people
who are in the darkness of sin, and the Holy Spirit calls them.
He uses the Word, and he calls them by his ministries. It says
in Acts 13, verse 46, listen now. Then Paul and Barnabas, ministers
of Christ, waxed bold, and they said, It was necessary that the
word of God should first have been spoken to you, talking to
Israel. But seeing that you put it from
you, judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn
to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded
us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that
thou shouldest be for salvation. to the ends of the earth. And
when the Gentiles heard this, that Paul was going to preach
to them, that the word of God was being sent to them, and when
they heard this, listen, they were glad They were glad, for
without the gospel, nobody's going to be saved. They were
glad. Oh, when they heard Paul say, all right, Israel, you have
been judicially blinded, you've turned your back on the Messiah,
on the Christ, we turn to the Gentiles, for God has already
told me I'd be a light to the Gentiles, to take salvation to
the ends of the earth, and when the Gentiles heard this, they
were glad, they glorified the Word of God. And as many as were
ordained to eternal life believed. They believed. I do not find
anywhere in the Word of God any indication or any hint that God
chooses to call his sheep by dreams or visions or spectacular
experiences. I don't find that anywhere in
the Word of God. I find that God is pleased to call his sheep
to himself by his Spirit, using the word of God, and by faithful
ministers of the gospel. It is through the Holy Spirit,
the word of God, and a faithful minister of the gospel that a
man learns that he's a sinner, that a man learns that Christ
died for sinners. That a man learns that the Savior
suffered on the cross to redeem the lost. That a man learns that
by turning to Christ through faith he can have eternal life.
How did Christ get his sheep? The Father gave them to him.
He said that, all that my Father giveth me shall come to me. I
pray not for the world, I pray for them which thou hast given
me. You want to spend your time explaining that, you're welcome
to it. If you want to spend your time
denying it, you're welcome to that. If you want to spend your
time arguing against it, you're welcome to that. All I know is
the Bible says the Father gave the Son of people, and I believe
it. And the Bible says that the Son
bought them with his blood. And the Bible said, Whom he hath
predestinated he called, and whom he called he justified,
and whom he justified he glorified. That's what the Word of God says.
all whom he predestinated will be and are called, and they are
called by the Holy Spirit, and they are called by the word of
God, the quick, powerful, piercing, penetrating, convincing word
of God, and that comes from the mouth of a minister of the gospel
or a faithful witness of Christ Jesus. That's how he got his
sheep, calls them my sheep. All right, quickly, turn back
to John 10. Let's look at our text again. My sheep. My sheep. My sheep hear my voice. They
hear my voice. Now will you stay with me a minute?
Preacher, do not all men have access to the Word of God? Yes,
most men do. Do not almost all people occasionally
hear the words of a preacher? That's right, they do. They hear
the words of a preacher, but they don't really hear the words. They hear, but they don't hear.
You say you're talking in riddles. Well, if I am, the Lord Jesus
did, too. Because if you'll turn to Matthew
13, I want you to hear what he says in Matthew 13, verse 9.
Now, what I'm saying is this. Even here tonight, there are
people hearing my words who are not hearing them. There are people
here tonight who are hearing the gospel who are not hearing
the gospel. They are hearing words, and that's
all they heard. You know, Paul said, Brethren,
I thank God for you, and I know your election, because our gospel
didn't come to you in word only. It came to you in power. in understanding
in the Holy Spirit in much assurance. There are people here who are
hearing but are not hearing, they're seeing but they're not
seeing. Now listen to Christ, Matthew 13, verse 9. Who hath
ears to hear, let him hear. And the disciples came and said
to him, Why do you speak unto them in parables, in stories? He said, Because it's given unto
you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. To them
it's not given. You're a special people. You're
the sheep of Christ. And God, in his supernatural
power, has given you understanding of the mysteries of the gospel.
He hasn't given it to them. The gospel is a mystery, my friend,
whether you know it or not. It's a mystery that must be revealed.
Now read on. For whosoever has, to him shall
be given, and he shall have more abundance. But whosoever hath
not from him shall be taken away, even that which he hath. Therefore
I speak to them in parables, because," listen, this is Christ
speaking, "'I speak to them in parables, because they seeing
see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.'
If you be the Christ, tell us plainly,"
He said, "'I told you.' But you don't hear me because you're
not my sheep. You don't understand because
you're not my sheep. Read on. And in these people
is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which said, By hearing
you shall hear, and not understand, and seeing you shall see, and
not perceive. For the people's heart is waxed
gross, their ears are dull of hearing, their eyes have they
closed, lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and
hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted.
And I should heal them, but blessed are your eyes, He's talking to
the apostles, talking to the sheep. Blessed are your eyes,
they see. And oh, thank God for your ears,
they hear. They hear. Preacher, nearly everybody
knows the story of Jesus. I know they do. But they don't. They've heard it, but they haven't
heard it. They've seen it in pictures, but they've never believed
it. He said, I told you, the works that I do, they bear witness
of me, but you believe not, because you're not of my sheep. I said
unto you, my sheep hear my voice. They hear my voice because God's
given them ears with which to hear it. They see my glory because
God's given them eyes with which to see my glory. They understand
the mysteries of the gospel because God's given them a heart to understand
it. You know what's wrong with some
of us? Turn to Mark chapter 7. I'll show you what's wrong with
some of us today. What's wrong with us is the same
thing that's wrong with our great-great-granddaddies. Some of us today are blinded
by religious tradition. We are blinded by religious customs. and religious traditions. We've
been taught error and falsehood, and we've hid ourselves in these
refuges of lies, and the true light of the gospel can't get
through to us. Look at Mark 7, verse 6. He answered and said unto them,
this is Christ speaking again, Where hath Isaiah prophesied
of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with
their lips? They sing the doxology. They
sing, majestic sweetness sits enthroned. They sing, a mighty
fortress is our God. They sing, how great thou art.
They honor me with their lips, but their hearts, their hearts
are far from me. Howbeit in vain they worship
me. They teach for doctrines the commandments of men. Laying
aside the commandments of God, just putting them aside altogether,
they hold to the traditions of men. washing pots, and washing
hands, and washing cups, and taking so many steps, and doing
without leave, abstaining from marriage, all of these different
things. They teach for the doctrines
of God, the commandments of men, and laying aside the commandments
of God, they're teaching all these things and many other such
things you do." And he said unto them, full well, you reject the
word of God, that you may keep your own Baptist doctrine, Methodism,
Catholicism, Lutheranism, Calvinism, Presbyterianism, and every other
ism. You reject the Word of God and
hold on to your so-called training and teaching and tradition. This
is the way I was brought up. I know that. And this is the
way they were brought up too. And Christ said they've rejected,
they've rejected God's Word. It's right there in front of
them, but they will not have it, because that's not the way
they've been taught. You reject the commandments of
God that you may keep your tradition. The tradition of the Church of
God, or the Church of Christ, or the Nazarene, or the Baptist,
or the Methodist, or something else. You reject the Word of
God, because that's not the way it's taught in your denominations.
That's what these people did, and Christ called them hypocrites.
But my sheep," he said, they'll hear my voice. You'll find one
here and one yonder and one somewhere else, and I'll walk by and say,
Matthew, follow me, and he'll get up and follow me. Zacchaeus,
come down. He'll come down. He'll come down. And then notice the next thing
in John 10. I've got to hurry. He said, my sheep, my sheep,
my sheep, hear my voice. And they what? They follow me.
Now there are two prominent marks of a believer. The ear and the
foot. Listen to it. They follow me.
My sheep do what? They hear and they follow. That's
the ear and the foot. They follow me. They follow his
commandments, first of all. If you love me, he said, you'll
keep my commandments. You are my friends if you do
what I command you." What are his commandments? Turn to Matthew
22. Here they are briefly summed up in the words of Christ himself.
In Matthew 22, verse 35, a lawyer asked him, saying, Master, which
is the greatest law or greatest commandment in the law? And Jesus
said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is
the first and great commandment, and the second is likened to
it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. And on these two
commandments hang all the law and the prophets. My sheep hear
my voice, and they follow me. They follow my commandments.
They follow my example. Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, as Christ, as God, for Christ's sake, hath
forgiven you. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus, who thought it not robbery to be
equal with God, yet made himself of no reputation. They follow
my example. And then they follow His glory.
They seek no glory for themselves, they seek His glory. The glory
of Christ becomes the end of all that we do. Whatsoever you
do, in word or deed, do it for the glory of God. And then back
to our text again, and I close with this. Our Lord said, My
sheep, My sheep will hear My voice. God enables them to hear. And they'll follow Me. This is
the mark of a disciple. By this shall all men know you
are my disciples, if you keep my commandments, if you love
one another. And then I give them eternal life. I give them
life from the death of sin. I give them life from the death
of the grave, because I live, ye shall live. I give them life
from the death of judgment. Turn to Matthew 25. In Matthew
25, verse 31, the Master speaks, and he says, When the Son of
Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with
him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory, and before
him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall separate them one
from another as a shepherd as a shepherd divided his sheep
from the goats. And then shall he set the sheep
on his right hand. And then shall the king say unto
them on the right hand, Come ye blessed of my Father." That's
where it all started. The Father gave us to the Son,
and the Son redeemed us by blood, and the Holy Spirit called us
to himself. Come ye blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
this world. The shepherd is going to give
life to his people, life from the death of sin, life from the
death of the grave, and life from the death of judgment and
eternal condemnation. I want you to take your hymn
books. Would you bring me one, Ronnie Plisser? And I want you
to turn to a song. I want to tell you the story
about this song. It is entitled, the song is entitled,
It Is Well With My Soul, and it's found on page 256 in your
hymn book, number 256. And the man who wrote this song
is named H. G. Spafford. It's up in the left-hand
corner. He was born in 1828 and died
in 1888. He lived 60 years. He was married. This man, H. G. Spafford, was
married and lived in Chicago, Illinois. He was a successful
businessman. He wasn't a preacher. He was
a Christian, a believer, and a very successful businessman.
He had a wife and five children. His wife went on a vacation with
the four youngest children. Four of them left one at home,
and she caught a ship. The name of the ship was the
Villa de Marvey, and she was sailing for France. And on the
way to France, this ship collided with another vessel, said to
be a sailing vessel, and the ship went down in less than thirty
minutes. All four of the children were
drowned. His wife was picked up, she was rescued from the
wreckage, and she was taken to Wales from which country she
sent a telegram back to her husband, H. G. Stafford, saved but alone. And this great Christian, Christian
businessman who loved the Lord more than he loved anything on
earth, sat down and wrote this psalm. and dedicated it to the
memory of his four children. When peace, like a river, attendeth
my way, when sorrows, like sea billows, roll whatever my lot,
thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul. Though Satan should buffet, though
trials should come, let this blessed assurance control that
Christ hath regarded my helpless estate, and he hath shed his
own blood for my soul. My sin, O the bliss of that glorious
thought, my sin, not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the
cross, and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
O my soul. And Lord, haste the day when
my faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll,
the trumpet shall resound, and the Lord shall descend. Even
so, it's well with my soul." I want us to sing that as a closing
hymn tonight, No. 256. I'll ask you to stand together
and let's sing all four stanzas of this great hymn, written,
written out of a broken heart under the inspiration, I believe,
of God, and expressing the assurance of every believer, every sheep
of Christ, because of his love, it's well with my soul." Let's
sing, 256. When peace like a river attendeth
my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll, Whatever my lot
Thou hast taught me to say It is well with my soul. It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul. Though Satan should buffet, though
trials should come, let this bless the show. That Christ hath
regarded my helpless state, And hath shed his own blood for my
soul. with my soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul. My sin for the bliss of this
glorious thought. I sin not in part, but the whole,
is nailed to the cross, and I no more. Praise the Lord, praise
the Lord, O my soul, it is well with my soul. with my soul. And, Lord, haste the day when
my faith shall be sighed. The crowds may roll back as a
sprawl. The triumph shall resound, and
the Lord shall descend. Even so, it is well with my soul. with my soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul.