Open your Bibles, please, with
me to John chapter 10. I'm going to speak to us today primarily
from the last half of verse 10. I am come that they might have
life and that they might have it more abundantly. But before
we come to the text, let's begin reading in verse 1 and read through
verse 18. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth
up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 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 calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when
he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the
sheep 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 strangers. This parable spake
Jesus unto them, but they understood not what things they were which
he spake unto them. Then said Jesus unto them, again,
verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All
that ever came before me are 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 shall go in and out and find
pasture. The thief cometh not but for
to steal and to kill and to destroy. I am come that they might have
life and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the
good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. And he that is in harling and
not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf
coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth. And the wolf catcheth
them, and scattereth the sheep. The harling fleeth, because he
is in harling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good
shepherd, and 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. And other sheep I have which
are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall
hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Therefore doth my father love
me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No
man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power
to lay it down and I have power to take it again. This commandment
have I received of my father. There are so many messages in
those 18 verses, but I want to speak to us, as I said, primarily
from the last part of verse 10, the words of the Lord Jesus,
when he said, I am come that they might have life. and that
they might have it more abundantly. Abundant life. And looking at
this verse and these great blessings that the Lord Jesus promises,
I have four questions. And I pray the Lord will bless
us as we study this part of his word. First, I am come. Those are the first words in
our text. I am come. Who is come? Who is come? Men say that there's
seven I am passages here in the Gospel of John. I am the bread
of life. I am the light of the world.
I am the door. I am the good shepherd. I am
the resurrection and the life. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. I am the true vine. Now we see
two of those passages here in this place, in verse 9 and verse
11. In verse 9, the Lord Jesus said,
I am the door. And then in verse 11, I am the
good shepherd. But the words in our text this
morning, I am come, are not any of these seven I am passages
here in John. But he is the one who has come. I am come. Who has come? I want you to look back with
me. I want you to keep your places here, but turn back with me to
the second book in the Bible, the book of Exodus chapter three. Who has come? In this passage, Moses, of course,
turns aside to see a bush that was burning, but was not consumed. I remember what a pastor friend
of mine said years ago. He said that would be an excellent
name for a church, the Burning Bush Baptist Church. Always burning, but never consumed. Always giving out, but always
having more to give. The burning bush. Moses, of course,
his interest was tweeted and he turned aside to see this bush
that burned. And then God, the Lord, the angel
of the Lord, we're told, spoke to him out of that bush. The
first thing he told him was to take off his shoes. Take off
his shoes because he was on holy ground. And the reason that ground
was holy is because the Lord was there. You know, people talk
about the holy land. Let's take a trip to the holy
land. There's nothing holy about that land. It was holy when Christ
was there. There's nothing holy about that
land today. I know it'd be interesting to
see sites and visit places where the Lord Jesus walked when he
was here. upon the earth, but this was
holy ground when the Lord spoke to Moses out of this bush. But
I want you to notice in verse eight, moreover, he said, I am
the Lord. Well, that's verse six, verse
eight, and I am come down. The one who spoke to Moses out
of that bush, I am come down. That's the words in our text
this morning, I am come. Who is come? Well, we know that
Moses asked the Lord when the Lord commanded him to go into
Egypt and deliver his people. God said, I am come down to deliver
them out of the hand of the Egyptians, that is the nation of Israel.
Well, Moses, of course, said, they will ask your name. When
I go to the elders of the nation of Israel and Tell them that
you've sent me to deliver them. They're going to want to know
your name. And if you notice in verse 14, the Lord spoke to
Moses and said, and God said unto Moses, I am that I am. We know that this is the name
Yahweh, the name Jehovah. I am come down. And that's God
who came down. In Mark chapter 12 and verse
26, the Lord Jesus Christ said, God spoke to Moses from the bush. The angel of the Lord was the
Lord Jesus Christ in one of those pre-incarnate experiences. But in our text this morning,
this is who is come down. But this time, he did not come
as the angel of the Lord, but he came rather as, as I said,
incarnate deity. As the eternal son of God was
made flesh, I am come. That's who is come. Now second,
if you look back in our text, I am come. Who is come? The eternal
son of God has come as the God-man mediator between God and man. I am come that they, who are
they? Who are the they? Well, they
are his sheep. In verse 29, he declares that
the father had given them unto him. Notice that in verse 29,
my father which gave them me is greater than all. In his prayer
in John chapter 17, he makes reference five times to the fact
that his people, his sheep were given to him. He seems in that
prayer as though he glories in the fact, he rejoices in the
fact that his people were given unto him, his sheep were given
unto him. It's strange, isn't it, that
so many people today that call themselves Christians deny this
wonderful, glorious truth, that his people were given unto him
from before the foundation of the world, and they were given
unto him as his sheep. He's the shepherd of the sheep.
They were given unto him as members of his body. He's the head of
the body. You couldn't have, what kind
of a body would you have if there were no members? When he was chosen as the head,
his members were chosen in him. He's God's first elect and all
of God's elect were chosen in him before the foundation of
the world and given unto him as his sheep and that everlasting
covenant of grace. Who are they? They are his sheep. I am come that they, not the
goats, not the goats. I am come that they, he said,
might have life. And notice some things about
them in this passage of scripture. If you look back in verse three,
they hear his voice. They hear his voice. In the preaching
of the gospel, His sheep hear His voice. Oh, they hear the
voice of the preacher, yes, but more than that, they hear His
voice. And not only that, but in that
verse 3, it also says they follow Him. Or verse 4 says they follow
Him. Verse 11 tells us that the Good
Shepherd gives His life for them. And then in verse Verse 26, if
you notice, his sheep believe on him. Look at that verse, verse
26. But you believe not. Why is it
that men do not believe? Because you are not of my sheep,
as I said unto you. His sheep who were given unto
him from before the foundation of the world, when they hear
his voice in the gospel, They follow Him. They believe in Him. They trust in Him. You say, I'd
like to know if I'm one of His sheep. Do you believe in Him?
Do you hear His voice in the gospel? Do you follow Him? His sheep do. And that's the
only way a person may know if he is one of God's sheep. They believe in Him. Trust in
Him. follow Him, hear His voice. The third thing that we see in
our text is, I am come, who is come? The Lord Jesus Christ,
the God-man mediator, He is come, that they, the they are His sheep
which were given unto Him, that they might have life. Now what
does that mean? I am come that they might have
life. It means that they didn't naturally
have the life that he came to give. They didn't naturally have
this life. We all have physical life. All
of his sheep, when we're born into this world, we have physical
life, but that life we know is subject to death. We all recognize
that when we begin to breathe, it's just a matter of time before
we stop breathing. I mean, it's appointed unto men
once to die. Some people say, well, as soon
as we begin to live, we begin to die. We had physical life, his sheep
had physical life, which is subject to death, but the life that his
sheep do not have naturally is spiritual life, eternal life. They don't have spiritual life.
dead in trespasses and sins. The apostle Paul, remember, told
that to believers in the church at Ephesus. And you hath he quickened
who were dead in trespasses and sins. By nature, no man has spiritual
life, eternal life. You say, well, they're his sheep. Yes, they are his sheep. But Adam was also their representative. Adam represented all men. This
is what the Word of God declares. He was our representative head. And the Apostle says, in Adam,
all die. All die. All die spiritually. And all are liable to physical
death. Adam died spiritually when he
disobeyed God, when he ate that forbidden fruit. You say, do
you believe that? I do believe that. I do believe
that's the way sin came into this world, as the scripture
says, by one man. And that one man was the first
man, Adam. And when he sinned and disobeyed
God, all that he represented, which is all men, we all died
in Adam. In Adam, all died, the apostle
Paul said. In Christ, you'll all be made
alive. Just as Adam was a federal head
and representative of a people, so the Lord Jesus Christ is a
federal head and representative of His people, the sheep which
were given unto Him. Adam died spiritually the moment
he disobeyed God, and you cannot argue with that when When he
died, he lost communion with God. That's what spiritual death
is. That's what spiritual life is. It's communion with God. And
spiritual death is to lose, not to have communion or fellowship
with God. Adam lost it immediately. Why
else would he try to hide? Why else would he try to cover
his nakedness with fig leaves? Because That fellowship, that
communion which he had enjoyed with God, his maker, until he
disobeyed God, that communion was severed immediately. And
there was spiritual death. And that's the reason he tried
to hide from God. There was no spiritual life,
no fellowship with God. It was cut off. His communion
and fellowship with God. And it was cut off because of
his sin. So all men, his sheep included,
those of us here today who are his sheep, we all died, we all
came into this world as sinners, and sin separated us from God. We do not naturally have communion
fellowship with God. Our Lord was speaking to a woman
one day, this is recorded in John 4, and he told her, God
is spirit. The translators have added that
word a. I don't like that because it
sounds like he's one of many. No, God is spirit, not a spirit. God is spirit. Well, if a man
is spiritually dead, and we all are, We don't have any communion
with him. God is spirit, and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. I am calm that they might have
life, that is spiritual life, communion with God, fellowship
with God. And that spiritual life that
he gives unto his people, It ends in eternal life. Every child of God in this building
this morning, if you were to die right now, if you breathe
your last breath right now, there's nothing that would need to happen
to you to prepare you to go immediately into the presence of God. It's
already been done. You have eternal life. That's
what our Lord meant when he told Martha, He that liveth and believeth
in me shall never die, never die. Oh, this body will die,
but the spirit, he that's given spiritual life has eternal life
and shall never die. Now, I've come to the part of
the text that really I wanted to emphasize the most that we
might have it more abundantly. I'm calm that they might have
life and might have it more abundantly. What does that mean? Life more abundantly than who? Well, I believe the comparison
has to be between Adam and the children of God today. I mean,
Adam, we don't know how long it was before he sinned. Most
of the writers believe it was the same day of his creation. And they believe that because
he had no offspring. Him and Eve had no offspring
before he had sinned. We know it wasn't long. Wasn't
long. But there was a time, there was
a period when he was not a sinner. He was created in the image of
God and he had spiritual life. But he lost it, as I've already
said. But this comparison that our Lord, I believe, shows us
here that we might have life more abundantly Those of us who
know him today that have spiritual life, we have more abundant life
than holy Adam had, than he had before he sinned. We have more
abundant life than he had. And I have four things that I
believe are meant by this. And I know there are many more,
but I have four that I want to bring out to us. We have, those
of us who know him today, we have the righteousness of God
as our righteousness. Adam didn't have that. Holy Adam
did not have the righteousness of God that you and I have today. When a person trusts in the Lord
Jesus Christ, the righteousness of God is imputed to that person. Now, I'm not saying that Adam
was not righteous, because he was. But I would say that his
righteousness is called a created righteousness. In other words,
as God created him, he created him righteous. It was a creature
righteousness that he had. It was perfect, but it cannot,
it cannot be compared with the righteousness that every child
of God has here in this building this morning. His righteousness
cannot possibly be compared with the righteousness which we have,
which is called the righteousness of God. His righteousness was
created righteousness, creature righteousness. Our righteousness
that is given unto us, that is imputed unto us, is infinite
righteousness. Because it is the righteousness
of the Son of God, who is infinite in His person. Our righteousness
is the righteousness that He earned that he earned as God-man
by his perfect obedience in every way to the law of God. It's the righteousness of God.
It's called the righteousness of God because he's God. It's
called the righteousness of God because God ordained it. And
it's called the righteousness of God because God accepts it. God accepts you. in His righteousness. Scripture says we are accepted
in the Beloved. We're accepted in Christ, in
His righteousness. He hath clothed us, Isaiah 61,
He hath clothed us with the garments of salvation. What are those
garments? That robe of righteousness. That's
what it is, isn't it? The robe of righteousness. His
righteousness. The righteousness that Adam had,
it was perfect, it was beautiful, but it still could not compare
to the righteousness that you and I have as his children. I
am calm that they might have life, spiritual life, eternal
life, yes, and that they might have it more abundantly. We have the righteousness of
God as our righteousness. Number two. We have the promise
and assurance of our eternal security. We can never be plucked
out of our Good Shepherd's hand. You see that down in verse 28
and 29. I give unto them eternal life, and they
shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my
hand. My Father which gave them me is greater than all. No man
is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. We have the
promise and assurance, assurance, not just the promise, but the
assurance of our eternal security. We are in his hand today, and
we will always be in his hand. That's never going to change.
Now listen, if Adam had a promise of eternal security, if he had
that promise, it was based on his obedience. It was based on
his obedience if he had a promise of eternal security. When he
disobeyed, then that promise was void. Our security is not
based on Our obedience, but our security is based upon the obedience
of the Lord Jesus Christ. His obedience. He obeyed Him
perfectly. Our obedience is based entirely
upon the faithfulness and the obedience of Christ. the faithfulness and the obedience
of Christ. Our God is faithful. Our God
is faithful. Doesn't that give you comfort?
Doesn't that bless your heart today to know that you're in
the hand of Christ who's in the hand of God and that nothing
will ever be able to pluck you out of his hand? The third thing that I would
mention is We have God as our adoptive father. Adam had him
as his father by creation. There's no doubt about that.
He was created by God. But there's a big difference.
There's a big difference in knowing God as our creator and knowing
God as our heavenly father, our adoptive father. God is the father
of all men by creation. When the Apostle Paul was preaching
on Mars Hill in Athens, you know, he quoted some pagan poets even. Some of them said, we're all
his offspring. And Paul said, that's right.
We're all, all men are the offspring of God. He's the creator of all
men. He was Adam's creator. But my
friends, he's our heavenly father. Not by creation only, yes, he
created all of us, but he's our father by adoption. He's adopted
us into his family. And I heard this years ago, but
in some states at least, you can disown one of your children.
You can go to the judge, I guess, and just say, this person, this
man, he'll never, I'll never consider him as my son again. But I've also heard that in some
states, when a son or a daughter, and Steve, I believe you told
me this, when a person has been adopted, parents can never disown
an adopted child. Can never disown an adopted child. And God's never going to disown
one of his own. He, Adam didn't have that, not
holy Adam. We have life more abundantly.
We have the righteousness of God. We have the promise of eternal
security and we have God as our father, our adoptive father. Now being a father myself, it
helps me to understand this scripture. in Isaiah 63 in verse 9. Now
listen, this is God speaking. In all their affliction, He was
afflicted. What? You have a young son, was sick
recently, and I know you were afflicted in the affliction of
your son. The scripture tells us that in
the affliction of God's children, He is afflicted. The afflictions
of God's children are many. Many are the afflictions of the
righteous, as Scripture says. But know this, that in every
affliction that you experience in this world, He too is afflicted. That's amazing, isn't it? That's
truly amazing. What comfort. You're not alone. You may be walking through the
valley of the shadow of death, and it may seem like everyone's
forsaken you, and maybe everyone has, but he hasn't. He hasn't,
and he never will. You're his son. You're his daughter.
He gave his son for you. He loves you. You know, as a
parent, We love our children and we would try to keep them
from ever going through any problems, any afflictions, any difficulties,
but we soon learned we don't have that power. We don't have
that ability. God is able to comfort his children
in every affliction, every situation, no matter what it is. We have
life more abundantly. You know, there's a verse in
the Psalms, and I'll just read part of it. It says, he that is God will make all
their bed in his sickness. You know, when When you're sick
and someone, maybe in the hospital and the nurse, they come in or
someone works there and they fluff up the pillow and make
it softer for you, try to make it as comfortable for you. And
those of us who are blessed with good wives, we know what that
is when we're sick. How about God doing that for
you? That's what it says. That's what it says. That's your
father, your heavenly father. He will make all their bed in
his sickness. I remember using that verse one
time in a scripture and a brother who lives in another state now,
but he was here and he told me, he said, Ma, I just cannot imagine
that brother pledging that God fluffs up my pillow when I'm
sick. I said, that's what it says,
brother. That's what it says. And the
last thing, the fourth thing, we have life more abundantly,
we are heirs of God and join heirs with Christ. Now, this
is true because we are the adopted sons and daughters of God, adopted
by His grace into His family. That was not true of Adam. That
was not true of holy Adam. Well, he came. I'm glad he came, aren't you? And I'm glad this morning that
he gives life. Spiritual life. We have fellowship
with him. We can close our eyes. We don't
even have to close our eyes, but we can talk to God. Fellowship
with God. We sang that hymn earlier. He
walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way. You ask me how I know he lives? He lives within my heart. We
have spiritual life. And we look forward to eternal
life. And it's more than just eternal
duration. It's this is eternal life to
know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou has
sent. And we have life more abundantly. I pray the Lord would bless these
words to us here this morning. We're going to sing hymn number
279 and We'll just sing two verses of this hymn, David, and then
I'm going to introduce two young men that want to confess Christ
this morning publicly and then tonight follow in baptism.