Such a blessing to hear the singing
of the hymns today. During the times when we were
streaming, Bill came and Kevin came and I had to be very careful
because I was sitting so close to him. I was afraid if I sang
too loud, I would pull them off. So it's good to have quite a
few more of us here tonight singing and this morning as well and
worshiping the Lord. Singing is just an important
part of worship, isn't it? God's people love to sing. It's a part of praise. And as
Bill was singing that hymn just now, the first hymn, I thought
of that scripture where the psalmist David said, as the heart paneth
after the water brooks, O Lord, my soul paneth after thee. And may God, the Holy Spirit,
give us that desire, and may he breathe upon us in a special
way, even this evening. If you will, let's turn to John
chapter 10. This is actually the second message
that I prepared for tonight. I pray the Lord will bless his
word. Very simple message as always. John chapter 10, beginning in
verse one. 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. But he that is in hireling, and
not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf
coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth. And the wolf scattereth
them, or catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth,
because he is in hireling, 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. The psalmist David, in probably
the best psalm that is known, said, the Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want. But in these verses that I've
just read, we have David's shepherd, the Good Shepherd speaking. And
he's speaking of his sheepfold and also of his sheep. And I intend, by God's grace,
to point out four truths tonight to us about the sheepfold. And
then I want us to look at the statement of our Lord in verse
10. But first, here are four truths
about the sheepfold. First truth, God has one sheepfold. What is a sheepfold? You might
hear that word and have some vague idea as to what it is,
but what is a sheepfold? Well, to say the very basic,
to give the very basic definition, a sheepfold at that time was
some kind of enclosure. It was some kind of enclosure,
many of them were made of rocks, but it served a purpose to separate. It separated the sheep from those
outside. In the daytime, the sheep and
the shepherd, of course, they would be out feeding, pasturing
on the hills and wherever the shepherd would lead them. But
then in the evening, at night, the shepherd would bring them
back into the sheepfold and it was very important because it
served to protect, to keep safe the sheep as long as they were
in the sheepfold. The church, the church of the
Lord Jesus Christ may be compared to a sheepfold because the church
also is separated from the world. It serves to separate God's sheep
from the world. The Lord's sheep are brought
into the church, and we're brought into the church for our safety. There's nothing, or I cannot
think of any animal more defenseless than a sheep. A sheep. And that's the animal that God
chose to use to picture his people, to picture you and me and all
of his children as sheep, defenseless. And so he has provided for us
in a sheepfold under shepherds for our protection, for our safety,
for our keeping, to keep us, to keep the sheep from the evil. And my point is simply this,
the Lord Jesus Christ has only one sheepfold. If you notice
in verse 16, we read just a few minutes ago, look down to verse
16, the Lord spoke of his having sheep among the Gentiles, who
he said must, must. If you look at the word must
in the gospel of John, that's a very interesting study. Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God. And as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. The Lord Jesus Christ said, I
must preach the gospel. to other villages. And here he
tells us in this verse that he had other sheep. Notice, I have
other sheep which are not of this fold. He's speaking there
of his sheep among the Gentiles. Remember he told that Syrophoenician
woman who came to him seeking help for her daughter, I am sent
to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But the Lord Jesus
Christ had sheep among the nation of Israel, yes, but also among
the Gentile nations. Of another, as he said, I have
sheep, which are not of this fold. Them also I must bring,
and they shall hear my voice. Now notice, and there shall be
one fold. One fold, one sheep fold. If you would, turn with me to
Hebrews chapter 12, just a moment. In Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 22, the writer here
speaking of believers, New Testament believers, but you are come unto
Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem, and to innumerable company of angels, to the general
assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven,
and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men
made perfect. The sheep fold, when compared
to a church, a place that separates from the world, God's sheep from
the world, there's only one sheepfold. The Lord Jesus Christ said, upon
this rock I will build not my churches, not my churches, but
I will build my church. Now, the Bible does speaks of
churches plural, doesn't it? These are local churches, just
like our church here is a local church. But all of the sheep
who are brought into this local church are saved by the grace
of God. We are also part of what I would
call His sheepfold, His universal sheepfold. There's one sheepfold,
the Lord Jesus Christ. God has one sheepfold. Second, God's sheepfold has one
door. Verse seven, our Lord said this. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
I am the door of the sheep. They're not two, they're not
three, but only one door into the sheepfold. Now Peter, on
the day of Pentecost, proclaimed to the Jews who would climb up
some other way, You see, our Lord said anyone who would come
up another way is a thief and a robber. Anyone who does not
enter by the door, there's one door. Jesus Christ is the one
door into the sheepfold. Peter said, neither is there
salvation in any other for there's none other name under heaven
given among men whereby we must be saved. Now for a person to
try to enter the sheepfold in some other way marks that person,
brands that person. A person who tries to enter into
the sheepfold, into the Lord's church in some other way than
through the door, the one door, that person or persons are branded,
they are marked as thieves and robbers. What do they try to
steal? What do they steal? They attempt
to steal the Lord's glory, His glory, that He is the one door,
the one way of salvation, the one mediator between God and
man. Any other way of salvation but
through the person and work of Jesus Christ is man's attempt
to rob God, to rob Christ, rather, of His glory. Now, baptism. Baptism is important. I would
not say a word against baptism or to make light of baptism.
It is a means that the Lord has given us whereby we may publicly,
if Christ has saved us, if we're looking to Christ as our Lord
and Savior, then publicly we may confess in the waters of
baptism that we are trusting in Him and His gospel, which
is pictured through baptism. The Lord's Supper. We will not
say a word belittling the Lord's Supper. Both of these church
ordinances They are very, very important in their places. In their places. But if they
are put into the place of Christ, the door, in other words, if
a person believes that it's through baptism, or it's through observing
the Lord's Supper, that we may enter into the sheepfold, then
we have done despite to these two ordinances. Anything and
everything in the place of Christ is a thief and a robber. In Pilgrim's
Progress, you remember, there was someone or some two, I believe,
who climbed over the fence and got into the way. You remember
that, don't you? I do not remember their name. May have been presumption. But
he jumped over the wall. came up, climbed over the wall
and got into the way. And he ran on ahead of Pilgrim,
didn't he? But it wasn't long before he
had turned and was headed back. Why? Because he had entered in
an illegitimate way. He tried to enter into the way
to the Celestial City other than through Christ, who is the door,
the one door. The third thing I would say about
the sheepfold. God's sheepfold is, now listen,
for His sheep. His sheep. Notice in verses three
and four, two times in these verses, He says His own sheep. His own 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. It's impossible for me to see
how the Lord Jesus Christ could be called a shepherd if he had
no sheep. If I introduced myself to you,
we had not known each other, and I said, I'm a race car driver. And you asked me, well, do you
own a race car? And I said, no. Have you ever
driven a race car? No. Have you ever been in a race
car? No. You're a fraud. You're not a race car driver.
And for anyone to believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is a shepherd
who had no sheep, and these sheep were given unto him. Notice,
if you will, down in verses 24 through 30. We didn't read these
verses, but notice when he was speaking to the Jews. Then came
the Jews round about him and said unto him, how long dost
thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us
plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you,
and you believe not. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me. But, now notice, but you believe
not because you are not of my sheep. As I said unto you, why
was it They did not believe because they were not of his sheep. The shepherd has sheep which
were given unto him. Let's read on here. My sheep
hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And 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 great notice my father which gave them me yes he's a
shepherd and yes he has sheep and yes these sheep were given
unto him by the father and notice back there in verses four and
five again where we read his own sheep what he says about
his own sheep are you one of his sheep You say, well, how
can I know that? Well, here's how you can know
this. Very clear. Very clear here in
verses four and five. His own sheep hear his voice. Now, what does this mean? We hear his sheep hear his voice. His sheep hear the gospel. Hear the gospel. Now these that
he spoke to and said, you are not of my sheep, they didn't
hear the gospel. Now they heard it with their
ears. Yes, they heard the words. The disciples asked our Lord
one day, why is it that you speak unto the people in parables?
And remember what he said, because unto you it is given to know
the mysteries of the kingdom, but unto them it is not known. His sheep hear His voice. And not only do we hear His voice,
He calls His own sheep by name. Now, when you listen to a man
like myself preaching, when God blesses His word through an under-shepherd,
God's sheep hear His voice. And what we hear is, that's the
truth. That's the gospel. I used to
say, and I might say it again sometime, but his sheep hear
his voice when the voice of the shepherd through the preaching
of the gospel says, sinner? Sinner? His sheep hear. Those who are not His sheep,
they don't hear. They don't hear that voice. And
they begin with all kinds of excuses and all kinds of ideas
as to why that doesn't apply to them. They're too good. Or they've
made some mistakes. There's no doubt about it. No
one's perfect. But God's sheep hear his voice.
He calls him by name. Sinner. That's me. That's me. He's talking to me. Now, if a
person says, well, I'm not a sinner, well, he's not talking to you.
I remember a preacher years ago illustrating this by a man crossing
the desert. And you could hear him coming.
He was coming with several camels, I believe it was. And he had
water cans on those camels and they were just clanging together
and clanging together. And he cries out, water, water! And someone hears him and they
say, I'm not thirsty. I'm not speaking to you. I'm
not speaking to you. No. I'm speaking to those who
are thirsty. Oh, everyone that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters and drink. Yes. His sheep, hear His voice. He calls His own sheep by name.
And notice He leads His own sheep out. Out of what? Out of whatever He finds His
sheep in. Most of us here tonight, I believe
if we would confess this and gave a testimony, we would have
to say he found us in false religion. That's where we were. In works
religion. Trusting in our will and our
decision and whatever else. But works religion. And we heard
his voice. Others, no doubt, others heard
the same messages, the same preachers, and they continued on defending
free will works religion. But somehow, by the grace of
God, he led his sheep out, out of the cesspool of sin. He leads
His people out. We don't continue. Therefore,
if any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things are
passed away. Behold, all things are become
new. And where does He lead? He leads
us out. Wherever He finds us, He leads
us out of that. And where does He lead us? Into
the green pastures. The Word of God. His Word. And fourth, God's sheepfold claims,
now listen, God's sheepfold claims the good, the great, and the
chief shepherd. As a good shepherd, notice in
verse 11, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. Oh, how good he is. How good he is, seeing us polluted
in our blood. And yet, when we were
without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Read that passage there in Romans
chapter 5. For whom did Christ die? He died
for sinners. He died for the ungodly. He died for those who had no
strength. He's a good shepherd. But he's
not only the good shepherd. Let's look at these other places.
Turn with me first to Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13 and verse
20, he's the great shepherd. Now the God of peace, Hebrews
13 verse 20, 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, that covenant that was made in
eternity past, in which Christ stood as a surety of His sheep
who were given to Him, that blood of the everlasting covenant,
His blood ratified, sealed that covenant. And notice in 1 Peter,
turn over a few more pages, He's not only the Good Shepherd and
the Great Shepherd, but He's the Chief Shepherd. And of course,
this is used among under-shepherds, but let's read it here in 1 Peter
chapter 5 and verse 4. And when the Chief Shepherd shall
appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. What is this crown of glory?
This crown of glory that He will give each and every one of His
sheep is that eternal happiness prepared for God's redeemed sheep. Now I want to speak from the
Lord's words back in our chapter, chapter 10 of John, for just
a few minutes from His words in verse 10. I am come. Why did he come? Why did he come? I am come that
they, his sheep, might have life, and they might have it more abundantly. One of the prophecies of the
Lord Jesus Christ in the book of Psalms goes like this. I restored that which I took
not away. We should tonight recognize that
in Adam, in Adam, who was our head and representative, we lost
much. We did. We lost much when he
disobeyed God. We lost much in our head and
in our representative, but in Christ, who is our head and representative,
we receive more abundantly. More abundantly. Three things
here. Three things. First of all, life.
Life. I am come that they might have
life. When Adam disobeyed God and us
in him, he had been warned that he would
die the day that he ate that forbidden fruit. He didn't die
physically, we know that. He lived on for hundreds of years.
It was spiritual life that he and we lost in Adam. And that
made us subject to physical death. And also, it made us or it put us, rather, in a position
of never again being able to obtain life through our works. Through our works. That was the
first purpose. When God drove Adam and Eve out
of the garden, He put that cherubim with a flaming sword to keep
the way to the tree of life. And that was to show Adam and
to show you and to show me and to show all of Adam's posterity
that it is an impossibility, an impossibility to obtain life
by our works, by our doings. Christ, the good shepherd has
come that we might have life. It is through him that we are
quickened, that his sheep are quickened into newness of life. Our Lord said, God's not the
God of the dead. He's the God of the living. And when we are quickened and
given new life, spiritual life, we have fellowship with the Father. We have fellowship with Him.
God is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. And
when a person is quickened, born of the Spirit of God, Christ
said, I'm come that they might have life, spiritual life. And
our fellowship is with the Father. Now it is through Adam that physical
death came into this world. But for his sheep, for you tonight,
if you're one of his children, we're all going to die if the
Lord doesn't come back in our lifetime. We're all going to
die. But the sting of death has been
removed for his people. Death to a child of God is not,
physical death to a child of God is not punishment for our
sins. Our sins have been punished in
our substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ. Not only punished, but
put away. Put away. Death is like this
porter our Lord spoke of in the parable. The porter who opened
the door. And that's what death will be
for a child of God and is for a child of God. It's just like
we've seen these TV shows, I'm sure you've seen some of them,
of days gone by, especially in England. And you have to wonder
if that man just stood there all the time waiting for someone
and he'd open the door for them. They'd go out and get in the
car, he'd jump up and open the door for them. That's what death
is to a child of God. Just a porter opening the door
for us to enter into his presence. He has come that we might have
eternal life. He said, I give unto them, notice
that in verse 28, speaking of his sheep, I give unto them eternal
life and they shall never perish. Eternal life is not life that
you have today and may lose tomorrow. That's not eternal life. Those so-called Christian religions
that teach that a person may be saved and then lost, they
have this in common. They all believe that salvation
is by works. All of them. That's not what
the scripture says. For by grace are you saved through
faith and that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works. lest any man should boast. Second, so first, the good shepherd came that we
might have life. Second, righteousness. Christ
came that we might have righteousness. It was innocence. Adam was innocent. He was innocent. We lost innocence
in Adam. and any righteousness that we
lost in Adam, it had to have been created righteousness. The righteousness that Christ
came to give unto us is called the righteousness of God. His
righteousness is the righteousness of God because He is God. There's several passages I had
down, but for time's sake, I want you to turn back to Jeremiah
just a moment. Jeremiah chapter 23. He has come
that we might have righteousness. Jeremiah chapter 23 and verse
6. When you find that, I want you
to turn over a few pages to Jeremiah chapter 33. Jeremiah chapter
23 and Jeremiah chapter 33, and we'll read these two together. The first one in chapter 23,
verse 6. In his days, Judah shall be saved
and Israel shall dwell safely. And notice, and this is the name
whereby he shall be called. Who is this? This is the shepherd. This is the good shepherd, the
chief shepherd, the great shepherd. What is his name? The Lord our
righteousness. That's his name. The Lord our
Righteousness. Now look over in chapter 33, verse 6. I'm sorry, I've got the wrong.
16, yes. In those days, verse 16,
in those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell
safely. And this is the name wherewith
she shall be called, the Lord our righteousness. You see, His
name is the Lord our righteousness, and His righteousness is our
righteousness. And our name is the Lord, our
righteousness. When a lady marries a man, she
takes his name. And Christ, in the word of God,
is our husband. We, the church, are his bride,
and we take his name. The third thing, and closing
with this, he has come that we might have life, that we might
have righteousness, paradise, paradise. Christ came that we
might enjoy paradise. It was an earthly paradise that
we lost in Adam. Christ came that we might enjoy
his heavenly paradise. Remember the words to that thief
who looked to Christ, who was being crucified that same day? He said, Lord, remember me when
thou comest into thy kingdom. And the Lord said unto him, today
thou shalt be with me in paradise. Where did he go when he died
that day upon the cross? He said, I go to prepare a place
for you. He went to paradise. Today thou
shalt be with me in paradise. I go to prepare a place for you
that where I am, there you may be also. He went to paradise,
and in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, the apostle Paul speaks of
paradise, him being caught up to the third heaven, to paradise. Yes, Christ came that we might
enjoy paradise. In his prayer, in his prayer that is recorded
in John chapter 17, Near the end, he said, Father, I will,
that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I
am. Where is he? He is at the Father's
right hand. That's where we too shall be.
And all to the praise and the glory of his grace. Anyone try
to go any other way is a thief and a robber, and God has determined
that he shall have the preeminence in all things, and he will not
share his glory with another. I pray the Lord would bless his
word to us here this evening. Now we're going to close our
service singing hymn number 255, Blessed Assurance.