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It is a joy to be here today
with you, to represent the college of the Whitefield College of
the Bible, and to be here in Ballymena. We trust that you'll
be blessed already by the service, by what you've heard, and blessed
by us and our service as students even this morning, and this evening
that God most of all will come and bless us now as we come around
His precious Word. And so if you have a copy of
the Scriptures, can you turn with me this morning, please, to the
Gospel of John chapter 10. John's Gospel, chapter 10, and
we just want to read various portions of this chapter together,
please, for time's sake. So, John's Gospel, chapter 10,
and we'll commence our reading this morning at the words of
verse 7. The Gospel of John, chapter 10,
and we'll read from verse 7, please. Let us hear the Word
of God together, John 10 and verse 7. 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, saith the wolf
coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth. And the wolf 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."
And can we please jump down then to the words of verse 27. Christ
says, 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 greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of
my Father's hand. I and my Father. And we end our
reading at the end of verse 30, and we look to the Lord to bless
the reading of His own precious Word to our hearts this morning.
Let us bow in a word of prayer as we come to seek God's face
for His help upon the preaching of His Word today. Let's pray,
please. Our gracious God and our Father
in heaven, we thank thee already for this, the Lord's day, and
this, the house of God. Lord, we thank thee already for
the praise that has been offered unto our God, the God of heaven
and the God of earth. Lord, we thank thee for the testimony
of the saving grace of God. Lord, we thank thee for lives
that have been transformed by the blood of Christ. We thank
thee for the praises of worship that have pointed us to Christ.
to our truest friend on Calvary, the one who loved us and gave
Himself for us. And Lord, we thank Thee for Thy
Word that is open before us this morning. We thank Thee for the
precious Word of God. And Lord, we pray now as we would
come to the preaching and the studying of this Word, that Lord,
You would open up our hearts to receive with meekness and
with fear the engrafted Word of God. Lord, I pray for thy
help today in preaching thy word. Lord, I pray you would empty
me of self and fill me with the spirit of God and with power
that I may rightly divide the word of truth. We pray for all
who would listen in today, whether in the building or whether online.
Lord, we pray that thy word would come with power, would come with
conviction, would come with challenge, and would find that abiding place
in all of our hearts. And so, Lord, now, continue Thy
presence with us and show us Thy glory, we pray. Bless us
now, we ask, in our Savior's name. And for His sake, we pray. Amen. Now, throughout the pages
of Scripture, we find that there are many examples and illustrations
that are used to describe Christ's union with His church. We can
read high in God's Word that we read of a relationship in
terms of the marriage union, that Christ is the heavenly bridegroom
and the church, His people, being the beautiful bride that will
be presented unto Him. The teachings of Christ also
show us the illustrations of botany or of nature, with the
Savior calling Himself the true vine and His church being those
faithful and those fruitful branches. However, in John chapter 10,
we read of a picture of farming or agricultural terminology. And there is no doubt that we
see in this portion this morning from God's Word in John chapter
10, that here the Savior reveals himself to be that good and that
great shepherd. He is the shepherd of his sheep,
of the flock and the family of God. And the Word of God, of
course, shows us throughout the pages of the Old Testament and
the New Testament how Christ indeed is that shepherd. We read that Christ is the chief
shepherd. He is the one that has authority.
He is the one that has dominion because he is the king and the
sole head of his church. He's not only the chief shepherd,
he's the caring shepherd. We sang this morning the words
of Psalm 23. The shepherd is one who leads
his dear people to the green pastures, to the still waters,
through times of trial, in the valley of the shadow of death.
He meets our needs, he provides for us as a shepherd who cares
for his sheep. But here in John chapter 10,
we are shown that Christ is also the covenant-keeping shepherd. Because here it becomes clear
that the Savior is speaking about the shepherd and the sheep in
terms of salvation and of our redemption. Here the Savior clearly
shows us that it is by Him that men enter in and can be saved. He says in the words of verse
9, I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. Christ is the way unto salvation. The way that we can have access
unto God and acceptance before God for our standing in Him. And so we come to consider this
morning Christ as the shepherd and the savior of our souls. And as we do so, I want us to
think about the theme of the shepherd's way of salvation. The shepherd's way of salvation. We want to notice four things
from this chapter and this portion this morning. First of all, we
can notice that in salvation we are predestined in Christ. We are predestined in Christ. In John chapter 10, the Savior
brings us to the great truth and the doctrine of our election. Christ reveals to his listeners
here in this portion that God has chosen or God has elected
a people onto Himself. We read of that truth in other
portions of Scripture. We can take, for example, the
words of Ephesians 1, verse 4, where it reads, And so in salvation it becomes
clear that the Father hath given to the Son a people, a people
that He would come and that He would redeem through the cross,
a chosen people before the foundation of the world that have been predestined
onto salvation. Notice why Christ speaks about
these people in the words of verse 14. He says, I am the good
shepherd and know my sheep. The Savior clearly says, these
people are my sheep. And it's that word sheep, that
term that the Savior uses, that shows us the fact that we are
chosen in Christ. If we think about this, we can
see that this word sheep shows us our designation. This designation
is reserved alone for the people who are saved and redeemed by
God. Christ is our shepherd. He is
the one that we follow. He's the one that leads us. He
guides us and we obey Him. And so this designation reminds
us that we are not our own. We are bought with a price. We
belong unto Christ. He is the one who owns us. We
are His servants, and so we are to follow Him. Christ is the
one who has chosen us. He saved us. He separated us
onto Himself, and He sanctifies us day by day with His own glory
and power. And so, friends, today this word
sheep reminds us of the relationship that we have with our shepherd. There's union between the shepherd
and the sheep. That relationship is intimate.
It's personal. He says in verse 14 that I know
my sheep. That little word know means of
a deep or an intimate knowledge. It's not used in the general
sense of knowing some fact or information. It doesn't simply
mean that the Lord knows who we are or is aware of us, but
instead it speaks of an intimacy, a deep knowledge that the Savior
has because He is God. He knows all things. He is omniscient,
and He knows all about us. He has full knowledge of His
sheep and His people, and He has an interest in them. I know
my sheep. Of course, that was something
known to the Jews at this time. There were many shepherds, and
the shepherd, in farming terms, needed to have a knowledge of
their flock. They needed to know their sheep in case any wandered
away out of the fold so the shepherd could realize that one had wandered
and go and rescue that stray sheep. But Christ assures us
this morning, I know my sheep. He knows us, but the end of verse
14, and I'm known of mine. You see, this relationship is
twofold. The shepherd knows us, but the
sheep also knows the shepherd and the Savior in that same deep
and intimate way. There's a walking, there's a
communing, the one with the other. And so think about this designation,
child of God, you are a sheep. You are part of the flock and
the fold of God. It shows us our designation.
This word sheep also shows us our distinction. Turn with me
back to Matthew's Gospel, chapter 25, and we'll see this. Matthew
chapter 25, and here Christ is speaking about the day of final
judgment, the day when He will come again as judge and judge
this world. And he shows the distinction
between the sheep and then that of the goats. In Matthew 25,
we'll read from verse 32. It says, and before him shall
be gathered all nations, and he shall separate them one from
another as a shepherd, divide of his sheep from the goats,
and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats
on the left. Then shall the king say unto
them on his right hand, come, ye blessed of my father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Speaking in verse 34 of the sheep
on the right hand of the Savior, that right hand, a place of privilege,
a place of acceptance. He says, unto them, come ye blessed
of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you. Christ reveals here in Matthew
25 his eternal purpose. It was to choose a people, it
was to save a people that they would go to be with him in that
kingdom, with Christ for all eternity. But look at the distinction,
look at verse 41. Christ speaks about the fate
of the goats, the ungodly, verse 41. Then shall he say also unto
them on the left hand, depart from me ye cursed. into the everlasting
fire prepared for the devil and his angels. The unsaved are seen
to be the goats on the left hand of the Savior. Words of verse
41 are words of judgment and condemnation for those who have
rejected Christ, and the invitation to come on to him in the gospel
will one day be put away into that place of everlasting fire,
everlasting torment and punishment, and judgment in hell for their
sins. And so there's a distinction
here, the sheep on one hand and the goats. We ought to ask ourselves
this morning, where do we stand? Are we those who are standing
in Christ who await that day when He comes that we will be
accepted, we will be brought into that fold? Or are we unsaved
today? Are we rejecting Christ? Friends,
if you reject Christ, one day He will come, His mercy will
end, and judgment will be passed. And so here in John 10, we read
about the sheep, the people of God, predestined in Christ, chosen
before the foundation of the world. So in salvation, we are
predestined in Christ. But turn back to John 10, we
find that we're also purchased by Christ. were purchased by
Christ. Look at the words of verse 15. Here the Savior reminds us of
the great fact of his substitution, that he laid down his life for
his people, for the sheep. Christ places the emphasis here
on Calvary. And on the cross, of course,
today we gather in remembrance Sunday. Remember the sacrifice
of many in warfare and battles in days gone by, those who gave
their lives to give us religious freedom and liberty. But remember
the death of Christ, that great sacrifice that Christ laid down
his life for his sheep. In verse 11, he says similar
words. I am the good shepherd, the good
shepherd, give us his life for the sheep. See, a fundamental
aspect of all of our salvation is the need to atone or to pay
the penalty of our sin. The gospel clearly shows that
we are sinners. We're far from God and there
is a penalty to pay. Sin, when it is finished, James
says, bringeth forth death. There's the payment. There's
the judgment hanging on our heads as sinners, death, eternal death,
eternal separation. And so if we are to be saved,
we need one who can take that curse, who can pay that price
of death that we might live. That's what Christ says here.
I am come to purchase the salvation of my people. And so Christ must
needs die. Christ must need good lacrosse
if he was to pay or atone for the sins of his people. I lay
down my life for the sheep. We see that Christ gave himself
voluntarily. He says, I lay down. That little verb, to lay down,
it means to put or to place. The emphasis that Christ is making
here is that he himself personally is the one that is placing down
or putting down his life of his own will. willfully giving his
life. We see this in verse 17. Therefore
doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life that I might
take it again. Verse 18. 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. You see, the Savior was not just
a mere victim of circumstances. No, we read that Christ willingly
and voluntarily went to the cross to die for us. His face was set
as a flint to go towards Jerusalem. He set his face to go to the
cross and to die for his people. No man, he says in verse 18,
took my life. No man took the life of Christ,
but Christ gave his life. He laid it down in and of himself,
freely, voluntarily. He shows us in verse 18, His
deity, He had power to lay it down. Oh, but He had power to
take it up again. Why? Because He is God. And so Christ's death was a voluntary
death. It was also a sacrificial death.
He says in verse 15, I lay down my life. It wasn't the life of
another. It was Christ's very own life. that he gave. That's the sacrifice
he offered unto God. Christ's life was a perfect life.
Christ's life was a sinless life. And it was that life that he
laid down, that life that was obedient to the law of God, that
life that was sinless and spotless, not marred, not blemished by
sin. It was his own perfect life.
Christ says, I lay down my life. What a wonder to our hearts today
that the one who calls himself the Good Shepherd would become
the sacrifice. The Shepherd on the cross became
the Lamb. John the Baptist cried out, Behold
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. And
so to purchase redemption, Christ died. He gave his life. He was crucified, and he shed
his blood that we might be covered in that blood from our sin. So
Christ gave himself voluntarily. He gave himself sacrificially.
He also gave himself vicariously. I lay down my life for the sheep. The fact that Christ's death
was vicarious, we simply mean that he died as a substitute
in the place of another. He says, I lay down my life for
the sheep. That little word for in the Greek
in verse 15 can also be translated for the sake of or on the behalf
of. Christ literally says that he
gave himself on the behalf of the sheep. We've already seen
that the sheep speaks about the elect. That answers a great question
in theology. For whom did Christ die? The
Savior gives us the answer. I lay down my life for the sheep.
He died for his own chosen people. It was for those who would have
salvation applied to their souls. It's for that people that Christ
died for. If you are saved today, you can
rightfully say that Christ took your place and died for you.
He took your sins and your sorrows and he made them his very own.
His death was vicarious because he took our curse. He took our
sin. He bore it on his body on the
tree and paid that penalty of sin that we might be saved. Believer,
rejoice today in all that Christ has done for you. He has done
all that has been needed to purchase salvation. He's lived that perfect
life. He's died that atoning death
that we might go free. In salvation, we're predestined
in Christ. We're purchased by Christ. Thirdly, we're pardoned
through Christ. We've seen already the cross.
Christ has accomplished all that was needed for our redemption,
but there needs to be a reception, a receiving of those blessings. A redemption needs to be applied
to the soul and the heart of man. And we read that this is
the case in verse 28. Christ says, and I give on to
them, that is the sheep, I give on to them eternal life. In verse 27, it's interesting
that we read about the voice of the shepherd, that my sheep
hear my voice, the call of the shepherd. It says they hear my
voice and I know them and they follow me. Verse 27 speaks about
obedience to the call of God. That's necessary in salvation.
When we hear the effectual call of God by the Holy Spirit, we
must obey and come on to Christ in repentance and faith. Obey
the call of the gospel, then we will be saved. If we obey
the voice, verse 28, then we will be given eternal life. Repentance and faith is needed
to then receive salvation. He gives us eternal life. Why? Because of our faith and
our obedience to trust in Him. We read similar words in John
chapter 5 verse 24. If you turn back a few chapters,
we'll find this John 5 and verse 24. John chapter 5 verse 24,
the Savior says, I say unto you, he that heareth
my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting
life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from
death unto life. He heareth my word as obedience.
He believeth on him that sent me." There's faith. He hath everlasting
life. There's pardon. He gives unto
us eternal life. It's through accepting the work
of Christ and all that He has done that we are saved. We're
pardoned through the cross and through His blood that has been
shed, but we must repent of sin. We must place our faith in order
to be saved. The order is vital, faith and
obedience, then pardon and forgiveness from sin. And then we are promised
that we shall receive eternal life, everlasting life in Christ. And so in salvation, we're pardoned
through our Savior. We've already noted all that
Christ has done for us today on the cross. Yet that work on
the cross is meaningless until it's applied to our hearts. Friend
today, you need to come the way of the cross. The hymn tells
us the way of the cross leads home. We must acknowledge our
sin. Acknowledge that we can't save
ourselves, that we're enemies, that we're separated from God.
See our unworthiness. See our sinfulness. In turn,
forsake that sin. Repent of that sin. Acknowledge
that sin before God. But then look to the cross. Look
to Christ and all that He has done. And claim the blood of
Christ for your own covering for sin. And then in the blood
of the Lamb you shall be cleansed and pardoned. from every stain
of sin, sins forgiven and sins forgotten by God. because it
is in the shedding of blood that there is remission for our sins. When we come to the Lord in salvation,
our sins are blotted out and covered in the blood of Christ.
That's what it means to be pardoned, free from guilt, free from judgment,
free from the wrath of God, free from sin, no longer condemned
by God, but accepted in Christ. We have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Today we ought to ask, is that
standing yours? Have you been to Jesus for the
cleansing power? Are you washed? Are you washed
in the blood of the Lamb? I trust that if not, you would
come to Christ today, confess your sin, obey his call, and
the gospel extended to you. Today you can receive eternal
life for the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us. Finally
and fourthly, we see that in salvation, we are preserved with
Christ. This brings us to the great truth
that in salvation, we're not only saved by the Lord, but we
are secure. We are eternally secure in the
Savior. Verse 28, and I give unto them
eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any
man pluck them out of my hand. There's comforting teaching for
the believer today, eternal security for the child of God, the fact
that when we are saved, it is impossible for us to be lost. I give on to them eternal life
and they shall never perish. Christ is speaking to show those
who are saved and truly saved of God will never perish. They'll
never be met with eternal death in hell because Christ has taken
that death. He's paid for the curse so we're
saved and we will never be destroyed. We'll never be cut off. We'll
never be consumed. Why? Because Christ has paid
the price. He's given us eternal life and child of God. We shall
never perish. When we're saved, we're preserved
by the almighty power of God. Once He saves us, He keeps us
forever. Therefore, we need not fear death.
We need not fear His judgment, for we are already saved. Accepted
in Him. You know, I thought it was comforting
for our lives in the matters of sanctification. Of course,
we're saved. We desire and we ought to die
more to self and to sin and live unto Christ. But we're not perfect
in this side of eternity. Daily we sin, we fail God, word,
thought, and deed. And yet it seems that the Savior
is saying, despite our sins, despite all that we commit against
Him, if we're saved, yet ultimately we will never be destroyed. Hell
will not be our lot or our portion, child of God. Instead, you and
I are assured of glory, of God's eternal glory in heaven. Notice
how Christ emphasizes this teaching at the end of verse 28. The thought behind those words
is that there's no power on this earth that has the ability to
pluck us out of the hands of the Savior, to snatch us, or
to ensnare us, or to lead us away. In fact, the Greek in verse
28 uses the double negative This shows how it's utterly impossible
that anything can ever take us out of God's hand. Paul speaks
about this in Romans chapter 8, and Paul concludes in all
of his arguments that nothing can separate us from the love
of God, which is in Christ Jesus. What a blessed description for
us who are saved. We are in the hand of our Savior. Pluck them out of my hand. We're
in Christ's hand. Verse 29, he speaks of the Father.
We're in the Father's hand, we're in God's hand, because he says
in verse 30, I and my Father are one. God, in all of His person,
secures us and keeps us, as it were, in His hand. We're sheltered
in the hand of God. The same hand that brought the
Israelites out of Egypt, out of that bondage and slavery,
is the same hand that delivers you and I out of the bondage
and slavery of sin. The same hands of the Savior
that were pierced by the nails on the tree are the same outstretched
hands that delivers and preserves us, His people. Therefore, what
have we to fear? Nothing. No condemnation. Now I dread. The people of God
can rejoice because we don't keep our own salvation, the Lord
keeps us. He's predestined us, He's purchased
us, He's pardoned us. Praise God, He preserves us.
By His almighty hand, what a Savior we worship today. The one who
is the great shepherd who gave His life for the sheep. Yet how is it with you today,
unbeliever? Well, there's much comfort for the child of God
from this passage. Yet there's a challenge today
to the unsaved. How is it that you look upon
Christ? Will you reject Him again? Or will you not come on to Him
today? Leave off your sin. Place your
faith in Him for salvation. Know what it is, as verse 27
is, to hear His voice and to follow Him. Today we've seen
something of the shepherd's way of salvation. That's the only
way for salvation, friends. There's no other way to be saved
but through Him who is the way, the truth, and the light. And
so may it be for us today who are saved that we would have
a greater love, a greater vision of the Savior, what He has done
for us, that even this day and every day that we live, we will
fix our minds on Him, the Good Shepherd, the one who laid down
His life for the sheep. 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. We trust that the Lord will be
pleased to write his word upon our hearts for his own name's
sake. We're going to bow in prayer
as we come now to the end of our service. We're going to commit
all that has been said today and sung unto the Lord that he
would continue to speak and to bless us even as we leave his
house today. And so let's close our service now in a word of
prayer, please. Gracious Father and our heavenly
God, we thank you today for the ability that we have had to gather
together and assemble ourselves in the house of God. But we thank
you for all that has been said and done today in this house,
and we thank you for the worship that has been offered, and we
pray it has been acceptable in thy sight. We pray that what
has been of God today will be used to speak into challenged
hearts, We thank thee most of all for the words which we have
considered. We thank thee for our standing
in Christ. For all those who are saved today,
we thank thee for our good shepherd, the one who gave his life for
us, his sheep. We thank thee that we are pardoned
through the blood of the cross. We thank thee that we are preserved
by Christ, that no man shall pluck us out of thy hand. And
so help us to rejoice and to glory in the cross. Restore unto
us the joy of our salvation, and help us to live in the light
of eternity. Help us to seek to win the lost for Christ. We
pray for any in this service today that their minds would
be taken away of the things of this world, the things of self,
and the things of this life, that they would consider the
latter end, that they would look by faith and repentance onto
the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world. Oh,
that souls today would come to the Savior and that they would
be saved. Lord, bless us now as we would
leave this house. We pray for thy presence and thy blessing
and thy fear to go with us. Lord, keep us in the spirit on
the Lord's day. Bless the students tonight and thy well in the gospel
service. And we pray that most of all salvation would visit
this house. And so bless us, encourage us,
go before us, and we give thee all of the praise and the glory.
For Thou art worthy of these things we pray in our Savior's
name. Amen.
The Shepherd's Way of Salvation
| Sermon ID | 111024118444994 |
| Duration | 1:07:34 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - AM |
| Bible Text | John 10:7-16 |
| Language | English |
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