Well, if you have your Bibles, we're going to open back up to John 10. John 10. So we looked and focused primarily this morning on the judgment on Israel's shepherds, plural. And now we're going to look at John 10 2-6, really 2-5, to see where Jesus begins to reveal that He is the fulfillment of an Old Testament promise, particularly as it concerns to this shepherd imagery, that the Lord would send a faithful shepherd. He would send someone who would gather His flock, who would tend to them and serve them and heal them and lead them and so forth and so on. Matter of fact, by the time we get to the end of this section, The contrast just could not be any different. You have the Pharisees who are devouring these sheep, who are there to steal, kill, and destroy. And then you have the good shepherd who is laying down his life for the sheep. the fulfillment of this Old Testament promise that God's people would have a Psalm 23 type shepherd who would come, not just in an invisible, providential way, the way God's hand was on His people as Psalm 23 was written, but this shepherd, this figure would appear, the Messiah would appear and save the Lord's people. So let's read Let's read again John 10. We'll just start in John 10 since we're not going to hit the first part again. What Jesus says, verses 1-6, "'Verily, verily, I say unto you, as a judgment, he that entereth not by the door under the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But,' by contrast, "'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. So the fulfillment of an Old Testament promise, this good shepherd, faithful shepherd. We have several descriptors here that Jesus gives. And while we could say a lot more about these, number one, we're in an afternoon service, so we're not going to tease them out as much as we could. But also, number two, in this chapter, these things are going to be revisited when we get to the second second usage of this imagery. So we're going to touch on them here. We're gonna come back and fill them out a little more in a later message. So number one, the good shepherd enters in the sheepfold or the sheep pen by the door. The porter opens it up and the shepherd enters in. Now at this time, culturally speaking, in a town or in a city, there might be multiple shepherds who have multiple flocks and they need to stay over for the night or for whatever reason have some business in a town or in a city. And there was just a public for lack of a better term, holding tank, as it were. I mean, just a pen where the shepherds could drop their sheep off, put them in that pen. There was a porter, or we would say just a hired hand, who would make sure that thieves didn't steal the sheep, that the sheep were pretty well wrangled in and where they were supposed to be. So you could potentially have multiple blocks in the same pen. So that's important to realize as we think about the imagery that Jesus is talking about here. The other thing is, is that if a shepherd were to drop off his sheep, as it were, in these pens, the porter or the man at the door, the guardian at the door, would keep up with who the shepherds were. And so any old Joe off the street couldn't just walk in and say, okay, time for me to get my sheep. The porter was there to protect the sheep from that. They were not going to let that happen. But when the shepherd came, or one of the shepherds in this particular scenario came, they could come in They could call their sheep by name or call their sheep and the sheep would hear their voice and they would lead them out. So this is the cultural practice, the common cultural practice that they would have all known about. So number one, this shepherd enters in by the door. Okay, the porter lets him in. He enters in by the door. And again, the point of him entering in in this particular part of the imagery is so he can lead them out. And that's important because sometimes people think about the sheep fold as being the church, but the shepherd does not go in to lead the sheep out of the church. The shepherd is leading the sheep into the church. So you have a sheep fold. The shepherd is able to get in through the door and really what's being communicated here is that Jesus Christ was anointed by God for this work. He's not a stranger. You'll notice if you read through the book of John, you'll notice lots of language like this. I only do the things that my Father has called me to do. I only say the things that my Father has called me to say. I'm here to complete the work that the Father gave me. Jesus Christ was the anointed Messiah who would come and who would be the shepherd of the sheep or the Savior of God's people who would gather them up and who would lead them into green pastures as it were. So Isaiah 63 gives us an example of this or a reiteration of Jesus Christ, just the name there, Jesus Christ. You know this. His mom's name was not Mary Christ. And Joseph, even though it wasn't his biological dad, was not Joseph Christ. Christ was his title. Jesus the Messiah. Jesus the anointed. Anointed for what? Well, anointed for this. He's anointed by God to do what only he could do. And so as the shepherd has access to the flock through the door, this is an exclusive thing. So Isaiah 63. I've got my reference wrong here. OK, well, it's the it's the passage that's later quoted and some of you guys may know it, but it's the passage that's later quoted in. I think it's in Luke when he says. The Lord has anointed me to bind up the wounded to preach the acceptable year of the Lord, so forth and so on, and the point there is that he was God's anointed servant. 61 OK 61 one through three. Yeah, the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek. He had sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that mourn, to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified." So this is the work of the Savior. This is the work of Jesus Christ. And the point of emphasis here for our point is The Lord has anointed me to do these things. He didn't just take it upon himself. Right, and that's some language we get later on. But this is something that he was appointed to. This was something that he was anointed for. And outside of this anointing, now we could take the imagery and say maybe the porter was the the father who opens the gate or the spirit. We don't know. He has access to go in, and since He is anointed for this work, everything else falls into place in the sense of, why did the sheep hear His voice, but they won't hear a stranger's? Because He's been anointed by God for this work. Why is it that the sheep will follow Him, but they won't follow anyone else? Because He's been anointed by God for this work. That's why. And so forth and so on. He's the shepherd who enters in by the door. He's the one who has been called to lead the sheep of God. He is the Psalm 23 shepherd personified, the one who would come and care for God's people and provide protection, all those things. We see this again. Matthew 3, at his baptism, after Jesus is baptized and the Spirit descends upon Him like a dove, the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and then the voice of God from heaven calls out, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Now, John had baptized a lot of people at this point. Never had that happened. Okay, this is an exclusive anointing And it's also the inauguration of Jesus's earthly ministry. From here starts the three and a half years of his ministry. We have the shepherd who is entering in. He goes into his own, even though they don't know him, but he goes into his own because he was anointed for that work. He goes in through the door. Secondly, as far as the good shepherd is concerned, and the fulfillment. Again, this is really the the emphasis of these points. This is a fulfillment of Old Testament promise. The anointed one will come. Jesus says in John 10, essentially, the anointed one is here. It's me. OK, secondly. The sheep hear his voice at a John chapter 10. That's what he says about himself. He that entereth in verse two by the door is the shepherd of the sheep to him. The porter openeth and the sheep hear His voice." Well, you remember in Deuteronomy 18? Even if you don't remember the address of this, you'll remember, I think, whenever I read it. Moses is talking to the people and he says this in Deuteronomy 18.15, "'The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me, and unto him you shall hearken.'" What's he saying? He's saying the Lord is going to raise up another prophet. And when he speaks. You will hear him. You will listen to him. You will hearken to what he says. This is just another way of saying what Jesus has already said in John. John chapter 6 verse 37. All that the father giveth me shall come to me. and him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out." All that the Father gave Him will come to Him. Why? Because they hear His voice. That's why. They will not go to a stranger. They will go to Him, the Shepherd. Or in verse 45 of the same chapter, John chapter 6, it is written in the prophets, and they shall be all taught of God Every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me." So, these individuals who have been given the ability to hear the voice of the Savior, they've been taught by the Father, and they've been drawn to the Son. Fundamentally, whenever we're talking about a Christian, what it means to be a Christian, what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ, We're saying those who are followers of Christ have heard His voice. We don't necessarily, we don't mean that in some sort of an audible way. What we do mean is that those who are following Christ are following more than just a man in the pulpit. their convictions and their allegiances go much further. The man in the pulpit is really just leading them in the way that they already want to go because they've heard the voice of the Savior. And so this is just an application as it relates to church and pastoral ministry and so forth and so on. This is one of the reasons why It should be, and we do that here, but we should continue to maintain a strong conviction for regenerate church membership. If an individual has never heard the voice of their Savior, they have never hearkened to the voice of their Savior, what in the world makes us think they're gonna hearken to the voice of a God? They won't. So, fundamentally, a Christian is someone who has heard the voice of God. They've been led out by Him. And we can continue to make applications on that. We'll have to slow down before I get ahead of myself. But he's been anointed by God so that whenever He speaks, they hear. Okay? Second, in that vein, not only do they hear His voice, but in verse 3, They hear His voice and He calls His own sheep by name. He calls His own sheep by name. Here's a couple of things to notice. And we'll probably go back at the end of this chapter and highlight more of this doctrines of grace kind of stuff. But notice that they're His sheep. They're known of Him even before they're culled. You notice that? He calls His own sheep by name. It doesn't say that He calls and then those that end up coming prove out to be His sheep. It's not what it says. He calls His own sheep by name. Now, this is not the first time this sort of a thing is brought up in John. Back in John 6. John 6, verse 37. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me." We just read it, but for a different purpose, so let's park it there for just a second. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. That's one of those kinds of statements where you could put that logic frontwards or backwards, and it makes sense either way, and it's true either way. All that come to me the Father has given to me. All that the Father has given to me will come to me. Why do they come to the shepherd? Because they're his sheep. Why are they his sheep? Because the Father gave them to him before the foundation of the world. Verse 44 of the same chapter, no man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day. And so he calls his sheep by name. They come to him. The reason that they come to him is because they have been given to him by the father. And the father is drawing them to him in his own time, right? The father's own time. We could also get this from John chapter 17. reality is visible here as Jesus prays. John chapter 17. In John chapter 17 verse 6, Jesus says in his prayer, I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word. What does he say? He said, I've manifest your name to who? To those that you gave me out of the world. That's the same picture. Whenever the shepherd comes in, the sheep hear his voice and he leads them out of the sheep pen. It's the same thing. I manifested your name to those that you gave me out of the world. So there were a particular group that were given to Jesus by the father. They're responding to him. because they were given to him. John chapter 17, verse nine, I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me for they are thine. What does this mean? Well, if we're thinking in time and space, Jesus is saying before they were mine, they were yours. They didn't just become mine and then through me somehow they became attached to you. There were yours first. You gave him to me. I died for him. I'm drawing them or you're drawing them to me. And then when I go home, when I come back to heaven, I'm sending the comforter to be with them. So he's calling his sheep by name. This is what the Good Shepherd. Does. He knows His sheep. As a matter of fact, His sheep have been known to Him from all eternity. Romans 8, verse 30, those whom He predestinated, then He culled, right? They were culled because they were predestinated. They were predestinated to be culled. Or 2 Timothy 2, 2 Timothy 2. Verse 19. Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are His, and let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. Okay. The foundation of God stands sure, having this seal. What seal? the seal that the Lord knows those who are His. He goes in. He calls them out. He leads them. They hear His voice and they follow Him. So He calls His sheep by name. Now. We could obviously and we are getting into some theological categories that will make a little more concrete later on. But even before we do that, Think about how this compares and contrasts with the leaders of Israel at that time. Do they know their sheep? No. Here's this blind beggar that's probably been sitting outside of the temple since early, early childhood. And what do they say? We don't know this guy. We don't know if he was blind or not blind. Out of all those folks, they wouldn't have known that a blind beggar had been there year after year after year after year. Just one example. Jesus says, I know my sheep. Secondly, I call them by name. That's a pretty specific kind of knowledge. Third, and I lead them out. John chapter 10. Verse three again. Lead them out, lead them out of what? and we said it this morning. He leads his people or his sheep out of false religion. Contextually here, he's talking about Judaism. He's talking about leading them out of Judaism. Now, try to make John 10 3 make sense with Israel is still the chosen people of God. Jesus says, I'm coming to lead the Jews out of Judaism as their good shepherd. Now it applies for anything. Jesus leads his people out of Mormonism. He leads his people out of Jehovah's Witness. He leads his people out of Catholicism. He leads his people out of fill in the blank of all the myriad Hinduism, all the myriad false religions that are in the world. Jesus leads his people out. And they follow him as he leads. Look at numbers. Numbers 27. Moses is getting ready to go off the scene. And in Numbers 27, verse 15, says, "'And Moses spake unto the Lord, saying, "'Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, "'set a man over the congregation, "'which may go out before them, "'and which may go in before them, "'and which may lead them out, "'and which may bring them in, "'that the congregation of the Lord be not as sheep, "'which have no shepherd.'" Now, particularly in Numbers, this is where Joshua is put into place. But as Moses is saying this, may the Lord set a man, raise up a man to lead his people. This is what shepherds do. They lead sheep. And when they lead, the sheep follow. Even though we believe in God's sovereignty, that God is sovereign, that God predestinates. We believe in God's providence. And we believe in all those things 100%. You know what else we believe? That God's sheep 100% follow Him willingly. We're not robots. We're not drug into conversion, kicking and screaming against our will. I'm not saying that people don't wrestle through conversion. I'm saying anyone that's ever become a genuine follower of Christ has become a genuine follower of Christ because they wanted to. You want to know why? Because the Shepherd knows how to lead His people. They hear His voice and they follow Him. Isaiah 42. Isaiah 42. We're thinking about leading. God leading His people. In Isaiah 42.16, He says, I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not. I will lead them in paths that they have not known. I will make darkness light before them and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them and not forsake them. Jesus says this is the kind of shepherd that I am. I'll leave now. We could also say by contrast. He doesn't drive. That's what the Pharisees were doing. They were driving the people into compliance. They were driving the people into conformity. Jesus said you bind all these heavy laws on these people and you won't even so much as lift one with your pinky. Jesus says about himself. I go ahead of my people. I set the example for my people, and I lead my people. They follow me where I go. Now, tons of implications for pastoral ministry out of that. But we're thinking about an Old Testament promise being fulfilled. Ezekiel 36, where the Lord says, I'm not going to turn there, but 26 and 27 where He says, I'm going to give you a new heart, And then he says, and then I will make you to walk in my ways. How? By leading you. I'm going to call you. I'm going to draw you out and I'm going to lead you. So. He goes into the door, the porter lets him in. He's anointed for this work. He knows his sheep, he calls them by name. He leads them out and they follow Him. And then the last little point of information here in John 10. John 10, verse 5. Well, we'll hit four. 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." So they follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger because they don't know them. They don't know their voice. Now John talks about this in 1 John 2. In 1 John 2. In 1 John 2. Verse 19. 1 John 2. Verse 19. says they went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not of us. So he's just saying they departed, they left, and that's confirmation that they never were part of us to begin with. Then verse 20, but That's a contrast. That's what they did, but not you, and here's why. "'But ye have an unction or an anointing from the Holy One, and ye know all things. I have not written unto you because you know not the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.'" What's he saying? He's saying they went out from us. They followed a stranger out, but you didn't. And the reason that you didn't is because you have an anointing of the Holy One. That is, you have the Holy Spirit residing in you. You have the ability to discern truth and detect lies. Now, this is not saying, John is not saying you have all your T's crossed and I's dotted theologically and you have zero problems when it comes to scripture interpretation. because the Holy Spirit has downloaded a bunch of information in your head. It's not what he's saying, but he is saying, and we can confidently say this, a born again believer who is following the call of his shepherd or her shepherd, who is being led by his or her shepherd, will not revert back to Mormonism or Judaism or anything else like that. He is going to follow the shepherd until the day that he dies. Why? Because he's been purchased by a shepherd. He's kept by his shepherd. He's the one out of the 99 who goes astray, and the shepherd gets him and brings him back. Now, we can have seasons of disobedience or seasons of straying, but when the shepherd's voice is made known to his sheep, he leads him, and he leads him all the way to the end. So this is why He says you haven't gone, why you haven't strayed, because you have an unction or an anointing of the Holy One. He hits the same sort of thing in 1 John 4. 1 John 4, verse 4. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. They are of the world, therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God. He that knoweth God heareth us. He that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of error." What's he saying? You're saying you've been made to know the truth because you're of God. The message of God, the Word of God resonates with you because you are of God. If you were of the world, the message of the world would resonate with you. It's just another way of kind of understanding and explaining why when the world gives its rationale, we scratch our heads and say, you're crazy. And when we give our rationale, they scratch their heads and say, no, you're crazy. And John says, well, here's the deal. If you were of the world, their message would resonate with you. But you're not, you're of God, and so his message resonates with you. When he speaks, you hear and you follow. In a stranger's voice, you will not hear, you will not follow. So he's the good shepherd. He's the good shepherd that goes in, calls his sheep by name, leads them out, they follow, And then we mentioned this already this morning, but I'll just make mention of it once again. Once the good shepherd accomplishes the work that the father had done, had given him to do, and he ascends back on high into heaven. He raises up and gifts under shepherds for the flock. So that. As pastors. Of God's people function. They function really as an extension of... Now, under-shepherd, I'm not saying anybody's equal with Christ, but we function as an extension of Christ's shepherding to His people. So Ephesians 4, verse 8. Wherefore, he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and he gave gifts unto men, And then we get to verse 11, he gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers. You know this, pastors is shepherds. He gives shepherds to his people, his under shepherds, who will fulfill that Jeremiah 23, three through four, when he says, I will send you shepherds who will lead you and feed you and protect you and so forth and so on. So that in first Corinthians chapter 11, Paul would say this, be ye followers of me, you know the rest, even as I am of Christ, right? So the false shepherds of Israel and the false shepherds of, or we could say the shepherds of false religion, are leading according to whatever benefits them, whatever profits them. The shepherds, or we should say the under-shepherds that function under the authority of the great shepherd, we're following Him and calling you to do the same. Again, just underlining the point of we do not have the authority to arrange things the way that we like them. This is God's church. You're God's people. You're His sheep. You know that if you're listening to the voice of God, by the way, just in case there's any confusion on that, and just so we're clear, that's synonymous with reading the Bible. Now, the Spirit works through the Word, and He's going to open your eyes and illuminate your eyes. But if you're listening to the voice of the Lord, that means the Holy Spirit is opening up the Word of God to you and giving you understanding. If you're seeking to follow the voice of your shepherd and your under-shepherd is sending mixed messages, you'll know. Right? You should know. And so the under-shepherd is leading, supposed to be leading, the same way. that the fulfilled promise of the Old Testament, Christ coming as the Shepherd of Israel to care for His people, to lead His people, to feed His people, to protect His people. We just fall in under that. So, the Old Testament promise fulfilled in Christ, the Shepherd of Israel who would lead His people. Let's pray. Father, we thank you that we live in a dispensation to where you are leading your people through the gifts that the resurrected Christ has given to his church. Father, we're thankful that you are our shepherd, that you have given us your word, that you've given us your spirit so that we can hear your voice and then be confident that you lead and that you care for us and you have given us all that we need, really, shepherding us, all that we need for life and godliness. And so I pray that we would be attentive to your words. I pray that we would be thankful that we live in a day that is not characterized, at least the church of God is not characterized in this place as a history of false shepherds. Lord, you've given us faithful shepherds in the past. I pray you would bless the current ministry to be faithful and you would provide faithful shepherds in the future. I pray in Jesus name. Amen.