 The title of our sermon this morning is the Good Shepherd's Love for His Sheep. The Good Shepherd's Love for His Sheep. And we've been working through John chapter 10, really this section running from verse 1 down through verse 21, today focusing more on this paragraph between verses 11 and 21, looking at the Good Shepherd's Love for His Sheep. The primary theme here, behind John chapter 10, is again the depiction of the Lord's loving care for His own people. And that's communicated beautifully in this picture of the Good Shepherd's loving care for His Sheep. Now this dialogue is set, if you will, in the context of the wretched treatment by the Pharisees of the man born blind in John chapter 9. And here in great contrast to that picture, you have the Good Shepherd now in his own words describing the care and compassion that he has for the sheep. In stark contrast now to the contempt that these Pharisees have demonstrated toward the same sheep, and specifically toward this man who was born blind in John chapter 9. Now as we have carefully studied the text together, we've seen how the Good Shepherd's love for his sheep is demonstrated in many varied ways. One, it's demonstrated in how he protects the sheep, how he protects them from wolves, from thieves, and robbers, those that would come in over the wall sneaking in, seeking to devour the sheep, seeking to corrupt the sheep. And then that contrasted with by how the Good Shepherd himself leads and directs the sheep, calling them each by name, going before them, leading them out. We see how the sheep then respond to their Good Shepherd. They hear His voice, they know their shepherd, and they do not straggle off after strangers. And we've seen how the Good Shepherd's love for his sheep is an abundant love, an exhaustive love, a comprehensive love, giving the sheep blessings in this life and eternal blessings in the life to come. We've seen that it is an exclusive love. It's a sacrificial love. It's a saving love. And we've seen all this, this love of the Good Shepherd for his sheep in contrast to the self-serving menace that is the hireling, or that is the thief, the robber, the savage wolves that have no care at all for the sheep, beyond simply fleecing them for their own personal gain. We see that in contrast to the hired hand who does not own the sheep. Because he does not own the sheep, he doesn't care about the sheep. So in this picture again, you see the love of the Good Shepherd for his sheep in many of its multifaceted applications. That's the portrait that we're to see. We're to see the love of the Good Shepherd for his sheep in this picture that the Lord is painting here. All with the purpose, as John writes in his Gospel, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name. That's the purpose for which John writes his Gospel. It's the purpose for the way in which John reveals the Lord as the Good Shepherd here in John chapter 10, specifically now between verses 11 and 21. So last week, now as we unpacked verses 14 and 15, we looked at how this love that the Good Shepherd has for his sheep is an intimate love. It's a personal love, an individual love, a relational love. It's intimate in the sense that it is intensely personal. It's deeply relational. And you get that from the language beginning in verse 14. He knows his sheep and he is known by them. The sheep are described as his own, tender, affectionate words. They are his own. In other words, they belong to him. We know from Scripture that his sheep, we, if you're in Christ, that you are his purchased possession, the apple of his eye, right? The bride of Christ, the church. Verse 14 reads, I am the Good Shepherd and I know my sheep and am known by my own. As the father knows me, even so I know the father and I lay down my life for the sheep. So in the most intimate of terms, the Good Shepherd expresses an affectionate, belonging love for his own people. They are mine. He says, I know them and they know me and I lay down my life for them. Now think with me for a moment. This is important. This is a part of an argument that we're going to build into verse 16. How do we biblically define and characterize that intimate and personal and relational love? How do we biblically define? How do we characterize that intimate and personal and relational love? Then explaining these two verses, verses 14 and 15, in our last sermon, we looked at various Scripture passages, various passages in the Bible that describe this intimate knowing, this intimate belonging. And we saw that that love of God, that love of the Good Shepherd for his sheep, that intimate knowing, that intimate belonging is first rooted in God's own personal will in his own personal decree. According to the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 1, God sovereignly chooses to set his fore-knowing love upon his sheep. And that's done before the foundation of the world, according to the good pleasure of his own will. We look briefly at Romans chapter 8, verses 29 and 30, which reads, For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son. Whom he predestined, these he also called. Whom he called, these he also justified, and whom he justified, these he also glorified. Now Paul, later in chapter 8 describes these things, he says these things and describes them as the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. This is God's love, his fore- knowing, electing love for his own people, his sheep. Now think about it for a moment, that fore-knowing, that fore-loving decree of God helps us understand the intimate love then of the Good Shepherd for his sheep expressed in John chapter 10, verses 14 and 15. If we understand God's fore-knowledge, God's fore-loving setting upon them his love, if we understand God's fore-loving, then we can better understand the language used in verses 14 and 15. It is a selecting or choosing love by which we belong to the Good Shepherd. Make these connections with me, okay? It's a selecting or choosing love by which we belong to the Good Shepherd, by which we are his, all right? It's in that way that we are his sheep. It's in that way that he can call us my own, and we are his sheep because we are fore-loved, do you see? Now for that reason, for that reason it is and must be then an electing love. The love of the Good Shepherd for his sheep is a fore-knowing love and by necessity an electing love. We love him because and only because he first loved us, that's right. We love him because and only because he first loved us. We establish that in verse 14 the order there is of notable importance. If you look at verse 14, I know my sheep that comes first and am known by my own that comes after. So Paul says that we are chosen in Christ. When are we chosen in Christ according to Paul in Ephesians chapter 1? That's right, before the foundation of the world. John says that our names are written in the Lamb's book of life when? From before the foundation of the world, that's right. He loved us or we loved him because he first loved us. So this intimate love then of the Good Shepherd for his sheep is in that sense initiated exclusively by God. These are thick theological truths, but let these truths sink in and then put the connections together. This intimate, personal, relational, exclusive love of the Good Shepherd for his sheep is first and exclusively and only and entirely initiated by God. It is entirely according to his own sovereign will. This choice of fore-knowing his sheep, the choice of setting his love upon a people of his own possession, that choice of love was made by God in the eternal and immutable counsel of his own will before the worlds began. It's therefore, if you think about this, therefore an unconditional love. It's a fore-knowing love. It's an electing love. It is an unconditional love or it's an unconditional fore-loving. That's unconditional because it's not based at all on any works that we've done. It's not based at all on anything lovely or foreseen in us. It's not based on foreseen faith. It's entirely within the counsel of God's own will that God chooses. Paul would later say in Romans chapter 9, it's an unconditional love just like the electing love that God expressed for Jacob over his brother Esau. If you know that passage there in verse 11, Paul says that this electing love was shown to Jacob rather than to Esau when the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that was all done. That fore-loving of God done so that the purpose of God according to election might stand. Not according to any works that they've done, but according to him who does the calling. It is a fore-loving and electing an unconditional love within the counsel of God alone. Now this fore-knowing, unconditional, electing love of God is necessary, is necessary for anyone to be saved. It's necessary if anyone is to be saved. If we are to be his sheep, if we are to be known by him, then he must take the initiative. Now why is that? Why is that? Think about that for a moment. Because apart from the grace of God in Christ, we are in a state of utter hopelessness, utter depravity, utter hopelessness. According to Ephesians chapter 2 among others, we're spiritually dead because of sin, utterly unable to love God or to please him in any way apart from the grace of God in Christ. Romans chapter 8 verses 7 and 8 says this, because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God. Now listen to this, nor indeed can it be. It can't be subject to the law of God. So then verse 8, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You cannot please God apart from the spirit of God. For this reason Jesus says in John chapter 6 verse 44, no one can come to me. The Lord says, no one is able, no one has the ability. You can't come to me, Jesus says, unless the Father who sent me draws him. If we're his, if we belong to him, if we are his own, as the Lord says here in John chapter 10 verse 14, then it is because God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit did all of the work necessary for our salvation. All of that was done in grace. Now in that, in that we contribute, contribute absolutely nothing. There's not anything, nothing whatsoever that you or I contribute to that work of salvation. It is entirely of grace. The sheep, his own, simply respond. They respond in repentance. They respond in faith, which themselves, repentance and faith, even the repentance and faith are gifts of the grace of God. Now make these connections. To what end has God done all this? To what end has God decreed to redeem to himself of fallen, rebellious and sinful people? For what purpose? Well Paul again says, so that for the purpose that we who trust in Christ should be entirely to the praise of the glory of his grace. That's why it's of faith, has nothing to do with our works, nothing to do with anything lovely in the object of his love, has everything to do with the eternal councils of God to set his love and his grace in Christ to set his love upon a people that he would redeem to himself. We are to be presented to him as his glorious bride and he does everything in our salvation to see to it that that is the case, that we are presented to him not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing holy and without blemish before him in love. So put it together, those whom he foreloved, those whom he predestined, those whom he called, those whom he justified and those whom he glorified, those whom he elects, those whom he chooses, those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life from before the foundation of the world, those people, that particular group is collectively known in John chapter 10 verses 14 and 15 as the sheep. That's who we're talking about here. John chapter 10 verses 14 and 15, these are known collectively as the sheep. They are mine, the Lord says. I know them and they know me. According to John chapter 17 verse 6, the sheep are those whom the Father has given to Christ from out of the world. In other words, these sheep, this special people that God has in the eternal council of his own will chosen for salvation to call to himself, to justify, to reconcile, to eventually glorify, these are a love gift from God the Father to God the Son. They've been given to the Son. If you're in Christ, you're a part of a love gift, an inter-Trinitarian love gift between God the Father and God the Son. God the Father expressing his love for the Son and giving these to him from out of the world. According to John chapter 6 verse 37, the sheep are those whom the Father has given to him that will come to him. This is where the notion of irresistible or efficacious or effective grace comes from. Those who stiff neckedly resisted the Lord all day long, all their lives long until that time that God granted them life from being spiritually dead, granted them new birth, and then they responded in repentance and faith that even that God gifted to them and they came to Christ. In John chapter 6 verse 37, the sheep are those whom the Father has given to him that will come to him. According to John chapter 644, the sheep are those whom the Father has given the power to come. Once unable, unable to please God, unable to come to God, unable to worship God in spirit or in truth, unable to do anything to please him. In John chapter 6 verse 44, the sheep are those whom the Father has now granted the power to come. According to Acts chapter 13 verse 48, the sheep are those who have been appointed to eternal life. According to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 13, the sheep are those whom God has chosen from the beginning for salvation. According to 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 9, the sheep are those whom God has called, not according to their works, but according to his own purpose and grace. This is the testimony of Scripture, amen. This is what the Bible clearly teaches. You cannot escape the biblical testimony of God's sovereign election of the sheep. God's sovereign for-knowing, for-loving, personal, individual, relational love that he has for his own people. You can't escape the fact that it is entirely and completely of nothing else but the grace of Almighty God to save. He saves not according to works, but according to his own purpose and grace. In this way, those that are in Christ are his. Chapter 10 verse 14, in this way we who are in Christ belong to him. In this way we are known and therefore loved by God. This is, it's profound truth, right? Now to add to this, to add profound depth to an already astounding truth, and in light of all that we've talked about so far, both last week and now this week, there's another way, there's another way in which we are known by him and considered to be his own. There's another way in which we may be considered to belong to him. At the end of verse 15, Jesus adds this statement, and I lay down my life for the sheep. We are for-loved by God. Our names are written in the Lamb's book of life from before the foundation of the world, and it is the Lamb who was slain. Here in verse 15, Jesus says, and I lay down my life for the sheep. We have to remember, and this all fits together, you can't have one without the other, the unconditional, fore-knowing, predestining, calling, justifying, sanctifying, glorifying love of God doesn't come without a cost to God himself. This isn't simply a wave of the wand, so to speak. It's not arbitrary the way that God saves. God must be true. He has to be true to his own holy and righteous character. God's perfect justice must be vindicated. God's law must be perfectly fulfilled. God's judgment and wrath against sin and rebellion perfectly satisfied. There is a real and actual individual guilt that everyone has accrued to themselves because of their sin that must be atoned for. There is a real and actual and individual sin that must be paid for. There is real and actual and specific wrath of God against sin that must be propitiated or satisfied. Salvation for specific individual sinners making up the collective sheep that must be secured. It is a specific actual redemption, do you see? It is a specific actual individual real salvation. In no way is it arbitrary. It's not that just God sort of waves pixie dust over everyone and pronounces people justified or not justified on their way to heaven or on their way to hell. There is an actual law that is upheld, an actual guilt that must be expiated, actual sin that must be forgiven. Now that which the Father has decreed from eternity past for his own, that past decree must be purchased. It's got to be purchased. And the only one, the only exclusive way that that is accomplished is by the good shepherd who gives his life for the sheep. He lays down, he lays down his life for the sheep. In that sense now, he dies in their place. He pays their actual real debt. He pays the debt that they owe to God for their sin, do you see? Now think about it now. There's somebody that just believe that this is arbitrary. I just go to God, I ask for forgiveness. God forgives, that's what he does. With no concern whatsoever for the righteous and holy character of God. No concern whatsoever for the law of God and upholding the law which is holy and just and good. The love of the good shepherd for his sheep is a costly love. It's a costly love of infinite worth because it came at the cost of God's own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who lays down his life for the sheep. It cost the good shepherd everything to save the sheep. For you to be redeemed, it cost the good shepherd everything to redeem you, you individually, not you in a nebulous sort of collective general way, you specifically to pay your debt that you owe to God. To forgive you of all the sins that you have committed that have been stacked up to heaven, ascension God's nostrils. All of that sin was paid for. If you're in Christ, if you've turned from your sin, put your faith and trust in him, then all of that sin, all of that guilt, all of that filth paid for by the Lord Jesus Christ in his body on the tree for you specifically, for you individually, for you relationally to himself. Do you see? And then in that grace of God, he personally calls you to himself by name to save you, to save you to himself, to the praise of the glory of his grace. In that sense, you are his own. He purchases you with his own shed blood. Do you see? He spills his blood for you, for me, once wretched enemies of God. What grace, amen? In that way, we rightly can be said to be his own. It's in that way that Christ can say they are my sheep, and that statement comes at tremendous cost, infinite worth. That cost isn't sufficient enough for the God of Roman Catholicism. The sacrifice of Christ isn't enough for the God of Roman Catholicism. You have to do good works. You have to go to mass. You have to burn off some of your sin in purgatory. You can even literally, with money, pay for the removal of that guilt with money. It's called an indulgence. And all because the sacrifice that was paid by Christ when he lays down his life for the sheep is not sufficient in Roman Catholicism. There's no cost at all to the God of Islam. No cost at all to Allah. No atonement for sin is necessary in Islam. Salvation is entirely by a person's works. What you do to earn your own salvation. And Allah is often simply arbitrary. He gives some people wrath. He gives some people mercy. No concern whatsoever for justice. There's no upholding of justice because Allah isn't just. He's not God. He's just tyrannical. The price paid by the Good Shepherd doesn't actually purchase anything for the Arminian. You realize this? If you hold the Arminian theology, Christ just stands there at the dollar menu, right with 99 cents in his hand, and he begs you to come to him with your penny. And no matter how insignificant you think that penny is, it's still something about which you can boast. It's something you bring to the dollar menu to secure your own salvation. It's an act of man. It's something you can boast in. That cost, that infinite cost of Christ, is cheapened and counted a common thing by nominal Christians. Follow me with this. That cost that Christ paid on the cross is cheapened and counted a common thing by nominal Christians. It's not worth the wood that Christ was nailed to in the lives of those that claim the name of Christ and yet still live in disobedience to his commands. If you're living for yourself, you're counting the blood that was shed a common thing. It is a powerful, efficacious grace that comes to us, teaching us to deny ungodliness. Christ says that these, those who may purchase from out of the world, according to the eternal and immutable will of God, for his own good pleasure, for the praise of the glory of his grace, Christ says that they are my sheep. And Christ can say that because Christ paid the ultimate and infinitely worthy and fully sufficient price to redeem them. Jesus says I am the good shepherd and the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. Now hang in there with me. If you're taking notes, we're taking time with the Lord's words here in John chapter 10 verses 14, 15, and 16. Because in this section, in this whole entire passage of Scripture, he's communicating some very important theology that we need to understand. And it's not that we need to understand it just for the sake of knowledge, right? Knowledge puffs up. It's not so that you can become an academic egghead with the Bible and just know a bunch of stuff, right? Biblical theology, good biblical theology, a good understanding of these things leads to doxology. It leads to worship. And we want to make that connection. To know God is to worship God. And the more that you know him, the more you worship him in spirit and in truth. And we know that sound biblical doctrine, what the Bible teaches leads to holy living. If you live in the light of these truths, it'll change how you live. So take it to heart. We need to know God in order to worship him as God. And we need to know him in order to walk worthy of the calling with which we are called. Now, reflecting on all that we've considered at this point, I want you to look at John 10, verse 15. In John 10, verse 15, for whom did the good shepherd lay down his life? For the world? No, that's right, for the sheep. The good shepherd, John 10, verse 15, it's so simple, right? It's so clear. And yet it is staggeringly profound. And it should change your life. It's truth that should affect how you live. It's truth that if you're here today and you're lost, you've never turned from your sin to put your faith in Christ, it should change how you think about God. It should change how you think about salvation. If you're here today and you claim the name of Christ, you're saying, I'm a Christian, it should change the way you think about God. It should change the way you think. It should change the way you worship. It should change the way you pray. It should change the way you serve. The death of Christ is for his sheep. And we know that word for, we've studied it before, in their place and for their benefit. In their place and for their benefit. So now, look, at the end of verse 15 and through verse 16, we see that the good shepherd's love for his sheep is a particular love. Do you see? He lays down his life, not for the world, not for the world. He lays down his life for the sheep. The shepherd's love for his sheep is a particular love. It's a love expressed by giving his life, laying down his life for a particular people. Now, the love being described here, the love being described as an intimate, foreknowing, electing, reconciling, forgiving, justifying, sanctifying, glorifying, sacrificing, saving love, that love that culminates in the good shepherd giving his life, that love is intended exclusively for this particular group of individuals collectively known as the sheep. Do you see? Now, this is a reference to the biblical doctrine of particular redemption or definite atonement. It's often known by the unfortunate name of limited atonement, and it's unfortunate because it's not limited. If you consider the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ in no way whatsoever is that limited. It is full and complete and comprehensive, totally and utterly achieving all the ends for which God the Father purposed it in the eternal counsel of his will. It's not limited at all. It's fully and completely efficacious, fully and completely effective. This is this subject way too expansive to cover in one part of one sermon. So let me offer you some basic background. And I want one that you would understand, that we would understand this truth from the Bible so that it will inform our worship, so that it will inform our holy living, our service to him, our love for one another, our love for the Lord. Let me give you some background. Number one, the sacrifice of Christ communicated to us in the gospel is freely offered to all. All right? The sacrifice of Christ communicated to us in the gospel is freely offered to all. And by virtue of the Lord's divine nature, by virtue of the Lord's infinite worth, the infinite value of his sacrifice, that sacrifice is sufficient to redeem every single man, every single woman, every single child, every fallen angel, every dog, every part of this universe if that's what God intended. His sacrifice completely sufficient to redeem everyone, everything if that's what God intends. All right? Secondly, there is certainly a love that God has for all of his creation. There is a love the Bible speaks of that God has for all of his creation. The Bible says that the rain falls on a just and on the unjust alike. He provides for both. You know, Paul says that God offers us food and gladness of heart. In that, he says God does good. Both alike, the just and on the unjust, both alike enjoy numerous expressions of God's goodness, God's mercy. If you're here today and you're lost, you've been experiencing the mercy of God just coming to this church, walking through the doors of this building with clothes on your back, air in your lungs, right? Probably a full stomach, going home to a roof over your head, people that love you, all mercies and graces of God. It's a general love that God has for this world and that's expressed well by John chapter 3 verse 16, right? We've studied that passage before earlier in John. For God so loved the world, for God so loved the world. That love for the world was such that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. So there is one, the sacrifice of Christ communicated to us in the gospel is offered freely to everyone. Two, there's certainly expressed in that free offer of the gospel, a love that God has for this world. Three, it is very clear from Scripture, very clear from Scripture that neither of these truths mean that everyone will be saved, right? We know from the Bible that there are people who go to hell. Now that's a tragedy. It's a tragedy and it should grieve your heart to even think about it. There are people who die, who drop into hell for all eternity and it should compel you. It should give you a burden for lost people and should compel you to preach the gospel. There are people who will die and when they die they drop into hell and suffer under God's wrath for all eternity. The issue is this. The issue is this. What was God's intent by sending his Son? What was the Lord's intent by laying down his life? Think about it. Was it to provide salvation for all men? Or was it to purchase and secure the salvation of those who would actually be redeemed? Was forgiveness, justification, reconciliation, sanctification, glorification, was that purchased by Christ for all men? Or was that purchased by Christ for the elect only? What was God's intent by sending his Son? John chapter 10 verse 15 is very clear. Jesus says, I lay down my life for the sheep. Now let all this sink in for a moment. The Bible consistently connects the redeeming work, the saving work of Christ with those that he actually redeems. If you look in Scripture, the Bible consistently connects the redeeming or saving work of Christ with those he actually redeems. In John chapter 6 verses 38 and 39, his purpose is to save those whom the Father has given him. Okay? In John chapter 11 verse 52, it is his purpose to gather together the world. No, it's to gather together the children of God who are scattered abroad, the sheep. It's to gather the sheep. In John chapter 15 verse 13, Christ gives his life for his friends. In John chapter 17 verse 9, Christ prays not for the world, but for those out of the world whom God has given him. And one commentator asked in response to that passage, would Christ really refuse to pray for those whom he shed his own blood for? Now think about that. Christ in John chapter 17 verse 9 doesn't pray for the world. He prays for those whom God has given him. And would he refuse to pray for anyone for whom he shed his own blood? In Matthew chapter 1 verse 21, Christ comes to save his people from their sins. I invite you to write these down and check them out. Read them for yourself. Study this out. In Matthew chapter 26 verse 28, Christ says that this is my blood, which was not shed for all, but shed for many. In Acts chapter 13 verse 48, the saving benefits of Christ are given to those who are appointed to eternal life, the sheep. In Acts chapter 20 verse 28, he purchased the church of God. That's the sheep. Those are those who are appointed to eternal life from Acts chapter 13, those whom the Father has given him from John chapter 6. In Acts 20 28, he purchased the church of God with his own blood. In Ephesians chapter 5 verse 25, the Bible says husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and what? That's right. And gave himself for her, the church. A husband loves his wife. A husband loves his wife in a way that he doesn't love other women. Is that okay to say? Of course it is. We expect that to be the case. A husband loves his wife in a way that he doesn't love other women. He has set his love upon his wife. He has chosen to be with her, chosen to draw her to himself, to woo her, to win her. He sets his love on her in a way that he doesn't set his love on other women. In the same way, we understand the love of Christ for his sheep in this way. Christ loves his bride. Christ loves his own. Christ loves his sheep in a way that is different from the way in which he loves people in general. Make sense? It's different from the way in which he loves the world because not everyone in the world are drawn to himself and forgiven and justified and saved. He loves his bride differently. Think about all those reasons down, all those passages of Scripture. But in the testimony of Scripture, even the words that are used to describe the work of Christ itself points to a definite or a particular redemption. Think about these words. Substitution. Substitution. It's not a general term. It's not a possibility. It's not a potential term. It's an actual real term, a substitution. It means that Christ actually and really stands in someone's place taking their punishment for them. It's called the penal substitutionary atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now if he did this for all people, if he stood in the place of all people, then all people would be saved. But he doesn't do that. He stands in the place of his sheep. Otherwise if he stood in the place of all people and that substitution was provided for everyone, you'd have people in hell paying for their own sins that Christ has once before already paid for. Think about this for a moment. When the Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross and he suffered and he died, taking upon himself the sins of those that he would call to himself that would be saved, when he went to Calvary there were already sinners from the Old Testament who were in hell suffering torment for their sin. Think about Sodom and Gomorrah. Those that went to hell and are in hell when Jesus Christ is on the cross paying for their sins? No. Right? Think about Achan. Think about Korah. Think about all those in the flood. There are countless numbers of people in the Old Testament in hell when Christ is on the cross paying. Now if that payment of sins is general, he's on the cross paying for their sins while they're in hell paying for them now even while he's there? No, it doesn't work that way. Think about the word propitiation. Propitiation is a word that means that God's actual and real wrath toward specific sin on the part of an individual has been satisfied. His wrath, his righteous anger against sin has been satisfied in propitiation. So those who died in the flood, who died when Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, Korah and Achan and all those who went into the pit suffering in hell. Did Christ satisfy the wrath of God against them while they're suffering under the wrath of God while Christ is on the cross? No. See, it just doesn't line up. The word redemption. The word redemption implies that someone has actually and really been redeemed. There's been a purchase that has been paid, a cost that's been paid to redeem someone. An actual price has been paid. The word reconciliation. You can't have reconciliation in some general or potential or possible sense when you reconcile someone to God. They are reconciled to God. So what did Christ do in his saving work? He reconciled his people to God. He reconciled them. He made their justification possible. Reconciliation means that an actual relationship has been restored. Not that that relationship is just made possible, but the relationship has been restored. Now, remember, if any of this, substitution, propitiation, redemption, reconciliation, if any of this is made only possible, if it's made only possible and think about it this way, then salvation doesn't depend entirely and wholly upon the work of God any longer. It doesn't depend on the work of Christ alone any longer because Christ sits there at the dollar menu with his 99 cents waiting for you to bring your penny. Do you see? It must all be entirely and completely of God. If it's not, if that only makes salvation potential or salvation possible, then man with his penny is the difference between saved and lost. Do you see? And it's no longer God. That's entirely out of touch with the biblical gospel. You see? Entirely out of the touch with God's truth, God's grace. Think about the lack, if that's the case, think about the lack of unity within the Godhead. If that were the case, you would have the Lord Jesus Christ paying for the sins of those that the Father has not given him and whom the Holy Spirit will not regenerate. And there's disunity within the Godhead. Simply not possible. There are many, many passages that communicate this, many passages that communicate God's provision of Christ as the only one to whom the world must turn to be saved. This often causes confusion for folks over this doctrine in Scripture. They hear the alls in Scripture. They don't know how to take those. You listen to some of these for a moment. 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 6, he is the ransom for all. In 1 John chapter 2 verse 2, he is the propitiation for all. In John chapter 3 verse 17, he is the savior of the world. In Titus chapter 2 verse 11, this salvation has appeared to all men. These passages, one, many of them communicate God's only provision of Christ alone by which anyone in the world may be saved. In that sense, all men, if they're to be saved, must look to Christ. If their sins are going to be propitiated, all men must go to Christ. If they want their guilt removed, their sins forgiven, all must turn to Christ. Spurgeon said, there on the bloody tree hangs all man's hope. If you enter heaven, it must be by force of the incarnate God's bleeding out his life for you. Paul says that this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior who desires what? All men, all men to be saved. However, that will of desire is obviously different than his will of decree. Sometimes all means all of us. If I were to say to you, we're all going to go on vacation together. That means all of us. It doesn't mean all, everyone in the world, right? Many times in Scripture, when the Bible uses the word all, it's talking about all of us. You have to look at the context. Sometimes all means without distinction. It means without distinction. All kinds of people, right? Sometimes all means all without exception, meaning everyone. Many times they want to interpret all passages in the Bible to mean all without exception when that clearly contradicts other clear texts in the Bible. You can't do it. There are no contradictions in Scripture. This is a bit of an oversimplification for the sake of time. But suffice it to say for now that Christ in his saving work specifically and intentionally, deliberately, personally, intimately, individually lays down his life for specific people, lays down his life for the sheep. Now before we talk about how that applies to your Christian life and how that should impact the way that you live, the way that you think, let's look at a group. This group called the sheep in more detail. Look at verse 16, John chapter 10 verse 16. In verse 16, the scope of that particular group, the sheep, is further clarified by the Lord's statement here. Verse 16 says, and other sheep, he says, I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd. All right, let's unpack this little. Jesus, in verse 16, Jesus does not fully define what are his own sheep without also including these other sheep mentioned here in verse 16. Collectively, the his sheep that we've been looking at so far, and the other sheep in verse 16, all of those together are his own. Do you see? His own sheep defined by what has gone before and now these other sheep in verse 16. When we first looked at the sheep fold from verse 1, in John chapter 15 verse 1, we said that that sheep fold was referring to Judaism or the nation of Israel, that God was calling his sheep out of Judaism, out of the nation of Israel, and calling those Jewish now believers, calling them to himself. When they hear his voice in verse 3, he leads them out. A good example of this is the man born blind in John chapter 9. Man born blind in John chapter 9 was a Jew. He was in the temple. The man born blind is saved out of Judaism. In fact, they gave him a little help by kicking him out of the temple, kicking him out of the temple right into the arms of Christ, right? So Christ leads him out. He brings him out of Judaism. He brings him out, so to speak, of the nation of Israel as a Jew, and Christ calls him to himself. Christ saves him that day in the temple. He came out of the fold, if you will, of Judaism, came out of the fold of the Jewish people. Now, although he was Jewish, he was not a true child of God until that day that the Lord Jesus Christ called him to himself, granted him repentance, granted him faith, and saved him in the temple that day, all right? So then in verse 16 now, the Lord is referring to these other sheep. These are not the same sheep that came out of the fold of Judaism, or have come out of the fold of the nation of Israel. These sheep, which belong to him, are not Jewish. These sheep, they're not coming out of Judaism. These sheep are Gentiles. You see? Now, these are other sheep. They're not of this fold, not of the fold of Judaism, not of the fold of that false religious system now that's been corrupted. They're not of the nation of Israel. These sheep are coming out of the world and they're Gentiles. Look with me at John chapter 11, John chapter 11 and drop down to verse 45. These sheep are Gentiles and these sheep are coming out of the world. John chapter 11 and look down at verse 45. And here the Bible says that many of the Jews who had come to Mary and had seen the things Jesus did believed in him, but some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, what shall we do? For this man works many signs. If we let him alone like this, everyone will believe in him and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. You see their motivation? It's just pride and envy. Look at verse 49. And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priests that year, said to them, you know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people and not that the whole nation should perish. Now this he did not say on his own authority, but being high priests that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation and get this, not for that nation only, but also that he would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad. So not just for the Jewish people. Now we're talking about all of the children of God that have been scattered abroad. All of those sheep that the Lord Jesus Christ has, you see, that are not of this fold. Flip the page to John chapter 12. John chapter 12 and drop down to verse 27. John chapter 12 verse 27. Same concept taught here. Verse 27 says, Now my soul is troubled. What shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name. Then a voice came from heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said an angel has spoken to him. Jesus answered and said, This voice did not come because of me, but for your sake. Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to myself. Now is that all there? All without distinction? All without exception? We can tell from the context. You can tell from Scripture. It's all without distinction. Not all without exception. The Lord Jesus Christ doesn't draw every single man, woman, child to himself to save everyone. He draws all kinds of people to himself, Jew and Gentile, right? Free and slave, man and woman, Greek and barbarian, right? He draws all peoples to himself. Turn over to John chapter 17. There's a few more pages to the right. John chapter 17. Drop down and look at verse 20. Salvation, you have to understand by this, salvation has a broader boundary than merely Israel. Okay? Has a broader boundary than merely Israel. Unless you are Jewish here, this is all speaking of you and I. This is how we were brought in by the grace of God in Christ. Jesus is here in chapter 17 now, verse 20, praying for us in this verse. Look at verse 20. I do not pray for these alone, those who are disciples here alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. And we know from Scripture every tribe, every tongue, every nation, right? The Lord Jesus Christ drawing all kinds of people to himself. So back in John chapter 10, verse 16 now. With this understanding, let's make some observation about these other Gentile sheep that we see in verse 16, all right? Now notice first in verse 16, the Lord says, and other sheep, I have. Now think about that. That's present tense. Other sheep, I have. Just like those Jewish sheep, these other sheep also belong to him. Now we know they belong to him in exactly the same way. God foreknows, foreloves his own, sets his love upon them, predestines them from before the foundation of the world to be conformed into the image of his son. So these other sheep belong to him in exactly the same way. Now just like those Jewish sheep, these other sheep, he also brings out. Look at verse 16. I also must bring. They will hear my voice and there will be one flock, one shepherd. That text there says that he must bring them. That's the word day for must there. It's a divine necessity. The Lord Jesus Christ must bring them because it has been decreed by God the Father that he should do so. All right? This is a divine necessity. They're brought out from the fold of the world. They're brought out from the fold of their sin, out of the folds of their various false religions, and they're brought to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now just like those Jewish sheep, these other sheep hear his voice also. Do you see? They hear his voice and they follow the good shepherd and all the blessings now of being under the loving care of the good shepherd are for these sheep as well. They are in the fold, so to speak. Now notice these sheep. If you look at verse 16, these sheep are not added to a Jewish fold. All right? The Lord Jesus Christ, verse 1, the good shepherd calls out Jewish sheep out of Judaism, out of that false religion, that corrupted religion now, out of the nation of Israel to be his sheep, to be his children. These other sheep, verse 16, called out from their respective folds in the same way, both of them called out a false religion and placed together in the same fold where there will be one flock and one shepherd. No distinction. Both groups placed together. Do you see? Now turn with me and I want you to see this in Acts chapter 15. Acts 15. All this we're going to bring around full circle here in a moment, make application from. It's important that we understand these things. Acts chapter 15 and look at verse 1. These sheep are not added to a Jewish fold, both Jews out of Judaism and Gentiles out of Gentilism are pulled out by Christ and put in one flock, one shepherd together alongside one another without distinction. Acts chapter 15, look at verse 1. Here the problem that Paul and Barnabas encountered is outlined for us at the beginning of verse 1, where the Bible says, and certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, unless you're circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you can't be saved. Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question. They were saying, in order to be saved, you had to become essentially as a Jew. You had to be circumcised in order to be saved. That's what caused this problem. So Paul and Barnabas take the trek to Jerusalem to talk to those there that were reputed to be pillars in the church, namely here Peter, James, and look at verse 6. When they got to Jerusalem now, the apostles and elders, verse 6, came together to consider this matter. When there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them, men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us. Now, notice the reference to God's sovereign election here. It's God that is chosen. A good while ago God chose among us that by my mouth, the Gentiles should hear the word of the Gospel and believe. And we saw Peter, the vision of the sheet coming down and then going to the house of Cornelius, Cornelius being saved, right? Being granted the Holy Spirit. So this is in reference to that. Look at verse 8. So God, Peter says, God who knows the heart, acknowledge them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us. He gave them, these Gentiles, the Holy Spirit just like he did to us, Peter said. And he said, verse 9, he made no distinction between us and them purifying their hearts by faith also. You see verse 10. Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they. No distinction. Not two flocks, Jewish and the church, Jews, the nation of Israel, and the church, but one flock, all saved by grace through faith in Christ. Do you see? Look at verse 12. Then all the multitude kept silent, listened to Barnabas and Paul, declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles. And after they had become silent, James answered saying, men and brethren, listen to me. Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name. There it is. Right? These other sheep. These other sheep belong to a fold called Gentiles. And God, even them, pulls out of the Gentiles a people for his name. Verse 15. And with this, the words of the prophets agree, and he quotes Amos chapter nine here. After this, verse 16, I will return and will rebuild the Tabernacle of David, which has fallen down. I will rebuild its ruins. I will set it up so that the rest of mankind, not just the Jews, the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord who does all these things. So God calls out his sheep from all people, calls him to himself, a people called by his name. A flock, one flock, one shepherd. Now, the flock of God referred to here is the New Testament church. This is the church. And that church, that bride is as wide and as diverse as the whole world. You see? Every tribe, every tongue, every nation, no longer restricted to one nation or one place of worship. Now, it includes everyone who had come to Christ by repentant faith to worship him in spirit and in truth. God elects, chooses, draws to himself, right? His own people. He lays down his life for these sheep. It's a unifying love. It's a particular love, but it's a love that shows no partiality, a particular love that's a unifying love. One more passage quickly. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter two. Ephesians chapter two. Let's make this point even a little clearer. Ephesians chapter two. You have to listen quick. Ephesians chapter two. Look down at verse 11. Now, the thought of this glorious salvation should humble you. Paul in Ephesians chapter two begins at verse four, just expounding the riches of salvation in Christ, glorious salvation. God, who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, he made us alive together with Christ for by grace you have been saved. And he raised us up together, made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. He just expounds this glorious salvation. And then he says this in verse 11. In light of this great love with which God has loved us and saved us, he says in verse 11, therefore remember, this should humble you. Therefore remember that you want gentiles in the flesh who are called uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision made in the flesh by hands, right? You were called uncircumcised by the Jews. It's like David calling Goliath this uncircumcised Philistine, right? It was a pejorative as an insult. You were called uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision made in the flesh by hands that at that time, verse 12, you were without Christ being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now, verse 13, in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off, hopeless and destitute without God in the world, you who are far off have been brought near by what? By the blood of Christ that was shed for his sheep. Verse 14, for he himself is our peace who has made both one. He's broken down that middle wall of separation, having abolished in his flesh the enmity that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances so as to create in himself now one new man from the two thus making peace, one body, the church, one flock, one shepherd. Do you see? That, verse 16, he might reconcile them both to God in one body, the church, through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And he came and preached peace to you, to you and me, who were far off into those who were near. For through him we both, those who were far off, the Gentiles, those who were near, the Jews, have access by one spirit to the Father. It's a precious unity, right? A blood bought unity. Verse 19, now therefore, you are no longer strangers, no longer foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. In him in Christ, the whole building being fitted together grows into a holy temple in the Lord in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the spirit. It's glorious, right? One flock, one shepherd, and this is speaking of the church. Speaking of the church, you and I, the body of Christ. Samuel J. Stone said this, the church's one foundation is Jesus Christ, her Lord. She is his new creation by water in the Word. From heaven he came and sought her to be his holy bride. With his own blood he bought her, and for her life he died. It's what the Lord Jesus Christ did for his own. It's what the Lord Jesus Christ did for his sheep. He left the 99 and pursued in the desert that one, that one, swept the entire house clean looking for that coin, right? Went out, ran out to meet that prodigal, that one son, not the elder son, that one son who had departed, who was lost and now is found. He didn't simply come to die for the world, not for an anonymous nebulous group. He died for his own. Those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life from before the foundation of the world, who now make up the bride of Christ, the assembly of the redeemed. You should love the church. This is the Lord's body. We are His body together, collectively. We are His body. Now back in John chapter 10, in verse 15, the Lord says, As the Father knows me, even so I know 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 will hear my voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd. So what are we to think of these things? Think about the theology contained in these verses and what the Lord communicates with such simplicity, with such an economy of words, but a depth of theology that's so profound. How should this impact your thinking? How should this impact your life? We are His own. Call from out of the world. Call from out of our filth, out of the disease of our own sin. Called by Christ, called by God to Himself, redeemed, justified, sanctified, as surely as we are in Christ, we will one day be glorified. If you're here today and you're lost, if you're here today and you're lost, you need to understand that God created you exclusively for His own glory. He made you to glorify Himself, to the praise of the glory of His grace, and from the moment of your conception, even because of your sin in Adam, and certainly afterward, because of your own sin, you have rebelled and sinned against God, your Creator, repeatedly and without remorse. You are a law breaker from your birth. Your sins are stacked up to heaven. They are a stench in the nostrils of God who created you for His own glory, and you will stand before that God, omnipotent and omniscient. You'll stand before Him and face judgment. What are you going to do about your sin? What will you do about your sin? Will you stand before God with that rap sheet, with that record? You don't have to. Listen, God has graciously, He didn't have to. He didn't have to graciously make provision for your sin, but He did. He graciously makes provision by which you may be reconciled to God, justified for given of your sin, sanctified and one day glorified, predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. He makes provision in Christ for you to be reconciled to Him. He sent His Son, the one who goes looking for the sheep, who sought her and bought her and draws her to Himself. He sent His Son, born of a virgin, who's lived sinlessly, perfectly fulfilling the righteous demands of God's law, and this salvation is rich and personal and intimate and relational individual, taking your sin, all of your sin past, present and future, imputing that, crediting that to the Lord Jesus Christ, taking the righteousness which was acquired by the Lord Jesus Christ in perfect obedience to the Father, and crediting that or imputing that to you, so that you are accepted in the beloved, so that you can be forgiven, so that you can be washed and cleansed, so that you can be indwelt by God's spirit and seated in the heavenly places in Christ. It is an awesome salvation, and the Lord says it is entirely holy of God by His grace alone. You merely have to respond in faith. Trust Christ for it. Don't continue to live life for yourself. Turn to Christ. Trust Him. Live for Him. Don't fall into the trap of thinking fatalistically about God's election or God's saving work. Don't fall into the paralytic trap of trying to figure out what exists on God's side of the eternal decrees, on God's side of His hidden degrees of who are elect and who aren't. Respond today as God has commanded. Turn from your sin and trust Christ. You may think that the gospel offer isn't sincere if God has already chosen, but listen, there exists a truth in the Bible that is side by side with God's sovereignty, and that's the truth of man's responsibility. God commands all men everywhere to repent. God has expressed His desire for you to be saved. He says this is good and acceptable inside of God our Savior who desires all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. He's made provision for you to hear the gospel this morning. Turn from your sin. Trust Christ. Don't delay. John says in John chapter 6 verse 37 it's the Lord Jesus Christ who says the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out. Come to Christ. But beloved, here this morning you claim the name of Christ. Think about how these powerful truths should inform your Christian life. In the eternal counsel of His own will, the purpose of God in redeeming fallen and depraved sinners is to cause on the part of His people the eternal praise of the glory of His grace. For that purpose, God has determined in His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to effect for you personally His elect, not a potential salvation, not a salvation made merely possible, but a blood-bought, actual, powerful, effective, total, eternal, and irreversible salvation that is personal and relational and loving and intended for you His bride. By which He raises spiritually dead sinners like you and I from death to life. He justifies us, adopts us, seats us in the heavenlies, sanctifies us, and one day will glorify us, and this is the glory of the cross in all its fullness what Jesus Christ purchased on Calvary. All this Paul says is because of the great love with which he loved us. In this gospel, we don't preach a potential salvation, we preach Christ and in Him the infinite and ultimate triumph of an eternal salvation fully accomplished for each of His people by His death, by His resurrection. So meditate on that. Think on that in Christ. Think on what Jesus has done for His own. The glories of the cross of Christ affected specifically for you by God, God having chosen to love you with a fore-knowing, everlasting love. Think about it, you are the particular object of His great love and for absolutely no loveliness in you at all. So the more that you understand this reality, the more that you think on it, how grateful should you be? Right? We have anything at all to complain about? How grateful should you be? What should your worship be like? The more that you understand this, God personally and intimately and relationally choosing from before the foundation of the world to set His love upon you to pay your debt in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to take the punishment that you deserve, not in any potential or possible sense, not in any general sense as applies to the entire world, but for you specifically, individually, God saved you. What should that do for your worship, your fellowship with God, your prayer life? How should those truths impact your assurance? If you see that work of grace in your heart, you're basing your salvation on the promises of God in Christ, it is irreversible. Think about your battle with sin. In order for you to battle sin, to live the Christian life, you have to battle sin, live in the Spirit on the foundation of this justified center that God has elected you, that He wrote your name in His book from before the foundation of the world. Think about how that should impact your battle with sin. It should be entirely based in these truths if you're going to overcome, if you're going to mortify the deeds of the flesh by the Spirit. What about your evangelism? If you know this to be true, your evangelism should be fearless, should be courageous, should be consistent, should be every creature. You have a real and complete and full and comprehensive salvation to offer. What about your service to Him? What should your life look like? Romans chapter 14 verse 8 says, for if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. How does that look with respect to your church attendance, with respect to your devotional time, with respect to the brothers and sisters here, with respect to your spouse, your kids? 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 20, you were bought at a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are gods. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 14, for the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus, that if one died for all, then all died, and he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again. Galatians chapter 2 verse 20, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. We are biblically described as joyful slaves of the Lord Jesus Christ. You've been set free to strive after Him, to follow hard after Him, as a hard-working farmer, as a good soldier, as an athlete running to attain the prize. Don't seek to indulge yourself, live for Christ. This life is short. This is an awesome salvation, amen. Amen. Let's pray. Father in heaven, I pray God that you would fill our hearts and our minds with this reality, that you in the eternal counsel in your own will, according to your good pleasure, chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should live holy and without blemish before you, that we should be zealous for good works that you ordained beforehand, that we should walk in them and help us to live in the light of these truths, to live with fearlessness and boldness in Christ, exercising our liberty not to indulge the flesh, but exercising our liberty to strive hard after you, to obey you faithfully, fervently, to live for you, even when our flesh rails against it. God, I pray that you strengthen us by these truths. You would inform our worship, inform our prayers, inform our consciences. Help us, Lord, to walk worthy of the calling with which you called us. We love you, Lord. Thank you for this glorious salvation. Thank you for your son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lays down his life for his sheep. And thank you, Lord, for your church, your body, that we collectively being built up by your spirit into a holy temple, a dwelling place for our God. Praise you, Lord, for this glorious salvation. Thank you for our Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that we'd be pleasing in His sight. These truths would sink into our hearts and minds that we would meditate on them. They would cause us, Lord, by your spirit to be transformed by this word. We might live for you more faithfully. In Jesus' name we pray all these things. Amen.