Personal and Effectual Calling
(No. 2359)
A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S DAY, MAY 6, 1894.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
FEBRUARY 26, 1888.
"He calls His own sheep by name, and leads them out." John 10:3.
IF YOU were near an Eastern village, you would probably see a large
square, walled about with stones rolled roughly one upon another. You
would also see a gate and, perhaps, more than one entrance into this
enclosure. The square is empty through the day, for the flocks have
gone into the neighboring pastures. But, towards evening, at certain
seasons of the year, all the shepherds bring their flocks to these
enclosures and there they are shut in for the night all together. One
man has but a few sheep and another man has only a few sheep, while the
more wealthy owner has larger flocks, but all are enclosed in what I
will call the parish fold.
Now the morning comes. The sun is up early and so is the shepherd. The
porter is at the door and he recognizes the various sheepherders as
they come down to the sheepfold to fetch their flocks. One shepherd
comes and he takes away his little company. Another shepherd arrives
and he leads away a larger number. In each case, the shepherd has no
trouble in separating his own sheep from the rest in the fold. You and
I would think it well near impossible–and we certainly would never be
able to divide those differing flocks–but the shepherd does it easily
as soon as ever he comes to the door of the fold. There are certain of
his sheep that love him much. They are accustomed to keep very near his
hand and often get the sweetest bits of grass, and they leap up at the
very sound of his footsteps! They recognize his person and they come
straightway to the gate and are ready, at once, to go out to the
pastures with him.
Some others, I am afraid the larger part of the flocks, are not quite
so eager, but the shepherd speaks and they recognize his voice–and
when he proceeds to name the sheep, one by one, for this the Eastern
shepherd literally does, and when he begins to call them out by name,
you can see the fleecy creatures recognizing the tones of his voice and
responding to his call as readily as dogs with us know their master's
voice and their own names! The sheep, thus called, push their way from
among the different flocks and they come out and follow their shepherd,
who leads them to the pastures that he has provided or discovered for
them.
Now, that is exactly what the Good Shepherd does with His sheep. He
comes to the door of the fold. Here we are, tonight, like so many sheep
in the enclosure. I cannot tell who among you may be Christ's sheep, or
who may not be His. My voice has no power to separate you from your
companions unless Christ shall use my voice and make it the echo of His
own. I may speak as long as I will, apart from that Great Shepherd of
the sheep, but I can make no distinction between His chosen ones and
the rest of mankind. But if the Lord, Himself, shall come and call, His
chosen shall detect the gracious voice. And when, one by one, He calls
them to Himself by what theologians term "effectual calling"–(and it
is a good expression, for it is effectual calling), then the sheep hear
His voice and they rise up at once and follow Him, for they know His
voice, and He leads them out.
I am going to speak upon this text, viewing it from three points.
I. The first point is that JESUS, THE GOOD SHEPHERD, OFTEN COMES INTO
CONTACT WITH HIS SHEEP.
He has bought them, He has paid the full price of their redemption. He
has laid down His life for His sheep, so that they are effectually
ransomed. He has gone up to Heaven to plead for them and to present
before His Father the memorials of His death. Yet He is still with
them, according to His Word, "Lo, I am with you always." He has not
left His sheep here, below, simply to the care of undershepherds, much
less are they in charge of hirelings. He has His under-shepherds,
but He is with them and He still comes to His flock. He still calls His
sheep by name. He still leads them out. Let us think of the various
ways in which the Good Shepherd still comes into contact with His
sheep.
He came into contact with us, first, in our conversion. He had come to
us, before, by the many pleadings of His Spirit and the many entreaties
of His love in the days of our youth, and in years gone by, but we did
not, then, know His voice. Our ears were not open, then, and we did not
hear His call. He went after us into the wilderness, He sought us on
the mountain steeps, but it was, for a time, a weary seeking and little
came of it. Then, on a day never to be forgotten, He came with His
effectual Grace! I say He came. Mother had come, teacher had come,
pastor had come, books had come, sermons had come, but, last of all,
He, Himself, came! Do you remember His coming? I can never forget the
spot where He first met with me! The tones of His voice when, at last,
He won my heart, are ringing as clearly in my ears, tonight, as though
they were the marriage bells of yesterday! I can never forget how that
call sounded, "Look! Look! Look unto Me, and be you saved, all the ends
of the earth!" Then I knew His voice and responded to it, through His
own rich Grace, and I was His and He was mine! It needed that He should
do the wooing for Himself and should unveil His own dear face– and
then my heart was won and my spirit yielded itself entirely to Him! You
remember how it happened to you, also, do you not? Think of it with joy
and gratitude.
Since then, the Lord Jesus has often come to us in guidance. Many of us
can say that He has guided us through all the pathway of life and, at
certain times, and at difficult turns of the road, He has come to us
with such consoling counsel, and with such abounding compassion that we
have blessed Him, and said, "He is truly near to me. How hallowed is
this place! It is none other than the House of God and the very gate of
Heaven." There are some few saints who could not tell you when Christ
is not with them because He is always with them–they never lose His
company. I wish that I could be one of their number, yet, I might
almost claim that position, for it is a joy to me to be able to say
that, habitually, I do realize the Presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. I
have said more to Him than to any other man. I have spent more time
with Him than with any other that I have ever heard of–and my heart
more joyously goes out to Him than to anyone beneath the sun!
You have, perhaps, seen the rooks on the plowed land–all day going
from field to field–following the man with the plow. Where do they
live? Where are their nests? Wait till near the going down of the sun
and you shall see. Now they all mount with many a caw and with hoarse
converse with each other, and after they have hurried to and fro a
while, away they go where those old trees that stand around the ancient
baronial hall supply them with their house and home! Now, such is
Christ to some of us. We are necessarily abroad through the day,
looking after this or that work which needs attention, but the moment
we are at liberty, we know where our nest is! It is with the hearts of
many of us as it is with the needle in the mariner's compass. Do you
see it? It is pointing to the pole. If you will, you may put your
finger on that needle and turn it round. It points East now–yes, you
turn it round till it points South. But take your finger off, it is
back at once to its true pole! So is it with our hearts. Our hearts are
with Him on His Throne, always magnetized and polarized for Christ, and
we shall never rest until we get back to Him! He is in our first
thoughts in the morning and our last meditations at night! We can truly
say–
"I think of You, my God, by night,
And talk of You by day.
Your love my treasure and delight
Your Truth my strength sustain.
The day is dark, the night is long,
Humblest with thoughts of Thee,
And dull to me the sweetest song,
Unless its theme You be."
And, Beloved, you know how near the Lord is in the way of sympathy. It
is no exaggeration where we read, "In all their affliction He was
afflicted, and the angel of His Presence saved them." You have
sometimes been in sharp sickness and have had "cruel pains," as men
call them. Or you have, perhaps, known the sharper pangs of poverty, or
possibly, though I hope it is not so, some of you know what it is to be
deserted by your friends in the hour of your greatest need, and have to
stand alone amid the pitiless blasts when none seem willing to afford
you shelter. Oh, but we never fully know Christ till such a time as
that! We never realize the sweetness of His sympathetic companionship
till He stands by us and we can say with Paul, "At my first answer no
man stood with me, but all men forsook me. Notwithstanding the Lord
stood with me and strengthened me." Yes, He may be a long way from the
healthy and the strong sheep, but the Good Shepherd is always near the
sickly and the weak! And when the heart is breaking, Christ always
comes. He knew what heart-break meant, and desertion, and agony, and
bloody sweat, so He can sympathize with us in our sorrows–and there is
no hand so soft as that which was nailed to the Cross! Jesus is quick
as a mother to feel all the sufferings of His people.
I may also add that our Lord is always with us in intercession. This
Divine foresight takes the practical shape of pleading for us about
troubles that are yet to come. You see Peter. Satan had desired to have
him, that he might sift him as wheat. And Satan had not, then, gone any
farther than desire. His malice is very quick, but still, at that time,
he had only desired to have Peter. Yet, when the devil had that desire,
Christ had gone a long way beyond him–"But I have prayed for you, that
your faith fail not." So quickly does the careful love of Christ
outstrip all our necessities, that even the dark wings of the
arch-enemy cannot fly so fast as the interceding love of our
Arch-Friend, our chief Helper, our Best-Beloved! He is always with you,
watching to see not only what you need, but what you will need–not
only noting what are your dangers, but what are to be your dangers in
the future! Before Satan has plucked the arrow from his quiver, and
long before he has fitted it to the bow, Christ has already prepared
that shield of interceding love that shall guard you from his attacks!
O sheep of Christ, can there be happier news for you than that the Good
Shepherd is always with you? He has said, "I will never leave you nor
forsake you." Vineyard of the Lord, hear this, and make a song of it–
"I, the Lord, do keep it. I will water it every moment lest any hurt
it. I will keep it night and day." Here is a song for the vineyard of
red wine–let all the saints sing it in their hearts tonight!
So much, then, upon that first point, that Jesus often comes into
contact with His sheep.
II. Secondly, this also is clear from the text, that Jesus CALLS HIS
SHEEP BY NAME–"He calls His own sheep by name." You Thomas, you Mary,
and Martha, and Lazarus, and you Matthew, the publican, yes, and you,
Mary of Mag-dala–He calls you all by name! What does this imply?
The first thing that it means is, intimate knowledge. Beloved Friends,
I used to have such a trustworthy memory that I not only knew the
nearly 6,000 members of this Church by face, which I am still able to
do, but I knew them all by name–and it was a rare thing for me to ever
forget or make a mistake, save when certain ladies changed their names
and I had not been made aware of it, but even then I soon rectified the
error. But now, sometimes, I find myself unable to remember all your
names–perhaps it is because I do not see you often. Our Lord knows all
the myriads of His redeemed by name. There is no failure of memory with
Him and He always sees them! His eye and His heart are towards each one
of His people both night and day–"He calls His own sheep by name." I
do not wish so much to preach upon this passage as I want you to put it
into your mouth, or rather, to taste it with your spiritual palate, so
as to get the flavor and sweetness of it. "I know My sheep," says the
Good Shepherd! He knows not only who they are, but what they are, and
where they are! "He calls His own sheep by name." This implies His
intimate knowledge of them.
Does it not signify, next, that if He calls us by our name, He is in
the habit of speaking to us with exceeding plainness? He can so speak
to us that we shall know what He means. His Word is dark and mysterious
to outsiders, but when He makes us to be His sheep, He speaks very
plainly, calling us by name. It is only when persons are on very
familiar terms with one another that they address each other by their
Christian name. We are, all of us, Mr. Somebody, or the Reverend Mr.
Somebody, or Dr. Somebody, or Squire Somebody–but when we are at home,
we are, none of us, esquires! We are Richard, or Mary. Mother never
thinks of calling us, "Mr." and Father does not say, "Miss," but they
call us by our name! So the Lord Jesus Christ calls us by name to show
how plainly He speaks with us and also to let us see what gracious
familiarity there is between the Head and the members of His mystical
body, between the Bridegroom and His spouse, between the Well-beloved
and His Church which is so dear to His heart!
"He calls His own sheep by name." I think this also means intense
personality. When anything is directed to you by name, it comes to you
as your own with great definiteness. There is a story recorded of Mr.
Rowland Hill which I have not seen printed in a book until just lately.
It bears on its very face the tokens of truth, for it is just what he
would be likely to do. He was accustomed, at family prayer, to pray for
his servants by name, asking for such a blessing for Sarah, and such
for Jane, and such for John, if his man-servant was present. There was
a new cook engaged–her name was one which, in those days, was more
common than it is now–it was, "Biddy." So, at prayer time, Mr. Hill
prayed that God
would bless Sarah, and the others, one by one, and would the Lord be
pleased to save Biddy and give her a new heart and a right spirit!
After prayer was over and the servants had gone away, there was a
gentle knock at the study door and the good minister said, "Come in,
what is it?" "Please, Mr. Hill, I am very glad to be in your service
and I hope I shall find it a comfortable place, but would you kindly
not mention my name in prayer? I have not been accustomed to it and I
do not think I could bear it." "All right, Biddy," he said. "I try
never to do anything that is displeasing. I am sorry you should be
annoyed and I must not mention your name in prayer again." She went to
her work and the next time of family prayer Mr. Hill prayed in the
following manner. After having pleaded for blessings in general, He
said, "Now, Lord, be pleased to bless Sarah, and convert her, and lead
her in Your way." And so he mentioned the rest of them and then he
added, "Lord, I may not ask You to bless Biddy because she earnestly
requests that she may not be mentioned to You in prayer." The prayer
was over and there was, again, a knock at the door. "Come in," said Mr.
Hill. It was that cook, again. "Please, Mr. Hill," she said, "I didn't
want you to pray like that. I didn't want to be left out in prayer,
Sir. Please, you may mention my name if you like." "Just so, Biddy," he
said, "I will do it and God will bless you, I do not doubt."
Well now, there is a good deal in that way of personally mentioning
people in prayer, because they then feel that you are praying for
them–and when the Lord Jesus Christ calls His own sheep by name, they
distinctly recognize that He speaks to them! Have not some of you known
what it is to be spoken to, from this pulpit, by the Lord Jesus Christ,
quite as distinctly as if I had mentioned your name and address? You
know you have! This is the way in which some of you were first brought
to Christ. It was not merely to sinners, but to you as a sinner! It was
not merely to all men, but to you as distinctly singled out, that the
Gospel of Jesus Christ came with power! To show the personality of His
Gospel, He calls men by name.
This call also teaches us the wonderful suitability of Christ's Words
to our needs. There will often be, in a text of Scripture, the very
message that is needed by a poor wearied spirit. How often, too, will
the Lord prepare the mind of a hearer till the preacher's words shall
be as suitable as if he had been told all about the unknown person!
Friends sometimes write to me and say, "We are going to bring a friend
of such and such a sort to the Tabernacle." They let me know in the
hope that I may make my message suitable. Do not let me know whom you
bring! I do not want to know because I cannot suit my sermon to your
friend. Bring your friend, with your own hearty and earnest prayer, but
without my knowing anything about it! God will speak through His
servant what He wishes to have said–and it will come with greater
force and power than any thoughtful love can suggest. Oh, may God speak
to some of you tonight! May you be called out by your name and feel in
your heart, "Jesus calls me, and I will go to Him at once, and put my
trust in Him"!
III. Now I am going to close with this third remark, THAT THIS CALL BY
NAME COMES AT SPECIAL TIMES. I will mention four special seasons when
the Lord's personal call is heard.
First, it comes at conversion. I have, perhaps, already said enough
about that. There is a call to sinners by name–the Gospel preached in
general is all very well, but it is the Gospel preached in particular
that saves men. If you have come in here, tonight, just to hear as one
of a crowd, you will probably get nothing by coming. But when you sit
here, saying, "Lord, speak to me! Lord help me to apply every word to
my own case! Help me to lay hold of every promise that is
quoted!"–that is the way to gain the blessing! They say that the times
are improving and that business is looking up, but when I meet with a
friend who is in a certain trade, he says, "Business is not looking up
my way. I do not find that I have any more customers than I used to
have, or that I can get the slightest increase of profit on my goods."
Just so, Friends, you do not profit by the general blessing, do you?
You need a particular blessing to come to your own soul, for, in this
respect, as it is with temporal things, so it is with eternal
things–we need the blessing for ourselves.
Now, in business we have to check this kind of selfishness, but in
spiritual things we may excite it, for we need men to "covet earnestly
the best gifts." One good old man said, "The Lord's people are a
covetous people." "Oh!" said one, "they ought to get rid of all
covetousness." "Yes," he answered, "except that spiritual covetousness
to which we are exhorted by Paul, when he says, 'Covet earnestly the
best gifts."' That is quite true! We should covet earnestly the best
things, even heavenly things. Seek these things for yourselves and rest
not satisfied until you have them! May the Lord by conversion call you
by name, that you may have the first of these best gifts!
I have known Him, in the second place, call some by name to fresh
service. Did He not say, "Separate Me Barnabas and Saul for the work
whereunto I have called them"? Sometimes there is a Sunday School
teacher needed. There sits a
young man in this place, tonight, who ought to be in the Sunday school.
I shall not call him by name. Perhaps he would be offended if I did so,
but I hope that the Lord will call him. There sits a Christian woman,
here, who should be engaged in the school, or who ought to take a tract
district. Possibly there is a Christian woman here, of years and
knowledge, who ought to be teaching a Bible class, or conducting a
mothers' meeting. Perhaps I speak to some large-hearted man, with
considerable ability, who spends all his time on his business and does
no work for Christ. He ought to have a Mission Hall and support it,
himself–he has money enough and he has talent enough. Some of you have
never had an idea of what you yet can do for the Lord–and the only way
to find it out is to try to do something for the Savior! There are too
many "retiring" people among us who are so retiring as to get to be
lazy! Come out of your hiding place, my dear Friend! No, I will not
mention your name, though I know some of this sort–and I have their
names almost on my tongue, but I will not mention them. But I do pray
the Master to mention your names so that you may consecrate your
substance, your time, your ability, to the work of the Lord somewhere
in this great perishing London, or somewhere in this great nation where
so many perish for lack of knowledge! "He calls His own sheep by name,
and leads them out" into wider spheres, into larger enterprises, into
fuller consecration to His service! May He now do that with many of
you, my Brothers and Sisters!
Sometimes the Lord calls His saints by name and leads them out into
higher attainments in the Divine Life. Come, you who have been always
halting, doubting, fearing–it need not be so with you! The Lord
invites your faith to full assurance, your love to enthusiasm, your
prayer to wrestling, your desire to expectation and your present
imperfect service for Him to the complete dedication of yourself–body,
soul and spirit–to His cause! We have not yet attained all we may
reach, dear Friends. There is a something yet beyond and to this the
Master calls us. "But I cannot rise to it," says one. "With man, it is
impossible, but with God all things are possible." You may be strong,
useful, joyful–you need not always be weak, careless and sorrowful!
Oh, that there might come into your soul, by the breath of the Divine
Spirit, an increase of spiritual life till you shall have it more
abundantly and shall bless and praise the name of the Lord!
But, lastly, there will soon come another call to some of us–and we
would be very, very slow to shrink from it. I mean the call Home to
Heaven. I know not to whom it may come this week, or next, but stand
you all ready for it. It will come by the messenger appointed by Him
who loves you and who longs to have you where He is, that you may
behold His Glory! Perhaps the summons may come to you as it came to
Christiana, with this token–"an arrow sharpened with love, let easily
into her heart." She knew what the token meant and she welcomed her
Lord's call! It will come in different ways. One aged Christian, who
was dying of cancer, met another who was greatly suffering from another
painful disease. "Well, well, my Brother," she said, "we must all have
something to die of, you know, or we should live here forever. Do not
let us quarrel with the messenger the Lord sends." He will send the
proper messenger in His own good time and in the right way.
Rowland Hill, whom I have already quoted, was sometimes very odd in his
expressions. He went, when he was very old, to see a godly woman at
Everton who was nearly ninety, and he told her that when she got Home,
he hoped she would mention him up there, for he had almost begun to
think that they had forgotten him–he had grown so old that he would be
glad to be going Home to his dear Lord and to see those blessed
Johns–John, the beloved disciple and John Bunyan, and some other Johns
that he mentioned. It was not long before he went home, too, and he
almost overtook her before she could deliver his message! Well, whether
we live to be as old as he, or die in middle life, or in the early days
of our conversion, it does not matter. The Lord will send the messenger
and the messenger will know us–and we shall hear the voice that says,
"Arise and come away." I would have you standing with your wings
outstretched, as the cherubim abode over the Mercy Seat, with their
wings outspread, as if ready to die at the Divine bidding!
Are you afraid? Afraid of going Home, dear child? Are you so fond of
boarding school that you have no desire for the holidays? Are you
afraid, dear Heart, afraid of the wedding day, and of the Bridegroom,
and of the everlasting joy? Soldier, are you afraid of the victory and
the crown? No, no! Instead of fearing, let us begin to anticipate the
bliss of being "forever with the Lord." God help us to joy and rejoice,
wearing, today, by faith, the chaplet which we shall soon wear in
reality, striking even now the harp strings with the joyous fingers
which, before long, shall sweep the chords throughout eternity, as we
sing, "Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, unto Him that loved us, and
washed us from our sins in His own blood, to Him be Glory and dominion
forever and ever. Amen."
We will close our service by singing this verse–
"Forever with the Lord! Amen! So let it be!
Life from the dead is in that word, 'Tis immortality!"
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: John 10:1-31.
Verse 1. Verily, verily, I say unto you. When our Divine Lord and
Master was about to speak with deep solemnity, He usually commenced His
discourse by repeating the word, "verily"–"Verily verily, I say unto
you." The authority of Christ is the basis of our religion. He does not
quote from others, but He says, "Verily, verily, I say unto you." Jesus
is Incarnate Wisdom, He is God, Himself, and what He says is Infallibly
true and is to be accepted without question.
1. He that enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up
some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. Those who professed
to be the shepherds of the sheep, but did not come according to
previous Revelation by the way of the Old Testament types and
prophecies, were nothing better than thieves and robbers. They could
have no design in palming themselves off upon the people except to
steal from them and to do them harm.
2. 3. But he that enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
To him the porter opens. John the Baptist was, so to speak, the porter
who recognized the Christ and opened the door to Him. John said,
concerning Jesus, when the Spirit abode upon Him, "I saw, and bare
record that this is the Son of God."
3. And the sheep hear his voice. His chosen ones, those whom the Father
had given Him, the peculiar people–"the sheep"–at once recognized the
Presence of the Shepherd when they heard His voice.
3. 4. And he calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out. And when
he puts forth his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow
him. "He goes before them." There is never an act prescribed by Christ
for His followers but He first performs it, Himself–"He goes before
them." Other professed leaders drove the flock before them. The Jewish
teachers laid heavy burdens upon men and grievous to be borne, which
they, themselves, did not touch with one of their fingers. It is the
distinguishing mark of the Good Shepherd that, "when He puts forth His
own sheep, He goes before them." You are not bidden to do, as a
servant, what the Master would not do. Even if it is the menial
occupation of washing the saints' feet, He, Himself has done it–you
are to lay down your life for the Brethren, for Jesus, Himself, has
done that–"He goes before them, and the sheep follow him."
4. For they know His voice. There is an instinct, a God-given instinct,
in the elect of God, by which they know Christ's voice. When once the
Spirit of God has changed their natures, they have an open ear for the
Words of Jesus– "the sheep follow Him: for they know His voice."
5. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for
they know not the voice of strangers. Others will follow the stranger,
but the sheep will not do so. We read of some, that they were full of
such deceivableness that they would, if it were possible, deceive the
very elect, but there is an, "if it were possible." The Lord's true
sheep cannot, will not long be deceived–"they know not the voice of
strangers…"
6. This parable spoke Jesus unto them: but they understood not what
things they were which He spoke unto them. We need not only to listen
to Christ's Words, but we need an interpreter to explain them to us.
Jesus is needed to make His people understand His own teaching. He–
"IsHis own interpreter, And He will make it plain."
7. Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you.
Still, you see, Jesus speaks with the same authority! He is an intense
dogmatist. He leans not upon the arguments of human reason, nor upon
the precedents of former teachers. Again He said just this, "Verily,
verily, I say unto you"–
7. I am the Door of the sheep. Is He both Shepherd and Door? Yes, and
many other figures meet in Him–all creation cannot set Him forth
completely. We may multiply all the types and symbols and analogies of
Nature, and yet not fully picture our Lord Jesus Christ. Dr. Watts
truly wrote–
"Nature, to make His beauties known, Must mingle colors not her own."
We must know the Creator as well as the created if we would set forth
Christ to the fullest.
8. All that ever came before Me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep
did not hear them. Some people did hear them– one pretended messiah
and another led different companies of deluded followers after them,
"but the sheep did not hear them." The Prophetess Anna, the holy
waiting Simeon, the guileless Nathanael–these did not hear them–their
ears had not yet caught the mystic tone which belongs only to the true
Shepherd's voice–"The sheep did not hear them."
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. Is Christ the Door of salvation
to you? Some teach that Baptism is the door. Others talk of a thousand
things as being doors of salvation, but it is Christ, alone, who is the
Door, and you must enter into salvation by simple trustful faith in
Him. What does a sheep do in order to enter the fold? Does it perform
any tricks? No, it simply goes in by the doorway. Poor wandering sheep,
do the same, for Jesus says, "By Me if any man enter in, he shall be
saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture."
10. The thief comes 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. You who have eternal life may have more of it! You may be
spiritually stronger, more vigorous, more clear of eye, more happy of
heart, more active in service. Life is a blessing, but abundant life is
a greater blessing! We need not merely to breathe, to live, as I saw
one about an hour ago. He had life, but too little life even to
speak–we need to have much life, that we may enjoy it, and may use it
for the glory of God! Christ has come that we might have life more
abundantly–may we all make use of His coming to that end!
11-13. I am the Good Shepherd: the Good Shepherd gives His life for the
sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the Shepherd, whose own the
sheep are not, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and flees:
and the wolf catches them, and scatters the sheep. The hireling flees
because he is an hireling, and cares not for the sheep. How many there
are of whom we have reason to fear that they must be hirelings because,
when they see false doctrine and error abroad, they do not oppose it!
They are willing to put up with anything for the sake of peace and
quiet. They flee as soon as they see the wolf, but he most copies his
Master who will not flee on any terms. Certainly he will not flee when
wolves are about, for is he not set for the defense of the sheep, that
he may chase the wolf away, even though he gets to himself many a
scratch and many a wound? Our Master never fled from the wolves. He
might have done so–our Good Shepherd might have gone back to Heaven
and escaped Gethsemane, the gruel scourges and the wounds upon the
tree–but that was not His course of action. The sheep were His own
and, therefore, it was a joy to Him to interpose Himself between them
and the destroyer, and He did so.
14-16. I am the Good Shepherd and know My sheep, and am known of Mine.
As the Father knows 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.
Not yet brought in, still wandering away on the barren hills. Them also
I must bring. "I must," says Jesus, and, as men say, "must is for the
king." There is a Divine necessity laid upon Christ our Savior! He must
save the people, the sheep whom His Father gave Him– "them also I must
bring." Oh, wondrous love that holds even the Omnipotent Savior in
bonds and puts Him under the sacred constraint of this mighty,
"must"–"them also I must bring."
16. And they shall hear My voice. How like a king, Jesus talks! It is
the Royal Shepherd who says, "They shall hear My voice." But suppose
they will not hear it? "They shall hear My voice." But suppose they
stop their ears against the Gospel. "They shall hear My voice," and
Christ's, "shall," is always backed by Omnipotence!
16-18. And there shall be one fold, and one Shepherd. Therefore does My
Father love Me, because I lay down My life, that I might take it again.
No man takes 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. Herein lay much of the effect of the death of
Christ, that it was voluntary, that He had power to lay down His life,
the right to lay it down and the right to take it again. When any
ordinary man dies, he only pays "the debt of nature." If he were even
to die for his friend, he would simply pay a little earlier that debt
which he must ultimately pay! But the Christ was Immortal and He needed
not to die except that He had put Himself under Covenant bonds to
suffer for His sheep.
19-26. There was a division, therefore, again among the Jews for these
sayings. And many of them said, He has a devil, and is mad, why do you
listen to Him? Others said, These are not the words of Him that has a
devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind? And it was at Jerusalem,
the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the
Temple in Solomon's porch. Then came the Jews round about Him and said
unto Him, How long will You make us to doubt? If You are the
Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, and you
believed not: the works that I do in My Father's name, they bear
witness of Me. But you believe not because you are not of My sheep, as
I said unto you. This was a brave utterance of our Lord. Those who are
Christ's chosen and redeemed people, in due time come to believe in
Him, but He does not say to the Jews, "You are not My sheep because you
do not believe." He tells them the same Truth of God in another way,
"Your not believing is a proof that you are not My sheep."
27-31. 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 to
Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My
Father's hand. I and My Father are One. Then the Jews took up stones
again to stone Him. These are the ultimate arguments of
unbelief–stones! There is no sense in stones, no reason in violence,
yet ungodly men, when they have nothing else to use, throw stones at
the Teacher of the Truth of God! Is this generous? Is this wise? If you
do not believe the testimony, at least leave the Testifier alone! Yet
it is not in the nature of men to do so. Their stones are always ready
when they are unable to answer the Christ. "Then the Jews took up
stones again to stone Him." They had done it previously when He said
unto them, "Before Abraham was, I Am." But as He escaped their malice,
then, so did He at this time.