John 10:24-39 Then came the Jews round about him, and said to him, How long do you make us to doubt? If you be the Christ, tell us plainly.… 1. The shepherd owns the flock. 2. The shepherd tends his flock. 3. As the effect of the shepherd's training and watchful care the sheep learn to know him. 4. The flock follow the shepherd wherever he may lead them. I. THE SHEEP IN THEIR RELATION TO THE SHEPHERD IMAGE THE MEMBERS OF THE SPIRITUAL FOLD IN THEIR RELATION TO JESUS CHRIST, THE SHEPHERD AND BISHOP OF THEIR SOULS. 1. The Good Shepherd is the proprietor of His spiritual flock. The earthly image cannot be pressed beyond proper limits. The sheep on the Judaean hills were beasts, and their shepherd was a man. Between Christ and His sheep there is no such gulf. Though He is the Creator and they are creatures yet He that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are of one nature. In that nature He has vanquished their enemies and has become their Proprietor as well as their Brother. 2. The ownership of the Good Shepherd in the sheep is ever the same. Time, circumstances, death cannot break it. II. THE GOOD SHEPHERD GIVES HIS SHEEP ETERNAL LIFE. He has given His life for them; He also gives it to them. Errors to be guarded against — 1. That eternal life means everlasting existence in heaven. It is this but it is more, even the union and communion of love between God and man originated and perfected by Jesus Christ. 2. That it is something future. On the contrary Christ says explicitly that the believer hath it. It is a present possession and a continuous power. III. THEREFORE THE SHEEP OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD shall never perish. 1. There are at least two enemies of the flock. (1) The flesh, the wolf within the fold, the traitor within the citadel. (2) The spirit of this world. 2. The combined attacks of these foes are vain. For Christ — (1) protects, (2) guides, (3) feeds His sheep. Hence "Goodness and mercy follow them all the days of their life." (E. V. Gerhart D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. |
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