*Pastor’s Note: I want to depart a bit from my normal practice of posting short sermons by these great men of God for one that is rather long. Because of the fact that it IS long, I am going to break it up into parts. I truly hope you can enjoy AND be inspired by the preaching/teaching of some of these great men as much as I do. God Bless for your patience. – Pastor Roland
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (19 June 1834 – 31 January 1892) was an English Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of various denominations, among whom he is known as the “Prince of Preachers.” He was a strong figure in the Reformed Baptist tradition, defending the Church in agreement with the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith understanding, and opposing the liberal and pragmatic theological tendencies in the Church of his day.
Part Two:
The Sheep and Their Shepherd
Delivered At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” – John 10:27
I. Who is the proprietor of the sheep? They are all Christ’s. “My sheep hear my voice.” How came the saints to be Christ’s?
They are his, first of all, because he chose them. Ere the worlds were made, out of all the rest of mankind he selected them. He knew the race would fall and become unworthy of the faculties with which he endowed them, and the inheritance he had assigned them. To him belonged the sovereign prerogative that he might have mercy on whom he would have mercy; and he, out of his own absolute will, and according to the counsel of his own good pleasure, made choice severally and individually of certain persons, and he said, “These are mine.” Their names were written in his book: they became his portion and his heritage. Having chosen them of old so many ages ago, rest assured he will not lose them now. Men prize that which they have long had. If there is a thing that was mine but yesterday, and it is lost today, I might not fret about it; but if I have long possessed it, and called it my patrimony, I would not willingly part with it. Sheep of Christ, ye shall be his forever, because ye have been his from ever. They are Christ’s sheep, because his Father gave them to him. They were the gift of the Father to Christ. He often speaks of them in this way. “As many as thou hast given me:” “Thou hast given them me,” saith he, over and over again. Of old, the Father gave his people to Christ. Separating them from among men, he presented them to him as a gift, committed them into his hand as a trust, and ordained them for him as the lot of his inheritance. Thus they become a token of the Father’s love to his only begotten Son, a proof of the confidence he reposed in him, and a pledge of the honor that shall be done unto him. Now, I suppose we most of us know how to value a gift for the donor’s sake. If presented to us by one whom we love, we set great store by it. If it has been designed to be a love-token, it awakens in our minds many sweet memories. Though the intrinsic worth may be of small account, the associations make it exceedingly precious. We might be content to lose something of far greater value in itself rather than that which is the gift of a friend, the offering of his love I like the delicate sentiment of the poet, as it is expressed in that pretty verse–
“I never cast a flower away,
The gift of one who cared for me;
A little flower–a faded flower,
But it was done reluctantly.”
Yet, oh, how weak the words of human passion! but, oh, how strong the expressions of divine ardor, when Jesus speaks to the Father of “the men whom thou gavest me out of the world!” “Thine they were,” he says, “and thou gavest them me; and those that thou gavest me I have kept.” Ye sheep of Christ, rest safely; let not your soul be disturbed with fear. The Father gave you to his Son, and he will not lightly lose what God himself has given him. The infernal lions shall not rend the meanest lamb that is a love-token from the Father to his best Beloved. While Christ stands defending his own, he will protect them from the lion and the bear, that would take the lambs of his flock; he will not suffer the least of them to perish.
“My sheep,” says Christ. They are his, furthermore, because, in addition to his choice and to the gift, he has bought them with a price. They had sold themselves for naught; but he has redeemed them, not with corruptible things as with silver and gold, but with his precious blood. A man always esteems that to be exceedingly valuable which he procured with risk–with risk of life and limb. David felt he could not drink the water that the brave warriors who broke through the host of the Philistines brought to him from the well at Bethlehem, because it seemed to him as though it were the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives; and he poured it out before the Lord. It was too precious a draught for him, when men’s lives had been hazarded for it. But the good Shepherd not only hazarded his life, but even laid it down for his sheep. Jacob exceedingly valued one part of his possessions, and he gave it to Joseph: he gave him one portion above his brethren. Now, you may be sure he would give, Joseph that which he thought most precious. But why did he give him that particular portion? Because, he says, “I took it out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.” Now, our blessed Shepherd esteems his sheep because they cost him his blood. They cost him his blood–I may say, he took them out of the hand of the Amorite with his sword and with his bow in bloody conflict, where he was victor, but yet was slain. There is not one sheep of all his flock but what he can see the mark of his blood on him. In the face of every saint the Savior sees, as in a glass, the memorial of his bloody sweat in Gethsemane, and his agonies at Golgotha. “Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price.” That stands as a call to duty, but it is at the same time a consolation, for if he has bought me, he will have me. Bought with such a price, he will not like to lose me, nor suffer any foe to take me out of his hand. Think not that Christ will suffer those to perish for whom he died. To me the very suggestion seems to draw near to the verge of blasphemy. If he has bought me with his blood, I cannot conceive he cares nothing for me, will take no further concern about me, or will suffer my soul to be cast into the pit. If he has suffered in my stead, where is justice gone that the substitute should bear my guilt, and I should bear it too? and where is mercy fled, that God should execute twice the punishment for one offense! Nay, beloved, those whom he hath bought with blood are his, and he will keep them.
Next time we will take up with Part Three
The older I’ve gotten, I have realized that it’s not as easy to get up from that ‘knee prone’ position as it once was.
Remember this, our conscience was developed to help guide us in the paths of righteousness but only in the natural. Remember, in the natural, by itself our works cannot nor ever will be able to save or redeem us, but the conscience was given to man, to allow him to navigate through the natural and social norms necessary to be a part of civilized society.
Thus, John leads us into the whole reason for this confidence and assurance when he reiterates, 
Here’s why; John has spent all this time building up the readers, encouraging and edifying them, instructing them on how to BE. Remember, our walk is an action, it is never based on feelings alone. Again, I state this over and over again, because of the gravity of the truth in that. You can have confidence, you can have assurance, you can be bold, BUT if you don’t, this is how God Almighty sees you and it has nothing to do with how YOU feel and everything to do with how He SEES His children. So therefore, HAVE confidence, assurance and boldness! What does this boil down too? Think about it if necessary, for it is a basic foundation of a Christian’s journey!
I want to ask you at this point; what is the purpose or mission of the Holy Bible, the Living Word of God; and what is ultimately the mission of Christ Jesus as Messiah, Savior and Redeemer. Why did our Heavenly Father, God Almighty, the Creator of All, send His beloved Son, in the form of a man, to come to earth, and to give authority to the Written World and then to ascend back to the Father, aside from His Salvation mission. When you read the Word of God, when you read John’s writings and especially in context with all the other books of the Bible, what do you say was the mission of the Holy Spirit of empowering that Word as well as Christ Jesus as Messiah?
So goes the words to the song that Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley helped to popularize. It’s an enjoyable and entertaining song, and yet, as epitomized by their lives it was more than a song. It became their anthem.
The word ‘order’ in the original Hebrew, means to prepare, establish, to make right. In other words, God establishes or prepares every one of our steps. But look at what it goes on to say, 
Faith and the Word of God! 
Can you imagine, what early man must have thought when viewing the influence and results of the invisible wind on nature around him? No wonder the wind had such an impact on mythology, at least until scientific reason could finally explain it sufficiently. To me it all goes along with the course of history, man’s ability to grow in knowledge and Biblical prophecy that explains that man would find answers to some of his most concerning questions.
God’s Spirit is unseen. But His Spirit, His Power is real, it is TRUTH, it can be measured, it can be quantified. Despite how atheists and doubters try to convince themselves and others that God doesn’t exist; like the wind, invisible to the seeing eye, God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit influences those things around you that you CAN see. The RESULTS of His Presence can be seen and felt and it is only those who CHOOSE spiritual blindness that deny that fact. These same people, these doubters would deny the reality of the wind if they could!
Do NOT lean on your own understanding! The very thing the wisest man in the world wrote to not do, is what mankind in general has chosen to do, and thus they wonder why they can’t recognize the invisible God when His affects are influencing everything around them that their eyes CAN see!! Lord forgive us and heal and open our blinded eyes that we might recognize the TRUTH that is ever present in front of us!
John Charles Ryle (May 10, 1816 – June 10, 1900) was an evangelical Anglican clergyman and first Bishop of Liverpool. He was renowned for his powerful preaching and extensive tracts.
Aiden Wilson Tozer (April 21, 1897 – May 12, 1963) was an American Christian pastor, author, magazine editor, and spiritual mentor. Self-taught theologian. Fearless preacher. Gifted writer. Man of the inner life. A.W. Tozer, called by many a “modern-day prophet.” Observing contemporary Christian living, Tozer felt the church was on a dangerous course toward compromising with “worldly” concerns. He was a man who was obsessed with the glory and the holiness of God and making it known to others.
