The Shepherd Calls His Sheep
The Shepherd Calls His Sheep
“He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice” (John 10:3–5).
In his sermon on Pentecost, Peter said, “The promise [of salvation] is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:39). Paul identified the people of God as “the called of Jesus Christ” (Rom. 1:6 NASB; see also 8:30; 9:24). The Lord calls sinners through the preaching of the gospel (2 Thess. 2:14). He calls us out of the darkness of unbelief and sin and into the light of His glory (1 Pet. 2:9). He calls us out so that we may follow Him (John 10:4, 9, 28), and this means a change of mind and a complete separation from the old life, what the Scriptures call “repentance.” There can be no compromise. Jesus said, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters” (Matt. 12:30). He wants disciples, not just converts.
God’s call to us is totally an act of grace; we have done nothing to deserve it. For me to say, “He called me because He foreknew that I would believe” is to twist what the Scriptures say, because He foreknew us (elected us), and this is why He called us and we believed. “For those God foreknew [elected] he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son … And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified” (Rom. 8:29–30). Note our Lord’s dramatic statement in John 10:26: “But you do not believe because you are not my sheep.” He did not say, “You are not my sheep because you have not believed.”
“He calls his own sheep by name” (John 10:3). He called Abraham by name (Gen. 22:1, 11), as well as Moses (Exod. 3:4), Samuel (1 Sam. 3:1–10), Simon (John 1:42; Luke 22:31), Martha (Luke 10:41), Zacchaeus (Luke 19:5), and Mary Magdalene (John 20:16). Today we don’t hear God’s voice as those believers did, but the Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to convince our minds and convict our hearts, and we cry out, “What shall we do?” (Acts 2:36–37). One mark of a true Christian is a “spiritual ear” that is sensitive to the Word of God. “Whoever has ears, let them hear” (Matt. 11:15).
As we witness to the lost, we don’t know who God’s elect are, nor should we worry ourselves about these eternal mysteries. Our commission is to share the gospel in the power of the Spirit and trust the Lord to call out those who are His. If we did not know God has His “sheep” in this lost world, it would be hopelessly discouraging to tell the good news to anybody! The Lord told Paul when he was ministering in Corinth, “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city” (Acts 18:9–10). Divine election is not a deterrent to evangelism but one of the dynamics behind evangelism.
Our Shepherd not only calls us out of whatever fold we were in and saves us, but He also calls us to follow Him into the things He wants us to do; and then we serve Him. Because our unsaved friends and relatives can’t hear His voice, they think we are making a big mistake, but we have nothing to worry about. Our Shepherd goes before us and prepares the way (John 10:4). Whenever we unwittingly move out of His will, the Lord closes the doors until we wait long enough to hear His voice (Acts 16:6–10). As long as we are willing to do His will and daily hearing His voice in the Word and praying for guidance, He will never allow us to stray (John 7:17; Phil. 3:15–16).
The Holy Spirit within us warns us when we are listening to voices different from our Shepherd’s. Dr. H. A. Ironside told about walking with a young believer in downtown Los Angeles and encountering a “street preacher.” The young believer saw the man had a Bible, so he stopped to listen while Dr. Ironside walked on. He knew that the preacher was a cultist masquerading as an evangelical. In a few minutes, the young believer caught up with Dr. Ironside, who asked him, “What did you think of the preacher?” The young believer replied, “All the time I listened, my heart said, ‘Liar! Liar!’”