The Missing Key of Reformed Theology

John 10:27 and the “Missing Key” of Reformed Theology

Good evening, if you turn in your Bibles to John chapter 10, I Have what I believe to be a brief.

Exposition of.

Our memory verse. Which I know that we're actually memorizing more than just one verse. But this week's verse is John 1027. We're actually working on that this next week as well. Very simple verse but I would like to give an exposition of that verse tonight and.

I have a bit of a.

Strange title maybe but I hope I make that make sense by the end of the message and the strange title is the missing key of reformed theology. The missing key of Reformed theology and I hope by the end that we can make that make sense.

And if I don't make it make sense, then I failed you and I'm sorry John chapter 10 verse 27. Would you stand with me? Maybe you could recite it with me. But if you need to look down you can. No shame in that.

We're still trying to hide this verse in our heart. But most of you know it and you could say it with me if you can. John 10 27. Let's say it together those who are able my sheep hear my voice. And I know them and they follow me.

Amen, let's pray father. Would you help us to understand the text tonight? Would you bless us? Do you cause your face to shine upon us? Would you help us to understand as? It were the missing key of reformed theology.

Would you help us to understand? One of the focal points of this text may we see the beauty of Christ this evening. Help us to be a church. It's not just right theologically. But also seeks to follow Christ.

We pray Oh God that you would bless the preaching of your word. And we pray it in Jesus name. Amen. You may be seated. I had the craziest dream this afternoon. Don't worry, I wouldn't share this with you if I if I was.

If I wanted you to be worried, so you have no worries about this at all, but I dreamed that I was back at DeWitt, Arkansas and DeWitt is where I the first place that I pastored and I had a dream that I was preaching this text and I was afraid that they were going to get mad at me because of some of the things That I had to say from the text and so just a crazy dream.

We were sitting there and of all people Gunnar was with us. So, I don't know. Anyway, there's a dream let the interpretation Commence, but I have no fear that you're gonna get mad at me tonight. Maybe you will.

The Sheep Given by the Father and the Doctrine of Election

I Shouldn't but let me lay this out for you. Just a line by line my sheep four points hear my voice number two. And I know them number three and then fourth and they follow me number one. My sheep now, here's a part where people I guess could get mad.

I don't see anybody in this Congregation getting upset. This is what we teach. This is what we believe. But the fact that the Lord Jesus has sheep is and Playing in the reading and studying and Interpretation of the scripture and he says that these sheep that he has verse 29.

My father has given them to me. Okay, so the sheep that Jesus has we would refer to here as the elect now let's just gonna work a little bit of Verbiage for you a little bit of verb tenses if you will.

Sorry. So in verse 27, it says my sheep here that's present active my sheep here. Present active my sheep hear my voice when you go down to verse 29. It says my father who has given them to me that is that's in the past.

Right, that's a that's a that's in the perfect tense. Meaning that this action happened before the hearing action, right? That's just simple. Understanding there that the hearing happens because the giving has happened.

Do you understand what I'm saying that in eternity past the father has given sheep to the son? Now our own confession says it very good. I have to pull it up on my cell phone. I'm sorry, but our own confession says it very good.

1689 chapter 3 section 3 and this is the way I believe that we must uphold the doctrine of election. Says this by the decree of God for the manifestation of his glory. Some men and angels are predestinated or foreordained to eternal life.

Through Jesus Christ to the praise of his glorious grace. Others being left to act in their sin to their just condemnation. To the praise of his glorious justice. Now if you didn't catch that I'll explain it in just a minute.

But let me go back and let's keep us all here for just a moment. He says my sheep my sheep who are the sheep the sheep are the ones verse 29 that the father has given to the son. Now some people might like to say something like this.

Well the father gives to the son everybody who comes to the Son but the problem with that is that makes mincemeat there of the text and it makes a it makes a Lapse there in what Jesus is teaching. It's not that you you come to Christ and then by your coming God gives you the Christ.

It's rather God has given you to Christ and that ultimately results in your coming to Christ. Does it make sense?

Now.

What do we understand here about election and That is what we understand is that there's not. I'm gonna use the big words, but it's okay. We'll explain them. There's not an equal ultimacy in election and reprobation so what this means is God does not actively elect and reprobate in the same way and The confession says it beautifully.

So I'm gonna read it again. So you listen to it. The confession puts it to you this way. Some men and angels are predestinated or foreordained to eternal life through Jesus Christ to the praise of his glorious grace.

Others and this is the important part. I think. Being left to act in their sin to their just condemnation. That's the way that we must understand the doctrine of election. I believe that that is the biblical and that is the right teaching of the doctrine of election meaning the father Actively gives the elect to the Son in eternity past again.

You say what are you talking about verse 29 my father who has given them to me? The father has given the sheep to the Son and this has happened already. This is already over in eternity past the father.

Actively.

Predestinated a people and gave them to the Son. Okay, but what about the rest of mankind that he he did he? Predestinate them.

To hell.

No, not in the not and certainly not in the sense that he predestined the elect to heaven rather He leaves them that the confession says he leaves them to act in their sin to their just condemnation. In other words, there's an active Predestinating of the elect Unto heaven while there is an is still active.

Certainly in a sense. And I know in the mind of God that we can get complicated for us for our little finite peanut brains to figure out.

But God.

Predestines the elect gives them to Christ and He passes over The rest of mankind leaving them to what? Their sin and Just condemnation not forcing them to sin not creating in them sin not telling them.

Well, you can't come to me but instead standing with his arms wide open giving them offers of his mercy. And yet they choose in their sin to reject the gracious and kindness and Love of our great and holy God.

I hope that makes sense. In eternity past the father Gives the Son of people. Now what happens if you go back to verse 16. Is that in time? Jesus Does something for these sheep it says in verse 16 and I have other sheep that are not of this fold.

I must bring them also and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock. One shepherd. For this reason the father loves me because I laid down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.

I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again. This charge. I have received from.

My.

Father.

In time, this is the gospel in time the Lord Jesus takes on Human flesh the Son of God takes on human flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary and he comes. He comes to secure righteousness for his sheep.

He comes to his sheep has gone astray. Isaiah 53, right. All we like sheep Isaiah says have gone astray. There's an importance in that analogy the sheep of God that he has given to the Son. They are he's given to them in in their sin as it were they've sinned.

They need justification. They need righteousness. We reject any kind of idea of eternal justification or anything like that. They need righteousness. They need forgiveness of sins. They need to be born again.

All of this is procured in the work of Christ. So he comes and he's born of the Virgin Mary. He lives a perfect life before the father. He goes and he dies. He lays down his life for his sheep now. I know we can talk about the atonement there and I think that there is a real Sufficiency there is a real sufficiency in the death of Christ.

For 10 million worlds of sinners the blood of Christ is enough to cleanse any Sinner from their sin. It is enough. The work of Christ is enough. He didn't have to give any more. He gave it all and yet There is also a real intention in the cross.

There is a real purpose. There is a real Work and that is Jesus Christ. From his own lips is laying down his life for the sheep. That Jesus Christ is giving himself Ephesians 5 says for the church and.

So.

He dies Under the wrath of God under the just condemnation of God as we know here the propitiatory sacrifice. He is our wrath satisfying sacrifice and he raises again from the dead and.

These.

This work this gospel We take to the nations and what God does as we take this nation these gospel to the nations is he gathers in? His sheep. Now, let me make one more comment. We'll move to the next point.

The next comment I want to make is when we talk about sheep. I Don't think that we have any warrant in our life to ever consider that a person is.

Not.

Elect.

Until they die. Does it make sense what I'm saying? You should never look at a person and you should never say what they're not elect. You should never think this about your children or even about Joe Biden or even the worst of people.

You should have a hope even a hope and a prayer in some sense. You may make sense don't take that too far, but there should be a hope. There should be a prayer upon the on the church that God you would save this person save this person may they repent of their sins and may they believe the gospel.

They should never look at someone and Put an X on them and say well, there's no sense in taking God's gospel to them because. This is God's doing this is God's realm. It's not our realm. It's our responsibility to take the news to them that if they will repent if they will call upon the name of the Lord.

What is the reality they will be saved? My sheep. Secondly. Hear my voice. Now have two ways that I want to take that and the first is There's the reality of the voice of Christ that comes through. The gospel message.

In fact, let me just show it to you again real quick. Keep your point here and I'm gonna go to Romans. Romans 10 keep your place there and I'm just gonna go to Romans 10. Romans 10 I've told you not long ago.

I told you about the poor translation in our text of this. But let me explain it to you again Romans 10 14. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed and how are they to believe in him?

Now the tech ESV says of whom they've never heard. But it should just say whom they have never heard and how are they to hear without someone preaching? So the idea here from Paul in Romans 10 is that when we preach the gospel people don't just hear about Christ.

But hear what?

They hear Christ. They hear Christ. So we take the gospel. We take the gospel to the nations and the difference between the Unconverted person and the person who believes on Christ the difference is the person who believes on Christ by God's Effectual working by God's gracious working.

What do they hear when the gospel is proclaimed. They hear Christ. They hear his voice. Remember this morning. I told you sometimes the Bible gives us propositions sometimes illustrations. Well, there's a masterful illustration of a sheep hearing the voice of Christ in the very next chapter of John.

So go to John chapter 11. John chapter 11 in John chapter 11 Verse 25. It says Jesus said to her that is Martha I am the resurrection in the life whoever believes in me though. He died yet. He shall live and you know the story Lazarus has died.

And so we see in the death of Lazarus a type not just of physical resurrection but we see a type of spiritual resurrection because Jesus Christ is the resurrection and.

The life.

So you go down in the passage and you get to verse 40 and it says Jesus said to her Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God? So they took away the stone and Jesus lifted up his eyes and said father.

I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me. But I said this on the account of the people standing around. That they may believe that you sent me when he had said these things he cried out with the loud voice Lazarus.

Come out. And what is Lazarus? Do in response to the voice of Christ? He comes out. He comes out and this is physical resurrection. Lazarus physically was dead and he physically got up out of the grave.

But what I'm telling you is that this is a a type this is a this is a an Illustration if you will of the spiritual resurrection that happens when a sinner comes to Christ. When a sinner comes to Christ, he hears the voice of Christ as a professor in seminary I had said it this way and um, so I'll just use that he doesn't hear an audible voice.

It's much louder than that. Right. He doesn't hear an audible voice of Jesus saying come out. It's much louder than that. And of course you can play with that and think through that later on your own time but the point is when the preacher is preaching and when Jesus Christ says to a Dead a spiritually dead sinner come out come to life.

Come to me. He does.

Why?

By the sheer mercy and grace of God Why are you saved and someone else is not saved? It's not. Why would you go to heaven and someone else go to hell. Not because you're better. Certainly not because you're prettier.

Not because God knew that you would be a better person. Not because God knew something about you that you Would do that. Someone else didn't do. It's simply by the sheer mercy and sovereign grace of our wonderful God.

And as the Gospels proclaimed to you and as you hear the gospel what happened at some point in your life and all of us. Here we could stand in here for hours. Some of you were saved at a young age. Some of you were saved during family worship.

Some of you were saved at a traditional sort of church service. Some of you may have been saved in a Walmart parking lot. Some of you may have been saved out of a Desperate situation. But each one of you when you were saved you heard the voice of Christ.

He called to you and you answered.

That's one way that we need to understand hearing the voice of Christ that is in our conversion. There's another way. I think that we need to understand hearing the voice of Christ and we'll get to that when we get to the End, but I'll just mention it briefly here.

And that is those who hear the voice of Christ are those who listen to his word the scriptures. All 66 books of the Bible. Do you understand from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22 in a very real sense is the voice of God?

It is the voice of God. It is the inerrant infallible authoritative clear necessary Word of God. You should not say to yourself. I've got to go out there in the corner and find some extra Word of Jesus.

We have the Word of Christ and we need to listen and obey and understand what he is telling his churches. The father says of the son a couple of different times on a couple of different occasions one at his baptism the other in the Transfiguration but that is this is my son in whom I am.

Well pleased, you know the next part. Listen to him Church it is our great Responsibility and also privilege to listen to the Son and We listen to the Son who is the head of the church. There is no other head.

We read that this morning in the Confession chapter 8. There is no other prophet. There is no other priest. There is no other King other than ultimately fulfilled in the personal work of Christ. He alone is the one that we must listen to and we listen to him in his word my sheep.

Hear my voice. And the text says and I know them. That's interesting, right? I Know them. Right, like of course, you know them, but I want to back up To verse 14 and just consider what Jesus is saying.

I Am the Good Shepherd, I know my own and my own. Know me. Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father and I lay down my life.

For.

The sheep this language of know in the Bible carries with it more than just the idea of intellectual knowledge, of course. Jesus Intellectually knows his sheep, of course, he knows your name. Of course.

He has a Omniscience. He knows your thoughts before you think them. He knows when you lie down. He knows when you rise up. He knows your pain. He knows your sorrows. He knows your joys. He knows your trials.

Our Lord Jesus knows all of these things about the sheep, but that's not what the text is saying. I know them. I love them is What the text is communicating. Just like the Father intimately verse 15 just as like this is the analogy.

This is the analogy. Have you thought about this for a second? Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. That is he knows the sheep like the Father knows the Son and like the Son knows the Father and we want to be careful.

And we want to be careful and careful grounds here but there's a real sense that we can say in the way that the Father loves the Son so he loves the people of God and So Jesus loves the people of God.

Just as I am the Good Shepherd I know my own and my own know me just as the Father knows me and I know the Father there is a Love that God has for his sheep. That if we could just know like if we could just get that our lives would be different.

We just understand hey, why'd I got. I'm a complainer. Why why did my kids have to go through the flu or you know? I want a nicer truck or whatever like or I why does why didn't why didn't this happen in the election or?

The presidential election whatever the case may be. I'm a complainer sometimes. I Know you well enough to know you're a complainer, too. When we complain and we forget we grumble and we forget God loves us.

Jesus Christ loves.

His church.

He knows us in an intimate and loving and glorious way. This is beautiful. And this is something that the people of God need to understand and know. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and Then finally and They follow me.

Following Christ as the Goal of Reformed Theology

I've shared this with you before but the late great preacher David Miller Was asked one time how many points should a good sermon have and his answer was at least one.

A.

Sermon that doesn't have a point is.

Problematic.

Well, this sermon has a point and we're getting to it. And I told you at the beginning that the point the title of the sermon was the missing key of reformed theology. So let me back up for just a moment and let me talk to you about What I see in the quote-unquote reformed world today.

We got a lot of good discussion on theology. You know, we got the t-shirts that have my kids even have some, you know, that's 1689 and we read the theology books and we have the arguments and we have the debates and we stand upon doctrinal truth and we're we're so high and lofty and Intellectual and we know these things and I'm by the way, none of those things in and of themselves are bad.

I'm not knocking those things. We should know theology. We should study theology. We should be robust Confessional church. That's what we're striving to be. That's what we're doing. We reference the 1689 because we believe not that it's scripture, but it articulates the scriptures for us.

It helps us to understand it helps protect us. It helps to protect our people. We've preached on that. We've taught on that. Well, I we love that. I love theology. I love robust theology. I love systematic theology.

These are good things. God would have us to do these things. God would have us to learn these things, but here is where we miss it. Here's where the missing key lies if if this Fact is not known if this fact is not understood if this fact is not done then everything else is for nothing.

And that is we actually follow Christ.

We love Christ.

We're like in the Song of Solomon when it's uh, some people put this on their wedding band. But it is. I can't quote them. I think it's in chapter 5, but I could be wrong. 513 sounds familiar. But maybe I'm way off on that.

But anyway in the Song of Solomon, it says I found the one in whom my soul loves. What I'm saying is all this stuff about reformed theology and all this stuff about the doctrines of grace and all this stuff about the Five solas and all this stuff about the 1689 second London Baptist Confession of faith.

If we do all these things only for the sake of these things then we have failed. These things. And I'm not wearing my glasses tonight, so I can't use it as illustration. But these things are like my glass.

I'll pull my contacts out. That would be that would be difficult. These things are like glasses and that is. You take glasses and you put them on so that you can see something better. So to someone who is quote-unquote not reformed they can see Christ.

They can be a Christian. Right. We understand that we're not saying that you have to you know, get everything right like we do in order to be a Christian. You can get some things wrong and still be a Christian.

We understand that there's some things you can't get wrong, of course. But what you're doing with reformed theology is you're taking these glasses and you're putting them on and what are you doing? You're seeing.

Christ and.

You're following Christ and your eyes are on.

Jesus.

What it means to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus is not merely knowing all of these things again. Please hear me tonight. I am NOT knocking. Knowing sound doctrine. Actually I am upholding knowing sound doctrine.

You must know sound doctrine. You should be probably most of us in here. This is true. We could be more theologically astute than we are. We could know more sound theology than we do. We could be more doctrinally robust than we are.

And there's a bit of maybe Encouragement there an application there that all of us need to grow in loving sound doctrine. But what I'm telling you is sound theology leads to doxology. Sound doctrine leads to praise of God.

We love this about my sheep hear my voice and I know them. We love all of that. Why. Because it's by all of that that we have this last point that we follow Christ. That we love the Lord Jesus. That we adore him.

We found the one our soul loves. I love Christ. Why are you so serious about the 1689? Well, it better not be so I can beat people over the head. It better not be so I can pop my collar and I can say we're right and you're wrong.

It better not be just so I can score points on the internet. It better be I love the 1689 because I love Christ and I want to follow him. Why are you doing all this stuff about? Regular principle of worship and and you're led by a plurality of elders and you're serious about church membership.

And you're serious about the ordinance of baptism and the ordinance of the Lord's Supper and you're serious about Evangelism and you're serious about these things. You better not want to do these things just because we want to score points.

We better be doing these things because we love Christ and We follow him. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. I'll give you a couple verses. They're easy to remember. The addresses are easy to remember.

John 14 15 and John 15 14 so let's look at those 14 15 and 15.

14.

14 15 15 14 you'll never forget that I hope and you can share this with friends and family. John 14 15 and John 15 14. John 14 15 if you love me. You will keep my commandments. Now, what's the other passage?

15 14 you are my friends if you do What I command you we know that the law of God has come in and has exposed our sin. The law of God has beaten us up rightly it's flu season. So this analogy will be helpful for you.

The law of God is like a thermometer and the law of God comes and we've got the one that goes on your head. So that's why I'm doing this. But you got the you got the thermometer and all it does is says whether you're sick or not.

Well, the law of God comes and it is a thermometer. What's it say? You're sick. You're really sick. What can you do with the thermometer to make yourself better? You ever heard of anybody using a thermometer to get over the flu.

Let me just swallow this thing. Anybody listen to this that is not advised, right? Don't do that. Why a thermometer can't help you. It cannot help you get better. It only exposes your condition. So the law of God comes in.

It's a thermometer. It can't help us but it can't expose our condition and it says guess what you've fallen short and you are condemned but then the gospel comes in and says Jesus has kept the law and Jesus has paid for the law breaking that we have done by bearing the curse by burying the wrath of God and rising again from the dead the gospel the laws the thermometer the gospel is.

I don't know that Ivermectin or whatever right but the law is the what breaks us and the gospel restores us but then. So I'm getting to the point here, but then the law of God. We still don't ever keep it perfectly we're always going to fall short in some measure.

But now the law of God becomes a rule of life for us. The law of God in a very real sense becomes our friend because Jesus is our friend. The New Covenant that we memorized in Jeremiah 31 the promise of the New Covenant the law of God is where now.

It's written on our hearts. And so and so when the text says in John 14 15 If you love me, you will keep my commandments and then John 15 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you what I'm arguing with you tonight.

What I'm arguing for tonight the missing key to reform theology is that we actually follow Christ. We don't just sit around and debate the finer points of Calvinism or what we think about this or that point.

Um, that's important and that has its place. Don't get me wrong. Like hey, I'm all I'm up for a good debate. Let's go. Let's sit around. Let's open our Bibles and let's do it. But it all better be serving this one great end that I may know Jesus better that I may love Jesus better that I may follow Jesus better.

If I'm caught up in any of these things and they're driving me away from those things that I haven't understood reformed theology. I haven't understood the purpose of robust doctrine because the purpose of robust doctrine is that I can see the beauty and the glory and the wonder of King Jesus and that I may give my Life to him all the more.

Guys if reformed theology Is making you a harder husband? This is happening, I think in some places if reformed theology is making you a harder husband a rude a more of a rude man more of a jerk. Less patient.

Bro, you haven't understood reformed theology. If reformed theology is is causing you to be I don't know the the analogy of a man are easy. But the analogies for a woman could be the same thing if reformed theology is causing you to be a puffed-up wife.

Where you can look down your noses at other women because you're like, well, they don't got it like we got it or you can you can Feel more superior to other women around you because you've got this figured out and they don't.

Sister you haven't understood reformed theology. Because the purpose of reformed theology is that we would see Jesus all the better and that we would follow him and. That God would create in his people meekness.

That God would create in his people's humility. That God would create in his people a hunger for the lost. This is a great application if reformed theology has made you back off of evangelism. You haven't understood reformed theology.

Because I follow the Lord Jesus and now what I want everyone to know him. I want everyone. I want the mailman the trash person. I want everyone to know Christ and he's worthy of everyone. Oh, I want to.

I pray for all 10. I think it's like 10 ,000 455 people in Perry County. I've prayed for years that God would save all 10 ,455 people. Why. Because when I understand reformed theology rightly, I want people to know Christ.

And I want to follow him and I want others to follow him. Reformed theology makes us love the church all the more. Why. Because Jesus Christ. This is his bride. This is his people. He is the head of the church.

He is the one who has instituted her. He is the one who has established her. He is the one who has given her his ordinances. We love the church. Why. Because we love Christ. Because we want to follow him.

Any kind of theology that you have that causes you not to follow not to submit to what the Bible says you've Misunderstood it's either terrible theology or you've misunderstood it but reformed theology.

Which is biblical theology drives us all the more to love and adore Christ and to live for him. So I want you to think about your life as we close. I want you to think about the text my sheep. Are you a part of the sheep?

Well, how do I know? Have you heard Christ has there been a time in your life that you heard the gospel and you repented. And you turn to Christ. Don't make this complicated. People are really foolish about this.

It's really not complicated. Jesus puts it very simply for us. My sheep hear my voice. So have you heard the voice of Christ and repented and trusted him? If so, it says he knows you he loves you in a special way and Then all of you in here need to consider.

Do you follow him? Are you are you really listen for just a second? It's easy for us to be all you know. But are you really willing to say anything the book says I'm going to do as a husband anything.

It says I'm going to do as a wife anything. It says I'm going to do whether it is A loving your wife submitting to your husband. Loving the church. Following the Lord in baptism. Being more serious about worship.

Giving yourself more zealously to evangelism. But are we really willing to lay the book open and say you know what? I believe that text. I believe what the preacher says not because of the preacher. But I believe what that verse says.

My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. And I hope that you at least would defend our church around town in this sense. They can say whatever kind of crazy thing. They want to say about our church.