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 10 27, 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've 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 And we pray Oh God that you would bless the preaching of your word 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 gonna 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 the dream let the interpretation Commence, but I have no fear that you're gonna get mad at me tonight

Maybe you will I Shouldn't but let me lay this out for you. Just 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 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 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 anymore. 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 gospel is 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 no in the

Bible carries with it more than just the idea of intellectual knowledge, of course

Jesus Intellectually knows his sheep. Oh, 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

And 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.

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 the 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 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 burying 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

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 in 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 analogy of a man or 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 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 No, I want it. 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 Like 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

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 I don't care. But what they can't say is this they don't care about following Jesus Because yes we do

Because that's what we're trying to do For the glory of God my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me.

I Hope I've made sense and I hope that the Holy Spirit has been pleased to use this in your life tonight.

Let's pray Father we thank you for your word. We pray that you would Encourage us in it

Help us to be your sheep To follow Christ to love him To see that the great end of robust doctrine is to love and adore and follow our

King Wherever he leads will go in Jesus name. Amen.