“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.” vs14-15

Jesus Christ laid His life down for the sheep. This is the command that He received from the Father [vs18]. Long ago, before time began, the Lord Jesus entered a covenant engagement: Before ever becoming Man, as the pre-incarnate God, He became responsible for the salvation of the sheep. It required His blood to fulfill the law's demand and win for us the blessings of the inheritance. Hebrews 9:15, "Therefore, He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance, because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions committed under the first covenant." He fulfilled His obligations, when He laid His life down, bearing our sins. The punishment of God’s wrath fell on Him, so that justice could be upheld!

The sheep are the ones who hear His voice [vs3-4]. We are blind sinners, dead and depraved, but God has promised to glorify Himself in saving us [John 9:3]. We are called to repentance and faith. We hear the TERMS OF THE GOSPEL, and we take heed. We follow the Lord Jesus. No man can be one of the sheep who does not hear His voice, because the sheep all hear and follow. Vs27, “My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.”

Secondly, men do not believe, because they are not His sheep. Vs25-26

"Jesus answered them, 'I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep."

This is damning evidence that you are under the wrath of God, rejecting the authority of God’s King. He says, “Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little.”

There are horrible consequences for rejecting God’s Son. Recently, I spoke to a “reformed” man online, who is strong in calvinistic teaching, but he has erred greatly. He has denied hell. How horribly wicked is man to deny the plain teachings of Jesus Christ Himself, twisting His words into a lie. It is grievous, but it will be paid for, because there’s no other remedy: It is either Jesus Christ, on His terms, or the ETERNAL wrath of God. "Where the worm dies not, and the fire is never quenched." Our Lord says, “In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side. So he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. For I am in agony in this fire.’” These are not small stakes. We are not allowed to be in confusion. We must hear the Shepherd, or we die in our sins [John 8:24].

We don’t get to trust Christ on our terms. We can’t make up our own gospel. We must repent, or we perish. We must yield. Have you yielded to the Lord Jesus Christ? Is He the great Prophet? Acts 3:23, "Everyone who does not listen to Him will be completely cut off from among his people." Men are furious at obedience: they want to be saved and self-governing. They deny Lordship, but it cannot be. His saving power makes us able to obey Him!

Thirdly, the Lord Jesus is one with the Father in salvation. vs28-30

“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

He is One in essence, being the eternal God, but He is One in purpose. He is in full agreement with the Father in the salvation of the sheep, laying His life down, and rising again [vs18]. He is united with us being kept, as His blood paid the ransom and earned the Spirit’s safe keeping [Eph 1:14]. He is united that we have eternal life and shall never perish.

No believer loses salvation; it is a preposterous lie by those who don’t know the truth. Salvation is not the work of man; it is a gift of sovereign God. He makes us hear His voice and follow Him. He ordains us to bear fruit. The Lord Jesus has PAID FOR OUR SINS, which includes every one of them - past, present, and future, so how could we lose salvation? “Then he adds, ‘I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” Salvation is not believing temporarily or wrongly! Salvation is hearing the Shepherd and following. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”