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Chapter 68
Reprobation Asserted
“And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch. Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one.” (John 10:19-30)
Reprobation is clearly taught in Holy Scripture. It is a doctrine which should fill our hearts with praise to God our Savior, the Triune Jehovah. Election is God’s choice of some to eternal salvation in Christ. Reprobation is God passing by, not choosing others. Predestination is God’s sovereign, eternal purpose of grace toward and for his elect. Reprobation is God leaving all others to themselves. Salvation is God’s mighty, wondrous works and operations of grace for, in, and upon his chosen. Reprobation is God abandoning others to themselves. Election is God loving Jacob and all the sons and daughters of Jacob. Reprobation is God hating Esau and all the children of Esau. Eternal life is God refusing to leave you alone. Reprobation is God leaving you alone. Salvation is God not leaving you to your will, your choice, and your way. Reprobation is God leaving you to your will, your choice, and your way.
Believe Not, Because
Read John 10:26. Here the Lord Jesus Christ asserts, with unmistakable clarity, the Bible doctrine of reprobation. — “But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.” Read those words again. Be sure you read them just as they stand. Read nothing into the text. Leave nothing out of the text. Do not rearrange the words of the text. Read it just as it stands. Here is reprobation asserted, asserted by the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the sinner’s Friend. — “But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.”
What unspeakably solemn words those are! The Lord Jesus is the only man who ever lived who knew who the elect are and who the reprobate are. He alone knows who his sheep are and who the goats are. And here he asserts in the plainest terms possible that these Jews who caviled at his doctrine in rebellion and unbelief, these men who wilfully stopped their ears and would not hear him, these people who were offended at his doctrine were reprobates. Now that their character was fully manifested, the Lord did not hesitate to tell them that they were abandoned of God, left to themselves, reprobate. What an unspeakably solemn thing this is!
The force of our Lord’s words is definite and clear. Yet, preachers and theologians and commentators, in their unbelief, have done their best to cut these words out of the Bible altogether. Almost all the commentators explain away the meaning of our Lord’s words in John 10:26 by reversing their order. They rearrange the Master’s words to make them mean what they want them to mean. They read the text this way: — “Because ye believe not, ye are not of my sheep.” — But the text reads, “But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.”
Men always turn the things of God upside down, especially lost religious men. When man comes to something in the Word of God he doesn’t like, something that doesn’t fit his religious system, something that is contrary to his high opinion of himself, instead of bowing to and receiving that which is written in the Book of God, he either ignores it, or rearranges it according to his own whims.
Here the Lord Jesus not only charges these very religious, very devoted Jews with unbelief, but he also tells them why faith had not been granted to them. — They were not of his sheep. They were not numbered among the favored people of God. They were not chosen of God. They were not among God’s elect.
Faith in Christ does not make us his sheep. Rather faith in Christ is the evidence that we are his sheep (Hebrews 11:1). If you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you believe because you were given to the Good Shepherd as one of his sheep before the world began. If you continue in willful, obstinate unbelief and perish in your sins, it is because God has left you to yourself, because God has abandoned you to your own will, your own choice, and your own way. You are reprobate.
John 8
“But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.” — What does the Savior refer to in those words? When had he previously avowed that these people were not numbered among God’s elect? When had he formerly declared them reprobates? Look at John 8. There he is talking to the very same people. In verse 48, they rejected his word, rejected his message, and declared him to be a worthless Samaritan, possessed of a devil. In verses 42-45 the Master tells us why they could not believe him.
“Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not” (John 8:42-45).
Again, in verse 47, the Lord Jesus told them that they believed not because they were not of his sheep. — “He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.” They heard not because they were not of God. They believed not because they were not of his sheep. In each instance he gives this as the reason why they received him not: the solemn fact that they belonged not to God’s elect. They were numbered not among God’s elect, but among the reprobates. They were not sheep, but goats.
A Division
First, I want us to see the context in which our Savior’s words are found (vv. 19-30). As I pointed out in the previous chapter, here is a large crowd of religious people divided over doctrine! Religious people always are. What multitudes there are who defend, fight for, and divide from family and friend over doctrine, even fussing about Christ, who never trusts him! The Lord Jesus was standing in their midst, teaching the gospel publicly, expounding the Old Testament Scriptures; but they believed not on him. They were divided over the Savior’s doctrine — “for these sayings” (v. 19). He had plainly taught the sweet, gospel doctrines of sovereign election, covenant mercy, his own suretyship responsibility, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and the holy trinity. Some said he was a demon-possessed madman. Others objected. They would not go that far. But none believed (vv. 25-26).
Let us never be surprised if we see the same thing in our own day. Human nature never changes. So long as the heart of man is without grace, so long we must expect it to be enmity against God, ever despising the gospel of Christ (Romans 8:7; 1 Corinthians 2:14).
God’s people and God’s servants should never think it a strange thing if we go through the same experience as our Master. Our gospel is still the cause of offence and strife in our families and among our friends. If you believe and confess the gospel of God, you will endure ridicule, harsh words, and petty persecution from this world. — “If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?” (Matthew 10:25)
Sheep
Take special notice of the name our Lord gives to his people. He uses a figurative expression full of deep meaning. He calls us, — “My Sheep.”
Without question, the word “sheep” points to something in the character and ways of God’s saints in this world. It speaks of the weakness, helplessness, harmlessness, and usefulness of his elect; all points of resemblance between the sheep and the believer. But the leading, primary thing intended by giving us the name “sheep” was to remind us of the entire dependence of the sheep upon its shepherd. Just as sheep hear the voice of their own shepherd, and follow him, so do believers follow Christ. By faith we listen to his call. By faith we submit to his guidance. By faith we lean on him, and commit our souls implicitly to his will and his direction. The ways of a shepherd and his sheep beautifully display the relation between Christ and the true Christian. We depend upon our dear Shepherd for everything in grace and in providence.
The expression, “My Sheep,” points to the close connection that exists between Christ and his people. We are his by gift from the Father, his by purchase, his by his calling and his choice, and his by the willing consent and submission of our own hearts. In the highest sense imaginable, we are Christ’s property. He made us for himself. He chose us to be his own. He bought us with his own precious blood. He sought us out, found us, and called us by his grace.
Privileges
Our dear Savior declares the vast privileges of mercy, love, and grace he has bestowed upon us as his sheep in verses 27-28.
Christ knows his sheep with a special knowledge of approbation, approval, and love. Christ gives his sheep “eternal life.” He has freely bestowed on us a right and title to heaven, pardoning our many sins, clothing us with his perfect righteousness, and making us new creatures by his grace. Money, and health, and worldly prosperity he often wisely withholds from his sheep. But he never fails to give them grace, and peace, and glory.
Christ declares that his sheep “shall never perish.” Weak as they are, they shall all be saved. Not one of them shall be lost or cast away. Not one of them shall miss heaven. We they err, they shall be corrected. When they stray, they shall be brought back. When they fall, they shall be raised up again. The enemies of our souls may be strong and mighty, but our Savior is mightier; and none shall pluck us out of our Savior’s hands.
Reprobation
Second, I want to show you the meaning of our Savior’s words in our text (v. 26). — “But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.” In the next line he says, “My sheep hear my voice!” — “And I know them!” — “And they follow me!”
“But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep!” — What do those words mean? Does the Lord Jesus Christ speak those awful words to you? Obviously, our Lord here asserts the reprobation of those people standing before him who would not believe his gospel. The fact is there are goats as well as sheep in this world. There are reprobates as well as elect sinners among Adam’s sons and daughters. There are vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy in this world (Romans 9:10-24; 1 Peter 2:6-8; Jude 4; John 12:39-40). The same sun that melts the wax hardens the clay; and the same gospel that melts the hearts of God’s elect hardens the hearts of the reprobate.
“But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep!” — What do those words mean? I’ll tell you exactly what they mean. Those words mean. — I never loved you (Jeremiah 31:3; Romans 9:13). — I never knew you (Romans 8:29-30). — I never chose you (Acts 13:48). — I never entered into a covenant to save you (Jeremiah 31:31-34). — I am not your Surety (Hebrews 7:22). — I did not redeem you (Isaiah 53:8; John 10:11, 15). — I did not come to save you (Matthew 1:21). — I have never prayed for you (John 17:9, 20). — I never called you (Romans 8:29-30; 2 Timothy 1:9). — I sent you a strong delusion that you should believe a lie (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12). — I have set the world in your heart, so that you cannot find my work and know me (Ecclesiastes 3:11). — I have blinded your eyes so that you cannot see (Isaiah 6:9-10; John 12:39-40; 2 Corinthians 4:3-4).
“Ye believe not because ye are not of my sheep.” — That means God is determined to destroy you. There is no hope for your soul.
Your Fault
God has mercy on whom he will; and whom he will, he hardens. There is no question about that fact. And your unbelief will not nullify God’s purpose or alter his will. You everlasting damnation will cause no grief in glory. The only person you injure by your rebellion is yourself. And you heap upon yourself the fire of hell forever by your unbelief. God will send you to hell because you demanded that he leave you alone. God will send you to hell only because you justly deserve to go to hell (Romans 6:23; Proverbs 1:23-33; 29:1). If you go to hell it will be your fault alone. You will have no one to blame but yourself.
Praise
Third, I want us to see that our Lord’s assertion of reprobation should inspire praise and thanksgiving in the hearts of his elect (vv. 27-30). The Lord God could have left you to yourself. He could have abandoned you. But he chose you to salvation!
“But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one” (vv. 26-30).
Every time we think about God’s just judgment upon poor reprobates, lost forever, forever abandoned by God, let us lift our hearts in praise to our great and glorious Lord God, the God of all grace, the Father of mercies, who has saved us by his grace.
“And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 2:11-14).
“For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?” (1 Corinthians 4:7)
“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (2 Corinthians 4:3-7).
Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? If you do, you believe because you are one of his sheep. You were given to him by the Father in eternity. You were redeemed by him at Calvary, sought and found by him in mercy, called by him in salvation. You are kept by him in grace and shall soon be presented by him before the Father’s throne with joy!
Don Fortner
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