THE SHEPHERD AND HIS SHEEP

 The Shepherd does not go in search of the lost sheep in order to make them His own, but because they are His already.  The sheep were His when they became sinners due to Adam’s transgression.  The good Shepherd said, “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” (John 10:27-28).  

The sheep did not suddenly become the property of the Shepherd upon hearing His voice and following Him.  The Shepherd called them unto Himself, they hear His voice and follow Him because they are already His sheep.  On the other hand, those who die in unbelief do not become goats by their refusal to believe Him.  Their unbelief is evidence they were never His sheep.  “But ye believe not, because ye are not of My Sheep, as I said unto you” (John 10:26).                                                                                                               -------preacher Jim Byrd

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