========================================================================
  EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS ON JOHN - JOHN 10:10-18
  by J.C. Ryle
========================================================================

------------------------------------------------------------------------
DESCRIPTION
------------------------------------------------------------------------


------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENT
------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that
they may have life, and may have it abundantly.

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the
sheep. The hired hand who is not a shepherd and does not own sheep, sees
the wolf coming and abandons the sheep and runs away. So the wolf
attacks the sheep and scatters them. Because he is a hired hand and is
not concerned about the sheep, he runs away.

"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. I have other sheep that do not come from this sheepfold. I must
bring them too, and they will listen to my voice, so that there will be
one flock and one shepherd. This is why the Father loves me--because I
lay down my life, so that I may take it back again. No one takes it away
from me, but I lay it down of my own free will. I have the authority to
lay it down, and I have the authority to take it back again. This
commandment I received from my Father."

These verses show us, for one thing, the great object for which Christ
came into the world. He says, I have come that men "might have life, and
that they might have it more abundantly."

The truth contained in these words is of vast importance. They supply an
antidote to many crude and unsound notions which are abroad in the
world. Christ did not come to be only a teacher of new morality, or an
example of holiness and self-denial, or a founder of new ceremonies, as
some have vainly asserted. He left heaven, and dwelt for thirty-three
years on earth for far higher ends than these. He came to procure
eternal life for man, by the price of His own vicarious death. He came
to be a mighty fountain of spiritual life for all mankind, to which
sinners coming by faith might drink; and, drinking, might live for
evermore. By Moses came laws, rules, ordinances, ceremonies. By Christ
came grace, truth, and eternal life.

Important as this doctrine is, it requires to be fenced with one word of
caution. We must not overstrain the meaning of our Lord Jesus Christ\

========================================================================
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/jc-ryle/expository-thoughts-on-john-john-1010-18/
========================================================================