The Yuba-Sutter Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by Pastor Don Fortner
of Danville, Kentucky. For information about how to
obtain a copy of this sermon, please visit our website at ysgracechurch.com. And now, here is Pastor Don Fortner. In verse 28, our subject tonight
again is the everlasting, eternal, infallible security of God's
saints, the preservation of God's elect in Christ. We were given
this distinction from eternity. The Lord Jesus calls us His sheep. We were given this gift in time. I give unto them eternal life. You see that? I give. I give. Settle this issue and you settle
all other questions concerning God's salvation as we experience
it. Eternal life is the gift of God. You don't do anything to get
it. It's given to you. You don't merit it, you don't
earn it, you don't decide to get it, it's given to you. Eternal
life is God's free gift. The wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
This is God's work. And if it's God's work, it is
forever. Hold your hands here in John
10 and turn back to Ecclesiastes chapter 3. Here's a very pivotal
passage of scripture. email from a young man, a couple
of emails just recently asking me about this matter of eternal
security and believers' absolute preservation by God's grace and
wanted to know some scriptures that deal with this and state
it plainly. Well, here's one that deals with it and states
it as plain as a nose on your face. I know. I don't know what you know, but
I know. I don't have any question about this. This is a matter
of absolute certainty as far as I'm concerned. It's a matter
of absolute certainty as far as this book's concerned. I know
that whatsoever God doeth, is this God's doing or yours? Is
this thing of God's salvation, eternal life, God's doing in
its entirety? If so, read on, it shall be forever. Nothing can be put to it. You're
not gonna add anything to God's work Nothing can be taken from
it and God does it just like he does it that all men should
fear a reverence Before him. All right now back here in John
chapter 10 verse 28 the Lord Jesus says I give unto them eternal
life and they Shall never perish Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand listen to the Scriptures and learn these two
things. We have in this text of Scripture
a divine promise and we have in this text of Scripture a divine
security. Our Lord Jesus here makes a blanket
unconditional promise. It takes into consideration all
times and circumstances all contingencies all events and all possibilities
I hope I got everything in that our Lord Jesus Christ says concerning
his sheep all of them I give unto them eternal life and because
they are my sheep and I give eternal life to them they shall
never perish now people ask questions but what What if they're weak
babes in Christ and their faith is weak? They shall never perish.
What if they're young men in Christ and their passions are
strong? They shall never perish. What if they're old men and their
vision grows dim? They shall never perish. What
if they're tempted? They shall never perish. What
if they're tried by Satan? They shall never perish. What
if all hell breaks loose against them? They shall never perish.
What if they sin? You can take that if away when
they sin. They shall never perish. What
if they sin again? They shall never perish. What
if they fall? They shall never perish. What
if they fall again? They shall never perish. What
if they fall seven times in a day as every one of his sheep acknowledges
he does? They shall never perish. What
if they fall seventy times seven? They shall never perish. Our
Lord says they shall never perish. Now there's no circumstance under
which that word shall not be fulfilled. The promise takes
in all the flock. They shall never perish. Not
one of Christ's sheep, no, not even one shall perish. This is
not a distinctive privilege reserved for a favored few. It is the
common mercy of all the flock. If you're a believer, if you
trust the Lord Jesus Christ, let me go a step further. Some
of you here are yet without Christ and yet struggling in unbelief
and sin, and I know for myself, When I began to recognize something
of my condemnation and my guilt before God, and Satan, he first
tries to convince you that you're too good to need a Savior, and
then he tries to convince you you're too bad to get one. And
I struggle with this thing. If I make a profession of faith,
I'm going to make a mockery of this thing. I'm going to be just like other folks.
And I don't want to do that. The promise is, they shall never
perish. If God gives you faith, and right
now you begin to believe on the Son of God, right where you sit,
I'm saying to you, you who believe Him, and you who have long believed
Him, there is no possibility that you shall ever perish, because
this thing doesn't depend on you. It's not something that's
contingent upon your goodness and your obedience. The scriptures
are very plain. If you trust the Lord Jesus Christ,
if you have received eternal life, you cannot perish, for
Christ himself promises it. You cannot even send away the
grace of God bestowed upon you. Why did you have to say that?
Because some folks think you can. You can't do it. Noah, Abraham,
Lot, David, Peter, Paul, Jonah, Don, and all the rest make it
plain as the nose on your face. Salvation is of the Lord. And
if salvation is of the Lord, it is forever. Not one of Christ's
sheep shall perish. This doctrine of the believer's
security in the Lord Jesus Christ is in every way consistent with
all revealed truth. It is most surely believed among
us. And to deny this promise, with it you deny every promise
of God. The Lord Jesus, who is God, said,
they shall never perish. Now if you contend that it is
possible that one of God's sheep shall after all perish, then
you contend that God himself is a liar and the Word of God
is not to be believed and not to be trusted. Those who deny
one aspect of God's truth must of necessity deny every aspect
of God's truth. Now let me show you why this
promise must be fulfilled. It must be established and cannot
be broken. I'm going to spend the bulk of
our time this evening dealing with this divine promise and
then I'll talk to you for just a minute about the divine security
mentioned in our text as well. First, the promise of God simply
must be fulfilled. It's that simple. Either God
is true or he's not. Either he's faithful or he's
not. Either he can be trusted or he can't. This is what the
book of God says. The foundation of God standeth
sure. No matter what comes down the
pike, no matter what happens, no matter how things appear,
no matter how it looks to our eyes of flesh, the foundation
of God standeth sure. Having this seal, the Lord knoweth
them that are here. That's good enough. The promise
of God must be fulfilled. Secondly, the purpose of God
cannot be frustrated. I want you to turn back to John
chapter 6 and look one more time at God's purpose. The Lord God says I will do all
my pleasure. He says what I have purposed
shall stand. And God Almighty is in all things
a God of purpose. And his purpose is the salvation
of his sheep. John chapter 6 and verse 37.
All that the Father giveth me, present tense. Oh God send your
spirit tonight and give some sheep to your son. All that the Father giveth me
shall, shall, they shall come to me, willingly, gladly, thy
people shall be willing in the day of thy power, and him that
cometh to me, whoever he is, whoever she is, whatever they
are, whatever they've done, whatever they've been, him that cometh
to me, I will, look at it now, in no wise. What does that mean? It means exactly what you think
it means. for no reason, under no circumstances, not for any
cause. I will in no wise cast out, for
I came down from heaven not to do mine own will. This is not
just a selfish thing with me. but the will of Him that sent
me. And this is the Father's will which has sent me. Folks
wonder, what is God's will? I'll tell you what God's will
is. It's as plain as it can be. God's will with regard to all
things is the salvation of His sheep. Look what it says. This
is the will of Him that sent me, that of all which He hath
given me, do you see that now? Not present tense, past tense.
All which He hath at one time, from eternity, in the past, in
the covenant of grace, given me." The Lord Jesus Christ stood
before God, His Father and our Father, as our surety and our
good shepherd. And He said, now Father, if you'll
give them to me, I pledge myself to save them, everyone. I will
redeem them. I will establish righteousness
for them. I'll send my spirit and fetch them, and I'll bring
them, everyone, home. Trust me with them. And the Father
trusted him with you. And the Father and the Son struck
hands in the covenant. And at that moment in eternity,
if I can use such language, the Son of God, the Good Shepherd,
became totally responsible for the saving of those sheep. Now
look at it. All which he hath given me, that I should lose
nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And
this is the will of Him that hath sent me, that every one
which seeth the Son. I talked about this back in the
office just a moment ago. Oh, what a wonder I can see it. What
a wonder I can see Him. And if you can see Him. You know
what that means? Everyone that trusts the Son.
Everyone who looks to the Son of God. Everyone that seeth the
Son and believeth on Him may have everlasting life. Now look at this. And I will. I will raise him up at the last
day. You see, God's covenant cannot
be disannulled. God's purpose of grace and election
cannot be overturned. The suretyship engagements of
Jesus Christ, God's dear son, cannot be defeated. Here's another
reason why this promise must stand. The redemptive work of
Christ simply cannot be nullified. We believe in actual, literal,
accomplished substitutionary redemption. We do not believe
that which is commonly taught in this day of religious darkness,
perversion, and delusion, that Jesus Christ somehow redeemed
you if you will do something. That he has somehow provided
salvation for you if you will cooperate, or if you will choose
him, or if you will be good enough. Oh, no. No, no. The Lord Jesus
Christ, when he died at Calvary, laid down his life, what did
he say? For the sheep. for the sheep. And those sheep for whom He laid
down His life, He will raise up again at the last day. The
Lord Jesus Christ died in our room, in our stead, and in our
place. And if that's the case, then
we cannot die. You see, He paid all my debts. All of them. All of them. I don't
have a penny to pay. I can't say this, As reverently,
respectfully, and gratefully as in the depths of my soul,
I know it and believe it. Buddy-duddy, with regard to righteousness
and atonement, I owe my God nothing. If you can get a hold of that,
oh, your soul will rejoice before Him, and you'll recognize you
owe Him everything. Christ paid all my debts. All
my debts. He bore all my punishment. All
of it. That means that God has now no
reason to punish me for anything. Ever. His justice has been satisfied. The Lord Jesus Christ has been
satisfied in its utmost. God's offended justice for His
people. That means there's nothing left for us to bear, nothing
left for us to pay, nothing left for us to satisfy. Now the justice
of God pleads as loudly and as strongly as the mercy of God
for the salvation of those sinners for whom Christ died. Look in
Romans chapter 5 and verse 10. This is how the Holy Spirit inspired
the Apostle Paul to reason with us. Romans chapter 5 and verse
10. For if, when we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son. Now you
see that? Already done. Before ever you
knew anything about it, Mark, you were reconciled to God by
the death of His Son. Now then, now if He reconciled us to Him
by the death of His Son, much more being now reconciled, we
shall surely be saved by His life. In Romans chapter 8 and
verse 34, the Apostle says, or verse 31 rather, he says, what
shall we say then to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Somebody reads that preceding
verses. Dang, you see, he died for us
all. Yeah, all his elect. Says so next verse. Who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies.
Now if God says not guilty, it don't matter who else says guilty.
If God says justified, it doesn't matter who else says not justified.
God is the one who justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even
also at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession
for us. You see, if even one of those for whom Christ died
were to perish, then his purpose in dying would be frustrated
totally. The Son of God gave himself for
us, that he might purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous
of good works. He loved us and gave himself
for us his church, that he might present it to himself a spotless
church, not having spot or blemish or any such thing, but he should
present it before the Father, holy and blameless and undefiled. Now if one member of those for
whom he died should perish, his purpose is frustrated. The Scriptures
speak very plain. Christ died for us that he might
deliver us from our sins. He died for us that he might
deliver us, redeem us from the curse of the law. Even if one
of those then, for whom the Lord Jesus Christ were to die, then
he, if even one of those for whom he died were to perish,
then he would never see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied. Here's something else. The believer's
justification in Christ. is an irrevocable act of grace. We're justified. Justified. And those who are justified can
never become unjustified. We're justified. The trial's
over. It's not something yet to come.
When people think about Judgment Day, Folks have the idea that
somehow there's a day coming when we're all going to stand
before God and God's going to judge us and he's going to look
us over real good and see whether or not we deserve to go to heaven
or deserve to go to hell. That's not it at all. Read this
book again. In the day of judgment, the Lord
God Almighty will simply open the books and declare the reason
why we will either be saved or be damned. The trial's over.
It took place at Calvary 2,000 years ago, and we're justified.
The court in heaven has pronounced an irreversible verdict upon
God's elect, and the verdict is justified. Justified in the
sight of God himself. Therefore, the Lord God will
not impute sin to a believing soul. Nathan came in and said to David,
thou art the man. And David fell on his face before
God, and he said, I've sinned. And Nathan said, the Lord has
put away your sin. And David went in and wrote these
words in a blessed hymn. Blessed is the man. How happy, how blessed is that
man unto whom the Lord will not impute sin. I realize people run with that
doctrine and do all kinds of horrible things in the name of
believing that doctrine, but the children of God Rejoice in
the knowledge that God has put away all our sins past, present,
and future by the sacrifice of His darling Son. Most people
say, well that's talking about past sins. He won't impute to
us our past sins. They were all future when He
died for us. They were all future when He redeemed us. They were
all future when He satisfied justice for us. He will not impute
any sin to us, for our sins have been once charged to His Son,
and His Son has put them away. You see, our acceptance before
God is Jesus Christ. Totally. Totally. How can I say that more clearly
than the book of God does? We are accepted in the Beloved. Nowhere else. For no other reason.
We're accepted in the Beloved. Our justification then is free.
It's full and it's forever. Here's another matter of certainty. The work of God's grace can never
be defeated. Philippians chapter 1 verse 6. Wonder if I can hold on. Wonder
if I can hold out. Wonder if I can make it a little
longer. No, you can't. Not even a chance
that you will. But I'm confident of this. He
which hath begun a good work in you, if God Almighty has begun
a good work in you, if He has, He will perform it until the
day of Jesus Christ. That which God has begun, He
will carry on to perfection. And we may, without the least
presumption as believers, looking to Christ, gladly sing these
words. The work which God's goodness
began, the arm of his strength will complete. His promise is
yea and amen and never was forfeited yet. Things future nor things
that are now, not all things below nor above can make him
his promise forego or sever my soul from his love. My name in
the palms of his hands, eternity will not erase. Impressed on
his heart it remains in marks of indelible grace. Yes, I to
the end shall endure, as sure as the earnest is given, more
happy but not more secure, the glorified spirits in heaven.
God is willing to complete his work in us, he's wise enough
to complete his work in us, and he's strong enough to complete
his work in us. Therefore we're confident that he which hath
begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus
Christ. Now turn to John chapter 17.
I want you to look at this. John chapter 17. Why is it that God's elect cannot
perish? Why is it that Christ's sheep
cannot perish? Why is it that those to whom
he has given eternal life shall never perish? Because Jesus Christ
is one man, one priest, the only man, the only priest, whose intercessions
must prevail with God. We have an advocate with the
Father. Jesus Christ the Righteous. And He is the propitiation for
our sins. And since He makes intercession
for us with God Almighty on the basis of His perpetuatory sacrifice,
the Father cannot deny His request. Now look what it says in John
chapter 17 and verse 9. I pray for them. I pray not for
the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they
are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I'm glorified
in them." Isn't that amazing? I, God the Son, am glorified
in these, my people. Glorified in what I've done for
them, and doing for them, and shall do for them. And now, I'm
no more in the world, but these are in the world. And I come
to thee, Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou
hast given me, that they may be one as we are one. Now, I
have to pause and give a brief word of rebuttal, just in case
you've heard the same thing I have. Just last week, I was driving
down the road and heard a fellow who claimed to believe grace,
preaching from this text of Scripture, and he said, now, what this is
showing is that the Lord Jesus said, now, Father, while I was
with them in the world, I kept them, but now I can't keep them
anymore. That's not what he's saying.
He's simply saying, I'm no longer going to be with them. And is
praying as he promised him that he would, that he would send
his spirit, the comforter, to abide with them just as he had
been physically with them up until this point. Alright, read
on, verse 13. And now come I to thee, and these
things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled
in themselves. What joy? Well, the joy I'm promising
them. The joy of eternal life with
full assurance of faith. Would to God we could get over
this notion that believing God is wrong? Did He promise that
every sinner looking to Him has everlasting life? Now I don't
know much, but I know I'm a sinner and I can't look anywhere but
to Him. And I have everlasting life, that my joy may be fulfilled
in them. Read on, verse 14. I've given
them thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they
are not of the world, even as I'm not of the world. I pray
not thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou
shouldest keep them from the evil. Keep them from the evil
one, Satan. Keep them from the evil of the
world. Keep them from the evil in themselves. They're not of
the world, even as I'm not of the world. Sanctify them through
thy truth. Thy word is truth. As thou hast
sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into
the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they
also may be one, or be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray
I for these alone. Father, I'm not just praying
for this little band here. I pray not for the world, as
I say, but I'm praying for every one of those sheep for whom I
have come. Those sheep for whom I'm about
to die. Those sheep out yonder in your
purpose time which shall believe on me through their word. I'm not just praying for Peter,
James, and John. I'm praying for Paul and Paul and Don, I'm
praying that you'd keep them, and keep them he will. Our cause
can never, never fail, for Jesus pleads and must prevail. Here's something else, the seal
of God's Spirit cannot be broken. The Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians
1 and says, Now, that's exactly what was portrayed in Old Testament
circumcision. For the benefit of those who
are still deluded with the idea that circumcision has something
to do with baptism, that's nuts. This book doesn't even hint at
that. Colossians chapter 2 makes it
very plain as does this text of scripture here. The circumcision
was the seal outwardly of the covenant God made with Abraham.
And that covenant represented God's covenant of grace in Jesus
Christ the Lord. And the seal of that covenant
of grace is the circumcision of the heart that we experience
in regeneration. So that God the Holy Spirit has
now sealed us in the covenant experimentally by His regenerating
grace. Now a seal implies several things.
It implies ownership. You see something's got a seal
on it, it's got the name of the owner on it. I've been sealed by God's Spirit
and He is. A seal implies legal protection. Now, with regard to earthly seals,
about anybody can break one. They don't amount to much. But
it implies legal protection. And we're talking about God's
seal. And the legal protection of God's court. And that means
nobody gonna break this seal. A seal implies perpetual freshness. Constant freshness. You ladies,
canned beans and things, Taste them, they're just as fresh as
the day you put them up, unless the seal's broken. This seal
will never be broken, never. Now then, one last thing. Neither
shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave
them me is greater than all, and no man can pluck them out
of my Father's hands. What security. We're in His hands,
His pierced hands, His omnipotent hands. His hands that rule the
universe. His hands who is God Almighty. Therefore, we rest peacefully
before God Almighty, knowing that we shall never perish who
believe on the Son of God. God help you to believe Him,
for Christ's sake. Amen. You have just heard a sermon
by Pastor Don Fortner of Danville, Kentucky. For a copy of this
message, please visit our website at ysgracechurch.com. This is Pastor Rick Warda of
the Yuba-Sutter Grace Church. Each Sunday we meet at 11 a.m. in the Yuba County Library located
on the corner of 2nd and C Street in downtown Marysville. We pray
that God would be pleased to make himself known to you in
the gospel of his son.