John chapter 10, and I'd like
you to go down to verse 27. These four verses here will be
our text. This morning, we're going to
talk about the security of God's sheep. Verse 27, He says, 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." The security of the believer,
the security of the sheep, of the saints, whatever you want
to call them, the chosen, is not in what kind of doctrines
they might believe. Because even the devils believe.
They fear and tremble before God. But the devils have their
place. It's not in what a man does.
While you can do all the good works that you could possibly
think of, and that's not going to do you any good. There was
a young man who came to Jesus one time and said, good master,
what must I do to inherit eternal life? The Lord named a few things
and he said, all those things have I done from my youth up. And then the Lord said something
else. If thou wilt be perfect, I don't know of anyone who is,
do you? Except one. And that's the Lord Jesus Christ.
There's not a perfect person sitting here, there's not a perfect
person talking to you for sure. There's no perfection in us.
But, the Lord says, be ye perfect, for I am perfect. Now how in
the world is that going to be? You see, the security of the
believer is not what you do, it's not how much you're going
to do. They said, Lord, have we not cast out demons in your
name? Have we not done mighty works
in your name? And at the end of that little
session, before the throne of God, the Lord says, depart from
me, ye workers of iniquity. I never knew you. It's not how great a work somebody
might do. All those people who do great
and fantastic works around the world, but it's not how great
a work that any man can do, and there's no way that we're going
to be able to draw God's attention to us by what we do. Remember this, we're created
beings. God's the creator. If He wants
us to have anything, He gives it to us. If He doesn't want us to have
it, we'll never have it. It's not how great a work that
a man does. Paul said to young Titus, not
by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to
His mercy He saved us by the washing of the Word and regeneration
of the Holy Spirit. It's not by the works of the
law that any flesh is going to be justified. Paul talks about his own people
who went about to establish their own righteousness, but which
was not of God. Man's work has to be perfect. Now don't lose sight that we're
talking about the security of the believer here. Man's work
has to be perfect. It has to be holy is what Peter
said. He repeated the Old Testament.
Be holy for I am holy. I'm not perfect and I'm not holy
in this body of flesh. As a matter of fact, if you hold
your place, we're going to get to these verses here, but hold
your place there and turn with me to Romans chapter 3. The book
of Romans chapter 3. I'm going to read here to you
what I actually am. Romans chapter 3 and begin in
verse 10 Romans 3 verse 10 as it is written there is none righteous
no not one that's what God says there is none that understandeth There is none that seeketh after
God. They are all gone out of the
way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good,
no, not one. It doesn't matter how I might
think good about myself. in this body of flesh, that's
who I am. And it's not a very pretty sight,
is it? It's hard for man to think of that about himself because
of our pride. We think that we're better than
that. Well, yeah, surely I sought after God, and I've done some
good works. But God says there's none good. No, not one. None to do with
righteousness. No, not one. You see, the security
of the believer is not in what we do. The security of the believer
is in who he is. There's where our security is.
Time and time again I wake up in the morning and I think, Oh,
Lord, how in the world you could love somebody like me? I'm so
awful. I've done so many things. There's
things yesterday that, Lord, I just messed up altogether. And I sit there in the front
porch sometimes drinking my coffee and thinking about that and praying,
and all of a sudden I remember something. My Savior sits on
the throne. And He's already paid for all
that. Why should I even worry about
it? The day has passed. The day is
gone. I can't do anything about it.
But what I can do is right now, I can worship and honor and bless
the Lord, my Savior, who sits on the throne, resting. The work is done. All done. You see, my security is a person. It's Jesus Christ the Lord. No other one we can go to. Look
here in John chapter 10. In John chapter 10, verse 7. He says, I am the door, the latter
part of the verse. I am the door of the sheep. Verse 9, I am the door. He's the door, in and out. He's
the door. Verse 11, I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd giveth His
life for the sheep. That's what He's done for me
and for all those who have been chosen of Him. And in verse 14,
I am the Good Shepherd and know My sheep and am known of Mine. In verse 11 again, He says, I'm
the one that laid down My life for the sheep. Verse 18, no man
taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power
to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. This commandment
have I received of my Father. That's who we're talking about.
In Hebrews chapter 6, hold your place. We'll get back here. Hold
your place. Hebrews chapter 6. Hebrews chapter 6, beginning in verse 16, this is
the person that I'm talking about this morning. For men verily
swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is to them
an end of all strife. wherein God, willing more abundantly
to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel,
confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which
it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation,
who fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us,
which hope we have as an anchor of the soul. both sure and steadfast,
which entereth in to that within the veil, whither the forerunner,
which is Jesus Christ, is for us entered, even Jesus, made
an high priest for us forever after the order of Melchizedek."
Our surety, our anger, the hope of our soul, The hope of glory. You see, by his death, he finished
the work of atonement. There on the cross, he cried
out, it is finished. The Greek word is an accountant
word. It means when you finish paying
for that long-term bill and they stamp it, paid in full, you don't
have any other payment for it. It's done, it's paid for. It is finished. He paid for all sins. He put
away all sins. He purged all our sins. He finished the work of atonement.
He brought in an everlasting righteousness. His righteousness. He was made to be sin for us
who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. I needed sins forgiven. He forgave
them. I needed more than that. I needed
a righteousness to stand before a holy God. I needed to be perfect
and holy. And He did that for me. He obtained eternal redemption
for His people. Redeemed. Redeemed forever. We were redeemed according to
God from the foundation of the world. That means before this
world was ever made, God redeemed a people. He's the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. Before this world was ever made,
God had a people. Their names were written in a
book of life. And then it's His purpose His
direct will that he will save his people from their sin. Do you know he sets the whole
world in motion to go after his sheep? He sets the whole world
in motion to go after his sheep. Think of that. How wonderfully
gracious and powerful our God is. And he purchased an inheritance
in heaven for us. Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God? Believe also in me. In my Father's
house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. And I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go
and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive
you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also." Thomas
said, well, how can we know the way? Our Lord says, I'm the way,
the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. You see, He did all this and
more for somebody. Not just anybody. He did all
this and more for somebody. And the reason I say not just
anybody, if you look at verse 26 of John 10, it says, But ye
believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. These religious leaders, these
Jews, weren't of his sheep, the one he was talking to here. But
he said, my sheep hear my voice. You see, the ultimate ransom
price was paid. His blood was shed. Justice could
demand no more, the writer says, and love could give no less. He satisfied the law of God.
He honored the justice of God. No man could do that. But the
God of man did. Emmanuel did it for us. He put
away the sins of his people. And you know what? He does not accept nor need anything
from the sinner. If that don't bless your heart,
I don't know what will. He doesn't expect a thing from
you and me. He did the work. He did it all. And his work is complete. It's
finished. It's accomplished. He's done everything necessary
for salvation. That's why Peter exclaimed to
the people, neither is there salvation in any other, for there's
none other name under heaven given among men, whereby you
must be saved. It's a must to be saved in that
name. Now look here. In John 10, 26,
we'll get to our text. 1027, my sheep hear my voice. That's God's effectual call.
That is a fact. His sheep hear His voice. That's a blanket statement for
all His sheep. That's a statement of fact, of
truth. Effectually, He calls. My sheep hear my voice. Now, according to this John chapter
10, there's others who've tried to come up some other way. There
are those who say, Lord, Lord, and he says, depart from me,
I never knew you. You see, it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but it's of God. It's not by
might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.
were born not of blood, or the will of man, nor the will of
flesh, but of God. This is the voice of the gospel
that we hear service after service, and I love coming to hear it.
And many of those messages I've heard, I like to hear them again.
I'm glad they got that sermon audio going, because then they
put them on there, and then you could just pick them out and
just start listening to them. What a blessing. That you could hear it again.
I wouldn't mind, and I've even told the pastor, and I'm sure
some of you have done the same thing. You know, you can preach
that same message tonight. I want to hear the gospel, don't
you? Only God can make, only He gives the hearing ears and
the seeing eyes. His preachers preach the gospel.
His sheep hear the gospel. He affectionately calls, my sheep
hear my voice. That's why we preach at every
service, the gospel. It could be that service that
one of his sheep hears him. Not just the preacher, but hears
him as he speaks to their heart. It's the Spirit of God who gives
men life and then they can hear. All Spirit of God come among
us. That your people would hear your
gospel and your truth. He says, my sheep hear my voice. And he says, I know them. I know
them. That's God who knows. He knows
everything. But God knows, especially knows
His sheep. He knows the end from the beginning.
He knows it all. But this is more than just omniscient
God. God knowing everything. This
word know is an intimate word. I know them intimately. How long
has He known them? We just said it. From before
the foundation of the world. That's how long He's known them.
He's loved them with an everlasting love. He's drawn them with the
cords of a man. He will make sure each of his
sheep hears his call. He's never failed, nor will he
ever fail. And having done all that's necessary,
he says, my sheep hear my voice. As a matter of fact, back in
verse 3 of chapter 10, he says, To him, the shepherd, that porter
openeth, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own
sheep by name, and leadeth them out. He calls them by name. By name. Bear with me a little
bit in my folly. I wonder how many Garys he has
called. And they heard his name. Heard
their name called. I wonder how many more Garys
he's going to call. And they'll hear that name. They'll
hear him calling them. Do you ever wonder things like
that? I'm the only one that's around. I'm sorry. But he knows
my name. He called me by name. That's the effectual call. Plain
fact. My sheep hear my voice. And I
know them. And here's the response. They
follow me. They follow me. When you hear
that voice, you hear the voice of God, you can't help but follow
Him. He's the great I am. He's the all existing one. And
He didn't need a thing of us. He was perfectly happy and enjoyed
everything on His own. But He purposed grace. He purposed
grace for eternity. And Adam and Eve were the first
one to see how that worked. They had sinned against the Lord.
They were hiding over in the bushes, in the trees. They had
sown fig leaves and tried to cover their nakedness with their
own works. And God called to them. And by His grace, He made coats
of skin for Adam and Eve. That grace that had been purposed
for all eternity. was affected, effected right
there. Why he could have taken that
sword that he guarded the Garden of Eden, he could have taken
that sword and he could have just cut him up and been just
and righteous in doing so. But he made coats of skin for
them. There was a sacrifice of some
animals. That's what God did for you and me. He sacrificed
Himself willingly. He came and sacrificed Himself. And now we wear the very righteousness
as robes. We wear the righteousness of
God. The response, follow me, well
why wouldn't you? There's Matthew sitting at this
receipt of customs. The Lord Jesus and a few of the
disciples walk by and the Lord looks over at him and says, follow
me. Not another word was said. Matthew
got up and followed the Lord. He had heard that effectual call
and he followed. You see, when He calls, they
do follow. When He says, Believe, they're given faith to believe.
For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves,
it's the gift of God. Not worse lest any man should
boast. When He says, Come, they come. David said, when he said, Seek
my face, I sought his face. When God speaks, it happens. when he said in the garden that
after all the soldiers came out and Judas came out and they said
Jesus of Nazareth he says I am and they fell backwards because that was God in flesh
that they were talking to They're convinced by the Spirit of God,
convicted by the Spirit of God of sin and righteousness and
of judgment. Of sin because we didn't believe
on Him. Of righteousness because now
that righteousness sits in the throne and is given only by Him. Of judgment because the Prince
of this world has been judged. There's nothing more to fear. And they won't follow other Christ.
In this passage it talks about thieves and robbers. It's all
that ever came before. It talks about the strangers. They won't hear the voice of
strangers. It talks about hirelings. The hirelings flee because they
are a hireling. These voices they're not going
to hear. You're riding down the road and listening to the radio
and all of a sudden some so-called preacher comes on and it don't
take two seconds for God's people to realize that's not a God-called
preacher. And what do you do? Change the
channel. Has that ever happened to you? Sure. Sure. Because we won't
hear the voice of strangers. We don't want to hear the voice
of strangers. Then he says, verse 28, and I
give unto them eternal life. There's the effectual call, there's
the response to follow, and there's the gift. The wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life. in Jesus Christ our Lord. There's the gift. There's the
gift. The Lord said, I give. In John
chapter 17, just a few chapters over there, John 17. He says in verse 2, as thou hast given him, the Lord,
power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as
many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent." There's the gift. I give unto them eternal
life. When did eternal life begin? It's eternal. Has no beginning. When will eternal life end? It's
eternal. There's no ending. I give unto them eternal life. And then he says in verse 28, I give unto them eternal life
and they shall never perish. Now you might die or you might
be alive when he comes back again and raises the dead and those
that are alive will be caught up together with him to meet
the Lord in the air. You might die but that's not
perishing. Except you repent, you shall
all likewise perish, our Lord said. You'll never perish. There'll
never be a time that you will not see God. There'll never be
a time that better you will not be without God. There'll
never be a time That you'll be away from God. You'll be with Him forever. You'll
never perish. Never perish. With Him forever. With Him. You enjoy that eternal
life, which eternal life, that is the Lord Himself. He is the
life. The resurrection and the life.
The way, the truth and the life. But you'll never perish. There'll
never be a time you'll be away from that life. Now here we're talking about
the security of God's people. It's Jesus Christ. And then he
makes this promise. They shall never perish. They
may die physically, but this mortality is swallowed up in
victory. This death He's swallowed up
in victory of life. This mortality must put on immortality. This incorruption must put on
incorruption. We'll be raised to be like Him
forever and ever. We cannot perish. If the Lord
could perish, we could perish. And I'm going to show you why.
Next statement. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand." According to Isaiah chapter 49, we're written
on that hand. We're graven on that hand. If
the Lord could perish, then we could perish. Can you imagine
the Lord perishing? I cannot. He's forever and forever. He is eternal God. We're part of His body, Paul
says. Everyone has a part in the body
of Christ and that body is Christ. We're part of His body. We always
have been, we always will be. That's His sheep. We've always been a part of His
body. We always will be a part of His body. Before one is saved or after
one is saved. We've always been His sheep.
Before He calls, after He calls. We've always been His sheep. When God in eternity elected
some to be saved, that is the very grace of God because there's
not one person who deserves it. Aren't you glad that he elected
some? As a matter of fact, more than
some. I mean, heaven's gonna be filled with thousands, times
ten, thousand, ten thousand, times ten thousand, thousands,
thousands of them. He said, our security here, neither
is any man able to pluck them out of my hand. And then he said,
my father is greater than all. And no man is able to pluck them
out of my father's hand. And then he says, I and my father are one. You're right in there. God's sheep are right in there. The father, the son, one. There's one in this thing. There's
one purpose in this thing. And the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled
His purpose there at the cross for us when He died for our sins
and paid for our sins. God purposed this for us. I and my Father are one. There's
the covenant of grace. Isn't it? There's the covenant
of grace. I and my Father are one. We have
one purpose. One purpose. That's to go after the sheep.
To seek those sheep that are lost. To find them. Think about
it. God's seeking, God's finding.
He knows exactly where they are. But he sought of them who found
him not. He doesn't lay it out and hope
that somebody will take advantage of it. That's not what we're
talking about. We're made willing in the day
of his power. He doesn't make it just possible
for man to have it. That's not who he is. He says,
my sheep hear my voice. This is a secure, done deal. And it's only in the Lord Jesus
Christ. The Word of God reveals it. The
Spirit of God reveals the truth about Him. And He will save to
the uttermost. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter
7. And we'll close. Hebrews chapter
7. Hebrews 7, verse 25. Wherefore, he is able to save
them to the uttermost. Notice his ability. He's able
to save. Notice how the extent of his
salvation to the uttermost that come unto God by him. by Jesus
Christ, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.
He prays that their faith fails not. He prays that they will
be with Him. He prays that they see His glory
and be with Him in that glory. You see, the security of the
sheep is not anything you and I do. It's who's sitting on that
throne. Thank You, our Heavenly Father,
for Your Word this morning. Thank You, Lord, that Your sheep
hear Your voice. We heard it that first day You
called and revealed it to us, and we continue to hear it. Oh,
Lord. continually give us hearing ears
to hear the Word of God. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's stand and sing a verse
of song and then we'll be dismissed in our service again this evening
at 6 o'clock. Let's sing Amazing Grace, how
sweet the sound. that taught my heart to fear
and breaks my fears, relieve. I'll praise walls and stairs I have already
come. This grace hath brought me safe
thus far, and grace will