...to the 10th chapter of the
Gospel of John this morning. I have a verse of Scripture that
I want to read to three verses that I would like to read out
of the book of Jeremiah, but you can listen to these verses
and then we'll be reading from John 10. But it's the 38th verse
in Jeremiah 32, it says, "...and they shall be my people, and
I will be their God." what a wonderful statement of holy scripture they
shall be my people that is the people whom I have chosen they
shall be my people and I will be their God and I will give
them one heart and one way that they may fear me forever for
the good of them and of their children after them and I will
make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn
away from them to do them good, but I will put my fear in their
hearts that they shall not depart from me. Let me read that verse
again. And I will make an everlasting
covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do
them good, but I will put my fear in their hearts that they
shall not depart from me. Now if you have your Bible open
to John 10, I want to read beginning with verse 25 and read down through
verse 30. Very familiar portion of the
Word of God. The older I get, the more blessed
and the more comfort that I find in the simple statements of the
Word of God. And certainly if there was a
time when we should believe what God says, certainly It is today
when every truth, every vital truth of the Word of God is under
attack. We should believe what God says,
the simple statements of His Word. If any man wills to do
my will, he shall know the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether
or not it be of man. Listen to the Word of God. Jesus
answered them, I told you and you believe 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 snatch them out of my hand, pluck them
out of my hand. My Father which gave them me
is greater than all. is greater than all, and no man
is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand." I want to speak, if the Lord
will allow me to this morning, on the sheep that shall never
perish. The sheep that shall never perish. Now of all the doctrines and
the teachings found in the Word of God, one of the most hated,
I believe, is the doctrine of the security of the believers. The doctrine of the security
of the believers. You might ask, why is that so?
Why is this doctrine so hated by the multitudes of religious
people in this world? Well, one of the reasons is because
when we understand and believe what the Bible teaches, and there's
over 600 references in the Word of God to the doctrine of eternal
security. I haven't counted them, but I
understand that to be a true statement. We recognize the fact
that man wants to be in control of his salvation. He wants to
be in control of everything. Man is a little god, he thinks,
and he wants to be in control. Now whenever he finds out that
salvation is not in his control, we find out that it is according
to the purpose and the divine will of God, then of course he
hates that. He can't stand it that God is
able to either save him or damn him at his will. He cannot possibly
enjoy that truth. And then we also recognize the
fact that if you believe one of the doctrines of grace, if
you've got good spiritual sense, you'll have to believe them all.
And this is another reason why that men shy away from and stand
back from and resist the doctrine of the security of the believer. Now this is a most precious doctrine. It is to me. It is very precious
to me. There is not a one of us who
are a believer here this morning that some time or other hadn't
felt like that they have undone everything that God has ever
done in their soul. Every one of us at one time or
another feels like that some through act of stupidity or foolishness
or some willful act that we have destroyed God's salvation in
us. Have you ever felt that way?
That you've destroyed what God had given you in that free gift
of His grace. Well, I felt that way on a number
of occasions. I felt that way and it's wonderful
to me to find out that when we're unfaithful still he abides faithful
because he cannot deny himself. It's wonderful to find out that
even though we might fail, God is not about to fail. And even
though we might somehow or other think that we have done something
that is impossible to do, frustrate the will and plan and purpose
and program of God, it hadn't happened. It hadn't happened.
And so we rejoice that salvation is in the hands of the Lord.
And we are sorry this morning if you're one of those who hate
this doctrine, we're sorry that you do. But we're duty-bound,
obligated, if all preachers in this nation are going to preach
that a man can fall away and send away his day of grace, I'm
obligated to preach what the Word of God says. Obligated,
I say, to preach what the Word of God says. I must proclaim
the truth of the Scriptures. I'm obligated under God to do
that. Now there are many that misunderstand
this doctrine and of course they accuse us of believing that once
in grace always in grace and certainly We do believe that. It cannot be any other way. Salvation
being of the Lord, it's that way. We cannot add or subtract
anything from what God has done. God has purposed it, and He's
purposed our salvation, and we cannot add to it. Neither can
we take anything away from it. Salvation is of the Lord. You remember that statement.
made in the book of Jonah, chapter 2, I think it is, in verse 8,
that salvation is of the Lord. We are to remember that. Never
let it slip out of your theological thinking. Salvation is of the
Lord. Now, we have never believed that
one can be saved today and lost tomorrow. We cannot believe that
one can be in Christ today and out tomorrow. We do understand
that you may be out today and in tomorrow, but you cannot be
in today and out tomorrow. You cannot be. If you're in Christ,
you're in Christ forever. If you was ever in Him, you are
today. And you're in Him forever. Now, the scripture says that
our hope and confidence rest upon not anything that man is
or anything that man can do, but the security of the believer
rests fully upon the finished work of our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ. For other foundation can no man
lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. And so
the foundation is Christ. And it's through his finished
work that we're saved. But the purpose of God, and this
to me is one of the great blessings of a study of this truth, is
to understand that God's purpose is involved in our salvation.
Now the scripture says in Romans chapter 9 and verse 11, For the
children being not yet born, neither having done any good
or evil, that the purpose of God That the purpose of God,
according to election, might stand not of works, but of him
that calleth. That the purpose of God, according
to election, might stand not of works, but according to him
that calleth. John Gill made a statement that
I appreciate very much and I want to share it with you here. He
says, the final perseverance of the saints may be concluded
from the purposes and the decrees of God, which are infrustrable,
notice that word, infrustrable, I like that, and are always accomplished,
and are always accomplished, that is, the purpose of God,
which cannot be frustrated, will always come to pass. The Lord
of hosts hath purpose, and who shall disannul it, or make it
void, and of no effect? And his hand is stretched out
to execute his purposes, and who shall turn it back from doing
the thing that he is resolved on? As he has thought, so shall
it come to pass, and as he has purposed, it shall stand. quoting
from Isaiah 14 verse 24 through 27. Though there may be a thousand
devices in the hearts of men and devils, they can never counteract
nor undermine the decrees of God. Now that is a statement
which we need to thank a great deal upon. We're told in Ephesians
1.11 that we've obtained an inheritance The people of God have obtained
an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. So you got your inheritance being
predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will. In 2 Timothy 1 verse
9 it says, Who has saved us and called us, not according to our
own works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Turn back to
John 6, to John chapter 6, and let us look here at a couple
of verses. Verse 39, and verse 40, and this is the Father's
will. Jesus had just told His disciples
and others that He had came down from heaven not to do His own
will. He came into this world on a
mission. The Father sent Him from heaven. He came out from
heaven, came down here to this world, and He said, I came to
do the will of Him that sent me. I came to do His will. Now,
then in verse 39, and he tells us here what the Father's will
is. And this is the Father's will,
which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should
lose nothing. All that he hath given me, that
I should lose nothing. You need to think upon, you need
to meditate upon, you need to cogitate upon these plain statements
of the Word of God, lest you should be moved away from the
foundational truths of God's Word. Notice that he said, this
is the Father's will. This is not the will of the Calvinist,
this is the will of the Father. This is the Father's will. Well,
somebody said, this is not the Armenian's will. Well, no, it
may not be the Armenian's will. I'm certain it's not. But this
is the Father's will, which hath sent me, that of all which he
hath given me. Well, the scripture says that
all that the Father giveth me, in the 37th verse, he said, shall
come to me, all that the Father giveth to me. And in John 17,
he points out how that the Father had given him a people. had given
him a people. And so these people belong to
the Lord, they belong to Christ. The Father has given them to
Him. He said that of all which He
has given me that I should lose nothing. Is that difficult to
understand? It is not difficult to understand
if you have If you have the least intelligence, you surely can
understand that the Lord Jesus said, it's the Father's will
that I should lose nothing. Everybody that He's given to
me that I should not lose a one of them. Not a one of them shall
fail to come into everlasting bliss and glory. All of them
will be saved at last. They will be with me throughout
endless ages. They will be with me forever
and ever. They will be with me. I shall
lose nothing. I'm not going to lose them. Now
the Lord Jesus has been put in the care, the sheep have been
put into his care. And he said I will lose nothing.
Now do you suppose that the Lord Jesus Christ would die for these
sheep? And then he would lose his investment. No he will not. The Lord Jesus
died for them to buy their salvation. They have been effectually redeemed
by the death of Christ. And in that they have been effectually
redeemed by Him. They shall be kept. He shall
lose nothing. But shall raise it up again at
the last day. He's going to raise us up. Hallelujah. I believe in the resurrection.
I was reading this week about in Russia the word Sunday means
resurrection. That's what the word means. And
I believe in the resurrection. And I believe That is sure, as
the Lord Jesus Christ came to do the will of the Father, and
He did it in laying down His life to buy the sheep, and is
sure as He redeemed them affectionately, He will not lose them, but they
will be raised up. They will come out of their graves
on resurrection morning. Laugh if you want. tee hee if
you want, but they're going to be raised from the dead because
of our Lord Jesus Christ and his commitment to them. And this
is the will of him that sent me that everyone which seeth
the Son by faith and believeth on him may have everlasting life
and I'll raise him up at the last day." So the Lord Jesus
Christ says it's the Father's will that I lose none. that I lose none. Now there are
some preachers that preach that eternal security, that the safety
and preservation of the sheep leads to licentious living. Now
we recognize the fact that there are some that might possibly,
those who are ungodly, might hide their ungodly lifestyle
under the cloak of this great doctrine and feel that somehow
or other they can get by with it. But when a man takes a rope
and hangs himself, you don't blame the rope because he misuses
it, do you? No, you don't. And there are
some people that misuse this doctrine. Those that use the
grace of God as a license to sin know nothing of the grace
of God. The doctrine of eternal security
It is not a license to sin, but it gives strength to the believer
to persevere in the things of God. I don't know how anybody
could continue. I've been in this way more than
50 years, and I don't know how anybody could continue to walk
as a believer in this world and to stand when it's necessary
to stand against all opposition and many, many times we find
ourselves just completely bombarded from every side by all kinds
of opposition. I don't know how anybody could
do it without the strength that comes from knowing that they're
securely tied to the love and mercy and grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ and that they cannot be separated from it. Now this doctrine
is for the edification of God's elect. It is for their edification,
for their up-building. And it's a safe thing for you,
my friend, to believe what the Word of God says about the security
of God's sheep, and the fact that these sheep that our Lord
talks about here in John 10, that they shall never, never
perish. And another thing this is, is
an encouragement for lost sinners under the conviction of sin.
You get a man, he's under the conviction of sin, and he says,
well, I don't know whether there's any reason for me to pursue salvation
or not. No reason for me to seek the
Lord. But the Scripture says that all that the Father giveth
me shall come to me, and they that come I'll know why it's
cast out. I'm not going to cast them out when they come. And
if you're under conviction by the Spirit, and the Spirit of
God is leading you toward the Lord Jesus, then, my friend,
the thing for you to do is simply come. Come to Christ, because
the Spirit of the Lord is wooing you and drawing you to it, and
He will not cast you out. Now the word sheep is used 48
times in the New Testament, and it's always used as a metaphor
to describe God's elect. Not all men are God's sheep,
only those who were given to the Son by the Father. John 17
and 2 says, As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that
he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And so we see only those chosen
of the Father and given to the Son are designated sheep in the
Bible. Now there are other metaphors
used in the Word of God to describe the goats. And these words, dogs,
swine, pigs, foxes, and so on, are used to describe the non-elect. And they've never been used to
describe the sheep of Christ. His sheep are those whom the
Father chose and the Son redeemed by His precious blood. John 10 and 15 says, As the Father
knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and I lay down my life
for the sheep. Never get tired of making that
statement, and I lay down my life for the sheep. Our Savior
did not lay down his life or shed his precious blood for the
goats, but only for the sheep. Now then, they are described
by specialty of character in our text this morning. Not only
are they chosen of the Father, redeemed by the Son, but their
character is that of a sheep. They are dependent upon their
precious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. John 15 and 5 says, I
am the vine, you're the branches. He that abideth in me, he that
abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit. Hear this, for without me you
can do nothing. For without me you can do nothing.
The sheep are dependent on the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
That ought to humble every one of our hearts down at the feet
of the Savior. Sheep are humble and they're
teachable. They can do nothing without the
Shepherd. They can do nothing without the
Lord Jesus Christ. John 16 and 13 says, Howbeit,
when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into
all truth. For he shall not speak of himself,
but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak. and He will
show you things to come. So the Holy Spirit guides and
teaches His sheep the great truths of God's Word. Are we humble
and are we willing to learn these truths from our blessed Lord? Now if we are, then we can, I
believe, conclude that we are one of the Lord's sheep. Have
we been humbled to learn the truths of the Gospel? Now then,
they're also described in our text by their attentiveness.
My sheep, Jesus said, hear my voice. They hear my voice. Now this is no small miracle. that the sheep of Christ hear
the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is no small blessing. What a wonderful thing it is
to be singled out by Almighty God, the Creator of Heaven and
Earth, who said that all things were in His hands and to hear
His voice in our soul. What a wonderful blessing. You
say, well that might have been for old days. I don't think it's
for days in our time. I think people are just conked
in to making the decision. They make it and they're saved
and that's it. I don't believe that at all. I think you must
hear from God. I think the sheep are still hearing
the voice of the shepherd. God has given them ears to hear
their shepherd's voice. They will hear. They heard his
voice in the effectual call of salvation. You heard it when
God saved you. And John 5, 24 and 25 says, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth
on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily,
I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear it shall
live. They that hear this voice. They heard the gospel in power,
They heard it not in word only, but it was in power. And the
only hope for you that are dead in sin here this morning is that
you will hear the gospel not in word only, but in power. And
it's still true, desperately true. That's the need of the
hour. And when we pray for you, we
pray for you that you'll hear the gospel in power. Because word alone will not bring
you out of sin's death into life. Has there been a time in your
life when you were made alive by the Holy Spirit of God and
you effectually heard the gospel of your salvation? God's sheep
continue to hear their shepherd's voice as long as they pilgrimage
in this world toward heaven. And they hear it initially in
the effectual call and then they continue to hear it. Aren't you
blessed by reading the Word of God? There are some days you
may not get nothing out of it, but there are other times when
The Lord will speak to you, and you'll hear the voice of God
in the scripture, and you'll praise the Lord. Psalm 85 and
8 says, I will hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will
speak peace unto his people and to his saints. You mean to tell
me God's not saying anything? He is! Scripture says that He
will speak peace unto His people, unto His saints. And so David
said, I'll hear what God the Lord will speak. And so the Lord's
people will indeed hear from the Lord. The Lord's sheep hear
God's word, and this is spiritual food for their soul. Now these
sheep are also described here in our text by their obedience.
It says, my sheep hear my voice and they follow me. They follow
me. Somebody said, well, I don't
think that it's necessary to follow the Lord. Well, Jesus
said, my sheep, they hear my voice and they follow me. God's
sheep are marked in foot as well as the ear. Now notice this. The ear mark and the foot mark
must be in every one of God's sheep. They are not ashamed. God's people are not, those that
are regenerate. And you're not the Lord's unless
you are regenerated, have been made alive by the operation of
the Spirit of God in your heart. They're not ashamed to take up
their cross and to follow Him. They followed Him in the call
for salvation, and they follow Him afterwards in baptism and
becoming a member of His church, of His body. Acts 2 and 41 says,
Then they that gladly received his word were baptized, and the
same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. Should we not be concerned about
those who say they're saved and they will not follow the Lord
in baptism or become a member of His church? I think we should.
Matthew 5 and 14 through 16 says, You are the light of the world.
A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid, neither do men
light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick,
and they give us light unto all that are in the house. Let your
light so shine before men that they may see your good works
and glorify your Father which is in heaven. What better way
for their lights to shine than to be a member of the Lord's
church, a member of His body. And David said, I was glad when
they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. And
so we are glad as God's people who are following Christ when
we have an opportunity to go in and fellowship with the Lord's
people. You say it may not take much
to satisfy you, but I want a little more than just coming together
and singing and praying and listening to somebody quote a verse or
preaching a little bit. But my friend, if you're really
God's child, that's what you love. And that's what you want
to do. You want to be where the Lord
meets with His people. So David said, I was glad when
they said to me, let's go to the house of the Lord. Does that
make you glad when somebody says, tomorrow's Sunday? Praise God. Praise the Lord. Tomorrow is
Sunday, the Lord's Day. And what a wonderful thing to
be able to go in the Lord's house. God's sheep put their foot down
in the path of obedience that the Savior left for them. Are
you following the Shepherd's voice? Do you love what He loves,
hate what He hates? If so, I believe there's an indication
here And then there's some privileges that are conferred upon God's
sheep that I want to say a word or two about. The shepherd's
knowledge of these sheep is one of those. And I like this. This has always blessed me. The
Savior knows them in a special and intimate way. I know them. John 10 3 says, To him the porter
openeth, and the sheep hear his voice. He calleth his own sheep
by name, and he leads them out. Brother, sister, did you know
that God knew you before you ever knew Him? Most of you know
that. Most of you know that, that God
knew you before you ever knew Him. He knows every one of His.
He knows them by name because the Bible implies in Revelation
7 and 8 that He wrote their name in the Lamb's Book of Life before
the foundation of the world. Now this intimate foreknowledge
is not based upon our response to Him, but His own sovereign
will and purpose that we were talking about a little while
ago. And in 2 Timothy 2 and 19 it says, nevertheless the foundation
of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them
that are His. God knows them that are His. Now a vote may get in to the
visible assembly. They may get in. But I want you
to know this, that the Lord never knew them in the special way
that He knows His own. Matthew 7 and 23 tells us that
the Lord says, depart from Me, I never knew you. And there are
some people that will get in that are not sheep, they're goats,
they're tares, in with the wheat. But the Lord knows them that
are His. That's very comforting. He told
Jeremiah the prophet, He said, before you were formed in the
belly, I knew thee, Jeremiah 1 and 5. And before thou cameest
forth out of the womb, I had set you apart and ordained you
to be a prophet unto the nations. I knew you, Jeremiah. I knew
you before you was ever born. Before you were ever conceived
in the womb, I knew you already. I knew you. And so the Lord knows
His people, and how precious it is to be known by the Great
Shepherd, to be known of the Lord and to be owned by the Lord. How precious, how precious that
is. Is not such knowledge worthy
of our complete submission to the Lord and our love, the whole
heart being in love with the Lord Jesus Christ, fully given
over in submission to Him a thousand times, yes. God help us to trust
and obey His will in such a way that we will honor and glorify
Him for His having known us. from before old time. And then
let me say a word or two about the quality of the life that
they have. According to our text, they have
eternal life. They've been given eternal life.
The other night in the prayer meeting, there'll be a few in
number, but I was talking about the fact that we didn't believe
in death, we didn't believe in the coffin, and we didn't believe
in the grave, we believed in eternal life. That's what we
believe in. Forget the rest of it. We believe
in eternal life. Now then, why couldn't we just
think on that when our old body is suggesting that death is coming
and when we go to the funeral home and see the coffin and we
see the graves being dug, let's just forget it. and less believe
in eternal life. That's the kind of life God's
people have. That's the kind of life the sheep have. It's
called eternal life because God is eternal. He's eternal. His life is eternal. John 3 and
16 says, For God so loved the people that he called out of
the world, the world of the elect, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life. John 3.36 says, He that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.
He has everlasting life. Everlasting life. John 5.24 says,
Verily, verily, I say to you, he that heareth my word believeth
on him that sent me hath everlasting life. That's the kind of life
they have. All men are going to live forever.
I believe that. All men are going to live forever. But only the elect of God will
live eternally with God. Only the elect are going to live
eternally. Beloved, it is a very hard thing
for you and I to comprehend with our finite minds eternal life. A very difficult
thing. Now we have words that we can
describe it with. For an example, how long is eternal
life? Well, somebody said it's forever
and forever. Well, that's alright too. Somebody said it's life without
end. Okay, that's alright too. But my friend, talk about the
quality of life. Can one improve upon eternity
with the Lord? Can one improve upon that? Absolutely
not. There is no way to improve upon
my being eternally shut in with the Lord Jesus Christ. Be eternally
His. And so the Bible says in 1 Thessalonians
4, 17, so shall we ever be with the Lord. Paul told the church
of the Thessalonians, so shall I, so shall we ever be with the
Lord. That's eternal life, my friend.
When time is no more, when the heavens and the earth pass away,
we shall be forever in the presence of God, His holy, His eternal
presence. Now then, I want to mention this
too, that this eternal life is a gift. Jesus says, I give it
unto them. John 10 and 28 says, and I give
unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall
any man pluck them out of my hand. Christ gives eternal life
to His elect. It is not something they earn
or work for. Man's nature is to try to please God by doing
this or that to earn acceptance with the Lord. And this is not,
man cannot do that. If you're going to be saved,
you have to be saved by receiving from the hand of the Lord Jesus
Christ the free gift of eternal life. Romans 6 and 23 says, for
the wage of sin is death, but the gift of God, the gift of
God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now beloved,
listen. If a man thinks that he can work
for eternal life, he's expecting high wages for sorry and shoddy
work. Now think about that a little
bit. If a man thinks that he can earn eternal life, who does
he think he is? There's no way you're going to
get eternal life except of it being given to you, Titus 3 and
5 says, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to His mercy He saved us by the washing of regeneration and the
renewal brought about by the Holy Ghost. Eternal life is a
gift. It's not to be worked for. It
must be received because God is a merciful and gracious God
and He is A God that gives eternal life. And Acts 4 and 12 it says,
and this is only found in a person. And that person is the Lord Jesus
Christ. Union with Him who is life. Christ is life. And you only
have eternal life when you have Him. When man has the Son, he
has life. 1 John 5 says. And Acts 4 and
12 says, neither is there salvation in any other. For there is none
other name given among men whereby we must be saved. And so we get
eternal life from a person. There's no eternal life in the
ordinances of the church. There's no eternal life in the
preacher shaking hands with the preacher. No eternal life regardless
of what the Camelites will tell you in the baptismal pool. No
eternal life to be had anywhere except in union with a person. And that person is the Lord Jesus
Christ. And that's what Jesus meant when
he said, The Father which gave them me is greater than all.
The Father gave Him to us and that's our eternal life. The
gift of His Son to us. And if you have Him, then you
have eternal life. Now let's say a few words here
coming down to the end about the security of these sheep.
John 10, 27, 28 says, My sheep hear My voice, I know them, they
follow Me, I give them eternal life, they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. Christ says that
He gives us eternal life and He means exactly that. He said,
I give it to them. Now if we can't believe what
the Lord Jesus Christ said about eternal life being given by Him
to His sheep, then beloved, all the promises of God are to be
thrown out. We're not to believe any of them
if we don't believe that salvation is by a gift. God giving it unto
us. All the promises of God the Bible
says are yea and amen, in Christ Jesus let God be true, and every
man, every man a liar. Let God be true. That's what
the Lord Jesus said. Now the Savior's promised here
that they shall never perish. Let's reflect on that a moment.
Well, somebody said, what happens if they wander away? Jesus said,
they shall never perish. What happens if they wander away?
But what if they backslide? I heard somebody use that word
just the other day. We backslide a lot. But what
if they backslide? What if they grow cold and indifferent? Somebody said so-and-so is very
indifferent right now. But what if they fall into sin,
somebody says? Well, Jesus said, and that's
what Jesus, I'm telling you what he said. What I would have to
say about it is not worth a snap of your finger, but I'm telling
you what Christ said. He said, they shall never perish. And that's His promise. That's
the promise that He made. Every one of God's sheep will
be preserved. Jude 1.24 says, Jude, the servant
of Jesus Christ, the brother of James, to them that are sanctified
by God the Father, preserved in Jesus Christ, and called now
unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, to present
you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. Now beloved, God's sheep can
do a lot of things, but one thing that they will not do is perish. Now you mark it down. We have
the Savior's word for that. God's sheep may be tempted. They may be tried. They may fall. Oh, they may fall. You remember
the little poem that said, If sheep of Christ could fall away,
my fickle feeble soul would alas fall a thousand times a day.
And certainly we would. But God's sheep may be tempted,
they may be tried, they may fall, they may grow weary, they may
become discouraged, they may even deny their Lord like Peter
did, they may fall into sin, but they shall never perish. Why is that? Philippians 1.6
says, being confident of this very thing, that he which hath
begun the good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus
Christ. They may get down, but they shall
never be utterly cast down, for their Lord upholdeth them with
his hand. 2 Timothy 1.12 says, for the
which cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I am not
ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded. that He is able to keep that
which I have committed unto Him against that day. I'm persuaded!
I've committed my soul to Him! And I've committed that to Him
in faith, and I believe that He'll keep it through that day,
that day of judgment, that day, that ending day. They may not
always live up to their commitment, but rest assured, God will live
up to His. Rest assured, my friend. Be comforted,
my friend. God will live up to His. You
say, I know somebody didn't live up to their commitment. I know
a lot of people like that. I know a whole lot of people
broke their vows. Hadn't lived up to their commitment. But I
will tell you this, that God will live up to His. He will. Now the Father's promise,
the Father's promise, that was the Son's promise. They shall
never perish. Now the Father's promise, they
shall never perish. John 10, 28, 29, again, I give
them eternal life, they shall never perish, neither shall any
man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, my Father, which gave
them me is greater than all. I'm driving this nail, you see,
and we're hitting it with a hammer, and we're driving this nail.
I want you to see this. My Father, which gave them me
is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck, I looked up
the word, snatch, snatch, them out of my Father's hand. Now
there shall be many people that will be plucking at them, snatching
at them, but none shall ever snatch them out of the Father's
hand. Old Satan shall give many a hard pluck to get us out of
the Father's hand. And he has along the way. Has
he not tried to snatch you out of the Father's hand? But his
effort is futile. He cannot get you out of the
Father's hand. For those that would deny this
precious truth, I ask you a question. Is anyone stronger than God?
I mean, are we stronger than He? Paul asked that question
in one of the epistles in Corinthians. Since God preserves this whole
world and keeps it, can He not also keep that which cost Him
the blood of His only begotten Son? The sheep are in the hand
of their precious Savior, and then the Father puts His hand
over the Son, and that's security. That's what that is. Our text
said the Father is greater than all. Well, to me, that means
He's greater than our troubles, brother, sister. He's greater than our troubles. It means to me that He's greater
than all the demons in the underworld. It means that to me. I believe
in demon activity. I know there's a lot of it that
goes on right under our very noses. But the Father is greater
than all demons. Greater than all the sins that
you can commit. The Father is greater than your
sin. Greater than all your trials and all your tribulations. Greater. The Father is greater. You see
how important that is to see? Now Paul summed it up in Romans
8, 35-39. Listen to the word of God. Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation,
or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril,
sword, as it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the
day long, we are counted as sheep for the slaughter, nay, in all
these things, We are more than conquerors through him that loved
us, for I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels,
nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things
to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall
be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord." So Romans 8 begins with no condemnation and it ends
with no separation. Remember Romans 8-1, there is
therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. And then at the end of the chapter,
no separation. No condemnation, no separation. Hallelujah. Praise His name. Alright? There will never be
anything past, present, or future that can separate God's elect
from their shepherd. Greater is He that is in us than
he that is in the world. That's what it says in 1 John.
Now, wouldn't that give you a little bit of comfort? Are you still
torn with the idea that you've messed this thing up? And that
you started out and you were believing and you were trusting
and you were saved and then you got lost again. You still believe
in that kind of foolishness? He that is in us is greater than
he that is in the world. Who is it in the world that's
going to pluck you out of the Father's hand, snatch you out
of His hand? You can't do it. God said, they're
mine. I'll be their God. They're my
people. And I'm responsible for them,
and they're saved, and they will be eternally with me. Well, let
us praise God that these sheep shall never perish. His sheep,
they shall never perish. Well, I wouldn't apologize for
any of God's truth. And I've heard others that just
kind of more or less indicated that they maybe thought it might
be a little better if it was some other way. But my friend,
I want you to know this, and surely, surely, without doubt,
there are some other sinners here who feel the same way about
this as I do. I'll tell you what, this is the way that it has to
be let me in. It's the way it's got to be.
I praise God this morning for the doctrine of the security
of the believer. Because if it wasn't for God's
salvation being a free gift to me, and that it could not be
lost after it was given, I'd be lost. I'd be lost. This fickle feeble soul would
fall a thousand times a day. that God has spared me. And now, I think we ought to
praise the Lord. I just think we ought to praise
Him. This is the precious truth. And
it ought to humble us down at the Savior's feet. It ought to
make us to worship God. And then I think we ought to
show our loving gratitude for what the Lord's done by waiting
before Him to make us all that a sovereign God would be pleased
to make us. seeing that it is God who worketh
in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. So my thought
is, worship Him. Worship Him. I believe a man
who believes this truth and has listened to the Word of God and
various scriptures that have been offered and presented to
you this morning, I believe that you are inclined to worship. Worship Him and believe Him. Trust Him. Praise Him from your
heart. for the glorious salvation and
the glorious grace that He has shed on us abundantly through
Jesus Christ our Lord. May the Lord be pleased to own
this message and may some poor child of God who is stumbling
around, who feels like they've lost out and that they've destroyed
all that God has ever done in them, may you take heart and
be strengthened this morning, be encouraged to go forward in
the name of our lovely Redeemer, the Lord Jesus. Let's pray. Father,
thank you that we've been privileged this morning to study a portion
of your Word. Thank you, Father, for your glorious
truth. Thank you for the Holy Spirit that has brought these
things very clear to our minds and to our hearts. And thank
you, Lord, that we're able to feed on them. How glorious that
we've been able to feed our poor souls, famished souls in some
respects, upon a precious portion from your word today. We thank
you, Lord, for setting the table for us. And Father, we do ask
that you will bless this people, encourage this people, and I
pray if there's a dear one here this morning that would cast
themselves upon you, Lord, that you will not, according to your
faithful promise, you will not cast them out. You will receive
them, and you will bless them. And we just pray that you might
be pleased, Lord, to own this Word to that end. In Jesus' name,
Amen.