I believe I have a message that
will be a blessing to the hearts of every child of God here, and
I trust will be a means by which God will grant to you who know
him not life and faith in our Redeemer. There are just two
categories of people in this world, when all's said and done.
Now listen carefully. When all's said and done, black
and white, rich and poor, male and female, bond and free, nothing. Nothing. There are only two categories
of people in this world, sheep and goats. That's all. That's
all. There are those in this world
who are the objects of God's everlasting love, His grace and
His mercy in Jesus Christ. They're called His sheep. Now,
sheep were never goats and goats will never become sheep. And
God's only concern, as Rex said so properly in his prayer just
a minute ago, God's only concern next to his glory for anything
in this world is his sheep. Just his sheep. And the sooner
we learn to imitate him in this, the happier, more peaceful, more
restful our lives will be in this world. Paul mentioned in
the room back there a little bit ago things that concern us
and disturb us because of the society we're in. the corruption,
the immorality, the decadence of this age. And those things,
to a measure, ought to concern us. To a measure, ought to be
of grave concern to us, recognizing that men are perishing under
the wrath of God. But the society in which we live
is a society and a generation under the curse of God Almighty.
It is no wonder that we are flooded with homosexuality and abortion
and AIDS and all the stuff that goes along with it. We live in
a generation cursed of God. And we need to recognize that.
But God's sheep aren't cursed. And the Lord God does what he
does, including the curse upon the goats for the sake of his
sheep. Now, the Lord's sheep are well-named
sheep because sheep are weak helpless, defenseless creatures. I can't think of anything more
weak, more helpless, or more defenseless that walks around
on legs than she. They have no strength at all
to withstand their enemies. If they're lost, they're sublumen
dumb. They can't ever find their way home. If they're sick, they
can't fight off disease. If they're threatened, they can't
run fast enough to outrun danger. And if they're attacked, they
can't defend themselves against anything. Can't defend themselves
against anything. Have no ability. The only security
sheep has is in their shepherd. Oh, but what blessed security
that is. If their shepherd is wise and good and strong, then
they're perfectly secure. If the sheep survive, if they
live, if they're healthy, if they flourish, all the honor
goes to the shepherd. And if the sheep should perish,
the blame belongs only to the shepherd. That's exactly right. Sheep are not responsible for
themselves, the shepherd is. That was taken care of when the
sheep were given to the shepherd's hands. It is the shepherd's responsibility
and the shepherd's responsibility alone to keep his sheep. Now with those things in mind,
let's read our text together in John chapter 10 and verse
27. John chapter 10, verse 27. I would like to just pause with
every word. When you meditate on this, just
stop and think about every word. The Son of God is speaking. He
says, my, my sheep. My sheep hear. Every one of them
do. They hear my voice. Nobody else's. And I know them. I know them. I know everything about them,
but I know them. I know them. I know them like I know nobody
else. I know them with a special knowledge of love and grace and
mercy and all my appointments for them. I know them. And they
follow me, no exceptions. His sheep follow him. And I give
unto them, I give unto them eternal, eternal, eternal, eternal life. And they shall never. Now if you have a wide margin
Bible, I'd suggest you write out a paragraph of words. Never
under any circumstances, for any reason, for any cause, at
anybody's hand, for anything that comes to pass or anything
they do or don't do, they shall never, never, never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. My Father which gave them to
me. Who? His sheep. All his sheep? All of them. When? Before the
world began. My Father which gave them me. He is greater than all. And no
man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father, well we're one. We're one. The doctrine of our
Lord in this text is very plain and obvious. We who believe are
Christ's sheep, weak, helpless, defenseless creatures. And the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is our shepherd, wise, good,
and strong. And since Christ is our shepherd,
we who are his sheep are perfectly secure in his hands. Secure in
him. This is what the Son of God,
our dear shepherd, says concerning his sheep. They shall never Now
those words will be our subject this evening. I want to preach
to you as plainly as God the Holy Spirit will allow, as plainly
as I possibly can, about the absolute, infallible, irreversible,
unwavering security of every one of Christ's sheep. Now I
realize that many pervert the doctrine that I preach and that
I'm going to preach to you this evening. They pervert the doctrine
of Holy Scripture concerning the eternal security and preservation
of God's elect in Christ. There are many who twist and
pervert the Scriptures and turn the truth of God into a lie to
the eternal ruin of their own souls. They attempt to justify
their ungodliness by claiming that they believe in God's sovereignty,
and since they believe in God's sovereignty, we know everything
is of the Lord, and we really can't do anything about how we
behave, and thus reject all responsibility for behaving properly before
God. There are multitudes who try to soothe their consciences
with the delusion that they are saved, though they live in utter,
abhorrent ungodliness. And then there are others who
cry, well, such preaching, this matter of preaching eternal security
and insisting that God's elect will never perish no matter what,
such preaching is that, they say, promotes lawlessness, sin,
licentiousness, and antinomianism. Well, because such people are
ruled by law, they presume that everyone else must be ruled by
law. Since they are forced servants, they presume that there's no
such thing as a voluntary servant. Since they are mercenaries and
serve God for what they get from Him, they presume that all God's
people are mercenaries. But the fact is, none of God's
people are. Since they must be ruled by law and by the strictures
of the law, they presume that there is no such thing as voluntary
obedience. Nothing could be further from
the truth. Now, I'm sorry for the fact that some are offended
by this doctrine, and others pervert this doctrine, and others
use this doctrine for the destruction of their own souls. But I'm not
going to hold back God's truth from you because some nut's going
to abuse it. I'm not going to hold back God's
truth because men will pervert it. I like what Mr. Spurgeon
said talking about a similar doctrine one time. He said just
because some idiot hangs himself with a rope, we are not going
to stop making rope. And just because men take the
truth of God and use it to destroy their souls, we're not going
to stop proclaiming God's truth. Just because men are offended
by it, there's no reason not to preach it. Our Lord Jesus
Christ never hesitated to preach the truth, even when he knew,
especially when he knew, that that which he preached would
bring upon him the contempt of those to whom he preached and
would be offensive to them in their self-righteousness. The
Lord Jesus preached the fulfillment of the law. He said, I've come
here to establish, to fulfill every letter of the law. And
they said, he's an antinomian, he's against the law, he's an
enemy of God's law. He preached God's sovereign election
and they picked up stones, gonna kill him. Right here in this
10th chapter of John, he said, I and my father are one now.
Russellites and Mormons, they may have trouble with this. Other
folks may have trouble with this. Well, we don't really know whether
Jesus ever claimed to be God or not. The Jews understood that
he did. They picked up rocks and said, we're going to kill
you because you're a man. And you said, you're God. That's exactly what
he taught here. And he knew what their response
would be. But he must declare truth in the teeth of man's opposition
if he would be faithful to truth. The Son of God preached the free
forgiveness of sin. He said that He has come and
freely forgives sin. And the religious crowd said,
well, He's the friend of publicans and sinners. He's the promoter
of licentiousness. He's telling men that all their
sins can be and are freely forgiven only by pure grace. The Lord
Jesus Christ preached moral freedom. He declared that men have a freedom
of conscience in Him and free before Him to walk before Him
and serve Him with willing hearts and glad hearts. They're not
constrained by force of law. They're not constrained by rules
and regulations, but rather they walk before Him with freedom,
constrained only by the love of Christ that's established
in their hearts, only by faith in Christ, only by the desire
for His glory. And those who heard him said,
this man's a glutton and a winebibber. Everybody except folks who understood
what he said. Those who understood what he
said, oh, thank God he's come to fulfill the law. Thank God
for free electing love. Thank God for free forgiveness,
for freedom in Jesus Christ the Lord. Now following our Lord's
example then, I want to proclaim to you in the clearest terms
possible The absolute security and preservation of God's elect
in Christ. I hope that to you this seems
to be just an elementary doctrine. But you would be amazed at the
number of people, you'd be amazed at the number of people who stand
in utter confusion with regard to the security of God's elect. Some of you may yet be confused
by it, I hope not. Some who hear this message may
twist and pervert the doctrine to the ruin of their own souls.
I hope not. But for you who believe, there
is not a doctrine in all the Word of God more comforting,
more assuring, more full of hope to your souls. I recognize that
the Word of God teaches the perseverance of the saints. Those who are
born of God, every believer, every true born child of God,
shall and will and must persevere to the end. Every believer will
continue in the faith of Jesus Christ. We both believe and keep
on believing. The true believer begins in faith,
lives in faith, and dies in faith. You read Hebrews chapter 11 as
the Holy Spirit inspired the writer of Hebrews to give a description
of those great examples of faith. This is how the scriptures describe
them. These all died in faith. And believers do. They continue
steadfast unto the end. He that endureth to the end,
the same shall be saved. Somebody said, well, then that
means that some folks who are saved are not going to endure
to the end. Doesn't mean any such thing. It just means that some
folks who said they were saved, some folks who thought they were
saved, some folks you thought were saved, are after all lost
and they shall not endure to the end. But the believer shall
endure to the end. Our Lord said, you're my disciples
if you continue in my word. He said over and over again,
we're heirs of God's house. Hebrews chapter 3 verse 14. If
we continue and hold steadfast the beginning of our confidence,
steadfast to the end. The Apostle Paul said, this gospel
you believe, it's that gospel by which you're saved if you
hold it steadfast unto the end. We are the house of God over
which Jesus Christ is the chief one, the preeminent one, the
firstborn son, if you continue steadfast in the faith. Believers
then persevere in the faith. The word of God is as clear and
plain as it can possibly be in this regard. Only those who continue
in the faith shall enter into glory. This is the doctrine of
the final perseverance of the saints. Having said that, understand
this. The Bible teaches and teaches
plainly that God's elect persevere in faith because we are preserved
in grace. You understand that? It is not
the other way around. It is not that we are preserved
in the grace of God because we keep ourselves in faith. Oh no,
if that were the case, none of us would have lasted five seconds.
Oh no, we are preserved by the grace of God and therefore we
persevere or continue in the faith. Those who are truly born
of God most certainly do persevere. Persevere because they are preserved
in Christ by God's grace. Not one of God's elect shall
perish. No possibility. The Word of God teaches this
as plain as it can be, as we'll see in just a moment. We believe
and preach both perseverance and preservation. Regrettably,
both the Armenians and most of what's called Reformed Protestant
or Calvinistic theologians and preachers teach perseverance
as though it were some kind of a work that you do. They teach
perseverance as though somehow this is something that after
all is laid on your shoulders and depends on you, and the Lord's
not going to do this for you. I'm going to tell you this, if
you take one step to glory, and you take the last step into glory,
it'll be because the Lord God brought you in there. If we persevere,
it's because He preserved us. Perseverance is the believer
continuing in faith. Preservation is God keeping his
people in faith. Perseverance is the believer
holding on to Christ. Preservation is Christ holding
on to the believer by the hand of his almighty grace. I've often
illustrated it, and this is not even accurate really, but I don't
know a better way to illustrate it. You take a little baby, trying
to teach it to walk, and you hold it up by its hands. Now,
the security The strength is not in the baby's legs. The safety
is not in that baby's grip on you. And you come along and you
see a puddle of water and you just pick it up, lift it right
over the puddle of water. And the baby is holding with
all its might. But if you let go, that baby's gonna fall. All
you gotta do is let go because it has no strength to hold you.
Now, we, by the hand of faith, hold to Christ the Lord. But
we hold Him. Because He holds us by His almighty
grace. Do you understand that? That's
what perseverance and preservation is. Jesus, our God and Savior,
guide and counselor and friend, He will never, never leave us,
nor will let us quite leave Him. Aren't you glad? He said, I'll
never leave thee nor forsake thee. And here in this text of
Scripture, He fulfills what He promised in Hosea chapter 2.
I'll betroth thee unto me in faithfulness. You'll never leave
me, you'll never forsake me. Having Christ then as our shepherd,
all of God's sheep are absolutely secure in his hands. It is not
possible, it is not possible for a true believer to perish
because we are preserved by the grace of God in Jesus Christ
the Lord. Now let me show you two things,
just two things. Our text speaks first of a divine
distinction and secondly of a divine gift. Here is a divine distinction. My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. Let men laugh and mock and ridicule
and deride as they will. Let men denounce us as heretics
and denounce us as hard-nosed, divisive church splitters, as
they will. Let men do whatever they take a notion to do. I'm
not too much concerned. I've just almost gotten beyond
the possibility of some man's words or opinions affecting what
I'm doing. This is God's truth, and it needs to be proclaimed
from the housetops. God Almighty is no respecter of persons. That
does not mean that God is no distinguisher of persons, but
just the opposite. Men say, well, God's no respecter
of persons. We don't believe in election. That ain't what
it teaches. No. When it says God's no respecter
of persons, it means nothing you're going to do to get his
respect. Nothing about you that's going to win His favor. But God,
being no respecter of persons, is sovereign, absolutely sovereign
in the disposition of His grace and in the distributing of His
favors in Jesus Christ the Lord. He does distinguish between men. He does indeed choose some and
pass by others. Sometimes folks ask me, well,
what if I'm not one of the elect? Well, you're going to hell if
you're not. That's just all there is to it. Best thing for you
to do is plead with God for mercy and grace. You say, what good
will that do? Won't do any good, not one of his elect, but you
won't do it unless you are. Only believers seek his mercy and
grace. Only his chosen ones call on
him and seek his favor. God passes by some, chooses others.
He redeems some and not others. He calls some and not others.
He saves some and not others. The Scriptures are as plain as
they can be. The grace of God is His sovereign prerogative. He has mercy on whom He will
have mercy. Let me show you a clear demonstration
of this in Hebrews 2. Hebrews 2. This is one of the clearest,
most profound, declarations of God's absolute sovereignty and
grace you'll find anywhere in the Bible. It's describing the
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ into this world. In verse 16,
for verily he took not on him the nature of angels. Did the
angels sin? Yeah. Are they cursed? Yeah. Did he give them a chance
to be saved? No. Did he offer grace to them? No. Did he redeem them? No. Did he come to have mercy on
them? No. He took not on him the nature
of angels. Now read the next line. But he
took on him or he took hold of the seed of Adam. That's not
what it says, is it? He took on him. He took hold
of the seed of Abraham. How come? Because Abraham is
God's elect. Abraham represents the covenant
family. Abraham represents all who believe the gospel. Jesus
Christ came into this world and took hold of Abraham's seed. That's you and me who are God's
elect to save them. Our Lord Jesus clearly teaches
us His sovereignty and salvation in this 10th chapter of John.
He said to the unbelieving Jews who were cavilling at everything
he said, just carp, carp, carp. I don't like that. We don't like
this. You preach too strict. Your doctrine's all the time
talking about God's sovereignty. You don't give us anything. And
the Lord Jesus said, you believe not. Verse 26. You believe not. You believe not. Because you
are not of my sheep. If you were my sheep, you'd believe
me. If you're my sheep, you'd hear my voice. If you're my sheep,
you'd hear my doctrine. If you're my sheep, you'd follow
me. Somebody wrote me today asking me about this thing of what men
know. Can a man be an Arminian and
be saved? Can a man believe salvation partly
of God and partly of him and be saved? Nuts. That's just nuts. His sheep hear his voice. I was
saved when I was an Arminian. No, you weren't. No, you weren't. I'm sorry, you were not. No,
I'm not sorry. I don't apologize for God. That's just the way
it is. His sheep hear his voice. He said, they follow me. You're
not my sheep. Because you're not my sheep,
he said, you believe not. Now catch these words and let
them sink deep into your heart. God, our Savior, says of you
and I who believe, these people are my sheep. My sheep, because
of the distinct election, I chose them. You've not chosen me, but I've
chosen you. He branded us as his sheep before
the world began, set a badge on us and said, these are mine.
He set a hedge about us and said, these shall never escape me.
But he rather secured our everlasting salvation. Look in verse 16. Other sheep I have. He doesn't
say other sheep I'm gonna have when they pretty please let me
save them. These other sheep I have, they're mine already.
They just don't know it yet. They're my sheep. Them also I
must bring. They're not of this fold, this
Jewish fold, this present fold, this congregation sitting here
tonight. Them also I must bring. Must. It's incumbent upon me
because I as the shepherd said I'll bring them. And they shall
hear my voice. There shall be one fold and one
shepherd. These are my sheep, by my divine
distinction, by a distinct purchase I've made for them. Look in verse
11. I'm the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the goats and the sheep. It doesn't read that way, does
it? The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. He says
in verse 15, as the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father,
and I lay down my life. for the sheep, that is, for their
salvation, and in their place, in their room, and in their stand.
I purchased them. They're my sheep. The Lord Jesus
Christ has then made us to be his sheep by a distinct call
as well. In verse 3, we read, he calleth
his own sheep. And he calls his own sheep by
name. And he leads them out. How much
more plain could it be? The good shepherd comes. And
the Spirit of God opens the way before him, and he calls his
sheep. And he calls them by name. He
came and said, Don Fortner, no. No, no, no, no, no. No, there
might be 100,000 Don Fortners. I don't know. He came and said,
sinner, follow me. And this sinner followed him.
He calls his sheep by name. He comes and says, ungodly, follow
me. and the ungodly, every one of
them follow him. Every one of them. So a preacher,
everybody's ungodly. Go ask somebody. Why don't you next time you talk
to your daddy, your granddaddy, your mama, your grandma, say,
mama, did you realize you're ungodly? Be glad you're sitting
on the other end of the line 1,000 miles away. No, nobody's
ungodly except his sheep. And then only when he makes them
to know they're his sheep. The Lord Jesus calls his own
sheep by name and leads them out. Out of darkness into light. Out of bondage into liberty.
Out of religious delusion into religious knowledge. Out of death
into life. And they follow him. These are
they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. Do you hear the shepherd's
voice? Do you hear the shepherd's voice?
As he speaks through his word, do you hear his voice? Now then,
here's the divine gift. I give unto them eternal life. Why do we believe in eternal
security? Because the gift of God is temporary life. No, it's not. The gift of God
is eternal life. And Bobby, it wouldn't be eternal
if you could lose it tomorrow, or if you could lose it in a
hundred years. It's eternal life. You say, well that's talking
about the quality of life. I understand that. I understand
that. But it's also talking about the
duration of it. It's his life that he gives. Eternal life. Everlasting life. There was nothing
in us which caused Him originally to give us eternal life. He gave
us eternal life though we were dead in trespasses and in sins,
helpless, guilty, doomed, damned, ungodly, wretched men and women.
He gave us eternal life. Now what do you suppose is going
to cause Him to take it away? If there was nothing in us that
caused Him to give it to start with and He knew when He gave
it to us that we would be such things as we are. Why would you
think he'd take it away from us? I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish. Turn back to Psalm 89 for just
a second. I love this psalm. Verse 30,
this is a psalm about Christ, our Lord, represented by David.
This is God's promise. If his children forsake my law
and walk not after my judgments, if they break my statutes and
keep not my commandments, that's us. Then will I visit their transgressions
with the rod and their iniquity with stripes, and look at this
next word, and shout praise to God nevertheless. Nevertheless, no matter what
you are, no matter what you do, no matter how low you fall, no
matter how vile you become. You who are his sheep, he says,
nevertheless, my loving kindness will I not take from him. Not from Lindsey Campbell, from
him, your substitute, your shepherd. For him to take it from you means
he takes it from him. And blessed be his name, that'll
never Therefore, this promise stands. They shall never perish. That means everything's all right.
It is well with my soul. Brother Scott Richardson said
in our conference one year, standing in this pulpit, he said, I never
heard any bad news since I got the good news. It is well with
my soul. Let's sing a couple of verses
of that hymn, Ron. We'll be dismissed for that.