John chapter 10 and 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. Do 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. I got an 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 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 for
us. Nothing can be put to it I'm
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 he 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 have Neither shall any man pluck them out
of my hand." Now 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
time, all circumstances, 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 I 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 70 times seven? They shall never perish. 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 and 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 won't make a mockery of this
thing, I'll 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 stand, 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 sin 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. Just 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 through our eyes of flesh, the foundation
of God standeth sure. Having this seal, the Lord knoweth
in what it is. 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 purpose shall stand I God Almighty
is in all things a God of purpose and his purpose is the salvation
of his sheep John chapter 6 in verse 37 All that the father
giveth me present tense. Oh God send your spirit tonight
and give some sheep to your son All the father giveth me 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 while. 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 he said. This
is the will of him that sent me That of all which he hath
given me you see that now not present tense past tense All
Which he had 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 every walk. I will redeem them. I will establish
righteousness for them. I'll send my spirit and fetch
them, and I'll bring them every one home. Trust me with them.
And the Father trusts 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, Bob talked about this back in the office
a moment ago. Oh, what a wonder I can see. 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 surety ship 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 will he has somehow provided
salvation for you If you will cooperate or if you will 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 do you 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 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. But it darted with regard to
righteousness and atonement. I, oh my God, If you can get hold of that,
oh, your soul will rejoice before Him and you'll recognize you
owe Him everything. Christ paid all my debt, all
my debt. He bore all my punishment, all
of it. That means that God has now no
reason to punish me for anything. His justice has been satisfied.
The Lord Jesus Christ has of 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 in verse
10 For if when we were enemies We
were reconciled to God by the death of his son They see that
already done But 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 in 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 there. 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 is guilty If
God says justified it doesn't matter who else says not justified
God is the one who justifies 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 dead. The trial's open. 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. Oh, how happy, how blessed is
that man unto whom the Lord will not impute. Now 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 sin had 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 below 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, look into Christ, gladly seeing these
works. 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 spirit's 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 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 propitiatory 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 it happens, 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 he's
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. All right,
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 them say what joy for the joy. I'm promising them The joy
of eternal life with full assurance of fame Would the God we can 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 everyone 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 Keep them
easy Our calls can never never fail for Jesus please 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 that 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 say 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, oh yes. A seal implies legal protection. Now with regard to earthly seals,
not 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 hands. My Father which
gave them me is greater than all, and no man can pluck them
out of my Father's hands. 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 to
believe in the Son of God. God helped you to believe for
Christ's sake. Amen.