They Shall Never Perish

I want you to take your Bibles
today and open them to the 10th chapter of John, verse 27 and
28. John 10, 27, 28. Now, my subject
today is they shall never perish, they shall never perish. In John
10, verse 27, our Lord says, My sheep hear my voice, and I
know them, and they follow and I give unto them eternal life,
and they shall never perish." Now, my friends, the subject
that I am dealing with has been argued and debated for many years. It has been called eternal security. It has been called once in grace,
always in grace. It has been called by the old-timers
the perseverance of the But I want to call it what the Lord Jesus
called it. He says, they shall never perish. My sheep hear my voice, I know
them, they follow me, and I give them eternal life and they shall
never perish. And that's our subject. Just
what Christ said, they shall never perish. Now we have the
message divided into three parts so that you might remember it.
First of all, what is this doctrine? that we're teaching. And then
secondly, what does the Bible say about it? And then thirdly,
why is it important? Now that's three good questions,
wouldn't you say? What is the doctrine? That's
the first question. What are we talking about? They
shall never perish. And then secondly, let's go to
the scriptures. What does the Bible say about
it? And then thirdly, why is it important? Now first of all,
what is the doctrine? they shall never perish. And
I want to make it perfectly clear, because it's important that we
make clear what we're teaching. I think much of the abuse which
has been heaped upon this doctrine, this teaching, has arisen because
men do not understand it. It has been misrepresented. Now,
when I say they shall never perish, this is what I mean. I mean this.
The Word of God teaches that true believers in Jesus Christ,
those who have been quickened by the Holy Spirit, those who
have been brought to repentance toward God, genuine, continual
repentance, those who have been brought to genuine faith in Jesus
Christ, shall continue in that repentance, shall continue in
that faith of Christ to the end of their lives, and then they
shall be perfectly conformed to the image of God's Son. They
shall never perish, not on this earth and not in the world to
come. They shall never be lost. Once
in Christ, they shall always be in Christ. Once made children
of God, they shall always be children of God. Once quickened
by the Holy Spirit and endued with the Spirit of grace, they
shall always be endued with the Spirit of grace. once forgiven,
pardoned, and justified, they shall always be pardoned and
justified. As Paul said, who shall anything
to the charge of God's elect? Who is he that condemned? Christ
is died, yea, rather, is risen again, who is even at the right
hand of God, who maketh intercession for us. Once joined to Christ,
Jesus the Lord, that union shall never be broken. Now listen to
me. The ungodly and the unbeliever has no part in this promise. My sheep, Christ said, hear my
voice, I know them, my sheep, and they shall never perish,
my sheep shall never perish. The ungodly have no part in this,
it doesn't belong to that vast multitude who has no interest
in Christ, no interest in the gospel, no interest in the things
of God, no faith in the Son of God, except they repent, they
shall perish. That's what Christ said, except
they repent, they shall perish, except ye repent, ye shall all
likewise perish. And then again, this teaching,
this promise, has nothing for church hypocrites. It has nothing
for false professors. These people have no part in
this promise. It does not belong to those whose
religion consists in talk and words. Christ described them. He said, you call me Lord with
your lips, but your hearts are far from me. This does not belong
to those who make clean the outside of the cup while the inside is
full of extortion and excess. This promise, they shall never
perish, does not belong to the man who appears beautiful to
men, but on the inside, like a grave, he's full of dead men's
bones. It doesn't belong to him. It
doesn't belong to the hour-walker, to the handshaker. It doesn't
belong to the man who is just a member of the church in name.
once in a while he graces the church with his presence and
honors the Lord with a little of his substance. It's not his.
When Christ said they shall never perish, he was talking about
his people. He was talking about those who
have heard his voice and received his word and believed his gospel
and been born of his spirit. They shall never perish is the
privilege, it is the promise of the redeemed of the Lord.
To the sheep of Christ who have heard his voice and followed
him, he says, they shall never perish. To those who have been
born of God, born from above, who have received Christ as Prophet,
Priest, and King, they shall never perish. To those who are
of a broken heart and a contrite spirit, for David said, he saitheth
such that be of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. they shall
never perish. To the elect of God, who have
heard the gospel, Paul said, not in word only, but in power,
in the Holy Ghost, in much assurance, they shall never perish. To those
who have passed from death unto life, who love the brethren,
they shall never perish. To the fruit-bearing branches,
who know in whom they have believed, they shall never perish. to those
who can say with Job, though he slay me, yet will I trust
him, they shall never perish." Now, that's what we mean. That's
what we mean when we say, they shall never perish. Now, I do
not say that they shall never fall into sin. I do not say that. I do not say that the sheep of
Christ shall never fall into sin. Sometimes believers do sadly
and shamefully and to their own bitter grief and sorrow fall
into sin. Noah did. After he came off the
ark, he behaved very shamefully before his family and before
his God. Abraham, the friend of God, twice lied about Sarah
being his wife, not once but twice. Lot, you know the story
of Lot, took up his abode in Sodom, and even after God delivered
him out of Sodom, He behaved shamefully. Jacob, the one of
whom God said, Jacob, have I loved, he deceived his own father, Isaac,
stole the birthright. Moses spoke harshly with his
lips, that meekest of all men, lost his temper one day and smote
the rock. And God said, Moses, you didn't
sanctify me in front of the people, you projected yourself and for
that you're not going into the promised land. Moses displeased
the Lord. David hid his sin and killed
one of his best friends. Solomon permitted his wives to
practice idolatry, believe it or not. Peter not once, not twice,
but three times denied that he knew the Lord. He denied Christ. Paul and Barnabas argued so strongly
that they broke fellowship, and Paul went one way and Barnabas
went the other way. True believers may sadly and
shamefully fail, and they may fall into sin, but they will
never, never, totally, finally, completely fall away from Christ. For they say with the apostles,
Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
and though weak and infirm, though afflicted, to whom shall we go? Now they shall always rise from
their fall, and they shall always renew their walk with their Lord.
They may lose the comfort of grace, but they'll never lose
the being of grace. The believer may be like the
tree in the winter. There may be no fruit visible
and no leaves visible, but life is in the root. Let me tell you
a story. The young man was born in 1820
in Dublin, Ireland, and he attended the university there in Dublin,
Ireland, a school that I visited a few years ago. He graduated
as an engineer, graduated when he was about 20 years of age.
He was engaged to be married just shortly after his graduation.
And the day before he was to be married, his fiancÃ©e was found
drowned in the lake. She was in a boat with some people
or alone somewhere, but they found her in the lake, drowned.
And it so disturbed this young man that he never, never fell
in love again. He never married. When he was
25 years of age, he left his home country. He never got over
this tragedy, this sorrow. He left Ireland and came to Canada.
And in Canada, though a graduate engineer, though a brilliant
young man, he never took a full-time job. He lived in a little cabin
in a little town in Canada. And he spent his time just helping
people. He would go to some widow's house
and fix her yard, or fix the house, or do something around
the house, and in the fields he'd work with people. But that's
the way he lived, alone, and just trying to serve the people
of his community. In fact, after he died, they
erected a monument to the memory of this gracious, kind, good
neighbor, Joseph Scriven. That was his name. Well, one
day he was sick in 1855. That would make him about 35
years of age. And one of the neighbors brought
him a bowl of soup. The lady came in with the soup.
He was lying there in the bed in his little cabin, and she
found a piece of paper on the table. And she picked it up and
she began to read. What a friend we have in Jesus.
all our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry everything
to God in prayer. Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer. You know the
song. She said, Joseph, who wrote this? He said, I did. Why, she
said, this is beautiful. He didn't set it to music. It
wasn't put to music until 1860. 1868 it was put to music. But
Joseph Scriven wrote those words. When he was sixty-six years of
age, through a life of sorrow and heartache, they found him
drowned in the lake down below his home. They all felt that
Joseph Scriven had committed suicide. What a friend we have
in Jesus. Don't you wish you'd have written
that? I wish I could have written that song. We have in Jesus all
our sins and griefs to bear, and yet standing on the bank
of that They're pulling a body in of a man who has taken all
he could take and drowned himself, just like his sweetheart of 46
years earlier. Don't judge another Indian until
you've walked in his moccasins. That's what one old man used
to say. And I'm not saying that God's people will not fall into
sin. I'm not saying that God's people
will never go through and suffer emotional problems and nerve
problems and mental problems and distress. But I'm saying
they'll never leave the master. And I'm not saying that God's
people shall have no doubts and fears about their interest in
Christ. Actually, let's face it, all
of us, if we're honest, and no man's saying that he's honest,
all of us see so much weakness in our own hearts and we find
our practice so far short of our desire and God's requirements
Aren't you strongly tempted to doubt your interest in Christ?
Don't you sometimes? When you have to say, I'm not
what I ought to be, I'm not what I want to be, I'm not what I
expect to be, about all we can say is this, by God's grace,
I'm not what I used to be. And my friends, to be saved is
one thing, sometimes to feel saved is another thing. David
knew that he had been anointed king. Don't you imagine he knew
that he was there when Samuel anointed him and said, this is
the new king of Israel that will take Saul's place? He knew that. And yet how many times did he,
in doubt and fear, say this, I shall one day perish by the
hand of Saul? He knew better than that. But
he said it any minute. I shall one day perish by the
hand of Saul. No, David, you're going to be
the king. But I don't look like a king, do I? Here I am out here
in the wilderness, here I am out here in the caves, here I
am out here being chased and hounded and hunted. That's right,
I'll die by the hand of sin. No, you won't, David. I've seen
the last chapter of the book. You're going to be king. And
my friends, you and I know that, but listen to what John Newton
said. John Newton wrote Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that
saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm
found. I was blind, but now I see. There is assurance, when I listen
to another song he wrote, that we don't sing very often. Tis
a point I long to know. Often it gives me anxious thought. Do I love the Lord or no? Am
I His or am I not? Lord, let me love Thee more and
more. If I love Thee at all, I pray,
but if I have not loved Thee before, let me love You today. They shall never perish. That's
what our Lord said, they shall never perish, but that doesn't
free the believer from watching, praying, studying, clinging to
God, using every means of grace at his disposal. Listen to Paul,
Hebrews 3.14, we are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning
of our confidence steadfast to the end. Our Lord said it's not
the man that starts the race that gets the crown, it's the
man that crosses the finish line. He that endureth to the end,
the same shall be saved. And God's people will continue,
and they will endure, and they shall never perish. That's what
we mean. Now, secondly, what does the
Bible say about this doctrine? What does God's Word say? I don't
need to tell you that the Bible is the only test of the truth
of any doctrine. Let it be established by the
Word of God. You know, one man said one time,
and this is on the front of a school. down in the deep south. This
is out on the front of the school, Christian school. God said it,
I believe it, that settles it. What's wrong with that? Now think
a moment. What's wrong with that? God said it, I believe it, that
settles it. You say, I don't see anything
wrong with it. I do. God said it and that settles it whether
I believe it or not. That's right. Now my believing
it has nothing to do with settling My believing it or not believing
it has nothing to do with establishing the word of God. It's true whether
I believe it or not. So let's see what God's word
says about this, they shall never perish. I just read you the scripture,
my sheep hear my voice, I know them, I give them eternal life,
they shall never perish. Now listen to John 5.24. He that
heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting
life. and shall not come into condemnation,
but he is passed from death unto life. Listen to John 6.39. This
is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he
hath given me I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the
last day. I should lose nothing. John 6.37. All that my Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no cast
out. Romans 8, 38 and 39, 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 me
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Philippians
1, 6, being confident of this very that he which hath begun
a good work in you," and salvation is God's work, he starts it,
he finishes it, he's alpha and omega, the beginning and the
end, he's the author and finisher of our faith. We are his workmanship
created in Christ Jesus. "...and he that hath begun a
good work in you shall finish it in the day of our Lord Jesus
Christ." 1 Peter 1.5, we are kept by the power of God through
faith. Jude 24, now unto him that is
able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless
before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only
wise God our Savior, be glory, majesty, dominion, power, praise,
honor, and glory forevermore unto him who is able to keep
you." Now, my friends, if you will study the attributes of
God in the scripture, God's attributes God's characteristics, that which
reveals his person, his glory. If you study his attributes,
it strongly supports and assures the Saints of perseverance. Listen
to Malachi 3 verse 6, I am the Lord, I change not. Isn't that
right? God's immutable, God's unchangeable. He's the same yesterday, today
and forever. I change not. Therefore, you
sons of Jacob, are not consumed. That's the reason you're not
consumed. That's the reason you're not destroyed. That's the reason
you're not cast off, because I don't change. Listen to Romans
11, 29. The gifts and calling of God.
Now, salvation is the gift of God. The gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord. That's what Scripture says.
The gift of God is eternal life. The gifts of God and the calling
of God, and salvation is a divine calling We are the call of Christ
Jesus. The scripture says in Romans
11.29, the gifts and calling of God are without repentance,
without change. God can't give you salvation
today and take it back tomorrow. That means God changed his mind,
God changed his purpose, God changed his plan, God changed
his intentions, and when he changed them, he ceases to be God. Known
unto God are all his works from the beginning. Then Romans 8,
29 and 30 says this, For whom he did foreknow, he did also
predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. And whom he predestinated
he called, and whom he called he justified, and whom he justified
he glorified. Those whom God started out to
save in the covenant of grace in divine election He will finally
save and make them like his son in eternity future. That's the
word of God, that's the character, that's the plan, that's the purpose
of God. It can't change unless God changes. If he drops a few
here and there, he's changed. And listen, the offices of Christ,
you know something about the offices of Christ? The offices
of Christ assure every believer of persevering, of continuing
in the faith. What kind of head is Jesus Christ. The Scripture says he's the head
and we're the body. What kind of head is it that loses half
the body? What kind of shepherd is it if
the sheep perish? Now, how long would you keep
a shepherd over your flock in your pasture if every day came
in short one sheep, short two sheep, short three sheep? You'd
get rid of him. Well, what kind of shepherd is
Jesus Christ who says, I'm the chief shepherd and the great
if his sheep perish one by one? What kind of priest is Jesus
Christ if his atonement fails? What kind of physician is the
Son of God if the patients die? What kind of king is the Son
of God if the kingdom perish? You can't find an example in
God's word of one of his people perishing. David said, I have
been old, I've been young, now I'm old, I've never seen the
seed of God, begging bread. Now the Bible, in the Bible you
see the Balaam's and the Lot's wife and the Judas's and the
Ananias's and Sapphira's and Simon Magus's, but men like Moses,
men like Abraham, men like David, Peter and Paul, they hold their
way, they continue in the faith. You know what John said of those
who drop along the wayside, who depart from the faith, who turn
their backs on the cross, who turn their backs on the gospel,
who go back out into the flesh and the world. You know what
John says about them? John says in 1 John 2, 19, they went out
from us, but they were not of us. For had they been of us,
they would no doubt have continued with us. But that it might be
made manifest, they were not all of us. Some of them left
us. Why is this doctrine so important?
Let me give you three reasons, in closing. First of all, they
shall never perish makes the gospel good news. That's what
the word gospel means, isn't it? Glad tidings, good news.
It's good news that God loves sinners. It's good news that
Christ came into the world to save sinners. Isn't that good
news? It's good news that Christ died for my sins. That's good
news. It's good news that the Holy
Spirit calls us into a saving relationship with Christ. It's
good news that we're justified and pardoned. It's good news
that we have a mediator at God's right hand. It's good news that
the dead shall rise. But, think for a moment, where
is the good news if this message goes on to say, in spite of all
this, we might one day perish after all? In spite of the fact
that God loves me and Christ died for me, Christ intercedes
for me and the Holy Spirit calls me and endures me and fills me,
I still might perish. There goes the good news. It's
not good news anymore. In spite of all this, I might
still be lost. That's not good news. Once you
admit that a God-called, Christ-redeemed, born-again believer can finally
be lost, you take all the good news out of the gospel. Secondly,
it's an important doctrine because it makes the work of Christ certain. The Bible says he cannot fail. The word of God says he shall
see the travail of his soul and be satisfied. Travails birth
pains. He brought forth children by
the suffering of his soul. I lay down my life for my sheep.
When you admit that one sheep of Christ can perish for whom
he died, you put a question mark on the work of Christ for all
of the sheep. For if one sheep of Christ could
fall away, this poor feeble soul would fall a thousand times a
day. Now last, this doctrine is important
because it gives comfort to every believer. The way to glow is
not an easy road. God hath not all promised. Skies
always blue, flowers strong, pathways all of life through. We have within us a heart that
is weak when it ought to be strong. It's cold when it ought to be
warm. And it's a heart that's sinful when it ought to be holy.
We're surrounded by a world that does not love Christ, by people
who do not love his gospel or his church. It's an unfriendly
world. We're surrounded by blasphemers.
But Christ said, I'm with you. Though my mother and father forsake
me, Christ will take me up. And then, my friend, there are
the cares of life, and the cares of children, and business, and
money, and sickness, and sorrow, and temptation, and then the
valley of death. Who can wonder that a child of God doesn't get
depressed? But the best antidote is the
promise of God. They shall never perish. And
Job wrote, The righteous shall hold his way, and he that hath
clean hands shall grow stronger and stronger. Be with us next
Sunday. Until then, God bless you. everyone.

They Shall Never Perish

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They Shall Never Perish

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