I wanted to mention before we
look at our text tonight that Pat and I had the opportunity
to visit with Leroy and Evelyn Hartley last Monday, and we had
a good visit. And most of you know Leroy. He asked the same question several
times, and it's always about the church, how things are going
here at the church. When we got ready to leave after
we'd read the scripture and prayed, I said, why don't we sing a verse
of Amazing Grace? And I looked at him, and I said,
you remember this hymn, don't you, Leroy? Amazing Grace, how
sweet the sound. He said, well, I think I remember
that first line. So we started singing, and he
joined in and sang every word, didn't miss a word. He's been quite a blessing, him
and Evelyn, over the years, and faithful in this congregation
for many years, and such a help to me as a pastor. He was always
ready to do anything and everything that he could possibly do, physically
and spiritually. And of course, Evelyn, she was
such an entertainer. had us in her home many times,
many of you I know as well. And when we would have a conference,
she would always want to have all the pastors come. And of
course, we always do what we were going to eat. And we were
looking forward to it, fried fish. Leroy caught them, and
she fried them. And you couldn't beat a meal
at her house, I tell you. We're so thankful for them and
for the memories that we have. I encourage you to visit others
that are no longer able to come to the services to be with them
and encourage them. Tonight, we're going to look
at one more promise that the Lord has given us of the many
promises in the word of God. I want us to open our Bibles
to John chapter 10. And the promise is in verse 28,
they shall never perish. They shall never perish. But
let's begin reading in verse 24, John chapter 10 and verse
24. Then came the Jews round about
him and said unto him, how long dost thou make us to doubt? If
thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you,
And you believe not. The works that I do in my father's
name, they bear witness to me, of me. They witness to the fact
that he is the promised Messiah. I think about the passages, the
prophecies in the Old Testament, speaking of the coming of the
Messiah, when the blind, their eyes would be open, the lame
would be leaping for joy, just so many promises that, or prophecies,
rather, in the Old Testament, and they could see, these Jews
who were questioning him this day, that the works which he
did, they all bore witness to him, that he was the Messiah. But you believe not, because
you 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 pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them
me is greater than all. No man is able to pluck them
out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. So the promise is, they shall
never perish. And we like to ask questions
as we look at the word of God. Who is it that shall never perish? Everyone to whom the Lord gives
eternal life. Each and every one of his sheep. They shall never perish. What a comfort. What a comfort
this is intended to give you and I, every child of God. What
a comfort this is. Remember, God told the prophet
of old, comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. And this is certainly a great
comfort to the children of God, this declaration, this promise,
they shall never perish. A child of God possessing eternal
life, living in this world, we need comfort. We need comfort
as we go through this wilderness. And what a comfort this is. They
shall never perish. A child of God, when we think
about Adam and Eve, created innocent, they were not like us or we were
not like them. They fell. Satan tempted them
and they fell. And here we are. We're not innocent
by any means because we know that we have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. But what a comfort this is. They
shall never perish. You shall never perish if you're
one of his children. Think about the holy angels.
Jude or James tells us they kept not their first estate. They
were holy and Yet they fail They fail they perish it are perishing
and will continue to perish throughout eternity and here we are with
a sinful nature that hasn't been eradicated when the Lord gives
us a new heart a new nature and As we saw just a little while
ago, reading there in Ephesians chapter 4, the Apostle Paul said
we are to put off the old man. We're to put him off in order
that we might put on the new man, which is created in righteousness
and true holiness. So we know that there's many
things in this life that that disturb the peace of God's children,
but here is something that should give us great peace and great
comfort. They shall never perish. One
thing I would mention to us here tonight, never forget that Satan
is a liar. He's a liar. Our Lord said he's
a liar and a murderer. He was a liar from the beginning. When he approached Adam and Eve,
he lied unto them. He hasn't changed. He's still
a liar. And when he is somehow able to
insinuate to you, you as a child of God, he's able to insinuate
somehow into your mind that your end is going to be disaster. Yes, you've made a good start.
But in the end, you're going to perish. There's no doubt about
it. But remember this, the Lord Jesus
Christ, who is the truth, not only speaks the truth, but who
is the truth, His word is, they shall never perish. Not one of
His sheep. And I want us to look at four
truths that testify as to why they shall never perish. First,
they shall never perish because nothing shall separate them from
the love of God. Nothing. Nothing. You did nothing to put yourself
into the love of God. You did nothing to merit the
love of God. You did nothing to earn the love
of God. Neither did anyone else. And
God's word is, I will love them freely. God set his love upon
his sheep from old eternity. We know that. In fact, in Jeremiah
31, the scripture says, yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. Therefore, with loving kindness,
I have drawn thee. If you have been drawn to Christ,
if you've been brought to Christ, if you've come to Christ by faith,
you've been drawn there. Why? Because God loves you. And he didn't start loving you
when you came to Christ. No, you came to Christ because
he has always loved you. Nothing could put you into the
love of God. Nothing can take you out of the
love of God. The Lord Jesus Christ said, no
man can come to me except the father which has sent me draw
him. It is God's loving kindness.
That's what that verse there in Jeremiah says. Yea, I have
loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, therefore, because
I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore, with loving
kindness, I have drawn thee. The Lord has drawn his people
and draws his people with loving kindness. In other words, he
so works in us, in his children, in his sheep, that each and every
one comes willingly to Christ. Thy people shall be willing,
the psalmist said. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. You know, the Greek word, which
is translated, all that the father No man can come to me except
the father which has sent me draw him. That word draw, that
Greek word, actually it means to drag. It's like you drag something. That's what that word literally
means. And because of that, because
that's what the word means literally, this is given the enemies of
the gospel of the grace of God, a way to picture us as teaching
that men and women are brought to Christ against their will.
That men and women are brought to Christ kicking and screaming
and determined not to come to Christ. No, no, no, no. That's a lie straight out of
hell. God's people come willingly. He works in us both to will and
to do of His good pleasure. Therefore, work out your salvation,
the Apostle Paul said. Everyone who comes to Christ,
all of His sheep, we all come willingly. Because we're loved
with an everlasting love, then with loving kindness, He draws
us unto Christ. And everyone who comes, comes
freely, comes willingly, comes desiring nothing more, nothing
better, nothing greater than to be found in Christ, having
his righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through
the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. They
shall never perish. What a promise, they shall never
perish. Look with me in Romans chapter
eight. Romans chapter eight, beginning
with verse 35. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution,
or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword. Nay, verse 37, 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. Do you see that
the love of God is in Christ? Notice how that passage begins
in verse 35, who shall separate us from the love of Christ. But
then in the end, verse 39, 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. Don't talk about God's
love apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, because His love is in
Christ. I know people like to think that
His love is just a general love over all men and women, but that's
just not so. He loves His own. John chapter
13, our Lord, it says, having loved His own, which were in
the world, He loved them to the end. So first of all, they shall
never perish because nothing can separate them from the love
of God. Second, they shall never perish
because nothing can take us out of the Father's arms and hand,
or hands I should say. Nothing can take us out of the
Father's arms or hands. Now we're told this about his
arms in the Old Testament and about his hands in the New Testament.
Turn back with me to Deuteronomy, if you will, chapter 33. Deuteronomy
chapter 33, verse 27. The eternal God is our refuge,
and underneath are the everlasting arms. Underneath every child
of God are his everlasting arms. No one can fall, no one can perish. Why? Because underneath the eternal
God is our refuge. And underneath are the everlasting
arms. And of course, in the New Testament,
in the passage where our text is found in John chapter 10,
we're told that no one is able to take us out of the hand of
God. My father which gave them me
is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of
my father's hand. The scriptures tell us that your
name, if you're one of his children tonight, Your name is graven
upon his hand. Isn't that something? Indelibly graven upon his hands. Look with me, let's read that
in Isaiah chapter 49. Isaiah chapter 49 and verse 13. Sing, O heavens, and be joyful,
O earth, and break forth into singing, O mountains. For the
Lord hath comforted his people and will have mercy upon his
afflicted. But Zion said, and we are prone
to say things like this, aren't we? We shouldn't, but we do. When things go wrong and we get
disappointed and discouraged, we're prone to think that the
Lord has forgotten us. But Zion said, the Lord hath
forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. You ever feel like
that? Everything seems to be going
against you. Let's look at verse 15. Can a
woman forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion
on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will
I not forget thee. Very difficult to think that
a nursing mother could forget her child. But God says that's
possible, but not me forgetting you. Not me forgetting you. Behold, I have graven thee upon
the palms of my hands. Thy walls are continually before
me. That is Zion, the church of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Third, they shall never perish
because nothing can cancel the prayer of Christ. Let's look
at this prayer in John 17. Nothing can cancel the prayer
of Christ. John chapter 17, we many times
refer to this as his high priestly prayer. And I think for good
reason, because we know that he ever lives to make intercession
for his people. And we have a good example of
how he prays for you and I. But here in verse number 11, and now I am no more in the world,
but these are in the world, and I come to thee, Holy Father,
keep, keep. They shall never perish because
the prayer, the petition of the Lord Jesus Christ cannot be canceled. Keep through thine own name those
whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are. We know that this prayer the
Lord prayed tonight, this is the Lord's Prayer, isn't it?
That prayer that the world calls the Lord's Prayer, our Father
which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. That's an example
of how we should pray. But you know one petition in
that prayer is forgive us our debts. He could not pray that.
He had no debts. He had no sin. You and I do. We pray that. Forgive us our
debts as we forgive our debtors. But this is the Lord's prayer
right here. John chapter 17. prayed it the night before he
was crucified, and it was recorded, is recorded for you and I, to
comfort us, to help us. He prayed for those that the
Father had given him. You notice he mentions the fact
that they were given to him some six times in this prayer. Look
with me, some six times, verse two. as thou hast given him power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given him. Verse six, I have manifested
thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Verse nine, I pray for them.
I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given
me, for they are thine. Verse 11, 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. Verse 12, while I was with them
in the world, I kept them in thy name, those that thou gavest
me I have kept. And down in verse 24, Father, I will that they also
whom thou hast given me. Six times in these few verses
in his prayer, the Lord mentions the fact that his people were
given to him. They were given to him by the
Father in that everlasting covenant of grace, we know that. They
were given to him. And he prays and he asks the
Father, keep them. Now there's a scripture that
tells us that He was always heard, the Lord Jesus Christ. He was
always heard. And then in 1 John, John tells
us this about prayer. This is the confidence that we
have in Him. Now listen, that if we ask anything
according to His will, He heareth us. And if we know that He heareth
us whatsoever we ask, We know that we have the petitions that
we desire to be on. When we ask according to his
will and we know that he hears us and we have what we ask, the
Lord God always heard his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and this
is his petition here, keep through thine own name those whom thou
hast given me. They shall never perish. One last thing, they shall never
perish because nothing, neither, nothing can frustrate the will
of Christ. Nothing. And that verse I read
just a minute ago, verse 24. Father, I will. What's his will? Father, I will. that they also, whom thou hast
given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory,
which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me before the foundation
of the world. This is Christ's will, that none
which the Father gave him should be lost, but that all, so none,
they shall never, never perish. Nothing can frustrate the will
of Christ. He's God. He's God. Nothing can frustrate God's will. He worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will. The scriptures declare that.
I pray that the Lord would bless this promise as we think about
it and rejoice in it. that God's people were kept by
the power of God through faith and we shall never perish.