John, pt. 65 | John 10:22-30

If you would at this time take your copy of the scriptures and turn with me to John's gospel,

John chapter 10. We're going to consider verses 22 through 30.

John chapter 10 verses 22 through 30 and this is our 65th message in this gospel and we are halfway through the gospel of John.

The gospel of John has 21 chapters. We're in chapter 10. We're deep into it and we're working our way to being halfway through.

So if we continue the way we are probably have another 65 messages, but we'll see.

All right. Hallelujah. I love that. All right. Let me open us up in prayer.

Glorious God of heaven, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Lord we at this time call you to speak to us.

Acts 2 42. The people gathered together for the teachings of the

Apostles. Lord, it says that they devoted themselves to the teachings of the

Apostles. Someone would open the book and explain the book.

Lord, I stand here as your manservant, Lord, and I just ask that you speak through me.

The book is open. Lord, they did not come here to hear from me, but to hear from you. Please use me this day to articulate your word well.

Convict those who need convicting, and Lord to give assurance to those who need assurance.

And we pray this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. All right.

So let's begin with the text. John chapter 10 verses 22 through 30.

At that time, the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem.

It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple at the portico of Solomon.

So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, how long will you keep us in suspense?

If you are the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them,

I told you and you do not believe. The works that I do in my

Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my

Father's hand. I and my

Father are one. Our theme for this

Lord's Day is, the Christ has come. Ladies and gentlemen, the

Christ has come. The long -awaited Messiah that the Israelites were waiting for has come.

He came nearly 2 ,000 years ago. Well, definitely 2 ,000 years ago.

I believe that he was born around 3 BC, 3 or 4 BC. But this right here is working around nearly 2 ,000 years ago when he is revealing himself in his ministry.

And this is one of the last public ministries of Jesus's life right here that we are reading.

He's about to just devote himself to his disciples alone. To his disciples alone he's going to be devoting himself.

Right here is one of the last times he's going to speak as plainly as he has been and as openly as he has been to those religious leaders in Jerusalem.

And my proposition is this, Christ's sheep will never perish ever.

My dear friends, if you are in Christ, there will never be a time that you will not be in Christ.

If there's ever a time where you have been born again, God has given to you repentance and faith, and you're looking to Jesus, my dear friends, there's never going to be a time when you're not in him.

You say, well, what if I sin? You're still in him. And if you're living in sin and you're in him, guess what he's going to do?

Discipline you. He's going to discipline you, and he's going to bring you back. He's going to take his shepherd's hook and wrap it around you and bring you to him.

If he has to go and find you, guess what he's going to do? He's going to break your leg.

Right? There's this, oh, in shepherding, there's this old technique that the shepherds would do when a sheep would wander off.

He would leave his one sheep, and he would leave all the sheep in the field, and he would go and find that sheep that wandered off.

And when he found that sheep, he snapped the sheep's leg. He said, oh, that's cruel. That's what they would do.

He would snap the sheep's leg, and the shepherd would take the sheep, and he would put the sheep on his shoulder, and he would walk that sheep back to the fold.

And as legend has it, that sheep got familiar with the heartbeat of the shepherd.

So every time the shepherd's heart would beat because that sheep was wrapped around his shoulders, the sheep would feel the heartbeat of the shepherd.

And once that sheep's foot healed, that sheep so long to feel the heartbeat of the shepherd, it was the one sheep that stayed closest to the shepherd.

It never wanted to leave the shepherd's sight. So if you are his, and you have sin, listen, all of us sin, but if you wander away into your sin, if you are his, like a good parent, like a good shepherd, you will be disciplined.

He will come after you. The word perish means to suffer complete ruin or destruction, to be destroyed, or it can mean to die.

Being in Jesus Christ means not to suffer complete ruin. It means not to be destroyed, and it means even though you die, yet shall you live.

And in our outline, we're going to look at Jesus's relationship with various groups from this text.

We're going to see Jesus's relationship with the Jews. We're going to see

Jesus's relationship with his sheep. We're going to see Jesus's relationship with his

Father. So point number one, Jesus's relationship with the

Jews. Point number two, Jesus's relationship with the sheep. And point number three,

Jesus's relationship with his Father. And listen, as we transition in our text,

Jesus is speaking with the religious leaders of Israel who were supposed to be the shepherds of Israel.

They were supposed to take care of the sheep of Israel by protecting, leading, guiding, and feeding.

By protecting, leading, guiding, and feeding of the sheep.

But instead of protecting, leading, guiding, and feeding the sheep, they were feasting on the sheep.

As we read last week from Ezekiel 34 1 through 10, which prophesied the coming of Christ to rescue his sheep.

Jesus's claim as the Good Shepherd is him entering into time by becoming flesh to rescue his sheep from the shepherd's hook, these false shepherds' hook.

You see, with that hook, a shepherd can abuse the sheep. And with that hook, they could guide the sheep.

The false shepherds of Israel were using their hook as a striking stick to abuse the sheep.

Jesus came to rescue us from that hook by calling us by name, by calling his own sheep by name.

Now here in verses 22 through 23 gives us the context of when and where they are.

Look with me at those two verses, verses 22 and 23. At that time, the feast of dedication took place at Jerusalem.

It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, and the porticoes, your translation, my translation actually says kolonei, portico is what

I'm used to reading. It also means porch, and the porch of Solomon, the kolonei of Solomon, or the portico of Solomon.

This tells us that they were at the feast of dedication. The feast of dedication has another name, it's called the

Feast of Lights. Something that you might know it by is Hanukkah. This is two months after Jesus had went to the

Feast of Boots, and he presented to him of being the light of the world, being the water,

I mean being the spout by which he received the living water. That would have been somewhere in October, September, we are now around November, December, depending on the

Jewish calendar of how it falls, but they are in, it's winter, it's

Hanukkah. Now this feast you will not find in the Old Testament, it's not found in Leviticus chapter 23, because this feast took place during the 400 years of silence, when

God was no longer speaking to the people. Now during this time at this feast, at this time, we're now approaching maybe three months left of Jesus on earth.

We're inching closer to his death. Half of the Gospel of John actually takes place within a matter of a couple of weeks.

So far this half has taken place that we've already went through, has been nearly three and a half years.

It's been three years and right now three years and two months. We've been looking at this book of John, looking over Jesus's life, and now we're approaching two, three months left for him to be alive, depending on how the calendar fell at that time.

This feast came about, it was a celebration of a time when a man by the name of Judith Maccabee overthrew an

Assyrian monarch who was called Antiochus Epiphanes.

Antiochus Epiphanes was hell -bent on Hellenizing the Jews. He did not like the

Jews because of their religion. He did not like the fact that the Jews only worshipped one

God. He wanted the Jews to worship the pantheon of gods that he himself worshipped.

And so his whole life was bent upon Hellenizing the

Jews to get them to become Greeks. And it's funny whenever you read the New Testament and how the

Jews are now trying to get the Gentiles to become Jews. Like it's kind of like a reversal, right? Anyways, this guy

Antiochus Epiphanes, that's his name, he kind of ruled with an iron fist for about three and a half years.

And from 68 BC to 65 BC, this man walked up in the

Jewish temple at that time, would have been Herod's temple. He erected a statue of Zeus and he sacrificed a pig on the altar.

And you can read about this in prophecy when you read the book of Daniel, what took place specifically in Daniel chapter 11.

Now of course it doesn't specify the name Antiochus Epiphanes because it's a prophecy of what was to come.

A lot of people look at this as the abomination of desolation. I would say that this right here is a picture, it is a type of an anti -type, which would be the true abomination of desolation.

If you went through my study when it comes concerning the end times, I would say that the anti -type of what took place at this time with Antiochus Epiphanes, it being a type, the anti -type is after Jesus is crucified, dead, buried, and rose again on the third day, any time that they walked into that temple with an animal sacrifice.

That was the true abomination of desolation, because they continued to sacrifice offerings to God after the once -and -for -all offering was sacrificed.

It mentions that they were at Solomon's porch. If you remember,

Herod's temple was not the first temple, it was Solomon's temple. And when

Solomon's temple was torn down by the Babylonians, this porch was built near the temple, and it was one of the only things that remained after that destruction.

Now it wasn't remained in its totality, some of it was torn down, but there was a piece that was not torn down, and actually when you read the book of Acts, we commonly see that Christians would gather there for worship.

Now Solomon's porch, it did protect them from the weather. It says in our text that it was code, and there was parts of it that had walls to where it would keep the wind from hitting you.

So Jesus gathered there. They're celebrating a time when a Messiah figure came and overthrew a rebellion, overthrew a person who had committed an abomination that was desolate, who overthrew a man who was persecuting the

Jews, and now they're asking Christ a question. Have that in mind as we get to our first point.

Point number one, Jesus's relationship with the Jews. Now this is taken from verses 24 through 26, but let's just read 24.

So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, how long will you keep us in suspense?

If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.

Now you know as well as I do if you've studied the Bible at any length of time that they believe that the

Christ was going to be this figure like Judah Maccabee who would come and overthrow the

Romans and would bring them relief. So that's what they're looking for. So now the

Jews are approaching Jesus and they're complaining that Jesus is not speaking to them in a way that they can understand.

So why would Jesus speak in such a way to the people that they would not be able to understand?

We've been going through the scriptures, it seems that he's speaking to them plainly sometimes, right?

I mean there's times where it seems that it's a little muffled and stuff like that, but for the most part as we're reading through this, we understand that Jesus is revealing himself.

They do not think he's revealing himself, and then we have to ask ourselves because of Scripture, why is it that Jesus isn't speaking as clear as he could be speaking?

Why isn't he not saying, I am the Christ, I am God, believe in me.

Why is he not saying it in those words? The answer is found in Matthew chapter 13.

If you would turn there, and in Matthew chapter 13, the disciples ask a similar question.

Look at verse 10. Matthew chapter 13 beginning in verse 10.

Then the disciples came and said to him, why do you speak to them in parables?

Verse 11. And he, this is Jesus, answered them, to you it has been given the kingdom, to you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them, speaking of these religious leaders, it has not been given.

For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance.

But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

Indeed, in their case, the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, that says, you will indeed hear, but never understand.

You will indeed see, but never perceive. For this people's hearts have grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed.

Lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.

Jesus would speak openly to everyone in parables. But, now this is a hard truth to swallow for a lot of Christians and Christian denominations, but he would only explain the parables to them he wanted to reveal himself.

If he did not want to reveal himself to you, he would speak to you in a parable, and this parable will cause your ears to go deaf, your eyes to go blind, and your heart to turn hard.

You say, why would God do that? Well, he's going to answer us.

He would speak to those in parables, but if you were his, if you were his sheep, if you were one of his, he would reveal himself to you in a parable.

He would explain the parable, because to whom the kingdom of heaven was given, he's going to make sure you know him.

Jesus wouldn't even allow demons to reveal who he was. Turn with me to the gospel of Luke.

Luke chapter 4. Luke chapter 4 beginning in verse 40.

We'll read verse 40 and 41. It says, Now when the sun was setting, all those who had, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him.

They brought them to Jesus, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them.

Look at verse 41. And demons also came out of many, crying,

You are the Son of God. But he, this is

Jesus, rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the

Christ. Demons would see Jesus as you read the scripture, and they would say,

What are you doing? Why are you here before your appointed time? They knew who he was.

All they had to do was see him, and they knew who he was, and yet he came to his own people, his own people who had the whole

Old Testament memorized, and they could not see him. They could not hear him, and their hearts were hardened to him.

1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 8 says this, None of the rulers of this age understood this.

For if they had, they would have not crucified the

Lord of glory. So imagine that. If Jesus had to, if Jesus was to explain to them who he is, if he was to give this parable, and then teach them this parable, and they understood who he was, they would have not crucified

Jesus. And guess what happens if that took place?

No eternal life. You're still in your sins. All of us, when we die, are going to be thrown into hell.

He had to be crucified. He had to be the lamb who was slain.

He had to be the perfect lamb who kept the law in our place, and he had to be the sacrifice upon the altar.

If that had not happened, we would not have salvation. Jesus had to reveal himself to some, and he had to not reveal himself to others.

Those who he revealed himself to are his sheep. Turn with me to Matthew chapter 26.

We're going to be doing a lot of reading today. In Matthew chapter 26,

Jesus has been captured. He's been betrayed. He's been captured. He's standing before a council, and he's being asked questions.

He's asked a question by one of the high priests, Caiaphas, in verse 63.

He says, "...but Jesus remained silent, and the high priest said to him,

I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the

Christ, the Son of God. And Jesus said to him, you have said so.

But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power and coming on the clouds of heaven."

This pointing us back to another prophecy in Daniel, this time chapter 7, when the

Son of Man comes to the Ancient of Days, and the Ancient of Days gives to the Son of Man a kingdom that will never be destroyed.

Jesus, right here to Caiaphas, is saying, you have said I'm the Christ, and I'm the

Son of Man. Not only am I the Son of David, but I am the Son of Man. Not only did

I come here to fulfill the prophecies, but I am being given, I am going to be given a kingdom.

Notice what he said, you have said so. This is a way of agreeing with him.

And let us not forget to mention the countless times in John's gospel and how Jesus revealed himself in various ways.

He has revealed himself in signs and wonders. We see this with Nicodemus. Nicodemus, a

Pharisee, said to Jesus in chapter 3 of John, he said, Rabbi, beginning in verse 2, he said,

Rabbi, this is teacher. He said, we know. He's a

Pharisee. So when, you know, like if I, you know, me representing my family, like if you say, you know,

Jeff and his family, and I said we, I'm kind of speaking of me and my family, or if I say we as Christians.

So the word we has to be, from what the scholars are saying, it's pointing to the Pharisees. He's saying,

Rabbi, we know, we the Pharisees know, that you are a teacher that comes from God.

So he's admitting that Pharisees believe that he is a teacher that comes from God. For no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.

And watch Jesus's response, verse 3. He says, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see, this is with your eyes, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

My dear friends, knowing that he come from God and being in the kingdom are two different things.

The Pharisees knew that that God had to be upon him because he was doing these magnificent signs.

He was healing the blind. He was raising the dead. He was doing things that no one else could do. He was casting out demons.

Something has to be up with this guy. The Old Testament prophesies about something like this. It was happening in their presence.

And they knew that he had to be from God, but yet they could not see the kingdom of God because their eyes were blinded, their ears were deafened, and their heart was hardened.

And in John chapter 5, Jesus heals a lame man and calls

God his father, and by doing so, the text tells us that he makes himself equal with God.

So the Jews are seeing a mere man with their eyes, making himself equal with God, and they pick up stones to stone him.

He also tells these religious leaders that Moses wrote about him. In John 6,

Jesus feeds upwards to 20 ,000 to 25 ,000 people with a sack lunch.

He takes a little boy's sack lunch and he feeds upwards to 25 ,000 people.

The text will say 5 ,000 men, but you read another account of this, it says plus women and children.

And so when you do the calculation, it can be anywhere from 20 to 25 ,000 people that he fed with one sack lunch.

And to them, he became a fish and bread dispenser, but not the Christ. He was someone who could feed them physical food and give them physical drink, but he wasn't the

Christ. He couldn't feed them nourishment, like inwardly. That's not what they were looking for.

They were looking for earthly and tangible things. And in John 6, excuse me, also in John 6, he tells them that the work of God, because after he feeds them this bread, they want to know what can they do to do this kind of work.

He said, what can we do to be doing the works of God like you're doing? He says, believe in me. So they're speaking in one area, his response is in another area.

They're speaking about what can we do to do these magnificent works you're doing for God? And he tells them that the work of God is believing in him.

The work of God is not performing miracles. The work of God is believing in Jesus Christ.

The work of God is not trying to play tricks. It's not trying to pull a rabbit out of a hat. The work of God is believing in Jesus Christ.

And my dear friends, you cannot believe unless you're one of his sheep. That's what this text has been teaching us.

And so many Christians, they deny this portion of the book because it says hard things.

I can remember when I was coming to this understanding, how I think, I thought that I had this system, that I had this understanding in a headlock.

And then the next thing I know, it turns around and gets me in a headlock. And then I think that I have it and it has me.

And then I think that I have it and it has me. And finally, I had to tap out to what scripture says.

You are not his sheep. You cannot hear his voice. That's what we've been going through. And in chapter 7, he begins the

Feast of Booths where he announces that he is the fountain of living water.

It's that the Holy Spirit is the living water. Jesus being the fountain of the living water, that in order to partake, in order to drink of this water, in order to have this

Holy Spirit inside of you, you have to go to the spout. And that's what

Jesus claims to be in chapter 7, that he is the fountain, he is the spout of this living water.

You cannot have the Holy Spirit in you if you do not get it through him.

And that is only by faith in him. And in chapter 8, he makes the announcement that he is the light of the world.

Look with me in chapter 8, verse 12. Preaching through this verse, this verse has definitely become one of my favorite verses, especially concerning the deity of Christ.

John chapter 12 says this, again, Jesus spoke to them saying, so this will be the

Pharisaic religious Jews, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

And at this time, at this feast, they would light these great big torches, and it was a way to communicate, to remember what took place in the wilderness as the

Israelites were walking through the desert, as they were walking through this dry land.

If that light was moving, they were to follow the light. That light would appear to them as a bright cloud by day, and by a fire at night.

And if that light, that cloud, that fire was to start moving, the

Israelites were to pack up and follow that light. And if they did not pack up and follow that light, they would be in darkness.

And that's what Jesus is saying. He's comparing himself, right here in this verse, to that light in the wilderness that the

Israelites would follow. When that light moved, they had to move. And he says, my dear friends,

I am the light of the world, and whoever follows me will never walk in darkness.

What is Jesus doing here? He's saying that He is God, because that fire, that cloud by day, and that fire by night was representation of God.

This is one of the clearest scriptures about it. Now look at verse 24 of John chapter 8.

He says, I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am

He, you will die in your sins. He is who? The light of the world.

He is God. Unless you believe that Jesus is God, you will die in your sins.

John, look at verses 58 and 59. Again, there's another God statement.

Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was,

I am. Another I am statement. He says, before Abraham was.

Before Abraham was, I am. And if you look back to this passage, he tells them that they don't do the works of Abraham, because what did

Abraham do when he saw God? Abraham, this is Genesis chapter 18, he runs to God, he bows down, he worships, and he gives

God food. God appeared. It was called a theophany or a Christophany. God appeared to Abraham.

Abraham worshiped him and fed him. Jesus, God in the flesh, appears, and they reject him.

They don't want anything to do with him. And it says that they picked up stones, verse 59, so they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went away from the temple.

My dear friends, in this culture, you can only stone someone for several different things.

Adultery, before Abraham was, doesn't mean he committed adultery.

Worshiping a false God, it doesn't say anything about worship of a false God. He wasn't breaking the

Sabbath. This wasn't a Sabbath day. You could stone someone for breaking the Sabbath or making yourself out to be

God. That's blasphemy. Jesus was making himself out to be God.

He says, before Abraham was. Thousands of years later, before Abraham was,

I am. Abraham worshiped me, is what he's saying in this text. So they picked up stones to stone him.

They knew that he was claiming to be God, and yet they're saying, speak to us clearly. You guys have already tried to stone him several times, and they're going to try to stone him again as we'll read.

Now listen to Jesus. Hold on real quick. I don't want to miss this. In John chapter 47,

I mean, John chapter 8, verse 47, he tells them why they cannot hear him. Look at verse 47. I about skipped it.

That would have been awful. Verse 47, whoever is of God hears the words of God.

This reason, I mean, the reason why you cannot hear them is that you are not of God.

So he's telling these religious Jews, these physical descendants of Abraham, whoever is of God hears the word of God.

Speaking of him speaking, the reason why you physical descendants of Abraham cannot hear them is because you're not of God.

Who are they of? Look at verse 44. You are of your father, the devil.

Your will is to do your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, and he does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him.

When he lies, he speaks out of the abundance of his character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Because I tell you the truth, you do not believe me. Which of you convicts me of sins?

For if I tell you the truth, why do you not believe me? Then he goes in that verse 47. It's because you're not of God.

They're not of God. Now listen to how

Jesus responds in our text. Go back to John chapter 10, verses 25 through 26.

So remember, they're asking him, why don't you speak to us plainly? Jesus answered them, I told you and you do not believe.

So he's saying, I have been speaking to you plainly. Now we know that he spoke in parables to deafen their ears, to blind their eyes and to harden their hearts so that he could be crucified in order to save the world.

Right here he says, I have been speaking to you plainly, but the works that I do in my father's name bear witness about me.

But you do not believe because you're not among my sheep.

You're not among my sheep. The response of Jesus is what we just covered.

Not my sheep, not from God, children of the devil. He's saying, you're not my sheep.

You're not from God. You are children of the devil. He's speaking this to physical descendants of Abraham.

Now I want you to imagine yourself in their place. Forget everything you know about Jesus.

Forget everything you know. Imagine you, first century Palestine, a Pharisee among Pharisee, and you have this man approaching you saying these things.

You know that you are a descendant of Abraham and he tells you, you're not his sheep.

You're not from God and your father is the devil. What's that going to make you do?

Pick up stones to stone him. And that's exactly what takes place in this text. It's exactly what

John is trying to show us. Jesus performs signs and wonders in front of them.

He very clearly tells them who he is, but they have no ears to hear. He speaks in parables.

Why? So they would not understand. Are you seeing what's happening here? He's purposely not revealing himself to them in the way that he reveals himself to his disciples because they're not his sheep.

His relationship with them had to do with him being an Israelite. The book of Hebrews chapter two tells us that Jesus had to be made like his brothers in every way.

And in our study of covenant theology, we're looking at the premise of the seed plural brings forth the seed singular.

Jesus was promised as the Christ in the old covenant and he had to come through the nation of Israel as the prophecies tell us.

And John chapter one tells us that he came to his own speaking of Jesus, but his own people did not receive him speaking of the nation of Israel.

They were looking for a Messiah figure such as Judah Maccabee who put an end to Antiochus Epiphanes in 165

BC. At that time, when Hanukkah first appeared, if you're familiar with Hanukkah, they have eight candlesticks on this menorah.

They had just a very little bit of oil. And you're supposed to light these lights and they're supposed to stay lit for eight days.

And as the legend has it, this little bit of oil lit these candles for eight days.

And so Jesus was with them in celebration of this feast of this Messiah figure who overthrew.

And I think that he was there in person that day for the same reason why he spit in the mud.

And why he spit in the dirt to make mud on the Sabbath to start trouble.

They knew they were longing. They knew it was the time of the Messiah to be revealed.

And yet Jesus did not reveal himself to them. The Jews were looking for a

Messiah that would overthrow Rome when God sent the Messiah to overthrow death.

Not Rome. Death. They're speaking two different languages.

We do that quite often as Christians, especially among denominations. Point number two,

Jesus' relationship with his sheep. It's found in verses 27 through 29. He says, My sheep hear my voice.

I know them and they follow me. I give them, speaking of his sheep, eternal life, and they will never perish.

And no one will snatch them out of my hand. My father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand.

Our relationship with Christ from this text has to do with shepherd and sheep. The sheep leads, guides, feeds, and protects.

While you and I, if we're his sheep, we are led, guided, fed, and protected. His sheep are not confused about who is who.

The sheep do not think they're the shepherd. Are you following me?

The sheep knows who the king is. The sheep knows who their shepherd is.

The Lord is my shepherd is speaking about a king shepherd with his rod and with his staff.

And with his rod, he rules them. And with his staff, he protects them.

Jesus Christ is king means that Jesus can tell you what to do. Who in here would say that Jesus Christ is king?

Raise your hands, Baptist. Is Jesus Christ king? That means he can tell you what to do.

There should be no confusion of who is king. You cannot tell

Jesus what to do. You do not have that authority.

It has not been given to you. You are a sheep. You are to be led, guided, fed, and protected.

The authority is not yours. It's his. He's the king. Look back at verse 28.

He says, I give them, speaking of the sheep, those that hear his voice, those that follow him,

I give them eternal life. And they will never perish.

And no one will snatch them out of my hand. Us being given eternal life is how we know we're dealing with the new covenant.

Us being given eternal life is how we know we are dealing with the new covenant and how we know that the covenant of grace is the new covenant.

If the old covenant was the covenant of grace, they would have not lost their position in the kingdom.

There would be no do this in order to live. There would be no system that in order for you to live, here's a list of rules for you to do.

The old covenant promised life in Canaan, Jerusalem, while the new covenant promises eternal life in heaven.

The old covenant had earthly promises, life in Canaan, while the new covenant has heavenly promise, eternal life with God.

The old covenant, in the old covenant, you could lose your life or be removed from the land by sinning.

And we covered this in our Sunday school class today. So remember, if you are in the old covenant and you commit adultery, they could take your life.

If you carried something on the Sabbath, they could take your life from you. If you worshiped another

God, they could take your life from you. That's the old covenant.

However, in the new covenant, you cannot lose your life because it's eternal. How are you going to lose something eternal?

Entrance into the old covenant was by physical, natural birth. Entrance into the new covenant is by spiritual birth.

Your entrance into the kingdom of God is by faith in Jesus Christ. Your faith in Jesus Christ is how you enter the kingdom.

John 3, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Verse 5, unless he is born of the water and the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

We enter into the kingdom by being given faith to believe. It's all about faith.

It's not about works. Old covenant, you must do these lists of things, right?

There's stuff that you have to keep. You must walk upright. You must keep the commandments in order to live.

New covenant, believe in Jesus Christ. It's not the same covenant. It's not the same covenant.

Nothing in the old covenant can be truly eternal as long as it is earthly intangible.

The old covenant only had earthly intangible promises, while everything in the new covenant can be eternal because it's built around the man of heaven.

You cannot see it unless you're born again. You can't lean against the kingdom, right?

You can't just walk up and lean against the kingdom. But this is me leaning against our kingdom, right?

I'm just falling over, right? It's there. It's right here. It's in our midst, but we cannot see it unless we're born again.

But absolutely, it's not tangible. I know we're in the kingdom of heaven right now.

I'm surrounded by kingdom people, the people I can touch, the kingdom

I cannot touch. Christ has not returned. It's only visible in the eyes of the believer, but it's not tangible.

Anything that's earthly intangible cannot be the kingdom of heaven. Having eternal life should be the only argument we need that we are in the covenant of grace.

The covenant of grace could not have been in the old covenant because you could be removed from the land.

You could be killed. Not so in the new covenant. Our borders are without walls.

For our brothers and sisters who would argue that a person can lose their salvation, they are arguing from an old covenant standpoint of life in Canaan.

They're arguing like the Pharisees who were speaking to Jesus, who are picking up stones to stone him.

Salvation is not something tangible. You cannot misplace it. It's not your car keys.

I know I said it here, but I don't know what happened to it. That's not how salvation is, my dear friends.

Salvation is not tangible. It cannot be misplaced, nor is it something that God would give you if he planned to take it away.

Can you imagine that? I'm going to give you eternal life. Oh, he sinned. Let me get that back. I'm going to write his name in the book of life.

Oh, he just messed up. He screwed up. Let me erase that. Let me erase that.

My dear friends, if God's eternal, what are we doing? What are we doing? We say that God is sovereign, and that he is in control, and that he knows all things.

And yet we say that he gives us eternal life, and he's going to take it back when we screw up. The two don't go together.

If we say these things, we must believe that he gives eternal life, that that is life everlasting.

The moment you believe, you have life. The same way that a child, in the same way that life begins at conception, right?

We have an agreeance here? Life begins at conception. Eternal life begins at believing.

When you believe in Jesus Christ, you have eternal life.

That way, even though you die, yet shall you live. You cannot lose eternal life, even in death.

Why would God promise us eternal life, knowing that we can lose it by sinning? John MacArthur said this, quote, if you can lose your salvation, you will, end quote.

If you can lose your salvation, my dear friends, you're going to. If you can be saved and not saved, my dear friends, when you die, you will not be saved.

That's why this is the covenant of grace. You're in, if you're in Christ, you're in the covenant of grace.

You're in the new covenant, because you have eternal life.

It's not do this and live. It's Christ done this for me. And because he's done this for me,

I now live in him. The text tells us in Ephesians that right now we're with him in heaven, and yet we're still here on earth.

And if you want me to explain that, I'm sorry, but I'm not that intelligent.

Again, look back at verses 28 and 29. I give them eternal life. They will never perish.

And no one will snatch them out of my hand. My father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand.

We are not only in the hand of the good shepherd, Jesus Christ, but we are in the hand of the father. That means nothing can snatch you out of their hands.

If you turn back a few chapters to chapter six, I want to read for you verse 37. Chapter six, verse 37.

We're going to read from verse 37 to 40. Jesus speaking. He says, all that the father gives me will come to me.

And whoever comes to me, I will never cast out. Notice what it says.

All that the father gives me will come to me. Can you come if you have not been given?

No. Only those who are given by the father. Who are that? The sheep. When the gospel is being presented, we hear the voice of the shepherd.

We, the sheep who are his, follow. All that the father gives me will come to me.

And whoever comes to me, I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.

And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.

For this is the will of my father, that everyone who looks on the son and believes in him should have eternal life.

And I will raise them up on the last day.

Some of you may have heard of the doctrine, or may not have heard of the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, or what is widely known as the doctrine of eternal security, which is what we've been speaking about.

If you're in Christ, there'll never be a day when you're not in Christ. You cannot lose your salvation.

You might be thinking to yourself, yeah, but I know people who have walked away from the faith. My dear friends, they were not of the faith.

1 John chapter 2, on down in verse 18 around that area, it says, they went out from us because they were not of us.

If you see someone who's a part of the church and years later, sin has taken place in their life and they've rebelled and they're no longer part of the faith, it's because they were never of us.

If they were, Jesus would take his shepherd's hook and pull him back to himself.

Or Jesus would go after them and break their leg and put them on his shoulder and walk them back to the fold.

And on that way, they will be so familiar with the heartbeat of Jesus, they would probably be the closest one to Jesus in that fold.

Or you might be thinking, yeah, well, maybe I can just jump out of his hand. My dear friends, this is not how it works.

And it doesn't work that way because the Lord is our shepherd and Jesus explains it to us.

If you're his, he will explain the parables. If you're his, he will explain.

How does he do that? They devoted themselves to the teachings of the apostles and the breaking of bread and fellowship and prayer.

He does that in the church. He does that in the church. The only way for you to hear these words explains if you devote yourself to the teachings of the apostles.

And not only through coming to church, but you at home reading your Bible. Oh, this is such a lost art.

Oh, God has given us a light of abundance and we refuse to open his word. His sheep will hear his voice.

His sheep long to be with the shepherd. Turn with me for our last text in Romans chapter 8.

And the next point will go super fast. I'll wrap up at the hour.

Chapter 8, beginning in verse 31, says this. It says, What shall we say to these things?

If God is for us, speaking of his sheep, those who are his, who can be against us?

He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is

God who justifies who is to condemn. Christ Jesus is the one who died.

More than that, who was raised and who was at the right hand of God, who is indeed interceding for us.

Speaking of the Christians, who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

We say not even death. As it is written,

For your sake we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, the shepherd's hand, the father's hand.

You in the shepherd's hand, in the shepherd's hand, the father's hand, they have you.

They are not going to let go. If Christ has died for you, if you have heard his voice, if God has given to you eternal life, he's holding you and you cannot escape.

Not that you would want to. You are in his hands. You are his sheep.

You're his. And that means that you yourself can't even jump out of his hands, as some idiots would like to ask the question.

Sorry, but it's ignorant to think. I know that God has me, but I can leave his grasp.

You cannot leave his grasp. And point number three, we'll get into the reason why.

Again, this one's real quick. Look at verse 30. A real small verse.

It's not the shortest verse in the Bible, but it's really short. Jesus says,

I and the father are one. Jesus's relationship with the father is that they are one.

One in purpose. Yes. Speaking of the covenant of redemption, but most importantly, one in essence, one in being

God, the father, God, the son and God, the Holy Spirit are in fact individually the one being of God.

And there is no alpha male in God. God, the father is God all by himself.

God, the son is God all by himself. God, the Holy Spirit is God all by himself. And there's only one

God. There's only one God. One being is

God. And God, the son is that one being. God, the father is the one being

God, the Holy Spirit is the one being. Not only are they individually the one being, but they have one purpose.

And that purpose is to save, to rescue the sheep of the good shepherd.

And the question is, are you his sheep? I've asked that question several times already.

Are you his sheep? And my dear friends, listen, if you have not responded in repentance and faith, respond now.

Don't leave here without being justified by faith in Jesus Christ. Why would you perish?

Why would you want to be destroyed? Why would you want to be put to everlasting torment?

You say, Jeff, but this is not about fear. Oh, my dear friends, you don't know the word of God. Jesus says, don't fear him who can destroy your body, but fear him who can destroy both your body and your soul.

Fear him. My dear friends, fear is your greatest friend.

Fear is your greatest friend. None of us want to stand before a holy God and face judgment.

Fear God today. Kids, listen to me. You kids, listen to me. Fear God today.

Repent. Turn from your sins and put your faith in Jesus Christ because he lived the life that you could not live.

All these commands that were given to us in the old covenant that we had to keep in order to have earthly possessions, he kept so that we can have heavenly possessions.

He lived the life that we could not live. And because we could not keep these earthly rules given to us, he takes our punishment.

My dear friends, that's the covenant of grace. And if you are his sheep, you will never perish.

You will never be destroyed. Even though you die, yet shall you live because you're in the covenant of grace. You have eternal life.

Let's pray. Our God and Father, Lord, we love you.

And as I've been mulling over this passage, I've come to the understanding that even now, as your people, as your sheep,

Lord, we're scattered. We don't love one another the way that we are called to love one another.

We don't see your Lord's Day Sabbath as holy. We forsake the gathering of ourselves together.

Even today, Lord, we do not love you the way you command us to. We do not love one another.

We cannot keep these commandments. And Lord, we look to you, the commandment keeper, the one who was just that gave himself for the unjust, the one who was righteous, who gave himself for the unrighteous so that we may have life.

And Lord, I also recognize my inadequacy. Lord, I just pray for your grace and mercy to be upon us in this church and that you will use us in the life of those in this community.

And Lord, now, as we prepare our hearts to partake in your supper, we ask that if there's any here today,

Lord, that has not confessed their sins to you.

Maybe they're that rebellious child who has run away or that sheep who is scattering from the flock,

Lord, and you have not yet reached out that shepherd's hook and they're unrepentant. Lord, if they're here today, please do not let them partake in this meal.

Keep them from it. But Lord, as myself who have sinned this week and who has confessed my sins to you,

Lord, I'm sure this room is filled with plenty of people like that, Lord. I pray that you use this meal for us as we partake in it to grow us in holiness, that you use this meal as a way to throw us over your shoulder to feel your heartbeat without the breaking of our leg.