Scripture reading also comes from John 10, and we'll read verses 11 through 30. Let us hear God's word together. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is in hireling and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth. And the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is in hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings. And many of them said, he hath a devil and is mad. Why hear ye him? Others said, these are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind? And it was at Jerusalem, the feast of the dedication. And it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. Then came the Jews round about him and said unto him, how long dost thou make us doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you and ye believed not. The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not. because ye 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. and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." May God bless His Word this evening. We also make confession of our faith with the words of the Apostles' Creed and thereby confess with the Church of every age and every place I believe in God the Father, almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost. I believe in holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. This week I heard the story of Zahra, a young woman who lives in Yemen. Yemen's a country in Africa. It's run by Islamic law, no religious freedom. It's rated as the third most dangerous country in the world for Christians to live in. But there, Zahra, has what she calls a ministry where she goes into the homes of Muslims to talk to the women there because the women aren't allowed to leave the home. So she goes into their homes speaking to them as a Christian. She knows she's followed by the secret police. She says, to almost reflect Jesus' words, we know we live among wolves. We feel that very much. We are afraid of the extremists, spies in the government itself, as at this point, they all work together against Christians. This discourages us a lot of times, especially that we can't go out with boldness to tell others about Jesus. We have to be careful in all of our conversations, in all of our meetings. I can never carry a Bible with me. They search me at almost every checkpoint. So before I go to my visits, I try to memorize as much of the Bible as I can so it's inside of me. I know that sometimes when I enter a house, I might never come back out. They could take me to the extremists or to the police station, and that's where the interrogation starts. They could even issue my death sentence. And yet she has this ministry where she goes into the homes where she knows there's a Muslim woman living. Some might hear her story and wonder, is it safe to do that? Is it safe to be a Christian? Is it safe to follow Jesus? Right? The question changes depending on what you're considering. Bizarra recognizes it's not just about earthly physical safety. If that was the case, she's being foolish. But it's the love for people and possession of the truth that makes her do it. But even that's nothing new, is it? Because if we think of how we've come through the gospel of John, just looking at these various episodes, in the last chapters especially, Jesus is, in a sense, persecuted and hated. People wanted to arrest him. They were picking up stones to throw at him. If you even read just one verse beyond what we read in chapter 10, they're gonna do the same thing again, pick up stones. Right, it seems even in Jesus' day when he was on earth, it wouldn't have always been safe to be around him. If we look at John, just at John 10 verse 19, there's division. You think further ahead, right, there's going to be enmity, there's going to be confrontation in the garden, Peter picking up his sword. Is it safe to be around Jesus? Keep that as the context even of John 10 in your minds and realize that in the middle of this and the efforts to stone Jesus and arrest him and take him away, Jesus speaks this promise that comes to those who hear him and see him. And that's our text in verses 27 and 28. 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. The promise is this, those who listen to Jesus are safe. Right? Notice four things. First, they're safe because they're kept close. Jesus knows them. He understands them. He's the good shepherd. He calls them by name. And they hear his voice and they listen to it. How far away do you have to be to hear someone's voice? Well, there's, depends on the space and the voice, but there's always a boundary, right? And this safety by proximity needs to be seen in contrast to those that aren't recognized. Verse five, right? Jesus is saying he's the good shepherd, but his sheep will not follow a stranger. They will flee from a stranger. They don't know the voice of strangers. But they do hear this voice. They recognize the voice of Jesus. They follow the one who goes before them. And you can imagine it as the voice of the good shepherd leading the sheep, but the sheep trying to stay within hearing distance. Right? And this is the committed nature of recreated lives. The closeness to Jesus is precious to those who listen for his voice. When they feel that they're out of range, what happens? They want to be closer. Right? Just think of David's expression of this sentiment in Psalm 63. Oh God, thou art my God. Early will I seek thee to see thy power and thy glory as I have seen thee. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my soul followeth hard after thee. It's a desire to be close, to have that same sense of presence. But that should tell us there's a distinction between those who hear Christ and those who don't hear. Right? Because some don't hear. Some don't have this desire. And the people who don't hear can't make themselves sheep. They can't make themselves hear. But those who hear, hear. Right? And it's not that they are out there listening for strange noises. No, they hear a voice that they know and they love. And it's a voice that calls out to them. It's a voice that says to them, come closer. And it's not just the words that they hear. It's the tone, the love of the voice. The relationship that comes out in the voice. And then those sheep that are following the good shepherd want to be close, but they know that as they're close, they are taken care of. This is the beauty of Psalm 23. It brings blessings. You might wonder how this applies to us today. We don't think often in the sheep-shepherd metaphor. But realize this, there are many people who are kind of interested in who Jesus is. Not saying they're Christians, but they've heard of Jesus and they're kind of interested. What can he do for me? But you see, that's a necessary distinction or distinct difference between those who are following Jesus and hearing his voice and desiring to hear more of that voice and those who just don't understand. They know there's maybe such a thing as the shepherd. But they're just going to wander over here. Now let's go to John 10 for a moment. When did all this take place? Well, the promise came in the middle of the hostility towards Jesus. But let's zoom in a little bit more to verse 22. John wants us to be very sure we understand this conversation was happening in Jerusalem at the Feast of Dedication. Now, it's not just another feast. It is another feast. But why is John pointing that out here? The Feast of Dedication was supposed to be a time of celebrating the restoration of the temple, the rebuilding of a place of worship, right? The symbol of God's presence. After Solomon's temple had been destroyed, the temple had been restored, and the Feast of Dedication was, let's celebrate the temple. It's supposed to be a place of worship. It's supposed to be a symbol of God's presence. But John tells us it was at the Feast of Dedication, and it was winter, and it's Feast of Dedications generally in winter. But why set the tone that way? You could say there's a chill in the air. Worship's not happening the same way. And the celebration of what is supposed to be a celebration of the worship place takes a different spin on this occasion because the Jews come round about Jesus, verse 24, and they ask him, how long dost thou make us doubt? It's as if it's Jesus' fault that the people don't believe. As if Jesus could have done a lot more. If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Just say it. And Jesus points out. He has said it. He's shown the works in the Father's name. The temple that they're standing there, supposed to be celebrating, is pointing all to Him. But these people, the sheep, don't hear his voice. And they're going through all the religious rituals, but they're not hearing his voice. They're not following. Right? There's danger here. The real danger isn't those who want to pick up stones and throw them at Jesus and his followers. No, the danger is here. In unbelief. Because unbelief isn't the cause of separation from God. Unbelief isn't the cause of separation from the Good Shepherd. Unbelief is evidence of separation from God. Unbelief is evidence that you're not following the Good Shepherd. And you see, unbelief and doubt doesn't excuse these people. It indicts them and it says to them, you are in danger. But, Jesus says, verse 27, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. And there's safety in that. But secondly, they're safe because they're given, Jesus says, eternal life. I know them and they follow me and I give them. eternal life. Right? It's a gift. Given of God's free will. Yes, we might say today, secured by Jesus Christ. But you see, God doesn't promise the gift and Jesus secures it and then he says, no, I'm going to keep it for myself. I'm going to hold on to this gift. No, he secures the gift and he says, I give out this gift. This gift of life. Now, what do you think he's giving? It's not just the beating heart, it's not the ability to move, it's life. That those who hear don't understand, he put it in terms of this morning, right? He's giving reconciliation, but also life in the knowing love, peace, and joy in Christ. And he gives it. And he gives it. You might think it's a life very few have experienced. Right? Maybe you think it only applies to people like Elijah. Right? Elijah's taken up in a whirlwind into heaven, never to have his body found on earth, despite people looking for it. Elijah's enjoying the presence of God. We know that from the Mount of Transfiguration. Elijah has eternal life. That's not what Jesus is saying. Or maybe you think of those you know who've died in the Lord. They've been buried in the grave, but they go to heaven. They have eternal life. That's not what Jesus is saying. Jesus says, I give them eternal life. It's not a gift that comes exclusively in the future. It's given, right? Everyone who believes is given the gift of eternal life, beginning immediately in principle. Right? So we need to make sure we understand the gift of eternal life is a actual present possession. You get it. It's given to you. Now, you don't understand the full, all the aspects of this, the fullness of this gift. But you can never doubt that it's given. Right? I thought of, what's the best illustration I can come up with? And I hope this helps. It's like getting a trust fund. You get 10% of whatever interest is generated now. You get that little bit now. But the principal and the rest of the compounded interest is only accessible in the future. Now, is that still a gift that's to you right now? Absolutely. Right? You might say the bulk of it's in the future, but it's still a true gift and you still receive the blessing immediately. And Jesus is saying, I give them this gift. The gift begins now. 1 John 3 says it this way. We know that we've passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. He that loveth not abides in death. Right, this is, it's part of this life's activity. Now you might grow in love, you might grow in increasing degrees of love for the church or in love for God, but you will never lose your gift of love entirely. You will never lose your gift of life if you're a believer. Right? By its very definition, the gift of eternal life cannot be lost. It is everlasting. And that's what Jesus gives. It's true that some people who confess that they believe seem to slip away, fall into sin, maybe even disappear. And we need to be gracious, and we need to look for signs of repentance and return. But we should never think, oh, they've lost their salvation. Because if they had the gift of salvation, they had the gift of eternal life. Right? It's better to understand that they more likely revealed their true colors. Now we need to be careful. Sin can still harm a person's reputation. Slander can cause much irreparable damage when the facts are much less than the slander suggests. But if they are believers, they have been given the gift of life. And if they fall away and show themselves to be contrary, It's not that they lost their gift. It's that they were never given it, truly. John 5 records it this way. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. Right, even Jesus says the principle is knowing God and it's given already now. This is the essence of life. Right? And again, what's the gift? It's communion with God. It's reconciliation. It's being able to live in his presence. And it begins now. I wonder if this challenges your understanding of death. It is one implication because some have thought that death is the entrance to eternal life or eternal punishment. But Jesus says the gift begins now. What is death then? Death is the tearing apart of soul and body, and yes, the body goes into the grave. But let's be clear, the life that began spiritually now continues. It doesn't die. A person who dies continues to have full awareness. Even as their body stops working, their soul lives, their mind lives, their ears stop working, they are still alive. And for believers, that is life. It's the soul life that's guaranteed. It's Jesus saying, he that believes has everlasting life. He's passed from death unto life already now, and that's not going to stop, even if your body gets buried in a coffin. And it's not just a little life. But as we already noted in verse 10, Jesus has come that they might have life more abundantly. So there's safety for believers. Even if Zara would receive a death sentence, she is safe as a believer. But third, there's safety because believers, those who hear Jesus, are promised well-being. You might say, where is that in the text? But Jesus says, verse 28, I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. What does it mean to perish? We have a definition, I think most of us have the same definition that comes to mind, and it's not the correct one in this passage. The definition that comes to mind is a violent or accidental death that's horrible. You might think of the news this week. The home of the Breska family in Oshawa was completely destroyed by fire. And the mom and the nine-year-old daughter died. The father and the 12-year-old daughter were rushed in critical care to the hospital. That's our idea of perishing. It's traumatic. But when Jesus says his people were never perished, that's not the definition he's suggesting. He is saying they will not, never, by no means perish. But it's not about the violent or accidental death, whether it's by fire or water or violence. Jesus is saying those who have eternal life will never experience the ruin of their well-being. Right? It's not their destruction. He's like saying, they will never be bruised so entirely that you will think they're weak or to be discarded. No, they will be kept well. They will be preserved. This is one of the reasons we sang Psalm 121. They will be preserved. Right? And again, it's not material things. It's not the heartbeat. And Jesus is not saying you will never have scars or hurt. But your spiritual life that he gives to you as a gift will be whole, it will be kept, it will be safe. And yes, there might seem to be hazards outside, but that gift of life and those who believe will be kept righteous. You see, it's Satan who wants the ruin of well-being. Satan wants to blacken that which God has created beautiful. And Satan wants to come to believers and say, oh look, that's just shameful. Paul tells the Thessalonians this. In the end times, Satan with all deceivableness of unrighteousness will come to them. They, because, he says to Thessalonians, because they have received not the love of the truth that they might be saved. For this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believed not the truth. But you see, that's Satan's voice, the deceivableness of unrighteousness. God says, To everyone who listens to Jesus' voice and follows Him as the Good Shepherd, you won't ever be touched by that. You won't experience that ruin. Now, it doesn't mean you won't have Satan whispering in your ear trying to get you there, but you will not experience that ruin. You are not condemned. There's no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. That's this. They shall not perish. There's no condemnation. They will be held up, maintained. They will know well-being. They will know wholeness. And that wholeness will not be taken away from them. Think of Stephen again in Acts 7. I know I referenced him within the last couple Sundays or last couple weeks as well, but think of Stephen for a moment. Right, he's accused of blasphemy against Moses and God. There's crowds all around him. They want him arrested. They want him tried. And Stephen is brought to trial and they say, this man speaks blasphemous things against this place. And interestingly, it's the temple that they're supposed to be celebrating in John 10. We heard him say, Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses delivered to us. Right? And they're so full of anger because Stephen dares to challenge their customs. And say the temple is just a building. And Stephen shines. Right? Acts says, like the face of an angel. And he speaks, and he's faithful to the Word, and he's hearing Jesus. And he says, the Most High doesn't dwell in temples made with hands. You resist the Holy Spirit. You betray and murder the Just One. And they're convicted by Stephen's words, and they're furious in their heart. They gnash at Stephen. And Stephen, in that moment, is able to look up into heaven, see the glory of God, And Acts says, and seeing Jesus standing at his right hand, and Stephen says, look, I see heaven opened. And they run at him, drag him out of the city, stone him. And Stephen still calls on God and says, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he fell asleep. He didn't perish. Yes, his soul removed from his body, but he's very much aware of communion with the Lord in the moment. Right? That's safety, not perishing. Despite all these haters picking up stones. Well, it's life, well-being, but not only that. Those who hear Jesus are safe because they're provided a full security. Let's go back to verse 28. Jesus says, I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall any man or anyone or anything because you notice man's in italics, so neither shall any pluck them out of my hand. You can't be taken away from Jesus once you're his. You can't be taken away. You can't be seized, you can't be gained control of, you can't be pulled entirely out. This is one passage that informs the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. The full security of everyone who believes. And it's not because we have such a grand vision of what people are able to do. And it's not because we think people have the ability to keep going and people have the ability to withstand these pressures and pulls and challenges. If it was up to people, we'd all fall away. We'd all perish. But we believe in the preservation and perseverance and preservation of the saints because it's Jesus. Right, and it's Jesus' hand. He says, neither shall anyone pluck them out of my hand. It's Jesus who's doing the holding. R.C. Sproul gives this illustration. It says, imagine a father. walking along a busy, dangerous railroad track with his three-year-old son. He needs to. There's two ways the father can protect his son. The father can reach down his hand and say to his boy, James, hold on to my finger. It's dangerous here. That's one way. In that way, James holds on to his father, and he holds on especially tight when he's afraid. But when it seems less busy, less dangerous, James lets go a little bit. But the second way is this. The father can reach down his hand and say, James, Give me your hand. And he can take James' hand, and the father holds on to the boy's hand, and he can walk, and then it doesn't matter if the boy's afraid or if the boy's calm and thinks there's no danger here. The father has his hand. Now, which do you think is more secure? Which is the surer method? I'm going to hold on to Jesus whenever I feel I need him, or to realize this, he is reaching down and he is holding on to me. We need to see Jesus' hand really as the symbol of grace in mediation, but also as the symbol of power. No one, nothing, shall be able to pluck my child out of my hand, because I have hold of him. John 6, 39, of all that the Father has given me, I should lose none, but raise them up at the last day. Right? And there's, Jesus is saying here, there's safety, because no one is able to, as it were, pry my hand off of you. And then think of all the no ones that you can think of. Right? Kings, dictators, governments can never pull you away from God. Material prosperity or material poverty can never pull you and diminish you out of the hand of God's care. Conflict in life cannot push you out of God's hand. Other people who hurt you cannot take you out of God's hand. Remaining sin cannot destroy the safety you have in Christ. And even you yourself, with all your weakness and with all your stubborn pride, can't say, I want out of here, once in a while. Time cannot snatch you out of God's hand. Disease cannot snatch you out of God's hand. Dementia can't snatch you out of God's hand. Death can't tear you out of God's hand. Right? Jesus says, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand. And your mind should go immediately to Romans, shouldn't it? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. We are receivers of life and well-being and security. But what if all the forces of the world come against you? Well, there's an answer for that too. This happens in Revelation 20. There's gathered believers and Satan gathers all the evil he can find to surround the saints. And you might think if Satan gathers all the evil to surround the saints, what a fearful place to be. What a scary situation that would be. But Revelation is given to you so that you can know this. Surrounded by Satan, but safe in Jesus Christ. Because what does Revelation say? The end is of that. Fire came down from God out of heaven, devoured all the evil, and the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. Right? Even though the whole world against us would come. There's security. And so we go back to John 10, we can go back to the imagery of thieves, robbers, wolves, destroy the sheep and the sheep fold. Think of Satan sitting on your shoulder saying, don't listen to Jesus' words. You're all turned away by Christ who holds the life of those who believe in his hands. If you think of a parent holding an infant child or maybe hugging a teenager and praying for them, here's Christ who says, for everyone I've died for, I hold you in my hands and I pray with perfect intercession, you will not fail. He's able to save even to the uttermost. But there's even a little bit more of the promise here, isn't there? God's people will never perish in spite of their enemies because Christ is holding on to them, but also because, verse 29, my Father which gave them me is greater than all. Right? No one has greater power or authority than God. No one can overrule God. No one can pressure God. No one can coerce God. No one can bully God to say, give up what you have in your hands. And it's because God never forsakes the work of his own hands that you can be confident. It's not the saint who perseveres so much as it's God's grace that preserves. Or you think of the hymn. What a fellowship, what a joy divine, what a blessedness, what a peace is mine. Oh, how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way, how bright the path that goes from day to day. What have I to dread? What have I to fear? I have blessed peace with my Lord so near. Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms, leaning, leaning on his everlasting arms. To some, that might give the impression that you're safe because you're leaning. But the truth is, you are safe and secure because it's his everlasting arms. And he says, To those who are doubting, you're in more danger than anyone who's the object of rock throwing or slanderous accusations or the Muslim police force. If you hear me and follow me, you are absolutely safe. I have you in my hands. And what a blessing it would be, then, not just to hear the Savior's voice and to believe, but to be so close to Him you can hear Him say to you, I give you eternal life, and you shall never perish. Neither shall anyone pluck you out of my hands. Let's pray.