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Dear congregation, please remain standing for the reading of God’s holy word.
We’re going to take a little break from our consideration of Isaiah to consider a passage
from the Gospel of John, John chapter 10, verses 22 through 42, the title of my sermon
this morning, I give them eternal life.
Hear the word of God, John chapter 10, beginning at verse 22 and reading to the end of the
chapter.
I’m going to be reading this beginning on page 1065 in your pew Bible.
Dear friends, this is the word of God, hear it with reverence and awe.
At that time, the feast of dedication took place at Jerusalem.
It was winter and Jesus was walking in the temple in the colonnade 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 the Father’s hand.
I and the Father are one.
The Jews picked up stones again to stone him.
Jesus answered them, I have shown you many good works from the Father, for which of them
are you going to stone me?
The Jews answered him, it is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for
you being a man, make yourself God.
Jesus answered them, is it not written in your law, I said you are God’s?
If he called them gods to whom the word of God came and scripture cannot be broken, do
you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, you are blaspheming
because I said I am the Son of God?
If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me.
But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and
understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.
Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.
He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first
and there he remained.
And many came to him and they said, John did no sign, but everything that John said about
this man was true and many believed in him there.
The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever.
Let’s seek the Lord’s blessing upon the preaching of his word.
Our Lord and our God, we thank you that you have not left us in the darkness, but you
have given us the light of your word.
We would ask that by the illuminating power of your Holy Spirit that your word, which
is living, would come alive to us.
We pray, Lord, that we might hear and receive that which the Spirit is revealing in this
portion of your Holy Word, that we would receive it with hearts of faith and love and that
it would bear much spiritual fruit in our hearts and in our lives.
We ask that you would set a guard over my lips, that I, your unworthy servant, would
speak forth your word with clarity and faithfulness.
We pray these things, Heavenly Father, in Jesus’ name and all of God’s people’s said.
Amen.
You may be seated.
Again, as I mentioned, the title of my sermon this morning is, I give them eternal life.
And the children can be listening for three key words in my sermon today.
Those are the words security, equality, and unity.
Well, dear ones, this is a precious portion of God’s Word.
Our text for this morning is found in the context of our Lord’s Good Shepherd discourse.
And our passage for today continues the theme of our Lord Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd
of His sheep.
This passage concludes with a strong emphasis on our Lord’s unity of divine essence with
God the Father and also with a stress on our Lord’s mighty miracles as clear witnesses
and testimonies to Jesus’ identity as the Messiah and as the divine Son of God who is
one with God the Father.
Verses 22 through 24 indicate that the setting in which our Lord Jesus spoke these marvelous
words was a confrontation setting.
It was a confrontation that He had with the Jewish religious authorities at the time of
the Feast of Dedication.
Now what was the Feast of Dedication?
Well this was the feast that celebrated Judas the Maccabees purification and rededication
of the temple in Jerusalem which took place in 165 B.C. after the temple had been defiled
by the wicked pagan king Antiochus Epiphanes.
This feast is also known as the Festival of Lights.
We know it more commonly today as Hanukkah and it is a festival that is celebrated of
course in December and again as it says in verse 22 as John lays before us the setting
of this passage it says at that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem.
It was winter so we have the timing and the place where this took place and it says in
And Jesus was walking in the temple in the colonnade of Solomon.
Now what is this referring to?
The colonnade of Solomon or it sometimes is translated the portico of Solomon.
Well this apparently was the only section of Herod’s temple in Jerusalem that was believed
to have survived from the first temple that had been built many centuries before by King
which is why it is called Solomon’s portico or Solomon’s colonnade.
And we read of Jesus walking in the colonnade or portico of Solomon at this time and it’s
possible that Jesus is walking here rather than in the open country because this time
of year in that part of the world was the rainy season.
And then we read this in verse 24 it says so the Jews and by Jews here he’s speaking
in particular John is speaking of the unbelieving Jews those Jews who were antagonistic toward
the Lord Jesus hostile toward the Lord Jesus in particular the Jewish religious authorities
it says 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.
The Jewish religious leaders who seemed to be anxious to get Jesus to say something that
they could use to incriminate him they surround him and they press him to tell them explicitly
whether or not he is the Christ and of course Jesus responds to that in verse 25 it says
Jesus answered them I told you and you do not believe.
Well that leads me to my first point as we focus on several themes that we can glean
from this significant passage of John’s gospel.
Let’s first of all consider what we learn here beloved about the complete security of
Christ’s true sheep.
This is the first point in your sermon outline if you’re following along let’s consider
the complete security of Christ’s true sheep.
The religious authorities asked him when are you going to tell us when are you going to
tell us plainly.
Well if they had had eyes to see and ears to hear they would have known that Jesus has
been telling them that he is indeed the Christ the Messiah the anointed one the son of the
living God.
Jesus says I told you and you do not believe the problem is not Jesus’s lack of clarity
the problem is their own hearts of unbelief and then he goes on to say the works that
I do in my father’s name bear witness about me.
The works that Jesus did what kind of works is he referring to.
He’s referring to his mighty works of healing.
Jesus remember he healed the sick he raised the dead he cast out demons.
He also had walked on the waters he multiplied the loaves and the fishes he calmed the storm
these mighty works by these mighty works he abundantly showed himself to be the divine
son of God and to be the promised Messiah the Lord’s chosen and anointed king.
They did not have the spiritual perception to perceive that to see that because they
were dead in their trespasses and sins.
Jesus says the works I do and he does those works in my father’s name notice that Jesus
calls God his father not just our father but my father.
Jesus therefore claims a unique relationship with God the father and he says but you do
not believe because you are not among my sheep.
My sheep hear my voice and I know them which that means more than just I know about them
that means I love them I love them with a saving love.
It says that Adam knew his wife Eve that means much more than simply he knew about her it
means that he loved her with intimate marital love and when Jesus says that I know my sheep
he’s saying I love them I know them in the sense of loving them with a saving everlasting
love and he goes on to say 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 the father’s hand I and the father are one.
This is so this is a passage that we could spend many weeks on there is so much here
crammed into this brief section of scripture but I want to speak to what this teaches us
about the complete security of Christ’s true sheep.
Dear listener if you are a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ then your faith in Christ
is evidence that you are one of his sheep and therefore he is your good shepherd and
the shepherd knows his sheep the shepherd protects his sheep the shepherd lays down
his life for his sheep and because you are a sheep of Christ these promises of spiritual
safety and eternal security apply to you dear believer.
For Jesus promises you that you will never ever ever perish if you are in Christ you
are secure in him not just now but forevermore.
Now our Lord’s our Lord mentions in this passage a number of reasons why his sheep are safe
and secure from eternal harm.
Let me take you through a number of these reasons first of all we learn here that Christ’s
sheep are eternally secure because of the predestinating purpose of God.
Christ’s sheep are eternally secure first of all because of the predestinating purpose
of God.
Although that word predestination is not used explicitly in this passage as such the theme
of God’s sovereign gracious predestination saturates this portion of holy scripture.
We see this theme brought out when Jesus says in verse 29 my father who has given them
to me the father God the father has given a people to his son Jesus in that context
is speaking of his sheep and who are the sheep they are those whom the father from before
the foundation of the world has given in grace to his son the sheep are those whom the father
gave to the son in his eternal counsel to be our Lord’s sheep the sheep in other words
of Christ the sheep of Christ are the elect those whom the father gave to the son from
out of the midst of a mass of fallen rebellious humanity to be saved to be his saved ones.
Again notice the stress in this passage on divine predestination as I pointed out in
verse 29 he says my father has given them to me meaning he has given them to me before
the foundation of the world the father has given the sheep to his son but notice also
that to the unbelieving Jews who were confronting Jesus what does Jesus say to them he says
in verse 26 you do not believe because you are not among my sheep not everyone is among
the sheep of Christ none of us deserve to be among the sheep of Christ God God knew
and God in his sovereign decree he knew that that we were going to be a fallen rebellious
humanity but he chose a great multitude from every tribe and tongue and people and nation
to be his people and he gave them as his sheep to Christ the Good Shepherd even from before
the foundation of the world but to these particular unbelieving Jews Jesus says you
do not believe because you are not among my sheep now again this is something that many
Christians struggle with this whole idea of predestination and election but brothers and
sisters I would encourage you as you study the scriptures and especially as you study
the New Testament you will see that this truth is not presented as something that is meant
to terrify us or to intimidate us if we are in Christ if we are believers in Christ this
truth is meant to be deeply comforting to us because it is a truth that means that even
before God created the universe he set his saving everlasting love upon you dear Christian
he loved you from eternity and his love which has chosen you which in time through Christ
has redeemed you which by the Holy Spirit has regenerated you that love will preserve
you even unto life eternal and what could be more comforting than that again notice
that Jesus does not say to these unbelieving Jews he doesn’t say you are not among my sheep
because you do not believe he doesn’t say no the reason you are not among my sheep is
that you don’t believe it’s true that they did not believe in him and they are guilty
for their own unbelief but no notice he says you do not believe because you are not among
my sheep and yet friends while our Lord Jesus here stresses the divine predestination of
his sheep at the same time he treats these unbelieving Jews throughout this passage as
genuinely responsible moral agents let that sink in in our finite understandings in our
sinful rationality we have trouble fitting these truths together how can it be that God
is absolutely sovereign in human salvation but at the same time human beings are genuinely
responsible moral agents well the Bible teaches both truths our limited finite reason has trouble
holding these two truths together but the Word of God often teaches these truth these equally
biblical truths sometimes even in the same passage so while our Lord here stresses the
divine predestination of his sheep at the same time as I mentioned throughout this passage Jesus
treats these unbelieving Jews as genuinely responsible moral agents later on in this
passage Jesus even urges them to believe his works skip down to verse 38 look at verse 38
Jesus says let me start at verse 37 Jesus says to them if I am not doing the works of my Father
then do not believe me but if I do them even though you do not believe me believe the works
that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father friends all of
this is to say that absolute divine predestination and total divine sovereignty in human salvation
as well as genuine human responsibility and the free offer of the gospel these truths go together
in the scriptures even if we have trouble figuring out how they fit together the temptation beloved
is for us to be rationalists by rationalist I mean someone who puts their reason above God’s
revelation above God’s word now reason is a great gift of God if it’s used rightly if it’s used
in submission to God’s word but reason is must be informed by God’s revelation given to us
in his word the holy scriptures and so friends let us not let us not be arrogant say well because I
can’t figure it out I won’t believe it no you know the saying God’s word says it I believe it
that settles it or perhaps more accurately God’s word says it that settles it I believe it because
it is God’s word but the point here beloved is that one very important foundation stone of the
eternal security of Christ’s sheep is the predestinating purpose of God if you are in Christ
if you’re a believer in Christ God predestined that you would be a believer in Christ and he who
has begun a good work in you will carry it through to completion until the day of Christ Jesus but
notice also that Christ’s sheep are eternally secure because he gives them eternal life Jesus
says notice verse 28 it says this I give them eternal life in other words it’s a gift they
don’t earn it they don’t merit it they don’t deserve it they’re not worthy of it I give it
to them as a free gift is the implication here I give them what does he give them eternal life
what is eternal life eternal life is communion fellowship in the very life of God himself
it is eternal with respect to its quality it is sharing in the very covenant life of God himself
but it is also obviously eternal in its duration as well and so believer let me ask you this
if you could lose the gift of eternal life if you could lose your salvation
then was it truly eternal life to begin with how can you lose that which is eternal
many Christians in other denominations believe that the scriptures in there are scripture
passages that seem at least on the surface to suggest that it’s possible for true believers to
fall away and lose their salvation passages for example in Hebrews 6 Hebrews 10 and many other
passages like it but I would encourage you to to compare scripture with scripture and we need to
understand that when we dig into those passages more carefully we realize that the Bible doesn’t
contradict itself and what Jesus says here is very clear very plain believer again it is because
our Lord Jesus gives us eternal life and gives it to us as a gift that we will never perish
notice the emphatic language that our Lord uses here in verse 28 and 29 he says I give them eternal
life and they will never perish furthermore he goes on to say and no one will snatch them out
of my hand and then he goes on to say in verse 29 he goes on to say it’s not just me who’s keeping
you he goes on to say my father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to
snatch them out of the father’s hand I and the father are one they are one in will and purpose
but they are also one in divine essence as well as we will see in a few moments
the Baptist theologian Dr. Millard Erickson has pointed out that the Greek which is translated
here as they will never perish is very strong and emphatic the double negative here that is
translated as never could be translated something along the lines of they shall not repeat shall
not ever perish in the slightest so when Jesus says I give them eternal life and they shall
never perish he is saying in effect they shall never no not ever perish how could he be clearer
and how could this truth be more comforting than that Jesus gives us eternal life it’s not something
that you earn or deserve it’s not something that depends upon you to hold on to although the
scriptures do urge us to give diligence to make our calling and election sure that is true
and it is also true that true believers can at times fall into deep and serious and even
scandalous sin you think of someone like King David who fell into the sins of murder and
adultery in connection with his affair with Bathsheba certainly and you think of the Apostle
Peter who denied Christ three times after he had sworn to the Lord Lord I will never abandon you
the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak but while the true believer can fall into serious
and even scandalous sin because of the predestinating purpose of God and because
Christ gives to the true believer eternal life therefore that true believer will eventually be
brought to repentance brought back to the fold Christ will preserve his people even until the end
and it goes another reason why we are told here that we are eternally secure Christ’s sheep are
eternally secure because both God the Father and Jesus the Son hold them firmly in hand
and therefore absolutely no one can snatch them out of their grip it says this in verse 28 I give
them eternal life they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand brothers and
sisters in Christ Jesus our Savior holds us firmly in his hands but not only does Jesus hold us firmly
in his hand the Father does as well verse 29 my Father who has given them to me is greater than
all and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand now I should point out that there
is a textual issue that’s going on here in verse 29 one commentator suggests that this could be
translated as that which my Father has given me is more excellent than all and no one is able to
snatch it out of the Father’s hand in other words that which the Father has given to me namely the
sheep the elect whom the Father has gifted to his Son is more excellent than all and no one is able
to snatch it out of my hands but even if readings like the one given here in the English standard
version are correct the reading that my Father is greater than all you know that heretics have
latched on to this statement to say aha see Jesus is not fully Jehovah Jesus says my Father is greater
than all I believe the Jehovah’s Witnesses and other Aryan groups latch on to passages like this
to show that see Jesus is less than the Father he says my Father is greater than all but if that’s
what Jesus is saying he is speaking in this context from the standpoint of his human nature
with respect to his humanity the Father was greater and is greater than the Lord Jesus
but nevertheless it is clear from the broader context here that Jesus asserts his full divine
equality with God the Father and that’s why the Jews pick up stones to stone him for blasphemy
if Jesus was simply saying well I’m you know the I’m great I keep my sheep in my hand but my Father
is greater than all because he’s God and I’m not if that’s what Jesus meant then why the reaction
of the Jews that we read of here in verses 31 and following it says in verse 31 the Jews picked up
stones again to stone him Jesus answered them I have shown you many good works from the Father
for which of them are you going to stone me the Jews answered him it is not for a good work that
we are going to stone you but for blasphemy because you being a man make yourself God see
they understood what Jesus was claiming for himself they understood that Jesus by calling
himself the Son of God and calling God his Father they understood that Christ was claiming full
divine equality with God the Father and they regarded that as blasphemy because they rejected
his deity and so they take up stones to stone him but getting back to the issue of our security
in Christ dear listener if you are one of Christ’s sheep do not be anxious or afraid mount up with
courage the Almighty Father and his omnipotent Son through the Holy Spirit keeps and preserves
you in grace your salvation is a trinitarian salvation when God sets out to save a man or
a woman when he sets out to save someone all three persons of the Trinity work together in harmony
for the salvation of God’s people God’s sheep and if you are in Christ if you are one of Christ’s
sheep if you have trusted him as your very own Lord and Savior then you can be assured that God
the Father God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are working perfectly together to secure and to
guarantee your eternal salvation dear one are you one of Christ’s sheep do you hear the voice of
Christ your good shepherd and do you trust and follow him Jesus says in verse 27 my sheep hear
my voice and I know them and they follow me you may say well what does it mean pastor to hear the
voice of the Son of God how do we hear his voice we hear his voice in the gospel the gospel with
which shows us our sin and that we are totally helpless and incapable of saving ourselves
by our own good works the gospel that summons us to repent of our sin to trust Christ our all
sufficient Savior who died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin and who rose from the dead so that
whoever believes in him might not perish but have everlasting life the word of God says that if you
receive and rest upon Jesus and Jesus alone for your salvation you are one of Christ’s sheep
and he is your good shepherd and he laid down his life for you but as we move on in our passage as
the time is getting along observe next the complete equality of God the Father and God the Son the
complete equality of God the Father and God the Son Jesus says in verse 30 I and the Father are
one and again as I pointed out the unbelieving Jews here in this context they understand what
he’s saying they understand he’s claiming to be God claiming to be equal in divine essence with
the Father and they take up stones to stone him but Jesus points out that his miraculous works
testify to his identity as the Christ and the divine Son of God and also they bear testimony
to his complete equality of divine essence with God the Father and I want you to notice the
language that Jesus uses here when he speaks about his father notice that our Lord speaks
of his miraculous works as works which he does in my father’s name he doesn’t say in the name of
our father he says I do these works in my father’s name he also describes in verse 24
his works as good works from the Father these works of course being his miraculous signs
and wonders and miracles which attested to his divinity and the fact that he is the promised Messiah
he also speaks in verse 37 of the works of my father beloved this language points to
the full equality of Jesus with the Father and the scriptures demonstrate contrary to these
unbelieving Jews and their accusations of blasphemy the scriptures demonstrate that Jesus is not guilty
of blasphemy when he claims to be the Son of God let’s look at verses 34 to 38 briefly
Jesus says this after after they say look we’re stoning you because you being a man you claim to
be God and Jesus answers in this way beginning at verse 34 Jesus answered them is it not written
in your law I said you are God’s lowercase g if he called them God so he’s appealing to a passage
from the Old Testament scriptures I said to you you are God’s if he called them God’s to whom the
word of God came and scripture cannot be broken do you say of him whom the father consecrated and
sent into the world you are blaspheming because I said I am the Son of God and he goes on to say
if I am not doing the works of my father then do not believe me but if I do them even though you
do not believe me believe the works that you may know and understand that the father is in me
and I am in the father there is an interpenetration of father and son again they sought to arrest him
but he escaped from their hands the scriptures demonstrate that Jesus is not guilty of blasphemy
now here in this passage Jesus is referring to Psalm 82 verse 6 in that passage God addresses
human judges as quote gods not because they were literally divine beings but because they represented
divine justice and they received the word of God and were to rule in accordance with that rule
that that word of God so what our Lord is doing here in this passage he’s arguing from the lesser
to the greater he’s not saying well I’m just like those mere human judges that God in the Old Testament
called gods with a lowercase g no he’s not claiming to be a secondary deity he’s not denying their
accusation that he claims to be God but he’s saying he’s arguing from the lesser to the greater
in essence what Jesus is saying is this look if God’s law which you Jews claim to honor and revere
refers to mere human judges as quote gods because the word of God came to them how much more do I
have the right to call myself the son of God since God the father consecrated me set me apart and
sent me out into the world and then he reinforces what he is saying in verse 35 in a parenthetical
but a very powerful and important statement Jesus says and scripture cannot be broken
Jesus had kind of a high view of the scriptures didn’t he scripture cannot be broken again
God’s word says it that settles it let us believe it Jesus did beloved our Lord had a high view of
scripture and if we claim to be his followers we too ought to follow him in his view of the holy
scriptures it we don’t have time to get into that subject this morning or I should say this
afternoon at this point but Jesus indeed he indeed looked to the Bible as God’s inerrant
infallible authoritative word and he says here the scriptures cannot be broken dear ones in
conclusion our Lord Jesus Christ is indeed the divine eternal son of God the second person
of the holy trinity who shares fully in the one divine essence with God the father
and God the holy spirit do you own and confess him as your Lord and God do you recognize Jesus
as divine as God and Lord do you recognize him as being worthy of divine worship
and honor and service if Jesus is not fully God then we commit blasphemy every time that we sing
praises to his name or pray to him and we but we do not commit blasphemy because he is true God
fully God even as he is also fully man do you recognize this do you worship him and will you
confess him as Lord and God and Savior to others even in the face of ridicule even perhaps in the
face of persecution oh by the grace of God let us worship and confess Jesus Christ as God and let us
serve him as our Lord amen let us pray heavenly father sovereign and eternal God we praise you
and thank you that we are your sheep Lord we deserve to be cast out as goats
because of our sin and rebellion in Adam we are by fallen nature and by our own sinful choices we
are rebels against you not worthy of the least of your mercies and yet you are so kind you are so
good and you have demonstrated your love for us and that while we were yet sinners Christ died for
us we thank you Lord Jesus that you the good shepherd laid down your life for us your sheep
we pray that we might respond with gratitude by laying down our lives in your service as your
disciples in your name we pray and all of God’s people said amen as we close our worship today
let’s rise and sing as our closing hymn of commitment 477 by grace I am an heir of heaven 477