Secure in the Divine Shepherd’s Hand

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oh God you who sit enth throned above the cherim we come here to hear your word not the word of man help me to be able to declare it help us to hear it Lord to truly hear it and to put it into practice in Jesus name amen well we made it to November and for many this is the start of the holiday season I don’t know if you’ve looked ahead at the calendar toward Christmas but I did and noticed something curious the other day this year Christmas Day and the start of Hanukkah are the same date December 25th usually the dates for the two holidays do not coincide but this year they do I don’t know if you ever think much about Hanukkah Beyond maybe that it must be the Jewish version of Christmas but did you know that Hanukkah is mentioned in the Bible that its celebration predates the celebration of Christmas and that it actually commemorates an important intertestamental event you see in 168 BC the ruler controlling Judea was a certain Greek king in Syria named Antiochus IV he styled himself Antiochus epip which means Antiochus the Glorious or or Antiochus God manifest that is Antiochus is himself the god Zeus manifest or incarnated well after hearing rumors of a rebellion against his rule in Jerusalem Antiochus marched his army to the city and took it by storm he then massacred thousands of Jews and enslave thousands more and as if that weren’t enough though previously tall an of Jewish customs and religion entius decreed an end to Judaism and instead forced total heniz total Greek ification on the Jews Jewish scriptures were defiled burned and outlawed Jews themselves were forced to eat pork work on the Sabbath refrain from circumcision and sacrificed to the Greek gods the Temple of Yahweh which had been rebuilt after exile was repurposed as a site of pagan worship antias turned the altar of burnt offering into an altar to Zeus and he sacrificed a pig on it and he placed an idol of Zeus in the image of Antiochus himself in the temple this was a dark and blasphemous really situation and into it stepped one Judas macabus macabus a nickname meaning the hammer the son of a priest who had refused to go along with antiochus’s new orders Judas began a gorilla war in 167 BC attacking the syrians and their Jewish allies in Judea eventually Judas was able to put together a ragtag army that amazingly defeated the larger and better equipped Syrian armies several times once the Syrian Army temporarily withdrew following antus death in Persia Judas and his army triumphantly retook the city of Jerusalem on the 25th of the Jewish month kislev 164 BC upon liberating the city Judas immediately cleansed and rededicated God’s Temple for proper worship and he declared that going forward the 25th of kislev would be celebrated as the beginning of an 8-day Feast 8-day Jewish feast remembering God’s deliverance and the dedication of the temple thus Hanukkah was born the name Hanukah means dedication now why was the Hanukkah feast made 8 days long well reportedly Judas macabus wanted the holiday to resemble Israel’s Feast of booths and to be just as holy just as Mary and as we’ve even seen in our own study of the Gospel of John the Feast of boo was seven days long and then followed by an extra day a Sabbath so eight days altogether Judas wanted the Feast of Hanukkah to be just like the Feast of boos but there also emerged a tradition among the rabbis that when cleaning the temple the Jews under Judas found only one day supply of the Holy oil needed to light the manora the golden lampstand that burned in God’s Temple the rest of the oil had been defiled we only had one day’s worth it was going to take time to create new olive oil for these lamps but supposedly the one day of undefiled Supply miraculously lasted for 8 days until the new oil was ready therefore the 8 day hanuka Feast became especially associated with light and the manora as we can even tell from Hanukkah decorations today add to this a famous explanation of the Jewish Roman historian Josephus he writes in his Jewish history that Hanukkah also became known as the Feast of lights because quote this Liberty beyond our hopes shown on us then was the name lights given to that Festival unquote now as I said Hanukkah appears in the Bible and actually in our very next passage in the Gospel of John but what will occur at this Hanukkah Feast during Jesus day is on the one hand glorious and on the other hand horrifying at this Hanukkah Jesus will reveal himself to the Jews once again to be God’s chosen me Messiah even the special savior dedicated by God set apart by God and sent into the world as truly God manifest but in response to this amazing Revelation the Jew Jews will accuse God’s chosen deliverer of blasphemy and try to destroy him thereby themselves attempting to commit right in God’s Temple the greatest sacrilege our author John wants us to observe the scene and ask ourselves am I also blaspheming God’s son in religious Ignorance by refusing to believe in him or do I now enjoy my Divine Shepherd do I devoy my Divine Shepherd’s eternal life as I follow him and rest safely in his powerful hand please open your Bibles and turn to John chapter 10 the title of the message today is secure in the Divine Shepherd’s hand secure in the Divine Shepherd’s hand our new passage is right after today’s scripture reading we’re looking at John 1022 to 42 this is Pew Bible page 172 if you’re using that we’re going to be focusing just on the first part of our new passage but I’d like to read the whole thing so that you can appreciate the flow of thought and the main idea so let’s read John 10:22 to 42 at that time the Feast of the dedication took place in Jerusalem it was Winter and Jesus was walking in the temple in the Portico of Solomon the Jews then gathered around him and were saying 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 these testify of me but you do not believe because you are not of my sheep my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give eternal life to them 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 showed you many good works from the father for which of them are you stoning me the Jews answered him for a good work we do not Stone you but for blasphemy and because you being a man make yourself out to be God Jesus answered them has it not been written in your law I said you are Gods if he called them Gods to whom the word of God came and the scripture cannot be broken do you say of him whom the father Sanctified and sent into the world you are blaspheming because I said I am the Son of God if I do not do the works of my father do not believe me but if I do them though you do not believe me believe the works so that you may know and understand that the father is in me and I in the father therefore they were seeking again to seize him and he eluded their grasp and he went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing and he was staying there many came to him and were saying while John performed no sign yet everything John said about this man was true many believed in him there if you’ve been with us previously you can see here in our new text that we’ve finally moved on from the tumultuous Feast of booths that lasted from John 7:14 to John 10:21 there was a lot of action there we’ve moved on from that but in some ways we haven’t because in this new passage there’s much continuity with what we’ve seen previously we see again that Jesus is in Jerusalem God’s chosen City the capital and religious heart of Israel we see again hostile Jews who should be welcoming Jesus instead arguing with him we see again Jesus confronting and exposing the Jews in their stubborn unbelief we see again Jesus still mercifully revealing himself as the Good Shepherd and Son of God even so that these Jews might believe we see again Jesus pointing to his good and miraculous works as proof of his Divine sunship his Messiah ship and we see again the Jews responding to Jesus gracious light Shone upon them again with attempted murder and by the way Jesus won’t keep doing this this is the last time in this gospel Jesus engages in public debate with his enemies now though this passage in some ways is a repetition of what we’ve seen before there are two unique EMP phes in Jesus words here first Jesus underscores the infinite security Believers have in Jesus because of jesus’ own divine nature and second Jesus highlights the need for religious persons especially zealous monotheists to examine more carefully Jesus claim to deity so they might see that Jesus does not at all contradict God’s Old Testament scriptures in claiming such or Rob god of the exclusive worship that God deserves here’s how we can State the main idea of this whole new passage John reports Jesus interaction with the Jews at Hanukkah so that you will investigate Beyond Pious appearances believe in Jesus as the Son of God and become eternally saved and safe I’ll say that again John reports Jesus interaction with the Jews at Hanukkah so that you will in investigate Beyond Pious appearances mere Pious appearances believe in Jesus as the Son of God and become eternally saved and safe The Narrative proceeds in five different parts and so I’ll just have five simple headings describing those parts for my sermon outline now we’re not going to look at all five parts today we’re just going to look at the first two which appear in verses 22 to 30 we’ll get the other three next time next week the heading for the first part of the passage is covering verses 22 to 24 and that’s where we see number one the forboding demand the forboding demand look at these verses Al together once again verses 22- 24 at that time the Feast of the dedication took place at Jerusalem it was Winter and Jesus was walking in the temple in the Portico of Solomon the Jews then gathered around him and were saying to him how how long will you keep us in suspense if you are the Christ tell us plainly at first glance these verses seem to report a positive development for Jesus hey a group of Jews want to know from Jesus if Jesus really is the Messiah or not presumably so that they can believe in him that that’s great that’s good news isn’t it well a closer examination of these ver verses reveals a much more ominous situation notice from verse 22 that we are indeed at the Feast of the dedication or Hanukkah this is a feast celebrating God’s unexpected deliverance from a wannabe God man and the restoration of true worship in God’s Temple this Feast would have taken place about two months after the Feast of boo where we just were previously in John so we’re sometime in November December about four months before Jesus last passover and his crucifixion verse 22 says that the feast took place in Jerusalem now technically the Jews could celebrate the Feast of the dedication anywhere only the three feasts commanded by Moses Passover Pentecost and booths were required to be celebrated in Jerusalem so didn’t have to go to Jerusalem for Hanukkah but many Jews did and that was fine in verse 23 we learn that it was Winter now this eyewitness detail helps us understand further the time of year in which these things take place but I would add that this detail also helps establish the mood of the scene because do you know what the New Testament Greek word for winter literally means bad weather winter was the chillier windier Rainier season in Judea it’s the storm season it’s not a great time to be outdoors understandably then we also learn in verse 23 that Jesus is in the Portico of Solomon in the temple compx so a portico this Portico was a covered colonade so think a whole bunch of columns just going in One Direction with a roof on top and this would be on the Eastern side of the Temple Mount now this covered colonade maybe wouldn’t do much for any Winter Winds but at least would keep out some chilly rain now notice verse 23 says that Jesus is walking in the temple he’s not teaching like he normally does at least not yet he’s just walking but then in verse 24 a pack of people descend Upon Jesus like a sudden winter storm like an ambush you see the phrase there they gathered around him that’s verse 24 more literally they encircled him they surrounded him which is the kind of tactic a group of soldiers or police might do this mode of Confrontation in which they’ve literally prevented Jesus escape it is a bit ominous but maybe they’re just excited about Jesus they’re like a bunch of groupies or super fans around their star is it unfair to suspect this surrounding group of hostile intent well look at how John identifies this group in verse 24 he calls them the Jews and remember in the Gospel of John the Jews is not simply an ethnic designator rather John employs this term to identify those ethnic Jews who made themselves enemies of Jesus that’s usually the way John employs this term so when we read the Jews we’re thinking especially of the Pharisees and the other religious leaders of Israel so these most likely they’re not random fellow Jews excited Jews coming to talk with Jesus these are his determined opponents the very ones who in previous chapters have tried to argue with Jesus discredit Jesus and yes even kill Jesus they found him again they’ve suddenly encircled him in the middle of this bad weather time so that does not well and finally we see their demand sprung on Jesus at the end of verse 24 what’s the demand that Jesus tell them clearly once and for all if he is the long awaited Messiah Christ Messiah they mean the same thing tell us plainly they say don’t be cryptic anymore don’t try to hide who you are just let it all out be transparent with us tell us whether you really are the Christ I mean how long will you keep us in suspense they asked ask more literally in the Greek until when do you take away our soul we’re on the edge of our seats the tension’s killing us we can barely breathe just give us the answer already now again we could understand these words from the Jews in a positive even a flattering way Jesus look how eager they are to believe in you why not give these Jews what they want tell them plainly but we should ask ourselves has Jesus not really been plain enough with the Jews up to this point has he really been unclear with them as to whether he really is their Messiah well to be sure Jesus has never said outright publicly to the Jews I am the Christ he did say that privately to a Samaritan woman in John 4 and he did say it privately to the man formerly born blind in John 9 but these were private declarations he hasn’t in this gospel ever declared this publicly and actually if you study all four gospels all four records of Jesus life you will see that Jesus consciously avoids public plain Declarations of his messiahship you may ask why is that if he’s the Messiah why is he kind of secretive about it well because of the Jews wrong wrong expectations as to what the Christ was supposed to be like the crowd demonstrated in John chapter 6 after Jesus multiply the Loaves and Fishes the Jews at this time they are expecting they are very eager for their Messiah to be appear but they’re looking for a messiah who’s largely a political savior someone who will throw out the Gentile overlords and establish a kingdom of abundant Prosperity free food Universal Health that’s what we want to see if Jesus plainly told the Jews he was their Messiah well they would try and get him to accomplish these desired temporal deliverances immediately and didn’t we see that in John 6 when he multiplied the food it says that they were intending to take him by force and make him King but Jesus withdrew from them he says that’s not the kind of Messiah I’ve come to be if they only embraced temporal Deliverance they would never acknowledge their deep spiritual need before God so Jesus maintains what some have called a Messianic secret he doesn’t make public plain Declarations of his messiahship and he hasn’t up to this point now while all that is true in one sense in another sense Jesus has been abundantly clear with the Jews that he is their Messiah by the words and works that he has set before them I mean after after all consider just the highlighted Miracles that John has presented to us the readers of this gospel up to this point Jesus in John 2 he turned water into good wine in John 4 he healed a sick son from afar he didn’t even see the son he in John 5 healed a man who was lame for 38 years he healed this man on the Sabbath in John 6 he miraculously fed 20,000 plus persons by multiplying a few bread and a few fish on John 6 he walked on water and John N he healed a man who was born blind which person could do these things and many other marvelous works that aren’t specifically recorded in John and not be God’s promised Messiah add to these the Striking public claims and declarations that Jesus has made and we’ve seen many of these already John 6:35 John 635 I am the bread of life Jesus says he who comes to me will not hunger and he who believes in me will never thirst John 7:37 and 38 John 737 and 38 if anyone is thirsty let him come to me and drink he who believes in me as the scripture said from his innermost being will flow rivers of Living Water John 8:12 John 8:12 I am the light of the world Jesus says he who follows follows me will not walk in the darkness but will have the light of Life John 8:58 John 8:58 truly truly I say to you before Abraham was born I am John 10:9 John 10:9 I am the door if anyone enters through me he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture and John 10:14 to15 John 10:14 to15 I am the Good Shepherd Jesus says and I know my own and my know me even as the father knows me and I know the father and I lay down my life for the Sheep what kind of statements are these if they are not the statements of God’s Messiah it shouldn’t be too hard for the Jews to connect the dots of jesus’ statements and jesus’ miracles and come up with this is the Christ Jesus must be the Christ even the son of God sent from heaven for the Salvation of the world now since Jesus had made has made this truth rather obvious we the readers of John can see this ourselves why do the Jews here ask for more clarification if it’s been made obvious by Jesus why do they ask him for more clarification the answer must be that these Jews do not ask sincerely but with Sinister motives they want Jesus to make plain his messiahship in a clear public statement so that or rather not so that they might believe in him but so that they might have grounds to accuse arrest and execute him if you’ve looked ahead in this gospel you know that one of the ways they convict Jesus is they ask him straight out are you the Messiah and when he finally answers in the affirmative they say this he deserves to be executed they’re already proceeding along that scheme in this passage what looks like a Pious question from the Jews a genuine fact-f finding Mission it is instead really just a bloodthirsty Trap by the way notice the verb tense introducing the Jews demand in verse 24 it says they were saying to him we’re saying is the imperfect tense in Greek which usually indicates ongoing action in the past repeated action in the past so that means that the Jews kept saying these things they kept asking him they kept demanding from him like a pack of dogs on the hunt they’re not going to let their quy go they are demanding from him an answer Jesus how will you respond but we find out Jesus response in the second part of our passage we move from number one the forboding demand to verses 25 to 30 where we see number two the plain DEC aration the plain declaration in a sense Jesus will give these Jews what they ask for but not in the way they ask for it and his answer Jesus Will expose the unbelief and the wicked heart of the Jews but will also give an implicit invitation so that even they his enemies who are seeking his life even they or anyone hearing his word might turn might believe in the son of God and be saved as we begin our look at the next section let’s just start verse 20 with just verse 25 it says Jesus answered them I told you and you do not believe the works that I do in my father’s name these testify of me you can see in Jesus reply that he points out to the Jews what we also already have observed though Jesus May not technically have ever said publicly I am the Messiah he essentially did say that in his words and works and he tells the Jews so the problem really is exactly as Jesus points out it’s not a lack of evidence it’s not a lack of words from Jesus for the Jews it’s their lack of faith it’s their unbelief they refuse to believe the Abundant evidence already given to them and thus they stand before God condemned by the way though the works here to which Jesus refers are primarily his kind and Powerful Miracles it includes more than that it includes really everything that Jesus does his whole life of goodness and obedience to God’s true law even in actions like cleansing the temple all of these testify that Jesus is the Christ indeed notice in verse 25 that Jesus says all his works are done in his father’s name they’re his works but yet they’re done in the father’s name that means that these are not done ultimately according to the son’s own will the son’s own power or the son’s own authority but only the father’s and all that Jesus does and we’ve seen this already we’re seeing it again Jesus proves himself to be the perfectly faithful Son of God he does exactly what a son ought to do with his father even when what the Divine son ought to do with his Heavenly Father this should have been obvious to the Jews and it should be obvious to us so why don’t the Jews see it why might maybe even some of you listening not see it well in one sense the answer is that an unbelieving person simply and sinfully y chooses not to see it we have talked about this before too and one sense acknowledging the truth about Jesus is terribly inconvenient even humbling and life shattering acknowledging the truth of Jesus and from Jesus means that Jesus is right when he calls you yes even you religious person outside of Christ when he calls you a condemned sinner under the Wrath of God and on the way to Hell he’s right about that acknowledging the truth of and from Jesus means that all your self-righteous attempts to deal with the situation to earn God’s favor gain his salvation by your own efforts and according to man-made religious Traditions they are worse than useless they are actually offensive to God these attempts and acknowledging the truth of and from Jesus means that you no longer have and never really did have the right to live in sin or to live according to the way that you want pursuing your own goals your own desires your own dreams no acknowledging the truth means that you must now give everything over to King Jesus as he deserves such acknowledgements though just and right to most most people of the world they seem too costly to endure and so they refuse they refuse to believe what has been made so plain to them this is why every unbelieving person stands condemned but there is another way to answer rightly the question why someone cannot or does not believe the truth about Jesus and it’s the answer that’s given by Jesus himself in the next two verses in verses 26 and 27 look at those again but you do not believe because you are not of my sheep my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me here you may recognize that Jesus returns to the metaphor he had used just a few months earlier at the Feast of booths in John 10 1-21 there Jesus presented himself by way of the figure of the Good Shepherd the Good Shepherd of God’s sheep now we studed through that passage relatively recently so I won’t rehash the whole explanation of it now but we can see here that Jesus is drawing on what he declared previously to explain the Jews and really all religious person’s unbelief Why doesn’t an otherwise religious person believe in God yes on the one hand it’s because they choose not to but on the other hand it’s because they have not been chosen as God’s sheep that person do doesn’t know God they manifest that by not believing in Jesus despite whatever religiosity they have on the outside but one just explanation as to why they do not know God is because God has not made himself known to them God has not chosen them as his own sheep now truly hasn’t God’s total and merciful sovereignty been a theme in this gospel even from jesus’ own words if we just go back back and consider some of the things we’ve already seen in this gospel by way of certain questions which persons by faith receive Jesus as Lord and Savior those to whom God gave the right to become children of God who were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God John 111 12-13 what is required before someone can enter the kingdom of God he must be born again that is he must be conceived from above by the spirit John 3:3 what must happen before someone can and will come to Jesus in Saving Faith they have to believe but what must happen for that to actually occur John 637 John 6:37 that person must be given by the father to the son John 6:44 that person must be drawn to the son by the Father John 6:45 that person must be taught by the father in that person’s heart these are all Supernatural acts that depend solely on God he’s the one that must accomplish salvation for any person to believe he’s the one that causes anyone to believe so we might ask well how do we know which persons those are in the world how do we know which persons are God’s chosen sheep that are being drawn to Salvation well again glancing back at John 10 you know who God’s chosen sheep are because they respond to the voice of their Shepherd no matter which fold those chosen sheep are in whether it’s the fold of Israel or the fold of the Gentiles when the sheep hear their true Shepherd the Sheep come out and they follow the shepherd wherever he goes sheep always recognize and follow the voice of their true Shepherd so that means that God’s sheep chosen for salvation they respond to the voice the words of Jesus they recognize the voice of God in the voice of Jesus they recognize Jesus as the saving Messiah and only Lord and so they give up all to have and follow him these are the sheep that Jesus knows as he says in a saving way and that he causes to know him you know these two verses John 10:26 and 27 they are a bit special to me because in God’s miraculous kindness he used these two verses to save my brother years ago my brother grew up claiming to be a Christian but he lived very obviously and openly in sin God’s lot of trouble in our family but one day he heard these verses these two verses being preached in church and God opened his eyes God unclogged his ears God changed his heart and my brother realized I claim to be God’s sheep but I don’t know the voice of my shepherd I don’t listen to Jesus I don’t follow him that needs to change ironically it was in the realization that my brother didn’t know the Shepherd that my brother came to know the shepherd and began to follow his voice but that’s what God does with his chosen sheep at the right time they hear the voice of the shepherd and they follow and I wonder if the Lord might be doing that for some of you today maybe you also are facing the situation that my brother face where you say I don’t know if I hear the voice of God’s Shepherd I don’t actually know or pay attention to or follow what Jesus says I don’t listen to his voice I don’t care to put it into practice and that needs to change or maybe you say to yourself yes I there was a time where I was locked in to my shepherd’s voice but now I hardly hear it I’ve gotten so distracted with different cares and desires of the world or I’ve gotten into these sinful habits that just seem to crowd out any word from the Savior well what must you do it’s time to repent and believe it’s time to turn from sin it’s time to turn from your own way turn from whatever is distracting you from the Shepherd from following him and come back to Jesus come to Jesus follow him as the Good Shepherd don’t get caught up in Naval gazing and saying am I one of God’s chosen sheep or am I not listen just embrace your responsibility embrace the opportunity set before you even the calling that God has for all persons which is to repent and believe the gospel repent and follow after Jesus that’s the opportunity the Lord is placing before each one of you right now today old and young men and women religious person or irreligious person maybe the Lord is calling you via this text come after his Shepherd the Jews at this Hanukkah feast in John 10 they hear this but they prove unwilling to heed the shepherd’s voice they don’t believe in Jesus they don’t want to and so they show that despite whatever religiosity they have on the outside they don’t really know God they aren’t God’s sheep they are sons of the devil as Jesus told them before now this is written so that won’t be the way with us so that we might respond differently but how secure is is the Salvation of God’s sheep Look what Jesus says next in verse 28 and I give eternal life to them and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand I love this look at a threefold promise given by Jesus about and to his sheep first Jesus says he presently notice the verb tense he presently gives his eternal life to his sheep they don’t have to wait for his eternal life they receive it and enjoy it now as a gift from God’s son they didn’t earn it he gave it to them and not only is this quantity of life it’s life that’s never going to end but it is also quality of life it’s like Jesus said earlier in John 10 he came so they may have life and have it abundantly Jesus is abundant life for your soul not just in the future right now if you believe in Jesus and second Jesus promises his sheep will never perish and again we have that beautiful grammatical expression in Greek we’ve seen it a few times already in John it almost always seems to appear when Jesus is talking about the possibility of his sheep dying or being lost the Greek expresses the the negative the the impossibility the prohibition in the strongest way possible it’s a double negative with a subjunctive verb don’t worry about what that means the translation would be something like they will not not possibly perish ever or we could translate it they definitely could not perish forever not only will it not happen the possibility of it could not even happen that’s what Jesus says about his sheep and third Jesus declares that no one ever snatches his sheep from his hand and I’m grateful for this clarification because you may remember earlier in John 10 when Jesus J is explaining his Shepherd figure he mentions a few beings who theoretically could steal and destroy sheep namely thieves Bandits and wolves now in the earli part of John 10 Jesus talked about how he actually cares for the Sheep so he’s not going to abandon his sheep to wolves and things like that he’s going to give his life for his sheep he’s going to take up his life again so that he can be his sheep’s forever Shepherd but Jesus never specifically addressed the possibility of theft from his flock Jesus it’s wonderful what you’ve decided to do for the flock but could somebody steal one of your sheep we can infer the answer from other parts of the Gospel of John but Jesus addresses that situation explicitly now Jesus says count on it no Thief will ever manage to kidnap one of Jesus Sheep No benon will ever Butcher and carry away one of God’s Own no wolf will snatch in its teeth even the smallest of Jesus Lambs to drag it away why not because the Good Shepherd has his mighty grip on the sheep they cannot be snatched from his hand and this is presented to us briefly but consider the the weight of it we’ve got three guarantees from Jesus proving that we can never be lost from God’s son again we who believe in Jesus we can never be lost death won’t defeat us we have the son’s eternal life our own sins won’t destroy us for Jesus promises that we could not possibly perish forever and no foreign power no person no persecution no devil could ever drag us down to Hell because no one and nothing snatches God’s sheep from God’s good Shepherd’s hand now is that not good news is that not marvelous news especially because don’t we don’t we want at different times especially in our own struggles with sin when we’re trying to overcome a certain thing and it seems like we’re not able and we’ve just fallen down again we may Wonder to ourselves is God going to lose patience with me is God going to abandon me am I in fact going to be lost after all or maybe we think about our own coming deaths unless Christ turns everybody in this room is going to die and death is a pretty final event isn’t it there’s opportunity to believe in the Lord now but once you die that’s it so you say am I really going to be okay after I die am I really going to be saved or am I actually going to somehow find up find out that I’m going to hell could I be lost when when death comes what is the answer from this passage from these two verses the answer for all of those who believe in Jesus is those possibilities could never happen no never not possible forever oh praise the Lord God’s Shepherd is too good and too strong to ever allow that to happen amen now yes Christian you are called to persevere in pursuing Jesus and pursuing obedience to pursuing Holiness but understand it is not ultimately your efforts that are going to keep you in God it is Jesus forever grip it’s his hand that upholds you if you are in Christ your salvation can never be lost that is a foundational truth that we need to hang on to and rest in because that’s what God meant for us to do who doesn’t love a savior like that who doesn’t want a savior like that man if you haven’t come to believe in Jesus Christ you need to today because this is the kind of security that Jesus the Good Shepherd offers if you don’t know it it’s time to repent and believe you could be saved and safe once and for all yet as amazing as the promises of verse 28 are they do raise a certain question Jesus said says that no one will snatch his sheep from his hand what about God himself could God the Father sovereignly pull away sheep from God’s son well here’s where Jesus promises become even more powerful look at verse 29 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 notice here that Jesus reports two further Grand realities one that the Sheep are given by the father to the son so the father’s not going to resend his love gift and two the father also is holding the sheep in his hand specifically so that those sheep will not be lost or snatched away and is any being stronger wiser or better hearted than god notice the phrase is greater than all which appears in the middle of verse 29 it’s a bit unclear in the surviving Greek texts that we have for this verse to what this phrase or rather what this phrase is supposed to describe it could be as we read here in our new American Standard 95 translation that the phrase describes the father uh no one else is greater or able to overcome the father or the father’s grip on the sheep that could be the way the phrase is meant to be used alternatively the phrase could could describe and you may see this in a marginal note in your Bibles you do see it if you’re using the PE Bible the phrase could be used to describe the value of the sheep before Jesus and the father both the translation would be something like what my father has given me is greater than all now I won’t go through the reasons to pick either side it’s very interesting little debate but either way we get the main idea the father is clearly committed to safeguarding the sheep as much as his chosen Shepherd is yet that declaration May raise a further question how can verses 28 and 29 be true at the same time verse 28 says that God’s sheep are safeguarded in jesus’ hand verse 29 says that God’s sheep are safeguarded in the father’s hand also verse 29 says that the father has given the Sheep to Jesus so who’s really safeguarding God’s sheep is it Jesus or the father is it Jesus strength that holds us fast or is it the father’s strength that holds us fast the answers to those questions is yes but look what Jesus says in verse 30 I and the father are one now if you’re peeking ahead in the text you know that the Jews will understand this statement from Jesus as Jesus basically declaring himself to be God and that’s not a wrong understanding because as we go on in the passage Jesus will not dispute the Jews conclusion rather he will refer back to what he’s just declaring here in verse 30 in verse 36 with this paraphrase I said I am the Son of God so Jesus is indeed declaring himself in John 10:30 to be the one true God but how exactly and what does it have to do with what he just said let’s consider this short verse carefully before we jump to the conclusion that John 10:30 is just a plain Declaration of trinitarianism we must realize that the Greek word for one here H or hen in the neuter form it does not always describe Oneness in essence or being we see it for examp being used in 1 Corinthians 3:8 when Paul says he who plants and he who waters are one describing the work of the Gospel Jesus also uses the word in John 17 to pray for his Believers to be one with one another now he’s talking about humans there and humans cannot be one in essence like we expect God to be so whatever hen means it has to be determined by the context by what is surrounding that word so we can’t just jump to the conclusion of trinitarianism here we need to say well how does Jesus intend this term to be understood well the only way we can answer that question is by going back to the verses that just preceded John 10:30 John 10:28 and 29 what did Jesus say there again we are told that both the father and the son are holding the Sheep so that no one is able to snatch the sheep from either the father or the son’s hand okay so now we’re understanding what Jesus means when he says that the father and son are one how are they one verses 28 and 29 have just told us they are united not only in their purpose their goal in preserving and protecting the Sheep but also in their action of doing so they both actually hold the Sheep so they are one in purpose they are one in the action of holding the Sheep but verse 29 says that the Father the father also gives the Sheep to the son and if you think about it it would seem impossible for the father both to give the sheep and hold the Sheep at the same time after all if one of you asks me for an apple I do not give you the Apple if I place the Apple in your hand but I do not let go of it I haven’t really given you the Apple have I in the same way we should not understand verses 28 and 29 as the father holding his sheep on one side and the son holding the Sheep on the other side no if that were true then the father has not really given the Sheep to Jesus to hold yet the text says the father holds the sheep and he gives the Sheep how can we reconcile those two declarations the answer is a reality that Jesus already expressed back in John 5 that the father and son are intimately United whatever the father does the son does with him and whatever the son does the father does with him as Jesus will say a little bit later in the passage this is because the father is in the Son and the son is in the father this actually explains some of the statements that Jesus has been saying throughout this gospel when the son Jes Jesus speaks who is speaking through the son the father is that’s what Jesus says I speak only the father’s word or when the son does his works his miraculous Works whose works is the son accomplishing Jesus says the father’s works that’s what he’s going to say even further on In this passage and when the son holds the Sheep given to him by the father who also holds the Sheep through the son it’s the father himself for this level of intimate unity and action to be possible what must the Father and Son be they must indeed be one in being one in essence even a trinity one God in three persons you say Dave that was a roundabout explanation to get to what we originally believed before you even started well I want to make sure that we get there accurately according to the purpose of the text you see that John 10:30 Jesus statement in John 10:30 does not explicitly teach the Oneness and essence of God the father and God the son but it does assume it for the father both to give the Sheep to the son but also hold the Sheep himself the father and the Jesus the son must be so intimately United in both purpose and action that only the Trinity explains their level of unity now of course the Trinity is a mystery that we can only begin to understand as it’s presented to us in the Bible but this is the only explanation of what Jesus has just said for them for father and son to be United in purpose and action to this level they must be one in essence they must be one being the father is the one true God the son is the one true God yet the father is not not the Son and the son is not the father they are distinct from one another but this isn’t the first time we presented this in the Gospel of John how did it begin John 1:1 in the beginning was the word and the Word was with God and the Word was God he was in the beginning with God so consider the implications of Jesus words when you believe in Jesus you not believing in a mere holy man raised up by God or even a created and exalted Angel Of Heaven that was specially sent on a Salvation Mission no you were believing in God himself the Son of God who is one with the father from all eternity but sent into the world at the proper time to gather and rescue God’s chosen sheep those sheep they hear jesus’ voice it is the very voice of God and those sheep come to Jesus they repent they believe and they follow and once in Jesus these sheep can never be lost not to an age not for all eternity because the Son of God himself holds them as a precious gift in his hand and the father also holds them through the son’s hand now Brethren what are these if they are not causes for praise and worship abundant Thanksgiving to God what are these if they are not a fortification a bullwark amid the trials and sufferings of life even as our brother Ian was telling us this morning in Sunday school God’s love never fails even when we are going through things that are confusing or hard or we don’t know how they’re going to turn out God says I’ll never lose you I’ll never forsake you you are precious in my hand that’s an encouragement in the mid of trial and are these truths are they not a light of Hope and encouragement against sin those sins that as we often sing in the different songs in church the sins that Satan would use to accuse us and say you have no portion in God you sinner but we say I believe in Jesus and he says my eternal life is already in you and no matter what I will never lose you that’s an encouragement that’s an encouragement in our struggle against sin now this is where we have to pause our examination of the text the Jews asked for a plain declaration and they got it wasn’t the one they quite expected and we’ll see their reaction to it next time but I feel like the close the message today it would be appropriate for me to allow another one in the scriptures to speak to us the Apostle Paul in Romans 8: 31-39 when we’re talking about the security that we have in Jesus Christ and our Salvation it’s hard to outdo the Apostle Paul in his own words as he comments on the believer’s show sure hope and security this is Romans 8:31 to39 Paul says What then shall we say to these things if God is for us who is against us he did not spare his own son but delivered him over for us all how will he not also with him freely give us all things who will bring a charge against God’s elect God is the one who justifies who is the one who is the one who condemns Christ Jesus is he who died yes rather who was raised who is at the right hand of God who also intercedes for us who will separate us from the love of Christ will tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or Peril or sword just as it is written for your sake we are being put to death all day long we we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered but in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us for I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our lord Lord hallelujah let’s close in prayer Jesus it is so good to be in your hand oh Divine Shepherd oh great Eternal God we are so glad that you are our god oh Jesus that you called us out you drew us out after yourself you made us into one flock with one Shepherd the Good Shepherd the best Shepherd the excellent Shepherd you gave us your eternal life you made it impossible for death to have a hold on us and you secured us in your own hand forever oh Lord indeed what shall we say to these things except thank you and blessed be your name God I pray that that this would indeed be an encouragement for us to press on in our pursuit of you to press on in the discipline of godliness to persevere during the times of suffering and trial you hold us God you will keep us until the end till you bring us to yourself help us not to despair help us not to grow weary help us not to yield even to the accusations of Satan who says you’re too sinful for God to save or keep oh Lord it is not our record it is not our effort Lord that keeps us with you it is it’s your grip it’s your salvation work accomplished on our behalf once and for all and it’s you who will hold us fast thank you Lord indeed help us to persevere help us to do our part but help us to rest and to trust in you and for those God who don’t yet know the security who don’t yet know this savior Lord who might be here today or listening to this message online or wherever Lord God I pray that you would open eyes that you would break open that heart so that Lord they can be taught of God lord so that they might hear the voice of the Good Shepherd and say I must follow him my good shepherd is calling me Lord I pray that you do that in this service Lord you know sheep often stray but for those who don’t know you yet at all I pray that they would come and believe and be saved and for those who do know you Lord but have strayed that You’ bring them back and Lord that we would trust you to lead us all the way until you indeed bring us into your kingdom thank you for being our champion the God man one of us and yet the only true God who has the power to save us Lord God what you’ve done in Salvation is so wonderful we praise you for it now but we want to praise you for it every day even how we live so help us to do that in Jesus name amen