3-17-19 Sermon Notes
“Preservation” – John 10:22-30 and 1 John 5:12-13
Introduction
This is week 3 of the “Unbreakable” series. This series is designed to remind us of God’s promises – Presence, Protection, Preservation, Persecution, and Provision.
Read John 10:22-30
22 “Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter,23 and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade.24 The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”
25 Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
Message
Verse 27 – “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” True followers of Christ recognize and obey His voice and follow His direction. We learn to recognize His voice because we spend time communicating with and listening to Him. We do this through time in prayer and God’s Word. We also learn to discern (i.e., to spiritually know something by the wisdom of God) His guidance by practicing what He tells us through prayer and the Word. ”Listen to” and “follow” are in the present tense, indicating ongoing and consistent activity. To those of us who continue to follow Him, Christ gives eternal life. Those who stray from Him, refusing to listen follow Him, prove that they are not His sheep. A side note: Shepherd’s in Jesus’ time and in some places even today would gather their sheep into one large sheep pen in the evening for protection. When morning came, each sheep herder would call his sheep and they would respond by separating themselves from the other sheep and follow their shepherd.
Verse 28 – “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.” This is a promise to all of us who follow Christ. Jesus is talking about spiritual life (i.e., knowing God and living with Him forever) and spiritual death (i.e., eternal separation from God). Death will not defeat followers of Christ nor separate us from God’s love or presence. We are destined for eternity with Him. No power or circumstance on earth – except our own choice to abandon Him can take the sheep from the shepherd. It is Christ’s power and authority that provide safety and security for even the weakest of us that follow and listen to Him as the Good Shepherd.
Read 1 John 5:12-13
12 “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
Verse 12 – All people should hear the message about Jesus Christ because eternal life comes through faith in God’s Son and cannot be received or possessed in any other way. “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6. Eternal life in Christ is His life in us. We have this life as we maintain a continuous and active faith relationship with Him. “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” John 15:4
Verse 13 – Here John states one of his primary purposes for writing this letter: to provide us with a “Holy Spirit inspired, proven and authoritative standard by which we can be certain of our salvation.
Concluding Remarks and Application
Two things stand out in our scripture verses: comfort and caution. It is comforting to know without a doubt that we are preserved by God because no one can snatch us out of His hand. We are cautioned to spend time with Him so that we can clearly hear His voice and to stay attached to Jesus to be the most effective follower that we can be. The stronger our relationship with Jesus, the stronger we will be in our everyday walk with Him.
Next Week – “Persecution”
This is an additional confirmation of our preservation taken from gotquestions.org.
Eternal security – is it biblical?
Question: “Eternal security – is it biblical?”
Answer: When people come to know Christ as their Savior, they are brought into a relationship with God that guarantees their eternal security. Jude 24 declares, “To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy.” God’s power is able to keep the believer from falling. It is up to Him, not us, to present us before His glorious presence. Our eternal security is a result of God keeping us, not us maintaining our own salvation.
The Lord Jesus Christ proclaimed, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:28-29b). Both Jesus and the Father have us firmly grasped in their hand. Who could possibly separate us from the grip of both the Father and the Son?
Ephesians 4:30 tells us that believers are “sealed for the day of redemption.” If believers did not have eternal security, the sealing could not truly be unto the day of redemption, but only to the day of sinning, apostasy, or disbelief. John 3:15-16 tells us that whoever believes in Jesus Christ will “have eternal life.” If a person were to be promised eternal life, but then have it taken away, it was never “eternal” to begin with. If eternal security is not true, the promises of eternal life in the Bible would be in error.
The most powerful argument for eternal security is Romans 8:38-39, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Our eternal security is based on God’s love for those whom He has redeemed. Our eternal security is purchased by Christ, promised by the Father, and sealed by the Holy Spirit.