[0:00] This message was reported at Vision Baptist Church in Alpharetta, Georgia. This is the next message in our series on the book of John entitled, Jesus is God.
[0:15] Take your Bible, turn with me if you would, to John chapter 10. A long time ago, Betty and I got married. And when we got married, I felt for the first time a security in my life that I'd never felt before.
[0:27] I lived at home, been with my mom and been with my dad. And I don't mean anything negative about them. But boy, being married and knowing that Betty loved me just like I was, gave me a sense of security I cannot explain.
[0:41] And it feels good to not worry about being left, not worry about being abandoned, not worry about being disliked, not worry about somebody having negative thoughts about you.
[0:51] Just know that somebody likes you when you wake up with bad breath, when you get sick or every day of your life. It feels good to know somebody loves you. How many of you understand what I mean by that? Say amen. It's a pretty good feeling, isn't it?
[1:04] Just to be loved and accepted. There is something really scary about insecurity. There's something really scary about fear.
[1:14] Fear. If you watch it, if you're not careful, fear will just really mess your mind up. I have been on a few airplanes flying. And in Peru, I would often fly next to people that were first-time flyers.
[1:30] Or I would go to the—I remember when they put the first escalator in Arequipa. They had never, ever seen—and in English, they're like automatic stairs, they call them.
[1:42] You know, you're used to them. But you would stand there, and people were standing at the bottom of the escalators, and everybody's standing there looking at them. And people would start—they'd stick their foot out in a step and move, and they'd pull back.
[1:53] And so here comes these Americans walking in, and guys that saw the stairs, they walked over and said, Hey, would you mind going up the stairs so you can let them see how it works? Just go up one side, come back down the other side, and help them get used to it.
[2:07] And so, you know, we just walked over. You know how we did it. Just like you do. Just walked on a thing, went up. And then people are like, ooh, ah. And you can see them just trying to get on the thing, and they're scared. It's kind of a nervous thing.
[2:18] Been on the airplane, sitting next to a guy, and he's sitting there. And, man, they'll cross themselves. I mean, they get more exercise crossing themselves. They cross their whole face, then their mouth, then their forehead. And then they cross them a whole—I mean, they're just crossing themselves up a storm.
[2:31] And this guy sat beside me one day on the airplane, and he said, Have you ever flown? I said, Yeah, a couple of times. He said, Does it always make these noises? Because you could hear the motor making noise.
[2:42] You could hear the—you know, they're moving the flaps up and down. He was grabbing a hold of that thing and squeezing. And he looked at me, and he says, Are we going to be all right? And I said, It's going to be okay. I promise you, you can relax.
[2:54] And he said, Are you sure? So, you know, I popped my chair back, leaned back. And every so on, he'd poke me, and he'd be great. He said, What was that noise? I said, Man, I don't know. You woke me up. But there's something really strong about being secure.
[3:08] Would you agree to that or not? To no one, it's okay. It's kind of like when the lightning flashes and the thunders are roaring and the wind's blowing and all that's going on.
[3:20] Your kids are terrified, and they come running in, and they jump in bed with mom and dad. Mom and dad land there holding them, and they're happy, and they're secure. Some of us have been dealing with fear about our salvation.
[3:33] And it is robbing us of our joy. We wonder, Does he really love me? Does he always love me? Is he always loving me? We wonder how things are between us and God.
[3:47] Wouldn't it be good if you could push the little button on your airplane chair, lay back and go to sleep and say, I'm saved, going to heaven, going to enjoy the ride, not going to squeeze a chair, not going to make a sign of a cross a hundred times.
[4:01] Wouldn't it feel good in salvation if you could just relax and say, I know I'm born again. Would that be good or not? Amen? How would it feel to just get on the escalator and not worry about it? I mean, how would it feel to just walk up the escalator and say, I like this a whole lot.
[4:14] I've never had to walk up it myself. If you have to walk up escalators, you stay skinny. But if you, you know, I mean, every time I'm at the airport, you know, there's that, if you're at the Atlanta airport, there's a stairway that looks like the stairway to heaven.
[4:26] It's about 200 miles long to the top. And every now and then that thing's turned off. And you've got to walk up it. Not me. I find the elevator. Amen. I like the security.
[4:37] I want you to go with me in the Bible, and I want you to see how you can be sure of your salvation. Three things take place in this passage of Scripture. Four things that ought to just jump off the page at you.
[4:48] Look, if you would, number one, Jesus always causes division. Look, if you would, at John chapter 10 and verse 19. Jesus' words cause division. There was a division, therefore, again among the Jews for these sayings, and many of them said, he has a devil and is mad.
[5:05] I mean, it's crazy. Why hear you him? And others said, these are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind? I want you to notice Jesus' preaching causes division.
[5:19] Do you know why it causes division? Because you have to make a decision. His preaching causes division because you have to make a decision. In this crowd, Jesus is talking to them, and there's some of them saying that he's crazy.
[5:36] Some of them are saying that he has a demon. Some of them are saying, I'm not sure that's true. I think he might not really be that way. Some of them said he had a devil because they refused to believe. They said, we're not going to accept that what you got to say came from God.
[5:50] We're not going to accept that. Others said he was crazy. They said, you know, you don't believe mad men. You don't believe crazy men. You understand that when a crazy guy is talking, it's crazy talking.
[6:00] You're not going to believe it. Other people weren't sure. They said his words didn't seem to make truth. And there was this other group. There's this other group that probably will become believers. Those truths have to ring true with you today.
[6:13] You have to realize today that Jesus' words always cause division. You either accept him as your Lord and Savior or you reject him. There's no middle ground.
[6:25] Everybody in this room is either in or out. You're either saved or you're lost. You're either going to heaven or you're going to hell. There is no middle ground. Jesus' word always causes division.
[6:38] I mean, when you preach, and that's one of the things about being a preacher, you know that what you say is divisive. You know that what you say causes division. You know that what you say makes some people happy, makes some people sad, because you preach the truth.
[6:54] That's what was happening with Jesus. You know that some are going to stand with Jesus, and some are going to stand against Jesus no matter how nice you are. If they thought wicked things about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they're certainly going to think wicked thoughts about you if you ever tell people about Jesus.
[7:08] So I wish you'd write this down somewhere. Jesus' words cause division. I know that, and I understand that. Second thing I want you to look at, go to verse 24. John chapter 10 and verse 24, if you would.
[7:20] 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. Now, get the picture, get the scene with me.
[7:32] In just a second, I'll give you a review to write this down if you do that. But look at this. It's been 10 chapters. And for 10 chapters, he's been doing this. I am the Christ.
[7:43] I am the Messiah. I am the Son of God. Remember when he said this? If you don't eat my blood and drink my flesh, you are not a part of me. You remember when he said, there is bread that comes down from heaven.
[7:57] I am the bread of life. I mean, he has not been secretive. There has been no Da Vinci code at all. It's been, I am, I am, I am.
[8:09] And they've all been saying, no, you ain't. No, you ain't. No, you ain't. He said, I am. And now they come to him and they say, man, we've been listening to you for over three years.
[8:19] Would you just spit it out? Would you just tell us clearly, are you or are you not? Look what his answer was. Ready? Verse 25. Jesus answered them, and I told you.
[8:31] Y'all don't underline that. I told you and you believe not. The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But you believe not because you are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
[8:45] The people wanted to blame Jesus with not speaking clearly. They went, Jesus, you haven't been clear. You haven't made it obvious. You haven't made it clear that you're the light of the world.
[8:56] You haven't made it clear that you are the Son of God. You haven't made it clear that you're a brother of life. You haven't made it clear. You haven't made it clear. And Jesus said, yes, I really have.
[9:06] They wanted to say that the Word of God was hard to understand. So they would believe if he would just speak plainly. They said the problem, Jesus said, then the problem's not my message.
[9:19] The problem is you don't want to hear my message. The problem is not my message. The problem is you don't want to hear my message. They weren't his sheep. They didn't want to hear his message.
[9:31] They didn't want to understand. Jesus' words caused division. Jesus' word causes division. Then people want to blame it on the Word of God being unclear. Can I just stop and say to you this morning, some of you aren't born again.
[9:44] And you would say, well, I'm just not sure. I don't think the Bible is plain. I don't think the Bible is clear. I don't think you can clearly know for sure how you can go to heaven when you die. I don't think you can clearly know that Jesus really was the Son of God.
[9:57] I don't think the Bible clearly says that. Yes, it does. I speak plainly. I told you. You just don't want to believe. That's what he's saying. So this morning, I'm going to tell you the Bible is fixing to talk real plain.
[10:11] It's going to talk so plain. And if you want to reject it, that's your business. And the reason you reject it, you're not his to begin with. Say amen. Amen. God's people are going to listen to God's word.
[10:22] God's sheep are going to hear God's word. Can you say amen there? That's what he's going to say in the passage of scripture. They said they weren't his sheep. They didn't hear. The Bible is true. And the truth is abundantly plain.
[10:36] You may choose not to believe because you do not like what it says, but you know what it says. Probably one of the most frustrating things of being a pastor and a preacher and standing in front of people every day is this.
[10:48] I really don't say anything you hadn't already heard and you don't already know. And you already know way down in a pit of your stomach. Yep, that's right. Yep, that's right. Yep, that's true. You know it. But then as soon as you start talking, you go, well, I'm not really sure about that.
[11:04] All you're trying to do is use an excuse not to accept what the book says. I'm not sure the Bible says that. I'm not sure the Bible is clear. I'm not sure that it's all that abundantly apparently clear.
[11:16] But it is clear. Jesus said, I told you. I told you. That's not the problem. I did tell you. You will not hear. You will not believe.
[11:27] That's the problem. You have seen the works. You just don't want to believe. He said, the facts are your doubt and questioning and telling Jesus to speak plainly are evidence that you are not believers.
[11:39] You are not his sheep. Two things. We get to the crux of the matter this morning. We get right down to it this morning. Number one. There is no way the gospel isn't divisive.
[11:56] There's no way that it doesn't cause division. There's no way that it doesn't divide people. There's no way that it doesn't come out strong, clear, plain, true. I mean, it's just so simple.
[12:08] It's written there to listen to it, to believe it, to accept it. The Bible is clear. Before I show you further, just let me say this. Not a one of us in this room doesn't know this.
[12:20] All men have sinned and all men have come short of the glory of God. Every one of us know that. Every one of us know that all men includes us. Every one of us, just like these guys, are looking for every way we can to blame it on somebody else and say it's not true.
[12:33] These Pharisees and these Jewish leaders had the audacity to look at Jesus and say, Well, we might believe, but we're not sure it's true because you don't talk clearly.
[12:44] You don't make it clear. You don't make it evident. The truth is that's the same old game you're playing. The truth is you know what God says. You know you're a sinner. You know you deserve to go to hell.
[12:55] There's a built-in knowledge about that. Then when you read the Bible, you hear that. When you hear the preaching, you hear that. You know it's true. You don't want to accept it. His words divide.
[13:05] His words are hard. His words are you deserve to go to hell. He speaks plainly. He speaks plainly. Third thing that's happening in this passage of Scripture is he's going to make it clear that there is salvation in Jesus, and it is secure salvation.
[13:24] We believe the Bible teaches, Jesus speaks plainly, that there is eternal security. You ought to write that word down. Eternal security.
[13:36] I do not have to worry about if I'll go to heaven or if I won't. I do not have to worry about if God will love me tomorrow or God won't love me tomorrow.
[13:46] I do not have to worry about if I'm saved or if I'm not saved. I would stop here to say to you that this phrase that many of you Baptists learned is really a dangerous phrase.
[13:58] You often use the phrase, once saved, always saved, which is very true. Very true, but usually very twisted when you say it.
[14:09] Because many people say once saved, always saved, and what they mean by that is, well, I got saved not as far. I lived like a staking devil all my life, but once you're saved, you're always saved. So who cares?
[14:20] That's not what that ever meant. Say amen. Once married, always married. Well, on earth, that don't work too good. You tried that with your husband, you'll be a divorced person. Say amen.
[14:30] You try that with your wife, you'll be a divorced person. You try that with your friend, you'll lose a friend. And once saved, always saved was just a way of saying eternal security.
[14:41] Just a way of saying if you've ever really believed on those days when you're doubting, on those days when you're scared, on those days when you're worried, your salvation is still as secure as it ever was. On those days when you slipped in sin, you're still just as saved as you ever were.
[14:55] So once saved, always saved is true, but often abused. But there is a clear teaching in the Bible of eternal security. I can relax. I can know that I am born again.
[15:07] I can know that I'm going to go to heaven when I die. Take your Bible and follow with me in John chapter 10 and verse 27. And you ought to mark these verses. These are verses you're going to teach other people.
[15:18] These are verses you're going to use in discipleship. These are verses you're going to share with people and they ought to be real to you. Verse 27. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me.
[15:30] And I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My father who gave them me is greater than all.
[15:41] And no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand. Now you got your Bible open and a sheet of paper, I hope. So let's mark some things and write some things down.
[15:52] You need to be learning this to teach it to other people. You need to learn this to be secure in your own relationship with the Lord Jesus. Because number one thing I want you to notice are the characteristics of the sheep.
[16:03] The characteristics of the sheep. They hear his voice. They hear his voice. While others complain that he doesn't speak clearly, some hear and understand.
[16:14] Look at verse 27. You got it? Look at verse 27. My sheep hear my voice. My sheep hear my voice. Now look this way just a second.
[16:25] Listen to me. Listen to me. If you are born again, you have heard him speak to you. The word of God was preached. The word of God was witness to you.
[16:37] Somebody showed it to you. But down in the pit of your heart, you knew I am a sinner. And boy, he's got my number. And he's talking to me. He is showing me my sinfulness.
[16:48] He is showing me the means of salvation. And today I will either accept or reject that message. How many of you have ever come to a point in your life when you say, Yes, the word of God became real to me.
[16:58] Alive to me. I heard him speak. I knew God was saying to me, get saved. That ever happened to you? Raise your hand. Yeah. Look at that. All you people been hearing his voice. One day you was like, the fact is you might have been one day living like and never heard his voice and never had any idea.
[17:14] And you came face to face with the Lord speaking to you. And you knew God was talking to you. If that hadn't happened to you, my sheep hear my voice.
[17:25] My sheep hear my voice. By the way, if you're a born again person, my sheep hear my voice. You know what that means? He's still speaking to us. We pick up the Bible. And as we read the Bible or we come to church and we listen to the preaching that said, church or you're sitting in your Bible fellowship or your Sunday school class, or maybe you're in a Bible study you have during the week.
[17:44] And as they open the Bible and speak to you, no matter how much the preacher says, no matter how much the teacher says, you know something's going on because in your heart you say, boy, that rings true. Boy, that rings true.
[17:55] One preacher described it this way. He said, when the preacher's preaching from the pulpit, you hear one voice, but all the way back there behind you, you hear another voice that's going, that's true. That's for you.
[18:05] You better be listening. How many of you ever felt that? Say amen. That's exactly what's going on. He said, hey, my sheep hear my voice. How many of you are used to hearing his voice?
[18:17] Say amen. Boy, that's a security right there. We hear his voice. He speaks to us. He guides us. He comforts us. He works in our lives. The second thing about my sheep, the first one was that they hear his voice.
[18:28] The second was his sheep follow him. Look at what he said, if you would, in verse 27. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. They don't just listen, but it affects their lives in every detail.
[18:43] They don't just hear what it says, but they put it into practice. He's using, he's using an analogy that they understand extremely well.
[18:55] He's talking about a shepherd. You have to understand that all these sheep would often be mixed together. Two or three shepherds might get together and all the sheep would all be just milling together. They'd be, maybe there's two or three hundred sheep all right here.
[19:08] And we got three or four shepherds here. And all these sheep are there. And the shepherd gets ready to leave. And he just turns around and says, hey, hey boys, let's go. And when that shepherd started walking up, he didn't have to go in there and pick them out.
[19:19] He didn't have to separate them. He didn't have to do any of that. He just called them out. They heard his voice. He said, follow me. And his sheep followed him. That's the way it worked in their day. I grew up on a farm, an American farm.
[19:32] And American farms are very different than they are overseas a lot of times, especially like in South America. In North America, we build fences. And we don't have a very personal relationship with our animals on the kind of farm I grew up on.
[19:47] Well, for one reason, you're going to sell him tomorrow or eat him the next day. So it's not like you develop this real close relationship with him. And so, you know, we had, I remember we had this great big bull on our farm.
[19:58] And every day I had to go out and count the cattle. And I'd ride my horse out there to count the cattle. And that bull didn't like me. And that bull would see me coming. And he would start pawing the ground and blowing in there and scare me.
[20:11] I'd be on that. I was taller than him. I was bigger than him because I was on a horse. And he'd do that. But I walked the horse over to him more than one time. He stuck his head under the horse and threw me and the horse both back in the air.
[20:22] So I got a stick one day. I stood back in the woods. And I said, all right, horse, we're fixing to play a game. I took our running as wide as I could and got towards that bull. And I whopped him on the top of the head and kept on riding by.
[20:32] The next time I came up in the field, he just kind of moved over. You know, we didn't have the most. But you go to Peru, there'll be a 2,000 or 3,000 pound Holstein bull, the biggest bull I've ever seen in my life.
[20:42] And a kid will come out that's about 6 or 8 years old, pick up a chain and lead that bull to water, give him water and lead him back. Boy, that isn't the way it worked when I was a boy. But these shepherds had a different way of doing things.
[20:54] They knew their sheep. Their sheep knew their voice. And they followed. They followed their shepherd. Now, here's the question. Can I just say this to you?
[21:05] It's awful easy for you to say, man, I go to church and I like it because when he's speaking, I can feel the Holy Spirit moving in my heart. I feel him talking to me. But you see, it doesn't stop there.
[21:16] Real born-again sheep just don't hear. They follow. How many of you are in the process of following Jesus? Say amen. I didn't say you followed him perfectly.
[21:26] I didn't say you were all together. I didn't say you weren't messing up. I didn't say you weren't the last one out of the crowd of sheep. But you know him. You love him. You hear him. And you try to follow him.
[21:37] Say amen. His sheep follow him. His sheep follow him. By the way, would you notice what he does in this verse? I love this. Look, if you would, in verse 27 again.
[21:48] My sheep. Boy, I like that. Y'all put a circle around that word my. Brother John's been talking about possession. He's been talking about don't be possessive of your stuff. But in this verse right here.
[21:59] And Jesus can be possessive because it was all made by him, for him, and for his pleasure. And you've been being taught by Brother John. But I love this. Jesus looked down and said, my sheep. My sheep.
[22:10] Hear my voice. That's a pretty good feeling, isn't it? Man, the first time a young girl that's in love with her husband hears her husband say, this is my wife.
[22:22] There's something sweet about my wife. First time you hear your wife say, let me introduce you to my husband. I mean, I heard the word my when it came off her lips. How many of you understand what I mean by that?
[22:34] Did you see what just happened in the verse? Jesus said, well, I'll just go ahead and tell you. Some folks don't hear my voice, but my sheep hear my voice. I'm one of those my sheep. Are you? I know the voice.
[22:47] I follow the voice. And I belong to him. I am his sheep. He uses a very strong, possessive word. Notice the promises he gives to his sheep.
[22:58] You got your Bible open? Look at verse 27. Notice the promises. Verse 27. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them. You need to write that down. That's a promise.
[23:09] I know them. I hate so many farm illustrations, but you know all of our cows had numbers on our farm. We had black Angus cows.
[23:21] They're not always easiest to tell apart because they kind of look alike. So they all wore chains and had a big number hanging on the bottom. And my mom and my dad, and I, because I checked them every day, twice a day, I had to go out and look for every cow, find every cow, every calf, and every, and the bulls.
[23:38] I had to find everything we had on the farm and come back and tell daddy. I counted all of them. They're all accounted for. We knew them. Now, we didn't know them like Jesus knows us, but we knew them.
[23:50] I came in one day, and daddy said, did you find number 22? I've been worried about her. She's about ready to calf. And I said, yes, sir, I found her, but I didn't.
[24:02] And I knew if I said I didn't, he'd send me back out. And it was cold, and it was windy, and it was raining. And daddy said, so you found number 22? I said, yes, sir. He said, she's okay. I said, yes, sir, she's fine.
[24:13] Well, I went out the next day, and I couldn't find number 22 again. And so this time, I figured I better not lie, because he might go out and check. So I said, no, sir, I couldn't find her today. He said, but you found her yesterday. I said, yes, sir, I found her yesterday.
[24:25] Well, about the third or fourth day, we didn't find her, and she was a very expensive cow, and she died trying to give birth. And my daddy was not exactly pleased with me, because I didn't really care about my cow.
[24:39] It was a job to me. But here's what Jesus said. In the verses above this, he said, there are hirelings. There are guys you pay to work with sheep, and they don't really love the sheep. But I love my sheep.
[24:50] And I give my life for my sheep. I am the good shepherd, he said. And in this verse, he said, I know my sheep. Your name is written down in heaven.
[25:03] Your name is engraved on the palms of his hands. He knows you. He knows where you live. He knows what you're going through. And he will never leave you nor forsake you.
[25:15] He knows you. This morning, I want you to know your shepherd knows you. I want you to know this morning that you're facing issues in your life, and you're concerned, and you're worried, and problems are happening.
[25:27] And you're like, I'm all alone in this world. No, you're not. Because if you're a born-again believer, he knows you. You belong to him. He knows where you live. He knows what you're doing. He knows how things are going, and he knows how he's going to work things out.
[25:40] You belong to Jesus. You ought to say amen right there. That's a good thing to know this week. You say, I don't know what's going to happen with my health. I don't know what's going to happen with my finances. I don't know what's going to happen with my family.
[25:51] I don't know what's going to happen in this situation. He knows you. That was a promise. It's like a promise I want you to notice he said. He said he gives them eternal life. Go to verse 28. You got verse 28?
[26:04] I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. I want you to write this down. He gives them eternal life.
[26:14] And I want you to write gives, capital G, capital I, capital V, capital E, capital S. I want you to write down gives, and I want you to put a circle around it. I want you to put a star around it.
[26:25] I want you to put arrows drawn. I want you to do that in the Bible. Go to the Bible and mark it. He gives. He gives. Now explain something to me. How many of you can speak English? Say amen.
[26:36] How many of you understand basic English? Children understand English. Basic English. Like gives. Give me. They got that one down pretty good, hadn't they?
[26:47] How many little kids got give me down pretty good? You know, give me is not you owe me. Give me is not I earned it. Give me is not pay me. Give me is a gift.
[26:59] Salvation comes from God. It is by grace. We do not earn it. If we got what we deserved, our actual wages would be death and hell.
[27:13] The Bible says in Romans chapter 6 and verse 23, and you ought to have this verse memorized. You ought to know it well. It says the wages of sin is death. The payment for sin is death.
[27:24] How many of you have sinned in this room? Say amen. How many of you fail God sometime? Say amen. You deserve death. You deserve hell. That's what you deserve. That's what you earned. That's your wages at the end of the week.
[27:35] The fact is you've been getting W-2s and 1099s. You get a record of what the people paid you, what they owed you, what you had coming. You got your 1099, your W-2 sometime this year.
[27:48] You know what your wages would say if you got them today? You're going to hell, big boy. You deserve hell. That's what you earned. But read the last part of that verse and circle the big word in there.
[27:59] But, but the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. You look at that word gift.
[28:10] Gift. A gift is something you give somebody that they don't earn. A gift is something that people don't pay for. Somebody else paid for it. You got it free. It didn't cost you anything.
[28:22] It's a gift. It's a gift. It comes to you without charge. If in any way they try to charge you, it is no longer a gift. I love it on TV when they say, we've got this great offer for you.
[28:36] We're going to sell you these huggy ruggies or whatever them things are. And they're only $10. They're only $10. And if you'll order now, we'll double our offer. But all you got to pay is shipping and handling.
[28:47] They put enough shipping and handling in there to pay for that rag. Amen. And it's not a gift. We're going to give you that second. The fact is, if you'll call right now, we'll just go ahead and four times the offer. I'll tell you it's a fourth value of what it really is.
[29:00] Jesus looks at it and says, I didn't ask you. I didn't let you pay for salvation. I give it to you. I could stop right there if you'd listen. Listen to this. I could stop right there if you'd listen.
[29:12] Listen, if I gave you anything here on earth, if I had the power and I could walk over and hand you a title, a bill of sale for a house.
[29:24] I had somebody do this to me one time for the missionary work. They literally gave me a house. And when the person at the courthouse said, what's the price on the transfer of this deed? She said, a lot of love.
[29:36] He said, we can't really put that down. She said, all right. It's a gift. He said, well, we don't really want. She sold it to me for a dollar. So she sold it to me for a dollar.
[29:46] It's about a $60,000 house. It went down to do some stuff, improve $50,000, $60,000. I don't remember. But are you ready? Jesus said, it's a gift, not even a dollar. You don't pay.
[29:58] Do you understand that if you realize that your salvation was a gift, you could just relax? If you just understood it was, you didn't earn it. You didn't pay for it. You didn't deserve it.
[30:10] It was a gift. Somebody gave it to you. Second thing he says is his sheep will never perish. Would you look in those verses with me, please? Look if you would.
[30:21] Look if you would in verse 28. I give unto them eternal life. Maybe I should stop there. I didn't put this in my notes, but just let me say it. Did you see the word eternal? How many of you see the word eternal in the verse?
[30:32] Say amen if you see the word eternal. You see it? You know what eternal means? Ten years and it's over. You know what the word eternal means? Temporary.
[30:43] No, the word eternal is explained in your Bible and other places that uses a term that some people might not understand because it's such a hard word. It's called everlasting. What does everlasting mean?
[30:55] It means it lasts forever. He said, I give unto them eternal, no ending, no end in sight, infinity. From here to infinity and beyond, I give them eternal life.
[31:07] Life, not death. I give them eternal life. But notice this, and they shall never perish. Would you look at that word? Circle the word never. They shall never perish.
[31:19] Never. Now, what's that mean? What's that mean? Never perish. Well, it means there are no exceptions. It means there's no fine print.
[31:31] It means, you ever hear those commercials on the radio? They say, and if you'll buy a house today, we're going to give you a 1.9% interest rate. And then they start doing this. But it's finally, you say, man, was he speaking in tongues or what?
[31:46] No, what he was saying was, what I just said wasn't the truth. And I'm telling the truth so quick you can't hear it. And if you try to sue me, I'm going to tell you I told you. You sign a sheet of paper and you put your name on it.
[31:57] And it says on there such and such and such. And you don't read. They got 900 pages of print. You need a magnifying glass to read. And then they come back to you and they say, hey, we told you. Do you remember initially in those 42 times you initialed?
[32:10] The reason you initialed was it said you read it. No, you didn't tell me to read it. You just said to initial it. Well, it's not my fault you didn't read it. Well, here's what Jesus said. Let me explain my clauses. I give unto you eternal life.
[32:22] I give it to you. It costs you nothing. It's forever. And it ain't got no exception clauses. Never. You will never perish. That's what he said. You'll never perish.
[32:33] Then he says to me, if you'll notice, if you'll notice the word, he said, he says, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Nobody from anywhere can get them out of my hand.
[32:46] And since I got a rush like crazy to finish this, this is beautiful. You can study it yourself. Look what he says. My father gave them to me. And he's greater than all.
[32:58] And no man can pluck them out of my father's hand. And I don't have time to do it, but I was going to do it. I was going to try to find the biggest, strongest, muscle-bound, ugly brood in this room.
[33:09] And I was going to get you to come up here and help me. I looked around and there wasn't anybody that strong. I mean, that good looking. I mean, that, you know, whatever. And then I was going to have you like the father and hand it to the son. And I was going to have the son be just as muscle-bound.
[33:20] And then I was going to show you that when the father passes it to the son and it's in the power of the father. And no little person, nobody in this room could ever take it away from the father. Much less could they take it away from the son. And the father passes it to the son.
[33:31] And you're in the father's hand and the son's hand. You got double protection. Not double jeopardy. Double protection. I give it to you. You'll never lose it.
[33:42] Nobody will ever take it away from you. My father gave them to you. And if you're going to take it away from them, you've got to knock me down. You've got to knock the father down. I said I give you eternal life. Now, here's what happens.
[34:00] Preachers love to manipulate you. If I can get you feeling bad enough, we can up the offerings. Some of y'all don't tithe around here. And if you don't tithe, I don't think they're born again.
[34:13] And you better start tithing. I'm going to start checking it right. Did you hear me? Did you hear me? And all of a sudden, the offerings go up. And I'm like, yes. I ain't sure you're saved.
[34:23] I want to make you doubt you've been missing Sunday night services. There's a record in heaven. Those that are partway saved come on Sunday morning. Those that are a little more saved come on Sunday night. And those that make it three times a week, glory to God, they're going to heaven when they die.
[34:37] It sounds real good, but it ain't Bible. And preachers want to do that. You ought to come to church because you love Jesus. Because you have to. So he said, no. I give them eternal life.
[34:49] And they shall never perish. They'll never go to hell. They're not going to lose their salvation. There are no exceptions. Salvation is from God.
[35:00] And God won't lose you. If you doubt your salvation, you must ask yourself what you're doubting. Are you doubting what you did? It was a gift. I hear some of you say, I just don't know if I'm really saved because I don't know if I prayed the right words.
[35:16] Let me explain something to you. There are no right words. Did you hear that? Watch this. Watch this. I need a gift.
[35:26] Give me something to give you, Ed. Let me have your Bible. I'm going to give you your own Bible. All right. Here's a gift. I got this really nice Bible. I'm going to give you this Bible. Here, take this Bible. Say the right words. You don't say the right words.
[35:37] You're not saved. Let me hear the right words. No, no, no, no. I don't like may I. I mean, I won't please may I. Pretty please may I. Pretty please may I with sugar on top.
[35:51] And that's how you're thinking about your salvation. You're all wondering, am I saved? Did I pray it just right? Did I hold my tongue right? Did you have to have two knees on the ground?
[36:02] I only had one knee on the ground. I didn't cry. Everybody else cried. Am I really born again? Well, let me tell you how a gift works. Let me have the Bible again. Here's how a gift works. You want this? I won't give it to you.
[36:12] It's a gift. I'll give it to you. All right. That's it. Now, when I walk, if I sign the title deed over to you guys, when I walk, look, if I sign the title deed to a house over to you and I walk away, what right do I have to come get it back from you?
[36:23] It's yours. But God's not even going to come back. You understand? Saved. Saved.
[36:34] Some of you have been letting people. You say, did I believe enough? What do you think it takes? Do you think it's like, believe? I didn't quite do that enough.
[36:45] Maybe I'm not saved. That's not what it's about. It's about, did you take the gift? Did you take the gift? Did you take the gift? If you believed him, if you trusted him, you just said, I believe.
[36:55] Help thou my unbelief. The guy said, I believe. Help thou. You know what he said? Well, that ain't good enough. No, he didn't. The one guy goes to the temple and says, I thank you.
[37:05] I'm not like this bum. The other guy says, Father, forgive me. He saved him. Salvation's not about what you did. Are you doubting yourself because of your weak moments and wondering if you might have lost your salvation because of that?
[37:21] Remember, he called you. He gave it to you. What you are or did is not the determining circumstance in your salvation. Do not worry that Satan might take away your salvation.
[37:33] It's impossible. Satan is a whipped and defeated foe. He is a roaring lion with no teeth. He is held on a chain.
[37:44] In the story of Pilgrim's progress, Pilgrim was walking down the road and there was a lion chained on this side and a lion chained on this side. It's a story written by John Bunyan back in the 1500s. And the Pilgrim, the guy who was a Christian and is on his way to heaven, he was so terrified of the lions.
[38:00] And the evangelist or the disciple, I can't remember what his name was, comes to him and says, if you'll just stay on the path, the lions can't get to you. The lions can run up here, but they're chained. They can run up here, but they're chained.
[38:11] And you can walk right through them. You are secure in Jesus. You are going to mess up. And in your darkest moment, when you messed up, the Holy Spirit is going to say, you're suffering the consequences of your sin, but you didn't lose your salvation.
[38:27] Quit stealing your joy. You're letting the devil steal your joy. The thief comes, but for the steel, the killing, the destroy. I am come that they might have life and have it more abundantly. John chapter 10 and verse 10.
[38:38] You're promised double security. You will be disciplined, but you're his. I got to quit. Overtime already. Y'all won't mind it if Super Bowl goes in overtime.
[38:49] So just hang on a second, because this is as good as that. It's better. Because it won't be somebody else's team that wins at you. Look at what he says in verse 30. Wow.
[39:01] Get this. Jesus said, in case y'all wondering, in case you're thinking this is something I'm making up and the father's not on it with me. He said, I and my father are one.
[39:14] We're in agreement. You don't have to worry when you get to heaven if God's going to be happy with this salvation plan I got. We're in agreement. We're one. There's no doubt if you believe Jesus, you'll be accepted.
[39:26] Believing Jesus is believing God. These are not the words of a madman or a man that has a devil, but God in the flesh. Who could ever take away from you what God has given you and put in you?
[39:38] So the next time the devil comes along and tries to make you wonder if you're safe, you ought to say to him, hold it just a second. I believe Jesus.
[39:49] I trust that he is the son of God. He died on the cross for me. I trust him. You say, I'm not always as faithful as I ought to be. Thank God.
[40:01] He is though. You can mess up. He doesn't mess up. You can be unfaithful, but he won't be unfaithful. I need to say to you that some of you haven't really been born again.
[40:12] And you can't have that security. But if you are born again, something inside of your heart right now rings and says, man, that's good stuff. There was something in your heart while I was preaching going, I like that. That works.
[40:24] That is what it's saying. In fact, as you were reading the Bible with me and you were saying, he's not saying anything that somebody couldn't read by himself. That's right there. It's plain. Yeah, that's what they said.
[40:35] Jesus, you don't speak plainly. He said, oh, I told you. You just didn't want to believe. How many of you saw it in the Bible? Say amen. Now, let me ask you a question. Are you born again? Do you know you'd go to heaven if you died?
[40:47] Have you placed your faith and trust in Christ? If you haven't, today you can. Father, I love you. I thank you for the chance to serve you. I pray you'd save somebody today. And I pray to God that you'd work in Christians' lives and help us to trust you and look to you and believe in you.
[41:02] And God, help us to quit letting the devil play with our emotions and rob our security and steal our joy. Help us to trust the Savior, trust the shepherd, trust Jesus who died on the cross for us.
[41:13] You have been listening to Austin Gardner, pastor of Vision Baptist Church. For contact information, location, service times, or more audio and video recordings, log on to www.visionbaptist.com.