Once we have faith in Jesus Christ, it is by God's Grace that He gives us a
gift....salvation. It is a gift that cannot be taken from us. In the
following sermon Erik Estep preaches about that topic.
May God bless,
Carl
my website -- http://www.nettally.com/saints/
my blog -- http://www.anniemayhem.com/cgi-bin/wordpress/
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The Assurance Of Salvation
by Erik Estep
John 10:27-29
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 can 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.
The next time you go to the air****t I want you to observe the people that
are around you. See if you can tell the difference between the people who
have confirmed tickets and those who are on standby.
-You may notice that the ones with confirmed tickets are relaxed, reading
newspapers, talking and laughing on their cell phones or they're asleep.
What are the people who are on standby doing? They're hanging around the
ticket counter. They're pacing around with an anxious look on their face.
A
lot of times their sucking down as many cigarettes as possible!
-Now what's the difference between these 2 types of passengers? You know
what it is? It's the confidence factor. The guys with the confirmed
tickets
are able to relax because they know they're getting on that plane. But the
people who are on standby aren't real sure, so they're nervous the entire
time!
-I think this gives a pretty good example of what it's like for people who
have confidence that they're in a relation****p with Christ and people who
aren't for sure. If you don't know which category you fall into, think
about
it like this. If you knew that in 15 minutes you were going to stand in
judgment before Almighty God and learn your eternal destination, what
would
your reaction be?
-Would you smoke and pace? Would you say to yourself, "I don't know what
God's
going to say? I don't know if He's going to say, "Welcome home, child," or
if He'll say, "Depart from me; I never knew you." Did you know God desires
for us to know whether or not we have a relation****p with Him?
-That's why John wrote in 1 John 5: 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." God doesn't desire for us to live in doubt but He desires
for
us to live with confidence.
-That's why we're continuing our series "Cliff Notes for Christians."
There
are some real basic things about the Christian faith that we need to know.
Because if we know these things then it will enable us to live with
confidence concerning our faith.
Living in doubt isn't a whole lot of fun. So it's my hope today as we go
thru our passage of Scripture that we'll see some assurances we're given
to
demonstrate we belong to Christ; that we're truly believers. As you'll see
from our verses today, these words of assurance won't be coming from me
but
instead they'll be coming from Jesus.
"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 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 10:27-29)
Chapter 10 is pretty much a landmark chapter in the Bible because it's
here
that Jesus declares rather clearly who He is. He's our shepherd, He's our
Savior. Jesus making the comparison of Himself to a shepherd doesn't speak
to us so clearly but it did to Jesus' audience. Israel had many people
whose
occupation was being a shepherd. And the people knew what role a shepherd
played in the life of a sheep.
-He was the sheep's guardian and protector. And that's who Jesus is for
those of us who are His followers. And it's in this analogy that we're
given
3 assurances that demonstrate we belong to Christ.
-So if you're wondering if you're a believer or not; if you're wondering
if
you're going to go to heaven when you die, this Scripture should help you
be
able to answer that very im****tant question.
-The 1st assurance that demonstrates we will always belong to Christ is:
CHRIST KNOWS US (v. 27)
Does Christ know you? The word "know" in our text isn't speaking of just
an
intellectual awareness. It's in reference to an intimate relation****p. So
I'm
asking if God knows you intimately. You might wonder, "How in the world is
God supposed to get to know me intimately?" The only way He's going to get
to know you intimately is if you become one of His sheep.
A. Before we get in to how we become one of His sheep, we need to
understand
the analogy of Jesus being the shepherd and His followers being His sheep.
This analogy would've made a lot of sense to the people Jesus was talking
to
because this society was a rural society.
1. In Jesus' day shepherds had very close contact with their sheep every
day. As a matter of fact it was almost like a 24 hour a day job. The
shepherds made sure sheep had something to eat and drink every day. They
took care of them when they were wounded. They bandaged their wounds.
a. They kept them clean. They even gave their sheep names to be able to
keep
up with them. And if one of the sheep strayed, the shepherd would go
looking
for that sheep to bring him back into the fold.
b. Could you see how being around the sheep that much enabled the shepherd
to know his sheep intimately? Let me try and give you an example. I know a
lot of you in here. But I don't know any of you like I know my wife and
kids! I know them a lot better than you. Why do you think that is?
2. Because I spend time with them. And by spending time with them there
are
a lot of things I've discovered about them. I know what my kids like to
eat
in the morning. I know the places Emily likes to eat. I know what they all
look like in the morning and how their breath smells!
a. In short, I KNOW them. I know a lot of you but I don't KNOW you. Does
that makes sense? Well, Jesus KNOWS His followers. But those who aren't
His
followers, He doesn't know. Jesus said in Matt. 7: 22-23-"Many will say to
Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your
name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them
plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from Me, you evildoers."
b. That verse has always gotten my attention. But you know what the good
news of this verse is? If Jesus "knows" you, then He'll never turn His
back
on you. And that means that when you die He'll bring you into heaven. You
can have 100% confidence in that fact.
B. Once you're a part of the flock, the shepherd's not going to kick you
out. Once you're a part of the flock you always belong to the flock.
In essence, being a part of the flock is being a part of the family. John
1:
12-"Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He
gave
the right to become children of God." Once you're in someone's family, you
can never NOT be a part of someone's family.
-I have 3 children. Hank's 11, Glyn's 6 and Janie's 4. Emily and I are
their
parents. Now what if Emily and I decide that we don't want to be their
parents any more? What if decide, after looking at how much college is and
seeing how quick they're growing, that we don't think we can afford having
them be our children.
-Is there anything we can do that will remove the fact that they are our
children? Absolutely not! They can have their names changed, they can move
into someone else's home and move to a different state, but Emily and I
will
ALWAYS be their biological parents. We will always be their natural
family.
1. The same thing is true concerning Christ. Once Christ knows us, once we
submit our lives to His leader****p, He can never UNKNOW us. We'll always
be
a part of His family.
The 1st assurance that demonstrates we will always belong to Christ is
Christ knows us. The 2nd assurance that demonstrates we will always belong
to Christ is:
WE WILL BE OBEDIENT TO CHRIST (v. 27)
What did Jesus say His sheep; His followers do? He said they listen to His
voice and follow Him. Earlier I said that a shepherd is pretty much with
his
sheep 24 hours a day. During that day he's intimately caring for the
sheep.
And because of the relation****p between the sheep and the shepherd, they
get
to know each other pretty well. And one thing the sheep get to know well
is
the voice of their shepherd.
A. They get used to what his voice sounds like so much that when the
shepherd calls for his sheep they go to him. Why? Because they know their
shepherd is going to take care of them.
1. Every day the shepherd is the one who leads sheep to green pastures to
eat. Every day the shepherd is the one who leads the sheep to get
something
to drink. This reminds me of the 23rd Psalm where it says, "The Lord is my
shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He
leads
be beside still waters."
An American was in Israel and he had the op****tunity to spend some time
with
some shepherds. One of the shepherds he was with was quite perturbed
because
some of his sheep were missing. The shepherd told the American to come
with
him to the market to go find his sheep. The American was wondering why the
shepherd thought his sheep would be at the market.
-The shepherd told him he was certain another shepherd had snatched his
sheep and was going to try and sell them at the market. The American was
wondering how this man was going to be able to distinguish which sheep
were
his since sheep tend to look pretty much the same. When they arrived at
the
market, sheep were everywhere. The shepherd walked into the middle of the
crowd and began to call out after his sheep. And before long there was
movement among the sheep and a herd of sheep came walking over to their
shepherd.
-The American was amazed and asked the shepherd how the sheep knew to
come.
The shepherd simply said, "The sheep know my voice."
a. Although the sheep had been misled; although the sheep were off the
track
they needed to be on; once they heard their shepherd's voice, they
responded
to him. And that's the point Jesus was getting across here. If you're a
follower of Christ, you're going to respond to the voice of Jesus. You
will
be obedient to the leader****p of Jesus if He really is your shepherd.
b. 1 John 2: 3-6-"We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His
commands. The man who says, 'I know Him,' but does not do what He commands
is a liar and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys His Word, God's
love is truly made complete in him. This is who we know we are in Him:
Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did."
2. Do you desire to know if you're a true follower of Christ? Do you
desire
to know if you really belong to Jesus and that you're really a part of His
family? Then ask yourself this question. Are you obedient to the commands
of
Christ? a. Do you love your fellow man? Jesus said in John 13:35-"By this
all men will know that you are My disciples, by the love you have for one
another." When you sense God leading you to live a certain way or to do
something in particular, are you obedient to Him?
a. This isn't saying that it's easy to be a follower of Christ. It's not
saying that you always want to do what Christ is leading you to do. But
the
point is that once we see what Jesus wants we'll come to that point where
we
say, "Even though doing this is going to hurt, even though it's going to
cost, I will do what you say. I'll be obedient to you.
b. Jesus said in Matt. 16: 24-"If anyone would come after Me, he must deny
himself and take up his cross and follow Me." What is the guiding force in
your life? What is it that gives you direction concerning how you're going
to live?
B. In 1 John 2: 3 it says a sign that demonstrates we belong to Jesus is
if
we "keep" His commandments. The word "keep" means "to watch over." It was
used in ancient time by sailors. You see, the early sailors didn't have
global positioning satellites and radio signals to guide them.
1. How do you think they navigated their way around the ocean? They sailed
by the stars. They kept their eye on the heavens, and they called that
"keeping the stars."
a. "Keeping the stars" is like "keeping the commandments." Now any sailor
could occasionally get blown off course, or get distracted. Yet he keeps
the
stars to get back on track. When we keep the commandments, we steer our
lives by them. That doesn't mean we'll never mess up or never sin.
b. But it does mean that our desire is to keep to what the Bible teaches.
And if we have a heart's desire to be obedient to God it's a sign that
shows
we belong to Jesus.
The 1st assurance that demonstrates we will always belong to Christ is
Christ knows us. The 2nd assurance is we will be obedient to Christ. And
the
final assurance that demonstrates we will always be obedient to Christ is:
CHRIST KEEPS YOU (vv. 28-29)
If you are a follower of Christ, what does Christ say that He gives you?
He
gives you eternal life! Now I want you to notice who is responsible for
the
receiving of eternal life. Is it you? No! It says that Christ gives us
eternal life. I can't earn my relation****p with God. There's nothing I've
done to deserve His gift of eternal life. That's why it's called a GIFT!
A. Therefore, that means there is nothing I can do to LOSE my gift of
eternal life. Eph. 2: 8,9-"For by grace are you saved thru faith, and this
not from yourselves, it is the GIFT of God-not by works, so that no one
can
boast."
1. There's only one area I have control over a gift. And that area is in
regards to accepting or rejecting the gift. You and I have the right to
refuse to become followers of Jesus and receive the gift of eternal life.
a. But once I accept the gift, it forever belongs to me. There's no such
thing as a person belonging to Christ for a few years and then not
belonging
to Him any longer. 2 Cor. 1: 21-22-"He anointed us, set His seal of
owner****p on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit,
guaranteeing
what is to come."
b. The word "seal" is in reference to a do***ent being marked to signify
its
authenticity. It's sort of like a brand being put on cattle to show to
whom
the cattle belong. And I think it's pretty easy to see that a brand is a
permanent mark. But God went a step further signifying that we forever
belong to Him when we're told the Holy Spirit was sent to us as a deposit,
guaranteeing what is to come.
2. When you become a follower of Jesus the Holy Spirit will give you
guidance. Let me share with you how He guides me. When I sin, when I do
something I shouldn't be doing, I'm convicted of my sinfulness.
a. You know why that happens? It's the Holy Spirit convicting us of our
sin!
Jesus said in John 16 that it's the role of the Holy Spirit to convict us
of
our sins. The Holy Spirit also guides me in that He impresses upon my
heart
to do what is right over what's wrong. There've been so many times when
I've
wanted to lash out at someone because I was just in a bad mood or felt
they'd
done me wrong.
b. But then I'd sense within my spirit the need to calm down and not lash
out because it would be wrong. That's the Holy Spirit! When we started
Village Church we didn't do that because Emily and I felt like it would be
neat! We did it because we felt God leading us to do it.
B. So the Holy Spirit working in your life is God's deposit given to you
to
show that you belong to Him. And it serves as a "guarantee" of what is to
come. The word "guarantee" means "earnest." The Holy Spirit is God's down
payment to us promising that He's going to come thru on His promise to
bring
us to heaven!
1. So if the Holy Spirit is working in your life it's a sign that you
belong
to Him. Now you may still be worried that you can lose your salvation in
some way. But notice what v. 28 says. It says, "no one can snatch them out
of My hand." That means no one can carry off followers of Jesus by force!
a. Why? Because God is greater and more powerful than all things and He
won't
allow anyone or anything to steal His sheep from Him. Rom. 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."
b. What can separate us from God? Nothing! Once you belong to Him, you can
never be separated from Him. What does that mean? It means you no longer
have to live in doubt and fear concerning your relation****p with Jesus.
You
can have certainty about belonging to Him.
2. Let me tell you something. It's much easier to rest when you have
confidence.
Former French Prime Minister George Clemenceau fought a lot of duels with
various rivals during his life. On one occasion, he surprised his friend
who
was accompanying him to a duel by asking the attendant at a Paris railroad
station for a one-way ticket. His friend looked at him and said, "Isn't
that
a little pessimistic?"
-Clemenceau replied, "Not at all. I always use my opponent's return ticket
for the trip back."
a. How would you like to have that kind of confidence? The kind of
confidence where you can look into the face of death and not be
overwhelmed
by fear because you know you belong to God.
If you have never received Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior; you can
do that right now. How? By an act of faith, trust Him to save you. He's
ready and willing to do it right now. Don't look for a sign. Don't wait
for
a certain feeling to come over you. Simply trust what God says in the
Bible.
Rom. 10: 9 - "That if you confess with your mouth 'Jesus is Lord' and
believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead; you shall be
saved." Would you like to do that? If so, pray this prayer after me: Dear
Jesus, today I am confessing that you are Lord. I believe you are real. I
am
placing my trust and faith in you. I ask you to forgive me of my sins and
to
save me.
Others of you are believers but you struggle with doubting about your
faith.
Ask yourself this question right now. Am I trusting Jesus? If not, tell
Him
you're trusting Him with your life now. If you are trusting in Christ for
your salvation, there'll be marks in your life showing that.
You'll have a desire to obey His commandments. You'll have a love for
people. And you'll have affirmation in your Spirit and in the Bible that
you
belong to God.
Today we've seen 3 assurances that demonstrate we'll always belong to
Christ. 1st, Christ knows us. 2nd, we will be obedient to Christ. And
finally, Christ keeps us.
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