John 10:27-30: Kept Safe in Sovereign Hands

Scripture Reading

Psalm 121 I lift up my eyes to the hills.

From where does my help come?

My help comes from the Lord,

who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved;

he who keeps you will not slumber.

Behold, he who keeps Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper;

the Lord is your shade on your right hand.

The sun shall not strike you by day,

nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all evil;

he will keep your life.

The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

Intro

The Great Baptist Preacher Charles Spurgeon once said:

If ever it should come to pass,

That sheep of Christ might fall away,

My fickle, feeble soul, alas!

Would fall a thousand times a day. (Spurgeon, A Defense of Calvinism, Banner of Truth, 13).

What Spurgeon is talking about here is one of the great comforts of our Christian faith.

That our salvation does not ultimately depend on us but on the grace of Christ.

That if it were possible for a sheep of Christ to fall away, we would all surely fall a thousand times a day.

What a horrifying prospect if it were true.

If our salvation ultimately depended on us.

If we could lose our salvation… Fall away from grace.

Come again under condemnation by our own lack of faith and weakness.

If that horrifying proposition were true…

If it were at all possible for a Christian to ultimately and finally fall away… the joy of our salvation would be utterly destroyed…

Any joy or hope we might have would be all of a sudden replaced with constant worry and anxiety.

The whole Christian life would become a life of slavery trying to do enough good works to keep ourselves in God’s grace.

Every day waking up asking, “Is today the day I lose my salvation? Is today the day I fall away from saving grace?”

And every night we would lay our heads on the pillow for another night of restless sleep wondering, “Have I done enough to keep it?”

The Question

How can you know and have assurance that you would ultimately and finally be saved?

That you will not… fall away?

That you will persevere?

That you will be found to be in Christ at the very end?

These are all questions related to the Doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints, or otherwise known as the Eternal Security of the Believer.

The Doctrine that all those in Christ will ultimately persevere…

That no matter what trials… storms… or temptations might come into their life… they will ultimately and finally be saved.

This is one of the sweetest doctrines of our faith…

One of the most precious and comforting promises for our souls…

Because ultimately… our salvation does not ultimately rest in us… in our strength and our will…

In our ability to hold tight…

Ultimately it rests in the Sovereign… Almighty… Powerful Grace of God.

Called to Persevere

Now make no mistake… We are called to persevere.

To keep the faith!

But the reason we persevere is because God perseveres us.

We persevere by His power.

He preserves us… He keeps us… He holds fast to us.

And that is what I want to look at this morning.

The persevering grace of God.

Often when we talk about the Doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints we tend focus on our part.

Holding fast… Standing firm… running with endurance the race that is set before us (Hebrews 12:1).

But that is all just the application of God’s grace with in us.

The working out of what God works in (Philippians 2:12-13).

Our perseverance… all it is… is the fruit of God persevering in His love and His faithfulness… to us.

We keep because He keep us.

We are not saved by our perseverance… we persevere because we are saved.

And God holds us and keeps us from ever ultimately falling away.

We might even call this Doctrine the Preservation of the Saints emphasizing God’s grace and God’s power to keep us.

That’s the emphasis in John 10:27-29… one of the clearest and most explicit passages in the entire Bible on the Eternal Security of the Believer.

One were Jesus gives us multiple promises of full assurance that all who trust in Him will truly… and ultimately… and finally be saved in Him.

And all those promises come together to give us the Big Idea for our passage today…

The promise, to water the joy and comfort of our souls…

And here it is:

Our salvation is kept safe and eternally secure in the almighty hands of Almighty God.

So let’s look at this doctrine and the great assurance Christ gives to all who believe with point number 1…

I. The Great Assurance of Eternal Security

John 10:27–30 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.

In order to see the glory of all that Christ promises in these 4 verses I want to work through this passage and this doctrine systematically.

I want to first look at the Who of Perseverance.

Who are they that persevere and ultimately inherit eternal salvation?

Then I want to look at the Promise of Perseverance.

What is the Doctrine of Perseverance?

What does Christ promise?

Then I want to look at the Assurance of Perseverance.

What confidence or pledge does Christ give that makes His promise of perseverance and ultimate salvation sure?

And related to that, what are the grounds or anchors of that pledge that makes that assurance such a great comfort and promise of sure salvation?

So first…

1. The Who of Perseverance

Jesus says My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me.

Christ makes it clear… those who will ultimately persevere are His sheep… the sheep of His fold.

They are those who hear His voice… who Christ calls out by name (John 10:3).

They are those who believe.

Jesus had just said to the Pharisees you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.

Christ’s sheep are those that have genuine saving faith.

They follow him.

Earlier in chapter 10 Jesus said they follow him for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers (John 10:4-5).

So Jesus’ sheep are those who believe in Christ and follow Him… who abide in His word (John 8:31).

They don’t follow the voice of strangers… false teachers and false ways… they are disciples of Christ.

And finally, they are those for whom Christ died.

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep (John 10:11).

They are those Christ has purchased and covered with His blood.

Who has atoned for their sins once and for all which is why, coincidentally, they will never perish.

So the who of perseverance are Christians.

True believers in Jesus Christ who trust in Him and follow Him alone as Lord and Savior.

And this is every Christian… all of Christ’s sheep… because He is the Good Shepherd not a single one of them will ever be lost (John 6:39).

That’s the Who.

Second… you have…

2. The Promise of Perseverance

Jesus says John 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish…

There are several things in these verses that assure us all who believe in Christ are eternally saved once and for all.

Eternal Life

First, I give them eternal life.

For eternal life to ever end… would be a contradiction in terms.

Christ does not promise temporary life or maybe life or potential life.

He promises eternal life.

And this eternal life is a gift… I give them… eternal life.

There is nothing that we did to earn it.

And Since there is nothing we did to earn it… there is nothing we can do to lose.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8–9).

It is a free gift… not one purchased or kept by our own obedience.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).

Perish

And then to make it even more clear, Jesus says I give them eternal life… and they will never perish.

Its hard to capture the forcefulness of the Greek.

The word never is actually a two word double negative in Greek.

So literally they will not not perish.

Jesus is using the strongest possible terms.

In fact, if you keep reading in the Greek it could say they will not not perish into the age or into forever.

So the force of Jesus promise is this sure… without a doubt promise.

Its like He says I give them eternal life… and they will never, no never, not ever perish.

That is the eternal security Christ promises each and every believer because these are His sheep...

The ones He has called out by name.

And if even one of them were to perish… to fall away or come under the condemnation of their sins…

It would make Jesus a liar.

And He would not be the Good Shepherd that He claims to be.

He would be the incompetent Shepherd who cannot keep or look out for His sheep.

But He is the Good Shepherd who saves His sheep and laid down His life for the sheep to bring them into Green Pastures and Still Waters of eternal life (Psalm 23:2).

He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness… for His name’s sake (Psalm 23:3).

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord… forever (Psalm 23:6).

So we have the Who… Christ’s sheep.

We have the Promise… I give them Eternal life and they will never, no never, not ever… perish.

And we have the Assurance of Perseverance.

And that’s number 3.

3. The Assurance of Perseverance

John 10:28-29 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

The Assurance Christ gives is two sets of Sovereign Hands.

Our salvation is secure… we will never perish… because we are kept safe in the Sovereign Hands of our Sovereign Lord...

And the Sovereign Hands of our Sovereign Father.

No one will snatch them out of my hand… and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

No one will because no one is able.

Its absolutely impossible.

We are kept safe in sovereign hands.

In context here the no one is any wolf who would snatch and devour the sheep (John 10:12).

Its not just false teachers… but its any threat to the safety and salvation of the sheep’s soul.

Anything that might destroy them and cause them to perish.

So its False Teachers.

The World.

Temptations… the flesh… and sin.

Any storm or flood that might beat against the sails of our life.

And yes… even Satan himself.

No wolf… whoever they might be… is able to snatch us out of God’s Sovereign Hands.

So let’s look at each of them to see why this is such a sure and sold ground of our assurance.

Let’s look at the Sovereign Hands of Christ and the Sovereign Hands of the Father.

The Sovereign Hands of Christ

What makes Christ’s hands so secure?

Shepherd’s Hands

First His hands are the Shepherd’s Hands.

We’ve looked at this a little bit already.

He will not lose a single one of His sheep that He purchased by laying down His life with His own blood.

And when one goes astray He leaves the 99 to go after the one (Matthew 18:12).

And when He finds it… He lays it on His shoulders and carries them home rejoicing (Luke 15:1-6).

You can never wander so far the Good Shepherd will not come after you.

Savior’s Hands

They are the Savior’s Hands.

The hands that were outstretched and nailed to a tree.

As the 1689 confession says in the chapter on the Perseverance of the Saints paragraph 2… our perseverance depends upon the merit and efficacy of Christ and our union with Him (1689 17:2).

We are saved through faith in Christ.

We are not saved by works and we do not keep our salvation by works.

We are saved by the perfect and finished work of Christ.

Son’s Hands

Third, they are the Son’s Hands.

In John 6:37–39 Jesus said All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.

I came down to do His will and His will is that I should lose nothing… not one thing… of all that He has given me.

Our salvation is as secure as Christ… the perfectly obedient… is obedient to the Father.

Will Christ fail to obey the Father who He obeyed to death even death on a cross?

By no means!

As Jesus said I always do the things that are pleasing to Him (John 8:29).

Great High Priest’s Hands

Finally they are the Great High Priest’s Hands.

Hebrews 7:25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

Our Great High Priest lives forever to intercede on our behalf.

To pray for us at the right Hand of the Father that you and I would persevere and be saved to the uttermost.

That’s what He prayed on earth in the High Priestly prayer of John 17:11: Holy Father, keep them in your name.

In Romans 8:33-39 Paul says that because of the finished work of Christ on the cross and His ongoing, present intercession on our behalf…no charge or condemnation will be ever brought against God’s elect…

And nothing not death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That’s the promise we have in the Sovereign Hands of Christ.

No one will snatch them out of my hand.

The Sovereign Hands of the Father

But Christ also grounds our assurance in the Sovereign Hands of the Father.

John 10:29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

What is it about the Father’s Hands that gives us a such a sure foundation for perseverance?

Almighty Hands

First they are Almighty Hands.

My Father who has given them to me is greater than all.

No one is stronger than the Almighty Lord and no created thing could ever snatch us out of the Father’s Hand.

And given them to me speaks of God’s eternal decree of election… that God predestined us before the foundation of the world.

And in these Almighty Hands, God’s decree is immutable which means unchanging and cannot be overcome.

God accomplishes all His holy will.

Isaiah 46:9–10 I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.

Election is one of the great Assurances we have of ultimate salvation.

All those God predestined before the foundation of the world will surely be saved because His decree is immutable and cannot be thwarted or overcome.

I will accomplish all my purpose.

True Hands

Closely related to this, they are True Hands.

Numbers 23:19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

Romans 11:29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

God is true to His Word.

He never lies or changes His mind.

When God says all those in Christ will surely be saved… there is no surer word there is to believe.

Loving Hands

Finally… they are Loving Hands.

Ephesians 1:4–5 In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.

This again goes back to election.

And when God sets His love on someone there is no variation or shadow due to change (James 1:17).

Just as God’s decree and promises are immutable, God’s love is immutable… never changing.

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32).

Summary

We are kept safe in Sovereign Hands.

And Jesus says I and the Father are one (John 10:30).

They hold us together.

And if you go outside of John to Ephesians they hold us by the sealing of the Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it (Ephesians 1:13-14).

There’s Perseverance and Assurance right there.

So the Father Elected Us.

The Son Purchased Us.

And The Spirit Sealed Us.

And in the Perseverance of the Saints all three persons of the Trinity work together to bring our salvation to its end.

What greater Assurance can we have.

We are Kept Safe in the Sovereign Hands of the Almighty Triune God.

Our salvation is eternally secure.

As John Calvin said, “The salvation of all the elect is as certain as God’s power is invincible” (Curt, The History and Theology of Calvinism, 584).

We are safe because God is strong.

This is why I said, this Doctrine might better be called the Preservation of the Saints.

Our perseverance is the fruit of God’s work in us.

As Paul said Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling…

Persevere.

For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure…(Philippians 2:12-13).

Preservation.

So persevere with great assurance because your salvation is secure and kept safe in the Almighty Sovereign Hands of God.

Transition

And that takes us to a very important question.

A question I want to spend the rest of the sermon to answer.

One that I’ve been asked about a lot as a pastor, and one I think would be beneficial here.

And that is the Question of Apostasy and Grievous Sins.

And that’s point number 2.

II. The Question of Apostasy and Grievous Sins

What are we to make of those who walk away from the faith and how are we to understand grievous, horrible sins in someone’s life?

Are these not evidence that someone can fall away?

Let’s start with Apostasy.

Apostasy

Scripture makes it clear the the promise of Eternal Security, of once saved always saved, is for believers only.

The 1689 London Baptist confession summarizes it well: Those God has accepted in the Beloved [That’s Christ and His finished work], effectually called and sanctified by His Spirit [that’s the New Birth], and given the precious faith of His elect can neither totally nor finally fall away from a state of grace. They will certainly persevere in grace to the end and be eternally saved, because the gifts and callings of God are irrevocable (17:1).

But what are we to make of those who make a profession of faith, but do ultimately fall away and walk away from the Lord?

1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

Those who ultimately walk away from Christ were never saved in the first.

They went out from us but they were not of us… If they had they would have continued with us.

Biblically apostates didn’t fall away from the faith… they didn’t have the faith to begin with.

They were Temporary Believers.

But you might say, they seemed so genuine… they seemed so Christian…

Its hard to believe that person was never saved!

They might have even been someone who taught you the gospel or you looked up to as mature.

But the Bible gives us pictures of this Temporary Faith.

We’ve already seen it several times in the Gospel of John.

In John 2:23–25 we are told Now…many believed in his name… But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them

He had no faith in their faith for he himself knew what was in man and He knew they were not true believers.

And then you had John 6 where many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him (John 6:66).

John calls them disciples… people who had made an outward profession and commitment to follow Jesus but for all their outward show of religion, they did not believe.

We see this most clearly in Judas.

When Jesus said one of you will betray me none of the other disciples pointed at him…

They all said is it me? (Matthew 26:20-25).

On the outside Judas looked like everybody else but on the inside he was a devil (John 6:70).

There is a type of faith that doesn’t save.

A temporary or spurious faith that doesn’t trust in Christ alone with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength.

That doesn’t receive and rest on Jesus for all that He’s done and all that He reveals Himself to be.

So these… “believers”… if we could call them that are not true Christians… they only give the appearance of True Christianity.

They might look like Christians on the outside but inside they are still dead in their sins and they eventually fall away.

Soils (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23).

We see that in the Parable of the Soils.

Rocks

You have the seed that falls on the rocky soil.

It springs up.

Jesus even says they hear the word and immediately receive it with joy! (Matthew 13:20).

They make a profession of faith… they’re all excited about Jesus.

But when persecution and tribulation comes… the floods and storms of life…immediately they fall away because they have no root in themselves…(Matthew 13:21).

And they fall away just as quickly as they sprang up.

Thorns

And you have the thorny soil.

The seed grows up but its choked out by the cares and riches of this world.

These are those that might make a profession of faith but ultimately they only live for themselves.

When push comes to shove… when the gospel calls them to give up their life and follow Christ or put their sin to death…

They will either give up entirely or just go through the motions claiming Christ while still living for themselves and their sin.

Both soils are a picture of superficial faith.

Neither one trusts in Christ and follows Him with all of their life.

One falls away from hardship… the other refuses to die to themselves or their sin.

Both have the appearance of Christianity at least initially… but neither one is actually saved.

And so they don’t persevere… and eventually they fall away.

And this doesn’t even include those who are deceived about their salvation and follow after false doctrine instead of holding fast to the faith once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3).

So the question of Apostates is really very simple… they were never actually saved in the first place.

If they were they would’ve endured kept in Christ by God’s grace and power.

Question

But that brings up a very interesting question…

How do I know that I will endure?

How do I know that I’m not deceived about my salvation and only have a temporary or spurious faith?

And my answer to that is Christ.

Its what He promises.

If you are genuinely trusting in Jesus and holding fast to Him alone for salvation, you will never ultimately fall away.

How do I know that I will endure?

Keep holding fast to Christ.

As long as you are holding fast to Him that is the evidence of your salvation and you will never fall away.

Here’s the thing.

Romans 8:16 says The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

You know if you belong to Christ.

You know if you are trusting in Him alone for salvation. You know.

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God… adopted by God… reconciled to God… forgiven in Jesus Christ.

The Spirit takes what is Christ’s and applies it to us.

So if you’re sitting there saying Jesus is the only way to be saved and trusting in Him alone for salvation that goes a long way in the doctrine of assurance.

Because if Jesus is the only way to be saved then you will hold fast and that faith is evidence that Christ is holding you.

Apostates are just faking it.

And at some level they know they are faking it.

They know they aren’t trusting in Jesus alone for salvation.

They know they don’t actually love Him or earnestly desire to live for Him.

There’s not a faith that says If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me (Matthew 16:24).

Again, the 1689 is helpful here.

1689 18:1 Temporary believers and other unregenerate people may deceive themselves in vain with false hopes and fleshly presumptions that they have God’s favor and salvation, but their hope will perish.

Notice it calls temporary believers unregenerate.

Yet those who truly believe in the Lord Jesus and love Him sincerely, endeavoring to walk in all good conscience before Him, may be certainly assured in this life that they are in a state of grace and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, and this hope will never make them ashamed.

Notice how it describes those who have assurance.

Those who truly believe in the Lord Jesus.

Who love Him sincerely.

Who endeavor to walk in a way that’s pleasing to Him with a good conscience before Him.

These are the marks of a true Christian.

And everyone who believes in Christ… loves Him sincerely… and aims to live a life that is pleasing to Him will never be put to shame.

Because they are one of Christ’s sheep and will never be snatched or fall away out of Christ’s hand.

Persevere in Faith

So one of the Applications is persevere.

Persevere in the Faith.

Hold fast to Christ and sound doctrine.

Believe and keep on believing.

As Jesus said in Matthew 24:10–13 warning the disciples of His own day And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

Persevere in the faith.

Grievous Sins

Now what about Grievous Sins?

Could you ever sin so bad or sin so much that you could ultimately fall away and lose your salvation?

Well let me ask you… How can you lose what you didn’t earn?

Salvation is a gift… not based on works.

And so if its not based on works how could works cause you to lose it?

Now that’s not to say there’s no need for works.

Faith without works is dead (James 2:17).

But good works and holiness are the evidence of our faith and not the basis of it.

The fact that you cannot lose your salvation is not an excuse to sin.

In fact, that kind of thinking doesn’t understand grace in the first place.

Romans says How can we who died to sin still live in it? (Romans 6:2).

And John: No one born of God makes a practice of sinning… (1 John 3:9).

These verses are not talking about sinless perfectionism… that Christian’s never sin.

They are talking about living in sin as a way of life.

A Believer may… and indeed does!… still struggle with sin, but he doesn’t live in it.

As Thomas Watson said, Though sin lives in him, he does not live in sin (Daniel, The History and Theology of Calvinism, 602).

Christians struggle in sin, but they repent of their sin.

Again the 1689:

1689 17:3 They [being Christians] may fall into grievous sins and continue in them for a time…

Think of David committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered her husband.

Or Peter!… who denied Jesus 3 times.

Believers may fall into grievous sins and continue in them for a time…

Nevertheless, they will renew their repentance and be preserved through faith in Christ Jesus to the end.

They will renew their repentance.

Both David and Peter repented and were restored.

Because that’s the mark of the Christian… not sinless perfection… Repentance!

We struggle… we fall… we backslide…

But ultimately we repent of our sin and earnestly endeavor to live a life of holiness unto the Lord.

So no, you can never sin your way out of God’s grace…no sin except the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit which is the rejection of Christ and all the He is in the gospel.

To believe so would demean the blood of Christ.

The blood of Christ can cover every sin… except that one or that many times.

If thats true for any sin what’s the hope for any of us?

It also functionally turns salvation into a salvation of works where we keep ourselves instead of Christ keeping us.

However, at the same time, the Doctrine of Eternal Security is not an excuse to sin.

If anything its an encouragement to repent and walk in holiness.

Persevere in Holiness

And that’s our second application of the Doctrine of Eternal Security.

Not only must we strive to persevere in the faith… we must strive persevere in holiness.

To live a holy life.

Those who fall into grievous sins and remain there need to watch out! that they are not deceived about their salvation.

What an encouragement to repent of our sin, and keep short accounts with God.

So far from the Doctrine of Eternal Security giving us an excuse to sin… it actually encourages us to live a life of holiness knowing that when we sin we have a faithful and merciful High Priest who is able to forgive our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Not drop us the moment our sin becomes too much.

You can never sin so much that God ever stops loving you because God loves you in Christ.

He has given you into His hand and His perfect work is the basis of all your righteousness and ultimate salvation.

Conclusion

All who believe in Christ are eternally secure.

Our salvation is kept safe and eternally secure in the almighty hands of Almighty God.

Like a child with their Father we may fall into sin… we may stumble over the storms and floods over this life…

But we will never ultimately fall from God’s hand.

Even when we stumble and loosen our grip our God… Father, Son, and Holy Spirit… hold tightly on to us.

We might fall but we never hit the dirt because we are kept safe in His sovereign hands.

As the Psalmist says, Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholds him with His hand (Psalm 37:24).

Let’s Pray