No Man Can Pluck You Out Of His Hand

A number of people are not with us, some of them are sick, some of them are out of town, but we're here. So let's look at, we're going through the book of John, John's gospel here, chapter number 10 again. John chapter 10, we've been talking about the Good Shepherd and how the Good Shepherd has got his sheepfold, and that Good Shepherd takes his sheep into the sheepfold at night.

We learned last time there was a door, one door into the sheepfold, and all that ever come the other way are thieves and robbers. They that try to climb up over the side of the wall are thieves and robbers. And then we learned last time that the shepherd leads his sheep by two things.

His example, he goes before them and he leads them with his voice. And these are important things. Even today someone read a verse about doing and teaching, doing and teaching.

That is the leadership principle of the New Testament, of a Good Shepherd is to be a doer and a teacher. Jesus did and he taught. It's not enough just to teach and not do.

It's not enough to do and not teach. And so the Good Shepherd leads his sheep out by, first of all, going before them and being an example. And then he speaks to them and they hear his voice and they follow him.

And so these are the methods of leadership in the New Testament, being a good example and teaching, his voice, teaching the Word of God. And so that's a good example for us as fathers, husbands, to go before, to give an example to our families, an example to our children. And alongside of that, do some teaching.

Well, we learned that a stranger, will they not follow a stranger? They do not know the stranger's voice. And so the sheep will follow the shepherd. And so here in this chapter, last time we saw that the Lord is the one who claims to be the true shepherd.

One who is the leader of the sheep for all the sheep of Israel to follow. And then that fold is going to increase. It's going to include Gentiles and all over the world.

So we're going to jump in here in verse number 19. And I'm going to go down through verse number 33 this morning. So let's acknowledge again the Lord here.

Lord, thank you for the Word of God and thank you for the example and the voice of the true shepherd. Lord, my heart here this morning is that we would hear the voice of the Son of God and that we might live. And Lord, I pray for each one of us.

Those who are sheep, that they could hear the voice of the Son of God. And those who are not sheep, that they could also hear, hear his voice, see his example. And so Lord, we commit the time now into your hands and pray your blessing upon the teaching and preaching of your Word.

We pray in Jesus' name, Amen. Well, one of the things I'd like to bring out here today is, I gave you the illustration last time of a thousand sheep on the side of a hill and the shepherd would come out and he would begin to speak and lift up a certain shrill or a certain voice. And one by one, all the sheep that were his would separate from the rest of the sheep.

And in however long, 5, 10, 15, 20 minutes, a half an hour it would take. But as that shepherd would speak, his sheep who heard his voice, who understood his voice would begin to separate from the rest of the sheep. And he didn't have to go around this thousand sheep and say, let's see, you're mine, so you come along.

Come on, come on. And you over there, you're mine, so come along. He didn't have to do that.

He just said, he gave a certain voice, a sound and he just started walking. And he would speak and the sheep would start separating one by one and they would hear the voice of the shepherd and the sheep would follow. And so what we're going to see here in this example is some of this separation that is going on.

And we're not talking about sheep, but we're talking about human beings. And even as I share here this morning with you, human beings are hearing the voice of the Son of God. And human beings are hearing the chief shepherd.

And human beings are saying, I'm going to go that direction. Other human beings are not hearing the voice of the Son of God. And we'll talk a little bit about why that is here this morning.

But separation is happening. And so I'd like to look here in verse number 19. First of all, this morning it says, there was a division.

And exactly that, as you would look out over this thousand sheep on a hillside and one of the shepherds would begin to lead out and give a voice, there begins to be a division. Sheep begin to divide. The true sheep begin to follow.

Those who do not hear the voice of the shepherd remain. Maybe they're waiting for the voice of another shepherd. But there is a division.

And that separation is the separation of the true sheep from those who are not his sheep. And so look what it says here in verse 19. There was a division, therefore, among the Jews for these sayings.

And so the Lord is speaking. He is speaking into the life of the Jewish people. And the Jewish people are now starting to divide.

And throughout the Bible you're told that, that the Word of God is divisive. It brings variance between father and mother and wife and children. And their own family will divide up based upon hearing the voice of the Son of God.

And so here in Israel, there is division that is occurring. Some are hearing His voice. Others are not.

And there begins this division. Some are coming out to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the Word of God throughout the Bible is like a sword.

And a sword is that which cuts things asunder, cuts things apart. And the Word of God certainly does that. And it leads people in different directions.

I want to read to you a passage here in Luke chapter 12. You don't have to turn there. Jesus said it this way, I suppose, ye, that I am come to give peace on the earth? I tell you, nay, but rather division.

Now the Lord wants peace here in unity amongst His sheep. He does not like to see division amongst God's people. But He's talking here about calling people out of this world.

Calling His sheep out. He says, I've come to bring division. For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two and two against three.

Two of them hear the voice of the Son of God. The other three do not. The father shall be divided against the son.

And the son against the father. The mother against the daughter. And the daughter against the mother.

And the mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law. And the daughter-in-law against the mother-in-law. So when the voice of the Son of God comes into families.

And you know, it's not always that the whole family follows the voice of the Son of God, the Shepherd. Sometimes, maybe a father will hear the voice, and a son and a daughter will hear the voice, and they'll follow the Lord Jesus. The wife and other children do not hear the voice of the Son of God.

And there becomes then this division. Many of you have experienced that division in your own families. And so that's happening here.

And especially as we go down through our passage here this morning, you're going to see some of that division. But just let me show you what's happening throughout the last couple of chapters. Go back to John chapter 7. It's very close here.

I'd like to just read these passages that show what is actually happening here with regards to division. In John 7 verse 40, many of the people, therefore, when they heard this saying of a truth, this is the prophet. Others said, this is the Christ, but some said, shall Christ come out of Galilee? Hath not the Scripture said that Christ cometh out of the seed of David and out of the town of Bethlehem where David was? So there was a division among the people because of him.

So this has been happening. Jesus is teaching. He is giving instruction.

And His voice is causing people to start dividing. True sheep coming out and leaving others on the hillside. John chapter 9, just a few verses ahead.

John 9 verse 16, you see this again. Therefore said some of the Pharisees, this man is not of God because he keeps not the Sabbath day. Others said, how can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them.

And so again, division. This division is happening. If you are there, you can see it.

Jesus is communicating. He is setting an example. His sheep are hearing His voice and coming out of families, coming out of relationships, coming out of the synagogues.

And so this division is happening right here in the life of those who are listening to the voice of the Son of God. Well, let's keep reading here in verse 20. And many of them said, he hath a devil.

Here is part of them. And he is mad. Why hear ye him? Obviously, these are not his sheep, right? These are the ones who are not hearing the voice of the Son of God.

Truly, they are blinded. They are the ones who are saying he has a devil and is mad. How can people, after hearing the voice of the Son of God, how can people, after seeing the works and the miracles that he does, say he is a devil or he is mad? Why don't people hear the voice of the Son of God? Do you know why? It's very simple.

Because they have other affections. They have other loves. They have other desires upon the human heart.

Instead of loving the Lord their God and seeking Him with all their heart, with all their soul, with all their strength, with all their mind, they have other affections. And these people, if you looked in their hearts and broke open their hearts, their hearts were set and their affections were set on other things. And so because of that, they did not hear the voice of the Son of God.

And not only that, they had animosity toward the voice and toward the works of the Son of God. And so men, as I have shared this with you before, men hear what they love. Did you know that? Remember the story of the man and the woman? And I have given that illustration many times.

I'm not going to give it again here this morning. But that woman heard the voice of the whimper, the child, because her heart was going that direction. And the man heard his alarm clock, because he wanted to get up and go to that business meeting.

And we tend to hear what is the love of our heart. You've probably heard many stories like this. Two men walking down the busy city in New York City.

And as they are walking, someone drops a quarter on the sidewalk. And one man stops immediately and says, Did you hear that? And the other man says, Hear what? I didn't hear anything. Someone dropped some money.

And how did he pick that up? Well, because he has a love for money. And so when he hears the jingling of the coin, he immediately, his ear can pick that up. And they go, these two go further on.

And the other man says, Hey, listen, do you hear that? And this man who heard the coin says, Hear what? With all these cars and horns going on, hear what? And the man, I know this is kind of a crazy story, but the man says, Look, there's a bird up there on that light post. Do you hear its voice? It's beautiful. Why do you mean? How did you hear that? Because he loves birds.

He's a bird lover. And so as we go through life, our hearts and our ears, we tend to pick up those things that are an affection, affection upon us. And so you love Jesus? Sincerely? You love the Lord Jesus Christ? Who are you going to be hearing? Ah, you're walking through life, and you stop and say, Hey, did you hear that? Hear what? I got all this noise.

I just heard Jesus. The Word of God spoke to me. God brought something to my heart.

I love Him. He speaks to me, and I hear Him. And so, these people had not a love for the Lord.

The Bible says men love darkness rather than light. And so, their ears were closed. Their ears were closed.

Notice here, there's other people. And these people are searching. Verse 21, others said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil.

No! No, it can't be! Can the devil, or can a devil open the eyes of one that is born blind? You notice two things that they say here, and these are the two things that are speaking to them. First of all, the words that he says. Second of all, the works that he does.

These are the two things that are testifying to them. No, I'm not sure, you know. We're searching.

Our hearts are open. I'm not sure this guy could be the Messiah. Look at what he is doing.

Look at what he is saying. You know, I just picture this, you know. Picture a thousand sheep on the hillside, and the shepherd starts walking off, and he starts talking and speaking, you know, whatever his shrill is, and some of the sheep lift up their heads and start following.

And there are many of the sheep keep grazing. They don't even hear it. They just keep grazing, grazing, grazing.

But there are some sheep that kind of up a little bit, and go back down, and up a little bit, and they're perplexed. You hear that? Is that the shepherd? Is that my shepherd? Do I want to leave and follow him? There are some who immediately respond. They lift their heads up and they go.

Others who don't even lift their heads up at all. They have no desire for the voice of the shepherd. And there are some here, and probably many of these in verse 21, will actually be followers of the Lord Jesus.

But the Word of God, and as I share even this morning, and as we share every Sunday, and as you read the Bible, the Word of God is causing people to make those choices. To either lift up their ear and head and say, I'm going to follow that voice, or to just turn it off, and to neglect it and go on grazing. And I think grazing is going on living for yourself.

It's going on having life the way you want it, even though the voice of the Son of God is coming, keep my head down. I just want to eat. I want to graze.

And so the voice comes. But I just want to say this, because as I thought about these people, how can people call Jesus a devil? How can people say these things? I'll tell you how. It's because they heard the voice.

They kept their head down. They heard the voice. They kept their head down.

They heard the voice. They kept their head down. And after a while that heart gets so hard, so hard, that it gets almost to the place where there is animosity and bitterness towards the Lord.

And that's the way many people were. You know, you've heard this saying many times, the same sun that melts the butter hardens the clay. Isn't that true? The same sun that shines down that will melt the butter into nothing, it also turns the clay to a rock.

And that same voice of the Son of God, if someone has a heart and seeks the Lord, will melt that heart to butter and bring it to a broken and contrite state. But the same voice, and that voice is being spoken on a regular basis, will turn some people's hearts to a rock. And that's the danger of hearing, and simply keeping your head down and all you're doing is grazing.

And you're not giving heed to the voice of the Son of God. Well, we have this division happening. People are perplexed.

These sheep are trying to figure out should we follow Him? Should we not? Some are saying, blah, don't follow Him? He's mad. He's not the shepherd. Well, let's keep reading here as we go down through.

In verse 22, and it was at Jerusalem and the Feast of the Dedication and it was wintertime. Now, we just talked a little bit ago, probably two months ago, about the Feast of Tabernacles. That was in the fall.

But now, we've moved to the wintertime. And in about two more months, what's after winter? Spring. Praise God for that.

I'm looking forward to spring. I like March, April. But spring is coming and with spring comes another very important festival.

Who knows what that festival is? At spring. What is it? Passover. Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

And it's this next spring, two months, and we're going to walk right into it here in the book of John, that we're going to come into the Passover and we're going to come into the Lord being crucified and the final night of His life. And so this here is just about two months before Passover, before the Lord's death. And I think of, you know, how the Lord said there in the book of John later on, I believe it was, He said, how long? How long would I have gathered you all together as a hen gathers her chicks or as a shepherd seeks to gather his sheep? But you would not! You would not hearken unto Me after three years of example, after three years of voices and speaking to the sheep and trying to bring the sheep to follow the shepherd.

It's just I couldn't get you to listen. Sometimes, as an under-shepherd myself, I sometimes feel that way, you know? Lord, I think Brother Cleats said it a few years ago, we hear so much, and how much do we follow? How much are we doing? And people can come and sit and listen and listen and listen, yet their life does not change. They're still grazing with their head down.

And it's not causing them to follow the Savior. And not just in word, but in deed and in truth. And to have a heart to follow Him.

Well, let's keep reading here in verse 24. Then came the Jews round about Him and said unto Him, How long dost Thou make us to doubt if Thou be the Christ? Tell us plainly. How many of you think that the Lord has been telling them plainly for a long time? As a matter of fact, we could go back and look at all the times where the Lord was speaking to them very plainly about who He was and how He had come from His Father and how He was going to be the Messiah.

Tell us. Tell us plainly. Well, the Lord is speaking very plainly.

I think if you jump over here to verse 30, He says, I and My Father are one. I mean, that's pretty plain right there, isn't it? Obviously, the Jews understand what He's saying because they take up stones to stone Him. In the chapter before, we saw how when the Lord healed the blind man back in chapter 8, Jesus says to them, Before Abraham was, I am.

That's a very bold, straightforward statement of who He is. And so here they are. Tell us plainly.

You know, people who don't want to hear, they keep coming back and saying, well, why don't you just be straightforward with us? Tell us plainly. And of course, the Lord's going to say in the next verse, I have told you plainly. I've been speaking to you very plainly.

And let's see in verse 25 what He says. Jesus answered them, I told you who I am. If thou be the Christ, I told you and you believed not.

The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me. Again, notice these two things that Jesus mentions here. His voice, I told you, and the works also bear witness that I am who I am.

So He's been real plain. And I've tried to be real plain here. And with you all over the years.

And you know, I don't think any of us could stand before God someday and say, God, You didn't tell me plainly. You didn't tell me plainly what the truth was. Well, I think the Lord would say, you heard it plainly.

You heard it plainly. You have no excuse for keeping your head down and continuing to graze in this world and live for this present world and tune out My voice. You have no excuse.

People are telling you all the time. And if you had a heart that was leaning towards Me, had a heart that loved Me and desired Me, you would have been a totally different person. Isn't that true? Yes, you would have.

You would have been a changed creature. But you didn't hear. You didn't want to hear.

You know, this next chapter, I like this story, but the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus is raised from the dead. I mean, these people are standing there watching this guy come out of the tomb with his grave clothes on.

After Jesus says, you know, Lazarus, come forth, they watch him come out of the grave with his grave clothes on, and it says that some of them leave there and go back and try to plan to kill him. I mean, that's pretty plain, isn't it? What you see? The resurrection of Lazarus? Well, the Lord has told them. He has told them by word.

He has told them by His works. And I can go back and we can talk about a lot of these things. We're not going to spend the time here to do it, but at the very beginning of the Gospel, John the Baptist told it.

He says this is the voice. He was the voice of one crying in the wilderness that Jesus is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. We talked about that.

There were many testimonies in the first couple of chapters of the book of John. You can go back and look at all the prophecies of the Old Testament Scriptures, how the Lord is fulfilling them. You know, there were men, and there's some examples of this, very early who had a heart that was listening for the voice of the Son of God.

And I think of those wise men. My, those wise men. They heard the voice of the Son of God.

They were searching the Scriptures. Their hearts were open. And they even recognized Jesus when He was a little two-year-old.

They even bowed and worshipped Him. And their life was blessed. Simeon also as a babe.

Simeon, a man of God, who heard the voice of the chief shepherd. I like Peter's testimony. Peter understood that art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Well, I think of us today. There's plenty of evidence today for those who love Him and want to seek Him. Would you agree with that? You don't have to go out and try to find a star somewhere out in the distance in the east to follow it.

Get on your camels and search and go seek. You've got so much opportunity today in your situation to, if your heart is open to hear the voice of the Son of God. Listen, there's voice coming from all over the place.

Many opportunities. Well, the Great Commission is God's command for us to go forth into this world and to live as an example and to speak with our voices that this world can hear. And I just picture the world as a giant pasture.

And we as a church are now given this Great Commission to go forth and to example, follow Me, and to speak just like Jesus did. He did and He taught. And as we go forth and do that in the midst of this world, Brother Cleed over there in Greece, people who are His sheep will hear the voice.

And they'll be called out to follow. And that is our mission, to go forth and call His sheep. Well, let's go back here and keep reading.

In verse 25, Jesus answered them, 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, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. Now there's something here I'd like to spend a little time on because I think it's important for you to understand here, especially the rest of the book of John, this idea of My sheep. Jesus mentions it here in verse 27.

He mentions it in verse 26. My sheep. You are not of My sheep.

But verse 27, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them. Now who are these sheep that Jesus is calling His sheep? Yes, they're the ones who hear His voice. They're the ones who get in line and follow Him.

But I'd like you to notice in verse 29, Jesus says this, My Father which gave them Me is greater than all. And so these sheep are ones that His Father has given to Him. Now here's something I think helps explain a lot of theological problems that people have with these kind of passages.

But I shared this with you before. God the Father, He knows all things. He has what the Bible calls foreknowledge.

God from the very beginning, even before Adam and Eve was created, God knew because He transcends time, God knew who would come and hear His voice and who would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and who would not believe. God already knew. Hold your finger there and jump back.

This is a review here in John 6. We'll stay real close here in verse 64. Well, verse 60, it says, Many of His disciples, when they heard this saying, this is a hard saying, some of them are going back. In verse 64 of John 6, But there are some of you that believe not, for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not and who should betray Him.

This is an amazing thought, but when Jesus came into the world, He knew. He knew about Judas. He knew all those who would not believe.

He knew those who would believe. He knew who His sheep were. I sometimes wonder, you know, when you walk by Peter, he didn't say, well, I'm going to call Peter here.

I wonder if you'll follow me or not. When he said to Peter and Andrew, follow me, he knew they were coming. He knew it.

He went to these people, follow me. He was calling out His sheep because God the Father had in His foreknowledge, He already knew those who would receive and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and Jesus was simply coming and calling those sheep to Himself. And so when Jesus came into the world, He already knew who would respond to His example and His voice because of the foreknowledge of God.

He knew who His sheep were. Picture this. I'd like you to picture this hillside with a thousand sheep again and you've got a shepherd and the shepherd knows who His sheep are.

He knows who they are. And so when the shepherd comes, matter of fact, it even says here that the shepherd knows His sheep. Verse 27, My sheep hear My voice and I know them and they follow Me.

And so if you see this hillside with a thousand sheep and the shepherd knows all His sheep by name, he starts calling His sheep. Maybe he even uses their name. Some of you name animals.

And as he calls His sheep, they pull out of the crowd and start to follow Him. And you picture Jesus coming into the world. He already knows because of the foreknowledge of God.

He knew from the beginning who they were that believed not and who should betray Him. And as He goes through life, He is calling out His sheep. They are following Him.

You know, it's amazing to think that the Lord knows whether or not you're His sheep right now. You may not get saved for 20 years, but if the Lord were here, He could tell you who is His sheep and who isn't. Because He already knows the future.

In the past, He says, 20 years before Abraham was, I am. And so He has foreknowledge. And so when you picture, let's say, 7 billion people in the world, the Lord already knows who they are that are His sheep.

And He is sending us forth into the world to live an example and to lift up our voice and what's going to happen. And here's an encouragement for us who go forth. When we share the Word of God, that Word is going out and those who are His sheep will hear His voice.

They'll follow Him. Now, you know, out of that thousand on the hillside, there may only be two or three. They're His sheep.

But don't be discouraged. You're not converting them. The Lord's converting them.

They're His sheep. He is simply calling His sheep to Himself. Here's an amazing thought, and you've probably thought about this before, but hold your finger here and go back to Revelation 13.

Revelation 13. This helps us to understand there's two passages here. This first one is not as clear, but the second one is very clear.

In Revelation 13, some of us have been studying the Antichrist the last few weeks on Saturday morning with a Bible study. But in Revelation 13, verse 8, speaking of the time of the Antichrist, it says in verse 8 of chapter 13, "...and all that dwell upon the earth shall worship Him whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." So, this is a prophetic statement that John says that the whole world will worship Him except for those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life slain from the foundation of the world. You know, before the world was ever founded, God already had the plan.

That wasn't a last minute, oh, what am I going to do? Adam and Eve sinned. What am I going to do? Well, I'm going to have to figure something out. No, even before the foundation of the world was laid, this was already the plan.

God had planned to give His Son. This whole thing was God's purpose and plan to bring glory and honor to Him. But, and long before the world was ever founded, I believe if you'd opened the book of life and you went down like in the telephone book, you'd come to the ends.

M-A-W-H-O-R-R. My name was in there. Long before I ever was created, my name was there.

Some of your names were there too. Some of your names were not there. And you say, well, did God preordain that I would be lost and some would be saved? No, God foreknew your choice.

And from the very beginning as He looked out into the future, He saw those who would reject Him and those who would receive Him. And He made a book from the foundation of the world with the names of His sheep. And throughout history, He's been calling His sheep out.

And He's known them. Look at Revelation 17, verse 8. This is a very clear example. Revelation 17, verse 8. It's again about the Antichrist.

But it says here in verse 8, "...the beast that thou sawest was and is not and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and go into perdition. And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder whose names..." Listen to this. "...whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world." You know, those people will follow the beast and they'll wonder all those whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world.

You know that realistically, God had a book even before the Garden of Eden. And in that book was all the names of His sheep. It was written from the foundation of the world.

And it was written because God had foreknowledge. Now you can take that and run with it any way you want, but I'm saying that to try to share with you and we're going to see here what's going to happen in John chapter number 10 here that we're looking at. But the Lord is just simply coming and He's calling His sheep to Himself.

And so the Father has foreknowledge. He knows who His sheep are. And Jesus comes to the earth and He begins to call them out to follow Him.

They are already written in the book. I'd like to ask you a question today. Is your name written in the book of life? Isn't that an interesting question? Is your name written in the book of life? You know, the Bible says that many will follow the Antichrist.

John said last time we talked about a stranger will they not follow because they know not the voice of strangers. Certainly the Antichrist is going to be a stranger. They don't hear and follow that voice.

But those who are true sheep, they follow the voice of the Son of God. Let me ask you this question. Is your name written in the Lamb's book of life? Is it in there right now? Is it in there today? Is it written? Now you say, well, what if I think it's not written? Can I get it written in there? Well, the truth of the matter is if the Lord sees you converted over the next year or two or three, your name's already there.

It's already there because he already foreknew. I'd almost, maybe I'd almost be afraid to look in the book of life. Let's go to the F's.

Fishers. Boy, there's a lot of Fishers here. Very few more whores, you know.

I lived in Houston, Texas. It was the fourth largest city in America. And I looked at the phone book back.

That's when they had phone books. Some of you don't know what a phone book is. Some of the younger generation.

Everybody's name is in the phone book. I mean, it's a huge phone book. I thought for sure there would be one whore.

You know, you go to Smith's. There's like volumes of Smith's. And you look up for a whore and there's not a single one.

I went to live in Chicago and I did the same thing. There's got to be some of us around somewhere in these huge cities. So I went to Chicago, looked in the phone book, not a single one.

I don't think there'd be a lot of whores in the book of life. Not because we don't love Jesus, but because there's just not a lot of us. So is your name in the book of life? Are you one of his sheep? There's no bigger question than that in life, is there? The Bible says in Revelation he's going to open the book someday.

You know, look. You know what's interesting? All those in the book of Revelation that are raised at the great white throne, the dead are raised. It says that the Lord looked in the book and their names were not found.

It's almost like He's double checking before He throws everybody into hell. No, there's none of your names here. So, the Lord knows His sheep.

Are you one of His sheep? That's a good question for us here this morning. Let me tell you what Jesus says here. There's three things He mentions here in John 10, verse 27.

Look what it says. My sheep hear My voice. That's the first thing.

Secondly, and I know them. Thirdly, and they follow Me. Here's one way to know whether or not you're really one of His sheep.

Do you hear His voice? Are you hearing His voice today? Do you hear His voice? Secondly, Jesus says, I know them. I have a relationship with them. Now, remember this.

You can know about Jesus or know about somebody, but that person not know you. Do you understand that? I've given this illustration many times. I go to the White House and I knock on the door of the President.

He comes to the door, Donald Trump. I say, Donald, how is it going? He says, who are you? Well, I know you, Donald. What do you mean? I know all about you.

I mean, I've seen you on YouTube. I know your policies. I know your personality.

I mean, everybody knows about you. Yeah, I know they know about me, but I don't know who you are. You know, a lot of people think that was Jesus in the Day of Judgment.

Jesus, listen, we know all about you. We sat in church. We listened to sermons.

I mean, I can memorize some verses. You're the Savior, aren't you? I mean, all these things I was taught. And He'll say in Matthew 7, I'll say to them, what? I never knew you.

I didn't know you. You might know me. And it's not important for our salvation that we know about Him.

The real question is whether He knows you. Does He know you? And then the third thing He says here is, not only do they hear my voice and I know them, but they follow me. And I mentioned that last week.

You know, there's nothing more important than following Him. You know, when the sheep hear the voice of the Son of God, they don't just stay in the field and put their head down and chew on this world's vanity. Oh yeah, yeah, we know Jesus.

Yeah, we know Jesus. And we keep chewing on the vanity and the world and the pleasures of this life. Yeah, we know Jesus.

But no, they hear what they do. They follow. You go back and you read when Jesus called His disciples, it says He went by Peter and Andrew and He said, follow Me.

The Bible says they forsook everything, didn't they? And followed Him. He went on and He met Levi there at the custom where He was gathering taxes and said, Levi, follow Me. And Levi left it all and followed Jesus.

And so the sheep, the hearer, the voice of the Son of God, and they follow Him. That's why when someone says, well, I know Jesus, and you look at their life and they're not following Him. There's a resistance.

Like, I don't want to go that direction. I don't want to follow Him. You have to wonder, wait a minute, something's not right here.

Would you agree with that? Something's not right. Well, look at verse 28. Here's the blessing of being one of His sheep.

And I give unto them eternal life. That's the greatest blessing. When we hear His voice, He gives us eternal life.

And they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hands. So these are the sheep that from the beginning, God foreknew would believe and endure. Here's something important.

He knew they would believe and they would endure unto the end in faith. By the way, the Bible says you're saved if you continue in the faith, right? Grounded and settled. My sheep or My true sheep are those who will endure to the end.

And the Lord already knows their names. They're already written in the book of life. Some of you who are at our Bible study on Saturday morning, this helps you to better understand this next verse.

Listen to what it says. And we've quoted it already. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders insomuch that what? If it were possible, they shall deceive even the very elect.

The chosen. My sheep. Notice it says, if it were possible.

All that delusion won't deceive My sheep. My sheep will not hear the voice of a stranger. And they'll not follow.

And I believe in the end you're going to see a lot of sheep going after strangers all over the place. But His sheep will not follow the voice of a stranger. So, if you're a true sheep by faith in Jesus Christ, you will not be touched by the enemy.

Look what it says here in verse 28 and 29. I give them eternal life and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.

My Father which gave them Me is greater than all. And no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand. Here's a beautiful picture.

If you're one of His sheep, you are in His hand. You're in His hand by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You heard His voice.

You believe the Gospel. You're following the Lord Jesus. You are in His hand.

And because He is greater than all, as Brother Eli was sharing, there is no one bigger than Him. He's the biggest on the block. Because He's the greatest, the most powerful, all power and authority is given unto Him.

No one can pluck you out of His hand. No one can come and steal you. Like, you don't have to think about, oh, I'm believing on Jesus, but I'm afraid someone's going to steal me out.

You don't have to fear that at all. The Lord promises here that you will never be touched by the enemy. Why? Because verse 29 says, My Father is greater than all.

We don't have to be anxious about being plucked out. What you need to do is just trust the Lord Jesus. Put your faith in Him.

And listen to His voice. And follow Him. Amen? And you're good to go.

You're good. I want you to go back to Romans 8. It's all explained right here. It's a beautiful passage.

Some of you probably have this in memory, but Romans 8 explains it all in detail. Romans 8, verse 29, I'd like to read here down through verse 39. From the foreknowledge all the way down to no man will be able to pluck you out.

Paul writes here in verse 29 of Romans 8, For whom He did foreknow, it always starts with foreknowledge. You have to start with foreknowledge. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son.

Do you know those who He knew would have faith in Jesus Christ and would endure to the end? Do you know what He predestined you to become? What? A son just like Jesus. Jesus was the firstborn among many brethren. He has taken those who are His true sheep and says, okay, here's what I'm going to do with you who have faith in Me, and I can see and have foreknowledge.

I see you've endured to the end. I'm going to turn you into someone just like My Son. Conform you into His image.

And so truly, if you're one of His sheep, what ought to be happening in your life? You're becoming more like Jesus, right? Amen? That's what the work of God is. Conforming you into the image of His Son. That He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Moreover, whom He did predestinate, then He also called. That's what we're out doing. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ! Brother Isaac, at the hockey game, the voice goes out.

God is calling His sheep to come, right? He's calling. Calling His sheep. And then it goes on, whom He also called, then He also justified.

That means those who respond to the call, He makes them perfect without sin before His presence. Holy. Them whom He justified, He also glorified.

And that's the last stage here. He's going to give you a glorified body and give you a place of authority and give you a crown and glorify you. That's the end.

That's where we finish, right there. He'll glorify you. Just like His Son was seated at the right hand of God and given glory and honor, even so, those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ will ultimately be glorified.

That's a good future we have. Now, here's some wonderful verses. Verse 31, What shall we say then to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Right? He's the biggest on the block.

And if He is for you, nobody can be against you. Verse 32, He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? There's a lot of who's here. Verse 31, Who can be against us? Verse 33, Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? I like that.

You know, someone comes along and says, Ah, you're a sinner. Ah, you're a bad person. Ah, I think you're blah, blah, blah.

You ought to just let it roll off your back. Maybe you receive it and maybe you can learn from it. But don't let condemnation and criticism bother you because who can condemn you? If God Almighty doesn't condemn you, who in the world, why should we be concerned about some person saying evil things about us? Who is He, verse 34, that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who maketh intercession for us.

And then here is this. You're in His hand. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, there's some pretty heavy things here, nakedness, peril, sword, as it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long.

We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors to Him that loved us. In His hand, being a true sheep, having faith in Jesus Christ, hearing His voice, wanting to follow His steps, you are secure, and I don't care whether or not you get tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or they kill your life, you're going to be a conqueror.

It doesn't matter what comes. Verse 38, For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor ages, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, by the way, that includes the devil himself, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature. That pretty much covers it all.

Wouldn't you agree? Shall be able to separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nobody is going to get you out of His hands. If you're His sheep, you're secure.

I like the idea of eternal security. You're secure if you're His sheep. Well, let's go back here and finish in John 10 with another verse or two.

Jesus is going to make another bold statement here in verse number 30. He says, I and my Father are one. I and my Father are one.

Well, that word one is a numerical word. It's not talking about unity. There are two different Greek words.

This word is numerical. You see that right there? There's one marker. You have two markers up here and these two markers are in agreement.

That's not what we're talking about here. It's not a unity of oneness. Jesus said, I and my Father are one.

Numerically one. And He shows us here in these words. If you look at verse 28.

It says, I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. This is Jesus saying my hand.

And then in verse 29. My Father which is greater than me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. My hand? My Father's hand? Are we in two hands? The next verse.

I and my Father are one. Now I know that many Muslims have a hard time with this idea of how God can be a Father and Jesus can be a Son and yet they be one. How many of you know that I'm a Father and I'm a Son also? I'm a husband.

You know my Father gave birth to me. And I'm, if you ask me, I'm a son of Ronald Mahor. So I can be a son, but yet I'm a father.

Ezra, Emily, Judson are here. I'm a father and a son at the same time. And so it is possible to be a father and a son.

Let me show you how this works. One more verse. Look back to Isaiah chapter 9. You can share this with your Muslim friends.

Probably Brother Cleat already shared this with his Muslim friends in Greece. Isaiah chapter 9 says it this way. This is a good verse.

I think the Muslims have a reverence for the Old Testament. This is the prophet Isaiah. In Isaiah 9, verse 6, he says this, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son.

You can circle that word. If you write in your Bible, a son is given. A child is born.

This is a prophecy of the birth of Jesus Christ, the Immaculate Conception. And the government shall be upon His shoulder and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, and then this next one, the Everlasting Father. So unto us a son is given and His name, one of them, is the Everlasting Father.

So this child, this Son of God, Jesus, that was born into this world, His name is the Everlasting Father. And that's why Jesus said, I and My Father are one. God was manifested in the human body.

1 Timothy 3.16 So going back here to John chapter 10, when Jesus makes that statement, they pick up stones again in verse 31. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. They understood what He was saying.

And Jesus answered them, And many good works have I showed you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me? The Jews answered Him saying, For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, and because that thou being a man, makest thyself God. So they understood, didn't they, who He was claiming to be when He said, I and My Father are one.

How can a man claim to be God? Well, there's a number of examples of this, and I showed you in Isaiah how this Son is born, and He is called the Mighty God. That's one of the titles that was given to Him. But just one more example in closing.

Remember when Thomas, doubting Thomas, when he saw Jesus' resurrected body, he was a doubter. But he came and he fell before the Lord. He put his hand into His side, and he looked at his palms, and he said, My Lord and my what? My God.

My Lord and my God. He understood who Jesus was. My Lord and my God.

So that's important for you to understand who Jesus is. And so the Jews, because they consider that blasphemy, took up stones to stone Him. And this happens a number of different times.

The Jews are seeking to stone Him. Let me read to you one more passage here, and I'll close in John 20. Well, this is a passage about Thomas.

I won't read that one. But in 1 Timothy 3, verse 16, the Scripture says, God was manifested in the flesh, was seen of angels, was preached on in the world, was received up into glory. And so the Lord Jesus, who is Jesus? He is God.

God in a human flesh. In a human body. He has come to us.

And He has laid down His life for our sin. So God knows this morning who His sheep are, and I trust that most of you are His sheep. And maybe you sit here today and you say, well, I just don't seem to hear the voice of the Son of God.

I don't see my life actually getting up from grazing and keeping my head down and following my shepherd. Well, that may be God's voice speaking to you saying you need to reexamine your faith. Are you really one of My sheep? And so I want to encourage you that if you're in His hand, no creature, no demon, no devil, no human can take you out of His hand.

I think it's going to get tough for us. I think we're going to have difficulty and tribulation, persecution, especially the younger generation. So you need a solid faith.

You need a solid faith. You need to know who you believe. And you need to know that you're one of His sheep.

Because someday you may be called to lay down your life for the Lord Jesus. Alright, we'll pick up here in John 10 and finish the chapter.