John 10:27–28 — “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand.”
Here are in our text three blessed promises given to the sheep (the elect of God):
First. I know them.
Second. They shall never perish; though they often think they shall perish by the hand of their lusts and corruptions; they think they shall perish by the deceitfulness of their hearts; but Christ says, ‘They shall never perish.’ I have brought them out of the world to myself, and do you think I will let them go to hell after that? ‘I give to them eternal life;’ pray mind that; not, I will, but I do. Some talk of being justified at the day of judgment; that is nonsense; if we are not justified here, we shall not be justified there. He gives them eternal life, that is, the earnest, the pledge, and assurance of it. The indwelling of the Spirit of God here, is the earnest of glory hereafter.
Third. Neither shall any pluck them out of My hand. He holds them in his hand, that is, he holds them by his power; none shall pluck them thence. There is always something plucking at Christ’s sheep; the devil, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, all try to pluck them out of Christ’s hand. O my brethren, they need not pluck us, yet we help all three to pluck ourselves out of the hand of Jesus; but ‘none shall pluck them out of my hand,’ says Christ. ‘I give to them eternal life. I am going to heaven to prepare a place for them, and there they shall be.’ O my brethren, if it were not for keeping you too long, and too much exhausting my own spirits, I could call upon you to leap for you; there is not a more blessed text to support the final perseverance of the saints; and I am astonished any poor souls, and good people I hope too, can fight against the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints: What if a person say they should persevere in wickedness? Ah! That is an abuse of the doctrine; what, because some people spoil good food, are we never to eat it? But, my brethren, upon this text I can leave my cares, and all my friends, and all Christ’s sheep, to the protection of Christ Jesus’ never- failing love.
[Whitefield, G., Selected Sermons of George Whitefield. Oak Harbor, WA]
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Jason Robertson is a husband and a father and a pastor. He is dedicated to leading and equipping his the Church with God’s word and biblical theology for life ministry, using a combination of pastoral, church planting and evangelism experience. He holds a Master of Divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He is experienced in church planting, evangelism, missions, and the training of pastors and Bible teachers.
Jason has been preaching the gospel since 1985, serving the first ten years of ministry as a Southern Baptist itinerant evangelist out of Milldale Baptist Church in Zachary, LA which ordained him in 1993. He has preached in hundreds of churches in over 30 States and 4 countries. He planted churches in Siberia, Russia in the summers of 1993 and 1994. He founded Murrieta Valley Church in California, which he planted in cooperation with the SBC NAMB in 2001. He also teaches ministry students at California Baptist University.
You can hear his sermons and read his manuscripts on sermonaudio.com. Just follow the link to "sermons" at the top of this page.
Great comfort to the believers in such a post. I have been reading through a book of old hymns compiled by Spurgeon. One hymn that I read particulary struck me that goes well with this post. I pray you do not mind me sharing it:
Where God begins His gracious work,
that work He will complete,
for round the objects of His love,
All power and mercy meet.
Each object of His love is sure
To reach the heavenly goal;
For neither sin nor satan can
Destroy the blood washed soul.
The precious blood of God’s dear Son
Shall ne’er be spilt in vein;
The soul on Christ believing, will
with Christ forever reign.