John 10:29

0:00 Let's pray. Heavenly Father, God, please speak through me by your Holy Spirit and teach us by your Spirit what you would have us learn from this passage. In Jesus' name, amen. Do you know anybody who's a physics major or maybe somebody who works in the field of physics? These are some of the smartest, most capable people that exist. You have to be to understand the laws of physics and all the theories and how they work together. I remember learning a law of physics called the conservation of matter.

0:35 And it says that matter can neither be created nor destroyed. It just changes from one form to another. And there's a similar law of physics called the law of conservation of energy, which says that energy can neither be created nor destroyed. It just changes from one form to another. And then Albert Einstein, a man so brilliant that his last name is used to describe a genius figured out that sometimes energy and matter are interchangeable, but they can't be created. They just change from one form to another.

1:08 And yet, God created the heavens and the earth merely by speaking. With three words, he said, let it be. And it was. God made everything out of nothing. That's how powerful God is. And in tonight's passage, Jesus assures us that God in all his power holds Christians secure and that no one can snatch us from God's hand. If you would turn in your Bibles to John chapter 10, verse 29, This is on page 897 of the Pew Bibles, if you're using one of those, page 897.

1:50 Please follow as I read. John 10, verse 29, Jesus said, My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand. Now, there are three participants in this verse. Jesus is the speaker. Jesus' father God is the active one in this verse, and them is a passive participant.

2:21 Well, it's very clear who Jesus and God are, but who is Jesus talking about in verse 29 when he uses the word them? Well, if we look at the passage that we read this morning in our worship service, verses 22 to 30, we can see what he's talking about. Let's look at verses 22 to 30. Please follow as I read. At that time, the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, How long will you keep us in suspense?

2:57 If you are the Christ, tell us plainly. When Jesus answered them, I told you, and you do not believe. The works I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep. 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.

3:28 So in verse 29, the word them refers to Jesus' sheep. And if we look at verses 25 to 28, Jesus lists some specific things about his sheep. First, Jesus tells us that his sheep believe in him. Now, he tells us this indirectly when he told the Jews who opposed him that they do not believe because they're not his sheep. So Jesus' sheep believe him. Jesus' sheep hear his voice. Jesus knows his sheep. Jesus' sheep follow him. Jesus gives his sheep eternal life.

4:01 Jesus' sheep will never perish, and no one will snatch Jesus' sheep out of his hands. So Jesus' sheep are Christians. And if we look at verse 29, essentially what Jesus is saying is, My Father God, who has given Christians to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch Christians out of God's hand. Now in this verse, Jesus tells us three wonderful things about God and how he relates to you if you're a Christian. First, Jesus tells us that God gives Christians to Jesus.

4:37 If you believe in Jesus, this means that you've been selected by God and given to Jesus. God intentionally chose you and gave you to Jesus as his precious gift. Just think about that. Think how highly God values you that he would present you to Jesus as a gift. But this isn't about the gift. The Bible is very clear. We don't deserve this. We don't do anything to earn it. As Greg preached this morning in Genesis 9, sin has its claws deep in our heart before and after we're saved.

5:15 This is all about God. It's all about his unilateral gifts and blessings to us. And interestingly, this gift comes with an owner's manual. It's the Bible. It tells all about how the gift works. We don't deserve a thing. We don't earn anything. And it also tells us how the giver works. That's kind of unusual for an owner's manual. God is so gracious. The second thing Jesus tells us is that God is greater than all. As we discussed earlier, the laws of physics do not affect God.

5:47 Conservation of matter, conservation of energy, they can't be destroyed or created, they just change from one to another. These laws constrain mankind, and they affect all of creation, but to God they're trivial. God created in the heavens and the earth from nothing, simply by saying three words, let there be. God's power is immeasurable. His intellect is beyond comprehension. His majesty and glory defy description.

6:18 No one can challenge God, no one can stop him. And yet, God gave you, Christian, as his gift to his son, Jesus. The third thing that Jesus tells us is that no one is able to snatch Christians out of God's hand. Jesus knows that the world is full of enemies who oppose Christians, just as these antagonistic Jews confronted him in verse 24. Jesus told his disciples in John 15, verse 18, If the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you.

6:52 This world, Satan, forces of evil, they want more than anything else to separate Christians from God. But Jesus tells us in this verse that this is impossible. Christian brothers and sisters, God gave you as his gift to Jesus. And, you know, when we give a gift, we hand it to the other person and they take it and we let go. But God didn't do that. He gave the gift to Jesus, but he didn't let go. He still holds on to us.

7:26 God is still holding you safe. No one can snatch you out of his hand. But that's not all. In the previous verse, 28, Jesus tells us that he too is holding us secure in his hand. And then in verse 30, Jesus ties us all together when he says, I and the Father are one. As we thank God for these amazing blessings, two things come to mind. First, from an eternal standpoint, and second, from the perspective of day-to-day living.

7:59 From an eternal standpoint, God and Jesus intend for Christians to be secure in our salvation. God and Jesus gave us eternal life. Their gift is permanent. We will never perish. They hold us fast in their all-powerful hands. No one can snatch us away from them. Our salvation is secure. But from the perspective of day-to-day living while we're on this earth, God and Jesus intend for Christians to live as their sheep every day, every hour.

8:31 So if we look again at verse 27, Jesus said three things about his sheep. He said he knows his sheep, his sheep hear his voice, and his sheep follow him. Jesus knows his sheep. Each Christian is God's personal gift to Jesus. Jesus knows every detail of our life, the good, the bad, and the ugly. We can't fool him about anything, and yet he loves us so much. He suffered and died for us. Romans 5.8 says, God demonstrates his own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

9:05 Yes, Jesus knows his sheep, and he loves his sheep. Christians, Jesus' sheep, hear his voice. Well, how do we hear Jesus' voice? Well, first and most importantly, it's through reading and studying the Bible. And we do that every day. We need to be in the Bible. Everything in our being pushes away from Jesus and God, rebels against them. We need to be in the Bible to transform our minds to their thinking. We need to hear faithful preaching each week at church that keeps us on track, and we need to pray every day to submit to God's will and be obedient to him.

9:46 When Jesus spoke these words in John 10, his followers could hear his physical voice because he was there. Now, since he's died and been resurrected and is in heaven, Jesus speaks to us by his Holy Spirit, who lives within each Christian. In John chapter 14, Jesus said, I will ask the Father, and he will give you another counselor to be with you forever, the Spirit of truth. You know him, for he lives with you. That was Jesus there physically with them. And he will be in you. That's today, when the Holy Spirit is inside Christians.

10:19 Jesus went on to tell his disciples, But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Yes, Christians listen to his voice through reading the Bible, through hearing the word preached, through prayer, and through the Holy Spirit within us. And Jesus said that his sheep follow him. He expects his sheep to follow him. In John 15, Jesus said, You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide.

10:52 Jesus wants Christians to obey him, to live for him, to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives every day. Well, with the foundation of Bible study and regular preaching at church and daily prayer, how well do you listen to Jesus' voice by the Holy Spirit? How willing are you to follow when he speaks to you by his Holy Spirit? Do you ever have a person unexpectedly come to mind and you think, oh, send a text to Jack.

11:22 Tell him how much you love him, how much he means to you. Maybe send him a praying hands emoji. Or tell Mary how special she is to you. Send her a red heart emoji. Do you ever follow through on one of those promptings and right away the person answers you back? How did you know? I needed that right when you sent that message to me. Well, when that happens to me, I tell him I didn't know. but the Holy Spirit knew, and praise God. He gets all the credit. Now here was a big one for me.

11:54 Last year on April 10th, the night of the day that the shooting happened at Old National Bank, I was unexpectedly prompted to call the CEO of the bank, Jim Ryan, and I'd never talked about faith with Jim, and I wasn't sure how he would receive that. I actually whispered to myself, I think you're asking me to call the wrong guy. But the prompting would not stop, so I called Jim, and he answered, and I asked him if I could pray for him. He said, yeah, and I prayed for him right there on the phone.

12:25 Well, I later learned that God used that prayer to give Jim the idea to ask if I would come back to the work and help support my friends at the bank. And as many of you know, I did go back to work for nine months, And the Holy Spirit worked through me amazingly to help my friends cope with their trauma and return to the ability to do normal work. All praise and glory to God. All praise. But here's the thing. I almost didn't make that call because I second-guessed.

12:59 I questioned and doubted, well, what if Jim's offended? Am I sure this is a good idea? Where is this coming from anyway? How often do we second-guess these promptings that we have? We worry that it might not go well, or we hold back because there might be a downside, and then it's too late. The moment passes. Well, the wonderful thing about tonight's verse is that Jesus encourages us through this verse. When we wonder how we're going to fare as his sheep in this world, Think of how we're equipped to step out in trust for God.

13:40 God, who is more powerful than all, is holding us secure. Jesus, his son, is holding us secure. The Holy Spirit is inside us, prompting us, giving us directions, and empowering us to listen to Jesus' voice and follow him. We are so heavily armed, it isn't even a fair fight. We just need to remember that. Well, thanks be to God and Jesus for equipping us as Christians to follow them every day, every hour, in small things and in big things.

14:14 In John 15, verse 11, Jesus said, I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. What joy fills our hearts when we hear Jesus' voice and we follow him? Maybe you're here tonight and you don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Maybe you're sitting there saying, what is he talking about? Well, if that's you, the first thing I want to say is we're so glad you're with us tonight. Please come back. Join us in church every week.

14:46 These blessings that Jesus is talking about in John chapter 10 are for Christians, and we pray that these blessings will be yours soon. Surely you know about Jesus. His birthday's coming up next month. You may well have made your Christmas gift list. Maybe you're buying presents and making plans for the holiday. But here's what the Bible tells us actually happened on Christmas. God sent his son into the world to save the world. We're all sinners, which means we fall short of the glory of God.

15:18 We disobey him. We rebel against him. We want to do things our way, not his way. And this applies to everybody. Jesus is the only one who ever lived without sin. So if you're here and you don't know him as Savior, know this, that every Christian in this room was once where you are. It's only by God's grace that we are saved. God cannot stand sin. He will not permit sin in his eternal presence. The Bible tells us that God will punish sin. But the true gift of Christmas is that God sent his perfect son, Jesus, who took on human nature as well as his divine nature.

15:58 And he came with the assignment to pay in full the price that we deserve to pay for our sins for all who believe in him. On the cross, which Jesus did not deserve, he not only died, but before he died, God poured out on his perfect son the terrible wrath that we deserve for our sins. Jesus paid the full penalty that we deserve to pay. He died. God raised him from the dead on the third day, confirming that Jesus has conquered sin and death. Our prayer for you is that you will receive this incomparable gift for Christmas this year.

16:32 Believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior and receive the blessing of being one of his sheep. Let's pray. Heavenly Father God, for those whom you have brought to faith in Jesus, we thank you so much. Thank you for your wonderful blessings, Lord. And for those who don't yet know him, we pray that you would draw their hearts to Jesus and give them salvation. And we pray in his name. Amen.