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Are you considering your Bibles 
again to John six? John six, as we continue to look at five 
observations of Christ's doctrine of salvation, five observations 
on Christ's doctrine of salvation from John chapter six, we looked 
this morning at three of the five, the comprehensiveness of 
sin, the unmitigated and unsolicited unsolicited divine prerogative 
in salvation. And then thirdly, the precision 
and impeccability of Christ's cross work. The exercise of considering 
doctrine and pointing out error is not one that is an exercise 
of self congratulatory back padding. It is not spiritual elitism. 
It is not relishing in dogmatic snobbery, but rather it is a 
wholesome exercise and it is apostolic. The apostles, when 
they penned their epistles, included in it doxologies that were rich 
with doctrine, pens of praise or texts of praise that were 
rich in doctrine. And not only that, but they also 
pronounced the curse of God on those who would reject the doctrine 
of Christ, those who would reject, for example, in Galatians 1 9, 
the gospel of grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. So the consideration 
or the perusal, the glorying in doctrine, as well as the pointing 
out of doctrinal error is a wholesome exercise. And it is also an exercise 
that is in the vein of following our master who did likewise. 
In Revelation chapter two, he commends the church at Ephesus 
for being solid with regards to doctrine and for rejecting 
those who thought they were apostles. but were not and found them to 
be liars. And he also indicts the church 
at Pergamos for tolerating those who are of the Nicolaitan doctrine. 
And he says, which doctrine I hate. And so again, when we engage 
in a consideration and a perusal of doctrine and pointing out 
doctrinal error, it is a wholesome exercise. And what are we doing? 
But when we do it, extolling the grace of our amazing God 
and also pointing out his his wholesome love for truth, as 
well as his holy hatred for error. Now, we're going to pick up. 
We're not going to we're going to read again, John six, thirty 
five to fifty one, and then pick up with point four of the five 
observations on Christ's doctrine of salvation. John six, beginning 
at verse thirty five. And Jesus said to them, I am 
the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never 
hunger and he who believes in me shall never thirst. But I 
said to you, That you have seen me and yet do not believe all 
that the father gives me will come to me and the one who comes 
to me, I will by no means cast out for I have come down from 
heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent 
me. This is the will of the excuse me. This is the will of the father 
who sent me that of all he has given me, I should lose nothing 
but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will 
of him who sent me that everyone who sees the son and believes 
in him may have everlasting life. And I will raise him up at the 
last day. The Jews then complained about 
him because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. 
And they said, is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, the son of 
Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that 
he says, I have come down from heaven? Jesus therefore answered 
and said to them, do not murmur among yourselves. No one can 
come to me unless the father who sent me draws him and I will 
raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets 
and they shall all be taught of God. Therefore, everyone who 
has heard and learned from the father comes to me. Not that 
anyone has seen the father except he who is from God. He has seen 
the father. Most assuredly, I say to you, 
he who believes in me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. 
Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and are dead. 
This is the bread which comes down from heaven that one may 
eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came 
down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, 
he will live forever. And the bread that I shall give 
is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world. Amen. Well, let's pray. Righteous Father, 
we praise you again that we can gather here tonight. We thank 
you, Lord God, that we can come into this place as brothers and 
sisters in Christ Jesus to worship you. And might we always count 
it a blessing, might we always count it a glorious thing that 
we can gather together with the saints and sing your praises 
and hear your word preached and render our prayers and our supplications 
to you with thanksgiving. And we would just ask, Lord God, 
that you'd help us now to be prepared for worship. Tune us 
for this worship right now, Lord God. May we have our ears open 
and our minds ready to receive what the Spirit would have for 
His church this night. And help us, Lord God, to love 
Your Word, to love the doctrine and all things revealed in it, 
and to go from this place seeking to live our lives in a manner 
worthy of Your Gospel in this lower world. So we just pray 
now, Lord God, that You would be with us as we consider Your 
Word. We pray in the name of our victor and redeemer, the 
Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, the fourth point, 
then, as we continue to look at five observations on Christ's 
doctrine of salvation, the fourth point is the unconquerable power 
of amazing grace, the unconquerable power of amazing grace. Again, here in our context, we 
have the chain of a chain of divine activity that is infallible. John 6, 37 and John 6, 44. Verse 37, all that the Father 
gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will 
by no means cast out. Verse 44, no one can come to 
me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise 
him up at the last day. A wonderful thing that the authors 
of Holy Scripture give us, for example, Paul in Romans 8, 28 
to 30, is that rich golden chain of salvation. Those whom he predestined, 
those he also called, those whom he called, these he also justified, 
those whom he justified, these he also glorified. Well, they 
learned it well from our master, because Jesus, in answering the 
problem of unbelief and the comprehensiveness of sin, renders that perfect 
chain of salvation that it is from God, God solely and alone, 
from first to last. John 6.37, again, all that the 
Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to 
me I will by no means cast out. And then we see the infallible 
drawing power of God in verse 44. No one can come to me unless 
the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up 
at the last day. That wonderful and glorious drawing 
of the father is infallible. All those who are drawn come 
to the sun and all those who come to the sun are those who 
are raised up at the last day. Perfect triune divine salvation 
and the chain of divine activity that is infallible includes that 
operation of regeneration. That divine action where God 
is holy and alone active and where the sinner is solely and 
alone passive in the operation of that divine activity of regeneration, 
that activity being where the Spirit of God comes. He comes 
in God's appointed and accepted time and causes a sinner to be 
transferred from out of that state of sin, out of deadness 
in sin and to be made alive in Christ Jesus. by the power of 
his grace. And you can turn to John three 
as we see John using born again language to refer to that divine 
operation where God is fully active and where man is passive 
in that divine activity. John, chapter three. We noted 
this morning when we were considering the comprehensibility of sin, 
that God's amazing grace and his impeccable salvation is the 
remedy to man's issue, that he is dead in trespasses and sins, 
that he is in bondage to it, surely a slave unto his master, 
sin and the devil. And so, John 3 here, we have 
Jesus opening up this discourse with the divine reality or the 
divine remedy that needs to take place for any sinner to see the 
kingdom of God. Nicodemus beginning in verse 
four, Nicodemus said to him, How can a man be born when he 
is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and 
be born? Jesus answered, Oh, excuse me. Backing up to verse 
three, Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly, I say 
to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of 
God. Nicodemus said to him, How can 
a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into 
his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Most assuredly, 
I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot 
enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh 
is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Do not 
marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind 
blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but cannot 
tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone 
who is born of the spirit. This divine activity of being 
born again or being born from above again is a holy divine 
activity where man is a passive agent dead in his trespasses 
and in his sins. And it's a wonderful thing here. 
The connectivity that we have between Christ's discourse and 
his answer to Nicodemus and what the Old Testament gives us with 
regards to the New Covenant reality and God's divine action in making 
worshipers. Jesus indicts Nicodemus here 
Jesus indicts Nicodemus for being the teacher of Israel, but who 
did not know these things. Verse 10. Jesus answered and 
said to him, Are you the teacher of Israel and do not know these 
things? Most assuredly, I say to you, 
we speak what we know and testify what we have seen. And you do 
not receive our witness. If I have told you earthly things 
and you do not believe, how will you believe? If I tell you heavenly 
things, this this language that Jesus uses of being born again 
by the spirit that blows like the wind where it wishes is not 
to be or was not to be a surprise to Nicodemus. This was no new 
thing. And to see this, let's turn in our Bibles to Ezekiel 
for a moment, going again beyond the borders of John's gospel. 
Go to Ezekiel for a moment as we see the power of divine grace. The power and the sovereignty 
of the Holy Spirit in making dead sinners alive unto Christ 
by the power of that amazing and victorious grace. Ezekiel 
37, beginning at verse nine. Ezekiel 37, beginning at verse 
nine. Also, he said to me, prophesy 
to the breath. prophesize son of man and say 
to the breath, thus says the Lord God come from the four winds, 
O breath and breathe on these slain that they may live. So 
I prophesied as he commanded me and breath came into them 
and they lived and stood upon their feet an exceedingly great 
army. Then he said to me, Son of man, 
these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say our 
bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off. 
Therefore, prophesy and say to them, thus says the Lord God, 
behold, O my people, I will open your graves and cause you to 
come up from your graves and bring you into the land of Israel. 
Then you shall know that I am the Lord when I have opened your 
graves, oh, my people, and brought you up from your graves. I will 
put my spirit in you and you shall live and I will place you 
in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the 
Lord, have spoken it and performed it, says the Lord. So you see 
this, this the blowing of the sovereignty of the breath of 
the Spirit, God, by his amazing and victorious grace, conquering 
dead sinners and causing them to rise from their graves and 
to be wholly active in his cause for his glory, by the power of 
his spirit and according to his performance. We see here the 
fact that it is all of divine grace and power. And it is nothing 
of man who is passive, who is the blessed beneficiary of divine 
and amazing grace, but nevertheless, a passive agent being dead in 
trespasses and sins, being one who loves darkness rather than 
light because his deeds are evil. And so we have that wonderful 
reality when God comes, brethren, when we consider this divine 
remedy to the problem of sin, to the issue of sin, to total 
depravity, to the comprehensiveness of man's condition in sin. We see that when God comes in 
his appointed and accepted time, when God comes in his appointed 
and accepted time and finds a sinner, he does not find that sinner 
injured. He does not find that sinner 
maimed. He does not find that sinner crippled and just unable 
to walk a little bit. He does not find that sinner 
with just a minor malady. He finds that sinner dead in 
his trespasses and in his sins. And it does the Christian service. 
It does Christianity no service. It does the declaration of the 
gospel of Jesus Christ, no service to issue forth really horrible 
analogies regarding divine activity in the salvation of sinners. 
I remember White, James White was White. Dr. James White was 
citing R.C. Sproul and some analogies that 
he used in a debate with an Armenian scholar. And some of the analogies 
that he used were great. He first issued forth the wrong 
sort of image to use when describing God in his sovereign grace, saving 
a sinner from their sins. And he said the often what's 
put forth is the imagery of a doctor in the hospital and a man on 
a hospital bed. And the man is completely unable 
to move. He's very ill. The only the only 
motion that he has is the ability to just slightly move his head 
forward. And the doctor comes and he has 
the remedy for this ill man. And the remedy is on this spoon. 
There's medicine on a spoon. And he comes to the center and 
he brings this spoon with the medicine on it. And now all the 
sinner has to do to receive the medicine from the doctor, the 
doctor being God in this analogy, being Christ, all he has to do 
is nevertheless exercise a little bit of his power to move his 
head, to open his mouth, to wrap it around the spoon and to take 
in the medicine that he might be saved, that he might receive 
the remedy. Well, R.C. Sproul said that is 
very incorrect. That is Arminian. And it is against 
the force of the Bible that stresses holy divine activity and holy 
passive man who is dead in trespasses and sins. And he says this is 
a much better analogy. The sinner is not is not a man, 
you know, maimed on a hospital bed. He's not even and I'm paraphrasing. He's not even a man who is dead 
on the gurney just outside the door, having recently perished. 
He's not even in the county morgue, in the little drawer that goes 
into the wall. No, the sinner or the sinner 
in this analogy is a dead man, dead in the grave, in the cemetery, 
dry bones. And the doctor comes, the great 
physician comes, and in his sovereignty reaches through the rotting dirt, 
reaches into the coffin, pulls out those dead bones, puts flesh 
and all those things back upon them, breathes the breath of 
life into him, raises him unto life, and causes him to walk 
in the way everlasting. That's divine and saving sovereignty. 
And this the other imagery, the other the other picture that 
they often put forth is the picture of a man drowning in the middle 
of the ocean. There's a there's a there's a 
massive cruise ship and maybe this this person fell off the 
ship and he's in the water. drowning. He's unable to swim. 
He's been treading water for a while and he's just he's not 
able. He's just barely above water, 
his arms and his head. He's able to breathe, but he's 
not. But he's almost completely in the water. And the captain 
comes and he throws the floaty thing out to the out to the person 
drowning in the water. Now, all that he has to do is 
just with the little bit of strength that he has in his left arm, 
reach onto that inflatable raft, grab onto it so that they can 
pull him up to the ship. And this is apparently a picture 
of divine salvation. That also is incorrect because 
this man who is drowning still has the power to reach up with 
his arm and grab onto this inflatable raft. And Sproul said, no, this 
is a better picture of divine and saving salvation. Well, we 
have one in Ezekiel 37, but this is a better picture. If you need 
to use a cruise boat, an ocean and a drowning man, the man isn't 
drowning. He isn't treading water at the 
top of the surface, but rather he has been dead and drowned 
for quite some time at the bottom of the ocean. He is fish eaten. He is covered with barnacles. 
And the captain, the great captain of our salvation, dives down 
into the water, pulls that dead man up, takes the barnacles off 
of him, cleans him, washes him, restores unto him flesh and bone 
and sinews and all things, breathes the breath of life into him and 
causes him to walk in the way everlasting. That's divine and 
saving salvation. If we ever put forth anything 
other than the unconquerable power of amazing grace, whether 
we're speaking from the scriptures or we're using analogies, we 
do disservice to Christianity and the proclamation of amazing 
grace. How sweet the sound can turn 
to John five for a moment as we look at another text here 
where we see the unconquerable power of amazing grace. John, 
chapter five and verse twenty one. We looked at this this morning 
when we looked at the unmitigated and unsolicited divine prerogative 
in salvation. That hasn't changed. That's still 
there. John 521 still testifies to that. But an implication clearly 
here is the unconquerable power of amazing grace. John 521, for 
as the father raises the dead and gives life to them, even 
so the son gives life to whom he will. Even so, the son gives 
life to whom he will. The necessary consequence of 
the fact of the of the son's will in salvation is the fact 
that all of whom he wills to make alive do come alive. They are made alive. The son 
has this divine and sovereign prerogative. He exercises it. And that which he exercises comes 
to fruition and is perfectly executed. That's the implication. 
And it is inescapable. Jesus Christ is able to give 
life to whom he will, since he wills to do that. He gives life 
and those whom he wills to give life are raised unto life. It's 
wonderful. It's a wonderful truth. And it's 
very interesting if you if you switch over or if you move over 
to John 540 for a moment. This is, again, the giving of 
life by the sun is the divine remedy for the issue of John 
540, which is very interestingly and apparently Arminian text. 
This is this is what Spurgeon called what Arminians think is 
the great the great gun in their armory or the great gun of their 
of their army is this one that they like to shoot off saying 
there you see, but you are not willing to come to me that you 
may have life. Much the contrary, this is very 
Calvinistic because it speaks to the issue that we looked at 
this morning and point number one, the comprehensiveness of 
sin, but you are not willing to come to me that you may have 
life. What is the answer, but divine 
and unconquerable power and amazing grace? What is the answer? What 
is the remedy? But the son, the son who gives 
life to whom he will, the son who, according to himself in 
John eight, is able to make free those who are in bondage. If 
the son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. The rejection of the outward 
call and the infallible reception of the inward call. We need to 
consider this for a moment because the opponents of the unconquerable 
power of amazing grace will go to text such as, and you need 
not turn there, Acts 7 51, where Stephen says to the unbelieving 
Jews who are about to murder him, he says, you always resist 
the Holy Spirit as your fathers did. So do you. And they'll say, 
well, there you see it actually uses your language, Calvinists. 
They're resisting the Holy Spirit. There is no such thing as irresistible 
grace. Well, we see that same sort of 
thrust that we just we just read it from John 540. You're not 
willing to come to me that you may have life. Jesus says something 
of this in John 636. But I said to you that you have 
seen me, and yet do not believe. What that text serves to instruct 
in Acts 7.51 is the truth of the comprehensiveness of sin. 
Because of the reality and the gravity of sin, the fact that 
men are totally unable to render homage and service unto God, 
lest he come in amazing and sovereign grace, they will not come to 
Christ. They will not believe. They will 
not exercise faith. And so far from affirming irresistible 
or from denying irresistible grace, it supports it and it 
sets up the necessity for God to come in amazing and victorious 
grace. The outward call is rejected 
Sunday after Sunday by those who sit in the pews and continue 
to reject the pleadings of the preacher. That doesn't mean that 
God's activity has failed. Remember, God in his accepted 
and appointed time comes and translates a sinner from out 
of that state of sin to a state of life in Jesus Christ. It is, 
though, that inward call when that accepted and appointed time 
comes. That is unconquerable power. 
That is irresistible grace. When that final fruition or execution 
of the divine decree penetrates time in history and is found 
upon the sinner and God's divine and sovereign grace raises them 
from deadness unto life. That is unconquerable power and 
that is amazing grace. And we see this pictured wonderfully 
in the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead before 
we before we get and before we read that account of Jesus raising 
Lazarus from the dead. He says that he is the resurrection 
and the life. He declares, I am the resurrection 
and the life. And then we get to that wonderful 
account in verse 38 of John 11. Then Jesus, again, groaning in 
himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave and a stone lay 
against it. Jesus said, Take away the stone. Martha, the sister 
of him who was dead, said to him, Lord, by this time there 
is a stench for he has been dead four days. Jesus said to her, 
Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see 
the glory of God? Then they took away the stone 
from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted 
up his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard 
me. And I know that you always hear me, but because of the people 
who are standing by, I said this, that they may believe that you 
sent me. Now, when he had said these things, he cried with a 
loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he who had died came out 
bound hand and foot with grave clothes and his face was wrapped 
with a cloth. Jesus said to them, lose him 
and let him go. It's a wonderful picture. Jesus 
declares the fact that He is the resurrection and the life. 
And then we see this physical example, this real and true example 
of raising one physically dead unto physical life again. And preachers don't make mistakes. 
Theologians don't make mistakes to see divine and unconquerable 
power in amazing grace in this picture of Jesus raising Lazarus 
from the dead. Because for the sinner, He is. 
dead like Lazarus in the tomb. It's the language of Holy Scripture. 
You being dead in your trespasses and in your sins. But God, who 
is rich in mercy, according to his eternal loving kindness, 
has made you alive in Christ Jesus. By grace, you have been 
saved. The sinner is such as he is dead 
like Lazarus, spiritually dead in that tomb of his death and 
of his sin. And Jesus Christ must come and 
issue forth that command. Come forth, Lazarus, come forth. And both the one commanding or 
the one commanding has also the power to raise that dead sinner 
unto life, to sing the praises of his savior and his master 
and his redeemer, the unconquerable power of amazing grace. Fifthly, the infallibility of 
the divine embrace and the resulting indefectibility of the one being 
embraced. Again, the infallibility of the 
divine embrace and the resulting indefectibility of the one being 
embraced. We could see this as the perseverance 
of the Saints, the latter of that statement and the preservation 
by God, the former of that statement. Turn back to John six for a moment 
so we can see some of this from that text. The infallibility 
of the divine embrace, as we see here, First off, at John 
chapter 6, we see this in the will of the Father that none 
are lost. The will of the Father that none 
are lost. Jesus says at verse 39 or beginning 
at verse 38, excuse me, let's read verse 39. This is the will 
of the Father who sent me that of all he has given me, I should 
lose nothing but should raise it up at the last day. The Father's 
will that the Son should lose nothing. but raise them up at 
the last day that serves to feed the force of the infallibility 
of God's divine and powerful embrace. Secondly, Christ's perfect 
carrying out of the will of his father. We looked at that when 
we looked at the perfect, the impeccability and the precision 
of Christ's crossword. Notice At verse 38, God's Jesus 
Christ aligning his will or Christ perfectly carrying out the will 
of his father. Verse 38, for I have come down 
from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who 
sent me. We noted that elsewhere in the scriptures, Jesus says 
it is my need to do the will of my father. I always do that 
which pleases my father. And so Jesus Christ comes and 
He perfectly performs the will of His Father. And that serves 
to feed the force of the fact of the infallibility of God's 
saving and divine embrace. Thirdly, Christ stating that 
He keeps all who come. He keeps all who come. Verse 
37, all that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one 
who comes to me I will by no means cast out. All those who 
are drawn come. All those who come are not cast 
out by our Savior. Wonderful truth. Again, infallibility 
in the divine embrace. Christ stating, number four, 
Christ stating that he raises up at the last day all who come 
to him. Verses 39 and 40. Again, at the 
end of verse 39, all those Well, let's just read the verse again. 
Verse 39. This is the will of the father who sent me that of 
all he has given me, I should lose nothing but should raise 
it up at the last day. And this is the will of him who 
sent me that everyone who sees the son and believes in him may 
have everlasting life. And I will raise him up at the 
last day. Again, this is this is all of 
those people who are given to Christ by God, all of those people 
who, because of that fact, believe in him, who see him and believe 
all of them have everlasting life and all of them pray. Christ 
raises up at the last day and also Christ affirming that all 
the believing ones have current and abiding, current and abiding 
possession, eternal life. Again, all of the believing ones 
have current and abiding possession, eternal life. Verse thirty five. 
First off, verse thirty five. And Jesus said to them, I am 
the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never 
hunger and he who believes in me shall never thirst. That language of never. Christ 
Jesus is not lying. He's not deceiving. All of those 
who come to him shall never hunger and all of those who believe 
in him shall never thirst. It is that that divine and impenetrable 
and abiding and lasting and perfect soul nourishment that Christ 
is. He is divine satisfaction. He 
is eternal satisfaction for the hungering and for the thirsty 
soul. And he is enough. He is enough 
meat, if you will. He is enough flesh and he is 
enough blood. If we look at the text, 53 to 
59, for anyone who comes to him drawn by the father. Also at 
verse 47 and verse 51, most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes 
in me has everlasting life. And also 51, I am the living 
bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, 
he will live forever. We have the fact that Jesus Christ 
declares all those who believe in all of the believing ones 
have an imperishable, a current and abiding possession. of eternal 
life. And this is quite clear also 
from John 3, 16, very famous verse, and unfortunately, a verse 
that is used by our opponents to attack our doctrine of predestination 
or our doctrine, the doctrines of grace. John 3, 16, though, 
clearly declares the impenetrability or the or the infallibility of 
the divine embrace. For God so loved the world that 
he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him 
should not perish, but have everlasting life. All the believing ones 
have everlasting life. And because of that, and because 
it is in Christ who is the bread of life, they shall never perish. It is infallible and it is a 
divine embrace upon all those God has given to the Son. And 
turn to John 10 for a moment, because this is A solid and a 
joyful destination for all of us who know that divine embrace, 
for all of us who lean upon Christ Jesus as our all in all, as our 
everything. John chapter 10. We look at this 
at a number of points. This morning, Jesus answered 
them, I told you, and you do not believe the works that I 
do in my father's name. They bear witness of me, but 
you do not believe because you are not of my sheep. As I said 
to you, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow 
me and I give them eternal life and they shall never perish. 
Neither shall anyone 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 my father's hand. I and my father are one. Wonderful declaration by our 
savior, repeated force, repeated thrust to the fact that to the 
fact of the divine embrace upon the sheep, the shepherds grasp, 
the shepherds hold upon his flock. Again, verse 28, I give them, 
Christ gives them eternal life. Again, it is the son's divine 
prerogative to give life to whom he will. And I give them eternal 
life and they shall never perish. And also, neither shall anyone 
snatch them out of my hand. For anyone to come here and to 
throw an asterisk in there and then to draw their attention 
down to the bottom of a page and to write, yes, but, and then 
fill in your Arminian garbage here. is just falling in madness. Jesus Christ and His declaration 
that none of them shall perish, none of the sheep shall fall 
away, and neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. And 
then He gives it more thrust as if any more was needed by 
saying, 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. 
I and My Father are one. Perfect. infallible, divine embrace. There is no escape and nothing 
can snatch them from the grip of the creator, the sustainer, 
the redeemer of heaven and earth. Wonderful, wonderful language. 
And if you see theological harmony between the shepherd of the sheep 
and the covenant Lord of Jeremiah 32, then you're right. There's 
theological harmony and turn there for a moment. Jeremiah 
32. Jeremiah 32 in that New Covenant language, that New Covenant reality 
concerning God's people redeemed by Christ, who is the surety, 
the mediator, the perfecter of that New Covenant. Wonderful 
language. Turn to Jeremiah 32 and we'll 
pick up reading at verse 37. Behold, I will gather them out 
of all countries where I have driven them in my anger, in my 
fury and in great wrath. I will bring them back to this 
place and I will cause them to dwell safely. They shall be my 
people and I will be their God. Then I will. Excuse me, then 
I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me 
forever for the good of them and their children after them. 
And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will 
not turn away from doing them good. But I will put my fear 
in their hearts so that they will not depart from me. Yes, 
I will rejoice over them to do them good. And I will assuredly 
plant them in this land with all my heart and with all my 
soul. Do you see that there? The Covenant 
Lord says this, I will make an everlasting covenant with them 
that I will not turn away from doing them good. The Covenant 
Lord does not turn away from his covenant people. The Great 
Shepherd will not let anyone snatch his sheep from out of 
his hands. It's a wonderful, wonderful attestation 
to the infallibility of the divine grasp. And notice also in this 
text the indefectibility of the one being embraced. God does 
something else here. The end of verse 40. But I will 
put my fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from 
me. Remember that New Covenant reality is that God removes that 
heart of stone, replaces it with the heart of flesh, and he puts 
his spirit within them and causes them to walk in his statues. 
That's a wonderful reality concerning concerning the new covenant is 
that new covenant members have such a disposition, although 
it is unfortunately intermingled with remaining sin. But nevertheless, 
they have that disposition because the covenant Lord has given it 
to them to follow his precepts and to not depart from him. Now, 
of course, the all of the all of the weight or all of the trust 
and all of the reliance and all of the leaning is upon the divine 
embrace. But nevertheless, those who are 
saved by God are such that do not depart from him because we 
have been given that new heart that beats for the Savior, his 
commandments and his gospel. And if you turn back just and 
we'll probably stop there, but back to John 10. For a moment, 
because we have also there. The indefectibility of the one 
being embraced, we noticed that Jesus, of course, the great shepherd 
grasps onto his sheep and none are able to snatch them away. 
And then we also have language concerning the conduct or the 
disposition of the sheep that are given eternal life. Verse 
26, but you do not believe because you are not of my sheep. As I 
said to you, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they 
follow me. The sheep of the Great Shepherd 
follow the Great Shepherd because they have been given new life 
by him. They are in his solid grasp and 
embrace and they will not depart from him. Also, Jesus had already 
spoken this at the beginning of the discourse regarding the 
true shepherd at verse 4. And when he brings out his own 
sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they 
know his voice. And this is a characteristic. 
This is a descriptor of Christ's people throughout the ages. Though 
trials come, though tribulations come, though persecutions come, 
though there are those days of cloudiness and gloominess, nevertheless, 
the victory is the Lord's, and His people follow after Him. 
They are those who love the commandments of God and follow the lamb wherever 
he goes. And that's what we need to be 
like. That's what we need to imbibe. We need to grasp the 
reality, rejoice in the reality that the great shepherd holds 
us in the palm of his hands. He will not let us go. And then 
working off of that reality, working off the reality of that 
divine embrace, we go, therefore, and we live our lives in a manner 
that shows we are followers of the shepherd, of the sheep. And 
brethren, just a couple of things to close. First off, don't disappoint 
yourselves by looking to self for the grounds of your perseverance. 
Rest upon divine things. Our confession is very good in 
its in its in being a confession when it declares certain things 
and applies or uses negative language concerning other things. 
For example, in the chapter on perseverance, Chapter 17, at 
verse two, it says this, this perseverance of the Saints depends 
not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of 
the decree of election flowing from the free and unchangeable 
love of God, the Father, upon the efficacy of the merit and 
intercession of Jesus Christ and union with him. the oath 
of God, the abiding of His Spirit, and the seed of God within them, 
and the nature of the covenant of grace, from all which ariseth 
also the certainty and infallibility thereof." If we look to ourselves, 
we will be eternally disappointed. If we're looking inwardly to 
see the motions and the activities of the Holy Spirit, if we're 
looking inwardly as our grounds for perseverance and assurance, 
Where we are to look is we're to look to the God of election, 
to the Christ of redemption, to the spirit of sealing and 
guaranteeing. And we are to rest wholly and 
alone upon divine things, not upon fleshy and earthy things. 
And we need to do that also for others. When we gaze upon others, 
we're not to indict them because because of their immaturity in 
the Savior, because of their immaturity and the growth in 
the Lord. If they profess Christ and they are growing in the grace 
and in the knowledge of Christ, where they might well, they might 
not be where we are. I'm not trying to I'm not trying 
to suggest that we're to be popped up in our own maturity. Nevertheless, 
they are those who are resting upon divine things. They're resting 
upon the immutability of the decree of election. They're resting 
upon the eternal loving kindness of God, the merits of Christ 
union with him in the sealing of the Holy Spirit. We are to 
know or we are to look to divine things as the sure and the steadfast 
certainty of salvation, not human things, be it performance or 
otherwise. And steadfast in doctrine. Is 
of great importance. It should never be that a Christian 
rolls his eyes at doctrine and theology, although unfortunately 
that does take place to their shame. Steadfastness in doctrine 
is of great importance. And I would say, and bear with 
me for a moment, that steadfastness in doctrine is considerably more 
important than zeal. And what I mean by that is the 
objectors and the naysayers may say, oh, but preacher, you're 
wrong. Will not zeal win the day? Will not zeal win the day 
over doctrine? Will you come to me and say, 
will not zeal win the day or zeal will win the day? And I'll 
show you one who had zeal, but whom the Savior rebuked and said, 
get thee behind me, Satan. Peter had zeal on that day, but 
it was not intermingled and married with knowledge. He rebuked the 
Lord Christ for announcing that he was going to be delivered 
up into the hands of wicked men, go to Jerusalem to be crucified 
and rise again the third day. And Peter said, Lord, let it 
never be. Rebuked the Savior. And Jesus 
said, Get thee behind me, Satan. That's zeal that does not come 
before knowledge. You come to me and say, Lord 
or Lord, excuse me, you come to me and you say preacher zeal 
will win the day over doctrine. And I'll show you one who, according 
to zeal or concerning zeal, persecuted the church beyond measure and 
tried to destroy it. The Apostle Paul. When grace 
came, when victorious grace came, when amazing grace came, God 
changed him. Christ penetrated and interrupted 
his life and caused him to go from a state of sin to a state 
of life in Jesus Christ. Then he had knowledge. Knowledge 
came to him because he was instructed by the resurrected Christ and 
by those around him. And he came to know he came to 
know to have a knowledge, to have a love for doctrine, to 
have a love for theology. And then he could marry that 
and mingle it to zeal and go about and conquer the world for 
Christ Jesus and his kingdom. Steadfastness in doctrine is 
of more importance than zeal. And for anybody to if anybody 
was to say, oh, I'll take an Armenian preacher with zeal and 
fire in his belly over a droopy Calvinist any day, I would respond 
and say, give me the droopy Calvinist. Give me the droopy Calvinist. 
Why? Because I can open up a hymn book with them and sing amazing 
grace with propriety. I can sing amazing grace without 
the implications of my theology in the background saying, no, 
no, no, wait a minute, throw an asterisk by those verses. I can sit in the pews and look 
up at that Calvinistic droopy preacher in a monotone voice 
preaching from Ephesians 1, exegeting it and say, praise God. Praise 
God. Praise the God of predestination. 
Praise the God of sovereign and complete redemption of limited 
atonement, dare I say. Praise the God of the Holy Spirit's 
infallible sealing and guaranteeing unto that great day. Give me 
the droopy Calvinist and I'll pat him on the back and maybe 
give him a kick in the shorts and say, show some zeal, but 
nevertheless, preach it in a monotone voice because I'll sing the praises 
of my God, of decree, of predestination, of election, of perfect and limited 
and particular atonement. Brethren, we are to rest upon 
and to stand strong upon doctrine and theology, because that is 
the exhortation of Holy Scripture. Contend earnestly for the faith, 
which was once for all delivered to the saints. Strive for the 
faith of the gospel, Paul writes in Philippians 127. It is to 
be something that something that we are to with arms locked as 
Christians to march forward for conquering the gates of Hades 
with doctrine and theology because of the divine realities behind 
it, that we have been saved by such a God of rich doctrine and 
rich theology. And if you're here today and 
you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ. I apologize if it was 
the fault of the preacher that you did not see the riches and 
the excellencies of Christ Jesus today, but know that Christ Jesus 
is full of riches and of excellencies. He is that rich Christ who saves 
to the uttermost all those who believe in him. He is the enemy 
of those who do not bend any. He is the enemy of those who 
do not put their trust in Him, who are not wise, who are not 
instructed, who do not bend any and kiss the Son, lest He be 
angry. So if you're here today and you 
don't know Christ, we plead with you, believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ and you shall be saved. Again, the declaration of Holy 
Scripture, which is in perfect harmony with the divine decree 
God or Jesus commands or Paul, In responding to the Philippian 
jailer who says, how must we be saved? Sirs, how can I be 
saved? He responds, believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. And the Savior of mercy, 
the Savior of kindness, the Savior of glory will be your Lord and 
your master and your shepherd. And you will follow him wherever 
he goes. Let's pray. Father, we thank 
you so much for your holy word. We thank you for the scriptures. 
We thank you, Lord God, for what we survey from the Gospel of 
John and what Christ has, what Christ showed us, shows us, instructs 
us, instructs us, what Christ preached to that gathering in 
Capernaum. We ask or we just pray, Lord 
God, that you would daily give us, give us a just renewed and 
fresh apprehension in the things of Christ Jesus, those precious 
doctrines of salvation. We thank you for the teachings 
of Christ and we always, Lord God, glory in them. Might we 
never be carried off into cold and dogmatic and dead religion, 
Lord God, but rather knowing these doctrines, knowing this 
theology, knowing everything your Bible says concerning your 
sovereignty and man's depravity and Christ's perfect salvation. 
Might we, Lord God, always glory in these things. Might we always 
be Christians of doxology and praise who seek to sing your 
praises and tell others of you. Lord God, we are thankful for 
the fact that we stand in Christ Jesus. not having our own righteousness, 
but His righteousness, Lord God. We thank You that You brought 
Him, that You sent Him into this world, sinners to save, that 
He died on Calvary's tree perfectly for us, His people. And might 
we never be puffed up, but always laid low, seeking to tell others 
of the riches and the excellencies of our blessed Savior. So we 
just ask, God, that You go with us into this week. Help us to 
sing Your praises. Help us to show others the joy 
and the glory and the hope that is within us. And Lord God, help 
us to live and order our lives according to the gospel of saving 
grace. We pray in the name of our Redeemer, 
Jesus Christ. Amen.