“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.”
John 10:27-28
These verses highlight, from the lips of the Lord Jesus Christ, the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, or more correctly stated, the preservation of God in the saints. Jesus states four uncompromising words: “they will never perish.” He then elaborates that truth in the next sentence when He says, “no one will snatch them out of My hand.” Then, in verse 29, He reinforces the truth: “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”
The most important thing for us to grasp right at the beginning is that Jesus is speaking or teaching about two things, not one. First, he is speaking about perseverance. Second, he is speaking about the saints. We dare not divorce these two. The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints has nothing to do with the naïve belief that everyone who professes faith in Jesus Christ will persevere in the faith to the end and finally be saved. What the perseverance of the saints refers to is the perseverance and persistence of God with those who, in the New Testament, are called saints.
In this passage, Jesus is answering two questions about His sheep, who are the saints:
- How can you tell, distinguish, or recognize Christ’s sheep?
- How can you be sure that they will never perish?
Four Characteristics of Christ’s True Sheep
The first mark that a person is one of Christ’s sheep is that he has saving faith. (John 10:26)“But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep.”
Jesus is teaching it negatively. In verse 25 he said, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me.” Notice that Jesus does not say, “you are not my sheep because you do not believe.” He says, “…you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep.” The reason He turns it that way is that the first evidence of being one of Christ’s true sheep is that you believe in Him; and if one does not believe, it is because they are not His sheep. What is the condition of those who have no saving faith? They are not members of His flock. C.H. Spurgeon once said, Saving faith is the uniform of the Lord’s people. The mark that you are a true sheep in Christ’s fold is that you rest upon and receive Jesus Christ as your Savior. What is faith? The Westminster Confession of Faith explains it the same way, “…to rest upon and receive Christ as your Savior.” Saving faith is not merely an agreement with a formula. Nor is it that I give assent in my mind to that which Jesus is presenting. It is essential that I rest my eternal salvation upon Jesus Christ alone, as the only Savior that God has provided for sinners, and I trust Him for my eternal well being. This is the first mark of Christ’s sheep that shows them that they are His.
The second mark of Christ’s sheep is that they listen to His voice. (v.27)
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”
John 10:3—“To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”
If the first mark of being Christ’s is having saving faith, the second is listening to His voice. Notice again that those who have saving faith do not just “hear Jesus.” There is a difference between hearing someone’s voice and listening to what he says. You can hear without listening to the words that one speaks. Perhaps it has happened to you like this: you are speaking with someone and he says, “Yes, I hear what you are saying…” but he disagrees with it. He hears what you say, but he is not listening or agreeing with what you say. Jesus says, “Those who are My sheep listen to My voice.” What this means is that a true saint, a true believer, will never be casual, careless, or contrary to what Jesus is saying.
This is the relation of the believer to the Word of God itself. When the Word of God is read to us or we read it ourselves, a true believer will say, “This is the Word of God to me…” We not only say that it is true, but the Word of God is true for me in what it says here. We all listen; we listen to many voices in the world and we often bow to the majority. But when you are a child of God, the decisive voice that you listen to is the Word of Jesus. The decisive counsel is the counsel of Holy Scripture.
The third mark of being Christ’s sheep is that they are in a unique relationship to Jesus Himself. (John 10:27)
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them...”
The word “know” is a great biblical word. There are various ways of knowing things, aren’t there? We can know people just by information. But this is not personal knowledge, it is only information. Information can affect my mind and as well as my admiration, and it is possible to know Jesus in this way. But the difference between knowing about someone and truly knowing them is the difference between research and a relationship. You can know a great deal about Jesus by research and if you have the mind to study things, you might study about Him your entire life and yet not really know Him.
The way Jesus uses this word here is in the deeper sense of a relationship. This word reaches its climax in the first book of the Bible where God is telling us about Adam and Eve. When He tells us about how they came together in married union, do you know the phrases that it uses? “Adam had relations with [knew] his wife…” (Gen.4:25). In other words, it speaks of a depth of a relationship, a union, and a coming together. When Jesus speaks about knowing His sheep, it is in this sense that He speaks. This is confirmed in John 10:14:
“I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me.”
How do the sheep know the shepherd and the shepherd the sheep? Listen to how Jesus describes it in verse 15:“even as [in the very same way as] the Father knows Me and I know the Father...”
So what God has planned is that there will be a relationship between the believer and the Savior which is modeled upon the relationship between the Father and the Son. They are in a unique relationship. Our knowledge of Christ is not merely an identifying knowledge, but it is the divine Creator entering into a relationship with His creature. It is the divine Lover entering into communion with His beloved. Jesus says that this is the kind of relationship that His sheep have with Him.The first mark is that they have saving faith. The second mark is that they listen to His voice. The third mark is that they have a unique relationship with Him.
The final mark of Christ’s sheep is that they follow Him. (John 10:27c)
“and they follow Me.”
Martin Luther, the great reformer, put it this way, “The sheep, though the most simple creature, is superior to all the animals in this: as soon as he hears his master’s voice, he will follow no other.” (What Luther Says, Plass)
It is not that the sheep simply take His advice and listen to Him; they actually follow Him and obey what He is telling them to do. That is the relationship between the sheep and the shepherd. How do you explain the different direction that a Christian’s life takes from those who are lost? This explains it.
How can you know Christ’s sheep?
- They have saving faith.
- They listen to Christ’s voice.
- They are in a unique relationship to Jesus Himself.
- They follow Him.
Two Ways You Can Know That Christ’s Sheep Will Never Perish
This is the point that Jesus is leading up to.First, we know by the nature of Christ’s gift to the sheep. (John 10:28)
“and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish...”
God gives a gift to the believer and Jesus describes the nature of this free gift. Remember that this gift is not a gift if it has some condition of reward or merit attached to it. It is a free gift -- you cannot earn it like a wage. You cannot merit it like a reward. It is received as a free gift from God.
There is something in human nature that doesn’t like to receive free gifts. We always want to contribute to it. Archbishop Temple of Canterbury once said, “The only thing of my very own that I contribute to my salvation is the sin which makes it necessary.” You will rejoice in this if you are Christian.
Eternal life, by definition, never ceases. That’s why we will never perish. Eternal life goes on to eternity and if not, it is not eternal. Eternal life is something that cannot be stopped or concluded by anyone. Jesus says, “and I give eternal life to them, and [as a consequence] they will never perish...” Notice what Jesus is saying. He is not saying that God’s people will never be in trouble. He is not saying that they will never stumble or fall. He is not saying that enemies will not harass His sheep. He does not speak about any of these things here, but He does say that we will never perish; that is, we are eternally secure in Christ. So, although the believer may backslide, disobey God in a moment of sin, or fall into unfaithfulness to God his Great Lover, he shall never perish! Never!
This is not the promise of a mere man. This is NOT the promise of Jesus the perfect Man; this is the promise of the very Eternal Son of God, the Faithful and True Witness who cannot lie. This is the word of Him who said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away” (Matt.24:35). This comes from the lips of One who will not lie and cannot lie because He is God. He is committed Himself to bring them to glory.
Second, we know because of the nature of the united commitment in the Godhead to bring us to the climax of our salvation in glory.
Here is a combined operation within the Godhead to secure the salvation of every one of His sheep. First, Jesus said no one will ever pluck them out of His hand. These are the hands that were wounded to save us. These are the hands that were pierced for our eternal security. Jesus said, “no one [can pluck them or] snatch them out of My hand.” Then He points us to the hand of the Father. If His were the hands that were wounded to save you, here are the hands that created the universe in all of its glory! Go out and lift your eyes to behold the glory of God’s creation, and then remember He also made the stars. That Creator who formed the universe has in His hands a power that baffles us. It is in His hand that you are, if you are a child of God: the hands of the Redeemer whose love will never let you go and the hand of the Creator from whom you can never be snatched.“…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.” (John 10:28b-30)
Conclusion:
There is the true story of a preacher in the old days of Scotland whose name was Halliburton. He was a great pastor. One day he went to the home of an elderly lady who knew she was dying for some time, but the medical practitioner told her that it wasn’t long until the end. So Halliburton went in and said, “Annie, my dear, how are you?” She said, “Not very well, Pastor.” He said to her, “Now how do you know that when you die that you’re going to be in a far better country with such company as the Lord Jesus Christ with you?” And they talked about that for a while. During this time, she even managed to break a smile. But then he mysteriously asked her, “Annie, what would happen if God let you go at the last?” a heavy silence gripped the room. And then this weak, sickly, old lady seemed to wake up slightly and said, “Ah, you know that could never be, Pastor.” He asked, “Why?” She said, “Well, He would lose far more than I would lose if He cast me off.” He said, “Explain to me what you mean.” She said, “Well, I would lose my soul, but He would lose His honor.” He said, “God bless you, my dear. We will meet in glory, you and I, by the honor of His name.” And she went to sleep in Jesus.
If you are one of Jesus’ sheep, you have the same glorious assurance. He will never let you go. You will never perish!