The Gift Of Security Part 1

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Many Christians debate the issue of eternal security. Can someone who has been saved ever be lost?

The issue is highly contested even now. Today, a look at the words of Jesus about his role as the Good Shepherd and the security this brings. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, does believing in eternal security mean we can do as we please, knowing that our salvation is certain?

You know, Dave, you're absolutely right that this is a point that has been debated for a long time. I remember in Bible college, we would talk about it in our rooms, we'd talk about it in class. Of course, as you look at the scriptures, you see some verses that seem to teach that we can lose our salvation. There are others that I believe much more clearly teach that we cannot. But in answer to your question, when we receive Christ as Savior, he gives us a new nature. We become a new creation with new desires. So, yes, we can sin, but God disciplines us.

And if we are in Christ, that new nature is going to break out and there's going to be evidence that we are saved. Those of you who have been blessed as a result of the ministry of Running to Win, would you consider helping us in becoming an endurance partner? That's someone who stands with us regularly with their prayers and their gifts. Well, here's the info. You can find out about it. Go to rtwoffer.com.

When you're there, you click on the endurance partner button, or you can call us at 1-888-218-9337. Our desire is to exalt Christ and to get the gospel to as many people as possible. The question of whether or not a truly born-again person can eternally be lost is one that is often divided the church. The reason that there is a difference of opinion is that there are some passages in the Bible that seem to teach, they are warning passages, that seem to teach that a genuine Christian can, in the end, rebel against God and be lost forever. But there are also some passages of Scripture that clearly teach otherwise, and both cannot be correct. And when we look at those passages that seem to teach that you can fall away permanently, we know that there are alternate interpretations which make good sense.

So the bottom line is this. What I'm going to be arguing for in this message is the security of the believer. For those who have genuinely put their faith in Jesus Christ, their souls are eternally secure.

The security that comes to all those who believe in Christ. I want you to take your Bibles and turn now to the 10th chapter, the 10th chapter of the book of John, and we're going to read a few verses. And I will comment on those verses, and then we will continue through the passage very briefly.

John chapter 10, truly, truly, I say to you, Jesus, of course, is speaking. He who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs up in another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him, the gatekeeper opens, the sheep hear his voice, he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he is brought out all of his own, he goes before them and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him because they don't know the voice of strangers. In verse 7, you have one of the seven statements of Jesus, I am. Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture just that far for just a moment. Some commentators have wondered, how can Jesus Christ be both the door and the shepherd?

Well in the Middle East, it is sometimes said that when sheep are resting in a cave during the night, there have been shepherds who have actually lain across the door and slept at the door, so that if anyone tries to get in to steal the sheep or to trouble them, they have to go past the shepherd. So Jesus here is using a metaphor that can be used in two ways. He is the door, through him we have access to the Father, but he is also the good shepherd. And who are these who come before him who are thieves and robbers? They are not the prophets of the Old Testament, the faithful prophets. They are rather some of the prophets that were false prophets, and they were in it for the prophets.

And so Jesus said, they are spurious. They are false shepherds, but I am the good shepherd. Now let me explain to you exactly what we're going to do in this message, so that you can follow it with, I hope, a clarity and a blessing that will absolutely be overwhelming. What I'm going to do is to give you four things that the good shepherd does for his sheep. Four things that the good shepherd does for his sheep.

And I want you to open your heart to God and just be blessed by how good our shepherd is and what he does on our behalf. First of all, you'll notice that he calls the sheep. He calls them, the text says there in verse three, we read it, he calls them all by name and leads them out. You know in those days, shepherds actually, because they were connected to the sheep, the sheep were for wool, some of the sheep lived for 10 years, the shepherd actually built a bond with these sheep and gave them names. Often they were descriptive names like that might actually describe the sheep like black ear or short legs or whatever. But the shepherd gave them names and he knew them by name and the sheep recognized that they had a name and they heard his voice and they knew it.

It is said that in the Middle East, when there were herds or flocks of sheep that spent the night together, in order to separate them, the shepherd would simply go outside of the cave and he would speak words and immediately those who belonged to him would come toward him and another shepherd would do the same and the sheep would separate themselves because they know the shepherd's voice. Notice he calls his own sheep by name, an intimate relationship. Jesus knows your name exactly and you know his voice through his word.

It is not only that it is a personal name, personal relationship, but another way to describe it is that it is really a sovereign relationship. In a few moments, Jesus is going to be talking about the fact that there is this group of people that has been given to him as a gift, namely his sheep. You know, in the Bible, that word calling really has two different meanings depending on the context. There is the general call. Many are called, but few are chosen. But then there's the specific call to salvation. And Paul says not many of you are called, not many rich, not many noble are called.

The called are biblically the elect and they receive a special call from God. Now later I'll explain that you can know whether or not you are part of that company, but it is so personal. Perhaps at Founders Week, you heard Stephen Davey give that wonderful illustration that he was in India and he walked into this hotel and a man walked next to him, came over to him and said, I want to tell you your future.

It was very impressive dressed in a white suit. And Stephen didn't want to, but the man was so persistent. I want to tell you your future. And finally, Stephen said this to him. He said, I'll let you tell my future to me. If you answer this question, tell me my name. And the man looked down and said, I can't do that.

I can't do that. And he said, well, you know, the deal is over then. Isn't it wonderful that you and I have a shepherd who knows our name and he's the one who also knows our future. And when you think of the shepherd out there with all of the sheep, even historically during the time when Jesus was speaking this, which would have been so relationally correct in terms of the people and their knowledge of sheep, the shepherd has all of the sheep on his heart and he's very vigilant as he sees them all.

Today God has you on his heart. He calls us. Not only that, he leads us.

That's what the text says. He leads us. He leads us out. Now this happens in two ways. First of all, he goes before him.

That's what the text says. And the sheep follow him. So I want you to visualize this happening how that the shepherd is going ahead and all of these sheep follow. He does not want those sheep to go anywhere where he hasn't gone because he needs to keep them from poison grass. He needs to keep them from danger along the route. And so he never expects them to go alone.

He's always ahead of them. And when he comes to a stream and the sheep don't want to follow him, he'll go into the herd, into the flock, and he'll pick up a little lamb and put it on his shoulder. And then he will walk across the stream and pretty soon the mother, the ewe follows.

And after that, the others say, okay, she's going, all the rest of us will go. And isn't that what God sometimes does in life? He takes a little child or an adult and when they are home in glory, they are reminding us of the fact that we need also to have a perspective, to follow our shepherd all the way, not just across a stream, but across a river to make it on the other side. Now, sometimes the shepherd, however, isn't leading them.

He has to be shepherding them. And there are various kinds of sheep I've been learning as I studied for this message. There are sheep, for example, that are cast down sheep. You can see this very clearly.

There are many pictures of it. A cast down sheep is a sheep that's on its back because the center of gravity is such that when it tried to get up, it discovered it couldn't. And now it's on its back and it can't get up alone, can't be righted alone. All that you have is, you know, sheep with its legs in the air, pawing the air, but getting nowhere. You see, David was a shepherd. And that's why in the Old Testament, he said, why art thou cast down all my soul? That's the imagery. You sometimes feel like that. I'm sure that I have felt like that, where we are just cast down. Nothing that we do materializes. We are going nowhere and we feel helpless and we can't get ourselves righted apart from the shepherd coming along and setting us upright. Why art thou cast down all my soul?

Hope in God, said David. And then there are just foolish sheep. They go from one clump of grass to another, and pretty soon they're far from the herd and the shepherd has to bring them back. And then there are rebellious sheep.

They're the ones that get all tangled up in the briar patches and they are just insistent. And the shepherd has a rod, which was really like a club that he used, which was an extension of his arm, an extension of his power. And he will use that to get the sheep back on track.

Sometimes he may throw it. Sometimes he may throw it ahead of the sheep to warn it as to where it's going, or he may use it more directly. His rod brings him back. And that's why David said so beautifully in Psalm 23, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.

The staff was used to perhaps pick up a little lamb that had wandered away and was stuck in the bushes. You see, God not only leads us, he restores us. David says he restores my soul because we as sheep have wandered away and the good shepherd has to keep us in line. And he does it through discipline, through situations, through trials, and in many other ways, what he wants to do is to make sure that we stay in line with him. He restores us and he rejoices when we come back. Many years ago in the 1800s, a man by the name of Henry William Baker, I should say, wrote these words, the king of love my shepherd is, whose goodness faileth never. I'm nothing like if I am his, and he is mine forever.

And isn't this your testimony and mine? Perverse and foolish, off I strayed, yet in love he sought me. And on his shoulder gently laid, and home rejoicing brought me. In death's dark veil, I fear no ill with thee, dear Lord, beside me. Thy rod and staff, my comfort still, thy cross before to guide me. The good shepherd calls his sheep. The good shepherd leads and guides his sheep. The good shepherd dies for his sheep. You know, there in verse 10, where Jesus made this amazing statement, he said that I am the door if anyone enters, verse 10, the thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy.

I am come that they might have a life and have it abundantly. You and I know that there's a ministry here in Chicago named By the Hand Club for Kids. And what a transforming ministry it is. And that's really their verse, to be able to give children who are under resourced and in need to be able to give them life abundantly, all because of Jesus. But then he says in verse 11, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd who does not own the sheep, he sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees and the wolf snatches them.

He flees because he's a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me. Just as the father knows me and I know the father, I lay down my life for the sheep. Jesus here makes a contrast, a contrast between the shepherd who owns the sheep.

That word own occurs a couple of times in this passage. The shepherd who owns the sheep and therefore in his mind, he thinks of the sheep first and himself second. Shepherds oftentimes did lay down their life for the sheep.

You know, they'd be fighting off wolves or fighting off marauders and they'd lay down their life. In fact, in the Old Testament, if you lost a sheep, you'd have to prove that it wasn't your fault and that's why it says, you know, bring a piece of the animal and so forth. And Jesus here is contrasting himself with a hired hand who thinks of himself first.

He is in it for the money and that's all he cares about. And I don't need to tell you, do I, that today on the airwaves, there are all kinds of false shepherds. My heart breaks when I think of the amount of money genuine Christians sometimes send to ministries that are clearly fraudulent and run by false prophets and false shepherds. I've sometimes said that sometimes I think God's sheep can't tell the difference between grass and astroturf. False shepherds abound. And Jesus says here, he's the good shepherd. My friend today, I certainly hope that you are one of God's sheep. If he has redeemed you, you've received him as your shepherd, as your savior.

He will make sure that he brings you home at the end of the day. You know, it is true, of course, that there are many people who misuse money, but that fact should not keep us from being willing to give to ministries that are committed to getting the gospel of Jesus Christ to as many as possible. We here at Running to Win rejoice in the fact that we are in 20 different countries in four different languages and we continue to expand. Would you consider becoming an endurance partner, someone who stands with us regularly with their prayers and their gifts? Well, I hope that you have a pencil handy. You can write this down RTWOffer.com.

That's RTWOffer.com and when you're there, you click on the endurance partner button or you can call us at 1-888-218-9337. We are very much aware that this ministry could not reach the world were it not for partners just like you. Time now for another chance for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life. Colin lives in Iowa and has these questions about the Bible. I was wondering if our Old Testament is the same scripture that was available to Jesus in His lifetime. Did Jesus use the same 39 books of the Old Testament or were there a few extras such as those found in the Septuagint? In short, was Jesus scripture 100% identical to our modern Protestant Old Testament? Colin, I want to commend you for asking a very, very good question and it's a question that every Christian listening should know the answer to.

I want you to follow this carefully because it involves a little bit of technical data, but it's easy to grasp. If you were to see a Hebrew Bible, what you'd discover is two differences between the Hebrew Bible and the Bible that you and I have in our English translations. The first is that there are only 22 books. Now that might mean that indeed there were different books during the time of Christ.

Not so. The reason that there are only 22 is that they are combined. There is no 1st and 2nd Samuel, 1st and 2nd Kings, etc. They are considered to be one book rather than two. The second difference that you would find is that the order of the books is different. It begins of course with Genesis, but it ends not with Malachi as our Bible does, but chronicles.

Right now with that in mind, I want you to notice something. When Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees in the 23rd chapter of Matthew, he said these words. Now before I quote the words of Jesus, I want you to understand that the first person murdered was of course Abel, and according to the Hebrew Bible, the last person who was murdered was the prophet Zachariah, the son of Jehoiada. And that is mentioned in the last part of 2nd Chronicles, what we call 2nd Chronicles.

So let's not get lost here. This is what Jesus said. Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men, scribes, some of them you will kill and crucify, and some whom you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city.

Now notice that upon you may fall the guilt of the righteous blood shed on earth from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zachariah, the son of Barakiah, Jehoiada, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. What Jesus is saying is that these two murders are like bookends. They begin of course with Genesis and they end in 2nd Chronicles, just exactly the way in which and the order of which our Hebrew Bibles have. The bottom line is absolutely, the Bible that Jesus had is identical to our Old Testament in content. Now having said that, the Apocrypha that you allude to, you know, some extra books, they were written in Greek, not Hebrew, and they came later. And they were never really considered scripture. I know that Jerome translated them in his translation when he made the Latin translation. He did that under pressure and it was understood that while they are helpful, they are not inspired by God.

And there are many reasons why we know that they are not inspired by God. So I hope that this was clear that yes, the Bible that Jesus had was identical in content to our 39 books. As the saying goes, you can take that to the bank. Some wise words from Dr. Erwin Lutzer. Thank you, Dr. Lutzer. If you'd like to hear your question answered, go to our website at rtwoffer.com and click on Ask Pastor Lutzer or call us at 1-888-218-9337. That's 1-888-218-9337.

You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who protects His sheep. But even more, He gave His life for His sheep. Next time on Running to Win, more from John chapter 10. Thanks for listening. For Dr. Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.