Text:
John 10:27-30:
27: My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29: My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
30: I and my Father are one.
Theme:
Whose Got Who
Introduction:
- The Gospel of John is the fourth gospel written by the Apostle John. Some believed that it was to fill the gaps left by the first three gospels, but no concrete evidence makes this universally true. However, it does in a unique and genuine way divulge the depth of the relationship between God and the Son AND the relationship between the believer and the Godhead.
- The text appears at that point in the Gospel when the Jews had come around him to ask a question that we all have asked at some point. Look at John 10:24, “Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.”
- The Jews were just like us. They did not want to solicit faith in what they could not understand. They wanted Jesus to make it plain for them…break it down for them…make it simple and digestible for them. However, Hebrews 10:1 tells us that “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
- Then our text specifically addresses the divine relationship, the I and Thou, of Us and God.
- To give some background on our theme:
- Richard White came to Unity Missionary Baptist Church to preach for our Church Anniversary. During his sermon he told the congregation of a saying that his mother told him when he was growing up. This saying stuck with me throughout the sermon and will for the rest of my life. It is as follows:
- Don’t take God’s hand because you may let it go. Give Him your hand and let him hold you because He will never let you go.
- Richard White came to Unity Missionary Baptist Church to preach for our Church Anniversary. During his sermon he told the congregation of a saying that his mother told him when he was growing up. This saying stuck with me throughout the sermon and will for the rest of my life. It is as follows:
- This makes us ask the question
- WHOSE GOT WHO?
Body:
- We know those who “got God”
- Those who claim to be religious but not fanatical – they don’t want to go “too far” with the God stuff
- Mark 8:38, “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
- Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
- Those who try to keep God in their own bottle – they don’t believe what they don’t understand or like
- Romans 10:3, “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.”
- Those who treat God like a dictionary – they only go to Him when they don’t know the answer themselves
- Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”
- Those who claim to be religious but not fanatical – they don’t want to go “too far” with the God stuff
- The text gives us the required characteristics of those whom “God’s got”
- “My sheep hear my voice,”
- Romans 10:17, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
- The Word of God gives hearing, God’s voice to us today, and hearing gives faith.
- Psalm 143:8, “Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust:”
- God’s sheep trust in Him
- “and I know them,”
- Matthew 10:33, “But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.”
- John 10:3, “To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.”
- “and they follow me:”
- Matthew 4:19-20, “And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.”
- John 14:15, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
- “And I give unto them eternal life;”
- John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
- Romans 10:17, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
- “My sheep hear my voice,”
- Then, there are some things about God’s hand that holds us!
- “My Father, which gave them me,”
- John 3:17, “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
- “is greater than all;”
- Exodus 6:7, “And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God”
- The song “Sovereign” says it best:
- “Sovereign, the Lord my God is sovereign. He can do whatever He wants to do when He wants to. God can do whatever He wants to do where He wants to, how He wants to, because He’s sovereign. God is God”
- “and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”
- I thank my God that once I am in God’s Hand no one can pluck me out! When God’s got me, nobody else can get me!
- Psalms 27:5, “For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.”
- I thank my God that once I am in God’s Hand no one can pluck me out! When God’s got me, nobody else can get me!
- “I and my Father are one.”
- The Godhead works together to hold and seal the believer
- God’s hand is over all – holding the Son
- The Son’s hand is in the hand of God – holding the believer
- The believer is in the hand of the Son – being held by the Son
- The Holy Spirit is in the believer – sealing the believer from the inside out, permeating his whole being
- Satan can’t get to the believer because by the time Satan got through to the believer from the inside or the outside Satan himself would be converted.
- The Godhead works together to hold and seal the believer
- “My Father, which gave them me,”
Conclusion:
How do you get in His hands?:
- He reaches out to you –
- Jeremiah 18:6 says, “O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.”
- Also, the hymn says, “Love lifted me. Love lifted me. When nothing else could help, Love lifted me.”
- You reach out to him —
- The old hymn says it best, “Father, I stretch my hands to thee. No other help I know. If thou withdraw thyself from me, oh, whither shall I go?”
Thank God for Jesus who hung, bled, died and rose again that we may have a right to be in His hands!!
Let me tell you a story:
- When I was born, I went into the hands of the doctor, but the doctor could not accept all of the responsibilities associated with my mother’s child.
- Then I went into the hands of my mother, but I grew to be too big for my mother to hold me.
- I’ve been in the hands of the Law, but the Just Judge, God, delivered me from the ultimate condemnation.
- I’ve been in the hands of other women, but the Love of God prevailed over the temporary worldly desire.
- In my life I have been in the hands of Satan, but God’s Grace and Mercy has always brought me through.
- Now I am in the hands my Father in Heaven,
- He soothes me > He moves me
- He takes me > He makes me
- He holds me > He molds me
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