72 John 10:28-29 THE GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE Introduction: The Jewish leaders at Jerusalem demanded that Jesus tell them plainly whether or not He is the Christ. Jesus replied that He had already told them and He had. He had not made the exact statement saying, "I am the Christ," but He had clearly said it in other terms. He had said that He is the Bread of Life, the Water of Life, the Door of the Sheepfold, the Good Shepherd. He had said that He is not of this world --- that God the Father had sent Him from heaven. The problem was not that He had not told them, but that they had not believed Him. In our text today Jesus again indirectly tells them that He is the Christ. He tells them that He is the One who gives eternal life. I. Jesus, the giver of eternal life In verse 27 Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." He is still talking about His sheep, His true followers, in verse 28. V. 28, "And I give unto them eternal life..." You will note that Jesus uses the term "eternal life."In numerous other passages He uses the term "everlasting life" instead of "eternal life." Both terms speak about the same thing. They both talk about a new life which comes to an individual when he believes in Jesus Christ. Listen to John 3:14-15. Jesus said, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of manbe lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." Note that in this passage Jesus used the term "eternal life." Yet in the very next verse talking about the same thing, He used the term "everlasting life." You are familiar with that verse. It is 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." So the terms "eternal life" and "everlasting life" are used interchangeably in Scripture. Technically there is a difference, but both are used to describe the kind of life that Jesus gives to those who put their faith in Him. This is a new life. It is a life that the individual did not have before he placed his faith in Jesus. An unbeliever does not have eternal life. A lost sinner does not have eternal life. One does not get eternal life until He places his faith in Jesus Christ. He gets it at the exact moment that he places his faith in Jesus Christ. It is born within him when he places his faith in Jesus. You will remember that Jesus told Nicodemus that except a man be born again he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. It is the point of faith in Jesus that one is born again by the Holy Spirit. I John 5:1 reads, "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God..." It would follow then that before he believed in Jesus he was not born of God. But the very moment that he becomes a believer he is born again and he is given eternal life. This is not merely a change in his lifestyle. It is a complete change in his inward spirit nature. The nature of his inward spirit was depraved, sinful, wicked until he was born again. But when he was born again his inward nature took on a completely new and completely sinless nature which was produced by the Holy Spirit of God. I John 3:9 reads, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." The flesh nature is not changed in the new birth and still sins, but the inward spirit nature is changed into a completely sinless nature. It never sins again because it has taken on the sinless nature of the Holy Spirt. You will also note that Jesus said that eternal life is a gift. It is a gift from Him. Nobody earns eternal life. Romans 3:23 says that we have all sinned and come short of the gloryof God. What we did earn by our sins was eternal torment in the fires of hell. That is what we all deserve because we have all sinned against the God of heaven. Jesus does not save people because they deserve to be saved. He saves people in spite of the fact that they do not deserve to be saved. He saves by the grace of God. He saves according to His great mercy. Salvation is a gift. It is a free gift. It costs us nothing. Romans 6:23 reads, "For the wages of sin is death..." That is what we have earned. We have earned not only physical death, but we have also earned what the Bible calls "The Second Death." We have earned a place in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone. The latter part of Romans 6:23 reads, "...but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." We earned punishment for our sin, but instead God gives us eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. It is a free gift. We did not earn it; we do not deserve it; we will never deserve it . It is a free gift from God. II. What the gift of eternal life means The term "eternal life" should be enough to tell us that salvation is eternal. It never has an end. Jesus does not save a man one day and then condemn him to hell the next day --- or any day thereafter. When Jesus saves a man He saves him forever. It is a salvation that lasts forever. It lasts throughout eternity. The other term "everlasting life" tells us the same thing. The new life that Jesus gives never come to an end. It is everlasting. If it were to ever come to an end, it would not be everlasting and it would not be eternal. But lest we should misunderstand, Jesus makes it positively clear. Man will die, but he will not go into hell fire. (V. 28), "...and they shall never perish..." There is an interesting thing about the wording in the original Greek text which we do see in the English translations. The English word "never" is a negative. But in the original Greek text there is a double negative. It carries athe idea that they shall never never perish! What Jesus is teaching is that when one places his faith in Jesus he gets saved, he is given eternal life and he will never ever be lost again! He will never be condemned again! He will never wind up in the fires of hell! (V. 28), "...neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." You will note in your Bible that the word "man" is in italics. This means that it was not in the original Greek writing. This word was added by the translators and they put it in italics to let us know that they added it in. They added it because they thoght it helps to make the meaning of the verse clearer to the reader. It does not help. It only clouds the meaning. What Jesus actually said was, "...neither shall any pluck them out of my hand." It is true that no man can pluck them out of the hand of Jesus. But it is also true that neither shall any one or anything kind pluck them out of the hand of Jesus. No thief shall pluck them out of the hand of Jesus. No false shepherd shall pluck them out of the hand of Jesus. Not even the Devil, himself, can pluck them out of the hand of Jesus. Not even the sheep, himself, shall jerk away out of the hand of Jesus. When one places his faith and his trust in Jesus Christ, Jesus saves his soul and keeps him safe forevermore. V. 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." Again the word "man" is in italics and was not in the original statement made by Jesus. Again Jesus is saying that there is no power in this whole wide world that can take His sheep away and cause him to be lost again. Jesus is the one who saved him. Jesus is the One who holds him safely in His hand. What is more, even the hand of God the Father in heaven is joined with the hand of Jesus holding the Lord's sheep safe and secure. They will keep him safe throughout all eternity. As long as the Lord's sheep live in sinful flesh they will continue to sin, but they will not be condemned again because the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses them from all sin. They will not be condemned ever again --- not even in the day of judgment, because the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses them for all eternity. They will all continue to sin because they are in a sinful flesh. The inward newborn spirit nature will never sin again, but the old flesh nature still sins. Because the save continue to sin, they will all be chastened for their sin. The Bible teaches that God chastens every child whom He receives. But the child of God will never be lost again. He is saved and he will be saved forever. III. What this meant to those Jews Jesus was once again saying that He is the Christ. Heis not of this world. God the Father had sent Him to thisearth from heaven above. He is the Bread of Life and if any man will trust in Him He will give that man eternal life. He is once again telling them that He is the Water of Life and that if any man will drink of that spiritual water He will give that man eternal life. He is once again offering to save the souls of the very Jewish leaders who were seeking to take His life. He wanted to save them even though He knew that they wanted to kill Him. Furthermore, He was telling them that anybody in the world could be saved. IV. What this means to the people of this congregation Through the written record of what Jesus told those men that day, He is telling the people of this congregation the same thing. He is telling every man, woman, boy and girl present in this congregation today that He is the Christ. He is telling you that He is the Bread of Life, the Water of Life and the Door of the Sheepfold. He is the Good Shepherd who lay down His life that you might be saved. Jesus is making a proposition to every lost sinner in this congregation. He is telling you that if you will trust Him to be your Savior, He will save your soul. You will be born again. You will be born again by the Holy Spirit of God. In that new birth you will be given eternal life. This will be a complete change that will produce a whole new spirit within you. The old sinful spirit will be gone and a completely new sinless spirit will be born within you. You will be saved and you will never be lost again. The same power of God that saves you will keep you saved forevermore. You will continue to sin and the Lord will surely chasten you for your sin, but you will never be lost again. You will be saved forever and ever. You will one day stand in judgment before the Judgment Seat of Christ, but you will not be condemned in that judgment. You will never never come into condemnation. You will spend your eternity with God in the glory. Let me say to every unsaved person in this service that God the Father in heaven wants you to be saved. That is why He sent Jesus to the cross. He wants all people to be saved and that includes you. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, wants you to be saved. That is why He died on the cross. He died to save lost sinners. He sees you right now and He knows that you need to be saved. He sends the Holy Spirit even now to knock at your heart's door and urge you to trust in Him and be saved. The Holy Spirit of God wants you to be saved. That is why He touches your heart even now and seeks to get you to trust in Jesus Christ. He knows that unless you trust Jesus you can never be saved. But He also knows that if you will trust Jesus Christ to save your soul that no power in this world can pluck you out of the hand of Jesus the Savior. The people of this church want you to be saved. They remember the time when they were lost and headed for destruction. They are praying for you that you will be saved. Conclusion: It may mot count for much, but I, too, want you to be saved. I am going to call on our musicians right now to come forward and we are going to sing a hymn. I am going to ask you to come forward during this invitation song and place your faith in Jesus Christ to save your soul. I am also going to ask people who are saved and need a church home to consider placing their membership in this church. I will ask that they come forward and place their membership here.