Who is Jesus Christ? That's the big question that was on everyone's mind in first century Israel. For three years, Jesus ministered in the various providences of Israel. Everywhere he went, he performed miracles, healing the sick, casting out demons. He healed a woman who had suffered with a blood disorder for 18 years, healed her with just a touch on the hem of his garment. He touched a leopard, and immediately his leprosy vanished. On another occasion, he healed a man who had been born blind, He caused the lame to walk, the blind to see, the deaf to hear. He even raised a little girl back to life. Everywhere Jesus went, he drew a crowd. The people from all over Judea and Galilee came to hear him preach. On two occasions, after preaching all day, the crowds were hungry. And instead of sending them off to the villages to fend for themselves, Jesus miraculously multiplied a few loaves and fishes and supplied more than enough food to feed the multitudes. Jesus' teaching was different than the scribes and Pharisees and the people took notice of it. They were astonished at his teaching because he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. Matthew 7, 28. His teaching had bite. He spoke with conviction. And unlike the rabbis of his day, he did not quote other rabbis in order to fortify his teaching. Instead, he said, I say to you, as if to say, thus saith the Lord. Now in his many recorded discourses, Jesus makes some outrageous claims. To the Jews assembled for Passover, Jesus presents himself as the bread of life. He is the source of true spiritual nourishment and life. Unlike the manna which God provided to feed Israel temporarily on their willingness journey, Jesus Christ is the living bread which came down from heaven. He says, if anyone eats 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. While claiming to be the bread of life, Jesus does not come out and plainly say, I am the Messiah, but rather he leaves it up to the Jews to surmise. to the Jews that were assembled in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. Jesus uses this opportunity to make further claims, for he claims to be the light of the world. He says, I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. Again, Jesus does not come right out and say, I am your Messiah. But from what the Jews knew of the Old Testament picture of the Messiah as being the light to the Gentiles and their belief in the great light, they should have been able to deduce that Jesus was claiming to be their Messiah. Now, as the Jewish leaders were debating Jesus' place of origination, Jesus said to them, you are from beneath, I am from above. You are of this world, I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins, for if you do not believe that I am, you will die in your sins." John 8, 23 and 24. Now Jesus' remarks here causes a firestorm. Who does he think he is? How dare he say that unless one believes in him that they will die in their sins? Who does he make himself out to be? Where did he come from? Now they concluded that Jesus was demon possessed. To make such a statement, But Jesus is not demon-possessed, but instead he makes this very bold claim at the end of John 8, verse 58. He says, Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. I am. I am Yahweh. I am Jehovah. I am the covenant-making, covenant-keeping God of the Old Testament, the God who revealed himself to Abraham and Moses. Now, you would think that the Jewish leaders and people would be able to put two and two together and get four, to figure out on their own that Jesus is indeed the Messiah, the Christ. But they didn't. So either it's during the Feast of Tabernacles or close to it, it's after healing the man that was born blind and observing the rough treatment he received from the self-appointed spiritual shepherds of Israel, that Jesus makes another bold claim, and that is he claims to be the Great Shepherd of Israel. The Old Testament painted a picture of the Messiah as a true spiritual shepherd of Israel. Ezekiel 34 23 states, I will establish one shepherd over them and he shall feed them. My servant, David, he shall feed them and be their shepherd. Since David had already lived and died, most rabbis interpreted the reference to David as a reference to one of David's sons who would be the promised Messiah. He would be the one shepherd over them. Of him, Isaiah writes that he will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs with his arms and carry them in his bosom. and gently lead those who are with young. Isaiah 40 verse 11. to those gathered to listen to him preach. Jesus presents himself as the genuine shepherd, the one who entered the sheepfold of Israel through the proper prescribed way, the door of fulfilled prophecy. His genuineness was confirmed by the doorkeeper, John the Baptist, who opened up the Jewish nation to Jesus' ministry, and by his sheep who heard his voice and followed him. He's not only the genuine shepherd, but he's also the gate shepherd, the door to the sheepfold. As a door, Jesus Christ saves. He protects his own from spiritual danger and is the gateway to abundant life here and now. As Jesus said, the thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come. that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. In Jesus Christ, we have everything that we need for life, true life. Jesus Christ, as a shepherd, is in a class by himself. He is the shepherd, the good one. He's the outstanding one, outstanding because he gives his life for his sheep. Concerning the Messiah, the servant of the Lord, it had been prophesied that he would be wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquity. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Jesus Christ voluntarily, out of love and obedience to His Father, gave His life for us. God the Father laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He died for us so that we could be brought into an inseparable, vital, living, personal relationship with Him. He loves us. We love Him. We obey Him. And as the outstanding shepherd, he unites his sheep into one flock, believing Jew and believing Gentile, brought together into one flock by one shepherd, Jesus Christ." Fulfilling the Old Testament prophecy concerning the Messiah in Isaiah 49 verse 6, which it says, indeed, he says, it is too small a thing. that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel. I will also give you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be salvation to the ends of the earth. Now you would think, you might think that with all of this evidence, both in word and in deed, that the Jewish leaders and the people would understand clearly that Jesus is presenting himself as their Messiah. How much clearer can Jesus be? But look what happens, beginning at verse 19. John chapter 10, beginning at verse 19. It says, therefore, there was a division among the Jews because of these sayings. And many of them said, he has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to him? Others said, these are not the words of one who was born blind. These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind? Now there's a division, a debate going on. It was not so much over who Jesus is as it was over whether the Jewish religious leader's assessment of Jesus was correct. They had earlier concluded that Jesus was demonically possessed. Matthew 12, 24 says that this fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of demons. That's where Jesus gets his power, to perform these great miracles and the source of his teaching. To them, Jesus was a false messiah, deceiving the people into believing that he was sent by God with a message from God and performed miracles by the power of God. Now many agreed with the religious leader's assessment. that he has a demon and indeed is mad. He's insane, he's out of his mind and why listen to a madman? But there were some who questioned. Jesus' words and works do not appear to be demonic and not the words and works of a madman. So who is Jesus? Who is Jesus? Now, if you look at verse 21 and verse 22, We need to understand a little bit something here, and that is two months go by between these two verses. Two months of life and two months of fervish debate among the people as to the source of Jesus' teaching and miracle. So look what happens beginning at verse 22. It says, now it is the feast of dedication. in Jerusalem, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. Then the Jews surrounded him and said to him, how long do you keep us in doubt? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." Now Jesus is attending the Feast of Dedications here in Jerusalem. What is the Feast of Dedication? You perhaps know it better as Hanukkah or the Feast of Lights. The celebration began on the 25th day of the Jewish month Shislev, which kind of corresponds to our November, December. In this particular case, it was December the 18th, 32 AD. The Feast of Dedications is not one of the feasts that's listed or prescribed in the Old Testament, but rather it originated during the intertestamental period that period of time, that 400 silent years between the Book of Malachi and the Gospel of Matthew. And it commemorates this particular feast, commemorated the Israelites' victory over the infamous Syrian king, Antiochus Epiphanes, who tried to forcefully impose upon the Jews his Greek culture. In 170 BC, Antiochus Epiphany captured Jerusalem, desecrated the temple by sacrificing a pig on the altar. He set up a pagan altar in its place and erected a statue to Zeus in the most holy place in the temple. And under his brutal leadership, the Jews were required to sacrifice to pagan gods. They were not allowed to own or to read the Old Testament scriptures. In fact, copies of it were destroyed. They were forbidden to observe the Sabbath or to circumcise their children. He attempted to systematically stamp out Judaism and force the Hellenization of the Jewish people. He indeed was satanically controlled. But Antiochus' savage persecution caused pious Jews to revolt, led by a priest named Natathias and his sons. After three years of guerrilla warfare, the Jews, under the military leadership of Judas Maccabeus, were able to retake Jerusalem. And on the 25th of Chislev, 164 BC, they liberated the temple, they rededicated it, and established the Feast of Dedication. They celebrated for eight days rejoicing that God had given success in purifying His own holy place. It was called the Feast of Lights because of the lighting of the lamps and candles in Jewish homes to celebrate the feast, symbol of the right to worship that appeared to us or shone upon us at a time when we hardly dared to hope for it. Both the use of lights and the joyousness of the occasion ensured that the Feast of Dedication would be compared to the Feast of Tabernacles. But unlike the Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of Dedication could be celebrated anywhere. You didn't have to go to Jerusalem to do so. You could do so in your own home. But Jesus is in Jerusalem at this time, at the time of the Feast of Dedication. It's the middle of December, it's winter time, and Jesus is walking in Solomon's Porch, which was a roofed colonnade supported by pillars on the east side of the temple area overlooking the Kidron Valley below. And this was a place where many people frequented, especially in inclement weather. Some walked there to meditate. Rabbis often taught their students there because it provided some protection from the rain and cold. And Jesus is walking there and is surrounded by a crowd of people, hostile Jews demanding a straight answer. How long? Will you keep us in doubt? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly, are you or are you not the Messiah? Now the question may be asked, why had not Jesus told them plainly that I am the Christ? You know, when the Samaritan woman said to Jesus, I know that Messiah is coming, who is called the Christ. When he comes, he will tell us all things. Jesus said to her, I who speak to you am he. I mean, Jesus plainly tells the Samaritan woman that he is indeed the promised Messiah. So why does he not just come out, right out and say to the Jews, I am your Messiah. Well, one reason could be that the Jews were looking for a different kind of Messiah. They were looking for a political deliverer who would free them from Gentile Roman rule, who would establish his kingdom here upon the earth, and Israel would once again be the prominent nation of the world. But Jesus, on the other hand, is the good shepherd, the one who will lay down his life for the sheep. He offers himself to Israel as the suffering servant of the Lord, the one upon whom the Lord would lay the iniquity of us all. He came the first time as a spiritual savior to deliver man from sin. He came as a light into the dark world to expose sin and to provide the only way of salvation through his death, burial and resurrection. The Jews in Jesus' day could not reconcile the two portraits of the Messiah. On the one hand, that of the suffering servant. And on the other hand, that of the triumphant king. And the reason why they could not bring the two together into one person is because they failed to see the two comings of Christ. And so they threw out the suffering servant one and embraced the triumphant king. But Jesus does not fit their preconceived ideas of what the Messiah would be like. So for Jesus to come right out and say plainly, I am your Messiah, he would have been summarily rejected, written off as a loony, a madman. Besides, one suspects that the Jewish leaders crowding around Jesus at the Feast of Dedications were disingenuous in their request for clarity. Given the revelation that they had seen and heard, their hostility to Jesus over the course of that revelation, far from being an honest request for information, their inquiry was just another attempt to trap Jesus with a view of getting rid of him. They were unsettled by the miracles he had performed, tired of the division he caused even among their own ranks, fearful of the revolt he might spark against Rome which would jeopardize their privileged political standing, angered by his public rebuke of their hypocrisy. And most of all, outraged by the claims that he was making concerning himself and themselves. They were looking for a way to force Jesus to declare publicly that he was the Messiah so that they would have reason to get rid of him. But Jesus has given them plenty of information to form the right conclusion concerning his person. For note what Jesus says in verse 25, it says, 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. I told you, I told you. Not in so many words, but by all the claims that he had made to that point of being the bread of life, the light of the world, the great shepherd, all the claims have messianic connections. But he not only told them, but he showed them through the works, through the miracles that he had performed, miracles that also had messianic connection. And he said to them, basically, look at the evidence. Consider what I've said, the claims I've made, look at what I've done. It should be very clear to you that I am the Christ, the promised Messiah. Now, may I say to you this morning that there is a place for honest doubt. There is a place for honest doubt. The answer to honest doubt, however, is not more words or even a clearer straight to the point declaration. But rather, the answer to honest doubt is to consider the claims and look at the evidence, the works that back up the claims. Do the works back up the words? That's the answer to honest doubt. John the Baptist, he himself struggled with honest doubt concerning who Jesus was. In fact, Luke seven verse 19 says, and John calling two of his disciples said to them, him, send them to Jesus saying, are you the coming one or do we look for another? Are you the coming one? Are you the Messiah? Or should we continue to look elsewhere? Now, how does Jesus respond to John's request for verification? Verse 21 says, In that very hour he cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits, and to many blind he gave sight. Jesus answered and said to them, go and tell John the things you have seen and heard, that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them, and blessed is he who is not offended because of me. Jesus' words were backed up by his works. Believe the works. Look at all the evidence, both of what I said and what I've done, and draw your own conclusion." And John's conclusion was that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, the Son of God, sent to speak the words of God and perform the works of God, because he weighed the evidence and believed in Jesus as the Christ. Now the problems with these hostile Jewish religious leaders is that in spite of the mound of evidence, they refuse to believe. Jesus says, I told you and you do not believe. The problem was not due to ambiguity in the revelation of the truth, but rather to spiritual blindness. They lacked understanding, not because they lacked information, but rather because they lacked repentance and faith. They refused to repent of their sins and embrace Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. And anyone who willingly seeks truth will find it. But Jesus refuses to commit himself to those who willfully reject the truth. Had he given them the plain answer they were demanding, they would not have believed him anyways. For in his trial, Luke 22, 66 says that Jesus says, as soon as it was day, the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes came together and led him into the council saying, if you are the Christ, tell us. But he said to them, if I tell you, you will by no means believe. Now, from a human standpoint, the hostile Jews did not believe because they had deliberately rejected the truth, disregarded the evidence, both the words and works of Jesus that pointed to the truth that he was the Messiah, the Son of God. But Jesus has a different take as to why. For note what he says beginning in verse 26. He says, 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 hands. The reason Jesus says they did not believe is because they were not his sheep, whom the father had given to Jesus. Jesus had said earlier in John chapter six, verse 37, all that the father gives to me will come to me and the ones who come to me, I will by no means cast out. Those who are part of Jesus' flock have been given to Jesus by the Father. He selects them and then entrusts them to Jesus' care. Now, throughout Scripture, there is a tension between divine sovereignty and human responsibility. On the one hand, we are told that God chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will. We've been chosen by God before the foundation of the world, and we've been chosen to be part of the family of God. And yet on the other hand, we're told to preach the gospel to everyone, that whosoever will may come to Christ, that the invitation is open to all to repent of their sins and embrace Christ as their Savior and Lord, and that a person has to believe in order to be saved. And so both truths are taught in scripture of how, of one that God, It shows us in him for salvation and other scriptures that we have to respond and put our faith and trust in the Lord. Both of them are in scripture. How they're brought together, frankly, is beyond human comprehension, but it's not difficult in the infinite mind of God. And in Jesus' mind, the reason they did not believe is because they were not his sheep. They were not given to him by the Father. Now, repeating what Jesus said in his discourse on the good shepherd, Jesus' sheep, first of all, are those that hear his voice. He says, I know them, and they follow me. They respond to the gracious invitation to come to Christ. They embrace him as their Savior and Lord, and Jesus knows those who are his, and they in turn, turn, follow him. Genuine sheep follow the genuine shepherd. They will not follow another. And to them, secondly, Jesus says, I give them eternal life. I give them eternal life. By definition, eternal life is eternal. It is unending life. It is uncreated life that belongs to God alone. God imparts his life to those who put faith in his son. Jesus Christ gives this life, it's a gift. Since we did nothing to earn it, we can do nothing to lose it. For the consequence of having been given eternal life is that we are promised that we will never perish. We will never perish. You know that very familiar verse that almost everybody knows, John 3, 16. 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. We will not perish, but we're going to have everlasting life. We need never fear condemnation. We need never fear hell. We have present possession, eternal life. For Jesus says that neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. He has given to them eternal life and no one can snatch them out of my hand. I'm holding on tight to those who are mine. I'm not going to cast you out. I'm not going to throw you away or let you go. Our eternal security does not depend upon us holding on, but rather on Christ's grip on us. And no one is able to wrestle us loose from Jesus' grip. You know, Paul asked this question, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? And then he lists some of the things that happen in our lives that may cause us a time to question whether Christ still loves us, whether we're still his sheep or in his grip. He says, shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or the sword. But he concludes with these words in Romans 8, 37. He says, yet in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us, for I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing can pry us loose from His grip. Because our lives are not only in the hands of Jesus, who has a tight hold on us, but Jesus goes on to say, the Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hands. My friends, we are infinitely secure because our life, as Paul says in Colossians 3 verse 3, your life is hidden with Christ in God. We are kept. Nowhere in scripture, my friends, is there a stronger affirmation of the absolute eternal security of all true believers in Christ. Jesus plainly teaches that our security does not depend upon our human efforts. It's not us holding on to Christ, but Christ holding on to us, keeping a firm grip on us. We are held securely in His hands, and His hands are in His Father's hands, and no one, not false teachers, not fallen angels, not Satan himself, and certainly not you and I, can ever wrestle us loose from His hands. we are kept eternally secure. Eternal life is forever. Now the Father and the Son can jointly guarantee our security because of what Jesus declares in verse 30 when he proclaims, I and my Father are one. I and my Father are one. The Jews had asked Jesus for a plain statement that would clarify whether he was or were not the Messiah. Instead, he gave them far more, because he claims here equality with the Father, not one in the sense that they're the same person, for one in the original text is neuter in general, not masculine, And so the Father is not the Son, nor does the Father become the Son. They are two distinct persons, as is the Holy Spirit. Three persons, one God. Not one in the sense that they're both on the same page, that is, they both have the same intent or engaged in securing the believers, although that is the case, and it is true, because Jesus had said earlier, this is the will of him who sent me, that of all that he has given me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in him will have eternal life, and I myself will raise him up on the last day." And so Jesus is basically saying, the Father and I, we're on the same page in regards to this. The Father's will and my will agree. But when Jesus says, I am my father of one, he is claiming to be one in essence or one in substance. Jesus is claiming to be God. He's claiming to be God. Jesus Christ is the God shepherd. He is the God shepherd who gives his life and secures eternal life for his sheep. Now that's how the Jewish leaders understood Jesus' claim. For look at what it says in verse 31. It says, then the Jews took up again stones to stone him. It's doubtful that there were loose stones in the paved courtyard of Solomon's colonnade, but that was not too far off. There was probably an area of the temple that was under construction and certain stones would have been available there. They were so enraged by what Jesus said, they picked up stones to stone him to death. Now, Jesus wants to know why. And so he asked them this question, verse 32. Jesus answered them, said, many good works I have shown you from my father. For which of those works do you stone me? Now Jesus here doesn't soften nor does he withdraw his claim to be equal with God the Father. Instead, he forces them to face and to deal with the miraculously good works done at the direction of the Father. Earlier, Jesus had said, my father has been working until now, and I have been working. The Jews sought all the more to kill him because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was his father making himself equal with God. Jesus claims to be doing the Father's work. In fact, he goes on to claim that his own works are patterned after the Father. For Jesus says, Most assuredly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do, for whatever he does, the Son also does in like manner. His works, therefore, offered a tangible visible, inescapable proof of his oneness with God, and thus proved that he was not a blasphemer. The Lord's question also put the religious leaders in an awkward position of opposing the very public and popular good things Jesus had done in healing the sick, feeding the hungry, liberating the demon-possessed, and raising the dead. How could they discount what he had done? But look at their response in verse 33. The Jews answered him saying, for good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy, because you being a man, make yourself out to be God. Make yourself God. You being a man, make yourself God. Now the Lord appeals to his mighty good deeds and it fell on deaf ears. Their minds were already made up. The hostile Jews understood perfectly what Jesus was claiming. He was claiming to be God, but they failed to consider the possibility that his claims might be true. In their estimation, Jesus was guilty of the ultimate act of blasphemy because as they told him, you being a man, make yourself God. Now Jesus issues a challenge to them and ultimately to us. The challenge is this. First of all, be consistent. Be consistent in applying the tag blasphemer. Be consistent in applying the tag blasphemer. You're calling me a blasphemer, be consistent in it. For notice what Jesus says beginning in verse 34. says Jesus answered them, is it not written in your law? I said, you are gods. If he calls them gods to whom the word of God came and the scriptures cannot be broken, do you say of him whom the father sanctified and sent into the world, you are blaspheming because I said, I am the son of God. Now, at first glance, it appears that Jesus is softening his words, that perhaps he's backtracking on what he's just claimed and that Jesus is classifying himself or putting himself in the same class with men in general. But that's not the case at all. Instead, I believe he's strengthening his position. He is logically challenging them in labeling him as a blasphemer. He begins with something that they all agree on, and that is the Scriptures cannot be broken. The Scriptures cannot be broken. The Bible is the authoritary written word of God. It can never be nullified or set apart. Jesus held a very high view of scripture. In fact, he says, do not think I've came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy, but rather to fulfill it. His entire ministry has been based on the Old Testament scriptures and the Jewish religious leaders also held to a high view of scripture. Although in practice, by placing their traditions above the Scriptures, they broke the Scriptures, yet in principle, they would agree with Jesus that the Scriptures are absolutely true and inerrant. Now that we all agree on the same point, Jesus points out that the scriptures call men gods. The scripture call men god. In Psalm 82, God is rebuking Israel's unjust judges and he calls them gods. In verse six, God says, you are gods and all of you are children of the most high. They are gods in the sense that they represented God and spoke for him. It's like it says of Moses in the Old Testament that God made Moses a god unto Pharaoh, in that Moses represented God to Pharaoh and spoke to Pharaoh on behalf of God. And so they are gods in the sense that they represented God and spoke for him. And Jesus points out to the Jewish religious leaders that they never objected or protested to the use of the term God in referencing these judges. You've never raised the question that perhaps God was wrong in calling these human judges gods. Now Jesus, in typical rabbinical fashion, argues from the lesser to the greater, from the minor to the major. And here's his argument. If the scriptures label human judges as gods, then all the more you should refrain from protesting when I call myself the son of God. For unlike the judges who were born like other men, I was sent into this world. They received the Word of God. I am the incarnate Word of God. I have been sanctified. I've been set apart by the Father for a particular task. I've been sent into the world to be the Savior. So you have no right to say that I am blaspheming when I say I am the Son of God. Be consistent. Be consistent in applying the label blasphemer. For if I am a blasphemer, so are the Old Testament judges whom God himself called gods. So Jesus says, be consistent in labeling that diaspora. Secondly, he says to them, be objective. Be objective in following the evidence to the logical conclusion. Open your eyes, see, be objective and follow the evidence to its logical conclusion. For note how Jesus concludes here in verse 37, beginning verse 37. He says, if I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me. But if I do though you do not believe me, believe the works that you may know and believe that the Father is in me and I in him. Therefore they sought again to seize him, but he escaped out of their hands. The Lord's appeal to the Old Testament was a challenge again to the Jewish leaders to abandon their biased conclusion about him and to consider the evidence objectively. Earlier, Jesus had appealed to his works as proof of his indivisible union with the Father. He says in John 5 36, but I have a greater witness than John's for the works with the father has given me to finish the very works that I do bear witness of me that the father has sent me. Jesus had earlier said that the true test of a true or false teacher is that you will know them by their fruits. Their words and their works will match. A good tree is going to bear good fruit. Now Jesus says to them, if I'm not doing the works of the Father, then you have every right to refuse to believe me. I indeed would be a false teacher. But look at the evidence. Look at the evidence. I am doing the work of the Father. I have shown you many good works from my Father, and you yourselves have called my works good. So I challenge you to lay aside your preconceived, biased conclusions about me. Follow the evidence where it leads. And I believe the clear testimony of my works, which clearly show that the Father is in me and I am in him. I and the Father are one. I am indeed who I claim to be. I am the God Shepherd, one in essence with the Father, sanctified, sent into this world to provide salvation for all who believe. Now in closing, what is here for us today? First of all, if you are trusting in Jesus Christ for salvation, if you have answered his call, you're following him, I'm here to say to you, your salvation is secure. You have been given eternal life. It is a present possession and no one or nothing in this world or even out of this world can ever pry you loose from the grip that the Father and the Son have on you. That, my friend, is a very comforting thought. Knowing that we can never lose our salvation, though, does not give us a license to sin to the max. Genuine sheep follow the genuine shepherd. And though we occasionally wander off, Jesus comes after us as the good shepherd. He brings us back. He disciplines us so that we fall in line behind him and obey him. Genuine sheep will follow the genuine shepherd, I believe, to the end. That's the other side of eternal security, the human side of it in a sense, the perseverance of the saints. All true believers will persevere to the end. They will continue to follow Jesus throughout life. That's the whole message of the book of Hebrews. Faith endures. Our faith endures because God has a tight grip on us. Those who fall away prove that they never had saving faith because true faith perseveres. Once truly saved, always saved. We do not need to work in order to keep our salvation, nor is there anything we can do to lose our salvation. We've been given eternal life. Eternal life is just that, it's eternal, unending, abundant, fulfilling life, not just for the here and now, but for the hereafter. And we know for certain, we can know for certain that we have eternal life. What a comforting thought for you and I. You know, many people today have a hope so salvation. They hope to make it into heaven one day. They hope that when they die and stand before God, that their good works will somehow outweigh their bad. They hope that they didn't do something mortally wrong, which will cause God to yank their salvation and condemn them to hell. They hope to get in, but they're not 100% certain that they will. And they live in the fear that they might not make it. But my friends, Jesus does not offer to us a hope-so religion, but rather a know-so relationship with himself. As John says, and this is the testimony, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life. He who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. My friends, you and I can know that we have eternal life. If you have Jesus, if you have a personal relationship with Him, through believing in Him, through trusting in Him as your Savior and Lord, you have eternal life, present possession, certain knowledge. And secondly, as we close, let me ask this question. Do you know that you have eternal life? Have you come to that place in your spiritual journey where you have repented of your sins, have entrusted your life to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord? Do you today have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Do you have the Son of God? And I would encourage you today to humbly bow, open your heart, accept Him as Savior and Lord and make that decision today. Perhaps those that might be listening to me right now or later in the podcast are listening, you are still seeking. You have yet to commit your life to Christ for one reason or another. I trust that you're honest in your seeking, that you're seriously considering the evidence that Jesus is who he claims to be, the incarnate Son of God, the Savior, the Great Shepherd. Consider the mighty works that he's done. Read the New Testament account of Jesus with an open, unbiased mind and follow the evidence to its logical conclusion. And may I say that those in the past who have honestly considered the evidence, both in words, both the words and works of Jesus Christ, inevitably, eventually embrace him as both their Savior and Lord. For Jesus Christ is indeed the God.