Well, tonight I invite you to take your Bibles and turn with me to John's Gospel, chapter 10. The Gospel of John, John chapter 10. And continuing on in this brief series, I've entitled God's Amazing Grace. The question for our consideration tonight is a question regarding the focus, extent, and effectiveness of the gospel. And the question I want to lay before you and seek to answer from scripture is this essential question. Was Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection a potential payment for sin or an actual payment for sin? Asking the same question in other ways, the question before us is, when Jesus died on the cross and shed his blood, Did he pay the price for sin for everyone or for a specific chosen people? Did Jesus become a sin substitute for someone in particular or no one in particular? Did Jesus die to make sinful men savable or did he die to accomplish the Father's mission to have a people for himself? And the overarching question is, was Jesus successful in accomplishing the will of the Father to save his people from their sins, Matthew 121, or did he somehow fail in that mission? John chapter 10. He who has ears to hear, let him hear what Jesus says about this question. As we now read the inspired, perfect, preserved, authoritative Word of God. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth, And the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto them, But they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is in hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth, and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay it down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. There was a division, therefore, again, among the Jews for these sayings. And many of them said, he hath a devil, and is mad, Why hear ye him? Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind? And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter, and Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. 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. Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not. The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Point number one, the answer. What does the Bible say about the question before us? Who did Jesus say he died for? Well, Jesus plainly says in scripture that he laid down his life for his sheep, verse 10. I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. So who are the they? In verse 10, well, just keep backing up. The they are those who enter into the door, verse nine. Who are those who enter into the door? Verse seven, the sheep. Jesus says in verse seven that he is the door of the sheep. Verse 10 tells us that Jesus explicitly came from heaven to earth so that his sheep might have spiritual life. Verse 11, I am the Good Shepherd, the Good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Verse 15, as the Father knoweth me, even so I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. Now let me point out the fact that the text does not say that Jesus is giving his life for the goats. Neither does it say that he is laying down his life for everyone. And Jesus specifically says, several times, I am laying down my life, speaking of his crucifixion on Calvary's cross. I am laying down my life so that my sheep might have spiritual life. Well, the answer to our question is simple, isn't it? Well, it's simple if we, in childlike faith, take the text at its word. It's simple if we don't try to read anything else into what Jesus plainly said. Listen, Jesus doesn't stutter. Jesus is not vague. He is not speaking in a language hard to understand. In fact, Jesus is speaking in such a way that even little children can understand it. Jesus says he is the good shepherd. He has specific sheep that he knows on an individual basis, and he is going to die for every individual sheep who belongs to his flock. So then the question arises, who are his sheep? Let's answer it connecting scripture with scripture, shall we? Let's let scripture do the talking for us. I'm not interested in theories. I'm not interested in man-made arguments. I'm interested in knowing what scripture says. Who are Jesus's sheep? Here it is, looking at the text. Jesus' sheep are those who belong to his fold. Verse 16. And other sheep I have, he has, he possesses them, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd, who are Jesus's sheep. Jesus's sheep are those who belong to his fold. There is one shepherd, one fold. Jesus has specific sheep who he is bringing into his fold. Who are his sheep? Jesus's sheep are those he gives life to, verse 28. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Who are Jesus's sheep? Jesus's sheep are those who belong to his fold, Jesus's sheep are those he gives eternal life to, and Jesus's sheep are those who hear his voice and follow him, verses 27 and 28. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them, Eternal life. Easy. Simple. Not complicated in the least. Who are his sheep? His sheep are those who have been and will be genuinely born again by the Spirit of God. Jesus' sheep are his children. His sons and daughters. His children are his elect people. God's word uses that word elect. First Peter chapter one, we looked at it a few weeks ago. Elect according to the foreknowledge of God. Who are the sheep? The sheep are Christ's bride. The sheep are believers. Those who are called to be saints. Pick your favorite synonymous term for Christian people and that's who the sheep are. Those who truly know Christ are Christ's sheep. So this means then that Christians are a specific people called out of this world to Christ. This means that true born-again believers belong to a distinct fold. If we are in Christ, we belong to the Good Shepherd. He gave life to us. We hear His voice, we follow Him. Whereas before, in our sinful condition, we were like sheep going astray, but when the Good Shepherd found us, He changed our hearts, He cleansed us from our sin, He placed us into His fold so that we are now protected forever. So back to our opening questions. When Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood, did He pay the price for sin for everyone? or for a specific chosen people? Well, John 10 tells us that Jesus died for a specific chosen people. Did Jesus become a sin substitute for someone in particular or nobody in particular? Again, Jesus tells us in John 10 that he died for a particular people that he knew and he knows by name. Did Jesus die to make sinful men savable? Or did He die to accomplish the Father's mission to have a people for Himself? Again, the text says that Jesus is doing the Father's work, verse 25. And Jesus is doing everything to secure a people for the Father who actually gave the sheep to Jesus, verse 29. The answer is clear. Jesus is laying down His life for the sheep. Jesus is giving life to the sheep. Jesus is bringing sheep into His fold. The sheep he is dying for will hear his voice, they will follow him, there will be one fold, there will be one shepherd, and he, Jesus, will protect them forever. The answer is simple, biblical, well-defined, spoken by Jesus himself. So my question is, who are we to debate it? There's nothing to debate. Jesus says what he means, and he means what he says. God has not given us his word to debate, but to believe and declare. Jesus died for his sheep. His sheep are his children. Anyone and everyone who repents and believes on the gospel is a beneficiary of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. Now if I'm hearing things right, I hear some whispering thoughts in the back of some people's head. There are some preconceived ideas and confusing arguments that we were taught growing up that need some resolving. And I think if I'm hearing right, they revolve around two words, the words world and all. So this leads us then to our second Main heading. In point number one, we find the answer to the question, for whom did Christ die? Point number two, we have the arguments to the question. And the main argument kicking at what we have just read in John chapter 10 is this. If John chapter 10 is true, and it is because it's Bible, and Jesus died for the sheep, and he did because that's what Jesus said. Then how do we interpret John 3, 16 and 2 Peter 3, 9? John 3.16 says, for God so loved the world. 2 Peter 3.9 says that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. So then the argument to the answer to the question is, if Jesus died for the sheep, what are we supposed to do with the words all and world? I was taught that Jesus died for everyone equally. Take a deep breath. The answer is very simple. It's not complicated in the least. It's only complicated when people start rationalizing things from their foolish philosophical arguments and take scripture out of its context. I'm going to keep the answers to the arguments very simple, stretching Nothing from the word of God. All right, are you ready? Here are the answers to the arguments. If Jesus actually paid the penalty of sin for everyone, if in the shedding of his blood on the cross he meant to purchase all, then all would be saved. If I go into a restaurant and I throw money on the counter and I say to the manager of that restaurant, I am going to graciously pay for everyone's debt, then no one has to pay their bill, correct? So likewise, if when Jesus said, it is finished, if he meant that he purchased salvation for every person, then all, will be eternally saved. To say that Jesus died for everyone equally is to believe that all will be saved, which innately makes you a universalist. If we say that Jesus died for everyone equally, then what are people doing in hell paying the price for their sin? Think about that question. If Jesus definitely paid the price for sin, why are people suffering for their sin? You're saying Jesus paid the price for their sin, and then they have to pay the price for their sin. Well, that's double jeopardy. And God has a twisted system of justice. So let's go back to the illustration I've just used. If by my grace I go to the manager of a restaurant and actually pay for everyone's bill at the restaurant and yet the customers still have to pay for their debt, then I did not actually help them in any way. It's simple. So let's keep thinking through things simply. In our interpretating the word world and all from the text of scripture, it is absolutely vital that we ask this question. Is this word, all, speaking of all without exception or all without distinction? In the use of the biblical word all, is it speaking of all without exception, namely everyone, or all without distinction, variance? And I want to submit to you that in your reading of Scripture, that when you read the word world and all, it is referring to all without distinction. For instance, when the text says, for God so loved the world. Place it in its context. Jesus is conversing with Nicodemus. And in his conversing with this Jewish man, this well-regarded Pharisee who teaches the truth of scripture, who loves his native land, Israel, when Jesus converses with Nicodemus, he is distinguishing the fact that God's love is not partial to Israel. God so loves his chosen people, Israel, yes, but he loves the world. He loves the Gentiles. He loves people in every nation and tribe. He loves males and females. He loves the young and the old. He loves the rich and the poor. He loves the religious and the prostitutes. You see, the Jewish people thought that salvation was for them. They grew up, the Jewish people grew up with the biased notion that the Messiah that has been prophesied by the prophets is going to be born in Israel. And this prophet, the prophet, the prophet spoken of by Moses, the Messiah, is going to be the one who will save national Israel from their oppressions. And here come Jesus and his apostles proclaiming a message that Jesus is a spiritual savior, not just for Israel, but for the world. Go back to John 4 and read how shocked the disciples were when Jesus proclaimed that he has come to be the savior of the Samaritans. They've rattled their thinking to the core. They treated Samaritans as dogs. Jesus is showing, after his declaration in John chapter 3, that he is the Savior of the world, that he is the Savior of the world, not just to the Jew, but to the Gentile, to the half-breeds, to the Samaritans. You see, Jesus is breaking through that cultural barrier. And the Bible tells us very plainly, Romans 1, 16, that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the power unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jews, yes, but also to the Greek. And we have seen, John says, and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of who? Israel? No, the world. Jesus is the Savior of those who live in Rome, those who live in corn. those who live in Ephesus, those who live in Colossae, those who live in Thessalonica, those who live in Berea, to the uttermost parts of the earth. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that He was born. Whosoever, not just the Jew, but whosoever, despite their ethnicity, their social class, their education, their sex, whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. All, all, all kinds of people. Jesus died for all. He's the Savior of all. He's the Savior of the world. That makes sense, it's clear. Put it in its cultural context. That's the hammer that was hitting against Israel and teachers within Israel like Nicodemus, because they were so narrow-minded, they thought that the Savior was just for them. All right, now what about 2 Peter 3, 9? When scripture says, God is not willing that any should perish, but that all come to repentance. Well, the response I have for this is you either have to conclude that God's will is being done or not. If God is not willing that any should perish and people are perishing, then obviously God's will is not being done. If God's will is not being done, then this means that God is not God. If God is in heaven pacing back and forth, wringing his hands, hoping that someone, somewhere will come to repentance and faith on their own, then God is not, I repeat, God is not the author and the finisher of our faith. And a lot of people interpret this verse in such a way. God wants everyone to be saved, but he's so weak, and he has no power over the wills of man. God is not in control over this matter of salvation, so man's will is stronger than God's will. And I submit to you, what a weak view of a sovereign God. As if God sits on a cardboard throne wearing a paper mache hat. So then we ask, well, what does this verse mean then? Well, let's go back to my question. Is the text talking about all without exception or all without distinction? Well, if we read the letter that is being addressed to believers, in context of chapter three, which is about God's coming judgment on the world that makes perfect sense. If we read it in that light, we find that the any and the all in 2 Peter 3 are defined as those who are saved, those who will be saved, which means that God is not willing that any of his people should perish and that all of his sheep would come to repentance. Now go read the context sometime, 2 Peter chapter 3. And in that context, you will read about the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. The heavens shall pass away with a great noise. The elements shall melt with fervent heat. The earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. You've got the picture in your mind. By God's word, the present heavens and the earth are being reserved for fire. kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly people. This letter's being written to believers. Elect believers, Peter calls them, 1 Peter 1. So the thought in the minds of believers is, if this is so, are God's people going to be safe? And the answer is a resounding yes. How do we know? Because the text tells us, God is not willing that any should perish, but that all, all who belong to Christ's flock shall come to repentance. In other words, Christ will not return and judge the world until all are saved. Not all without exception, that's universalism, but all without distinction. Christ will not return until all are saved, until all of His sheep come home, until all of the sheep find the Good Shepherd, all of His people, the fullness of His bride. Now let me give you one more text to screw into your mind to consider this use of the word all. In Acts chapter 10, after seeing the Gentiles come to faith in Christ, the apostle Peter declares these words. If you want to turn there, you can. Acts chapter 10, verse 34. This is a mini Pentecost. Acts chapter two was Pentecost, the day of Pentecost. Peter preached. And in that preaching, 3,000 souls were gloriously saved and added to the church. Now God has another mission for Peter to go to Cornelius' house. God is preparing Cornelius' heart to receive the gospel, but what's needed? What's needed is a preacher. What's needed is? Faith coming by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. So God is a God of means. He sends a preacher to Cornelius' house. Remember Peter's dilemma? Remember his fighting with God and saying, I'm not going to those dirty, rotten Gentiles. No way, not me. I'm a Jew. Salvation's for the Jews. Right? Remember the vision Peter said? Peter had the audacity to say, not so, Lord, not gonna do it. That's Peter's way. He's the man with the foot-shaped mouth, remember? He says things before he thinks. He's a fireball, firecracker, not going to do it. Interesting how God uses Peter. Acts 10, 34. So Peter has now come to Cornelius' house. Then Peter opened his mouth. and said of a truth I perceive that God is not a respecter of persons, catch it, but in every nation in the world. He that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him. The word which God sent unto the children of Israel preaching peace by Jesus Christ. Notice, he is Lord of all. Time out. Lord of all? Has Peter turned into a universalist? Does Peter mean that everyone will actually be saved and no one will be in hell? Is that what he's preaching? Answer, no. So what's the context? The context is Peter was having trouble seeing that the Gentiles can be equally blessed in Christ. And God in His grace saves Cornelius and his household and convinces Peter that Jesus is the Savior, not just of one kind of people, namely Israel or the Jews, but Jesus is the Savior of all. You got it? It may be helpful to think of these things this way, all right? Think of it this way. God has a common love for everyone. God has a common love for all, all, for the world at large. The Bible tells us the rain falls on the just and on the unjust. The Bible tells us that God makes his son to shine upon the good and the bad, even Hitler. tasted of the common grace of God. So God has a common love for everyone, for all. But God has a covenantal love for his own. Do you get that? God has a common love for all. God has a covenantal love for his sheep. We can understand this, can't we? I love all people. I try to show grace to all men, but I have a special, unique, sacrificial, covenantal love for my wife and for my children. My wife and I are one. It's my calling to protect and to provide for her. I love her and by the grace of God, she loves me. My children are the Kuhlmans. Our boys are our sons by blood and our daughters are our daughters by blood. My wife and I have a unique relationship that I have with them, our children, that you don't have with them, though you show kindness to them. Likewise, you have a unique relationship with your children that I don't have, though I show kindness to your children. So it is with God's people. Listen, Christ has a bride, does he not? Christ loves the church and gave himself for her. Christ has a bride. Song of Solomon tells us that Christ intensely loves the bride and the bride loves him. And that bride has in their affections a burning desire to know him. He's the good shepherd of His sheep. He protects and provides for them. If we are in Christ, we are His sons and daughters. This means we have a unique relationship with Christ that the world does not have. Turn over to John chapter 17. Look at the distinction for yourself. John chapter 17. Keep this in mind. God has a common love for all. but he has a covenantal love for his people. God has a common love even for the ungodly who will never come to faith in Christ. Those who are suffering in hell, God in his common grace has shown kindness to, but who can deny that God in Christ loves his bride and his children? John chapter 17, again, the words of Christ. These words speak Jesus. and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come, glorify thy son that thy son also may glorify thee. As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they, might know Thee, the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. I have glorified Thee on earth. I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Thou me with Thine own self, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was. I have manifested Thy name unto the men which Thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they were. and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee, for I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received them, and have known surely that I am come out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but for them, which thou hast given me, for they are thine, and all mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world. And I come to thee, Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one. as we are. Verse 14, I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Drop down to verses 25 and 26. O righteous father, the world hath not known thee, but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. Do you see the particular love God and Christ has for his sheep? Jesus has an elect people. His elect people are His sheep are those who have and will repent and believe on His name. And they have believed on His name because they are His sheep. All these truths are unified. Paul says, Romans 8, verse 30, moreover, whom he did predestinate, Them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified. Romans 8.30 is of the same tune of John 10.27. Let me put them together for you. John 10, Romans 8.30. My sheep, there's election. Hear my voice, there's effectual calling. I know them, justification. and they follow me, sanctification, and I give unto them eternal life, glorification. It's beautiful. These are wonderful truths and promises recorded, not in some places of Scripture, but all over Scripture. So now we come to the third and final point, which I've labeled the application. Having given you the answer to the question itself and having provided the answers to the arguments that typically occur from our opening question, I want to conclude as I always do with answering the so what question. So Jesus declares and scripture records the truth that Jesus died for the sheep. So what? What practical help is this to us? How does this benefit us in any way? Why does God want us to recognize this specific fact? Well, in answering these questions, let me give you three points of application. Point number one is the answer. We've looked at that. Point number two, the arguments. And now point number three, the application. The application is threefold. The truth that Jesus actually died to save a specific people teaches us that Jesus is a successful savior. Let me say it again. The truth that Jesus actually died to save a specific people teaches us that Jesus is a successful Savior. And if there's one truth worthy of our proclamation and praise, it is this truth. Jesus is not a potential Savior. He is an actual Savior. Jesus did not die to make men savable. He died to save his people from their sins. And listen, this is the angelic proclamation of the angel that we rejoice in at Christmas. Matthew 121, you have it before you in your Christmas cards, and you haven't seen the beauty of it all. Remember the angelic proclamation? and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall, not might, not maybe, he shall save, who? His people from their sins. Who are his people? Just the Jews? No. His sheep. Jews and Gentiles, those who believe on His name during the world. You see, Jesus did not fail in His mission. Christ's work on the cross is complete. It is definite. It is finished. Not one ounce of His blood was wasted. His atonement actually secures. the salvation of a specific people. He was and is and will forever be a successful Savior. And such a truth ought to cause us to glory in His name, to regard Jesus as one who is worthy of all adoration and praise. He did not fell in one ounce. Jesus has been and will forever be successful in saving His people. So God doesn't sit up in heaven wondering how this evil world is ever going to come into the kingdom of God. He's not sweating, he's not wringing his hands, he's not bowing before the will of man hoping that someone somewhere will believe. Do you get it? Jesus actually became a sin substitute for sinners. Truth number two. The truth that Jesus actually died to save a specific people teaches us that God's mission of evangelizing the world cannot fail. I love this. God's mission in evangelizing the world cannot fail. Now some people make the charge that believing the doctrine of definite atonement is the killer of all killers of evangelistic efforts. Many have alleged that to believe in the doctrines of grace as they are called will extinguish all missionary zeal. And it is my understanding from scripture and from studying church history that such a conclusion is entirely false. In fact, if we are willing to be honest about things, the clear truth is that a belief in Christ's definite atonement does just the opposite of what its critics say it does. It actually inflames evangelistic zeal rather than extinguishes it. Think about it. If the good shepherd has promised to save his sheep, then despite how wicked this world is, despite how hard men's hearts are, Christ's sheep will be saved. Who are they? We don't know. Spurgeon said if we could identify them, if they had a big E on their back that distinguished them as the elect, we would know, but we don't, so we preach the gospel to all. We preach repentance and faith to the world, and whosoever will may come. And if they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, Christ has promised John 6 that he will in no wise cast them out. So we plead with all men, but we rest our hearts on the certain truth that Jesus will build his church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. You see? I will. I will build my church as my church. I will call my sheep. Satan is not going to win. Do you see the success in it? In time, the sheep will come to call on the name of the Lord and be saved. And for some of you who have done so, you belong to that fold. Though you were kicking and screaming and fighting and stubbornly resisting all along the way, He called you and praise be His name for it. You see, this doctrine was the heartbeat and firm foundation of past missionary effort. Take the Apostle Paul, for example, Acts chapter 18. Do you remember how Paul was opposed in Corinth? Corinth was a wicked, sexually sinful city, hard, full of idols, full of satanic oppression. Do you remember reading that in Acts 18 that there were many that were blaspheming the name of Christ as Paul was preaching, trying to win the lost city of Corinth for Christ? Just imagine what that does to a preacher. I'll tell you what it does. A preacher starts thinking. In meeting with resistance and hard hearts and unbelief, a preacher starts thinking, is there any purpose for continuing? Is this city completely given over to its sin? If I keep preaching, will anyone believe? Remember the response Christ gave Paul, Acts 18, verse nine. Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision. Be not afraid, Paul, but speak. Hold not thy peace, for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee, for I have much people in the city. Much people. Who are the people? They are the sheep, who the shepherd will save, as Paul preaches. That's the success of the mission. The next verse says, and he, Paul, continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. Do you see Jesus took the gasoline of success and poured it on Paul's little flame that was dying? Why should I keep preaching in Corinth? Is anything going to be done for Christ's sake? Jesus said, yes, keep preaching. Why? Because I have much people in the city. You don't know who they are, but you keep preaching and there will be a church that's planted. And we have record in the scripture that a church in Corinth was planted. So Paul says, 2 Timothy 2, verse 9 and 10, wherein I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even unto bonds, but the word of God is not bound. Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. What? The elect's sake? We don't like that word. Well, it's a Bible word. Deal with it. It's there. Divinely inspired and preserved in scripture. Believe it. Paul said he did all things for the sheep's sake. That was his success. The sheep will come home because he was one of them. God broke through Saul of Tarsus' heart because he was one of the sheep. Paul could gladly be stoned and beaten and imprisoned and persevere in the work of the Lord knowing that Christ will save his people. Listen, church, I would quit preaching tonight if I didn't have this assurance. Why? Why continue? Look around. How many people are flocking to come under the preaching of God's word? I preach, I preach, I counsel one-on-one with people in my office. They resist, they turn away, they get offended. The will of man is too stubborn. The world's too sinful, the devil's too strong. But he's not stronger than God. So therein do I preach, knowing that in time he will give the increase. Why? Because he has his sheep in this world. Truth number three. The truth that Jesus actually died to save a specific people teaches us that true believers are secure in him. You're kept, Peter says, by the power of God. The same power that saved you is the same power that keeps you. If you are in Christ this evening, if there is evidence in your life that you've been born again by the Spirit of God, then this means that Jesus died for you. For you. Individually. Jesus had you. in his heart, on his mind as he died on the cross. You see, Jesus didn't die just in a general sense for some anonymous group of people. He died for each of his sheep individually. This means then if you are in Christ, Your salvation is secure. It can't be lost. You've been bought with a price. You've been actually bought. It's been purchased, done, sealed deal. You've been redeemed. You've been adopted. You can't be unadopted. No man can pluck you from his hands. Nothing shall separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. Why? Because we are his sheep. Nothing will separate My love for my children, they'll always be my children. They may fail, they may stumble, but they're mine, my children, I love them, and will always love them. Common love, covenantal love. And this by no means keeps me from saying tonight, if you are here, lost, without Christ, If you are here and need to be saved and want to be saved, if you would believe on Him now, you can have the same assurance. If you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you can and will be saved. You see, this doctrine does not keep me from telling you that Jesus is a great Savior. He's a great Savior for great sinners. And if you will repent, if you will believe, He will welcome you into His fold. Look, we sang these truths tonight. You may have not recognized them, but let me repeat them to you again. 667, just so that you can recognize them next time. Not for a weight of glory, not for crown and palm 667 who's on the Lord's side. Enter we the army, raise the warrior psalm, but for love that claimeth lives for whom he died. He whom Jesus nameth, my sheep hear my voice, they follow me, he knows their name. He whom Jesus nameth must, Be on His side. By Thy love constraining, by Thy grace divine, we are on the Lord's side. Savior, we are Thine. Verse three, Jesus, Thou hast bought us, not with gold or gem, but with Thine own lifeblood for Thy diadem, with Thy blessing filling each who comes to Thee. Thou hast made us willing. Thou hast made us free. By thy grand redemption, by thy grace divine, we are on the Lord's side, Savior, we are thine. Wonderful, glorious truths of God's incredible, amazing, unspeakable grace. By the grace of God, we are what we are. We didn't make ourselves his sheep. The Good Shepherd found us. He came to seek and to save. Who? Does he actually save anyone? Yes. He came to seek and to save his lost sheep. And that's us. If we're in Christ.