I'm so glad you're here and ask you to take your Bibles, please, and turn to the Gospel according to John and find chapter 10. And we're going to begin with verse number 19 and read down through verse number 30 of John 10. And we're so happy when Brother Gary can be with us and that he's with us today. And Brother Gary Baker, would you come and lead us? There was a division among the Jews for these sayings, that is, the parables that Christ had been speaking, and many of them said, he hath a devil and is mad, why hear you 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 around him and said unto him, How long doest thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, and you believe not. The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But you believe not, because you 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. All right, let's once again take our Bibles and turn this time into the book of Hebrews as we continue our study, walking slowly through this seventh chapter. Today I want to talk with you about the unfailing Savior, by purpose. is to assure you that salvation is certain in Christ. One of the original men of our congregation was a man we loved so much, who led our singing for us, served so very faithfully, Brother Lawson. And he used to say, when I was an assembly of God, they had a God that couldn't keep me. And then I became a Baptist, and they had a God that couldn't save me. And he said, now I know about the one God who both saves and keeps. You all remember him saying that? And I can't say it as well as he did, but it was something like that that he would say. On our website, I have a little introductory statement, and it's something like this, that the Lord Jesus Christ, by his work at the cross, saved us from the penalty of sin. And now, as he sits at the right hand of the Father, he saves us from the power and even from the pleasure of sin. And then, in the next life, he will save us from the presence of sin. Now, men talk about getting saved, but nobody gets saved. Christ does all of the saving. He is the Savior. Because to be saved requires a savior. And that means the savior does the saving. This last section of this seventh chapter was so important when I came to study it. I didn't want to rush through it. So it begins in verse 22 and it goes to the end of the chapter. We have seen the undaunted surety in verse 22. And I talked with you about what it means for him to be a surety and that nothing would stop him. He is the eternal surety, purpose to fulfill all the terms of the covenant as the surety. And then we saw last week that he is the unchangeable priest in verse 23. That's what it says about him at the end of verse 24, an unchangeable priest. And now today I want to talk with you about the unfailing Savior. There'll be one more truth after this. Lord willing, we'll cover it in a couple of weeks. But our text today is the unfailing Savior. And if you'll look with me in verse 25 and verse 26, please. Chapter 7. It says, He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, see he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, one who is holy, who is harmless, who is undefiled, who is separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. Well, I'll be honest with you this morning, I wish that I were more capable of bringing this message to you than I know myself to be. But I want to talk with you about the kind of Savior that is spoken of in these verses. If you're ever going to look for a place that speaks of the definite and certain of salvation, one that cannot fail, I don't believe we could find a better place to look than in verse 25 and 26. First of all, when you look in this verse 25, it says, wherefore, and that's always a word like therefore, that means I want you to look back and I want you to look forward. So he says, wherefore, meaning having this undaunted surety in verse 22, and this unchangeable priest in verse 23 and 24, wherefore, now look forward, this same one, he is able also to save to the uttermost. You'll notice in verse 24 that he uses in this beginning of that verse this little phrase, but this man, but this man. Oh, there are all kinds of men who've done all kinds of things, priests who worked and labored all through the years from the time of Aaron down to the time of this writing, oh, about the middle years of the first century. And he says, of these men, they have often offered times the same sacrifices over and over, but this man, this man, Wherefore this man, in verse 25, he, the same one, is able also to save them to the uttermost. Now, since I'm talking with you about an unfailing Savior, I must tell you that there are three things that are said about this Savior in verses 25 and 26. You may want to jot these down. You may not remember them. The first thing I want you to know is that He is the sovereign Savior. How do I know He is the sovereign Savior? Well, it says it right there. He is able. He's a sovereign savior. He's able. That word sovereign, that word able, rather, is the word for ability. It's dunamis. It's that word for ability or power. And in order to understand this power, you must contrast it with man's inability. What happened to us in the fall is that we were legally condemned We became morally corrupt and spiritually disabled. So you have to contrast his ability with man's inability. We could look many, many places. But one place I thought of was remember old Mephibosheth back there in the book of 2 Samuel. Remember that he was dead in both of his legs from the time he was five years old. And he said of himself that he was a dead dog and he was not able to walk. Well, his inability to walk is a picture of our spiritual inability. And then, you remember that Jesus asked his disciples, not long before he's going to be tried, and he says to them, are you able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of? Now, this is a rhetorical question. He means to say to them, by no means are you able to do this. They foolishly answered and said, we are able. I don't know what the Lord thought of them by saying that he loved them in their weakness, I'm sure. But all my goodness alive thinking they were able and they were as weak as a lamb. And then what about when Jesus said that no man can come to me. That word can is the same word here for able. No man has the ability to come to me unless God draws him. God has to draw you out and the picture of that is like drawing fish out of the sea. He has to draw us powerfully, effectively, sovereignly has to draw us. What about where Paul says of those we've looked at here in 2 Timothy, they were ever learning, never able to come to the knowledge of the truth? And what about James who said, if a man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man able to bridle the whole body. What he meant to say, this is impossible. We all are going to offend in word and deed at some point. No man is able to do that. And what about in Revelation 5 where it says, to open the book, not even able to open the book, or to look upon the book. This is the book of redemption. I think this is a picture of the covenant, the everlasting covenant of grace, and only he was able to be that surety, that testator, that one who could open that book. No man was able, not in all the world, able to open that book. But when you contrast what it says about man's inability, with God's ability. For example, early in the ministry of Jesus where John is speaking, he said, God is able to take these stones. Imagine all the stones around the ground. God is able to take these stones. I think he's talking about Gentiles, but he gives a picture of the stones. able to take these stones and raise up children of Abraham, that is, believers like Abraham, people for himself. God's able to do that. What about when it says of Abraham that he was fully persuaded that God was able to perform that which he had promised? in Romans 4 and 21. And Paul said in 2 Corinthians 9 and 8, God is able to make all grace abound toward you. My prayer is, God, would you do it? Would you make all grace abound toward me? Because I stand in such need. I am so disabled, I cannot do one thing by myself. Would you make your grace abound toward me? And what about where he said in Ephesians 3 and 20, Now unto him that is able, to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think. You think you ask for a lot in your prayers, you don't even know how to ask or think. He does more for you than you possibly know. Paul says, for I know whom I have believed and I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed against him unto that day. And the apostle said in Hebrews 11 and 19, accounting that God was able to raise up Isaac from the dead, in which he received him as a figure, that is a picture, of the raising of the dead of Christ. And then you said this, and this will be the last, my reference here, now to him that is able, able. to keep you from falling and present you faultless before the presence of His glory unto exceeding joy. Listen to me. If He took His hand from you for one second, you would turn from Him in a New York minute. He is the only one that keeps you faithful to the dear and blessed Savior and the truth we know about Him. Otherwise, you would lose your mind You would turn from Him and hate Him and spit in His face? You say, I wouldn't do that. Oh, I don't think so. You better count on His ability and not your own. Wherefore He is able. Christ is that able Savior. God's able to save all humanity if it were His will. We can agree on that, right? But His power is put to action by His eternal purpose, by which He purposed to save a limited, specific, and definite and particular people. That's His will. Are you going to argue against the will of God? I don't think so. Wherefore He is able. What's the next little word there? Also. But also, not only because He's our surety and because He's our priest, He's able to save us because He's a Savior. He's an able Savior. And that word, to save, is the Greek word that means to deliver, and it appears 54 times in the Gospels. It's the word that means to deliver from sin and all of the just charges that are against us. He saved us from condemnation at the cross. He saves us from our spiritual darkness and regeneration. And He will save us from final destruction in the next life. But not only is He able to save them, them that He gave to the Father, them are the ones that He described back in that first chapter. Don't have time to go back and explain all of them again. But he described in that first and second chapter who they were. Save them, but then look at this, to the uttermost. Now you've got to like the word uttermost. Who could not like the word uttermost? It's made of two words. It's the word for all, pan. And it's the word telos, which is the word for end. So it is the word that they use for completely, wholly, entirely, without fail, for time and eternity. To the utmost perfection, describes the savior of this salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ. Being salvation's author, nothing could be found wanting. Being salvation's condition, nothing could be added. It isn't that he did his work and now you've got to do yours. It isn't that he did his work and now you've got to make that work yours. No ma'am, no sir, he did it all. And some say that he did the work, but it's applied by the Holy Spirit. No ma'am and no sir. He did the work and the Father applied it by reckoning it, legally imputing it, legally transferring it to the account of His people. When it says, to the uttermost, it means to the utmost time. We read it a few moments ago. Did you look at it carefully? In John 10, 29, He said, My Father which gave them Me is greater than all. And it says no man, but it means and no nothing. is able to pluck them out of my father's hand. Not ever. Not in this life, not in the next life, not ever. No devil, no sinner can take himself from the hand of God. If you stay in the hand of God, it's because he put you there and he'll keep you there. You cannot decide to leave no more than you can decide to come. He calls you to come and he calls you to stay. to the utmost of the law. Law can't condemn you because Jesus said, I'm come not to destroy the law, to fulfill it. If he fulfilled it in your behalf, then that means the law that was against you is now for you. To the utmost of justice, Christ Jesus, whom God set forth to be a propitiation, that's the satisfaction of God's justice. And to the utmost of light, he hath called you out of darkness, that is spiritual darkness, no light, couldn't see, into his marvelous light. Oh, he called us to the utmost of light so that we can now see. Oh, we can't see as clear as we're going to see, but we can see. We can see who we are and what we are, and we know that we need a Savior, one outside of us, one that did all the saving by His own work. Save them to the uttermost. Who are them? Well, it's them that come unto God by Him. That come unto God, let me add a word in there, exclusively by Him. That's what that means. All them to the uttermost that come unto God exclusively By Him. Them means Jews or Gentiles. Them means men or women. It means the educated and the uneducated. It means the rich and the poor. It means the black and the white. It means all kinds of people. Them. But they must come unto God by Him exclusively. To come is to depart darkness and religious professions. To come is to depart sin and shame. To come is to depart works and conditional religion. Didn't the apostles say to come is to come out from among them? Who is them? That's them of the conditional religion. So he's talking about it's to come out from among them. You can't say that you are a believer and you're still among conditional religionists. Don't try to kid me. No sir, when he calls you, you come out. He will not leave you in if you were his. Coming begins with sovereign regeneration. Coming proceeds by the spirit's effectual call. Coming is the movement of the mind of the heart. Coming is movement without twitching a muscle, however. Coming is looking away from self and to Him alone. Coming is full persuasion. Coming is believing He is all there is to salvation. Come unto God, not just for providence, not just for blessing, but for salvation. Not to His throne of judgment, but to His throne of grace. To come unto God for fellowship, for union, for light, and for life. Come unto God by Him. God is a God of conditions. The law was a series of conditions. Now there's only one condition, and He fulfilled it. Notice that condition, by Him. By Him. We come unto God by Him. Exclusively by Him. Him plus nothing. We come knowing there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. I say to you, He is a sovereign Savior. He is able. Here's the second thing that I see here, the last part of verse 25. I'll spend just a minute talking about this. He is a supplicating Savior, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them. Before I talk about that, I want you to turn back a page in your Bible to the chapter number 5, and I want you to see verse 7, 5-7, Hebrews, who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications, there's my word, he is a supplicating Savior. The word supplicate is a picture word. It's a picture of an olive branch. An olive branch is a symbol of peace. And what it pictures is is that we were under the wrath of God as the children of wrath like all. We were not justified from the foundation of the world. We needed a savior. We needed someone who would bring in an olive branch. And that's what he is. He is the olive branch. He brought in awful prayers and supplications. So come back with me now to our little text. Seeing he ever liveth, he maketh intercession or supplications as the olive branch to bring peace on our half before the eyes of God. At that one moment at the right hand of the Father, According to the 4th chapter and the 15th verse, He fills our infirmities at the right hand of the Father. Right now, I want to say to you, if you are His, right now, He fills your infirmities, your troubles, your woes, your pains, your sorrows. You're not in this by yourself. He is a supplicating Savior. He is your peace. If you're looking for peace in your heart, find it in Him. He is the supplicating Savior. Look away from those troubles and look to Him. Look to Him. He ever liveth to make intercession. He died as a man, but He arose to live forever. And now He intercedes at the right hand of the Father freely, effectually, readily, cheerfully, powerfully at the right hand of the Father. As the substitute, he did his work on the cross. As the intercessor, he does his work in heaven at the right hand of the Father. Surely his intercession is as effectual as his substitution. Would you agree with me on that? I think so. Peter said, casting all your care upon him, for he cares for you. He is a supplicating Savior. There's one other thing that we see here, and that is not only a sovereign Savior and a supplicating Savior, but can you not see it in verse 26? He is a sinless Savior. For of such a high priest became us, holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. We were all astounded, maybe, how long ago was it now? 10, 12, 15 years ago, when some among the Sovereign Grace Group that we once fellowshiped with started talking about Jesus being a sinner. I thought, surely I don't understand. But no, they were saying it wasn't just enough that he bore sin, he actually sinned. I couldn't believe it. Because liberals have said that for a long time. That's not new, that is a false liberal notion, a pseudo-truth that's been around for a long time. I was flabbergasted. And they've persisted in it. So I understand. Naturally, we're not a part of that. He is a sinless Savior. You wouldn't have to look beyond this verse to see that that is so. Notice that we need a high priest at the right hand of the Father, a Savior at the right hand of the Father suited to us, necessary for us, and He first perfectly fits the needs of sinners. Notice first of all, he's holy, and only God is holy. He cannot cease to be God. He was man, but he was God, and he could not sin. If he were to sin, he would cease to be God. God cannot sin. That's impossible. It could not be. And then the next three words that describe him actually go together and describe this, that little two-letter phrase there, from sinners. So the next words go together. Harmless, undefiled, separate describes from sinners. So let me talk about that for a minute. From sinners, he was harmless. And that word means blameless in contrast to sinners who are blameworthy. And then the word undefiled is a word that means unsoiled as are sinners. And then the word separate means unstained by sin, as are sinners. Holy, harmless, separate from sinners. The apostle used three strong, vivid words to describe that he is a sinless savior. He's without voluntary sin, and he's without involuntary sin. You and I know both. He isn't a sinner, though he bore sin by imputation. He was uncompromised by sin. He identified with sinners without becoming a sinner. These describe him as a sinless savior, but that's not enough. He went a step further and he said made or declared to be higher than the heavens. It's a superlative. And a superlative is finds the apostle looking up toward the heavens and he sees the clouds and he says he's higher than the clouds. And then he looks a little higher and he sees the sun and he says, he's higher than the sun. And he looks out at night and he sees the moon and he says, he's higher than the moon. And what it means is that his authority is declared higher than all that we can see in the heavens. His authority reaches into the heavens where God's throne is and beyond, no higher authority exists. If he takes our coming with him to God, the fact is we're there. If he takes our prayers to God as our intercessor, they're heard. Is it not true? In Hebrews 4 and 14, seeing then we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens. Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. Do these words not also agree with Jesus' words in John 14 and 6? No man comes to the Father but by me. And John 6, 37, all the Father gives to me shall come to me, and him that the Father gives to me I will in no wise cast out. Oh, my beloved, I say to you, he is the sovereign Savior. He is the supplicating Savior. He is the sinless Savior, all describing he is the unfailing Savior. I urge you to come to God exclusively by him.