are singing a little early so that Brother Carl would not be cramped for time tonight. Give him plenty of time so he doesn't have to feel rushed. Be right here in a second, get things going. Providing all of this technology works. Okay. Good evening, Brother Carl. How are you this evening? Doing well, by the grace of God. How are you guys? Doing well. Doing well. Staying warm. Also, we've got Brother Mark Kennedy with us. Good evening, Brother Mark. Hello. Hello. Well, I went ahead and got the preliminaries out of the way early, and so we've done our singing. Mark has read his scripture, Mark Phillips. So we're just gonna go ahead and turn everything over to, or not everything. Carl Roberts is gonna be our moderator tonight. And so with that, I'm just gonna turn it over to him and let him go wherever the Lord leads him. Go ahead, Brother Carl. All right, well, good evening, everybody. Good evening, Brother Mark Kennedy. How are you? And Brother Mark Phillips, Sister Rosette, and everybody listening. Wonderful brother, Carl. And good evening, Babs, as well. I don't want to ever forget Babs and good evening, Rosette. So we don't want to forget the women folk. We don't want to think we're having a male fraternity here. The females are welcome to come and listen and be a part of this. So good evening, Babs. Hi, Babs. Hi, Rosette. Good evening. Okay. Well, tonight I thought we would take a look at John chapter 10. And John chapter 10 is one of my favorite chapters in all of scripture. And you know, of course, why it's probably one of all of our favorites, because of how obvious that the Holy Spirit makes it that salvation is of the Lord and that There are some created to be vessels of mercy, and there are some created as vessels of wrath, fitted for destruction. So let's see here. I guess to start out, I like to go to Genesis chapter three, verses 14 and 15. And here we're gonna see the first prophecy of Christ, but we're also taught here that there are two seed labs. There is the seed of the serpent, and there is the seed of the woman. And we read in verse 14 and verse 15 in the third chapter of Genesis in the Authorized King James Version only, verse 14. And the Lord God said unto the serpent, because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field. Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and thus shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. So here we have two sea lions, and we have the finished work of Jesus Christ. on behalf of his elect that was carried out from before the foundation of the world prophesied here in the third chapter of Genesis. Next, I would like to go to, I'm just trying to establish a little bit of context here. Next, I'd like to go to the first chapter of Matthew. We'll go to Matthew chapter one. and verse 20 and 21. But while he thought on these things, Joseph, but while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. So the atonement of Jesus Christ, the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ upon the cursed tree was a particular and effectual atonement. It was particular for his elect, the seed of the woman, so to speak, his people, as we're told in here, verse 21, here in Matthew chapter one, verse 21, it was particular on behalf of his elect and effectual on their behalf. And this was carried out from before the foundation of the world. You know, we're told in scripture that Jesus Christ is the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world. In John, whenever John the Baptist first sees Christ, John says, he says, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And this language here is speaks of Jew and Gentile, the language of the world. You know, at one time, the salvation was offered exclusively to the Hebrew people. This is the group of people that the triune Jehovah gave the oracles of himself through. These are the people that God brought the law to and revealed himself to. And these people, the Hebrew people, this was a picture of God's elect. We can see here, moving forward, before we get into John 10, and I hope I'm not taking too long, you know, getting into all this, it's just so much here. If we go to John chapter 8, verses 39 through 47, and this is the Pharisees speaking out against Christ. John chapter 8, speaking out against Christ and to, you know, and at Him. John chapter eight, verses 39 through 47. And we're gonna see here what was prophesied in Genesis three, the seed of the serpent. Here, Christ acknowledges the sea lion, which is pretty evident here. In verse 39, going through verse 47, they answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus said unto them, if you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God. This did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of your father. Then they said to him, We be not born of fornication. We have one father, even God. Jesus said unto them, If God were your father, ye would love me, for I perceived forth and came from God. Neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech, even because ye cannot hear my word? You are of your father the devil, and the lust of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God's words, ye therefore hear them not. because ye are not of God. So moving forward here into chapter 10, John chapter 10, Brother Laird, do you mind reading? No, huh? Great. I'll just get you to read the first 12 verses, and then verses 1 through 12, then I'll have Brother Mark, if he doesn't mind, he can read the other 12 through verses 24, and then I can read the rest. Once you get done reading the first 12 there, Brother Larry, if you just wanna go ahead and make your comments, then Brother Mark can, and then I can make mine, and then we'll just move forward from there if that's okay. Okay, that's good. 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 put forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. And the 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 a 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. Well, it's interesting. It starts out here with the verily, verily, and we've talked about that before, whenever Christ uses those together like that, he's making a very pronounced explanation point. And he's just basically coming against every religion, every pagan religion, every idolatry religion, opposed to himself, and saying that they are things. He goes on and he says that it's interesting because he not only calls his own sheep, he leads them out. I like verse four a lot because it says, when he put forth his own sheep. So that's kind of a picture for us that in John 6.37 it says that all that the Father hath given him, I think that's what that's referring to. is when he put forth his own sheep. His own sheep were put before him before he even called them by the Father. The Father gave them to him. He goeth before them, the sheep follow him, they know his voice. And a stranger they will not follow. Ultimately, all of God's sheep are gonna follow Christ. And he says that in verse eight, all that ever came before me are thieves and robbers. You know, and that means all pagan religions. That means oral traditions. That means those who are propagating any other religion, whether it's the Kabbalah, whether it's the Muslim faith, whether it's the Buddhist faith or Confucianism or anything before Christ that was not upholding him, they're thieves and robbers. And he says that, The notice in verse 12, he that is a hireling, not the shepherd. Interesting because the sheep are not owned by the hireling. I'm glad to know that. Hirelings may try to slaughter the sheep, but the sheep are not owned by the hireling because it says here that he's owned the sheep or not. He might scatter the sheep, but he doesn't own the sheep. So that's pretty much my comments on that beautiful, beautiful rendition of, and you know, Christ came to save his people from their sins, and he did it because they were given to him by the Father before the foundation of the world. That's all I have on that one. Amen. Brother Moore? Yes. Thank you, Brother Carl. God bless you, my brother. God bless all of our saints listening in tonight. May God meet you at the point of your need. I love this. This is one of my favorite chapters. This is what I see here in verse 3, 4, and 5 is an exclusive relationship, Jesus and his sheep. and nobody else is invited to that relationship. And so, the sheep know his voice and they don't listen to anybody else's voice. And so, and then it goes into the hireling and the wolf. The wolf, I like the metaphor of the wolf which could be a hireling, but the wolf shatters the doctrinal unity of the sheep and scatters them. And so that's an interesting metaphor in this scripture here. Yes. Yes. And I just want to say we briefly lost our connection on Facebook. We did not lose our connection on TalkShoe. The weather is kind of bad up here. I don't know if that's causing a problem. But we are back live on Facebook, and so if you guys that lost the connection want to come back aboard, feel free to jump back on. This will be placed on Sermon Audio as well as, you know, it will be on TalkSue as well as all the other, YouTube and all the other platforms. So we're sorry, but I had to jump off and get another signal. Go ahead, Brother Carl. or whoever was speaking, I'm sorry. Okay, yeah, I was just saying how this is a wonderful exclusive relationship in verse three, four, and five, an exclusive relationship between Christ, the shepherd, Christ, the true shepherd of the sheep. and not any hireling, which I feel is most of these false preachers today on the radio and TV. So this is an exclusive relationship between Jesus and his sheep. And in verse four and five, it says, Jesus puts out his sheep and he leads them in front and they follow him because they know his voice. And verse five says, they don't follow the stranger, but will run away from them because they don't know his voice. And so this is a wonderful picture of an exclusive relationship between Jesus and the sheep. Jesus cares for the sheep and sustains them with his love and care and takes care of them and the sheep. turned to him alone and no one else for that test minutes. So it's a wonderful picture of a mutually exclusive relationship between Christ and his sheep and nobody else. All right. Um, yeah. Uh, you know, in chapter eight, which, um, I read from, you know, once we got started, Once Christ gets through telling these religious folks what he gets through telling them, it says in verse 59, then they took up stones to cast at him. But Jesus hid himself and went outside of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. In verse 1 of chapter 9, and as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. This is how our Lord and Savior operates. He takes the foolish things of the world, and the weak things, and the things that are base, like He says, every valley shall be exalted. And He raises up the beggar to set him among princes. And this is who Christ chooses. He passes by these religious people, these Pharisees, and He chooses the blind, and the people with leprosy, and beggars. prostitutes, right, and publicans, and murderers, and thieves. Like, you know, they would see Christ receiving sinners, and they said, look, you know, this man receives sinners, and it's a good thing he does, because he receives me. Amen. Verse 1 of chapter 10, you know, He that enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same as a thief and a robber." If you try to get into the sheepfold, and the sheepfold here being representative of the group of God's elect on behalf, you know, His people that He would save from their sin. You know, if you try to get into the sheepfold any other way, but by through faith in Jesus Christ, through the gospel of Jesus Christ, right, which is salvation by grace alone. If you try to get in any other way, he calls you a thief and a robber. Amen. All right. You know, we're told here in verse 4, and when he put forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him for they know his voice. I believe back in Christ's time, as you would go into the city of Jerusalem, you would put your sheep in a stable, so to speak, with other people's sheep. The shepherd would come along and call these sheep out by name, right? He would speak and the sheep that recognized their master's voice, they followed him. They followed their own shepherd. They would not hear another shepherd that came up and called his sheep and follow this person. They will only follow their shepherd. So just like So this is clearly a picture of God's elect, and we will not follow any other way except Jesus Christ, which is salvation by grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ. You know, Christ goes on to tell us in verse 8, like Brother Larry was saying, all that ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. You know, all other religions I say all other religions. There's only two kind, and I hate to use the word religion, but you have grace in works. You have the gospel of God's free grace through the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ on behalf of his elect. And then you have so-called Christianity, which is basically 99% of the so-called Christian world, which is Arminianism, which is free will idolatry. That is the same thing as Islam. It's the same thing as Roman Catholicism. It's the same thing as Buddhism or Shintoism or any other type of spirituality that you want to name. The gospel of Jesus Christ, salvation by grace alone, it stands by itself. It stands by itself. And this is the door to the sheepfold. This is salvation by grace alone. And we will not follow the voice of another. Even whenever something may captivate our eyes, so to speak, or it may be real enticing to the ears, the Lord will come back with the rod and correct us and put us back on the path. And he will make us follow him. Let's see here. just moving forward. Verse 11, I'm the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is a hireling, verse 12, but he that is a hireling and not the shepherd who's on the sheep are not. See if the wolf come in and leaveth the sheep and fleeeth, and the wolf catcheth them and scattereth the sheep. Clearly this is speaking of false prophets, which are designated here by the hirelings. Um, cause these people only care about money anyway. Um, let's see here. Uh, verse 14, I am the good shepherd and know my sheep and I know my, I know I'm probably getting a little far too ahead here. Yeah. So brother Mark, if you want to pick back up and start reading and if you don't mind, just read down to verse 30 and, or actually, or yeah. Can I jump in before, I wanted to make one comment, and I think you covered it pretty good, but I just wanted to reaffirm in verse 11. That is speaking of particular redemption. You know, if you ever wanna show someone a passage of scripture that shows limited atonement or particular redemption, take them to verse 11. It doesn't say that he gives his life for the whole world, or for all men without exception, it says that he gives his life for the sheep. I just wanted to point that out. For the sheep. Amen. Amen. Yes, sir. It is clearly a descriptive language, like John 3, 16, that whosoever believes shall not perish but have everlasting life. The believing ones there is a descriptive term, just like the sheep here in verse 11 that Christ gives his life for. Amen. Amen. Okay, Brother Mark, if you don't mind, could you just read verses 13 through 28, and then just make your comments, and then Brother Larry can make his, and then I'll read the remaining verses. Very good. Very good. Thank you, Brother Carl. All right. Verse 13 of John 10 in the Authorized King James Version Only. Verse 13, the hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. Verse 14, I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. Verse 15, as the father knoweth me, even so know I the father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. Verse 16, and the 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. Verse 17, therefore doth my father love me because I lay down my life that I might take it again. Verse 18, 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. Verse 19, there was a division Therefore, again, among the Jews for these sayings, verse 20, and many of them said, he hath a devil and is mad. Why hear ye him? Verse 21, others said, these are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind? Verse 22, and it was at Jerusalem, the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. Verse 23, and Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. And verse 24, then came the Jews round about him and said unto him, how long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. And verse 25, 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. Verse 26, but ye believe not because ye are not of my sheep as I said unto you. And here's that statement again, verse 27, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. Verse 28, and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. So, praise God, in verse 13, the hireling is not caring, He's just there to make money, to get his pay. When he sees the wolf coming, he runs because he is a hired hand and he doesn't care about the sheep. It's just a job to him. But verse 14, Jesus says, he is the good shepherd and he knows his sheep and is known of his sheep. And verse 15, the father knows Jesus, and Jesus knows the father, and he lays down his life for the sheep. And in verse 16, Jesus says, I have other sheep, which are of a different fold, but they're his sheep nonetheless, and he's gonna bring them all together, and there's gonna be one fold of sheep, shepherded by one shepherd, Christ. And so, This is why the father loves him in verse 17, because he lays down his life that he might take it up again. And then here in verse 18, this is the power of Christ. No man takes his life from him, but he lays it down of his own will. And he has power to lay it down, and he has the power to take it up. And that is the commandment that he has received of his father. Then in verse 19, this causes a division among the Jews that hear him. And then they, in verse 20, they start saying, he's mad, he's got a devil, why do you listen to him? And others, in verse 21, they believed him. And they said, can one that has a devil, you know, do these things like open the eyes of the blind? And so it was, you know, in verse 22, it was Jerusalem in the wintertime at the Feast of the Dedication. And Jesus, in verse 23, he went to Solomon's porch, and the Jews came around him, in verse 24, and they asked him, how long are you going to make us doubt? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly. And then in verse 25, He says, I told you already, but you don't believe me. And you believed not the works that I do in my father's name, they bear witness of me. And then in verse 26, he says, you don't believe because you're not my sheep, as I said unto you. And then in verse 27 and 28, he reiterates what went before in the chapter, the sheep hear his voice, And because they know his voice and Jesus knows the sheep and they follow Christ only. And Christ in verse 28 gives them eternal life and they shall never perish. And this is the assurance and the surety of salvation. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. I love that. That means Christ is stronger than all and nobody can put one over on him. I love that. I love it. Well, that's really good. That's really good. You know, I was thinking as whether Mark was reading through that, especially in the 15th verse there, well, the 14th verse, I am the good shepherd and know my sheep. You know, and am known of mine. That's really interesting, and unknown to mine. If we look in 2 Timothy 2, 19, we read, nevertheless the foundation of God stands as sure having this seal. The Lord knoweth them that are his, and let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. There's another scripture that says, in Romans, that his spirit beareth witness with our spirit that we're children of God. So this is what the declaration is here, is that not only does he know us, but we know him. And so when he refers, I believe, in 16 to the other sheep, I believe he's referring to the Gentiles there, other sheep I have that are not of this fold. And we see later on in Acts, that as many as were ordained to eternal life believe. When the Gentiles heard this, it says as many as were ordained to eternal life believe. I believe he's referring to the Gentiles there. And then also it says that, I like this, I'm not gonna go through every verse on this, but I like this when it says, then came the Jews round about and said to them, how long dost thou make us to doubt? You know, a lot of atheists today will say, well, Jesus never proclaimed that he was the eternal son of God. That is just not true. It's not true at all. In fact, back in the ninth chapter of John, this is after there was a healing there, and Jesus talking to him a little bit later, if you look in verses 36, Jesus, he had cast him out, they'd cast him out, and he says in verse 35, Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and when he had found him, he said unto him, dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and said, who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? Now this is Jesus proclaiming who he is, the Son of God. And Jesus said unto him, thou hast both seen him and it is he that talketh with thee. Jesus is proclaiming that he is the Son of God here, okay? And so those that say that Jesus never proclaimed that he was the eternal Son of God, he said it many, many times. He said, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father, okay? And he goes and he says that you believe on him who gave you everlasting life, So God has proclaimed through Jesus Christ that he is the eternal son of God, and the atheists and the agnostics and the other religionists wanna deny that he affirmed that, in fact, that's who he was. He even said it prior to going to the cross. Pilate asked him, he said, are you a king? And he said, thou sayest. In other words, you said it right. You said it right, I am a king. And so this is really quite a passage here. Notice he also proclaims what he's done in that last verse of 28. I give unto them, and he's speaking of all of his sheep, both Jew and Gentile, I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. That's a beautiful, beautiful affirmation of the final perseverance of the saints, the preservation of God's people, and the fact that he doesn't give them temporary life, but he gives them eternal life, and no one is able to take them out of his hand or his father's hand. He uses the word pluck, like plucking the feathers out of a rooster, okay? So that's my comment on that, and I'll turn it back to you, Brother Carl. Yes, sir. You know, in the preceding chapters, John 3, just off top of my head, John 3, John 6, John 8 and 9, we're taught that it is the will and the work of the Father in heaven that we believe on him who he has sent. Christ teaches Nicodemus in the third chapter of John that this is a work of the Holy Spirit causing us to be born again. And that this is by the sovereign decree and choice of God who he bestows this—who he causes the new birth to happen to. And three of—and some of the most—one of the most frightening passages in Scripture is found in Matthew chapter 7. I'll read verses 21, 22, and 23. Matthew 7, verse 21, not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my father, which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, are we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works. And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity. We're told in John I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine." So the ones that Christ casts off here in the 23rd verse of John 7, that claim to have done all these miracles in His name, that He tells them to depart from Him, that He never knew them, these are the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction. There's only two types of people in the world, the lost, which will be found by our blessed Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, because what does He tell us that He came in the world to do? He says that he came to seek out and find that which was lost. And this is a work, this is a work of our sovereign Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on behalf of his elect from start to finish. And men, they absolutely hate it. They absolutely hate it. And as we'll see here and continue reading, you know, they will pick up stones to stone him. What Christ is doing here is preaching the gospel to these people. He's preaching salvation through him by grace alone. And they hate it. It's just like people do today. They hate it. Let's see here. Verse 25. Verse 24, Then came the Jews round about him and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? Dost thou be the Christ? Tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believe not. The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness unto me. He's done told them in John 6 once before why they didn't believe. And the works that he's talking about here, it's like the first scroll in Isaiah that he reads whenever he goes to the synagogue on Passover, I think it is, and reads. he begins reciting his own word that he gave to the prophet Isaiah, where he says that he come to set the captives free. And these works that he's done in the Father's name, he has performed these miracles that were prophesied of him in the Old Testament scripture. But these people that he's referring to, these religious people, these Pharisees, that's Father is Satan, They are not his sheep. They can't see any of these things because they're blinded to it. He tells them in verse 25, I told you, and you believe not the works that I do in my father's name, they bear witness in me. And then he goes on to tell them why they don't believe. Verse 26, but you believe not because you are not of my sheep as I said unto you. And this is so offensive to people. They do not, They don't – they hate – men hate the fact that God is God. They think that they can demand salvation and demand mercy and grace from God. It just blows my mind. In verse 27, he says, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. This is an intimate knowledge. This is a more intimate knowledge than a man knowing his wife. I mean, this is an intimacy and knowledge of his elect that we're probably going to spend all of eternity, whatever that means, coming to understanding of it. Um, he says in verse 28, and I give unto them eternal life. You know, if you could lose it in some way or forfeit it, it wouldn't be eternal life. You know, he says, and I, and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. So we can't do anything of our so-called autonomous free will to make ourselves perish. We can. And, and I, and, and I don't say that. And we don't believe that, and we don't embrace some type of antinomianism whenever we say that. That's not what we're doing. What we're doing whenever we hold a scripture like this, we are claiming that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is just who He claimed to be, Lord and Savior. He has saved His people, and He is King of everything. Right? And we can never perish, and neither can somebody come along and pluck us out of his hand. His father, verse 29, my father which gave them to me, here's the divine covenant being described. You know, I mean, my father which gave them to me, the father gave the son in the divine covenant a group of people to save. 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." I mean, just incredible. And if anybody else has any more comments, go ahead, and then I'll just pick up from verse 29 and read on down. Very well said, brother. Very well said. Absolutely. And just two verses there in Romans 8, which just reaffirms it again, in Romans 8, 38 and 39, 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 creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. Amen. All righty. Yeah, thank you, Brother Larry. Yes, sir. Thank you so much. All right, I'll just pick up here in verse 29 and read on down through 42. Verse 29, my father which gave in 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. Jesus answered them, many good works have I shewed you from my father, for which of those works do you stone me? The Jews answered him saying, for a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, you are gods? If he called them gods unto whom the word of God came and the scripture cannot be broken, say you of him whom the father had sanctified and sent into the world, thou blasphemous, because I said, I am the son of God. If I do not the works of my father, believe me not. But if I do, though you believe not 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 take him, But he escaped out of their hand and went away again beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized. And there he abode. And many resorted unto him and said, John did no miracle, but all things that John spake of this man were true. And many believed on him there." All righty. Let's see here. You know, they asked him in verse 24, they asked him again, they said, 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? Well, he tells them plainly enough here in verse 30. Then he goes on in verse 36 to proclaim it even more plain. In verse 30, he says, I and my Father are one. Verse 31, then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. So anybody who claims that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ did not claim to be God, clearly has not read scripture. Clearly they haven't, because he does time and time again. He goes on to tell them, and I'm just going to focus on verses 34 through 36. This seems to be pretty tricky for people. It's pretty, you know, and I love, you know, by the grace of God, opening up the scripture and learning, you know, and, you know, coming together with you brothers in fellowship and allowing the good Lord to show us, to open up the truth that is his word to us. And Jesus answered them, and he says, Jesus answered them, is it not written in your law? I said, you're gods. If he called him God unto whom the word of God came, the scripture cannot be broken. Say ye of him whom the father has sanctified and sent into the world, thou blasphemous, because I am the son of God. I've heard several, there's, you know, several popular expositions of this scripture here, or exegesis of these scriptures here. The way that I sort of see it, and I know it could be in reference to the judges, is what some people say, or the divine counsel, but the way that I see it here, and brothers, please correct me if I'm wrong and help me understand here, But he says, if he called them gods unto whom the Word of God came, and the Scripture cannot be broken, well, who did the Word of God come to? Well, who is the Word of God? Well, the Word of God is Him that is talking to these people. It's our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Well, who did He come to? You know, we're told over and over again in the Old Testament through the prophets, and the Word of the Lord came to the prophet Jeremiah. The Word of the Lord came to Moses, or the Word of the Lord appeared unto Abraham. The Word of the Lord came unto Elijah, and Ezekiel, and Isaiah, and Hosea, and Amos, and John, and on and on and on. So the Word of God, the Word of God brings eternal life. So I believe what this is, what this is in reference here to is Jesus Christ, the ones that He appeared to, and bestowed grace upon, and caused them to believe in Him, because of the gift of eternal life that that brings forth, He is calling them more than human, so to speak, in eternity with him, because they are given eternal life through his substitutionary atonement on the cursed tree. And he goes on to say in verse 36, say ye of him, which is Christ, which is him, whom the Father has sanctified, the word of God itself, and sent into the world, thou blasphemous, because I said, I am, here's a divine name, I am, the Son of God. Yeah, I believe that he declared it pretty plainly to them here, and they did not like it. And like today, whenever you preach the gospel to people, it offends them, that people do not want to hear. You know, people love this man-centered gospel, which says that, you know, there's something special about us. and that God looked down from heaven and desired a relationship with us so bad that he sent Jesus into the world to die for us and that we should give him a try. All right, that's what everybody preaches, and that's a lie from the pit of hell. It is. That's a man-centered gospel. The gospel of Jesus Christ says that we are all sinners, all dead in sin, and we all deserve to die and go to hell. But God, because he is willing to show his mercy and goodness, has chosen to save some. And this is his divine decree, right? And that we don't deserve any of it. All right. That is the gospel of, that is the gospel of Jesus Christ. That salvation is totally of the Lord. And it's a finished work that we can't put our hands to. And men hate this. That's why these people, when they hear this, they take up stones to stone him. Um, but like he, but you know, like he tells them, you know, he, No man takes his life from him, but he gives it up willingly for the sheep, for his elect. And as we see here, like many times before and a few more after here, it says that he escaped out of their hand. And that's all that I have right now, so I'll just pass it on. I'll just let you guys take it from here. Well, I do have a comment, and then I'll let Brother Mark kind of finish up. That has always been really interesting to me as well, that 34th and 35th verse there. I think that the answer, a clue of the answer can be found back in the 82nd Psalm. He says, I'm reading in the first verse, God standeth in the congregation of the mighty, he judgeth among the gods. And then he goes on and he says, And he's actually quoting, in this passage that you're quoting, he's quoting the Psalms, because he says in the sixth verse, I have said ye are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High. So I think what he's referring to there is that, he goes on, he says you shall die like men and fall like one of the princes. Arise, O God, just the earth, for thou shalt inherit all nations. So I think this reference to you are gods, all of you are the children of the Most High, is going back and even referring to prior to the fall. And I've often, I hope I'm not too wordy, but, you know, when he says, and if we could just look briefly at Genesis 1, he says in verse 26, And God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, and the image of God created him, male and female created he them. So I think that this is referring to the fact that they are created by God, and that he refers to them in Psalms 82, that I have said to your gods and all of you are the children of the most high, meaning that they were all created by God. And then finally, I think we can see another hint of that in Romans 13. One, let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. Let every soul. said to some of the higher powers, for there is no power but God. The powers that be are ordained of God. So that would be, I guess, my response to that passage. I'll turn it over to Brother Mark. Thank you, Brother Eric. God bless you. Yes, this is such a wonderful chapter. And, you know, I think that they, I think the false preachers ignore this chapter, just like they ignore Romans 9. They just can't deal with it. So in 28, he says that no one can pluck him out of his hand, Jesus saying. And then in 29, he goes again, one step further. And not only that, but no man can pluck them out of my Father's hand." So that to me says that Jesus has a grip on us and the Father has a grip on us. And here it is in verse 30, Him and His Father are one. So if we're in Jesus' hand, we're in the Father's hand. Because right here in verse 30, Jesus says that He and His Father are one. That is, I find that so comforting. And so then in verse 31, the Jews got mad at him again, pick up stones to stone him. And then in verse 32, he goes, you know, what is your problem? What works, what good work have I done that you are stoning me for? And then in verse 33 and 34, you know, Jesus said, they say, not for a good work we're stoned. We're not stoning you because of a good work, but because you, a mere man, are claiming to be God. And then in verse 34 to 38, I agree that these are referencing the chosen prophets that God used to accomplish his sovereign will in the earth. you know, the ye are God thing. I agree with that. I agree with that informed analysis that it is referring to the ones that God used to accomplish his sovereign will from the beginning of the old covenant all the way up through the new covenant, like all the ones that you mentioned, Brother Carl, Moses, Elijah, and everybody else. That's wonderful. And so, and then he says, In verse, you know, 36 and 37, you know, that's the continued reference, you know, to the Son of God. And so he's saying in 37, if I don't do the works of the Father, don't believe me. But if he does, and then in verse 38, if I do do the works of the Father, you know, believe the works. on their own merit that you may know and believe that I am that the father is in me and I in him like he said in verse uh 30 I and the father are one and so again they got mad and and tried to get him and and again he escaped out of their hand and he went beyond the Jordan into the place where John at first baptized and he stayed there for a while and so many you know went to him there and said, John did no miracle, but all things that John spake of this man were true. And so the chapter closes out that many believed on him there at that place. This is such a wonderful chapter, so much comfort, and it gets short shrift from all these false teachers. They just can't deal with it. Amen. You know, people just, you know, they just stick their hand in God's, you know, they just stick their fist in God's face continually and, you know, say, you know, you know what, I won't have you rule over me, but make no mistake about it. We're, you know, we're all going to bow. We're all going to bow. I'm just going to, I'm going to read just a small, just about a paragraph here. from a book, and the name of it is called The True Gospel of Christ's Saving Death, The Theological Primer on Particular Atonement. And it's by Sonny Hernandez. And this is what I'm gonna read from it. The sheep of Christ will follow their master. The ones that do not follow him will follow the voice of strangers, which is something the sheep of God will not do. The sheep who hear, know, and follow their Savior are the recipients of the internal inheritance that is promised to the elect. Everlasting salvation is the eternal destiny of every believer, and nothing can take this away from them. This is a blessing to the elect of God. The ones that the Father had given for Christ will never, ever, not even a possibility, ever perish, and nothing will ever be able to pluck them out of the Father's hand in the future. And I'm gonna read something from the eighth chapter of Romans, 28 down through 34. Verse 28. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called. And whom he called, then he also justified. and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things if God before us, who can be against us, he that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justify. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. Yeah, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. You know, I love how in verse 28 it says here, you know, all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called, according to his purpose. And this is a descriptive language here, who are the called. These are the same ones in verse 32, he that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. Not everybody that's ever lived, but us all the believing ones, the called, the sheep of Jesus Christ, the elect of God. And I'll just say that I sure did enjoy it tonight. I love this 10th chapter of John, and I love the fact that we are told so plainly in scripture for our comfort, you know, that salvation is a finished work. It is a finished work from before the foundation of the world, and we dare not put our hands to it, nor do we desire to. And I'll just close with a quote by Martin Luther and let Brother Larry and Brother Mark there see us on out of here. I tell everybody, you know, God bless everybody that was listening. And I'll just close with a quote by Martin Luther, peace if possible and truth at all costs. Amen. Amen, brother. Very well said. Yeah, that was very good. I really enjoyed that. Enjoyed that a lot, brother. I appreciate your laboring and bringing that to us. And it never gets old. The gospel never gets old. It's always fresh, you know. And I believe we'll be proclaiming the gospel throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity, even in heaven. Worthy is the land that was claimed, you know? Amen, amen. That's wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. I never get tired of hearing the gospel of grace. I was thinking when you were talking about how exclusive it's speaking of regarding God's elect, that same thing is in the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, when it says, who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? And then it goes on and says who is revealed to. He hath borne our griefs. He's carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. And he was, He was, in verse eight, it says, who shall be taken from prison? He was taken from prison and from judgment. Who shall declare his generations? For he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people was he stricken. For my people was he stricken. Speaking of God's elect. And it says he shall, I'm reading verse 10. see his seed, his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the place of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. And then he says in verse 11, it's not universal salvation, because he said, he shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied by his knowledge, shall my righteous servant justify many, not all, and he shall bear their iniquities. So you're absolutely right on. This is speaking of God's elect and his elect alone. Thank you so much for this tonight. Brother Carl, you have any, or Mark, do you have any final thoughts? This is, yeah, Bruce. Saints of God, and I agree, I never get tired of hearing the grace of this wonderful truth in the gospel. Yeah, it's, They used to sing a song in the Armenian churches as I was coming up, tell me the story of Jesus. Write on my heart every word. The problem is they didn't give every word. They gave a partial gospel. Write on my heart every word. Tell me the story most precious, sweetest that ever was heard. But if you start talking to those folks about the sweet story of election and predestination and preservation, they wanna, throw you out of the synagogue, so to speak. Anyway, I really have appreciated this. I appreciate all the guests. We have had a couple new that have come on again. Glenda Busby-Trotter and Andrea Barrows, and all the former guests that we had on, we appreciate you much. I wanna remind everyone that we're having a talk show tomorrow night, and it's gonna be regarding the It's gonna be, I'm sorry, I just got a message here. Yeah, just a request for prayer. A mother requests prayer in how to deal with her children. But anyway, tomorrow night we're gonna be talking about original sin, which is very clearly spelled out in the fifth chapter of Romans and many, many other places. And we're gonna, refute the psychology, humanistic teaching of the blank slate theory, and we're gonna see why it's so relevant, and why if you don't hold to the doctrine of original sin, you cannot subscribe to any of the other five points of the biblical doctrines, and we'll get into that. Wednesday night we're gonna continue in, I think we're ready for chapter 29, In the book, God does not love everyone, but he does love his elect from everlasting to everlasting. Thursday night, Brother Mark and Brother Carl are going to be leading our fellowship call. And if you guys come up with a particular theme for that call, let me know and I'll let everybody know when we make the announcement. And that's pretty much it for this evening. I hope you all have a blessed week. And so any final comments before we close out? I just want to say God bless all of our saints listening in tonight, wherever you are. Brother Ashley, everyone, God bless you and keep you by the power of his word. Amen. Well, with that, again, I want to thank Brother Carl and Brother Mark today. I've really enjoyed this. Next Sunday, we'll be going back. You'll have to put up with me for moderator next Sunday, but Sunday night, Brother Mark will be back with us, and then the following Sunday morning, Brother Ed will be the moderator, and we'll just keep the circle going, the cycle going, however you wanna say it. With that, I'm gonna say goodnight. You all have a good week. God bless. Till tomorrow night. God bless. Love everybody. Love you. Love you.