1. Division (verses 19-24)
2. Disbelief (verses 25-26)
3. Belief (verses 27-30)

One of the themes of chapter 10 is the voice of the shepherd. As I have preached through this passage, I have used several illustrations about the voice of the shepherd.

Two weeks ago, I spoke my whistle to my children. Wherever they are, however far away they may be, however loud the place we are in, If I can see my children, I can always get their attention by whistling to them. Last week, I spoke about the voices of my childhood pastors. I looked them up on the internet and listened to a few of their sermons. Though I haven’t spoken with either of them in decades, I can still recognize their voice. I can still remember how they addressed the congregation.

In our text this morning, Jesus will continue to speak about the voice of the shepherd. He will say in verse 27, “My sheep hear my voice.” This is where I have derived the title of my message this morning: “My Sheep Hear My Voice.”

Now, as I have used these illustrations, about my whistle, and about my childhood pastors, several of you have come up to me and expressed a similar experience. After speaking about my whistle, Michelle told me how her father used to do the same thing. When he wanted the attention of his children, he would whistle loudly, and his whole family would know that he wanted everyone’s attention.

What is also interesting is that Michelle said that my whistle, though like her fathers, was different than her father's. It had the same sort of sing-song. But it was different. So, when she heard me whistle, something resonated inside of her, like that was her dad, but it was different enough, that she knew it wasn’t her dad. “My sheep hear my voice.”

My wife has also spoken with me about the experience that she used to have when she comes to the groomer with our dog. First of all, our dog hates the groomer. Every time that she is brought to the groomer, Autumn is shaking in the car. I’m not sure exactly what they do behind the closed doors at the groomer with her, but somehow, she doesn’t much like it.

Anyway, Yvonne told me that when she comes to pick up Autumn at the groomer’s, she often has the same experience. Yvonne walks in the door and says something like, “I have come to pick up Autumn.” Behind the door, our dog hears Yvonne’s voice and begins to bark wildly. as if to say, “I’m here! I’m here! Don’t leave without me!” Since our dog is now some 13 years old, as deaf as can be, it doesn’t happen now, but it used to. “My sheep hear my voice.”

Todd has also spoken with me about something similar. When he was serving a tour of duty in Iraq, he said that he observed the behavior of the Iraqi shepherds. They didn’t speak to their sheep with their voices. Instead, they had these sticks, that made a specific sort of clicking noise when they were banged together. Depending upon how long these sticks were, the pitch of them would be different. Longer sticks made a lower sound. Shorter sticks would make a higher sound.

Todd told me that he observed these shepherds, walking into a crowd of sheep, and click these sticks together, and when they did, their sheep would come and follow after them. He also told me that this was true of camels. Though they be far away, their sense of hearing was such, that if the shepherd clicked his sticks together, they would come to him. “My sheep hear my voice.”

The main application of my message is simple: Do you hear the voice of Jesus? If so, you are his sheep. If not, you are not his sheep.

Now, when I talk about hearing the voice of Jesus, I’m not talking about an audible voice of Jesus that you hear. Those who walked with Jesus heard the actual voice of Jesus in their ears. But for us today it’s different. Today, we don’t hear his audible voice, rather, we hear him in the Scriptures. We hear him talking in the book of John.

My application for you this morning is simple: When you read (or hear) the words of Jesus in the Bible, do you respond in faith? Do you respond in obedience?

Your response will dictate whether or not you are one of the sheep of Jesus. I so want all of you to be one of his sheep. May the Lord open the ears of you all! Consider the first verse of our text:

John 10:19
There was again a division among the Jews because of these words.

“These words” refer back to what Jesus said in the first 18 verses. So, before we read our whole text, it would be helpful for us to begin reading at verse 1. Jesus begins the chapter with a “figure of speech” (verse 6). telling about the sheepfold, and how the shepherd enters by the door, and calls for his sheep, and they come to him. The sheep will not respond to the voice of a stranger. But they will respond to the voice of their shepherd.

If you remember, we used this illustration of a sheepfold, which many of you have told me helped to open up the meaning of this passage for you. The sheepfold was an enclosure for the sheep, which has a single entrance in and out. The shepherd would guard the entrance, only letting his sheep in and out, effectively becoming the door to the sheepfold, himself.

John 10:1-6
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

Then, Jesus continued on in verse 7, describing himself as the door of the sheep, through which those who enter by it will be saved (verse 9).

John 10:7-10
So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Jesus described himself as the shepherd who sits at the entrance of the sheepfold, through which the sheep will go out to find the green pasture, where they will go to feed and find the good life. Jesus promises to all who believe in him, that they would be saved (verse 9), and have the abundant life (verse 10).

Then Jesus continued on to describe himself as the “good shepherd,” who lays down his life for the sheep. This is verse 11,

John 10:11
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

A shepherd will do all to protect his sheep, even as David fought lions and bears to protect his sheep. Jesus contrasts this with the hired hand.

John 10:12-13
He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

But Jesus affirms that he’s not like a hired hand, who cares only for himself. Jesus is like a shepherd, who gives himself for the sheep.

John 10:14-15
I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.

This, of course, is what Jesus did. He died on the cross as our substitute. He died in our place, so that we may live. This is where the gospel of John is headed. It’s headed toward his death, where Jesus finished the work of redemption on our behalf. even for us, who live some 2,000 years after his death.

In verse 16, Jesus shows how expansive is the application of his sacrifice.

John 10:16
And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

Jesus is describing here the many folds that will come into his one flock. I think he’s describing the many churches, that all comprise the universal church of Christ over all the earth.

Then, Jesus finishes his words in verses 17 and 18, by describing his sovereignty over his sacrifice upon the cross.

John 10:17-18
For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.

Jesus wasn’t surprised in any way that he died upon the cross. He willingly laid down his life for the sheep. Jesus knew that he had the authority to “take it up again,” which is a reference to the resurrection that we will celebrate in a few weeks.
__________

Well, now we arrive at our text, in verse 19, which begins with a conflict between Jesus and the Jews, and ends with one of the greatest statements about the eternal security of those who believe in Jesus that is found anywhere in the entire Bible.

Consider our text:

John 10:19-30
There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?” Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.”

Let’s look at our first point this morning: I’m calling it, 

1. Division (verses 19-24)

That’s what we see in verses 19-21. Look there in verse 19,

John 10:19
There was again a division among the Jews because of these words.

This was nothing new in the ministry of Jesus. As he went out and performed his signs, there was often a division over his words. This is most clearly seen in chapter 7, when Jesus was at the Feast of Booths.

Our picture for John 7 is a question mark, because people weren’t quite sure who Jesus was. They were divided in their opinion of him. Some said this, and some said that.

John 7:40-44
Some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” So there was a division among the people over him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

So, this division over Jesus was no new thing. Some saw him as the Christ, the one who had come to save. Others hated him and wanted him killed. We saw another division in John, chapter 9, after Jesus healed the man born blind.

John 9:16
Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them.

This is the same sort of division that we see in chapter 10 in verses 20 and 21. Some will argue against him. Others will refute their claims:

John 10:20-21
Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?” Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

Some thought he was a crazy man! But others pointed out that a crazy man can’t do miracles like Jesus did. He opened the eyes of a man born blind! (which John told about in chapter 9). The division is left unresolved among the crowds.

Then, in verse 22, we come to a change in scenery.

John 10:22
At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter,

This is now the third feast that John mentions in his gospel. The first feast was mentioned in chapter 2:13, which was the Passover, which took place every Spring. "The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem" (John 2:13). The narrative continues by telling us of how Jesus entered the temple and overturning the tables of the money-changers, saying, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade” (John 2:16).

The Passover is also mentioned again in chapter 6, in conjunction with Jesus feeding the 5,000. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand (John 6:4).This was a different Passover, as Jesus was in Galilee during this time.

The second feast that John mentions is the “Feast of Booths.” This is mentioned in John 7:2, "Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand." The Feast of Booths took place in the Fall. It may well be that all of the events of John 7-10 took place around that time.

But now, in verse 22, we have our third feast mentioned: The Feast of Dedication. Another name for this feast is “Hanukkah.” This is the Jewish holiday celebrated around Christmastime. That’s consistent with John’s statement in verse 22, “It was winter.”

Hanukkah celebrates the historical victory of the Maccabees over the Greeks, during which the temple was rededicated. Center to the celebration is the lighting of the candles on the Hanukkah Menorah.

Historically, the temple needed to be rededicated because it had desecrated by Antiochus Epiphanes in the 2nd century before Christ. Antiochus Epiphanes set up an alter to Zeus inside the temple. He also sacrificed pigs on the altar of the Jews, even forcing the high priest and others to eat the swine’s flesh. Furthermore, he put out the flame on the lamp in the holy place, the lamp which God commanded to always burn with a flame.

This was called, “The abomination of desolation,” as all of these acts were detestable to the Jews. God had commanded that he alone be worshiped, not the pantheon of the Greek gods. According to Jewish law, pigs were unclean animals, which the Jews were forbidden to eat, and never told to sacrifice. And the lamp was to give its light forever, throughout the generations of the Jews.

Hanukkah celebrates the victory of the Jews in 164 BC, when Judas Maccabeus led the revolt against the Greeks, and reclaimed the temple, removing the foreign altars, setting a flame upon the lamp stand once again.

The light and the lamp stand is central to the celebration of Hanukkah. Because, according to tradition, when the temple was rededicated after the revolt, there was just one day’s supply of oil. Yet, miraculously, it burned for 8 days, giving time for more oil to be prepared to keep the lamp burning in the temple in perpetuity.

That’s why the Hanukkah Menorah (or candle-holder) is at the center of the celebration. It consists of nine candles, four on the left, four on the right, and one candle lifted higher than the rest right in the middle. These candles are lit one by one each night of the feast. Jews still celebrate this feast today.

Anyway, it was at this feast, that Jesus was in the temple. That means that there was probably a gap of time between verse 21 and verse 22. Verse 21 may have been during the fall at the Feast of Booths, while verse 22 brings us to the wintertime. Yet, the tension and the division among the Jews still exists. We read in verse 23,

John 10:23
and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon.

The colonnade of Solomon was a place in the temple where there were a bunch of columns. It’s where Peter preached following his healing of the lame man as recorded in Acts, chapter 3.

John 10:24
So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

Feel the drama of the scene! There was a division among the people. The tension is still in the air.

In recent days, I have been watching some Alfred Hitchcock movies with my youngest son. One of the things that Hitchcock was known for is “suspense.” One writer says it this way, “The Hitchcockian mode of filmmaking involves the maximum use of suspense to keep viewers in a heightened state of anxiety.” Then he quotes Hitchcock himself, “There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it.”^[1]

I remember watching one movie, I think it was “Notorious,” where the suspense was so high that I couldn’t sit and watch. I needed to stand and pace around as the suspense continued to heighten. That’s the sense here in verse 24. There is high tension in the air:

John 10:24
So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

Jesus answered them in verse 25 and 26,

John 10:25-26
Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.

This is my second point:

2. Disbelief (verses 25-26)

We go from "Division" (verses 19-24) to "Disbelief" (verses 25-26). We see this in how Jesus answered them:

John 10:25
“I told you, and you do not believe”

This begs the question, “When did Jesus tell them?” This is the question, because you will look throughout the gospel of John in vain if you are trying to find a chapter and a verse in which Jesus tells the Jews, “I am the Christ.”

Jesus said this privately to the woman at the well. Do you remember this? It’s in chapter 4, when she speaks about the Messiah coming. Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he” (John 4:26). Yet, this was only privately. It was not a public statement to the Jews. The Jews were wanting something public, something clear.

Knowing about the Jews, it was not so that they might believe in him as the Messiah, it’s so that they might have further reason to condemn him. We saw this in John, chapter 5, when Jesus healed lame man at the pool of Bethesda. Jesus healed the man, a clear sign of his power and authority. Yet the Jews wanted to kill him, "because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God" (John 5:18).

We also saw the hatred of the Jews in John, chapter 9, when Jesus healed the man born blind. Jesus spit on the ground, made a bit of mud, anointed the man’s eyes, and told him to wash. When he washed he “came back seeing” (John 9:7). Yet the Jews didn’t believe in Jesus at that moment. Rather, they called him a sinner (John 9:24), and were putting out from the synagogue all who confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah.

So, I don’t believe that this in question of 24 is really a legitimate question. They don’t really want to know if Jesus is the Messiah to worship him. They want to know if he claims to be the Messiah so that they would have ammunition to destroy him.

I think that this is why Jesus was coy about his identity, not telling them plainly that he was the Christ. Instead, he went about a more indirect way of claiming so. So, Jesus isn’t being deceitful in verse 25 when he said, “I told you, and you do not believe.” Rather, Jesus is being wise. He’s letting his actions speak for themselves. That’s the point of the second half of verse 25,

John 10:25
The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me.

Jesus spoke through the works that he did, changing the water into wine (chapter 2), healing the royal official’s son (chapter 4), healing the lame man (chapter 5), feeding the 5,000 (chapter 6), walking on water (chapter 6), healing the man born blind (chapter 9). These testify about him. “The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me,”

This is what he said in chapter 5, "the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me" (John 5:36). The works of Jesus bear witness that Jesus is the Messiah, sent from God.

This is the way that the gospel of John is written. Do you remember the purpose of the gospel of John? "Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name (John 20:30-31).

This is how Jesus planned it. It was not merely what Jesus said, it was also the works that he did that should lead us to believe. But here we see their disbelief. Then, in verse 26, we see Jesus telling them why they don’t believe.

John 10:26
but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.

In other words, they don’t believe because of who they are! They are not among the sheep of Jesus. So when the voice of the shepherd speaks, they don’t hear that voice, because they are not of the fold of Jesus.

Remember my illustrations? The whistle: Oh, they hear the whistle, but they don’t know the Brandon protocol when I whistle. Our dog at the groomer: Oh, the other dogs hear Yvonne’s voice, but they don’t respond like our dog does to Yvonne’s voice. The clicking of the sticks by the Iraqi shepherds: Oh, they hear the clicks, but they don’t respond, because they aren’t of that sheepfold.

So when Jesus speaks (or does his signs), those who aren’t his sheep are hard to him. On the contrary, Jesus says in verse 27,

John 10:27
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

This is my third (and last point) this morning:

3. Belief (verses 27-30)

When Jesus speaks, he says that his sheep listen, and they believe, and they follow after Jesus.

Now want for you to catch how Jesus says this. He doesn’t say, “Those who listen to what I say and who believe in me and follow after me will be my sheep.” as if to say that as a result of your believing you will become one of the sheep of Jesus.

Now, it’s not that this is not true. John’s purpose in writing his gospel is that you come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing (as a result of what you read and hear), you may have life in his name. This is the gospel call: that all who believe in Jesus will eternal life.

But this isn’t how Jesus says it here. Jesus says that he calls out among all the sheep, and those of his fold will come. The Jews who gathered around him and questioned him, were not of his fold. Jesus spoke, but they didn’t respond. Rather, Jesus says,

John 10:27
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

Here, Jesus says that the response of the people demonstrated of what fold they were in, whether they were in his fold or not. There is much application for us here.

First of all, regarding our evangelism. If you are speaking with people about Jesus, what do you need to do? You need to get the voice of Jesus out there for others to hear. If those who hear you speak are his sheep, what will they do? The will respond. The will hear the voice of Jesus through your words. They will come. But if they are not his sheep, they will not come, just like in the days of Jesus. How much did Jesus speak and those who were not his sheep heard, but they didn't respond?

So, in your evangelism, be comforted. You simply need to share the gospel of Christ. You whistle or you call or you strike the sticks. And if they are true sheep, they will come. This is what Jesus is saying here.

Perhaps the greatest application is the main application of our text: Do you hear the voice of Jesus? Consider the following passages from the gospel of John, which all speak about faith.

John 1:12-13
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 1:29
John said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"

John 4:39-41
Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word.

John 6:35
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst."

John 7:38
Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, "Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."

John 8:12
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

The Gospel of John relentlessly calls us to believe in Jesus. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He is the bread of life, of whom eating from him will satisfy us eternally. Faith in Jesus will produce a stream of living water that gushes out of our souls. Jesus is the light that gives us direction in life.

Do these sorts of images stir your heart to faith in him? Do they resonate with you? In other words, do you hear his voice?

If you do, I have some very comforting words for you:

John 10:28-30
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.

This is the promise of eternal security. When you believe in Jesus, you are kept eternally secure in the hand of Jesus. You are kept eternally secure in the hand of the Father. There are some who believe that you can lose your salvation. I don't believe this at all. To believe so is to believe that the grip of Jesus upon the life of a believer isn't strong enough to grip forever. But (according to verses 28 and 29), nobody is able to snatch a believer out of the hand of the Father or the Son.

Try as he might, all of Satan’s attempts to grab you out of the hand of the Father’s hand will be futile Because, Jesus says, “no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” You are secure in his hands. He will keep you and protect you and preserve you until the end.

Jude 24-25
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.Now to him

He is able to keep us and guard us and protect us. Nobody is able to snatch a believer out of the Father's hand.

Picture with me a coin. If I put that coin in my hand, and I come up to a three year old, and I ask that three year old if he can take the coin out of my hand. There is just no way that a three year-old is strong enough to take the coin out of my hand if I am determined to keep the child from doing so. Satan is like a three year-old when it comes to ungripping a believer in Jesus from the Father’s hand. When you are a child of God, there is nothing that can take you away from the Lord’s grip.

The question isn't really, "Can a Christian lose his salvation?" The better question is, "Will God ever let a believer out of the grasp of his hand?" Read the promise again:

John 10:28
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.

There are plenty of Bible passages that say much the same thing:

Romans 8:1
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

This means that the sentence has been passed. Through faith in Jesus, you have been declared to be innocent at the throne of Christ. You don't stand in double-jeopardy. You cannot be declared guilty later.

Romans 8:38-39
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Nothing will separate us from the love of God. So if God's love is toward us, then he will never let go of his grip upon our lives.

1 Peter 1:3-5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

How does God keep us? He keeps us believing. The one who endures until the end will be saved. God protects us so that we believe until the end.

This week I heard an illustration that helps to make it clear.

Have you ever seen a monkey hold on to his mother? The monkey is on the back of his mother and or on the stomach, clinging closely to his mother. The monkey has the death grip around the mother so much that through the mother's walking and swinging through the trees, the baby monkey stays attached to his mother. This is a picture of our faith. I call it “Monkey Faith.”

We cling to the Lord. With all of our might we hold on. Through trails and troubles and difficulties and hardships, we cling to the Lord. This is Peter, John 6:68 “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Peter clings to the Lord. "Monkey Faith" is Psalm 73:25, "Whom have I in heaven but you?" I have nothing else besides the Lord. It is to him that I cling with all of my might.

"Monkey Faith" is a true faith in the Bible. But this isn't the faith talked about here in John 10 in our passage this morning.

But there’s another way that we relate to the Lord in faith. It’s called “Cat faith.” Have you ever seen how a cat carries her kitten? She grabs them by the scruff of the neck, and holds them tight. This is what John 10 is talking about. It talks about "Cat Faith." It speaks of God holding on to us.

I love how the Bible teaches both of these things. From the human perspective, we are like the monkey. From God's perspective, he is like the momma cat. "Monkey Faith" is our experiential reality. But "Cat Faith" is the more ultimate reality. Consider the following verse:

Psalm 63:8
My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.

This is both sides of our faith. We cling to the Lord. He upholds us. But our text today is talking about "Cat Faith."

You might have an objection in your mind, like Judas. He definitely fell away. This did not catch Jesus by surprise. He prayed this to his heavenly Father, "While I was with them, I kept them in your name." This is Jesus talking about "Cat Faith." Jesus continues speaking about his disciples, "which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled" (John 17:12).

There was one among his disciple who was lost. But it was not like he tried to keep him in his hand, only to be overcome by the power of Satan. Jesus knew full well, even from the beginning, who it was that would betray him and fall away. Jesus kept his 11 disciples in the faith through "Cat Faith." He knew that Judas wasn't one of his sheep. Judas heard Jesus, but didn't discern the voice of Jesus to be his master to be followed after.

Our text today is talking about "Cat Faith."

John 10:28-29
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.

We are secure because of God’s strength upon our lives, not our own power.

I love the quote by Richard Sibbes. Picture a child held in the arms of a mother. Sibbes writes,

When the child falleth not, it is from the mother’s holding the child, and not from the child’s holding the mother. So it is God’s holding of us, knowing of us, embracing of us, and justifying of us that maketh the state firm, and not ours.”^[2]

Let us rejoice in the Lord! He will hold me fast. He will keep me in the faith. He will keep me in the fold. If ever you think that your salvation is merely up to you, picture yourself as a monkey taking a ride on his mother as she jumps through the trees. That's not how you want to live. Rest that you are indeed held by the mother cat as she carries you by the scruff of the neck as she prances about.

We are assured of our salvation, when we hear the voice of Jesus.

“My sheep hear my voice.”

This sermon was delivered to Rock Valley Bible Church on March 30, 2025 by Steve Brandon.
For more information see www.rockvalleybiblechurch.org.

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[1] https://www.openculture.com/2021/07/alfred-hitchcock-explains-the-difference-between-suspense-surprise.html.

[2] Richard Sibbes, Complete Works, Volume 6 (Edinburgh: James Nichol, 1863), p. 439.