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All right, it's great to be back preaching in the book of John. It's a great chapter, one of my favorite chapters in the book of John. And the reason why is because it really nails eternal security and there's some great verses in here that preach about eternal security. There's also a great passage in this chapter where it talks about the deity of Christ. And this is actually one of the main verses, if someone says, the wars Jesus say that he's God at. And when it says before Abraham was I am, I mean, he's saying he's I am. I mean, I don't know how much more you could say that he's God besides that. But anyway, actually, that's in chapter nine, isn't it? Anyway, I'm confused. All right, Biden, all right, all right. Anyway, I want to say, real quick, I want to say thank you to Brother Gary. And I know that he's going to be back here preaching again, and he's not gone till the end of the month. But this is the last time I'm going to get to see Gary before you leave. So I just want to say thank you publicly to Brother Gary for being here, being a part of this church. And so I find a reason to find an excuse to get pizza for everybody. And it's because it's Gary's going away party tonight. He knows he's not really going away. So, but I'm sure I'll get to see him again sometime down the line. But Gary was a church member of ours down in Vancouver, and he would drive all the way from there down there. And he's just always been a blessing. He's a great guy. So I really appreciate his preaching, too, that I knew he'd be a good preacher when he finally got up to do it. And so I just really appreciate it. And I just want to say thank you to Brother Gary. So we're all going to miss you, Brother Gary. So if you ever want to come back, just come on back and say hello, at least. So anyway, so the title of my sermon tonight is Eternal Security is a No-Brainer. I couldn't think of anything better than that, but it is pretty much a no-brainer. And so I really want to focus on eternal security tonight, mainly. But there are some other things that I want to talk about also. Like number one, I want to talk about how Jesus Christ is the door to heaven. So he proclaims that right here in verse number one. Let's just go ahead and read there. It says, verily, verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up another way, the same as a thief and a robber. So what is he actually saying here? He's saying, well, to get to heaven, there's only one way to get in, and it's through one door. And if you try to get another way, like another savior, another religion, your own goodness, your own works, etc., it's the equivalent of being a thief and a robber. Isn't that what it says? You're a thief and a robber, if you try to climb in another way. And so he's kind of likening it onto a cage where you'd put animals in, or a pen, a fenced-in area where you'd put animals in. And he's talking about it being a sheepfold. It's a place where you would keep sheep, and a place that a shepherd would lead them into. But he says that there's just this one door, and there's only one way to enter into that door, and you can't climb in some other way. So generally if somebody that's, and I don't know, a lot of people here might not have farming experience or have lived on a farm, but I have lived on a farm. And they have fences, and they have fences for a reason, so their cattle don't wander off. And so people don't wander in there and try to steal their cattle. Because that's the thing, people just, cattle are worth a lot of money, and sheep are worth a lot of money. And so people will get in there and they'll try, they'll climb the fence to try to steal those sheep. And that's kind of what Jesus, the picture that Jesus is trying to paint for us here, is that if you try to get in some other way, you're just a thief. You're just a robber. And he's just saying, there's only one way that you're getting in. It's through this door. So let's look at 1 Corinthians chapter 6, 1 Corinthians chapter 6. And so that term, a thief and a robber, this is addressed by the Apostle Paul. And there's all these lists in the Bible. And they list, these types of people are not gonna get into heaven. This is a famous one in 1 Corinthians 6, 9. It says, know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven, excuse me, the kingdom of God. Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves of mankind, nor, what's it say there? Thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. So Jesus is, when he's liking it and saying, hey, those people that try to come in some other way are a thief and a robber, Paul is saying in this passage here that thieves are not gonna inherit the kingdom of God. So if you try to get in another way, it's like you're trying to steal your way into heaven, and you can't steal your way into heaven. You're not gonna be able to get in whatever way you think, you know, whatever way you want to. But a lot of people think that way, don't they? A lot of people think that whatever they believe is gonna get them to heaven. And people say that all the time, don't they? Well, you know, I just think it's basically whatever you believe. And I just heard somebody say this the other day, I'm just like, what planet are you living on? And it's just whatever you think is how everything goes. Like, try that at work. Try that in everyday life. Oh no, I just think I should be able to show up whatever time I feel like. That doesn't fly. That's how you get fired. I mean, I don't know if people get fired nowadays, because I know that they're really easy going on people, but I'm pretty sure that most people would get fired for not showing up. But, you know, this is something that the Bible teaches. But, you know, people will twist these scriptures too, and try to say that, you know, well, see, if you sin, you don't get to go to heaven. Because anybody that's doing these sins, they don't get to go in. But hold on a second, it says in verse 11, And such were some of you, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. So that but there saves the people that, you know, if you're sanctified and justified in the name of Jesus, then you will go to heaven, even though you've done these sins, even though you've done these things. And so these people, you know, if someone uses those verses, and tries to say, hey, you know, you can't go to heaven if you've done these things, or you're doing these things actively. Well, if you're saved, yes, you still will, because you're forgiven for everything, the past, present, and future. So they're not saved if they're saying that kind of stuff, or they're very confused. Now let's turn over to Exodus chapter 38. And I taught a little bit about this, because I'm going through the book of Exodus, but I kind of wanted to share this with, if you haven't listened to my sermons on Exodus, the people that go to my church normally I know have, so I'm going to just kind of briefly touch upon this. But in my sermons on Exodus, I've been showing the tabernacle, I have this model that I've been showing, and it kind of has just how the tabernacle is laid out, like what they think it looked like. And there's this court that's on the outside of the tabernacle. I should have just brought it with me. But it has this, like these tapestries that are all white that go around the whole thing. And the east gate is the, it's kind of like what this would be, it'd be the short part is the east gate, the west gate is where the tabernacle would be, and the gate is right here. The way to get in is on the short side, you would think like, so the north and the south are on the long sides, but the gate is right here, and it's the tapestry that covers that gate to get in, has all these different streaks of, it's twined linen and these different colors. So let's read in verse nine, it says, and he made the court on the south side of the southward, the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen and hundred cubits. So that's the length of it. And then let's skip to verse 11. It says, and for the north side, the hangings were in hundred cubits. And skip to verse 12, and it says, and for the west side were hangings of 50 cubits. And then skip to verse 13. So that's the, again, the tabernacle side is the west side. And then verse 13, it says, and the east side eastward 50 cubits. So then it says, verse 14, the hangings of the one side of the gate were 15 cubits. So the gate is on the east side. That's basically what it, you know, it goes in this sequence in order, so the gate is on the one side. The only way to get into that court of the tabernacle was through that one gate. So when Jesus is teaching this in John chapter 10, if you have that in mind, that court of that gate is kind of representing getting to God, getting to heaven, and the white linen that's all the way around it on the length of each side, on the west side of the court, then you have just that gate is the only part that has any color to it that's not white. And it says in verse 15, and for the other side of the court of the gate, let's see, verse 16, sorry, and all the hangings in the court roundabout were fine twined linen. And that represents what? The righteousness of the saints, the righteousness of Christ. And then verse 18, and the hangings of the gate of the court was needlework of blue, purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. So what does this represent? Well, it represents the bruising of the body of the Lord Jesus Christ and the blood that he shed. So the only way to get into the court of the tabernacle in the Old Testament, which is what God designed, he never intended for the temple to be built. It was always for the tabernacle. And that setup was like, it was kind of like a sheet fold would be, but it had these linen, these long linen tapestries on it. And then even in the front it had that, but then the gate had this needlework, this tapestry that had the blue, the purple, and the crimson, yeah. So it had these different colors in it that represent the ugliness of what you really have to go through to get to heaven. And so Jesus, he is actually the door to get into heaven, but he's also the one that leads people to heaven too. He's basically everything. He's the only way to get into heaven. Now let's look at verse 12 in Hebrews chapter nine. Hebrews chapter nine. So he made the way for us to get to heaven by dying for us and being that perfect sacrifice for us. But I don't know if you'd ever seen the part about the fine twined linen and all that stuff, but of course Jesus had to be righteous. So that's the picture of that white fine linen. And then when the high priest had the wear, he had to wear the same outfit that has like all those different colors and the breastplate with all the different jewels. His sons had to wear ephods that just were fine white linen, that's it. But then what does that represent? Well Jesus of the New Testament is the high priest, and then we are priests and kings unto the Lord, and we are dressed in the fine white linen because we have the righteousness of Christ is applied to us. So it talks about that in Revelation that they're given white robes and the white robes represent the righteousness of the saints. So anyway, Hebrews nine, 12 says, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. Not just partial, not just when you get saved, but then you still gotta pay for all the other sins after you get saved. No, it's eternal redemption. Once you get saved, that lasts forever, right? And then it says, for if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of the heifer, sprinkling the unclean, oh, there's the red heifer, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. And for this cause, he is the mediator of the New Testament that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first Testament, they which are called might receive the promise of what's it say there? Eternal inheritance. So what's our inheritance? It's an eternal inheritance. That's not something that we can lose. So I just thought I'd kind of hit on that a little bit before I get to all the eternal security passages later on, but let's flip back to John chapter 10, verse number two. So with all that being said, so Jesus is saying, he's about to say some very famous things here, but John chapter 10, verse two, it says, but he that enterth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own sheep by name and leadeth them out, and when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto them, but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. So of course, like usual, they don't understand what he's talking about. Big surprise, right? Verse seven, then said Jesus unto them again, so they don't understand what he's saying, then he's like, okay, well let me just explain it to you one more time. Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. Let me make it real clear for you, I am the door. So he's like explaining this sheepfold thing. He's explaining this gated area, and he says, there's only one way to get in, that's through the door, and then he says, I am the door. So what's he saying? I am the door, you have to go through me to get to heaven. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. So anybody that's actually saved, or anybody that's actually going to get saved, they're gonna hear the voice of the shepherd, they're gonna get saved, they're gonna listen to him, they're not gonna listen to the voice of strangers. Now let me just tell you this, Christianity is the oldest religion. And people are like, no it's not, it's only 2,000 years old. Well I'll tell you this, yeah, Christ did come a little over, he came over 2,000 years ago, and but how about this verse? In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. Amen. Oldest religion. Yeah! As far as I know, it's in my Bible. Oh wait, yeah, there it is, it's right there. Genesis 1-1, 1-1 through 1-3. God created the heaven and the earth, the earth was without form and void, the darkness was upon the face of the earth, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters and God said, let there be light. There's the Son of God speaking the world into existence like the Bible says. So, he is the door of the sheep. He is the only way to get in, but Christianity is the oldest religion, it really is. God is the oldest, I mean, Christ was, was Christ at the beginning? He was. He was. He was at the beginning with God, he was God. The word was made flesh and dwelt among us. So, Christ is at the beginning, so Christianity really is the oldest religion because, and it's really the only true religion. So, people will say, well, Christianity's not even the oldest religion that there is. Yeah, it is. It actually is the oldest religion. And, you know, you're like, well, maybe it's not the oldest written text or whatever. Yeah, well, maybe it's not. But it actually kind of is because forever is the word settled in heaven or is there a verse like that or something? Okay, but, and really, what's before the beginning? I mean, what other religion was before the beginning? Not Hinduism. So, Zeitgeist is a movie, who's ever heard of this movie Zeitgeist? Okay, well, this movie, I'm just gonna explain a little bit about what it is. It's basically a movie that was put out to try to destroy Christianity. And basically, what it kind of, I'll just kind of read you a little bit about it here. So, people make the challenge that Jesus is, in this film, that Jesus is a fiction. How do we know that he's a fiction? Because some of the details of his life have appeared in other literature from the past. There are some mythical figures that have virtually all the characteristics Jesus has in the Gospels. Born of a virgin, 12 disciples, betrayed by a friend, died and rose again, et cetera. The Jesus story is just a reworking of those myths. You can see bits and pieces of the details borrowed from different myths that are just cobbled together to create the story of Jesus. This is taken as evidence. And so, in this movie, it just kind of repeats all these different gods in the past that had all these characteristics, and they say, see, Jesus just, this is just made up from all these different things in the past. One of these characters, and I'm just gonna say one of them, Mithras, whoever that is, is an individual in one of these mystery religions. The claim is that Mithras was born of a virgin, and that's a parallel with Jesus, but not even the mythical Mithras was born of a virgin. Mithras was born out of a rock, so there's no parallel. And the challengers claim Mithras was born on December 25th, but Jesus wasn't born on that date. There is no biblical Christian claim that Jesus was actually born on that date. We simply celebrate his birth on that date. Yeah, amen. Of course, there is a one in 365 chance that he was born on that date, but I mean, this is just one example of how stupid this film is. And they cite no historical sources in the film, but I even know, there's someone that goes to our church, and his brother tried to bring this film up to me. I'm like, I've never seen this film before. I don't know what you're talking about. But they just claim, oh, this is just the truth. This is, you know, Christianity, you can't come back from this or whatever. It's just like, it's just disproven everywhere. Like they literally, none of the things that they say are even close to true. So, and really, the thing is, is that if it even, if there was similarities between other religions, and you know, I mean, the devil knows some of the story of the gospel, I'm sure, and could make up things that would seem to be parallels with Christianity. I'm sure that there are some somewhere. But, you know, to say that it, that all that stuff, you know, the zeitgeist is just crushes Christianity, that's just a lie. It's just not true. It's a stupid film. Do your research before you believe such an idiotic thing like that movie. Because basically everything that they're saying in it is pretty much lies. So, now Hinduism does claim to be 4,000 years old. And, you know, I don't really have time to go into the history of all these different religions, but Buddhism is 2,500 years old. You know, you got, of course, you have paganism, pantheism, all these Roman gods, Norse gods, Greek gods, and all this other stuff. That stuff's been around for a long time. Hinduism does have written stuff from, I think, 1500 BC, things like that. But basically what Hindus believe is that there's one god, his name is Brahma, but then they believe that there's all these other gods that, they kind of believe in a oneness god. Kind of like, you know, Muslims. They believe kind of in a oneness god also. Kind of like Buddha. But, you know, Buddhism is basically like branched off of Hinduism. But, you know, these religions are basically satanic. I mean, you're like, well, how do you know that yours is better, or whatever? Well, I mean, I just know because I know that the Bible's true. I know that the power of God is true. I know that I'm saved. I know that, you know, I've seen the power of God work in my life. I've seen the power of God work in other people's lives. And, you know, I've seen, you know, I've seen the truth of God's word work. I know that I was once lost, and now I'm saved. And, you know, I just, you're like, how do you prove that? Well, it's faith. How do you prove faith? You just prove it because it is. Faith just proves itself. I don't know how you prove that. But, all I'll say is this, is that those religions are not older than Christianity. They're just not. Because Christianity is the oldest religion because it just is. None of these religions explain where everything came from. You know, I mean, God tells us how he created the heaven and the earth. He just spoke it into existence. He explains all the things that we need to know in this book. And, you know, we didn't come, we're not on a turtle's back. Atlas isn't holding the earth on his shoulders. You know, that kind of stuff is just silly. And then after Christ came, there was Muhammad, the pedophile. And he came and started Islam, and he didn't die for anybody. I mean, I think he was poisoned is what they kind of came up with. In the end, he was poisoned. I mean, he, you know, was a pedophile for sure. Married a six year old, consummated the marriage at nine. That's not really disputed. Joseph Smith, he's like, they're like the white Muslims, basically. They're pretty much the same. And, you know, they heard their second gospel from a genie or whatever. Just like, you know, the, the basically an angel, the moron, Moroni or whatever, came and, and gave them, you know, the, the secret magic plates that nobody else could see except for Joseph Smith. And he looked into some hat and had some magic dice or something, like whatever. Yeah. Dum, dum, dum, dum, dum. Anyway, then you have LNG White with the Seventh Day Adventists. I mean, you know, Charles Taze Russell, the leader of the Jehovah's false witnesses. I mean, you have all these different religions that have come afterwards, but they don't hold a candle to Christianity. Right. Every one of these religions that I'm talking about, they all have one thing in common, a workspace salvation. That's right, yeah. None of them are faith alone. None of them are, are even comparable at all to Christianity. And none of them you really even know that you're saved until the very end. And what rewards, they, they don't tell you anything. Christianity's the only religion that tells you, you, that you can know for sure that you're saved and that you know for sure you have everlasting life and you know that you have it now, right now. Not that, you know, you have to pray five times on your magic carpet, you know, every single day and that, you know, you have to live all these little five pillars of Islam or whatever while they're, you know, living like hell and, but they won't eat pork, but they'll fornicate and do all these other things, you know, but pork is haram or whatever. These religions are wicked. And this is what we go out and battle with every single day that we're out there sowing. Yeah. Look at John chapter ten verse nine. I am the door by me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. I mean, he's not really, he's pretty much explaining it really carefully, isn't he? I'm the door by me. If any man enter in, he shall be saved and go in and out and find pasture. How are you going to be saved? Well, you got to go through the door. Jesus is the door. John 14, six says, Jesus sayeth unto him. I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the father, but by me. So when he says by me in John chapter 10, verse nine, he says the same thing in John chapter 14, six, when he says, I'm the only way. I'm the only way. I'm the only truth. I'm the only life. And no man's getting there except for through him. And that's why people hate Christianity. That's one of the reasons why they hate Christianity is because it's an exclusive religion. You can't, we say there's no other way to get to heaven but by Jesus, and they don't like that. And the only way to get to Jesus is by putting your faith in him and trusting in him for salvation and no works. So you got the false works salvation, hater Christians that don't like that. And then, of course, you have all the other weird, wicked religions that teach against that. But you can probably put all those Christians and all those other wicked religions together and they're all gonna agree. That's why there will be a one world religion. Cuz they all basically believe the same thing. Repent of your sins and you'll be saved, just be a good person. Follow your heart. Listen to your heart. You'll find a way. Love finds a way. Love will find a way. You know, but the Bible says that the heart is deceitful. Above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? The Bible says the opposite of that. It says don't listen to your heart. Your heart is evil. Your heart is wicked. The only way that your heart is, you know your heart's right is if it's, connected with what the Bible's saying. If you know, if your heart's saying hey, this is right, then you know that your heart's right. But if your heart's going against what the Bible says, cuz people are like, well I just wanna listen to what my heart says on this. I think that homos can be saved. No, that's not what your heart's lying to you. Your heart just has a soft spot for some queer. That's what, that's what reality is. You just wanna love your cousin because you grew up with them or whatever. But in reality, that person's a child molester, and you should probably just break all ties with them, okay? And I'm talking about real queers, okay? I mean, there's a lot of people that say they're queers out there these days, but there are probably people that aren't really queers, but they kind of identify that way or they hang out with them or whatever. I'm talking about real queers. Break all contact. Break everything off with them. Don't have anything to do with them. They, you know, they might be funny on TV. They might be funny in the movies. But just ask the people that work for Ellen DeGeneres how she is. They compared her to the prison that they send people to that went to Iraq. That's how they compare the back, the backstage activities there. What was the name of that prison? Do you know what the name of it is? The Abu Ghraib? Huh? The Abu Ghraib? Not, not- Abu Ghraib. Yeah, Abu Ghraib. They say that that's what the backstage is like there. They're all dead. Yeah, they're all, they're probably are all dead, yeah. Yeah. And I've seen, I've heard about some of the things that happened at that prison. I'm like, man, that sounds bad. So, anyway, so let's look at verse ten. It says, the thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy. So what is the purpose of someone that wants to get in another way? Well, they want to rip you off, they want to kill, they want to destroy. But that's what, you know, just insert false prophet, false god, false savior in there, and that's what they're doing. When they work for the devil, when they work for Satan, these types of people that are trying to get in another way, they're also trying to get the sheep with them. And they want to try to, you know, they want to try to get people that would have been a sheep, but they snatch them away first, right? So, and it says, I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. Now, you'll hear a lot of preaching about the abundant life of a Christian. And there's actually churches called abundant life church and things like that, which whatever. But what's more abundant life than having everlasting life? Right. Well, most of the churches that are probably called abundant life probably don't even believe in eternal security. And that's probably what he's actually talking about. Right. You know, abundant means like a big blessing or like something that's great or big, right? Abundant, I have an abundance of things or whatever. But abundant life means it's a long life, right? So, that's probably what he's talking about. And what's more abundant life than a life blessed by the one true God? I mean, you're not going to get any more blessed than the blessings you get from God in this life. Number two tonight, Jesus Christ is also the good shepherd. He's not just the door. He's not just the door you gotta walk through to get there. That bloody gruesome door, the picture with the court is that it's got the purple, it's got the blue, it's got the red. Because that's what it took for that place in heaven for you to get there, Jesus had to pay that price for you. And so when you had to walk through that gate, you know, to that old court, you know, they had that picture was there for a reason. Because that way is an ugly way, but it's the only way. To us, it's the beautiful way. Right. But it just, you know, but nothing about Christ dying on the cross was pretty. Nothing, and when looking upon him, people probably looked away in horror when they saw him. Look what it says in verse 11, it says, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. So he's not only the door, but he's the good shepherd. And he leads people to the door. So he's the door, but he also leads people to the door. He's both. He's all in all, he made the way, he made the door, he made it available for people to go in, but he also leads people there. He's the one that draws all men unto him. He said, if the son of man be lifted up, I'll draw all men unto me. Not just the Calvinist, but all men unto me, right? So, you know, he's not just the shepherd because he gets paid. He's the shepherd because he paid for the redemption of the sheep. He actually paid for them. So what does a shepherd do? Well, a shepherd leads others in the way that they should go, right? I mean, if you think about what a shepherd does, I'm not talking about just the pastor. I'm talking about, because a pastor is kind of called a shepherd, but what does a shepherd do? Well, they lead others in the way that they should go. And that's what Jesus does. He leads people in the way that they should go. Which way should they go? How are you gonna get into heaven? Well, you gotta go through that door. So the shepherd's gonna lead the sheep to the door that they gotta go through. And that's safety and shelter. Number two, they protect the sheeps that they've been entrusted with. So Jesus protects the sheeps, the sheeps, the sheep against danger. So, and a good shepherd is gonna fight the wolves off. He's gonna do battle and try to protect sheep. Cuz the last time I checked, sheep aren't very tough, are they? Sheep are a pretty harmless animal. Like, when's the last time you've ever been afraid of a sheep attack? Has anybody ever like, look at that, the sheep. Like when you're at the zoo yesterday, where you're like, the sheep, no. But when you see the tiger, that might be a different story, right? When you see a lion or you see a wolf or a big dog, if you see a big pit bull out stolen and you're like, but if you see a lamb or a sheep, you're like, oh, I'm gonna pet him. So that's why the picture of a saint is like, he compares with the sheep a lot because we're supposed to be harmless. You know, it's like doves. Doves, when he compares us to being harmless, he says be harmless as a dove. Cuz when's the last time you've seen a dove in a fight? You know, they have roosters or cockfights where the roosters will kill each other if you put them in the same pen together. But doves aren't necessarily that way. They just go, you know, they just kinda, they're pretty nice animals. I haven't seen, like, attacking doves before. Or, you know, I've seen some crazy pigeons, like, try to come after Rylan one time, but they're, doves and pigeons are a little bit different, so. But usually pigeons are not very, you know, dangerous either. So, but so what, what, so they, so a good shepherd is going to lead people, lead the sheep in the way they should go. He's gonna protect them against danger. And then he's also going to care for those he's been entrusted with. He's gonna make sure that they're healthy. That they're, they're hoofs, they don't get hoof rot or, you know, he's gonna shear them so that they, you know, can bring forth, you know, their, their coats again or whatever. Cuz I think that you have, like, if you don't shear sheep, they kinda get all mangled and gnarly looking. And so it's good to shear them, I think, once every so often. I'm not sure, I'm not, like, a sheep expert or anything. But but, you know, you have to probably give them some sort of medicine. But, you know, Jesus is that kind of shepherd where he cares about our health. He cares about danger. He cares about our safety and wants us to be, you know, walking in the paths that we should go. You know, he made a path for us. He made us a way to follow, and he wants us to follow those paths. He doesn't want us to go get off the beaten path and get into the, the poison oak and the poison ivy. And, you know, eat the berries you're not supposed to eat. No, he made a path for us. You know, when you go in the forest and you go through, you know, there's trails sometimes you'll just see. Well, those trails are there for a reason. You know, people, other people have made those trails. And it's probably a little bit safer to go on those, as long as you're not, you know, on a wolf trail or a game trail or whatever. But, you know, just make sure you carry a gun. Anyway, so, but also a, a good shepherd feeds his sheep. You know, and Jesus Christ, of course, fed the people with great words, the spiritual words and, and the food and the water and, you know. And these things apply to a good, to a pastor. A pastor's gonna do these things for his congregation. And watch after them also. So he says, I, he's not just the shepherd, he's the good shepherd. So there's a difference between a shepherd and a good shepherd. And there's, now we're gonna see the difference between a good shepherd and a hireling, someone that just is doing it for the money. You know, there's some, there's some people that they're like, well, I think I'll just, you know, maybe I'll just be a pastor. And they're like, you know, and it's a, it's a money thing for them. And it's like, that's the worst idea that you could possibly ever have. Cuz I mean, to me, that's just almost guaranteed the person's a false prophet. You know what I think I'll do? That pastor on TV, he makes a lot of money. Maybe we can, you know, that's, that's just, you know, people are like, Pastor Thompson's just only in it for the money, and all this other stuff. So it's like, you know, if I was in it for the money, you know what I'd change instantly right now? We would have a rock band that plays for 45 minutes. I would, I would grow my hair, I'd get some hair plugs or something. And I, I would like, have like a cool hairstyle that I'd just like put some, you know, some, yeah, spike my hair, wear some cool glasses or whatever. Those hip glasses. I'd have like, this, this pulpit would be gone. It'd just be a plexiglass with a bar stool that you could see through the bar stool. And then I would have like fog coming in here with purple lights. And then I'd preach like a 15 minute Ted talk for you. Just how great you are. Keep doing the good work. Yeah. You know. No, I couldn't. I couldn't do it. But, I mean, there's a lot easier ways of making money in religion than being a new IFB Baptist preacher, I can tell you that. So, yeah. So, I, I guess I'm just not doing it right or something. But, this is what it says in verse 12, so it says, but he that is in hireling and not the shepherd, whose own sheep are, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth, and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he's in hireling and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep. And am known of mine. As the father knoweth me, even so know I the father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. So, here's the difference between Jesus and every other deity, every other leader, you know, he died for the sheep. He's different. They flee when the, when the wolf comes. And Joseph, yeah, Joseph Smith died, but it wasn't because he was some great leader. He died because he was stealing everybody's wives. And he was, he died in jail, in a shootout or something. Like, he died because everybody hated him, because he was a polygamist, and stealing people's wives, and stealing people's daughters, and, and marrying them. That's why. He wasn't, the Mormons aren't hated because they're so good. The Mormons are hated because they're just weird and wicked. That's why. Yeah, right. They're perverts. And you know what, if they could continue to be polygamists in this country, they would do it. And they have little cults that are, go in Arizona and other places where they have their little high outs and stuff where they're, you know, doing all that weird stuff and having 72 children or whatever. Probably more than that, who knows? But the Mormon religion is a weird thing, guys. So but anyway let's see, where are we at? Verse 16, and other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and they, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. So what is this speaking about here? Well, he's talking, he's alluding to the Gentiles. He's alluding to the fact that he is going to bring the Gentiles in, and allow them to get in on the action here. So, you know, when he dies, when he died at the temples Rent and Twain in Ephesians chapter two, it talks about how the middle wall partition is broken down between them and, you know, when Jesus died, the veil rent and twain and, you know, there's no more Jew or Greek. There's no more, you know, male, female as far as like people being able to be saved or serve or these types of things. We all have access by one spirit unto the Father. So we don't have to go to these priests, and we can all go to God through the Spirit, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and we all have full access to God, basically, is what that means. I'm not saying that there's no more, you know, stations in life, or who can and can't preach in sermons and things like that. But when it comes to being able to go to God, the youngest believer and the oldest believer, a woman, a man, a Jew, a Greek, doesn't matter what you are, once you're saved and you have the Holy Spirit and Jesus is your Savior, you can go right to God, right to the throne room, and be bold about it because you are a son or a daughter just like anybody else is. Look at verse 17. Therefore, doth my Father love me because I lay down my life that I might take it again, and no man taketh it from me, but I lay it down myself. Of myself, I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment I have received of my Father. So Jesus is talking about the way He's going to die, and He's saying this, that no one's taking it from Him. He is laying it down. Now, He's not committing suicide. He's just allowing them to take His life because they want to kill Him. But basically what He's saying here is that they're only able to kill me because I'm letting them, not because they had this power over me to be able to do it. And this upset the disciples a little bit. I think that they thought something different was going to happen. They always seemed to be a little bit confused about what was going on because they knew who Jesus was, but I think that they kind of had this idea that all of a sudden Jesus was going to just say, well, here's all your swords, let's go, let's do this. You know, it's time for Braveheart or whatever. And that's not how it was at all. He, it wasn't time to battle. When the kingdom has come, then it's going to be time to battle, and He's going to be the one doing all the battling. We're going to be keeping the peace for 1,000 years, but that's going to be a different story. Look at Matthew chapter 26, verse 51, Matthew chapter 26, verse 51. So not only does He have the power to lay down His life and that no man can take it from Him unless He allows Him, but He also has the power to take it back up again. And the Bible says in different parts, like the Holy Ghost rose Him from the dead, the Father rose Him from the dead, and then it says that He rose from the dead. Of course, the Bible teaches the Trinity, so that makes sense. But look at Matthew 26, 51, it says, And behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck a servant of the high priest and smote off his ear. Of course, we know this is Peter that does this. Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place, for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and He shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be? So obviously, he probably felt like, hey, at least Peter's got my back, or whatever. But that wasn't the right time to do those things. And obviously, Jesus heals his ear, he makes it all whole. Because violence is not how, he chose a non-violent route to accomplish everything. Because could Jesus have just come down, been born in the richest family, and been the most powerful king ever, and just done everything completely different than he did? Instead of being the most humble man that ever lived, instead of being born in a poor family, being born literally in a barn, in a manger. He could have been the mightiest king ever born. He was the son of David. He could have just rose to power, and then just smashed everybody that he wanted to, and done it completely different. He did it completely different than any of us would have done it. Because we would have been like, let's go, you know? But that's not how he does things, you know? He does, he doesn't, we don't think, you know, as much as we're a lot like God, and we're made in his image, a lot of things that we do, we don't think like God. Because God chose another way, a better way, a perfect way. And it's not the way that we would necessarily do things. Like Peter, for instance. He's like, let's just start chopping off ears, you know? Like, what'd you ask us to get these swords for in the first place, Lord? You know, he said, you know, to sell what you have and buy swords. He's like, it's enough. And then like, they have them, like, that's probably what they're thinking. Like, we got these swords for a reason, right? Hi-ya! You know? That's not why he got it, though. And it's like, I could just ask my father right now, and 12 legions of angels would show up just like that, and they're dead, they're gone, they're toast. But that's how then must the scriptures be fulfilled. Because the thing is that the scriptures must be fulfilled, they have to be fulfilled. They must be fulfilled. So it says in verse 19, it says, there was a division therefore again among the Jews for these saints, and many of them said, he hath a devil and is mad, why hear ye him? So see how it says many of them? And then it says, others said, there are not, these are not of the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open up the eyes of the blind? So it's mentioning what happened in chapter nine, where he healed that guy that was blind. So there are people that are like, hey, he doesn't have a devil, what are you talking about? And then, but many of them, so there's others and there's many. And this is kind of how it is today, really. Many people are like, I don't want anything to do with this, and then other people are like, hey, there's something to this, I need to hear more. But this is what the Jews, this is the Jews that he's, there's a division among them. And Jesus does cause division, he can cause division in a lot of different ways. He said, I didn't come to bring peace, I came to bring a sword. So the sword is the division he's talking about. Number three tonight, once saved, always saved is Bible and common sense. Once saved, always saved is Bible and common sense. Verse 22 says, and it was at Jerusalem, the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. So before I get into the whole once saved, always saved, common sense stuff, I wanna talk a little bit about this feast of dedication. So the feast of dedication, does anybody know what this is? Just offhand? It's Hanukkah. It's Hanukkah. So basically the feast of dedication is alluding to the dedication of the Second Temple when the Maccabees fought against the Greeks and basically took it back over and rededicated it. So I'm gonna read you the story about it. It's not found in the Bible, but Jesus is at this feast, and it's winter, so this is the setting that we're at. But I was gonna read to you a little bit about Hanukkah because I really didn't know much about it either, so I just kind of looked it up. But Hanukkah is an eight day festival of dedication of the Second Temple. And the story behind it is prior to the year 165 BC, the Jewish people in Judea were living under the rule of the Greek kings of Damascus. During this time, the Seleucid King Antiochus Epiphanes, the Greco-Syrian king, took control of the temple and Jerusalem and forced the Jewish people to abandon their worship of God. Their holy customs and reading of the Torah, he made the Jews bow down to the Greek gods. According to ancient records, King Antiochus IV, who was sometimes called the Madman, defiled the temple by sacrificing a pig on the altar and spilling its blood on the holy scrolls of scripture. As a result of severe persecution and pagan oppression, a group of four Jewish brothers led by Judah Maccabee decided to raise up an army of religious freedom fighters. These men of fierce faith and loyal to God became known as the Maccabees. The small band of warriors fought for three years with strength from heaven until achieving a miraculous, I'm doing the air quotes because that's what's on the page until achieving a miraculous victory and deliverance from Greco-Syrian control. And I'm not saying I agree with everything it's saying in here, I'm just reading it as the article that it is. After regaining the temple, it was cleansed by the Maccabees, cleared of all Greek idolatry and readied for rededication, the rededication of the temple to the Lord took place in the year 165 BC in the 25th day of the Hebrew month called Kislev. So that's why it's in wintertime, I guess. Hanukkah is called the Feast of Dedication because it celebrates the Maccabees victory over Greek oppression and the rededication of the temple but Hanukkah is also known as the Festival of Lights and this is because immediately following the miraculous deliverance, God provided another miracle of provision. In the temple, the eternal flame of God was to stay lit at all times as a symbol of God's presence but according to the tradition, when the temple was rededicated, there was only enough oil left to burn the flame for one day. The rest of the oil had been defiled by the Greeks during their invasion and it would take a week for new oil to be processed and purified. However, at the rededication, the Maccabees went ahead and set fire to the eternal flame that remained supply of oil, the remaining supply of oil. Miraculously, God's holy presence caused the flame to burn for eight days until the new secret oil was ready for use. The miracle of the long lasting oil explains why the Hanukkah menorah is lit for eight consecutive nights of celebration. Jews also commemorate this miracle of oil provision by making oil-rich foods such as latkes and important part of Hanukkah celebrations. So now you're educated on Hanukkah. I never knew all that stuff. Did you guys? No. Okay. And it's completely worthless information, but, but I just wanted you to know why. So this is what's going on and Jesus is at that, he's at the feast of dedication. He's actually there. I don't know how much participating he's doing, but the point of me telling you this is, just to tell you what the setting is, so he's at a holiday that's not prescribed in the Bible. What's another holiday that's not prescribed in the Bible that you know that they did? Earlier in the book of John, they're at Purim, I think, right? So Purim is something that they made up in the book of Esther to celebrate if the Jews weren't all killed by Haman or whatever, right? So Purim is something they still do to this day. Oh yeah, yeah, they get wasted. I think that they're supposed to get really wasted. Yeah, they just, the Jews pervert. Yeah, they can't even walk. Yeah, you're right, that's true. I saw something about that. Anyway, so not a good holiday. Yeah, Purim is not very pure, okay? But my point is also is that just because someone has a holiday that they celebrate, it doesn't mean that it's wrong to celebrate holidays that are not in the Bible. Now, I would say the way that they're celebrating that holiday Purim is wrong, and when things get polluted and disgusting, then yeah, that's wicked. So like Halloween is, for instance, I mean, no matter how much you nice it up, it's just, it's not a good holiday for Christians to celebrate, okay? So turn to Romans chapter 14, verse number five, Romans chapter 14, verse number five. There's a doctrine called individual soul liberty, and it's one of the key doctrines the Baptists believe. Individual soul liberty, it comes out of Romans chapter 14, and it says this, Romans 14, five, it says, one man esteemeth one day above another, another esteem every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. So if it's not something that's sinful, it's not something that's inherently wrong, and when it's talking about one person says, hey, Hanukkah is something I'd celebrate or whatever, I'm not saying we should celebrate some kind of Jewish festival, okay, that's over a temple that's been destroyed for 2,000 years now, like what's the point, right? We're celebrating a temple that's been completely demolished, I mean, that doesn't make sense, and to take Purim and make it unholy, where you're just getting so wasted that you can't, you're fall down drunk, and that's like how you're celebrating something that you made up in the, I mean, you see how they just corrupted the things that God did, but, yeah, but for us to have like Mother's Day, Father's Day, Memorial Day, I mean, Labor Day, to have like a holiday or a three-day weekend, there's nothing wrong with those types of things, I don't think, and the fact that Jesus is just at this, he's there, I don't think it's like that he felt like he had to do this to keep the law, it's probably just like a tradition that wasn't a big deal, and so I don't think that, obviously, maybe he was just taking the opportunity to just say, hey, like we do when we're as soul owners, sometimes we'll go and do something because there's some big thing going on, and we're like, hey, let's go soul-wanting and try to get some people saved, so I don't know what the deal is, why he was at this festival, but it's wintertime, it corresponds with the time of this Hanukkah festival, but the doctrine of individual soul liberty is something that we need to kind of get a grasp on because just because somebody does something that you wouldn't do, if it's not sinful, then it's not something that you should probably make a big deal out of, that's all I'm saying, so I've preached other sermons about that before, so I'm not gonna go too deep into that, but it is something that we need to take into account if someone's not using the same essential oils that you're using, they're not wicked, okay, or if they're not, I'm not gonna go any further with that, but you know what I'm saying, all right, so John 10, 23 says, and Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch, then came the Jews round about him, circling like the wolves they are, and said unto him, how long dost thou make us to doubt if thou be the Christ tell us plainly? Jesus answered them, I told you, and you believe not. It's like, how many times do I need to tell you guys? The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me, but you believe not because you're 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. So of course, this begins the very famous three verses that we like to use when we're talking to people about eternal security, and in fact, I got to use these verses tonight, and so the guy that I ended up getting saved tonight was from India, so he was Indian, he was the dot, not the, yeah, not the feather, but he was working at like a retirement home, and it kinda took a long time because he was working, and I kinda felt bad, like I wasn't even gonna give him the gospel, then I was just like eh, he seems to have a little bit of time on his hands, so I just started asking him the questions, and he got the first answer right, failed on the eternal security question, and so I just said, hey, can I show you some verses, and he had to do a couple duties and come back, but I showed him, just started showing him all the eternal security stuff, and he was just blown away, he was like, when you see someone's eyes light up that they get eternal security for the first time, it was just almost like God was preparing me for this sermon, just to kind of get across just how important it is to preach eternal security, because that guy was not saved, he was lost as a goose in a snowstorm, he was just completely on his way to hell, and he got saved, so I showed him some really important scriptures, but when I showed him these ones right here, like these really spoke to him, and then Ephesians chapter two really got to him, even though that's not eternal security, but he kinda had this belief that you had to do works, and if you didn't do works, that you would be judged for your sins on judgment day, and so I kinda just took him through all these verses, and yeah, like I said, he ended up getting saved, and it was actually the gift illustration, I think, that really broke it open, and sometimes the gift illustration is just kind of like a side thing, it doesn't always have the power that it did in this presentation, but when I showed him, when I just kinda did the gift illustration, he just was like, that's when the lights came on, I was just like, and he was just so excited that I was having a hard time containing my excitement, because I knew he was gonna get saved at that point, didn't you? I mean, I thought, I was like, okay, he's gonna get saved, and he did, he was really excited, he was like, I'm gonna go and I'm gonna study all this stuff, and he was just like really, I was like showing him the difference between judgment and the chastisement of God, and when they kinda get all that together, but he was open to it, and so when people are open to the word of God, I was just like, do you believe the word of God is true? I said, then just look at what these verses say, let me show you, and he let me, but it says, I give unto them eternal life. It's a gift. He gives it to us. I give unto them eternal life. Eternal life means just what it says, that it lasts forever, that's why I say eternal life is, eternal security is a no brainer. Like for people, people that don't believe this, they had to have had someone screw with their head, because this is like something that a mental patient would come up with, a doctor that a mental patient would come up with to try to, it's gaslighting. It's like someone gaslit them into believing that eternal life doesn't really mean eternal life. I mean, what else would it be? It's not really eternal, you can give it away. It's like how do you give away something that lasts forever, you know? And I kind of made this point, I was like, so if it's a gift, and when he realized gifts are free, and I said if it's a gift that lasts forever, and you can give all your gifts away, you can re-gift out everything that you've ever been given, but you can't give away something that lasts forever. If it's given to you, it's eternal life, you can't give that back. And then when I showed him these next verses here, well, I showed him this, that neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. And I just was like, well, Jesus has you in his hand, and then it says, my father, which gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand. So Jesus has us in his hand, secured. The father has us like this. How are you getting out of that? You're not getting out of that. You're not even plucking, you're not plucking yourself out. Nobody's plucking you out. That's called eternal security. Nobody's more powerful than Jesus. Nobody's more powerful than God the Father. And if you've got that kind of security, and then plus you have the Holy Spirit that'll never leave you nor forsake you, that's the trinity of eternal security got you bound up. You're not getting out of that, and you're not giving it away. So that's powerful stuff right there, and a powerful truth. But these people have been gaslighted into believing that they could lose their salvation by wicked churches like the Pentecostals, and just, I mean, I think pretty much any church that's not like Baptist. I mean, most churches I know believe you can lose your salvation. You can give it away, you can put it on the shelf, the imaginary shelf that doesn't exist. Turn to Romans chapter six, Romans chapter six. I knew I was gonna be preaching this, and it's just like God just kind of served me up a softball. He's like, here you go, pastor. I was just like, got this. I was really happy about it too. He was excited, but I don't know if he was as excited as I was. No, he was probably more excited, but I was pretty excited about it. I was excited that he was excited, so excitement kind of rubs off on you, doesn't it? Romans chapter six, verse 22, the Bible says, "'But now, being made free from sin "'and become servants to God, "'you have your fruit unto holiness "'and the end everlasting life.'" So we're free from sin, and once we become the servants of God, we have our own fruit unto holiness, is what he's saying, but then the end is everlasting life. I told him also this, is that the baseline, and I always say this a lot, the baseline that we get, if we don't do any works, if we just get saved and eat chips off our chest for the rest of our lives, we don't do any kind of works at all, eternal life is the baseline. Yes, amen. I mean, that's still a great gift, isn't it? Titus one, go ahead and turn to John chapter three. I'm gonna read Titus one, two. Titus one, two says, "'In hope of eternal life, "'which God that cannot lie "'promised before the world began.'" And this is another one that I gave to him. I was just like, look, God can't lie. He promised. The verse I was at before that, the gift of God is eternal life. How do you get it? Jesus Christ our Lord. I mean, that's what this whole chapter is basically telling us, too. John chapter three, verse 15, most famous verses in the Bible here, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life. Here, let me say it for you again, just so you got it. John 3, 16, "'For God so loved the world, "'that he gave his only begotten Son, "'that whosoever believeth in him "'should not perish but have everlasting life.'" Here, let me say it for you again real quick. "'For God sent out the Son of the world "'to condemn the world, "'but that the world through him might be saved. "'He that believeth on him is not condemned, "'but he that believeth not is condemned already "'because he hath not believed "'in the name of the only begotten Son of God.'" Why do people go to hell? Because they haven't believed. What happens when they believe? They get everlasting life. Free gift. Skip down to verse 36. It says, "'He that believeth on the Son of God "'hath everlasting life.'" What does that word mean? Half? Our modern vernacular will be has. Has everlasting life. Yes, it's right now. Right now they have it. And it says in 1 John 5, go into 1 John 5, 1 John 5, 10. This is a great one to, there's a lot of words in these little passages here, but this is a great one to show that people have to believe the record. The record is eternal life. 1 John 5, 10. "'He that believeth on the Son of God "'hath the witness in himself. "'He that believeth not God hath made him a liar.'" So if you don't believe God, what are you? You're making him a liar because he believeth not the record that God gave him the Son, and this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. So he tells us what the record is, and if you don't believe that record, you're calling him a liar. So it's either eternal life, or God's a liar, and we know God's not a liar, so it's eternal life. And if they don't believe that, then that's a good verse to convince people that they're wrong about eternal security. 1 John 5, 12. "'He that hath the Son hath life, "'and he that hath not the Son of God "'hath not life. "'These things have I written unto you "'that believe on the name of the Son of God, "'that ye may know that ye have eternal life, "'that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.'" These are very powerful verses to convince people. Of course, there's many, many more I could have gone to tonight, but it's a no-brainer, and the only way people are gonna not be eternal security only is if somebody's convinced them of a false gospel. Someone's gaslit them into thinking that eternal security doesn't mean eternal security. And you can use a lot of different examples. You can use the gift illustration for pretty much anything, but I like to use the light bulb one. That kind of works pretty good. Because I said to that guy, I said, if that light bulb, if I sold you, I said, that's an eternal light bulb. I sold it to you as an eternal light bulb, and three weeks later, it goes out. Was it eternal? No, I lied. So if God takes away your salvation and says it's eternal and takes it away, He's a liar, and He's not a liar, so you know it has to be true. All right, last point here. I'll try to get through this really quickly. Let's look at verse number 30. This is where Jesus does proclaim to be God, okay? So, I brought up the Abraham was I am, because I have that in my notes. That's where my brain was knocking around. But anyway, so Jesus proclaims He's God. Once again, John chapter 10, verse 30, it says, I and my Father are one. So when He says that, the Jews understand exactly what He's saying, but people say, I've had people say this to me this week, where does Jesus say that He's God? And I did say before Abraham was I am. He's saying that He's I am. That's what God said to Moses out of the burning bush. Tell them I am has sent me, has sent you. But He said, I and my Father are one. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, many good works have I showed you of 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 thou, being a man, makest thyself God. So the charge is very clear. They're saying that Jesus is blaspheming and making Himself out to be God. But here's the thing about that, He is God. And He is a man. So what He's saying is not blasphemy, it's just the truth. And He did say before Abraham was I am. That's the other time that they picked up stones to stone Him. Look at verse 34, Jesus answered them, is it not written in your law, I said ye are gods? If He called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken, say ye of Him, whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world, thou blasphemest, because I said, I am the Son of God. So He's basically using this example of the Old Testament, where calling the judges gods, or calling prophets of God gods, like with the small g there, and saying unto who the word of God came from. And He's just basically using a technicality against them, but it's still true because it's the word of God. So anyway, so He says, sayest thou of Him, whom the Father hath sanctified, sent into the world, and thou blasphemest, 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 ye believe me not, believe the works that ye may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in Him. So that's the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's saying the Father's in Him, and He's in the Father. I mean, He's not mincing words here. He's telling them that He's God. Therefore, they sought again to take Him, but He escaped out of their hand. He always escapes. 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 these things that John spake of this man were true. So he had a good testimony, didn't he, John? It's interesting that it says, John did no miracle. Which this proves that greatness is not measured by the miracles that a man of God performs. Because Jesus called John the Baptist the greatest born of women, and he did no miracles. But what made John so great? What made John so special? How about his uncompromising preaching? That made him special, didn't it? The fact that he would rip face on the king himself, and he got his head cut off for what he preached. His piety, he was a very godly man. That made him special. His lack of ego, when he had this great ministry and everybody's coming to him, and what's he doing? He's pointing to the Savior. He's pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ. And look, a lot of men that have a great ministry like that would not be just ready to just say, hey, I must decrease, and he must increase. They would not be willing to just throw away that ministry like that. In modern days, people just would not be like that. But he had a very low ego and was pointing to Christ. That was his job. He had a humble attitude. You know, when they came and said, art thou that prophet? You know, are you Elijah? And stuff, he was just like, you know, I'm just the man, I'm just the voice in the wilderness. He knew that about himself, and he was just a humble man. He wasn't trying to take all these accolades that people were trying to give him. And he was a great man because, why was he so special and a great man? Well, his willingness to die for what he believed in. He doesn't say that he was complaining, or whining, or crying on the way to get his head cut off. Just, they went and fetched him out of prison, and that's what happened. And he had an unflinching obedience. He probably didn't expect that to happen. But you know, John was a special man, and did no miracle, yet is called the greatest born among women, or of women in this world. So obviously the Lord Jesus Christ thought very highly and favorably upon him to be able to say that about him. And it says in verse 42, and many believed on him there. So really the whole thing rolls around to this. The Pharisees have a showdown with him, he leaves, he goes back to where John was. And then basically, everything that John had spoke about him, those people that were up where he was originally baptizing, there was obviously some of his disciples still up there. And they're like, hey, many resorted unto him. John did no miracle. But all these things that John spake of this man were true. So in the end, John's mission was very successful, wasn't it? Pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ. And here we have these disciples that have glommed back onto the Lord Jesus Christ because of the great man that John was. And it says many believed on him there. So even in John's death, there are still people getting saved because of the things that he said about the Lord Jesus Christ. That's a powerful testimony. And when some preacher can reach out from the grave and still bring people to Christ, that's pretty impressive, isn't it? Pretty impressive. So that's all I have for John chapter number 10. Let's go ahead and pray. And I'll pray for the food and all that stuff. So Lord, we thank you so much for this great church. And we pray that you just bless those folks that got saved today. Pray that you just also bless our time of fellowship tonight. Bless the food to our bodies. And bless each and every single mother here on Mother's Day. And I pray that they would all have a great, wonderful day on this coming Sunday. Pray that you just take us all home safely tonight. And bless us as we go. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen.