 We're gonna be looking at chapter 10 of Romans 10, because I wanna talk about what sometimes we get mistaken a lot of times in the body, and that is what a Christian is, but also we get confused with what a Christian is not. There are people that would call themselves Christian who absolutely are not Christian. And we need to stop doing that. We need to stop allowing people to tell us what a Christian is when we know full well what a Christian is not. Just like we should not allow people to tell us what a woman is if that person was born as a man, he cannot be a woman. I don't care how girly he gets, I don't care how many wigs he puts on, I don't care how much makeup he puts on, it's not a woman. The problem is there are some that may look like, act like, talk like and so forth, but we know for a fact they are not. Same thing with Christians. And so just because a person says they are, because a person acts like it from time to time, gives out all the appearances of a Christian that does not mean that they are. The problem is, or the interesting thing is that the Bible literally tells us who is a Christian? What does a Christian look like? How does a Christian behave? And then what a non-Christian looks like, as a matter of fact, one of the verses that we look at is in Psalm 103, know that the Lord himself is God. It is he who has made us and not we ourselves. We are his people and the sheep of his pastor. And so all of his, now all of the sheep in the world, all of the potential flock, those that only belong to his flock, the sheep of his pastor are his people. Now we don't know who all those people are. And so how we can identify who they are, as best we can, because obviously we never know totally fully who actually is one, because there are those that look like, the Bible says that even Satan disguises himself as the angel of light, and even the people that minister on his behalf, the same as well. So sometimes we just can't tell. Sometimes we can. Notice opposition, thank you for the super chat. I appreciate that. And we will be praying for what's happening in Nashville. This is just how the world is now. This is unfortunately how the world is. We'll see this more and more and more as we move on. By the way, a quick little word of announcement, two things, one, and then we'll go ahead and get started with one. We are back on Facebook after the Facebook was hacked about a year ago. I guess I'm just now doing it, getting that back up and running. So it's now back up running. So please when you have the time, go ahead and if you don't mind follow or whatever the terminology is for Facebook. And then also we are starting the Bible study back up this April 1st, which is not April Fool's Day. It is April Smart's Day. So look forward to seeing you all there at 11 a.m. every Saturday, central standard time. So now back to this, because we are sheep, we are the sheep of his people, you would think that we would act a certain way. Now that does not mean that sheep, his sheep walk in a straight line. Sheep do not walk in a straight line. There's never been a pasture or a flock of sheep that walked in a straight line. Sheep by nature are kind of wayward. Even on their best day, their best week, their best month, their best year, it's not like this in their follow, it's more like this. Are you with me? Sometimes over here, over there, over there, but ultimately still following him. Why? Because there's something internally pulling them, which causes us, as the Bible says, to hear his voice. Now, I wanna go to this passage and we're gonna also address some of the common objections that come up as it pertains to this, in challenge to pretend and how sheep behave, whether sheep can stop being sheep, because that's an issue, can sheep ever stop being sheep? I contend that there's a powerful verse in this passage that nullifies that. And I still have not seen to this day, one person to get around this passage. I've seen people dismiss the passage, we'll get there, and I'll bring up a couple common objections that are brought up in regards to this. But as we start there, let's go to John chapter 10 and let's just start in verse one. In chapter 10 verse one, it says, truly, truly I say to you, he who does not enter into the fold of the sheep but climbs up some other way, he is a thief. And a robber. But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. That's being Jesus. To him, the doorkeeper opens and the sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name and leaves them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them and the sheep follow him. I want you to notice what it's saying there. He's saying that when he puts forth all his own, and this word here for idiot means they belong to him, he goes ahead of them and the sheep follow him. So as he's going ahead of them, what are the sheep doing? The sheep follow him. This is important, guys. When we talk about this issue, and obviously this is referring to our security as it relates to salvation in him. And the question is, can we lose that salvation? Can we forfeit that? Can we be sheep today and then stop being sheep tomorrow? Well, he's giving us traits of his sheep. And so it'd be difficult to say that we can lose our salvation, stop being sheep and not hold to a firm understanding of this. What I want you to do is compare this passage, if you think it's the truth, this passage should hold up to other passages whereby someone would say that this passage proves that you can lose your salvation. Now you can do the same thing in reverse order. This passage that they say says that you can lose your salvation, well, compared to this passage, there's gotta be some sort of harmonization of the passages. If the two passages seem to say something totally different, there must be an answer. It can't be that God gave this answer here and then gave a totally and contradictory answer over there. That cannot be. There's gotta be some sort of harmonization. I contend that if you see this passage, you cannot harmonize any other passages that say loss of salvation. You cannot come to the conclusion seeing this and then saying, yeah, you can lose your salvation. So the question is gonna be, how in the world, how in the world does this passage here that we're looking at or this chapter in John, how does it compute with the other passages that we may look at? Well, one of the things we're gonna see are these warning passages that I contend that every time we see a warning passage, it's just that, a warning. Why do I say that? Because there are sheep and then there are those who look like sheep. Jesus makes a statement that let the wheat and tear grow together or the sheep and the goat and then who is gonna separate at the end? He will. Why is that? Why is it up to him? Because we sometimes, oftentimes, many times, cannot tell who's a sheep, who's a goat. We oftentimes cannot tell who's wheat and who's a tear. And so it's up to him. Sometimes the sheep look like wolves or goats. Sometimes the goats look like sheep. Just how it is. Sometimes we've got this person in our mind earmarked for hell. And that person is clearly, and God's eye is without question a Christian. And then there are some folks who we think are Christian and then God knows, and of course, the person probably does too, that they are not an actual believer. And so what I wanna do is look at what Jesus is saying. These are Jesus's words. He is giving a description of what sheep do and notice what he says. He says, back to verse four, he says, when he puts forth or when he goes forth, all his own, those that belong to him. And so there's this possession of his, a sheep. He goes ahead of them and the sheep follow. The sheep follow. This is Aculete, which is we are following. This is a, put it back on the screen. This is a present active indicative. This is what we do. Sheep follow. That part we need to understand. So first thing we understand is one, all of the sheep that belong to him. So that means that there are some who don't belong to him, whether they look like it or not. But the first characteristics that we see described of a sheep is that sheep follow. Number one. Number two, a strength, I'm sorry. The second part of that, and the sheep follow him, why do the sheep follow him? Because this word here, hati, because they know his voice, hati idasin, tain, phonane, which is because they know, or they are knowing the voice of his. Michael LeMay, thank you so much, sir. Because they are knowing the voice of his. So the second thing, sheep one, follow him. Two, the reason why they follow him is because they know or they hear his voice. They know who he is. Many of you have seen the video and I would love to put the video on, but the times that I've tried to do it, it gets flagged for a copyright strike, not strike and claim, because that's copyright protected property. But it shows an example of a man who lets these people come to his farm and his sheep are just scattered about and they're just grazing, walking around, playing, what have, they're doing whatever sheep do. And he tells them how to call them. And they all say the same thing. Person after person after person comes up. Men, women, boys, girls, all ages, different tones in their voices and they all call and the sheep just ignore them. Then here comes the person who owns the land, the shepherd, he calls it. And as he calls them, it's amazing. They all perk up no matter what they're doing. They all perk up and they start looking and they start running to him. There's that passage. That's what he says. They come in, they follow him. Why? Because they know his voice. And then the third thing that it's gonna describe about a sheep is verse five. A stranger they simply will not follow. So if you watch that video and I recommend that you do watch the video, a stranger they will not follow. As believers, we will not follow after anything else. If someone is following after anything else, well then guess what they are not. This is Jesus' description. Then he says in verse five, but will flee from him because they do not know his voice. They don't recognize his voice or the stranger's voice. It's strange, it's bothersome. So when you hear something, let's say you are a Christian and you are not the most versed when it comes to the scriptures. But what's in you is something greater than what's outside of you. That is the Holy Spirit. And so when you hear something, it just does not sound right, it doesn't feel right. And so because you don't know that voice is calling you, that's trying to get your attention, because you don't know, you turn around and you run. Why? Because he says, a stranger they will flee because they do not know the voice of the stranger. This is a figure of speech. Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were, which he had been saying to them. Verse seven. So Jesus said to them again, truly truly I say to you, I am the door of the sheet. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheet did not hear them. What did he say? Again, he iterates that the sheet did not, those who belong to him, whether they be his sheet before his incarnation, during or after. Anything that is not of Christ, anything that is foreign, anything that is of the enemy, whatever that's calling you, that's not him. He says, he's giving an example. He says, all that came before me called, what have you, they showed up, but the sheet did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved. And I will go in and out and find pastor. Now, look what he says. If anyone enters through me, Eontes Eselfay, which is the one that's entering through me. If a certain person were to enter through me, they'll be fine. Who's gonna be the one that's gonna follow after him? We already know who's gonna follow after him because he says who are the ones gonna follow after him, his sheet. Now, does he go out and actually identify who all his sheep are? No, he's just telling what sheep do. Now, he's having this conversation with Pharisees, with the Jews, most of who are not his sheep. We know that because he says so. Verse 11, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. That's what happens if the hired hand is there. But when the actual shepherd is there, totally different story. He says he flees because he is a hired hand and he is not concerned about the sheep down. What he's also doing is he's impugning these people who are supposed to be entrusted with keepers of the law and so forth and the word and they're not. He's really calling them out in this case. Because I am the good shepherd. Verse 14, and I know my own, and here it is again, my own, know me. Speaking about sheep, again, he knows his sheep, all of them and the word that's used there for his own is the same word for idiom, but it's possessed if it's my sheep. Then he says, those that belong to me, they know me as well. We cannot get past this guys. My sheep know me and he knows us. Continuing, he says, verse 15, even as the father knows me, I know the father and I lay down my life for the sheep. And look what he says, I have other sheep which are not of this fold. Speaking of, as we know, we'll find out later that he's speaking of Gentile sheep, the Gentiles. And look what he says. He says, I must bring them also and they will hear my voice and they will become one flock with one shepherd. So speaking of us, what is gonna happen to us? Is there gonna be any difference in us as sheep as Gentile sheep? No, the same thing that's gonna be happening with the Jewish sheep is the same thing that's gonna be happening with us Gentile sheep. And notice what he says, in case someone wants to disagree, he says, and they, that's us, will hear. This word right here, let me pull up high so you guys can see. This Greek word is the word for here. It is the Greek word achosusan which is they will hear. If you look down the bottom left hand corner to hear, to hear, to obey, it's in the plural future active. So all of them in the future will hear. So you really can write this down in ink, not in pencil, because you won't have to erase it. Write down the facts that we know. The first fact is that the sheep, all of the sheep that are going to be saved, they belong to him. And he's bringing up past and present and future sheep. Is he not? He spoke about the sheep in the past that didn't follow anyone else, the sheep currently, and then the sheep in the future. And so one, they belong to him too. They will hear him. Three, they will follow him. And I may have put it backwards. Two, they will follow him because three, they hear him or with me. And then he throws in some extras, says they will not hear a stranger or listen to a stranger's voice. And then the last thing, when they do hear a stranger's voice, what do they do? They go the other way. They flee from that. Now they may walk away, they may run away, but they go in the opposite direction of the stranger's voice. So these are things that we should not negate. Then he speaks about us Gentile sheeps in the future. Of course, not in the near future for him. He says they will follow. I'm sorry, they will hear. Something's gonna happen when they hear. The exact same things gonna happen when they hear. Remember he says that they follow because they hear. Same thing here, that we will hear. Meaning we also will follow. So what has he said about us as sheep? That we will hear, we will follow, we will run away if we hear a stranger's voice. Cause we don't know the stranger's voice. And that we are his. Now he makes a statement going back to them and this has gotta be bothersome and troublesome to these Jews. Because here he is saying some things that sort of registers. Remember, we won't see it here, but the Jews according to Nicodemus and John 3, he says we know that you come from God. They know that he comes from God and then they deny him. Well, what does that mean? Well, this has to be bothering them because they say that he's saying that you're not my sheep. We're gonna see that in a second but I wanna deal with this. This person Dylan says that Judas was one of his sheep. Jesus absolutely equivocally said that Judas was not one of his sheep. Jesus goes on in John 13 and states that all of these I've kept except for this particular one who was not given by the way, because if he were given, he says I've raised all of the ones that you've given. And he says he contrasts Judas with the other. He said they have been cleansed except this one. And he used the perfect tense. So Judas was never, as a matter of fact was prophesied that Judas would do exactly what he's gonna do. And so, which is why they called him the son of the perdition, he's prophesied. It was always known what Judas was going to be. Anyway, just basic Bible understanding and so forth. And so when someone wants to come and say that Judas was a believer, Judas was never a believer. We don't have any, we don't have one passage saying that Judas ever was a believer. Judas was condemned from the start. Now why did it have to be with him? Don't know. It's not our concern anymore. Our concern is really our salvation. But the Bible says that the rest were cleansed, perfect tense, but Judas was never cleansed. So no one could ever say that Judas was ever a believer because Judas was never cleansed. Now we're gonna talk about a generic believing in just a little bit. But hold off before we get there. He says, for this reason, the father loves me, going back to the passage of verse 17, because I laid down my life, my life so that I may take it up again. Jesus is also making himself equal with God. I'm laying it down. And I can take it back up if I want to. No one has taken away from me, but I laid down on my own initiative. I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from my father. Now, I don't wanna cover it, go over the division. I wanna drop down a little bit more. Verse, let's drop down to verse, you know what, let's go to verse 22. At that time, the feast of dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter and Jesus was walking in the temple in the Portico of Solomon. The Jews then gathered around him and answered him or asked him and said, how long will you keep us in suspense if you are the Christ, tell us plainly. Now, the reason why they're asking this question is because they know, they know the prophecies. They've seen the works that he's done. They've heard about it and so forth. And as Nicodemus stated in John three, they knew he was from God, but Jesus is punching at him. Jesus says, I told you and you do not believe the works that I do in my father's name. These testify of me. This has to hurt. This has to hurt. This has to bother them. Because he says in verse 26, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. Let me address this here because you're not paying attention young man. You're not paying attention. He said, Judas kills himself because he didn't believe. Judas felt sorrow. Anybody who's not a believer can also feel guilty as well. Filling guilty is not a Christian trait. It's a human trait. Remember, Adam and Eve felt guilty after they had sinned. They weren't saved at the time. We don't know what happened to them later on, but anybody can feel guilty. Come home and your dog has been in the trash and he is going to look guilty. He's gonna have his head down, his eyes up, his tail between his leg wipe because he feels guilty. Anyone can know that they've done bad and not be a Christian. That's not a trait that's only or solely applicable to believers. And so Judas felt bad. Judas sold himself for the 30 pieces of silver, gave it back, which was exactly prophesied as well. They gave it back to him. I'm sorry. And then turned and bought the land to kill himself. So because he felt remorseful, that didn't mean anything. The fact of the matter is that he did in fact, he did in fact betray him as was prophesied and was never, ever, ever called a believer. You find that, if anyone finds that passage, you will have done a wonderful thing because you will have uncovered a treasure that we on this platform, nor has anyone else in the history of mankind ever read where Judas was ever a believer. Now that being the case. Now, so now notice what we've stated. We've stated and discovered what sheep do. Sheep follow. Let's not miss that point. Sheep hear and sheep follow. Sheep follow because they hear. Why do they hear? Because they're his own. Sheep will not turn away. Sheep, if they hear another's voice, they will flee. I want you to understand that part. Sheep will flee. Sheep will follow. They will flee if they hear someone else's voice. They will follow after the voice they know. So on their own accord, on their own accord, according to what Jesus says thus far, sheep are not going to turn away. Now, to make it even more plain and even more solid, the Bible says in Jeremiah chapter 32, verse 39, he says, And I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me always for their own good and for the good of their children after me, or after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good. Look what he says. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from me. Even more so, even more so solidify the point, the fact that the sheep will not turn away. He says that these sheep will not turn away from him and he will not turn away from them. So as we look at what Jesus is saying about sheep, so far we know that Jesus has stated that sheep will not turn away. Jesus will not turn away. Sheep are going to keep following him. Jesus is going to bring all of those that are following him with him. He's going to keep them. Now, there is one last thing. I suppose a person could bring up to state that the sheep could possibly in theory be lost. There is one thing that can be brought up that in theory could support someone saying that a sheep could stop being a sheep. That in other words, a person can lose their salvation. And he's going to address that right here. In verse 27, he says, my sheep hear my voice, which is what he's been saying. My sheep hear my voice. And I know them, he said that. And they follow me. So he reiterates what we've been saying. He iterates it again, what we've stated. And look what he says. And I give them eternal life. I'm giving these sheep that are following me eternal life. He says, Clause B of this passage and they will never perish. And note, now here is Jesus dealing with the possibility that someone may want to bring up. Yes, but what if somebody comes and snatches them away? Because we've already addressed the issue that they on their own will not leave because this is what sheep do, sheep follow. They on their own would run away from a stranger's voice. So the only thing that's possible, the only thing that's left is something or someone snatching them. And he forecloses that. He says that 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 my father's hand. I and the father are one. So therefore the Lord has foreclosed the possibility of the sheep ever leaving him, either on their own or by force, as well as him leaving them, him just abandoning them. He's not going to do that. Now, before I hit on the point that I love to hit on over and over again because I still say this particular text is undefeated, someone's going to say, but what about, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. There's a passage that states that what happens if a sheep leaves the 99, he leaves and then goes and catches a one. Let's go see what that passage is actually talking about. In Luke 15, let's start in verse one. Now, all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near him to listen to him. Notice what's happening. All of the tax collectors and the sinners are coming to who? To Jesus. Question, who are the tax collectors and the sinners, especially in the eye of the average common Jew, especially the Pharisees? They are persona non grata. They are looked down upon. They are dirty. They are traitors. They are unrighteous. So forth. Let's go back to it. He says, verse two, both the Pharisees and the scribes begun began to grumble. Why? Because we have tax collectors and sinners coming, saying this man receives sinners and eats with them. Now what is he going to do? He's now he's going to, he's going to go into this whole issue or this particular parable with me. So I want you guys to pay attention. Notice what's happening. We've got sinners coming before Jesus. And then we've got Jesus saying to those sinners about those sinners, have a Pharisees have an issue. So he brings up a parable. He brings up a parable to address all of this. Are you with me? So he told them this parable. So he told them this parable. Why? Because of this. He says, what man among you if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them does not leave the 99 in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it. When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors saying to them, rejoice with me. For I have found my sheep, which was lost. I have found my sheep, which was lost. I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven. He says this over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. What is he saying? He's saying that you 99, you guys think that you're a sheep. You righteous people who have no need of repentance. Heaven will not rejoice over you because you're still there. You're in your beautiful gowns and so forth. You are standing in the temple and you're saying all these things. You're quoting the oral traditions and so forth. You look good. But he's going after the ones that you have a problem with. The tax collectors, the sinners, the unrighteous, so to speak. So he's going after them leaving you jokers behind and going after that one, that lost sheep are with me. This has never to indicate that the particular sheep was with them and left because in this parable was the sheep that left? Was the sheep ever with him? No, now, again, we already know that he will never turn away from us and that the sheep will never turn away from him. I wanna go back to this passage in John 10 and I wanna look at an issue that, again, so far as I can tell, now when I have future debates and maybe with an upcoming scholar, we'll see how he responds to this. But I know how all of the other scholars have responded to this and this is this passage here in verse 28, this Greek text. But before I get to the Greek portion of this text, I wanna go back to it in verse 28. We have three clauses that I want you to look at and no one would ever agree, no upstanding Bible student, no upstanding Christian would ever say that there is a contradiction in the Bible. No one. Well, pay attention to these three clauses in verse 28. Clause A would be, and I give them eternal life. That's clause A. So the statement is, he gives them who the sheep, eternal life. Second clause, clause B, he says, and they will never perish. The third clause, clause C, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. It would be something to find somewhere in the scriptures where there's a contradiction. It would be really something if we found a contradiction in the exact same book, the same chapter, the same verse. That would be really a problem because to say that you would lose your salvation based off verse 28 would do a disservice to the rest of the text. Notice he says, if a person could walk away, cause someone say yes, but no one can snatch you out of your hand, out of his hand, but that person could walk away. That person can leave on their own. Well, if that's the case then, then what does that do with clause A? Where it says, and I give them eternal life. Well, then he did not give them eternal life. By the way, the word for eternal life, let's look at it. Kygo did a me, did a me, I'm sorry, a toys, zoe and aeonion, which is, and to them life, eternal, and I give to them, and I am giving to them life into the ages. The word aeonion is eternal, Lee, I'm giving them life, eternally life now. When are they getting it? Right now. How do we know so? Because John 647 says, truly, truly, that whoever believes in me, he has present tense life into the ages. So he gives them life into the ages. This is not to be taken that he is going to have, a person going to have to wait until eternity to get life eternally. No. Again, John 647 deals with that. But if that's not enough for you, if still you say, no, no, no, no, this is after a core. You have to keep living. You have to keep walking right and so forth. Well, first of all, if it means you have to keep walking, keep hearing, keep following, did not Jesus just say, that's what sheep are gonna do? So how we identify a sheep or how do we identify ourself as sheep? Because are we following? Are we hearing? This is what sheep do. Because I agree that a sheep that's not believing, a sheep that's not following, a sheep that's not bearing fruit, that person's not saved. But I have a problem with people saying that that person is a Christian begin with. That that person is a sheep to begin with. He's not a sheep. Who told you he was a sheep? Oh, he did, but he's not following. He's not hearing. So we need to get past that. Every day there's someone deconstructing, someone walking away from this instinctual knowledge, this understanding. And we said, yep, another Christian left. No, he was never a Christian. He was never a Christian because you thought he was. Because just like again, ladies can testify, men can testify as well. I thought he loved me. I thought she loved me. Well, because you thought that person loved you at that time did not mean that at that time the person actually did. Because you thought that person was a Christian at that time did not mean that person was actually a Christian at that time. Are you feeling me? Are you following me? So now he says, if a person can lose their salvation, can walk away, well then look what it also does to Clause B because Clause A cannot contradict Clause B, Clause B cannot contradict Clause C, and Clause C cannot contradict A or B, and vice versa all the way around. So if a person were to walk away, well then what does it do with Clause B? Clause B says, and they will never perish. Well, if you walk away, then you will perish. But he just says you will never perish. Now, I wanna focus on this. I haven't covered this in a while, so I wanna go ahead and cover this, especially for those who've never really heard me cover this. In this clause we have what's called a subjunctive that is negated by two words, oo and may. It's what we have in Greek called the, what we call the double negation. A double negation is in Greek, let's put it on the screen and highlight so you guys can see. We have these two words, oo, which means no or not or never. Same thing with may. No, not, never, less. Okay? Now, it would be simple to say may apolontai. Apolontai means that they may perish. There's two strong ways that you can negate something in Greek. Remember, sovereignly the Lord gave us this word in Greek. Now, it's probably because I would say, maybe because at this point in time, that the greater part of the nation or the world or the greatest speaking part of the world was speaking Greek. Even though here's my cat, he wants to get in. The Jews, because they were taken in captivity, also spoke Greek. In Greek, there's two ways to fully negate something. Two ways. The strongest way is a double negation in front of a future active indicative, meaning that no, not, never, ever, ever in the future. Or a subjunctive. We have subjunctives also in English. In English, the subjunctive will look like this, may. May this, might not, possibly. Words that convey potential, possibility, those are subjunctives. And so this word that we have here is may apollontai, or apollontai, which is a subjunctive. The word by itself, apollontai means, let's put on the screen, apollontai is from the word luo, which is to loosen, untie, to destroy. And then apollontai, it comes from this same word, derived from this word. It means that you may possibly perish. You may possibly die. And so because of this, it does open up the possibility of someone perishing, or in this case, losing the salvation. So the way that you even negate even the possibility is with a double negation. Rather than one single negation, which would be that they may not perish, it means that they may not ever, under any circumstances, may never, ever, ever, ever perish. That's what this means. So now I've asked people, what does this mean, has it referred to? Again, u, may, apollontai, you gotta see this on the screen. U, may, apollontai. And the rule is just a basic Greek rule, something special. It doesn't even necessarily apply to Greek, I mean to the salvation. This is used elsewhere. This is also, Jesus makes this statement when he talks about his word, never ever coming back to him. He uses the double negation of a subjunctive, may never ever possibly perish. The possibility is negated. That's the important point. In this case, the possibility of perishing is negated. If he has negated, and by the way, this is the problem that, again, I've never had anyone to address this. I've never had anyone to address this satisfactory because when we look at the scholars, when we look at the different Greek grammars and so forth, they're gonna say that this passage is negating the future possibility of this happening. They're with me. So if that's the case, then what did Jesus just say? Jesus says that they shall never, ever, ever perish under any future circumstance, which makes sense. For us, we look at the Greek and it helps us even more so, but we really don't need the Greek because Jesus says what she were gonna do, she were gonna keep following. And then he says himself, he himself, God will never turn away from them, or with me. So because of that, the two possibilities are gone, us walking away and him turning away. Now, I wanna go to a couple of passages. I wanna look at this passage of the parable of the soldiers where Jesus addresses an issue of believers and unbelievers because there's a big difference between the sheep and the goats, the believers and the unbelievers, though they at times may look alike, there are times where the two might look alike, they might resemble. Jesus brings this up in Luke 8 with the parable of the soldiers. You understand the story of the parable of the soldiers, but then he says, he kind of explains because even the disciples themselves, they don't fully understand it. He says, now, the parable is this, the seed is the word. And he says, verse 12, those beside the road are those who have heard the word, then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart so that they will not believe and be saved. And if you notice the 10th of the verb that's here, it's pistu suntes, which is they are not going to be believing. And this is a participle, meaning they won't be in the state of believing. And so the devil comes and takes the word from their heart, they believe, takes the word from their heart. That's very important. Meaning it's possible, it's possible to believe. It's possible to believe and the belief that you have, not be the belief that saves or with me. The belief that we have, that saves, is quite different than the belief that doesn't save, such as the one that's shown in verse 12. Verse 13, those on the rocky soil are those who when they hear, receive the word with joy and these words have no firm root. They believe, look what he says, for a while and in time of temptation, they fall away. So they can believe and it looks like they believe. They believe that Jesus one died on the cross. They believe that there was a debt that was owed that we couldn't pay. And they believe if we trust that, then they would be saved. They believe those things. A lot of people believe those things. There are a lot of people that understand that. That means though they have the exact same faith. So the difference is what we see later, he says, the sea which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard and as they go on their way, they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life and bring no fruit to maturity. So again, a believer must bear fruit. We believe a believer will bear fruit. Look what he says, but the seed and the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart. There it is. In an honest and good heart and hold it fast and bear fruit with perseverance. So those that actually hear the word with a pure heart, an honest heart. Well, where's the honest heart come from? Well, Jesus makes that point in John three. God makes that point in Ezekiel 11 and Ezekiel 36 and Jeremiah 32, as well as other pastors where he says he's gonna do something with our heart, give us a new heart. And so that those who are born again are born of the heart. They have a brand new heart and Jesus makes it all inclusive, not just Jews but Gentiles also because in John one he says, so it is so everyone, all of those who have been born of God and those who've been born of God, he goes on to say in verse John, they are overcomers. And we may go and look at that time permitting, but this heart, this honest heart that you must have, you receive the word with this good, honest heart and what's gonna happen? You're gonna bear fruit. Something else Jesus throws in. You're gonna bear fruit and you're gonna do so how? With perseverance. You're gonna keep doing it. Why? Because that's what sheep do. That's what sheep continually follow. Are with me. Because sheep continually follow, he's given us an example of sheep, but then he's also in the same pastor told us what bad sheep, the unfruitful sheep, those who are not his sheep, I'm sorry, I should put a different way that might be confusing, but those who are not his sheep but may look like his sheep, what they do. There's a way to identify the believer and there's a way to identify the nonbeliever. There's a way to identify the Christian and there is a way to identify the non-Christian. In 1 John 1, he says this, this is the message that we have heard. From him and announce to you that God is light and in him, there is no darkness. If we say that we have fellowship with him and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. We are not doing the truth. Poemintain a la feon, which is that we are not doing the truth of things. Are you with me? He says, but if we walk in light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. So we'll even see how we treat each other. We have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, his son cleanses us from all sin. By the way, that's extremely important there. If he cleanses us from all sin, then he cleanses us from all sins. He cleanses us from all sins except for our sins. See if that makes sense. He cleanses us from all of our sins except when we do actually sin. He cleans me from my sins, but when I sin, those sins, he didn't cleanse me from. I want you all to see if that even begins to make sense. He cleans me from this sin. He cleans me from all. Matter of fact, let's look what the word all is. Let's see if the word all is there. Oh yeah, it is. He cleans us from all sins. Apapaseis ha martias, which is from all. Apapaseis, all, Apapaseis, or pond, or pontis, all sins. So why would he say he cleanses from all sins if he didn't mean all sins? It does not make sense. It does not compute. Continuing, if we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. Now notice, he's just said, I have, or we have been cleansed from all sin, but then it states that you are going to sin. If you say you don't sin, then you're a liar. That you have no sin. If we confess our sins, and we know that he's speaking of sins going forward, not sins in the past that we've repented of, we know that's not the case because look what he says. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleans us from all our righteousness. So if we confess our sins, well, it would seem odd to say that we confess our sins if we've already been cleansed, but we acknowledge the fact that we do sin. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. Now he's going to talk about what a unbeliever it looks like. He says, my children, I am writing these things so that you may not sin. This is future that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, if a certain one, if tease that anyone, a certain one, a particular person does sin, what do we have? An advocate. So this is clearly talking about some future sins. We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. And he himself is the propitiation of our sins. He's the payment for our sins and not ours only, but also for the whole world. By this, we know we've come to know him if we keep his commandments. Now the question is someone might bring up, well, is he talking about the Ten Commandments? No, he's not talking about the Ten Commandments because when the Bible is speaking of the Ten Commandments or anything like that, he would refer to how as the law. Jesus is not told us to keep the law. He's not telling us under this new grace, he's not telling us to keep the law. But he does have some commands for us. What happens sometimes is we hear the word command or commandments and think he's speaking about the Ten Commandments, but he's not. Jesus literally gave us some commandments, either verbally from himself or through his apostles. And these teachings specifically here, he's speaking about loving each other and following after him. But are we gonna do that? Yes, how do we know we as sheep are gonna do that? Because that's what he said, sheep are gonna do. When Jesus gives a description, I think he knows what he's talking about. He literally gives a description of how sheep are going to behave. And the sheep are gonna behave in such a way to where they are going to hear and follow, bearing fruit. Sheep are going to, and I said the bearing fruit because of what he said in Luke. Sheep are not going to listen to the voice of a stranger, including Satan, including the world. And if they do, they turn the other way. Who doesn't turn the other way? Those in the world. Those who might look like, let's keep going. By this, we know that we have fellowship with him if we keep his commandments. The one who says, I have come to know him and does not keep his commandments, his teachings, is a liar and the truth is not in him. And so there are some things that obviously we can point to. First of all, if you are in him, you are going to magnify him in some way, shape, form, or fashion. Someone will hear or see you magnify or give a testimony or testify of Christ. That's what Jesus says in John 15 to the disciples when the Spirit comes. And we see that happening when the Spirit of God comes in us ever since the day of Pentecost, Christians have been spreading the gospel, have been magnifying Christ. Not in all the same way, not at the very same form, fashion, or function. No, but in some way we have born who he is. The love of God compels us to do so. And the tear of the Lord also helps us to persuade men. Are you with me? Verse six, the one who says he abides in him ought himself to walk in the same manner as he walked. Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have heard from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard. On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in him and in you because the darkness is passing away and the light, the true light is already shining. The one who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness unto now. So he's bringing this issue up because oftentimes how we treat others, how we look at each other, how we view each other might give an indication also as to are we really one of his? An actual believer, an actual sheep is not going to be like a wolf to another believer. That means that you can't correct him, that you can't rebuke that person. That means that you can't call out foolishness or sin that is not what that means. Because he also goes on to say that if you see a brother sinning, that that does not lead to death, he needs to pray for him. But you're also one in person too. Paul lets us know that as well. So he says, if you hate your brother, well then clearly you are not in the Lord. Verse 10, the one who loves his brother buys in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. That person is not a believer. So again, he's painting some pictures of what an unbeliever looks like. I'm writing you little children because your sins have been forgiven. For his name say, I'm writing to you, father, because you know him who has been from the beginning. I am writing you to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I'm sorry, what did you say? Did he just say you've overcome? Yes, he did. You have overcome the evil one. I have written to you children because you know the father. I have written to you, father, because you know him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one. He's trying to make it clear. This part should be settled. And then he says, do not love the world, the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him. Okay, so now we see another picture, another trait of someone who might look like a believer but it's not a believer. People who look like a believer but are not, they love the world, the things of the world. They are enamored by it. They end up walking away and joining the world. Why? Because that was really where their heart was. There are people that join clubs, that join groups and then leave. Why? Because their heart really wasn't in it. And so look what he says. For all that is in the world, verse 16, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life is not from the father but from the world. Describing again an actual goat, a non-believer, not a believer. But it brings the question, though. Is it ever possible that a Christian could exhibit these traits from time to time? Sure it is. Sure it is. However, he makes this statement about the Christian is not the one that practices doing these sin. That he doesn't make a habit. This is not his lifestyle. So yes, you are going to sin but sheep do not live that way. In other words, the sheep may go this way a little bit. You may go that way a little bit but ultimately he ends up following. And his level of sin ends up decreasing over time. It's like a funnel as it gets bigger and bigger. The waves of his sinning gets a little smaller and smaller and smaller and smaller and smaller. Yet he's still following Christ. He, because again, what did Jesus say sheep do? They are following. Exactly, struggle versus practicing. And there's always going to be this struggle. Paul brings this up in Romans 7. The good things that he wants to do, he doesn't do. I can't get this right. The bad that I want to stop doing, I do those things. The thing that I hate to do. Why? Well, because of this flesh. Inwardly I've been saved but outwardly the flesh is still there. And left to my own devices. I'll figure out a way to sin. But what do we have? We have the Holy Spirit in us. Verse 18, children, it is the last hour. And just as you heard that Antichrist is coming even now many Antichrist have appeared. This is important. From this we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us but were never really of us. For if they had been of us, they would have remained with us but they went out so that it would be shown that they are all not of us. Now, someone is going to say that, wait a minute, he's talking about the Antichrist. No, he's talking about Antichrist. Who's Antichrist? Anyone that is against Christ? Anyone who's against Christ? Any enemy of Christ? Who is that? Every unbeliever. Every person that's not his will exhibit this character trait. Especially those who are not of it. They left so they would be known that they were not a part of us. Think about this. They, let me put it back on the screen. I want you guys to see this. They went out from us, indicating that they were with us. While they were with us, we had no idea the next part that they were never really of us because they look like us. This word for Antichrist, it does not refer to something special or someone in the future. It's referring to what was happening then as well as now as well as going forward. This Antichrist or these Antichrist, not the, yeah, he's coming, but many Antichrist have come now. And they were, they have infiltrated us. They look like sheep, sound like sheep, act like sheep, but they ended up departing. They ended up departing and then we know that they're not. Though at the time they looked like sheep, but we realized they were not. How do we realize that? Because he says they departed for if they had been of us, look what he says, for if they had been, this part is important, for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us. Don't let that part leave you. Don't let that part escape you. If they had been of us, they would have remained with us. Why would, well, Jesus said that's what sheep do. Let me read it again. For if they verse 19 had been of us, they would have remained with us, but they went out so that it would be shown that they are, that they all are not of us. But you have an anointed from the Holy One and you all know. So I'll leave it right there going back to John 10. If we just simply read what Jesus says, how he describes us, what he says about us as sheep, that does not change. I won't even go further into verse 28 and flesh that out even more. We'll do that sometime later, but it needs to be understood. Sheep follow. Believers continually follow. Non-believers at some point in time stop following. Non-believers don't follow. Even though if it's Monday they follow, doesn't mean they're gonna always follow. But sheep, we keep following. Jesus makes a statement clear and we shall never ever perish, nor will anyone snatch us. So you can't snatch us, we won't turn away and he won't turn away. I think that settles it. And so when we look at the world and we see someone send their Christian, one of two things, it's one of two things in play here. Either the person isn't a Christian. At some point in time, Christians are gonna act like Christians. At some point in time, Christians are gonna walk like Christians. Or the person is a Christian, but they're growing. Because how many of us, at some point in time in our walk, did not look like a believer? That's true, that happened. The greatest example of an actual believer who did not look like a believer and it was vivid, it was clear. And if you would have asked anyone on that day, if that person was a believer or the day after, virtually everybody would have said, that person is not a believer. That person is not a Christian. Who is that? Peter. Peter is in the courtyard while they are interrogating Jesus, while they're beating him, while they're mocking him. And then Peter's asked also three times, hey, you were with him, you're one of his. And Peter swears and oh, I promise you on my life, whatever swearing, what I can swear about whatever, I do not know the man. And then what does he hear? This rooster crowing and his heart sings and he, who does he make eye contact with it? Jesus, who's literally getting the life beat out of him and getting ready to die for Peter. On that day, how did Peter look? Did Peter look like a Christian? No, he did not. No, he did not. But Jesus, when he says something, he means something. Jesus says, Peter, this is how Peter did all this tough talking. He says, makes a statement, he says, Peter, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times. You will deny me. But Jesus throws something else in there. He says, but I prayed for you. And so you're going, and so he says, I'm sorry, I'm not about to pray for you. He says, and when you return, but when you return, so Jesus tells him, you're going to return. I don't know if Peter remembered that at the time. But I think we should remember all the promises that he has for us, that we will never depart him. There are going to be some times, guys. Jeff, thank you so much for Super Chat. I appreciate that. There are going to be times where we feel a certain way. But how do you know you are here? Even if you're walking and you just take a break, you're like, I don't know. Lord, I'm struggling. I'm hurting. You go through things. But there's going to be this pulling. A guy once told me, he said, Cory, I'm living proof of someone who backslid. I said, no, no, you're not. I said, why do you say that? Well, because I've been a Christian all my life and I backslid and I stopped going to church. I stopped reading my Bible. I stopped praying for about six, seven, eight months. But then the Lord got ahold of me and brought me back. And so I just leaned into him and I said, let me ask you a question. Isn't that proof that you're his? And isn't that proof that you didn't lose what you thought you lost? Because guess where you are right now? Here, who brought you back? Why did he bring you? Because you're his. You cannot lose it. He says he will not depart from you. You won't depart from him. And he says, huh? Now the guy's out preaching one saved always saved to the top of the mountain. So just think about it. Yeah, I had a rough patch. His patch was six or seven months. Peters was two or three days. That happened, guys. It happens, which is why you need to be around other brothers and sisters, which is why you need to be saying your word. If you are following, if you are convicted in your heart, if you're bothered, that's because you belong to him. That's because you're hearing his voice. You want to hear his voice? You want, you want to hear his voice every time you mess up? I promise you, if you're his, you'll hear this feeling of guilt, this conviction from the Holy Spirit. You'll hear that. Why? Because he loves you. And he says, you won't depart from him. He won't depart from you. So guys, I hope this has been helpful. We'll cover this even more in the future. But I want you to know, and this is the reason for this, this is the confidence that we can have, that we can approach him. He, as our father, will keep us and will never let us go. Thank you, Mona. I appreciate that. I appreciate you guys. And I will see you all tomorrow. God bless you.