The Greatest Security Ever Offered

We read the word of God from John chapter 17, verses 9 through 12, and then Romans chapter 8, verses 31 through 39. We have been considering our Lord's intercessory prayer, and we come now to verse 9. I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but for them whom thou hast given me, for they are thine.

And all mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are.

While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all.

How shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Shall God that justifieth? Who is he that condemneth? Shall Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again? Who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us? What shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creation shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. It is good to know that we belong eternally to him. The great quest in the world today is for security.

And security is important. If you don't have security, you can't grow. If you aren't sure who you are and whose you are, and where you're standing and where you're going, then you'll be using up all of your energy to protect yourself instead of building yourself.

And this is one reason why our world is so filled with immature people, because most of their time and energy is spent in defense rather than development. The world is looking for international security. While we are worshiping here at the Moody Church, there are ambassadors and diplomats of one kind or another who are flying hither and yon, conducting conferences, signing papers.

A quest for international security is a quest for national security. We're concerned about jobs and economics. Social security may end up social insecurity.

I can't think of anything less secure than money. The Bible tells us that money very soon flies away. People are looking for security in personal relationships, and they get their hearts broken.

One reason why people in our great cities are living at a distance from one another is because they don't want to take a chance. And so whether you and I realize it or not, our great need is for security. We cannot be secure physically or emotionally or any other way until, first of all, we are secure spiritually.

St. Augustine said it best, and he said it many years ago, Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in thee. In John chapter 17, verses 9 through 12, our Lord Jesus Christ is talking about security. He talks to his Father about keeping those who were his.

And I think it's important for us to grasp the fact that according to our Lord Jesus Christ, the true believer is eternally secure in Christ. I realize that there are good and godly people who disagree with that statement, but I will repeat it. According to our Lord Jesus Christ, the true believer is eternally secure in Christ.

And we can lift from John chapter 17, not only the passage that we read, but passages we have previously considered, some very important facts that prove to us the security of the believer. Let's just consider these facts one by one. Fact number one, the believer is secure because salvation is a gift.

John chapter 17, verse 3, And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. Fine, how do I get this eternal life? Verse 2, As thou hast given him authority over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. Now, when you read the word of God carefully, you discover that there is a threefold strand, a threefold cord involved in eternal life.

God the Father gives his Son for us. Can we ever quote John 3.16 and not take it for granted? For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. So God the Father gave his Son for us.

God the Son gives eternal life to those who trust him. And lo and behold, when you trust him, you discover that God the Father has given you to God the Son. Seven times in John chapter 17, our Lord refers to his own as those whom thou hast given me, those whom thou hast given me.

Thine they were, he says to his Father, and thou gavest them to me. Thine they were by creation. You gave them to me by redemption.

Salvation. Salvation is a gift. Eternal life is a gift.

Now, since it is a gift, it is based upon grace. Seventeen times in John chapter 17, you find our Lord using the word give or given or gave. That word means grace.

If you come and mow my lawn and I pay you two dollars to mow my lawn, you earn that. But if you come without asking for wages and you mow my lawn, that's grace. Salvation is a gift.

Eternal life is a gift. And this gift involves grace. For by grace are you saved through faith.

You know why salvation is by grace? It's a gift. That's the only way God would ever get it to us. We couldn't earn it.

We couldn't merit it. We could not achieve it. There's not a one of us who could reach God's high standard.

And so God looks upon us and says, then I'll give it to you if you'll just receive it by faith. Now, my friend, if salvation is a gift and my Bible tells me that the gifts and the calling of God are without repentance, God does not take back his gifts. I have to believe that the eternal life that I have is secure.

How can a person know for sure he is saved and saved eternally? Because salvation is a gift. I recall a mature Christian saying to me when I was just a young believer, if you could not be saved by your good works, how in the world can you be lost by your bad works? And he's right. Now, there's a second fact that assures us that salvation is secure.

Eternal life is secure. And the believer is secure in Christ. It's this, verse four.

The work of salvation is finished. I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

The greatest word our Lord ever uttered was there on the cross when he cried out and said, it is finished. Into thy hands I commend my spirit. When he had made his soul an offering for sin, the work of salvation is finished.

I recall when we were studying comparative religions in seminary, and it may be the only thing I remember from that course, but it struck me rather forcefully. The instructor said in Babylon, ancient Babylon, they had two kinds of religion. They were called the monkey religion and the cat religion.

Now, this didn't mean they worshiped monkeys and cats. It had to do with the theology. In the monkey religion, you had to hold on for dear life.

You ever go to the zoo and watch little monkeys hold on to mother? In the cat religion, mother holds on to you. Ever watch a cat move her litter? Gets them by the nape of the neck and carries them, and I defy that kitten to get away from mother. Well, we have this kind of dichotomy in America today, in the world.

There are religions that are monkey religions. You got to hold on for dear life. If you don't do this and don't do that, and if you do do that.

But we also have what I consider biblical theology, where Jesus says, I'm going to hold on to you. My sheep hear my voice, and I give unto them eternal life. They shall never perish.

Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. The Father which gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. The work is finished.

Dr. Ironside, many years ago, wrote a very wonderful booklet called The Only Two Religions. Many of you have read it. You may have heard him preach the message.

Only two religions. One says, do. The other says, done.

One says, try. The other says, trust. One says, never finished.

The other says, it is finished. One says, pay. The other one says, paid.

I think sometimes we take this for granted. We can sing so glibly, Jesus paid it all. All to him I owe.

Do you realize what it means that Jesus paid it all? It means this. You can't add anything to it. It means this.

You can't take anything from it. If it's paid, it's paid. And Jesus finished the work.

As you've heard me say on occasion, our Lord did not make the down payment and ask you to keep up the installments. Our Lord finished the work. And I dare you to add anything to his finished work.

I dare you to look into the face of God and say, I'll believe plus the Ten Commandments. I'll believe plus the Sermon on the Mount. God's voice comes back and says, you will believe.

And that's it. Salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ. His work is finished.

That's the contrast that's pointed out in Hebrews chapter 10, where he pictures the Old Testament priest and the Lord Jesus. The work of the Old Testament priest was never finished. He offered the same sacrifices year after year that could never wash away sin.

Ah, but when Jesus came by one sacrifice for sins forever, he finished the work. Salvation is a gift. That's a fact.

The work of salvation is finished. That's a fact. There's a third fact you ought to consider.

And this moves us into our text for today. Verse nine. Jesus Christ prays for us.

I pray for them. I pray not for the world. Many people have the foolish idea that our Lord Jesus Christ is praying for a lost world.

You and I had better be praying for a lost world. I will that men pray everywhere. Lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting.

Praying for kings and those in authority. Praying for the lost. We ought to be praying for a lost world.

But Jesus is not praying for a lost world. He did that on a cross. Father, forgive them.

They know not what they do. Our Lord is not praying for the lost world. He's praying for his own people.

And because he prays for his own people, he keeps his own people. Have you discovered in the reading of your Bible that salvation has two aspects to it? The death of Christ and the life of Christ? You'd better discover that. Turn to Romans chapter five.

That's the place to discover it. Verse six. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

For scarcely for a righteous man will one die. Yet perhaps for a good man some would even dare to die. But God proved his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Verses six, seven, and eight of Romans five say you're saved by his death. You're saved by his death. For whom did he die? The ungodly.

For whom did he die? By sinners. Why did he die? Because he loved us. But Paul doesn't stop there.

He goes on to tell me that not only am I saved by his death, I am saved by his life. Verse nine. Much more.

You mean there's something much more than being just saved? Yes. Some saints have never discovered this. They're still walking around in the shallow water instead of launching out into the deep.

Much more than being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more. There it is again.

Being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. How are we saved by his life? He's alive up in heaven. Jesus didn't just simply die on the cross and be buried, and that was the end of it.

He arose again. The resurrection is as much a part of the gospel as the death of Christ. He arose again.

He ascended back to heaven, and now up in heaven he is interceding for you and me. That's what we read over in Romans 8, did we not? Who is he that condemneth? Shall Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us? Wounded he stands before the Father's throne. He did not take scars back to heaven.

He took wounds back to heaven. When I get to heaven in my glorified body, when the Lord returns, I won't have any wounds, but he took wounds back to heaven. And when one of his children sins and Satan steps up and says, Look what he did! See what he did! Judge him! Judge him! The Lord says, I died for him.

You see, the interceding Son of God gives to us security. He's up in heaven praying for us. Not only is he our high priest, he is our advocate.

1 John 2, my little children, these things write I unto you that you sin not. But if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Now, my Lord Jesus prayed in John chapter 17 that you and I might be kept secure. He prays in verse 11. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me.

Have you ever known God the Father not to answer the prayer of his Son? I remember when Jesus said, Father, thank you that you hear me. You always hear me. You can read through the four gospels and you will not find one prayer that Jesus ever uttered that the Father did not answer.

Am I to believe that now God the Father will ignore this prayer? My friend, you don't keep yourself saved. You can keep yourself in the love of God. You can keep yourself from the things of the world.

You can't keep yourself saved. That's the work of God the Son as he prays for us. Eternal life is a gift.

It's a fact. The work of salvation is completed. That's a fact.

Jesus Christ is praying for us. That's a fact. There's a fourth fact that proves to us that the believer is secure in Christ.

I invite you to look at the end of verse 10. I am glorified in them. The word glory shows up several times in this chapter.

Fact number four, salvation is for God's glory. We sometimes have the idea that Jesus Christ died on the cross just to rescue people from drunkenness and dope and debauchery. I'm glad that when Jesus died on the cross, he purchased a salvation that does make a drunk sober, that does take the adulterer and make him clean.

But that's not the only reason why Jesus died. Over and over again in this chapter, you find this one word, glory. Glorify, glory.

You know why Jesus died? To glorify God. Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy son, that thy son also may glorify thee.

I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. I have glorified thee on the earth. I suppose the greatest sentence ever written about salvation is Ephesians chapter 1. Paul goes on one long sentence for about 14, 15 verses.

But every once in a while, he stops and says, To the praise of his glory, we're chosen, adopted, accepted. To the praise of his glory, we're sealed. To the praise of his glory, we are made an inheritance.

To the praise of his glory. You know why God saves people? To glorify God. We've lost that emphasis these days.

We have a very humanistic approach to salvation. We think the only reason to get people saved is to rescue them from sin. And that's a good reason.

But it's not the only reason. People get rescued from sin that they might glorify God. Salvation is for God's glory.

Now, the amazing thing is this. According to verse 22 of John 17, God has already given us the glory. And the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them.

Not, I will give them when they die. Not, I will give them at the rapture. Not, I will give them if they hold out.

And the glory which thou gavest me, I have already given them. We already have the glory. What, know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, which ye have of God? We have the glory.

He has already given us the glory. He calls this, in his epistles, the firstfruits of the Spirit. It's the firstfruits of heaven.

We have the glory down inside. That says to me that I can be just as sure of heaven today as if I were there. Fact number four, salvation is for God's glory.

You say, but Pastor, don't we fail? Yes. Don't we do things we shouldn't do? Yes. But look at verse 10.

I have been glorified in them. Glorified in loudmouth Peter? Yes. You can read through John 17 and you'll not find Jesus Christ naming one weakness or sin of his disciples.

He could have. He could have come like this. Father, the hour has come and I'm so glad to get rid of that crowd.

Oh, Father, for three years I've put up with Thomas' doubtings. He can ask more questions. And Peter's blusterings.

And a couple of them want to bring fire down from heaven. He doesn't even mention their failings. Do you know that when your Savior intercedes for you before the Father, he doesn't mention your failings.

He's glorified in you. With all of our weaknesses and all of our disappointments and disobedience, somehow, by his grace, we glorify him. And when one day we're all gathered together in eternity, oh, what a glorious occasion it's going to be.

Do you know what? If I lost my salvation, God would lose more than I would. His glory is wrapped up in my security. And God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit together are working in your life, if you're saved, to keep you secure.

You know why? Their glory is wrapped up in you. And if one saint could ever be lost, Satan would have a heyday. Oh, you're the Alpha and the Omega, but you started something you couldn't finish.

You wrote in your word, he that hath begun a good work will complete. You didn't complete it. Satan will never have that opportunity.

He can point to me and say, you failed, but he can never point to God and say, God, you failed. There's a fifth fact that assures us of our security in Christ. Verse 11 of John 17, the last phrase, that they may be one as we are.

Salvation unites all believers. We are one body. Can you conceive of the body falling apart? When our Lord Jesus was here on earth, he had a physical body.

When he died, they laid him in the tomb. And my Bible says, thou shalt not suffer thine holy one to see corruption. His body did not get corrupt.

His body did not decay. His body was raised from the dead in glory. Can you conceive of his spiritual body decaying and falling apart? We are one temple.

Jesus Christ is the foundation, the chief cornerstone. God is cementing living stones into the temple. Can you conceive of the one temple falling apart? We're one flock.

Jesus said there shall be one flock and one shepherd. He's the shepherd. We're the sheep.

Can you conceive of the good shepherd who found us to begin with, losing us to end with? There is a unity to believers. And if I were to lose my salvation, not only would God lose glory, but you would lose. Because we belong to each other.

And we minister to each other. And we need each other. And we affect each other.

And I don't believe we belong to a body that is going to fall apart. I am glorified in them. Keep them that they may be one as we are.

That means a spiritual unity that cannot be broken. Now, look at that. Jesus prays, Father, I want my church on earth, though it seems to be divided outwardly, to be united spiritually as we are.

And God the Father says, I'll answer that prayer. God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit will eternally be one. God's church will eternally be one.

Oh, my friend, salvation is much bigger than Moody Church. Salvation is much bigger than any denomination. This is the greatest thing in all the world.

Salvation is a gift. Salvation is a finished work. Jesus Christ is praying for us.

Salvation is for God's glory. Salvation unites all believers. Fact number six, Jesus Christ kept his own when he was here on earth.

Verse 12, while I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me, I have kept, and none of them is lost. But the son of perdition is lost.

You know why? He was never given to me. Every once in a while, someone who believes you can lose your salvation turns to John 17, 12 and says, See, even Jesus lost Judas. No, you can't lose something that you never found.

Judas is not an example of a believer who lost his salvation. Judas is an example of a hypocrite who never had salvation. Just turn back to John chapter six, if you will, please.

Our Lord gave his sermon on the bread of life and the crowd left him. He lost his congregation. Verse 66, from that time, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him.

Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? And then Simon Peter answered, Lord, to whom shall we go? Notice the we, plural, not I, we, he's speaking for the whole group of disciples. Thou hast the words of eternal life, and we believe, and we are sure that thou art that Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus says, Peter, are you sure? Peter, you can speak for yourself.

Can you speak for these other men? Jesus answered them, Have I not chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. For he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve. In other words, Jesus said, I've never chosen him.

Judas was never chosen spiritually. Turn the page to John chapter 13. Our Lord had washed their feet.

And Peter, of course, didn't want this. Verse 10, He that is washed needs not except to wash his feet, but is entirely clean. And ye are clean, but not all of you.

Judas had never been cleansed. He'd never been chosen. He'd never been cleansed, for he knew who should betray him.

Therefore, he said, You're not all clean. How about verse 18 of John 13? I speak not of you all. I know whom I have chosen.

But the clincher is John chapter 18 in verse 9. When they came to arrest Jesus in the garden, our Lord says in verse 8, I have told you that I am he. If therefore ye seek me, let these go their way. Speaking of his disciples, the other eleven, let these go their way.

That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spoke, Of them whom thou gavest me have I lost none. Judas was never chosen, never cleansed. He was not one of those that God the Father had given to God the Son.

Verse 9 says, Of those whom thou hast given me, I haven't lost any. And that's true. If you're one of those who has trusted Jesus Christ, and God the Father has given you to God the Son, you will be kept secure.

Jesus kept his own when he was here on earth. Can he not keep them now that he is exalted in heaven? Judas is not a warning that you may lose your salvation. He never had it.

Judas is a warning not to be a false professor, not to be a member of a religious group pretending to be saved when you've never been born again. Here then are six rather simple but important facts. When you put them together, they all come out the same way.

God can keep his own. Now, why does God want to keep his own? We'll go over this again in future messages, but I want to drop it in your heart now, lest somebody should go away and say, Well, if I am eternally secure, then I can live like the devil. Anybody who says that is giving evidence he may not be saved at all.

Why does God want to keep us eternally secure? Number one, so we can glorify him on this earth. You can't glorify God if you aren't sure what you've got and how long you're going to keep it. Number two, he wants us to know that the foundation is secure, that we cannot be lost, no matter what trials and temptations and difficulties we may go through in this world.

He wants us to maintain that communion with him, no matter how we feel, no matter what we see, we know we belong to him. Paul was able to say, I know whom I have believed. These things are written unto you that you may know that you have eternal life.

Thirdly, you can't share with somebody else the thing you aren't sure you've got yourself. We're here in this world to share the gospel. I've called them out of the world, said Jesus.

I'm sending them out into the world. He has sent us out into the world to share the word of God. But if you aren't sure of what you've got, you can't share it.

Before an ambassador goes to a foreign country, he gets his credentials. He is sure he has the authority to speak. We're ambassadors for Christ.

And God wants us to be sure of our relationship to him before we go out to speak. Now there may be some of you listening to me now who don't have this assurance. You can have this assurance.

Maybe you've never been saved at all. It may be that you raised a hand or signed a card or walked an aisle but never really received Christ in your heart. Judas preached sermons and Judas performed miracles and Judas died and went to hell.

If you have in your heart right now the assurance that you're born again, give thanks to God. He's keeping you secure. If you don't have that assurance, you ought to come and receive Christ and have that blessed assurance that Jesus is yours.

That's why he came. That's why he died. That's why he lives in heaven today.

So you and I can go through this difficult world and say, I know thou wilt guide me with thy counsel and afterward receive me to glory. I know whom I have believed. And my friend, I want you to know too, the security of the saint is the foundation for holy living, for Christian service, for Christian fellowship, for spiritual growth.

Do you know for sure today that you belong to him? Thank you, Father, that we can live our lives with assurance. Not arrogance, but assurance. That we can know that we're born again and know that this salvation is ours forever.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for finishing the work. Thank you for your unfinished work in heaven, praying for us. Thank you for our unfinished work on earth, glorifying you.

Thank you that we stand on a solid rock. Oh, we give praise today because you are such a wonderful savior. Now, may there be those here this morning who will come and give their hearts to Christ and find this wonderful assurance through faith in him.

I pray in Jesus' name, amen.