When God Says We Are Safe#3
Text: John 10:3,4,14,27
It is good to be together with you again here at the West Side Church of Christ. We
certainly hope as we have spent some time together in worshiping God and thinking about Jesus
that we will consider this time a good thing. It is so important in a world like ours to have
something or someone who we can look to or lean on that stands like a rock through all events and
all the different circumstances we face!
We've been looking at the promise of God to His children the past couple of weeks where He
gives us something we can always bank on:
His desire to save us!
As people who are desperately wanting heaven God promises us that when we look to Jesus for hope
God will deliver! To coin a sports term, Jesus is Mr. Automatic! He will always hit the
game-winning homerun, pitch the perfect ninth and close out the series in remarkable fashion!
What happens when God tells us we are safe in His hands?
How does a child become safe in his/her Father's grips?
Even though it may seem like we're a way, way up and we're scared of heights, what will make us
safe?
Only if our Father is strong enough to hold us!
Jude:24,25- God is able!
You know there may be a lot of things I am not able to do but my hope is built on the fact that
He is able, able even to save someone like me! It's not that I am stronger or wiser than the
Devil but that God is and I must trust in that!
You might have seen or heard these old stories of people trying to outsmart the Devil,
thankfully with Jesus I don't have to worry about that!
Last week we began looking at the reasons why we can feel so confident in Jesus!
Remember we can be secure with Christ because he walks in front of us leading us to safety! He
will worry about getting us to heaven; we just have to worry about following his footsteps!
John 21:19-22- just follow me!
Let's go back to John 10:3,4,14,and 27 and let's look at reason #2 of what it means when God
says we are safe:
We have an intimate relationship with Jesus!
Now, this is a key word for our entire outlook on life, death & judgment:
the word know!
It is not a coincidence when Jesus was trying to make clear the path to eternal security to a
group of people who didn't know how to get it that he used the word so many times!
Our being safe through thick and thin is based on what or should I say who we know and who
we are known by!
Jesus says I am the good shepherd, the leader who loves, and I know my sheep and my sheep
know me and because of this relationship eternal life is theirs!
Now, when we go through our list of accomplishments and lean on them for some kind of
security deposit in the game of heaven and hell we are really leaning on the wrong thing. Jesus
says the key is not your accomplishment but who will accompany you through the years!
Got anything to back that up with?
Sure Matthew 7:21-23.
Listen to what Matthew says many people will trust for their salvation:
- Have we not prophesied in your name? They are expecting a positive answer!
- Have we not cast out demons in your name? They are expecting a positive answer!
- Have we not done many wonders in your name? They are expecting a positive answer!
Now, Jesus will not answer them in the negative! There are many things people will have
done! How is Jesus going to answer?
'I never knew you'! Do you notice what the key is?
The key is not what we have done, the key is are we in a relationship with Jesus?
Do we know him and does he know us?
People can know a lot about people, but that doesn't mean they know the person! There are a
lot of things you can know about me. My favourite sports teams, my likes of food, what kind of
car I drive, the fact that I like to be serious and never goofy! But, my wife knows me! She
understands so many intimate details about me. She knows when I'm nervous, she knows when I need
to be left alone, and she knows when I need her to stand beside me. She knows me. She knows
what would devastate me, she knows what I can handle, and she knows when I'm in over my head.
She knows me. With that you can ask her whether or not Drew would be interested in… and she will
know!
This is why knowing Jesus is so crucial. We don't just want to know about Jesus, but we
want to know him!
Phil.3:10- I want to know him and the power of his resurrection! I want to be personally
acquainted with Jesus! Why?
Because we are so hungry for wholeness that knowing him will provide it!
Where does it all begin?
Notice something that Jesus said that should thrill every single one of us:
There is a God who knows our names!
Jesus said, I call my sheep by name! One time a census taker asked a mother how many children
she had. "Well," she began, "there's Harry and John and Martha and…" "Never mind giving me
their names," the man interrupted. "Just give me the number." The mother said firmly back,
"They don't have numbers; my children all have names!"1
God knows our names!
What does that tell us?
When we think about God, we think about this huge, powerful beyond the stars being who is far
above everything and everyone! Yet, we are told that this awesome powerful Being is someone who
is aware of even the most unimportant and unexciting of us! Psalms 8:4-6- what is man?
Did you ever stop to wonder what the ancients must have felt when God called out their names?
Abraham, Noah, Moses, Joshua etc. How do you know my name?
I made you; I'm very much interested in you!
Jesus however shows us how personal God can be! He knows our names!
John 1:41,42- you are
Simon, you shall be called Peter.
Luke 19:1-6- Zacchaeus I'm coming to your house today.
John 20:11-18- Mary, Rabboni!
In fact, Paul said in 2 Timothy 2:19- the Lord knows those who are His!
When Jesus calls us to follow him, he assures us he knows us by name! God knows me so
intimately. God knows when I am strong, He knows when things are just right, He understands when
events will not move me, He knows what my favourite things to eat, and drink and play at are!
He also knows when I am afraid, He understands when things are not going so good, He knows when
the things I dread are coming around and praise be to My Father he knows how to help me! He
knows what I need to get through these things! What's even more amazing is this:
the one who knows me best loves me the most!
A sociologist was writing a book about growing up in a large family and met with a mother of
13. He asked the mother "Do you think all children deserve the full, impartial love and
attention of a mother?" "Well, yes"! He thought he would catch her than and asked "Well, which
of your children do you love the most?" "The one who is sick until he gets well and the one who
is away until he gets home."2
We can feel secure because God knows our name; He knows us so much and still loves us all
the way! God will never and can never forget about us even though at times we may wonder if He's
paying attention!
Then Jesus says, when he calls us by name, we know him!
Notice how the relationship develops, it does not begin with us! It begins with him knowing us
and then we in turn recognize and know him! What is it that we know?
Jesus says we recognize his voice! We learn to distinguish his voice, his leading from
others. His is the voice of tenderness and love. His is the voice that speaks of safety and
assurance. His is the voice that says when you follow me no matter how lost or scared you were
you're going to be alright!
Now, to follow him does mean our lives will have fruit! Ephesians 2:8-10. However, we are in an
everyday walk with Jesus. His voice becomes our compass. We associate now with his works and
words. Our lives are lived in the shadow of his work on the cross. Not only that, when we know
Jesus we won't follow another! Those who hunger for wholeness recognize the voice of the kind
Master and can only follow him!
This is our ultimate goal: John 17:3!
Now, you might be thinking, I've only been listening to the Saviour's voice for a short time
and I don't know him that well! Does that mean I'm not secure?
Not at all!
My daughters do not know me as well as my wife. If they do they are really testing me!
But, there are a couple of things they still know that is key to their survival:
they know my voice!
They know that they are safe when they hear my voice. They know that if they feel lost they can
follow the sound of my voice and won't feel lost anymore.
Do you kind of see what I'm saying?
If you've done great religious things so you can fall back on them you may be building a
relationship on something other than his voice. But if you've been doing things because you have
been following that sweet melody, you know that by following the sound of his voice you won't
feel lost anymore!
When God knows your name and you recognize his voice:
John 11- vs.1- Lazarus is sick
Vs.3- the one whom you love is sick
Vs.11-15- Lazarus is dead
Vs.23-26- shall never die -> Your brother will rise again
Vs.35,36- Jesus wept
Vs.39- some doubt
Vs.40- you've got to believe
Vs.43- Lazarus come forth
12:9- Lazarus is alive!
My friends, walk around this world today if you know Jesus and Jesus has called your name- Hi!
I'm Drew, I'm a child of God and I'm alive!
What about you?
Do you know Jesus?
Do you believe in Jesus?
Have you identified with his death & resurrection in baptism?
You know that's the beginning of our relationship with him! John 3:3-5 and here's the promise
that when you do this because he calls you to you can live knowing that his resurrection will one
day mean yours! Won't you come?
1. Taken from Rubel Shelly, The Names of Jesus (West Monroe, LA: Howard Publishing Co., Inc.,
1999) p.69
2. From a sermon by Rubel Shelly, Great Themes of the Bible #1- Salvation June 4, 2000 taken
from the web-site www.faithsite.com
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