And I give unto them eternal life
Christ gives eternal life to his sheep, or people now; he gives
them a spiritual life, or a life of grace, which issues in
eternal life; he gives them himself, who is the true God and
eternal life, and whoever has him has life; he gives them the
knowledge of himself, which is life eternal; and he gives them
his righteousness, which is their justification of life, or what
entitles them to eternal life; and he gives them the foretastes
of it, in faith and hope, in the enjoyment of himself, and the
discoveries of his love; he gives them the earnest and pledge of
it, his own Spirit; and they have this life in him as their
representative, and it is hid with him in God, and is safe and
secure for them; and he will actually give it to them in their
own persons, to be for ever enjoyed by them; and because of the
certainty of it, he is said to do it now: this is a pure gift, it
is of grace, and not of works; and it is in the gift of Christ as
Mediator, who has power to give it to as many as the Father has
given him:
and they shall never perish;
though they were lost in Adam, and in a perishing condition in
themselves, during their state of unregeneracy; in which
condition they see themselves to be, when convinced by the Spirit
of God; and come as persons ready to perish to Christ, as a
Saviour, resolving, that if they perish, they will perish at his
feet: and though after conversion, they are subject to many falls
and spiritual declensions, and lose their peace, joy, and
comfort, and imagine their strength and hope are perished, or at
least fear they shall one day perish through one sin, or snare,
or temptation or another, yet they shall never perish in such
sense as the wicked will; they will not be punished with
everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and the
glory of his power:
neither shall any pluck them out of my hand;
Christ's sheep are in his hands, being put there by God the
Father, both as an instance of his love to Christ, and them; and
this was done from all eternity, even when they were chosen in
him; so that they were in the hands of Christ, before they were
in the loins of Adam; and were preserved in him, notwithstanding
Adam's fall, and through the ruins of it. To be in the hands of
Christ, is to be high in his esteem and favour; the saints are a
crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the
hand of their God; they are a signet on his right hand that shall
never be plucked off; they are engraven on the palms of his
hands: to be in the hands of Christ, is to be in his possession,
and at his dispose, as all the elect of God are; and to be under
his guidance, care, and protection, as they be; they are fed
according to the integrity of his heart, and guided by the
skilfulness of his hands; they are always under his care and
watchful eye, who protects them from all their enemies, and hides
them in the hollow of his hand: hence, because they are so, they
are called "the sheep of his hand", ( Psalms 95:7 ) . And
none shall ever pluck them from thence; no man can do it, not any
false teacher can remove them from Christ, by all the art and
cunning he is master of; nor any violent persecutor, by all the
force and power he can use; nor can any sin, or snare, or
temptation, draw them out of Christ's hands; nor any adversity
whatever separate them from him: they must be safe, and always
abide there, who are in the hands of Christ; for his hands have
laid the foundations of the heavens and the earth, they grasp the
whole universe, and hold all things together; and who then can
pluck any out of these hands? Moreover, Christ, as Mediator, has
all power in heaven and earth; and even as man, he is the man of
God's right hand, made strong for himself.
