Now, let's take our Bibles and
turn with me to the Gospel according to John chapter 6. John chapter
6. I'd like to consider verses 41
to 47 this morning. Let's read these scriptures,
and then we'll ask our Lord's blessing. John 6, 41. The Jews
then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which
came down from heaven. And they said, is not this Jesus,
the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it
then that he said, I came down from heaven? Jesus therefore
answered and said to them, murmur not among yourselves. No man
can come to me except the Father which hath sent me for all things,
and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the
prophets, they shall be all called God. Every man therefore that
hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh to me, not
that any man hath seen the Father, but he which is of God. He hath
seen the Father. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. Let's pray
again. Our Father, thank you for another
time that we can be here. Lord, to hear the gospel. Oh,
the worthiness of that blessed word. power of God, our salvation. Lord, would you bless it today.
Lord, I pray that you'd save your people. I pray for our children. I pray for our families and our
friends. Lord, you do all things well. Help us, help us to hear, help
us for what we believe to help our
unbelief, for Christ's sake. Amen. A group of people have found
the Lord Jesus Christ in Capernaum. Remember they had watched him
take five loaves of two fish and feed 5,000 people. Afterwards
he sent them away and it cycles across the street. And he himself
left and started looking for him. Couldn't find him at first.
Got him some boats that were there on the shore that had come
over from Tiberias and they went across and they found him. Started
talking to him. Ford, when did you get here? How'd you get here? We couldn't find you." He said, he said, you don't seek me because
you saw me. The reason you seek me is because
you've got something to eat. The gadget conversed with him
and then as he was conversing with him, he said unto them concerning
salvation that is by sovereign electing grace. He made this
statement to them and he said, all that the Father giveth me,
in 37 that's what we looked at, all that are mine by electing
grace, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. He heard them, they heard him
declaring salvation in absolute positivity, certainly so, to
be of quickening grace, they shall come to me. Then he says
concerning that preserving grace, all that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no watch
cast out. They heard him as they listened
to his This portion, verse 38, says concerning himself being
God, I came down, for I came down from heaven, not to do my
own will, but the will of him that sent me. Then he told me,
he said, those that the Father gave me, those that shall be
quickened, those that I shall keep, because I am God, He set
forth that God's will would absolutely be accomplished. Verse 39, This
is the Father's will, which hath sent me, that of all which he
hath given me I should lose nothing, which raise it up again at the
last day. This is the will of him that sent me, that every
one which seeth the Son believeth on him, may have everlasting
life. will raise him up at the last
day. Well, hearing the glorious truth
of sovereign grace, that's what he's saying. That's what he's
saying. Almighty God has a will. His will is that vote that he's
given me. I should lose nothing, but should
raise it up at the last day. Hearing that, verse 41, that's
where we'll start today. It says, the Jews then murmured
at him. They called, as he said, I am
the bread which came down from heaven. They were offended. They murmured. It says they murmured
at him. They murmured about him. They
were over his side. Did you hear what he said? Boy,
doesn't this reveal the carnal heart. They were offended because
the Son of Man had revealed Himself to be God. They were mad because
He that had been promised in the scriptures by the prophets,
was now standing on this earth and told by him. They were afflicted. How can
this be? Murdered. Because he said, I
am the one alone. who can accomplish the will of
God. I knew I will lose nothing that
my Father has given me in electing grace. I will raise Him up the
last day. We're sitting here this morning
and I realize with the presence We struggle like we often talk
about. But you know, isn't it wonderful
to know there is coming a time, there's coming an actual time
when this body that was thrown in corruption, this body that's
going to go back to the dust from which it was made, Almighty
God is going to raise up a body. A changed body. A glorious body. A body like His. Like when He
came out of the grave. Just like that. It will be like
Him. It will seem like Him. This body
is prepared to live on this earth in this environment. This body
is suited. This body is going to go back
to the dust. We shall live eternally. He's
going to raise us up. He's going to reunite that eternal
soul with the body that He's going to make. And we'll forever
be with the Lord. And they heard Him say these
glorious things. And He made them mad. This unbelieving, arrogant pride. prevents any man from bowing
and being indebted to the One who at that point, right there,
had veiled His glory in human flesh. God. God Almighty. Man is by nature
far too self-righteous to submit. for the glory of Almighty God. God's got to make a new man. God Almighty's got to make a
new creature. Created in righteousness and
true holiness. Every believer is that new man. That's a new man. Has a new mind,
new heart, new spirit. And it's inside this life. And until Almighty God gives
a new heart, a new mind, a new man, He'll rebirth the man again
from above. This old man is going to do one
thing, he's going to murmur against God. They said, verse 42, It's not
just Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know,
How is it then that he said, I came down from heaven? They didn't know anything about
his birth and birth. They knew nothing about the Holy
Spirit moving, conceiving in that virgin as the scripture
says this holy thing. He who is the Son of God. God
Almighty. They didn't know anything about
God's demand for justice. To be satisfied by the spotless
Lamb of God. They're questioning His deity. It's Jesus. We know His Father
and His Mother. We've seen that We watched him grow up around here. How can it be that he said,
I came down from heaven? Here's the point of man's rebellion.
Almighty God sets forth that God alone can satisfy God. And when it comes to the point that Almighty God alone, without
any work on man's part, save a sinner. Think about this. Why
did God have to come from heaven, be made flesh? Why did Almighty
God have to come into this world, made of a woman, made under the
law, obeyed perfectly Almighty God's law? Why did God Himself
have to come and obey perfectly every jot and tittle of the law
and under the justice and judgment of Almighty God be made sin? The Son of Man. Why? Because man's a fallen creature
and man cannot reconcile himself as he's born in Adam back to
God. Almighty God loved us on that.
We've got some hope today. We've got some hope. And our
hope is not in ourselves. Our hope is not in our profession
of faith. Our hope is in the one in whom
we confess, profess, believe, trust, Our hope is not in our
self-righteous work. Our hope is in Christ. What do
you mean He came down from heaven? We know Him. After they murmured
at Him, the Lord of Glory did His omniscience. They were murmuring about Him.
They listened to what He said. Outwardly, inwardly. But he knew,
look at verse 43, Jesus therefore answered and said unto them,
murmur not among yourselves. Can you imagine? Sitting there mad at him. Maybe somebody said something,
maybe they didn't say anything. I'm sure they did. I'm sure there
was some talk going on. They get off a little bit themselves,
you know. Boy, they heard what he said concerning the sovereigns. His glory. He was from heaven. They didn't think he was within
ear's reach. He kind of got off and started
spouting off, you know, his mouth. He said to them, remember not among yourselves what I did. The omniscience of
our Lord arrests man. Lay not the fault of your hatred
of who I say I am, of the truth concerning myself. Don't lay
that to everybody else. No, you're guilty. Remember not among yourselves,
feeding off of each other. Did y'all hear what he said?
Did y'all hear that? You don't believe that either,
do you? No, I don't either. No. Man is personally guilty before
God. And our Lord set forth in verse
44, absolute truth. Let God be true. Let every man
be a liar. No man, no exception, can come to me, has
the ability to believe to receive, to trust on Christ, except, oh
what a great exception, no man, no man, no man can, that has
to do with ability, no man can except the Father which has sent
me drawing, except the one who by his eternal counsel and purpose
and will draw him by giving that man a new heart making that man
willing in the day of his power when the Lord draws people let
me tell you something they come willingly draws them in power
why did you come to Christ? Well, here's what a believer's
going to say. He turned me. He turned me. I was turned. He turned me. He
gave me a new heart. A heart made willing in the day
of His power. And I came because I wanted to. I wanted to. I wanted to come. I wanted Him. I didn't want any
more of my by all impotent, feeble, self-righteous efforts anymore. Paul said, I consider all those
things dumb. Born of the tribe of Benjamin,
circumcised. In the day of God's judgment,
what's going to stand? I'll tell you what's going to
stand. Christ and all found in Him. No man should come to me except
the Father which hath sent me drawing. Almighty God hath declared I'll
raise him up at the last day. I'm going to in this life I'm
going to impart life to Him. Awaken Him in regenerating grace
by my Spirit. God's people, they're going to
see Him. Because they're going to have
eyes to see Him. They're going to hear Him. Whenever you hear
the gospel of Christ, the glory of Christ, that man is put aside. Like it's just humanly speaking,
like a cold drink of water. Oh, it tastes so good. I feel
thirsty. Oh, I can just, I can just reach. It's like warm bread. It's good. Taste, it gives me a heart, a
desire, a hunger to eat again. Teach me. Lord, keep me right
here. Lord, if You'll keep me. Lord,
just keep my mind. Don't let me stray. I'm so prone
to wander. And Lord, I feel it. Prone to
leave the God that I love. Lord, would You just keep my
mind for just a minute? And let me just feast on You.
If you keep me, I'll be kept. Lord, if you hold my thoughts. Lord, I long to hear you again. Taste of you again. Nobody, no
man. It's written. Scripture says,
verse 45, it's written in the prophets. They shall be all a
part of God. The prophets have been Setting
forth this truth, every man therefore that has heard and has learned
of the Father, cometh to me. And as I've said so many times,
when I say that, let me tell you how man just thought that
cometh to me. Man, in his proud mind, says,
I came to Christ of faith. I came to Him, He wanted
me to come to Him, and I came to Him by, remember coming to
Christ means to the exclusion of trusting anything else. Not
by the Lord's table, not by baptism, not by profession of faith, not
by church membership, not by your desires, not by your will. It's written in Scripture 2 Timothy 3, 14, 15, But continue
thou, Paul said, and the things which thou hast learned hast
been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them, that
from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are
able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ
Jesus. A believer doesn't look back. So
what, well I, you know, when I was a child, fourteen, fifty,
here's what a believer looks to. He looks to Christ. I've said so many times, today
is the day of salvation. Yesterday's faith, faith coming. Faith is now, faith is, Almighty
God saved His people today. You look back and try to start
figuring out, well did I trust? What was I believing? I'm pretty sure you'll sit there
and beat yourself to death trying to figure out what today, what
do you believe right now? The Lord set forth the surety
of the Lord. It's written in the scriptures. They all learned from me. No man can come except my Father
sent me for all men. I'm going to raise him up. He
said, this is not a new doctrine. It's written in the scriptures
that you say you believe. Written. For your learning, for
your exhortation, for your teaching. Isaiah 54, 13, that's where he
quoted, he says, written in the scriptures, and all thy children
shall be taught of God. Who? All God's children. As the
Lord said, all that the Father's given me. Oh, I know how flesh fights against
God. poverty, truth. But I'm telling
you, every knee is going to bow. Every tongue is going to confess
that He's Lord. He's God. Our Lord sets forth
then the necessity of preaching. It's written in the Prophets,
they'll all be taught God. Men, according to our Lord's
Word, are taught by God. They're taught by God. Men are taught by the Lord, but
the Lord has been pleased to use means in preaching. I've
told you before, it's an amazing thing To a believer, they read
the scriptures, and God's truth, God's sovereignty, God's purpose,
God's will, man's inability, man's impotency. All of that
is just being quiet. Well, the Lord said, because
they're taught of my heart. How? How does he teach? Now, the scripture says, 1 Corinthians
1.21, for after that is the wisdom of God. The world, by wisdom,
do not judge. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching, to save them that believe. Now I've said before,
not foolish preaching, but what this world considers foolish.
This is foolishness to the world. You mean to tell me that this
is all that God is going to do to you to save me? Just preach. I mean, we don't
have to do anything. That's right. That's right. Preach. For the Jews require signs, the
Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ. Crucified under
the Jews, the stumbling block, under the Greek foolishness,
but under them which are called, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ,
the power of God, the wisdom of God. Preaching. Preaching. That's what the Lord
blessed us. Let me read this in Romans 10. Romans chapter 10, verse 13,
17. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him
in whom they have not believed? How shall they believe in him
in whom they have not heard? How shall they hear without a
preacher? How shall they preach except that he sent? As it is
written, how beautiful, and I told you this, that word beautiful
there are times How beautiful, how timely are the feet of them
that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good
things, but they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah
says, Lord, who hath believed thy report? So then faith, cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Preaching. Is it necessary to sit Under
the sound of the gospel of free grace, absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. You must hear the gospel. You
must. That one that Paul said, I'm
not ashamed of. I'm not ashamed of the gospel of God. I'm telling
you, be where the gospel is free. It is life. It's life. You must hear it. You must. What if I'm where it's not? Then
get where it is. You must hear it. Absolutely. Without a doubt. Verse 46, back in John, not that
any man has seen the Father. They're all taught. He said,
it's written in the prophesies, shall all be taught of God. Every
man therefore that had heard and learned of the Father, And
he said, not that any man, verse 46, has seen the Father, but
he which is of God has seen the Father. No man, or we ever suppose,
has seen Him who is invisible. No man has seen the Father. But
this hearing and learning of being taught by the Father is
by that inward teaching of the Spirit of God. revealing Christ
through the words Christ alone according to his word has seen
the Father. They're all taught of God. By
the Spirit of God blessing the word of God to the new heart. In verse 47, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. That's the evidence of everlasting
life. They believe on Christ. They believe Him as He says He
is. They believe Him who has come
down from heaven. He who has been given a people. That's what He said. All that
the Father giveth me. Does that mean that the Father
has given the Son a people? Absolutely. He said that. God said it. And what did He
say concerning those that the Father has given Him? He said,
all that the Father has given Me, comes to Me. There's no naivety about
it. And Him that cometh to Me, I
will in no life cast it out. Why? Because I'm going to keep
Him. But oh, what a very, very, very,
very, I say to you, he that believeth in me hath everlasting life. He that resteth his soul on me. Take our last breath when we leave this world. What do you trust in me? Wherein lies your hope? Lord, as Peter said, save me
or I perish. May the Lord bless these words
to our hearts. Navy centers for Christ's sake