Let's turn to John chapter 6. John chapter 6. I'd like to consider verses 28-37
this morning before we begin. Let's ask our Lord to bless us. Father how thankful we are for
another day, another day that we can hear. Lord, I pray, would
you bless the Word in our hearts for the glory of the Lord Jesus
Christ. In His name we pray. Amen. The Lord Jesus had given instruction
to those that were following him at that moment. And this is what he said in verse
27, labor not for the meat which perisheth. O labor for that which
you are feeding upon, which is temple. That is, the works of
a man's flesh, at which he trusts that he has accomplished for
his eternal salvation. Don't waver to that. Don't struggle
after that. But for that meat which endureth
unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto
you, for Him, that is, Christ Himself, that God the Father
sealed, established, to be the one who alone gives life. Don't labor for something that
you are going to stand before God and hear the Lord say, when
you try to justify yourself before God in saying things like, we preached in your We cast out
devils in your name. We did mighty works in your name. All the while trying to justify
what you've done in establishing righteousness before God. Don't
struggle after that. Labor after that which endures. And only that which endures is
that which Almighty God has done. Now, hearing those words, labor
not, labor not for that which perishes. And once they heard
that, they figured, well, he's telling us not to work for, don't
work for something that's going to not endure, but work, labor,
struggle, strive after something that will endure. So evidently,
if he's saying, don't labor for this, but labor for that, then
evidently he must mean that we must be laboring for something. There must be something that
we're going to have to do, because he said in verse 28, Then said
they unto him, Well, what shall we do, that we might work the
works of God? wants his salvation. By nature, as he's born in Adam,
man wants his salvation to be something that he can do for
himself. You know why? Because he wants to be able to
boast in it. He wants others to look at him. Yeah, but He wants to be able
to say to himself, this is what I did. What shall we do that we might
work the works of God? Man wants God to be indebted
to him. Man wants God Almighty to say
to him, you did a great job. You far exceeded that which others
could do. But our Lord sets forth the truth
that carnal man is ignorant of a work that Almighty God alone looks
upon in favor. Man, by nature, is ignorant of
this work. It is a work, and it's called
a work of faith, and that is in Christ. Our Lord said, verse
29, Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work. of God. This is the labor of
God, that you believe on Him whom He has sent. There is a
work. It's called the work of faith.
But it's not a work that a man can produce. It's not a work
that a man can bring forth from his unto you to believe. Remembering,
the Apostle Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 1-3, without ceasing, your work
of faith. Not a work through the law, but
action. It is an action. It is something
that is actually done. There's no doubt about that. I've said before, men talk about
faith as if faith is something easily done. All you've got to
do is believe. I'm telling you, man, without
God Almighty working in him to will and to do of his good pleasure, man, without him who is faithful,
who has called you who will also do it. I'm telling you, the Lord
said without me you can do nothing. Believe in God, that is a miracle
that a man would believe God. That just is foreign to him. Now we can understand just the
fly. Think I'll just go out there
and fly. You say, I can't do that. That's right. Fly. It's just not in your nature.
It's just not there. You just can't. But man thinks
that he can believe. And the scripture sets forth,
he can't. This is the work of God. This is the requirement. In the first sentence, what must
I do? What must I do to be saved? Paul
said believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul never told him that
comes from you. Paul never said that that was
his work. Almighty God is going to have
you. What did he say? Jesus answered and said to them,
this is the work of God. This is God's work. This is the miracle of God's
grace. That you believe on Him. whom He has sent. Not that you
believe in what you've done. Not that you rest in your little
fickle work of self-righteousness. I this, or I this, or I this,
or I this. This is the work of God that
you believe, that you trust, that you rest upon, that you
lean on, that you come to. But even after our Lord set forth
the glorious truth of salvation by grace, through faith, manifested
by faith, this is God's work. It is the grace of Almighty God,
evidenced by faith. in Christ alone, shunning all
other things, all other things, everything, even after he stood
there and told them, this is God's Word that you believe.
They didn't believe. Is that strange? I've said before, You know the
scriptures are so evident to a believer and make so much sense
to a believer. This is just you that know it. You don't have
any problem about the grace of God. I'm still not going to give
us any credit. You don't have any problem about
God's grace, about God's word, about the miracle of God's spirit.
and bringing back to your memory right now, right now, right now.
I'm not talking about last Sunday. I'm talking about faith coming,
right now. By the grace of God, you believe
that Almighty God is sovereign. You believe that. You have no
qualms being taught by God's Spirit, that if you're saved,
you don't have any problems with that. You have no problem whatsoever
with the Scriptures setting forth, O wretched man that I am. You
have no problem with that. You believe God. That's a miracle. That's a miracle of God's grace
that God will teach you that. The Lord told them, this is the
work of God, that you believe on Him whom He has sent. They've
got a problem with that. You know what the problem is?
They don't believe God. Verse 30, Then said they unto
him, Well, prove it, prove it. What sign showest thou
then that we may see and believe thee? What dost thou We hear what you say, but you're going to have to show
us. You're going to have to prove this to us. Matthew 12, 38, 39,
Then certain of the scribes and the Pharisees answered and said,
Master, we would see a sign from thee. And he answered and said
to them, Evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign.
And there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of the prophet
Jonas. A believer has no problem whatsoever
believing that Almighty God made his son a sin for us, he
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. We don't need a sign for that. God gave one sign,
He said. No other sign. When that fish, that great whale
swallowed Jonah, three days, as Jonah was in the belly of
the whale three days, so shall the Son of Man be in the belly
of the earth three days. That whale vomited him up. Almighty God raised him from
the dead, brought forth, alive, justified. There's the sign.
Know the sign. An evil and an adulterous generation. This group of people, by ignorance,
they wanted for him to prove this new doctrine that he was
preaching. That's what he was. In Him whom God has sent, show
us a sign. What does thy work? He had just fed 5,000 men, plus
the women and children. They just saw Him do it, just
a day or so before. What sign do you show to prove
your deity? Better yet, we'll give you an
example. Let us give you an example of
what we're talking about. Verse 31. Our fathers did eat
manna in the desert, as is written. He gave them bread from heaven
to eat. Here's what they said. I know
this because of the explanation of our Lord in the next verse.
But here's what they said. He was proven to be a true prophet,
because in the desert, when our fathers did eat manna, Moses
gave them a prayer from heaven to eat. Moses was death-become. Are you? Our Lord then set forth, in that
next verse, verse 32, Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I
say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but
my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. The Lord never
called into question that Moses was the means by which Almighty
God fed the people. He never brought
that up. That wasn't the question. It
wasn't brought into question that Moses was God's instrument
in leading about, praying, interceding. It was never brought into question
that Moses was God's man. But the Lord says Moses was not
the source of that. That bread, Moses didn't give
fathers. That bread came from my father,
and it was a picture of himself. The Lord Jesus Christ, my father,
gives the true bread. The bread of God, verse 33, is
he that cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world. Jew and Gentile. Now you know
that's one of those scriptures right there that false religion
is going to take. So you see that? That proves it right there. That
God wants to save the whole world. As I told you before, anytime
you come across a scripture that appears to say something, you
want to just take it and set it up. If you can disprove what
men say that means by an absolute truth, then it's not what men
think it means. It doesn't mean it means Jew
and Gentile, I'm going to tell you right now. And you know that.
You know that. I've got to eat this morning.
You've got to eat this morning. Our souls are going to have to
be fed. God's people are hungry. They want to hear. They want
to feast. They want to drink. They want
to eat of Him. We come together. On every other
Tuesday night, we have Lord's Supper. Most precious time. I've told you before, Brother
Henry said this, no time is a believer in more true worship than taking
the Lord's table. And we eat that bread, just a
little old piece of bread, just a little old piece of bread. Fire and water, that's all it
is. The world, that's comely. That's it. That's all. That's it. A little bitty cup of wine. And
we'll eat that piece of bread and drink that cup of wine. And
by the grace of God, God Almighty will give a man or woman a heart
to remember. To think back. And to reflect. on the wonder of God's grace,
that God Almighty would make Himself of no reputation, to
make flesh, real flesh. A body hath God prepared me,
not a body in which the blood of Adam. This is the bread of
heaven. the holy, harmless Lamb of God,
made Himself, is one of us, yet without sin, walked this earth
to live and die before God Almighty answering. Here He is, the surety
of the sheep, answering. God watching Him, God's law scrutinizing
Him, and He walked By faith. He walked by faith. Living as our representative. As our and Calvary's substitute. A bread of life. A truth. Absolutely truth. And it takes a miracle. It takes
a new man. It takes a new person. It takes
a new creation, created in righteousness, and Almighty God must give life. This old man, I got an old man,
you got an old man. You that believe got two natures
in there. And here you are, your old man,
doesn't believe this. Your old man does not believe
this. And you see the evidence of it. Warring against the new man,
the new mind. Now there's a new man that absolutely
believes this. That new man created in righteousness,
faith imparted, life and faith imparted. I heard Brother Henry
say, somebody asked him one time, which comes first, life or faith? He said he can't say. Most people
believe when God gives them life. They'll grow. They'll grow in
grace. They'll grow in the wisdom. They'll grow in the knowledge
of our Lord and Savior. Absolutely. When they're alive,
they're alive. They believe God. They believe
Him. And here you are, and you hear
what I say, talking about the bread of heaven, the bread of
life, and you believe it. And your old man doesn't believe
it. That which is flesh, is flesh. That which is spirit, is spirit. They heard what he said. Verse
33, the bread of God is he that cometh down from heaven, giveth
life unto Jew and Gentile, those that Almighty God has everlastingly
loved, and shall call in this life out of darkness, in regenerating
grace, he gives life unto all that the Father hath given him." Then they said, verse 34, Lord
evermore give us this rain. The truth of the matter is that
until the Spirit of God gives a new heart, new eyes, new Men hear the gospel, but they don't truly hear until
God gives them life. Lord, give us, give us this man. They didn't believe him. It sounded
like they did. It sounded like they heard what
he said. But how do you know? The Lord
said unto them, I am the bread of life, he that cometh to me. Now you
ask just about anybody, and ask them, do you believe
that life Yes, I believe that. I believe that life is in the
Lord Jesus Christ. You'll ask them that when the
Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross, do you believe that he
was dying to put away sin? Yes, I believe that. I believe
that. I believe that. How do you know? How do you know
if there's truly life there? How do you know? Now, people
will speak of loving the Lord Jesus Christ, but there's one way in which
you know if it's saving faith. One way. Listen to these next
few verses, and we'll stop. Lord Jesus, Jesus said to them,
I am the bread of life. And here's the key. He that cometh
to me shall never hunger. He that believeth
on me shall never thirst. Just a few minutes ago I made
this statement. Coming to Him. Believing on Him. And forsaking
all else. Trusting in nothing else. Relying on nothing You say, I've been a member of
the Katie Baptist Church since I was born. If that's what you're relying
on, and you leave this world, if that's all your hope, I've
been a member here. I sit on the blood of the strong
bitches and one of the most respected and beloved. I love that man. You do too. I said unto us God,
if that's your hope, you're going to die and go to hell. I've been a member where the
gospel of God's grace has been preached faithfully for over
55 years. If that's your hope, you're going
to perish. It is not being a member here I thank God Almighty that He
allows me the privilege to be in this place. There's a savor of life where
the Lord Jesus Christ is honored and preached. I thank the Lord
that I would be able to be here. I thank God that He would give
me a heart to come to Christ. And not to my membership here,
not knowing Brother Scott. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger for anything else. A man that truly comes to Christ
doesn't hunger for anything else. He that believeth on me shall
never thirst for anything else. We do hunger and thirst after
Him. But hungering and thirsting after Christ excludes everything
else. I don't want to talk about anything
that I've done. I have, by the grace of God,
a knowledge of my hope in Christ. The Lord said unto them in verse
36, I said unto you, you've seen me, and you believe not. We've come today, and we hear. We do, we hear. But do we see? Do we? Oh, the hardness. Last verse for this morning,
and I'm looking at this last verse and I think, I'll tell
you the truth, I'm not going to believe it next week, but
I think I'm going to just continue on this one verse right here.
There's some things that I saw this morning that I think I want
to deal with this a little bit more, but I want to read this
last verse. In verse 6, I said to you that you've seen me and
you believe not. Here is the absolute. John 6.37. Well, this is going
to be one of those scriptures that we just pray the Lord causes
us to retain in our hearts. All that the Father giveth me. Our flesh is going to tell us
that God doesn't elect. doesn't have an elect. Our flesh
is going to tell us. This thing of predestination
and election, that's just enough. Let me tell you something. Let God be true and let every
man be a liar. All that the Father giveth me,
God has given the Lord Jesus Christ to people. He has erected
people. shall come to me." The salvation
of God's elect is sure. It's sure. All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. In a certain manner. How many
are going to be in heaven? All that the Father has given
me. How many are going to be saved? All that the Father has
given me. And him that cometh to me, They're all going to believe
the gospel. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. The gospel
of God. I'm not ashamed of it. That's the power of God and salvation.
Therein is the righteousness of God. Him that cometh to me. I'm telling you that everyone
that Almighty God has given to the Lord Jesus Christ in electing
grace, They shall come to Christ. And they will not trust in anything
else. They will not trust in anything
else. Now you write that down. The
Lord said it. And him that cometh to me at
the exclusion of all of his so-called Him that cometh to me, he's going to be with the Lord
Jesus Christ in heaven. I will in no wise, no wise, no
wise cast out. Oh how many times have I thought
concerning the Praying time, praying at times,
asking the Lord for forgiveness. And while I'm asking for forgiveness,
realizing all of a sudden, I can't even keep my own mind faithful toward Him, asking Him
to forgive me. Here I am struggling. I really
know what I see. Lord, thank you. Thank you that I'm not kept by
my own faithfulness, by my own power, kept by the power of God,
through faith. Even while you're struggling,
believe in God as faithful. I'm telling you, there is no
peace with the peace that He gives. And a believer that will
say, Lord, save me or I'm going to perish. May the Lord bless
these words to our heart. God bless you.