If you would turn with me to
the Gospel of John chapter 6. John chapter 6. In verse 59 we
read, These things said he, speaking of the Lord Jesus in the synagogue,
as he taught in Capernaum. And many, therefore, of his disciples,"
now this is not referring to the 12 apostles, but to those
who followed the Lord Jesus from place to place. Many, therefore,
of his disciples, when they heard this, said, this is a hard saying,
who can hear it? Now the phrase hard saying here
in verse 60 means harsh, rude, and even excessive. What they
were saying was this, who can be expected to listen to such
harsh, excessive things as this? Now, what did the Lord say that
these followers thought to be so rude, hard, harsh, excessive,
and even ridiculous? What was it that he said? Well,
I'm gonna show you here in the sixth chapter of John, and what
they thought to be harsh, difficult, and excessive is actually the
gospel of salvation. The Bible, as we know, is the
inspired and infallible word of God, and it presents man and
women as they really are. And many think it to be harsh,
rude, and excessive. When Adam fell and disobeyed
God's one commandment. Isn't that something? I think
about that often. God gave Adam one commandment
to keep. And when he disobeyed God's one
commandment, he died spiritually and he became dead in trespasses
and sin. A lot of folks today preach and
seem to think that man only stumped his toe in the garden, that he
fell just a little ways, but he fell all the way to spiritual
death. dead and trespasses of sin. And
God had warned Adam of that very thing when he said, of every
tree of the garden, you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, you shall not eat of it. For in the day that
you eat thereof, you shall surely die. Genesis 2, 16 and 17. And
Adam ate and Adam died. He lived physically for 930 years,
but he died the minute that he ate of that tree. And he died
spiritually. He died to God and all those
he represented. He was the federal head of all
mankind and every single man and woman fell in him. And they don't have the ability
to please God. are to do anything in order to
receive eternal life. Anything in and of themselves.
Now our inability to come to Christ is one of the things that
our Lord taught these followers who claim to be His disciples.
It was one of the things that they thought to be harsh and
excessive. And it's still offensive to men
and women who think that they can, on their own, do a work
of righteousness in order for God to save them. Now in verse
44, you're familiar with these verses, but let's look at them
together. Christ said here in verse 44,
no man can come to me except The one exception to our inability
is, except the Father which sent me draw him. And here we see
the sinfulness of man. Man's total inability to come
to Christ. We can't come to Christ except
except we be drawn by God the Father. And fallen man will not
come to Christ. Do you know why? Because his
sin has made him unable and unwilling. So we see how great a fall that
we fail. Men and women cannot come. They've
lost their ability to come. And men and women will not come. They lost their will to do so.
A sinner can only come to Christ as God, by His sovereign power,
enables them to come through the Holy Spirit's drawing and
fetching grace. The Bible also teaches us something
of salvation. If a fallen sinner is ever to
be reconciled to the God whom they have offended, it will be
by the work of God alone. God the Father chose whom he
would save before time began, and it's called election. And
that's what our Lord is telling us here in verse 37. He says,
all that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that
cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. God, before the foundation
of the world, gave a people to Christ to redeem. And all that
the Father gave to Him shall come to Him. And God's going
to see to it. There's no possibility of failure. There is none that God gave to
Christ, none for whom Christ died, that shall perish. God
will in no wise cast them out, out from His mercy and His grace
that is found in Christ alone. And I find such comfort and assurance,
peace and rest in that. Look at verse 38. He said, for
I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the
will of Him that sent me. And this is the Father's will,
which has sent me, that of all which He has given me, I should
lose nothing. but should raise it up again
at the last day. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on
Him may have everlasting life, and I'll raise Him up at the
last day." You can read these verses and there's no way that
you can deny that we're not saved by our will. We're just not. It's obvious. We're saved by
God's will. We're not saved by our choice
of God, but we're saved by God's choice of us. And here we see
the invisible and the irresistible grace of the Lord Jesus. Look
at verse 45. It is written in the prophets, and they shall
be all taught of God. Every man, therefore, that hath
heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is by the sovereign
grace of God in Christ. Salvation is for those that the
Lord teaches and reveals. And what does the Lord teach
and reveal to us? Just that, that Christ is salvation. That salvation is in Him. That
He paid a debt that we could not pay. That Christ is the bread
of life that we must eat to live forever. Look at verse 47. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, on me, hath
everlasting life. He said, I am that bread of life. There's only one living bread. He said, your fathers did eat
manna in the wilderness and are dead. But this is the bread which
cometh down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not
die. Oh, are you interested in that
bread? He said, I am the living bread, which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread,
he shall live forever. Now, these are the things that
our Lord taught. These things are the truths that
you and I are commanded to preach, commanded to believe. And these
are the things, this is the amazing thing. These are the things that
cause many many to leave and to walk no more with Him. The very things that you and
I who trust in Christ hold dear, the very things that are precious
to our hearts, to these men and women who left were harsh, rude,
and even excessive. Isn't that something? What do
you think of these things? And again, verse 59, these things
said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. And many
therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, this
is a hard saying. Who can hear? Who can be expected
to hear something like this? Who can be expected to believe
such things? And this doctrine, it's hard,
it's harsh, it's rude, severe, it's excessive. And He's telling
us that we don't have anything to do with our salvation. Guess
what? You don't. Well, I had to believe,
didn't I? And that faith that God gave
you to believe is His gift to you. Upon hearing the true gospel,
men and women say the same things today. They can't believe that
in the salvation of sinners that they're taken completely out
of the equation. They say, I was saved when I
gave my heart to Jesus. I was saved when I made Jesus
Lord of my life. I was saved when I let go and
I let God have His way. The things Christ preached were
too hard and harsh and severe for them. And we preach the same
things and people ask questions like, are you saying that God
saves some and passes by others? That's exactly what I'm saying.
They find that offensive. They find that excessive. Well,
doesn't He love everyone? Are you saying that God has mercy
on some and not on others? That seems a little severe. That
seems a little excessive. God said, I'll have mercy on
whom I'll have mercy, and I'll have compassion on whom I'll
have compassion, and whom I will, I'll hardeneth. That's what God
said. Are you saying that in the matter
of salvation that God says whom He wants to? No, I'm saying that
God says that. I'm just reporting what God says.
That's what Christ said, and that's what this book declares.
Look at verse 61. When Jesus knew in himself that
his disciples murmured at it. At what? The things that he had
said. He knows what's going on and
in our hearts. And he said unto them, doth this
offend you? The Lord asks here, are you offended
by what I just said? Are you offended because I said
that all that the Father giveth me shall come to me? That my
love and mercy and grace is effectual? Does it upset you that you didn't
choose God, but that God chooses all whom He will and all of them
come to Him and be saved? Are you offended that I said
that I am the bread of life that came down from heaven to do the
will of my Father? That's exactly why they were
offended. Look at verse 41, it tells us that. The Jews then
murmured at him because, 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 saith, I came down from heaven? Now let me tell
you that you and I would have said the same thing if God hadn't
revealed it to us. The Lord Jesus says, does this
offend you? Are you offended that you have
to be taught of God? That you can't teach yourself?
Are you offended that you cannot discover salvation on your own? That God has to reveal these
things to you? Are you offended that God, my
Father, gave me a people and that I won't lose a one of them?
Are you offended that salvation is by my work of righteousness
and not yours? There are many that are offended
by such things. You mean I can't do anything
to be saved? Yeah, you can believe, but again,
that's God's gift of faith to you. Are you offended that you
have to be kept by my power? Are you offended that you can
only be saved and obtain eternal life by partaking of me, by eating
my flesh and drinking my blood? Are you offended that I said
that if you've seen me, you've seen the Father? Are you offended
that I and my Father are one? Are you offended because you
can't come to me except my Father draw you and enable you to come? Are you offended that I said
you're unable to do anything to save yourself? You can't come,
you will not come, you can't repent, you will not repent.
You can't do a single work of righteousness that God will accept.
And only those who believe me will have everlasting life. Does
this offend you? May I ask you the same question?
Does this offend you? Are you offended that salvation
is 100% of God? Do you murmur in your heart when
you hear such things? Look at verse 62. The Lord says,
what and if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he
was before? How offended will you be then
is what he's saying. What Christ is saying here is,
if you're offended now, you're really gonna be offended then.
When you see me in all my glory as the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth, when you see me as I really am, you'll
really be offended. You know, if they thought that
it was incredible that he should come down from heaven as the
bread of life to be eaten and fed upon, it would be even more
offensive to them that he who was so meek and so lowly in heart
should ascend up into heaven, proving, proving beyond a shadow
of a doubt where he was before he came in humiliation. These
glorious things got to be revealed to us. and only God can reveal
them. Only God can teach them to us. And that's what the Lord's saying
here in verse 63. He says, it is the spirit that
quickeneth. It's the spirit that maketh alive. The flesh, what we are by nature,
profiteth nothing. Well, doesn't it profit a little
bit? No, it profits nothing, nothing. the words that I speak
unto you." Now look at this, they are spirit and they are
life. Flesh has no part in the things
of eternal life, but there is life in them. in the words of
Christ. Christ's words are spirit and
they are life. And this is talking about spiritual
life. This is talking about eternal life. You see, salvation is in,
by, and through the Lord Jesus Christ, and only in, by, and
through the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what the Lord's been
teaching throughout this sixth chapter of John. Verse 64. But there are some of you that
believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning
who they were that believe not and who should betray him. And
he said, therefore said I unto you that no man can come unto
me except it were given unto him of my father. And from that
time, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with
him. Isn't that amazing? They went
back. They loved the idea of works
more than that of grace. They would rather work than rest.
They went back to what they were before. Do you know what it is
to go back? Well, it's an old proverb that
declares that as a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth
to his folly. Peter added this in his second
epistle, chapter two, that going back is like a sow, it's like
a pig or a hog that is washed, returning to wallow in the mire,
the filth, the slime, the muck of self-righteousness. You know,
it's the nature of a dog to return to his vomit and lick it up.
You can take a hog, and you clean it up, and you can even put lipstick
on it, but you let him go, and he's heading right back to that
filth as fast as he can, because that's his nature. And it's our
nature to do the same. So can the dog or the hog change
its nature? No, they cannot. Can the Ethiopian
change the color of his skin? Can the leopard change the spots
of its coat? Can you? Can you do good who
are accustomed to do evil? You see, these actions can only
be changed if the nature is changed. And only God can give sinners
that new nature. We have to be born again, born
of God, born from above. We have to be made a new creature
in Christ. We have to be made new men and
women. And God doesn't take our old
nature and reform it and make it better. God gives us a new
one. What did he say in verse 65 here? He said, no man can come to God,
the Father, for life. No man has the ability except
it were what? Given unto him of my Father. It's the only way you can get
it. It has to be given. It comes as a gift. If you buy
something, you purchase it. If you earn something, you worked
for it. If you deserve something, then
you somehow merited it. But if you receive something,
it was a free gift. Salvation was not bought, earned,
and certainly not merited. It was given unto the elect of
God by the Father. He's free. So why did these disciples
leave? Oh, I tell you, it's with a broken
heart that I look around this room this morning and I see many
seats that were once occupied by those who were so-called disciples. Why have they left? Well, I'm
sure we could come up with many different answers as to why we
think so. I'm sure if we could talk to
them, we'd hear a lot of different answers. But the answer that
God gives in His Word is this, they weren't true disciples.
That's so sobering. They were goats and not sheep.
The Lord said in John chapter 8 verse 31, He said, if you continue
in My Word, continue, then are ye My disciples indeed. If you
don't continue, then you're not My disciples. In John chapter
10, the Lord told the Pharisees, He said, you believe not because
you are not of My sheep. Now He didn't say that they weren't
His sheep because they didn't believe. He said they didn't
believe because they weren't His sheep. In 1 John chapter
12 verse 19, John said this, they went out from us, but they
were not of us. Oh, we thought they were. For
if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued,
continued with us. But they went out that they might
be manifest that they were not of us. If a man or woman does
not continue in God's words, they never truly were the disciples
of Christ. And what a sad, heartbreaking
thought that many who begin do not continue in Christ's Word. They didn't like what Christ
had to say. And they walked away, and they went back, and they
walked no more with Him. And you know the most terrifying
thing in this whole thing, what it is? The Lord didn't stop them. The Lord did not stop them. The
Lord let them have their way. The Lord often lets men and women
do what they want to. Lord, I beg you, don't let me
have my way. I don't want my way. I want His
way. Now look at verse 67. Then said
Jesus unto the twelfth. He turns around now and looks
to His twelve closest friends in all the world and He says,
Will you also go away? I want you to listen to me. This
would do us good to know. The Lord will not have unwilling
disciples. He just won't. If we do not desire
to be His disciples, He doesn't desire for us to be His disciples.
I'll tell you what I base that upon. The psalmist said in Psalm
110 verse 3, he said, Thy people shall be willing. God's people
are willing. They want to be disciples. And
you know that the Hebrew word for willing there in that verse
means volunteers. You can look it up in the concordance.
It means volunteers. It means to be made. Now we still
have to be made, but it means to be made voluntarily willing
in the day of God's power. We serve God because we want
to. God's changed our want to. He's made us willing. I'm so
glad that he added that last part in the day of God's power.
Again, we see the salvation is of the Lord. God makes His people
willing, who are unwilling, and to be voluntarily willing by
His power. It took the same power for God
to shed light in me as it did to shed light in the world. You
see, I would not come to Christ that I might have life. Just
wouldn't. I was unwilling to trust in the
Lord Jesus. And that's the condemnation.
That's why men are condemned. This is the condemnation that
men love darkness rather than light. If it was up to the sinner,
they'd never be saved. Then how can you say, preacher,
that we voluntarily are willing to be saved? This is how. For
God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness. has shined
in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ. God does the same. A believer
is made to be willing because God commands his light to shine
out of darkness into our dark, void, formless hearts. Like the earth in the beginning,
our hearts were without form and void and darkness was upon
the face of the deep recesses of our heart. And God said, let
there be light. And there was light. Oh, how
effectual is God's word. Now look at verse 68. Then Simon
Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the
words of eternal life. Now Peter here is the spokesman
for all God's people throughout all time. This is the answer
that every true child of God gives to this question, will
you also go away? When I read that verse 68, It's
as though the Lord asked me the same thing. Will you also go
away? And I love Peter's answer. Every
word of this answer is full of meaning. First, Lord. Lord. Every child of God is made
to know who Jesus Christ is. He is Lord. He's the one who's
ruling and reigning over all things. To whom shall we go? Peter did not say, where shall
we go? He didn't say, what shall we
do? He said, to whom shall we go? Salvation is in and by and through
the Lord Jesus Christ and only in and by and through him, the
sinner substitute. We don't have an option. Not
if we desire life. We don't have a choice if we're
to be saved. There's only one mediator between
God and man, the man Christ Jesus. To whom shall we go? There's
no one else that we can go to. Why? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. I want you to pay close attention
to those words. Thou hast the words of Peter
did not say, Thou hast the words to eternal life, though they
certainly were words to eternal life. Peter did not say, Thou
hast the words about eternal life, though they certainly were
about eternal life. Peter did not say, Thou hast
the words concerning eternal life, though they certainly concerned
life eternal. Peter said, Thou hast the words
of eternal life. His words are eternal life. Jesus Christ is the word of God,
and the word of God is Jesus Christ. Lord, thy word is truth. He said in verse 63, the words
that I speak unto you, there's what? There's spirit, and they
are life. The words of eternal life. The
words that the others thought to be harsh and excessive, the
believer says, they're the words of life. To whom shall we go? Back to the law? The law requires
what I can't provide. I can't go back there. To whom
shall we go? Back to false will and works
religion? It's not by works of righteousness
that we've done, but according to His mercy He saved us. There's
nothing there for me. To whom shall we go? Back to this present evil world,
the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life.
These are not of the Father, but are of the world. There's
nothing there for me. No one can serve God and mammon. They'll hate the one and love
the other. They'll hold to the one and despise the other. I
know enough about myself to know which one I would serve if it
was left up to me. I'd serve the world every single
time, so to whom shall we go? Do you know when a man or a woman
will come to Christ? When there's no place else to
go. That's right. There's only one place to go,
and that's what Peter said. Now look at verse 69, I love
this. He continues on and he says,
and we believe and are sure. We don't just believe, we're
sure that thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. Now
I want you to observe God's divine order of things here as it concerns
our salvation. Peter said, we believe and are
sure. Now that word sure here means
to know. We believe and we know and we
are sure that thou art the Christ, God's anointed. You know, you
can't believe something that you don't know. You just can't. We believe and know and we are
sure that you're God's prophet for us to hear, that you're God's
priest to stand in our place. that you're God's king to bow
and obey. And that word sure there in verse
69, not only means to know, but it means to know one intimately. Do you remember when the angel
told the Virgin Mary that she was going to have a child? And
Mary said, how shall this be, seeing that I know not a man? What she was saying was, is how
can this be, seeing that I've never been intimate with a man? It doesn't seem to mean much
today, but there was a time, I can remember in my lifetime,
that when two people, man and a woman, were intimate, It meant
that they were in love. They were intimately acquainted
with one another. And what Peter here is saying
is, we believe, and we know, and we love that thou art the
Christ. When you believe that he is the
Christ, you know that he is, and you love that he is. Don't
you love that he is the Christ? That's saving knowledge. Paul,
speaking of unbelievers, said they received not the love of
the truth that they might be saved. I believe, and I know,
and I love that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living
God. As I read through all the things that our Lord taught in
this sixth chapter of John, I'm telling you without reservation,
I believe that it's the truth. No, I know that it's the truth. And I love that it's the truth.
I do. I love it's the truth. When I
read and study the scriptures, there's no doubt in my mind that
God is sovereign. I believe that God is sovereign.
Well, I know that God's sovereign. And I love the fact that God
is sovereign. He's in control of everything. And I know that. And I love it. Cause he's working all things
together for our good. Those that love the Lord, who
are thee called according to his purpose. And you know, I
believe what this book says about me. I know that I'm a sinner
and I love that I'm a sinner in this sense. Not that I sin,
no, I hate that. I hate what I am, but I love
the fact that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners
of whom I am Jesus. I believe that God chose and
elected a people before the foundation of the world. Well, I know He
did, because this book declares it. I love that He did, because
we didn't choose Him. He said, you've not chosen me,
but I have chosen you. And we love Him, friends, because
He first loved us. When did He love us? Before we
ever were. I believe that I was without
strength, and I believe that Christ died for the ungodly. I know that He did, and I love
that He did. I believe that God's grace is
irresistible, don't you? I know by experience that that's
so. I couldn't resist His will. He wouldn't leave me alone. I
love that God didn't leave me alone and didn't leave me to
myself. I believe that I'm kept by the power of God. I know I
am, because I'd already be gone. And I love that God keeps me
by His grace. I believe that I'm saved by grace.
I know that I'm saved by grace. I can do nothing to save myself,
and I love that I'm saved by grace, for if I could do something
to save myself, then I could do something to be lost. But I can't. If Christ saved
me, I'm saved to the uttermost. Boy, I like that word. Fully,
completely. I believe that He is the Christ.
Well, I know that He is, and I'm sure that He is, and I love
that He is. Do you? Do you? Well, may God
be pleased to make it so for everyone in this place. Amen.