All right, brethren. We're going to begin. Turn with me to John chapter
6. John chapter 6. We're going to
be looking at verses 38 through 44. And I'd like you to read with
me verses 38 and 39 to begin. Our Lord says, 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 hath sent me. that of all which he hath given
me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the
last day." When I looked at this passage, those last four words
are what caught my attention and gripped me, at the last day. What does Christ mean by the
last day? What's he talking about? Is there
a last day? And is it something that I need
to be concerned about this last day? Our Lord mentions it three
times in our text, four times in the passage. Look at the last
four words in verse 39 again, at the last day. Now look at
the end of verse 40, at the last day. Verse 44, at the last day. And then verse 54, at the last
day. What is this last day? What happens on the last day? And is this something I need
to be concerned about? Well, our Lord said it four times. So it is something that we ought
to be concerned about. If he said it, we should take
heed to his words. So I wanna speak to you today
about the last day. why men should be concerned about
the last day, and then we'll close with the provision that
our Lord makes for His people regarding this last day. So I've titled this message,
The Last Day. The Last Day. And so we'll begin
in our first point looking at whether there is a last day,
and what is it? What happens on this last day? And then we'll take up that question,
should I be concerned about this last day? And then we'll look
at the provision that our Lord makes for his people in that
last day. So an answer to the question,
is there a last day? Yes, yes, there is a last day. That's what our Lord said. He
speaks of the last day in our text. And so there definitely
is a last day. And the scriptures also testify
the word of God, which is all speaking and pointing to the
Lord Jesus Christ. It also testifies of the last
day. Now to be clear, the scriptures
also speak of the last days, plural. And that began, the last
days began when our Lord came to this earth in the flesh to
redeem his people, to purchase his people, to deliver them from
their sins. And the prophets, Isaiah and
Micah, both spoke of the last days. It says in Isaiah 2 verse
2, it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of
the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains and
shall be exalted above the hills and all nations shall flow unto
it. And so we've been in these last
days ever since our Lord came to this earth. And in those last
days, the gospel of our Savior, the good news of what God has
accomplished for his people in Christ has been preached and
declared and proclaimed to the people. First at Jerusalem, then
out to Judea and Samaria, and then all the other nations heard
this glorious gospel. And we, the people of the nations,
have heard the voice of our Savior, and we flow unto Him. up the mountain, contrary to
nature, believing his salvation, believing him, the person of
Jesus Christ. And so, the longer we go, in
these last days, the nearer our salvation is, the closer that
last day is approaching. More and more, Paul said, for
now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. And so we're in these last days
right now. But the scriptures, just like
our Lord, testify of the last day, singular. And Jude, he speaks
of the last day saying it's the judgment of the great day. And that's when the fallen angels
will be judged by their Lord. And then of man, Paul says, it's
appointed unto men once to die, and after that, the judgment. After this, the judgment. and
all of creation, we're told, shall also be judged by Christ
on that last day. The apostle Peter, writing in
2 Peter 3, 7, said, the heavens and the earth, which are now,
by the Lord's word, are kept in store, reserved unto fire
against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. And that word perdition means
eternal death. The ungodly, they'll receive
their just reward, which is eternal death. So is there a last day? Yes, there is a last day. What is that last day? It's the
day of judgment, the day of judgment. Turn over to Matthew 25. Just
want to look at three verses. We won't look at that whole word
that our Lord gives us when He's speaking of the last day. But
Matthew 25, verse 31 is where we'll begin. And we're
going to read down to verse 33 together. Verse 31, when the Son of Man
shall come in His glory, that's how He's coming the second time,
not in lowliness, not in weakness as He came the first time to
accomplish our redemption, but in His glory, and all the holy
angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory,
and before Him shall be gathered all nations, And he shall separate
them one from another, as a shepherd divided his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on
his right hand, but the goats on the left. Our Lord here describes
two kinds of people, those he calls sheep, who he'll put on
his right, and those he calls goats, who shall be on his left. Now, the Titanic gives us a good
illustration about our understanding of people, of men. There's two
kinds. We're told that when the Titanic
pulled out of port on that day, April something in 1912, there
were quite a mix of people, a variety
of classes. There were some important people
on that ship. There were people involved with
the building of that ship. There was wealthy industrialists
There were dignitaries on that ship and celebrities even got
on that maiden voyage of the ship. There was people in that
upper echelon, that first class group of people. And then beneath
them were another variety of people as well, different classes,
some very poor. all considered there in that
low class, but there was all this variety of different people
in recognition by men, esteemed in different ways and how we
thought about them and how they were classified among the people.
But after that ship sunk, back in the ports that it had visited
and picked up people, what it posted was just the names of
those who were survivors, those who were alive, and then the
rest who were dead, who perished, the souls that perished. Just
two kinds of people. All the classifications were
wiped away. They were either alive or dead. And that's what our Lord is saying
here that there's two kinds of people. It doesn't matter what
we are in this flesh, in this life. Are we alive in the Lord
Jesus Christ? Or are we dead in our trespasses
and sins? So this brings us to our second
point then. There is a last day, but should
I be concerned about the last day? The scriptures testify that
there is a last day and that last day is the judgment day
when we must all appear, Paul says, before the judgment seat
of Christ. And we're told in Acts that Paul,
he reasoned, he spoke of and reasoned of the judgment when
he was standing before that governor, Felix. Felix hears what Paul
is saying. And he trembles, it says. It
says Felix trembled when Paul spoke of judgment and temperance. He spoke of those things. And
Felix said, well, he sent them away and he said, when I have
a convenient season, I'll call for you. I'll call for you and
hear you again on these things. But that convenient season never
came again for Felix. It was two whole years that he
could have heard Paul and he never did. And then after two
years, Felix got another opportunity and was appointed somewhere else.
And another man came and took his place. Should Felix be concerned
about that last day? Should Felix be concerned? You
know, removing oneself from hearing the gospel because they're troubled
and bothered about these things, about the coming judgment, that's
not going to remove the fact that we all are going to appear
before the judgment seat of Christ. We're going to behold the Son
of Man. the Son of God, the King, the Lord Almighty, risen from
the grave, seated upon that throne. in that day, we'll see him. So
removing ourselves from hearing the gospel because it makes us
uncomfortable, that is not going to remove us from that judgment
day. Paul said in Romans 2 verse 16,
in that day, in the judgment day, God shall judge the secrets
of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel. He says, according
to my gospel. So don't remove yourselves from
hearing the gospel. This is the word. These are the
words of life. Your savior has given to his
people, declaring to them their righteousness, their salvation,
their deliverance in that day. This is this is declared to the
people in the gospel. Jesus Christ is the only hope
for sinners. God sent His Son for that very
purpose, that He by His perfect righteousness, the spotless Lamb
of God, gave Himself offered himself to the Father for his
people to make satisfaction to the holy justice of God for them,
to put away their sins, to deliver them from the punishment of their
sins because he bore it in their place. He took that punishment
for his people. And not only that, having taken
their punishment, his righteousness being imputed to them, he gives
them eternal life. and inheritance with the Lord
God Almighty. Our Lord said back in John 6,
verse 40, He says, 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 will raise Him up at the
last day for their good. Christ's people are raised from
the dead on that last day, their bodies will be raised from the
dead for their good, for their eternal enjoyment, their joy,
their happiness. It'll be a glorious, wonderful
day for the people of Christ, for his people, for his sheep. So should I be concerned about
the last day? Should I be concerned about the
last day? Well, I would ask you, What think
ye of Christ? What think ye of Christ? Is He
the salvation that God has provided for His people? Is He the hope
of the sinner? Is He the only hope of the sinner? Do you believe Him? Is He your
salvation? Is He your Savior? Are you a sinner? Do you need
salvation? Has God, the Holy Spirit, shown
you what a sinner you are, that you cannot work any righteousness? And is Christ that righteousness
you need to stand before God? The scriptures declare all in
Adam are dead in trespasses and sins, and not one of us can deliver
ourselves from the bondage of that death. The only reason why
Christ wasn't dead in trespasses and sins is because he is the
second Adam, God created. He's not born of that corrupt
seed of Adam. He was born of that virgin birth,
which the Holy Spirit gave to Mary, made her with child by
his glory and power. It says in Acts 4.12 of Jesus
Christ, neither is there salvation in any other. under heaven given
among men whereby we must be saved. If we are saved, if we
are accepted of the Father, it's only through the blood of Jesus
Christ. It's only through his sacrifice
for his people. Now, I know that many today don't
even argue that they're sinners. Many, many people, especially
young people, wear their sin like a badge of honor. It's their
glory. They boast in it. They talk about
sin. It means very little to people
in our day. But do you agree with the scriptures
that Christ is the only salvation for his people? Many are willing
to say they're sinners, but how few need the Lord Jesus Christ,
need his righteousness, need his blood. Christ was speaking
to a large group of men, declaring what the will of God is who sent
Christ. Look at verse 41 more time. John
640, this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which
seeth the sun. That occurs by the revelation
of the Holy Spirit, revealing Christ in us, showing us that
He is our salvation, our righteousness that we need, and believeth on
Him by faith, also revealed in the child of God by the Spirit
of God. That one may have everlasting
life, and I will raise Him up at the last day. And you know
what those men did? They murmured. They murmured
at Christ. That means they became angry
with him for declaring these truths. They became angry. And
they spoke against him. They didn't like what he said.
They heard him speak. They saw the miracles. They saw
him feed 5,000 men plus women and children. They saw him heal
many that were sick and infirmed. Because on that day, they brought
their sick to Christ to be healed of him. And he healed them. He
healed those people. But they that were there stumbled
over what he was saying. They stumbled over his speech,
and they stumbled over his person. They thought, how can this man
be saying the things that he's saying? Look at verse 41 and
42. Here, notice they're judging him as the flesh judges a man. They're judging him according
to the flesh. Verse 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 sayeth, I came down from heaven? They didn't believe
that he was who he said he was. They didn't see the Son of God
standing there before them. They saw him as a son of a mother
and a father who they knew and wondered, how can he say he came
down from heaven? Where did Christ say these things?
He says, verse 38, he said, I came down from heaven. And look at
verse 35. He declares, I am the bread of
life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger. And he that believeth on me shall
never thirst. They didn't understand what he
was saying and they didn't believe him. So that we read down to
verse 66, look at John 6, 66. From that time, many of his disciples
went back and walked no more with him. Our Lord was declaring
that he himself is the very life of his disciples. He's speaking
words of life. He's speaking words of truth.
He's speaking spiritual words, which in his people hear by the
spirit, hear those spiritual words and rejoice in his salvation,
believe him. and rejoice because they have
eternal life. He's declaring that there is
no life, there's no eternal life outside of Christ. There is no
salvation apart from Him. His disciples, we who believe
on Him, continually feed upon Him. We need him. We can't go
away because he alone has the very words of eternal life. He's our provision. He's our
strength. He's our comfort. He's our healing,
our forgiveness, our peace, our joy. Christ is all our salvation. We rejoice in his word. We rejoice
in his salvation because it's It's life. He is our very life. So we continue to hear it, whereby
He teaches us and turns our eyes away from self, away from judging
our Lord in the flesh, and judging His gospel by this wicked, corrupt,
evil, dead flesh, and behold Him in the Spirit as the one
whom the Father sent for my very life, my very salvation. That's
of the Lord. That's a mercy for you that see
him and believe him. And he says, you have everlasting
life. And I will raise you up at the
last day for your good, for your salvation. You shall behold me
with your eyes and rejoice. It'll be a blessed day for you.
You'll hear those blessed words, well done, thou good and faithful
servant. Enter into your rest, which I
prepared for you from before the foundation of the world.
in the Son, Jesus Christ. So when our Lord said, He that
cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall
never thirst, He's declaring that you and me who believe Him
will never want for anything else for our salvation. It's
all been provided by Him. It's all in Him, all accomplished. God is satisfied. Satisfied. We don't need to look
anywhere else. When we stand before our Savior
on that judgment day, before the throne of God, we stand faultless
in Him, faultless in Him. What a blessing, what a blessing.
These Jews, they heard Him and they went away from Christ. Should
they be concerned about the last day? They thought there was some
other way that they could, well, I don't like the way he says
it or what he says there, and they thought they could go and
find another righteousness. Let's just go back to Moses and
look at the law and we'll work our righteousness that way. Nonsense. That's not righteousness. We
fail. We can't keep the perfect righteousness
of God's law. We're sinners and our mouths
are shut by that law. We look to the Lord Jesus Christ
only. They should be very concerned
about that last day because they turned from the only hope of
righteousness that the Father sent and said, this is my will.
Look to Him. All who look to Him shall be
delivered. You have nothing to fear. We
cannot save ourselves. We cannot save ourselves looking
to the law. We cannot be turned from Christ
and expect to be accepted and received by God in that last
day, that judgment day when we stand before him. God will not
receive any outside of the blood of Christ. We must come in Christ
alone. And so our Savior, he gives eternal
life. He's the one that we're gonna
stand before in that judgment day. For the Father judgeth no
man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. So what's gonna
happen to them that turned away from Christ? They own the hope
of salvation. Peter asked, what shall the end
of them be that obey not the gospel of Christ? and obey not
the gospel of God. Should they be concerned about
that last day? Many aren't. Many don't seem
to care. Many don't seem to be worried
about it at all. But there is a people, there
is a people for whom Christ came to save. whom Christ laid down
his life and made perfect provision for them according to the will
of God and delivered them from their bondage." Our God is never
going to be frustrated by the will of man. He's not waiting
on man to figure it out and to find a need to come to him. He reveals that need in His people. He seeks them out and finds them
and brings them to Himself to behold the salvation of God and
the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, whom He sent. Our Lord said in
John 14 2, I go to prepare a place for you. And He prepared that
place on the cross. It's already prepared. It's accomplished. And He's bringing you, His children,
home to be with Him and to enjoy our eternal life with our Savior. So all that for whom He died,
they shall hear, they shall believe, they shall come to Him. And this
brings us to our final point, which is Christ's provision for
the last day. There's a people hearing this
message right now, or listening to this message, and you haven't
a concern or worry about that last day. You're not fearful
of that judgment day because Christ has put away your sins. You're not not fearful. You're
looking forward to it not because your conscience is seared as
with a hot iron, but because Christ has established his peace
in your hearts with your God. He's delivered you from that
fear and guilt and shame and bondage. His blood covers your
sin and we now rest in Christ our righteousness. These are
those which God hath given to Christ. And he says, none, none
of them shall be lost. We look forward to that day. And the longer we go, the older
we get, the more wearied we are with this flesh, the more we
look forward to that rest and that peace with our God, with
longing hearts, Paul said in Hebrews 9.28, So Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many, not all, but many from every
tongue and tribe and people and nation. And unto them that look
for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. When he appears again, he shall
raise up his people from that grave in a new flesh, a new body,
made like unto his body, for John says, we shall see him as
he is. Now, there were many there that
did not believe. John 6, 43, Jesus therefore answered
and said unto them, murmur not among yourselves, you that have
some other way. It's because you don't hear. You don't hear what the Spirit
says to the churches, but there is a people whom God makes to
hear Christ, because the Father draws them. He draws them. You
that are his, you shall hear his voice. You shall be given
life in the Son. Verse 44, no man, Christ said,
can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him,
and I will raise him up at the last day. So in summary, Yes,
there is a last day, and it is the judgment day of all things
created. They'll be judged. And those
believing Christ need not fear nor worry, for Christ is your
peace. He is your righteousness. He
is your salvation and acceptance with God. And the Lord says that
he dwells in them that believe him. and those that are His,
they continually feed upon their Savior. In His gospel word, rejoicing,
believing Him, and trusting Him, and He says, you shall never
perish. You will never know eternal death,
for you have eternal life, life everlasting, and Christ will
lose nothing. As that's the will of the Father,
these have eternal life, and Christ shall raise them up again
at the last day. Amen. Let's close in prayer, brethren.
Our gracious Lord, we thank you, Father. We thank you, Lord, for
your provision of grace and mercy for the blood of our Savior,
which cleanseth us from all sin and delivers us from the bondage
of iniquity. And Lord, that you've delivered
us from eternal death and given us life in the sun. We thank
you, Lord, for your glorious will and purpose in creating
all things for the glory of your son, for the honor and praise
of his name. And Lord, we are Happy recipients
of your mercy and grace, we thank you that you lose nothing, Lord,
and that you shall return according to your word and shall raise
us up at the last day for our good, our peace and enjoyment.
Lord, bless your people, comfort their hearts. Give them the heart
of rejoicing to rejoice in your word and continually feed upon
the Lord Jesus Christ. Bless those who are sick, heal
your people and heal their hearts, heal their bodies, heal their
minds and strengthen their spirit in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
in his name we pray and give thanks. Amen. All right, brethren. So let's
take 15 minutes. So two minutes after the hour,
we'll begin.