Turn again with me to John chapter
6. John chapter 6, the title of
the message this morning is Sovereign Salvation. Chapter 6, beginning
at verse 25. The scripture says, ìAnd when
they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto
him, Rabbi, when comest thou hither?î The Lord Jesus had just
displayed His great power the day before in feeding the 5,000
men, 5,000 men besides the women and children. very conservative estimate would
be somewhere in the neighborhood of 25,000, 25,000 people. He fed at one city, at one city. And yet because these men did
not seek Him for salvation, they did not seek to know Him, Matter
of fact, they were wanting to make him king. Because of this,
Jesus left. He left them. Told his disciples
to get in the boat and to travel to the other side and he himself
resorted into the mountains away from them while they slept. And
the next morning, these people wake up and find Jesus not there,
and His disciple is gone. And so they take great pains.
They find ships, and they hire these ships so that they can
travel to the other side of the sea to find Him. You've got this
large number of people, this amazing number of people, who
are all boarding these ships trying to get over to the other
side. They seem very sincere, don't they? They seem very sincere. And so they get over to the other
side and they say, Rabbi, Master, where did you go? When did you
come over here? We took boats and we paid these
people. We brought all these people. We want to see you. We
came to find you. This miracle truly moved these
people. These people were moved. These
people sought after Jesus and they took great pains to find
Him. But Jesus reveals to us their hearts in verse 26. He
said, Truly, truly, I say unto you, you seek me not because
you saw the miracle, but because you did eat the loaves and were
filled. They sought Jesus because of
their bellies and not for their souls. I want to ask you this
morning. I know that every one of you
have taken great pains to be here. Every one of you had to
give up something. You had to sacrifice something
to be here. You took great pains to get up
and to come here this morning. Why have you come here? What purpose have you sought
to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ this morning? Why did you come?
Does this place make you feel religious? Did you come hoping
to gain something from Jesus this morning? Some earthly need?
Some physical need? Now there's no doubt that Jesus
has the power to heal, to take care of you. You have needs. There is no doubt He is able
to take care of your needs. This one instance, Jesus fed
5,000, roughly 25,000 people, and I tell you, it was nothing
for Him. It was nothing for Him to take
five loaves and two fishes and feed all of those people. How
do I know that? He has done it since the beginning. He has fed multiplied billions
of people. Every single day He feeds them.
Every single day Jesus feeds this world. This world has food
because He feeds them. He sustains them. You have life
this morning. You have breath this morning.
You have the ability to come here this morning because He
gave it to you. And He does this without you
or I ever thinking about it. He does it all the time. I was
just telling you a minute ago, I can't juggle two things at
one time. I can't. I can't remember anything, but
yet the Lord Jesus has enough power to do all you need, and
more! But I tell you, if you come here
for just a physical blessing alone, I pity you, because a
physical blessing for Him is nothing. It's nothing for Him.
He can do that to you, but I'll tell you what, if that's all
you want from Him, If that's all you want is a physical blessing,
how sad is your condition? How sad is it that you've come
and labored so hard to be here to ask something so small of
such a great Savior? He takes care of your physical
needs all the time. And if you've come here to this
place just for that, you must... you're missing the whole thing.
Because He can give you more than that. He can give you much
more than that. Hear the words of Jesus Christ.
Look at verse 27. Labor not for the meat which
perisheth, but for the meat which endureth unto everlasting life,
which the Son of Man shall give unto you. Labor not for the meat. What is he talking about? Is
he just talking about the food? Well, that's the instance of
these people. They wanted that physical food. That's what they
had wanted. So Jesus uses this as a stepping stone for His message. And He's telling them, don't
labor for these things that perish. He's telling us, don't labor.
Don't be anxious concerning the things of life, concerning earthly
things. Don't labor for these things.
Why? They perish. They perish. All
the things of this world are nothing but vanity and vexation
of spirit. Have you not found that to be
true? That is just so. The things of this world are
vanity and vexation of spirit. The meat of this world cannot
provide lasting satisfaction. Listen, if you've come here for
Jesus to give you something and He gives it to you, will you
not need something tomorrow? Will you think that would satisfy
you for the rest of your life? I know that we are foolish enough
to think that, because I've thought it, I don't know how many times.
We are foolish enough to think that. She's sitting right there,
and I said this, Lord, if you would give me her, I'd be satisfied. I was lying. I was lying. I thought, but that's
not true. Because I'm always a needy person. I'm always having needs. And
I'll tell you, when I get what I want, it never satisfies. Never. And I'll tell you this,
that's true of you too. That's true of you. Labor not. Don't be anxious. Don't strive
for the things of this life that perish, the things of this world,
but seek first above and beyond all these other things. Seek
first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these
things will be added to you. Don't worry about these things.
Worry about righteousness. Worry about acceptance with God,
forgiveness of sins, mercy, those things that endure forever. Worry
about your soul, not your body. Your body is perishing. Go to Isaiah chapter 55. Can you not see this? When you
look at this passage, I want you to see this is exactly what
the Lord Jesus Christ was saying to them. He's already said it
700 years before through the prophet Isaiah. He says this
in verse 1, HOLD! STOP! LISTEN! BEHOLD! Everyone that thirsteth, come
ye to the waters. He that hath no money, come ye
buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without
money, without price. Wherefore do you spend your money
for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which
satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and
eat that which is good, that your soul might delight itself
in fatness. Incline your ear and come unto
me. Here and your soul shall live,
and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure
mercies of David. Oh, everyone that thirsteth.
He's not talking about this physical water. If I'm thirsty of this
water, I'll drink it, and you know what? I'll be thirsty again.
I'll be thirsty again. He's talking about spiritual
water. everlasting life, eternal water. You that are thirsty, the scripture
says, come and drink of the everlasting water of life. This is salvation. This is not physical bread, meat,
wine, or milk. This is spiritual. Jesus tells
us in our text at the very end of this, He said, these words
I speak unto you, they're not physical. They're spiritual words. They're spiritual words. Are
you thirsty for righteousness? Are you thirsty for righteousness?
Righteousness that's acceptable unto God. Are you thirsty? Are you hungry to be accepted
of God? Have you seen the holiness of
God? Have you seen your sin? Have you seen what you are in
the presence of a holy God? I tell you it was for these that
Christ came. It was for these sinners, these
hungry, thirsty sinners that Christ came and gives the promise,
the promise of everlasting life. I tell you this, only the dead
need to be raised. Isn't that right? I don't have
a need. Pastor, what are you talking
about? I don't understand. Only God give that to you. Only
the dead need life. Are you dead? I've got a message
of good news for the dead. Jesus Christ gives life to the
dead. Are you blind to the things of
God? Are you blind to the things of
God? Are you blind as to how it is a man can be justified
with a holy God? Then I've got a good news message
for you. Jesus Christ has come to give
sight to the blind. Well, I'm not blind, Pastor.
He didn't come to give you sight, if you have it already. He come
to give the blind side. He come to cleanse lepers from
their sins. Jesus said, I came not to call
the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Sinners. And notice
the question of these followers now. Look back in your text.
Jesus tells them, don't labor for these things. You come to
me for this physical bread. Don't vex yourself about that. Come to me for life and I'll
give you life. And they said, how is it? What shall we do?
That we might work the works of God. In other words, how can
we give ourselves this bread? If you ain't going to give it
to us, how can we get it ourselves? What can I do? I've had several
people come to me about this, Lord, what do we do? They come
in a crisis. They're in a desperate situation.
They want to know what to do. And when I tell them there's
nothing to do, they don't understand. So they'll go find somebody else
to tell them what to do. They want to know how it is they
can obtain the power of eternal life themselves. The false free
will works religion of this world caters to such people. They say,
man, how can I be born again? And they say, well, go and do
this. If you'll just do this thing, then you can be born again. That's the false free will works
religion of today. They say if you'll just be baptized,
then your troubles will be over, everything's fine. If you'll
just join the church, if you will just fill in the blank,
whatever it is, that's false religion. That's what these people
wanted. They wanted Jesus to tell them
to do something so they could work salvation in themselves. This is not the answer that Christ
gave and this is not the answer of the gospel. The answer that
Jesus Christ gives them is this in verse 29. This is not a work
you can do. This is the work of God. Salvation
is the work of God alone. This is the work of God, that
you believe on Him whom He hath sent. Oh, this is such a glorious
message to those of you who have tasted of the waters of life.
Those of you who are thirsty and have received Christ, this
is a message that's good to you. Salvation is completely and absolutely
the work of God alone. It's the work of God alone. What
can you do to be saved? Nothing! This is the work of
God alone. that you believe on Jesus Christ
whom He has sent. This is the work of God. This
is not a work that can be done by man. Just as that bread and
fish could not be multiplied by any of us, could it? Could
you do that? By any stretch of the imagination,
you think you could do that? No. Neither can you give yourself
life. Neither can you give your children
life. Neither can you give your family
life. This alone is the work of God alone. And if He gives
life, life comes. If He withholds it, it doesn't.
This is the work of God. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That sounds simple, doesn't it?
It is. Every word in that sentence is
very simple, isn't it? Can you not understand that?
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Is that
not simple? It's simple to understand, impossible
for you to do unless God does it for you. Unless God gives
it to you, you cannot do it yourself. Go over to Ephesians chapter
2. Ephesians chapter 2. This is
speaking to us who have been raised from the dead, who have
been given this. This is our experience. And you hath he quickened
who were dead in trespasses and sins. Dead. I identify with that. I know what that is. I was dead,
now I'm alive. And you hath he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins. wherein in time past ye walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience, among whom also we had our conversation,
our lifestyle, in time past, in the lust of the flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
haters of God even as others." Can you identify with that? That's
me right there. I was dead and He gave me life. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for His great love wherewith He loved us, when did He love
us? Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together
with Christ. By grace you are saved, and hath
raised us up together and made us to sit together with Christ
in heavenly places, that in the ages to come He might show the
exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through
Jesus Christ. For by grace you are saved through
faith. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Faith in Jesus Christ. Faith. You will never be saved apart
from believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. You must believe. You
must. For by grace you are saved through
faith. And notice this, and that. You
don't have to be an English scholar. That refers to faith. That faith is not of yourself. it. Faith is a gift of God. Why is that? Because you and
I would glory in our ability to believe. That faith is not
of yourself, it is a gift of God, not of works. Lest any man should boast, for
we are his workmanship, his skilled craftsmanship, created created. Can you create anything? I love
that hymn. It says about faith. It says faith that is created
in us. Faith is created in us. We have
a new nature that was not there before. Once I was dead, God
gave me life, created faith in me, and I believed on the Lord
Jesus Christ. This is a work of God. Why is
it that you will not believe? Because you're dead. And I'll
tell you this, you can try all you want to, to believe. But
until God gives you life, you will not believe. Can you believe? You who do believe. You who have
the ability to believe, do we not give glory to God for that?
Thank God He gave me faith in Christ. Otherwise, I would not
have believed. I would have been just like these
people, only seeking physical things and not spiritual things.
But now, but God who is rich in mercy. He came in the ages
to come. He came in the appointed time
and He gave me faith. Salvation is the sovereign gift
of Almighty God. He gives it to whomsoever He
will. What is it to believe? What do
we believe? What do we believe? When He says
believe on the Son of God, He's not telling you to say, okay,
I believe that He existed. No, He's not telling you to acknowledge
this or to tip your hat in acknowledgement to Him. This is not what He's
saying. When faith comes, we recognize this first. Jesus Christ
is God manifest in the flesh. To believe on Him, you must believe
He is God. I don't care how sincere a person
is, if he does not believe Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, he
is not saved. He does not have faith. Notice
what Jesus says in our text. He tells these people in verse
32, Verily, verily, I say unto you that Moses gave you not the
bread from heaven. They were bragging on Moses and
they want him to give them that physical bread. He said, But
my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread
of God is he that which cometh down from heaven and giveth life
to the world. Who else could come down from
heaven but God? who forever existed from eternity. Anyone who believes Christ's
existence came at the birth doesn't know God, doesn't believe on
Christ. Jesus tells them in verse 35,
I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger, and he that believeth in me shall never thirst. We
must believe that He is God. I often get questions from my
children about the person of God. If Jesus is God and the
Father is God and the Spirit is God, are there three gods?
No! One God! Three persons. Can you explain
that? Absolutely not! I'm not called
to explain it. I don't care to explain it. God
reveals Himself as such. I bow down to it. Jesus Christ
is God in the flesh. Jesus was given of the Father. He was given of the Father that
He should give His life for the world. How simple is this message. Jesus is the bread of life. And all who come to Him, all
who believe on Him shall not die, but have everlasting life.
What a glorious message. And yet these men, they saw Jesus,
they saw His miracles, and they did not believe. Jesus said in
verse 36, But I said unto you that you also have seen Me, and
believe not. Why did they not believe? Listen,
you who do not believe, do you suppose you would have believed
had you seen the miracle? Do you think you would? If you
saw the Lord Jesus in body, standing in front of you, telling you
exactly what I just said to you, if He was standing here and He
did a miracle in front of you, do you suppose that would be
enough for you to believe? I tell you, you'd be just like
them. You would not believe except He give it to you. except to
give it to you. Faith is impossible with men.
It is the work of God's grace. In verse 43, when they started
complaining, do you complain about this? Is this something
you're complaining about? Well, how dare he say that? I can believe
anytime I want to. No, you can't. They were complaining
about this very thing. He said, don't complain, don't
murmur among yourselves. No man can come to me except
the Father which has sent me draw him. You cannot come except
God draw you. This is sovereign salvation. The Son of God is the bread of
life, given by the Father, and He is the representative of a
people, a certain number of people. He is the representative of all
that the Father chose in eternity. This number's been set. This
number's been set by God the Father. It's not set by me. It
was set by God the Father. He chose. He chose a people. He loved a people. Gave them
to His Son. If you go to Romans chapter 8,
Romans chapter 8 and verse 28, For we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to His purpose, for whom He foreknew. Not what
He foreknew. He didn't foreknow something
about you that you would do. He foreknew you who believe. He foreknew you. He also did
predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that
He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
He did predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called,
them He also justified, and whom He justified, them He also glorified. If you'll notice, every one of
those are past tense. He's already done it. He's already
called, He's already justified, and He's already glorified everyone
He purposed to save. He gave them to the Son. Go back
to your text and Jesus tells them this. He says in verse 27,
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that
cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from
heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent
me. What's the Father's will? Have you ever asked, somebody
asked you that? What's God's will for my life? Forget about
that. Here's God's will. Here's God's
will. And this is the will of the Father
which sent Christ, that of all which He hath given me I should
lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. All that
the Father gave to Christ to be a representative, He said
He would lose none of them, and all of them would come to Him.
And this is the will of Him that sent me. that of every one which
seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting
life. And I'll raise him up at the
last day. The Son was given a people by the Father, and He saved those
people. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save, who? His people from their sin. Isaiah 42 and verse 3, I believe
it is. Verse 4, He shall not fail nor
be discouraged. He shall not fail nor be discouraged. Do you know when the Lord Jesus
Christ left these people who did not believe? When His disciples
left Him, do you think He was discouraged? Do you think He
was bemoaning the fact that they left? No. He was not discouraged
at all. You leave here this morning and
you do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, He will not be
discouraged. He will not be discouraged. He
will not be discouraged because He is a successful Savior. Successful. He's done it. The work of salvation has been
accomplished. God's justice has been satisfied
by the blood of Jesus Christ and everyone for whom Christ
died. Their sins were imputed to Him
and He paid them all. This is the message of salvation. Jesus Christ has provided all
that is necessary for His people. He obtained righteousness. He
obtained their atonement. He is risen again from the dead. And He intercedes for all of
His elect. And all of His elect will come
to Him. And this comes to this question.
Are you one that was given to Christ? How can you know? How can you know such things
as this? That if Christ died for you,
or that the Father chose you, how is it that you will know?
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 will raise him up at the last day. Have you seen the Son
of God? Not physical. Remember, we are
not talking physical eyes. We are talking spiritual. Have
you believed on the Son of God? No man can come unto me except
the Father which hath sent me drawing. Have you been drawn
to Christ? Have you been made thirsty? Have you seen the Son by faith?
Salvation is the work of God. Therefore, God gets all the glory
for this. He chose us. He redeemed us. And He calls us. Have you been
called? I tell you now, believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Have you believed?
Can you believe? If you can, that is the evidence
of grace. That's the evidence. The evidence
you were chosen. The evidence that He redeemed
you. The evidence He lives for you
in heaven, interceding for you. Believe on the Son of God, and
He will give you life. He'll give you Himself. Does
this offend you? Not if you've received it. Not
if you've received it. The apostles, when they heard
this, the disciples went away. They heard this, that salvation
was of the sovereign grace of God. And they couldn't. They
said, this is too hard for us. This is just too, too much. We're
just going to have to leave. And they left. Jesus turned to
his twelve and he said, will you go also? And Peter said,
where are we going to go? I got no place else to go. We
believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God. I
don't understand everything, but I do know this, Jesus is
the Christ, the Son of God, I believe. And I believe because He made
me believe.