Ok, let's open back up to John
6. John 6, I want to read verse
40 first. It says, And this is the will
of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son and believeth
on him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up
at the last day." We have the Lord's table here
before us tonight. We have some physical bread down
there, and we have some physical wine. And over the next few minutes,
we're going to see spiritually what they represent, why we have
them here, why we're doing this. And then Lord willing, we're
going to partake of these elements. And when we partake of these
elements, we're saying something. We're not just doing it just
because. When we take them, we are confessing
something. We're not just eating bread and
drinking wine. This is what we're confessing.
I believe. That's what we're saying in this.
I believe. In a few minutes, when these
elements are passed out, who should partake of these elements? Who should take them? They're
going to get passed around. Who should reach out and grab
one? All those who truly believe. Truly believe. Look at John 6
verse 40 again. 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." Believing, being a believer, is all that
God requires of a sinner. You know that? That's all God
requires of a sinner. Here's the problem for us sinners,
though. We can't believe. We can't believe. You know, we
show this gospel and tell this gospel to our families, and we
think, what's wrong with you? Why can't you believe? They're dead. So were we. By nature, we cannot believe.
So God has to give us what He requires of us. He has required
something out of us. And He has to give us what He
requires of us, and that's faith to believe. Now listen to this. If God gives it, then He requires
it. Does that make sense? We can't believe, so God has
to give it. But if God gives it, then He requires it. He said,
All manner of sin shall be forgiven but one. You know which one that
was? Unbelief. Unbelief. Go with me over to 2 Thessalonians
2. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13 says, But we are bound to give
thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord,
because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through
sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Salvation is through sanctification
of the Spirit, cleansing that comes by the Spirit of God, and
belief of the truth. That's what he said. That has
always been, it will always be, the one thing that God requires
for salvation and for partaking in His ordinance. Go with me
over to Acts 8. Acts chapter 8 verse 35 says,
Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture,
and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way,
they came unto a certain water. And the eunuch said, See, here
is water. What doth hinder me to be baptized?
What's the prerequisite? That's what he's asking. What
is required of me? Is there anything hindering me?
Verse 37, And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine
heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and He commanded the
chariots, stand still, and they went down both into the water,
both Philip and the eunuch, and He baptized Him. Who should partake
of this table confessing union with Christ? All who truly believe on His
name. That's who should do it. All who truly believe His Word. That's who should take this table.
What he has to say about himself, what he has to say about us,
what he has to say about salvation. The truth. Alright, now let's
go back to our text in John 6 and see if we believe what he has
to say. John 6 verse 38 says, For I came down from heaven,
Not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me." Most people believe that He began
the day He was born. You know that? And if they think
they don't, when you really start digging, they do. They think
He began the day He was born. That's not what He has to say
about Himself, though, is it? He said, I always have been. I was with God, as God, seated
on my throne next to my Father, and of my own will I became flesh. I was there already and I came
down. Do you believe that? So do I. I believe that. I believe that
He was from the beginning. I really do. I really believe
He's God. Do you know how rare that is?
Do you know how rare that is? We already take it for granted
and we're going to for decades to come if God tarries. But do
you know how rare it is to believe that this is the one from the
beginning? Genesis 1-1. I believe that. I really do. Verse 38 says, He
said, 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."
Most every person on planet Earth believes Christ died for everybody. Most of them do. Christ died
for everybody. But He said in His Word, All
that the Father giveth Me, right? That's who I died for, the ones
that the Father chose and put in my hand, gave to me. Not the
whole world, only the elect. Do you believe that? So do I. You know how rare that is? To
believe that Christ only died for the ones that God the Father
chose to save? I believe that. Verse 39 says,
The end of it says, I should lose nothing, but should raise
it up again at the last day. Let me ask you a question. Do
you really believe that He is able? Because, you know, every other
works-based religion is a works-based religion because they don't believe
He's able. Right? That's the whole reason. Do you believe that He is really
not going to lose one? Really? Do you believe that every single
soul that the Father chose, the Son is going to raise that soul
up? Do you really believe that? So do I. I really do. Verse 40. 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." This is what He just said. Everlasting life is seeing
the Son with eyes of faith and believing on Him with a heart
of faith. That's everlasting life. Seeing
the Son and believing on Him. Do you believe that? I do. I really do. That is life. Go to John chapter
3. Back a couple of pages to John
chapter 3. Verse 18 says, He that believeth
on Him is not condemned. But he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God. Back over in John 6, verse 41
says, The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am
the bread which came down from heaven. They didn't like that.
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? He says he's God. They say He can't be. We know
His parents. What do you think? Do you believe
Him? So do I. I believe Him. I believe He's God. Verse 43,
Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, murmur not amongst
yourselves, No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath
sent Me draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day."
Now listen carefully to what he's saying. No man. It doesn't matter how
smart he is. It doesn't matter how wise he
is. It doesn't matter what his family
line is, his ancestry. No man hand. No man is able. No man has the ability. No man
has the will. No man has the desire to come
to me. And he's not talking about with
two legs. Let me explain that. No man can come to Me with the heart. You know the
commandment goes out, come to Christ? No man can come to Me, not talking about with legs,
with the heart, with the will. No man can Believe. No man can trust. No man can come to me except
the Father which hath sent me. It starts with me. The Father
loves the Son. He's given everything to Him.
He's put everything in His hands. Outside of Christ, the Father
does not love sinners. You know that? He hates sin. The love of God is only found
in Christ. The Father sent me. Verse 44 says, No man can come
to me except the Father which hath sent me. Draw him. You know what that is? It's a
quickening. It's an awakening. It's a call. I just prepared a radio broadcast.
And I told everybody, they're all going to hear it Sunday,
whoever tunes in. This message is going out to those who are
called, called to be in Christ. And that's the only people that
the message is going out to. That's it. This is a calling. of sinners
to life and faith. Verse 44 says, No man can come
to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him, and I
will raise him up at the last day. Do you honestly believe
that? That no man can do that? So do
I. No man can. Verse 45 says, 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 to me. Those whom
God the Father draws, they don't come blindly. This is important. They don't come blindly. They
don't come ignorantly. They shall all be taught of God. How? Go with me over to Romans
10. Romans 10 verse 17 says, So then
faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. That's how they're taught. That's
how they're taught. Not just by hearing preaching.
Not just hearing a preacher. Anybody. Not just by sitting
in religion. Hearing by the Word of God. The
Word of God. Go over to Ephesians 4. Ephesians 4 verse 10. It says, "...he that descended
is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that
he might fill all things. And he gave some apostles and
some prophets." And he did that when he wrote the Scriptures.
That's when he did that. There are no more apostles. An apostle had to be taught the
Gospel directly from Jesus Christ. And so that's when he did that.
He gave some apostles and some prophets when he wrote the Scriptures. And then he says, some evangelists. Those are the ones who spread
the gospel throughout the land. That's what an evangelist does.
Rolf Barnard was an evangelist. And he spread the gospel throughout
the land. Our missionaries, Walter Groover
and Cody Groover, they are evangelists. They go into these villages and
they preach the gospel. And they go into this village
and they just preach the gospel. And from that spreading, it says
in verse 11, some pastors. He raises up local assemblies.
Brother Tom Harding did the work of an evangelist. You know that? He came down here and he spread
the gospel. And the Lord raised up an assembly. And in those assemblies, He raises
up, it says, teachers. Verse 12, for the perfecting
of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying
of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the
faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect
man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Our Lord said, all of my people
are going to be taught of God. Do you believe that? I do too. I do too. They're going to be taught. They're
going to believe. Back over to John 6. John 6 verse 46 says, "...not
that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he that
hath seen the Father, Let me read that again. Not that any
man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God. He hath seen
the Father. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. No man has
ever seen the Father. And if a person ever sees the
Son, that person has seen the Father. I can't explain that. I can't explain that. I cannot explain that. No man
has ever seen the father. But if you've seen the son, you've
seen the father. I can't. Can you? I really can't. Do you believe that? So do I. We believe that God, the father
and God, the son and God, the spirit are one God. In three
separate persons. We believe that, don't we? Verse
47 says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on
me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Bread of life. Living bread. That's what the bread on this
table represents. Life. The bread represents life. You know why we eat that bread?
Life. That bread lives in us. We live in the true and living
bread. We physically eat bread to live. It goes in us. It sustains us. And we live in the true and living
bread, Christ. His body was broken so that we
might have life. That represents life. His broken
body is my life. You know why we drink that cup?
Death. That wine represents bloodshed. Thanks be to God, not mine. The Son of God went into the
winepress of God the Father's wrath. And the blood that was
squeezed out was squeezed out for me. In my place. We trust in His
blood. We just sang the song. What can
wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood. O precious
is the flow that makes me white as snow. Nothing can for sin
atone. Nothing but the blood. We trust
in His blood and we receive His blood. We believe on His blood. We don't just believe in it,
we believe on it. Verse 49 says, Your fathers did
eat manna in the wilderness and are dead. That manna was bread. But they trusted in the bread
and not in the bread. You know what I mean? They trusted in that bread that
God sent, but not in the bread of heaven, the living bread.
That actual manna, it couldn't save anybody. Moses struck a
rock and water came out of it. That actual water couldn't save
anybody. If all a person sees here and
believes in is this ordinance, and if they don't see Christ
in this, If they don't see Christ in this,
then they're going to die. Die in their sins. That's what
he said right here. He said in verse 49, your fathers
did eat manna in the wilderness and they're dead. We partake
of this for a reason. We're confessing something. We're
confessing the exact same thing we confess in believer's baptism.
We partake in believer's baptism for a reason. It's for a reason. It's because for the first time
in our lives, for the very first time in our lives, we are not
confessing anything but Him. Everything we've ever done in
our life, we add something to. We add something to. And we partake
of this table because for the first time we are confessing
nothing but Him. Nothing but Him. Verse 50 says, This is the bread
which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and
not die. We're not doing this just to
be spiritual. This is a holy thing to me. And I take it very
formally. I personally take this very formally. But we're not just doing this
to be formal. Our Lord said, do this in remembrance
of me. You know how holy that is? Verse 51 says, I am the living
bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread,
he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give
is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." He
said, I'm the living bread. Did you know that He is the only
living God? Only one. There are tons of gods,
little g gods. You got the obvious ones like
Buddha and Allah. They're not alive. They have
no hands, but they're servants' hands. You have the not so obvious
ones like money and self. But there's only one living God,
and His name is Jesus Christ. He said, the bread that I will
give is my flesh. You know what we have represented
before us right here? You know what this is? This is a sacrifice. That's what that is. It's a sacrifice,
the body and the blood of a lamb slain, as though a lamb was laying
right there. Just like in Exodus, they built
an altar and they all gathered around this altar. And the Lord
said, you tell your kids why you're doing this. And here's why we're doing this.
It's because when the Lord came through bringing death to the people, every house who was under the
blood got to live. That's why we're doing this. Sacrifice. Here's the good news. He said in verse 51, I'll give
my flesh for the life of the world. My Father chose a people
out of every tribe, kindred, nation, tongue, and generation. And it goes out to all the world.
Verse 52 says, The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying,
How can this man give us his flesh to eat? No understanding. No eyes to see. No heart to believe. Verse 53. Then Jesus said unto
them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except you eat the flesh
of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, you have no life in
you. Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal
life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh
is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed." This is what
He's saying. This is vital. This is vital.
Our Lord was slain from the foundation of the world, wasn't He? Foundation of the world. But
He came here and He died. That means it was necessary that
He actually do it. Our God doesn't do anything that's
unnecessary. He has never done one unnecessary
thing. Think about that. Not one. God's
people were elected from the foundation of the world, right? They were elected to receive
Christ and to believe on Christ. And it is necessary that they
do so. It's necessary. Verse 53 again
says, Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except
you eat the flesh of the Son of Man. He said, My body was
broken. I will give it. But He says,
Except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood. You have no life in you. What
that means is, receive Him. These elements are laying right
there. They're laying on that table. In just a few minutes, I'm going
to become united with them. You understand? I'm going to
become united with them. I'm going to receive them. I'm going to ingest them. They're going to become a part
of me. Become united with Him. Believe Him. Trust Him. Trust that He'll satisfy. He'll
fulfill. He'll strengthen. He'll nourish.
Him. It's all about Him. Verse 56
says, He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth
in me and I in him. As the living Father hath sent
me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, even he
shall live by me. This is that bread which came
down from heaven, not as your fathers did eat manna and are
dead. He that eateth of this bread shall live forever." Union
with Christ. That's what we're confessing
right here. union with Christ, he that eateth of this bread
shall live forever. Do you believe that? Do you believe
that union with Christ is eternal life? Here's why I say that. First Corinthians 11 says, whoever
takes this table and doesn't truly believe from the heart
is taking it unworthily. and he eateth and drinketh damnation
to himself, not discerning the Lord's body." If you're not sure,
don't take it. It's for those who believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ. All my hope is in the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's not in anything I've done.
It's not in any works I did. Whatever I say that I attach
to my reason for being saved, I cut it off, and I count it
as dung, and Christ is all. This is for those who believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe that because of His death,
I get to live forever. All because of His death. We
are confessing His life. We're confessing His death. We're
confessing His burial. We're confessing His resurrection.
We're confessing His union with me in my union with Him. That's what we're confessing.
Okay, Brother Tony, you come.