Okay, let's go back to John 6. John chapter 6. Let's read two
verses before our text. Verses 26 and 27. It says, but because you did eat of the
loaves and were filled. Labor not for the meat which
perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting
life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you, for Him hath God
the Father sealed. Now verse 28 says, Then said
they unto Him, What shall we do that we might work the works
of God. What shall we do? That is the
response that every sinner has when they realize there's something
to this. There's something to this. They
start to see that they need salvation. They're not totally convinced
they have it yet. They're searching, they're listening,
they're pondering. I think I'm still missing something. You know that place, right? What should I do? What should I do? What do you
want me to do? The person who is struggling
with that question is still in the dark. Still in the dark. What should
I do? Self-righteousness says, what
must I do? Self-righteousness. What must I do? I'm out of favor
with God. I see I'm a sinner. How do I
get myself back in? That's a blind question. It's
a blind question. How can I earn salvation? This
is what that is really saying. This is what that question is
really saying. How can I make God indebted to me? So that he owes it to me. That's
what that's saying. How can I make this of works
instead of grace? I trust me. I'm looking out for
number one. And I'm going to put my hand
in this. And I want some insurance on this thing. So I want to make
this somehow of works instead of by grace. That's too much
chance. If he doesn't choose me, I'm out. Right? That's the
problem, that's the struggle. That is every natural man's response. Let me show you that. Go with
me to Luke 18. Luke 18. just got through saying in verse
17, Luke 18 verse 17, verily I say unto you, whosoever shall
not receive the kingdom of God as a little child. And I looked up the word little
in our concordance, in the Strong's concordance. And as I was turning
there, I was hoping it would say this. And it did. I was so
glad. You know what the word little
means? Infant. Infant. That's what little means. Verily I say unto you, whosoever
shall not receive the kingdom of God as an infant shall in
no wise enter therein. And a certain ruler asked him,
saying, Good master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
Isn't that something? What do I have to do? He just
said, whoever doesn't receive it like an infant, it's not coming
in. Well, what do I have to do? That's a blind question. Go with
me over to Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2 verse 36 says,
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God
hath made that same Jesus whom you have crucified, both Lord
and Christ. Now when they heard this, they
were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter and to the rest
of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? What do you want us to do? Go
to Acts 16. Acts chapter 16 verse 25 says,
And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto
God, and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was
a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were
shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's
bands were loosed. And the keeper of the prison,
awaking out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors open,
he drew out his sword and would have killed himself, supposing
that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice,
saying, Do thyself no harm, for we are all here. Then he called
for a light and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down
before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what
must I do to be saved? What must I do? Now go with me back to John 6. Verse 28, Then said they unto
him, What shall we do that we might work the works of God. Jesus answered and said unto
them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he
hath sent." Believe. The Lord told them about
a work they had never experienced. They had experienced all kinds
of works. But this is one they had never
experienced. Faith. He said, this is the work
of God that you believe on Him whom He has sent. Now listen
carefully to this part. This is tedious. What our Lord
is saying is, this is what God requires. That's what He's saying. This is what God requires. that
you believe on him whom he hath sent. Paul and Silas told the
Philippian jailer the same thing. The next verse after that was,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And
I say the same thing to us tonight. This is the work of God, that
you believe on him whom he hath sent. This is the work of God. That's it? That's it. There's nothing else required?
There is nothing else required. It's that simple? No. It's that complicated. It is
that complicated. Romans, you don't have to turn,
Romans 10, 14 says, How shall they believe? How shall they believe? How shall they believe? You know,
no man can believe on Him. Last week we were saying, and
we say it all the time, but last Sunday night we were saying,
no man can come. Alright, well tonight we're saying,
no man can believe. No man can. Believe on the name
of the Lord and thou shalt be saved. That would be so simple
if mankind could believe. But he can't. It would be so
simple. But he can't. Ephesians 2. Go with me over to Ephesians
2. Ephesians 2 verse 8 says, For
by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourself. It's the gift of God. Faith is the ability to believe. Faith is believing God. And it's not of ourselves. It's not inside there. It is not naturally in us. We are not born with it. We don't
have it. It must be given to us. It must be. It's a rare gift. It's a rare gift. Few are chosen
to have it. Very few. A person is going to hear that,
and I wish more people could, but they're going to hear that
and say, what do you mean it's rare? I believe in Jesus Christ. And they do. Don't they? We know people in religion and
they believe in Jesus, don't they? They do. They're going
to say, everybody in my church believes in Jesus Christ. Every Christian church in this
town believes in Jesus Christ. They say Jesus, they say Christ. Right? Every Christian church
in the whole country believes in Jesus Christ. The whole world
believes in Jesus Christ. Right? Don't tell me I don't believe
in Jesus Christ. You don't know what I believe
or what I don't believe. I decided to believe in Him. I made the
choice. I work the works of God. No,
you don't. None of us do. None of us do. It is true. That people everywhere
believe in Jesus Christ. We would be foolish to say, well,
you have no idea what that name is. They do. People everywhere believe in
Jesus Christ, but that's not what God said He requires. Look at John 6. Verse 29, Jesus answered and said unto
them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he
hath sent. On. There's a big difference
between in and on. Huge. The difference is life
and death. Paul and Silas told the Philippian
jailer this, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
saved. The dictionary says that in,
in this particular case, means acquainted with. You believe in Santa Claus? Do you believe? Let me give you
this one. You believe in Abraham Lincoln? You acquainted with
him? You know who that is? Yeah. 150 years ago. Yeah. You believe
he was the president? Yeah. I do. In means acquainted with. Do
you believe that there was a man named Jesus who walked the earth
2,000 years ago? Yes. I believe in him. Do you believe he was God's son? Yes. I believe in him. This is what the world will say.
Do you believe that when he left this earth he went back to heaven?
Yes. I believe in him. That's not what God requires.
In means acquainted with. You want to know what the dictionary
said on means? Supported by. It's on it. It means supported
by, attached to. I'm going to hang that picture
on the wall. It's now attached to. It means united with. Go with me to James chapter 2. James chapter 2, I think this
is about one of the most vital messages I've ever known. I really
do. James 2 verse 17 says, Even so, faith, if it hath not
works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say thou hast
faith, and I have works. Show me thy faith without thy
works, and I'll show thee my faith by my works. Now look at
verse 19. Thou believest that there is
one God. Thou doest well. The devils also
believe in tremble. The devils. You believe there's
one God. Great. So do the devils. Go with
me over to Luke chapter 4. Luke chapter 4 verse 33 says,
And in the synagogue there was a man which had a spirit of an
unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice, saying, Let
us alone! What have we to do with thee,
thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us?
I know thee, who thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked
him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when
the devil had thrown him in the mist, he came out of him and
heard him not." They knew who he was. They believed in him. I know who you are, the Holy
One of God. But this is the work of God. This is salvation. That ye believe
on him whom he hath sent. How is that possible? How is
it possible to believe on? That means be supported by. be
attached to, united with Him. In order for a sinner to believe
on Him, that sinner has got to be in Him. Not just acquainted
with, inside. Inside. Now Megan is not here,
so I'm going to use her for an illustration. She is pregnant with a child,
right? That child is in her. That child is supported by her. Everything that child needs to
live comes from the one that the child is in. Everything. That child is totally dependent
on his mother, totally. That child has no choice but
to look to and trust in and rely on and rest in and wait on his
mother. When it's time to eat, the mother
has to eat. I don't know how that works.
He is relying on, waiting on, resting in his mother. That is called faith. That's what faith is. That child
believes on Megan. Sophie believes in Megan. But that little boy that's inside
her believes on Megan. That's the difference. That's
the difference. Does that make sense? Sophie
is not relying on her. She's not trusting in her. She
is not waiting on her. She's not looking to her. Do you know who Megan is? Yeah,
I know who Megan is. She believes in Megan. Oh, I believe in God. Great. So do the devils. Who doesn't? The question is, do I believe
on God? That's the question. This child that's in Megan, the
child that believes on Megan, did that little boy have anything
to do with anything that's happened to him so far? No. It wasn't his work at all. That
believing on, that relying on, that trusting in, that's faith,
trusting in. Did he have anything to do with
that? No. By grace, by gift, are you saved through faith and
that not of yourself, it's the gift of God. He believes on Megan
right now. But before God put him in Megan,
He couldn't. And here's the reason. He wasn't
alive yet. Does that make sense? God's got to give life and put
a sinner in Christ. And calls that give the faith
and do it. He's got to be the author and
the finisher of the faith. And the faith is something that
happens to us. It's not something we work up. It's not a work. It happens to
us. God does it. And the Lord told
us that clearly in John 6 verse 29. Go over there. John 6 verse
29. Jesus answered and said unto
them, This is the work of God. This is the work of God. That you be supported by and
attached to and unified united with Him whom He had sent. That's the work of God. Verse
30 says, They said therefore unto him, What sign showest thou
then, that we may see and believe thee? What dost thou work? He just said, Believe, and they
said, Show us a sign. Unbelief. That's what it is. They were acquainted with Him. Jesus of Nazareth, He just fed
us. We just ate fish and bread. We followed Him over here. We believe in Him. We know who
He is. Believe on Him. Well, He's going
to have to show us a sign first. He's going to have to prove himself
first, as if feeding 5,000 wasn't enough of a sign. They just ate
the night before. Well, we want to see all our
options first. You know, there might be a better
way. They were acquainted with him. but they were not supported
by and attached to and unified, united with Him. You know when
a person will truly believe on Jesus Christ? It's when they
come to realize that Christ is their only hope. If Megan doesn't
make it, that little baby's not gonna make it. God has to open our eyes to that. All my avenues have failed, all
my works have failed, but God has put me in Christ and my life
is His life. My life is dependent on His life. I'm living on, I'm trusting in,
I'm hoping in the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe on Him. He is my life. Verse 30 says,
They said therefore unto him, what sign showest thou then that
we may see and believe thee? What dost thou work? Our fathers
did eat manna in the desert. As it is written, he gave them
bread from heaven to eat. Then Jesus said unto them, verily,
verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from
heaven. Moses didn't do it. What did Moses give? The law. The law is not the staff of life. The law does not feed the soul. If we came in here, we had a
Bible study this morning on straighten up and fly right. And that was
good. But it didn't feed the soul.
We all needed it. I'm commanded to preach the whole
counsel of God. But the law doesn't feed my soul.
The law cannot satisfy. I want you to go with me quickly
to Galatians three. Galatians three. Verse 1 says,
O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you that you should
not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently
set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you.
Receive ye the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing
of faith? Which one is it? Verse 8 says,
The Scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen
through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying,
In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be
of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. For as many as are of
the works of the law are under the curse. For it is written,
Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. If we're going to be under
the law, we've got to be under all of the law. Verse 11, But
that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is
evident. For the just shall live by faith. And the law is not
faith, but the man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse
for us. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that hangeth on a tree. Our Lord said, Moses didn't give
you that bread from heaven. He said, this is my body which
is broken for you. Moses gave you a curse when he
gave you that law. That's what he gave us is a curse.
No man can live up to it. It's impossible. Just listen
to John 1 verse 17. For the law was given by Moses,
but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. He made us free from
the law. He satisfied the law. Any sinner who is still trying
to obey the law to get into heaven is not believing on Him whom
the Father has sent. So John 6 Verse 32 says, 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. For the bread of God is he which
cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world. Then said
they unto him, Lord evermore give us this bread. And Jesus
said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me
shall never hunger, And he that believeth on me shall never thirst."
Rest on that. You know what? Rest on that. Be supported by that. We're never
going to hunger spiritually. Once the Lord shows us the gospel,
He's not going to take it away from us. He might move it from
a town, but then He'll move us to where it is. We're not going to hunger physically.
He's going to provide. Be supported and attached to
and united with that. Believe on Him whom He has sent. That's what I want to do. I want
to believe on Jesus Christ. Not just in Him. I want to be
in Him. I want to believe on Him. Okay,
I hope the Lord will bless that. Let's stand together.