Go back to John 6 with me now.
John 6. This whole chapter is about the
Christ who came and those who come to Christ. Christ who came
and coming to Christ. Now you are here. You have come
here tonight. Scripture says the lot is cast
into the lap. You made a decision, didn't you?
Yeah, you did. Well, are we going to go? We're
not going to go. But the whole disposing thereof
is of the Lord. Thank God He overrules our flesh,
doesn't He? The flesh lusts against the Spirit,
and the Spirit against the flesh. So you cannot do the things that
you would. Your flesh may be tired, and your flesh may have wanted
to stay home, I urged you to be here Sunday, didn't I? And
here you are. And that's of the Lord. I'm so
pleased. I'm glad. I'm glad I'm here.
I'm glad you're here. I was glad when they said, let's
go to the house of the Lord. But you being here is not a thing
to be congratulated for, but a thing to be thankful for. Right? Thank God we're here. We're grateful. Blessed to be here. Blessed to
hear. Blessed to be called. This is a long chapter. It's
full of the Lord's words. And the Gospel of John, more
than all the other Gospels, is our Lord speaking. All through
the Gospel of John. And this is full of His words.
You remember He said at the end, He said, My words are spirit.
And Peter answered and said, Your words are life. A savor of life to life. A savor
of Him who is the bread of life. Oh, may He make this savory to
us. May He give us this hunger for
Him, for this bread. It begins with Him feeding 5,000.
Look at verse 12. He fed 5,000 and it says in verse
12 that they were filled. Whoever came, Hungry, the Lord filled them.
Are you hungry? I love that. We love this verse,
don't we, Nancy? Open your mouth wide, I'll fill
it. You hungry? That's what he said. Are you
hungry? I hope so. Got four points to
this message. The one who came. Why he came. Very simple. Who he came for. And who comes to him. The one
who came. Why he came. Who he came for. I hope he came for me. We're
going to see here. And who comes to him. I think
I've come to him. I hope I have. All right. The
one who came. Go back to John chapter 1 with
me. You've heard these things thousands
of times, haven't you? Thousands of times. Sister back
there was smiling. These two sisters smiling. Three. They've heard, they were
here, Debra was here before I came here. You've heard this so many
times. You want to hear it again? That's
a good sign. You know, I've been eating certain
foods since I was a baby, certain food, and I still like them.
Eggs, bread, I love eggs, I love bread, I love meat and potatoes,
and I never get tired of them. Many sometimes will fix the same
thing, roast beef, potatoes, carrots and green beans, sweet
tea. And boy, I sit down and say,
wow, I've had them 5,433 times. And it's still delicious. What
makes it delicious? Hunger. The same thing, the one who came,
John chapter 1, who came to this earth? In the beginning was the
Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. And down in verse 14 it says,
the Word was made flesh. Verse 11, he came unto his own,
his own creatures, his own received him not, but as many as received
him. Who is this that came? No mere
man. This is God manifesting the flesh. God who became a man. The One
who made the earth came to this earth, walked this earth. This
was not the first time He'd been here. His delights in Proverbs
8 says, His delights were with the sons of men, rejoicing in
the habitable parts of the earth. Our Lord came down many times
and spoke with His people, beginning in the garden, The voice of the
Lord came walking in the garden to speak to the first two sinners. What does that tell you? That
He came into this world to save sinners, doesn't it? There were
only two sinners on earth, and the Lord came to them and told
them the way of forgiveness and pardon. Showed them the broken
body and the ship. Exodus 3, don't you love that?
Let me read it to you. For the sake of time, I'll read
them for you. I love this. The one who came. Who came? The
Lord said, I've seen the affliction of my people that are in Egypt.
I've heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters. The God
of this world holds them captive. I know their sorrows. He's a
man of sorrows. I am come down. to deliver them
out, to bring them up, to bring them in. Who came? God came down. God, the Lord,
capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D, Jehovah came down. His name is Jesus Christ. That's
it. So this wasn't the first time
He came, John chapter 6. You know, in 1 John, It says
the preacher that preaches and confesses that Jesus has come
in the flesh is of God. Those that say He didn't come
in the flesh, He's not of God. And those that believe He came
in the flesh are born of God. What does that mean? Everybody
believes in Jesus. Everybody believes that Jesus
Christ, some call Him, was in the flesh and walked this earth.
And many say He's the Son of God. But God's people know He is God. Not just Son of God. Equal with
the Father. So much God that He said, you've
seen Me, you've seen the Father. Didn't it? And you know this. There are
millions, there are denominations that vehemently oppose this,
that say He's the Son of God, but not God. He's not Jehovah. Yes, He is. Yes, he is. Must you believe that? John 8,
24, he said, if you believe not that I am, you will die in your
sins. The Jews said, who can forgive
sins but God? That's right. And he forgave sin, didn't he?
He did everything that God does. Why? Because he is God. Not taking
anything away from the Father? And it's not blasphemy to say
that he's equal with the Father. It's truth. You must believe. This is life eternal to know
thee the only true God. Thomas fell at his feet and said,
My Lord and my God. Is that what you say, Thomas?
Thomas, is that what you call him? Flesh and blood didn't reveal
that to you, but the Father which is in heaven. So He is God, the
Creator, Sovereign, Lord Jesus Christ, came down. You see, this
is what the Jews were struggling with. In John chapter 3, it was
John the Baptist that says, let me read this to you, John the
Baptist says, No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came
down from heaven. Ephesians 4 says, what is it
that he that ascended was first he that descended? And he said
over here, what are you going to do? They didn't believe he
came down from heaven. He said, what are you going to do when
you see me ascend and sit at the right hand of the majesty
on high? What are you going to do then? You're going to bow. Every knee is going to bow, and
every tongue is going to confess, Jesus is God. And it's salvation to do it now. Now. We're never going to see
God. But we're going to see Christ.
Job said, My eyes, I'm going to see God. My eyes, not another. Who did he see? He said, I've
heard of you with the hearing of the ear. Now my eyes see of
thee. Who did he see? Jesus Christ. Who did Isaiah
see in Isaiah 6? He said, I saw the Lord high
and lifted up. He's trying to fill the temple.
Holy, holy. Who did he see? Jesus Christ. He's the one. He's the one that God gives all
judgment and everything to. In John chapter 6, look at this. Verse 38 says this over and over
again. He said, I came down from heaven. Verse 41. He says, I am the bread
which came down from heaven, 42. They said, who is this that
said he came down from heaven? Verse 51, I am the living bread
which came down from heaven, verse 58. He said, I came down
from heaven. So over and over again, is this
important? It's vital. If he's not God, and he's just
a man or just a son of God, He's the biggest imposter to
ever live, and he's a blasphemer. He let people worship him. But if he's God, then all he
said and all he did is true, and the whole universe is in
his hands. All right, why did he come? Why did he come to earth? The
story I told you, I read to you Exodus 3 where he said, I've
heard their cry. The children of Israel, the children
of Israel were his elect, God's elect, okay? His chosen nation. They were in Egypt. They were
in bondage. They were dying in slime pits. They were literally
dying in these slime pits, working for ungodly people. And the Lord heard, said, I've
heard it, and I've come down to deliver you out, to bring
you up, to bring you in. So our Lord came down for Israel. He came down for His elect. He
came down for His lost sheep. He said, I am come to seek and
to save the lost sheep of the house of Israel. That's what
He told that woman. He came for His elect. Later
on, the children of Israel were wandering
through the wilderness. Right? Through all the nations.
Wandering through these wildernesses. And it says they were hungry
and thirsty. Psalm 107. Where are you, John? Over here.
You quoted that. You preached from that. Wandering
in the wilderness. Hungry and thirsty. And they
cried unto the Lord. Who did? Israel. All right? It was His elect. Who did He
come for? His elect. How do you know Him? They're wandering through this
world, and they're hungry and thirsty. And they cry unto the
Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord God. And He hears them. There's one mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus. If we want to be heard by God,
we've got to pray through the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
If not, He won't hear us. So He came for the lost sheep
of the house of Israel, His elect. He came for those that are hungry
and thirsty. He came for whosoever calls on the name of the Lord. And they called and the Lord
sent manna. And that's what this is all about.
That's what He said. Bread from heaven. So they wouldn't
die in the slime pit. So they wouldn't die from hunger.
Look at verse 33. It said, The bread of God is
he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world. How does he give life unto the
world? He said in John 10, I am come
that they might have life. How does he give life to the
world? I'll tell you how, and you know
how. By giving his life. By dying. How can he give life
by dying? Well, except the corn of wheat,
he said, and wave his bread, falleth into the ground and die. It'll land by itself. But if
it fall to the ground and die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
He's that seed which God planted, the bread of life, by his death. His death. The scripture says,
The soul that sinneth will surely die. Well, how is a dead and
dying soul going to live? By Christ's soul being made an
offering for sin. A substitutionary death. That's
how. Christ was made sin for us who
knew no sin. Listen to this. Hebrews 9. Let
me just read it to you for time's sake. It says, Now, once in the
end of the world, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice
of Himself. It's appointed unto men once
to die. Everybody's going to die. And
after this, the judgment. But you know what Christ said
at Lazarus' tomb? He said, He that liveth and believeth
in Me will never die. Why? Because Christ died. Your soul won't die. Your body
will. Your body will. Your body will
die and decay. And even that, he said, I'm going to raise that
up. Do you notice how many times he said, I'll raise it up? He
kept saying, I'll do that. So Christ was once offered to
God. Not man. This gospel is not an
offer to man. It's an offer to God. Anybody
that believes that Christ is just an offer you accept or reject
doesn't know the Gospel. Doesn't know God. Doesn't know Jesus Christ. Doesn't
know why He came. Doesn't know who He came for.
Doesn't know what He did on the cross. Doesn't know what happened
in the garden. Where's... Who sent me that? Helen. Doesn't
know what happened in the garden. Three things. Doesn't know what
happened in the garden. Man died. Doesn't know what happened
on the cross. Christ died. What happened then? We died. His people died. His people were crucified with
Christ. Nevertheless, we live. Why? Because Christ lives. And
they don't know what happens in the heart of a sinner when
God saves them. What does He do? He gives the
Spirit. It will never die. A new creature
created in Christ. Now this is why he came, okay?
And those that look for him, he'll appear the second time.
Listen to this. Let me just read this to you.
Why did he come? Listen to this. 2 Timothy 1,
verse 8. It says, The gospel is according
to the power of God who hath saved us and called us with a
holy calling, not according to our works, but according to... They kept asking him about works,
didn't they? Didn't they? Works, works, works. No, he says,
not according to work. This is the work of God. You
believe on him. It's not according to our works, but according to
His own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. Listen. And it is now made manifest,
clear, revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who
hath abolished death and hath brought life and immortality
to light through the gospel. That's why He came. to die that
we may never die, to abolish death for his people. And Lazarus
died, the Lord said, he's sleeping. Do you believe that? If you believe Jesus Christ,
you do. You can't lie. All right? And John, one more,
I've got to give this one to you. In John 12, why did he come? In John 12, the Lord stopped. And he said, now is my soul exceedingly
sorrowful, even unto death. He said, what shall I say? Father,
deliver me from this cause? He said, no, for this cause came
I into the world. Why did he come? For this cause,
to put away sin. to bring His people to God, to
give them life, eternal life. I am come that they might have
life. And the very next verse I remind you is when He said,
Father, glorify Thy name. And it thundered. And don't forget
that. All right, who did He come for?
In John 6, look at it again with me. John 6, verse 37. You know these verses. You can
quote them by heart, can't you? All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
no wise cast out. 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. Why did he come?
That all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but
should raise it up again at the last day. Who did he come for?
Those that God gave to him. I was going to turn to John 10.
You know how many times he talked about his sheep, his sheep, his
sheep, his sheep. The Father gave them to me. They're
mine. God gave them to me. And he said
to some fellow, he said, you believe not because you're not
my sheep. Didn't he? That's very plain, isn't it?
Very plain to you, isn't it? Isn't it plain they're sheep
and goats? In the end, he's going to separate the sheep from the
goats. I heard your pastor preach on that, Matthew 25. One of the
best messages I've ever heard on that. I called him and told
him so. That great separation, I think, was the name of it.
In the end, he says he's going to separate the sheep from the
goats. He's going to say to the sheep, bring the sheep on his
right hand and the goats on his left hand. Enter thou into the
place prepared for you. I never knew you. Sheep and goats. Are you a sheep? Are you a sheep? Many characteristics
of sheep, aren't there? What are they? Well, they're
helpless, hopeless. They're a prey. They're not a
predator. They're prey. They need a shepherd. They can't live without a shepherd.
They're dirty. They're prone to wander. They just need a shepherd. They're dumb? Yeah, they are.
They need to be led, to be fed, to be taught, to be restrained. When they wander, they need to
go get them. They're not going to come back
on their own. They're not going to come back on their own. They're not
going to do it. A shepherd and his two sheep dogs, goodness
and mercy, goes find them. The gospel brings them back every
time. Every time. Sheep. That's who he came for.
The lost sheep. Who did he come for? He said,
I have come that those who see not might see. The blind. That's who he came for.
I was talking to a fellow on the railroad one time. I was
talking to him about the gospel. He said, do you see? And he was
one of the worst. He had a reputation of being
one of the worst fellows around. He was a badden, a badden. And I said, do you see? He said,
oh, I see. He didn't see. Was there a time
you did not see? Well, you've got to be blind
to see. He said, if you were blind, you'd
have no seeing. You'd see. The man in John 9
said, I once was blind. Now I see. Well, who did this? Jesus of Nazareth didn't do it
to himself. He came for the blind. He came
for the halt. Was there a time that somebody
asked you to come to hear the gospel? What did you do? Oh, no. I ain't going there. I'll go anywhere but there. Right? Teresa, I see you nodding your
head. Me too. Halt. You run headlong into sin,
just as fast as you can go. Feet swift to shed blood and
mischief, run to mischief. Come on to worship God. Halt.
I'm not going to walk with God. I'm not going to walk with God's
people. I'm not going to walk in the church. I'm not going
to walk by faith. Well, if you're God's people, you are. Aren't
you glad? Aren't you glad for the salvation
of the Lord? He said, you will not come unto
me that you might have life. And he said twice, no man can
come unto me. Well, who will come? And that's
my last point, but I can't wait to get to it. All that he says
come. All he's got to do. All he's
got to do. Your lost children, your lost
spouses, all he's got to do. Come. And so we don't beg them. We
beg Him. You see? We don't bribe them. Our God's not a beggar. We call
on God. We keep calling. Keep calling
like the importunate widow for her daughter. Lord, please. My daughter's dying. Who did He come for? The blind,
the haught, the lame, lepers? You ever been a leper? Are you
still a leper? Huh? Leprosy. Hungry? Thirsty? Oh, my. All right, the last point. I've
got to hurry. Who will come to Him? And look
at this verse 37 again. This one verse made me want to
preach on this whole chapter. I love this verse. Right now,
it's my favorite verse in the Bible. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. I really believe I have come
to Christ. Don't you? I really do. I really do. Like I said, there was a time
I did not want to come to church. And then there's a time I did.
And I'm telling you the truth, I wasn't coming I remember the
first time I came, I was embarrassed to be there. Because I was a
prodigal son. I was ashamed of myself. But
I had to. And then when I found out that
these people aren't going to throw me out. And matter of fact,
they act like that they're no better than I am. And they act
like they're glad to see me. So I just settled on in there,
and this is where I want to be. I'll tell you who will come to
Him. All that the Father gives to Him. All that the Father gave.
So that leads me to believe that I'm one of His elect. I came,
I still come, and I keep coming. And here you are, after all these
years. You keep coming. You're not here
to hear the choir, are you? Are you? You're sure not here
to see the good-looking preacher. You're not here because he's
articulate. You're not here for the entertainment.
You're not here for anything. But what? One thing. You knew
what we were going to do here tonight. You knew what was going
to be said before it came. No surprises. Same message. Same exact message. Those fellows
drove two and a half hours, five hours round trip to hear the
same thing they hear at home. Why did they come tonight? Because
they don't meet tonight. They meet tomorrow night. What
are they going to hear tomorrow night? The same thing. What does that tell you? You're
one of His chosen. The elect, they come. You can't keep them away. You
hear me? You can't keep them away. Like that importunate widow.
It took that old stray cat, Ruth, we named Ruth, you know, she
keeps coming. I gave her full access, come
boldly, and boy does she ever. I open the door, I come in and
study, and she's waiting at the door, and I open the door, she
runs in, jumps up in that leather chair and just lays down there. I gave her permission to come
in. I even told her, come on. And she comes boldly, and she
comes freely, and she rests in that big chair, and I give her,
I've got treats, I keep giving her treats. And I'm not about
to cast her out. She came because I saved her
life. And because I told her she could
come. And I keep telling her to come. And our Lord, I don't
care how sinful you are, I don't care who you are. And I love
this. Oh, how I love this. Him that
cometh to me. See, we've got to start. A lot
of religion quotes this, but don't quote all of them. They
quote the last part of it. Him that cometh. You know what
he said. Him that cometh to me. Who will come? They misquote
Revelation 22 on him that, amen, thirst let him come. It doesn't
say that. It doesn't say that. It says the Spirit and the bride
say, come. You will not come unless He says
come. He's got to get the glory done.
For you come, or you wouldn't come. We're going to give glory
where glory is due. That's why we're here, to give
Him glory. And that's why we'll be there, to give Him glory.
And everybody's going to be shouting to high heaven and glorifying
God for making them to come! It wasn't man's decision or man's
will. It was God's will. Why are you
hollering? You want to holler. You'd like
to be hollering this right now. He must get the glory every time.
No man, and he said it twice, no man can come. He won't come,
he will not come, he cannot come, but if you have come, if you
keep coming, I'm here to tell you The Word of God Almighty,
that you're one of God's chosen. That's why you came. No other
reason. And Him that cometh to thee.
What's that mean? In no wise. No way. In our language, there's no way
I'm going to cast Him out. But, but... No way. But he ain't no good. I know that. That old cat, I
don't need a cat. I mean to say if something happens
to him, are you going to get another one? No. She just, she,
she, she makes it hard for me to study sometimes, get right
in my face. I will know where I cast her at. And God says,
how much more? The heavenly Father. If you being
evil know how to do good things and all that, how much more are
you having fun? Him that cometh to me, I will in no way, no way,
for any reason. But what if I leave and come
back? Him that cometh to me. What if
I leave five times and come back? Him that cometh to me. I will
in no way cast out. Contrary to that, rather than
cast you out, Like the prodigal son, he'll come running and fall
on your neck. See, he's not like us. He's not like us. Our God is
ready to pardon. Someone said, more ready to pardon
than you are to ask for it. In fact, He's got to lead you
to repentance. He's got to make you ask, or
you wouldn't ask. He's ready to part. Scripture
says He waits to be gracious. That's amazing. That's who will come to Him.
What is it to come? It's to become sinful, a leper,
blind, poor, needy, hungry and thirsty. Let's read this one
more time in verses 53. The Lord said, 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. He said, My flesh is meat indeed, my blood is drink indeed.
He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me, and
I in him. As the Father hath sent me, and
I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, even he shall live
by me. What does that mean? Well, why
do you eat and drink? Well, it's proof of life, number
one. A dead man doesn't eat, doesn't drink. A dread man is
not hungry, not thirsty. The world out there that eats
dead things, they don't eat the gospel. They don't live on the
gospel. They don't need the gospel of Christ. They want other things. Do you live on the gospel of
Christ? Words of life? Do you eat? I
see, I see. You nod your head. It's proof
of life. Why do you eat and drink? You
eat and drink out of need, out of desire. If you're alive, you
hunger and thirst. It's proof of life. If you're
alive, you're hungry. If you've been quickened, given
life, you need Christ. You want to hear Christ. You
want to hear the Gospel. You do. Why do you eat and drink? Proof of life, need, desire,
and it tastes good. It's pretty obvious we all like
to eat. Right? Why? It tastes so good. Does this gospel of God... I
know it does. I say the same thing to you. I've been saying it for years
and I look and you just smile like, oh, that's wonderful. Taste and see that the Lord is
gracious. Grace, nothing like it. Nothing like it. Why do you eat and drink? You
do it as proof of life, need, desire. It tastes good. And we
eat and drink together in a feast, in a fellowship. We must eat personally. You must
eat the gospel and feed on God's Word personally. You must. If you have life, you will. You
must call on the Lord personally, alone. You must get alone with
the Lord, walk with the Lord if no one else does. If you have
life, you will. You must feed on His Word alone
in the quiet of your home or wherever. Pray and call on the
Lord in your closet alone. But isn't it better together? Have you ever eaten something
good and you thought, boy, I wish somebody was here? Or seen something,
a beautiful sight? Nobody will share it with you. And so God gathers His people
together at the table. He prepares us a table in the
winter. A gospel table. And we all get
together and eat this same food. And do you ever look at one another? Is this good to Him like it is
to me? Yes, it is. It's all better together in it.
It's a feast. We're doing it now, and you just
wait until we all get together and know it never depart again. Boy, that's going to be something.
When Sheba came and saw Solomon's table, she thought she'd eaten
before. Okay, she actually bought some
money and stuff. You just wait until you see a
greater than Solomon's table. And who all is there? And we're
going to be there. Why? Because He set it up. Because
He laid down His life. What a peace that will be. Okay. Amen.