Good morning. Let's stand and we'll sing hymn
number 208. Have you been to Jesus for the
cleansing power? Are you washed in the blood of
the Lamb? Are you fully trusting in His
gracious power? Are you washed in the Are you washed in the blood? In the soul-cleansing blood of
the Lamb? Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you walking daily by the
Savior's side? Are you washed in the blood of
the Lamb? Do you rest each moment in the
crucifixion? Are you washed in the blood of
the Lamb? Are your garments worth the sun
and white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of
the Lamb? When the bridegroom cometh, will
your robes be white? Are you washed in the blood of
the Lamb? Will your soul be ready for the
mansions bride? And be washed in the blood of
the Lamb? In the soaked, cleansing water
of heaven Are your garments hopeless, or they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood? Be aside the garments that are
stained with sin, and be washed in the blood of the Lamb. There's a fountain flowing for
the soul at least, oh be washed in the blood of the Lamb. in the blood, in the soul cleansing
blood of the Lamb. Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of
the Lamb? Be seated. We'll sing hymn number
266. 266. Faith, faith, each earthly joy,
Jesus, Break every tender tie, Jesus
is mine. Dark is the wilderness, earth
has no resting place. Jesus alone can bless, Jesus
is mine. Take not my soul away, Jesus
is mine. ever saying, Jesus is mine. Perishing things of clay, born
of poor wandering, a a Jesus is born. What abysmal void Jesus has satisfied,
Jesus is mine. Farewell mortality, Jesus is
mine. Welcome, eternity, Jesus is born. Welcome, all loved and blest. Good morning. So good to see
everybody. It truly is. Truly good to see
your smiling faces. And I'm glad the Lord has enabled
you to be here, enabled us all to be here today to meet and
open His Word and worship together. Nothing like it on the face of
the earth. Thankful to be here, thankful for the opportunity.
I'd like us to turn to the book of 1 John this morning for our
scripture reading, chapter 5. 1 John, chapter 5. I'd like to read down through
verse 13. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. And every one that loveth Him
that begat loveth Him also that is begotten of Him. By this we
know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep
his commandments. For this is the love of God,
that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not
grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. And this is the victory that
overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh
the world? but he that believeth that Jesus
is the Son of God. This is he that came by water
and blood, even Jesus Christ, not by water only, but by water
and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth
witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that
bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost,
and these three are one. And there are three that bear
witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood,
and these three agree in one. If we receive the witness of
men, the witness of God is greater, for this is the witness of God
which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the
Son of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth not
God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that
God gave of his Son. And this is the record that God
hath given to us, eternal life. And this life is in his Son.
He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son
of God hath not life. These things have I written unto
you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may
know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the
name of the Son of God. Our kind and gracious and merciful
Heavenly Father, we bow before you this morning, and we first
of all give you thanks for your great goodness and mercy to us,
given us in Christ Jesus our Lord. We thank you for him most
of all, our dear Savior, our dear Redeemer, him who died for
us, who now sits at thy right hand to intercede for us. our
hope of heaven, our hope of eternal life, our all in all, our life. Help us to honor him this morning.
Help us to set him forth. We pray, Lord, you'd send your
spirit. May your spirit be our teacher
this morning as he shows us the things of Christ. Help us to
worship truly, genuinely, wholeheartedly, and be in our midst to bless
us together. We pray that you'd help us and edify us and establish
us in your word this morning. We are in need of thy presence,
in need of thy word to teach our hearts, to lead us, to guide
us, to light our path, to encourage us. We're weary, Lord. Our hearts are weary. Our souls
are weary. Our souls are weary of this world. Our souls are weary of ourselves.
Our souls are weary of our sin. We're weary travelers. And we
come this morning because we need to come. We need to be refreshed. We need to be reminded. We need
to be taught. We need to be led. We need to
hear your voice. Speak to us, we pray. Many also
struggle with ailments of the flesh and the mind, are weak. And we ask, Lord, that you'd
be with them, whoever they may be, whether they're here, some
can't be here. Lord, you know who they are.
We're apt to forget, but you don't forget. And you remember
your sheep, we know. We ask, Lord, that you'd leave
us not to ourselves. Go with us through this service
and be in our midst to bless us. Speak to every heart. Call out your sheep. And we'll give you the praise
for everything. And thank you in Christ's dear name. Amen. Let's stand together and we'll
sing the hymn of the day on the back of the chorus. Mercy is welcome news indeed
to those that guilty stand. Riches that feel what help they
need will rest a helping hand. Who rightly would his arms dispose
must give them to the poor. None but the wounded patient
knows the comforts of his cures. against our God. Exception none can boast, but
he that feels the heaviest load will prize, forgive, Reckoning, can we write blinking? For who the Psalms can know? Some souls are fifty pieces deep, But let our digits be what they
may, however great or small. as we have not to pay. Our Lord forgives us all. at large. While we can call one might our
own, we have no full discharge. Congratulations. Preach to us what the Lord has
put on your heart. Thank you, Houston. We find our text this morning
in John chapter 6. John chapter 6. Very familiar
portion of Scripture. I'd like to begin this message
this morning at the end of the message. So I want to start where
I want to end. We'll come back to this at the
end. Let's read together there our
Lord's question to His disciples. He says in verse 67, And Jesus
said unto the twelve, Will ye also go away Then Simon Peter
answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of
eternal life, and we believe and are sure that thou art that
Christ, the Son of the living God. Will ye also go away? Peter answered, Lord, to whom
shall we go? No doubt, as believers, you have
uttered that same response in your heart when that question
has come to your mind. Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou
hast the words of eternal life. And we believe, Peter said, and
we are sure that Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living
God. That's where I want us to wind
up this morning, saying that in our hearts, that place of
faith, that place of assurance. And we can say, we are sure,
we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son
of the living God. And you know, it thrills my heart
to think that my troubled, sinful, The soul and mind and heart can
be brought to that place of rest, that place of certainty, that
place of peace. And as I gaze upon my Redeemer
and consider Him, and that's the only thing that can do that,
is a view of Him, a view of Christ our Redeemer, and only a divine
revelation enables us to see Him who we cannot see with our
natural eye. Only God can reveal Himself to
us and show us that He has the words of eternal life. And my
prayer is this morning that Christ will reveal Himself to us this
morning. And that's a prayer we constantly
pray. Every time we bow our heads in
prayer every time we meet. That prayer comes to our heart
and our mind. Show us the Son, show us Christ,
reveal Christ to my mind, to my heart, to my soul. You see,
that's our remains, always has been and remains our great need,
our great necessity, that we would see Christ as He is. and
believe Him as He is. Nothing else will do. Nothing
else will do. Not a belief in doctrine or facts
or figures or anything in this world, anything that we can conjure
up in our minds and our hearts to give us any confidence. Our only confidence can come
from seeing Christ as He is. And you know, we read in our Lord's Prayer over
there in John 17, turn there with me for just a moment and
look in verse 8, John 17 verse 8. Our Lord, as He prays to His
Father, He says in verse 8, For I have given unto them the words
which Thou gavest Me. He's talking about those that
the Father had given Him. He said, I've given them the
words that You gave Me, and they've received them, and they've known
surely that I came out from Thee, and they have believed that Thou
didst send Me. They have known surely. Our Lord
confirms what we read in John chapter 6. This is something
that our Lord convinces us of when He reveals Christ to us.
You know, our Lord can never overstate a case. And when the
Lord reveals Himself to us and convinces us of who Christ is,
we're sure who He is. And we never doubt that. We never doubt who Christ is. What is it that we know surely
about Christ our Lord? That the Lord Jesus Christ, who
came to this earth 2,000 years ago, He is who He said He is. He is that Christ. He is the
sovereign Lord. He's the substitute for sinners.
He's the sacrifice for sin. He's the high priest that has
access to the father. He's the promised Messiah. He's
the anointed king. He's the son of the living God.
That's who Jesus Christ is. And we know that surely. No doubt
about it. This is one thing that God teaches
us and makes us sure of who his son is. We're sure of it. You know, Peter denied the Lord
three times. And though in his flesh he was
yet a sinner, when our Lord asked him, Whom saith ye that I am
Peter? What was his answer? Thou art
the Christ, the Son of the Living God. You know, we sing that song,
False and full of sin I am. Oh, that's true. But then we
sing, But thou, you're full of truth and grace. And we keep
coming to Him. He's full of truth and grace.
We're sure about that. We're sure about Him. Peter said, Thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God. And the Lord told him, He said,
Flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee. but my Father
which is in heaven. So do we think that God can reveal
this to a man and that man not be sure of it? If God convinces
you of something, you're convinced. If God teaches you something,
you've learned it and you know it. You see, this is the work
of God, the work of God. We read in Luke 10, 22, that
no man knoweth who the Son is but the Father, and who the Father is but the
Son, and He to whom the Son will reveal Him. It's by revelation,
and we'll learn here in a minute, that the natural eye cannot see
Christ for who He is. So it's with confidence that
we preach Christ. We proclaim who He is. We don't
preach, this is what we believe. No, but rather this is the truth. This is the true God. The only
true God. Jesus Christ, whom God has sent. Paul said, let him be damned
if someone comes to you and preaches another gospel. So then if it's God's revelation,
if it's God that has taught us, if it's God that brings to us
a knowledge of Christ, can we not boldly proclaim Him whom
God has revealed? See Him whom God has revealed. And we can boldly proclaim Him. We can be sure of Him whom we
preach and proclaim and whom we believe and trust. God the
Father testified of him on the Mount of Transfiguration, and
he spoke out of the cloud. He said, this is my beloved son,
and I'm well pleased in him. And you hear him, you hear his
words. I'm well pleased, hear ye him. Our Lord said, my sheep, They
hear my voice, they hear my voice, what I say, what I speak, the
words that I speak, and they follow me. And he said, a stranger
will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know
not the voice of strangers. I'll turn over with me to the
book of Luke chapter 10. I want us to read a few verses
there and make some comments. Beginning in verse 38, we read,
Now it came to pass as they went that he entered into a certain
village, And a certain woman named Martha received him into
her house. And she had a sister called Mary,
which also sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word. But Martha
was cumbered about much serving, and came to him and said, Lord,
dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?
Bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said
unto her, Martha, Martha, Thou art careful and troubled about
many things, but one thing is needful. And Mary hath chosen
that good part, which shall not be taken away from her." What
was it that Mary chose? We read in verse 39, she sat
at Jesus' feet and heard His word. And our Lord said, that
one thing is what's needful. That one thing is to sit at his
feet and hear his word. You're cumbered about with many
things. Martha, settle your heart, settle
your mind on one thing, not many things. Be careful for one thing,
that needful thing. Sit at the feet of Christ and
hear his word. And that's why we come here today,
aren't we? We're here sitting at the feet
of Christ. Lord, speak to me. Speak your
word to me. Make your word real and effectual
in my heart. A true disciple sits at the feet
of his master and believes what his master tells him, even when
he cannot comprehend the meaning. or see the reasons for what his
master says. And happy is that man who lays
aside his own wisdom to be taught of the Lord. Oh my, God bring
us to that place, bring us down, bring us to your feet. Why do we think we have any wisdom
to begin with? You know, we came into this world
having nothing and knowing nothing. And if we know anything, where
did we get that knowledge? The scripture says, what do we
have that we haven't received? We mostly think that means material
things, and that's true. What material things do we have
that we haven't received, that hasn't been given to us? But
it's not speaking only of material things. But would that not include
wisdom and knowledge? What wisdom and knowledge do
you have that you've not received? You know, we're so small. We're so ignorant. We occupy such a small space
physically. in light of the universe and
all that there is. We occupy such a small space
in time, much less eternity. From the day we're born to the
day we die, what is that? It's a vapor. It's vanity. But yet in our pride,
we think we have wisdom and knowledge and don't need Christ to teach
us. You know, we can't, we can't look back, you know, if you look
back a hundred years we didn't exist. You look forward a hundred
years, we'll be gone. Our flesh will be in the grave
if the Lord doesn't come before that. And we, Can we look back before
we were born to know what happened? We rely on what we're told, what
books tell us, what men that lived before us tell us. And
you keep going back and you keep going back. Clean back to Adam. And Adam was brought into existence
and had a beginning. But we can't even beyond that. Our Lord was there. He said,
in the beginning, I was there. When God laid the foundations
of the earth, I was there. And we look forward into the
future. We can't see past this moment,
much less even if we look beyond our life. You know, God fills
eternity. We know not the future. We know
not what the next moment holds. We're so weak and so small and
so confined and so finite and so fleshly. that we must look
to the eternal God who inhabits eternity to come and condescend
and teach us and speak to us the words of eternal life. We
can't enter into eternity and the things of eternity. God must
come and teach us and reveal himself to us. We read in Isaiah 54, 13, all
thy children shall be taught of the Lord and great shall be
the peace of thy children. The Lord must teach us. And our
Lord admonishes us in Isaiah 55, incline your ear and come
unto me, hear and your soul shall live. Hear the words of God. And that's why we endeavor to
invite men to come and hear the gospel. to come and hear the
Word of God, come to a place where the Word of God is open.
The Word of God, the only absolute authority. The Word of God, the
eternal Word of God. That's why we endeavor to invite
men to come and hear, come and hear what God says. Our Lord said in John 6, In verse
63, we're reading in that chapter, but he says a little further
on, he said, the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and
they are life. The word of God is quick, life-giving. It's powerful, sharper than any
two-edged sword. The word of God, he said, the
words that I speak unto you, they are spirit. and their life. And God has to make that so to
a man's heart. Peter in our text answers our
Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou and Thou alone has the words
of eternal life. And how do we know this or why
do we know this? Because we know who Christ is.
We know who you are. Thou art that Christ, the Son
of the living God, and we're sure, and we are sure of that. And Peter and the disciples had
just heard our Lord publicly affirm who He is. So I'd like
to go back before this, earlier in that chapter in John 6. Let's
begin and look at verse 25. These men had just witnessed
the feeding of the 5,000 with the five loaves and the two fishes. They had sought our Lord, and it says
here beginning in verse 25, and when they had found Him on the
other side of the sea, They said unto him, Rabbi, when
camest thou hither? And Jesus answered them and said,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, you seek me not because you saw
the miracles, 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. Then they said 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 you believe
on him whom he has sent. This is the work of God, said
Jesus, that you believe on him whom God has sent. The whole work of God consist
in a right belief of God's dear Son. And small as in some men's eyes
these things may appear, yet it's the greatest work on earth. And never wrought in any man's
heart but by a miracle of grace, that he can be made to see who
Christ is. It is indeed what Christ calls
it, God's work. and not man's. It is wrought
by the Spirit of God in the heart. And let's read on in verse 30.
They said therefore unto him, what signs 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, 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. But
I said unto you that ye also have seen me, and believe not. For the bread of God is he, it's
a person, it's he himself. My father giveth you the true
bread, he said, from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
And again in verse 33, for the bread of God is he which cometh
down from heaven and giveth life unto the world. And if we look
ahead just a little bit down there in verse 38, he says, for
I came down from heaven. I'm the one that came down from
heaven. He it is who speaks with you is the one that came down
from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that
sent me. I am the bread of life, he that
cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall
never thirst. We read there in verse 36, I
invite your attention there for a moment. He says, but I said
unto you, you also have seen me and believe not. You know, at first glance, this
is astounding. As these men, they looked into
the face of the Son of God and did not believe Him. Isn't that
striking to you? And these men, they'd just seen
a great miracle. They not only saw it, but they
experienced the result of it. He said, you did eat of the loaves
and the fishes that I provided. They said in verse 14, this is
of a truth, that prophet that should come into the world. No
ordinary man could do such miracles as this. This is of a truth,
that prophet that should come into the world. We suspect he
may be somebody special, what they said. And in verse 15, it
says, they would come and take him by force and make him a king.
We wanted him to rule over us and feed us and fill our bellies. But our Lord said this in Matthew
12. He said, an evil and adulterous
generation seeketh after a sign. And there shall no sign be given
to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he said in Luke 11
verse 30, he said, for as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites,
so shall also the Son of Man be to this generation. Our Lord has just told them,
this is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath
sent. But they saw Him, they heard
His words, yet they believed not. They saw His miracles. You see, true faith believes
God. Believes God. And brothers and sisters, you
young ones, you children, hear this. God is to be believed. God is to be believed. He's the creator. You're the
creature. And Scott taught us this years
ago and I never forgot it. It's never presumption to believe
God. It's never presumption to believe
God. You're not venturing. It's presumption
to do otherwise. You say, well, I don't know if
I'll believe God or not, or I don't think there's enough evidence.
I haven't been convinced of it. You do so at your own peril. Abraham believed God, and it
was counted unto him for righteousness. It's never presumption to believe
God. And you know, Folks like we're
reading about here, they say, I'll not believe because I cannot
see. I don't believe because I've
not been convinced that these things are so. And seek a sign. I need to be
convinced. But true faith seeks no sign.
I want you to turn over to John chapter 11. And we read the account of Lazarus
and Christ raising him from the dead. If we look up there in verse
21, Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if thou had been here, my brother
had not died. But I know that even now whatsoever
thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. Jesus said unto
her, thy brother shall rise again. Martha said unto him, I know
that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
Jesus said unto her, I'm the resurrection and the life. He
that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. And he asked Martha, he said,
believest thou this? And look over in verse 40. Jesus said unto her, said I not
unto thee that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the
glory of God? And notice the order there. If
thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see. Now we would, in our pride and
self-worth, would, by nature, insist, well, you raised Lazarus
from the dead, then I'll believe you. And that's not how it works. God says you believe, and then
you'll see. But we desire, men in their natural
state, desire to come to Christ with the faith, with their faith,
that they worked out by making their own judgments. But no,
we come to Christ for faith. We come to Christ believing. We see here the evidence of spiritual
deadness in us. Our Lord says over in verse 63
in John chapter 6, He says, the words that I speak unto you,
they are spirit and they are life. Yet as I said before, looking
face to face with the Son of God and hearing Him speak the
words of life, it had no effect on them. And in verse 42, they
said this, they said, is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph,
whose father and mother we know? Joseph was not his father. God
alone was his father. Blind were they to the son of
God. This is the son of God, not the
son of Joseph. Virgin born. They murmured at
him, they knew what their eyes saw, they believed what they
saw with their eyes, and they murmured at him because he said,
I'm the bread which came down from heaven. He said further,
no man can come to me, in verse 44, except the Father which has
sent me draw him. Every man therefore that hath
heard and hath learned of the Father, he comes to me. He said in verse 36, you also
have seen me and believe not. But notice what he says immediately
in verse 37. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. And what is the response we read
in verse 66? These men ended up From that time, after he spoke
with them, many of his disciples went back and walked no more
with him. He asked the twelve, will you
also go away? You know, this generation of false
preachers in false religion would have us believe that the Lord
is begging men to let Him save them. But here, He proclaims in verse 37, that
all the Father giveth me shall come to me. And as we read in
verse 67, He said, will you also go away? He invites His disciples
to leave. Invites them to leave. He's not
begging them to stay. He invites them to leave if they
can. Because you know if we can, we
will. Won't we? If we can, we will. If we can leave Christ, we will
leave Christ. You see, Christ does not need
us. We need Him. And Christ is not the beggar.
We are. And that's the truth. And He's
shown us that. And He's taught us that. And
we must have Him. And as I've heard a preacher
say, we cannot not believe. We cannot not believe. Just as
we're sure that Thou art that Christ, the Son of the Living
God, we cannot not believe that. We cannot not believe that. Turn
to John 10. Let's read this together for
a moment. In verse 26. Our Lord says to these He's speaking
to, but you believe not because you're not of My sheep. As I
said unto you, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and
they follow Me. And I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of My hand." That's what our Lord said. My sheep hear
My voice. Just as He told these men in
John 6, All the Father giveth Me, they'll come to Me. You see
Me and believe not. immediately. He wasn't discouraged. He didn't beg him to believe
him. He said, All the Father giveth me shall come to me. And my sheep hear my voice and
they follow me. And he says, I give unto them
eternal life. You suppose if God gives you
something that you will not have it? There's something else that
You know, we can be sure of if God gives me eternal life, I
can never die. I shall never perish. And God
must be the giver of life, of eternal life. And if He gives
you eternal life, shall you remain dead? Shall you ever lose your
life? It's not eternal if you can lose
it. You know, Adam and Eve would
have lived forever, but it was dependent upon their obedience.
And I don't know what kind of life they had, but it was an
eternal life because they lost it. We have eternal life given
to us by God. And we can rest, he said, and
they shall never perish. We don't rest in our faith. We rest in him who has promised
and who has said they shall never perish. I've given them eternal
life and they shall never perish. See, Christ's sheep are in His
hands, and God the Father has put them there, both as an instance
of His love to Christ, and this was done from all eternity, even
when they were chosen in Him, so that we are in the hands of
Christ before we were in the loins of Adam. Isn't that something? Isn't that something? So God
hath put us in Christ's hands and we cannot get out. And he
said, no man shall be able to pluck them out of my hand. And
we don't want to. We don't want to be taken out.
We don't want to. And we cannot. I take that to
mean we cannot take ourselves out of the hands of Christ. And
we would if we could. If God would remove his restraining
hand from us. But we cannot. because we're
in His hands and we're secure in Him. Back in John 6 our Lord
continues in verse 51. He said, I'm 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. The Jews therefore strove among
themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?
And 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. 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. For he that eateth of this bread
shall live forever. Now we know the meaning of these
words are spiritual. We don't literally eat the flesh
and drink the blood of Christ, but the believer believes on
Christ and has a hunger and thirst for Him. As we hunger and thirst
for food in our fleshly bodies, our spirit hungers and thirsts
for Him, and we partake of Him by faith. As meat looked upon
does not nourish the soul, Christ looked upon does nothing for
our sin, but Christ being partaken of by us, from which our souls
derives its life and its nourishment. For my flesh is meat indeed and
my blood is drink indeed, and except you eat the flesh of the
Son of God and drink his blood, you have no life in you. So many of his disciples did
what men do. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him,
neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
These men are spiritually dead, have no spiritual life. In their
natural response, how can he give us his flesh to eat and
his blood to drink? How can that be? And they said, this is a hard
saying, who can hear it? And many of them went back. Verse
61. When Jesus knew in himself that
his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this
offend you? What and if ye shall see the
Son of Man ascend up where he was before? It is the Spirit
that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak
unto you, they are spirit and they are life. But there are
some of you that believe not, for Jesus knew from the beginning
who they were that believed not and who should betray him. And
he said, therefore said I unto you that no man can come unto
me except it were given unto him of my father. From that time,
many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him.
Oh my, these are hard sayings for the flesh, for natural man. The flesh profiteth nothing.
No man can come to me except it were given unto him of my
Father. You're dependent upon what my Father gives. And from
that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more
with him. I think it was Spurgeon that
said this. He said, you know, there are many points and particulars
in which the gospel is offensive to human nature and revolting
to the pride of the creature. It's not intended to please men.
Our Lord lays the axe to the root of the tree and casts down
human pride. This humbling doctrine they could
not receive. And they would only believe as
far as they could understand. As far as their corrupt minds
would allow them to understand. And so they went back. And walked
no more with him. Oh my. You remember what Job
said when the Lord tried him? I'm sure he was perplexed and
troubled. But Job said, though he slay
me, I'm going to trust him. Though he slay me, I'm going
to trust him. I must. Trust Him. There's nowhere
else I can go. Which is what we read in the
beginning. So let's go back to where we started. Verse 67. Then Jesus said unto the twelve,
Will ye also go away? And then Simon Peter answered
him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life, And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ,
the Son of the living God. And I know this, I know this
and you do too, where we left to ourselves, I can't tell you
any reason why we should not go as these have in our text. Nor could I tell you why the
best man here should not be the worst before tomorrow morning,
if the grace of God left him." I know that to be true. And our Lord is not asking this
question for himself, for he knew Judas, one of the twelve,
would betray him. But he asked it for us. Will
you also go away May God keep us low. May God keep us low. Spurgeon
said this too, he said, if you're a half inch above the ground,
you're a half inch too high. And Lord keep us low. Keep us
needing Christ. Keep us crying out for Christ.
As these scriptures this morning do, if we're blessed with ears
to hear, they bring us very low. and leaves us without life apart
from Christ. And may He continue to create
in us a hunger and thirst for Him and make Him our daily sustenance. Oh, for grace to say with Peter,
Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ,
the Son of the living God. And I read this this morning
in 1 John. I'd like to read it with you
once again in closing. 1 John chapter 5. In verse 11. And this is the record that God
hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son
of God hath not life. If by reason of famine or bread
the body languisheth and dieth, it is but a death, a little premature,
in which would otherwise have died in due time. But the soul
without Christ, the bread of life, that true bread from heaven,
must famish forever, and though existing, lives only to eternal
misery. God save us, God keep us, keep
us low, Keep us looking to Christ. Keep us coming. Keep us coming
and sitting at His feet. And may He speak to our hearts.
And may God bless His Word this morning. I trust that Christ
was honored. And Donnie sent me a text this
morning. He said, I pray that the Lord Help you to honor Christ
and edify the saints. And I said that was my prayer
too, Brother Donnie. And that word edify, it means
establish. I hope we've established our
hearts in Christ this morning to a measure. May God grant it. Brother Houston, come and lead
us in a closing hymn. Psalm 100 says, make a joyful
noise unto the Lord all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness.
Come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord,
He is God. It is He that hath made us, and
not we ourselves. We are His people, and the sheep
of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
and into His courts with praise. Be thankful unto Him, and bless
His name. For the Lord is good, His mercy
is everlasting, and His truth endureth to all generations.
Let's go to our Lord in a prayer of thanksgiving. Our most heavenly precious Father,
Lord God Almighty, we thank you, Lord, that we can come into your
presence through your son, Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we thank
you that you have caused us to be able to make a joyful noise
unto thee, to sing praises unto thy name, for teaching us thy
way, Lord. We thank you for the message
that we've heard here today. Lord, as we've heard, keep us
down in the dirt where we belong, as we are worried. Lord, Exalt
Yourself. Cause us to honor and praise
Thee. Lord, let us never look to ourselves. Keep us from ourselves. Keep
us clinging unto Thee. Keep us coming to hear the Gospel
be proclaimed. Lord, only ever let it be, let
it all, let it be the only thing ever taught here. We thank You
for all that You give us. your multitude of mercies and
grace. Lord, please be with those who are troubled, weak and weary,
especially pray for Brother Bruce and Joe, that you'd strengthen
them. Lord, you know their needs. Keep
us as we go our way. Lord, lead us not to ourselves.
Let us not leave the gospel. for by thy grace cause us to
worship and uphold thy name. We pray that thy will be done
perfectly on earth as it is in heaven. In Jesus name we ask
and pray, amen. Let's sing hymn number 442 as
we stand together. 442. Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus
our blessed Redeemer. Sing, all earth, His wonderful
love proclaim. Hail Him, hail Him, highest archangels
in glory. Strength and honor give to His
holy name. Jesus will guard his children
in his arms. He carries them all day long. Praise him, praise him, tell
of his excellent greatness. Praise him, praise him, ever
in joyful song. Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus
our blessed Redeemer. For our sins He suffered and
bled and died. Our hope of eternal salvation
Hail Him, hail Him, Jesus the crucified Sound His praises,
Jesus, who bore our sorrows Love unbounded, wonderful, deep, and
strong Praise Him! Praise Him! Tell of His excellent
greatness. Praise Him! Praise Him! Ever in joyful song. Praise Him! Praise Him! Heavenly portals, loud with hosannas
ring Jesus, Savior, reigneth forever and ever Crown Him, crown
Him, prophet and priest and King Christ is coming, over the world
victorious, power and glory unto the Lord belong. Praise Him, praise Him, tell
of His action. Praised him, praised him, ever
in joyful song. Just a reminder, there will be
no service this evening or Wednesday evening. We'll meet again next
Sunday morning, by God's grace. You're dismissed. Oh, I didn't know that. Thank you. It took you right by the nail,
son.