Sovereign Grace Chapel, located
at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to
listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ our Lord. If you have your Bibles today,
I would like you to take your Bible, please, and turn with
me to John 6. John 6. I'd like you to follow
along with me in the scripture to see what God's word says as
I go through this. John 6, beginning in verse 1. After these things, Jesus went
over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a
great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles
which he did on them that were diseased. And Jesus went up into
a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. And the Passover,
a feast of the Jews, was nigh. When Jesus then lifted up his
eyes and saw a great company coming to him, he saith unto
Philip, Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat? And this
he said to prove him for he himself knew what he would do. Philip
answered him, 200 penny worth of bread is not sufficient for
them that every one of them may take a little. One of his disciples,
Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, there is a lad
here which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes, but what
are they among so many? And Jesus said, make the men
sit down Now there was much grass in the place, so the men sat
down, in number about 5,000. And Jesus took the loaves, and
when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples,
and the disciples to them that were sat down. And likewise of
the fishes, as much as they would. When they were filled, he said
unto his disciples, gather up the fragments that remain, that
nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered them
together and filled 12 baskets with the fragments of the five
barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that
had eaten. When those men, when they had
seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, this is of a truth, that
prophet, that should come into the world. When Jesus therefore
perceived that they would come and take him by force to make
him a king, He departed again into a mountain himself alone. I know a lot of people today
like to see big numbers. They like to be a part of a religious
institution where there are a lot of people and a lot of things
to do. Some will even tell you this.
And if they don't tell you it outright, you can tell by how
they say it that that's what they look for in a place. Well,
here we have big numbers. about 5,000 men, not counting
women and children. You can read the other accounts
of this in the other Gospels and it will testify to this.
We also know from the other accounts that Christ and his disciples
were basically tired themselves because it says they did not
even have time to eat. But Christ had compassion on
them, these 5,000 plus that followed them to this place so he wanted
to feed them. Christ fed these 5,000 from the
five barley loaves and two small fishes that this lad had that
was there with them. There was enough for everyone
to have as much as they wanted, and then there was some left
over. 12 baskets worth, it says. We can keep reading this passage,
and these people went to great lengths to follow Christ. We
are talking about 5,000 plus people, and they followed Christ. first to this desert place, and
then we will see they followed him to Capernaum. They are following
Christ everywhere he went, and it says here he knew they were
wanting to make him king. So we need to do what we can
to get them in, right? Sign them up on the church roll,
have them recite the Romans Road, walk the aisle, pray the sinner's
prayer, anything to get them in and keep them committed, right?
What does our Lord do? First, he sent the disciples
away, and then also he sent the 5,000 away, and then he went
away by himself to pray. Listen, Christ had compassion
on these people, and not only did he end up feeding them, but
he healed many that needed healing as well. Why did our Lord not
stay with these people? Why did the Lord of Glory not
try to convince them of who He was and what they should do?
If you will stay with me, we will see from the scripture why
He did not do this. If God Almighty has given you
eyes to see or ears to hear, it will be evident why He did
not. What happens next is He meets
the disciples on their way, on the ship and by walking on water. They were going over to the other
side to Capernaum. It says they, those 5,000 plus
people, followed him. There were a lot of people. I'm
sure they had to spend some kind of money to travel by ship to
continue to follow Christ. They were going to great lengths
to follow Christ. Then Christ began to tell them
some things once everyone was finally over on the other side
in Capernaum. What I want to go through this
morning is what Christ said to the masses. What words did the
Lord tell them and what was their response? What did Christ do
after the responses? And how do God's people respond
to Christ's words? So how did Jesus Christ talk
to the numbers when he had thousands of ears listening to him at one
time? What loving, gracious words did
he speak to them? And they were loving, gracious
words. The words our Lord spoke then
are the same words we speak today, and these are loving, gracious
words. So first, he says that those
which minister to your physical needs, those things that minister
to your physical needs are not what gives life. That true bread
from heaven is what gives life, and that true bread is Christ
himself, verses 26 through 28. Jesus answered them and said,
verily, verily, I say unto you, ye seek me not because ye saw
the miracles, but because ye 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 said they unto him, what
shall we do that we might work the works of God. All they hear
is labor. So what do they think? We have
to work. We have to labor. Tell us what
we have to do. He is telling them that it is
he himself that gives life and sustains life. And all they hear
is, I have to work. Christ then tells them that believing
is the work of God, verses 29 through 31. Jesus answered and
said unto them. This is the work of God that
ye believe on him whom he has sent Then said Therefore they
said therefore unto him what sign show us thou then that we
may see and believe What does thou work? Our fathers did eat
manna in the desert as it is written. He gave them bread from
heaven to eat Believe you must, and if you do believe God, it
will be Him working that in you. That is what Christ says here
to the masses, and also what it says in Ephesians 2, 8 and
9. You can read that sometime. What is their response to this?
Show us a sign. Really? He just healed those
that had some kind of ailment, some kind of problem. He fed
them all from five loaves and two fishes, and they want to
see a sign? Then they start preaching to
the Lord of glory. The very word personified is
speaking with them, and they are trying to explain the scriptures
to him, the very one that gave them the manna from heaven. Again,
he tells them that he is the true bread come down from heaven,
which gives life, in verses 32 through 34. 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. So what do they answer him? Lord,
give us this bread. I say again, really? This is
me. This is all men by nature. I
could not see God's word when it was right in front of me.
But once God opened my eyes, I seen things all over the place
in his word. This is no special or specific
issue to these people. This is an issue of the heart,
which all of us have by nature. The heart is desperately wicked.
Who can know it? You can read Jeremiah 17 9 to
see this. The heart is so wicked we do
not even know how wicked we are. We do not know that at all unless
something changes the fact that we are dead in trespasses and
in sins. What does Christ tell them next?
He tells them that he is the bread of life and although they
have seen him, they still do not believe. Verse 36. But I
said unto you that ye also have seen me, and believe not. Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory,
is telling them to their face that they, even though they have
the true bread from heaven right in front of them, they still
will not believe. We set forth this Christ every
time we preach. What do the masses of people
do? They still will not believe. But even then, when they had
Him right in front of their face and could even physically touch
Him, they were being told the truth of God from God Himself. They did not even know who He
really was. He tells them that the Father
gives those to Him and that all that He gives, He will not cast
out in verses 37 through 40. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will unknowwise
cast out. For 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. 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." So anyone that Christ was given by the Father,
this is election. God chose who would be in Christ.
Scripture is clear and plain on this. But anyone the Father
gave would not be cast out. So the other side of that coin
is that anyone that is not being given will be cast out. All those for whom God the Father
gave to Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world would
not be lost, but Jesus Christ himself would raise them up at
the last day. All those chosen will be given
life from and by Jesus Christ himself. What is their response
to this? Murmuring and complaining. Jesus
Christ is what gives life? Jesus Christ was just a man.
We know Joseph and Mary. They are nothings and nobodies.
How can this man say he is life itself? Then he, Jesus Christ
himself, says this. Stop complaining. No man can
come to me except, verses 43 through 44. Jesus therefore answered and
said unto them, murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to
me except the Father which has sent me draw him, and I will
raise him up at the last day. What is the exception to coming
to God, to coming to Jesus Christ? I don't care if you have a free
will, which you do not, but even if you do, Jesus Christ says
you cannot come to him. The only way you can is if God
draws you. This here does not say that you
will not come. It says you cannot come unless
God draws you. That except God the Father draws
a man, he cannot come. This is Jesus Christ himself
saying this. There was an analogy given about
this, this word draw that I want to give you. It was like you
have a well of water. Those old wells, you had a well
of water, a hole in the ground where the water is down in there
and you had to get the water out somehow. They may have had
some rocks piled up around it and some kind of apparatus to
let a bucket down or maybe a bucket on a string and they let the
bucket down that way. How did they get the water up
out of there? Did they just yell down in the
hole, come on up out of there water? No, the person who had
the bucket or was operating the bucket would put the bucket down
into the water and then they would draw the bucket up or pull
the bucket up. They would take the bucket and
let it down and pull that water up. The water did nothing to
cause itself to come up out of that well. It was all in the
power of the drawer. That is what this word draw means,
and the drawer is God. Verses 43 through 44 again. Jesus therefore answered and
said unto them, murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to
me except the Father which hath sent me draw him. This word draw
means to force or to drag. Let me ask you, do you want to
be dragged by God to Jesus Christ? I know I do. All those that will
come to Christ will be those who are dragged by God unto Jesus
Christ. If he does this for you, you
will be glad it's so. This is true. If he does not
drag or draw you, then you will sit at the bottom of the well
forever. Because Christ says here that God does the drawing
and does not ask or need help from the one being drawn. He
will do this in love, in truth, in spirit. He will woo you in
by his dragging. You will be glad it's so because
once he does this, you will begin to realize where you would have
been left had it not been for him. God Almighty drawing you
to Jesus Christ. What else does Jesus Christ say?
He says in the Old Testament, it tells us they will all be
taught of God. In verses 45 through 52, you
can read that. He is saying all of those for who the Father gave
to Christ in choosing them will be drawn of God himself. And
because of this drawing, this teaching, they will follow Christ.
What do they do now? Continue to complain. How can
this man give us his flesh? Christ is trying to get them
in as quick as he can, right? Tell them nice words and kind
words so he makes sure he does not run them off, right? No,
he just continues to speak to them truth. Truth. Truth. No matter what the response is,
we always should be telling men and women the truth. It goes
on to say in verses 53 through 66 that those who believe on
Jesus Christ, the Jesus Christ we are talking about right here,
that God has to drag to himself. If you believe this God, then
you have everlasting life. Jesus Christ says that if you
do not eat of his flesh or drink his blood, you're dead. Dead
men do not eat and drink. Only those living will eat and
drink of him. If you do eat and drink of Christ,
you have been given life by God and are vitally joined with Jesus
Christ himself. Isn't that what Jesus Christ
says? In verse 56, he says, he that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood dwelleth in me and I in him. What was their response
to what he told them? Verse 60. Many therefore of his
disciples, when they heard this, said, this is a hard saying,
who can hear it? This is a hard saying, a hard,
tough, or harsh saying. That is the reaction of dead
in sin, totally corrupt, fallen man, when Jesus Christ tells
them the truth, always. Jesus Christ told them the truth.
This is the same truth that we try to set forth here at Sovereign
Grace Chapel. Most of the time we get the same
reaction to what we say as Jesus Christ did himself. Those who
hated him then are the same type of people who hate him now. Those
who have not been drawn by God. There may be some that are yet
to be drawn. There are certainly some that
will never be drawn. That's all up to him. Those who
hate him will hate those who proclaim the very same truth.
What do we do about that? Nothing. We just keep telling
the truth and by his grace, maybe, just maybe, he might be pleased
to draw someone to himself. Maybe he might be pleased to
draw someone who is out there listening to me right now. These
people went to great lengths to be where Jesus Christ was.
They were glad to have their flesh satisfied, just as many
today are satisfied to do things for Jesus. As long as they feel
they are in control, it is just fine with them. They will go
to great lengths and do great works, but when the truth is
spoken, they will leave. What did Christ do after the
responses? Did Christ go running after them? Did he tell them,
oh, wait a minute, I'm sorry, I may have been a little bit
too pointed or harsh with what I said. I did not mean to offend
your free will. Won't you please bow down to
me, just believe whatever way you want as long as you are sincere.
Can we just all get along? 5,000 plus people somewhere close
to that number followed him. They went to great lengths to
follow him. You see, Jesus Christ is God
manifest in the flesh. He does not beg anyone. He does
not cow down to anyone. He does not lie to anyone. Him
telling these people the truth, just as I am telling you exactly
his words today, is what makes people mad. At worst, at best
it means nothing to them and makes them neither mad, happy,
or sad. They are not upset for Him healing
their sick or feeding them food. It is when He, the Lord of glory
Himself, begins to speak to them, telling them the truth, that
God is in absolute control, that He decides or chooses who and
how everything will take place. They hate Him for it and in turn
will hate anyone who is sent by God telling this very truth. People hate it when you tell
man that free will is a myth. made up by a rebellious man who
wants to make their own choice. They do not even understand the
stupidity of what they are saying. They do not understand that God
himself tells us this cannot be done by your will or your
choosing. Most folks' attitude about it
is, don't bother me with God's truth. They will say things like,
we all just have to love one another and get along, and you
are so hateful. They do not even know how ignorant
they are. I know why they do this, the
same reason I did when I first heard it. I was dead in trespasses
and in sins, and until he, as Christ says here, willed to draw
me to himself, this based on his own choosing from before
the foundation of the world, and nothing to do with what I
did. But unless he does this, you will reject and hate this
truth just as I did until he gave me life. But what does Christ
do here? Basically, Christ had no reaction
to them. All He does is continue to tell
them the truth over and over again, sometimes not even responding
to their questions or statements specifically. He tells them that
it is the Spirit that gives life to a dead alien sinner. The flesh,
including the will of the flesh, profiteth nothing. God draws
a poor, vile, wretched sinner unto himself, and it has nothing
to do with sinful, fallen man at all. God will get all the
glory because it is his. From that saying, many went back
and walked no more with him. But after that, he even turns
to the 12 and asks them, will ye also go away? So how do God's
people respond to Christ's words? When I say God's people here,
I am talking about those who have been drawn or who are being
drawn. Those for whom God the Father
chose to salvation. Those for whom Christ died to
secure that salvation. Those for whom He draws and woos
them in with love. Those for whom Jesus Christ will
be revealed in that drawing. Those for whom Jesus Christ makes
intercession for. those for whom Christ will return
one day so that they may be where he is. Those people will always
answer the question the same way once they are drawn by God. To whom shall we go? There is
no other place where eternal life can be found but in the
face of Jesus Christ the Lord. I was once blind, now I see. Was lame, but now I walk. Was bloody, now I'm clean. Was
deaf, but now I hear. Was dumb and could not speak,
but now my mouth is open to cry out for mercy to God. My hands
were withered, but now I can stretch forth my hand to reach
for Christ. Was dead, but now I live evermore. Who else am I going to go to?
What else can do that? Who else can do that? The answer
is quite clear. There's no one we can go to but
Jesus Christ, and praise be to his name, what he does is forever. Now that he has done these for
me and he alone, I have no more needs really, because he tells
me everything I need he will provide. He will guide me through
this world, having given me life, and I will live by him. I will
live from the gospel. Hearing words of Christ will
comfort me and keep me until he returns, or he takes me to
be with him. Is there another that you can
go to? He has the words of eternal life, and wherever He is proclaimed,
I want to be right there, because there is not another likened
to Him, Jesus Christ our Lord. You will go to hell choosing
Jesus Christ if all that happens is you choose Jesus Christ, if
you make a decision for Jesus. If God has not chosen you and
then drawing you to Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God by
His Spirit, you will perish in your will. Jesus Christ reiterates
what He previously said, unless it is given to you from God the
Father to follow Jesus Christ, the Lord, you cannot come to
Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ said these words.
These are not my words or my paraphrasing. They are the exact
words given us here in God's Word. These words are God breathed,
right here in black and white, or maybe even red and white.
God's Word is what we have that God uses to teach His people
by His Spirit. In Luke 16, we have the account
of the rich man and Lazarus. Basically, it says the rich man
lifted up his eyes in hell and asked for a drop of water. He
asked Abraham to send back Lazarus from the dead to warn his brothers.
But here's what we read in chapter 16 and verse 29 of Luke. Abraham
saith unto him, they have Moses and the prophets, let them hear
then. Abraham basically told him that
they have God's word and those who proclaim it. Let them hear
then. God says in His words by the
Apostle Peter that His word is a more sure word of prophecy,
even more so than when they heard God speaking from heaven from
the mount. If you proclaim Jesus Christ
as he is revealed in Scripture, you will be hated. Scripture
testifies to this. In John 15, in verse 20, it says,
remember the word that I said unto you, the servant is not
greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they
will also persecute you. If they have kept my saying,
they will keep yours also. All I can say to those out there
that may be hearing my voice is this. keep fighting against
this one true God, then what will happen is you will go away. No man, by his own will, will
ever come to Jesus Christ. And in fact, that man or woman
will eventually leave Jesus Christ. Now I ask you, will you also
go away?