Turn back with me to John's Gospel,
chapter 6. In the reading, we considered
somewhat the context of verse 37, which is our text. Verse
37, here the captain of our salvation declared, all that the Father
giveth me Unlike those, the majority that had followed him, all that
the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out." No matter what. No matter what. He'll never cast out his people. Notice first this word, all. A double L. All given to Christ
by the Father. All those, not one more, not
one less, all those will come to Christ. They all shall come
to Him in time. What I mean by that, yes, they've
been chosen before they were born, before the foundation of
the world. They were redeemed by Christ at Calvary at the moment
He died and gave His life for us. But in time, they'll come
to experience God's grace in their hearts. He will call them
by his grace. He said my sheep all my sheep
will hear my voice when they hear my voice They'll follow
me And I give them eternal life and they shall never perish the
title of my message the text of course is verse 37 of John
6 but the title of my message is this 100% All all that the
father giveth me shall come to me 100% now the success of the
success of what is spoken of here, and what a tremendous claim
it is. I mean, just this one verse. It speaks of election. It speaks
of calling. It speaks of the success of the
Lord Jesus Christ. But the success of what is spoken
of here, these great and glorious things, absolutely depends on
the speaker. Who makes this claim? I mean,
who makes such a bold claim as this? It's the very same one. Child of God, be encouraged to
be reminded of this. The one who made this claim,
who spoke these words, is the very one, the same one, who in
the beginning created the heaven and the earth. This is the same
one that we just read of, that said, let there be light, and
light was. I think, if I'm not mistaken,
I read somewhere that in the original He said, light be and
light is. It's the very same one that spoke
these words in verse 37 of John's gospel, chapter six. In the gospel
of John, the very first chapter of this book, we read in verse
one, in the beginning was the word. This alleviates any doubt
as to who created the heavens and the earth. In the beginning
was the word, capital W. And the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. No wonder Paul said, great is
the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh.
Can you wrap your mind around that? I can. Verse 2, the same
was in the beginning with God. I'm in John's Gospel, chapter
1. Please follow along. The same was in the beginning
with God. All things were made by Him. Him. And without Him was not anything
made that was made. Well, who is He? Who is it? Well, John tells us in this same
chapter down at verse 14 of John 1, and the Word, that eternal
Word, that very expression of God Almighty. And the Word was
made flesh and dwelt among us. And John says, We beheld His
glory, the glory as the only begotten of the Father, full
of grace and truth. So the one who speaks these words
is the Lord Jesus Christ. Who else? The Son of God. Chapter 1 of Hebrews 1, the same
glorious theme. God, who at sundry times and
in divers manners spake in times passed unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son. He won't speak by anybody else.
We'll hear the sun or we'll perish. We'll bow to the sun or we'll
be cast out. Had in these last days spoken
unto us by his son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things,
there's that word again, all, by whom also he made the worlds,
who being the brightness of his glory, that is God's glory, Christ
being the brightness of God's glory, and the expressed image
of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his
power." So Christ himself again is the speaker in our text. Who
other, I repeat myself, who other than Jesus Christ would God give
his chosen people to? Who else would he trust them
to? God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world.
The scriptures are plain about that, whether folks like it or
not, or bow to it or not, or accept it or not. It doesn't
change the fact. God chose his people in Christ
before the foundation of the world. He gave Christ a bride. That bride fell. That bride had
to be reclaimed, had to be redeemed. Who's going to do that? Gabriel
can't do it. It was his honor to take the
message of the Savior to Mary and to Joseph, but that's all
he could do. Other angels would sing to the
shepherds, glory to God on high, this night there is born unto
you a Savior, Christ the Lord. No, no angel could accomplish
this great work. John 17 verse 1, again listen,
listen to the words of our Savior. This is Shortly before he went
to the cross, John 17 and 1, these words spake Jesus, Joshua,
the salvation of the Lord, and lifted up his eyes to heaven
and said, Father, the hour has come. Oh my, what a subject that
is. The hour has come. When the fullness
of the time was come, God sent forth his Son. The hour has come. Glorify thy son, that thy son
also may glorify thee. As thou hast given him power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many,
as many, not everybody, but to as many as thou hast given him.
Verse 6 of the same chapter. I have manifested thy name unto
the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they
were, and thou gavest them me. and they have kept thy word.
I pray for them, verse 9, I pray for them, I pray not for the
world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine. Who other, again, who other than
Christ, the good shepherd, would God entrust the sheep to? Who's
worthy, was the question in heaven, who's worthy to take the book
out of the hand of God Almighty, the book of God's eternal purpose
and decrees, the book of the covenant of His everlasting grace,
who's worthy to take that book and to fulfill it, to bring those
decrees to pass? Who's worthy to do that? You
remember, there was no man found worthy, and John wept. He just started crying. We would
all cry. We would cry. The gates of hell
slammed behind us if not for this. John weep not, Larry weep
not, Billy weep not. Behold the lion of the tribe
of Judah. What's he done? He's going to
try. He has prevailed. He has prevailed to open the
book and to loose the seals thereof. Again, listen to the voice of
the great shepherd. No wonder they said never a man
spake like this man, John 10 and 14. I am the good shepherd.
and know my sheep, and am known of mine." Doesn't mean he has
a casual acquaintance of them. No, no, no. He knows his sheep. He loves his sheep. Verse 24
of John 10, Then came the Jews round about, and said unto him,
How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ,
tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I have told
you, And ye believe not. The works that I do in my Father's
name, like the feeding of the thousands, they bear witness
of me. But you believe not because you
won't exercise your will. No, no, no. You believe not because
ye are 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." Very much the same thing
in our text. Look at it again for a moment.
Let's include verse 26. But I said unto you that ye also
have seen me, and believe not. Believe not. Does that make God's
purpose void? Does that create a roadblock
in the purpose of God that he can't find a way to overcome?
Of course not. Of course not. Ye believe not,
but look what he says in verse 37. All, I like that word, all
that the Father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh
unto me I will in no wise cast out. So of course the speaker
here is the Lord Jesus Christ, the very same Christ who said
this, ye are my witnesses, by the prophet Isaiah chapter 43. Listen to our great Savior. Ye
are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen,
that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am
he. Before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be
after me. I'm the first and the last. I,
even I, am the Lord, and beside me there is no Savior. I have
declared and have saved, and I have showed when there was
no strange God among you. Therefore, ye are my witnesses,
saith the Lord, that I am God, that I am God. Yea, before the
day was, I am he, and there is none that can deliver out of
my hand. I will work, and who shall let it? I shall work, and
who shall hinder it, is the word." from Isaiah chapter 46, Isaiah
46 and 9. Remember the former things of
old, for I am God and there is none else. I am God and there
is none like me. There is none like me. Declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times the things that are not yet done saying,
My counsel shall stand and I will do, I will do all my pleasure. Jesus Christ is the speaker here
and he says this, all that the father giveth me shall come to
me. When I read these words, I hear the great shepherd of
the sheep speaking in such a manner of fact way, doesn't he? He speaks
with so much certainty. All that God gave him in eternal
election, he says, will come to me in time. I hear him speak,
and I hear words of reigning grace, don't you? I mean, look
at that on the table, under the table, left, right, north, south,
east, or west. Look at that text as long as
you want. You will not find a hint that what he said won't be accomplished. All my sheep shall come to me. I hear him declare the success
of his coming into this world. He didn't come on a mission that
could fail. If that was so, why come at all? Look at verse 38. For I came
down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him
that sent me. And this is the Father's will
that sent me. that of all which he had given
me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the
last day." Those who deny the power of God's free grace in
order to maintain the power of man's imaginary free will have
to be some kind of religious contortionist to make this verse
say anything other than it does. It speaks of God's free, sovereign
grace, and there's nothing can make that voice. It speaks of
God's electing love. It speaks of Christ's particular
sovereign mercy and grace. Scott Richardson, there's an
excellent article in your bulletin by old brother Scott Richardson. But he said this, where men get
the idea that God's will is the all, God's, I'm sorry, where
men get the idea, I think this is the last sentence of the article,
where men get the idea that man's will is the all determining factor
or moving cause of his salvation is hard to see. Certainly, they
do not get it from the Bible. That's exactly right, they don't
get it from the Bible. Isaiah 48 and 11, for my own
sake. Oh, now here's the, Here's where
the rubber meets the road. Here's the main reason. God's elect must be saved, that
they all must come to Christ. For mine own sake, God says,
even for mine own sake will I do it. I'll do it. For how should my name be polluted? And I will not give my glory
unto another. The proud rebel says, it's up
to me. And that lie, that falsehood
is reinforced by preachers telling them that. God's done all he
can, it's up to you. That's the worst thing you could
tell a rebel. That'll have the very opposite effect. Instead
of making him aware of his need, that'll just make him lay back
and say, well, it's all up to me. I'll just eat, drink, and
be merry. And when I die, I'll say, Jesus saved me. That's what
most people think. That's what my brothers and sisters,
that's what our children mostly think. That's all they've heard.
It's up to me. It's up to my will. When God's
word plainly declares, I will not give my glory to another. The crown will not be set upon
the head of man's free will, but upon the head of Jesus Christ
and his free grace. He says, I will have mercy on
whom I will have mercy. That's the determining factor. It's not man's will, but God's
will. It's God's will. I will have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. So then, if that's true, that's
plain as can be, so then, here's the conclusion, so then it is
not of him that willeth, that's not the cause of salvation, nor
of him that runneth, what shall we do that we might work the
works of God? but of God that showeth mercies." Again, the
freewheeler says, I took the first step, then God took the
rest. That's the testimony we heard
over and over again the last few weeks, in one form or another. I took the first step and God
took the rest. I did my part, then God did his. Really? Really? Oh, no. Thank God that's not true. A
true believer, knowing himself to be the helpless sinner, knows
that his salvation is all of the Lord. And if not, if that's
not true, he knows he would have never been saved. There's no
hope. If salvation from beginning to
end, from election in eternity past, to glorification in eternity
to come, if it's not all of grace and not all of the Lord, we don't
have a prayer. But thank God, he says, I'm determined. I have purpose to show mercy,
and I will show mercy. A true believer rejoices that
it's so, and with a heart full of gratitude for God's great
mercy, he says, not unto us, not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy and for thy truth's
sake. A sinner saved by grace happily
confesses, I see my calling. not many mighty, not many wise,
not many noble are called, but God. But God hath chosen the
foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath
chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things
which are mighty, and base things of the world, and things which
are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not,
to bring to naught things that are, that no flesh should glory
in his presence. It was this morning, wasn't it,
honey? I sat in heaven coughing, we were watching the news, and
as the news ended, Joel Osteen, Joel Osteen, please turn the
channel. Give me that remote. All it is. All that is. He's just a motivational
speaker. That's all he is. If he was sitting
right here, I would tell him to his face. He's telling lies
on God. He's deceiving the souls of men.
And it's so heartbreaking. So heartbreaking. Gloring in
the flesh. The whole shoot match is one
worm bragging on another worm. That's all it is. God says, oh,
not unto us. Not unto us, God's people says.
but to God be the glory, that no flesh should glory in his
presence, but of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God has
made of us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
that according it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord. You don't have to worry about
any restrictions there. It has all the elbow room you
can possibly use. Glory in the Lord, there's no
limits there. You don't have to worry about
overdoing it. You don't have to worry about going too far.
Oh no, glory in His great grace, His great salvation. Thank God,
not only for what He does, but for who He is. Who He is, a just
God and a Savior. As the sweet psalmist of Israel
himself said, In God is my salvation and my glory. In God. The rock of my strength and my
refuge is in God. As we sometimes sing, to God
be the glory. To God be the glory. That's what
distinguishes this church from all those around us. They say
to man be the glory. To man be the glory. But we sing
here, and as long as God gives me breath, I'm never gonna change
my tune. To God be the glory, great things
he hath done. So loved he the world that he
gave as his son, who yielded his life in atonement for sin
and opened the life gate that we may go in. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Let the earth
hear his voice. Oh, come to the Father through
Jesus the Son and give him the glory, great things he hath done. When I read these words of Christ
here, I find So much reason to be encouraged, don't you? When
you read these words, Christ says, Oh, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. That's still true. That's the
only reason God allows this world to continue. Christ is still
calling out his sheep. Oh, what a reason for encouragement.
Someone said this, if you look at the world, you'll be distressed. Turn on the news. It's just one
bad story after another. I mean, I sometimes think, well,
I've seen it all. And Bobby a few days goes by
and says, well, I guess I haven't. I guess I haven't. I don't want
to digress too much here, but this transgender insanity, insanity. Well, my granddaughters, LD's
two daughters, told me, that at school now, one's a first
year of college, one's a sophomore in high school, now there are
some that identify as animals. And they're allowed to do it.
I looked across the room, I said, Allie, you're pulling my leg.
No, Paw Paw. They do it. They want litter
boxes. So is it any wonder is that you
say what's happening? What in the world is happening
in this world? I'll tell you what's happening. It's under
the judgment of God Almighty There's no other explanation
this country the reason of this insanity God's just turn him
loose. Let him go Oh, but that's not
to say that's not to say that all that the father given to
him shall not come to him Because they will. If you look at the
world, you'll be distressed. If you look within, you'll be
depressed. But if you look up, if you look up to where God is,
you'll be at rest. You'll be at rest. So when I
hear my God and Savior say that 100% of all God put into his
hands shall come to him and can never be plucked out of his hand,
that he is pleased by the foolishness of preaching, By witnessing to
the gospel of His grace to save those that believe, I think,
oh, how encouraging that is. I know you've experienced this,
I have too, many times. It kind of leaks out that you
believe that horrible doctrine of election, that you believe
that terrible, terrible doctrine that God's not trying to save
anybody, He's saving His people. those that he chose in Christ
before the world began, the same ones that Jesus Christ died for.
And they'll say to you, well, if I believed what you did, they
got elected a people to salvation, I wouldn't even bother to witness,
I wouldn't even bother to preach, I wouldn't even bother to do
anything. How foolish, how insane is that? Oh no, the contrary is so. If what they believed was true,
then there would be no reason to witness, no reason to preach,
just shut the doors, just sell the building. If salvation is
waiting on man's will, or man to take the first step It's not
going to happen. It's not going to happen. Oh,
but as long as salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone,
in Christ alone, I said this in my article, and I hope I was
sincere when I wrote it, and sincere what I'm saying. I hope
I believe what I'm saying, that there is not a sinner too hard
a case for God Almighty. Not as long as salvation is by
grace alone, there's no reason to despair of any sinner that
God's grace can't bring down. Is that not so? Look at Saul
of Tarsus. You're looking at one. That's
the hardest case I ever knew. And God brought me down. A pastor
friend of mine was telling me about another pastor that he
hoped wouldn't visit his relatives before he came to his church
to preach because every time he did, he would come depressed.
And it would affect his message. He would come depressed. Child
of God, look up. David said, under thee left up
mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. Oh, isn't it
good to have somebody to look up to? I'm the third oldest of my mother's nine children. I have two older brothers, but
when I was younger, oh, I looked up to my big brother, Jimmy.
Oh, how I looked up to him. Somebody jump on me, I'd say,
I'm gonna tell my big brother. You might slap me around, but
you're not gonna slap him around. Isn't it good to have somebody
to look up to? David takes his eyes from the
mountains to the God that created the mountains and he says, look
up. I left up my eyes, the psalmist looked high, didn't he? He could
look no higher. He could look no higher. The
higher the Lord is, the better it is for our faith. That height, God being lifted
up, Christ being lifted up, exalted on high, given a name above every
name, that height, represents His power and His glory and His
excellence. And these are all, every one
of those blessed attributes and every other attribute of God
in Christ are engaged on the behalf of His people. That's
not discouraging. That's not discouraging. I want
to hurry along here. Consider several words here in
our text. And we've already mentioned the
first one. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. All. All, Billy. Not some of those
given to Christ by the Father, not most of those given to Christ
by the Father, but all. All, hear the mighty Savior say. All those given to him by the
Father shall come to him 100%. Christ here states in no uncertain
terms, all. Every one of those given to him
in election, put into his hands, by all is meant the whole body
of his elect, chosen by God the Father, given to Christ, his
seed, his spouse, his sheep, his bride, his portion, his inheritance,
Christ says they should all come to me. When I hear people speak
of the God of the Bible as trying to do something, especially this
great work of salvation for sinners, I want to ask them, why does
God Why does God, who is omnipotent, try to do anything? When you
hear folks talk that way, do you ever want to just grab them
and shake them? But it doesn't happen like that,
does it? God must open the heart. If God
is omnipotent, he doesn't try to do anything. That just doesn't
make sense. If he tries to do it, then he's
not all-powerful. And if he's all-powerful, then
he'll get it done. What does God say about that?
But our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. Child of God, oh, for grace to
take our burdens, our heartaches, our trials, our difficulties
through this life. Oh, bring them to this. Our God
is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. Again, for I know that the Lord
is great. and that our Lord is above all
gods. Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, and in
earth, and in the seas, and in all deep places. Again, the Lord
is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit
the wicked. The Lord hath his way in the
whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his
feet. So when I hear the great God and Savior say, all that
the Father giveth me shall come to me, I know that means 100
percent. Remember this as well. The prophet
said, he shall see that it's Christ, the suffering Savior,
Isaiah 53. He shall see of the travail of
his soul that he shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many for he shall bear their iniquities. That can
only be true if all those chosen in him all those redeemed by
him are all those that also come to him. If that doesn't happen,
slice it any way you want, if he doesn't call everyone God
put into his hands to experience his grace, his mercy, his great
salvation, he failed. He failed. And how could it ever
be said that he'll see it prevail of his soul and be satisfied
if just one of his sheep should perish? How would he ever be
satisfied? I love the article by Brother
Maurice, Christ Our Surety. He wrote, from the very moment
that he, by covenant, agreed to be their surety, the Father
no longer looked to them but to him. Don't you like that? for all that they owed. He fully
satisfied God in their behalf. Therefore, they must be set free
and enter into the glories of heaven. They must. What a message
of hope this is to the guilty sinners. Full, free, everlasting
salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ, their surety, by faith,
trust, and confidence in Him, and the ransom of the Lord, the
prophet said. Isaiah 35 and verse 10. and the
ransom of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and
everlasting joy upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away, all of them, a hundred
percent. Notice the second word here in
our text. All that the Father giveth me shall come, shall come,
shall come. This too is because of the grace
that reigns, It's not the will of man or the ability of man,
but the will and power of the Lord Jesus Christ that makes
this so. You remember when Adam fell?
Remember that? Not as God created him, but as
he fell in sin. He heard the voice of God, and
look how strange he acts. I mean, once before the fall,
it was his joy and delight, in the cool of the day, to come
and commune with God. The old hymn writer said, oh,
he walks with me, and he talks with me, and he tells me I am
his own. And the joy we share as we tarry
there none other has ever known. But now he hears the voice of
that same God, and he tries to hide. He tries to hide. He thinks he can actually hide
from God. People think they're hiding from God today, don't
they? And you know the number one place where people hide from
God is in churches, is in churches. They think they're hiding from
God. Oh, but nonetheless, nonetheless, Christ says, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. They'll come. And this is how
they come. This is why they come. Psalm
65. In chapter 5, Christ said, he
will not come to me. In chapter 6, he said, you can't
come to me. You don't have the will or the
power. But he says, here's the answer. Here's the answer to
that riddle. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest, Psalm 65 and 4. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and calls us to approach unto thee, that they may dwell
in thy courts. We shall be satisfied with the
goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple. They shall all
be taught of God, thy people, Psalm 110, verse 3. Thy people
shall be willing in the day of thy power. God's power makes
them willing. Grace taught my heart to pray.
That's a fact. And made my eyes overflow. This
grace has kept me to this day and will not let me go. Last of all, notice these words. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. To me. And him that cometh to
me I shall in no wise cast out. To me, Christ says, look unto
me and be ye saved. If any man thirsts, let him come
to me and drink. Come unto me, Christ says, all
ye that labor and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. The
very people our Lord spoke these words to did the very thing that
multitudes at this very moment are being told all over this
nation that coming to Christ is something they do with their
feet. Come up here. These people did
much more than that. I mean, they found shipping,
thousands of them. Now that was a chore. And they
crossed the sea. That wasn't an easy thing to
do. And they hunted till they found Christ. And what did he
say? You've not really come to me.
No man can come to me except the Father which has sent me
draw him. You've come to me with your feet, but that's not salvation. Salvation is a matter of the
heart, is it not? Therefore, verse 65 here in John
6, he says a second time, therefore I said unto you, that no man
can come to me, not spiritually, not savingly, except it were
given him by the Father. My people shall be willing in
the day of my power. Christ says, come to me. That's what I told some people
that are dear to my heart. Christ says, come to me. They
talked about going to a new church. Christ says, come to me. They
talked about going into the water. And Christ says, come to me.
They talked about going to the preacher, going to the priest,
going to the doctor, going to the altar. And Christ says, no,
no, no. You can do all those things.
That's not coming to me. Come unto me. Look unto me and
be ye saved. And thank God, he says, all those
God gave him shall do that very thing. They'll come to him. They'll
come to him willingly, believing And they will come to him in
heaven, will they not? I wonder right now if we could
just roll back the curtain of that which is unseen with the
natural eye and we could just see. I wonder how many at this
very moment are ascending to glory. God's saying of multitudes
of his redeemed, well, you've dwelt here long enough, it's
time to come home. Well, I wonder how many right
now are entering into the joy of the Lord, and so shall they
ever be with the Lord. They'll follow him in time when
they hear his voice, and they'll follow him to glory. Father,
I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where
I am, that they may behold my glory. They go from strength
to strength, every one of them, 100% in Zion appeareth before
God. Revelation 14, and I'm done.
Revelation 14 verse 2, and I heard a voice from heaven sing as the
voice of many waters and as the voice of a great thunder. And
I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps. Verse
3, and they sung as it were a new song. Oh, they never sang so
pure before. They never sang with such undivided
hearts before. They sung a new song before the
throne and before the four beasts and the elders, and no man could
learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand which
were redeemed from the earth. These are they which were not
defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are they which
follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth, whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among
men, being the first fruits of the God into the land. And in
their mouth was found no cow, for they all are without fault
before the throne of God." 100%. God bless you. Thank you for
your teaching.