I invite you this morning to
turn back with me to John chapter 6. Just hold your place there and
let me talk to you for just a few minutes. Each book of the Bible has a
unique and prominent theme. The book of Romans. Justification
by faith. The book of Galatians, grace
and not by words. And the book of John. The theme of John's gospel is
the deity of Jesus Christ our Lord. It's prominent in all of
John's writings, even in the book of Revelation. It's prominent
in everything that John wrote. And there's not another book
in which the Godhead of Christ is set before the eyes of faith
as it is in the gospel of John. John begins his gospel with these
words, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. What's he talking about when
he talks about the beginning? In the beginning. Is this the
beginning of God that he's talking about? No. God has no beginning. Did you ever think about that? He talks about in the beginning,
God. That's how he starts the Bible.
And that's pretty much what he's talking about here. In the beginning
was the Word. Was the Word. Well, the beginning
is the beginning of revelation. That's what John's talking about.
He said that which was from the beginning. He said it manifested
Himself, and we saw it. We saw it. He's talking about
the beginning of revelation. He's talking about the beginning
of faith. We go into the Word of God, and
by faith we discover the beginning. And in the beginning, we find
the Word. As far back as Revelation is
enabled to go, it finds Christ existing in the eternality of
His being. And then John goes on to tell
us that all things were made by Him. This eternal Word, all
things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything
made that was made. Now, in several places in the
Bible, the Bible attributes creation to the Son of God. Paul tells
us in Colossians 1, verse 16, that He created all things. All
things were created by Him and for Him. Creation has a unique design. It has its existence for whatever
end which God has purposed in His Son. That's what He's telling
us when He tells us that the Son created all things. It has
a special end connected with what He was ordained to do. In
verse 4 of John chapter 1, the Apostle tells us that in Him
was life. This eternal Word, in Him was
life, and the life was the light of men. In John 17, verse 3,
he tells us what this life is. All through the book of John,
he's telling us, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. Christ is telling us all about
this life, all through there. He tells us in John chapter 3,
he that believeth on the Son hath life. But he that believeth
not Christ, he that believeth not the Son. shall not see life. He shall not perceive what this
life is. In John 17 3, he tells us what
this life is. This is life eternal, that they
might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou
hast sent. Eternal life is to know God through
the saving knowledge of the person and work of Jesus Christ. We
know God. We don't speculate about God. We don't speculate about what
he might or might not do. We know what he'll do. It was
manifested in his son. And so he writes in his first
general epistle and he tells the church, we know that the
son of God has come and has given to us an understanding that we
may know him that is true, that we're in him that is true, even
in his son Jesus Christ, This is the true God and eternal life. The eternal God came into this
world, taking upon Himself a holy union of God and man in one glorious
person. That tiny babe over there in
Bethlehem's manger was none less than God Almighty. John tells us that. He goes on
down to verse 14 of the very first chapter of his gospel,
and he said, And the Word, this eternal Word, this Word which
was in the beginning with the Father, the Word was made flesh
and dwelt among us. Hebrews chapter 2 verse 16 says,
He took not on Him the nature of angels, but He took on Him
the seed of Abraham. The promised seed, the covenant
seed, the seed in whom all the promises of God were confirmed
and conferred. God and man in one glorious person
to represent and redeem all God's elect. He came to live for them
who could not themselves live for God. Do you believe that? Are you still deceived and think
that you can live a life pleasing to God? I'm telling you, that's a lie.
That's a deceit. You cannot please God by your
works. It's impossible. It's impossible. And yet, men
every day, boys and girls every day, are being made to believe
that they can live a life pleasing to God. There's only one life
that was ever lived that pleased God. And that is the Son of God. This is my beloved Son, now listen
to what He says, in whom I am well pleased. You ever heard
Him say that about anybody else? Except those in Him. Those in
him who had this imputed righteousness that he wrought out by his own
obedience, it said to them in that great day of judgment, it
said to them as though they did it themselves, well done, thy
good and faithful servant, enter thou in. Russell, can you look
back on any part of your life and even imagine God saying to
you, well done, my good and faithful. There ain't no way. And no honest
man can. But in Christ, you can. Huh? He's the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believeth because the believer perceives this.
He understands this. I can't produce a righteousness.
I wasn't born righteous. I can't produce one, but God
demands one. He requires one. And what He
requires has to be absolutely perfect. Cursed is every one who continueth
not in all things written in the book of the Lord. Huh? Just one righteousness,
and that's in Christ. It's in Christ. This glorious person of Christ
who came to represent and redeem all God's elect, to live for
them that perfect life God demands, and die in their room instead
to satisfy God's justice concerning their sin. You can't pay not
even the price required for an evil thought, let alone a life
of sin. I'm telling you, if you ever,
if the Holy Spirit of God, and my prayer is this morning, that
He'll open the heart, especially of you children, but you adults
too, open your heart to see the exceeding sinfulness of sin and
see what it is in the light of God's absolute, perfect holiness
and justice, I tell you, you'll lose all idea of ever satisfying
God for your sins. You can't do it. The Gospel, my friend, is a person. These men to whom our Lord was
talking didn't believe that. They didn't believe that. They
thought salvation came through their father Abraham, through
promise and through all of these things. They didn't see salvation
in a person. They looked for a man to be raised
up. They looked for a great man like
David or Solomon or somebody like that to be raised up. They
were looking for this man. He's not God, but he's God's
man, and they look for him. The gospel is a person, one whose
existence is eternal with the Father, yet one who came and
lived and died as a man, and arose from the dead and ascended
back to the Father where he now sits expecting till his enemies
be made his footstool. My concern this morning is not
in trying to get you to order the affairs of your life so you
can live a good life in your community, live a productive
life, be a positive influence on your children and on your
community. The Jews did all that and left their proselytes twofold
more the child of hell than they themselves were. Say, well, what
did these men preach, these evil men you talk about? These Pharisees,
what did they preach? They preached that you ought
to live a good life in your community and straighten up the affairs
of your life and quit wearing them old clothes like you used
to wear and quit trying to get your hair cut a certain way and
wear your dress a certain way. That's what they taught these
men. And they taught them that that's where salvation is. My
concern is not in trying to build another religious organization
or denomination. The whole planet is covered with
them now, and they have nothing to contribute to the salvation
of sinners. My one and only concern is that
the gospel of Christ be declared from this pulpit or any other
pulpit which I am invited to speak. John says that the Bible
is God's record that He has given to us eternal life, and this
life is in His Son. Would you have life? Are you
that satisfied with religion that you want no part of life?
Would you have life this morning? I'm not talking about another
religious creed. I'm not trying to convince you
that this is the right organization and all the other organizations
are wrong. I'm trying to point you to Christ. This life is in Him. In Him. This is the record, this is God's
record that God has given to us eternal life and this life
is in His Son. And he that hath the Son hath
life. And he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. The man who believes on the Son
of God has this witness, John said, he has this witness in
himself. It's his hope. It's his peace. It's his rest. It's his confidence. It's His
joy. It's His glory. And the man who
has the Son of God, who has God's testimony in him, now listen
to me, he will order the affairs of his life. I don't have to
be concerned with that. My concern is to get you to Christ. If I can get you to Christ, I
guarantee you He will order the affairs of your life. I guarantee you that man, if
I can get you to Christ, he'll live a clean and productive life
in his community. And he'll be involved in the
ministry of Christ. Now this is where our text begins.
I took some time as I read this morning, gave you a little background.
This is where the text begins, John 6, 35. Jesus said unto them,
I am the bread. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. That
man, that woman, that boy or girl that can come to Christ
and receive Him as God has set Him for, and embrace Him alone,
cling to Him alone as your hope will find eternal satisfaction
in the Savior, I guarantee it. There's nothing that can disrupt
your soul that cannot be satisfied in Christ. His representation of His elect
is sufficient. His grace is sufficient. His righteousness is sufficient. His sacrifice for sin is sufficient. His intercession in glory is
sufficient. I wondered as I prayed this morning, O Spirit of God, will He hear
me? Will He hear me? I don't know.
But I tell you one He will hear, that one who sits at His right
hand. His intercession is sufficient. Oh, I look at this world and
what a confusing mess it is. And I listen to these politicians
talk, and the more they talk, the more confused I am about
what's going on in this world. But I'm going to tell you something.
His Lordship is sufficient. He'll take care of it. You vote
your conscience. He'll take care of it. His Lordship is sufficient. He
is perfect God. He is perfect man. And therefore,
He is perfect Savior. In Him, Paul said, dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily. I'm the bread. That's what he's
telling me. They're looking for bread. They look on them barley
loaves. I tell you, a barley loaf and
Christ don't have a lot in common. I'm the bread, he says. I'm the
necessary meat. Except you eat my flesh and drink
my blood, you have no life in you. In Him dwelleth all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily. And Paul said, you are complete
in Him. He's the bread. He's the water
of life. And that one who believes on
Him will never again thirst for the water of life. Christ will
be in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life. Constantly
springing up, bubbling up. You can't drink it all. The more
you drink, the more you want. The more you want, the more there
is. He finally got down to the end of the book of John, and
John said, I suppose, If everything He did was written down, the
world couldn't hold the books. Christ shall be in Him a well
of water, springing up unto everlasting life. And Paul tells the church
at Colossae that they are not only to look on Him who has fully
accomplished their redemption, but they are to walk in Him as
well. Don't go another direction. Walk
in Him. If we walk in the light, now
listen, as He is the light, we have fellowship one with another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all
sin. How does a man walk in Christ?
He lives his life trusting in the righteousness and shed blood
of the Savior to be sufficient to present Him spotless before
the presence of God's glory. And that's the only way you're
going to be presented and live thoughtless. You'll never have a day of peace
in your life until you're convinced that His righteousness and death
on Calvary's cross has made you holy, unblameable, and unreprovable
in His sight. Religion cannot make you righteous
or satisfy God's justice or bring you into favor with God. Christ
tells these people again and again, I am the bread. His disciples
said he is the bread. And any preacher worth listening
to is going to tell you Christ is the bread. He's the necessary
meat. In John chapter 6, verse 53,
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, except
you eat of the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood,
you have no life in you. Am I making this clear? I can't
make you believe it. But I'm doing my damn able best
to make you understand what I'm saying. Everything God has for sinners
is in Christ, outside of Christ. I don't care what it is. Outside
of Christ, God is a consuming fire. All right. Here's the next thing.
John chapter 6, verse 36. He said, but I said unto you,
that you also have seen me, and believe not." Oh, you let that sink in, what
he said. You let the weight of those words
sink into your soul. You have seen me, and believe
not. These people had seen him in
the flesh. They saw him feed thousands with
a few barley loaves and fishes. They saw him walk on water. They saw in him great benefits,
but only a few saw his saving glory. You've seen me, he said, and
believe not. They made application according
to their traditional understanding. They looked for a man blessed
of God come out of Judah, deliver them as Moses and David and Joshua
did. A great man to lead them, teach
them, protect them. A great king to rule over. They
look for this man to restore the old priesthood and temple
back to the height of its glory in the old days under Moses,
under David. And again, make Israel the crown
jewel of all the nations. They saw Him, they heard Him
preach, they saw His miracles that God did by Him right in
their midst, which Peter brings back to their memories in his
message at Pentecost. Yet, they did not believe. They wanted to work the works
of God and Christ said to them, this is the work of God that
you believe on Him whom He has sent. Faith is the work of God
in you. No natural man, left undisturbed,
left to his falling nature, left to his old carnal mind, left
under the influence of satanic rule and under the influence
of false religions, will ever or can ever believe. The natural man, the Scripture
said, this is as plain as words can get, the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God. They're foolishness to
him, and neither can he know them because they're spiritually
understood. The world is under the judgment
of God, man's mind, that carnal mind's enmity against God. This
world's in a mess by one man sin entered and death passed. You've seen me and believe not. Many of you in this very place
today have seen him and believe not. He declared himself before the
eyes of faith. Did he not? Sure he did. On more than one occasion. John
chapter 6 ain't the first time this crowd ever heard him. That's
why I went all the way back to John chapter 1. These men were
sent to determine if this was the Christ. And they sat and
looked at him and saw him and watched his works and heard his
messages and heard him as he said himself before them. I don't
know what men and women think Christ preached. Christ preached
Christ. That's what He preached. Read
it. It's all through the Scriptures.
He preached Himself. And many of you in this place
today have seen Him as He sat before you in the Word of God.
You've seen Him. And believe not. You've seen Him sit before you
in the preaching of the Gospel. You've seen Him sit before you
in His high priestly office. You've seen him set before you
as the end of the law for righteousness. You've seen him set before you
as a propitiation for sin. The lamb, the sacrificial lamb,
the substitutionary lamb, he bore our sins in his own body
on the tree. The good shepherd, you've seen
him set before you as the justifier, delivered for our offenses, raised
again for our justification. You've seen him as he's testified
of God the Father, God come into the flesh, who by himself purged
our sins and sat down at the right hand of the majesty on
high. You've seen him set before you
as the Lord of glory, king of kings, and Lord of lords, expecting
till his enemies be made his footstool. You've seen him as
him whose person and work was from the beginning. You've seen
me, he said, and believe Not. John 6, verse 37. Now watch this. All that the Father hath given
me. Huh? There's some on this planet. There's been some in every age
from the very beginning. chosen of God the Father, all
that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh
to me I will in no wise cast out. 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 which hath sent me, that 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 would
seeth the sun. What? Every one would seeth the
sun, and believeth on him may have everlasting life, and I'll
raise him up at the last day. There are two great truths set
before us in our text. Two things that at the first
seem absolutely contrary to one to the other, but if given some
consideration and under the powerful influence of the Holy Spirit,
they're found to be in perfect unison. That's a musical term. It means it's in harmony, unison. The first is that no man, No
matter what he sees or hears, no matter what he feels or experiences,
will ever come to Christ in saving faith, who was not given to Christ
in divine election, and drawn to Christ by the intervention
of God. No man will ever do it, if left
to himself. Isn't that what our text says
here in John 6, verse 44? No man can come to me. Isn't
that what Christ told him? Just quit murmuring. Quit murmuring. Quit popping off with all your
silly questions and just listen to what I'm telling you. Quit
murmuring. No man can come to me except my Father draw him. It's written in the Prophets,
they shall all be taught of God. Every man therefore that hath
heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me. We're
called, the Scripture said, with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. The second great truth before
us in these verses is that anyone, anywhere, at any time, of any
age, who seeth the Son, who's taught of God, who hears the
Gospel, who perceives the glory of God in Christ, sees the necessity
of his coming, the sufficiency of his person and work, who sees
the Son, capital S-O-N, who seeth the Son, the Son of God, the
God-man mediator, who seeth the Son and believeth on him may
have everlasting life. These two things are equally
true. They're equally true. And everything depends on which
way your mind's running. If you want to prove your election,
Russell, if you want to prove your election, you're going to
have to start with your faith and go backwards. If you want to trace your salvation,
you'll find it in the beginning and come forward. Everything depends on which way
your mind is running. If you begin with God, you begin
with election. If you begin with faith, you
begin with man. He hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth. If you begin with yourself, you
move backwards, beginning with faith and tracing it back. Paul
said, I know your election of God. Our gospel came to you in
power. You become followers of us and
the Lord. You become examples to all them that believe. You
turn from your idols to serve the true and living God, and
you patiently wait for His return. Now, if you had all that to say
this, the gospel is all you're ever going to get. Kelsey, that's all you're ever
going to get. The gospel. You get it? The gospel is all you're ever
going to get. Don't you start looking for experiences. Don't
you start looking for feelings. The gospel is all you're ever
going to get. I've listened to men and women
talk about their feelings and experiences and dreams all my
life. And at least some of them, I
believe, really had the experience that they talk about. But the
plain fact of the matter is that eye hath not seen or ear heard,
neither hath entered into the heart of man the things which
God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed
them unto us by his Spirit. It's the only way they can be
known, through the Spirit, through his power, through his influence,
through his teaching. Not bursting into man's hearts
in all sorts of ways and fashions, but through the preaching of
the gospel. Which things, he says, talking about the Spirit
and these revelations of the Spirit, which things we speak. You know what Paul said? Which things we speak, not in
words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost teaches,
comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man
won't receive them. You've seen me, and you believe
not. The preaching of the gospel is
all you're ever going to get from God. Now I want you, especially
you young ones in here this morning, I want you to imagine, if you
will, the Savior Himself speaking to you this morning. The Savior Himself speaking to
you, opening to you the Scriptures like He did to His disciples
on that day. They got back around that campfire
and they said, oh, didn't our hearts burn within us as He opened
to us the Scriptures? Showing to you the way, showing
to you both the sinner and the Savior. Imagine this, if you
can, the Holy God Himself speaking to you. speaking to you in sovereign
mercy and showing to you the sinner, how he can be just and
justify all who believe on his Son. Oh, imagine if you can, the God
of all grace pointing you to the way of peace, beckoning to
you with an outstretched arm, Come to my Son and find rest
for your souls. Imagine, if you can, Almighty
God unveiling His heart to you. God just opening up, just taking
the blinders away, pulling the veil from off your face unveiling
his heart to you, showing to you the glory of his mercy and
love and grace. Now if you can imagine that,
you imagine this. Imagine yourself staring back
into his face with that obstinate glare, preferring some baseless
opinion or doctrine that you couldn't explain if somebody
asked you. You know how I first come to,
the very first time I ever heard anything even remotely connected
to the truth, I invited a man to come to the meeting. We had
a revival. And he said, why? And I was at a total loss for
words. I'd been down to that church.
I'd heard them men preach. They had an altar call. I went
to the front. I signed up. I was baptized.
I did all those things and I couldn't even tell this poor sinner why
he needed to come to church. That's the kind of ignorance
that's in religion. It doesn't know him. It doesn't
know anything. It just knows come and do. I didn't know what to tell him.
I said, well, won't you come hear the gospel? He said, you
wouldn't know the gospel if it met you in the middle of the
road. And I said, what do you mean?
He said, if you know the gospel, tell me the gospel. I couldn't
tell him. Imagine yourself turning your
back on Him who speaks and He reaches out in tender mercy and
reaches out and touches you on the shoulder and you pull the
shoulder from Him. You imagine that? You imagine stopping your ears
as though those words were poison to your soul. What do you suppose his course
of action is going to be? You think God's going to let
you slide? You just spit on His Son. You
think He's going to let that slide? You just trampled underfoot.
You did despise unto the Spirit of Christ. You think God's going
to let that slide? God under his law, with a fact
established by two or more witnesses, took that man out, that guilty
man, and stoned him. Paul said, of how much sore a
punishment, suppose you shall you be thought worthy who trodden
underfoot the Son of God, counted the blood of the covenant wherewith
you were sealed as an unclean thing and did despite under the
Spirit of grace. You somehow imagine that God
won't keep on speaking to you until you make some kind of decision
or agreement? Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5.20,
we are ambassadors of Christ as though God did beseech you. The gospel's all you're ever
going to get. The gospel is God speaking to
you, every one of you. It's God speaking to you. He's
not going to speak to you any other way. If you ever hear it, this is
where you're going to hear it and how you're going to hear
it. His Spirit works in conjunction
with His Gospel. His regeneration is produced
by the Holy Seed of His Word as it's preached unto men. His
presence is known by Gospel revelation in the minds and hearts of sinners.
What are you saying, preacher? I'm saying that if God ever works
His gift of faith in you, it will be you that believe. That's
what I'm saying. We sit around and we wait. I was a child once. I know what
it is, sit in a pew and wait. I hear these men talking about
their experiences and talking about their feelings. And we
sit around and we wait on them. Well, I don't know. I believe
what he's saying. I don't want to feel that way.
I don't have that feeling. I don't have that. This is all
you're ever going to get. It'll be you that believe. Isn't that what our Lord said? This is the work of God that
you believe on Him whom God has sent. It'll be you that are convicted. You that are convinced and you
that embrace His Son. There'll be no sense of another
being in you, no vision of light, no feeling of heavenly grandeur
about you. It'll be your mind perceiving
and understanding your will brought into submission, your heart embracing
Him. Paul says, by grace are you saved. Now listen, through faith. And
that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Now I want you
to listen. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. Now listen to this next statement. For we are his workmanship. Huh? Created in Christ Jesus
unto good work. Which God hath before ordained
that we walk in. Huh? That's faith. That's what
faith is. You've heard the gospel. Oh, yes, you have. Believe it
or not, you've heard it. You've heard it. And you've heard
it as clearly as I know how to present it. You've seen Him. All you're ever going to see. Now what are you going to do? Isn't that what those 3,000 souls
said when Peter finished his message at Pentecost? Oh, they said, what shall we
do? We've crucified the King of Glory. What are we going to do? That's what I'm asking you this
morning. You've seen it. What are you going to do? What
are you going to do? Will you walk away? Will you
harden your hearts? Or will you kiss the sun? What
will you do? It's my earnest prayer that God
won't give you one minute's sleep until you come to Christ. Oh, I pray He takes your soul
and turns it inside out. not give you one more minute's
sleep until you come to Christ. Because if you don't come to
Him, you have nothing, there remaineth, now listen, this is
the Scriptures, what it says, there remaineth therefore no
more sacrifice for sin, and no other hope.