The Bread Of Life

Now it is my intention this morning,
God willing, to talk about verses 35 through verse 40 in particular. I don't know how many of these
verses we'll be able to cover this morning in our study, but
nevertheless I want to use these verses here. I believe that the
Lord has spoken to my heart from them and I believe they will
be a blessing to our hearts as we look to the hand of the Lord
for a blessing. But the Lord Jesus has been talking
about Him being the Bread of Life. And I think most of you
are aware of the circumstances, as I read the context to you,
that there were some that were following our Lord. In verse
26, the Lord answered them and said, Truly, truly, I say unto
you, you seek me not because you saw the miracles, but because
you did eat of the loaves and were filled. Now our Lord Jesus
knew what was in the hearts of all men. He was not ever, he
was never taken advantage of, he was never in any way deceived
by his followers. He always knew them. He knew
those that believed not, and he knew who should betray him.
He knew. He had complete knowledge he
was God and he knew all things. And so he informed these people,
he preached to them a little in verse 27 and he told them,
lay them up for the meat which perisheth but for that meat which
endureth to everlasting life which the Son of Man shall give
you for him hath God the Father seen. Then the Lord is saying
here that there is a meat that perisheth And then there is a
meat which endureth unto life everlasting. And he exhorts them
to labor for that meat which endures unto life everlasting. Then they said unto him in verse
28, What shall we do that we might work the works of God?
Jesus answered and said to them, this is the work of God that
you believe on Him whom He has sent. Do you want to do something?
Is there something you would like to do that might put you
into favor with God or that might save you? Jesus said, this is
the work of God. This is what God gives to every
man to do and that is that you believe on Him whom He has sent. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Believe and live. Look and live. Believe. Trust
in. the Son of God, that One which
the Father hath seen, that One which has been commissioned by
the Father to come into this world, that One which has been
sent of God, that One which is no amateur Savior, but One who
is commissioned of God and has the authority of God to forgive
sin and to save sinners. Believe on Him. This is the work
of God. Now friends, I don't think any
of you should be taking up with anything else but this this morning. And that is, have I believed
on the Son of God, Him whom the Father has sent, have I believed
on Him savingly? This is the work of God. Now
I want to go on to say here, as the Lord Jesus dealt with
them about this situation, that they wanted a sign, as verse
30 says, they said therefore to Him, what sign showest thou
them that we may see And believe thee, what dost thou work? In
other words, we want a sign. What do you do that we may see
and that we might believe? Our fathers, they said, did eat
manna in the desert. As it is written, he gave them
bread from heaven to eat. And I think what they're saying
is, you know, back in the wilderness there, in the wilderness journey,
our fathers, they received some manna. They received that light
bread there in the wilderness. Is there something you could
give us now? I mean, we'd just like to have something that we
could see with our eyes that we might believe savingly on
thee. Is there something you could
do for us? Then Jesus said unto them, Truly, truly, I say unto
you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven. He gave you
not that bread which endureth to everlasting life. And if a
man eat thereof, he will not die. He gave you that bread.
When you eat of it, you've got to keep eating of it. Day by
day, you've got to keep having, or else you will die of starvation. He did not give you that true
bread from heaven. Because he says in verse 33,
For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and
give up life unto the world. The bread of God is he which
cometh down from heaven. Now listen to this, they said
unto him, Lord evermore give us this bread, evermore give
us this bread. Now I do not know here that they
understood what our Lord was telling them. I question that
they understood it. I really believe in my heart
that they felt that there was some bread on its way and that
he was just about to call down a blessing and bread was going
to be set out in front of them which they could physically partake
of. I really feel that that's exactly
what they meant in verse 34. Now one writer said that any
time that there is any store in the hearts of men and women
and that there is any religious excitement or desire in the heart
in any way about religious things that the thing to do is immediately
take a man to Christ. And that's what our Lord did
here. He said, they said, evermore give us this bread. And our Lord
in verse 35 said unto them, I am the bread of life. I am the bread
of life. In other words, you want this
bread? Here it is. Right here is this bread. of
life. You're looking upon him. Your
eyes now behold him. I am the bread of life. Now,
as he goes on, he says, he that cometh to me shall never hunger,
and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. Now in regards
to the saying of Christ about himself, he says, I am the bread
of life. Our Lord would have us know that
he himself is the appointed food of man's soul. The soul of every
man is starving naturally and vanishing through sin. Christ
is given by God the Father to be the satisfier, the reliever,
and the physician of man's spiritual need. In him and his mediatorial
office, in him and his atoning death, in him and his priesthood,
in him and his grace, Love and power in Him alone will empty
souls find their wants supplied. In Him there is life. He is the
bread of life. The Lord Jesus is the bread of
life. Now, bread is necessary food,
is it not? We can manage tolerably well
without many things on our table, but not without bread. So it
is with Christ. We must have Christ or die in
our sins. Bread is food that suits all.
Some cannot eat meat, some cannot eat vegetables, but all like
bread. It is food for the queen and
for the pauper, so it is with Christ. He is just the Savior
that meets the wants of every class. Bread is food that we
need daily. Other kinds of food we take perhaps
only occasionally, but we want bread every morning and evening
in our lives, so it is with Christ. There is no day in our lives
where we need his blood, his righteousness, his intercession,
and his grace. Well, may he be called the bread
of life. Now what does he mean here in
verse 35 when he says, that he that cometh to me shall never
hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. Now
this is a tremendous statement made by our Lord, and I believe
that he's speaking here in contrast to those that eat the bread in
the wilderness. And the fact that they ate this bread, they
had to have some more. They had to gather every day.
You see, in order to have that which would satisfy them and
sustain them. But our Lord here, implies that
when you come to Him, and you come to Him in faith, that you
have all that your soul needs, and you'll never hunger. Alright,
now I want to just make a comment here that I think will be good
for your souls. When our Lord says, shall never
hunger, and shall never thirst, he does not mean that a believer
on Christ shall no longer feel any want, or emptiness, or deficiency
within him. This would not be correct to
say. The best of believers will often cry like Saint Paul, O
wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this
death? The man who hungers and thirsts after righteousness is
blessed, Matthew 5, 6. What our Lord does mean is that
faith in Christ shall supply a man's soul with a peace and
satisfaction that shall never be entirely taken from him, that
shall endure forever. The man who eats and drinks material
food shall soon be hungry and thirsty as ever, but the man
who comes to Christ for faith gets hold of something that is
an everlasting possession, he shall never die of spiritual
famine and perish for want of soul nourishment. He may have
his low feelings at seasons, he may even lose his sense of
pardon and his enjoyment of his relationship with God. But once
in Christ by faith, he shall never be cast away and starved
in hell. He shall never die in his sins. I thought that was well put.
And I believe this morning that that's exactly what it means.
Isn't it wonderful, beloved, that those that are in the Lord
Jesus, that they have that possession. They have that which will enable
them to never hunger for a Savior. They shall never be thirsty again
for the water of life. Because they have it. They have
it in their possession. And they'll ever want it again.
Oh, for a trip to the Son of God. A trip by faith to Christ. How this will satisfy a man's
soul. But now Jesus in verse 36, But
I say unto you that you also have seen me, and believe not. What in the world could this
possibly mean? And what does our Lord say next?
He says to these men, But I said unto you that you also have seen
me, and believe not. You've seen me, and you know
their request in verse 30 was, they said therefore to him, what
sign showest thou then that we may see and believe thee? And then the Lord Jesus said,
you have, here in this verse, you've also seen me, and you
believe not. I tell you, listen, it was possible
that a man could look on Christ, could sit right in front of him
when he was preaching, and could look upon him, and could hear
his words, and he spake like no other man ever spake. He spake
with authority, not like the scribes and the Pharisees. And
yet, men could see him and listen to him preach, but yet not believe
on him. Yet not believe on him. Yet not
believe that he was truly the Son of God. I'll tell you, this
is something that we need to think about. Now our Lord, as
we said earlier, He knows all men, and He's fully acquainted
with men and their condition. And I want to try if I can to
explain what this 36th verse means here, because I really
believe that there is a tremendous truth set forth here that will
prepare your heart to receive what is said in verse 37. I think without that you will
not understand verse 37 and 38 and 39 and 40. Connecting link
with the preceding verse appears to be something of this kind.
I am quite aware that I speak in vain to many of you of that
bread of life and of believing. For I have said often and now
saying again that many of you have both seen me and my miracles
and yet do not believe. Nevertheless, I am not discouraged. I know in spite of your unbelief
that God has a people that will believe on me. In spite of your
unbelief, God has a people that will believe. The purpose of
God shall not be thwarted even though you do not believe. Now
that's what I would already say. You've seen the miracles that
I've done. You've looked upon them. You've even eaten the bread
that I turned, when I took the five barley loaves and the two
small fishes and turned them into enough bread for the multitude,
you ate. And you've seen the miracles,
you've not believed, but that's not going to thwart the eternal
purpose of God. God has a people and a plan,
and he's going to work it out. He's going to see to it that
it'll come to full fruition and completion. Now the unbelief
of human nature is painfully exhibited in this verse. How
unbelieving, that's the scandal of man, is that he can look in
Christ's face. I mean that one who came down
from heaven. that the bread of life, look
in his face and hear the tremendous words and the tremendous sermons
that flow forth from him and yet deny him and not believe
upon him. Now brethren, we need to be aware
of the extent of man's depravity. We need not in our own selves
be surprised when we see men actually turn away from the promises
of the gospel when we hear, as the invitation goes out, we hear
men and women refuse and reject the gospel of Christ and the
message of life in Him. No need to be surprised. No need
to be surprised. Our Lord wasn't surprised. He
could see exactly what was happening. He knew what was going on. And
he said, you've both seen me and you've heard what I've had
to say, but you haven't believed. You haven't believed on me. Alright,
and then that brings us to this 37th verse. And this is indeed
a tremendous verse of scripture. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. Now Jesus is saying, here you've
seen me and you've not believed on me. But all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. Now this of course introduces
to us the doctrine of God's elective grace. And there's no question
about that because I'm sure that anyone who would be honest with
this scripture here would say immediately that this is talking
about God's choice of His people. Now, I hold, and I trust you
firmly do, and believe the Bible to be a revelation from God.
And that the revelation of God's mind in this book, that is, it's
essentially and infallibly true. What God says as he reveals his
mind in this book is true. Now, brethren, when you can read
these verses and see exactly what they're saying, You can
see then that the doctrine of election is indeed a biblical
doctrine. It should not be a point with
you or I whether a doctrine is liked or disliked, whether it
is believed or disbelieved, but whether it is a doctrine according
to the word of God and whether it's a doctrine according to
godliness. Is the doctrine of election a
biblical doctrine? Truth has never been popular
in this world. Jesus Christ himself was not
popular on this earth. Truth never will be popular in
this world while men are influenced by sin, while they're influenced
by the enmity of the natural heart. Truth will never be popular. Now, brother and sister, you
cannot look anywhere in this world and find anyone who is
an ally of the truth of Almighty God except someone whose heart
has been touched and affected worked upon by divine grace.
Only those will say amen to God's truth. Now listen, perhaps no
doctrine has met with such bitter opposition as the doctrine of
God's elective grace. Do you know of any other doctrine
that has met such opposition from the world? It has been fearfully
misunderstood for a war of prayerful and independent study of the
Holy Scripture. or perhaps from a miserable misrepresentation
that had been given to it by so-called Bible teachers, preachers,
and theologians. It's been misrepresented. It
has been set forth and has been laughed at and ridiculed even
by those who claim to understand the deep mysteries of the Bible.
Now, we may oppose a doctrine which we cannot, with all of
our punitive efforts, dispose of. We may dispute in our blindness
and enmity a doctrine which we cannot refute. It is the duty,
and certainly it is the, I say it's the duty, it's the obligation
of every man or woman who claims to love the Bible and who claims
to believe the Bible to search the scriptures to know whether
or not this doctrine is a scriptural doctrine, the doctrine of election. Now I want to read a statement
made by Charles Hanson Spurgeon And this was from volume 19 of
his works. And here's a statement on election
that I want you to listen to and see if you agree with it.
I think it's good. There was a day before all came
into the record. Amen. The record is all that
the father has given me shall come to me. That's the record.
Now then, the Lord Jesus Christ has made a statement here, and
I think that probably you can't get the full impact maybe of
what is meant and what has really been said here by our Lord by
the English language, but in the Greek I understand that this
has reference not only just to persons, in other words, it's
not talking about just each one necessarily, but here's the literal
meaning of the Greek here. And it's that the Father given
shall come everything, the whole thing. It's not a masculine plural,
but a neuter singular. The idea is either that the whole
body, the company of my believing people shall come to me, or else
every single part of God. or member of my body shall come
to me, and not one shall be found missing at last. Everything,
the whole kit and caboodle, all that's involved in the eternal
purpose of God, through my redemptive work on my part of it, shall
finally be the possession of the Father. It shall come to
him. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. Now I believe this is a tremendous
scripture because it teaches us that the Father has had a
purpose and plan from all eternity that shall not be thwarted by
men's unbelief. That men are going to come to
the Lord Jesus Christ. There are some that are going
to come. They are going to come and they're going to partake
of this bread and they're going to live forever. They're going
to live forever. They're going to have everlasting
life. I hope there's some among you
this morning that have everlasting life. That you've come and you've
partaken of Christ and you have everlasting life. There's some
that are going to have it. Praise God. There's some that's
going to be raised up at the last. There's some that's never
going to be lost. There's some that throughout
eternity are going to live with Christ. They're going to be in
heaven. There's some men among Adam's father race that's going
to have this blessing. Glory to God, and I tell you
this is something that I believe that ought to grip every one
of our hearts. Jesus said, all that the Father giveth me shall
come to me. Now our coming to Christ is evidence of our election. It's evidence of our predestination.
It's a mark of our election. No man who has not come to Christ
can claim any part or lot in the life of grace. It's only
those who have come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now about this
coming to Christ, I think this is very important and I want
to say some things to you this morning. What does this mean?
When our Lord talks about, all that the Father has given me
shall come to me. Well, listen to what I have to
say here. What does coming mean? It means
that movement of the soul which takes place when a man feeling
his sins and finding out that he cannot save himself, hears
of Christ, applies to Christ, trusts in Christ, lays hold on
Christ, and leans with all of his weight on Christ for salvation. When this happens, a man is said
in scripture language to come to Christ. He's got to Christ. Now, I believe that this coming
to the Lord Jesus Christ, brethren, is equivalent I believe it is
equivalent to calling, or it's equivalent to regeneration. I think they're one and the same
thing. Now, those given to Christ, they
come to Him. They're taught of the Father,
but the Holy Spirit, no man can come to Me except the Spirit
draw him, and they're taught to Christ. Now, if you think
about the effectual call a little bit, now, I know that probably
not 9 out of every 10 church members in America can even hazard
a guess as to what the effectual call is. But listen to the things
I have to say. When a man is called by God,
the effectual call is equivalent to regeneration. In the chain
of divine events described or recorded in Romans 8.30, called
is used rather than regenerated. Christians are often denominated
the call in the Bible. But now here in Romans 8, let
me just read that to you, and you can see what I'm talking
about. It's in verse 30. More were whom he did predestinate,
them he also regenerated. And whom he regenerated, them
he also justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. Now this call of the Lord is
an internal call. It changes the governing disposition
of the soul. Man becomes willing and he comes
to Christ. Bancroft, the theologian, said
this, he defines the effectual call, by the effectual invitation
or call is meant that exercise of divine power upon the soul
immediately spiritual, supernatural, which communicates a new spiritual
life and thus makes a new mode of spiritual activity possible,
namely repentance. Faith, trust, hope, love are
purely and simply the sinner's own acts, but as such are possibly
and only in the virtue of the chains brought in the moral condition
of his faculties by the recreative power of God. And this is all
in the effectual call that God gives to man, and that's why
man comes. to Jesus Christ. It's the move
in the soul of the Spirit of God. It enables a man to come
to actually get to the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you actually gotten
to Christ? Have you? Have you really got
to Him? Have you actually eat His flesh? Have you been enabled
to drink His blood? Have you? If so, then you have
eternal life in you. If not, you don't have. If not,
you don't have. If you've got to get to Christ,
you've got to come to Him. The only people that's got life is
those that's come to Christ and have partaken by faith of Him. Alright, and then he goes on
to say in this 37th verse, Him that cometh to me I will in no
wise cast out. I will in no wise cast out. Well,
what does this mean? Well, let's talk about that just
a little bit. He said, I will in no wise cast him out. Well,
what does he mean by this? He meant that he will not refuse
to save anyone who comes to him, no matter what he may have been.
His past sins may be very great, his present weakness and infirmity
may be very great, but he does come to Christ by faith. Then
Christ will receive him graciously, pardon him freely, place him
in the number of his dear children, and give him everlasting life. These are blessed words, brethren.
These are blessed words. They have smoothed down many
a dying pillar, and they've calmed many a troubled conscience. Let
them sink down deeply into our memories and abide there continually,
because a day will come when flesh and heart shall fail, and
the world can help us no more. Happy shall we be in that day
if the Spirit witnesses with our spirit. That we have really
come to Christ, because if we've ever gotten to Christ, He will
in no wise cast us out. We shall never be cast out. Glory
to God, isn't that wonderful? What you are, you ought to be
cast out. What I am, I should never have
been received in the first place. But the Lord Jesus said, if you
can get to me, and if you can get to me, if you can come to
me, by the Father's teaching and the Spirit's drawing, then
He said, I will in no wise. Cast you out? I'll never cast
you out. You're mine, and you belong to me, and I won't cast
you out. Alright, and then this next verse,
he says here in verse 38, For I came down from heaven, not
to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent me. Now brethren,
I wonder this morning if you could ask or answer this question
if I was to ask you of it. Why did the Lord Jesus say this?
I came down from heaven not to do my own will, with the will
of him that sent me. Why did he say it? Why was it
our Lord mouthed these words? Why wasn't he included these
words to these unbelievers in this sermon? Well, I want to
tell you where I believe. In the first place, I believe
that our Lord spoke these words for our example, for our own
example. He said, I came down from heaven
not on any private business of my own. I didn't come down here
to engage in some activity other than the will of the triune God. I am God. I have no will but
the will of the Father. I have no will but the will of
God. My will is His will. I am one with God, and my will
is His will. That's why I'm here. I'm here
on official business. I'm here from the Father, and
I'm here to do His will. Now listen to me, friend. And
I make no apologies for this, I say this because I believe
it with all my heart, that anyone who is in union with the triune
God through faith, anyone who is in Christ, and anyone who
says, I am in Him, and He in me, I belong to Him, and my life
is in His hands, my soul is saved by Him and His work, listen to
me, this is for your example. You're to say the same thing
He said, He said, I came down from heaven not to do my own
will. I'm here to say I'm here in this world to do the will
of the Father. I'm here to do His will. I'm
not here on any private business of my own. To work out and to
accomplish the will of His Father was Christ's object in coming
into this world. I'm here to say whatever The
purpose of God is for me. I'm not here in this world to
do good. You say, oh, I thought we were here to do good. You
say, well, I thought we was here to win souls. I used to think
that. That's what we're here for, to win souls. I thought
we were here to do good. That's not it, brethren. We're
here to do the will of God, whatever that is. Whatever that involves,
whatever that is, for you in your personal life, you're here
to do the will of God. That's your business here in
this world. You don't have any other business. If you're torn
to Christ, accept the will of the Father. And it's up to you,
between you and God, to find out what that is for you. And
that's up to you. But I want to tell you something,
you don't have any license. to do anything other than the
will of God in your life. You don't have any license to
do anything other than that. Your life must, must be lived
to the will and purpose of God. You must serve the will of God
in your generation. The elect are God's witnesses
in the day He leaves them here in this world. That's what they're
here for. You're God's witness and God
will speak to this world through you or He'll not speak to this
world. He'll speak to this world through
the institution and made up out of those that He saved and put
there by the Spirit and He'll not say anything to this generation.
I'm telling you something this morning. The will of God, that's
what you live to serve. You say, I've got an idea about
that. I'm not interested in your idea about that. I'm interested
in whether or not you're doing the will of God. That's the thing
that you've got to be concerned about. Because when you live
out your days, if you've not done the will of God, you'll
not abide forever. The scripture says, Love not the world, leave
the things that are in the world. Amen. Love the world. The love
of the Father is not ending for all that's in the world. The
lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life
are not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world is passing
away, but they that will do the will of God shall abide forever.
It's not everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord, that's going
to enter the kingdom of God, but it's He that doeth the will
of my Father which is in heaven. You see, all these things are
tied together, brethren. Those that are in Christ and
are in union with Him have the same heart that Christ had. I come to do the will of the
Father. Lord, the volume of the book it is written to be of,
I come to do thy will, O God. I come to do thy will. So brethren,
is that in your heart? Is that in your heart? I say
the reason our Lord said this, He wouldn't have to say it. But
he did say it. The reason he said it, number
one, is for your example. That's exactly how you're to
live in this world. Number two, I believe he said
this in order to show that he was no average or savior and
that he did come into this world fully commissioned and that he
came into this world with the authority of the Father and that
he was truly the seal of the Father. He came with God's authority. So, whenever he saves a man and
forgives him of his sin, it's the Father that forgives. Now,
does this man have power on earth to forgive sins? He said, Thy
sins be forgiven thee. Several times in the scripture
has he ever said it to you. If he hadn't said it to you,
then your sins are not forgiven. But if he said, Thy sins be forgiven
thee, that's God. That's forgiven sins. on earth. This man had power, authority
to forgive sins on this earth. He had the authority to do that.
Because he was sent from God. He didn't come down here to do
his own way. And whenever a rebel is received into the bosom of
God, listen to me, that's God receiving that rebel. When he's
received by Christ, he's received by God. He's received by God
because Jesus never acts independent of the Father. He's here to do
the will of the Father. Now my time is getting away,
but you follow with me if you can. Jesus said in verse 39,
those are the two reasons I offer you. There are probably more,
but those are the two reasons. Number one, for your example,
He said these words in verse 38. Number two, to show that
He was fully commissioned and authority. behind this mission. I came down from heaven. I didn't
just come from heaven to give you some good advice. I came
down here and got involved in this mission. I came down to give
my life for ransom for me. I came down here. Went to Calvary's
cross and suffered there in blood and died to save you from your
sin. I got involved in this thing. You're going to have to get involved
in it if you're in me. You've got to get involved in
God's redemptive purpose. Somewhere or another, there's something
in there for you, brother. Something in there. Something in there
for God's people. I make no apology for that, brethren. Listen, let
me tell you something. If anybody says, that creature
is trying to push us in to doing something with our lives, I'm
telling you I am. I am trying to push you into
it. You've got to get involved in the redemptive purpose of
Almighty God. If you don't and are not involved
in it, you're not in Christ and you're not saved. You're not
a child of God. You've got to get involved in it. I'm not telling
you to go preach. I'm not telling you to go preach.
I'm just telling you, you've got to be wrapped up in this
business of serving Christ with all of your heart. Whatever that
involves for you, you've got to be wrapped up in it. You've
got to be wrapped up in it. Your life's got to be taken, consumed
by it. Passion for the will of God in
your life. All right then let's go on now
to the next verse. Verse 39. And this is the Paulist
will. This is the Paulist will. The
majesty of those words. This is it! You've been interested
in the Father's will, haven't you? This is it, Jesus said.
This is the Father's will. This is what I've come down here
to do. I like so much what Spurgeon said about that, I'm going to
read it to you, because I think it's tremendous. And I'd just
like for you to hear what he had to say about this is the
Father's will. He says, I say again, how grand
are these words. This is the Father's will. Oh
God, he says, I tremble at thy will until I read those lines. I know not what thy will may
be, and since I know it must be accomplished, I tower down
at thy feet in terror until I read that mercy is the Father's will. That love is the Father's will.
That salvation is the Father's will. And when my heart flies
into thy bosom with ecstasy and joy, to think that thine omnipotent,
unchangeable will should be such goodwill, so full of benevolence,
so full of love. Now brethren, listen then now
to what the Lord Jesus says. What is the Father's will which
is sent him into this world? That of all which he hath given
me, all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing. I should
lose nothing. Now brethren, what this means
is, as I explained there in verse 37, that the whole mass of those
that were given to the Son, the whole body, the whole family
that was given by the Father as a gracious gift unto the Son,
and the Son received, that they all shall be saved, that there
shall be nothing lost. of all this family, from the
strongest sheep to the very weakest sheep, all shall be saved, nothing
shall be lost. Now, I want you to look in John
17 if you will. And just look at this because
I want you to see how that Jesus, that this was a passion with
Him. That this thing stayed with Him.
This was not something that He just mentioned once or twice
and then forgot about. But brethren, this was very important
to Him. Look in verse 10 and 11 of John
17. And all mine are thine, And mine are mine, and I'm glorified
in them. And now I'm no more in the world,
but these are in the world. And I come to thee, Holy Father,
keep through thy own name those whom thou hast given me, that
they may be one as we are that they all might be one that we
might we might have this thing complete and finished but now
he goes on to say in verse 12 while I was with them in the
world I kept them in thy name those that thou gavest me I have
kept and none of them is lost none of them is lost but the
son of perdition Judas Iscariot and the scripture my people obey
none of them is lost Every one of them are safe. Every
one of them are secure. Every one of them belong to me.
Now, there was one other verse here. Verse 21 and 22, that they
all may be one as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that
thou also may be one in us. that the world may believe that
thou hast sent me, and the glory which thou gavest me I have given
them, that they may be one, even as we are one." Brethren, that's
talking about the unity of the believer with Christ, and that's
talking about all believers And there's another scripture here
that talks about them also I must bring. Let's see, I've forgotten
right now just where that is. I'll think of it in a minute.
I didn't write it down. But Jesus talked about those that he must
bring. That there are others. Those
I must bring. And they shall all be one. They
shall all be one. And so this is going to happen,
brethren. Just as sure as we're here together today, God's going
to have this Hold people together. Not one of them will be missing.
Every one of them will be there. Other sheep I have, which I must
frighten. I must frighten them. And they
shall be one. They will be one. We'll all be
one in the Lord Jesus Christ. Not one of them is lost. All
which gives me, I shall give to men. All, every part, every,
every, every part shall be a synonym. It all shall come. Every member
shall be in place. Not one. Now how do we know this
is going to happen? This is the Father's will. This
is His will. Your sovereignty is that. The
Father's will. You hear those words? This is
the Father's will. So my brother, I know it's going
to come to pass. And I can understand why the old Spurgeon said that. When the statement is made, this
is the Father's will, I'm interested in finding out what the Father's
will is. And that's why we power at His feet until we hear whether
or not it's a word of mercy. The Father's will is going to
be done. Whether you and I go to hell or whether we go to heaven,
the Father's will is going to be done. It's wonderful, isn't
it? The Father's will. involves some
salvage, mercy, forgiveness. Go ahead and sing that one. Praise
God again. But listen, there's more to it than that. I should
lose nothing, but you raise it up again. That's the last day. I'm going to raise it up again.
Now this is talking about security, brethren. Let's not dismiss words. Let's tell you, it's talking
about the preservation of men's souls, those that are in Christ.
And it shows you that they can never be lost, that they must
that they must, you see, finally enter into eternal glory. We
have in these words abundant comfort for all fearful and fainthearted
believers. Let such remember that if they
come to Christ by faith, they have been given to Christ by
the Father, and if given by the Father to Christ, it is the Father's
will that they should never be cast out Let them lean back on
this thought when cast down and disquieted. It is the Father's
will that I should not ever be lost. Now that will keep you brother.
That will keep your soul whenever things are flying off in this
world. As one fellow said, when all hell is popping on your pillow.
I mean it will help some whenever things are just, you know, you
can't get your thoughts together. If you just know, I've got the
Christ so I know I'll never be cast out. I'm His child and I
belong to Him. Alright, now let's go on then
and let's get on into the last part of this 39th verse. He says,
that of all which He has given me, I should lose none but should
raise it up again. at the last day. I'm going to
raise it up again at the last day. Did you ever think about
dying? Did you ever think about it? You're going to. You're going
to die. That's right. You're going to
die. Have you ever thought about it
much? Have you ever thought about them taking your, you see it
every once in a while in the newspaper, you see it on the
news, carrying these caskets. people over Northern Ireland
and other places, you see them holding the ground and letting
that casket down into the earth, down into the ground. Then you
see somebody take a little bit of the dirt and throw it in,
ashes to ashes, dust to dust, and so on and so forth. to await
the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Brother, sister,
let me tell you something. You're going to die one of these
days. You're going to die. Your body's going to be taken out and it's going to be
put into the earth. We're going to sow your body in the earth. You're going back.
And the earth must receive your body. And we know this is going
to happen. But brethren, listen to what
this first scripture says. This is your comfort. This is
your comfort in the lies of the truth and reality. And if there's
any one thing that's real, it's death. That's reality, man. That's reality. That's permanent.
That's reality. But listen to me. Jesus said
that I can raise it up again the last day. I lose nothing,
I'll raise it up again the last day. Every part of me. Everything except the Adamic
nature. And that's not losing anything, brother. That's not
losing anything. I'll tell you that. Bless God for everything
else. The Lord said it's going to be
mine. Your body is my purchased possession. I'm going to raise
it up. I'll raise it up. And it's going to come out of
that grave. Marvel not at this. The hour is coming when all that
are in the graves shall hear my voice. They that come forth
shall come forth out of the grave to the enjoyment of eternity,
to the everlasting voice of God. Every one of them that hear my
voice, they shall come forth. And so the Lord is going to raise
it up again the last day. Now you can read this again in verse
40 and you can read it several other times here in this chapter
about the fact that we're going to be raised up again the last
day. Now this is talking about the resurrection, Brethren. It's
what it's talking about. And even though the worms of
the earth refine this flesh that purifies, this body is coming
forth out of the grave and it's going to be with God forever
and ever. There will come a day when this whole body, renewed, when
this whole body, incorruptible, will meet My redeemed soul, and
I shall live in it throughout eternity. Now that's what I believe
the word about teaching. I believe in the resurrection
of the body out of the grave. And that's what Jesus said here.
I'm going to lose nothing, I'm going to raise it up at the last
day. At the last day I'm going to raise it up. Now, what has
he told us here? This is the Father's will. And
I'm going to have all these people. You go on and stand in unbelief
if you want to. You go on and murmur about me
being the bread of life if you want. But I'm going to have my
people. I'm going to have every one of
them. And I'm not going to lose a one of them. And when I stand
in glory, they're all going to be gathered around me there.
And everyone is going to be there. I'm not going to lose nothing.
I'm going to raise them everywhere because that's what I'm going
to do. You go on in your unbelief if you want to. You go on and
look at my face and just and just swept and say, I can't take
this that He said, I came down from heaven. How can He do that? Listen, for any human reason
will get you in trouble. You got to cast away all reason
and you just got to do what verse 4 says, let me get to it before
my time is gone completely. This is the will of Him to send
me. And everyone would see it the same. Now, somebody has said,
Well, you know, verse 39 reveals the divine side of salvation
and verse 40 reveals the human side of salvation. Somebody said
the truth lies in between the doctrine of sovereignty and the
doctrine of responsibility. That's not so. That's not so.
The truth lies in the doctrine of sovereignty and in the doctrine
of responsibility. Not in between the two of them.
Not in between them. Lies in the doctrines themselves.
I believe both in sovereignty and in responsibility. And what
does the Lord Jesus say? This is the will of Him that
sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son, not like you folks
have been seeing Him, not like these folks that have been seeing
Him here have described in the scripture, but a man who sees
Him as He's preached in the Word. Sees Christ as the bread of life. Sees Christ as the Lord Jesus
Christ. Sees Him as no other Savior but
The Savior commissioned of God to come and deliver souls. See Him as the souls need. See
Him as your Savior, your Deliverer, your Redeemer, your surety, your
substitute. Everyone which seeth the Son.
Now brother, I say you got to see the Son. And that's by the
Spirit. That's through the word of the
Spirit. You've got to see the sign. You've got to know what
He's about. You've got to know His Savior.
You've got to know His Lord. You've got to know His commission
of God. You've got to know these things. See the sign and you
see Him in the word. And believe upon Him. Believe
upon Him. Faith in the Son of God. Faith. Just say, well I can't figure
it out. Bridget, no you can't and I can't either. And we're
not supposed to. But somehow or other there's
something in my old heart this morning that said Jesus is the
son of God and he died for me. I just somehow or other believe
it in my soul. Somehow or other I'm convinced of it. Maybe a
woman's intuition that's just so. I mean it's just because.
Just because. And that's all they can say.
Just because. That's all. Well you just know it's so. Nobody
can take it away from you. Nobody don't do anybody any good
trying to sweep you out of it. You just know it's so. You just
believe on it. I just believe on God. That's
my comfort. That's my hope. That's my salvation.
I just believe on Him. I believe. Remember what I said
to you in verse 47? He that believeth on me, life hath everlasting
life. That's what Jesus is saying. What kind of life does Christ
have? Everlasting life. As the Living Father hath sent me, and
I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, even he shall live
by me. What kind of life he's got? What kind of life has Christ
got? Everlasting life. He that believeth on me hath
the same kind of life. Everlasting life. So he that
seeth the Son, and believeth on him, this is the will of him
that sent me, that he may have everlasting life. And I will raise him up at the
last day. The first resurrection, God raised
Him up. He's coming out of that grave,
and He's coming before the Father, and He's standing before me.
He's going to stand there, joy unspeakable and full of glory.
He's going to stand there before the Father without spot of rank
or any such thing. He's going to stand there, and
I shall present Him faultless before the presence of the Father
with His standing joy. Now brethren, if you was to go
ahead and make a study of the rest of this chapter, you would,
I'm sure, within the light of what we've said to you this morning,
you would be helped in your understanding of the rest of this chapter.
You would. But I want to show you what happened when our Lord
preached this sermon. I want to show you before we
close just what happened. You look over here, if you will,
in verse 66. Maybe I should read verse 64 and 65 and verse 66. I want to show you what happened
when our Lord preached this sermon. 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,
on the basis of the fact that I know, some of you don't believe. And I know who does believe and
who doesn't. He said, I unto you, no man can
come unto me except it were given to him of my father. Don't murmur
and strive about this thing. Verse 61, when Jesus knew it
himself, his disciples murmured. His disciples murmured. He said unto them, does this
offend you? Does it offend you that this thing is set up like
this? That even when men don't believe, And I'm still going
to have my children. That there's something going
to believe because the Father's going to teach them something. And they're going
to be regenerated. They're going to believe. Does
this offend you? Does this put you out of business? Does this make you feel bad?
Well now listen to verse 65. Therefore I say to you that no
man can come to me except if we're given to him of our Father.
Verse 66. From that time, many of his disciples
went back and walked no more. They said if this is the way
it is, we have won that day. We don't want nothing to do with
it. That's the way it is. Why I mean if this thing is based
on a divine decree and not based on the whims and fancies of my
own fleshly heart, I don't want nothing to do with this. I had
a man come to me one time, the first time I ever preached on
the doctrine of election. He came to me and he said this.
He said, if that's the way it is, this church don't need me.
And I said, well, I don't know if this church needs you or not,
but there's one thing I know, this is the way it is. It's what
the word of God says. And so many of the disciples
went back and they walked no more with him. And then Jesus
said to those twelve, that's all that's left, I'm done with
you. He said, well, you're also a
little late. And they said, well, we can't do that. No way we can
do that. Why we can't do that? Why? Because thou hast the words
of eternal life. The words you spoke to us, they're
spirit and life and they've affected us and saved us and we can't
go away. We know the Lord Jesus, we can't
do it. We believe in a sure, no question about it in our minds,
the power of Christ. The Son of the Living God, we
know it. We know it. Well, trust the Lord will give
it this morning and Sunday. remembrance of these things and
they'll be a lesson to you. Let's pray. Our Father, thank
Thee, Lord, for the privilege of preaching Thy word today and
for a great truth, such as we've been privileged to handle here.
And I just pray this morning, Father, that there be some lost
soul here that has been brought this morning to see and to believe
Oh Lord Jesus, they shall rejoice in the present possession of
everlasting life. And go out of here praising God,
that they by the Spirit have been taught to Christ, and that
they have gotten to live in their souls. And they're sure now that
they shall never be cast out, in spite of all there are and
what there are not. They shall never be cast out.
Thank you, blessed Lord, for this message. I pray with faith
for Jesus' sake and his glory. Amen. Amen.

The Bread Of Life

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The Bread Of Life

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