We are going to take a, I guess
I shouldn't call it a break from the Psalms, but we're going to
look for the next five weeks at the sermon the Lord brought
at Capernaum. And that is the passage on chapter
six that I personally have preached from more than any other passage
in the Bible. The Lord's sermon at Capernaum. Would you turn to John chapter
6. Verse 59. These things said he in the synagogue. As he taught in Capernaum. Let's pray. Lord, how we. Thank you for who
you are, how we thank you for your word. How we thank you for
your great salvation, how we thank you for the Lord Jesus
Christ, how we thank you for the freeness of your grace. How
we thank you for your glorious sovereignty, how we thank you
for your holiness, how we thank you for your righteousness. How
we thank you for the for the complete forgiveness of sins.
Now, Lord, we ask that you would take. Your word and bless it
to our heart. Lord, we pray for our nation,
we pray for the. Turmoil that's going on that
your will would be done as we know it will, but Lord, we pray
for your mercy toward us. May we be found in Christ, be
with all your people wherever they meet together, and accept
our thanksgiving. We're amazed at your revelation
of yourself to us, and we give thanks. Now bless us for Christ's
sake, in his name we pray, amen. In this sermon, We have the Lord's
teaching on how God saves sinners by his grace. And we have in
this one sermon what is known as the, for lack of a better
term, five points. the doctrine of grace, total
depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible
grace, perseverance of the saints. Now, that's known as a way of
doctrine, but it's the message of the Bible, as we're gonna
see, and it's the message of the Lord Jesus in this sixth
chapter of John. And like I said, I've never preached
from a passage any more than this passage in John chapter
six. Now, it begins with the feeding
of the 5,000. The Lord brought matter into
existence that was not in the universe before this. Who's the
only one who knew this? God. He brought matter into existence,
the feeding of the 5,000. And these same people who he fed by the end of this
particular message are going to say, verse 60, many therefore
of his disciples, when they had heard, they heard what was being
said. And I pray that you and I hear
what is being said. These people who were profess
disciples said, this is an hard saying, harsh, unsympathetic
toward humanity. That's what that means, sharp.
It's not something we want to hear. We shouldn't be expected
to hear such harsh teaching. And that's what he's calling,
harsh. And look what happened in verse 66, From that time, many of his disciples
went back and walked no more with him. Now, these were people
who had claimed to be his disciples, but after they heard this message,
they said, we're finished with this. And they walked no more
with him. Now, The Lord begins, and you can
read this, this is a long chapter, and you can read this on your
own, but in the first 13 verses, we have this miracle of the feeding
of the 5,000 with two barley loaves and five sardines. Don't
you love to think about that? And there was so much left over
that each disciple had a full basket of fragments left over
after he fed the 5,000. He does what only God can do. He creates matter. I love to
think about that. He creates matter. He makes food
that was not there before. And these people eat. Now here's
their response to this. Verse 14. Then those men, when
they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, this is of a
truth, that prophet, that you'd come into the world. Now, they
were right about that, weren't they? This was what they assumed. This is that prophet Moses spoke
of. But they demonstrated in this
next verse that they had no understanding of who he was, because verse
15 says, when Jesus therefore perceived
that they would come and take him by force to make him a king,
he departed. When men think there's something
they can do with him, he's leaving. You see, he already is king.
He already was king. You know, I've heard people say,
won't you make Jesus the Lord of your life? Oh no, you don't
make Jesus the Lord of your life. He is the Lord of your life,
whether you know it or not. He is the Lord. And when these
people think they can make him king, he departs. He's not going
to have anything to do with that kind of thinking. And then in
verses 15 through 21, he does something again that only God
can do. He walked on the water. He suspended the laws of physics. They're his laws anyway, and
he suspends them and he walks on the water during this raging
sea. This storm at sea, he's walking
on the water toward his disciples. And when he gets in the boat,
another miracle takes place. The storm ceases. What manner
of man is this that even the winds and the sea do obey him?
The storm ceases. And then another miracle takes
place. All of a sudden, the boat's on land. I mean, it says immediately. They were out in the middle of
the lake, and immediately, the boat's on land. And so these
things take place that demonstrate that Jesus Christ is God. I love saying that. Jesus is
God. The second person of the blessed
Trinity. In the beginning was the Word,
the Word was with God, and the Word was God. A distinct person,
he was with God, but he was God. And he demonstrated that by the
things that he did. Now, verse 22, let's pick up
there. Verse 22, the day following,
after these miraculous things took place, these are the same
people that had been fed by him. The day following, when the people
which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was
none other boat there, save the one where unto his disciples
were entered, and that Jesus went not in with his disciples
into the boat, but that his disciples were gone away, they didn't know
that he'd left that night before and walked on the water. They
said, he's not here. Where is he? We want something
else to eat. We want this free food. a good
situation to have him feeding us like this. We won't have to
work. It's all coming to us. Verse 24, when the people therefore
saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they also
took shipping, came to Capernaum seeking for Jesus. And when they had found him on
the other side of the sea in Capernaum, They said unto him,
Rabbi, when camest thou hither? And this is when the message
begins, this message at Capernaum. The Lord says, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, you seek me not because you saw
the miracles, but because you did eat of the loaves and were
filled. Now, when he says you seek me
not because you saw the miracles, what he's saying is the miracles
don't mean anything to you. That's not why you're seeking
me. You're not seeking me because of some conviction of who I am. You're seeking me because you
got your bellies filled. Now, number one, No one ever
believes by seeing a miracle. Never happened. If I could perform
miracles right now, you'd be impressed. You'd be impressed. But it wouldn't make you believe.
You see, faith is the gift of God. It doesn't come from sight. It comes from God giving you
faith and creating faith in your heart. That's the only way you
and I will ever believe. Not by seeing miracles. Why were they seeking the Lord?
Personal gain. A religion that's based upon
personal gain, how my life can be improved, how my standard
of living can go up, how I can become a better person to make
things better for me. A religion that's based upon
personal gain, personal improvement, is always wrong. That doesn't make sense to the
natural man. What are you talking about? A religion that's just trying
to improve my life is not of God. Now, I want to improve my
life, and you do too, but what this is all about is who is Jesus
Christ? That is the issue. Who is Jesus Christ? Let me say this, he's either
who he said he was, or he's the greatest imposter to ever live.
There's no in between. Let's go on reading verse 27. Now he says to these same people,
he says, you seek me not because you saw the miracles, because
you did eat of the loaves and were filled labor, not for that
meat, which perishes. But for that meat which endures
unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto
you. For him hath God the Father sealed. Now, he knew that these people
would leave him. They all left him except for
the 12. And he knew this. Yet he says to these people that
he knew would leave him. Don't labor for the meat which
perishes. Don't make that your life, but
you labor for that meat which endures to everlasting life,
which the Son of Man shall give unto you. Now, he says that to
these people he knew would leave him. He said, don't labor for
this perishing meat, the things of this life really. Don't make
that your main object. Labor for that meat which endures
to everlasting life. What would it profit you if you
gained the whole world and lost your soul? What if you got everything this
world had to offer and lost your soul? He says don't labor for
that. Labor for that meat which endures
to everlasting life. This life is not gonna last very
long. It's a very sobering thing to me to think I'm on the downhill
slide. I don't have much longer to live.
Maybe 20 years, maybe a year. I don't know. Well, same with
you, though. I don't care how young you are. But this life
is so transient. It goes by so quickly. And then
you and I are gonna stand before God in judgment. What's the one
thing needful? That's what the Lord is saying.
Don't labor for that meat that's gonna perish, but that which
endures to everlasting life. Now that's life, which I'll give
to you. You know, if you ask for everlasting
life, guess what? You're gonna get it. Don't anybody
say, well, God's refusing to save me. If you ask him to save
you, he will save you. If you ask him for mercy, he
will show mercy. Somebody says, I asked him, he
didn't show mercy to me. You didn't ask for mercy. You're
trying to bargain. If you come to God on the ground of pure,
free mercy, he never turns anyone away. Well, what if I'm not elect? You come on the grounds of pure,
free, sheer mercy, and he'll receive you. That's what the
Son of Man will give to you. For him hath God the Father sealed
or authenticated. And then in verse 28, then said
they unto him, After he made this statement,
labor not, work not for meat which perishes, but labor for
that meat which endures to everlasting life. All they heard was works. Now, that is what the natural
man hears. Works. No matter what said, unless
God gives me hearing ears and unless God gives you hearing
ears, all you will hear is, what do I need to do? You talk about
works, okay, tell me, what works do I need to perform? What do
I need to do? And that's how they responded
to what the Lord said. Then said they unto him, verse
28, what shall we do that we might work the works of God? The Philippian jailer asks, sirs,
what must I do to be saved? Isn't that the same thing? No. He didn't say, what work
do I need to do so I can save myself? He said, what must I
do to be saved? What must I do to I can't save
myself. That's established. I can't do
anything to save myself. I understand that. What must
I do to be saved? Now, these fellows were not asking
that question. They were saying, what must we
do that we might work the works of God, that we could perform
works that God would be pleased with, and that God would accept
us because of that, and we'd have plenty to eat? What must
we do that we might work the works of God. Now, what an important
question. And there is no more important
verse in the Bible. There's a lot of verses like
that, but this is one of those verses that there's no more important
verse in the Bible than this. Now, listen to the Lord's reply.
When they said, what must we do that we might work the works
of God? Verse 29, Jesus answered and
said unto them, this is the work of God, that you believe
on him whom he hath sent, period. I love that verse of scripture. Now, if you would ask the average
preacher What do I need to do to work the works of God? Well,
first you need to turn from your sin. You need to stop committing
those sins that you're committing. Now, would I argue against that?
No, we ought to stop any sin. But that's not what the Lord
says. Here's what I need to do. Here's what you need to do. You
need to read the Bible. You need to pray. You need to
get your life straightened out. You need to live in a way that
is pleasing to God. That's what you need to do. What
must I do to work the works of God? And then He'll give you
all kinds of works to do. Here's what you need to do. Did the
Lord answer that that way? That's the way a preacher would
answer it. Turn from your sins. You know, I don't want to sin,
but if somebody says, to be saved, you need to stop that sin, where
would that leave you? If you, if your salvation was
dependent upon you doing anything, you wouldn't be saved. But that's
not the way the Lord answers this question. I'm so thankful
for this. He says, this is the work of God. This is what, this
is God's work. This is what he does. It's his
work in you. This is the work of God that
you believe on him whom he hath sent. Now that means more than believing
in his existence, you realize that. But you think about the
simplicity of this statement, oh, that the Lord would give
me and you the grace to enter into what he says. This is the
work of God. This is his work. This is what
he does. And this is what you'll do if
he's doing something for you. You will believe on him whom
he hath sent. Don't miss that. We believe on
him whom he hath sent. You know what that means? That
means we believe he was before God sent him. He was before God sent him. Before God sent him, He was the
lamb slain from the foundation of the world before God ever
sent him. He was eternal God. He was the creator of the universe. Now we believe something with
regard to him before God sent him and we believe God sent him. What did he send him to do? Well,
he created the universe, Jesus Christ created the universe as
the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And he was sent
in time to be the lamb slain in time. God sent him to save. Look in John chapter three for
just a moment. Verse 17. For God sent not his Son into
the world to condemn the world. It already was condemned. Amen? It already was condemned. This
world we live in, because we're in it, it's a sinful place. And
notice I said because we're in it, not because of all those
bad Republicans or the bad Democrats, all the fighting that's going
on and the horrible thing that took place last night. Oh, this
world's such a bad place. And I was listening to one guy,
he said, well, we need to get God back in government. And I
thought, oh, what? Don't say things like that. I pray for the Lord's mercy on
our nation, on our world, but The world was already condemned.
It was condemned when Adam fell. And Christ didn't come to condemn
the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. What a glorious Savior. That's
why He came. Look in John chapter 6, on down
in this message, we'll consider these in the weeks to come, but
He says in verse 38, now remember He said you're to believe on
Him whom He has sent And look what he says, for I came down
from heaven. That's one of seven or eight
times that he says that in this message, I came down from heaven.
If I said I came down from heaven, he's crazy. Well, they thought
the same thing, but yet that's what he says. I came down from
heaven. I was in heaven before I ever
came down here. And 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 has sent me, that of all which he hath given me,
I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last
day. Now here's the will of him that
sent me, that all he's given me. The elect. I will not lose one. Now, if
Christ died for me and I'd end up going to hell anyway, I'd
lose a lot. Oh, I'd lose a lot. But he would
lose more. That would mean he failed in
what the father sent him to do for him to come to pay for my
sins and me end up in hell anyway. Yes, I'd lose. He'd lose more. He'd lose his honor and his glory
as the successful savior of sinners. And then he says in verse 40,
and this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone would
see it, the son and believeth on him. You see who he is. And if you ever see who he is,
you know what you'll do? You'll believe. You see who he is. Everybody who sees who he is
believes without exception. That's what faith is. It's believing
who he is. Whoso believeth that Jesus is
the Christ is born of God. Faith is believing who he is.
Now, I'm not asking, do you believe you're saved? I'm not asking
that. Do you believe you're a Christian? Do you believe you're born again?
That's not the issue. Do you believe who he is? And do you believe the father
sent him? Do you believe that? This is the work of God that
you believe on him whom he hath sent. You believe the Father sent him,
and you believe he did what the Father sent him to do. Now, do
you believe that? Beloved, that's what faith is.
It's believing who he is. and it's relying upon who he
is, and it's all that's needed to make you perfectly accepted
on judgment day. I want you to think of that thought. Because of who he is, what he
did is incapable failure, and I must be accepted because of
what he did. I love the way Paul put it. I
know whom I have believed. I know who he is. He's God. He's
incapable of failure. He's almighty. He's perfect. He's glorious. He's the creator. I know whom I have believed.
He's man. He's the God man. God sent him
to save his people from their sins. I know whom I have believed
and I am persuaded. Who persuaded you, Paul? God
did. If God persuades you, you'll be persuaded. When he said, I've
been persuaded. You know when you're persuaded,
when God persuades you, you'll be persuaded. Not before then,
but you will be when he persuades you. I am persuaded that he is
able to keep that which I've committed to him. Paul, what
have you committed to him? All my eggs are in this basket. If he didn't do it all, I won't
be saved. But I have committed all my salvation
to him. I'm looking to him only. If he
didn't do it all, there's no hope for me. But I am persuaded
he's able. And this is the work of God.
This is where this message really begins. This is the work of God
that you, Believe on him whom he hath sent. Now, God commands
you to believe. And your right to believe is
because he commands you. This is the work of God. This
is what he does, that you believe on him whom he hath sent.