At Todd's Road Grace Church,
we'd like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Niver. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. In John chapter 6, verse 59,
we read, These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught
in Capernaum. Many, therefore, of his disciples,
when they had heard this, when they heard what he was saying,
said, This is an hard saying. Who can hear it?" That was their
response to the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, they
claim to be His disciples, but they say after hearing this message,
this is a hard saying. Who can hear it? Let me read
the amplified version of this 60th When His disciples heard
this, many of them said, this is a hard and difficult and strange
saying, an offensive and unbearable message. Who can stand to hear
it? Who can be expected to listen
to such teaching? And the Lord replied to them,
In verse 61, when Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples
murmured at it, He said unto them, Doth this offend you? Are you offended, angry with
what I said? Do you find what I said scandalous? This is actually where we get
the word scandal from. Do you find this message scandalous? Now, I want to ask you a question.
When is the last time you heard a message from a preacher that
you were offended by, that you were angered by? Now, I'm not talking about offensive
behavior. You know, a man can be speaking
and he can come out in such a self-righteous, arrogant, condescending way that
you'd be offended by anything he said just because of his offensive
behavior. I'm not talking about being offended
by someone's offensive behavior. I'm talking about being offended
by the actual content of the message, by the things that were
said. These things said he. in the
synagogue while he taught at Capernaum. Now, what was it that
he said that these people were so offended by? As a matter of
fact, when you go on reading, when he finished speaking with
them in verse 66, from that time, many of his disciples went back
and walked no more with him. They left him. They apostatized. They said, we don't want this
anymore. Now, what did he say that these
people found so offensive? Now, first, who's the audience?
In John chapter 6 is where the Lord created food that was not
there before and fed 5,000 people. These are the people who left
him, the people that he fed. He demonstrated that he was God.
He did what only God can do. He brought matter into existence
that was not there before. Only God can do that. And He
fed 5,000 people with five biscuits and two sardines. He demonstrated
who He was. Now, the people were very happy
about this. They were happy to be fed, and
so we read in John 6, verse 14, those men that had seen this
miracle and had been fed, when they had seen that Jesus did
this, they said, this is of the truth, that prophet that should
come into the world. They thought He was somebody
special because He was able to feed them this way. So what did
they do? When Jesus, therefore, perceived
that they would come and take Him by force to make Him He departed
into a mountain Himself alone. Now, the Lord was not going to
allow these people to make Him king. You know why? He already
was king. He's the King of kings and the
Lord of lords, and you don't make Him king. I've heard preachers
say, make Jesus the Lord of your life. He is your Lord. Whether
you acknowledge it or not, you and I are in His hands, and our
eternal destiny is in His hands. It's up to Him as to whether
or not you and I will be saved. Do you know that's who the Lord
is? You don't make him Lord. He is the Lord. And so where
anybody thinks, well, we're gonna make him king. They thought we
can really benefit from this. If he's the king, we'll have
food provided every day. He can create food and give it
to us. What a king that would be. So
they tried to make him king and he left and he departed himself
alone. Now, during this time, his disciples
went back across the sea and he once again demonstrated that
he is the king, that he is God, by rescinding the laws of physics
and walking on the water. He walked on the water to reach
the other side. Or he got in the boat with his
disciples, but he walked on the water to get there. He's demonstrating
at this time that he's God. These people see this. Now, when
he got on the other side, the people who were fed came to him
because they wanted to be fed again. We read beginning in verse
25, and when they'd found him on the other side of the sea,
these people who were fed and got their bellies filled, they
said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither? Jesus answered them
and said, Verily I say unto you, you seek me not because you saw
the miracles, not because of any conviction on your part of
who I am, the God-man, the Son of God, the only Savior of sinners. You're not seeking me because
of who I am, but because you did eat of the loaves and were
filled. The only reason you're seeking me is because you've
got your bellies filled. Labor not for the meat which
perishes, but for the meat which endures unto everlasting life,
which the Son of Man shall give unto you, for him hath God the
Father sealed. He said, don't labor just to have your bellies
filled. Don't labor for things of this
earth. Seek to know me. Seek to have
eternal life that I'll give you. That's what to labor after. And
all they heard was works when he said this. So they said in
verse 28, then said they unto him, what shall we do that we
might work the works of God? You talk about laboring. Well,
give us some works to do. What can we do that we might
work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto
them, this is the work of God. Not one of the works, this is
the work of God, that you believe on him whom he hath sent. Now he shuts these people up
to faith in himself. This is the work of God, that
you believe on him whom he hath sent." Now, three times in the
course of this message, we're going to see those, he said,
I came down from heaven. I came down from heaven not to
do my own will, but the will of him which sent me. That's
what he says in verse 38. Now, to believe on him whom he
has sent, we believe he was before he was sent. We believe in His
eternal existence as God the Son. We believe that the Father
sent Him. And we believe that He did what
the Father sent Him to do. We know what the Father sent
Him to do from the very first page of the New Testament, Matthew
chapter 1 verse 21, Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. That's what the Father sent Him
to do, and we rely completely on Him in every respect to save
us from our sins. I can't save myself. He must
do it all. And I love, after He said, this
is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom He has sent.
You know what came after that? A period. a period. That's it. Now, look at their
response, verse 30. They said therefore unto him,
what sign showest thou then that we may see and believe? What
dost thou work? Our fathers did eat manna in
the desert. As it's written, he gave them bread from heaven
to eat. Now they bring up the manna coming down, and they say
Moses gave us that manna. Can you feed us again? All they
were interested of at this time was having their bellies filled
once again. This is a free source of food. We'll have a maid if
we can just get him to continually feed us. Verse 32, then Jesus
said unto them, Verily I say unto you, Moses gave you not
that bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread
from heaven. For the bread of God is he which
cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Now they didn't understand that
he was speaking by way of metaphor, and they thought, we want this
bread. All they could hear was physical
bread. And then said they unto him,
Lord evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am
the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." Now,
coming to Christ and believing on Christ are the precise same
thing. If you look to Him as your salvation,
you'll never hunger and thirst for anything else. You'll be
completely satisfied to be saved by Him. Now listen to this scripture. dwelleth all the fullness of
the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him. Nothing else is needed, nothing
to hunger for, nothing to thirst for. You are complete, nothing
lacking in Him. I find such satisfaction in that.
Now anyone who comes to Christ and believes on Christ for everything
in their salvation, they're not going to hunger. and they're
not going to thirst. But look what the Lord goes on
to say, but I said unto you that you've seen me and believe not. You've seen me do miracles that
only God could do. And you still do not believe. But he says in verse 37, it's
almost like he says, that's not a discouragement to me. All that
the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out." Who are these people? All that
the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out. Who are these people? These people
are the elect of God. He said in John chapter 17, verse
two, thou has given him power over all flesh that he should
give eternal life to as many as thou has given him. He said
in John 17, nine, I pray for them. I pray not for the world,
but for them, which you have given me. He said to his disciples,
you have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. John 15, verse 16. Now, election. It's not hard
to understand. It may be hard to receive, but
it's not hard to understand. God chose who would be saved
before the world began. Ephesians 1, verse 4 says, "...according
as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world."
That we should be holy and without blame. before Him. Romans 9 and
11 says, for the children, being not yet born, talking about Jacob
and Esau, in the same womb, same mom and dad, for the children,
being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God, according to election, might stand, not of
works. That's God's purpose, according
to election, that salvation might not be of works. It was said
unto her, The elder shall serve the younger, as it's written,
Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated." Now remember,
God's hatred is not like our hatred. His hatred is according
to holiness and righteousness and justice. Esau deserved the
hatred of God. He didn't think God was worth
a bowl of soup. He traded his birthright for a bowl of soup.
That's how little he thought of God. But Jacob, aren't you
amazed that God loved Jacob? Jacob was such a deceitful, weak,
sinful man, and yet God says, Jacob have I loved. Now the point behind election,
all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. Who comes to
Christ? Those the Father gave him. And every single one of
them are going to come to Christ and find they're all in him.
The point behind election is twofold. Number one, election
is nothing less than God being God. God controls everything
and everybody. And if I'm saved, it's because
he saved me. And the point of election is
this, salvation really is all of grace. How wonderful. The children being not yet born,
neither having done any good or evil. I don't care how evil
you are. That can't prevent God from saving
you, because salvation is by grace. And if you think you have
good works to recommend you, wrong. Your works have nothing
to do with salvation. The purpose of God according
to election is that salvation might be all of grace. Now let's go on reading with
what he said. He said in verse 38, for I came down from heaven,
not to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent me." And
this is the Father's will which has sent me, that of all which
he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up again
at the last day." Now, here we have Christ saying, I came to
represent those the Father gave me, and I won't lose one single
one of them. Everybody that Christ died for
must be saved. He said, I'm not gonna lose One
of them. Now, somebody may be thinking
the implication of that is that Christ didn't die for everybody.
The implication of that is that Christ didn't die for every human
being to ever live. Well, you didn't hear right if
you found that to be an implication. It's not an implication. It's
just so. Christ died for the elect. He said, I lay down my
life for the sheep, not for the goats, for the sheep. But here's
the point. Please listen carefully. If Christ
died for the sins of all men, and some of those men that He
died for are in hell, two things are true. Number one, you've
taken away the only hope I have, because the only hope I have
of being in heaven is that Christ died for me. I'm not hoping in
anything else. My hope is that Christ died for
me and put away my sins and represented me. And if you tell me that he
can die for somebody and they can wind up in hell anyway, I
know that's where I'll be. You've taken away my only hope.
And somebody that says Jesus Christ paid for the sins of all
men without exception, what they're saying is the blood of Christ
is meaningless. He can die for you and you might
wind up in hell anyway. The blood of Christ doesn't save,
it's what you do with it. The blood of Christ alone, Christ
alone does not save, but there's something you need to do in order
to make what he did work for you. And all that is is salvation
by works. He said, I came to save my people,
and I'm not going to lose one of them. Now listen real carefully. Christ died for the elect. And
to say that he died for all men without exception is to not preach
the gospel. To deny God's electing grace
before time began is to not preach the gospel. That's how serious
this is. Now let's go on reading. Verse
40, and this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which
seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life,
and I'll raise him up at the last day. Now, it is God's will for me to save
all the elect, and it's God's will for everyone who sees me
to have everlasting life. You see, salvation is seeing
him. If you see him, who He really
is. If God reveals Him to you and
you see He is God the Son, you know what you're going to do?
You're going to believe on Him. You won't have any choice. You
see Him, you believe. You see that there's nowhere
else to look, and you'll have everlasting life. Now in verse
41, the Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I'm the
bread which came down from heaven. And they said, is not this Jesus,
the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it
then that he saith, I came down from heaven? Jesus therefore
answered and said unto them, murmur not among yourselves.
No man can come to me, except the Father which has sent me
draw him. And I'll raise him up at the
last day." Now, do you hear what the Lord said? He said, no man
has the ability to come to Me, except the Father which was sent
Me draw him, draw him irresistibly and invincibly by His grace.
What that means is, If the Lord leaves me and you alone, all
he's got to do is leave us to ourselves, and we'll never come
to him, and we'll die in our sins. Why? Because men by nature,
by choice, and by practice are dead in trespasses and sins. You know, there's no such thing
as men being saved by their free will. They're dead. They're dead. Their will is controlled by a
nature that's evil. God doesn't have a free will.
His will is controlled by His nature. He can't sin. He can't
freely decide to lie, can He? Because He's God. His will is
controlled by His nature. There's no such thing as free
will in the first place, but the very idea of God doing all
He can do and now it's up to an act of your will as to whether
or not you'll be saved is blasphemous. It's just not so. The Lord said,
no man can come to Me. He lacks the ability to come
to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him." Verse
45, it's written in the prophets, and they shall be all taught
of God. Every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned of
the Father cometh unto me. Now here, he's talking about
the people who do come. Well, it's the people God elected,
it's the people Christ died for, and it's the people who are taught
invincibly and irresistibly by God. This is talking about the
new birth. They all come. This is the grace
of the Holy Spirit giving them a new heart. They all come to
the Lord Jesus Christ, every single one of them without exception. Verse 46, not that any man has
seen the Father, save he which is of God. He had seen the Father. Verily I say unto you, he that
believeth on me hath everlasting life." Not temporary life, but
everlasting life. All those the Father elected,
all those the Son redeemed, all those God the Holy Spirit gave
the new birth to, every single one of them will persevere all
the way to the end. by feeding on Christ. He said,
except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, in the same chapter
a few verses down, except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man
and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Now that's not
talking about cannibalism, nor is it talking about the Catholic
mass. The flesh of Christ is His perfect
life. The blood of Christ is His death. My only righteousness is His
righteousness. My only sin payment is His blood,
and I can't live on anything else. That's all I can live on.
Now, we read in verse 58, this is that bread which came down
from heaven, not as your fathers did eat man and are dead. He
that eateth of this bread shall live forever. He shall live eternally. These things said He in the synagogue
as He taught in Capernaum. Now, there was His message. That
was his message. Many, therefore, of his disciples,
when they had heard this, said, this is a hard saying. Who can
hear this? Who can be expected to listen
to stuff like this? They didn't like what they heard. They understood it. They understood
exactly what he was saying, and that's why they were so angry.
Who can be expected to listen to this? Verse 61. When Jesus
knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto
them, Does this offend you? Are you offended by the fact
that you're shut up to faith in me? Are you offended by the
fact that God chose who would be saved before time began? Are
you offended by the fact that I came to die for the elect and
accomplish their salvation? Are you offended by the fact
that No man can come to me. You don't have the ability to
come to me. You're dead in sins unless God does something for
you. Do you find that offensive? Do you find it offensive that
all who are taught of God will come to me? Do you find it offensive
that I am eternal life? Are you offended by this? Now
he says in verse 62, what and if you shall see the Son of Man
ascend up where it was before? He said if you're offended now,
you'll really be offended then. When you see me ascend back to
the right hand of the Father ruling and reigning in absolute
control, you're offended now, you'll really be offended then.
It's the Spirit that quickens. God the Holy Spirit that gives
life, the flesh profits nothing, the words that I speak unto you,
they're spirit and they are life. You call them hard sayings, they're
spirit and they are life. And every believer finds these
words to be spirit and life. Now it says in verse 64, 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." You see, He's omniscient. He knows everything. He knew
from the beginning exactly what was going to take place. So He
repeats Himself in verse 65. He said, "...therefore said I
unto you that no man can come to Me, except it were given to
him of My Father." You're murmuring at what you're hearing. You don't
like these words. Well, here's why. You can't come. You can't
believe unless it were given to you of God. Verse 66, from
that time, many of his disciples went back. They said, we're not
going this direction. And they walked no more with
him. Now that proves that they were
not true disciples. The Lord said, if you continue
in my word. These people didn't continue
in his word. If you continue in my word, then
are you my disciples indeed. Now, as the Lord watched these
people leave. He didn't say, let me try to
restate this in such a way as you'll understand may be clear.
No, he knew exactly what they were doing. They heard the truth
and they didn't want to have anything to do with it. All 5,000
who were fed miraculously left, and the only ones left were the
12. Then said Jesus unto the 12,
will you also go away? You can go with them if that's
what you desire. The Lord's not going to have any unwilling disciples.
Will you also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him,
Lord, to whom shall we go? It's not
like we have any options. Thou hast the words of eternal
life. These sayings that they are saying
are hard sayings, difficult to receive. They're words of life
to us. Not hard saying, but words of
life. And we believe and are sure that
thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. We believe
that and we're sure of it. Now, I love the Lord's response
after he hears this confession of Peter. Then answered, Jesus
answered them, have not I chosen you twelve? He didn't say, boy,
I'm glad you all felt that way. He said, the reason you felt
that way is because I chose you to. Had not I chosen you, 12,
and one of you is a devil? He spake of Judas Iscariot, the
son of Simon, for it was he that should betray him, being one
of the 12. So he said, I realize one of you are going to betray
me. That's all part of God's purpose, too. But the reason
you believe is because I chose you to believe. Oh, these are
hard words. They're words of eternal life.
This is Todd Kniper, praying that God will be pleased to make
Himself known to you.