John chapter 6. I want to talk
to you for a little bit today about true saving faith. True saving faith. The Word of
God says without faith, it is impossible to please God. From verse 35, I want to look
down to verse 40 in John chapter 6, and we'll see just how precious
faith really is. Now, I'm entitling the message
from what the Lord says in verse 39. You see verse 39 in John
chapter 6. Let's read this verse one more
time. And this is the Father's will which has sent me, that,
here it is, that of all which He hath given me, I should lose
nothing, but raise it up at the last day. So I'm entitling the
message, Nothing Lost. Nothing Lost. The Lord Jesus
Christ will not lose one of those sheep given to Him in that blessed
covenant of grace. The Lord Jesus Christ makes His
most magnificent and true statement, absolute truth, of His complete
success. His glorious victory in putting
away the sin of God's covenant people and establishing a perfect,
justifying righteousness for them. Not one sheep of Christ
will be lost. He'll bring them all home to
glory. I love that verse found in Isaiah
42 where it says the Lord Jesus Christ The servant of God, the
elect of God, cannot fail. Cannot fail. All that the Father
has given Him to do, all God's eternal purpose in redeeming
sinners and accomplishing salvation, He cannot fail in any aspect
of His priestly work. Now, notice, let's begin at verse
35 in John chapter 6. The Lord clearly and plainly
defines himself as the great I Am. I Am that I Am. The same I Am that spoke from
that burning bush. Speaking unto Moses, I Am the
bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger. Now get a hold of that. It didn't
say, he that comes to the church, he who comes to the front, he
who comes to the baptistry pool, he that cometh to me, the Lord
said, I am the bread of life, shall never hunger. He that believeth on me shall
never, that's a pretty big word, isn't it? Never hunger, never
thirst. Now, in these verses and following,
We see some of the blessed truths of saving faith. Saving faith. Talking about the faith of God's
elect. Believing God, trusting and believing
with certain expectation of hope. The Lord declares here in verse
35 that He is exactly what every sinner needs. What does every
sinner need? The Lord Jesus Christ. He's exactly
what we need and He uses something that we can all identify with.
Bread. Bread. We all need daily bread,
don't we? The Lord Jesus Christ is exactly
what every sinner needs. He is the bread of life. The bread of life. Now notice
if you will in John chapter 6 verse 50, this whole chapter, the latter
part of this chapter has a lot to say about this bread from
heaven. Look in John chapter 6 verse 50, this is the bread
which cometh down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and
not die. Now this is not that physical,
natural bread. This is that spiritual bread
that comes from God. What is this bread? Well, it's
Christ Himself. Look at verse 51. I am the living
bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread,
he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give
is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world, a
whole bunch of sinners. Look at verse 58 in the same
chapter. This is that bread which came
down from heaven, not as your fathers did eat manna and are
dead. He that eateth of this bread, Lord give me this bread,
whosoever eateth of this bread shall live forever and ever. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. He that hath the Son hath life.
He that hath not the Son of God hath not life. Salvation, my
friend, is in a person. Not in a church. Not in a denomination. Salvation is in a person. The
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, in verse 35, we see something
of a true character of faith. Look what it says. The Lord declares,
I'm the bread. I'm the way. I'm the truth. I'm
the life. He's everything in salvation. He that cometh to
me, to me shall never hunger. He that believeth on me shall
never thirst. Now here's a true character of
faith. Those in need, those who know themselves to be sinners,
those in need of mercy, they come to the throne of mercy. Those in need of forgiveness
come to the one in whom forgiveness is found. Those in need of salvation,
they come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who hunger after salvation
come to the Lord Jesus Christ for fulfillment. The Lord Jesus
Christ satisfies our hunger. Now we've all had that craving
and hunger, naturally speaking. Have you ever tried to lose weight?
I think everybody here has tried to lose weight. Man, it's one
of the most difficult things. Just stop eating. Pretty hard,
isn't it? What drives you to eat? Hunger. Hunger. You've got gnawing in
your gut. It drives you to the bread. My friend, we'll never truly
seek salvation where it's found until God creates that hunger,
that need down in our heart that we might come to the Lord Jesus
Christ to be filled. Those who are thirsty, come to
the Lord Jesus Christ for refreshment. Have you ever been really thirsty?
What do you seek when you're thirsty, naturally speaking?
Water. Water. Give me water. Nothing
quenches thirst like water. Water. Water. You know, the Lord
Jesus Christ is that living water, that pure river of water proceeding
out of the throne of God that we might drink thereof. Look
what it says over here in John chapter 7 verse 37 about this
water. John 7 verse 37, In that great
day, that last day, the great day of the feast, the Lord Jesus
stood and cried, If any man thirst, here's his same message, If any
man thirsty, let him come unto me and drink. Now come to Christ
and drink. Isaiah 55, you remember the scripture
there where our Lord said, Ho, everyone that is thirsty, come
ye to the waters. Come ye to the waters. He's the
water of life. And that is the true character
of faith. The true character of faith,
come to the Lord Jesus Christ continually. True faith is not
an isolated act. True faith continually comes
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now notice in verse John 6.35
how that's written. It doesn't say, He that came
or will come. It says, He that cometh, cometh,
cometh, cometh. It's a continually coming to
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now let me show you scripture
over here in 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter 2. So I'm saying
that faith is not some isolated act of the past. True faith,
the saving faith of God's elect is an ongoing living principle
in our heart. We continually come to the Lord
Jesus Christ. I'm not talking about a physical
move. We come to Him by faith, looking
unto Him. Now find 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter
2. Let me show you something here
interesting. 1 Peter chapter 2. Look at verse 2. 1 Peter 2.2.
He says, as newborn babes, now what to you mothers who've had
children when you nurse your baby? Now, I'm looking at this from
a father's perspective, but this is what I noticed. When we had our three children
and when the baby first started to nurse, it's not something
that we had to teach the baby to do. I mean, as soon as they
get close to mama, they want to eat. They have a desire for
milk, for nourishment, for satisfaction. And you know, they continually
come. The newborn baby just continually comes and comes. Look what it
says. 1 Peter 2.2, As newborn babe,
desire the sincere milk of the word that you might grow thereby.
If so be you tasted that the Lord is gracious. Now look at
verse 4. To whom coming? To whom coming? To whom coming?
as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of
God, and precious." You see, saving faith continually comes
to the Lord Jesus Christ. True saving faith always looks
to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. It says in Hebrews
chapter 12, looking unto Jesus, the Lord Jesus looking unto Him,
who is the author and finisher of our faith. You see, true saving
faith has an object. True saving faith doesn't look
in here. True saving faith doesn't look
back here. True saving faith doesn't look to a feeling or
experience or emotion. True saving faith looks to the
Lord Jesus Christ, looking unto Him who is the author and finisher
of our faith. Something else about true saving
faith. True saving faith is always satisfied
with the Lord Jesus Christ. Shall never hunger, shall never
thirst. True saving faith is always satisfied
with the blessed person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
someone might ask this question. Well, is He enough? Is the Lord
Jesus Christ enough in salvation? If He's all you've got, You've
got everything that God requires. You've got everything that God
has provided. If you have the Lord Jesus Christ
by saving faith, you have everything that God Almighty has provided. My God shall supply all your
need according to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus.
And listen to this, only that which God provides. He's called
Jehovah-Jireh, remember? Genesis 22, the Lord will provide.
Only that which He provides will He accept. We're accepted in
the Beloved. True saving faith always comes
to Christ, always looks to the Lord Jesus Christ. True saving
faith always rests in Him. Now, can He take care of us?
Can He take care of His sheep? You know in scripture he's called,
in Psalm 23 he's called, David said, the Lord is my shepherd. Now who? The Lord. The Lord who is God Almighty.
The Lord is my shepherd and therefore I shall not want. He's not only
called the Lord our shepherd, do you know he's also called
the good shepherd of the sheep in John chapter 10? He said,
I'm the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His
life for His sheep. He's also called the Great Shepherd
of the sheep. The God of peace that brought
again from the dead the Lord Jesus Christ. The Great Shepherd
of the sheep. He will make you perfect in Him. And He's called the Chief Shepherd.
Now my friend, you'll never make a mistake, you'll never go wrong
trusting all of your salvation, all of your righteousness, all
of the putting away of your sin, you'll never go wrong by trusting
it all unto the Lord Jesus Christ. You know what it says in Colossians
chapter 3? You know what it says? Christ
is all and in all. You got verse 35, the Lord said,
I am the bread. I am the bread, the one the bread
provided from God Almighty. He that comes to Christ shall
never hunger. He that believes on Christ shall
never thirst. Lord, draw me, draw me, that
I might come. Now look at verse 36. The Lord,
now speaking of this religious crowd, this crowd who had just
been fed, this crowd of over 5,000, some people think 10,000
people, whom the Lord provided that free meal, He said to this
crowd, that you also have seen Me talking." They saw this man
Christ Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth. They saw Him with this natural
eye, and look what He says. You believe not. You believe
not. Look over at this same chapter,
look at verse 64. You believe not. Our Lord said,
there are some of you that believe not. For the Lord knew from the
beginning who they were that believed not, and who should
betray Him." Something else we'll see about true saving faith.
True faith is not born of natural sight. These folks saw the Lord
and were impressed for a while. But the Lord clearly says, you
do not believe Me. And they proved that they did
not believe Him. When it says over here in verse
60, they finally said to Him, this is a hard saying, who can
hear it? And then down in verse 66, look
over there, John 6 verse 66, from that time many of His disciples
went back and walked no more with Him. You see, true saving faith perseveres
in the faith. True saving faith does not walk
off. does not quit. Truth-saving faith
perseveres. As Peter said, Lord, to whom
shall we go? You have the words of eternal
life. We believe and we are sure that you're that Christ. We can't
leave you. You're salvation. You're everything
to us. So truth-saving faith is not
born of natural sight. Truth-saving faith is a gift
of God. Truth-saving faith perseveres.
We can put it this way, truth-saving faith It's supernatural. It's supernatural. If you're
a believer, resting in the Lord Jesus Christ for all of salvation,
you do so because He granted and gave you faith in Him. Faith is a gift of God, not of
works, if any man should boast. Faith is not born of the flesh.
Only thing this flesh produces, this carnal, fallen, sinful nature,
the only thing this flesh produces is unbelief and sin. Believing
God is the work of God. Believing the gospel is the work
of God. Let me show you that. In the
same chapter, John chapter 6, Luke verse 29. And this is the
work of God. This is the work of God. That
you believe on Him whom He had sent. It's the operation of God.
If you're a believer, you do so according to the working of
His mighty power. It's not something that you figured
out. It's not something that springs
up in your flesh naturally. True faith is the operation of
God in your heart. God who has begun a good work
in you. In you. Let me show you another
scripture on that. Find Philippians over here. Philippians
chapter 1. Look at verse 29. Philippians
1. Verse 29, he said, "...for unto
you it is given in the behalf of Christ," Philippians 1.29,
"...not only to believe on Him," it's given unto you to believe
on Him, "...but also to suffer for His namesake." Faith is a
gift of God. It's not born of feelings, it's
not born of emotion. The foundation of faith has to
be the Word of God. These folks saw with the natural
eye, but did not believe. now back to John chapter 6 verse
37 and look at verse 37 very carefully all all all what does
all mean that means everyone every sinner given to the Lord
Jesus in that covenant of grace all that the father giveth me
shall come to me and him that cometh There's that continual,
continual coming to him. The Lord says, I will never cast
him away. I will never, no never, cast
him out. Now we see something else of
true saving faith. We see the confident expectation
and hope of true faith. No wonder that Peter called it
precious, precious faith. All who come to the Lord Jesus
Christ, and that's what true faith is all about, All who believe
Him, rest in Him. Rest in Him. Look to Him. And you know what He says here?
He says they'll never perish. He says they'll never perish.
Never perish. Turn over here to John chapter
10. They'll never perish. I will in no wise cast out, no
manner at no time, cast away those given to Me, the sheep
of Christ. He will not cast out one member
of His body, He cannot. Look what it says in John 10,
verse 27. My sheep, hear my voice, who
are these sheep? All the elect of God, chosen
in that covenant of grace, given to Him, it's the same bunch that
He says here, all that the Father giveth to me. My sheep, All my
sheep shall hear my voice. I know them, and they follow
me. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which
gave to me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them
out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. They shall never perish." Never
perish. He'll never cast His covenant
people away. You know why? Turn to John 17.
You know the Lord Jesus Christ is obligated? He's obligated
to show mercy. He's obligated to show salvation
unto His covenant people. You know that? Look at John 17
verse 2. I've pointed this out before
to you, but in John 17 verse 2, Look what it says, "...thou
hast given him power, that is, God Almighty has given to the
God-man mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, power over all flesh,
that he should give." That word should, if you underlined it,
and I've told you before, it means obligated. The Lord Jesus
Christ is obligated to give eternal life to as many as thou hast
given to Him. And here again we talk about
the all, talk about the sheep, talk about those given to the
Lord Jesus Christ in that covenant of grace. They will come to the
Lord Jesus Christ in saving mercy and He will never cast them out.
Isn't that good news? You mean to tell me, preacher,
that when God saves a sinner, He never loses His salvation?
That's exactly what I'm saying. He saves us with an everlasting
salvation. He gives us not temporary life,
He gives us, we just read it in John 10, He gives them what
kind of life? Eternal life. There's nothing temporary about
salvation. He gives us eternal life in Christ Jesus. Now, look
at verse 38 in our text. For, for. You know what that word for there
means? Because. He gives us some reasons why. Four, and here's the confident
expectation of faith. Four, because I came down from
heaven. Now where did the Lord Jesus
Christ come from? In the fullness of time, God
sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law. We studied
in John chapter 1 verse 1. In the beginning was the Word,
the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And then it says
in verse 14, the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Who
is the Lord Jesus Christ? He's God Almighty, manifest in
the flesh. I came down from heaven. Now
why did He come? Did he know why he came when
he got here? Absolutely. Even as a young child,
do you remember what he said? I must be about my father's business. Our Lord said on many occasions,
He said, I didn't come to call the righteous, I came to call
sinners to repentance. And then in Luke 19 it says that
the Son of Man, the God-man mediator, came to seek and to save His
lost, His sheep, those who were lost. For I came down from heaven."
Now is there any remote possibility that His coming might be a failure?
Is there any remote possibility that His coming will not accomplish
all of God's purpose? None. He's the successful Savior. For I came down from heaven.
Now look at this. Not to do my own will. but the will of Him that sent
me." Now, the will of the Father and the will of the Son are one.
And the reason the will of the Father and the will of the Son
are one is because they're one in nature, essence, and purpose.
Our Lord said, we read it just a moment ago in John 10, you
have seen me, you've seen the Father, I and my Father, we are
one. I came down from heaven to do
the will of my Father. Christ came. To accomplish the
Father's will of redemption and salvation, the will of the Father
and the will of the Son are one. Turn back over here to John chapter
4, verse 34. You remember this verse? You
see, true faith, like Abraham of old, Staggered not the promise
of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving God
all the glory, being fully persuaded that all that God had promised,
God was able to do. Look what the Lord says here
in verse 34 of John 4. My meat is to do the will of
Him that sent me, and to finish His work. Turn to John 17. Look what he says here in verse
4 of John 17. I have glorified Thee on the
earth, I finished the work You gave Me to do. Now look at John
19 verse 30. When Jesus therefore had received
the vinegar, now the Lord here is being crucified for the sin
of His covenant people. Christ being crucified, He said,
It is finished. He bowed His head and He gave
up the ghost. The work of redemption was complete. Salvation was completed by His
dying and doing, not ours, His. Now, look at verse, back to the
text. By the witch will. Remember what
we read? Look at verse 39 one more time. This is the Father's will which
has sent me, that of all which He had given me, I lose nothing,
raise it up again at the last day. He came to do the will of
Him that sent me. Now verse 39, this is the will
of Him that sent me, that of all which He had given me, I
lose nothing. I lose not one sheep, but raise
it up again at the last day. Now, do you want to know what
the redemptive will of God is? It's given right here. The redemptive
will of God concerning the salvation of sinners, here it is. Here
it is right here. This is the Father's will which
has sent me that of all, all the sheep, all the elect, which
He had given me. I'll lose nothing. I'll accomplish
their salvation and their redemption. Our Lord declares unto us the
eternal purpose of God in saving His covenant people. Our Lord
declares unto us that it's the sovereign will of God that all
elected by the Father in that eternal covenant, all redeemed
by the Son, all quickened by God the Holy Spirit, cannot and
will not perish. They can't. It is the will of
God that all the elect of God be saved. Salvation is according
to somebody's will. It's His will, not our will.
Salvation is not by free willism. It's not of Him that willeth,
nor of Him that runneth, but it's God that shows mercy. Of
His own will beget He us with the word of truth. Salvation
is by the will of God. And it's God's will that not
one sheep of Christ can perish. That's what it says right there.
I'll lose nothing. I'll lose not one! Not one sheep
of Christ can perish. Not one sheep of Christ can be
declared guilty before God. Not one sheep of Christ can be
condemned. Remember Romans chapter 8? There
is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in the Lord
Jesus Christ. I like that scripture over there
in Job 33 where Job gives his testimony where he says, God
will deliver them from the pit because God has found a ransom. And the Lord Jesus Christ paid
all the sin debt of God's covenant people. He put away all our sin
and they cannot perish. He justified them by His grace,
washed them in His blood. And He will call them to Himself. I should lose nothing. We can
rightly come to a conclusion about our salvation that it's
all according to the sovereign will of God, not the will of
the flesh. Now, left to ourselves, we'll
perish. Our only hope is, as He says
over here in verse 44, that He'll draw us to Himself. Because left
to ourselves, turn to John chapter 1. John chapter 1. He came unto
his own, his own people, his own nation, and they received
him not. They said, Away with him, crucify
him. We have no king but Caesar. But as many as received him,
to them gave he power to become sons of God. Right or privilege
is the word power. Even to them that believe on
his name. Now here's the reason they believe on His name. Read
the next verse. "...which were born, not of blood,
not of the flesh, not of the will of the flesh, not of the
will of man, but of God." Salvation is according to the will of God. Romans 9, I quoted it a minute
ago, where it says, "...not of him that willeth, or of him that
runneth, but it's God that shows mercy." Now, look at verse 40
in our text. John 6, verse 40. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that everyone which sees the Son, the Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ, and believeth on Him, may have, or has everlasting
life. And I will raise Him up at the
last day. Furthermore, we learn here that
it's only by the sovereign will of God that we're granted eyes
of faith to see Christ as all of our salvation. You remember
what he said in verse 36? Of those people who saw Him naturally
and they did not believe and eventually walked away? Those
given eyes of faith, say with Peter. You know what Peter said?
Turn to John chapter 6, the same chapter. Look at verse 66. Those given eyes of faith, those
who see the Son. Well, preacher, how do you see
the Lord Jesus Christ? In thy book revealed, I see the
Lord. That's how we see Him. By revelation
of God the Holy Spirit, taking the Word of God and revealing
Christ unto our heart. Over here in The last part of
chapter 6, look at verse 66. From that time, this crowd of
5,000, when they said, these things are hard sayings, we can't
hear these things. Our Lord said again in verse
65, that no man can come to Me except it were given unto Him
of My Father. No man can come to Me except
the Father which sent Me draw him. From that time many, that
were following Him, known as His disciples, they went back.
They went back to Judaism. They went back to the Law. They
went back to their emotion. They went back to different things.
They went back going away from Him and walked no more with Him. Did they have saving faith? No. But now watch this. The Lord
turned to the twelve. They were there watching all
this. And He said to them, Now, will you also go away? Will you
also walk away? Will you also go back to Judaism?
Go back to the law? Look what Simon Peter said. Simon
Peter answered and said, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast
the words of eternal life. We believe and are sure that
Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. Saving faith
looks to Christ. Those who are granted life in
Christ, those raised from the spiritual grave of sin, given
eyes of faith to see Christ, come to Him. Remember our Lord
said to Nicodemus in John 3, except a man be born again, he
can't see the kingdom of God. You see, we don't believe to
be born, we believe because we have been begotten of God. Now,
I can make good on that. 1 John chapter 5. He that believeth
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Those who believe the
gospel do so because God has given them life. He has raised
them from the dead. Those who have been raised from
the dead see the Lord Jesus Christ as everything in salvation. But
of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom,
Righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Now that's 1
Corinthians chapter 30. He's our wisdom revealing the
gospel unto us. He's our righteousness. He's
the Lord our righteousness. Made unto us righteous. He's
our sanctification. He is our holiness. And He is
our redemption. He's a full payment for our sin. Saving faith. The faith of God's
elect is satisfied with the Lord Jesus Christ and glories in Him. Now, What's going to happen here? Well, we know the story, because
they eventually walked away. But look what it says in verse
41 and verse 42, and I'll let you go home. Then, it says, murmured. The Jews then murmured at Him. Now, wait a minute. This is God
Almighty manifest in the flesh, telling the truth of salvation,
and what is their response? They didn't say, Hallelujah,
praise the Lord. They got angry, they got upset, they got mad. You see, the Lord exposed their
refuge of lies. They were hiding in the refuge
of lies of their righteousness, their tradition. They murmured
at Him because He said that He came from God, that He's the
bread of heaven, that He's the way, that He is the Savior, that
He's the only way of salvation. And they said, well, we know
Him, He's just a man. He's from Nazareth. His name's
Jesus. He's called the Nazarene. His
father works in the carpenter shop. His mother we know. How is it that He says He came
from heaven? They looked at Him, upon Him, just as a mere man,
not God in the flesh. You see, saving faith has a special
eye to the Lord Jesus Christ. The response of the natural man
to the gospel of God's grace, you know what it is? Enmity.
The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God.
Unbelief murmurs against God. Loving darkness, hating light. You know what saving faith does? It rejoices in hope of the glory
of God in Christ Jesus. May God grant all of us saving
faith. And may God grant unto us that
our faith grows. Grows. The more we're aware of
our sinfulness, the more we're aware of our depravity, the more
we're made aware of our need and dependence upon the Lord
Jesus Christ. To you who believe, He is everything. He is precious. He is precious.