Let's turn back now to the scripture
which I read a moment ago, John 6. When you read this chapter later today, you'll find in the
earlier verses, our Lord had fed the multitude. You remember
He taught this vast multitude. and then suggested to the disciples
that they feed the multitude. And one of the disciples said,
well, do you realize what it would cost to feed this multitude? But they said, there is a lad
here with five loaves and two fish. And our Lord said, cause
the people to sit down. And he began to divide the loaves
and the fishes. You remember he said, you follow
me, because of the loaves and fishes. He began to divide the
loaves and fishes and feed the people. And he fed 5,000 men,
not counting the women and children. And the people were so impressed
with this miracle, and so impressed with the fact that This man had
fed so many people miraculously. They could envision a great kingdom
under his rule. Nobody would have to work because
there would be no shortage of food. So they were going to make
him king, verse 14. Then those men, when they had
seen the miracle that Jesus did, they said, now this is a truth. This is of a truth. That prophet
Deuteronomy 18, that Moses prophesied should come into the world. So
when Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take
him by force and make him a king, he departed again into a mountain
himself alone. He is a king. He is the king
of kings, the Lord of lords. But he didn't come to set up
a Jewish kingdom. an earthly kingdom, the kingdom
of flesh and body, meat and drink. The father sent him to establish
a spiritual kingdom to redeem a people like himself, a holy
people. So he went to the mountains and
that evening his disciples entered a ship and they crossed the sea. They were going to Capernaum.
And while they were on that journey, the wind came up in a storm,
and the waves were tossing the little ship. And they looked
out and saw the Lord Jesus coming to them. He'd come down from
the mountain and was walking on the water, coming toward the
disciples. And he joined them in the ship,
and they went to the other side. And that's when we picked up
the reading here in verse 22, the day following, when the people
which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was
none other boat there save that one where unto his disciples
were entered, and that Jesus went not with his disciples.
The disciples were gone away alone, howbeit there came other
boats from Tiberias, Now unto the place where they did eat
bread after the Lord had given thanks. And they saw that the
Lord was not there, verse 24, neither his disciples. They took
shipping and came across to the other side, seeking for Jesus. The multitude took ships and
came to Capernaum seeking Jesus. And when they found him, verse
25, on the other side, they said, Rabbi, when did you come over
here? And he said, verily, verily,
I say unto you, you seek me not because you saw the miracles,
but because you did eat the loaves and were filled. Labor not for
the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth
unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give you.
For him hath God the Father sealed. Our Lord talked about his mission
to save, his mission to redeem, not to establish an earthly kingdom,
which these men want, but to give spiritual life to those
who believe. And that takes us down to verse
35. And Jesus said to them, verse
35, I am the bread of life. Verse 34, they said, give us
this bread. He said, I'm the bread. I'm the
bread of life. I am that bread of life. He that
cometh to me shall never hunger. He that believeth on me shall
never thirst. He that cometh to me believeth
on me. I'm the bread. This is what our
Lord taught Martha when Lazarus had
died. She came running out to the Lord.
She missed her brother. mourned and grieved for her brother.
And she said, if you'd have been here, he wouldn't have died.
If you'd just been here, he wouldn't have died. Well, he said, he'll
arise, Martha. Someday he'll arise. She said,
I know he will, in the resurrection. But that's not now. I need something
now. I know he'll arise. He said,
in the resurrection day, he said, Martha, This is what you need
to learn. And everybody else, and what
he's saying to these people, I'm the resurrection. Resurrection is not an event,
it's a person. Life is not a doctrine, it's
a person. I'm the resurrection and the
life. He that believeth on me, he that feedeth upon me, He who
is in a living union with me, he who by grace is married to
me, he'll never die. Though he were dead, he lives
because I'm the life. That's what he, this very thing
he taught his disciples when they were so blue and discouraged
and sorrowful about his leaving them. He kept telling him in John 14
and John 13 that he was going away. He was going away. And
they were so sorrowful and troubled and depressed. And he said to
them, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe in
me. Believe in me. In my Father's
house are many dwelling places. Believe in me. If it were not
so, I would have told you. I go, but I go for you. I go, but I go with you. I go,
but I take you. You and I are one. I and you are one. I go to prepare
a place for you. I'm going to the cross for you,
to the tomb for you, to the right hand of God for you. We're one. And when I go and prepare a place
for you, I'll come back for you. We're never separated. That where I am, there you may
be also. And the way you know, you know. Thomas said, no, we don't. No, we don't. We should, but
we don't. He said, I am the way. I am the way. Oh, Philip said,
show us the way. He said, I am the way. I am the
way. I am the bread. I am the resurrection. I am the life. I am the way.
I am the truth. Truth is not something we learn
about Christ. Truth is Christ. He said, coming
to me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, I'll give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn, not from me, of me, and you'll
find rest. That's what he's saying. I am
the belief. I'm not something that you believe
in here to get something out there. You have it when you have
me. He that hath the Son hath life. Is that clear? That means H-A-T-H
got it. See what he's saying here and
what I'm trying to say is what he said, I am the bread. Give
us the bread. I am the bread. Philip said, show us the way.
I am the way. Martha said, well, He'll arise
someday. He's already risen. He died when I died, rose when
I rose. I am. But, verse 36, but I said to you, you've seen
me. These religious Jews saw Him
in the flesh. They heard Him speak as no man
speaks. They witnessed undeniable miracles. He was in the world, and the
world was made by Him. He came into His own, His own
temple, His own people. They received Him not. And He says, you've seen Me,
and you've heard Me, and you've witnessed all these miracles. As poor Nicodemus said, you got
to be from God, no man could do what you do except God be
with him, but he didn't believe. But he said, you haven't believed. Think of the miracles that Israel
saw in Egypt. Think of it now. Think of the
ten plagues which they witnessed. The death of the firstborn, the
deliverance by the blood. The Red Sea experience, the smitten rock and the water
to give enough water to drink, to bathe, to wash for three million
people out of a rock. The manna from heaven, yet they
didn't believe. Oh, the deceitfulness of sin.
The heart, who can know it? Desperately wicked, deceitful
above all things. You've seen me, he said. You've
seen me. And you haven't believed. So, is his mission a failure? Did he come to earth in vain?
Is the unbelief of this world Does the unbelief of this world
make the cause of God of non-effect? God forbid. Our Lord rejoices
in His heart, and the heart of His people rejoice when He says
these next words in verse 37. Oh, He said, you've seen me.
You haven't believed. And you won't come to me. But
all that my Father giveth me shall come to me. You can be assured of that. Our
Lord did this on another occasion. He said, you know, when He was
in Matthew 11, He was rebuking the cities in which His mighty
works were done. Capernaum, Bethsaida, the different
ones. He said, Woe unto thee, Capernaum.
If the mighty works which are done in you had been done in
Sodom, it would have remained to this day. Bethsaida, If the
gospel preached in you and the works done in you had been done
in Tyre and Sidon, those wicked cities, they would have remained
to this day. It would be more tolerable for
Sodom and the judgment than for you. And then it says Jesus lifted
his eyes to heaven in the face of this rejection and unbelief He lifted his eyes to heaven
and said, Father, I thank you, Lord of heaven and Lord of earth. You've hid these things from
the wise and the proven, but you've revealed it to babes.
Even so, Father, it seemed good in your sight. In John 10, that
group of religious Jews, finding fault with his message, Came
to him and they said, if you be the Christ, if you be the
prophet, if you be the Redeemer, if you be the Messiah, tell us!
Tell us plainly! I'll tell you the reason they
were asking that. If he'd have said what they wanted
him to say, they'd have took him immediately before Caiaphas
the High Priest. Tell us plainly! He said, I told
you. I told you. But you didn't believe me. You didn't believe me. Every
plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted
up. But you didn't believe me because you're not of my sheep.
My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me, and I give them eternal
life, and they shall never perish. My Father which gave them to
me is greater than all. And no man can take them out
of my Father's hand, because I am a father of one." And here, he said, you've seen me, but
you haven't believed me. But, all that my Father giveth
me, they'll come to me. John 17, he talks about these
people. In his high priestly prayer,
if you'll go over there with me, John 17, He talks about these
who will come, who will believe. In John 17, verse 2, he says,
this is the high priestly prayer of our Redeemer. He's talking
to the Father. He said, as thou hast given Him
power over all flesh, that is, the Son of Man, that He should
give eternal life to as many as thou hast given Him, Then
in verse 6, he says, I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou
gavest me. In verse 9, he said, I pray for
them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me. In verse 11, he says, and
now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world. I
come to thee, Holy Father, keep through thine own name those
whom thou hast given me. In verse 12, while I was with
him in the world, I kept them in thy name, those that thou
gavest me. In verse 24, Father, I will that
those whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they
may behold my glory, which thou hast given me. For thou lovest
me before the foundation of the world. All that my Father giveth
me shall what? shall come to me."
What is it to come to Christ? It's to believe Him. It's to receive Him, as many
as receive Him. It's a commitment of heart, and
of soul, and of mind, and of all things. It's to come to Christ. Our Lord on that great day of
the feast, He stood Those people, three days they'd been there
in the religious feast and going through all of their religious
ceremonies and rituals and holy days and fast and all these things,
the law under the law. And they were packing up and
putting out the fires and cleaning up and getting everything ready
to go back home, just as empty as when they came. Because religion
doesn't fill anything but time. And they were all leaving. And
he stood on that last day of the feast. And he cried with
a loud voice while those people were packing up and leaving,
but probably on a hillside. He stood and cried. If any man
thirsts, let him come to me and drink. And out of his belly, out of
his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. This
he spake of the Holy Spirit. You've come to the city, Jerusalem. You've come to the temple, the
building. You've come to the ceremony.
You've come to the ritual. You've come to this and that.
Now you want to, you're thirsty, you come to me. That's what it
means to come to Christ. All that my Father giveth me
in eternity past, chosen, elected, they shall come to me, to me. Not to a building, not to a Mecca,
not to a holy land, not to a ceremony, not to an ordinance, to me. Like the leper, our Lord came
down from the mountain and a leper met Him. The Scripture says He
ran to Him and fell at His feet and worshipped Him, disregarding the thoughts and
words of anybody around Him. A leper, dead and dying, helpless, hopeless. and worshipped
him and he said, Lord, you and you alone, if you will, can make
me clean. That's coming to Christ. Leaving
all, leaving all. You come to me. You fellas have heard me say
it. And you've experienced, witnessed all these things. You haven't
believed on them. But all that my Father giveth me, they'll
come. They'll come to me. The soul that on Jesus... And
he said, listen, they'll come to me. And I'll in no wise, under
any circumstances, for any reason, any unforeseen thing, I'll never,
no wise, cast them out. The soul that on Jesus hath leaned
for repose, I will not, I will not desert to its pose. That
soul, though all hell should endeavor to dislodge and shake,
I'll never, no never, no never in no wise cast it out. One of the old writers said,
the work that goodness began, the arm of the Lord will His
promise is yes and amen and never was forfeited yet. Things future,
nor things that are now, nor things below or above, can make
him his purpose forego or sever your soul from his love. My name
from the palm of his hands, eternity, cannot erase. Impressed on his
heart, Also, it remains in marks of indelible grace." That's all
right, he said. You have seen me and haven't
believed. And so many haven't. But all that my Father giveth
me will come to me. And him who comes to me I'll
never cast out. And then he speaks here in verse
38 as the servant. He says, Far, I came down from
heaven. I know whence I am and whence
I came. I came from heaven. I was sent
from heaven, not to do mine own will. He speaks here as the servant,
the Father's servant. Over in Isaiah 42, would you
turn over there? The Lord Jesus is one with the
Father. The Father's will is His will.
The Father's purpose is His purpose. The Father's covenant is His
covenant. But He said, as the Messiah, as the Redeemer, as
the man, the second Adam, as the Son of Man and Son of God,
I didn't come to do My will. I came to do His will who sent
Me. Listen to Isaiah 42. The Father
said, Behold My servant. It's the Lord Jesus, whom I uphold,
mine elect, in whom my soul delighted. I put my spirit upon him. He'll
bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He'll not cry, nor lift up, nor
cause his voice to be heard in the streets. A bruised reed shall
he not break. Gentle, man of sorrows acquainted
with grief, the smoking flax shall he not quench. He shall
bring forth judgment under truth. He shall not fail, nor be discouraged,
till he has set judgment in this earth. And the isles wait, they
shall wait for his law. I didn't come to do my will,
he said. He was submissive, in subjection,
surrendered totally. My Father, not my will. Thy will
be done. Thank God for our Redeemer, perfect
Son of God, perfect representative, perfect righteousness, perfect
atonement. I came down from heaven, not
to do my will, but the will of Him that sent me. A body hast
thou prepared me. Lo, I come, and the volume of
the book is written of me, to do thy will, O God. He taketh
away the first. and establishes the second. Verse
39, And this is my Father's will which hath sent me, this is the
sovereign, unchanging will of God, that of all which he hath
given me, all whom he elected, all who are redeemed by his Son,
all who are called by his Spirit, whom he foreknew he did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of his Son, That He might be
the firstborn among many brethren, all just like Him, conformed
to His image, love what He loves, desire what He desires, enjoy
what He enjoys. To be conformed to the image
of His Son, whom He predestinated, He called. Whom He called, He
justified. Whom He justified, He glorified.
All those who walk in fellowship with Him, He says, I'll lose
nothing, not a one. But I'll raise him up at the
last day. I'll raise him up. This is the Father's will. You
want to know what is the Father's will? This is the Father's will.
Christ said this is the Father's will. What is God's will and
purpose for this world? This is the Father's will and
purpose for this world. This is my Father's will who
sent me, that of all which He hath given me, I'll lose nothing. Not one. But I'll raise it up
again at the last day. Look at verse 40. Now, and this
is the will of Him that sent me. But that every one that seeth
the Son, and believeth on him, these people are not only foreknown
and predestinated, but they're called. And those who are called
hear, and those who hear believe. Election is not salvation, it's
unto salvation. When Paul over in Ephesians chapter
1 talked to the church at Ephesus about eternal grace and eternal
mercies. He said God has blessed us with
all spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ Jesus according
as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world.
But in verse 13 he said in whom you believe and in whom you trusted
after you heard the word of truth. So here our Savior said, all
that my Father giveth me, they'll come to me. How shall they come
to me? Look at verse 40. They'll see
the Son. They'll believe on the Son. They'll
embrace the Son. They'll trust the Son. They'll find their rest in the
Son. says, Whosoever shall call on
the name of the Lord shall be saved. But how shall they call
on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they
believe in him in whom they have not heard? And how shall they
hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? And here it is. They're going to see him in the
gospel preached and believe on him. And they'll have everlasting
life. And I'll raise him up at the
last day. Now watch this. Whom will He
raise? In verse 39, He says, those the
Father gave Me, I'll raise. Resurrection day. Verse 40, those
who see the Son with eyes of faith and believe on Him, I'll
raise them. Now let's read on. And the Jews
murmured, and there will always be those who murmur. They murmured
at Him. They murmured at him, and what
he said, what did he say? He said, all that my Father giveth
me will come to me. He said, I came down from heaven,
I'm the bread of life. I am the bread of life. I came
to do his will. And he that sees me, and the
will of the Father in me, and believes on me, will have everlasting
life. And they murmured at that. Because He said, I am the bread.
I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life.
I am the resurrection. I am all things. And they said,
well, you're just Jesus. You're just a man. We know who
your father is, Joseph, they thought. We know who your mother
is, Mary. We know your brothers and sisters.
We know you grew up over here in a town called Nazareth. How can you come down from heaven?
This is what our Lord asked the Pharisees. He said, what think
ye of the Christ? Who is the Christ? Who is the
Christ? Whose son is he? And they said,
well, he's the son of David. Well, the Lord said, how can
he be David's son and be David's Lord? Because David said, the
Lord said to my Lord, sit thou on my right hand, how can he
be David's son in the flesh, flesh and bones,
blood, born of a woman. How can it be David's son and
be David's God? And a hush fell over them. They
could not say. That's what these fellows are
saying. How can you be God? We know you're a man. And they
murmured it down. The miracle of incarnation. The
miracle of identification. The miracle of imputation. The
miracle of justification. The miracle of representation.
This world murmurs it. What they don't understand, they
won't believe. And there's murmurs everywhere.
There's murmurs among all religious. Murmur, murmur, murmur. That's
what that outfit did. over in numbers the reason the
Lord sent the fire serpents they murmured against God they murmured
we don't like this bread we don't like this water we don't like
this real wilderness we don't like our leaders we don't like
we want to be back where we were well you will be that's what
God told them your carcasses will fall right here in this
wilderness murmur And our Lord said to them in verse 43, don't
murmur among yourselves. Now let's settle this thing once
and for all. No man, regardless of his intellect,
regardless of his ancestry, regardless of his environment, regardless
of his cleverness, regardless of his morality, regardless of
his heritage, no man, no human being, no son of Adam, can, see the word can, has the
ability, can or has the will, can or has the inclination, can
or has the information, can or has the insight or the desire,
no man can in the flesh because of the fall of Adam, because
of the consequences of death and sin, no man, no human being
can come to me. Now they can come to a church And they can come to an altar,
and they can come to a doctrine. And they can come to an ordinance,
and they can come to a table. And they can come to a law, and
they can come to a position of morality. And they can come to
an AA meeting. And they can come to all of these
moral councils, but they can't come to me. to me. Leaving the idols of this
world and the idols of religion, come to me. As Saul of Tarsus came to Christ,
come to me. He said in John 5, 40, you will
not come to me. Let another come in his own name.
Let these religious hucksters, the world is full of them. And
people flock to them, have their checkbooks in their hands, and
their wallets, and everything. They'll bring their little ones.
Do to my little one what you did to me. Deceive him like you've
deceived me. They'll come to these people. But Christ said they won't come
to me. Let another come in his own name, and him you will follow. I've come in my Father's name,
and you don't believe me. But don't murmur. Don't murmur
against what I said. All that my Father giveth me
will come to me, and I'll never cast Him out. I came down from
heaven to do His will, not mine even, His will. And this is His
will, that of all which He has given me, I'll lose not one,
but I'll raise Him up at the last day. And all that see me,
we're going to get to this in a minute, see me and believe
on me. I'm going to raise him up." And
they murmured. Now don't murmur because nobody can come to me,
listen, except the Father who sent me on this mission and commissioned
me and anointed me, draw him. That's right. John Chapman, you'll never come
to Christ unless the Father singled you out, and loves you, and chooses
you, and draws you. Isn't that right? That's true. Nobody, not even you Jim, you
didn't come on your own. Eye hath not seen, ear hath not
heard, neither hath it entered the heart of man the things God
has prepared for them that love him. He revealed Him to you on
purpose. And you're going to believe it.
That's right. Except my Father who has sent
me, draw Him. Draw Him how? By Spirit. And I'm going to raise Him up
at the last day. These are the folks I'm going
to raise. And everybody can talk about,
I want to be standing at Mother's grave when Jesus comes in His
power. Let me tell you something. God Almighty is going to raise,
according to this Word here, all that He had given me, and
all that see the Son and believe on Him, and all whom the Father
draws, woos through His Word, and makes them willing. That's
the ones he's going to raise. Whether it's mother or dad or
me or you. Or the preacher or the deacon. That's whom he'll raise. I want
to be one of those. Now it's written in the prophets,
here's the last verse. It's written in the prophets.
They shall be all taught of God. Every one of them. Not one of
them is going to be missing. Not one of them is going to be ignorant. Not one of them is going to be
in a state of not knowing who saved him, or how he saved him,
or why he saved him, or to what he saved him. They are going
to know. They will all be taught of God. Taught what? Taught who
they are, and what they are, and what happened in the garden,
and what happened on the cross. Who Christ is, what He did, why
He did it, where He is now. They are going to be taught of
God. How does God teach men? through prophets and apostles,
evangelists, pastors, and teachers that we may be taught of God.
What does he teach him? He takes the things of Christ
and shows them to him, teaches them. Therefore, every man that
hath what? Heard. Hear the gospel. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God. Hearing the gospel. Every man that hath learned of
the Father, he comes to me." That's so encouraging. I'm so
glad that we have, by His grace, heard the gospel. And I don't find this gospel
offensive, do you? I don't find myself murmuring
against God's sovereignty. I don't find myself murmuring
against our inability. I know our inability. I know
that men by nature are interested, men and women are interested
in the world. By nature, God's got to give us a new heart and
a new nature and give us an interest in things above, things of God. But he has to do it. So we rejoice with our Redeemer. in the covenant of grace, the
mercy of God through Christ Jesus. We'll continue this tonight in
that, starting with that next verse and talk about that bread
of life, the bread of life, Christ that bread of life. Alright,
let's sing together number 258.