Lord Give Us This Bread Always: Part 1

Redeeming Grace Church

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I'd like to speak a word here this morning, given from verse 34, chapter 6 of John, the gospel, as the request was,

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Sir, give us this bread always. Some translation says, Lord, but it should be interpreted

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Sir. Lord, give us this bread always. So please open your

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Bibles with me this morning to the gospel of John, the fourth gospel, chapter 6. As we continue our study through this wonderful book,

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John chapter 6, wonderful study through this glorious gospel.

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Beginning with verse 34, just six verses this morning, I'd like for us to look at today and,

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God willing, next Lord's Day as well. So hear the word of the living

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God. Verse 34, Then they said to him,

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Lord, or Sir, give us this bread always. Jesus said to them,

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I am the bread of life, and he who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.

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But I said to you that you have seen me, and yet do not believe.

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All that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me

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I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.

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This is the will of the Father who sent me, that all he has given me

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I should lose nothing, but raise it up at the last day.

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And this is the will of him who sent me, that everyone who sees the

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Son and believes in him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

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May God bless the reading of His word from the hearing of our ears to our hearts this morning.

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Please bow with me as we seek the Lord's blessing and within this hour as we continue to worship

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Him and hear His word. Our Father in heaven, our cry and worship to you is always, first and foremost, hallowed be thy name.

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Hallowed, hallowed, holy is your name. Holy, holy, holy,

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Lord God Almighty, who is and who was and who is to come.

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We humbly beseech you this morning, Lord, as we gather together as your people to assemble, praising you, worshiping you, thanking you, blessing you, unto your holy name.

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Lord, we look to you this day. I pray, Lord, by your Spirit, may we recognize our spiritual hunger and thirst this morning.

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Just as you fed the multitude with the loaves and the fishes, we would ask,

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O Lord, that you would nourish our souls with the bread of life, the Lord Jesus Christ, and fill us,

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O God, with your everlasting love. We pray this through Jesus Christ, your beloved

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Son, for the praise of your glory, of your grace. Amen and amen.

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The text before us today is a pivotal passage where Jesus, following the miracle of the feeding of the multitude as we've been looking at, declares

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Himself as the bread of life, the bread of life. It's really the theme of this chapter.

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It's really what stands out, stating that whoever comes to Him will never go hungry.

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Whoever believes in Him will never be thirsty. This great truth essentially emphasizes that Jesus Christ Himself, Himself, is the bread of life, and that believing in Him is the only way to have true satisfaction in which this world, in which everyone's heart longs for.

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Where can we find true satisfaction? And true satisfaction and spiritual nourishment is only found in Jesus Christ, our

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Lord. Jesus prayed this in John 17, verse 3, as He prayed to the

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Father, now this is life eternal, that they may know Thee, the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom

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Thou hast sent. He prayed that. The Puritans preached more from that text than any other text in Scripture because of the grave importance of it.

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Well, the promise of eternal life are to those, as Jesus says, those who believe in Him by faith alone.

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And in this wonderful passage in John 6, verse 34 -40, is very significant because it highlights and emphasizes

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Jesus' claims to His divinity. We need to underscore that, folks.

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This is so important because this is really what the Gospel of John focuses on, and this is what the

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Apostle focuses on, is Jesus' divinity, His deity, that He is

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God in flesh. There are several key themes I'd like to bring to your attention.

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There's no way we can look at all these, and there's many, many Scriptures that bring this out, but they were given to us in this wonderful fourth

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Gospel. Surprisingly, as I was looking at this and going through it, it was more than I thought.

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Top of the list, and we're speaking of a string of themes throughout this

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Gospel, just the Gospel of John. It's not even including Matthew, Mark, Luke, the

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Synoptic Gospels, but first and foremost, we see that top of the list, that Jesus is

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God. Jesus is God. I really believe that should be at the top of the list because who

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He is, who His claims are, He is God in flesh. This is the key theme which runs throughout the

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Gospel of John. Next, we see Jesus' existence. He existed before the creation of the world.

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He has always been. He is the Alpha, He is the Omega. He is the beginning and He is the end.

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Next, we see Jesus has supernatural power. He has all power. All authority,

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He says, is given unto Him. And knowledge. He has supernatural power.

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Fourth, Jesus is the Messiah. He is the Christ. He is the Anointed One. He is the

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Son of the Living God. We see this theme throughout the Gospel of John.

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Fifth, we also see, and we'll see this time and time again, that Jesus is the

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Great I Am. He is the Great I Am. And the first I Am that He actually reveals is found in verse 35 of chapter 6 that we'll be looking at today.

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I Am the Bread of Life, Jesus said. But we see this throughout the Gospel of John.

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He is I Am, I Am, I Am. He says before Abraham was I Am. Sixth, we see

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Jesus, the Son of God, reflects the sender. Who's the sender? The Father. The Father in Heaven.

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Next, we see Jesus is the fulfillment of the law, as we've been looking at in our Sunday School lesson.

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He fulfills the law, but He also fulfilled all the law, all the Jewish festivals, all the institutions, and the temple as well.

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Eighth, we see Jesus is the giver of eternal life, which really is Himself.

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He gives Himself. He gives Himself as the bread from Heaven. He is that bread that comes down from Heaven.

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So as He gives Himself, gave Himself on His life and death on the cross, and through His resurrection power, through the

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Spirit of God, that's how we obtain eternal life, by believing in Him and through faith alone.

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Next, we see the signs of Jesus demonstrate that He is the Messiah. It all points to His Messiahship, as all the prophets actually prophesied of Him, the

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Son of the living God. Tenth, the witnesses to Jesus testify that He is the

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Messiah. We see this time and time again, that He is the Messiah. He is the coming one. He is the promised one that the prophets all through the

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Old Testament again prophesied. Eleven, the

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Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is very important. The Spirit, the Trinity works together in unison, in agreement.

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They work in agreement together, and they worked in agreement in creation and redemption, and the revelation.

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So they all worked together to accomplish this great mission, this great design that the

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Father planned before ages began to roll. Twelfth, I'm sure there's many more, but these are some of the things that I was looking at.

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Jesus' death on the cross is pivotal. His burial, His resurrection is the basis of our salvation, and in Him alone.

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Take away the person, the works of Christ, there is no salvation. It's all in Christ.

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Even the Old Testament saints had to believe what the prophet says of the coming one, the

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Messiah. And they were justified by faith alone, just like we are.

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And it was accounted unto them righteousness. Fourteen, salvation was attained through faith alone, entrusting and believing in Jesus Christ as the

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Messiah. And there's a couple more here

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I'll write down. I'm sure there's many more you can find, but believers can personally experience the benefits of salvation that's already been provided in the death and burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the here and now.

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This is where eternal life begins. It is now as it is applied by the

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Spirit of God as we place our faith in Jesus Christ and in this present age.

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Sixteen, believers are called, we are called and commanded by Jesus Christ our

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Lord and Savior, the head of the church. By the way, He is the head of the church, not the Pope. I like what

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Ravenhill says, the Pope is that old bachelor, he doesn't have the keys of death, hell, and the grave.

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Just forget about that, Jesus does, and only Jesus alone does. The body, the Christ, the church must continue the mission in which

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Jesus Christ commanded to continue Jesus' mission throughout this present world until He comes back again.

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So there's just some of the great things that are found in the Gospel of John I'd like to just give to you right at the introduction here, but that are incredibly important to the mission in which

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Jesus proclaimed, and we are to proclaim it evangelistically. Boldness and truth and grace and power.

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Now as we continue through our study this morning on the fourth Gospel of this chapter, this wonderful chapter, well,

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I say that it's going to still take us some time to work through this chapter because you're looking at 71 verses, and there's much here, it's loaded up, and we begin to see today, especially in verse 37, there's no way

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I'm going to be able to bring out everything that needs to be said. I've got three points

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I'd like for us to look at, it's a string of wonderful scriptures, but God willing next week

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I'd like for us to focus on verse 37 because there's a lot there in verse 37 about election, predestination.

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It's very important, it's very controversial, especially, sadly, in the churches today.

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It used to not be a very controversial issue, it has been for many ages, but now it's almost in the minority.

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It's sad, it shouldn't be, but it's all through the scriptures and we will see this. But as we look at this, as God wills, and we'll be seeing these themes as I mentioned in the introduction, we'll see these themes pop up as we go and continue our journey through this wonderful Gospel.

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But our focus today will be on three of our Lord's sayings from Scripture.

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J .C. Rowell says it like this, they are strung together like pearls in this passage, each of them ought to be precious to every

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Christian. All taken together they form a mine of truth in which he that searches need never search in vain.

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And that is so true. And we're going to look at just three verses in which, but I like to tie into others together because every verse is really important.

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But our focus today will be on those three sayings of the Lord Jesus Christ. And let's begin and let's look at them.

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The first one is this, in these verses, as I say of Jesus Christ about Himself, we read in verse 35, verse 35,

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And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.

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I love the nevers there because in other words, when we really grasp and believe in who

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Jesus is and apprehend by the Spirit of God, and only the Spirit of God can help us bring us to this point, even in the believing part, even though we have to believe, it's an instrument where we look at that in application.

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But still, when we see Christ, nothing will be in comparison to who

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Jesus is. If this world offers anything to the flesh, in which the flesh is always passing away and we crave something,

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Jesus Christ is far, far greater in comparison.

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There is no comparison. So, Jesus says, I am the bread of life.

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That's the first I am. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry.

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Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. Now, keep in mind in verse 34, these unbelieving

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Jews, and they are unbelieving Jews, they give the fourth request here, and they say, sir, they said, always give us this bread.

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And here are the Jews, still did not realize that the Lord Jesus was speaking about Himself as the true bread of life, as the true bread from heaven.

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So they ask Him for the physical bread. They just could not get their mind away from the physical, their physical needs.

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And there is a place for the physical, and Jesus fed them graciously. Jesus even taught in Matthew, as He taught the disciples, give us this day, or Luke says, day by day, our daily bread.

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And in that context, Jesus is speaking of our physical daily bread.

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And He cares about our needs, folks. But more importantly, the most important need is our spiritual need of Him.

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And this is what people miss. And there are scores of churches out there, and they are so -called churches, that focus so much on the miracles, and the physical, and what could be seen.

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But Christ is focused on the things that are not seen, the things that are more important, like our souls.

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And this is what He is driving to. That's why He says, I am that bread of life.

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I am the true bread. And the Jews could not get it out of their mind.

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They were still thinking of terms of a literal loaf of bread. Unfortunately and tragically, there was no real faith in their hard hearts, as we have been seeing.

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They were following Jesus for the wrong reasons. They were seeking Jesus for the wrong reasons.

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Their heart was not following Him, because they loved Him for who

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He was, and who He is. Crowds request Jesus gives them this bread from heaven.

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Is really here a reminiscence of the Samaritan woman, that's found in John chapter 4, isn't it?

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She comes to get water. And after, in the conversation of the master evangelist, the

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Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and she leaves well satisfied. And she even forgets why she comes.

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She leaves her pail of water, and she goes to the town, and tells the whole city, all the

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Samaritans. She evangelizes. Come, let me show you a man that told me everything. Praise God.

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So this actually is reminiscence of the Samaritan woman in John chapter 4, of her request that she made for living water.

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Lord, she says, give me this water. Jesus says, it's me.

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I am that fulfillment. I will fill your great heart need, which every soul craves.

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Jesus, again, responds by declaring, here in this text,

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He is the bread of life. I am, Jesus says, the bread of life.

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And it's the first statement here. This is the first of the seven

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I am's. And Jesus uses that I am, would have caused

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His audience, the Jewish people, by the way, He knew His audience well, to think of God's most holy name.

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Exodus 3 .14, when God spoke to Moses from the burning bush, God said to Moses, I am who

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I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites. I am has sent me to you.

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The self -existent God, who never ages, who's from everlasting to everlasting.

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And Jesus gives this great statement of revelation to these unbelieving

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Jews. I am the bread of life. I am that bread that comes from heaven.

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I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Wonderful statement, isn't it?

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Great truth, simple and clear. Very simple. And He stated,

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He is the bread of life. He is. I am, He says. I am the bread of life.

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Interesting to note here is, Brother Isaac has already brought out, I appreciate that. I cannot help thinking about born in Bethlehem.

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Jesus born in Bethlehem. The son of the living God, became the son of man.

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And Bethlehem means house of bread. The very first time we read in Scripture, and the first time you ever read about Bethlehem, is actually found in Genesis chapter 35 verse 19.

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Scripture says, So Rachel died and was buried on the way of Ephorath. That is

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Bethlehem. That's the first time in Scripture we read about Bethlehem.

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And also it's interesting to note that this is the death of one of the mothers of Israel, which occurs about 20 miles south of Bethel.

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And by the way, Bethel means house of God. Near Bethlehem, which will eventually become the house of bread,

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Rachel dies after giving birth to Benjamin, the last child of Jacob.

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So what's so significant about that? Well, her death prefigures the death of a greater child of Bethlehem, who would die one day, and give birth to a family of nations.

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And there you have God designing in history, it's His story, what exactly

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He is doing when the Messiah, in the fullness of time, He would be born, and fulfill the promise as the

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Messiah would. Bethlehem, the house of bread. Home of the bread of life.

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The Lord Jesus Christ. Micah chapter 5 verse 2, as Brother Zach brought out, I appreciate that, but it shows we're right in sync.

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But as for you, Bethlehem, Ephorath, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are of old, from ancient times.

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Jesus Christ is that ruler, that great righteous ruler, the

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Holy One of Israel, comes flesh. Isn't it amazing?

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It causes us to wonder, doesn't it? And that's why we're here, is to worship the living

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God. Christ, great is the mystery of godliness,

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Paul says. God manifests in flesh. Bethlehem, the house of bread, where the bread of life,

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Jesus Christ would be born, and He was born there, in a stable.

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Those who come to Him find enough in Jesus Christ to satisfy their spiritual hunger forever, folks.

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Nothing compares to Christ. It's like another saying of J .C.

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Rowell, as you come to Christ and love Him, and crucified with Him, then after that happens, see if you can go love the world.

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Nothing can compare to the love of God. Those who believe on Him find their thirst forever quenched.

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Jesus promised to satisfy the deepest, innermost needs of man, and that cavity, as we talked about, that one hole that's in the spiritual being, the heart of man, can only be satisfied by God alone, through Jesus Christ.

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And Jesus is that bridge, through the cross, as Christ can fill that void.

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And this isn't what we see in the world today. You know what I'm talking about. You see the lost loved ones, and you see people are searching and seeking, and they're never satisfied, they're always discontent.

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Well, why? Well, of course, they don't know of Christ, they don't know who really satisfies them, but Jesus, He's all in all,

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He satisfies us. And this doesn't mean He's going to give us what we want, folks.

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As it says in Scripture, there's so many people misinterpreting, delight yourself in the Lord, and He'll give you the desires of your heart.

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That delight means that you delight in Him, and our delight becomes,

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His delight becomes ours. You see, there's an intermingling there, it doesn't take away our will, but our will is bent toward loving

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Him. And He causes us to love Him, and to enjoy

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Him, and praise Him, trust in Him. And you know, so tragically, like the children of Israel, generations before this generation here, even though they witnessed the miracles, they still refused to believe in Him.

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Hardness of heart, unbelief, they still refused, and they saw

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Christ with their own eyes. And they still refused

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Him. Still, in unbelief, decided to do what they wanted to do.

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They were obstinate. Look at verse 36, But I said to you that you have seen

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Me, and yet do not believe. Think about that.

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And in verse 30, The unbelieving Jews had asked the Lord for a sign in order that they might see and believe.

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Here Jesus said that He had already told them that they had seen Him, and the greatest sign of all,

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Him, God in flesh. And they still refused to believe Him. They did not believe.

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So if the Son of the living God could stand before them, Emmanuel, God with us, as the

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Scripture says, Jesus was not recognized by His own people. He came unto

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His own. His own received Him not. Then it was doubtful that any sign, any other sign, that Christ would perform, they would believe

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Him. How much revelation did they have of seeing the Son of God Himself right before their eyes?

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Makes me think of a story that Jesus told. Some say it's a parable, some say no, but it's found in Luke chapter 16 as Jesus speaks.

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By the way, He's speaking to the hard -hearted, self -righteous Pharisees right after the great, wonderful parable of chapter 15 of the three clusters of parables there.

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The parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son.

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And then Jesus moves on to another, the rich man and Lazarus. And by the way, it doesn't mean because the rich man goes to hell, it's not because he was rich.

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He really was in poverty of spirit, but he never came to repent. And Lazarus being poor, licking the sores, the dogs came and licked his sores.

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But in this parable, most likely I would say, but verse 27, the rich man, it says, and hell cries out.

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And I got a point to make out of this, and listen very closely. And this is what the rich man says, then

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I beg you, he's praying to father Abraham in hell, send

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Lazarus. It has something, he says, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers.

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Let him warn them, so that they will not come to this place of torment.

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A lot of people try to explain that away, especially those that believe in annihilation, that it's just all these symbolism, but Jesus is telling this story for a reason.

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Hell is a real place, folks, and it is a place of torment. You see this throughout the scriptures.

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But Abraham replied to the rich man, they have Moses and the prophets, let them listen to them.

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And then he responds here in hell, in torment, and he says, no, father Abraham, he said, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.

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Then they will repent, if somebody would come from the afterlife, out of this horrible place of torment, to go tell them and warn them.

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It's sad. But notice the final reply to the rich man's request.

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Just give me a drop of water, to cool this awful torment upon me.

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Jesus said it's a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. There's weepers and gnashers.

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As we are here today, hearing the word of the living God, but yet, people in hell cannot get, as Ravenhill said, there's a million roads to hell, but not one road out.

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But here he's praying in hell. He says to them, if they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, again,

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Abraham replies to them, they will not be convinced, if someone rises from the dead, and someone did rise from the dead,

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Jesus Christ, they would not even be convinced of that. How horrible is unbelief.

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How horrible it is. And the rich man realized, Lazarus cannot help him.

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He then pleads with father Abraham to help him. Again, he's praying. He's pleading.

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And notice, he's pleading to the wrong person at the wrong time. It is eternally too late.

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In hell, in hell. And by the way, we're the largest, biggest prayer meeting that's going on right now.

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He's not heard. Why? Why is he not heard? Because there's no grace. Oh, God's there.

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God's there, but he's there in his wrath. He's there in his wrath, and that's why he's not heard.

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There is no grace. Folks, there's grace, and may we never, ever take it for granted that God's grace has come to us in Jesus Christ.

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Turn it not away today. Come to Christ. He begs

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Abraham that a visit from the afterlife is required to save his family.

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We see this in verse 30 in this story. And the man in hell and torment expects Lazarus to be his personal messenger.

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He's still in his pride, even in torment and hell. He implies he needed such special warning too, but Abraham makes a reference to Moses and the prophets.

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Notice this twice. He mentions Moses and the prophets, Moses and the prophets. The revelation.

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What is that? That's the summary, basically, the law and the prophets. Moses and the prophets for the entire

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Old Testament demonstrates the complete sufficiency of Holy Scripture to warn about the judgment to come after death.

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And think of it. Jesus Christ, here He is, the incarnate Word. He comes in flesh.

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He says, I am the bread of life. He stands before these unbelieving Jews, and He says, you have seen

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Me, and still you do not believe. Oh, the light. I want you to think about this in personal application right here.

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The light that they had, that Christ was before them, will be greater judgment on them.

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And have you ever thought about all the light that America has had? All the light that you and I have had?

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How about us here? How much light have we received? How much of the Bible that we know? How much of grace have been given to us?

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And what are we doing about it? Oh, that we would be believing in Jesus Christ and be obedient to His Word to tell this world about Jesus Christ.

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Jesus says, makes me think of Thomas. After he witnessed

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Jesus Christ. And by the way, he missed Christ in a whole week of eight days, basically, in unbelief.

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We will see this later on in John. And he misses

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Jesus Christ for an entire week. That's why it's so important for us to assemble together. We don't want to miss a blessing. Thomas missed a blessing.

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Think of that. He was probably struggling and full of anxiety throughout the whole week.

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And basically, the one thing I do admire about him, though, he wanted to see Christ for himself.

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But what a blessing he just threw away for a whole week. And he even confesses when Jesus does appear.

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And he falls to his face and Jesus appears to him personally because of what he said he wanted to see for himself.

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And then he falls to his face. My Lord and my God. Jesus did not turn that away, folks.

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You know why? Because he is Lord. And he is God. And then

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Jesus told him. And you remember what he said? Let us remember this. Because you have seen me, you have believed, blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.

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We have not seen him yet face to face, but we will one day. We have not seen him, but yet we love him, as Peter says.

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But here are the Jews, they have seen him. Yet they do not believe.

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Verse 36. Well, Jesus promises,

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Come to him. Come to him. He is the bread of life. He is that bread of life.

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And one of my favorite invitations. We can look at so many invitations, but this fits perfectly right here, what

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Jesus is saying. And it is found in Isaiah chapter 55,

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I believe. It says, Everyone who thirst, come to the waters.

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And you who have no money, come and buy and eat. As Brother Keith was talking about, buy the truth.

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Come, buy and eat. Partake. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

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Why do you spend money for what is not bread? And your wages for what does not satisfy?

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Listen carefully to me. And eat what is good. And let your soul delight itself in abundance.

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Incline your ear. And come to me. Here. And your soul shall live.

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And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the sure mercies of David. Indeed, I have given him as a witness to the people, a leader and a commander for the people.

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You see, the great invitation that God says, Everyone who thirst, come to the waters.

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That's the Lord Jesus Christ. Come to the waters. Well, unfortunately, they were unbelieving.

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Secondly, there's another wonderful verse of the sayings of Christ about those who come to Him.

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And notice this saying of Christ comes from the fact that the Jews were in unbelief towards our

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Lord. Now, they were in unbelief. But keep this in mind.

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Our Lord Jesus Christ was not discouraged by their unbelief. He might have been displeased.

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But He was never discouraged. How do we know this? Well, because of the hard -heartedness of the

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Jews, Jesus knew. And He knew that only few will receive mercy.

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And most everybody else, as Jesus says, on the road of destruction will receive justice. He knew that all the

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Father's purpose and His sovereign plans would be fulfilled. Jesus knew this. Even if the unbelieving

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Jews to whom He was speaking would not accept Him and receive Him, He knew that all those who were chosen by God the

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Father would come to Him. It's those select few, the remnant, in which

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God calls, has chosen. What does the

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Scripture say? Look at verse 37. Like I said, we'll spend more time on this, God willing, next week. But I want to whet your appetite a little bit.

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Jesus says, All that the Father gives Me will come to Me.

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No exceptions. The Father gives Him. And the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast off.

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Cast out. All that the Father gives. Beloved, here is a promise that we can rest in, that all the promises of God are yes and amen.

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You can rest on this pillow, as Charles Spurgeon says, on the sovereign pillow of God.

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It's sure and it's steadfast. Everyone that the Father gives to the Son as a love gift will believe in Jesus and will never drive them away.

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They will come. A .W. Pink put it this way, The realization of the invincibility of the eternal counsels of God gives us a calmness, a poise, a courage, a perspective which nothing else can.

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That is so true. It is the sovereign pillow of God we can rest in.

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And Jesus never got discouraged because the crowds did not believe in Him. He knew that the

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Father, He was there, folks. He knows. Because He was with the

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Father when the covenant was made between Him and the Father before the Father sent Him to the world in the great mission.

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Beloved, Scripture guarantees us, and listen very carefully, and again, we will spend more time on this,

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God willing, next Lord's Day, that God will lose none who truly believe by grace alone because it is

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God that brings them in. And it is by grace alone and God's favor alone that we are even saved.

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No one can save themselves. We can no good works. Nothing can save us but Jesus by the grace of God.

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And this is the will of the Father who sent Him, that He says, I shall lose none of all those

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He has given Me, verse 39, but raise them up at the last day. Here's a few verses.

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I'd like for you to look with me to John chapter 17. I quoted from John chapter 17 earlier, verse 3.

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Go with me to this powerful chapter that Jesus prays.

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We see the intercession of Jesus Christ in this entire chapter. This chapter is absolutely, incredibly deep and loaded up because we see the

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Master Himself interceding to the Father. But notice what He says as He's praying. Notice what

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He says in verse 2. Let me begin with verse 1. Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and He said,

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Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son that Your Son also may glorify

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You. Notice verse 2 as He speaks about those that the Father gives. As You have given

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Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given

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Him. The Father gives the believers, those that will come.

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In other words, this has already been decided. I want to tell you folks, you mention this to people in churches today, and they don't like it because they are totally not in control of their salvation.

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People really scream bloody murder, and I'm telling you, I've seen it for myself. They want to be in control of the decisions that they make.

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And yes, we do make decisions. And if we do say yes to Jesus, there's a reason we say yes to Jesus because God's already said yes to us.

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If we seek Christ, it is first because He has sought us. But here,

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He says, You have given Him, the Father gives them to Jesus. Jesus is praying to the

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Father. Grant unto Him authority over all flesh that He might give eternal life to all those

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You have given Him. Look at verse 6. You have manifested Your name to the men whom

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You have given Me out of the world. He's speaking here, He's praying for the disciples, the twelve.

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I should say eleven, but He does mention Judas because He's the son of perdition. And He says this,

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They were Yours. He's saying this to the Father. They were Yours, Father. You gave them to Me, and they have kept

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Your Word. Oh beloved, do you see the order there? When you believe, you obey.

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See, obedience is not required for salvation, but when you are saved, there will be obedience that follows because it's the result.

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Obedience shows. It's the fruit. It shows something has happened. So that's critically important.

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They were Yours. You gave them to Me. They have obeyed Your Word. Let me give a question here.

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How do we know we belong to Christ? How do we know that we really do belong to Jesus Christ?

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How do we know that we are God's elect? By believing. By believing in Christ, first of all, first and foremost, by believing in Christ, and second to that would be obedience.

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We'll follow, always. Like the old hymn says, and these old hymn writers were not wrong,

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Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.

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Verse 9. Look at verse 9. I pray for them. Notice Jesus is not praying for the world.

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He says this, I do not pray for the world, but for those whom You have given Me. He makes special intercession for His own, and then

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He says, for they are Yours. Father, You have given them to Me. That's what

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He's saying. They're Yours. They're the love gift from the Father.

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It's as if He's saying, Father, I want those You have given to Me to be with Me where I am to see

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My glory. That's in verse 24. Notice that.

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Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given, gave Me. You gave them to Me.

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And I love this here, but notice what He says, may be with Me where I am.

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He desires for you and Me, the believers, to be with Him.

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He longs to see you and Me more than we long to see Him. Isn't that beautiful?

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And He says, You gave Me, the ones that You gave

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Me may be with Me where I am. He desires to have us with Him that they may behold

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My glory, which You have given Me, for You loved

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Me before the foundation of the world. Oh, the depth of that.

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The depth. He desires you.

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He desires you far more than you and I desire Him. Now, back to verse 37 in John chapter 6.

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Again, we're going to look more at this because the Lord Jesus said that all God's plans would eventually be fulfilled.

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They would not be thwarted with regards to salvation to those who are given to Christ because the

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Father has appointed them. And those the Father has appointed will believe.

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Since this was the Father's will, the Lord would personally undertake to bring it to pass as He, and in His mission, was to do the will of His Father.

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Now, look at verse 38. For I have come down from heaven not to do

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My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. Jesus is clearly teaching here in this wonderful verse that He did not begin

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His life in the manger in Bethlehem. His existence was from everlasting to everlasting with God the

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Father. You see that? This is what separates Christianity from all cults, from all religions.

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That Christ is God in flesh and He came down from heaven.

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The bread of life came down from heaven. We've already looked at it, but you see this.

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Jesus in verse 32, Jesus said to them, Most assuredly I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.

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Verse 33, For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.

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He came down. He condescended. He condescended.

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Went down, down in great humility. Born in the manger, but His existence was in heaven.

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And He took on flesh. God, the Almighty, the all -wise, all -powerful, ever -present

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God made flesh. What a mystery. What a mystery. That's why we worship, folks.

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Coming into the world, He was the perfect Son of the living God. He volunteered out of His great love.

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And by the way, the love of the Father who sent Him. So the love of the Father sent Him. Took the place of a lowly servant in order to carry out, fulfill the will of the

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Father. This does not mean, by the way, that He did not have a will of His own, but rather that His will, the will of the

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Lord Jesus Christ was in perfect agreement. Was in perfect agreement with the will of God the

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Father. Always doing. And He said this, time and time again, I do whatever the

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Father says. Whatever I see the Father do, I do. He was in complete, perfect submission to the

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Father. Verse 39, and this is the will of Him who sent me. Again, He says that I shall lose none.

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He says this time again, time and time again. And those that come to me, I will know why

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I was cast out. I will lose none of them. All those that He has given to me, but raise them up at the last day.

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So, it's the will of the Father. So what is the will of the Father? The answer to that great question is found in the context to the text that everyone who was given to Christ by the

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Father as a love gift, would be saved and kept, by the way. They would persevere until the last day.

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What is the last day? It's interesting, He mentions the last day, time and time again, which is actually the resurrection day of the just.

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There will be a resurrection day of the just and the unjust. Here, Jesus is speaking about the resurrection of the just, when they would be raised and taken home to heaven.

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What's important to see here is the words nothing, and it refers to the believers in Christ.

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And here in the text, the context that Christ was thinking was not the individual believers necessarily, but the entire body of believers as a whole.

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That all those that believe in Him will be raised up at the last day. The Lord Jesus was responsible that not one member of the body of true believers, of believers in the body of Christ would be lost, but that the whole body, that all those who believe in Him will be raised up at the last day.

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As when Christ comes in His final second advent. And this is when this will take place.

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You see this in 1 Thessalonians. You can turn with me very quickly there.

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I'll read a few verses here. The Apostle Paul brings this to our attention. Let me read a few verses, verse 13.

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But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep. He's basically saying they have died, but he uses the analogy here, they're just sleeping until the resurrection day.

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There's going to be something there. Even though they may have been cremated, the ashes may be scattered,

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God's going to bring it together, every molecule, and bring back a glorified body.

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See, when the believers die, what did Paul say? Absent from the body, present with the

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Lord. But one day, the spirit that is in heaven will be reunited to the body that they had here on earth.

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God will raise it up. You see that? And this is what

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Paul's talking about. And then he says, verse 14, for if we believe that Jesus died, see how important the death of Christ is, and He rose again, the resurrection as well, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.

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For this we say to you by the word of the Lord. It wasn't Paul's word. He said, we say this by the word of the

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Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.

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For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

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Then we who are alive and remain shall be called up together with them in the clouds to meet the

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Lord in the air. Thus and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

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Don't argue about these words when this is going to take place. Comfort each other because this is our great blessed hope, folks, that Jesus is coming back.

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We can rejoice in that. And this is what he says. This is to be words of comfort. Now, there's another.

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I don't want to get into implications and details here, but there's another verse, and it's the resurrection chapter.

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I like to tie into that because Paul the apostle received this revelation in a mystery in 1

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Corinthians 15. And that whole chapter... Notice where he begins.

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He begins where the gospel is that Jesus, the paramount verse is that Jesus Christ died for our sins.

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You are saved if you hold fast that word which I preached to you unless you believed in vain.

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I first of all delivered to you first of all that which also received that Christ died for our sins according to the

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Scriptures, according to the Scriptures. He was buried, rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, according to the

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Scriptures. Notice in the last part of 1 Corinthians 15, this is our final victory, folks.

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And then he says this. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption.

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And notice what he says. Behold, I tell you a mystery, we shall not all sleep.

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Something great is going to happen. We, but we shall all be changed in a moment.

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Just a moment. And he even says this in a twinkling of an eye. That's when the change is going to take place.

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A lot of people think, bam, here and then there. I don't know exactly how fast and the speed of light as Brother Ben was talking about this morning, but I'm telling you, it will be quick.

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But the transport may be different. The change is going to happen in a moment in the twinkling of an eye.

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And then he says this, at the last trumpet. Now I could go there, but that's a series of trumpets that's going to take place.

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And this is going to take place at the last trumpet. There's only two comings of Christ, folks.

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Not three comings. The apostles never changed this. You can see this in the

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Word of God. At the last trumpet. He speaks about this in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.

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We'll save from the wrath to come. So we're not going to, the believers of God will not undergo the wrath of God.

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They may go through some suffering and some hard times here, but I'm here to tell you, God's wrath will not be poured out on them.

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We'll save from the wrath of God. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed.

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For this corruptible must put on incorruption. This mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory.

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This is our final victory. Oh death, where's your sting? Oh Hades, where's your grave?

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Where's your victory? Speaking of the grave, the sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law.

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And don't you love the way he ends this? But thanks be to God. Thanks be to God.

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We're talking about, folks, the one who defeated death, folks. We're talking about the one that gives us everlasting life.

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But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, with this benediction, he says, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, be unmovable, always abounding in the work of the

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Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord, and you can take that to the bank. Be encouraged today.

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This is our final victory. We're all going to pass through the valley of the shadow of death and we're going to all die.

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But what's important is right now, are you prepared to meet thy

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God? Have you repented of your sins? Have you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ?

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Glorious, glorious promises to God's people. There is so much

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I need to make tracks on, but let me try to give some application to this.

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In closing, we see the Lord Jesus Christ. He went on to explain how a person became a member of the family of God to the redeemed.

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Verse 40, For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes.

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I love that. He looks to the Son. He beholds the Son. He beholds

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Him. He believes in Him. Shall have eternal life. And I will raise

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Him up at the last day. To look means to behold. To behold who?

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The Lamb of God. Folks, I'm telling you. I like what

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Warren Wiersbe says and I'm speaking to myself here. People desire,

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God's people should, when it's a God -glorifying sermon, they behold the

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Master, not the minister. The minister is just a channel. He's a voice to tell you what thus says the

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Lord. Says, and you to check me what I'm saying. By the Word of God, by the way.

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Be a good Berean. But you know something? We are to behold the Lamb of God.

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We're not here to behold the preacher. We're not here to behold this person and this person, no matter how gifted they may be.

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We are to behold God's Lamb. Jesus Christ.

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The One who saves to the uttermost. Hebrews 7 .25, where He, Jesus Christ, where He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto

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God, that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever lives, to make intercession for them.

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He's making intercession. He's praying right now for you. Verse 40 emphasizes human responsibility in salvation.

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Even though God is sovereign 100%, but in salvation He works through faith.

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It's the means. Faith is the means. It's the instrument. It's the gift of God. For by grace you've been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves.

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It is the gift of God. Lest anyone should boast, because man cannot boast.

01:00:06

If man boasts in his haughty arrogance, it's not of God. It humbles us that we're even saved.

01:00:16

Very important passage. John 1, verse 12,

01:00:23

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right, or the power, that means the privilege, to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.

01:00:33

To believe in His name. First of all, we come, we behold the

01:00:39

Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. To receive Him, the Word of God, means to acknowledge

01:00:44

His claims, all that He is, Lord, Savior, Messiah, King. And to place one's faith in Jesus Christ.

01:00:53

Thereby we yield our allegiance to Him, surrender our rights to Him, we submit to His Lordship, we submit to Him, His desire over us, that receiving

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Him. And He gave. Notice, He gave. God gave.

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God gave. God gave. Comes down.

01:01:20

Keep in mind what Jesus said. Comes down. I cannot help but think about what

01:01:27

Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3. He said the same thing in essence.

01:01:36

Verse 13, No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven. That is the

01:01:43

Son of Man who is in heaven. Jesus is basically saying, I'm the only one that's been there and I'm the only one that's seen it.

01:01:50

I've come from the place, the heaven of lights, basically.

01:01:56

I've come down here, I bore witness. The Father sent me. And then

01:02:02

He tells Nicodemus this, And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the

01:02:08

Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.

01:02:16

Think about how many times the Lord mentions about lifted up.

01:02:22

I must be lifted up. Well, I found it in John three times. Three times.

01:02:30

Jesus came down from heaven, that is the Son of Man who is in heaven. In verse 14 of chapter 3,

01:02:36

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the

01:02:42

Son of Man be lifted up. Interested that Jesus is referring to the children of Israel in the wilderness, that they were bitten by these serpents, these snakes, because of their hard -hearted sin.

01:02:54

And then God was gracious and He said, He told Moses what to do. Lift up the serpent.

01:03:01

And as they look, all they had to do was look. And that's what Jesus is saying.

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You look to me on the cross. You look and live.

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Look and live. He was lifted up, folks. And He says this time and time again throughout the

01:03:19

Gospel of John in closing here. And so He was saying, these Israelites were wandering in the wilderness and God sent the plague of snakes to punish them for their rebellious attitude and their sin.

01:03:30

And if they would obey God's command and look at the lifted up bronze snake after being bitten, they would be healed.

01:03:40

Beloved, the idea that Jesus is being lifted up speaks of His death and His resurrection and His exaltation.

01:03:48

This is the first of three of the lifted up sayings. Second, again, in John 8, 28,

01:03:56

Jesus said, When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am

01:04:01

He and that I do nothing of my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.

01:04:08

John 12, 32, the final lifted up says,

01:04:13

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself.

01:04:21

And all there is talking about those who believe because if it meant that every person in the world is going to be saved, that would be universalism.

01:04:31

And you know that's not what Jesus meant. But it's all those who believe.

01:04:38

The cross of Jesus Christ was God's great judgment on the world. If one looks at the cross of Christ as they behold the

01:04:46

Lamb of God, and from a worldly perspective, it looks like just a defeated

01:04:51

Jesus, just as Pope Francis has said, by the way, and you can hear that for yourself, that Jesus failed in His mission when

01:04:58

He died on the cross. What a liar! He's a liar!

01:05:08

And yet they call Him the Vicar of Christ. Such deception! That people would believe a mere old bachelor in Rome.

01:05:18

Yet in reality, it was Satan's defeat. And Jesus cried, it is finished.

01:05:25

It was the cry of victory, folks. When Jesus says it is finished, it is paid in full.

01:05:35

It was not only the overthrow of Satan, but also means salvation for sinners was accomplished. Redemption was paid for.

01:05:41

And the precious blood of Jesus Christ bought and paid for our salvation.

01:05:49

Have you believed this morning? Have you placed your full trust in the Lord Jesus Christ? Hallelujah, what a

01:05:57

Savior. Man of sorrows, what a name for the

01:06:02

Son of God who came, ruined sinners to reclaim. Hallelujah, what a Savior. Bearing shame and scoffing rude in my place condemned

01:06:13

He stood. Sealed my pardon with His blood. Hallelujah, what a

01:06:19

Savior. Guilty vile and helpless we, spotless

01:06:24

Lamb of God was He. Full atonement, can it be?

01:06:30

Hallelujah, what a Savior. Lifted up was He to die.

01:06:36

It is finished, was His cry. Now in heaven, exalted high.

01:06:42

Hallelujah, what a Savior. And I love this last stanza. And when

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He comes, our glorious King, all His ransom home to bring, then anew this song will sing.

01:07:00

Hallelujah, what a Savior, folks. Jesus saves to the uttermost.

01:07:06

And when He says that the Father will lose none, that means none. It is everlasting life.

01:07:13

How can you lose everlasting life? Praise His name.

01:07:19

Hallelujah, what a Savior. Let's bow our heads. Heavenly Father, merciful

01:07:26

Lord, Your Word is truly food for our souls, refreshment for our hearts.

01:07:35

Such a great and blessed hope You give through Your Son, the

01:07:40

Lord Jesus Christ. Thank You, Father, for sending us Your very best,

01:07:47

Your precious Son, into this world of woe, this world of darkness to be the bread of life that came down from heaven to feed our hungry hearts and our hungry souls, to give life to those who are dead in trespasses and sins, and raise them up.

01:08:08

Lord, we thank You for the victory. This is a victorious gospel. This is a glorious gospel.

01:08:16

Lord, help us to be bold as a lion and gracious, speaking the truth and love to a lost and dying world and tell them about Jesus, the commands that You give to repent before it's everlasting too late.

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And Father, we thank You for all those who believe in Your name. You will lose none.

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You will lose none. That's assurance. That's assurance. Thank You, Lord, for that blessed assurance.

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Father, we ask this for Your honor and glory. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.