The Will of God
2 views
John 6:35–40
Pastor Rob Kimsey
September 15, 2024
https://laurelbiblechurch.net/
- 00:00
- Praise God the will of God Beloved as we gather this morning.
- 00:09
- We are confronted with one of the most profound declarations Jesus ever made about himself and his mission in verses 35 through 40
- 00:19
- Jesus calls himself the bread of life the very sustenance of our souls
- 00:25
- This passage doesn't just reveal the depth of his grace But also speaks of the sovereignty of God in our salvation
- 00:34
- Jesus his words remind us that belief in him is not merely an option for spiritual fulfillment
- 00:41
- It is essential because it is through Christ alone that we receive true and lasting life
- 00:50
- Jesus says he who comes to me will never hunger and he who believes in me will never thirst
- 00:57
- The satisfaction of our souls long for Something that only can be found in him
- 01:04
- Yet as he points out many see him hear him and still do not believe
- 01:10
- The sad reality of unbelief is not a reflection of Christ's insufficiency
- 01:17
- But a reminder of the natural human heart hardened and blind to the things of God without divine intervention
- 01:26
- But here is the glorious truth. We must hold dear Our salvation does not rest on our strength or ability to come to Christ on our own
- 01:36
- Jesus tells us all that the father gives me will come to me and the one who comes to me.
- 01:42
- I will never cast out this is the work of a sovereign God who draws us to his son by his grace and Keeps us by his power
- 01:54
- It is God's will that Christ should lose none of those whom the father has given him and He will raise them up on the last day
- 02:03
- This means our security and salvation is not rooted in our own fleeting emotions or efforts but in God's eternal will
- 02:12
- The same God who gives us to Christ ensures that we will be kept by him until the end
- 02:20
- This is why believing in Jesus is essential Because he alone is the way of eternal life and he alone can save and sustain us for all eternity
- 02:31
- So this morning let us come to the bread of life fully believing
- 02:37
- Knowing that our salvation is sure not because of who we are But because of who he is and the unshakable promise of our sovereign
- 02:46
- God At the beginning of chapter 6 the Apostle John recorded the fourth sign wonder of Jesus feeding the 5 ,000 sadly, he also recorded the crowds unbelief as they followed
- 03:01
- Jesus and started this conversation challenging him Despite being firsthand witnesses as part of the 5 ,000
- 03:11
- Jesus had miraculously just fed Imagine for a moment you're in the crowd
- 03:17
- You're in the crowd that had just witnessed Jesus feed 5 ,000 people and again, that's just the men
- 03:24
- Women and children we're talking 15 to 20 thousand people. You were part of the crowd.
- 03:29
- You've seen this and Just as Jesus Feeds the 5 ,000 with nothing more than a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish.
- 03:39
- You didn't just hear about it You were there You felt the rumble in your stomach.
- 03:45
- You saw the bread multiplied you tasted it Your hunger was miraculously satisfied and now after a full stomach and a good night's rest
- 03:54
- You and the rest of the crowd are on the lookout for Jesus and to find him again You catch up to him and what's the first thing you ask?
- 04:04
- Rabbi, when did you get here? When did you get here? But let's be honest.
- 04:09
- You're not there for more spiritual insight You're hoping for more free food You just witnessed a miracle and somehow you missed the point it's like someone handing you the winning lottery ticket and You're still busy asking but I can heck can
- 04:28
- I have the envelope that it came in? Jesus sees right through the crowd
- 04:33
- He says in essence, you're not here because you saw a sign you're here because your bellies were filled
- 04:40
- He's telling the crowd you're being obtuse You're not seeing the bigger picture
- 04:47
- It's ironic, isn't it? They've just witnessed the impossible
- 04:53
- But instead of thinking wow, this might be the Messiah. They're stuck on.
- 04:59
- Hey, what's for lunch and Then the crowd doubles down on their willful ignorance.
- 05:05
- They ask him what sign will you give us? So we can believe you
- 05:11
- Hold on a second didn't they just see the sign they literally ate the sign
- 05:18
- It's like eating an entire birthday cake and then turning to the baker and asking. How do I know that you can bake?
- 05:26
- Jesus is patient with them, but he's trying to wake them up from their spiritual blindness
- 05:33
- He's telling them that the bread wasn't the point it was a sign pointing to something greater
- 05:40
- He is the true bread from heaven the only one who can satisfy their souls forever and Yet they want another sign more proof more bread the danger of being obtuse of failing to take
- 05:56
- Jesus's claims at face value The danger is that you miss the bigger reality.
- 06:02
- He's offering the crowd saw the miracle, but didn't grasp its meaning They wanted their physical hunger satisfied
- 06:09
- But ignored the spiritual hunger that only Jesus the true bread of life can fill
- 06:17
- Friends Let's not be like the crowd So focused on the temporary the immediate and the material that that we miss the eternal
- 06:28
- Jesus is offering us more than just a meal. He's offering us life that never perishes
- 06:34
- Let's take him at his word Otherwise, we might end up we might end up asking for more bread when really what we need is the bread of life standing right in front of us
- 06:45
- In today's passage John records Jesus's exchange With the crowd by showing how
- 06:51
- Jesus corrected their wrong conclusions and unbelief So that you don't make the same mistake of not taking
- 06:59
- Jesus and his claims at face value Jesus gives the crowd a strong exhortation calling out their unbelief he follows up with an encouragement promising that he will never turn away anyone who comes to him and Jesus gives an explanation of God the
- 07:17
- Father's will in redeeming sinners whom he graciously gives to the
- 07:22
- Son and So in the first couple of verses 35 and 36, we see this exhortation
- 07:29
- Verses 35 and 36 the exhortation Jesus said to them
- 07:34
- I am the bread of life He who comes to me will never hunger and he who believes in me will never thirst
- 07:42
- But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe even in verse 34 the crowds continued misunderstanding is that the bread
- 07:55
- Jesus was talking about was like some New form of manna from heaven Lord always give us this bread a dim -witted mockery
- 08:06
- This thick -headed response prompted Jesus to speak very plainly that he was referring to himself notice in verse 35 that he begins by showing that the bread they're
- 08:17
- Requesting in a mocking way is standing right in front of them and then he reproves them by starting with a crystal -clear
- 08:26
- Doctrine he is showing them that they are guilty of ingratitude His teaching demonstrates two things
- 08:35
- How we ought to seek life and how we may enjoy it The metaphors are connected with what they brought up about manna and daily food
- 08:46
- They are ignorant. And so now he is correcting them when we eat food it is for the nourishment of the physical body and We clear we see clearly that it's not only for the weakness of our bodies
- 08:57
- But there is a divine grace from God Because without bread there would be no nourishment for the body and there is a correlation between the body and the soul
- 09:08
- That should help us recognize the grace of Christ. In other words. Christ is the bread that our souls need to be fed by and This should affect our hearts more than if he had just said that he is our life without explaining the metaphor
- 09:23
- And with that in mind The idea of bread doesn't communicate the power of Christ that we may completely feel it
- 09:31
- Because bread isn't what gives life It does give physical nourishment and sustain the life that we already have
- 09:38
- This is really about the kindness of Christ we have physical life and Because of God's loving -kindness, we have the beginning of a new life, which is not comparable
- 09:51
- Physical sustenance is not consistent with spiritual life and So if there's a difference in the effectiveness of feeding mankind with manna from heaven through Moses or the bread from heaven
- 10:03
- Which is Christ? Jesus is saying that man's souls don't live by an inherent power that we have naturally in ourselves
- 10:13
- All life all life is borrowed from Christ So taking the spiritual food is when we receive
- 10:21
- Christ by faith It doesn't help any unbeliever that Christ is the bread of life
- 10:27
- Because the unbeliever will remain hungry and empty however
- 10:32
- When Christ is our bread meaning we come to him as hungry persons in great need
- 10:38
- He will fill us and we could say it like this to come to Christ and to believe means the same thing in this passage
- 10:46
- Coming to Christ expresses the effective faith faith and the desire to come to Christ is the outcome of our feeling of hunger and emptiness
- 10:58
- The desire to be filled up causes us to flee to Christ to seek the life he offers
- 11:05
- Very simply there is no other way to eat this bread than to believe no other way and Eating this bread is the outcome and result of faith more than just faith itself
- 11:16
- Meaning faith doesn't gaze upon Christ from a distance faith
- 11:22
- Embraces Christ so that Jesus may become ours and God's Spirit may live in us
- 11:30
- We are enjoined with him. We have life with him and we become one with him
- 11:39
- Later in this gospel account in the high priestly prayer. Jesus will say this in John 17
- 11:46
- I do not ask on behalf of these alone But for those also who believe in me through their word
- 11:54
- That they may all be one even as you father are in me and I and you that they also may be in us so that the world may believe that you sent me and Jesus is metaphor extends beyond food because he says our soul will never thirst.
- 12:12
- Well bread doesn't quench thirst He's using the bread metaphor in the comparison of the manna versus heavenly power that he alone possesses
- 12:22
- While the bread sustains our souls in life and nourishes us the Lord's Prayer give us this day our daily bread
- 12:31
- The water metaphor is similar to what he told the Samaritan woman at the well the springs of eternal life
- 12:39
- Will provide and quench the thirst of our souls to have peace with God And we could say it like this every person that partakes of the bread of Christ Will have life from him and will not want for anything
- 12:53
- Psalm 23 Yahweh is my shepherd. I shall not want
- 13:00
- The redeemed sinner will have an abundance in everything that we need to sustain our spiritual life the spiritual blessings that come
- 13:08
- From Christ through the Holy Spirit while we do eat bread to satisfy physical hunger and also to sustain our physical bodies
- 13:16
- Spiritual hunger and the sustenance of spiritual life is only possible if we have a right relationship with God If we have a right relationship with Jesus Christ, who is the bread of life?
- 13:29
- If we are going to sustain a spiritual life Christ must be part of our daily walk as Christians in verse 36 notice
- 13:38
- Jesus reproves the crowd because of their wickedness and rejecting the gift from God that has been freely offered to them
- 13:45
- The Son of Man will give The Son of Man will give yet. They don't respond
- 13:50
- It's really a severe indictment and a charge against them because it's evil and they have contempt for God The unbeliever rejects what he knows
- 14:00
- God is given to him No, they they couldn't have got off the hook by claiming ignorance
- 14:07
- The crowd has no such claim to make they reject the teaching that he himself is the true bread from heaven
- 14:15
- Earlier, they recognized him as the prophet to come after Moses who is qualified as the only
- 14:22
- Lord's Messiah Remember, they tried to force him to become their king No, they resist
- 14:27
- God in in in rejecting or They just are not reflecting about what they have to do with God because unbelievers willingly shut their eyes to the truth
- 14:38
- They willingly blind themselves against the light of God and therefore it immediately disappears from their sight
- 14:45
- The Bible teaches that Satan darkens their understanding But this goes beyond because of the controversy that they saw him perform the sign wonder
- 14:56
- They witnessed the glory revealed from heaven in the Son of Man and they willingly did not believe
- 15:02
- They can't just be this can't just be blamed on a fallen angel. This is voluntary blindness
- 15:08
- And in their depravity and malice of the heart they willingly prevent themselves from believing the truth
- 15:16
- Think of standing before the Son of God Standing before the Son of God the one through whom all things were made and in whom all things hold together and hearing him
- 15:27
- Declare I am the bread of life not merely a prophet not merely a teacher, but the eternal
- 15:33
- God incarnate Claiming to be the only source of true sustenance the very life you need for your soul and yet Despite the clarity the authority and the weight of such a declaration the hearts of those who heard him remained cold and indifferent and unbelieving
- 15:53
- In verses 35 and 36 Jesus confronts this stark reality
- 15:58
- He says I am the bread of life Whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in me shall never thirst
- 16:07
- But I say to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe here we are confronted with the great danger of unbelief a danger
- 16:18
- Not rooted in ignorance, but in rebellion against the most plain and clear revelation of God Think about this
- 16:27
- The people who stood before Christ had just witnessed the miraculous feeding of the 5 ,000
- 16:33
- They had seen his power. They had experienced his provision and yet he declares himself to be the bread of life
- 16:40
- They do not believe Their unbelief is not a is not due to a lack of evidence
- 16:47
- It is the result of hearts that refuse to submit to the truth when the truth is staring them in the face
- 16:55
- This is the great danger of unbelief It's not merely a refusal to accept certain facts.
- 17:01
- It's a refusal to bow to the claims of Christ Jesus is not merely offering bread.
- 17:08
- He is offering himself as the very means of eternal life But to receive that life requires more than intellectual assent.
- 17:17
- It requires the abandonment of self The recognition that we are utterly dependent upon him for everything and submission to his lordship we often hear people today say
- 17:32
- Really quite frankly ridiculous things like if God would just give me a sign I would believe
- 17:39
- But let me tell you this Let me make it crystal clear the people in John 6 had all the signs they needed
- 17:46
- They saw the miracles they heard Christ teaching they stood in the very presence of God incarnate and still they did not believe
- 17:54
- Why? You think how is this possible? Because unbelief is not the product of a lack of evidence.
- 18:02
- It is the product of a hardened heart unwilling to relinquish its autonomy and bow
- 18:09
- To bow the knee before the King of Kings to bow before Christ. This is the great danger facing many today
- 18:17
- This is the danger of unbelief You may hear the gospel You may understand the message
- 18:25
- You may even be familiar with the claims of Christ But if you do not believe if you do not come to him in full submission you are lost
- 18:37
- Jesus says whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in me shall never thirst
- 18:44
- This is not a superficial promise. It is the very essence of salvation To come to him is to recognize that nothing else can satisfy
- 18:54
- Nothing else can give life. Nothing else can save but hear this warning
- 19:00
- You have seen him you have seen him You have heard his claims and if you do not believe your unbelief is not
- 19:10
- Excusable it is rebellion Jesus stands before you offering life and to reject him is to choose death
- 19:20
- To choose emptiness to choose eternal separation from the only source of life and grace
- 19:27
- There is ever going to be That is why unbelief is so dangerous
- 19:32
- It blinds us to the truth of who Christ is even when the truth is plainly revealed
- 19:38
- It causes us to reject the bread of life while starving in our sin to refuse living water while perishing in our thirst
- 19:47
- Brothers and sisters do not harden your hearts Do not delay in coming to Christ The danger of unbelief is real and the consequences are eternal.
- 19:58
- Jesus has declared. I am the bread of life Take him at his word Come to him
- 20:04
- Believe in him and you will never hunger and you will never thirst
- 20:10
- This is his promise and he is faithful to keep it In today's passage
- 20:16
- John records Jesus's exchange with the crowd By showing how Jesus corrected their wrong conclusions and unbelief
- 20:23
- So that you don't make the same mistake of not taking Jesus's claims about himself at face value
- 20:30
- The exhortation is that even though Jesus offers to be the one who satisfies our hearts and Gives us eternal life.
- 20:39
- Some people still don't believe in him Even when they've seen his amazing works right in front of them
- 20:48
- And then he continues in verse 37 and 38 with the encouragement the encouragement look at verse 37
- 20:57
- All that the father gives me will come to me And the one who comes to me
- 21:03
- I will never cast out For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me the encouragement
- 21:13
- Verse 37 makes a strong case for the sovereign will of God The will of God the father in the election of everyone who comes to the
- 21:22
- Son for salvation They are drawn by the father because he has predestined every believer who will be saved
- 21:30
- God is completely sovereign Which is the foundation of Jesus's complete assurance that he will succeed in the mission that his father has given him
- 21:40
- Philippians 1 6 Paul says it like this for I am confident of this very thing that he who began a good work in you
- 21:48
- Will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus All that the father gives me will come to me
- 21:56
- That means there is a security in our salvation that will forever Rest in the sovereignty of God This is an absolute guarantee that It's really a guarantee from God that every person every person that he has chosen will come to Jesus for salvation
- 22:16
- Think about the implication of what Jesus is saying when he says the father gives me
- 22:21
- The redeemed sinner is not only drawn by God but chosen by God and is a gift of the father's love to Jesus the son
- 22:30
- Another way to say it is that the son receives a love offering from the father and holds on to each person
- 22:37
- Meaning it is a guarantee that those the father has given to the son. Jesus will raise up into eternal glory
- 22:47
- Not one chosen sinner redeemed by the grace of God will be lost by the
- 22:52
- Son not one and There is no thing in all of creation that can change that or separate us from God's love
- 23:01
- The will of God is the saving purpose and there is nothing that could ever change that because the
- 23:07
- Son will never fail Paul talks about it in Romans.
- 23:13
- He says this in Romans chapter 8 He asks a question what then shall we say to these things if God is for us who is against us?
- 23:23
- He who indeed did not spare his own son But delivered him over for us all how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
- 23:33
- Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies who is the one who condemns?
- 23:40
- Christ Jesus is he who died? Yes, rather who was raised who is at the right hand of God who also intercedes for us?
- 23:48
- Who will separate us from the love of Christ will affliction or turmoil or?
- 23:55
- persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword Just as it is written
- 24:02
- For your sake we are being put to death all day long. We were counted as sheep for the slaughter
- 24:09
- But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us
- 24:15
- For I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels
- 24:21
- Nor rulers nor things present nor things to come
- 24:26
- Nor powers nor height nor depth Nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our
- 24:37
- Lord The one who comes to me I will never cast out
- 24:44
- Jesus is saying that he did not and will never work independently of his father only ever in perfect unity with God the
- 24:53
- Father and These verses natural implication is is to provide us with great assurance
- 25:00
- We will be welcomed into God's presence and we will be protected by God because Jesus accomplished the will of God Jesus's purpose is only ever to do the will of God Jesus did not come to satisfy his human desires and An important principle for us to live by here that if Jesus is our master
- 25:23
- We confess him as our Lord then we should have the same purpose of living in the will of God That means putting
- 25:30
- God first not living after our own earthly desires again, Paul He records this for us in the first letter to the the church in Thessalonica 1st
- 25:41
- Thessalonians chapter 4 and 5 he says for this is the will of God your sanctification your sanctification
- 25:48
- For God did not call us to impurity but in sanctification rejoice always
- 25:55
- Pray without ceasing in everything give thanks for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me in verse 38
- 26:13
- In Jesus's encouragement. He is making it clear that the reason he is the bread of life is
- 26:19
- Because he is the one who has come down from heaven to do God's will He's really doubling down on what he just said because faith is a work of God We should strive not to seek
- 26:29
- Christ in in vain by attempting to earn grace Because he shows that we are
- 26:36
- God's chosen people Faith is a work of God and Jesus as the Son has no other purpose than to fulfill the commands of his father the will of God So this is critical for us to understand that that Jesus will never reject anyone that the father has sent him
- 26:53
- And that means that our faith will never be useless and will never be without purpose and Just as we see the crowd double down on their willing unbelief and vain obtuse ignorance
- 27:06
- Jesus makes it crystal clear that there is no distinction between his own will and the will of the father
- 27:12
- Jesus and the father are one The crowd has already demonstrated their willingness to unbelief and ignorance
- 27:20
- He removes any pretense or intellectual dishonesty on their part Jesus boldly declares that he has come into the world for this reason that he will accomplish and perform with complete perfection
- 27:36
- Everything that the father has ordained concerning the redemptive plan of salvation for mankind what if you were walking up to the gates of heaven and Jesus himself is standing there waiting for you
- 27:51
- Now some of you might be nervous Thinking what if he changes his mind? What if he checks my track record?
- 27:58
- What if he sees all my mistakes? What if he says actually you're not on the list after all sorry
- 28:06
- That fear grips many people but let me tell you if That's what you're imagining.
- 28:15
- You're thinking of the wrong Jesus Jesus says in verse 37 all that the father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to me
- 28:24
- I will never cast out that is not just a passing statement. It's a guarantee
- 28:31
- Jesus isn't standing there with the clipboard checking the boxes to make sure you've lived a perfect life
- 28:36
- He's not going to turn you away based on your failures and shortcomings No when he says never cast out he means it and when
- 28:46
- Jesus makes a promise He doesn't waffle on it. He doesn't second -guess it and he certainly doesn't revoke it
- 28:54
- Now, I know some of you might be thinking well, that sounds great.
- 29:00
- But what if I've messed up too much? what if my life has been a series of failures and Surely God's just tired of me by now
- 29:10
- But let me remind you The promise doesn't rest on you. It rests on Christ and he's not going anywhere
- 29:19
- Let's consider the next verse Jesus says for I have come down from heaven not to do my own will But the will of him who sent me
- 29:26
- Jesus was on a divine mission Not his own personal preference tour
- 29:32
- The father has given him a people and the son's job is to redeem and secure
- 29:37
- Every single one of them. It's not like he's going to say well I saved 99 of them.
- 29:44
- That's close enough No, he's going to fulfill the father's will down to the last soul
- 29:52
- Every single person given to the father will come to him and none.
- 29:57
- Let me repeat none will be lost It's almost like walking into an exclusive party
- 30:06
- Imagine there's a huge banner over the entrance that reads reserved for the redeemed and you walk up trembling
- 30:14
- Because you know your own flaws But instead of the bouncer giving you a side eye or checking a list
- 30:20
- Jesus walks up and smiles and says I've been expecting you. Come on in.
- 30:26
- I told you I'd never turn you away Jesus is not some kind of cosmic bureaucrat reluctantly stamping approved on your life with a sigh
- 30:36
- No, he's delighted to receive those who come to him. Why? Because it's the very will of his father and Jesus is committed to doing his father's will perfectly
- 30:49
- So here's the point Jesus didn't come to earth on a mission of half measures
- 30:55
- He came to do his father's will and part of that will is to never cast out anyone who comes to him if You've come to Christ in faith
- 31:02
- It's because the father gave you to the son and the son is not in the business of losing what's been entrusted to him
- 31:10
- When you come to Jesus, he doesn't look at your past failures or your present weaknesses he looks at the will of the father and says
- 31:19
- I will never cast you out and That friends is the most secure promise you could ever receive
- 31:28
- Jesus has you and he's not letting go Jesus correct
- 31:35
- Corrects the crowds wrong conclusion and and their unbelief so that you don't make the same mistake of not not believing not not taking his claims about himself at face value
- 31:45
- The encouragement is that Jesus promises that anyone who comes to him will never be turned away
- 31:53
- Because he came to do what God wants and to take care of everyone God gives to him and then in this section we conclude in verses 39 and 40 with the explanation now
- 32:07
- Jesus will explain the exhortation and the encouragement verses 39 and 40 the explanation
- 32:15
- He says now this is the will of him who sent me that of all that he has given me
- 32:21
- I lose nothing But raise it up on the last day For this is the will of my father that everyone who sees the son and believes in him will have eternal life
- 32:32
- And I myself will raise him up on the last day Now Jesus defines and explains the design of the father
- 32:41
- Here is the plan of salvation that fallen mankind sinners may find salvation and security in Christ and The other side of the coin is that all who do not listen to this teaching and humble themselves
- 32:55
- Under the truth of the gospel those ones are of a reprobate mind
- 33:01
- Rejecting the gospel is the broad path that will lead to the destruction and ruin of many many unbelievers
- 33:10
- Will voluntarily bring down destruction upon themselves voluntary unbelief and intellectual dishonesty and this truth is enough to cause the believer to become despairing
- 33:22
- But our satisfaction and rest is is the truth that the gospel of grace will 100 % of the time be effective 100 % of the time in its power to gather
- 33:35
- God's elect unto salvation The will of God is that Jesus loses not even one
- 33:41
- Jesus is saying I will not suffer even one to be taken away from me or perish
- 33:46
- He isn't the Savior for just one day Jesus is the guardian who will take care of the repentant sinner until the end
- 33:55
- He will carry us the rest of the way from the beginning until the end of our lives as born -again children of God his promise is in the final resurrection a
- 34:06
- Promise that is a must for all of us while we all deal with earthly desires and the struggles of the flesh the
- 34:14
- Regenerated sheep who are aware of this reality are supported by the very hand of Christ Who will perfectly and sufficiently bring his sheep to that day of resurrection?
- 34:27
- Christ will never desert us in the midst of the journey And we can forever rely on his faithfulness to effectively raise us up on the last day
- 34:36
- When all the sheep are gathered in that final sheep pen in heaven as we enjoy and take ownership of the new earth
- 34:44
- The Great Shepherd causes us to be dead to the world's desires, but to be alive in him
- 34:52
- The Apostle Paul puts it like this in Colossians for you died and your life has been hidden with Christ in God Jesus literally saves us and causes us to be alive and he will never leave us sometimes overwhelmed with earthly affections and and Like sheep destined to the slaughter all of us have always had one foot in the grave
- 35:17
- But now in him we can never be swallowed up by death There is no other support for our faith and this transcends the circumstances of our present life
- 35:28
- We pass through the obstacles of this world until the final evidence of our faith at last appears
- 35:34
- Jesus says he will not lose even one person a Sincere commitment to believe in Jesus by God's grace through faith
- 35:43
- Results in lasting security in Christ's promise of everlasting life
- 35:48
- Not one believer ever Will ever be overcome by Satan not one true born -again follower of Christ will ever lose their salvation
- 35:58
- John concludes in verse 40 by but by recording Jesus's statements
- 36:05
- Jesus is Continuing to explain the will of God. He tells the crowd that the
- 36:10
- Father has committed to him the protection of our salvation His explanation here includes the way that it is accomplished
- 36:19
- Salvation comes from obeying the gospel of Christ very simply it is the will of God that those who he has elected for salvation will be saved and For this reason it is dangerous and foolish to try to seek your own salvation outside of faith alone in Christ alone from eternity past God has decreed and determined that the salvation of repentant sinners can never be broken
- 36:49
- We saw we find this in the first letter in the letter to the Ephesians the first chapter Ephesians 1
- 36:56
- Just as he chose us in him referring to God choosing us in Christ before the foundation of the world
- 37:04
- That we would be holy and blameless before him in love By predestining us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself
- 37:15
- According to the good pleasure of his will Making known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure
- 37:24
- Which he purposed in him for an administration of the fullness of the times
- 37:29
- That is the summing up of all things in Christ things in the heavens and things on the earth in him
- 37:37
- For every human being that has ever lived Faith is a sufficient testimony of the eternal predestination of God The testimony of the
- 37:47
- Holy Spirit is the sealing of our adoption We find this in Romans For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again but you have received the spirit of adoptions as sons by whom we cry out
- 38:06
- Abba Father Jesus very intentionally explains that those who see and believe have true obedience of faith in The immediate context of verse 36.
- 38:19
- He rebuked the Jews with not believing even though they saw Faith proceeds from the knowledge of Christ if we trust in Christ We perceive what he is and what he gives to us
- 38:34
- Every wretched sinner who puts their faith in Christ will be Resurrected from the physical death to everlasting life
- 38:42
- Perfect peace with God both now and when Christ comes again first Corinthians 15 in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we will be
- 38:58
- Changed and the beholding and the believing implies human responsibility in our salvation
- 39:05
- God is sovereign and he has decreed to work through faith But a person must believe in Jesus as the
- 39:13
- Messiah and Son of God and yet faith is a gift Ephesians 2 for by grace you have been saved through faith
- 39:20
- This is not yourselves. It's not of yourselves It is the gift of God not of works so that no one may boast
- 39:31
- If we try to harmonize the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man in some intellectual way we can struggle here
- 39:39
- It's humanly impossible to perfectly resolve the mystery of the will of God there is a command to see and believe and Salvation is a free gift of God Everyone who sees the
- 39:53
- Son and believes in him will have eternal life Consider My brethren the profound mystery and infinite grace contained in the words of the
- 40:06
- Lord Jesus Christ in verses 39 and 40 here we are brought face to face with the eternal purposes of God as Revealed in the redemption provided only by God's grace
- 40:18
- Jesus declares this is the will of him who sent me that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me
- 40:24
- But raise it up on the last day what a glorious and unshakable truth is set before us
- 40:30
- The eternal son sent by the father is entrusted with a people Redeemed sinners chosen before the foundation of the world and it is his divine charge to bring them safely to glory the will of God for Christ and for all who are united to him is not a vague or uncertain thing it is the eternal plan of salvation it is rooted in the eternal counsel of the triune
- 40:58
- God a plan of salvation made between the father the son and the Holy Spirit the father entrusted to the son a people a particular and precious number of sinners fallen yet for ordained
- 41:13
- To be redeemed. These are the elect Those whom the father gave to the son in love before time began
- 41:21
- Christ's mission is nothing less than the securing of their salvation unto the end and he shall not fail mark, well
- 41:31
- Mark, well, then the certainty of this divine will Jesus says
- 41:37
- I should lose nothing What a comfort for the believer What a comfort for the believer the security of our eternal salvation does not rest in our own strength
- 41:50
- For if it did we would be lost in a moment. It rests in the faithfulness of Christ to do his father's will
- 41:57
- The Son of God has taken up this solemn charge that not one of those
- 42:03
- Given to him will be lost not one He is the Good Shepherd who knows his sheep and he will not allow any one of them to be snatched from his hand the entire weight of our salvation rests on Christ's Fulfillment of the
- 42:19
- Father's will and he will bring it to completion But dear friends this divine purpose is not limited to the present life
- 42:27
- Christ's work is not merely to save us from sins guilt and power but to raise us up on the last day
- 42:34
- The resurrection of the Saints is an essential part of the Father's will and Christ's redemptive work will not be finished until all those given to him are raised from the dead and glorified in his presence forever as Death entered through the sin of the first Adam.
- 42:54
- So life is restored through the righteousness of the second Adam the same power that raised
- 42:59
- Jesus from the dead will raise us also and We will share in his eternal life for he is the firstfruits of those who have died
- 43:09
- Moreover in verse 40 we see that this will of the father is bound up with the call to believe in the
- 43:15
- Son Jesus says for this is the will of my father that everyone who looks on the
- 43:21
- Son and Believes in him should have eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day that means
- 43:30
- We are united to Christ And the means by which we are united to Christ and thus secured in this glorious.
- 43:37
- Hope is through faith It's not enough to merely know about Christ.
- 43:44
- We must look to him behold him as the one sent by the father to save sinners and Believe in him as the sole mediator of our redemption
- 43:55
- Thus the will of God is twofold First that the Son would redeem and secure a people for himself and Second that all who took who look to him in faith will receive eternal life and be raised up on the last day
- 44:10
- This is the unbreakable Purpose of God and it shall stand no power of hell no scheme of man can thwart what the
- 44:19
- Almighty has decreed the redemption of the elect is secured in Christ and The resurrection unto eternal life is the appointed end for every soul that the father has given to the
- 44:30
- Son Let us therefore marvel at the riches of God's grace that he should so purpose the salvation of wretched sinners and Entrust them to his beloved
- 44:41
- Son who will surely raise them up in glory and let us with eyes fixed on Christ Believe in him
- 44:49
- Knowing that by this faith we are united to the one who holds our salvation in his hands and Who will fulfill all that the father has willed for us?
- 45:01
- The explanation is that God's plan is to give people to Jesus so that Jesus can save them and take care of them and Raise them up to live forever with him and anyone who believes in Jesus will have eternal life
- 45:18
- Brothers and sisters think of this overwhelming kindness and mercy of God We were lost dead in our sins deserving nothing but judgment and separation from him from his grace forever
- 45:32
- Yet in his infinite compassion God made a way to save us from the hell that we deserved
- 45:39
- He didn't leave us in our darkness. He sent his son Jesus to be the bread of life
- 45:44
- The one who could satisfy the deepest hunger of our souls and rescue us from death
- 45:50
- God in his love Gave us to his son You are a precious inheritance of Christ.
- 45:58
- And what does Jesus promise? I will never cast you out No matter who you are or what you've done when you come to Jesus in faith
- 46:09
- He will not turn you away He will raise you up on the last day and bring you into eternal life
- 46:17
- That's the heart of our God full of mercy love and compassion. He doesn't want anyone to perish
- 46:23
- His will is to save to redeem and to secure you forever
- 46:30
- Let that sink in You were once destined for wrath, but now through Jesus you are destined for glory
- 46:41
- God's will is to rescue you to save you and to keep you close to him for eternity
- 46:47
- How great is his love how deep is his mercy? Don't leave here today with without fully surrendering to the one who offers you life everlasting life
- 46:59
- Jesus is the bread of life come to him believe in him and you will never be cast out
- 47:05
- That's the promise of a loving God who delights in saving sinners in verses 35 through 40 the
- 47:13
- Apostle John recorded Jesus's exchange with the crowd by showing how Jesus Corrected their their incorrect conclusions their wrong conclusions and their unbelief
- 47:24
- So that you don't make the same mistake of not taking Jesus's claims about himself at face value
- 47:31
- Jesus gave the crowd a strong exhortation calling out their unbelief that Even though Jesus offers to be the one who satisfies our hearts and give us eternal life
- 47:42
- Some people still don't believe in him, even when they've seen his amazing works right in front of them
- 47:48
- Jesus followed up with an encouragement promising that he will not cast out anyone who comes to him
- 47:53
- Jesus promises that anyone who comes to him will never be turned away Because he came to do what
- 47:59
- God wants and to take care of everyone God gives to him and Jesus gave them an explanation of God the