Assurance in Christ - John 6..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, Rabbi, when did you come here? And Jesus answered them, Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of loaves.

Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has set his seal. Then they said to him, What must we do to be doing the works of God? And then Jesus answered them, this is the work of God that you believe in him who he has sent. They said to him, then what sign do you do that we may see and believe you?

What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness as it is written. He gave them bread from heaven to eat. And Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.

They said to him, Sir, give us this bread always. And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger. Whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet you do not believe.

all that the father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to me i will never cast out for i've come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me and this is the will of him who sent me that i should lose nothing of all that he has given me but raise it up on the last day This is the will of my father that everyone who looks on the son and believes in him should have eternal life. And I will raise him up on the last day. Amen. This is the word of the Lord. Well, we're still in the sixth chapter.

of the gospel according to john and this evening we're in our sixth message in this chapter and i'm quite confident at this point in time that the context of this chapter should at least be quite fresh in our minds we've spent some time here in the last couple of months And the text before us shows us that the Galileans have come to our Lord and they've traveled over land and sea. They've searched after him, but they have done so for the wrong reasons. And our Lord Jesus Christ rebukes them for the reasons that they've been searching. They saw Christ and witnessed the great miracle where he fed 5,000 men. That's not including women and children.

And then they've come and they've come before the Lord who is at Capernaum in the synagogue teaching. Yet they've listened to what he has had to say. But they've misunderstood practically everything that he said. It went right over their heads. It's as though they were speaking different languages.

And indeed, that's what's happening here. You see, Jesus is speaking in spiritual terms. And these people are only capable of understanding that which is physical, that which is material. So that's how these people interpret the words that Jesus is speaking. The truths that He conveys can only be understood in one particular way for them.

And as Jesus progressed in this conversation and the message and the point He was making becomes clearer and clearer and clearer. The illusions become clearer as the time goes on until we reach verse 35. These people, well, Their understanding doesn't get any clearer. In fact, as they listen and listen to the topic of bread and manna from heaven, it seems most likely that things didn't get clearer and clearer, but they got hungrier and hungrier for the wrong type of bread. The true bread from heaven, Jesus expresses, is bread that the Father gives.

In their mind, that bread has been reduced to a perpetual supply of physical bread to satisfy their hunger. Something probably like what their fathers experienced in the wilderness some 1,500 years ago. That manna, that's what they wanted. Or maybe in their mind they're thinking of the Mediterranean flatbread that they'd eaten across on the eastern shores of Galilee only a day earlier. That delicious bread that our Lord provided through miraculous means.

So as Christ had spoken to them, the prospect of perpetual bread, the prospect of them having bread that would continue to come over and over and over again, that excited them. And so their response to our Savior in verse 34 is this, so give us, give us this bread, give us this bread. Clearly they hadn't understood what Jesus was saying. So Jesus makes it crystal clear. to get rid of all the confusion, all misunderstanding.

In verse 35, he speaks plainly and simply in terms that they cannot miss. Jesus says to them, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. You see, bread was a necessary staple for these people. that they knew that they needed this bread to sustain their physical life.

That bread was a symbol of food and that food is necessary. Without the food they perish. So Jesus is saying that as it is essential for you to eat that food every day to maintain and sustain your physical life, you must be eating upon me for your spiritual life. I am essential for spiritual life. Without me, you cannot have spiritual life.

I impart life. I am the source and the substance of that life. I am the bread of life. In essence, what Jesus is saying is, I am life. And apart from me, there is only death.

That's what he's saying. Then he goes on to say in that verse, whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in me shall shall never thirst. You know, these people knew what hunger was. For the most part, most people agree, apart from maybe a small percentage of wealthy families, Galileans weren't rich. They were quite poor.

In fact, most of their time was was expensed by them producing so that they can put food on the table for themselves and their families. So what Jesus did that day earlier by providing them and their families to the fill of that delicious Mediterranean food, Mediterranean bread. That was a big deal for these people and following Christ for that reason made sense in their mind because if he can provide them bread whereby they don't need to spend those countless hours every single day to provide for their families, that's a big deal for these people and Jesus knows it. But despite Jesus knowing how big a deal it is for them to provide bread for their families, He still alludes to the foolishness of them pursuing after Him only for that which is physical. That the one who stands before them is the bread from heaven.

The one who stands before them can give them eternal life. And yet their eyes and their minds and their hearts were focused upon that which is temporal, that which only fills their stomachs. It was good bread that Jesus provided, no doubt, probably the best I would think they'd ever eaten. But even then, today's another day. They were filled yesterday, but today they're hungry again.

Their stomachs are hungry again. So they may fill their stomachs again today, but tomorrow they're empty and they were required to be fed again. And on that principle, that cycle that goes on and on, Jesus tells them that He is the one and only bread that satisfies that emptiness. Not the physical emptiness. That's just a picture.

But He satisfies the spiritual emptiness. The void that is in the soul. He provides complete and eternal satisfaction for the deepest longings of the soul, worldly pursuits, that they may mask that emptiness for a while. One may go after the things in the world and fill up and fill up and fill up, only to find that they remain empty, that there's no satisfaction. in the things of the world.

Quickly they realize the law of diminishing returns. Give me this much every day and I'll be okay, but tomorrow I want more, and the day after I want more and more. Why is that? Because it doesn't fulfill what it says it will fulfill. It doesn't satisfy the soul.

Only Jesus is able to satisfy the soul. He is the true eternal satisfaction. And in Him, life is found. He imparts that life, and He's the one who sustains that life. And beloved, that life in Christ never comes to an end.

Now that's where we got last week. Verse 35, and that's all well and good, and it was clear, it was clear, the message of Christ was clear to these Galileans. But the benefits of this bread of life, the benefits are only applied to those who are hungry, lost sinners, or too hungry, lost sinners, by faith. So the benefits of this bread is applied by faith, and that's why Jesus says that you are to believe in me, you would believe upon him. So the question is, what if people don't hunger for Christ?

What if they've seen the wonders as they have, And what if they've heard the words and yet they still do not have an appetite for this bread? What if this bread from heaven that Jesus speaks about doesn't appeal to them? What if in their mind, now that they know that Jesus speaks of Himself, He made it clear in verse 35, what if they don't see Him as being the one who can satisfy the deepest longings of the soul? What happens then? Because he spelt it out for them in verse 35 in the plainest words.

I am the bread of life, he says. But his listeners, they still don't believe. Because verse 36 tells us, But I said to you that you have seen me, yet you do not believe. Is there hope for salvation for such people as this? Beloved, what more can Jesus do in this situation?

They've witnessed with their eyes a miracle of massive proportion. They've seen something that only God can do through this Jesus, yet they still don't believe. They heard the wise and the compelling preaching of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the plainest terms, I am the bread of life, he said. Believe upon me and have eternal life.

Yet, they still do not believe. These are the people from His own hometown. Jesus is a Galilean. These people know Him, and for at least a while we know that they've been following after Christ. They know His character, and they know He's impeccable in character.

They know that when He speaks, He demands attention, and He's worthy to be heard. They know that. They know when He speaks, He speaks only truth. And when He teaches, He teaches with supreme authority. So what more can Jesus do to incite belief?

The sad reality of John chapter 1 verse 11 is shown for us here, where it says there, he says, he came to his own and his own people did not receive him. Beloved Jesus, in the previous chapter, in chapter 5, Jesus was rejected by the Jews then. And now we find here in chapter 6 that Jesus is being rejected by his own fellow Galileans. So why have they not believed? I want us to think about that.

Was the evidence not compelling enough? Well, the signs and the miracles, they were out of this world. No, they were compelling. How about his preaching? Was it his preaching?

Was it Jesus' preaching? See, if today people were critiquing the preaching of Christ, they would have so many things to say. Possibly they'd say, Jesus, you weren't sick or sensitive enough. Maybe, perhaps, they would say, Jesus, you were too direct. Too direct with these lay Galileans.

Maybe you should have backed off just a little. Maybe, Jesus, you could use more illustrations and change the metaphors. Maybe that would work, Jesus. Some might say perhaps you should put a little bit of humour in there, Jesus, because humour always breaks the ice. People like humour.

Jesus, use some humour. Maybe that will help in the belief thing in the people that listen to what you have to say. And others may advise that Jesus should Maybe Jesus, you should appease what these people want. Give them what they want. Fill their stomachs, maybe for a few more weeks, and wow them a little bit more with more miracles.

And I think in time they will ease into believing that you are worthy of their trust. Beloved, human wisdom has no place here. Because there has never been, nor will there ever be, a greater preacher to step foot on the planet called earth, ever. He was perfect in righteousness. What he taught was perfect in grace, in truth, in humility.

Jesus spoke with authority. He was the perfect preacher. So it's not his preaching. And the miracles... Well, last week we said that all the miracles in the world cannot produce even an iota of faith.

So the question remains, if Jesus had performed the greatest miracle thus far in this book and preached some of the clearest teachings of who he is and how one is to be saved, and yet the audience that he has in front of him still do not believe, then was it possible Was it possible for him to be unsuccessful in accomplishing his mission of redemption? In other words, based on the results that we see before us in chapter 5 and here in chapter 6, is it possible that the incarnation of the eternal Son of God could end in failure? Should Jesus at this point be nervous? Should he be thinking that his advent in this world could have been or could end up as a colossal disappointment? He's standing before a group of people who don't believe.

He's performed only what God could do with power. He's preached the gospel. He said to them that you cannot have life unless you believe upon me. And he's staring at a whole bunch of people who do not believe. And beloved, we know what happens at the end of this chapter.

At the end of this chapter, there's going to be a mass exodus. People will turn their back on the Savior, and they will walk away from Him in unbelief. And that's a big problem. That's a really big problem. Because only a few chapters earlier, our Lord said, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall have everlasting life.

That part, believe, is important because without it there is no everlasting life. Jesus said in John 10.10, I came that they may have life and have it abundant. He's come to impart that everlasting life. But that life, beloved, requires faith.

So the question needs to be asked. What if no one believes in Him? Could it have been possible that Jesus' mission would fail? Now you might say, brother, how far do you want to take this? How far do you want to stretch this?

Look around. There's believers in this room. Praise God. And there is. We know that there are believers all over the world, those who have been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, who love Him, who worship Him in spirit and in truth.

We know that. And that's a fact. So you might say that is evidence that His mission was a success. And I say amen to that. But I want to ask the question.

their salvation, your salvation, my salvation? Is it a matter of chance? Or were we predestined to believe? We've got to think about that. Because humanly speaking, that question, humanly speaking, Because Jesus could do no more to persuade these people with more signs and wonders.

He's done great feats of supernatural feats that people would have to say, this is only possible by God. And as I said earlier, his preaching was clear and concise, both here and in chapter five, those beautiful Christological teachings in chapter five. You remember, we spent a few months in that chapter. So humanly speaking, failure is an option. But the truths contained in the next four verses, from verses 37 through 40 in our text, categorically and undeniably dismiss that foolish thought.

Because we'll come to see that Jesus has perfect, unmoved confidence that His mission in the incarnation will be a complete success It'll achieve exactly what it's meant to. Why? Because he knows that success is not contingent on man or man's ability to discern the information of his preaching of the gospel and in his own mind, then receive Jesus in faith. It's not contingent on man or man's efforts, but rather success is exclusively contingent. It's dependent upon the Father's eternal redemptive purposes.

And therefore, if the all-powerful, all-knowing God of the universe has destined success for His Son, a people for His Son, then there's nothing in this world that can thwart His plan. Nothing. And brothers and sisters, we need to be very, very attentive to what these verses teach because what we're about to meditate upon this evening in verse 37 and by God's grace in a few weeks time we'll look at 38 through 40 is the very essence of why you and I are able to have a settled assurance of our salvation. I submit to you that the truth in these verses are the bedrock for which our hope and our security and our rest is anchored upon. And many Christians, if not most, in our day, beloved, deny these truths to some degree or another.

But they're clearly taught in Scripture, and we'll find, we'll see that, I believe, and by God's grace, may He and His Spirit then illuminate our hearts to them. But beloved, if we deny these truths, we will rob ourselves of the immense peace and joy of our salvation. Because that peace, and that joy, and all the benefits that we get in our salvation, is not because of who we are, or how smart we are, or how discerning we are. It's because of who our God is. And it all begins in the words of verse 37.

So let's put our eyes down and read what Jesus says to these Galileans in their synagogue at Capernaum. All that the Father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. One moment Jesus rebukes the people for their unbelief and in the very next breath all that the Father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. Does Jesus sound despondent here? He's staring at a crowd of unbelievers.

Does he look like he's discouraged? Does he sound discouraged? The words ooze with confidence. That success of his mission is inevitable because his assurance is in the Father. You can see it there.

And he knows, he knows the Father very well. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was where? With God and the Word was God. John 1.1.

Our Lord has come down from heaven from where He has eternally been, from eternity past, in face-to-face fellowship with the Father. He's the one who perfectly reveals the Father. He's the perfect expression of the Father to all who see and know Him. He's from heaven. He has no beginning.

He'll never have an end. And so he's already explained that to the Galileans in verse 33. He's already told them, I'm from heaven. I'm bread, the true bread from heaven. That's me.

He's explained that to them. And in the previous chapter, in chapter five, in verse 20, Jesus declares in love, the father reveals all things, all things to the son. This is to say, as I said earlier, that he is not only the perfect expression of God, But if you look to Christ, you see the Father. I mean, how could He say in John chapter 14 to Philip, Philip, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. Our Lord knows His Father.

They're intimate. There is no detail in the Father's mind that is not in the Son. He's revealed all things He's told us in the previous chapter to the Son because He loves the Son. Jesus knows the mind of the Father. He knows the Father's plan, and He knows also that before the foundation of the world, the Father has chosen and elected some that He will gift to His Son as a love gift, as a bride, a people that He will give to His Son in time and space, that Christ knows that this will be accomplished.

He knows that the gracious elective purposes of the Father will come to pass. Beloved, it's not my word. Listen to Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3 through 6. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Hear this, even as He chose us in Him, When?

Before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Christ Jesus, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace with which He has blessed us in the beloved. Did you get that? He chose some before the foundation of the world. It's an unconditional choosing.

It's not predicated upon Him, as some have said in the past, looking through into the future and seeing some actions and some responses to the gospel of Christ, or looking through the corridors of time and seeing people with aptitude or ability or potential. That's not His elective purposes. It's unconditional election. It's not predicated on who you are, or what race you're from, or how much education you have, or how susceptible you are to the gospel. None of that takes place.

He's not looking for certain personalities, or people with certain qualities, or different dispositions. Look around you. Look how different we are. No. No.

He has chosen, He has elected for the glory of His own grace. The truth of the matter is that everyone, beloved, absolutely everyone in the unregenerated state is unlovable. So when He looks upon a people, before his divine work of regeneration, what he sees is a group of enemies to God. Enemies of God. There is nothing in the natural man that is lovable before God.

So if you're in Christ, if you've tasted of this bread, you have zero reason to boast. Absolute zero reason to boast. But God, He has elected some for His own reasons. The reasons that only He knows. According to His sovereignty, He's elected a people as a love gift to give to His Son.

And we only know this. It is for His glory. And it's to the praise of His glorious grace. All the Father gives me will come to me. They are first a gift.

You see that? All the Father gives me. They're a gift from the Father. All the people the Father gives are a gift. But also, we've got this all there.

All the people the Father has chosen to give the Son, all of them will come to the Son. Not may come. The Father's not making potential. He's not giving or creating possible outcomes or possibilities. No, He's giving them to the Son.

So all the Father gives me will come to me. All. And you see, this is why Jesus can be unfazed at the unbelief of the Galileans that are before Him. He doesn't go away thinking, I blew it. I should preach differently next time.

I should do things a little different. That's the fickle mind of human beings. That's the way we think. And rightfully so, because we never do anything perfect. But he's the epitome of perfection.

He has complete and total confidence. in the father. Certainty that all that the father has chosen for him, all that the father has elected from before the foundation of the world, he will give to him and none will be lost. The father will effectually call all that he's chosen to his son. Every last one.

Not a single one will fall between the cracks. Why? Because Jesus, as I said earlier, is not relying on the ability of man. Not at all. It's not a matter of chance.

It's not a matter of how people will receive him. Because man left to himself will never figure it out. Because man left to himself will never ever, the Bible teaches, will never ever choose God. Paul says in Romans 3, no one understands, no one seeks after God. So you have a group, no one.

Is there anyone left? No one is everyone. The truth of the matter is, beloved, we did not figure it out on our own. And it's okay for us. There's many of the Christians that look back at their conversion experience and they can see, no, wait a minute.

I was convinced at that time. I know that the evidence was placed before me. I heard the gospel and I believed in what I heard. And I'm pretty sure that I'm the one who figured it out in the pages of Scripture. And I came to the Lord.

That might be one's perception, but as one works out their salvation in fear and trembling, once one reads God's Word and His Word is illuminated, it's like an aha moment. It wasn't me at all. It was the Father drawing me unto the Son. Because Jesus says, if you're not drawn by the Father, you cannot come. You cannot come.

We must see this. We must see that in our unregenerated state, as sinners before the hand of God, regenerated our hearts. Before that moment, we were in a really dark place. A place where we could not see. We were too blind to see.

We were too deaf to hear. And besides, we weren't looking for someone to occupy our throne. that was already occupied by ourselves. Beloved, the bondage was too strong and the delusion was too deep. Our minds, our wheels, our hearts were totally corrupted by sin.

It would require a power out of this world to penetrate a heart like that. why it would require God and God alone to do a work. And so when our eyes were opened to see Christ in all His glory, and the true condition of our soul was exposed and laid bare, see in that moment, in that moment we would not dare demand a sign. In that moment when the Spirit of God reveals to us, gives us eyes to see, ears to hear, and our hearts is quickened unto life, we would not dare to look to Christ and say, prove you are who you say you are. We would not dare to say what the Galilean said.

What sign would you do? No. In that moment when our hearts are exposed and we see the state of our soul, we fall on our knees and we embrace this wonderful Savior for all He is. We cling to Him, believing upon Him and Him alone for the salvation of our souls, for the forgiveness. of our sins, we throw ourselves at His feet and we apprehend Him as Lord and Savior.

The Father actively does the work by giving those that He elected to the Son. But beloved, I want us to see something else in verse 37. We're also told that those that the Father gives will come. Their heart, which was corrupted, is changed. Their mind is turned and their will is turned.

So now they find themselves, rather than being running away from Christ, rather than turning their back from Him, they find themselves running towards Him willfully. Willfully, the work of the Father to give a people to the Son is to change those people, to bring them to life, so that they willfully go and cling. Cling to Jesus. To cling to Christ. In faith and in repentance.

And in that moment, in that moment, these people, those who have been touched by the Father, see Jesus as the all-sufficient Bread of Life. All sufficient. Was that not your experience? Was that not what you experienced when you were saved? When you were made born again?

Beloved, I know many of us have grown up in the church scene. Many of us have heard the gospel or had heard the gospel so many times. Many of us had probably read our Bible from cover to cover, maybe more than once. We may have sang the hymns and prayed daily. But even in those times, if you're honest, you could look back and say, I was never hungry for the bread of life.

If you look back and you're honest, you could honestly say, I had no appetite for Christ-flavored bread. I didn't see Him as all-sufficient. I didn't see that I needed Him, or my soul didn't yearn and long and hunger for Him. It just didn't. But, but, when the Father breaks the chains of bondage and opens your heart and divinely draws you to Christ, you finally understand experientially what it is to actually now hunger for Christ.

The words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 5 verse 6 finally make sense to your heart when he says, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. But before you can hunger, Before you can hunger for this Jesus, before you see Him as that bread that I desperately need, the salvation that I need, the Lord that I need, the forgiveness can come only through Him, that life is only found in Him. Before you can see these things, a work needs to be done. And that's God's regenerating work, the work of the Father in giving to the Son that He'll give all that He's chosen. All of them will come to the Son because He quickens them to life.

And in faith and repentance, as I said earlier, they cling to Jesus. It requires the divine finger of God upon the heart. That's what it requires. And Lydia, Lydia is a perfect example of this. In Acts 16, the apostle Paul was with Silas, and on their second missionary journey, they made it out to the west, and they're in a place or a region called Macedonia.

And in that region, there's a place called Philippi. We know that place. We have the book of Philippians. And when he's there, listen. Listen to the narration of Luke in in Acts chapter 16 verse 13.

I'll start from there. And on the Sabbath day, we went outside the gate to the riverside. This is Luke speaking, where we suppose there was a place of prayer. And we sat down and spoke to the woman who had come together. One who heard us was a woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God.

Now I want you to hear this. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. Let me say that again. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. She later, she believed, and later she was baptized.

But what does it mean that the Lord opened her heart? Well, what it does mean is this. Said another way, her heart was closed. Her heart was completely closed to the things of Christ. Her heart was closed to the things of the Spirit.

She didn't have that spiritual heartbeat. She could not discern the things of the Spirit. It required that the Lord open her heart in order to hear. What did He say here? To hear.

It says, Lord open her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And we can assume rightly that Paul was preaching to her the gospel of Jesus Christ. Without the divine regenerating work, the words of Paul would have gone right over her head, exactly like the words of Christ are going right over the heads of these Galileans. The gospel call, the message of salvation, goes out to many. But as it says in Matthew 22, for many are called, but few are chosen.

But in the example of Lydia, we see here the father saying, I've chosen her. I've elected this one, Lydia. He knows her by name. I've elected her as a love gift for my son. She comprises part of the bride that I'm giving my son and I will save her and I'll bring her safely to my son and then she will come to Jesus and embrace him in faith and in repentance and she would cling on Jesus because of the work of the Father and the work of the Son and the work of the Holy Spirit.

All that the Father gives me will come to me. What does this mean? Well, it means also that Jesus is not simply a potential Savior. What do I mean by that? Well, He's not going to suffer the horrific pain, the excruciating pain, by being hung on a Roman cross, nor will He suffer the incredible pain, pain and agony, the anguish that you and I can never even begin to imagine, whereby our sins, the sins of His people, would be placed in His body and He then would bear the wrath, the infinite fury of God on unrighteousness on that cross.

We could never understand that. Did He bear that so that He could potentially save some? No. No. That gives way too much credit to man.

The Bible teaches us that He shed His blood of infinite worth and every single drop None, my apologies, not a single job goes to waste. He hung on that cross as a substitute for a particular people. His redemptive work does not potentially atone for sins. It efficaciously atones for sins. For sins of who?

Or whom? Those that the Father has elected or chosen from before the foundation of the world, and those that the Father will give the Son, and those who will come. They will come to the Son. The Father. The Father will do His part, and He'll do it perfectly.

And also we'll come to see in the coming verses that the Son will do His part, and He too will do His part, faultlessly. And as I said earlier, beloved, many Christians deny the election of the Father in this way. And so at this point, there would be some objections, one of which goes a bit like this. If the Father elects or chooses some, and just chooses some to pour out His grace upon, yet He passes over others. Would that not make Him unfair?

Beloved, I know that there are many Christians, and maybe some of us in this room might battle or wrestle with the doctrine of election. You know, it's not an easy one to hold. We teach it, we believe it, because the Bible teaches it. because it's contained in the Word of God, and the Word of God is the supreme authority over our lives. Some of us, maybe, are wrestling with this.

Many Christians are wrestling with this doctrine. But the premise of that statement, God is unfair, presumes that man can understand and discern what divine fairness is. That's the presupposition that man is able to understand what divine fairness is, he can assent mentally to understand that, and then he can come and then he can stand judge over God and say, you're being unfair. Now, of course, many Christians would not even go there, because they would say, no, the doctrine of election is not taught in this way. However, if it is, then is that not what we'd be doing?

We'd be standing over God and saying, you're unfair, God. You're unfair. As if to say that he's unfair in his dealings, as if to say that he's unjust in his dealings. You know, the Apostle Paul addressed that exact point. The Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 9 addresses election.

And he, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he preempts some people's responses. And that is one exact response that he does, preempt. Not so much he's unfair, but to the sister of that is that, is God unjust? So in Romans chapter 9, starting from from verse 11, this is Paul speaking and teaching on the doctrine of election, and in particular he brings up Jacob I loved and Esau I hated. We probably remember the text.

Romans chapter 9 from verse 11. Listen to what the Lord says through the Apostle Paul. Though they were not yet born, speaking of Jacob and Esau, and had done nothing either good or bad. Now that's important. In order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls, she was told that she is Rebecca, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

She was told the older will serve the younger. As it is, Jacob I loved and Esau I hated. Now that's a difficult passage, beloved. But it's written here and it's truth. Fourteen.

What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means. For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy and I'll have compassion on whom I have compassion. So then he depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.

You see how Paul preempts what may be the response of the readers after he says, Jacob in 13, Jacob I love and Esau I hate. And then he goes on to say, what shall we say then? He knows what would be the response. And then he says, is there injustice on God's part? What's his reply?

By no means. No way. No way. There is no injustice in God's in God. There is not even a hint of unrighteousness in God.

We, on the other hand, well, that's a different story. No one is righteous, not even one. Same author a few chapters back in chapter 3. If it's fair that we're demanding, we're sinners, right? What does the Word of God say the wages of sin is?

Death. And what's implied there is an eternal death. We know that. So if it's fair that we're demanding, then we should be seeing ourselves as worthy of being cast into hell, the lake of fire, for all eternity. Because that would be fair.

We all deserve it. Every sinner deserves the wrath of God. Every sinner deserves the punishment that is fitting the crime. And the crime is sin, trespassing God's law. And God says that the soul that sins shall die.

That's fair. How about this? Is it fair that Christ, the perfect sinless Son of God, would hang on the cross and bear the filthy sins of His people? Sins He never committed. Sins and unrighteousness of His people.

Is it fair that He hangs on the cross and the Father pours out His wrath, His righteous fury on His Son when you and I deserve it? Is that fair? Or is that grace? If he chooses to be gracious to some for the pleasure of his goodwill and show justice to others, he is still perfectly righteous to do so. Why?

Because no one, no one receives injustice. No one receives injustice. Some receive justice and some will receive grace. But those who do receive justice, those who are condemned, are condemned because of their own unrighteousness. That's what the Bible teaches.

They are responsible for their sins. They receive judgment not because they were not chosen before the creation of the world. It's not that they weren't chosen and that's why they receive judgment. But rather, they receive judgment because of their sins. They receive judgment because they love their sin and they hate God.

John 3.19, and this is judgment. The light has come into the world. The light is Christ. And people love the darkness rather than the light.

Because why? Because their works are evil. That should have been us. We are no different. The only difference is the divine grace of God that we just, none of us deserve.

None of us deserve. It's man's own sin that condemns him. And if that man, if the unrighteous, sinful man looks to God and says, you are not fair, then the only response we can have is the response of the apostle, who are you, oh man, to answer back to God? Some may ask the question, what if I'm not chosen? What chance do I have of being saved if I'm not of the elect?

Now some may ask that question mockingly, but there are Christians that ask it genuinely. My response to this is the Bible does not give you or I the permission or the rights to answer questions that can only be answered in the infinite divine mind of God, and the mind of God in a place where it hasn't been revealed to us in Scripture. The secret things belong to the Lord. It is His prerogative. It is His privilege, not ours.

His elective purposes and the reason why He does what He does is up to Him. That's His privilege. We cannot go there. The Bible doesn't tell us, and therefore we cannot go there. But this, beloved, this we know and we stand on this.

You can take Jesus for His Word. If anyone thirsts, Let him come to me and drink whoever believes in me as the scripture has said out of his heart will flow rivers of living water John 7 38 don't ask am I chosen just come Just come to Jesus and continue to come and feed upon him drink from him Take him at his word and throw yourself at him and Believe upon Him. Believe that He is indeed the bread from heaven, the fountain of life. Trust Him as the Savior of your own soul, and you will be saved. You will be saved.

Trust in Him. Take Him for His Word, to His Word. Believe upon Him. That's all you need to know. Don't ask the question, am I chosen?

Ask the question, do I love Jesus? Have I embraced Him? Am I believing upon Him? Is He your Redeemer? Are you trusting in His finished work for the salvation of your soul and the forgiveness of your sins?

Have you placed your hope completely and utterly in Him? Do you hunger and thirst for Christ? Beloved, make Jesus your treasure and simply come. Simply come. That's what the Word of God says.

No need to ask, am I elect? No need to ask, have I been chosen? The fact of the matter is, if you come to Him in faith, then you will be saved. That's confirmation that you are in Christ and that you are chosen before the foundation of the world. Don't pursue assurance as much as we attempted to.

Don't pursue assurance. Pursue Christ. Feed upon Him. And the benefits, which assurance is one of those, will come in time. If you look to Christ, if you feed upon Christ, if you believe upon Christ, if you throw yourself completely at Him, that assurance will come.

You don't need to look for it. It'll come. Because those who throw themselves on Christ are indwelled by the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of God in them. And that Spirit, He cries out, Abba, Father, testifying to our soul that we are indeed sons and daughters of the living God. That assurance will come.

Look, look to Christ. That's all we can say about the sovereign elective decree of God. Because beloved, I'm afraid if we go beyond this point, we will go beyond what is written. And God forbid we go beyond what is written. The rest belongs to God and it's safe in his mighty hands.

It's the Word of God and I know some of us may be wrestling with these things and I hope if you are and you still have questions that you'll come and speak to either me or Nelson later on. But beloved, we need to know that Our hope is not on our understanding. It's not on the fact that we may be able to discern all the things of God. That's not where our hope lies. It is in Jesus Christ.

And I pray and I trust that He would give us the faith and increase our belief, help our unbelief in believing the Word of God, even though we may not fully understand it. Believe upon Him because His Word is true. Beloved, we don't lean on our own understanding. That's not where our hope is. And beloved, our hope is not in our faith.

It's in the object of our faith. Our hope is in Jesus. That's why we should look to him. We should set our gaze like flint to Christ and believe upon him and him alone. The last point of verse 37 is so glorious for the Christian.

You see, in a sense, these words may mean that the Father, He's the one who chose and elected in eternity past, before the foundation of the world. And He's the one who gifts a people, a love gift to His Son. And the people He gifts, they come to the Son. So in a sense, this may look like Jesus is saying that those that the Father has given me and those who come to me, I'm not going to put my hand out and say, don't come in. I'm not going to forbid them from coming in.

And that's so true. That's so true, because everyone who comes to Christ, He welcomes with open arms. But it's more than that. The word here that we've got translated in our English Bibles, cast out, is used over 80 times in the New Testament. And almost every single occurrence, the thing being thrown out or the thing being cast out, is presupposed to already be in.

In other words, I believe what Jesus is saying is this, not so much that when those who come to Him, it's not so much He'll put His hand out and say, you know what? I'll never do that. I'll never forbid you to come into my kingdom, into my sheepfold, into the salvation that is found in me and in me alone. Not so much that, but rather those who come, those who He has already received, that He will never put them out. It's a subtle difference.

But it's really important. Because said another way, and consistent with verse 39, which we'll look into in a few weeks time, Jesus is declaring that those He has received, this is glorious, He will keep. Those He has received, He will preserve. Beloved, those He has received, He will never reject. He will never cast out.

Now tell me, Christian, that that's not the most glorious news you've heard all year. No, no. Tell me that's not the most glorious news you've ever heard. This is incredible news. If you are in Christ, You will never, never, never, never, never be cast out.

And the emphasis that I've added is on purpose because in the original, that's very emphatic. It's very emphatic. It's like never, never, never can happen. That's how emphatic it is in the original. Absolutely.

It can never happen if you believed upon Him. If the Father has given you as a love gift to the Son, and you've come, and you've embraced Him, and you cling to Him by faith, you will never be cast out. You are safe. You are safe. He will guard you.

He will keep you. You're safe in His almighty arms. But what if I fail? What if I don't meet the righteous standards expected of me? Will He then cast me out?

No, no, not ever. We just heard that your salvation and mine is not rooted in your performance any more than it's rooted in your preservation. Your salvation and your preservation is completely dependent, not on you, but on the activity of the triune God. Beloved, the sooner you and I believe these truths, the sooner we understand them, the sooner we enjoy the liberty that we have in Jesus Christ. So the next question would be, wait a minute, but if this is true, then would that not make us complacent?

that if Christ receives us and we believe upon Him and we enter into the eternal life, into the internal glories that is Christ, then would that not make us complacent? Would it not tempt us to sin since we're not going to be cast out anyway? Because that's something that people would say. I've heard it myself. What's the answer to that?

Absolutely not. Because if you're truly in Christ, then you find your complete satisfaction in Him. You cling to Him. You cling to His Word. You love Him more than anything.

You find that your soul is completely satisfied in Jesus Christ. The deepest longings are only satisfied in Christ. And you continually to eat and eat and eat of Him. Do you do it perfectly? To our shame?

No. We do stumble, and we do fall, and we do sin. But there is an abundance of grace in Christ. And there's nowhere else, beloved, as believers who are truly trusting in Christ, there is nowhere else we'd rather be. There is no place we would rather go than to be in the arms of our Savior, to look to Him for all things.

We've tasted and seen the world, and we've come up empty. We know what the world offers, but we know the substance is not there. We know that the longings of our hearts can only be fulfilled in the bread of life, The I am, the bread of life in Jesus Christ and in no one, in no one else. Beloved, it doesn't make us complacent, because we're trusting in Him. And in Christ, the confession of Peter at the end of this chapter becomes a confession that we own.

You remember that confession? This is what he says, he says, when everyone exits, and there's that mass exodus we spoke about, he says, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69. And we have come, we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God. What glorious words.

Is that the confession of our hearts? I pray that it is. What about the many who have departed from the faith? And no doubt many of us know, probably some in this room, most of us probably know that there are some who have confessed the faith. And they seem to be Christian.

They did all the Christian things. We've seen them at church. They spoke the Word of God. They sang with us. They might have even preached the gospel with us.

We know that they loved the Word. It seemed like they did anyway. It seemed like they walked the walk. From our point of view, they look like they were saved. What about them?

What's the go with them? Oh, that's clear. They were never given to Christ by the Father. They may have professed with their mouth, and they may have had a superficial head knowledge in their minds. They may have done all the Christian activities.

They may have even deceived us. But they were never given to Christ by the Father in the first place. Because if they were, He would have kept them. Remember that. If they were, He would have preserved them.

Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. But the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven on that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name? And then I will declare to them, hear this, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. I never knew you.

You were never known by me. You were never one of mine. You were a fraud. You were a fake. You weren't one of mine.

You were not given to me by the Father. You did not come to me in faith. Because if you did, this is my promise. This is my guarantee that I will keep you and I will never cast you out. Glorious words.

In these words, we should find rest. In closing, let me just read to you John 10, 28 through 20. My apologies, John 10, 28 through 30. Listen to these words and tell me they don't give us rest. My sheep, hear my voice.

and I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, He's greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one." Can you see the imagery?

In the hands of Christ, that's where the believers are. And then you have the Father's hand and you have them together, beloved. You know what that means? An atomic bomb could not affect you. If the world and the universe all implodes, you are safe because you are in the hands of the triune God.

Let's pray.