You're on the List

We continue on in our study in the gospel of John of the things Jesus did and said largely that were things that Matthew, Mark and Luke who wrote their gospels earlier than John had not recorded and so John Years later a few decades later rights these things to His own audience a group he had in mind and sent his gospel to and included a lot of things for us that Matthew, Mark and Luke had an included in in theirs and so nice nice new addition for us of information about Jesus to reveal to us His character and who we are and why we need him. So I read to you from John chapter 6 beginning in verse 35 This is God's word eternally true Then Jesus declared I am the bread of life He who comes to me will never go hungry and he who believes in me will never be thirsty But as I told you you have seen me and still you do not believe All that the father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to me I will never drive away For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me and This is the will of him who sent me that I shall lose none of all that he has given me but raise them up at the last day For my father's will is that everyone who looks to the sun and Believes in him shall have eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said I am the bread that came down from heaven They said is this not Jesus the son of Joseph whose father and mother we know how can he now say I came down from heaven? Stop grumbling among yourselves Jesus answered no one can come to me Unless the father who sent me draws him and I will raise him up at the last day It is written in the prophets. They will be taught by God Everyone who listens to the father and learns from him comes to me No one has seen the father except the one who is from God only he has seen the father. I tell you the truth He who believes has ever lasting life I am the bread of life You're four fathers eating the man in the desert yet they died But here is the bread that comes down from heaven which a man may eat and not die I Am the living bread that came down from heaven I am the living bread that came down from heaven If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever This bread is my flesh Which I give for the life of the world Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves. How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Jesus said to them I tell you the truth unless you can eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood. You have no life in you Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him Just as the living father sent me and I live because of the father So the one who feeds on me will live because of me This is the bread that came down from heaven your forefathers ate man and died But he who feeds on this bread will live forever He said this while teaching in the synagogue and in cavernium On hearing it many of his disciples said this is a hard teaching who can accept it Aware that it's the disciples were grumbling about this Jesus said to them the the defend you What if you see the Son of man ascend to where he was before? The spirit gives life The flesh counts for nothing the words I have spoken to you are spirit Their life Yet there are some of you who did not believe for Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and Who would betray him He went on to say this is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the father has enabled him Here ends our reading there's a response of thankfulness is printed for you up here and in your bulletin the word of the Lord Thanks indeed. Let's pray Show that I liked a lot back in 2005 and I looked it up as 2005 till like May of 2009 was a show called my name is Earl and I watched I didn't watch it to the end There's some good things and bad things about the show But some things that are really funny now the setup for the show is this Earl is a guy Earl Hickey is his name On the show the actress who places X wife is actually from Kingston right go and but Earl has Done petty crime all his life just stealing stuff here and there and he's been a bad kid his parents He's a bad kid in school made fun of people all through his life and he Finally then a win the lottery on a scratch off ticket and so he gets a hundred thousand dollars and in his cell Celebration he runs out from the convenience store and he gets run over by a car well not run over but he gets hit by a car And he hits the windshield and topples over and so he's in the hospital then for several months recovering and he Realizes that the reason his life has been so bad is because he's done so many bad things and that you you know If you do bad things bad things happen to you if you do good things good things happen to you So why he while he's there in the hospital he makes a list and This list serves as the backbone of the show for the next four four seasons What the list is is he's made a list since on a like a yellow Legal sheet and he's made a list of all these bad things that he's done to various people and so he's decided that he's going to use His $100,000 just to live and not have a job and to make up for the bad things He's done for all these people so each episode of the show is him saying you know I'm gonna take care of number 23 on my list You know I made fun of a girl with one leg and so it goes and you know and he says how can I make this up to you and Sometimes there are people who say no I'm fine and in fact when you did that to me that caused me to go in this other Direction and actually that was a good thing and he said but I did this to you and that was bad What else can I do for you? And they say oh, it's okay. He said but but you're on the list I got it crossed off and that's the end of each episode that he's he's done something to do good To this to this other person and he can cross them off the list We get at the idea of a list in this in this passage here as Jesus reveals Some of the inner workings between him and the father and the Holy Spirit We see a lot of Trinity stuff right here in this passage But you see I haven't titled this this gospel lesson. You're on the list You're on the list and and your role is just obligated to do good for these people because they're on his His list But there's a different kind of list we can talk about here as we look at this passage If you like to fill out blanks in an outline and I'd recommend that you do that all the the learning experts say that you learn better From writing something down versus typing it at a computer and the worst of all is just listening But some people are very audio so if that's you you can just listen and that's fine But that'd be oh again plenty of pens now. I just bought 60 more pens But if you like to fill out blanks in an outline you're welcome to do that you don't have to do that But if you like to fill out blanks in outline here we go First thing we we see from this passage number one Jesus helps you Jesus helps you make sense on earth About an earth that has some that's your blank some who believe in him Some who believe in him and many who don't Jesus here in this passage helps us make sense of that that we live you live on an earth and that has been that way from the time Jesus was living and had feet on the ground To our day and and to the day Jesus comes back You know Jesus says when I come back will I find faith on earth Um and indicates that the folks will be surprised Revelation 6 and all the accounts of Jesus coming back or people are surprised just like the days of Noah when the rain starts Um and they call out to the rocks and the mountains fall on us and hide us from the face of him who Who uh sits in the throne from the wrath of the lamb Of her who can stand against his wrath But but that's the case we live in a world where most Don't believe and that's kind of a dud truth here But you can you can see that in all these verses that I've listed for you here um the subverse 36 there Jesus confronts them. You know he's done all these miracles. They're the ones who ate the bread that he created out of the The few loaves and the few fish. I won't tell you what number that is Uh the chanter is thirty six thirty six there he says but I told you you have seen me And still you do not believe So this makes sense of things for us because people today haven't seen Jesus And they don't believe And and so we don't have great wonder over this because people saw Jesus they saw Jesus through miracles with with their own eyes As Linus says in the pumpkin patch You know they see Jesus with their own eyes doing these miracles and they still do not believe verse 41 The Jews began to grumble about him verse 42. They said is this not Jesus the son of Joseph whose father and mother We know how can he say now I came down from heaven? So this is disbelief that Jesus is the son of God disbelief and what we know from John in chapter one That Jesus is God himself eternally existing God in fact the person that Trinity who created all the people who are now disbelieving in him in chapter six and created all the people who disbelieve in him now um Verse 43 Jesus tells him stop grumbling among yourselves verse 52 then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves How can this man give us his flesh to eat disbelief disbelief disbelief not saying Oh, this is I believe him Helping to understand what you're saying Jesus. You know, there's a difference Yeah, you can want to believe you can believe someone you can trust someone and not quite get it Yeah, and you say help me to understand or you can say this guy's an idiot You know this guy's someone I shouldn't believe and just try to make his argument or what he's saying look foolish And that's what these people are doing Verse 60 Many of his disciples. This is not that it's not the 12 proper, but those who were following him around Many of his disciples who were learning from him being taught by him said this is a hard teaching who can accept it Of verse 61 is disciples were grumbling about this and Jesus said to them does this offend you um Next first there he says if you're there or when I send up to heaven will you believe me then Will you believe that have come down from heaven if you're actually one of those in acts one Who standing there and sees me go back to where I came from will you believe me that Uh, he doesn't do that much with that right here, uh, but um He sees the offense that people have um Of him verse 64 he says yet there are some of you who do not believe and then it indicates that even among his 12 disciples Jesus knew which one Judas who would betray him so lots of disbelief Now next line for you there in your outline this belief in Jesus in this passage This belief and you see this uh or this belief Sorry belief. I didn't say disbelief there that I okay good This belief in Jesus in this passage which you see then the the term belief for believe in verses 35 40 47 and 64 is also referred to in this passage in a couple of ways Uh, and so this is this is a hard passage to get together I brought this for you just to see you can probably not see this is like color coded in five different colors Because there are that many subject matters going on in this passage and so it's just helpful for me to sort out All these things but um belief is referred to also in this passage um as uh a Coming to Jesus That's a big one and in chapter six here coming to Jesus verse 34 Jesus declared I am the bread like he who comes to me Will never go hungry the so this is a way we refer to a person coming to Saving faith in Jesus that they've come to Jesus Uh verse 37 look there 37 all that the father give me Will come to me And whoever again comes to me I will never drive away. So we see if this phrase comes to me is talking about Saving faith Those that Jesus will raise up at the last day And so coming to Jesus as a synonym for saving faith or or belief Um, verse 45 again, it is written in the prophets. They will all be taught by God Everyone listens to the father So Jesus was teaching them But those who were listening I mean really listening though it should listen Uh those who ever who listens to the father and learns from him Comes to me So if you're really listening you'll you'll believe or you'll come to me Verse 65 you went on to say this is why I told you that no one can come to me Unless the father is enabled him so again Come to me. It's belief in Jesus. It's a belief that's saving a saving belief coming to Jesus Now side note here Um Begin a personal relationship with Jesus is never how the Bible talks about saving faith Find it and I will give you all my retirement savings Really And so we just note that here there are many ways that the Bible talks about beginning faith And one of the ways is believing One of the ways we see here and we see it in parallel Jesus has come to Jesus believe and they're just you know one after another It's coming to Jesus Another way is be looking to the sun By the way, just transform your language get that out of your language Don't speak in a way that the Bible is not speaking it gives you plenty of options to refer to how your loved one or friend or you Came to faith or came to Jesus um Use a phraseology that the Bible is using God is sovereign in creating scripture and he could have encapsulated the gospel as having a personal relationship with Jesus and he does not And that should stun us as 21st century American evangelicals who use that term is the center point of what Christianity is when God does not do the same Oh I had a class that I was teaching in seminary class on acts in the Pauling epistles and I emphasize this I went through all the book of acts went through it a couple of times and I've recorded all the ways that saving faith in Jesus was talked about in the preaching in the book of acts And so the way I emphasize this I listed it, you know, and they're about I don't know what about 12 different ways That the apostles and and fill up the and Steve and talk about as they're talking to people about coming to faith in Jesus as they talk about it What they talk about what their sermons contain and so I emphasize this by saying personal relationship with Jesus Zero times Okay It's not that God is not our father It's not that we're not his children John 112 But God never puts the gospel see that's a repentance That's a repentance way of getting to Jesus. That's no sorrow over sin If you walk through that door and I've never met you I say hey, I'm John. What's your name? And you say I'm Sally, you know, oh grateful glad you're here today I begin a personal relationship with Sally don't I but I have not repented over anything I've done against her Okay, and in the in the book of acts you see that always in parallel belief in repentance belief in repentance The repentance is like number three in terms of resurrection's number one by the way That's the number one topic in the book of acts and the preaching Um, but I and and and and and and kinship and son of David that's second Uh, and third is repentance anyway Uh, so just know that's free Um, and to help you to think bit likely Uh, be another way that belief is talked about that Jesus talks about it here in this passage is looking to the sons That's be looking to the son. We see that in verse 40 everyone who looks to the son Uh, Jesus had said that earlier in chapter three as well Just like Moses lifted up the snake on the you know on the on his rod and the walrus whoever looks to the son I don't have eternal life so Jesus uses that again here in verse 40 so looking to the son and then see Um, a big thing here in this passage. It's eating or feeding on the bread of life Um, and you see good number of passages here talk about that's what saving faces. It's eating Jesus flesh drinking his blood or feeding on the bread of life so that term eating and feeding is here verses 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 56, 57 and 58 so all as verses specifically Name this as what you need to do to have eternal life or to be raised To be raised at the last day and Jesus says what this is is believing in me believing in me Okay, now number two number two. So the first thing is Jesus helps us make sense of an earth Full of some who believe and some who don't and so we see that in this passage or some who believe some who eat Jesus flesh so to speak Some who come to him some will come to him and be raised alive and then there are many who doubt him who don't believe That Jesus confronts in this passage. Not number two in the midst of an unbelieving world and many who don't believe And among many who discourage you from believing Jesus lets us know that here your blanks Jesus lets us know that the consequences The consequences of your believing the consequences of your believing will be huge The consequences of your believing will be huge. That's what he lets this audience know who's chased him around and finally found him But that's what John through telling us of this Interchange this discourse lets us know the consequences of your believing as a Christian will be huge A A when who believes here's one of the huge Consequences of your believing of your drinking of Jesus blood eating his flesh or your believing in him One of the consequences is that one who believes gets raised bodily at the last day Big thing Jesus talks about in this in this passage Verse 39 looked there in the middle of verse Toward the end of it. I shall lose none verse 39. I shall lose none of all he the father has given me But raised him up at the last day Then he repeats that in the next verse verse 40 the end of verse 40 see it there. I will raise him up at the last day Now look down to verse 44 Look down to the end of verse 44 Jesus says and I will raise him up at the last day This is speaking of bodily resurrection when Jesus returns Look at verse 54 54 put your eyes there Jesus says Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day If you want to flip back a page or maybe two at the most John five John five Verse 28 Jesus has been talking about how he has life in himself And how he gives life to whomever he is pleased to give it Spiritual life that he gets out and then he says John 528 do not be amazed at this For a time is coming when all who are in their graves will come out Those who have done good that is Christians that's what we do Because we've been given a spirit we're walking with him by his law those who've done good will be will be raised to live And those who've done evil will rise to be condemned So this is a big deal and in John the idea that we will be raised we'll see it later with Martha and at the At Lazarus graves like she know that I know that that the resurrection of the dead all will be raised Again another big theme in the gospel John that bodily resurrection is out there and for us Paul spends you see their first Corinthians 15 Paul spends a whole chapter 50 some verses talking about bodily resurrection and how this is central to the Christian faith Paul even says if if Christ was not bodily raised from the dead than our faith is useless And we above all manner to be pitted because we are getting whipped and imprisoned and stoned Because we're proclaiming the bodily resurrection of Jesus and so we're fools If this isn't true if we know it not to be true and we're saying it anyway And we keep getting stoned and imprisoned and and and logged and we continue to do this So bodily resurrection is a big thing Jesus gets at it here in John 6 Jesus promises to raise those who believed at the last day be other huge consequence of your believing That Jesus is sent from the father You believed in him be one who believes in him will also then live forever with eternal life So you'll be raised bodily and you'll live forever With eternal life we see this in verse 58 you can look at verse 58 there John 6 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven your forefathers ate man and died But he who feeds on this bread Jesus Will live forever now again feeding on this bread is believing in Jesus So if you believe in Jesus you will live forever or verse 40 again Jesus gets at this idea of living forever having eternal life verse 40 for my father's will Is that everyone who looks to the sun and believes in him shall have eternal life Not like the temporary life that those who were with Moses and the wilderness God for meeting temporary bread Physical bread they got life for another you know two days that that bread lasted down But if you eat of Jesus if you believe of him you get life forever And then verse 54 Jesus says whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life So the two huge consequences of your believing in Jesus is son of God sent from him to save you to be your Christ your king and Asking the one who saves you The big consequences you'll be raised at the last day and you'll live beyond that last day Forever And if you die before that last day your soul will go on and live um, and then be rejoined with your body at the last day So see John wants you to know is John wanted his readers to know who were being persecuted by For their faith By their fellow Jews who hadn't believed in Jesus He wanted them to know that in their believing they had made a wise choice I can't say that without Thinking of Harry Carey choosing to be the top scientist in his field instead of getting mad cow disease look it up It's on you to But he makes a wise choice or you know ray or so the last dark, you know Harrison Ford makes a wise choice too If you believed in Jesus you've made a wise choice This isn't a foolish thing that you've done to be in this minority group in the world where most people don't believe and only some Believe and you get persecuted for your belief If it's not true, it's been a foolish choice But John and Jesus one is his audience to know that even though you'll be grumbled against even though people will call you You've made you've made a wise choice Now number three number three Jesus also teaches us here the reason for some believing And for some not believing it gets behind why this has gone on why some people believe And why some people don't believe so number three Jesus teaches that what determined that you believed Was the will of the father In fact, that's what determines what have why anyone believes the will of the father a look at verse 38 Verse 38 John 6 38 Jesus said for I have come down from heaven To do not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me and then if there's any question on that he just rolls right into the next verse there And he says this is the will of him who sent me That I shall lose none of whom Of all the father has given me and raised them up the last day So here's the list not Earl's list. It's the father's list The father has a list and he said Jesus. I've got some people for you to save And I need you to raise them up at the last day And Jesus said I come to earth not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me the father's will Um, and I will raise them up at the last day. So that's verse 38 and verse 39 So a there near outline the father has a list The father has a list of people he gives To Jesus to be his people Is a list of people he gives to Jesus to be his people we see this in verse 37 39 Psalm 28 but look at verse 37 Right from the get-go there in verse 37 all that the father gives me Will come to me Those who are on the list will come to him this explains This explains why people can see miracles and not believe They're not on the list um and others Unlikely people in Jesus' day prostitutes, Romans, um tax collectors believe It's not who we think will believe Um, it's whom the father has on his list That he's determined To do good to do good to this like Earl You're on the list. I gotta save you Oh So that's verse 30 all that the father gives me will come to me look down skip one verse go to the verse 39 And Jesus there speaks again of you skip a few words in verse 39 all that the father has given me So the father has a list a list that he's given to Jesus and that's who Jesus comes to save As we read and mark Matthew 1 21 With Joseph The angel tells Joseph Jesus he will save all His people From their sins For those his we were his people those who are on the list Those whom it is the father's will To save To raise at the last day to give eternal life Jesus comes to save them

So um that's the list of people Beat scripture all for also refers to this list of people as Number one the old hated yes, it's true the elect

scripture also refers to the people's the elect Matthew 24 22 in those days if those days had not been cut short no one would survive but for the sake of the elect Those days will be shortened so it's just it's in the Bible To disagree with the idea of the elect you have to disagree with the Bible And if you believe that God wrote the Bible that it's inspired by the Holy Spirit then you've got a problem And your problem is not with me. It's not with Presbyterianism. It's not with the Reformation It's not with John Calvin your problem is with the Bible and that means your problems with God

Okay, so this is not a Presbyterian sermon. This is not a Reformed sermon This is not a sermon that comes out of the truth of the Reformation in the 1500s This is a sermon that comes out of the Bible Matthew 24 22 Second Timothy 2 10 listen to what Paul says Therefore I endure everything why For the sake of the elect That they too may obtain the salvation is talking about people who haven't come to faith yet Did you get that listen to this again? Paul says therefore I endure everything all the beans all the imprisonment all the shipwrecks I endure everything for the sake of the elect that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory Why do I keep going why will I endure all the hardships I endure for the sake of the father's list The elect those it is his will to save who are not yet saved yet because they have not believed They have not yet eaten the flesh of Jesus and drank his blood Paul opens this letter to Titus Titus 1 1 Paul a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus And an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect That's us He's an apostle for the faith of God's elect Peter opens his letter if we you know want to you know say why don't believe in Paul Well We got Peter. I don't know what Mary says, but There we go. I know he's old by that joke Yeah, Peter opens his letter first Peter speaking of christened as the elect first Peter 1 1 Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ To God's elect So as to reside in Asia, Bethenia, you know, a Galatia Pontus and Bethenia, you know, and he names these five regions in modern day turkey But he names all these Christians in these regions He says to God's elect That's I'm writing to you who believe Um, number two Those students names are So those whose names are written in the book of life is another way That this list is spoken of in scripture So scripture speaks of this list or those the father gave to Jesus John 6 as the elect Um, which we looked at a few verses Um, there are 60 verses in the New Testament which speak of election Um, and if you want those I printed another like 12 copies their blue sheets. They're out on the table there All the all the places in the New Testament that teach the doctrine of election that those who are saved are elect and they were elect before they believed Um, so that's out there 60 times in the New Testament that that's there so again Your problem would not be with me or John Calvin or with Presbyterianism your problems with those 60 verses That if you're a believer you say this is inspired by the Holy Spirit But those whose names are written in the book of life That's another way of referring to the elect or another way of referring to Those that the father gave to Jesus We see this and and Bob read these forests and in a revelation 20 verses 12 and 15 And that's describing final judgment and the final judgment everyone is resurrected bodily And it's before the throne of Jesus his great white throne that John sees in his vision And all the people of the earth and whether they've been lost at sea and their death to see is emptied out their bodies are raised or And their souls brought from Hades from hell But then also believers for Thessalonians 4 are raised as well bodily believers who are living in this life for believers who have died And we all stand before the judgment seat of Christ and then there are these books Books were opened and for unbelievers there are people who are Judge according to what is written in the book so each one gets judged according to what he has done as recorded in the books But then there's the book of life and the book of life is what believers get they get their names Red from the lambs book of life And we don't get judged according to our sins because Jesus was judged For our sins he was condemned on the cross For our sins and so our final judgment experience is hearing our names Red from the father's list The father's list the father had in revelation five sealed with seven seals that the dead souls were weeping and mourning over and And nervous about because there was no one in heaven Who was worthy to take the scroll which all books were scrolls back in that day you didn't have bound books with a binding yet They were all scrolls rolls of paper Sealed up and no one is worthy to take the scroll the book of life and to to open its seven seals and to read the names But then in Revelation 5 Jesus appears he's he's come and he looks like a lamb who's been slain because he's just come from the cross And he arrives in heaven and heaven rejoices and they say he is worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals For with his blood he purchased Men forgot and so there was Consternation in heaven by Old Testament saints whose souls were in heaven with the father because the new final judgment was still coming Their names were written in the book But no one was worthy to take the book and to open its seals And so how were they going to survive final judgment if their names couldn't be written or read from the Lamb's book of life And so Jesus arrives in heaven and he's given the scroll because he's bought it He's bought the scroll his bottom names. He's bought you He's ransomed you with his blood. He's bought your eternal life He's bought your resurrection at the last day with his blood and so at final judgment He will read your name on the epic glorious, right?

So that's the Lamb's book of life um now see see So individuals believe because the father has chosen them to believe so that's what we're saying here Ephesians 1.4 Ephesians 1.4 Paul talking to the Christians around of Ephesus there Says for he God the father chose us In Christ before the creation of the world To be holy and blameless So when did he choose us before he created anything before the creation of the world he chose us To be in Christ before the foundation of the world or First Peter chapter 1 verse 1 and verse 2 We already mentioned Peter starts out in his epistle there first Peter 1 St. Peter and a apostle Jesus Christ to God's elect Strangers in the world who have been chosen Who have been chosen according to the foreign knowledge of God So before the world was created before the God created matter physical stuff He chooses you before the creation of the world he elects you to eternal life And so Jesus coming to earth is to take care of this unfinished business so to speak It's to save those the father had decided had chosen before the foundation of the world To save out of sinful humanity So D D Before I get to D just you know You know those sheeps are out there 60 times but note you'll take a lot of guff for this And believing this in election believing your chosen you'll take a lot of guff in the Christian Christian community I was challenged as a full-time Christian worker in campus crusade by somebody who is an authority to me once Because I was starting to get a hold of these things being in the Bible And he told me already forms theology that's dangerous and what you will experience in your life is that Believers will not have good biblical comeback to you To explain why there are 60 verses in the news has been talking about election But they'll just get nervous and they'll tell you it's dangerous And so say hi to the pilot burrow at that point Right what do you do when you have an argument that you can't back up You say well that's dangerous don't don't you know do anything with that and please parents don't do that with your kids Explained your kids why things are evil Explained your kids why things are bad for your kids or also get to college or out in real life And they won't have any explanation They'll just know there was a prohibition against it and they'll go hog wild crazy and they'll ruin their lives But but you know, that's the thing Betsy had somebody in college break up with her because they were talking over this issue And this is somebody who went on staff with campus crusade and he was out taking seminary classes with campus with campus crusades Seminary in San Bernardino and then we're talking about this and Betsy said to him But the Bible says the word election It says the word for ordained it says the word for knowledge. It says the word chosen the god chose us It looks like that we are Chosen use the word elect that we're elected and he says I don't know if we can continue dating So the consequences are big with this and and he's a he's a he's a faithful believer who wasn't faithful at that point And folks always when what you believe is contradicted by scripture go with scripture Right It's always good to be reforming to become more accurate. That's why preach so I become so you become more accurate in our beliefs So our beliefs become more tied into what this says here and not to what My my most hated phrase. Well, I've always heard that Well, I've always been taught that Great are you are you Islamic you got stick with that You Jewish I always heard that Jesus was just a good teacher You got stick with that you've always been taught that that's not a good interpretive principle for life I've always heard that I've always heard that I should you know all kinds of things you could hear here here wrongly And so we always want to get our our So just be prepared for that as we get our views more and more Biblical and in this particular view you'll have Well-meaning believers who love the Lord Who will say you're of the devil because you believe in election And it's just because they they haven't looked they don't know there 60 verses and so be very patient with them Be kind to them be gentle with them And talking about this Steve I said you know talked about something you said to me back in the dojo once as you talked to reform people over the years You know, they were just very patient and gracious with you and and so be that way with with folks who are Working their way Through this doctrine because they don't understand the the doctrinal elections doesn't mean we do a Evangelism Right we do evangelism why because there are elect out there And if it causes us pain like Paul we say all still all still do evangelism for the sake of the elect that are out there Maybe my next door neighbor is is elect and yes, so they're persecuting that me right now But they'll be loving to them and kind and keep talking to them about Jesus if I can and so be kind with people Don't be harsh with them if they say I'll be able to believe in election that just makes us robots They don't understand that scripture doesn't say it it makes us Robots Jesus holds both of these things up Paul holds both of these things up Peter holds both of these things up at the same time and says both of these things are true

So D D know that you believe because And for those of you who have had fathers who've been rough hear this Know that you believe because the father wanted you To be raised to him at the last day and to live on with his son eternally Know that whether you know whether your father's been great or your father hasn't been great Know that the reason it clicked for you the reason you saw this and believed was because you were on the list Um the father wanted you to be raised at the last day The father wanted you to live eternally and to be with him forever as Bob read for us and in in revelation 214 Um now the dwelling in the new heavens and new earth now the dwelling of God is with men And he will be with them. They will be as God and he will be with them and be their God Um God the father wanted to save you That's why you believed Um no one shows up before the father with faith in Jesus for the father says Crud him

The reason you believe is because the father wanted you to believe again verses 37 38 and 39 This is the will of the father Whoever the father gives me will come to me and I will raise him at the last day I've come down from heaven not to do my own will but to do the will of him who sent me and this is the will of him Who sent me that I shall lose none of all that he has given me But raise them up on the last day It wasn't that the father was bugged at you and Jesus wanted you and Jesus appeased him It was the father wanted you and said Jesus. I want him. I want her go get her And that's why Jesus comes to the earth Okay, it's the love of the father that saves you The father leads in all things and Jesus in the Holy Spirit they carry out the father's will the father's the decreer The father's the elector the father's the one with the list Father's the one who's the elector and he sends Jesus Jesus said this is why I came down from heaven to do my father's will That you might be raised up at the last at the last day

So know that God the father wants you now number four related to this Jesus explains to Jesus explains to how you're coming to him how you're eating his flesh feeding on the bread of life How this came about Now there was what functionally happened in you What happened in your soul that brought about that brought about your belief that made you come to Jesus Believing so number four Jesus teaches us that the father draws The father draws his chosen ones two Jesus by giving them the Holy Spirit The father draws his chosen ones two Jesus to believe By giving them the Holy Spirit Who in turn gives them eternal life Or spiritual life In this spiritual life then which enables them to come to Jesus to believe So big sentence or Jesus teaches us the father draws his chosen ones So just Chosen ones two Jesus by giving them the Holy Spirit which enables them to come to Jesus to believe Which enables them to come to Jesus or gives them spiritual life which enables them to come to Jesus and so Colossians 213 look at your declaration the gospel and your in your worship guide on the front page Colossians 213

It tells us about your state When you were born physically

And then what became of you Because God the father wanted you to believe When you were dead in your sins and in the uncertain decision of your sinful nature catch that when you were dead All right, you weren't dead physically But you were dead spiritually and when you were dead spiritually in the uncertain decision of your sinful nature spiritually dead God Made you alive in Christ God made you alive in Christ Suscholossians 213 but we see here in this passage In John 6 look at verse 44

Jesus is explaining why there's this outpouring and why there's this rebellion against his teaching on having faith in him On him being the bread of life that someone has to believe in to have eternal life To be raised the last day. He's explaining to his disciples and to those who are disbelieving What's going on right now and in verse 44 he says this no one how many people No No one No one can come to me Unless the father who sent me draws And then Jesus says and I will raise him up the last day So no one can come to the father unless the so that means the father is involved before someone comes

This means the father has a list

And so he draws those people on the list to come to Jesus in faith To believe to drink his blood to eat his flesh to look to him for eternal life A look further. I verse 63 This is how the father does it. This is how he enables. This is how he draws Verse 63 the spirit gives life Again, he's in the midst of disbelief and people saying this is a hard teaching who can believe it And he says well nobody but the spirit gives life The flesh profits nothing See if someone's just still in their flesh They don't believe and they're here grumbling against me But the spirit gives life and that explains the difference some people hear about Jesus and they grumble and they disbelieve Some people hear about Jesus and they believe and they come to Jesus And the whole difference is who has the spirit given life to Now Jesus is in front of a group that's all physically alive So he's not talking about physical life here. He's talking about spiritual life here And those two whom the father that those two whom the father gives the Holy Spirit They come to life They're drawn to Jesus by this life that's given to them by the spirit and that's how they Being a dead person who can't see who can't hear and it does not have a beating spiritual heart All of a sudden they're quickened They're given life by the spirit. It is the spirit who gives life verse 63 The flesh profits nothing no one in their flesh no one apart from the spirit no one verse 44 No one comes to the father apart from the Holy Spirit giving them life Because the flesh profits nothing the other half of verse 63 there And again verse 65 verse 65 Jesus went on to say this is why I told you that no one can come to me. How many people can come to Jesus? No one can come to me unless The father has enabled him This means the father is first not the person The father acts and the person responds It's not the person doing something and then the father responding It's the father enabling a person When they weren't able when they were dead He gives them life because the flesh profits nothing So he enables them to come to faith Jesus said this is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the father has enabled him Or as Paul puts it in Titus 35 he saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit That's what happened in your soul your soul was renewed given life And when your soul was given life because you're on the list and the father sent the Holy Spirit to you You were given life and you saw and you believed you came to Jesus So you didn't come to Jesus and then he gave you life He gave you life And from that life and because you had that life you came to Jesus a dead man doesn't walk a dead man doesn't come to Jesus A dead man must be enabled. He must have his heart started Must have brain waves in his brain And that's what the spirit does spiritually for a person the father enables those in the list To come to Jesus that they may be raised at the last day and have eternal and have eternal life now number five Lastly Jesus gives you and me assurance that we will be raised at the last day and live forever That is number five number five Jesus also tells you the confidence the confidence you can have about being raised bodily and having eternal life Jesus tells you about the confidence you can have about being raised bodily and having eternal life. So a Have total confidence Have total confidence in your eternity because it's up to God Not you If if we're up to you like Jacob Armenia said Like John Wesley said if we're up to you Then have no confidence at all even if you're doing well now have no confidence at all because you may not be doing well in two years Or in six years from now and so be nervous And so you know welcome to that group of people that say there's no assurance of salvation But who are nervous and leave because they can't handle the pressure And rightly so But the good news is your salvation is not based on you and what you have done Or continued to do or will do in the future your salvation is based on what God has done father Son and Holy Spirit all three working together and that's why you're saved and that's why you will be raised at the last day Okay, let's talk about that So why can you have total confidence because it's up to God not to you how so here's how it's up to God the Father That's your one point a one The Father has given you to Jesus Have confidence that you'll be raised the last day and heavy journal because the Father has given you to Jesus not because you were good Not because you came to Jesus apart from him But because the Father gave you to him Jesus said no one comes to me unless the Father gives him to me and Jesus said I will raise the last day those the Father has given so the Father has given you to Jesus and it's his your second blank It's his will that you'd be raised at the last day That's versus 37 through 39. What is the will of the Father? Jesus says. I'll tell you the will of the Father that I lose none Who are on this list? That I lose none of all that the Father's given for 39 and you lose none of all that the Father's given me but raised them up At the last day So it's the Father's will it's his determination Guess when God the Father fights with anyone who wins God the Father does God's purposes are not frustrated God does this the Psalm say whatever he pleases Or as Jesus will say and has said and John 521 I have life in myself and I give life to whomever I please to give it But the Father is it's his will so here's why you have confidence not because you're doing well today spiritually Or doing poorly today spiritually you have confidence because it's the Father's will That you'll be raised at the last day That's the Father's will that's what he wants regardless of how you're doing today Number two How does Jesus play into your confidence in your eternal life and you'll be you're being raised the last day Number two the Sun came down from heaven these are his words and verse 38 He came down from heaven to accomplish his Father's will That's what he says there. He came down from heaven to accomplish his Father's will and Beyond this he promises he promises to raise at the last day all that the Father has given him And that includes you Verse 38 looked there verse 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me and this is the will of him who sent me that I shall lose none Of all that he has given me but raised them up at the last day in verse 40 For my Father's wills that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life and I will here's the promise I will raise him up at the last day. Jesus keeps promising this. I will raise up at the last day All that the Father has given me Everyone on the list Now number three how was the Holy Spirit involved in your confidence in your eternal life and you're being raised the last day Number three the Father and the Sun To make sure you would be raised and lived forever sent you the Holy Spirit the Father and Son To sure that you would make it Father's done to make sure you would be raised and lived forever sent you the Holy Spirit to give you life To give you life spiritual life So that you would come to Jesus So that you would come to Jesus and here's the good news and this has already happened You're here John 1526 I will send to you Jesus says from the Father it's your Preparing for hearing the hearing of God's word here when the counselor comes whom I will send to you from the Father The spirit of truth who goes out from the Father he will testify about me You have come to Jesus Because the Father sent his spirit to you He gave you life verse 63 The spirit gives life now be I want you to notice this and I'm talking about it now, but I want you to see it So I wrote it down for it be this is an unbreakable chain This is an unbreakable chain that gives you assurance of your eternal life and that you will be raised at the last day It's an unbreakable chain since you have already come to Jesus Language of verse 37 you've already come to Jesus Since that's the case it means that the next blank that the Holy Spirit has already given you life

You couldn't come to Jesus unless the spirit had already given you life Verse 63 which means if the spirit has come to you Okay, so you've come to Jesus why because the spirit gave you life what that means Well, that means next thing there That he gave you life so you would come to Jesus and this is already This already happened so this means the Father that's your next blank. This means the Father gave you to Jesus verses 37 and 39 Who promised to raise you up at the last day?

You came to Jesus and Jesus says the only way you can come to me is if you have the Spirit of God And the Father sends out his spirit to give life to enable people to come to Jesus The Father doesn't give the spirit to enable to come to Jesus people who are on the list He has a group of people who he's giving who he's giving to Jesus a group of people who whose names He wrote on the Lamb's book of life that Jesus had to come to earth to purchase with his blood But you're coming to Jesus means that the Spirit has been given to you given to you by the Father which means you're on the Father's list

And that list Jesus has bought with his blood And so the only thing that remained in Christian in the history of the world after the cross is that the Spirit It needs to be sent by the Father and the Son to give life to those whose names are on the list So that they come to Jesus so that Jesus loses none Of all that the Father gives him and raises every one of them up at the last day

So see see In believing also you have made a wise choice with great consequences That will endure forever In believing you've made a wise choice with consequences that will endure forever That you didn't believe because of yourself You were enabled to believe Well, how were you enabled to believe by the Holy Spirit? How why did the Holy Spirit come to you and not to somebody else because you're on the Father's list and he sent the Holy Spirit to you So Father's Son and Holy Spirit all working for your salvation So Summary summary of all this This is all fast so be be quick The Father wanted you to live forever The Father wanted you to live forever He decided that before he created Adam Ephesians one four The Father wanted you to live forever and because he wanted you to live forever because this was his will He gave he gave you the Holy Spirit He gave you the Holy Spirit who enabled you to come to Jesus and that's why you're here today That's why you care about these things In this way this way the Father gave you to Jesus by giving you his Spirit and this way the Father gave you to Jesus Who promised to raise you at the last day over and over Jesus promises that in this passage and I will raise them at the last day And I will lose none of them So in this way the Father gave you to Jesus who promised to raise you at the last day so that you will live forever So all three members of the Trinity thus all three members of the Trinity thus Assure you that you're being raised to eternal life is certain All three members of the Trinity at work to assure you that you're being raised To eternal life is certain