THE EFFECTUAL CALL OF GOD

 

John 6:41-59

 

The biggest problem with mankind is that they cannot

get pass the idea that they need saving.

 

But its much bigger than that, the Bible teaches that since the fall…. man’s natural corrupt state has lost all ability of the will to do any spiritual good and is not able, by his own strength, to convert himself, or add anything to the salvific work of God. Hence the fact, people don’t think they need saving because they already think they’re? Good people. The bible declares differently about the state of the natural man. “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” Gen. 6:5. This is the natural misery of mankind’s state: “We, were, and are, apart from Christ, by nature children of wrath, just as the others” Eph. 2:3. Paul wrote that mankind is utterly enable to regeneration himself. “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly” Rom. 5:6

 

In this unregenerate, fallen state, man has no ability to do anything spiritually good. Man is a slave; he is in Satan’s prison house, and does not have the key to get out. Think about how great was the liberty of the will before the fall, that is, as God made Adam? The testimony of Scripture answers this question. “Truly, this only have I found: that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes” Eccl. 7:29

“Schemes” means that Adam and Eve, were not content with their present knowledge and happiness, they sought out new ways and means of being wiser, and happier than God made them. By our nature, we are depraved, we naturally only seek what’s best for us, which is not God and especially His Son to find redemption. We didn’t learn or work towards our depravity as David penned these words. “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me” Ps. 51:5. In this unregenerate state, men are spiritually blind and cannot see, spiritually deaf and cannot hear, and what is worse, they are dead in trespasses and sins.

 

But here is the hope and the promise that Jesus

proclaimed throughout His ministry and to these people.

 

There is a God in heaven who can open blind eyes, who can unstop deaf ears, and, who can raise the dead. There are many things we can learn from this encounter between Jesus and the people who were following Him.

  

JESUS’ DECLARATION WAS A STUMBLING BLOCK TO THE NATURAL MAN (V41-V42)

 

They “grumbled” this indicates they were complaining, whispering to one another their displeasure, and they were outraged at His declaration that he came down from heaven. (v42) See, if Jesus came in Kingly dress, and lavished prosperity upon the people, they would have had no problem with Him, or where He came from, and who He was born too. The same is true today, the culture at large loves the humanitarian Jesus who sticks for the marginalized, the poor, and lest unfortunate. According to Joy Behar “This is the Jesus we love.” But they grumbled because Jesus was born into a poor family, who came from a town that according to the Jews nothing good can come out of that town. Remember what Nathanael said to Philip? "……Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" John 1:45. This shouldn’t surprise us a church family! This is the natural depravity of man, showing its true colours. “For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,” 

1 Cor 1:22-23

 

The cross was an offence to where the gospel was preached,

just as it is in our generation. There are so many today who want to do away with Jesus, the only gospel, the Bible and the true church. Nothing would make this world a better place if you could silence and get rid of Jesus, and all His teachings about the state of man, and our need of redemption.

 

JESUS CAME TO SAVE BECAUSE OF MAN’S INABILITY OR HELPLESSNESS TO REPENT AND BELIEVE THE GOSPEL (V43-V46)

 

Jesus calls them to stop their grumbling and complaining that reflects their rebellious and harden hearts. The reason why man cannot come to Christ on his own, is not because he cannot come, so far as his physical body or his mere power of mind is concerned. But because his nature is so corrupt that he has neither the will, nor the power, to come to Christ, unless he or she is drawn by the Spirit. This troubles many people in the church, especially when it comes to the doctrine of predestination and regeneration. Salvation is not synergistic which means working together or cooperative, but salvation is monergistic, which is God works through the Holy Spirit to bring about the salvation of an individual. And I feel the pain of many who struggle with this, but its unfortunate when some Christians dogmatically shun, or refuse, this teaching, or worse to study it for themselves.

 

R C Sproul said that a Table Talk subscriber ended her subscription because there was a whole month dedicated to the teachings of the Doctrine of Predestination. She said, “I will no longer read this magazine because I don’t believe in predestination.” R C Sproul was sad to see her go, but he was glad she didn’t say “She would no longer read Paul’s letter to the Romans.” It is sad when we get so standoffish about the doctrines found in the Scriptures; which some can be difficult to understand in our humanism. At some point we struggle with this, we have loved ones, and we are bias to them because we love them, but they are blinded and ignorant to the simple truth of Scriptures. But this Biblical doctrine should cause us to search all the more diligently to see if these things are true.  As a pastor this isn’t an easy task….. because I know I will have individual’s that I care about, who will be upset with me when speaking on the doctrine of Predestination. But as R C Sproul said about the pastor’s responsibility, “I myself struggle with the doctrine of predestination when I was a young Christian. Even now, I struggle with certain things that are plainly taught in the Word of God. To combat this tendency in my life, when I was in seminary, I kept a card on my desk that said, “You are responsible to believe and to teach what the Bible teaches, not what you would like for it to teach.”

 

I completely agree with this statement.

 

Just because there are some things in the Scriptures that I don’t like, or you may not like; the problem is not with the Word of God, it’s with me, it’s with you. This is the struggle with many well-intent believers of the gospel. They read passages like this and come to the conclusion. “All who come to Me the Father will give to Me.” (v40) but they forget the verse before it. (v39) This isn’t what Jesus was teaching, Jesus said, “The one whom the Father has given to Me will come to Me…everyone of them.” Why? The gospel call of God is effectual, and He will save those whose eyes have been enlightened to see the truth of God in the person of Jesus Christ. This truth that Jesus is clearly teaching is the foundation of the gospel; and the workings that God does to save sinners like you and me. Those who are truly saved will continue in that condition, for Jesus will not let them fall away.

This is exactly what Paul was teaching to the Roman believers. “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” Rom 8:29-30

 

Those who are saved cannot be separated from the Saviour, but we also know many false professions are among the saved, but they will expose themselves. “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.” 1 John 2:19

 

Here is problem for those who are lost…. in our corrupt nature we don’t see, or care to see, the work of God in redemption, because we love our sin too much. This is the same reason why people are unable to come to Christ on their own. They love darkness rather than light and without the Spirit’s work we would continue in sin. “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.” John 3:19-20

 

Paul said “no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." "Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips." "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness." "Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known." "There is no fear of God before their eyes." Rom 3:11-18

 

Apart from God drawing us, none of us would ever be saved! This is why Jesus says what He says in (v44). This is called “universal negative proposition” A universal negative can be expressed in speech a variety of ways using terms like "never" or "none." An example of a universal negative is "Cats are never dogs." Jesus began with the words, “No one” which meant “No person, without exception” Then Jesus adds the word “can” this word has to do with ability. So, what Jesus is expressing here is that, “No one, no human being, was capable of coming to Him. All people are infected with a moral inability as a result of their fallen condition before you were born. Now, this doesn’t mean “no one will ever be saved” because Jesus uses the word “unless” which indicates a necessary condition, something must have to take place first. “The Father who sent Me draws them.” “Draw” in this context is strong language, this word in the Greek actually means “to compel”, not to entice or woo, but compel you to the light of the gospel.

 

Have you ever wondered or ask the question! Why would He save me and not the closet person, or people to you? Why is my mother and father still blind and ignorant to the truth of the gospel? My mom, even attended an Anglican church for a few years, even sang in the choir. My parents live moralistic lives, and serviced their communities well with their time and care. If you asked me about my parents, I would say, “They are amazing people, who behave better then I did, before salvation came into my life.” Have you ever asked, “Why me, and not them Lord? What is preventing the people closest to me from receiving the same blessing that I received so long ago? Paul felt the same way for the people he loved who were dead to the things of God. “For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” Rom 9:3. The Biblical answer is: There inability to receive the things of God because they love their sin way too much. And truthfully, they are hostile towards whom we must give an account, they live their lives blinded to grace, because God know their heart. If you don’t believe me! Then ask them?

  

JESUS IS THE ONLY WAY OF SALVATION TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE THE TRUTH OF JESUS AND THE GOSPEL. (V47-V51)

 

“whoever believes has eternal life” Trusting in God’s self-revelation in Christ brings present blessing that perseveres the soul to eternity. Jesus was speaking in the present, meaning now; speaking of Himself as the Living Bread that gives eternal life; not food that only satisfies for a moment. See, the bread the Israelites ate in the wilderness sustained then in their physical, but all the fathers still died later on after eating the manna. Again, Jesus isn’t talking about food, but using food as a way for them to understand that He is the only One, whom the Father sent to save sinners. Jesus was offering Himself, because He knew we can’t do anything to attain eternal life on our own. As Jesus already said to Nicodemus, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God” John 3:3. This is the present blessing of adoption; we get to live out the new birth in Christ because the Father is the one who drew you to the Son. If you are a Christian, He brought you to the Bread of Life, to the Bread that came down from heaven.

 

THE WONDERFUL FELLOWSHIP WE RECEIVE WHEN WE COMMUNION WITH CHRIST “THE BREAD OF LIFE” (V52-V58)

 

This is where our fellowship belongs, with the only one who can save our blind, wretched and depraved souls from judgement and wrath “the Bread of life” Jesus’ point was an analogy that has spiritual rather than physical significance. Just as eating and drinking are necessary for physical life; so is belief in the sacrificial death on the cross necessary for eternal life. Once again, the Jew’s failed to understand the spiritual truth behind Jesus’ illustration. The took what He said literally by what was said about drinking blood as the pagans do. "If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people.  For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood.” 

Lev 17:10-12

 

The Jews were unable to go beyond the mere physical viewpoint which made them angry and confused! See eating here displays a spiritual truth! Just as food is useless unless it’s eaten, so also is spiritual truth if it is not consumed! Merely knowing the truth, without acting on it, both profit nothing. Eating is prompted by hunger; those who are full are not interested in food. In the same way sinners who are satisfied with their sin have no hunger for spiritual things. Eating involves trusting, no one knowingly eats spoiled or rotten food. The act of eating requires faith that this food is edible. Eating is personal. No one can eat a meal for another; there is no such thing as eating by proxy. Nor is there salvation by proxy. As Psalm 49:7 says “Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life,” Our fellowship and communion is in His body and in His blood, which reminds us of His grace and love for saving our wretched souls.

 

See! By taking part in His body, and His blood, is an outward profession of an inward change as we remember His atoning work on the cross. This covenant personally acknowledges our desperate need for a Saviour, because of our inability to make things right in our own strength! Receiving the Lord’s Supper in faith is a means by which our union with Christ is strengthened. What we see here is the Saviour’s preparation for future things, since He hasn’t gone to the cross yet.

 

But for us today, it’s a daily reminder of His unyielding love in our

lives through the gospel that saves.

 

This is what makes the gospel so precious and personal for me! He saved me by His will and by His sovereign power. As one preacher said “God’s sovereign grace does not annihilate man’s will: it overcomes his unwillingness. It does not destroy his will but frees it from sin. It does not stifle or eliminate his conscience but sets it free from darkness. Grace regenerates and re-creates man in his entirety, and in renewing him, causes him to love and consecrate himself to God freely.”

 

So, what’s keeping people we love from coming to the table

of grace according to this passage?

I came across an interesting post of a theologian who heard an evangelist use two of the most popular analogies to describe what happens in our redemption.

 

The first one….He said sin has such a strong hold on us, a stranglehold, that it’s like a person who can’t swim, who falls overboard in a raging sea, and he’s going under for the third time and only the tops of his fingers are still above the water; and unless someone intervenes to rescue him, he has no hope of survival, his death is certain. And unless God throws him a life preserver, he can’t possibly be rescued. And not only must God throw him a life preserver in the general vicinity of where he is, but that life preserver has to hit him right where his fingers are still extended out of the water, and hit him so that he can grasp hold of it. It has to be perfectly pitched. But still that man will drown unless he takes his fingers and curls them around the life preserver and God will rescue him. But unless that tiny little human action is done, he will surely perish.

 

The other analogy is this: A man is desperately ill, sick unto death, lying in his hospital bed with a disease that is fatal. There is no way he can be cured unless somebody from outside comes up with a cure, a medicine that will take care of this fatal disease. And God has the cure and walks into the room with the medicine. But the man is so weak he can’t even help himself to the medicine; God has to pour it on the spoon. The man is so sick he’s almost comatose. He can’t even open his mouth, and God has to lean over and open up his mouth for him. God has to bring the spoon to the man’s lips, but the man still has to swallow it.

 

Now, if we’re going to use these analogies, let’s be accurate and use them according to the Scriptures. The man isn’t going under for the third time; he is stone cold dead at the bottom of the ocean. That’s where you once were when you were dead in sin and trespasses and walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air. And while you were dead hath God quickened you together with Christ. God dove to the bottom of the sea and took that drowned corpse and breathed into it the breath of his life and raised you from the dead. And it’s not that you were dying in a hospital bed of a certain illness, but rather, when you were born you were born D.O.A. That’s what the Bible says: that we are morally stillborn.”

This was you and I, before the power of God drew us to Himself!

Sunk and spiritually dead in a hospital bed.

 

Isn’t it that the amazing grace of God who saved you?

 

And, doesn’t it sadden you, that you know many people personally who are still dead and hostile towards the things of God?

I want you to think about that person right now! They could be seating here in this sanctuary? We need to pray for the power of God to bring them to foot of the cross in newness of life.  “Living Bread” We must never stop praying for lost loves ones, and lost people in general. And we are never to be surprised, or discouraged, when people take a long time to understand the good news of the gospel. They are dead according to the Scriptures, until God breathes new life into them from the grave. The same way He raised your dead state in the new birth, before salvation came into our lives. Our confidence in never to rest in ourselves, but in the power of God to change the will of the unbeliever who have a skewed view of the gospel. Again “for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Rom 1:16. Spend time today praying that the Lord would give faith to an unbeliever in your life. Proclaim the gospel while you still have breath in your lungs. Walk worthy of the calling to which you were called, so other may see Christ in you. Pray that God would draw them; and that they would turn from their sin and partake in “the Bread of Life”