If we could open our Bibles to John 6. John 6 and we’ll begin reading at v. 35. “Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. All (that is every one) that the Father gives to Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have 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 of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that every one who beholds the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.’ The Jews therefore were grumbling about Him because He said ‘I am the bread that came down out of heaven.’ And they were saying, ‘Is not this Jesus the son of Joseph whose father and mother we know? How does He now say I’ve come down out of heaven?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘and they shall all (every one) they shall all be taught of God, everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. Not that any man has seen the Father except the One who is from God, He has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.'” And then v. 64, “But there are some of you who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe and who it was that would betray Him. And He was saying, ‘For this reason I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.'”
Lord willing, I want to speak to you tonight on the subject of everyone and no one. Everyone and no one. Normally we might think of everyone or no one, but in this case, many of the everyone’s are the no one’s. And so it’s everyone and no one. And in John 6 here we find the everyone and the no one spoken in terms of 4 absolute certainties. And we’ll be using those absolute certainties as a framework to look at these everyone’s and no one’s. And we’ll be moving around in this section looking at these logically, rather than chronologically. Because the everyone’s and the no one’s are interconnected and I think this will help make it a little clearer as we go. I trust that that’s the case.
All That The Father Gives to Jesus Will Come
So first of all then, the first certainty is given to us in the first half of v. 37. “All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me.” And before we look at the statement itself I want us to make note of a couple phrases here. The first one is “come to Me.” And that in itself is an incredible statement. We see it repeatedly in this passage. As you look down through here, v. 35, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me…” In v. 37, “All the Father gives Me shall come to Me.” And v. 44, “No one can come to Me unless the Father draws him.” In v. 45, “Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.” And v. 65, “For this reason, I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it’s been granted by the Father.” And what a glorious phrase this is! We can still – men still come to Christ. It’s been 2,000 years since He walked this earth, but it’s still possible to come to Christ. And we’ve been hearing that over and over during this conference: Come. It’s possible. You could come to Christ tonight if you would. You can still come to Him. And it is a remarkable phrase. And just in this phrase itself, it shows the vast difference between the Lord Jesus Christ and all other religious teachers. No other religious teacher says “come to me.” The Lord Jesus offers salvation by inviting men to Himself. Come to Me. It’s totally different than Confucius. It’s totally different than Mohammed. It’s totally different than Buddha. Matthew 11, “Come unto Me all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” So here He is offering rest for your soul – He goes on and says that – rest for your soul. Come to Me. Not: follow this philosophy. Not: follow this teaching. Not: follow the noble eightfold path. But come to Me, and I personally will give you eternal rest – rest for your soul. Can you imagine Confucius saying, “Come to me and I will give you rest for your soul”? It’s totally unique with the Lord Jesus.
Those Who Come
But not only that, the demands that He places on those who come to Him are entirely unlike those that any other religious teacher would give. For example, Luke 14:26, “If anyone comes to Me…” There it is again. “…Comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he can’t be My disciple. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. He who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.” So He’s inviting us to Himself – “Come to Me” – and He’s demanding that we have a love for Him that’s so much greater than our love for the dearest loved one. Now think of this. Can you imagine Mohammed saying you have to love me personally more than you love your wife or your father or your mother? This is totally unique. So here’s this one, the Lord Jesus Christ, saying come to Me and if you come to Me, you have to love and be devoted to Me so much that by comparison all other loves are hatred. That’s what He’s saying. Incredible statement. Again, imagine Confucius saying he who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. It’s unthinkable.
And these are not the only “come to Me” statements in the Bible, are they? Listen to these. “You are unwilling to come to Me that you might have life.” “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall not hunger. He who believes in Me shall never thirst.” “Now in the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out saying, ‘If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.'” “He who believes in Me as the Scripture said out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.” Picture any other teacher standing and saying “come to me.” “I am the bread of life. Come to me. You’ll never hunger. You’ll never thirst.” Amazing! We just read these. The Lord Jesus is in such a different category that we read these things without even thinking about it. Even the little phrase: “come to Me” – nobody says things like that. “Come to Me and I’ll give you eternal life.” “I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish.” He’s so exalted that He can say things that no other man could ever say. And we just read them naturally because they fit Him so well.
So let me ask you a question before we go on. Have you come to Christ? Have you come to Christ? Not: have you believed historical facts? Not: have you turned over a new leaf and tried to follow a better path for your life? But have you come to Him personally? The Lord has been bringing this back to us every message, again and again. It’s a serious thing to have heard the things that we’ve heard and not come. How many times have we heard the word “come”?
The Father Gives People to the Son
Well, there’s a second phrase in v. 37 that I want to mention before we look at the sentence itself, and that is this phrase: “All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me.” “All that the Father gives Me…” This is amazing too. There are certain people whom the Father gives to the Son. He gives them. In many, I suppose, many cultures on a birthday or special occasion, somebody gives you a gift. And there have been people that have even received slaves as a gift – sorry to say. But they made a gift. They received these slaves. Beloved, no mortal man has ever been able to receive a human soul as a gift. That’s not happening. You can give a guy a slave, but you can’t give that person to anybody. Because you have to be a divine person to receive a soul as a gift. Think of this right in what Jesus is saying right here: He says I’m able to receive the souls of men, but I’m able to receive people – body and soul – as a gift, and take them and accept them as a gift. Isn’t that amazing? John 17:1-2, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son even as You gave Him authority over all mankind, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life.” He has authority over all mankind to receive the souls and persons of men and give eternal life to them. John 10:28-29, “I give eternal life to them and they shall never perish. No one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” Once again, certain people the Father gives to the Son, and to those people He gives eternal life. What a glorious thing this is!
John Murray says this, “Think of it. When a sinner comes to Christ in the commitment of faith; when the rebellious will is renewed and tears of penitence begin to flow, it is because a mysterious transaction has been taking place between the Persons of the Godhead. The Father has been making a presentation, a donation to His own Son.” Amazing thing. Listen to John 17:6, “I manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world. Yours they were, and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your Word.” Yours they were. And you remember back in Ezekiel, God says, “All souls are mine.” The soul of the father, the soul of the son. I remember one time many years ago I was praying for a lost loved one and kind of trying to twist God’s arm to answer me, and He brought this verse to mind. That person – whether it’s your mother or your child or whoever – they don’t belong to you. They’re not yours. They’re God’s. He says, “All souls are mine.” I’ll decide about this. It’s in My power. Now, He’s made wonderful promises, but we’ve got to go to God and pray for our loved ones on the basis that we know He doesn’t owe us anything. We don’t deserve anything. Those souls belong to Him. Every soul is His.
I remember Don Johnson told about praying for his son James. He said, “Mae, I’m going to go out and pray for James again.” And he went out and the first thing he said, “Lord, he deserves to go to hell. You can send him to hell and you’d be right.” What’s that? That’s acknowledging: Lord, I know he belongs to you. His soul is not mine. It’s Yours. But if You could have mercy on him… See, that’s the attitude that we come. And lo and behold, God did. He saved him. Basically we’re saying, “Father, I know that that person’s soul is in Your hands to dispose of as You see fit, but if You could ever see fit to give them as a gift to Your Son, I would thank You so much.” Isn’t that amazing? That’s what we’re asking. “Thine they were, and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your Word.”
Alright, we’ve made note of a couple phrases at the first part of v. 37, but the phrase itself is this: “All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me.” So this is the first certainty. Everyone – some translations have that. Everyone that the Father gives Me shall come to Me. It’s an absolute certainty, beloved, that anytime the Father gives a person to the Son, that person comes. Jesus just said that. Everyone that the Father gives Me shall come to Me. There’s no thought of anybody – the Father wants to give this gift to His Son and that person refuses the Father’s good and kind intention to be given to the Son. That never happens. We have the Lord’s Word for that. It’s an absolute certainty that that person will come. You remember Saul of Tarsus. Said he was separated from his mother’s womb. God set him apart. One day, I’m going to give him as a gift. I remember one time I was having a Bible study with some Buddhist girls and one of the girls said – God began to deal with her – she said don’t pray for me. I don’t want to become a Christian. Well, she did become a Christian because the Father determined to give her to the Son. And “all that the Father gives Me shall come to Me.” Every one of them. Everyone. What a glorious thing! You realize we’re not dealing with human frailties. We’re not dealing with the fickle will of man. We’re not dealing with things that can fall through and not happen. We’re dealing with things that are absolute certainties. Everyone that the Father gives Me shall come to Me. And nothing can stop it from happening.
No One Can Come, Unless…
Well, we’ll return to this a little later because the Lord says it in different ways down through here. Let’s move on to the second certainty. V. 44, “No one can come to Me…” He just said everyone the Father gives shall come. Now He said “no one.” No one can come “Unless the Father who sent Me draws him.” People say, well, that’s true, but God draws everyone. You know, He’s tugging at their heart, at their heart strings, and some people resist effectually. Some people come. Well, God does tug on people, but that’s not what the Lord’s talking about here. (incomplete thought) Well, let me just prove it to you what it means. In v. 64 and 65, He says it in a different way. V. 64, “Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray Him. And He was saying, ‘for this reason I have said to you that no one can come to Me…'” And He words it a little differently. “…Unless it’s been granted him from the Father.” So He does not grant to everyone to come to Christ. Parallel statement – He does not draw everyone. You see that? Same phrase said in a different way. Same truth. But not only that, the word “draw” does not mean “tug,” it means “draw.” In John 18:10, “Simon Peter having a sword drew it.” Same word. So what’s that mean? Here’s Peter with his sword. That’s not what it means that he drew it. Not: He tugged on it. He drew it. Isn’t this amazing? “No man can come to me unless the Father draws him.” And He draws him to Christ. It’s this effectual thing again. Same thing whenever it says they dragged them – let me just read it. This is Acts 16:19, “When her master saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace.” Same word. They drew them in there. They didn’t tug on them. They drew them in. And you get the feeling of the movement that’s taking place when the Father draws. What a glorious thing this is!
Now think about this. We don’t want to get this wrong. It says that no man can come to Christ unless it’s granted to him by the Father, unless the Father draws him. What the Lord is setting forth here is man’s moral inability to come to Christ, to respond rightly to the Gospel. Men are not able to come to Christ apart from this drawing and work of the Father. That’s the only way. And this movement takes place, but we don’t want to misunderstand this. This is a moral inability. It’s not a physical inability. It’s a moral inability. I’ve had people say things like this: Well, you’re saying that God commands men to believe. Yes. But they can’t believe. Right? Yeah, they can’t believe. So then He sends them to hell for something they can’t believe anyway. Right? And I’ve literally read this. It was compared to a father. It said what father would take his little boy – you know, his five year old boy, and say carry this 500 pound sack of grain? He can’t do it. And then he beats him for something he can’t do. Well, men can’t come to Christ. God says come to Christ. They can’t do it. Jesus said that. He doesn’t draw everybody and He doesn’t give it to everybody. And so here the poor guy can’t come and then God puts him in hell because he can’t come. Now that is a misunderstanding. (incomplete thought) See, this little boy not being able to carry that sack of grain – there’s nothing wrong with that. That’s totally innocent. But man’s inability is a totally different thing. The inability to come to Christ is a totally different thing.
I think one of the old Puritans brought up the case of Joseph’s brothers. It says they hated Joseph and could not speak a good word about him. They couldn’t do it. That’s not the idea that: here comes that dreamer, I think I’ll speak a good word about him and they try and can’t get it out of their throat. That isn’t it. They hate him so much that all that comes out of them is hatred toward him. You see that? That is a culpable inability. That is an inexcusable inability that rises from hatred of the object. And men can’t come to Christ not because they’re poor little innocent things that can’t come to Christ. They can’t come to Christ because they hate Him. They hate Him without a cause.
I think those Pharisees – they were the religious – I think they were shocked when they saw themselves shouting, “Crucify Him!” They got put in a corner and you know the evil – you know, the rat began to snarl. And I think they themselves were shocked by it. Because all men – all men – hate God. They do. The Bible says that. So when we talk about inability, we don’t want to get the wrong end of this. We’re talking about something that is an index of depravity. It tells just how bad you are. You’re so bad, you hate God so much you can’t bring yourself to do the right thing. You don’t want to.
When we’re speaking to the lost, we need to keep both of these things in mind. On the one hand, we need to realize they’re unable. They need a miracle from God. It’s not a matter, and if you just said it a different way and just had a little more of this and that in what you say to them, and if you just showed a little more love and so on, then they’d be saved. It’s like Brother John said the other day. It takes God – and He can use the slightest thing – some little phrase or something God brings home to the heart. It doesn’t have to do with how eloquent you are or how good you are presenting the Gospel. A.W. Tozer – he was so burdened for his mom, he came into the room. Now here’s going to be an eloquent presentation of the Gospel. No, he just burst into tears and said, “Mom, you’re lost.” Sometimes that’s about all we can do. (incomplete thought) They’re not able. And they won’t be able unless the Father draws them.
On the other hand, we’ve got to remember that their inability – we don’t start feeling sorry for them in the sense of blaming God. You’ve got to be reminded, you’ve got to realize why is it that men can’t believe? I’ve seen parents that have two boys and they’re both Christians and their parents harden themselves to what their boys are saying. Why? Why not listen to them? Why would they not say tell us about this? Brother Gilbert gave that parable of the great dinner. (incomplete thought) I’m sorry – Josue. There’s another similar one you remember, of a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. Matthew 22. And he says in there – now this is a king. And he says my oxen, my livestock, everything’s ready. He said the same thing: everything’s ready. What an honor to get an invitation from a king! What does it say? They paid no attention and went their way. You’ve got an invitation from the king. They come running up, show it to you. They go their way, one to his farm, another to his business. They ignore. That’s an insult right there when you don’t do anything. You don’t respond. You say, well, I’m not for Jesus or against Him – I’m kind of neutral. Well, as soon as you pay no attention you’re already slapping the King in the face.
But what else does it say? This is incredible. “The rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them.” And that’s going on, beloved, right now around the world. It’s going on in one country after another. We know of Christians. We know of them. They come and they say to a person: “Good news! There’s a feast for you.” “Oh, I’m going to kill you.” Think of that. Isn’t that amazing? They mistreat them and kill them. We’ve got to remember both. We’ve got to remember and pray. When you think of this person, they can’t, they’re helpless in sin. We’ve got to pray for them. They’re not going to make it if we don’t pray that God does some miracle in them. But at the same time, you don’t start blaming God for the fact that they’re lost. It’s evil what they’re doing. If you’re not a Christian here tonight and you’ve heard these ones like Brother Josue and different ones pour out their hearts and have this invitation, it’s evil if you don’t come to Christ. You just walk away, one to his business. Huh… ho hum. We’re not talking about an earthly king. We’re talking about the King of the universe.
Well, you saw the “no one.” Everyone whom the Father gives Me shall come. No one can come unless… There’s none. There’s none righteous. No not one. There’s none that understandeth. You see, moral inability flows from moral depravity. There’s none that seeketh after God. There’s nobody. Nobody in the whole world apart from the Holy Spirit working in their heart. There’s nobody that’s really seeking after God. Men might be out here laying on a bed of nails. They’re doing it because they want to bolster up their pride. But if anybody seeks God, God will save them. “All have turned aside, together they have become useless.” There’s none who does good – no not one. And so it’s by grace through faith, that not of yourselves, it’s the gift of God lest any man should boast. No man can boast because nobody is able to believe on his own. Even that God has to do. Now before we move on from this, I just want to say, beloved, you know you might have this idea – He just said no man can come to Me unless God draws him. If you take this idea: Well, I’ll do that someday. You know that offer’s hanging out there. I’ll just do it someday. You don’t have that guarantee at all. If you’re feeling in your heart the Holy Spirit – God said My Spirit will not always strive with man – and you’re feeling the Holy Spirit tugging on you, you don’t know, you have no guarantee that you’re going to feel that way tomorrow or down the line somewhere. That is in the hands of God. If He leaves you alone, you’re going to go right down into hell. Putting it off. It’s like, well, the king said to come. I don’t want to do that now, but I’ll do it some other time whenever I choose. That’s a really dangerous position.
They Shall All Be Taught by God
Third certainty. Number 3. Verse 45. “It is written in the Prophets they shall all be taught of God.” Everyone. The third absolute certainty is that everyone who ever becomes a Christian is personally taught by God. Personally taught by God. And this being taught by God is described a little later in the verse as hearing and learning from the Father. Everyone who has heard and learned. So being taught by God is the same as hearing and learning from God. And going back up to the verse before, it’s the same as being drawn by God. So He comes and teaches you personally. You hear and learn from Him and He draws you. A little bit above that it says, v. 40, “This is the will of My Father that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him…” So there’s an opening of the eyes. You’ve got to get a glimpse. When the Father teaches you, He starts to teach you, He starts to draw you. You hear and learn from the Father. And what happens is you get a glimpse. You behold. In a little measure, you behold the Son. And it also tells us what it means when He says “all that the Father gives Me.” This giving of the Father is what takes place when the Father begins to teach a person and they begin to hear and learn from the Father and He begins to draw them and He draws them in this gift to the Son. All those things fit together, you see. Every Christian has been personally taught by God and heard and learned from the Father prior to his coming to Christ. Now how does that happen in practice? Well, we’ve heard some of that. Here’s a person. They’ve gone to church all their life. They’ve sat in meetings year after year. And one day, they hear and learn from the Father. It’s like they’ve never heard before. They’ve heard these words, but now they hear. And everyone who hears and learns from the Father comes to Christ.
So the question: have you been taught by God? What does the Father teach a lost person prior to his coming to Christ? Well, He teaches him that he’s lost and He teaches that Christ is the Savior. It just boils down to that. He teaches him that he’s lost. John talked about that in terms of some of these different men. He teaches a person that he’s lost and undone. And He teaches him that there’s a Savior. He convicts him of sin and righteousness and judgment, and He leads him to Christ. You remember Matthew 16? “Who do men say that I am?” Well, some say You’re this. Some say that. “Who do you say that I am?” He says, “You’re the Christ, the Son of the living God.” “Blessed are you Simon Bar Jonah…” You’ve been taught by God. Flesh and blood didn’t reveal it to you. You saw. You were taught by God. 2 Corinthians 4, If our Gospel is hidden, it’s hidden to those that are lost. And then the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving lest the light of the Gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine unto them. But what? God who commanded light to shine out of darkness has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So God shines in the heart. We hear and learn from the Father. And we see a glimpse of who Jesus is and we believe on Him.
All Those Given to Christ Will Come
Now, there’s one more certainty to look at but before we do that, notice this: The Lord Jesus repeats this first certainty. What was in v. 37 – He said all that the Father gives Me shall come to Me – He repeats that here and He says everyone who’s heard and learned from the Father comes. Every single one of them. It’s just a different way of saying it, you see. This certainty that everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Christ. The teaching of the Father is always effectual. No one ever hears and learns from the Father and doesn’t come to Christ. You’ve got to get ahold of this. Nobody rejects Jesus in that sense. Once you begin to hear and learn from the Father, you come to Christ. It’s a glorious thing.
Just an aside, for what it’s worth for you theologians, I think this hearing and learning from the Father is what we see happening in Romans 7. People look at that and they say how could that be a man who isn’t converted? How can he say such things as that? Well, the answer is he couldn’t. But Paul is writing that as one who is now a Christian (incomplete thought). The lost man coming to Christ doesn’t have a clue what’s going on. He couldn’t begin to write these things that Paul writes in Romans 7. He’s in a muddle and all he knows is he’s starting to realize he’s lost and he cries out. But Paul as a Christian looking back analyzes this whole thing. (incomplete thought) Listen to this, there is a hearing and learning from the Father that is qualitatively different in the elect than anything that ever happens to a lost person. And it always leads to them saying thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. They always get converted. This guy that’s writing Romans 7 – he’s been converted. And he’s come to Christ. Well, you can think about it.
Before we go on though, let me ask you this: Have you experienced the irresistible attraction of the Redeemer? Have you experienced that? Is He so lovely to you and so precious to you that you can’t live without Him? This thing of saying “for me to live is Christ,” that’s not some super-Christian. If you’re a Christian and you have the thought I’ve got to go without Him; I’ve got to go on and press on forever without Him – see, it’s more than just I’m going to be in hell. It’s the idea that I’m going to be without Christ. Every Christian can say that: for me to live is Christ. I don’t have any reason to live if I don’t have Him. That’s a person that has experienced the irresistible attraction. They’re drawn. They will come. Every one of them will come to Christ because they can’t keep from it. That’s what it is to be drawn. Philippians 3:3, “We are the true circumcision…” You remember the second one? “They glory in Christ Jesus.” A true Christian can feel so weak. They can question whether they’re even a Christian or not, but you start talking to them about Jesus and the glories of Jesus and they glory in Christ Jesus. They love Him! They want to hear about Him.
Jesus Will Not Cast Out Anyone Who Comes to Him
Last one. Verse 37 “All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me…” and the last half of the verse: “The one who comes to Me, I will certainly not cast out.” Absolutely certainty that Christ will in no wise cast out anyone who comes to Him. Now the term “cast out” in this verse is often taken in the sense of “turn away.” The one who comes to Me, I will not turn away; I won’t refuse him. I won’t refuse to accept him. And certainly that’s true. I mean, can you imagine the Father wants to give a gift to His Son and He says, “I don’t want it.” That’s not possible. But that’s not what Jesus is saying here. The word translated “cast out” is used with reference to something that’s already in that is ejected or driven out. Same word used with reference to demons. They’re in and they’re cast out. Or when Jesus drove them out of the temple. Same word. He cast them out of the temple. And what He’s saying here is He’s saying if you ever come to Me, if My Father ever gives you to Me, I’ll never get rid of you. I’ll hold on to you forever. I will in no wise part with you. Nothing could cause Me to part with you.
Douglas McMillan – he told a story. He said he had a Bible that his father gave him. His father died. But that Bible his father gave him is up there on the shelf. It’s all worn out, falling apart. And some friend came and he’s looking through his books. He said you ought to throw that Bible away. It’s about to fall apart. He said no way I’ll ever get rid of that. My father gave that to me. That’s what Jesus is talking about here. I will in no wise – nothing could cause Me to get rid of them and throw them away. I’ve received them as a gift from the Father. Beloved, if you’re a Christian, Christ is never going to part with you.
And He goes on to explain why. Verse 38, “For…” now He says, “he that comes to Me, I will certainly not cast out, for I have come down from heaven not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” He says the reason that I will never cast away anybody who has been given to Me is that I came down here to accomplish a purpose. I came down here to do the will of Him who sent Me. What’s that, Lord? Well, the next verse: This is the will of Him who sent Me that of those that He’s given Me – all that He’s given Me – I lose nothing – not one – but raise them up on the last day. He said I came down here to accomplish a purpose. I came to save everyone that the Father’s given Me and I’m not going to fail at what I came to do. Not one.
Have you ever noticed the “not one” of Scripture? Let me just read some of them to you. This is out of Matthew 18. “Whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me.” Now He’s talking about believers. I’d have to go into that to prove it to you. “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it were better for him that a heavy millstone were hung around his neck.” “See to it that you do not despise one of these little ones.” “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the 99 on the mountains and search for the one? Thus it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.” Again, He’s talking about believers. God the Father – it is not His will that one believer perish.
It’s the same thing as He’s saying here in John 7. This is the will of Him who sent Me that of that which He has given Me – of those whom He has given Me, I lose not one. It’s not His will for one of the little ones to perish. John 17:12 “While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me and I guarded them and not one of them perished…” but the son of perdition of course. Judas was a different story. He never did believe. “That the Scripture might be fulfilled.” And again in John 18:8-9, “Jesus answered, ‘I told you that I am He. If therefore you seek Me, let these go their way,’ that the Word might be fulfilled which He spoke, ‘of those whom You have given Me, I lost not one.'” And that’s the initial fulfillment. Even in this lifetime He was keeping them. And He will keep us forever. Right there in the high priestly prayer so called, He says, “Father I will that those whom You have given Me be with Me where I am.” That settled it right there. I mean, is Jesus going to pray contrary to the will of God? No. Is He going to pray in unbelief? No. As soon as He prayed the prayer, “Father, I want all those that You have given Me be with Me where I am that they may behold My glory.” That guaranteed the salvation of every single one given. That one day, it’s just a matter of time, everyone who’s been given to the Son in just a few heartbeats is going to behold His glory. It’s going to happen.
I love these certainties, don’t you? I don’t like this: well, maybe… Gilbert, what if Jesus said that of all whom He has given Me, I lose only five? Think of how horrible that would be. See, God is concerned about the one. And He’s so powerful that He can keep track of and take care of one out of millions, out of billions. Actually out of a lot more than that. You remember how many stars? Ten thousand billion trillion. You have a trillion stars. You have a billion of those trillions. And then you have ten thousand of those billion trillions. This is what it says. “Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, the one who leads forth their hosts by number. He calls them all by name because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power not one of them is missing.” Not one. “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.” How many sparrows are there in the world? Not one. And in the parallel, the Lord said these things in different ways. You know, He was saying these things all over the place. (incomplete thought) Aren’t you grateful? Because it puts a little different light on them. “Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? And yet not one of them is forgotten before God.” He says it a little differently. Not one of them is forgotten. And I’ve shared this many times. You may have heard it. I love this idea of the forgotten sparrow. “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent?” “Are not five sparrows sold for two cents?” Now wait a minute. Two sparrows for a cent. That would be four sparrows for two cents, not five. But they’re considered so worthless, you just throw in one. It doesn’t even cost. The forgotten sparrow. And He says I won’t forget that one. Not one of them will be forgotten before your Father. That’s good to remember, isn’t it? Because sometimes you feel like God has forgotten you. Lord, don’t You care that we perish? He says you’ll be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends. They’ll put some of you to death. You’ll be hated by all on account of My name. Yet, not a hair – not one hair of your head shall perish. They may kill you, but not a hair of your head shall perish. That is, not anything can happen bad to a Christian. God’s in control of every bit of it. We may need these things some day, you know? We may need them tomorrow. Or tonight. Christ won’t lose one.
Jesus Will Raise His Own Up on the Last Day
Now before we quit here, did you notice this phrase: “…raise it up on the last day”? It comes up over and over. V. 39. “I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.” V. 40, “…May have eternal life and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” Believe and you’ll be raised up on the last day. V. 44, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day.” It jumps from: you come to Christ, and He jumps all the way over your whole lifetime – “And I will raise him up…” He even jumps over all of history to the last day – the day of the resurrection. He says, “And I’ll raise him up on the last day.” V. 54, “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day.” So He jumps from our coming to Christ all the way through history, all the way through our lifespan and all the way through human history to the last day and says I’ll raise him. It’s this and I’ll do that. Isn’t that glorious? That’s what Paul does in Romans 8. Whom He justified, them He also glorified. Jumps over the whole in between. You know, some of these popular movies and novels that are in series, occasionally they do kill the hero off. Usually it’s in the last book of the series. You’ve got to do that. But the hero occasionally gets killed off. And sometimes you’re not sure whether the hero’s going to get killed off. But if you look ahead and read the last chapter and he’s still alive, you don’t have to worry about whatever’s going on in between. And what God is giving us here is the last day. I’ll raise him up on the last day. Anybody that comes to Me, anybody that’s been drawn by the Father; anybody that’s heard and learned from the Father – I want to tell you this, I’ll lose nothing. I’ll raise him up on the last day. It will happen.
Now once again, there’s an action here on the part of those who are given, on the part of those who hear and learn from God, on the part of those who are taught by God. What is the action on their part? They come. We’ve talked about this a lot. Different men that have been up here. God doesn’t come. You have to come. You have to come to Christ. So again, will you come to Him? That’s what we’re left with. I wonder if for an appropriate hymn we could sing “I Know Whom I Have Believed”? I know not, I know not… but I know whom I have believed.
