the gospel according to John chapter 6 at verse 37 gospel according to John
chapter 6 verse 37 all that the father giveth me shall come to me and him that
cometh to me I will in no wise cast out
it is supposed by many in the professing Christian Church that the one thing man
can do in the exercise of his own sovereign will is to believe in Christ
for salvation and it is thought that that is the one contribution that man
himself makes in order to set the machinery of salvation in operation and
that appears to be the assumption upon which a great many people proceed who
are faced with the claims of the gospel but who are unwilling to renounce their
own ways and the attractions of this present evil world they suppose that in
one grand moment of final decision they will repent they will believe in Christ
and settle all their accounts with God for time and for eternity now in that
attitude there is a complete failure to assess human depravity and also a
complete failure to understand the very nature of faith as far as our depravity
is concerned we must bear in mind the word of the apostle that the mind of the
flesh is enmity against God and therefore the mind of the flesh recoils
from every manifestation of the glory of God as the glory of God makes its
demand upon us now Christ himself is the supreme manifestation of the glory of
God and it is in him that the demands of God's glory upon us are most urgently
expressed and so it is precisely at the point of the manifestation of the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ that the enmity of the human heart is most
violent in its expression and the fact of the matter is that to believe in
Christ is the one thing that the natural man will not do one cannot do is that
not the explanation of what the Apostle Paul himself wrote for the Jews he says
require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom but we preach Christ crucified to
the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness but unto them which
are called both Jews and Greeks Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God
but a greater than Paul even for Paul wrote by the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit a greater than Paul said the very same thing and he said it even more
simply and directly it is that very same truth that our Lord himself testifies to
in this very chapter when he says no man can come unto me except it were given
unto him by my father no one can come unto me except the father who has sent
me draw him and that is the testimony of him who knows the father as the father
knows him who knows the working of the father as the father himself knows it
and who knows the will of the father as the father himself knows and not only
does he know the father through and through but he also knows man through
and through and that is the testimony of him who is himself the Savior and who is
himself the truth and it is to this very simple effect that it is a moral and
spiritual impossibility for a man to come unto him except by the secret and
efficacious drawing of the father and by free gift from the father it is just
the very same witness of the Apostle himself again that is the Apostle Paul
when he says no man can say Jesus is Lord but by or in the Holy Spirit well
if that is the case if it is a moral and spiritual impossibility for a person to
believe in Christ apart from this efficacious drawing on the part of God
the Father and if man not himself in the exercise of his own autonomy and
sovereign will is unable to believe in Christ you might well ask what hope is
there then for men and that is the thought of a great many people they
proceed on the assumption that if this is through then there is no use
proclaiming the gospel but what what gospel can there be for man if the
gospel proclaims man's impotence and helplessness even in respect of that
very instrumentality by which he comes into the possession of salvation
well the great truth is that it is just because of man's complete
impotence and helplessness that the gospel exists and blessed be the name of
God there is the gospel and it is a gospel that does not ignore the facts
about total depravity a gospel that does not ignore the fact that the mind of the
flesh is enmity against God a gospel that is the provision for man's total
impotence and it is that gospel that meets the need of our desperation to
which our Lord witnesses in this particular this is the gospel and it is
the gospel from none other than the lips of our Lord himself all that the father
giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast and
that is a gospel with the certification of him who came from heaven that there
might be a gospel it is the gospel by the certification of him who is the
image of the invisible God who is the brightness of the Father's glory there
are three elements in this guarantee they're very simple they are these first
giving on the part of the father coming on the part of men and receiving on the
part of Christ don't you see it's very simple all that the father giveth me
shall come to me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast and so first of
all we have giving on the part of the father all that the father giveth me now
what does that mean it is true enough that a great multitude commensurate of
course with the multitude that will ultimately be saved were chosen in
Christ before the foundation of the world and they were chosen to be holy
they were predestinated in love to be conformed to the image of God's Son and
that action on the part of God the father before the foundation of the
world is sometimes spoken of as giving on the part of the father to the Sun
but there is very good reason for thinking that that is not the precise
thought in this text the giving spoken of in this text it's the giving that
occurs in the actual operations of grace it is a giving that is
simultaneous with the coming on the part of men and the receiving on the part of
Christ and if you read this very chapter carefully also the 10th chapter and the
17th chapter of this same gospel I think you'll discover that that is the precise
thought of our Lord in this text the giving on the part of the father in the
efficacious operations of his grace that it refers to that very same thing as
Jesus speaks of elsewhere in this chapter when he says no man can come
unto me except it were given unto him of my father no one can come unto me except
the father who has sent me draw him yes
we very commonly and quite properly think of the operations the sexual
operations of God's grace in the hearts of men as the work of the Holy Spirit
that's quite proper not by works of righteousness which we have done but
according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and the
renewing of the Holy Spirit yes right but my friends we are failing to
appreciate the manifoldness of God's grace and the richness of the provision
of grace if we fail to recognize the action of God the Father himself in the
efficacious operations that occur in the hearts of men God the Father draws them
and he is directly and intensely active in that drawing he places holy
constraint upon them and it's generally spoken of us calling them into the
fellowship of his own son Jesus Christ our Lord and in this particular text
Jesus is referring to that action on the part of God the Father and he speaks of
it in terms of a giving on the part of the Father to himself and it simply
means that God the Father in the actual operations of his grace presents men to
the Sun as trophies of the redemption which the Sun himself accomplished
that's the grand truth that is drawn to our attention in this text now we are
sometimes amazed at the conversion of certain people they seem to be the most
unlikely people to be savingly affected by the gospel the most unlikely to be
candidates for discipleship of Christ and members of the Church of Christ in
the first century of the Christian era when the Christian Church began to feel
the full brunt of the opposition of Jewish of the Jewish hierarchy there was
one man who breathed out threatening some slaughter against the people of God
and this man went to the high priest and he desired of him letters to Damascus
that if he found any of this way that is any who belong to the Christian way
whether men or women he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem and he just
breathed out threatening some slaughter against the people of God and in that
age people might well have said as we are often times in subsequent times
disposed to say with reference to others people might well have said if
anyone is to be one to the faith of the gospel it is not fall of Tarsus and the
enemies of the gospel might well have said if anyone if there is anyone on
whom we can rely as the unrelenting enemy of Jesus Christ it is fall of
Tarsus and I would I wouldn't be surprised but some of the high priests
at Jerusalem and perhaps the high priests who gave him these letters might
have said with reference to Saul of Tarsus well his his seal and his
animosity are very much greater than my own I can depend on Saul of Tarsus
really more than I can depend upon myself and behold it is Saul of Tarsus
who was converted and it on the history of the church is through with with
similar surprises for the people of God and for the enemies of the gospel now
why have such people such people of Saul of Tarsus who later called himself
the chief of sinners less than the least of all things why should people such as
Saul of Tarsus have become the trophies of redemption now the answer which this
text provides is simply this that God the Father has thrown and donated them
to his own son and think of it my friends think of it if you haven't
thought of it before that when a sinner comes to Christ in the whole soul
commitment of faith when a sinner it comes to Christ because his will has
been renewed it is because the mysterious transaction has been taking
place between the persons of the Godhead the God the Father has been making a
presentation a donation that person to his own son that's the reason that's the
reason why Saul of Tarsus was converted at Damascus God the Father and God the
Son were engaged in a very mysterious and precious transaction and God the
Father presented to Saul of Tarsus the great arch enemy of the Church of God
the arch persecutor of Christ he presented him as a donation to his own
son a trophy of the redemption which Jesus himself and perish the thought my
friend that coming to Christ finds its explanation in the sovereign
determinations of the human will perish the thought it strikes at the very heart
of the gospel when a fall comes to Christ this event finds it its
explanation in these actual presentation of that person on the part of the father
to his own son and if any person has that childlike faith in Christ whereby
he is made to that person wisdom righteousness sanctification and
redemption if he is all precious to that person if he is all and in all to you my
friend the explanation is simply this that God the Father took delight in you
he set his heart upon you but he set his heart on something even greater
than delight in you he set his heart upon something greater and that is he
set his heart upon the delight that it would cause to his own son that's the
reason that God the Father had defined and had accomplished that raptures of
holy delight would arise in the heart of his own son in the breast of his own
son by presenting that person to the son in the effectual drawing of his grave
that's the marvel to which our Lord here is giving us the index when he said all
that the father givers
do you just as Christ attract you as you think of the great issues of life and
death of time and eternity is it only Christ that comes between you and the
dismal outlook of everlasting tradition I ask you that question when you think
of the issues of life and death of time and eternity is this your cake but the
one that the only thing that comes between you and the blackness of
darkness forever is Christ Jesus and that's your only resting place your
only hope if that is your situation my friend if Christ is to you so precious
that he is your all and in all and you've asked all your interests and
hopes in him against all the issues of life and death of time and eternity it
is because God the Father took delight in you and he took such delight in his
own son that he presented you to his own son in the actual operations of his
grave and all for your life don't fail to understand the implications you are
doing dishonor to God the Father if you fail to recognize that if Christ is
supremely precious to you it is because God the Father made a presentation of
you to his own son that's the explanation and in the sphere of his actual grace
that's the only explanation at least it's the ultimate explanation you see
what are not dishonor oh what dishonor is done to the gospel and people say
that the one thing the one explanation for a salvation in possession is the
sovereign determination of the human wings don't you see it strikes at that
which is sinful and the grand gospel of God's grace no second we have coming on
the part man Jesus not only says all that the Father giveth me but he says
all that the Father giveth me shall come
and the stress here falls remember just up definitely upon the activity of the
person concerned the person who is the subject of his own and it might appear
to us that the stress which falls in this text upon the action of God the
Father and upon the action of God the Son then it would be quite inconsistent
and quite alien to mention the activity on the part of the person who is safe
and of course that's the way a great many people we are so much obsessed with
one aspect of truth that they forget something that's pernicious but likewise
attacks the gospel because Jesus not only said all of the Father giveth me
but he also said shall come and we must take account of the fact that the action
of God the Father is in the most intimate way joined with the activity of
the person donating now coming to Christ is simply believing on him if you have
been discerning you would have seen that in the part of the chapter that
succeeds this verse just believing on him trusting him it simply refers to
that commitment to him against all the issues of life and death time and
eternity and of course it is the father that gives the person to the son it is
not the father that comes to it is the person acted upon or the person who is
who is donated and that coming is nothing else than that whole-souled
activity of commitment to Christ it's a whole-souled activity it is not
something that is momentary it is not something that is evanescent it is not
something that as it were strikes the emotion but not the will something that
strikes the understanding but not the emotion oh my friends this is an action
on the part of the person concerned that is all sold commitment to Christ now we
have found already that it is a moral and spiritual impossibility for a person
to come to Christ that is to believe in Christ in the whole-souled commitment of
faith unless there is the efficacious drawing on the part of God the Father
and what we find now is that it is a moral and spiritual impossibility for
the passion who is drawn by the father who is donated by the father not and the
moral and spiritual impossibility is now just accentuated in this regard as it
is in the other I say it again it is a it is a moral and spiritual
impossibility for the person who is donated by the father to the son not to
come to Christ all that the father giveth me shall come to me it is not that
he may come it is not that he has the opportunity to come it is not simply
that he will in all probability come but that he will certainly come there is an
absolute certainty so it is not simply a moral and spiritual impossibility for
more than that it's a divine necessity do you know that the that the order of
heaven would be violated unless there would be this sequence now my friends
have you experienced the invincible attraction of Christ have you become so
drawn to him that you invest your all in him are you able to say with the
apostle whom having not seen we love in home though now we see him not yet
believing we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory is that
what you can say with reference to Christ well if that is the case I come
back again to this that you may be assured that the father gave you to his
own son and that that is the reason why you have come to him in your poverty and
in unique I ask you also this
is Christ nothing to you can you get along perfectly well without it when you
as it were perhaps in a very superficial way confront yourself with the issues of
life and death of time and eternity when you think of your hope for the future
maybe indeed in a very superficial way but when you think of your hope for the
future what is it that looms up in your I ask you that very pointedly and very
urgently as I ask it of myself what is it that looms up foremost in your
thought and outlook that you think of eternal issues I have been a deep I have
been a good neighbor I never did anyone very much however oh I have my
peccadilloes and all that but after all I have been a pretty decent person my
friend don't you see that in that there is disclosed the awful poverty of your
spirit and the explanation of that is just this that God the Father has not
donated you to his own son at least not so far that mysterious transaction of
God's grace has not taken place because if it had then Christ would be paramount
in your affection paramount in your thought paramount in your outlook
paramount in your hope for all that the Father giveth me and that coming
to him remember is the commitment of all souls faith of all for trust of all
soul investment of all your interest time for eternity now third we have the
receiving on the part of Christ
all that the Father giveth me shall come to him that cometh to me I will in no
wise cast you may sometimes have been struck by the way in which Jesus says
you might have expected him to say I will assuredly receive and make it very
positive but instead he puts it in a negative way I will in no wise cast out
we put it in that way in order to give them to the certainty his reception the
negative form is for the sake of emphasis for they are for the sake of
assuring us of the certainty of his reception Christ will assuredly embrace
in the arms of his saving and loving security person who comes up to him in
order to appreciate the significance of that statement I want to say three
things
first of all this receiving on the part of Christ is the reception of the
father's presentation oh what goodness it is to receive a gift from a friend do
you think that in the proprieties of heaven God the Sun would refuse a
presentation on the part of God the father if it does please God the father
to present to his own son in the efficacious draw and the efficacious
operations of his grace it would violate all the considerations of divine
propriety for the Sun to reject the donation don't you say it is divinely
impossible for that person to be rejected I have been speaking all along
about moral and spiritual impossibility well you have here something that is far
greater than modern and spiritual impossibility you have divine
impossibility it's absolutely impossible for God the Sun to reject that which is
the donation on the part of the father because the Sun came down from heaven
not to do his own will but the will of him that sent him and here is the will
of God the father in operation and he presents the pool to his old son as the
trophy of the redemption which the Sun himself accomplished and the Sun cannot
receive he cannot refuse oh he has no disposition to reveal it's into the arms
of his loving salvation and security that he receives that person who is the
donation on the part of God the father but the second thing to be noted about
this reception on the part of Christ is that the assurance includes not only the
first reception but also the ever-continuing the ever-continuing
embrace of Christ's love and preservation it is that of which Jesus
himself speaks as recorded elsewhere in this gospel I give unto them eternal
life they shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand
my father who gave them me is greater than all and no one can pluck out of the
father's hand this is the father's will which has sent me that of all which he
has given me I should lose nothing to raise it up the last day mark the
emphasis I should lose nothing there will be absolutely nothing of what
belongs to the personality of that person that will be finally lost there
is nothing that belongs to the highest interest of that person that will be
defeated I should lose nothing not simply I should not lose one or I should
lose not one but I should lose nothing should raise it up at the last day that
my friends is the grandeur of the security that is involved in coming to
Christ that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers
nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other
creature will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord and the third thing I want to say about this reception on the
part of Christ here is the gospel in its free full and unfettered overture in
this word of Christ the gates of hope and of grace are long wide open and I
defy you to place any limitation whatsoever upon that simple word of the
Savior him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out that word I will in no
wise cast out is surely redolent of the freeness of the gospel of the full free
and unfettered overture of Christ in the gospel and we are advised of this great
and precious truth that the father in operations of God's efficacious grace
and the free overtures of grace in the gospel are not antithetical the one to
the other they lie side by side that's the way the Lord put it him that cometh
unto me I will in no wise cast out is just as emphatic in our Lord's Word as
is the preceding part of the text all that the father giveth me shall come to
me and my friends it is not only that the full and free overture of Christ in
the gospel is placed side by side with the efficacious operations of God's
grace but the full and free overture of the gospel comes to us as it were on the
crest of the way of God's sovereign grace remember that other precious word
of our Lord in which the full and free overture of the gospel is so explicitly
expressed Matthew 11 25 to 30 he says I thank thee O Father Lord of heaven and
earth thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hath revealed them
to be even so father for so it seemed good in thy sight and you won't find
anywhere in Scripture a word that so emphatically expresses the sovereignty
of the Father's grace that when Jesus says even so father for so it seemed
good in thy side and you can't speak of that as the cloth suckle of the father's
father and then Jesus proceeds all things are delivered unto me of my
father and no one knoweth who the son is but the father and who the father is but
the son and he to whomsoever the son willeth to reveal it and there you have
again justice and happy
plenty of the operations of grace on the part of God discern he to whomsoever
the Sun will to reveal and the emphasis falls upon the sovereignty of the will
of the Sun justice in the preceding context it falls upon the sovereignty of
the will of the Father and so you can now speak of the cloth suckle of the
Sun's poverty and it is just like this as if the cloth suckle of the father's
sovereignty passes into the cloth suckle of the Sun's sovereignty what is the
expression of all that as far as the overture of the gospel comes into
confrontation with us it is that overture of Christ come unto me all ye
that made and are heavily laden and I will give you rest for as it perhaps
might be stated with a little more directness hither to me all ye that
labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest and what's the
significance of that correlation it's not simply that they lie side by
side it's this that the full and free overture of the gospel proceeds out of
the very heart of God's sovereignty it comes out of the very heart of the cloth
suckle of the father's sovereignty and the cloth suckle of the Sun sovereignty
and it comes to us with all the sanction of the Son of God himself and it is just
that have you did but we can do to the correlations which the gospel itself
established if we do not realize how precious to others in relation to our
opportunity in relation to our responsibility and in relation to our
privilege and I must say it with all emphasis that in this text the
overtures of grace are most emphatically presented to us in this word of our own
infallible law in that come of them to me I will in no wise cast out my friends
you cannot please your own depravity of any reason for not believing all your
own inability of any excuse for unbelief that you are confronted with the full
and the overture of Christ in the gospel it confronts your responsibility and it
confronts your responsibility without all sanctions which is the sanction of
none other than our infallible law and we are doing the gravest prejudice to
the gospel of this place unless we confront ourselves without all sanctions
which is implicit in the full free and unfettered orbiter of Christ in the
gospel they are correlative all is in this text and it's the word
come to me all even later and a heavy laden and I will give you breath and if you
come in all the desperateness of your need in all the dismal outlook of your
expectations and come to Christ in the simplicity of that self-commitment to
him in which he is freely offered to you then you may know that that very simple
thing that is yours by which he is supremely precious to you as your
Redeemer as your Savior as your Lord and your God finds its explanation not in the
sovereign determinations of your will but in that mysterious transaction that go on
between the persons of the God in the efficacious operations of his grace a
donation from the part of God the Father and every presentation that he makes
tells God the Son with ineffable delight and the more abandoned the sinner you
may be the greater will be the ineffable delight that will be aroused in the
breast of God's own son when you in your desperateness in your hopelessness
roll all you who came upon him I say we're sinned about it, there is much more about it, but a sin that waned in death even so my
grace waned through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let us pray.