First scripture reading this evening, we turn to John chapter six. John chapter six. The bulletin I have, we're going to begin reading with 41, but we're going to back it up just a little bit to 35. We'll begin reading with 35, and then read to the end of the chapter. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life, He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you that ye also have seen me and believe not. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day.' The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they said, is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven? Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to me except the father which hath sent me draw him. and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, and they shall be all taught of God. Every man, therefore, that hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me. Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die. "'I am the living bread which came down from heaven. "'If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever. "'And the bread that I will give is my flesh, "'which I will give for the life of the world.' "'The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, "'How can this man give us his flesh to eat?' Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven, not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead. He that eateth of this bread shall live forever, These things said he in the synagogue as he taught in Capernaum. Many, therefore, of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, this is an hard saying, who can hear it? When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, doth this offend you? What and if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where He was before? It is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray Him. And he said, therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me except it were given unto him of my father. From that time, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the 12, will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life, and we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered them, have not I chosen you 12, and one of you is a devil? He spake of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for he it was that should betray him, being one of the 12. The verse that we consider from this passage tonight is verse 44. No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day. This text, Beloved People of God, is fitting for the occasion of a preparatory service with a view to partaking of the Lord's Supper next week, because next week When we partake of the Lord's Supper, we will, in the first place, be eating and drinking Christ, eating his flesh and drinking his blood, which is the very occasion for the words of our text. It is fitting in the second place, because when we do that, we will be coming to Jesus. Our preparatory service, then, is a call to the congregation to come to Jesus next week to eat and drink him. Now, the fact is that even as was the case when Jesus spoke these words, as is the case that when Jesus presented himself publicly to the people, even in the church. And He called the people to come unto Him. There are people who refuse that call, who murmur at that call, and turn away from that call, and rather than come to Jesus, walk no more with Him. The fact is, there will always be those who refuse to come to Jesus. Who refuse to come to Jesus when the call to come to Jesus is preached on the mission field. Or when that call to come to Jesus is preached in a congregation of Jesus Christ. who refuse to come to Jesus when that call is issued in the catechism room, say, to young people, or who refuse to come to Jesus in the Lord's Supper. This really is the background of the text and the occasion for the text. Jesus is preaching that he is the bread of life. He is preaching the importance, even the necessity of coming to him to eat and drink of him unto eternal life. And at his words, some murmured, some said, how can this man give us his flesh to eat? How can this man come down from heaven? The failure of some to come to Jesus, the rejection of His call to come to Him, even to eat and drink, is not the fault of Jesus, nor of the call to come to Jesus. His purpose of salvation is never frustrated by men. His purpose, His plan, His intentions, And His power is not ruined by such people who refuse to come to Him. He is not even surprised by it, as we read in the passage. He knew who it was who would not believe. And that is exactly why, in part, He says what He says. murmur not among yourselves, reject not my call to come unto me. Do you not know that no man can come unto me except the Father which has sent me? Draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day. Not only is the text intended to be an explanation of why some do not come to Jesus, but it is also an explanation of why some do. Why next week we will come to Jesus. Why we will come to Jesus and partake of him, his flesh and his blood. we will be drawn by Him. Consider with me coming to Jesus, first of all, the vital necessity of coming to Jesus, secondly, the human impossibility of coming to Jesus, and finally, the attractive means by which we come to Jesus. Coming to Jesus is what the text speaks about. It receives the emphasis and is the main concern. That's evident because that's not only the word Jesus uses in the text, but how he refers to this activity that he speaks of several times in the context. In verse 35, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger. There, Jesus indicates the importance, even the necessity, of coming to him. and also makes clear that in order to eat and drink Jesus, one must come to Jesus. One cannot eat and drink Jesus unless he comes to Jesus. Coming to Jesus is the word that Jesus uses and an activity that he himself mentions because it is a real spiritual activity that is necessary in the life of the child of God who eats and drinks Him. Coming to Jesus is a real spiritual activity in which a person moves to Jesus as the Christ. Moves to Him in such a way that they are united to Jesus. They have fellowship with Jesus. They share in Jesus and everything that is found in Jesus. Now that word which Jesus uses, and which he himself emphasizes for good reason, may indeed be summarized as another word with which we are familiar, which is the word believing. Coming to Jesus is synonymous with believing in Jesus. Coming to Jesus is nothing less than what we call the activity of faith. This is plain from the context where Jesus speaks not only about coming to him, but in verse 29 says, this is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. And then in verse 35, with which our reading began, Jesus says, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and adds, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. The idea of Jesus' words there are not that eating and drinking of him requires two separate activities, coming and believing, but the idea is that they are the same. To come to Jesus is to believe in Jesus. That helps us understand more precisely what Jesus refers to when he says, come to me. Coming to Jesus, being believing then, is to know Jesus. To come to Jesus is to know Him. Now this is not merely the knowledge of Him as Jesus of Nazareth, as Jesus even born of Mary, because that kind of knowledge even the Jews had, the Jews who refused to come to Jesus. In fact, the Jews who refused to come to Jesus exactly because they knew Him only as Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph, as they supposed, and Mary. To come to Jesus is to know Jesus as God's Christ. To know Jesus as the one, as Jesus puts it in the passage that we read a number of times, as the one whom God sent. That's a reference to his office as Christ. To come to Jesus is to know him as God's officially appointed office bearer. To know him as God's priest, as God's prophet, and as God's king. The one who reveals the will of God as God's prophet. the one who offers himself a sacrifice as God's priest and who rules on behalf of God as God's king. It is in the first place to know him as Christ, that is, to know that he is the one whom the living God hath sent. It is in the second place to know Jesus as the Son of God, That, too, is brought out by Jesus when He refers to the Father sending Him. Jesus does not only mean to highlight that coming to Jesus means to believe in Him as the Christ, but He means to teach it is to believe on Him and in Him as the very Son of God. That is, to believe in him not as one whom they supposed was born of Mary in such a way that that is the first time he begins to exist as any normal human being. but rather to know Jesus as the one who has always existed, as God has always existed, who as the Son of God is the eternal Son of God, who is God out of God, light out of light, so that that one born of Mary in time was the very person of the Son of God. To come to Jesus is to know that. And to believe that, this was really the problem of the Jewish leaders, those who left Jesus, those disciples who rejected Him. They would come to Jesus, they would follow Jesus, they had an interest in Jesus, as long as they knew Him only as the Son of Joseph and Mary. who knew him as the one even who could provide vast quantities of bread, which he had just done in the feeding of the 5,000, which is the real occasion for these words of Jesus. But who would not receive him, who would not come to him, who would not believe that he was God's own eternal Son. To come to Jesus, therefore, also is, in the second place, to trust in Jesus. Faith, or believing, we know to be two things, according to the Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 7, do we not? To believe in Jesus is to know Him as the Word of God, the eternal Son of God, God's Christ. And in the second place, it is to trust in Him, therefore, as God's Son and the Christ. More specifically, it is to trust in Him for salvation from sin and from death. Or as we will see, to trust in Him for eternal life. To come to Jesus is to trust in Him as the bread of life and the fountain of living waters. That's evident from the very occasion the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. The purpose of Jesus feeding the 5,000 was not so that they could be fed with earthly bread, but the purpose of that miracle was to teach that he was God's Son, and as God's Son, was sent down from heaven as bread that would feed men and women and children forever. It was to teach them to trust in Him for salvation from sin and death and for everlasting life, which one would receive by eating and drinking Him, or coming to Him, or, as we have seen, believing in Him. This points out What is the title of this point? That coming to Jesus is a vital necessity. Because what's at stake, what's involved, is either life or death. Jesus makes that clear. What Jesus makes clear is that coming to Him is to know Him and trust in Him for life. Those who do not trust, who do not know or trust in Jesus as God's Christ, as God's Savior, perish in sin and in death. Those who do not come to Him have no eternal life, for life is bound up in Him. All that is earthly, all that is physical, all life that is outside of Him must perish, must die. There is only one way to receive everlasting life, and there is only one place where everlasting life is to be found, and that is in Jesus Christ and by coming to Him. This coming to Jesus, being vitally necessary, is even emphasized by Christ with what he adds and adds throughout this section, something we should not leave behind and something we should remember as we eat and drink Christ next week. Notice how closely Jesus ties coming to him to the resurrection from the dead. Now we know that Jesus is the Savior and that coming to him is to know and trust in him who is the one who delivers us from sin. We associate that with his death on the cross. He gave his life for ours. He died so we do not suffer death as the punishment for sin. We know and believe in him as the one who delivers us from the power of that sin. And then often we might tack on, and that includes the resurrection of the body. But take note how Jesus simply skips everything else and talks about coming to him and that the one who comes to him, I will raise in the last day. I will raise again. I will raise him from the dead. Over and over, Jesus repeats that. What is Jesus pointing out? What Jesus is pointing out is that what one essentially receives by coming to Jesus and believing in him is everlasting life. And one receives that exactly because one receives His conquering death, one receives the benefit of His atonement, His conquering of sin, and therefore, death being the wages of sin, everlasting life. Kind of reframes. how we think of salvation and reframes, how we think of the benefits that are found in Jesus Christ. Jesus simply summarizes them all as life, and that too, hopefully, we will see again in the administration of the supper. What do we eat but food and drink, vitally important for sustaining life? The fact that we come implies that there is life. One cannot come to Jesus unless one is alive. And then when one comes to Jesus, one receives life. One receives life in the form of Him and life such that is eternal and everlasting to the point that even though our body die, it will be raised again the last day. Amazing, amazing teaching here of Jesus about the necessity of coming to Him and the vital necessity of that. If one questions whether one needs to come to Jesus, then one needs to consider that unless one comes to Jesus, there is no life. There is no everlasting life. There is no resurrection of the body. Another point that Jesus makes about coming to Him and the vital necessity of it is that one must come to Jesus personally. Notice even how he emphasizes that when he talks about the negative. No man can come unto me except the Father draw him. And the idea is draw him to me. Notice the emphasis upon the personal. The idea, to put it negatively and positively, is not merely that I must come to church to receive everlasting life. The idea isn't even that I must come to the Lord's Supper to receive everlasting life, although the one who comes will indeed come to church, who comes to Jesus. And the one who comes to Jesus will come to the Lord's Supper. But notice the emphasis upon one personally coming to Him, to Jesus. When we come to church, we come to Jesus. When we come to the Lord's Supper, we come to Jesus. What we eat and drink is Jesus. And closely related to that is that a person comes, an individual comes, I come, and you come. And one more thing that also must be emphasized, lest one misunderstand Jesus, is Jesus is not referring simply to coming to him once, never to come again. Coming to Jesus is a continual activity of faith. The vital necessity of coming to Jesus isn't something simply that happens once, and then there's no more necessity of coming to Him. But the idea is that one comes to Jesus every day. One must come to Jesus in all of his life on many different occasions and in many different ways. That there is also emphasized even in coming to Jesus in the Lord's Supper. We just did that not so long ago. What does the Lord teach? By teaching the church to administer the supper of him, of him as the bread of life over and over again. Jesus is teaching that we come to him again and again and again. We come to Jesus whenever we pray to him. We come to Jesus whenever we read his word as the word of truth. We come to Jesus when we attend church to sing his word and to hear his word and to pray unto him. We come to Jesus when we meditate upon him And so also we must come to Jesus next week when we enter the church, when we partake of the supper, as well as all the other elements of our worship, let us remember that we are coming. We are not coming for the Lord's Supper. We are not coming merely to hear the word. We are not coming merely to worship. We are coming to Jesus. and our coming to Jesus is vitally necessary. If one refuses to come to Jesus, he is dead and he dies. If one refuses to come to Jesus, there is no eating and drinking Jesus. There is no life to be found, no sustenance to be had. So important and necessary is coming to Jesus. Now that makes the words of Jesus that begin the text very disconcerting. Words that are easily overlooked, words that are often misunderstood, and sad to say, words of Jesus that are simply rejected often in the church. No man can come to me. Here is this vitally necessary activity, coming to Jesus. A coming to Jesus without which there is no life, there is no hope of the resurrection of the dead. Unless one comes to Jesus, one is dead and will die forever. and yet no man can come to me. Don't overlook those words. Don't so quickly even go to the word except. What Jesus teaches there is truth. What Jesus teaches there is that no man is capable of coming to him. No man is able to receive his word and meditate upon it. No man is able to pray to him. No man is able to worship him. No man is even able to come to the Lord's Supper next week and eat and drink. Here with that small phrase, Jesus exposes the lie that we find so often in our own heart and the lie that is spoken as truth in so many presentations supposedly of Jesus. This is the lie that indeed men can come to Jesus. This is the lie that indeed it lies within the power and ability of man. It lies in the power and ability of man perhaps through a common grace. Perhaps it lies in the power of man by some sort of grace that God sprinkles upon all. Or it simply lies in the power and ability of man naturally that he can come to Jesus. And furthermore, that all of one's salvation depends on that ability of a man to come to Jesus. This is exactly what preachers mean and individuals mean when they talk about man being able to choose Jesus. When they speak about letting Jesus come into your heart, When they speak about accepting Jesus' offer of salvation that He sincerely makes to every single human being, what they mean to teach is that men can come to Jesus. And that's a lie. That's in direct contradiction to what Jesus teaches. No man can come to Jesus. And as we're going to show, that's not a minor mistake. As I intend to show, that lie overthrows the whole gospel of Jesus Christ. It overthrows everything that Jesus is teaching here. And as I intend to show, it's simply another form of refusing to come to Jesus or walk with him anymore. The teaching of Jesus is that no matter how vitally necessary it is for eternal life that one come to Jesus, you and I are simply incapable of doing that in ourselves. The explanation for that is that there is no life outside of Jesus. The explanation for that is everything outside of Jesus is dead. and that prior to coming to Jesus, every single man, woman, and child is dead in trespasses, in sins, so dead that, like the dead in the grave, they are incapable of coming to Jesus. One reason that Jesus indeed connects what he has to say here with the resurrection of the dead is that if there's one reality that exposes the lie that is taught as truth and shows what Jesus teaches is indeed the truth, it's a dead person in the grave. That dead person in the grave represents you and I. That dead person in the grave represents why it is, in fact, that no man can come to Jesus. That dead person in the grave can't see Him, can't receive Him, can't understand Him. The idea is that our minds are so naturally dark and foolish that we cannot know Christ. Our wills are so selfish and self-centered, so bound by sin, that we could not and cannot choose to come to Jesus, however one wants to put it. Jesus here teaches the truth, and even this truth of Jesus here is repugnant to the natural man. Why is it that these clear words of Jesus are so hated and despised and rejected? Why is it when they are preached, they are received the way that they are? Why is it that they are changed? Why is it? And the answer is no man can come to Jesus. Man doesn't want salvation by a Jesus. Man wants a salvation by his coming to Jesus. Man wants a salvation by man. Man wants a salvation in which he cooperates, in which he plays a crucial, indeed the critical role. But Jesus will have none of it. No man can come to me. And let's remember here what coming to Jesus refers to, believing. the activity of believing. It refers simply to knowing Him and trusting in Him. And you may read it that way. No man can believe in me. No man can know me. No man can trust in me. What a terrible message, actually, to proclaim that you can. What a terrible message to proclaim that every man can come to Him for salvation, can choose Him, can let Him into your hearts or accept His offer of salvation. The fact is, no man can. And in fact, the man that believes that he can will never find Jesus. There is only one possibility that a man comes to Jesus. For indeed, there are men who come to Jesus. Jesus makes that clear. No man can come to him, but there are men who indeed come to him. So what is the explanation? What is the possibility of that? And Jesus says, it's this, that the Father draw him. That the Father draw him or her. From this, we may define what Jesus means by drawing. We may define the drawing of God as the almighty, powerful work of God upon the heart and the mind and the will of the dead sinner that causes that dead sinner to come to Jesus, that is, to believe in Jesus. Salvation, you see, doesn't begin with your coming to Jesus or your believing in Jesus. Eternal life and salvation begins with the almighty powerful work of God drawing you and drawing me so that we come to Jesus. That is, so that we believe in Him. And let's not minimize that word draw either. That word draw is a striking word in Scripture. It literally means to drag someone along who is unwilling and even resisting. It is to drag them along by a superior power. The example that could be given is of a car stuck in a ditch. And another vehicle, a four-by-four, pulls up and attaches a winch and pulls that car out of the ditch. That's even in keeping with how it's used in Scripture, which is it's the word used to draw water out of a well. Someone takes a bucket and lets it down in a rope, and then they turn a crank until the bucket comes out of the well, and then there is water. The word is even used in Scripture as the word that describes the behavior of the Jews who capture Paul and drag him out of the temple so that they can stone him. Now that word is not used to teach that when we come to Jesus, we come to Jesus kicking and screaming and resisting all the way with our feet dug in, or even to teach that therefore we just come to Jesus passively. That's not the reason God uses that word. Jesus uses that word to emphasize, rather, the fact that it is God's sovereign power that explains why we come to Jesus. It is God's sovereignty and God's power, regardless of the activity that results from it. Jesus uses that word to make one thing clear when explaining When understanding why a man, or a woman, or a child believes in Jesus, or comes to Jesus, there is only one explanation, one possibility. And it is not the fact that you now know Him, or that you trust in Him, or that you do anything, including believing or coming. No, the explanation of coming is the Father has drawn you And even there, we have to make clear. This is a work of God, truly, as our fathers would often speak, and even Jesus himself speaks, an inward work. Jesus refers to that when later on he goes on to talk about us being taught by God. It's teaching that this work of God drawing us has something to do with our heart and our will. God indeed makes us willing. God indeed makes us to understand and to know. He opens our eyes. He enlightens us. He gives us wisdom. He gives us ears to hear and eyes to see. But even then, Jesus does not mean to teach that that's a matter of cooperating with God, drawing us, as if God could not draw us, kicking and screaming. Whether you walk or not when God draws you, whether your heart is for it or against it, God draws. There is all the emphasis. It is not upon our willingness or unwillingness. Now make no mistake, the Scriptures teach, and that's exactly what Jesus means to teach when he uses that word coming, that indeed when the sinner comes to Jesus by the drawing of the Father, he comes willingly. Indeed, he does in his heart desire to be drawn. God works in such a marvelous, mysterious way that the sinner says, I go because that's where I want to be. That's what walking is. That's what eating is. That's what drinking is. That's what reading is. They are all activities. They are all activities that involve not simply the body but the soul. They involve the will. Like so many things, this is where the picture of drawing breaks down. Where the drawing of a car out of a ditch or the drawing of a cow into a barn or the drawing of a Paul out of the temple falls apart. We're talking here about God. and those whom he has given to Jesus and who he draws to him, and he does that inwardly in our heart. He draws by regenerating the totally depraved sinner so that formerly, though in that sinner there was only hatred and enmity against God and the neighbor, there now is love for God and love for the neighbor. He illumines that dark and foolish mind so that no longer is there only darkness, but there is light. He takes that hard heart, hard as stone, and he softens it so that that heart begins to beat. The will desires to move in a direction it previously did not move. That is all that Jesus is teaching here. When he says, no man can come except the Father draw him, come we will. Come we will willingly, understandingly, eyes and ears included, feet and heart and hands, all the result of God's drawing. More precisely, how God draws is pointed out briefly in the following verse when Jesus goes on to say they shall be all taught of God. Involved in God drawing us so that we come to him is instruction. The idea being God draws us by his word. God draws us by Jesus himself. God draws us by instruction of his word in the preaching of the gospel. Maybe perhaps you can sense that. The amazing thing about coming to church, for example, is that we come to church. We come to Jesus. Why do we come to Jesus? Well, we're drawn here. And how does God draw us? God draws us basically with Jesus Himself. That's what's going to draw us who come to the Lord's table next week and eat and drink by faith. Now there's a point that Jesus wishes to make, an important point here, which is not only how one comes to Jesus, but who comes to Jesus. In other words, whom does God draw to himself? Is it all? Is it all men? Was it all Jews to whom Jesus spoke? Is it all men in the world? Does God desire to draw and does God draw all men to himself? And the answer, of course, is no. The reason, of course, is not to be found in men themselves. That's one reason Jesus says what he does. No man can come to him. That means that if a man comes to him, the explanation isn't found in the man himself. Now, those who refuse to come have only themselves to blame according to our creeds and Jesus. They are to blame for the rejection. They are to blame. They can't even blame God by saying, well, you didn't draw me. It's not my fault. Who has resisted your power? Paul brings it up in the book of Romans. God will have an answer for them. The answers found in the passage that we read, even verse 37, where we read, all that the Father giveth to me shall come to me, and I will in no wise cast out. Who does the Father draw? The Father draws those whom he has given to Jesus Christ. And all whom he has given to Jesus Christ he will draw, and all whom he draws they shall be taught of God. Notice how it's all connected. Now, what's the point in bringing this up? What's the point in teaching this? Well, it has to do with the means. The means and that word grace, and I wanna spend just a little time on that to end the sermon. You know, we speak about the means of grace, and you all know what they are. They're the preaching of the Holy Gospel, right? The sacraments, means of grace, we say. And we often mean by that grace as a power. And we might even understand grace as a power, a power of God that draws us so that we come to Christ. But you see here something a little more important than that. You see, what Jesus is teaching is that it's actually grace itself, the preaching of grace, the understanding of grace, knowing that it's grace that draws us. That's why I use that word attractive means. What is the power of the means of grace? What is the attraction of them? It's the grace itself. Let me explain. What Jesus means to teach here, as plain as I can make it, is this. The fact that no man can come to Jesus except the Father draw him is teaching that the only explanation for us coming to Jesus, the only explanation for believing, is God's grace. Now, That truth of God's grace will either attract you or it will repulse you. Why is it that so many contradict Jesus? Why is it that so many murmured? Why is it that Jesus had to go back and talk about those who did not believe? Why is it after Jesus repeats this very word and says, therefore said I unto you, what's the context there? He knew who would not believe, and therefore He said, no man can come unto Me except the Father which hath sent Me. Draw him. And immediately after that, we read, and many disciples went back and followed him no more. What repulsed them? And what attracted those that came? The means of grace. Or you might say, grace itself. You see, there's something about God's grace. Men, women, and children like to talk about God's grace, but they really don't want God's grace. They don't want Jesus, who saves by grace, who saves by grace such that only those who come to him are those whom God draws, whom God has chosen and given to Christ. Many find that repulsive. What is so repulsive about that? And the answer is, it's grace. Why am I bringing this up? I'm bringing this up because there is a common notion even among us that it really doesn't make a difference how this is presented in the gospel. It doesn't really matter what church you go to as long as I can somehow claim it's a true church. Well, one thing to keep in mind is what do they truly preach about grace? Well, they preach, no man can come unto me. No one except the Father draw him. Will they preach that the only ones God will draw are those he has given to Christ and no one else? Will they deny or will they preach that God sincerely desires to draw all human beings to Jesus Christ and that your role is to accept that offer of salvation? I maintain there's no power, there's no power in that gospel. It is no gospel because there's no grace in that gospel. Beloved people of God, you are here. and you are drawn here, and you should be drawn tomorrow or next week to the Lord's table for one reason and one reason only, because there is grace, grace which alone attracts and attracts because God is drawing us by his grace, so that it's not merely a word, it's not merely a concept, it's a reality, because only then, too, is there assurance You see, if my coming to Jesus depends on me, then, well, I may come to him today but not tomorrow. But if my coming to Jesus depends on the Father who's drawing me, and that's the Jesus I eat and drink on the Lord's day, then I may know especially this. I live, and I live to the point where even the day when I'm in the grave, and I'm bound there in the grave, a picture of who I am by nature and who you are by nature, when Jesus comes and says, get up, we will get up, drawn out of the grave by his almighty word, the almighty word of his grace, amen.