Will you open your Bibles again with me, please, to the book of John, John's Gospel, chapter 6. And we're going to turn there, keep our finger in the place. I'm going to ask you to bow with me now in prayer. We'll ask the Lord for his special help now in the preaching of the gospel. We thank thee, Lord, that thou hast given to us the words of life. We're thankful for thy word. We can say that it's the word of truth. It's a word that never fails. We thank you that it comes from a God who never fails. I pray, O Lord, in the ministry of thy word that thou would come and prove thyself and thy power. We pray that hearts might be ready to receive the truth, that it might be not only a word that carries conviction, but a word that brings men the whole way through to Jesus. Give us the Holy Ghost For this task, this work of preaching the gospel, give us the purifying power of the blood of Jesus, and help us to be faithful to Thee this night, for Christ's sake. Amen. John's Gospel chapter 6 and verse 37 is our text for this evening. This verse happens to be my favorite verse in the whole of the Bible, and I'm going to take just a brief moment or two to tell you exactly why. Like many Christians, when I was a young teenager, I went through a long, long period of doubts, lacking a certain sense of assurance of faith in Jesus. And it was when I was turned to this verse by my own father, and this truth of Christ's free offer of grace, came home to my soul through simply reading what Jesus said, I found a peace which nothing, which nothing can destroy. A peace which nothing can take away. Jesus Christ, let me say it in simple terms this evening, Jesus Christ is a very real Savior. Jesus Christ is not only a very real Savior, Jesus Christ is a very near Savior. And the peace that Christ proffers without money and without price in the gospel is something that becomes a real experience for those that lay hold upon it. I want tonight, as the Lord gives me His help, to preach the simple gospel. They say today that no news is good news, but there is good news. You may come to God's house this evening burdened, Concerned? Doubtful? Worried? Afraid? Let me tell you that I believe with all my heart and soul that these words of Jesus in our text are the very, very words that you need. They're words that are overflowing with certainty. Words that are brimming over with divine comfort. the sort of certainty and comfort that we all need. The Word of God tells us that everything that is in it is pure. Whether you turn to the Old Testament, any book that you find there, or any book that you find in the New Testament, every word, not just every sentence, but every word is pure. My Bible tells me again in Timothy's epistle that all scripture is given by inspiration of God. So before us in the words of Christ, we have something that we can really and truly and fully and confidently believe. And of course, there are verses that God makes particularly valuable to the spiritual experience of individuals. This is just that kind of verse. It's said that when the famous Bishop Butler was dying, he was unusually low and dejected in the spirit. And when he was asked why by a friend that had come to see him, he said this, though I have endeavored to avoid sin, though I have endeavored to please God to the utmost of my power, yet from the consciousness of my many infirmities, I am still afraid to die. His visitor put the question to him, but Bishop, Have you forgotten that the Lord Jesus Christ is a Savior?" The bishop replied, I know it's true, but how can I possibly know that He is a Savior for me? And then his friend opened his Bible and turned to John chapter 6 and verse 37. The bishop heard the word The truth sunk deep down into his soul and he responded like this, I have read that a thousand times but I have never felt its full force until this point in my life and now I know I'm going to die happy. Can you afford, do you really believe that you can afford to live or that it's possible to live happily without the assurance of these words of Jesus? Would you dare to leave a place where Christ is preached, where the Holy Ghost woos you by grace, and the exhortations and invitations of the gospel? Would you dare to do that, not knowing by certainty or uncertainty how you really stand in relationship to your Maker? Look, my friend, countless numbers of people have found the very comfort that they need And Jesus Christ, in His Word tonight, promises very simply, but very really, a peace through this Word that money simply cannot buy. And He tells us, and we learn from these words in John 6, verse 37, that there are no restrictions over the door of divine mercy. Divine mercy the pardon of our sins, the assurance that the wrath of God will never break upon us. That assurance is guaranteed to all those who trust in the Son of God. And I put it to you tonight that you cannot afford to go on any longer unless you know this promise made real to you in your own experience. You know, there are many people who say tonight, If they're asked, are you saved? They'll say something like this, well, I hope so, or I'd like to be sure. And others who haven't been taught the truth by their ministers will probably say something like this, well, isn't it just a little bit presumptuous to say I know I'm going to heaven and I'm going to be there? Could I counter that by asking you this? Are you really serious tonight as you come to God's house? Really and truly serious? Do you really mean to do business with God? Are you really honest and sincere when you say, I want to know where I stand. I want certainty. I want this piece that Jesus is talking about. Well, you can have it and you can know here from Christ's own word, how you can be saved and how you can be sure. Mark, first of all, in verse 37, the simplest of all invitations. The Lord Jesus didn't make the gospel complicated. He made it easy. And he says in his word, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. Never was there such a word as plain as this in the gospel. It's not a matter of talking about religion. It's not a matter of making profession, merely. It's not a matter of making a show. Salvation is a matter of coming to Jesus. Not a matter of coming to church. Not a matter of signing one's name to a creed, however orthodox or in keeping with the Bible it might be. Faith, you see, like every other grace that the Spirit imparts, is an active thing. It doesn't make men sit where they are. It doesn't make men content with a kind of cosmetic religion. It is a faith or a gift. The grace of faith is a gift that brings men to Jesus. It's not a matter of talking, not a matter of professing, not a matter of making a show. It's a simple matter of coming to Jesus. Now that coming, of course, is not a spiritual thing, and this is not a physical thing. You will read in this chapter that many people followed Christ over the sea, and they wanted to make up the distance between Him and them. They had seen what He had done. They had seen the loaves that He had miraculously provided for them, and they wanted to get another glimpse. and find out how Christ could enrich them once more. And they took shipping, and they came to Capernaum seeking for Jesus. They came in that sense. And yet, though they came, many of them, this chapter says, went back and walked no more with him. My friend, coming to Christ is not a physical thing. It's a spiritual thing. It's not the moving of the feet towards Jesus. It's the moving of the heart towards Jesus Christ. The moving of the heart and the understanding. The recognition that that very Jesus revealed in God's book is the only one that can do helpless sinners good. The recognition that He is the only one qualified to redeem. The recognition that He is the only one who could pay the price of our salvation. That's what coming to Christ is. It's a spiritual thing. Moreover, you must believe what you've been taught from the gospel. That's a good thing that men say, I believe what the Bible says. I wish that more people in our day would be able to say, well, yes, I believe the Bible too. But simply believing the Bible without coming to Christ doesn't save. Nor will it do for you tonight to come to Christ's commandments and try to obey them. Many people try to do that. Do you realize that there's no real such thing as real obedience in the heart of the unregenerate man? Jesus said in his parable in Matthew chapter 7, he said, a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit. The only thing that you can do by the command of Christ is to come to Him. So this is a very plain, simple word. The word of Christ here is not only plain, but this simple invitation is also personal. There's not a word here in what Christ says that could be construed in any way to be vague or without meaning. He makes it very, very personal indeed. Him that cometh unto me. Now, I rejoice tonight that God saves families. I believe with all my heart, with all my soul that our God and our Savior Jesus Christ is a family God. There are families here who are united in the true faith of the Lord Jesus. Remember, God gave this invitation to Noah when the ark was complete. The time was ready for him to enter. Noah, come thou and all thy family into the ark. But Noah couldn't drag his family there. Each one had to hear the invitation for themselves and respond and do what God had told him to do. Do you remember the state of the man in the jail at Philippi? God's servants gave them this wonderful promise. He was so terrified of the wrath which was to come. and about going out into eternity and meeting a God who had so offended. They gave him this wonderful word of life. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house. And his house did believe. They weren't saved in the back of his faith. His faith was not a vicarious thing for them, but the Bible says he believed on Jesus Christ and all his house. God saves families, but He always deals with people as individuals. My friend, it's not enough to say, well, my brother has come to Christ, and if he's a member of the family of God, sure, by my connection with him, I must be a member of the family of God. No, Christ gives this personal invitation. He says, him that cometh to me. There are no barriers here. No national barriers, no personal barriers, no local barriers, no racial barriers, no age barriers indeed. This is the individual call to every individual soul. This word of invitation is plain. It's personal. This simple invitation is also a purposeful thing. You know, when Christ calls men to Himself, He doesn't do it without reason. And all through this sermon in John chapter 6, He explains why. they must come to him. Why they should believe in him. Look at the words of verse 35. He talks about hungering and he talks about thirsting. Alas how many people even in this land which has known the gospel for so long and which has had such a concentrated witness with respect to the gospel. Alas how many people With all those spiritual privileges that this province and this nation has known, alas, how many still seek for joy and satisfaction in the things of time and sense? A young person once put it like this, we drink for happiness and we become unhappy. We drink for joy and become miserable. We drink for sociability and become argumentative. We drink for sophistication and become obnoxious, for friendship and we make enemies. We drink for sleep and we awake without rest. We drink for strength and become weak. We drink medicinally and get health problems. We drink for relaxation and get the shakes. We drink for bravery and become afraid. We drink for confidence and become doubtful. We drink to make conversation easier and slur our speech instead. We drink to feel heavenly and end up feeling wretched. We drink to forget and we are forever haunted. We drink to erase problems and watch them multiply. We drink to cope with life and we invent death. Oh yes, there's pleasure in sin for a season. But in the end, men are still left hungry. And in the end, men are still left thirsty. All the joys pleasures of the world, and the things that it has to offer that pander to the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, in the end are empty and meaningless. You know, during the famine, the Irish famine of 1849, the Duke of Norfolk invented a curry powder which he boasted that if it was taken by the starving peasants, it would destroy all cravings of hunger. Needless to say, it never worked. And the devil proffers many things to satisfy, but they don't work. And many a life, many a young life, indeed, is ruined by yielding. But Jesus says, this is why you must come. Jesus says, this is why you must come. Come to me for satisfaction. Come to me for peace. If you want real life, if you want real joy, then come to Christ. The preacher put it so brilliantly when he said, Christ meets the hungering of our conscience, which feels that God must punish sin, but is appeased as it sees that it's been punished on Christ. Our hearts have their roving hunger, but in Him our roving affections find rest. What a precious word this is. And you know it comes from the lips of not a rabbi merely, but of Jesus Christ caught manifest in flesh. The miracle worker, the Son of God, the Creator of this universe says, in these words of simple invitation, Him that cometh unto me. Secondly, I'm happy to see here the surest of all acceptations. I will, says Christ, I'll do something. And sinner, if you're prepared to take the step towards Christ that He calls you to take and commands you to take, Jesus Christ says tonight in His Word that He's prepared, perfectly prepared to do something for you. I will in no wise cast out. That's what Jesus says. Not the statement of a church. Not something we imagine to be there. These are Jesus Christ's real words. Read the text again. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. It's not somebody speaking on Christ's behalf here. These are Christ's very own precious words and their certainty. See that little expression in no wise in the Greek? It's a double negative. It's exactly the same word that's translated in verse 35 by the English word never. Never hungering and never thirsting. We find it translated in a different way in other parts of the New Testament. Jesus uses language like this, the expression, in no case, means exactly the same thing. Him that cometh to me, I will never cast out. Him that cometh unto me, I will in no case cast out. And it couldn't be easier to understand than that. Here is absolute certainty. And thank God in this acceptation there's absolute comfort. Jesus' word is such a word as it dispels every last lingering doubt. His blood will put our sins away. His precious promise, rightly considered, simply believed, will put out every last lingering doubt. Some people say, and there may be that case here, one may say to me, well, I feel I'm not fit to come to Jesus. Wherever in the Bible did Jesus ever say, a man that is fit and comes to me, I will in no wise cast out? Someone will say again, well, I fear my ends for coming to Jesus are not right. I fear I don't design God's glory in my salvation. But what does God do here in the gospel? upon the basis of Christ living and bleeding and dying for you, upon the basis of His sinless substitute taking our place and bearing the wrath of God against us. On that basis, on that ground, the God of this book offers you life as a reason for coming. That's a reason for coming. Another person says, well, I fear I'm too great a sinner. I have lived, you do not know what I've done. I have lived so long bound to my sin. I've got good news for you. It doesn't matter how long you've lived without Christ, whatever that sin might be, whether it's a social vice or something far worse, pride and self-righteousness and religious conceit, it doesn't matter. There is something in this world There is something in this world that can purge out the deepest dyed heart, the worst kind of pride, the worst kind of religious conceit, the strongest habit with all its chains which has surrounded you for so long. I'm glad I can tell you that in Christ, There is a wonderful power that can deal with it all. And that power is His precious blood. My Bible tells me this, that we have boldness to enter into the holiest by a new and living way. What is that new, that living thing? That new, that living way is the precious blood of Jesus. Listen to it tonight. The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin. And no matter how long you've lived without Christ, no matter how long you've lived in your sin, whatever it might be, it shan't prevail with Jesus Christ to reject you. You come on the basis of what He says and because of what He did when He lived and died and rose again. On that basis, he's bound to receive you. Some say, well, I fear I've come too late. Have you forgotten the wonderful story of the dying thief? He couldn't come any later than he did. And yet he came. And Jesus said, today thou will be with me in paradise. There's certainty, there's comfort, there's cause for rejoicing in this sure acceptation. He who said he will not cast out pleads the cause of all that come to him. And our iniquities, while they may seem to pile up before us, and our memory of all these things and the sins of our youth, while they might seem to pierce our soul through and through, yet those that come are assured that their iniquities have been atoned for by Christ. And upon confession, they're forgiven. And something more than that. Scriptures of truth tell us again that Jesus, the same Jesus who gives this invitation, pleads the cause of all those that receive it. There's a man in the glory, Christ Jesus is his name. He's our advocate. He pleads our cause. And he's able, the Bible says, to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him. One final thought here. We have the sweetest of all consolations. In the first part of this verse, Jesus talks about a special gift, all that the Father giveth me. And he reminds us here that those that come to the Savior are specially cherished by him as the Father's gift. Now, I know that all men in a certain sense, of course, belong to God. There's not one person in this audience that in the general sense of things belongs to God. The earth is the Lord's, the Bible says, and the fullness thereof. The world and they that dwell therein. And yet, we're not talking about those who are given in that sense. Here we're talking about those that are given, that are Christ's by salvation. Given out of the world, yes. From every kindred and people and nation and tongue, yes. given to be saved, given to be kept, given to be raised, and given someday to behold His glory. They're given. And God the Father is concerned with His Son, not only in the giving of Him, but in the saving of Him. Oh, He did not die upon the cross. It wasn't the Father who was incarnate and took our place and died. But he spared not his own son. That's what the Bible tells us. And just as it is Christ's will to save those that come to him, it's the Father's will to save them too. And He is faithful and just, not only to His promise, but faithful and just to His Son who fulfilled the part and finished the work of redemption. If we confess our sins, this is the Father's promise to us. He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. For it's the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, which cleanses us from all sin. God the Father must be faithful to His Word. He must be faithful to His Son. Those that He gives, those that come, are especially cherished gift. But perhaps you're tonight in the meeting and you're troubled by these opening words of our text. Somebody will say, I can't be sure of God's salvation unless I know first of all that I am one of these specially given, one of these specially chosen ones. And how many people stop away from Christ because of that. And what you hope to discover by staying away from Christ. What you hope to discover before you come to Him, my friend, you never, never, never will discover until you come. Some will say again, almost nonchalant to the seriousness of this entire business, well, if we're called, we shall come. And those that shall be saved will be saved. Why be anxious? Why be stirred up? Why be troubled about it? It doesn't really matter. But yes, it does really matter. And of course, some people are not helped by the way preachers preach what they call the gospel. This Persian in his confrontation with a hyper-Calvinist tells a story of a man by the name of Griffiths who said that travelers in Turkey carried with them what were known as lozenges of opium and which were stamped the Arabic words mashallah, which means the gift of God. The great preacher goes on to say, alas, too many sermons are just like that. Grace is preached up, but duty denied. Divine predestination and choice is cried up, but human responsibility is rejected. Such teaching ought to be shunned as poisonous. But those who by reason of use have grown accustomed to the sedative condemn all other preaching. cry out their opium lozenges of high doctrine as the truth, the precious gift of God. It is to be feared that this poppy juice doctrine has sent many souls to sleep who will wake up in hell. I can't come, says one, unless I know first that I am chosen. I put it to you in the authoritative book, you will never know that you're given unless you come. Acts tells us, as many, what does it say? As many as understood the doctrine of election were ordained to eternal life? No. As many as were ordained to eternal life believe, and believing is coming. Have you come to Christ? Have you trusted him? Let not conscience make you linger, nor of fitness fondly dream. All the fitness he requireth is to feel your need of Him. This He gives you. This He gives you. It is the Spirit's rising beam. May God write this truth upon every soul and bring sinners right through to Christ for His name's sake. Let us bow our heads in prayer. Father in heaven, we thank Thee for the glorious gospel of Christ. that we're not saved by good works, we're not saved by religious efforts, we're not saved by sacramental indulgence, but we think we are saved by the free grace of God. It's without money and it's without price. Thou hast shed thy blood, blessed Redeemer. Thou hast taken our sin and died for it on the cross. and by thy stripes we are healed. Help sinners tonight to put their trust in Christ alone. And we know that if they trust in Christ alone, He will save them. Hallelujah! He will save them now. Grant that there'll be people saved now as they put their trust in Christ alone. Here is our prayer for Jesus' sake. And everybody say it. Amen.