I know why you guys are following me. You're following me because you got some food. You got some bread. But I'm here to tell you that's not your greatest need. You need food that will bring you spiritual life. That's the point he makes there in those verses. Physical bread, that's fine. But what you really need is bread that will give you spiritual life. And now we pick it right up here in verse 35. with that discussion. And if you're taking notes in the bulletin, you'll notice I have God, the father and God, the son. And as we go through, we're going to see in this passage three things that both that the father does three things that the son does. But it's all in working together. For this plan of salvation, and it all serves this truth that God saves all his people, OK? So let's start reading here in verse thirty five. Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never 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 I should lose nothing of all that He has given me. but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise Him up on the last day." That's going to be our main passage today. We'll look at some surrounding verses as well, but we'll keep coming back to these verses to see how the Father and Son are working together to save all of God's people. So point number one here that the Father does, notice that we see beginning in verse 37, He gives a group of people to Jesus. The Father gives a group of people to Jesus. Twice in these verses, it says that God the Father has given a specific group of people to Christ. And everyone in this group of people will be saved because they will come to Jesus In other words, every one of these people will trust in Christ for their salvation. Now, you say, well, what does this mean? God gives a group of people to Jesus. What is that all about? Well, the Bible elsewhere elaborates on this truth. The Bible teaches that God has chosen a certain group of people to be saved. In fact, the Bible says that God, according to his sovereign grace before the foundation of the world, he chose a group of people to. To save from his just wrath. In Ephesians, one for is the is an important verse on this matter. There in Ephesians, let me just turn there because I want to read a couple of verses after it as well. In Ephesians one, chapter four, the Apostle Paul is describing all the spiritual blessings that we have in Christ Jesus. And so in verse 4, he says, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before Him, in love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, he says. So God has chosen a certain group of people to save, and these verses show us that it's not through any merit of their own. It's not that these people deserve to be saved. It's not that God looked ahead into the future and said, oh, wow, that one has a lot to offer. I think I'll choose him. And oh, this one, they can be a real help to me in building my kingdom. I'm going to choose them. No. It's just all according to His sovereign grace because He chose to save, because He set His love on them. even though they were all sinners. No one is worthy of God's grace. But God, who is rich in love and grace and mercy, says, I'm going to choose people to be saved. And that's why Paul says, Praise be to His glorious grace. Because that's what this is all about. It's all about God's grace. Because of His grace, God has chosen these people. And this group of people, the Bible calls the elect. And that's who Jesus is talking about here in John 6. He says, the elect, this group of people, are given to Jesus as a gift. Did you notice that? He says, all that the Father has given to me. They belong to Christ. They're God's people and they're Christ's people. And what's true of these people, Jesus says, is these people, His people, will all come to Him in faith. They'll all believe in Him. They'll all believe that He is who He says He is. They'll all place their faith and trust in Him as their Savior. Christ's people will follow Him. They'll commit to being like Him. Christ's people will worship Him and adore Him. Christ's people will love Him and fellowship with Him through prayer and the Word. Christ's people will proclaim that He alone is King and Savior. I'm getting all this from, you know, everything the Bible says about Christ's people, right? They will all come to me. He says they will all follow me. We know elsewhere when what Jesus teaches is that. As one of Christ's people, you need to devote your life to me. You daily deny yourself and pick up your cross and follow Me. And so that's what's true of this group of people. Christ's people will proclaim that He alone is King and Savior. They will devote their lives to Him and even be willing to give up their life for Him. Christ's people will wait eagerly for His return because they long to be with Him. These are Christ's people. These are the people who've been given to Jesus as a gift. These are God's people. Turn in your Bibles, please, to First Peter, Chapter two. First Peter, Chapter two. So now the Apostle Peter describes this, this is page 1015. Here's how he describes God's people. We could say Christ's people, Christ's flock. If you want to use the metaphor of sheep. First Peter, chapter two, verse nine says, But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation of people for his own possession. That you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. This is what's true of Christ's people. They've been called, and we'll get into that. They've been shown mercy because God has graciously set His love on them, chosen to save them. And so these are God's people. These are His treasured possession. These are a people who are to demonstrate the glories of His grace. These are a people who will serve God and worship Him, who will reflect His character to the world around Him. A people through whom he will continue to build his kingdom as they themselves proclaim the gospel. So not only does the Father give this group of people to Jesus, that's the first thing that we see he does here in these verses in John 6, but look again at verse 38. He also sends his Son to save them. So God chose this group of people to be saved from His wrath. And now notice how He saves them. He saves them by sending His Son. So that's point number two. The Father sends His Son to save them. Verse 38. Here's Jesus talking again. John 6. 38. 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 I should lose nothing of all that He has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise Him up on the last day." So you see, Jesus just says, hey, the Father sent me. And we know the Bible teaches that Jesus is the eternal Son of God. He always existed. He's one of the members of the triune God, Father, Son, and Spirit. And he was dwelling with God in the eternal glory of heaven. But yet, according to the Father's will, according to this plan of salvation, Jesus came to earth. The Father sent Him. The eternal Son of God came to earth and became a man. And this passage tells us why. He came to earth and became a man to accomplish His Father's will. You see what Jesus is saying in these verses? He's saying, the Father has given me a group of people to save. And His will is that I save all of them, that none of them will be lost. And that's why I've come. The Father has sent me to save the people that He's given to me. So again, we're reminded of the grace and mercy of God. God knew that man, us as sinful man, could not save ourselves. We had rebelled against our Creator. We had a debt of sin that left us in danger of His judgment. But there was nothing we ourselves could do to save ourselves. We couldn't make up for all the ways we had sinned against God. We couldn't try harder and live a perfect life before Him. So the Father sent the Son to save His people. Because of His great love and mercy, the Father sent Jesus to rescue sinners. And Jesus, though He was God, He humbled Himself by becoming a man and lived as a man under God's law. Jesus lived a perfect life obeying God at all times. And then at 33 years of age, Jesus willingly died on a Roman cross as a sacrifice for sin. That's how He saved. Jesus suffered and died to pay the penalty for the sins of His people. The ones the Father had given Him. Jesus suffered in their place. Bore their sin. Bore their punishment. And then the Bible says three days later, He rose from the dead in victory over sin and death. And His resurrection confirms that His payment for sin was accepted by God the Father. That He did accomplish what He came to do. That He did, in fact, pay for the sins of His people. And that's how Jesus saves. God the Father sent Him to save, and Jesus saves His people. Because His perfect life earns their righteousness. His death pays the penalty for their sins. And His resurrection secures their future resurrection. So I hope you see the flow of these verses. The Father gave Jesus a mission. And Jesus came to earth to accomplish that mission. And so the incarnation reminds us of this. It points to this truth. That the whole reason Jesus came to earth was to complete the mission the Father gave him. And thirdly here, I want to show you one more thing that the Father does here. He draws His people to Jesus. He draws His people to Jesus. Look down at verse 41. You know, Jesus has been teaching them, saying, I'm the bread of life. That's what you need. Come to Me for spiritual life. But look at the reaction of the Jews in verse 41. So the Jews grumbled about Him, because He said, I'm the bread that came down from heaven. They knew what Jesus was saying. He was saying, I came down from heaven to save My people. But look at what they say. Verse 42, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose mother and father we know? How does He now say, I have come down from heaven? You see, they rejected His claims. Many of the Jews did. They didn't believe that Jesus came from heaven. They didn't believe that He was God in the flesh, fully God and fully man. And so, their rejection compelled Jesus to respond and say this in verse 43, 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. See, Jesus knew why they were grumbling. He says, no one can come to Me in faith. No one's going to believe unless the Father draws him. So, do you see what that is teaching? No one can come to Me means no one is able to come. The Greek verb there means to be able. So, it's shedding light on who we are as sinners. No human being in the world on his own has the moral and spiritual ability to come to Christ unless God the Father draws him. Total inability. Left to ourselves, we will never come to Christ in faith because the Bible says we're born dead in our sins. So by nature, we are completely unable to make a move toward God. We're dead. We're a pile of bones laying there. We don't love God. We don't thank Him. We don't worship Him. And what Jesus is pointing out is on our own, we don't come to Him in faith. But God, in His power and grace, He does a mighty work in our hearts through His Spirit. He gives us the new birth that we talked about last week, right? He replaces our dead heart with a heart that is alive to God. And so, with that new heart, now when the Gospel is proclaimed, God opens our eyes to see that we are a sinner who desperately needs a Savior. And God now, when the Gospel is proclaimed, He unplugs our ears to hear the call of the Gospel to repent and believe. And on top of that, God gives us the faith to trust in Christ. That's what's all entailed in this. The Father drawing them. The Father enabling them to come to Christ. Making them alive. Giving them the faith to believe. And Jesus describes this drawing. He describes this work of the Spirit now in verse 45. He says, it is written in the prophets, and they will all be taught by God. Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. So you see, in John 3, He described the work of the Spirit as a new birth, and here He describes it as teaching. God, by His Spirit, teaches us who we are and who Christ is, so that we come to Jesus in repentance and faith. So Jesus knew this truth, and Jesus knew why the situation was what it was. I mean, He had a great crowd following Him Right then, because of the miracles. But soon, many of that crowd would disperse. Many would reject Him. And Jesus knew why this was the case. God must draw them. God must enable them to come. But notice the confidence Jesus had. God will draw all whom He has given to Me. He says, all that the Father has given to Me will come to Me. He says it positively in verse 37, they will all come to me. And then kind of the flip side, then negatively, if you want to say it, verse 44, no one can come to me unless the Father draws him. In John 10, Jesus described himself as a shepherd. In verse 27, He says, My sheep hear My voice and they follow Me. Because again, He knows the Father and the Spirit are at work. But do you see the implications for us, loved ones? If you're a Christian today, if you have heard the call of the Gospel to repent and believe, then you need to praise God for His grace. He is the One who drew you to Christ. God is the One who enabled you to trust in Christ as your Savior. Now most of us didn't realize that at the time. We just knew that we believed. We recognized that we were lost in our sins and on our way to hell. We learned that Jesus died and rose again to save sinners, and so we believed. You know, it seemed kind of like a logical choice. And it was a willful choice. But what we didn't know or many of us didn't know, I didn't know at the time, was that God behind the scenes was working. He was drawing us. He was powerfully giving us a new heart, opening our eyes. That's why we believed. So praise God for His grace. And this should encourage us as we proclaim the Gospel. We're reminded that this is God's work. and that He has chosen a people and they will hear and come to Jesus. It's not up to us to try to twist their arm. We want to know the Gospel. We want to plead with them and persuade them, compel them as Christ's ambassadors. But it's God who works in them. And God is at work. He's still drawing people to Himself. So may you go forth and proclaim the Gospel all the more. That's our privilege and our duty. So the Father is doing these things. And the Incarnation all points to this, that the Father has given a group of people to Jesus. He sent His Son to save them. And He's drawing them to Christ. Now I want to quickly notice three things that the Son is doing in all this. Okay? So the first thing that the Son does is He gives eternal life to all who believe in Him. He gives eternal life to all who believe in Him. We're going to start back again at verse 32. And remember, we're jumping right into the discussion on bread, right? The Jews had bread on their mind because Jesus had just multiplied the loaves. And then that led to a discussion about the manna in the Old Testament and how God sent bread from heaven every day when Moses was leading the Israelites through the wilderness. So look now in verse 32. Jesus then said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, It was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." They said to him, Sir, give us this bread always. They're still thinking physical bread. Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet you do not believe. But all that the Father gives to Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never cast out. So you see both the manna of the Old Testament and even the bread that Jesus had just multiplied the day before to feed the 5,000. Those were all signs that were pointing to the spiritual truth of who Jesus is. That He's the true bread from heaven. And just as bread nourishes physical life, Jesus is the one who gives spiritual life. He's the bread of God from heaven who gives life. The Jews were seeking physical bread, but Jesus says, I've got something way better. I got something way better physical bread that'll satisfy you for a little while, but you're going to be hungry again soon. He says, but I have something. I am something that if you come to me, you'll never hunger again. Amazing. the claims that Jesus made. Isn't that a beautiful picture of the Gospel? Of what it means to believe in Jesus. Jesus satisfies the deep longings of your soul. Think of what a spiritual hunger looks like. Right? The hunger to know God. That longing to be cleansed from your sins. That assurance of knowing that you're at peace with God. That thirst of worshiping and serving Christ. Like you were created to do. All those things are satisfied by Jesus. Jesus satisfies the hungry longings of the soul. Jesus alone satisfies them. That's why He says, come to Me. Through Me, you'll have life. Through Me, you'll know God. Through Me, you'll be made right with God. Through Me, you can worship God as you were meant to do. Look again at verse 37. Jesus promises that He will not cast out any who come to Him in faith. Jesus gives eternal life to all who believe in Him. See? He says, all that the Father gives to Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never cast out. So when I talk about choosing an election, don't let the doctrine of election start you down this path of worrying about, well, what if I'm not one of the chosen ones? And what if I come to Jesus, but He says, oh, sorry, you're not chosen. I'm going to reject you. That's impossible. That will not happen. Jesus says so. Everyone who comes to Him, everyone who sincerely forsakes their sin and turns to Him in faith, Jesus says, I'm never going to cast them out. You're one of my people. You're one of the people God has given me. Jesus will never turn away any true repentance and faith. But as we talk about salvation, the question comes up, understandably so perhaps, is this salvation permanent? I mean, is it possible for Christ to save us initially, but then we somehow lose our salvation, we somehow fall through the cracks? Well, Jesus addresses that, too, in these verses. Here's the second thing Jesus does. Not only does He give eternal life to all who believe, of course, eternal kind of answers that question, too, doesn't it? I give you eternal life. But then secondly, He says, I raise them up on the last day. Look again, verse 37 through 40, our main text. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never 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 I should lose nothing of all that He has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." So everyone who believes in Jesus is cleansed from their sins and given eternal life. And Jesus says, when I return, When Jesus returns, He will raise all of His people with a perfect, glorified body, free from sin. And then they will reign with Him forever in His eternal kingdom. So, what's true about being saved is we are saved already, but there's more of our salvation to come. We're awaiting that future resurrection, that future glorification. And Jesus says, everyone who comes to Me and believes in Me, I will raise them on the end. I won't lose any of them. Don't you love Jesus here? He says, not only do I not turn any away who come to me, but all who come to me I preserve. I keep. I'm not going to lose any of them. I'm going to keep them to the end. And notice, His incarnation assures us of this. See how in verse 38 He starts off with four? for I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me." So Jesus says, the entire purpose of My coming down from heaven was to do the will of the Father who sent Me. And that will was that the Son should lose none of all that the Father has given Him. So it's all related. The very fact that we celebrate the coming of Christ assures us that He will save and keep all who come to Him in faith. Again, to go back to the mission language, Jesus declares here in these verses that He will complete the mission He's been given from the Father. He will not lose any of those who are given to Him. All the elect will come to Christ in faith. Jesus will not cast any away, and He will keep them until the end when He returns and raises them. Because what is true about Jesus? One is He's not disobedient to His Father, right? This is the will of the Father. This is what He was sent to do, and Jesus does it. And we know He's not a failure. He accomplishes what He came to do. Praise God. Again, in John 10, When Jesus is using the metaphor of a shepherd and sheep, He says it this way, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will 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 My Father's hand. I and the Father are one. Think with me about the realities of the Christian life. If you're a Christian, you know that Life is difficult. Here's the reality. I'll sum it up this way. As Christians, we have an enemy who wants to devour us. We live in a world that seeks to ensnare us. And we have a soul that is still prone to wander. Pretty grim thought, isn't it? So, if it were up to us to keep ourselves saved, we would be hopeless. But praise God that Christ is the One who keeps us. And like He says here in John 10, He and the Father both. I love how the parallels here, right? In John 6, it's like, this is the Father's will, that you don't lose any of the ones that He's given me. So they're working together there, and you see the same thing in John 10. No one can snatch them out of My hand, Jesus says. And then He says, no one can snatch them out of the Father's hand. The Father and Son together are protecting and preserving His people. Jesus will preserve us to the end. Jesus gives eternal life to all who believe in Him, and He will raise them on the last day. And then thirdly, and I'll close with this, Jesus will save all His people because He gives His life on the cross. I've already mentioned this, but I just want to point it out to you here from John 6. Father gives people for Jesus to save. He sends Jesus to save them, and Jesus gives his life on the cross to save them. Look at verse 47. John 6 down in verse 47. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the man in the wilderness and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. Verse 52. The Jews reacted to that. They disputed among themselves saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat? So Jesus said to them, "'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the Living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on Me, he also will live because of Me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever." You see, Jesus is describing Himself as a sacrifice. He's saying the bread that He gives, the bread that brings eternal life, is His flesh. He came to die on the cross. He willingly gave His life as a sacrifice for sin. And so He says, all who come to Him, or here in these verses, He describes it as all who eat His flesh and drink His blood, all who place their trust in His death, all who place all their hopes on His sacrifices, payment for their sins, have eternal life. They will be saved. They will be raised. And so I'm compelled to ask, have you done that? Have you placed all your hope, all your trust in what Christ did on the cross as payment for your sins? And if you have, then you have eternal life. God has saved you. He has drawn you to Christ. He saved you and you will be raised. And if you haven't, I call you to believe. Turn to Christ, trust in him alone to make you right with God. Those who have eternal life, those who are raised on the last day are those who have placed all their trust in Christ's death for the forgiveness of their sins. So, loved ones, this Christmas season, as you think about the birth of Jesus and as you celebrate His coming, remember that even His coming reminds us that God saves all His people. The Father sent Jesus to save all the people He had given Him. Jesus came and died in their place on the cross. And Jesus now lives to save and keep all who believe in Him. And even today, I pray, even in this room, the Father powerfully draws so that people will come to Christ in faith. God saves all his people. Let's pray. Oh, God, we praise you for the glories of your grace. God, as we Read these verses and think about this mighty work that you've done. And those of us who have trusted in Christ, oh God, we are so humbled to be one of Christ's people. God, we know it was Your grace that drew us to Christ. It was Your power that gave us eyes to see. We praise you for your love to give your only son to suffer and die for our sins. God, you are a glorious God. In Christ, you are a glorious Savior. We praise you that no power of hell, no scheme of man can ever pluck us from your hand. Christ, may you be glorified now as we rejoice in the mission that you accomplished. God, please, by your grace, continue to work through us, through this church, through your church worldwide, to save your people, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen. Will you stand with me, please, and we'll close our worship service. I just want to end our time together with a benediction from Psalm 103. I trust this is true of you as you've meditated on the glories of the Gospel. The psalmist says, may you bless the Lord all the days of your life with all that is within you. May you bless His holy name. Amen.