Chapter 49

 

Freewill Crushed — Freegrace Exalted

 

“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 for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” (John 6:41-51)

 

There is a hideously ugly monster, a beast that has risen up in the world, whose hide I would like to see nailed to the wall in every church building in the world. This beast has been around for a long, long time. We read about him in the Book of Revelation (Revelation 11:7; 13:1-4, 11-12, 14-15, 17-18; 14:9-11; 15:2; 16:2, 10, 13; 17:3, 7-8, 11-13, 16-17; 19:19-20; 20:4, 10). He arose from the sea, the pagan, idolatrous, gentile world. He has many names; but his name is always “Blasphemy.” He always ascribes to man the work of God. He is found in every part of the world, having “seven heads.” He is very powerful, having “ten horns.” He is found in high places, wearing “ten crowns.” He is deceitful, like a leopard. He is destructive, walking through the forests of darkness with the feet of a bear. He is furious, devouring with the mouth of a lion. Multitudes have perished by him. But his number is “the number of a man” —666, assuring us that he shall meet with frustration, failure, and defeat.

 

This beast must be slain. And he will be slain, not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of God. He will be slain by the preaching of the gospel.

 

            Though the Philistines propped him up again and again Dagon their god fell on his face before the ark of God, with his hands broken off his arms and his head broken off his body. So, too, free-will must fall before our Savior. As the ark of God was exalted as Dagon lay in the dirt before it, so when Christ is exalted, free-will will be laid in the dirt before him. As Dagon and the ark of God could not abide in the same house, so free-will and free grace cannot abide together. One or the other must be pushed out of the house. In the house of God faithful men make it their business to push free-will out of the house, to throw it in the dirt before our God, trample it beneath our feet, and cast it out.

 

Idolatry

 

Nothing in all the world is more foolish, more debasing to humanity, more dishonoring to God, and more assuredly damning to the souls of men than idolatry. It is pathetic to see men and women worship gods that other men have made, dumb gods, made by the hands of ignorant men. Idolatry is hideously evil (Psalm 115:4-8). But the most abominable form of idolatry in the world is that which Paul calls “will worship,” the worship of yourself (Colossians 2:23). Those who attribute salvation in whole or in part to the will, work, or worth of man are the most abominably evil idolaters in the world, for they worship themselves. Freewillism is the worship of self. Legalism is the worship of self. Freewill works religion makes man his own savior, for it makes the will, work, or worth of man the determining factor in salvation.

 

            If your salvation, in whole or in part, is looked upon by you as something that is dependent upon or determined by your will or your works, you are a lost, Christless soul, an idolater. You may talk about God and grace, Christ and redemption, the Holy Spirit and regeneration; but you really worship yourself. You trust in your own decision. Your confidence is in your personal goodness. Your peace is derived not from what Christ has done, but from what you have done. Redemption is something accomplished for us altogether outside ourselves. Our hope is outside of us, not in our experience, but in God’s Son. But in your opinion the thing that separates you from the damned is not the will of God, the work of Christ, and the call of the Spirit, but your own will, your own work, and your own worth. If I have described you and your religion, I want to go directly into the dark, idolatrous chambers of your heart and destroy your gods.

 

            Gospel truths of the greatest magnitude and importance follow each other in rapid succession in this chapter. I am sure that there is much more in the chapter than has yet been declared; but I call your attention to just five things in these verses.

 

A Gin to Entrap

 

First, we see the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy in verses 41 and 42. Isaiah prophesied that the Lord Jesus, that one who would be born of a virgin, the Messiah, would be to many a gin and a snare, a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence (Isaiah 8:14-15); and so it has come to pass (vv. 41-42). He who is our Savior, the Sanctuary in whom we take refuge and hide, is to others a gin and a snare, by which their souls are snared, entrapped, and carried away to hell (Romans 9:30-10:4; 1 Peter 2:7-8).

 

            Because he very simply and very plainly declared himself to them, because he said in no uncertain terms, “I am the bread which came down from heaven,” because he said, “I am the Christ,” the Jews began to murmur. They stumbled at that which rejoices the hearts of God’s elect. They murmured against the very thing we find most delightful. Why? What is the difference between them and us? It is the difference God has made by his distinguishing grace (1 Corinthians 4:7).

 

            Our Lord’s humiliation, the very fact that he made himself of no reputation, while he was upon earth, is a stumbling-block to many. Like these Jews, multitudes today say, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that he says, I came down from heaven?” Had our Lord come as a conquering king, with wealth and honors to bestow on his followers and mighty armies in his train, they would have been willing enough to receive him. But a poor, lowly, suffering Messiah was an offence to them. Their pride refused to believe that such a one was sent from God.

 

            That should not surprise us. It is human nature showing itself in its true colors. We see the same thing in the days of the Apostles. Christ crucified was “to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:23). The cross of Christ was an offence to many wherever the gospel was preached in that day; and the same thing is true today. The offense of the cross has not ceased. There are multitudes of religious people who despise the distinctive doctrine of the gospel, because the doctrine of the cross is humbling to man. Most everyone approves of Christ’s exemplary service to others; but they despise the expiation of sin by his blood. They love to talk about what they call his “moral principles;” but they cannot tolerate blood atonement, penal substitution and the satisfaction of justice by his sacrifice. His self-denial they admire; but his doctrine they despise.

 

            Speak to the religionists of this world about Christ’s blood, about Christ being made sin for us, about Christ’s death being the corner-stone of our hope, about his poverty being our riches, about his obedience being our righteousness, about his death being our life, and you will discover that they hate these things with a deadly hatred; and they will show their hatred for you, if you dare assert them. The offense of the cross is not yet ceased.

 

Human Inability

 

Second, our Lord plainly declares in verse 44 the utter inability of man, man’s complete helplessness and inability to believe on him. — “No man can come unto me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.” Until the Father draws the heart of man by his grace, man will not believe.

 

            It is too obvious to need comment that coming to Christ is merely another word for believing on Christ. It is not a physical, but a spiritual coming to Christ that is necessary and saving. But this coming is impossible to man. Our Savior says, “No man can come unto me.” That is to say, “No man has the ability to come unto me.” No man in his natural state can come to Christ — “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Romans 8:7).

 

            Fallen man has neither the power nor the will to come to Christ. Man is dead in trespasses and in sins.  He has no power to give himself life. He is spiritually impotent. Blind, he sees no need to come to Christ. Walking in darkness, he cannot know the way. Unregenerate, his heart is set on other things.

 

            Men boast and brag about their will. Men everywhere, papists, pagans and Pentecostals, Buddhists, Brahmanists and Baptist, Methodists, Moravians and Mennonites all love to talk about man’s “free will.” All defend the doctrine of man’s “free will.” Even atheistic philosophers defend the blasphemous notion of “free will.”

 

            But our Lord makes it plain that man’s problem is his will. What is man’s inability? It is not a physical inability that keeps sinners from Christ. It is not a moral inability that keeps them from coming to the Lord Jesus. It is the very will of man that keeps him from the Savior. It is his corrupt will that holds him in bondage. Sinners cannot come because they will not come; and they will not come because they cannot come.

 

            No man can come to Christ by nature because faith is the gift and operation of God the Holy Spirit. A new nature must be put in you, or you cannot come. A new heart must be put in you, or you cannot come. A new creation must be performed in your soul by God the Creator, or you cannot come. Unto you it must be given by God the Holy Spirit to believe on Jesus Christ, or you cannot come (Ephesians 2:8-9; Colossians 2:10-15).

 

            Yet, inability is no excuse for unbelief. The fact is sinners do not come to Christ because they do not want to come to him. You are responsible for your own soul. Your inability to come to Christ does not make you any less responsible. If you are lost at last, it will be your own fault. If you go to hell, you will go to hell, as our Savior said, because “Ye will not come to me that ye might have life” (John 5:40). Your blood will be on your own head.

 

Divine Efficacy

 

Third, our Lord sets before us the divine efficacy of God’s free, sovereign, saving grace in him. He shows us this great efficacy in three things:

  • The Drawing of the Father (v. 44).
  • The Teaching of the Father (v. 45).
  • And the Revelation of the Father (v. 46).

 

            If ever you are saved, if ever you come to Christ, you must be drawn to him by God’s sovereign, irresistible grace, drawn to him by the irresistible force of his grace. — “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 (v. 44). Oh, what a blessed “except!” — “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him!” And if the Father draws you to the Savior, you will come to him. We know that because he says, “and I will raise him up at the last day!

 

            The word “draw” suggests the idea of someone drawing water out of a well. No one begs and pleads for the water to get into the bucket! No, if you go to the well to get water, you reach down and, by an act of your own strength, you act upon the water, dipping the bucket in and pulling the water up to yourself. In the same way, sinners are drawn to Christ. God sends his Spirit to the chosen, redeemed sinner. God performs a work on and in the poor, lost, spiritually dead sinner, called “regeneration,” or “the new birth.” And God graciously draws the object of his mercy to Christ.

 

            This word “draw” is used in a few other places in the New Testament. Everywhere it is used, we see the same thing. It implies force and coercion. It never implies or suggests an invitation or even an urging. In Acts 16:19 those who were enriched by the demon-possessed girl “caught Paul and Silas and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers.” In Acts 21:30 the Jews “took Paul, and drew him out of the temple...and...went about to kill him.” They weren’t begging and pleading with Paul. They drew him. They forcibly drug him. In James 2:6 we are warned to beware of rich men who draw believers before the judgment seats. Again, the word does not suggest an invitation, but an irresistible force. God the Holy Spirit effectively and successfully draws the chosen, redeemed sinner to Christ. There are no exceptions. The call of God is always irresistible, effectual, and saving.

 

            Look at verse 45. If you are saved, you must be taught of God; and all who are taught of God come to Christ and are saved by Christ. — “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.” Read Isaiah 54:13, Jeremiah 31:34 and in Micah 4:2.

 

            “They shall be all taught of God.” — All who are ordained to eternal life, all who were given to Christ and are chosen in him, all for whom he died and obtained eternal redemption, all the children of God by special adoption and grace, sooner or later, shall be taught of God. Read on. — “Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.” — God’s teaching is always effectual. Our Lord did not say, “Every man that hath heard and learned of the preacher comes unto me.” He said, “Every man that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh unto me.” Everyone who hears the voice of the Father’s mercy, love, and grace in the gospel learns of him the way of life and peace and salvation by Christ. All who are taught of God, by the sweet force of his grace, come to Christ. Every sinner who is taught of God, hearing his declarations and promises of grace in Christ, ventures his soul on Christ and commits it to him, trusting him, relying on his person, his blood, his righteousness and his sacrifice, for peace, pardon, justification, atonement, acceptance with God, righteousness, sanctification, and eternal life.

 

            If ever you come to Christ, it will be because he, as the God-man Mediator, has become the Revelation of God, the Word of God to you. — “Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father” (v. 46). As Joseph Hart put it…

 

“A form of words, though e’er so sound,
Can never save a soul;
The Holy Ghost must give the wound,
And make the wounded whole.
 
Though God’s election is a truth,
Small comfort there I see,
Till I am told by God’s own mouth,
That He has chosen me.
 
That Christ is God I can avouch,
And for His people cares,
Since I have prayed to Him as such,
And He has heard my prayers.
 
That sinners black as hell, by Christ
Are saved, I know full well;
For I His mercy have not missed,
And I am as black as hell.
 
Thus, Christians glorify the Lord,
His Spirit joins with ours,
In bearing witness to His Word,
With all His saving powers.”

 

Faith’s Assurance

 

In verse 47, our blessed Savior gives a word of sweet assurance to faith. Here it is. — “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” — If you find yourself believing on the Lord Jesus, you already possess eternal life. Faith does not cause you to have it. Faith is the assurance that you have it, the assurance that you are chosen of God, redeemed by Christ, called by the Spirit, taught of God, and born again ((Hebrews 11:1; 1 John 5:1).

 

            This salvation is a present thing, a present possession that lasts forever and can never be taken away, lost, or destroyed. — “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”

 

            Many seem to think that forgiveness and acceptance with God are things which we cannot attain in this life, that they are things which are to be earned by a long course of mourning and anguish, things we may receive at the bar of God at last, but must never hope to enjoy in this world. That is horribly wrong. Our Savior says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life!” If you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, your name is in the book of life, your sins are blotted out, and you have a clear title to heaven. Neither Satan, nor hell, nor even you can alter or overthrow the work of God! — “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36).

 

Bread for the Hungry

 

Then, lastly, our blessed Savior, by the most simple picture imaginable, declares himself to be the Bread of Life, Living Bread for hungry souls.

 

“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 for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (vv. 48-51).

 

            Salvation is to be had only by feeding on Christ, only by trusting his obedience unto death as our Substitute; and that is exactly how we must live upon him. — “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him” (Colossians 2:6). As bread is the staff of life for the body, so Christ, the Bread of Heaven, is the life of the soul. And, as the body cannot subsist without daily food, so neither can the soul subsist without Christ, the Bread of Life. — “Lord, evermore give us this Bread!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don Fortner

 

 

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