I invite you to turn with me tonight to John chapter 6. John chapter 6. We turn here again in connection with our consideration of the portion of the canons of Dort. We have turned to this chapter before. We have considered together unconditional election, limited atonement, total depravity. And tonight we begin to consider the I, irresistible grace. I would like to read beginning at verse 35, drawing your attention along with our confession to verse 44. This portion really begins at verse 25 when the people had once again found Jesus. And of course he says, well you found me not because of the miraculous signs, but because they ate and they had their fill. And Jesus goes on to teach them that he is the bread of life. He is the one they need for salvation. He is the one that is to be believed in. then he also teaches how he is able to be believed in beginning at verse 35 through verse 36 or 39 hear now the word of god then jesus declared i am the bread of life he who comes to me will never go hungry and he who believes in me will never be thirsty but as i told you you have seen me, and still you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will, but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day. At this, the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, I am the bread that came down from heaven. They said, is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, I came down from heaven? Stop grumbling among yourselves, Jesus answered. No one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, they will all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from Him comes to Me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God. Only he has seen the Father. I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Jesus said to them, I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food, and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever. He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. On hearing it, many of His disciples said, This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it? Aware that His disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, Does this offend you? What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before? The Spirit gives life. The flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe. For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, this is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him. From this time, many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. You do not want to leave too, do you, Jesus asked the twelve. Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God. Verse 44, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him and I will raise him up at the last day. And similarly, verse 65, he went on to say, this is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him. And I invite you to turn in the back of the Psalter hymnal to page 103. You remember that the third and fourth heads of doctrine are considered together. And for a good reason, that the fourth head answers to the need that is expressed in the third head. The third head being total depravity. The corruption of man. And the fourth head, as it's listed, his conversion to God and the manner thereof. And I'll read Articles 6, 8, 11, and 12 and encourage you to keep this open in front of you as well throughout the sermon as we refer back to it. Article 6, What therefore neither the light of nature nor the law could do that God performs by the operation of the Holy Spirit through the word or ministry of reconciliation, which is the glad tidings concerning the Messiah by means whereof it has pleased God to save such as believe as well under the Old as under the New Testament. Turning over to Article 8. As many as are called by the Gospel are unfeignedly, that means seriously, unfeignedly, seriously called, for God has most earnestly and truly declared in His Word what is acceptable to Him, namely, that those who are called should come unto Him. He also seriously promises rest of soul and eternal life to all who come to Him and believe. Article 11. But when God accomplishes His good pleasure in the elect or works in them true conversion, He not only causes the gospel to be externally preached to them and powerfully illuminates their minds by His Holy Spirit that they may rightly understand and discern the things of the Spirit of God, But by the efficacy of the same regenerating spirit, he pervades the inmost recesses of man. He opens the closed and softens the hardened heart and circumcises that which was uncircumcised, infuses new qualities into the will which, though heretofore that is beforehand dead, he quickens from being evil, disobedient, and refractory. He renders it good, obedient, and pliable, actuates and strengthens it, that like a good tree it may bring forth the fruits of good actions. And then Article 12. And this is that regeneration so highly extolled in Scripture that renewal, new creation, resurrection from the dead, making alive which God works in us without our aid. But this is in no wise effected merely by the external preaching of the gospel, by moral suasion, or such a mode of operation that after God has performed His part, it still remains in the power of man to be regenerated or not, to be converted or to continue unconverted. But it is evidently a supernatural work, most powerful and at the same time most delightful, astonishing, mysterious and ineffable. not inferior in efficacy to creation or the resurrection from the dead, as the Scripture inspired by the author of this work declares, so that all in whose heart God works in this marvelous manner are certainly infallibly and effectually regenerated and do actually believe, whereupon the will thus renewed is not only actuated and influenced by God, but in consequence of this influence becomes itself active. Wherefore also man himself is rightly said to believe and repent by virtue of that grace received. Well, beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, do you believe in Jesus Christ? It may seem like a silly question. It's a serious and a sincere question. Do you believe that He suffered and died, that He rose again, that He paid for your sins? Do you believe that He made you right with God? Do you believe that you are saved from the eternal punishment that is to come in hell for those who do not? Do you truly believe all of that? Do you trust in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for your salvation. If you believe that, then I ask you, why do you believe that? You might say, well, because it's all true, as we just read. Of course, that's true. Let me ask it this way. How do you believe? How do you believe? Arminianism, you see, teaches that you and I believe because you and I make salvation our own, our actual, our personal possession by our own free will. Indeed, God in His grace, they would say, chose to elect some, or to elect, and God in His grace sent His Son who carried out His work on Calvary, but that's just about as far as His grace goes. Oh, they also talk about a little nudge, as it were. But really, it's up to you and me, to claim of our own free will that gift of salvation. They teach that we answer the call of the Gospel because we are able to. After all, why would God call and demand us to believe if we were not able to respond yes or no? That doesn't make sense, you see. But Arminianism also teaches that you can say no to the atoning work of Jesus, that you can resist God's grace really then God's grace depends on man to accept it and and they teach that all can say yes or no to it now in the context of profession of faith I will often ask one who wants to make profession of faith well if God wants to save you if God chooses to save you can you say, no thanks, nice offer, but no thanks? Well, praise be to God, the answer is no way. Because if we could, we would. Because we are totally depraved. As you know, we have been considering, it's been a few weeks, but we've been considering the Scripture's doctrines of grace as outlined in our confession, the canons of Dort. Considering God's unmerited favor in unconditionally choosing to save some. Choosing some without any conditions to be fulfilled on their part. And also His unmerited favor in sending His Son to give Himself as a ransom, a sacrifice for our sin. And also we have considered so far of why that unconditional election and that limited atonement is so necessary and so undeserved. And that's because of total depravity. We are totally sinful. Everything about us, our thoughts, our words, and actions, our whole being is saturated with sin by nature. And because we are totally depraved, then it is impossible that God simply made salvation possible and then leaves the most decisive step up to the sinner. That is to choose to accept it. It's impossible because again, He won't. He can't, the sinner. The Bible teaches that we are all dead, blind, bound in sin and we'll only freely choose wrong when it comes to spiritual things. Beloved, the truth of God's grace is that the triune God alone saves sinners. The Father elects. The Son accomplished His atoning work. Yet God's grace does not stop there. again in a sense arminianism says it does it says now it's up to us god has done his part and now it's up to us but god's grace does not stop with with the father's election and the son's accomplishment of his atoning work otherwise there would be no hope again because of our total depravity so therefore this fourth head of doctrine the eye in tulip along with john 6 verse 44 as a sample of what scripture teaches these teach salvation's application by irresistible grace we've dealt with the accomplishment of it and now we get to the application the subjective application to the hearts and lives of mankind answering the question well how does the father's electing purpose and the Son's perfect atoning sacrifice? How does it become my very own possession? How is it applied to the hearts and lives of those being saved? Very simply, as we know, by the irresistible, also called efficacious or effective work of the Holy Spirit. Arminianism also really teaches, in essence, that God wants to, that He's working hard to save everyone, but again, it's up to man to decide. And beloved, think about that if that is true, then the only conclusion we can come up with is that God is failing. He is failing in His work of persuading that He has such a great gift to offer because so many reject it. Yet, the comforting truth for you and me is that our God is 100% successful in bringing to repentance and faith and saving all that He has intended to save. It's interesting that irresistible grace, again, is about the Holy Spirit's application of God's saving grace to us. And that means, then, that it can only be understood by those who are the objects of that irresistible grace, only by those who have experienced it without even knowing it. And that's why we rightly sing, I saw the Lord, and afterward I knew. He moved my soul to seek Him seeking me. It's only after one comes to faith to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ that we can understand how it takes place. Salvation's application by irresistible grace. Notice, first of all, then the agent of irresistible grace. We know who it is. We've talked about it already. The Holy Spirit. We confessed that in the Nicene Creed. The Lord and giver of life. In verse 44 of John chapter 6, Jesus says, No one can come to Me unless the Father draws him. And again, He says later, unless the Father has enabled him. And we know that the Father, God the Father, works through His Holy Spirit. Article 6 says again, What therefore neither the light of nature nor the law could do, that God performs by the operation of the Holy Spirit through the word or ministry of reconciliation. And article 11 also again speaks of what God accomplishes very much in detail there, what He accomplishes through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the agent of irresistible grace. He is the one who was sent by the ascended Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus says in John 16, beginning of verse 7, But I tell you the truth, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you. When He comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment. And jumping down to verse 12, Jesus says, I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear, but when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own. He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to Me by taking from what is Mine and making it known to you, including taking of Christ's salvation and making it known to God's people. He was sent by the ascended Lord Jesus Christ. He takes up residence in the elect in our hearts. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3, verse 16, For we are temples of the living God. And there then He works powerfully. Think about Pentecost. As by the power of the Holy Spirit, the disciples were able to speak in tongues and to preach in all those different languages. how 3,000 were added to the church that day. Paul refers to that power in Romans 8.14 when he says those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. Or 1 Corinthians 12, verse 3, he says, no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says Jesus be cursed and no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. In 2 Corinthians 3.6, he says, The Spirit gives life. Peter, in 1 Peter 1, verse 2, says we are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through the sanctifying work of the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ. He works powerfully. Beloved, embracing the truth of Jesus Christ is the peculiar gift of God through the Holy Spirit who draws one to Jesus Christ using his tool of gospel preaching. Article 6 again speaks of the word or ministry of reconciliation, which is the glad tidings concerning the Messiah by means whereof it has pleased God to save such as believe. And his tool of gospel preaching includes what we call the external call. The preaching that reaches your ears and my ears. Article 8 says again, As many as are called by the Gospel are unfeignedly, seriously called. For God has most earnestly and truly declared in His Word what is acceptable to Him, namely that those who are called should come unto Him. He also seriously promises rest of soul and eternal life to all who come to Him and believe. Beloved, the preaching of the gospel with the call to salvation is to go to all people. It is to go throughout all the world, inviting all without distinction. Yet, irresistible grace does not mean that all who hear with the ear will somehow repent and believe, or that they will even be able to. Arminianism challenges what the Confession says about God calling seriously. Well, how serious can God be then if He knows that some will not believe? If there is something called the reprobate, isn't it cruel to call the reprobate to repent and believe when they can't? And Arminianism, along with much evangelicalism today, also says that the call of the Gospel can only be taken seriously. It can only be considered to be a serious call if the decision to be saved is left up to man, that anyone willing can be saved, that Jesus Christ works in our hearts if we allow Him to. But again, the confession answers that in Article 12 that says that it's not by the external preaching or by moral suasion or persuasion that after God has done His part, it's left up to us to do our part. At the time of the Reformation, of course, as you know, these things were being discussed too, and this analogy was given by those on the Arminian side, that it's like the owner of a donkey getting that donkey to move by holding a handful of carrots before its nose. The man draws, in this sense entices, but obviously the will of the donkey is involved. That donkey is not going to go anywhere if he doesn't want the carrots. A man by the name of Erasmus, in a sense, went head-to-head with Martin Luther. And Erasmus said that's what it means in John 6.44. That's how God works there when it talks about the Father drawing. That He draws by externally preaching, holding out in the external preaching the good news of Jesus Christ, this most spectacular gift, but man cooperates. Man must move toward it. And of course, Martin Luther disagreed. He said, if that's the way it is, then the world had no better carrot, you might say, to draw than Jesus Christ Himself. When He was face to face, He was present with His people. He taught personally. Yet they did not come, as we read in John 6. Many of them left. They killed Him. When the confession talks about God being serious, He is serious, as it says, in what is acceptable to him. As Ezekiel says, he does not desire the death of the wicked. He is serious in what he promises. That promise is good. You can take it to the bank. Yet, of course, sadly, we know that the external call comes initially to the unregenerate only, including you and me, apart from the grace of God. And not one responds. Not one is able to respond. And we must also understand that irresistible grace does not mean that in the act of faithful gospel preaching itself, that in the very act as I'm doing right now, that act itself does not contain saving, force, or power. The act of preaching itself does not contain saving, force, or power all by itself. I can do nothing in your heart. I have no power. But you might say, but the Bible says God has chosen through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. Or the Bible says that the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. How then can those things be true? Because the power comes from the Holy Spirit. The tool includes the internal call for God's elect. That external word that we hear with our ears, the Holy Spirit implants into our hearts and lives. The Word of God is a sharp, two-edged sword which hardens the unbeliever in his unbelief, but it is used effectively by the Holy Spirit to transform those for whom Jesus died. Salvation's application by irresistible grace is seen then in the second place in the action of irresistible grace. The Holy Spirit is the agent. And what is the action then of that irresistible grace? It's outlined again beautifully, I believe, in article 11. But when God accomplishes His good pleasure in the elect or works in them true conversion, He not only causes the gospel to be externally preached to them and powerfully illuminates their minds by His Holy Spirit that they may rightly understand and discern the things of the Spirit of God, but by the efficacy of the same regenerating Spirit, He pervades the inmost recesses of man, He opens the closed and softens the hardened heart and circumcises that which was uncircumcised, infuses new qualities into the will, which though heretofore beforehand, or up to this point, we might say dead, He quickens, makes it alive. From being evil, disobedient, refractory, He renders it good, obedient, and pliable, actuates and strengthens it, that like a good tree, it may bring forth the fruits of good actions. And then continuing on, Article 12, And this is that regeneration so highly extolled in Scripture, that renewal, new creation, resurrection from the dead, making alive which God works in us without our aid. The action of irresistible grace is that of irresistibly drawing. Now, John 6.44, that drawing there, the Father drawing, It does not mean to plead or to suggest or to beg. It does not mean to hold out carrots, as it were, to entice one. It has more the idea of drawing water from a well. We don't say, oh water, please jump into the bucket. Oh water, please come out of the well. The water, boys and girls, has no choice in the matter. The water is scooped up by the bucket and gently drawn upward, powerfully or irresistibly in its activity. The same word for draw is used in John 18, verse 10, where we read about Peter drawing the sword when he cut off the ear of the high priest's servant. It's used in John 21, verse 11, where we read about the disciples had such a large catch of fish, they couldn't haul it into the boat, so they dragged that net full of fish through the water. They drew it through the water. It's used in Acts 16 verse 19 where we read that Paul and Silas were dragged from the marketplace in order to face the authorities. And it's used in many other places and all of these point to a powerful and irresistible activity. And with the sinner then, that drawing includes regeneration, including conversion. Now we separate those two. We think of regeneration as that seed of new life implanted. And we think of conversion then as the action, what takes place from that, turning away from the way of sin, turning to the way of Christ. The confession puts the two together, and that's okay. The Holy Spirit gives new birth. The Holy Spirit makes one a new creation, renewal, resurrection from the dead, making alive. Peter says, we have been given new birth into a living hope. He says, we have been born again of imperishable seed. He's talking there about a complete change, a complete transformation. This new birth is, as Jesus says in John 3, being born again, meaning being born from above by the Holy Spirit. And this new birth, beloved, is without man's cooperation. God did not need Adam's help, his approval, or his cooperation when He created Adam. It was irresistible. And He doesn't need our help for our spiritual recreation. Jesus' friend Lazarus did not exercise His free will when Christ called him forth from the tomb. Lazarus didn't give himself life. He didn't choose to come alive. He was given life. We don't exercise our free will either. With regeneration, the Holy Spirit gives a spiritually alive heart. And our transformation includes a transformed mind. That mind previously dark and blind in sin to what pleases God is enlightened and illumined to see and understand the truth of God and His Word, as Article 11 says. And it includes a transformed heart, that heart that was once dead and hated God and the things of God. He opens, He softens to love God, to love His truth, to understand the horror of sin and the preciousness of Jesus Christ and to desire Him, a heart with new affections, new desires. And He gives a transformed will. The last part of Article 11 again, He infuses new qualities into the will which, though heretofore dead, he quickens from being evil, disobedient, and refractory. In other words, bound, a slave to sin. He renders it good, obedient, and pliable, actuates and strengthens it, that like a good tree it may bring forth the fruits of good actions. That will that was once a slave to obey sin alone, that will is made new and now follows and carries out the desires of that new heart. That will is influenced and moved into action and results then in the third place in the accomplishment of irresistible grace. The Holy Spirit is the agent. The action is that of regeneration. The accomplishment then, Article 12 says, God the Holy Spirit works all of this in us without our aid And without fail, without fail, the Holy Spirit brings to salvation those in whom He works. He saves those He intends to save, namely the elect. He actually brings them into the kingdom of God, and He does so without forcing them against their wills. This is not a spiritual tug-of-war where He drags some kicking and screaming. It may seem like it sometimes. It may appear to be so sometimes. But He is not dragging some kicking and screaming against their will. The drawing of John 6.44 is not a violent, compelling, coercing one against one's will, but it is a powerful impulse of the Holy Spirit who makes one willing and this is key who makes one willing who once was unwilling. So now that one desires, as we sang, longing to be perfectly whole. Longing for that day of Christ Jesus. Maybe we can explain it a little bit like this. For example, if you were to say, well, something told me to make that phone call to that person. What you're saying then is you had the urge that you couldn't shake and you had to follow through, but you didn't do it as if you were forced to do it beyond your... Well, you didn't do it when you didn't want to do it. You wanted to do that. That's the kind of power, impulse we're talking about. But we also need to understand, beloved, that irresistible grace does not mean, as I said a moment ago, that one will never appear to resist, that one will never appear to push off the Gospel for a time. We don't know the timing of the Holy Spirit. We don't know when He will choose to take that external call, that which has been heard with the ear, and apply it powerfully and effectively to one's heart. Yet when it comes to the examples of drawing that we talked about a moment ago with his other passages, this drawing that we're talking about is always triumphant. When Peter drew the sword out of his sheath, that sword could not stay in that sheath just because it wanted to. When the disciples dragged that net of fish through the water, it couldn't stay right where it was when it first became full just because it wanted to. This drawing is always triumphant. Why? Because the Spirit of God effectually enables the born-again, transformed sinner to turn willingly in repentance and faith to God. That one cannot say no because that one will not say no. The accomplishment of irresistible grace is that that one is motivated to repent and believe. That one does it. God does not repent and believe for us. We are still responsible. In fact, that's what Article 12 says toward the end, that that will becomes itself active. Wherefore, also man himself is rightly said to believe and repent by virtue of that grace, receive. Our will is renewed. It is acted upon. It is moved by the Holy Spirit so that the will itself acts. Through repentance and faith. It is somewhat of an automatic reaction, an automatic response. The exercise of that new nature, just as unbelief, disobedience, and hatred for God are consistent with the old nature of sin, in the same way a desire and actually repenting and believing is consistent with that new nature in Christ. Evidenced by fruit, like a good tree it may bring forth the fruit of good actions. Grounded on love for God above all and our neighbor as ourself. Love demonstrated in obedience to God and a desire to please Him. Fruit, seen putting to death, desiring to put to death whatever belongs to the earthly nature, as Paul says in Colossians 3, and instead clothing oneself, actively clothing oneself in the strength of the Spirit with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, beloved, this is still a mystery. I saw the Lord and afterward I knew. It's still a mystery. But we believe. We believe in Jesus Christ. Why? Because for Jesus' sake, by grace, the Holy Spirit has transformed our very natures. He has given new life to what was once totally dead to God and the things of God. He has given a new will that without fail follows and acts upon that which flows from a new heart. Again, we do repent and believe. We are drawn to Jesus by irresistible grace, the work of God through the Holy Spirit. This is true and it will be true for all whom God has chosen for whom Jesus died. And dear people of God, that's why we can preach the gospel and we can support the preaching of the gospel with confidence. Because it does not depend on us, but with confidence that God will, without fail, save and bring to faith those whom He has intended. The gospel of Jesus Christ, the truth of Jesus Christ, that He alone is the way of salvation, That's the gospel that goes forth that you have heard with your ears. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what our God says. And all praise be to God that when we embrace the gospel, it's because not what my hands have done. So praise be to God when we embrace it. It's not what my hands have done. Salvation, its accomplishment and application, is all and only the work of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And so praise be to Him that He has seen fit in His infinite wisdom and glory to save sinners like me and like you. Amen. Let's pray together. Father, we do praise Your name for this mystery. This truth of Your work which we cannot resist. And we thank You, thank You, thank You so much, O Lord, that we are not able to. And Father, we thank You for Your Holy Spirit, for His work. We pray that You would continue to be busy and active as Your Word goes forth, that Your Holy Spirit may be active even here in this place, in the hearts and lives of many here. that together we might rejoice in our God and King, our Father, our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for the truth of your word. Help us to learn it better, that it might become more clear to us. And as well, too, we might be able to take this your word and help those who don't understand and teach others and be used of you to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. In his name we pray. Amen. Thank you.