Glen Bond Sunday October 22, 2006 Jackson Ms. Subject: The work of God John 6:27 27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. 28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. We are instructed to labor for "that meat which endureth unto everlasting life". This meat is salvation. Where do we get this meat? ...the Son of man shall give unto you: It comes from God himself. We are to labor for it. This means physical work. It also means Mental work. In both instances, it means to put forth an effort. We are to put forth an effort that we might gain "...that which endureth unto everlasting life". We must seek the Lord, We must meditate on His word. We must repent of our evil ways. We must beg the Lord for salvation. John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. The elect of God will come to Christ. You may have a stubborn will that will not let go of the things of the world, but God is able to take these things away from you. Take an example from king Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chap. 4. This king was proud, and would not acknowlege God. He would not turn from his wickedness, even though he was warned by Daniel. When a year had passed after Daniel had warned him, the King was still proud and un-repentant. Then God took everything away from him. Then after the Lord in mercy saved him, look what he said: Daniel 4:37 Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase. ...and those that walk in pride he is able to abase. Pride was one of his greatest sins. Yet the Lord was able to bring him low. Are you going to continue in your pride and self-will? Are you going to make God do to you what he did to king Nebuchadnezzar? The Lord took everything from him. He took his kingdom, and all that pertained to it. He even took his mental facilities. king Nebuchadnezzar was left with only his memory, that he might remember what the Lord did to him and how the Lord saved him. What mercy. The Lord could have sent old King Nebuchadnezzar straight to Hell for all of his sin. BUt the Lord God of heaven had chosen this man as one of his own, and the Lord will move heaven and earth to bring his chosen to salvation. Now, let me ask you. Do you think that king Nebuchadnezzar enjoyed that lesson he learned in the field. When he was eating grass, living with the beasts, living like a beast? NO! I am sure that he would never want to go through that again. He was like this for 7 years. (seven times) Is this what you want the Lord to do to you? Make you go through 7 years of hell on earth? I come here warning you tonight, turn from your wicked ways and seek the Lord. 2 chron. 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. This is bringing forth fruits worthy of repentance. I dont know who are Gods elect. But I believe that you that sit here tonight can come to Christ for salvation. Don't make him take everything from you. Humble yourselves and pray, yes, even beg, for salvation. John 6:28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? This is the same as asking "what should we do to be saved?" 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. To be saved you must believe on Jesus Christ. Salvation is quite simple. I remember what our pastor said last Wednesday night. Talking about how great, holy, and powerful our God is. and lets continue on to think about how he is not a man that he should lie. That he has abundance of mercy. that he is not willing that any should perish. That he is very much able to save. Therefore - if you are not saved, then it MUST! be some fault of your own and not a fault of God. If you are not saved, it is your fault. Man is very much a proud person. Man is very much blinded by Satan. 2 Corinith. 4:3,4 3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. man is blinded to his natural state before God. Man cannot believe on Jesus Christ because man is not able of himself. The sinners prayer that most churches use to convert their people is not possible. No sinner can ever be saved by the way they tell it. Man is blind and cannot know that he is a sinner. So then, he cannot confess to being a sinner. Man is not able of himself to believe, because the bible tells us that faith, true saving faith is a gift of God. This is the Meat that Christ tells us that HE will give us. (Matt. 6:27) When the sinner says the "sinners Prayer" the sinner does it in his own time, in his own power. This is the same as saying that God MUST save someone who says the prayer earnestly and sincerely. God is soveriegn and he will save who he wants, and he will save them when he wants. Saying the sinners prayer in earnest does not obligate God to save you. If you think that God is going to save you because you said the sinners prayer in earnest, then you are going to be very surprised. You will never be saved untill you come before God, acknowledging that you don't deserve salvation, you don't deserve mercy, that you DO deserve Hell and that God would be just and righteous altogether, in sending you there. Salvation is a WORK. It is a work of God. It is worked out by God. When a sinner is saved, there is a definate difference in that sinner. When a sinner says the sinners prayer, there is no difference in that sinner. He is the same person as he was before, only now he is more blinded by Satan. 2 Corinth. 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. The sinners prayer was brought about by lost and decieved preachers who know nothing about their sinfull condition before God, they know nothing about repentance, they know nothing about being blinded by Satan. They know nothing about salvation, and therefore can tell you nothing about it. Salvation is the greatest thing that will ever happen to any person. When this great thing happens to you, you will never forget it. You will never forget how you were saved, you will never cease to praise God for saving you. Matt. 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Satan has power to deceive. The average church today has been deceived. There are many false prophets today. The sinners prayer - I am convinced by God's word that I am a lost sinner; I believe that Jesus Christ died for sinners and shed His blood to put away my sins. I now receive Him as my personal Lord and Savior and will, by His help, confess Him before men. ---End of the sinners prayer John 6:36 But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. They had seen Jesus, they had seen his miracles, and yet they still would not believe.