The Last Day

John 6:39,53-56 – And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day…Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, 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 them 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 them.

John 15:4-5,7 – Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing…If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

Application:

• ·         Jesus probably refers to the day of resurrection followed by judgment when he mentions “the last day”.
• ·         The believer has no fruitfulness apart from union and fellowship with Christ.
• ·         A living union with Christ is absolutely necessary; without it there is nothing.
• ·         It is impossible to pray correctly apart from knowing and believing the teachings of Christ.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

World

John 6:35,51-52 – Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty…I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread 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?”

John 4:42 – They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

John 9:16 – Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided.

Application:

• ·         “The bread of life” may mean “the bread that is living” and/or “the bread that gives life”.
• ·         The Savior of the world points to the facts (1) that Jesus not only teaches but also saves and (2) that His salvation extends to the world.
• ·         Some Pharisees started from their entrenched position and ruled out the possibility of Jesus being from God. Others started from the fact of the “signs” and ruled out the possibility of His being a sinner.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Eat And Not Die

John 6:35,46-50 – Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

John 1:18 – No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

John 11:25-26 – Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Application:

• ·         Since no human being can see God as He really is, those who saw God saw Him in a form He took upon Himself temporarily for the occasion.
• ·         Now Christ has made God known.
• ·         Death cannot destroy the life Christ gives.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Taught By God

John 6:45 – It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me.

Jeremiah 31:33-34 – “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

1 Thessalonians 4:9 – Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.

1 John 2:27 – As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.

Application:

• ·         “Write it (the law) on their hearts” so that it effectively governs their lives, in contrast to the ineffectiveness of merely presenting it in writing, though inscribed on durable stone.
• ·         When the Lord has done His new work, there will no longer be among His people those who are ignorant of Him and His will for human lives. True knowledge of the Lord will be shared by all—young and old, the peasant and the powerful.
• ·         In the New Testament “love for one another” always means love of fellow believers in Christ, all of whom have the same heavenly Father.
• ·         The teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit is the development of the capacity to appreciate and appropriate God’s truth already revealed—making the Bible meaningful in thought and daily living.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Draws Them

John 6:41-44 – At this the Jews there 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 them, and I will raise them up at the last day.

Jeremiah 31:3 – The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.

John 12:32 – And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

Application:

• ·         People do not come to Christ strictly on their own initiative; the Father draws them.
• ·         The Lord has drawn us with unfailing kindness.
• ·         Christ will draw people to Himself, without regard for nationality, ethnic affiliation or status.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Raise Them Up At The Last Day

John 6:40 – 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 them up at the last day.”

John 11:25-26 – Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Application:

• ·         Death cannot destroy the life that Christ gives.
• ·         Jesus not only is life, but He also conveys life to believers so that death will never triumph over them.
• ·         Believers may die physically but, as those who have eternal life, their physical death is not their ultimate end.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

I Shall Lose None

John 6:38-40,44 – 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 those 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 them up at the last day.”… “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.

John 10:28-29 – I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.

John 17:12 – While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

Philippians 1:4-6 – In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Hebrews 3:6,14 – But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory…We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.

John 5:25,28-29 – Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live…“Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.

Application:

• ·         True believers will persevere because of Christ’s firm hold on them.
• ·         The sheep’s security is in the power of the shepherd, who will let no one take them from Him.
• ·         Christ’s power is adequate for every need.
• ·         Death cannot destroy the life that Christ gives.
• ·         People do not come to Christ strictly on their own initiative; the Father draws them.
• ·         The Father’s power is greater than that of any enemy, making the sheep completely secure.
• ·         It is God who initiates salvation, who continues it and who will one day bring it to its consummation.
• ·         Failure to persevere reveals that a person is actually not a child of God, whereas perseverance is the hallmark of His children.
• ·         “To share in Christ” means to belong to Him and participate in the blessings He gives.
• ·         The spiritually dead who hear Him receive life from Him.
• ·         Salvation, of course, is a gift from God in response to faith, but true faith in Christ results in changed lives, lived in obedience to Christ as Lord.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV