Well, turn with me in your Bibles to John chapter six. These last few Sunday mornings, we’ve been focusing here in the middle of Jesus’ sermon on the biblical truth of the effectual call of God to the believer and the resulting assurance that we have of our salvation. That has really been Jesus’s point here in this sermon, a point that he reiterates, as we will see throughout this sermon.

Many years ago now, the great Baptist preacher, Charles Spurgeon, once preached a sermon on the effectual calling and choosing of God. And he used an illustration in his sermon that I think will be really helpful for us this morning. The sermon that he preached was called The Echo. And the illustration he used was of the great King Richard of England, the great warrior king who went to battle many times and at one point was captured in battle and held as prisoner by an enemy. And in that sermon, Charles Spurgeon told this story that hopefully illustrates this doctrine of the effectual call of God. Spurgeon said this.

When our brave King Richard was shut up in prison, far away in Germany, you know how he was found by Blondel, a troubadour? The king and the minstrel had composed a song between them. First, the minstrel sang one verse, and then the king sang one. And no other man in the whole world ever knew what the verses were except the king and that minstrel. So the minstrel wandered through many realms and sang the first verse of his song.

He sang it at all kinds of castle gates and dungeon doors, but there came no response, for the king was not inside. But at last, as providence would have it, he sang it in the right place, and faintly, from inside, he heard from the deep dungeon the voice that he knew. He could sing, and could sing the second verse. And as he sang the third, and the fourth came through the iron bars. He knew that the king was there, for the verses could have been sung by none other than he.

And Spurgeon continues, I am sometimes occupied in the preaching of the gospel, and I preach it to thousands who give no response. There is no evidence of the Lord’s having chosen them. But another time, there’s a heart that says, your face, O Lord, do I seek. Then I have found out the Lord’s chosen ones, found the hidden ones, discovered as many as were ordained to eternal life.

For their believing is the response to God’s gospel and the evidence of their being the favorites of heaven. They and they alone believe in this way. As for those who do not believe, they perish in their sins. But to as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become the children of God, even to those who believe on his name. That’s the effectual call. And it’s a great illustration of the evidence that somebody has been called by God.

As we’ve come through John 6, focusing here on the preaching of Jesus, we’ve seen, again, Jesus continually emphasize to these crowds the sovereignty of God in their salvation. They came to Jesus for more of the bread that he had provided when he fed the 5,000. And Jesus told them that instead of just another meal, they needed to come to him the true bread from heaven. As I read earlier in verse 33 of John 6, Jesus says, for the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. But these crowds remained in their unbelief. Because as it continues in verse 34 and following, they said to him, Lord, always give us this bread.

And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never hunger, and he who believes in me will never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me, and yet do not believe. And then, as we have seen, Jesus tells them why they don’t believe. He tells them, you’re not believing in me. And then he goes on to tell them why. They don’t believe in him because the father has not given them to him. And we know this is the case because he says, all that the father gives me will come to me. All of them. All of the ones that the father gives to the son will come to him.

And then last week we saw Jesus emphasize to these crowds and to us why we can be sure, why we can be assured of our salvation, why we can be assured that we will never be lost once we are His. And that assurance rests in Christ, in who He is, in His control over our eternal salvation.

But today, as we come to the next verses in this sermon, we are once again focused on the unbelieving crowds, on these unbelieving Jews that stood before Jesus, refusing to believe what he was telling them. The crowds that, although they were presented with the evidence right before their eyes, they remained in their unbelief.

And what Jesus tells us in our text today is that there are three characteristics of unbelievers. Three characteristics that keep unbelievers from hearing and understanding and believing. Three reasons why we need the sovereign work of God to change us before we can ever hear and believe. What we see in our verses this morning is that Jesus tells us that, first of all, unbelievers are deaf, in verses 43 to 44. Secondly, that unbelievers are dumb, in verse 45. And lastly, that unbelievers are blind. They are deaf, dumb, and blind. And that is why we need the sovereign work of God in us before we can ever hear and understand and believe. So allow me to read our text this morning. John chapter 6, verses 41 through 46. This is the word of the Lord.

Therefore the Jews were grumbling about him, because he said, I am the bread that came down from heaven. They were saying, is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, I have come down from heaven? Jesus answered and said to them, stop grumbling 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. It is written in the prophets, and they shall all be taught by God. Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God. He has seen the Father. At first, what we see here, starting in verse 41, is the reaction. The reaction of these Jews to Jesus.

That’s what it says. Therefore, the Jews were grumbling. They were grumbling because he said, I am the bread that came down from heaven. They were grumbling about him and what he was saying. This is one of those Greek words that sounds like what it means. The Greek word is gongudzo. They’re grumbling. They’re grumbling under their breath about what he’s saying, about who he is. They’re complaining and murmuring, talking back and forth to each other in what they think only they can hear. You know what this sounds like. Not that you’re grumblers, but you know what it means, what it sounds like. They were thinking that he couldn’t hear them, that he didn’t know what they were saying. This guy, who does he think he is? We know where he lives. I know his mom and dad. He thinks he can speak to us like this? Who is this guy? Because their unbelief kept them from understanding.

These Jews were grumbling about Jesus, just like their forefathers did when God provided the bread from heaven for them in the wilderness. Remember in Exodus chapter 16, Verse two where it says, and the whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. Remember the tie to Moses throughout John chapter six. Jesus is greater than Moses. But these Jews were no different than that rebellious generation in the wilderness who refused not only to believe, but to be thankful.

And they grumbled in their hearts at what God had provided. And the same thing is true here with these Jews, grumbling about the bread from heaven that God provides. Because you see, they’re only thinking of Jesus on human terms. He’s the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know. And they also know that he comes from Nazareth. Can anything good come out of Nazareth? This guy. And so they harden their hearts against their Messiah, who simply called for repentance and faith to enter the kingdom of God, something they should have known from the scriptures.

And that is how they react to him. And this is what stirs the response from Jesus that we see. Really the question is why? Why do they react this way? Why can’t they see the truth? He just explained to them all of these things. They’ve just seen with their eyes the miracles and works and signs that he can do. Why do they keep reacting this way?

So Jesus tells us. First of all, because unbelievers are deaf. Verse 43, Jesus answered and said to them, stop grumbling 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. They might have thought that he couldn’t hear them. They might have thought that their grumbling was a private conversation. But Jesus heard them. Stop grumbling. Have you ever been talking about somebody only to have that person walk around the corner and suddenly everyone goes silent? Hey guys, what you talking about? This is like that. Stop grumbling. You can imagine the look on their face.

And then Jesus explains again why they refuse to hear and answer the call to come and believe in him. Verse 44, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. No one can come. Why haven’t they come? No one can come unless the Father who sent me draws him.

He already said this in verse 37, and here he repeats it and clarifies it. but he might as well have been speaking another language to them. And this is the very phenomena that Jesus talks about with his disciples as he’s explaining to them why he teaches in parables. In Matthew chapter 13, starting in verse 11 of Matthew 13, it says, Jesus answered and said to them, to you it has been given. to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.” The disciples are asking, why don’t they get it?

We get what you’re talking about, but maybe if you just didn’t speak in parables and made it clearer, then they would get it. Jesus, you need to change your delivery a little bit. Maybe if you switch up your style, then more people would understand it and we’d get bigger following here. And Jesus says, no, that’s not why you get it. That’s not why you understand and believe. To you, it’s been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. You didn’t just figure it out. To you, it’s been given. To them, it has not been given.

And he continues, for whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance. But whoever does not have, even what he has been given shall be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, you will keep on hearing, but you will not understand. You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive, for the heart of this people has become dull. And with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes, lest they would see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart in return.

And I would heal them. To you it has been given. Why don’t they understand? It hasn’t been given to them. God has to give it. And they could keep on hearing all they want, but they are deaf to what they hear. They will not understand and believe unless God grants that to them.

And Paul speaks about people just like this. in 2 Thessalonians, people just like the Jews in this crowd who, even though Jesus over and over explains things, they continually ask questions that show they don’t believe. Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2, starting in verse 10, and with all the deception of the unrighteousness for those who perish, that’s these people, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. And for this reason God sends upon them a diluting influence.

So that they will believe what is false. In order that they may all be judged who did not believe the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness. Is God sovereign over salvation? More than we know. more than we know. God sends a deluding influence so that they won’t believe. So don’t think that you’re smarter than anyone else or more discerning than anyone else because of anything in yourself. If not for the undeserved grace of God, you would be deaf to it as well. But if you believe, if you hear and understand and you believe, it’s because he opened your ears to hear it.

Because as Paul continues in this very section, in the very next verse, 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13, but we should always give thanks to God. For you, brothers, beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you as the first fruits of salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. It was for this he called you through our gospel that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. The people that Paul just talked about who received a deluding influence, they heard Paul’s gospel too. but he called you through our gospel. The same message, but he called you, not them. And as Paul says, give thanks to God because he’s the one who did it. He deserves our thanks. because he is the one who works salvation in us. And if it wasn’t for what he did to open your ears and draw him to yourself, you would be just like these unbelievers. You would be deaf to the truth of the gospel.

But anyone who does hear and believe has been granted that by God. as many as were appointed to eternal life. And here Jesus repeats the wonderful promise that He gave last week, that all whom the Father has chosen, has drawn, has called to Him, they will come, they will be received, and they will be raised up on the last day. Everyone who comes to Christ will be kept by Him. There is no possibility that even one of those whom the Father has given will be lost.

But as these crowds have demonstrated for us, the first characteristic of unbelievers, the first reason why we need God’s grace in salvation is because unbelievers are deaf. Unbelievers are deaf. Next we see that not only are unbelievers deaf, but because they are deaf, unbelievers are dumb.

Verse 45, it is written in the prophets, and they shall be taught by God. Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Here Jesus quotes and paraphrases Isaiah 54 for us. where it says, all your sons will be taught by Yahweh. And this really just restates what verse 44 already said in a different way.

All those who come to saving faith, who come and believe and understand, do so because they’re divinely instructed by God. The drawing and teaching are just different aspects of the divine call of God to salvation. It is the truth. It is through the truth of God’s word that people embrace the gospel. From Romans chapter 10, it’s very clear.

Romans 10 verse 14, how then will they call on him whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him in whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? So working that logic backwards, first they need a preacher. A preacher of what? A preacher of the Word of God.

And then when the Word of God is preached, then they will hear. And when they hear, then they believe. And once they believe, then they call on Him. That’s salvation. And then verse 17 of Romans 10. So, faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. They must be taught by God. They must be taught what to believe. They must be taught the gospel. And we looked at 1 Peter 1 last week as well, but here again, Peter describes for us the process of salvation, the learning and believing and coming to Christ, all of which is done by the hand of God. 1 Peter 1, starting in verse 20.

He, Christ, was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but he appeared in these last times for the sake of you, who through him are believers in God. who raised him from the dead and gave him glory so that your faith and hope are in God. Since you have in obedience to the truth, purified your souls for a love for the brothers without hypocrisy. Fervently love one another from the heart for you have been born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible. That is through the living and enduring word of God. You have been born again through the living and enduring word of God. And Peter speaks of this being born again, this believing the gospel and coming to Christ as obedience to the truth.

The gospel is a command. Repent and believe. And every Christian has obeyed that command. But first, they must be taught that command. They must hear the gospel. They must be taught by God. If you believe, you have heard and obeyed the gospel. You have heard and obeyed the word of God. Everyone who comes to Christ, Jesus says, has heard and learned from the Father. That’s what he says. If you’ve come to Christ, it’s because you heard and learned from the Father, whether you know it or not.

This is what happened. Not only that, Jesus’ statement here is once again a rebuke to these Jews. They prided themselves on their knowledge of Scripture. That’s what made them holy. But if they truly understood Scripture, if they truly understood the Old Testament, they would be the first ones to come to Him. If these people really understood what the Old Testament was telling them, when Jesus comes on the scene, they would be the first ones to welcome Him with open arms and come to Him and believe. Jesus said at the end of chapter 5, for if you believed Moses, you’d believe Me, because he wrote about Me. But if you don’t believe his writings, how will you believe my words? They refused to believe his words. And they refused because they couldn’t hear and wouldn’t learn from it. They would not be instructed by God.

Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. All whom the Father gives come to me. No one can come to me unless the Father draws him. Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. I think Jesus is trying to get something across to us.

He won’t let it go. They haven’t been given the ability to hear. Therefore, they cannot understand. They are left in their ignorance. The second characteristic of unbelievers is that unbelievers are dumb or that they are ignorant because they cannot hear. And lastly, unbelievers are blind. They’re deaf, they’re dumb, and they’re blind. Verse 46, not that anyone has seen the Father, except the one who is from God. He has seen the Father.” Why would Jesus say that? It seems out of place. Where is he going with this?

Well, these Jews, they believed they had the upper hand theologically because of their bloodlines, because of who they were. They believed that they were by nature God’s children. They didn’t need Jesus. They didn’t need what he was telling them. This is what Paul talks about when he speaks about these Jews in Romans chapter two. If you bear the name Jew and rely upon the law and boast in God, this is what they’re doing.

We have God. Who does this guy think he is? telling us we need to come to Him to come to God. We have God. We’re God’s children. Don’t they know that? They didn’t need Jesus. They already had God, or so they thought. And while it’s true, they do have an advantage because of all the gifts that God had given them, because they were God’s chosen people, the Jews, the people God had chosen to work through throughout the Old Testament.

Paul speaks about that in Romans 9, a few chapters later. He says, for I wish, for I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brothers, for the sake of these people. Standing here, doubting and refusing to believe in Jesus, Paul says, I wish I was accursed for the sake of them. My kinsmen, according to the flesh, who are Israelites.

And this is the advantage they have because they’re Israelites. to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory of the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the temple service, and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from Christ, from whom is Christ, according to the flesh, who is God over all, blessed forever, amen. They have every advantage. The deck is stacked in their favor. But they still didn’t believe in his son. So they didn’t actually have God. They had never seen God.

Because as Jesus says in John 14, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. So you guys can think you have the Father already, that you have God, that you have seen God. But no one comes to the Father except through Jesus.

If they reject the son, they reject the father. As he said in chapter 5, he who does not honor the son does not honor the father. So whether they realize it or not, they didn’t know God. They’d never seen God. The only one who has seen the father is the one who is from God, and that’s Jesus. These people remain in their unbelief, and they demonstrate that they’re blind.

This very thing comes up again in chapter nine, a tremendous chapter in John’s gospel that I’m looking forward to getting to eventually. But chapter nine’s about the healing of the man born blind. After he heals him, They put him out of the temple, because how dare he let Jesus heal him? In verse 35 of John chapter nine, Jesus heard that they had put him out, and after finding him, he said, do you believe in the Son of Man?

This answer is tremendous. Do you believe in the Son of Man? He answered and said, who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him? Just have enough faith and he’ll heal you, right? I don’t even know who he is. He healed me. And Jesus said to him, you have both seen him and he is the one who is talking to you. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshiped him.

And Jesus said, for judgment I came into the world so that those who do not see may see, like this guy. and that those who see may become blind like these people. Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things and said to him, are we blind too? Pardon me? Are you talking about us? And Jesus said to them, if you were blind, you would have no sin. But now that you say we see, Your sin remains. I can’t wait to get to that chapter. But we’re in John chapter six.

These people are blind and they didn’t even realize it. They didn’t even know that they’re blind. But they showed, they demonstrated their blindness because they couldn’t see who he was. He showed them the signs. But they couldn’t see what the signs were pointing to because they were blind to it.

He is the Son of God. He is the Christ. He is the Messiah they supposedly were waiting for. And they refused to see it. What more do you want in your Messiah? Look at what he can do. But they refuse. They saw him do so many things, even at this point in chapter six. But six chapters later, in John chapter 12, with all that much more time for Jesus to show them more and more signs, John chapter 12, starting in verse 37 says, but though he had done so many signs before them, they were still not believing in him. so that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke, Lord who has believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord been revealed. Though he had done so many signs, it wasn’t the signs, doesn’t matter how many signs that he did.

They’re blind. They can’t see it. John 12 continues for this reason. They could not believe. For Isaiah said again, he has blinded their eyes. He has hardened their heart lest they see with their eyes and understand with their heart and return and I heal them. Why don’t? people believe. For this reason, they could not believe. He, who’s the he?

God has blinded their eyes and God has hardened their heart. Lest they see with their eyes and understand with their heart. If he didn’t, they might. but he has blinded their eyes. No matter how many times he showed them, they wouldn’t be able to see it because they were blind.

And the hardest part for us to accept is that God does that too. Oh, it’s easy to accept that God chose me I mean, that sounds great. No downside for me. But why didn’t he choose them? Why didn’t he choose them? Why didn’t he choose my family member or my friend who still won’t believe? Why wouldn’t he choose them too? That’s not fair. How dare he not choose the ones that I love? But that’s the entirely wrong question. You should not be asking, why wouldn’t He choose them? What you ought to be asking is, why would He choose me? Why would He choose me?

I don’t deserve this. I don’t deserve anything more than to be deaf and dumb and blind in my sin. And that’s where he should have left me. But God, who is rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions and sins, even when we were deaf and dumb and blind, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. That’s what grace is.

You don’t deserve it. Why me? Why would he choose me? I don’t deserve this. You see, when you are a debtor to the mercy and grace of God, like we all are, we have no right to question his grace. It’s not unfair that He didn’t choose them. It’s unfair that He chose me. Why would He do that? He loved me. I can’t believe that He loved me. Why would He love and choose me? I can’t answer that question. but I can worship Him in gratitude, in thankfulness for His amazing grace that I did not deserve. And that’s the only place that the sovereignty of God over salvation should drive us to go, on our knees, in humble adoration and praise of Him.

If you do not yet know Christ, you need to come to Him today. If you can hear Him calling you to come to Him, it might just be that He’s opening your ears and your eyes so that you won’t be deaf and dumb and blind anymore. That you can hear and believe and finally understand this gospel. that He came for sinners like you and me and He gave His life on the cross where you and I should be hanging to save us. So that if you come and believe in Him, He took your penalty and He gives you His righteousness. It’s not fair at all. But it’s the gospel. So if you hear that call, come to Him. To repeat what Spurgeon said earlier that I opened with, I am sometimes occupied in preaching the gospel. And I preach it to thousands who give no response.

There is no evidence of the Lord having chosen them. But another time, there is a heart that says, your face, O Lord, do I seek. Then I have found the Lord’s chosen ones, found the hidden ones, discovered as many as were ordained to eternal life. For their believing is the response to God’s gospel and the evidence of their being the favorites of heaven. They, and they alone, believe in this way. As for those who do not believe, they perish in their sins. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become the children of God. even to those who believe in His name. Come to Him. Believe in His name. Become a child of God. He is such a sweet Savior. Don’t leave here today without talking to somebody about your need for Christ. Let’s stand and close in a word of prayer. our God in heaven.

Why would you choose me? Why would you pour out your grace for anyone? Why did you choose sinners like us to give to your son, to call and draw and open the ears and eyes of us so that we may believe. God, we don’t know why in your sovereign and glorious wisdom you have done what you have done. But God, we thank you. We praise you. We could never thank you enough for what you’ve done for us in your son. the wonderful and beautiful and precious Jesus Christ. It’s in his name we pray, amen.