How You Can Be Sure of Heaven or Hell

How You Can Be Sure of Heaven or Hell

How You Can Be Sure of Heaven or Hell
Text: John 6:30-40

Jesus is still addressing the crowd that sought for Him at the other side of Galilee. Their motive is because Jesus seems useful. But what Jesus is expressing to them is that He is vital. He moves their attention from the temporal to the eternal, and He makes it perfectly clear how one obtains the eternal provision – v29

In the following verses 30-40, there’s a wonderful dichotomy or division of thought.

v30-36 show what appears to be the absolute failure of Jesus to get people to believe.

v37-40 show the absolute sovereignty of the Father in salvation.

I. HOW SINNERS CAN BE SURE OF HELL v30-36

1. Prioritize the temporal

v30-31 – why do they ask this question? If you remember the provision of manna, it was sent six days a week for decades. As they stand there hungry, they are essentially asking, where is the sign today? Where’s the miracle you did yesterday? Aren’t you supposed to do it again?

v32 – Jesus gives two denials. 
a) It wasn’t Moses. 
b) It’s not about temporal bread, but spiritual “true bread.”

Just like when Jesus addressed Satan’s temptation, “man shall not live by bread alone.” i.e. life isn’t about just the temporal. And every time that manna was given, it wasn’t a message of temporal provision, but of spiritual provision. It was the message of Christ through a miracle. Exactly like here.

2. Pass on the gospel offer

God’s offer “giveth you the true bread” – this is proof of the free offer of the gospel. God have mercy on those that don’t preach it. Those ministers who deny it.

v33 – note the scope of the offer – so what is the true bread? Can you clarify, Lord? The true bread is the bread of God. What does that mean? It is “he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.” And this is how we must view the gospel. God offers His Son to the world. It is offered to you, and you, and you… ALL types of people.

Their response is like the Samaritan woman – 4:15, v34

v35 – the most explicit statement in this discussion so far.

This verse encapsulates the Christian’s deepest longing. It is the essence of a true relationship with God. Sinner, what you most deeply long for is Jesus Christ. You may not know that yet, but it’s true. Now to many here He is supreme. Nothing in the world compares to Jesus Christ. He exceeds, money, fame, comfort, excitement, or pleasure.

You were made to have a desire. A desire for God. But because of the Fall that has become horribly twisted, and you now go after a host of other things that don’t satisfy. You go after things which are masked as pleasurable and worthwhile, but beneath they are destructive and wasteful.

You could sum up the new birth as the new experience of knowing where to go in order to be satisfied.

v35a – Christ explains His desire that men and women come to Him in such a way that they find Him to satisfy their needs.

v35b – this is a parallel statement. To come to Christ and to believe on Christ are two aspects of the same thing. So to believe in Christ is to come to Him and to come to Him is to believe on Him.

So it’s not just believing Jesus died for your sins, you must come to Him and follow Him. And believe is no just coming to Him and identifying with Him, but it is to believe He actually and truly paid the price for your sin on the cross.

v35 is being satisfied in Christ above all other things. It will make you fight your anger, fight your lusts, fight your pride, and all your sinful habits. And you will fight it daily. You will want to kill everything that drives you from Christ, because Christ is your joy.

There are people and they think they’re going to heaven because they were baptized. Baptized. Going to heaven because they had water sprinkled upon them! To such people, Jesus is not beautiful. To such people, Jesus is not wonderful. To such people, Jesus is not their joy.

v36 – they didn’t come to Him. They stood there like the blind fools they were. Tell me, is that you? Are you sitting tonight as blind as these people?

So here we have the apparent failure of God sending His Son.

II. HOW SAINTS CAN BE SURE OF HEAVEN v37-40

1. See the Sovereign Work

Two words you need to see here in connection with the Father. ‘give’ and ‘will’

The Father gives a people to the Son. Notice the verb ‘give’ in v37 and v39.

v38 – why did Jesus come? To do the will of the Father. What’s the will of the Father? That nothing He gave to the Son would be lost. This is the pillow for your soul to rest in believer. The will of God dictates that you must be kept! This is the foundation for absolute assurance.

v39 – here it’s expressed again. The will of the Father.
v40 – same again. Look at it believer. Here is the sovereign will of God.

So God doesn’t just offer salvation, He gives salvation for those who He willed it.

“Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure” Is 46:9-10

2. See the Inevitable Outcome

Because of all this, they come. Again v37, “shall come” and remember in v35, coming and believe are synonymous terms.

Note – it’s not “those that shall come belong to me” it’s those the Father gives. It is the fact that the Father has GIVEN them that guarantees the COMING. Dear Christian, this is how you came to Christ. God the Father gave you to His Son.

The wonderful thing is that multitudes don’t know this and they are His anyway. They came to Christ and they don’t know how they got there. I didn’t. The night I sought Christ I thought it was me seeking Him, and it was, but only AFTER the fact that I was given to the Son by the Father. I came BECAUSE I was given.

It was the first free act I ever did! Before that, I lived as a slave. I was in bondage to a corrupt nature. But the moment God removed the scales, I freely ran to Christ! Yes! I will come! I want Him!

Why do you choose drink over Christ? Slavery. Why do you choose drugs over Christ? Slavery. Why do you choose sex over Christ? Slavery.

Note also, those given to Christ are kept by Christ v37
The Father gives, the Spirit draws, and the Son keeps. Jesus says, those that come to me I will never discard. I will never lose. You dear Christian are in His sovereign grip! – v39

And for what reason is He keeping us? v40 “everlasting life”

3. See the Final Act

Jesus will raise us up on the last day v39-40

Why talk about the resurrection here? Because when Jesus says He will keep you, you look around and realize that His followers are dying just like everyone else. They don’t appear to be ‘kept’ in any significant way.

But here’s the thing, even the bodies which appear to die like everyone else, will be raised to inherit everlasting life with Jesus.

Close
So how can you know you have been given to the Son? It’s those who embrace v35.

What’s going to happen to you on the last day? Where will your final destination be?

Come sinner! Believe, receive, and run to Jesus.