Rabbi Schneider - God, the Author of Your Faith
I'm speaking about some truth that many have not heard before. What we've been diving into, is looking at how people were saved in the Tanakh, or the Old Testament and comparing that to how people are saved in the New Testament, or the Brit Chadashah. I began by talking about the root of salvation, beloved ones, lies in God's sovereignty and in His elective choice. I began by showing how God chose Israel out of all the nations of the earth. Then I began to bring this down a more specific trail and talked about how God chooses individuals to know Him. I began by showing how Abram or Abraham knew God, because God sovereignly chose to reveal Himself to Abram. Abraham heard God speak to him and then God appeared to him. And through this encounter, these encounters that Abram had with the Creator, Abram was brought into a living faith and able to have a relationship with God.
This is why the Bible says that Abram or Abraham is the father of all believers. We're saved by faith, but where does faith come from? Faith comes when God sovereignly chooses to impart it to us. This is what Paul speaks of in the 2nd chapter of the book of Ephesians. He said, "By grace you've been saved through faith and if it's by grace it's no longer on the basis of works lest any man should boast". I want to go with you right now to the Gospel of John chapter number 6, to illustrate this, that faith is the fruit of revelation and not everybody receives revelation. So turn with me in the Bible if you will please to the book of John, the Gospel of John. We're gonna be looking actually at the word of Jesus here in chapter number 6.
Now the reason that I'm sharing this truth with you, beloved one, is twofold. Number one, because of my integrity to preach the Word of God as it is written. I could easily overlook this. I could easily not teach this, because I know that some people are not able to receive it. But my commitment, beloved, is to be faithful to the Word of God. That's the first reason I'm teaching this. The second reason I'm teaching it, is because I believe it can really help you. I want to honor you. I believe that receiving the revelation that I'm sharing can really build you up in your trust for the Lord.
So let's go once again, John chapter 6. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but baruch Hashem, bless the name of the Lord, the Word of the Lord abides forever. Let's go to verse number 35 through 40. "Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet you do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone that beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise Him on the last day'. Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, 'I am the bread that came down out of heaven'".
So I want to just put this in perspective for a second. Jesus is with people that knew Him His whole life. They just knew Him as the carpenter's Son. They knew Him as Joseph and Mary's Son. And now Yeshua's saying, "I am the bread of life. I've come down from heaven and if you'll receive Me you're gonna have life in yourself". They can't receive it. They think, "This is crazy. Who does this guy think that he is"? But I want you to notice that Jesus is very specifically bringing into view here that He has come down, I want you to get this, to save all that the Father has given Him. Listen what Jesus said in verse number 37, "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out". Look in verse number 39, "This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing".
And so Yeshua is very clear here that those that He will save are those that the Father brings Him, those that the Father has given Him. This is really critical to hear this. I know this is gonna be really hard for some of you to receive at first hearing, so I'm gonna go back and read it again after I say it and I'm gonna make this point very clear to you. But Jesus had no illusions about what His death would accomplish. Jesus knew when He walked on the earth, beloved ones, that His death on the cross would not save everybody. He knew that His death on the cross would save the elect, that His death on the cross and resurrection would save those who had been chosen by the Father. Now let me clarify, Jesus death on the cross was sufficient to save the entire world, but Jesus was under no illusion. He knew that as a result of His death, burial and resurrection, crucifixion, resurrection, He knew that that would not save everybody. He knew that it would save those that the Father had given Him.
Listen once again. This is His Father's will. Verse 37, "All the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one that comes to Me I will certainly not cast out". Verse 39, "This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all He has given Me," notice, "of all that He has given Me I lose nothing". So Jesus' mission was to save those that the Father had given Him. Let's continue on in the narrative in verse number 41. "Therefore the Jews," and when it speaks of the Jews here, John is referring to the Judean religious leadership. He's not referring to all Jews, because the first church was all Jewish. The disciples were Jews. So Yeshua's not obviously talking about all Jews, but during this time period this word the Jews was used to refer to the Judean religious leadership.
"Therefore the Jews," the religious leadership, "were grumbling about Him, because He said, 'I am the bread that came down out of heaven.' They were saying, 'Is not this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, "I've come down out of heaven"?' Jesus answered and said to them, 'Do not grumble 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 of God". Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me'".
Notice here beloved one, that Yeshua is reiterating the same thing. He says once again, "I'm the bread of life that came down out of heaven". They're saying, "Who does this guy think He is? He's the carpenter's Son. We know His mom and dad. How does He say He's come down out of heaven"? The scripture explicitly says there, "They were grumbling about Him". But notice what Jesus said, "Do not grumble among yourselves". In other words, they were putting themselves above Jesus, judging Him. But Yeshua turned it around and He said, "Don't think that you're judging me. Don't think that you can assess who I am and grumble against Me as if you're above Me". Jesus said, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him".
In other words, Jesus was saying, "You think that you're judging me, but the truth is no one's gonna know who I am unless the Father reveals Me to them and draws them". That's why Jesus said in the next verse, "Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me". So notice this dynamic that's going on. Many are not believing. Jesus is not discouraged by that, because He knows He has a very specific mission to save those that the Father had given Him. Didn't He just reiterate that several times that I just read for you? He knew that He would save those that the Father had given Him.
Jesus said, "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him". He continues on, "And you'll live forever". Now notice what happens once again in verse 59. These things He said in the synagogue as He talked in Capernaum. "Therefore many of His disciples when they heard this said, 'This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it'? But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this said to them, 'Does this cause you to stumble?'" And then He continues on in verse number 65 and He says, "For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father".
So once again, Yeshua's bringing the thing full circle. He's again explaining who He is. Many could not receive it. Many grumbled. Many left. Only a few remained. Jesus' explanation for the fact that only a few remained was that no one could come to Him unless it had been granted Him from the Father. You see Jesus was very clear that He was on earth to save those whom the Father had given Him. Let's look at John chapter 10 for a second. Many of you are familiar with the good shepherd. Jesus reiterated the same thing in John chapter 10. Remember the grass withers and the flowers fade, hallelujah, but the gift of God and the Word of God, bless His holy name, abides forever.
In John 10 Jesus was speaking about giving eternal life to those the Father had given Him. Listen to what He said in verse number 14. "I am the good shepherd," Yeshua's speaking here. "And I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep". Now as He began to talk like this a division occurred. Look in verse number 19. "A division occurred again among the Jews because of these words. Many of them were saying, 'He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?' Others were saying, 'These are not the sayings of a demon possessed man. A demon can not open the eyes of the blind.'"
Let's see what Jesus said about all that was going on, this big division, the fact that so many were having different opinions about who He was and their reaction to Him. They said to Him in verse number 24, "The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, 'How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, the anointed one, the Mashiach, the Messiah, tell us plainly.' Yeshua answered them, 'I told you and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father's name, these testify of me'". Then Jesus gave the reason why they didn't believe. Verse number 26, "But you did not believe because you are not My sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all; no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one".
Did you get it? Jesus is saying the same thing, the same exact dynamic is happening here. Some believe, some don't believe. Some are judging Him, others are believing Him. Jesus is saying to those who didn't believe, "The reason you don't believe is that you're not My sheep". Listen again, verse 26, "But you did not believe, because you are not My sheep". "I know My sheep," Jesus said, "My Father has given them to me". Are you getting to see it church? Jesus was very clear about His mission. He never believed that His death, burial, resurrection, ascension, would accomplish the salvation of the whole world. He knew that His ministry and His work would accomplish, listen, the salvation of the elect. Let me prove it to you finally in John chapter 17. Once again we're gonna be looking at the words of Yeshua, of Jesus Himself.
Now John 17 is the last major prayer that Jesus prayed that's recorded in scripture, before He went to the cross. It's often times referred to as the High Priestly Prayer. Jesus had set His face towards the cross. He's pouring out His heart to the Father. He knows He's gonna be leaving the world and He's praying for the protection of His sheep. Let's begin there in John 17, by going there first of all to verse number 1. "Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, 'Father, the hour has come'", He knows He's going to the cross, "'Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh'," listen to this, "'that to all whom You have given Him'". Notice that phrase. Jesus said, "That to all whom You have given Him". Who was Jesus speaking for? He was speaking of those that the Father had given Him. "That to all of those You have given Him, He may give eternal life".
Let's go down to verse 6. "I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world". There it is again. "I manifested You Lord". Who? Not to everybody, but "to the men You gave Me out of the world". "They were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word". Finally in verse number 9, this is a strong one, but I know that some of you are getting overjoyed by this and others are like, "What is going on"? Let it sink in with the peace and the love of God. God wants to strengthen you. He wants you to know beloved, you believe in Him and you love Him, because He chose you and because He first loved you. Listen to verse 9. Jesus is praying. He said, "I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours".
Beloved, how have I as a Jewish believer in Jesus, growing up in Beachwood, Ohio, which is listed as having the second highest concentration of Jewish people in the world outside of Israel. Everybody almost where I grew up is Jewish. My friends growing up in high school were basically all Jewish. I had one friend who wasn't Jewish, but this guy was anything but a Christian. How did I as a Jew, facing so much rejection and so much at times animosity from the traditional world, how have I been able to remain a believer in Jesus? It's because I know God chose me. It's because I know who I am. Even as God appeared to Abraham and revealed Himself, God came to me. He showed me that Jesus was alive. He showed me Jesus was real. I read in the Word of God that this is a gift, that He reveals Himself to His own. And because I know who I am and that Father chose me, I'm able to withstand the rejection. I'm able to withstand the pressure, because I know who I am. I know my identity. I know my destiny.
I don't think I wandered into this thing, because I chose to. If I'd thought that I wandered into this thing because I chose to, rather than knowing I'm in this because God chose me, I would have been blown away years ago. When you know God chose you you're gonna have a joy and a life and a power and a witness and effectiveness, beloved,that's beyond anything that you've known before. God chose you. I want you to eat it. Jesus said that we should eat His words. He said, "Unless we eat His flesh and drink His blood we have no life in our self". I want you to eat his words. Listen, I want you to say this with me, God chose me. Would you put your hand over your heart with me and just repeat after me. Say Father God chose me. Jesus said in John 15:16, "You did not choose Me, but I chose you". I want you to say with me, put your hand over your heart and say, "Jesus You chose me". Beloved, you are in the kingdom of God. You are in the garden of His presence, because He loves you. He loved you before you were born. He chose you before you were born. "While you were dead in your transgressions and sin, you are already chosen". We learned that from the book of Ephesians. Beloved, I really pray that you're getting a hold of this thing.
Let's conclude season 2 by going to the book of Romans together. We're going to the book of Romans. Once again, the grass withers, hallelujah and the flowers fade, but the Word of the Lord abides forever. Paul is once again addressing the issue. Israel is God's chosen people. They're chosen as a nation and yet so few within Israel have believed in Yeshua. Paul says, "How can this be"? What Paul does, is he answers the question by speaking to the fact that there's always only been a remnant. And so he gives us an example by turning to the days of Elijah and during the days of Elijah most of Israel was in apostasy. The nation as a whole was in apostasy.
Elijah cries out to the Lord. He says, "Lord I'm the only one left that believes". But what did God say to him? God said, "No Paul I've reserved for Myself," in verse number 4 of chapter 11, "I have kept for Myself seven thousand who have not bowed to the knee of Baal". It's a remnant. Paul says, "In the same way," the next verse, "In the same way then, at the present time there's a remnant chosen according to God's gracious choice. And if it's by grace, it is no longer in the basis of works". It's not from the man that wills or the man that runs, but on God who shows mercy. Beloved, Father has had mercy on you. He loves you so much and He wants you and I to get secure in His love. He'll never leave you. He'll never forsake you. You can always trust Him. Your salvation is secure beloved. God loves you and that will never change. This is Rabbi Schneider saying baruch Hashem. I love you too. God bless you and shalom.