Seeking the help of the Lord,
I pray for your prayerful attention to the Gospel according to John
chapter 6, and reading from our text, verse 27. Verse 27. Labor 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. John 6 and verse 27. The meat that is spoken of here,
translated meat, not just meat as meat of animals, but food
of any kind. And it's meaning that which is
for our bodies, for this life, what we need while we're alive
here. The Lord says labor not for that,
but for a different type of meat, the meat which endureth unto
everlasting life. Now what the Lord is speaking
in this passage, it follows the miracle of the loaves and the
fishes. And the Lord reproved the people
here, that they followed him over the other side of the lake,
not because they saw the miracles, that really told who he was,
the true son of God. But because they did eat of the
loaves and were filled, no doubt for many of them, they were poor
people, and it was a food for them, and they were thankful
for it and glad to have that food. And so you could excuse
them, as it were, for going over the sea so that they could have
a more provision of that food. But the Lord reproved them. And
it is a real question for us. Do we just follow the Lord for
loaves and fishes? Satan accused Job that that is
exactly what he did. The only reason why he followed
the Lord was just for the Lord's protection and for his natural
food, for his house, for his lands. for his servants, his
cattle, for all of those things that God gave. And that's why
the Lord gave permission that those things were to be touched,
to show that Job didn't follow the Lord for loaves and fishes.
He didn't follow the Lord for what he would get out of the
Lord for this life. Many have a religion like that,
a fair weather religion. Follow the Lord while all things
go well. and they have what Paul says
in his letter to the Corinthians, if in this life only we have
hope in Christ with all men most miserable. So the Lord begins
here with a reproof to them, he knew why they sought him,
ye seek me not because ye saw the miracles, because ye did
eat of the loaves and were filled. And so he says to them, labour
not for the meat which perisheth. Now of course we do not understand
that as the Lord saying don't work to eat. The scriptures are
very clear, we're not to be idle. The Thessalonians were reproved
because They were idle. They expected the Lord to come,
so they stopped working. And then they were idle and going
from house to house. So we are to be diligent. We
are to work for our daily bread. But what the Lord is saying here
is that it is a comparison. If we labour in that way for
natural food, do we labour for spiritual food? How would we
compare our diligence, our efforts, our time in providing food for
our bodies and food for our souls? The Lord saw that those that
were following Him at that time were doing so with regard to
their bodies, but not for their souls. And so He is not saying
don't labour at all, but don't let it be that only labour and
only anxious concern. Our Lord speaks this in the Sermon
on the Mount as well, when He says to take no anxious heed,
what we shall eat, what we shall put on, all these things do the
Gentiles seek after. Your Heavenly Father knoweth
that ye have need of all these things. He is setting before
us that need of the soul, and that which is eternal, and not
just temporal, not just for this life. And so, there is a reproof
here, there is a directing for that food that is eternal. and away from that meat to be
consumed with just that which is for the body. And it could
mean as well, though I believe it is primarily here, that he
means the bread that perisheth or meat that perisheth is for
the body, but we could apply that as well for the mind, because
the natural mind, the natural man, He tries to satisfy his
mind. You've only got to go to all
of the fictions in the libraries, all the films that are done,
it's all to exercise the mind and to fill the mind with amusements
and things that are feeding the mind and feeding the flesh in
that way. So we could add in that way,
labor not for that food for the mind which just perishes with
the mind. Labour not for the meat which
perishes, 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. So unto then with the Lord's
help at the exhortation that is set before us here. Firstly, meat that endureth unto
eternal life. And then secondly, a meat to
be laboured for. And then thirdly, meat that is
given. Labour not for the meat which
perisheth, but for that which endureth unto eternal everlasting
life. which the Son of Man shall give
unto you. For him hath God the Father sealed. So first it is the meat that
endureth unto eternal life. We read in Deuteronomy and in
the temptation that Satan tempted, Our Lord, if thou be the Son
of God, command these stones that they be made bread. And
our Lord reminded him of that word. It is written that man
shall not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of God. When our Lord speaks later on
in this chapter, and they really stumbled at him speaking about
giving his flesh to eat, and then insisting that my flesh
is meat indeed, my blood is drink indeed, insisting that except
you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, you have no life in you,
then he explains it clearly in this way, that the words that
I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. And so that
ties in again, man shall not live by bread only. but by every
word. And when our Lord speaks of His
flesh, His blood, it is not any word. It is the word that speaks
of our Lord, His sufferings, His death. We think of the word
that our Lord spoke to the two on the way to Emmaus. In all
the scriptures concerning Himself, ought not Christ to have suffered
these things and to enter into His glory? Beginning at Moses
and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures
the things concerning himself. Their heart burnt within them
while he taught with them by the way they fared upon that
word. It was the same word that Philip
fared and gave to the eunuch. Beginning at the same scripture,
he preached unto him Jesus in Isaiah 53. the Lamb of God, and
the blessing of having that Word expounded to him, he was able
to testify how he believed in the Son of God. And so it is the Word of the
Lord that centres in his sufferings, his death, that which the Apostle
says, I determine to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. And that we are sent as well
in the ordinances, buried with Him by baptism into death, risen
again in newness of life. And in the ordinance of the Lord's
Supper, we do show forth the Lord's death till He come. And it is that manner which is
from heaven, the words of the Lord that are life, to the soul. That is the meat that endureth
unto eternal life, that which is very, very different than
natural bread that feeds the body, and the body perishes,
and that bread perishes. But the words of life, the words
that the Lord gives, they are spirit, and they are life. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God. When we think about it, everything
that we know about ourselves, and everything we know about
God, is all revealed in the Holy Word of God, the Bible. There's
no other revelation, there's no other way that we can know
that. It is the inspired Word of God. All that we know of the
blessings of God, every blessing that we shall receive, Every
instruction, every teaching, every revelation of the Son of
God all comes to us through the Word of God. That's why it's
so central in preaching of the Word. Preach the Word and how
vital it is that we receive of that meat, receive of that manner,
eat of that manner, partake of that manner. The remark of the
Clean Beasts was that they not only ate it once, but they chew
the cart. They go over it again. But not
only was that a mark of them, but also they parted the hoof.
So they were separated. And that's the mark of God's
people. Separated from the world, coming out from among them, touch
not the unclean thing, and I will receive you. He shall be my sons
and my daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Then they shall be
given that spiritual appetite. The Lord says in John 17, I have
given them thy word, and the world hath hated them. The marked distinction as well
is that they hear the voice of the Lord. They receive his word. Everyone shall receive of my
words. no solemn thing, to reject the
Word of God, to cast it aside, to have no need of it, to be
like Jehoiachin, the king, who cut it about with a penknife,
who wasn't subject to it, who didn't reverence it, who didn't
esteem it, who despised it. But when the Lord begins with
His people, then He'll make that Word to be life and power to
their souls. It endures to eternal life. How vital that we understand
and realize how the Lord gives us eternal life and maintains
that life for people that are kept by the power of God through
faith unto salvation. It's not by the naked power of
God alone It is through a channel, which is through faith. That
is how God's people are kept. The Word of God, faith upon that
Word, instructs us, warns us, keeps us, guides us, speaks to
us. No wonder the psalmist said,
be not silent unto me. If thou be silent unto me, I
become like them that go down into the pit. Everyone shall
receive of thy words. Thy words, says Jeremiah, were
found and I did eat them, and they were to the joy and rejoicing
of my soul. And the closing words to thee,
churches in Asia, he that hath an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit saith unto thee, churches. That word is, they're not just
heard with the outward ear, but it actually enters, enters into
the heart, and there it brings forth fruit. The Lord likens
it to a seed in the parable of the sower, and the one that was
immediately taken away is on the wayside, and stony ground,
the wayside, completely taken away, did not bring forth fruit. On stony ground sprung up quickly
at first, but when there was then persecution arising because
of the word, then they were offended, brought no fruit. And then that
in. The ground with the thorns, sown
amongst thorns, choked with the cares of this world and things
of this world. Again, it didn't bring any fruit,
but that which is sown on good ground. That's the word, the
entrance of the word giveth life. The entrance brings forth fruit,
enters as a seed, enters maybe in one word you hear, read or
preached in the word of God. And you go over that, and it
fastens on you, and it has an effect upon your life. And it
speaks to you, where the word of a king is, there is power.
My word shall not return unto me void. It shall accomplish
the thing whereto I sent it. And all the time it is the word
of God. Heaven and earth shall pass away,
but my word shall not pass away. They endure to eternal life. And that which they have wrought
and been used in the hearts and lives of the people of God. The
Lord knows every word that he's sent, and every word that has
taken root, and every word that has been heard. And even though
we might not be blessed, or might not think the word has entered
in when it has actually been heard, the Holy Spirit can bring
it back, ring it in our ears, sound it in our ears, and never
get away from it. Never think that those who go
away from after they've heard the Word, that that's the last
that they've heard of that Word. The Spirit is in it, they'll
hear it again. And that is what will be effectual. And may we be encouraged in that,
that the Lord is able to bring to our remembrance all things
whatsoever He has said unto us. And that is to be our meat. and drink. That is the life of
the soul. That is that which endureth to
eternal life. It gives life itself, and it
is the token of it, the earnest of eternal life, the very receiving
of it. It brings its own blessings with
it, and it brings the evidence of life with it as well. May that endureth unto eternal
life. I would go over again the centrality
of the Lord's sufferings and death, how vital that that is,
because for a sinner, one that is constantly reminded day by
day, hour by hour, of his sinnership, he needs to be reminded of the
blood that was shed on Calvary's tree. why we remember it in the
ordinance of the Lord's Supper. We must not forget this is God's
plan of salvation. It is redemption. It is atonement. It is a substitutionary offering. Is Isaac taken off the altar? Is the ram put in his place?
It is God's provision. It is a near kinsman. It is one that shall marry the
church, be as the husband unto the church, the heavenly bridegroom,
united to the Lord Jesus, the living vine. And it is that made. You know, in preaching, we can
be left to be quite earthbound, carnal, and it's not too hard. to preach on providential things
and on things that accompany salvation. But it's a lot harder to preach
on Christ and Him crucified. And as a hearer, it's easier
to hear on providential things and things that are good and
right in their place and need to be preached But when we haven't
got a spiritual ear, and haven't got an appetite, and we haven't
got that sense of the sinnership of our soul, and the need of
redemption, and constantly that we be washed in that precious
blood of the Lamb, then that becomes a weariness. And often thought of those sacrifices
made in the Old Testament, In Hebrews it speaks of them, so
many. The Lord had not delight in them,
is what they pointed to. There must have been many Israelites
that couldn't look past them to Christ. And to them it must
have been, well, what a waste of life. What a waste of these
animals. What a lot of toil. What a lot
of effort. What purpose is it? What weariness
is it? But those that knew that it pointed
to Christ, it was a constant reminder. Those in Hebrews 11,
they lived by faith, they saw the Lord. They drank of that
spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. And it is the same today, and
that a living soul needs living bread, needs to feed on Christ,
needs to see Christ, needs to see Him again and again in their
place, suffering in their stead, fulfilling the law of God and
satisfying the justice of God, to see Him bearing their sins
in His own body on the tree. It is that which is the meat
for a hungry soul, a soul that hungers and thirsts after righteousness. We won't find righteousness in
ourselves. or in the minister, or in anyone
else, but in Christ alone is why his name is. This is the
name wherewith he shall be called, the Lord our righteousness. And
the name of the church is surnamed the same, the name that she shall
be called, the Lord our righteousness. So that is the meat that endureth
unto eternal life, not any meat, Not any mate, but specific mate. Sadly, in our country there'll
be many that meet in churches where they'll just have a 10-minute
sermon and it might be some anecdotes, it might be some current affairs
or something like that, but not of Christ. And it's a great blessing
if the Lord gives us an appetite for Christ and gives us a Christ-exalting
ministry and keeps us in the ministry to preach Him and Him
crucified. I want to look secondly at meat
to be laboured for. Our text says, labour not for
the meat which perisheth but for that which endureth unto
everlasting life. In other words, labour for that
meat which endureth unto everlasting life. Really, as a summary of what
this means, is the diligent use of means. If we are labouring
for this bread of life, for this word, for this meat, You will
diligently use the means of grace, reading the word, time in prayer
with the Lord, attendance at the means of grace, the house
of God, gathering together, communion one with another. It will be
as hearing the word preached and not just being there, but
a diligent use of it, joining prayer, before and after the
services, or being like the Bereans that searched the Scriptures
daily, whether these things were so, therefore many of them believed. The Apostle Paul was the one
preaching, but they took the word he preached, and then they
searched the Scriptures to find that word. And that was the reason
given that many of them believed. We think of Ruth, one of the
things that she was commended for. She didn't just stay at
home, she went out and she gleaned from morning until evening. Gleaning amongst the sheaves,
in the heat of the day, back breaking work, stooping down,
picking up, here a little, a few ears of corn, and there a little. There's labour that was in it. With the manna they went out
in the morning and they gathered the manna. There was a gathering
of that. Our Lord exhorted in this way,
search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal
life and they are they which testify of me. I fear that that
is one of the things in our day and generation in many a professing
church where The Scriptures are replaced with perhaps an overhead
projector. People don't bother to have their
own Bibles because one reading will be beautiful, one translation,
another reading from another translation. It's a great blessing
to have a faithful translation, to stick to it, and to have that
Word in our hearts. It is the meditation of the people
of God. It's a great blessing to have
much of it committed to memory. And there's labor also in that
as well. Then there's the Lord's exhortation. Ask, seek, and find. Ask and it shall be given you.
Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened
unto you. And each of that suggests that
labor in prayer, asking of the Lord, Lord, bless the word to
me. Give me a portion for my soul. Favor my soul through thy word. Speak unto me like you have done
to that person, to that person. The companions hearken to thy
voice. Cause me to hear it. And those
very specific prayers that are asking for the Lord's blessing
and asking for his instruction and teaching in the way. And
then there's a seeking. Seeking through the Word of God.
Often I find, probably perhaps a question comes in your mind
and to read one portion and then there'll be stepping stones,
especially with the Bible, with the cross-references I find the
most handy because then you can look in the margin that brings
you to another portion that brings you to another portion and it
may be after several steps through the scriptures that that one
will be blessed and that one will be where the Lord speaks
to us and the promise is ask and it shall be given seek and
ye shall find not and it shall be opened And though he may get
to a portion like the eunuch, and he doesn't know what it means,
and he can't fathom a doubt. And his knocking was to ask the
eunuch. It's good for us to not only
ask man or ask a minister, but ask the Lord. And many answers
have been given through the ministry of the Word. Well, in one sense,
the eunuch did get it through the ministry of the Word. Again,
the same scripture and preach done to him, Jesus. But our Lord
here compares and made me think of how do we get our daily bread? How do we labor for the meat
that perishes? It doesn't just happen. We've
each got a known different secular works. When I was in engineering,
if I was given a machine to to build, and at first I didn't
know what shape it would be, how big it would be, how it would
be driven, electric, pneumatic, hydraulic, and there was a lot
of labour. There was a lot of prayer spread
out, how should I do this? The concept, the overall plans,
the splitting it up into sections, and then you'd end up with 150,
200 drawings of that machine, and the machine then would be
made. and there it would be reflecting what had been drawn. But it didn't
just happen. You know, we are so used to things.
We see the cars on the road, we see the houses that are built.
That didn't just happen. There was a lot of labour in
that. We're used to that. And the Lord
says if you want spiritual blessing, then you labour for that as well.
You're not careless, lovingly. You're not acting in a different
way than you act with secular work. You know, the children
of Israel, when they came back from captivity, and it's true
they were discouraged, and many times we get discouraged in the
things of God too. But you know, when they were
discouraged, they went back from building the house of God, to
their own fields and to their own labours, to God send things
into them so that it didn't go well, and their money ran out,
and their crops didn't prosper, and then he sent the prophets,
Haggai and Zechariah, to explain what was happening, and why these
things were happening, because they were neglecting the house
of God. You know how easy it is to be
too busy, too busy to pray, too busy to search, too busy to have
time for the Lord, to be like Martha, cumbered about with much
serving, instead of Mary, sitting at the feet of the Lord, hearing
His Word. It is good for us to remember
that which our Lord exhorts here, that we are to labour for that
meat which endureth unto everlasting life. The diligent soul shall
be made fat. In all labour there is profit. And it is the labour of a labouring
soul, one that knocks, one that searches, one that looks for
the deep, that coucheth beneath. Remember the disciples, they
heard the parables the same as others. Many others went back
They thought, well, the first telling of it, that was enough.
They didn't need to know more. But the disciples, they came
and asked the Lord, declare unto us the parable of. And they had the benefit. And
very often it was that declaring the parable, there was the spiritual
aspect. There was the spiritual food,
not the natural food. Many were just satisfied with
the seek for the spiritual food,
and application, and blessing. Dr. Hawker, in his poor man's
commentary, some have accused him, and they'll say, you find
Christ in the scripture where Christ is not, and perhaps sometimes
that may be so, but it's a good fault to have. There's many of
the Psalms that you might have over the top of your Bibles,
and the Westminster reference Bibles they have here, If you,
for instance, read Psalm 40, you might have a description
over the top, only it's speaking of David. But we know that Psalm
is full of Christ. Paul directly references it to
it in Hebrews. And it's a good thing, where
we're looking for Christ in all the Scriptures. Have ye seen
him whom my soul loveth? There's that desire to see him.
the eunuch again, of whom speaketh the prophet this of himself or
some other man. And it was Christ that was set
forth before him. And so that is a labour of seeking
that we might find Christ, see Him in the Word, and see what
is written of Him, and feed upon that which is in the Scriptures
of truth, in their Lord's sufferings and death at Calvary, it was
fulfilling of the Scriptures. And it is in the Gospel day that
we are in, that we've been given the rich treasure of all the
Old Testament as that food and manna for our souls. Remember
the command for Peter was, feed my sheep and feed my lambs. It's a lesson as well That was the command to Peter. And we can get lazy in the ministry
as well. A dear late sister in faith,
when I buried her and I first started my pastorate here, Lily
Woodgate, she said to me once, she said, I like your ministry
because you break up the world in small pieces so that we can
digest it. And I hadn't thought of it like
that, but her comments remain with me. And I try to do that,
continue to do that. The minister doing the work. You think of a parent with a
small child that's just starting to eat solids or to maybe get
a bit older and they'll cut up their meat for them, cut it up
into small bits, help them to eat it. Maybe when someone gets
older, then that's done as well for them to help them. And the
job of the minister is to preach the word and to feed. Peter was
exhorted to not just feed sheep, but feed the lambs as well. And
so that word is to be labored for, not just a text, but how
we can set it forth so that it can be digested and fed and nourished
and profits the people, not just go straight over their head so
that the Word doesn't profit them. So it is a meat to be labored
for. By those that preach it, preach
the Word. Study to show thyself approved
of God, rightly dividing the Scriptures. That is the exhortation
to us, but also to the hearers as well. And it is in that way
that the blessing is to be found. I want to look then thirdly at
meat that is given. We have in our text, 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. God the Father has sealed the
Lord Jesus Christ as the bread of life, as the only name given
among men whereby we must be saved. Has given that seal right
through these scriptures. John especially speaks of that
and how he It says, many other signs truly did Jesus in the
presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book,
but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life
through his name. Those things that are written,
that are heard, that are believed, that are fed upon. But lest we
should think that the blessing is just dependent on us, that
it is only our diligence, lest any should say to another, well,
what's wrong with you? Why aren't you blessed? You should
do like me. You should be diligent, you should
labor for it, and you'll be blessed. There's a reminder that it is
given, it is not earned. We cannot turn around and sometimes
we do this. You try to put into practice
and you labor for the word and you wait a few weeks and then
you get angry with the Lord in prayer. Say, Lord, I've been
asking for a blessing and I've been diligent and I've been reading
and I diligently attend the means of grace and you haven't blessed
me. And secretly there's this, that he's putting the Lord in
debt, as if he's a debtor to you, you've done your part, he
must do his. We can have that, not really
realise what really is in the back of our mind. But the Lord says, no, the blessing
is a given blessing, a sovereign gift, a free grace gift. that the Lord uses means and
will have us use the means doesn't take away the fact that the Word
is given from heaven. And if you and I are to have
the comfort of knowing that the Word we've received will endure
to eternal life, that God knows about it and He won't say to
us at the last, depart from me, I never knew you, we need to
know that what we do glean What we do receive has not come because
of what we have just taken and what we have got by our diligence. We've only done that which is
our duty to do. We are unprofitable servants,
but to know that those gifts that have been given, every word
has been given by the high decree of heaven. Going back to Ruth,
it's a beautiful type, isn't it? Where she was gleaning. But Boaz knew she was gleaning. He'd given her permission to
glean. Permission to glean amongst the
sheaves. And he also gave commandment
that those that were reaping, that they should leave handfuls
of purpose for her. And when she came back and Naomi
saw what she'd gleaned, She said, where has thou gleaned today? Blessed is he who hath taken
knowledge of thee. She knew that she had gleaned
more than what would have been a usual amount of gleaning. There must have been one that
had taken notice of her and left her some and favoured her. And
that was a true mark, a true blessing. And even when she went
and presented her petition, lying at his feet at night. Before
he sent her away, he said, hold out your lap. He gave her the
corns. You didn't even have to beat
that out. And those were tokens. Those were evidence for her of
what he was doing on her behalf. And those were free gifts. They were given. Eternal life
is given. I give unto them eternal life. They shall never perish. Neither
shall any man pluck them out of mine hand than that meat that
is given, the bread, the food, the words. The Lord gives that
word, and he gives it to his people. May we trace it, not
given by a minister, but given by God, given through the minister,
through the means. You might say, if the Lord doesn't
use means, he wouldn't even need a minister. Why couldn't he use
the angel in Cornelius's case? But he didn't. He asked him to
send for Peter, and then prepared Peter. The Lord, magnifying the
means, going out into all the world, preached the gospel to
every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. As many as were ordained unto
eternal life believe. That gift is given by God, but
the Lord is using means. May the Lord then make us to
labour for that means, according to the word here, and have an
aim and desire in our petitions, be specific for it, and mindful that that which we
receive seal of heaven upon her. May the Lord add His blessings.