Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening. And
now for today's program. I'd like to welcome you to our
program today. I'm glad you could join us. If you'd like to follow
along in your Bibles, I'll be preaching from the book of John,
the gospel of John, chapter six. And I have a few messages I'm
going to preach on this subject, Christ, the bread of life. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
bread of life. And I've taken that title from
verse 35 of John chapter six. I'm just going to give you an
overview of some of the other verses in this chapter. But in
verse 35 of John 6, it says, Jesus said unto them, I am the
bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. Now
a few weeks ago, I preached on the subset, several messages
entitled Christ, the Water of Life. And a lot of times in the
scripture, Holy Spirit conviction, Now, when we talk about conviction,
we're talking about the work of the Holy Spirit in the new
birth, where under the preaching of the gospel, the Holy Spirit
powerfully, invincibly, and irresistibly brings a sinner who by nature
is spiritually dead in trespasses and sins. That's what we all
are by nature. We fell in Adam, we're dead in trespasses and
sins, spiritually depraved. And in order for us to come to
faith in Christ, we must be born again by the Spirit. Christ said
that in John chapter 3 when He was speaking to a Pharisee named
Nicodemus. You must be born again or you
cannot see, He said, the Kingdom of God. You don't have spiritual
eyes. You cannot enter the Kingdom
of God. So that spiritual sight of the glory of God in Christ
that comes in the new birth is Holy Spirit conviction. The Bible
says in John 16 that the Holy Spirit would come and convince
the world, that is God's people in the world, not all without
exception now, but God's chosen people, he would convince them,
convict them or convince them of sin and of righteousness and
of judgment. And that's a Holy Spirit conviction.
That's the work of the Spirit in the new birth under the gospel,
which is the power of God and the salvation wherein the righteousness
of God is revealed. That's the work of the Spirit
to bring a sinner to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and
to repent of dead works. And it's a calling. It's an effectual
calling, the theologians called it. And that's true. An effectual,
invincible, irresistible calling whereby the Spirit convinces
a sinner of this truth so that he cannot ignore it, he cannot
deny it, and he cannot leave it. That's the nature of this
work of the Spirit. And this work of the Spirit is
described in several different ways in the Bible. And one of
the ways is this, that the Spirit gives a sinner a hunger and a
thirst for righteousness. In fact, in the Beatitudes, in
the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter five and verse six, the
Lord said, blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness
where they shall be filled. And the thirst there is for the
water of life. And what happens, the Spirit
brings a sinner to understand that that spiritual thirst for
righteousness can only be filled by looking to and resting in
the Lord Jesus Christ as our whole righteousness before God.
He quenches the thirst, but He gives us a hunger. And that hunger
is for the bread of life, hunger for righteousness. That hunger
can only be satisfied by the Spirit bringing a sinner to look
to Christ and rest in Him for all righteousness. Nothing else
will do. And one of the ways we know that
it's the work of the Spirit and not just natural conscience or
the work of other people trying to beat us down is that we will
find no relief from that thirst and that hunger except as the
Spirit brings us to believe in and rest in and follow the Lord
Jesus Christ. Well, Christ is the water of
life. He told that to the woman at the well back in John chapter
four. Well, here he tells his disciples
that he's the bread of life. Now, as chapter six opens, we
see one of the Lord's greatest miracles when he fed 5,000 people
and probably more, because when they counted, they only counted
the men, but they had wives and children there too. He fed a
multitude with just a few fish and a few loaves of bread. And
all of this was such a great miracle that it caused people
to understand that this person, Jesus of Nazareth, must be the
Messiah, Son of God. One of the passages in John chapter
six is in verse 14, where it says, then those men, when they
had seen the miracle that Jesus did, that's the feeding of the
5,000 with a few fish and a few loaves of bread, they said, this
is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world. Now
what they're doing is they're looking back to the book of Deuteronomy
chapter 18 and verse 15, where Moses spoke of a greater prophet,
greater than Moses, who would come to fulfill the whole word
of God, and that prophet is the Messiah, that prophet is Christ. And so they're referring back,
they were looking for that prophet, that supreme, prime prophet who
is the Messiah. And you know, Christ, in his
mediatorial offices, He is identified as our prophet, bearing the word
of God, being the embodiment of the word of God. He is our
priest to represent God's people before him, to bring the sacrifice. He's our prophet, our priest,
and our king. It's his three of his mediatorial
offices. So when these miracles were happening,
it drew some people to understand that this man is the Messiah. Later on, they saw him walking
on water and in the midst of a storm. And so when they came,
they came to him, he began to teach them. And it says in, they
would come and they'd ask questions. Where did you come from? They
called him rabbi, which was a Jewish master. And here's one thing
that he always did. He would turn their minds from
earthly things to spiritual things. And if you'll look at John 6
and verse 27, listen to this. The Lord said unto them, labor
not for the meat which perisheth. The physical meat, physical things. But labor for that meat which
endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give
unto you. For him hath God the Father sealed. Now he's talking about the water
of life, the bread of life. He's talking about salvation.
And he says, you're all so diligent to labor for material things,
material riches, material food, material things like that. But
he said, labor for that which endureth, that which lasts forever
unto everlasting life. Now when he says labor for it,
he's not talking about working for your salvation, and that's
proven here in verse 27 when he says, labor for that meat
which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall
give unto you. Salvation is a gift. is not what
you earn or what you deserve, it's not what you work for, it's
a gift from God. Well, verse 28, then said they
unto him, what shall we do that we might work the works of God?
And listen to this answer in verse 29. Jesus answered and
said unto them, this is the work of God, that you believe on him
whom he, God, hath sent. If you believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, that's not something that you did naturally out of
your own, as they say, free will, or out of some spark of goodness
within yourself. The Bible teaches that man by
nature has no free will. His will's in bondage to sin
and darkness, ignorance and deception, and he has no desire to believe
in Christ. He's deceived. And so that's
why we must be born again. Because if we're not born again,
we won't see these things. We won't understand them. We
won't believe them. So if you believe the gospel,
if you believe in Christ, that's the work of God. For by grace
are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves. It's
the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. And
so, as they said in verse 29, this is the work of God that
you believe on him whom he has sent. Well, look at verse 30.
They said therefore unto him, what sign showest thou then that
we may see and believe thee? What dost thou work? And Christ
turns them to an Old Testament type. Verse 31, it says, this
is what they're saying. They go back to the Old Testament,
and it says, our fathers did eat manna in the desert, as it
is written, he gave them bread from heaven to eat. Now, Christ
now turns them to that type, and he says, then Jesus, verse
32, then Jesus said unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you,
Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but my Father giveth
you the true bread from heaven. Now they're talking about the
manna that came down from heaven. Verse 33, for the bread of God
is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the
world. They're referring to Moses, the prophet, the leader of the
Hebrew children coming out of Egypt and in the wilderness.
God fed them, rained manna from heaven. And he says Moses didn't
give that to him, God did. But he says that manna, that
true manna from heaven, that spiritual manna, which is the
bread of life, is Christ himself who came down from heaven and
giveth life unto the world. Now, there's several ways you
can look at that, giving life unto the world. Christ is the
creator of all things. Read John chapter one, it'll
tell you that. He and the Father and the Spirit
were one together in the beginning. God created the world and the
earth and all that's therein. And that's a plurality. It's
the Trinity, one God, three persons. But it was all done through Christ
who is the word of life. And so he gives life, physical
life to everybody who lives. But he doesn't give spiritual
life to everybody. but he has a people all over
the world. They're called in the Bible the
elect of God, the election of grace, and it's made up of all
kinds of people. You can't say that just one class
of people, or one race of people, or one nation of people. are
those who are the elect of God. Now, I know that Israel, the
nation, was elect in a temporal, physical, temporary sense under
the old covenant law, but that was God using them as the means
to bring the Messiah into the world. That's what it means when
Christ said salvation is of the Jews. In other words, Christ,
the Savior, came through in his humanity, came through the Jews.
But the salvation of God's elect is for anybody who wants it.
Jew, Gentile, black, white, male, female, it doesn't matter. Now
the problem is is that man by nature doesn't want it. Man by
nature wants it his way, not God's way. But God brings his
people all over this world, Jew and Gentile, the election of
grace, to desire salvation his way. And he gives spiritual life
to those. He gives them the desire to do
it. The Bible says that God's people
will be willing in the day of his power. And so he says in
verse 34, then said they unto him, this is what John wrote,
then said they unto him, Lord evermore give us this bread,
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh
to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall
never thirst. Now this is essentially the same
thing that he told the woman at the well. If you drink from
the water of life, it's like a fountain flowing up within
you, and you'll never thirst again. It lasts forever. And it's the same way with the
bread of life. It feeds the hunger, the spiritual hunger. It sustains
a person, a sinner saved by grace. Christ is the bread of life.
And he says in verse 36, now it says, but I said unto you
that you also have seen me and believe not. Now listen to these
next verses, they're very important. Who is going to feed on this
bread of life? If left to ourselves, we will
never feed on the bread of life, we will never drink from the
water of life, we will never believe in Christ. We'll hunger
and thirst after different things, but only worldly things. That's
right, men and women hunger and thirst after riches, after popularity
and fame, hunger and thirst after a lot of things that aren't eternal,
that's fleeting, that's going away. But apart from the Spirit
of God, in his conviction work, in the new birth, convincing
us of sin and of righteousness and of judgment, we'll never
hunger and thirst after Christ, the water and the bread of life.
So he tells them this, he says, you've seen me and you believe
not. Now they saw the miracles. They
were probably part of the group that ate of the loaves and the
fishes. And they knew some of the scripture. They referred
back to Moses and that prophet, and then Moses and the manna.
But they didn't know Christ. They didn't know the true Messiah
as the Lord their righteousness. The unbelieving Jews, and I'm
not just picking on the Jews, because unbelieving Gentiles
essentially are the same way, though through a different medium.
The unbelieving Jews took the law of Moses and perverted it
and turned it into a self-righteous system of work salvation. And
they sought righteousness by their works. They didn't find
it. They wanted righteousness, but
they wanted it their way. Two things, they wanted it their
own way, which glorified man and not God, and they wanted
it according to their standard, which was lower than God's standard.
You see, man always by nature thinks that salvation is conditioned
on himself. Something he does, something
he decides, And he always measures righteousness on a sliding scale,
which always falls short of God's standard. Well, my friend, salvation
is not conditioned on sinners, it's conditioned on Christ. He
fulfilled those conditions and secured the salvation of everyone
for whom he lived and was buried and died and lived and died and
was buried and rose again the third day. He did that, and He
secured their salvation, and He is the standard of righteousness. There's no sliding scale before
God. I must be as righteous as Christ, and I cannot attain that
by my works. I cannot attain that by my sincerity. Should I work hard to obey God?
Yes, but not to attain righteousness, that's impossible. Should I be
a sincere person in what I do, in preaching, and in every area
of life? Yes, but my sincerity will not
make me righteous. The only way I can find righteousness
is in Christ, and that's what the Spirit has given me a hunger
and thirst after. Nothing is gonna satisfy my spiritual
hunger and thirst, but Christ, the water of life, and Christ,
the bread of life, Christ who is my righteousness. So blessed
are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. They'll
be filled. How are they gonna be filled? By looking to and
resting in Christ as the author and finisher of their faith.
So he tells these people who are questioning him, he says,
look at verse 36 again. But I said unto you that you
also have seen me and believe not. But look at verse 37. All
that the Father giveth me shall come to me. and him that cometh
to me I will in no wise cast out. All whom the Father gave
to him. Now according to the Bible, and
that's what we need to understand, we can sit around and talk about
these things and rationalize and give our opinions, but what
good is that going to do any of us? It won't do any good. What does God's Word say? He
says, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him
that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. Think about that. Now who are these that the Father
gave to him? When did the Father give those
to him? Well, if you look over in John
17, this is Christ's high priestly prayer. Listen to this. Christ praying to his father
in John 17 in verse one. He said, these words spoke Jesus
and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, father, the hour has
come, glorify thy son that thy son also may glorify thee. In
verse two, as thou has given him power over all flesh, that
he should give eternal life to as many as thou has given him. He's going to give eternal life
to as many as the Father has given Him. And when did the Father
give these to Him? Well, the Bible tells us that
the Father gave them to Him before the foundation of the world in
sovereign, divine, electing grace. And that's what election is all
about. If you look over in Ephesians chapter one, it tells us this. It says in Ephesians chapter
one in verse three, It says, blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath
chosen us in him, in Christ, before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before him
in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
not man's will, but his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved, accepted
before God in Christ. 2 Timothy 1 and verse 9 talks
about a salvation. that was given us, his people,
in Christ Jesus before the world began. Now go back to John 6,
37. He says, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. There
was no doubt about this. Christ did not come to this world
hoping that some people would accept him, cast their vote for
him. He knew who he'd come to save. He said he laid down his life
for the sheep. And he said he knew his sheep
and they'll follow him. He knew who they were. The Bible
says that their names were written in the Lamb's book of life, written
there before the foundation of the world. He knew his sheep. And he says, all of them are
gonna come to him and him that cometh to those who come to him,
he will no wise cast out. Now, man by nature, now the unbeliever
will look at stuff like that and they'll say, well, then it
doesn't matter what I do. I don't need to seek the Lord
if I'm not one of the elect or if I'm not one given. No, no,
no, you know what you're doing when you say things like that?
Number one, you're trying to play God. God chose his people,
he knows who they are. He knows it, but I don't, and
you don't, until the work of the Holy Spirit in conviction,
bringing them to faith in Christ. Paul told the Thessalonians in
1 Thessalonians 1, verses four and five, he said, I know your
election of God. because the word, the gospel,
came to you, not just in word only, it wasn't just words that
you heard, but it came to you in power. How do you know it
came to you in power? Because God gave you faith to
believe in Christ and rest in Him. All that the Father giveth
me, Christ said, shall come to me. Have you come to Christ?
Now listen, that's important. And anybody, you know, somebody
said, well, if I want salvation and come to Him, if I'm not one
of His elect, He'll turn me away. Oh, no. If you're one of His
chosen people, you will come to Him and He will in no wise
cast you out. God has never turned a sinner
away from salvation who wants salvation His way, according
to His grace through the blood and righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And if you want it His way, according
to His grace through the blood and righteousness of Christ,
He's the one who worked in you. That's the work of God, that
you believe on Him whom God has sent. So have you come to Christ? Now, if you claim that you have,
then what you have to do is understand this, make sure that the Christ
to whom you came is the Christ of the Bible. And you know that
by what the Bible says of the glory of His person, who He is,
and the power and success of His finished work, what He accomplished
on the cross. This Jesus that men are preaching
today, who came and tried to save everybody and died for everybody,
that's not the Christ of the Bible. No, here's the Christ
of the Bible. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh me I will in no wise cast
out. Look at verse 38. He says, for I came down from
heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent
me. That's Christ, the Son of God incarnate in His role as
the servant of the Father, the servant of the covenant for the
salvation of His people. It's not a denial of His deity.
It's not a denial of His equality, His being equal with the Father
in every attribute of deity. but it's the salvation of sinners
by the servant, and it's according to the will of the Father. And
he says in verse 39, and this is the Father's will which hath
sent me. Now listen to this, that of all
which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up
again at the last day. Now this is Christ speaking as
the water of life, the bread of life, the righteousness of
God, the Savior, the surety. surety is one who's taken the
debt of the sins of another group and put it upon himself to pay
the debt and as the surety of God's people chosen by God before
the foundation of the world having their sins imputed to him Christ
came to earth and became incarnate God manifest in the flesh And
He went to the cross and paid that debt in full. And He provided
for every one of them the certainty of eternal life, the water of
life, the bread of life, all that God requires and all that
they need found in Him. And He'll lose nothing. He'll
lose not one of them. They will all be saved unto the
uttermost, the scripture says, by Jesus Christ, the Lord. So
understand this now. This is the Bread of Life. I
hope you'll join us next week for another message from God's
Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
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today and may the Lord be with you.