Head over on to the Gospel of
John. Find chapter six. It's right
after chapter five and right before chapter seven. That's
for Laura. All right, John 6.32, and we'll
be reading through 48. John 6.32. Jesus said to them,
truly I tell you, Moses didn't give you the bread from heaven,
but my father gives you the true bread from heaven For the bread
of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to
the world Then they said sir. Give us this bread always I Am
the bread of life Jesus told them no one who comes to me will
ever be hungry and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty
again But as I told you you've seen me and yet you do not believe
Everyone the father gives me will come to me and the one who
comes to me. I will never cast out I 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 I should lose none
of these he has given me, but should raise them up on the last
day. For this is the will of my father, that everyone who
sees the son and believes in him will have eternal life, and
I will raise him up on the last day. Therefore the Jews started
complaining about him, because he said, I am the bread that
came down from heaven. They were saying, isn't this
Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How
can he now say, I've come down from heaven? Jesus answered them,
stop complaining amongst yourselves. No one can come unto 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 will be all taught by God. Everyone who has listened
to 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. Truly I tell you, anyone who
believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Let's
pray. Lord and Savior, thank you for
Sundays, a day when we can be glad to come to the house of
the Lord. We are here today needing you and your saving blood, the
accomplishments of what happened at Calvary. We have chains around
our hearts, rocks in our heads, and scar tissues of sin around
our soul. We dine at the buffet of culture. We drink heavily
at the fountain of self-acceptance, self-actualization to the point
where we are intoxicated with ourselves and wallowing in our
own depravity without our knowledge. We are lawbreakers and God-haters,
prone to wander, prone to leave the God we love. Thank you and
praise you for your blood going deeper than the stains have gone.
Bring us close to you today. Bless the pastor as he brings
forth your word. Care for the hurting folks that are here today.
Bless the praise team, the junior and senior elders, and the church
workers. Let your name be praised and honored and glorified through
all the earth. We ask these things in Christ's name. Amen. Amen.
Amen. How did I get to Christ? I want
to try to answer that for you today. How many of you believe
that you've come to Christ and trusted Christ? A big majority
of you. That's awesome. And may it be
so today that some of you who have not come to Christ will
be brought to him this day. John six is just such an awesome
chapter. In fact, the whole gospel of
John, if I were going to be asked, what books of the Bible as a
young believer would I start to devour? It would be the gospel
of John and the book of Romans. Those two books. John six and verse 37 says, all
that the father giveth me shall come to me. and him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. And verse 44, no man can come
to me except the father which has sent me draw him and I will
raise him up at the last day. The gospel of John, in John chapter four, Jesus makes
this statement, I must needs go through Samaria. Now they
were going to a different destination. And so Samaria would have been
out of the way. But Jesus had a reason for going
through Samaria, because there was this one particular lady
there who had no husband, but she had been living with several
men. And Jesus needed to cross her path in order to bring her
to himself. That's what happens in John 4. And then in John 5, there's a
big Jewish feast about to take place. And Jesus and the disciples
went up to Jerusalem And verse five of chapter five says, and
a certain man was there. Often in scriptures, you will
read, and a certain woman was there, like Lydia, a certain
man was there. And this certain man who was
there had an infirmity for 38 years. He couldn't walk. And he was out by the pool. And
what is very noticeable is Jesus said unto him in verse eight,
well, verse seven, the impotent man answered, sir, I have no
man to put me in the water when the water's trouble to let me
into the pool. But while I'm coming, another
step down before me. Jesus saith unto him, rise, take
up thy bed and walk. And immediately the man was made
whole and took up his bed and walked. And on the same day was the Sabbath. Trouble. From this chapter on,
Jesus is stalked by church people. by scribes and Pharisees, by
religious people. And they are determined to kill
him. The gospel of John is very, very
clear. These folks were determined to
kill him. Now, ordinarily you would think
if a guy had been an infant for 38 years, he couldn't walk. And
all of a sudden you saw him on Sunday, walking around and smiling
and shouting, it's been 38 years since I have been able to walk.
You would say, hallelujah. But religious people don't behave
that way. They see him rejoicing on the
Sabbath. And they say to him, first of
all, you can't be carrying your bed on the Sabbath day. That's
against the religious rituals. By the way, religious people
are always about rituals. You better watch rituals because
performing rituals will not take you to heaven. In fact, later
on in the gospel of John, Jesus is going to say this, the flesh
profits nothing. Now he's talking about religion.
Belonging to the Baptist, Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, Church
of the Nazarene, First Pentecostal, Second Pentecostal, all of that
amounts to nothing. Outward in religion, what is
outward amounts to nothing. It's the spirit that quicken
us. A few minutes ago, I sensed that some of us were rejoicing
in the spirit. Now, yes. Rejoicing in the spirit
will cause some outward manifestations. You may lift your hands, you
may shout aloud, praise God. But what really matters is the
inside. How many times have you been
in a religious meeting where you were bored to tears? You
weren't here. You just, I've been there many, many, many times
since I was eight years old. But I've also been at times where
even when I was a young lad, I wanted to say hallelujah, but
that wasn't allowed in our church, not too loud, or raise my hands. And that's why here, sometimes
it's when you're in the spirit on the Lord's day, your hands
just kind of, you know what I mean? You don't feel embarrassed by
it, you want to do it, and you put your hands up because it's
the spirit that makes everything alive. If all you're hearing
is ritualistic religion, it's dead. Some of you have been to
church where they spoke nothing but Latin. You didn't understand
a word, but you went to mass, right? It profits nothing. There's no hallelujah, there's
no praise God, because it doesn't get down in your spirit. It's the spirit that makes things
alive. The flesh prophesies nothing. That's what Jesus said. Well,
verse nine of John five says, the man took up his bed and walked,
and the same day was the Sabbath. And what took place on this day? The healing of this man caused
these religious zealots to follow Christ right up to Calvary and
nail him to the cross. When you get to chapter five,
the latter part of chapter five, these religious folks began to
confront Christ. And I think this is some of the
greatest passages in the Bible. Look at verse 39. Now let's look
at verse 38. And you have not his word abiding
in you, for whom you hath sent, for whom he hath sent. Him you
believe not. Jesus is right in the face of
the Pharisees and the Sadducees. And here's what he says in verse
39. Search the scriptures, for in
them you think you have eternal life, but they are they which testify
of me. Some of you better watch about that. Don't read your Bible
every day and miss Christ. Search the scriptures and it
literally reads this way. You do indeed search the scriptures. And because of your searching
the scriptures, you think you have eternal life, but they are
they which testify of me. The Bible is a book that testifies
of Jesus Christ. And he said, and you will not,
verse 40, and you will not come to me that you might have life.
Coming to Christ, finding Christ, knowing Christ is life eternal. Make sure you know him. Make
sure it's not just a Baptist, Catholic, Methodist thing, but
you have indeed seen Christ as only Lord and Savior of poor
sinners. These folks that Jesus was talking
to, you see, claim Moses. Look at verse 45. Do not think that I will accuse
you to the Father. There is one that accuses you.
Who? Moses. Moses accuses you in whom
you trust. You're trusting in Moses. First
five books of the Bible, written by Moses. You're trusting what
Moses said? You're trusting the Ten Commandments?
Is that your hope? And by the way, isn't it strange
that religious people want to murder a man? and especially
murder Jesus because he made a man whole on the Sabbath day
who hadn't walked in 38 years. You would think that religious
people would be going, this undoubtedly is a miracle. God has done something
awesome, but oh no, this is the Sabbath day. It's against our
laws, against our rules. Be careful that you're not a
legalist. you'll have a raunchy attitude and murder in your heart. Look at verse 45. Do not think
that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one that accused
you, even Moses. For had you believed Moses, you
would have believed me because he wrote of me. Moses wrote of
me. The first five books of the Bible
are written about somebody's coming. Somebody's coming. A savior is coming. The Lamb
of God is coming. The propitiation for our sins
is coming. The one who's gonna die in our
stead, in room, and our place, he's coming. Moses wrote to me. The Bible is not so much about
the 10 commandments. There's always been only one
way to heaven, and that's smack dab through Jesus Christ. You
have to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Moses wrote to me. Verse
47. But if you believe not his writings,
how shall you believe my words? In the sixth chapter of the gospel
of John, we're working our way there. Jesus feeds a whole bunch
of people with loaves and a few fishes. Isn't it awesome what
our God can do? with a couple of fish and loads
of bread and feed 5,000 men plus women and children and then pick
up baskets full after? He's an awesome God. And the religious people again
in the sixth chapter began to say things like, who is this
guy? He tells them very plainly that he is God in human flesh.
and that he has been sent of the father. And in verse 37,
he said, for the bread of God is he which cometh down from
heaven and giveth life unto the world. In other words, I am the
bread of life. I am God in human flesh. I am
sent from God. Jesus, our savior sent from God. God in human flesh. Well, they
didn't like that either. That made them mad too. And look
at chapter 7 and verse 1. After these things, Jesus walked
in Galilee, for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews
sought to kill him. Look at verse 23 of John 7. If a man on the Sabbath day received
circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken, are
you angry at me because I have made a man every whit hole on
the Sabbath day?" See, they're still talking about Jesus making
this guy whole on the Sabbath day. I just honestly, even in
my spirit, like today's politics, I just don't get the foolishness
of people. I just say to myself, don't they have any kind of reasoning? Does anything make common sense?
Why are you trying to kill Jesus? Because he healed a man on the
Sabbath day. Well, when you get to chapter
eight, Jesus is meeting this other woman at the well. And 8.3 says this, and the scribes
and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery on
the Sabbath day. And he saved her. She was taken. Why? You know, religious people
are just waiting to get you. Oh, oh. You're a former drug
user. I knew you when you were out
there. I hope you make it. I doubt if
you will though. Religious people are always judgmental. Be careful who you tell about
your centership. I was thinking this morning before
I got in the pulpit, I am such a sinner. I thought to myself,
I ought to tell him. So I'm telling you, I am one
messed up dude. But I know this, I came to Christ
as a sinner. He saved me as a sinner. And
this old sinner is heaven bound because of Jesus Christ. All
right. So you see the mess that's going
on by the time we get to chapter six. Now, Jesus says to the religious
people, and I was thinking this week, you know, many times I
have been told this, you know, the doctrine that you preached
this morning. You ought to preach that on Wednesday
night because most people aren't just ready to hear that God is
a predestinating God. You ought to save that for Wednesday
night. Most people aren't ready to hear that God actually elected
people before the foundation of the world. You ought to say
that only on Wednesday because you know, you could cause a lot
of confusion. You could keep people from coming
to Christ. And I always answer this way.
What I say is only what Jesus said. And you will notice this,
watch this. Verse 37 of John six. All that the father giveth me
shall come to me. What does that mean? Jesus is
talking to these religious people who have hate and malice and
anger and murder in their heart. Jesus said this, the father gave
me some people. That's pretty plain. He says
to those Pharisees and Sadducees, God gave me a whole mess of people. And they're a messed up bunch
too. You see what Jesus is teaching
here is very strong. In fact, it makes them so mad
that they say to him, we have one father, father Abraham. And
Jesus said to them, you're of your father, the devil. That's
pretty strong talk. What I'm asking is this, how
did I get to Christ? Well, the truth is I had to be
sought. I had to be sought. I would have
never come to Christ on my own. In fact, the Old Testament in
the book of Isaiah says that we are called by this name, sought
out. He had to seek you out. And you know where you were,
don't you? I mean, don't ever forget where he found you. And don't ever forget that you
were hiding and you had the fig leaves on. You know, I may be
a drunk, but I'm not a heroin addict. We're all, we were hiding
out. We were camouflaged. We were
down in Lodi Bar. We had to be sought out. Many
of you who have heard me for years, have heard me tell the
story of the tumble bugs. When I was a little boy, I used
to play with the tumble bugs. The tumble bugs down in Kentucky
would get in a cow pile and they would roll up the cow manure
into a little ball about that big around. All day long, I would
watch those tumble bugs. Create more little round manure. And when I got old enough to
read the scripture and found out that I was sought out, I
began to think about tumble bugs. I was down there in the manure
pile of life. Just rolling around a pile of
manure all my life, just pushing it around. That's where some
of you were. Whether you were in the crack house or shooting
up heroin, some of you were in the church house. But all you
were doing is rolling up little manure balls. That's what your
life amounted to. And then one day Jesus came to
the cow pile. And there you were, tumble bug.
Rolling around that little ball of manure of yours. Empty on
the inside. Acting like that little manure
ball was everything to you when you knew it wasn't really. Down
and messed up. And then Jesus came. And you know, you know for sure
right now Many of those tumble bugs that were in the manure
pile with you, they're still out there, but you're in here
having come to Christ and knowing that he's Lord and Savior, he
sought you out of the manure pile. He brought you out of there
and to himself. You had to be sought out. So
when somebody asks you your name, what's your name? Tell them,
Tumblebug sought out by God Almighty and brought to Jesus Christ. You see, not only did you have
to be sought out, but you had to be found. You know why? Because
Jesus wasn't lost, you were. You were lost. How awesome is
this truth that Jesus Christ came into the world to seek and
to save that which was lost. You see, when he came into the
world, he had your name written in the palms of his hand. He
walked the Judean acres with you in mind and kept the law
perfectly because you were lost. You were a law breaker. You actually
thought some of you in your churchiness that keeping the religious rules
would take you to heaven. It'll take you to hell really
quick. I don't know. I wouldn't want to stand before
God without Christ. But if I had to stand before
God, I would rather stand before God, if I was going to stand
there without... I would rather stand before God
lost in my sins as a crack user or heroin user than I would a
self-righteous Pharisee, because what a self-righteous Pharisee
says is this, I know you gave your only son, but that wasn't
enough. I have to do my part, and I'm
really proud of my churchanity. And God will say, depart from
me, you worker of iniquity. I never did know you. You have
to be found. Have you been found? I wonder
if there's someone in here today who's lost. You know you're lost. Wouldn't it be something if you
got found today? You see, most churches teach
that Jesus Christ is not active in salvation, that he's done
all he can and he's waiting on you. Well, you're lost. You're
lost. No, he's not waiting on you.
He's a seeking savior. That's who he is. He is a seeking
savior. You remember the story about
the 99 sheep that was safe in the foal? There was one out of
the foal. Jesus left the 99 and he followed
that one lost sheep. He was looking for one lost sheep. Now I'm sure there were many
more animals out there, but he was looking for this particular
lost sheep that belonged to him. He followed that lost sheep.
through the swampy waters of life, over the mountains of sin,
and finally finding it, he lay hold on it, the Bible says. And
he picked it up. He put it on his shoulders and
walked all the way back to the foe. Now, who do you think ought
to get the glory for finding the lost sheep? Well, of course,
Jesus. How did you get to Jesus? He
found you. He found you when you were lost.
So I don't get that pastor. Well, let me make it a little
plainer. You're down in Lodi Bar, down in the hood, down in
Detroit, here somewhere in Pontiac, just shooting up like crazy,
just crazy as a Jew. And you've pretty well lost everything
that you have, even your own self-respect. I mean, you are
lost. And you end up across the street,
at an old post office where there's a bunch of crazy people in there
who don't take any government funding, who are saying Jesus
is the way, the truth, and the life. You know, all the time when you
were in the crack house, all the time when you were shooting
up, all the time you were selling yourself, all the time you were
living in the backseat of a car in a vacant house, And then the
same goes every once in a while, and how awesome it is. Jesus
goes to a church house, you know, a place with a cross on it, and
he finds you inside there in all your stupidity. And you have
a form of godliness. Whether you've been brought out
of the crack house, the heroin house, or the church house, you
were found. You were lost and he found you. There ought to be some praise
going on in here. You didn't find yourself. He found you. And so today, and those of you
who are still here and your flesh is acting up, but you have come
to Christ. I said to myself, sitting up
here a few minutes ago, I said to myself, as crazy as I am, Can I deny that Jesus is Lord
and Savior? And you know what? Something
within me cried out, no! Now, you may be here still having
problems with the bottle or with the needle or with whatever that
sin is. In your flesh dwells no good
thing. But I can tell you this, he didn't
bring you to Christ. Christ didn't bring you to himself
to lose you. I got good news for you. You're
struggling. In John 10, he said, I give unto
them eternal life. Them who? Them that the father
gave me. Those sheep I've been talking
about. I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. He had to find you. You were
sought out and he did find you. Not only that, but you have to
be called. Have you been called? Some of you are sitting here
like, I hope this is happening right now as I'm preaching. You
see, I'm preaching the gospel and the spirit of God is here.
I know the spirit of God is here. He's here. And what the spirit
of God does is, he's going through these seats
as I'm preaching. And I know some of you are sitting
there like this. But on your inside, the spirit
of God is saying, he's talking about you. He's talking about
you. You know, I'm on the inside of
you. You know, can you see Jesus? Can you see him wounded and bleeding
today? You're being called for whom
he did foreknow, he also did predestinate, whom he predestinated
them, he also called. Have you got a call? Have you
been called? Say, preacher, are you actually
saying that God calls us? Yes, the spirit of God today
is looking for a certain person here. Maybe several of you, certain
people. Somebody can leave here today,
I believe this, saying, I got a call. I mean, I got a call. And it was a long distance call
all the way from heaven. Down to my lody bar, to my manure
pile. He called me. You know, one thing
about the apostle Paul on the Damascus road, it says that he
was struck down and he heard a voice, but the men with him
heard no one. You may be in here and you're
sitting by somebody you know, who's been using for years, somebody
you knew in the street, and they're not affected. You can tell they're
not affected. They're in here for the hot dogs
and mustard we serve across the street. But you've been brought
in here and it's not affecting them, but something's going on
on the inside of you today. See, that's why I'm here today. If my hope was in you or me, I didn't particularly want to
come this morning. Yeah. But you know what? You know what Ms. Pam says to
me? You have to go, you're the pastor. So here I am today. And I'm saying to the Lord, Lord,
you know, I just don't feel in it. Well, right now I'm in it. I mean, it's too late now. I'm
into it. I'm enjoying being here. The
spirit of God brought you here for you to hear. You're not here
by accident. Can you hear him calling you? And John 6 45 says
this, all the father giveth me shall be taught of God. Oh my
goodness. You think about where you were
10 years ago or five years ago. You were so stupid. Think about
how stupid you were. You thought if you could drink
a case of beer, life would be great. Just out there doing what
you could to try to get high because you were low. And so you tried all the artificial
stuff. And instead of getting higher,
every time you got high, you sunk lower and lower. And then you lost your wife,
and then you lost your kids, then you lost your husband, then
you lost your self-respect down there in the manure pile, tumbling
like the tumble bugs. Taught of God. And then you came
in God's providence to a place where someone preached the gospel
to you. deep down in your soul. The spirit of God said, that's
true. Jesus is the Christ. He did come
into the world to save sinners. And you're one of them he came
to save. Taught of God. How about this? I thought about
this this morning coming over, you know, Jesus came into the
coast of Caesarea Philippi in Matthew 16, and the disciples,
he asked his disciples, whom do men say that I am? And loud
mouth Simon Peter said, well, some say you're Jeremiah, Elias,
you're one of the prophets. And Jesus always went right at
him. But whom do you say that I am?
And Simon Peter said, the heart of Christ. the son of the living
God, which should come into the world. And Jesus said to him,
flesh and blood did not reveal that to you, but my father, which
is in heaven. What an unbelievable story. People
have often in 50 some years of my preaching say, do you actually
believe that Jesus was born of a virgin? Yes. Do you actually believe he turned
water into water? Yes. Do you actually believe
he performed all those miracles? Do you actually believe that
he ascended back into heaven? Do you believe he got out of
there? You actually believe all that? And I always go like this. Yes,
I do. I really do. But flesh and blood didn't reveal
that to me, God did. I tell you on the authority of
this Bible that God reveals truth, revelation truth, that Jesus
is the Christ which should come into the world. You see, I had
to be quickened. I had to be quickened. So, I
had to be sought, I had to be found. I had to be called, I
had to be taught, and I had to be made alive. See, the truth
is, not everybody in here is spiritually alive. Only those
of you who are saying, that's true, pastor, that is so true,
because your spirit and my spirit, we bear witness with one another.
See, when somebody hollers out like this, preach! You know what
I know about that? I know that you're into what
I'm saying. You're saying, keep it up, it's
true, hallelujah, praise God. Quicken, you're made alive. Some
of you are sitting there going, you know, this guy's hollowed
now for about 30 minutes. He's told all of this ridiculous
stuff. You know, it means very little
to me. But then some of you are so, oh, so sensitive. This is the only thing you want
to hear because you've been made alive. Some of you haven't upchucked
it yet. I'm hoping that you will this
morning. that you will walk this aisle, and not that that's going
to do anything, but that you will publicly confess, I trust
Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. He is the redeemer of my soul. And this message is true. I've been sought, I've been found,
I've been called, I've been taught. I'm a believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ. You say, well, pastor, you talk
like, you just act like, I mean, you talk like, you talk like
that, you know, that I didn't. You didn't. You were not seeking Christ when
he found you. He first found you. And then
he did a work in you. And then you began to act crazy,
like you were in 20 up over at the center and thinking about
this, not about the bedbugs maybe, which are gone now, by the way,
but thinking about this. You know, by the time you find
out you're lost, you've been found. Yeah, but the time you, the first
spiritual thought that you ever had is a manifestation that God
has made you alive. There was this baby born in Ezekiel
16, and its navel was not cut, and it was left in its own blood
out in the field. This is the example the Lord
gives of saving a sinner. And Jesus came walking by. The
Savior came walking by and saw me in my blood, that my navel
was not cut and I had not been washed or cleansed in any way. I was out there without strength
to save myself. And Jesus came by. Pass me not,
O gentle Savior, while on others Thou art calling. I'm over here. Life. Jesus looked upon me and
said, Live! Wouldn't it be something if you
got a call from Jesus today and he said, live. I've loved you
with an everlasting love and I'm drawing you with cords of
love. All the father giveth me shall
come to me. Him that cometh to me, I will know why he's cast
out. I know some of you are like, well, pastor, you don't know
what I've done. I've used drugs for, I've used
drugs for years. I'm a fornicator. I've wallowed in the stables
of sin. There isn't anything I haven't
done. I'm telling you there's power,
power, power, wonder working power in the blood of Jesus Christ. Though your sins be a starlet,
he'll make you white as snow. Think about leaving here today
with all of your tumble bug mess, knowing this, there's no judgment
for me. I pass from death unto life.
Amen. To think that all of us are tumble
bugs. It's a strange thing to love
a man whom call you a dumb manure loving insect. But I love my
pastor. I'll tell you that right now.
No sugarcoating it. Tell it like it is. All right, let's let's conclude
in prayer. Heavenly Father, you indeed have chosen us, you sought
us, you bought us. You plucked us off the dunghill
of life and robed us in a righteousness that we could never obtain on
our own. Jewelry on our fingers and crowns on our head. A room
in a mansion that we can't even begin to fathom. Man, the love
of Christ that surpasses all understanding. A name above all
names. Be merciful to us. Teach us to be merciful, kind,
loving, praying, and gracious to one another. Be with us this
week, keep a hedge about the mission and the workers. We ask
these things and pray these things in Christ's name, amen.