Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to John chapter 6, and reading
from our text, verse 63. Verse 63. It is the spirit that
quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak
unto you, they are spirit. and they are life. John 6 and verse 63. Our Lord constantly through his
time on earth and ministry had to contend with those that were
interpreting everything in a natural not a spiritual way, a fleshly
way, not a spiritual way. This was the case when our Lord
spoke to Nicodemus concerning the new birth and he insisted
on it that he must be born again. But Nicodemus said, how can a
man when he is old be born, be enter into his mother's womb
and be born? Again, the Lord insisted on the
new birth, but Nicodemus had to overcome that thought that
our Lord was speaking of a natural birth, not a spiritual one. The Lord was speaking of a spiritual
birth. Then we have the earlier part
of this chapter where our Lord worked miracles to provide literal
bread for the multitude. It was a miracle. And they followed
him over the sea because they had eaten of those loaves. But they had completely overlooked
the fact of the Lord's miracle. And so he said to them that you
see me in verse 26 of this chapter, not because you saw the miracles,
But because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled, labour
not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth
unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give you.
For him hath God the Father sealed. And again we have the comparison
of the natural bread, spiritual bread. We have when our Lord
was tempted by the devil, command that these stones be made bread. Our Lord quoted in Deuteronomy,
Man shall not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of God. So even Satan was tempting for
a natural bread and for a miracle to satisfy our Lord's hunger
after he had fasted forty days and forty nights. We have the
disciples themselves saying, we trusted it should have been
He that should have redeemed Israel. And their idea was a
natural kingdom, a deliverance from Rome and from the Roman
rule. And so they asked the Lord before
He ascended up into heaven, will Thou at this time restore the
kingdom unto Israel? All the time. They're looking
for a natural interpretation. Here, our Lord is insisting in
this chapter that they eat his flesh and drink his blood. Except
ye eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man, ye have
no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood hath eternal life, and I'll raise him up at the last
day. For my flesh is meat indeed,
and my blood is drink indeed. And again, they are interpreting
this in a natural way. Many of the disciples, they were
saying, this is a hard saying, who can hear it? How can this
man give us his flesh to eat? And they're viewing it in a natural
way. Paul writes to the Corinthians
and he says that the natural man receiveth not the things
of God, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned. And every one of us, as we're
born into this world, we are natural men and women and children. And we cannot discern, we cannot
know spiritual things at all. If we were to say, well, we're
born into this world and within a few years we learn the English
language, we can understand it, we can hear it, and then someone
says, well, can you understand the Dutch language if someone
is speaking to you in another language? And you say, it's impossible. I have not learned that language.
I do not know what is being said. I don't understand it at all. then we can understand a little
the impossibility of a natural man understanding spiritual things
without being made spiritually alive and without being given
a spiritual ear. And when the Lord does that,
it will be new, it will be different. They will hear in a different
way, differently than they saw before. But we need to really
bear this in mind, that this is what we are prone to do, what
we will do and can only do without the Spirit of God, without spiritual
life, is to just look and interpret not one thing, but everything
in a natural way. And when the world speaks, it
speaks, it can only speak in a natural way. and we'll go after
it. And when we hear the word preached,
we'll interpret that in a natural way. And we can only do that
until the Lord is pleased to open our ears and give us truly
then to know the difference between natural and spiritual. But it is a vital thing that
we realize that there is a difference and it is the Lord that opens
the ear that gives one to know what the scriptures are speaking
and to know the secret of the Lord which is with them that
fear Him. So the Lord in our text, the
first part, is making it very clear that it is the Spirit that
gives life It is not natural, it's not a natural interpretation
at all. It's the spirit that quickeneth,
that giveth life. The flesh profited nothing. If
they were to eat his flesh, if it was just his flesh, if he
was not truly God and truly man, if he wasn't truly the eternal
God, that would profit nothing. But with the divine and human
nature of our Lord, it is that that is spoken of here, not to
eat Him literally, but that which He came to do. That which especially
was centering in what He was to do in the flesh, as the Son
of Man, as God manifest in the flesh. So I want to look with
the Lord's help. Firstly, the words the Lord speaks. The words that I speak. And then secondly, how they are
spoken to us. Because he says, the words that
I speak unto you. And then thirdly, how we shall
know the Lord's words. And there are three ways that
I said before you that we may know the Lord's words, recognize
the Lord's words. But firstly, the words the Lord
speaks. The Apostle Paul, when he writes
to the Corinthians in his second epistle, he speaks of him coming
to them and bringing Christ's gospel. the good news of salvation,
that is not Paul's gospel, it's not John's or Matthew's, though
we refer to them, it is the gospel according to Matthew, according
to John, but it is Christ's gospel, it is His good news to sinners
from Himself. And so the words that the Lord
speaks are the gospel words. And our Lord while upon earth,
he revealed gradually to his disciples what he came to do,
what he was going to do in the flesh. And really it focuses
our attention really to quite a small compass when we think
of that. We think of the eternal God dwelling
eternally. We think of the creation and
all that has been done right through the ages in the Old Testament. And then we come to 33 years
of our Lord dwelling upon the earth. And without those years
and without the Lord being truly man and truly God, there'd be
no salvation. What is done in that time, that
is what is to comprise the gospel. When Abraham saw Christ's day
and rejoiced at it, he is able to say to his son who recognized
the lack of a lamb for a burnt offering, my son, God will provide
himself a lamb for a burnt offering. Now, in this chapter, The Lord
is insisting on everything concerning His flesh, His flesh, His blood,
His true manhood, what He was to accomplish on earth. Let's
go back to John 3. We think of the new birth and
we think of the need of a new start, a new beginning, a new
life. And then when we think of the
Lord Jesus Christ is manifest in the flesh, and we think of
his literal birth, a birth like none other, a birth with the
overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, wherefore that holy thing which
shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And our
focus is on Christ's manifest in the flesh, and this is what
the Lord is directing His hearers here to all the time be thinking
of that which He is accomplishing here below, and especially when
He joins together His blood. When we think of the sacrifice
that He was to make at Calvary, It was his broken body. This is what we shall observe
in the Lord's Supper. This is what the Lord himself
instituted for the church to remember really these two things
that are set before us in this chapter. His broken body, his
shed blood, his sufferings upon Calvary, the blood that was shed
there, that which he accomplished there, that work that he finished,
that his father gave him to do, a work that was fulfilling the
scriptures, a work that culminated or came after his perfect life,
spotless life, a righteousness which none of us has, but which
was wrought out for every believer to be given to them, imputed
to them, a life that we did not live, that he lived for us, and
a righteousness that He has made to give to us. You know, if in
a natural sense someone did not have clothing, and those of you
able to do sewing, and the person themselves hadn't got clothing
and had no ability to make anything for themselves, but you'd got
your own clothes and you made other clothes and someone would
say to you, but you've already got a full wardrobe, what are
you doing these for? You're saying, well, I'm doing
them for this person. I'm going to give them to that
person. And so it wouldn't be what they
had done, it would be what you had done. But then you've given
it to them and then it becomes theirs and they wear it and it
covers their nakedness. And that's what the Lord does.
That is his righteousness. that he has lived a life that
then he gives to us as if we had lived that perfect spotless
life. His death was to put away our
sins, it was to bear the punishment due to them, it was to satisfy
the law without the shedding of blood, there is no remission,
it was that there should be the requirement of the law. provided the blood, when I see
the blood, I will pass over you." And so the words that the Lord
speaks is that which Paul says, I determined to know nothing
among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. When the disciples
had the vision on the Mount of Transfiguration, the subject
that Moses, Elias were speaking with their Lord was, of his decease
which he would accomplish at Jerusalem, not perish, not lose
his life and nothing be done, but a death that was an accomplishment,
a death that was to bring in everlasting righteousness and
everlasting life to the people of God. I am come that they might
have life and have it more abundantly. So the words that the Lord speaks
are his gospel, and it is focused on what he accomplished in the
days of his flesh and at Calvary. And it is something that, again,
the natural man does not receive. And in one sense, as a preacher,
it is more easy to preach about providential things, about any
subject at all, except the sufferings and death of our Lord Jesus Christ. Preaching in that way is, I'm
going to say, most challenging for a minister, because he himself
must be spiritual. He himself must be living close
to the Lord and relish and love and himself feed upon those words
which for the natural man they see no beauty in those words
or in the gospel or in our Lord at all. But for those that are
spiritual then this very aspect of the Word of God, this very
part of the Word of God, this very subject will be a subject
which will grow in their esteem and be the subject of their meditation,
their thoughts and looking into it and like those on the mount
be the subject of what was accomplished there at Calvary. So the words the Lord speaks
And we can look right through his teaching, his ministry here
below, and especially as he came nearer and nearer to the cross,
he was preparing his dear disciples, he was laying before them what
he was about to do for them. I want to then think secondly
of how they are spoken to us. Because, of course, our Lord
has ascended up into heaven. He is no longer here. When the
Lord says that the words that I speak unto you, if they're
spoken unto us, how does he do it? Well, we are told in Hebrews
that God, in the first verse of chapter one in Hebrews, God,
who at sundry times and in divest manners spake in time past unto
the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken
unto us by his Son, that is the Lord Jesus Christ, whom he hath
appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds. And so we are told that he has
spoken, God has spoken unto us by his Son. were the words of
the Son. The words of our Lord are the
words of Scripture. We need to be very clear of this,
that there is no extra revelation. The Lord says of the work of
the Holy Spirit, He shall receive of mine and show it unto you. He shall bring to your remembrance
all things whatsoever I have said unto you. And so the Spirit
shall take the words of Scripture and He shall bring them to our
remembrance. Sometimes it will be that we
are in the preaching of the Word, in the service of the Lord's
house, and there'll be those things that are spoken in the
preaching, and at the time we might not think that we really
have heard or heard the words of the Lord, but a day or so
later, They come quite powerfully to our mind. Think, where did
I hear that? Oh yes, the Lord's servant spoke
from those on the Lord's Day. That's when, or we read that
in our morning reading. And those things are brought
back to your remembrance. And it is in that way that the
Lord then speaks to us. His word dwells in us. His word is put within us. We're
not forgetful hearers, but hearers that have the Word come back
like the clean animals who chew the carn, they go over it again,
they're brilliants, they search the Scriptures daily, whether
these things were so, they remember what had been said. And so the
Lord speaks to us, it hath pleased God through the foolishness of
preaching to save them that believe. You would remember with Samuel,
it said, Samuel did not yet know the Lord. And when the Lord first
began to speak to him, he thought it was Eli. Now he knew Eli's
voice very well. And many, when the Lord begins
to speak to them, they think it is just the minister's voice.
They don't think that it is God speaking to them through the
minister. Now let us think how many times
in the word of God, The Lord used, like the prophets, to speak
to people. He uses his servants. He used, in Naaman's case, in
the healing of leprosy, he used the servant girl to speak to
Naaman. He used the king's servants to
direct him to the prophet. He used the prophet's servant
to direct Naaman to wash seven times in Jordan. And when Naaman
was angry and wouldn't at first, it was his servants that came
and pacified him and caused him to go and do what was required. The Lord all the time exalts
servants, those that are doing his will, those that are bringing
his word. When we think that the whole
word of God the inspired, infallible Word of God that we believe and
receive as the Word of God, they were human penmen. They wrote
as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. And we don't say, well,
because of that, it is less than the Word of God. It cannot be
effectual. It cannot be a blessing. It is.
And it comes from the Lord. Those that go to school, those
that would have a letter from the principal, they don't say
to their parents, you don't bother about that letter. I know the
principal didn't write that. I saw the secretary with a typewriter
typing that up in the office. It's only from her. But the parent
would know that the principal has dictated it. It has the authority
of the school, not just of the one that has been the one that's
typed it. would know that the words that
are spoken to us by the Lord come through these channels,
through the golden pipes of the word, and come through men that
are sinners to themselves. We have the example of Cornelius
being told by an angel to go and get Peter, who shall speak
to you words. whereby you shall be saved. And
Peter comes and he preaches a gospel to them. Whose gospel? Peter's
gospel? No, not Peter's gospel, Christ's
gospel. And the Holy Spirit blessed it
with power and authority from heaven. We are not to look for
extra things or different things than what God has ordained. God
said to, in the case of Lazarus and the rich man, when The rich
man felt that if Lazarus was to rise from the dead and appear
to his brethren, then they would believe. And the Lord said, they
are Moses and the prophets. That is the written word. If
they believe not them, neither will they believe, though one
rose from the dead." We're not to be looking for those visions
and revelations. Peter, he speaks of the Mount
of Transfiguration. But then he says, we have a more
sure word of prophecy where you do well to take heed as unto
a light that shineth in a dark place. The word of God. And the
apostle Paul, into the third heavens, but he says, don't be
looking for that, but my grace is sufficient for that. That
is what you are to value. And so the word is sufficient. You know, the children of Israel
in the wilderness, they had manna, and that is very featured in
this account. And the Lord never took that
away from them. They needed it to live, but they
despised it. They despised it. They thought
it was a small thing, nothing special, and yet they lived by
that. You know, if we looked at the
blessings that Jacob had in his long life, you could probably
easy count them One hand, maybe a few more, those blessings that
he had, where the Lord appeared to him, very few over those 137
years or so. And yet he was kept alive. He was fed with bread from heaven. And God's children, they have
few remarkable special times, real times of blessing. But the
other times, they feed upon the Word. Many a Lord's people, they
are troubled because they don't retain it. They soon forget it.
But we should remember the children of Israel in the wilderness had
to have fresh matter day by day. They weren't to hoard it up.
And so we'd expect, like our natural food, when we have our
meal, we don't expect that eight hours later we're going to still
feel as full. and still feel as satisfied as
we did when we first ate it, eight hours time, we'd be really
hungry, we'd be wanting another meal, something new. And so it
is in a spiritual way as well. To the words that are spoken
to us, how they are, is through the Holy Word of God, the Bible,
through the ministry of the Word, through the Holy Spirit taking
of the things of Jesus, revealing them to us, and bring to our
remembrance those things that are being preached to us and
set before us. That is how the Lord speaks to
us. I want to think then thirdly
of how we shall know the Lord's words. How we shall know. I don't think it is an easy thing
to discern. We mentioned Samuel, and Samuel
he had heard twice and told it to Eli. And Eli, he didn't discern
it straight away before he directed him to say, speak Lord for thy
servant heareth. And so in one sense, there is
to be a discerning of the voice of the Lord and how he speaks.
But there are three things whereby we may say, the Lord's voice
is known. In John chapter 10, the Lord
is very clear that my sheep, they hear my voice, they follow
me, that they will not follow the voice of strangers. One mark
of a sheep, they are given that discernment to actually know
the ring or know the sound of the voice of the Lord. a discernment
to know whether something really is of the truth or not, whether
really it is one that is leading to Christ and speaking faithfully
of truth or whether not. In Deuteronomy, the Lord said
that He had given a test to His people in sending amongst them
false prophets, Those that were saying that they'd do a sign,
and the sign came to pass, but it was to lead the people away
from the true and living God. And the Lord said he'd given
it to them to prove them whether they would keep his word or no. So on one hand, there was someone
who was saying things that come to pass and came to pass. We
say, isn't that a true prophet? Isn't that the mark of a true
prophet? Yes, it is. But when those things that came
to pass were leading away from the true and living God, away
from the word of God, then which do you follow? You follow the
miracles? You follow that man? Or do you
follow the word? And God's children had to have
that discernment. and to realise the authority
of the Word of God. You know, you would think that
the Bereans, they would have said, well, the Apostle Paul,
the great Apostle, will take everything he says. But they
searched the Scriptures daily whether these things were so.
A minister's words should always be tested by the Word of God
itself. and it will bear witness to the
word when it is in accordance to the word of God. And it's
good to have that discernment, to have that able to realise. I had it said years ago to me
when reading services and I'd forgotten to give out, well I
didn't give out who the minister was for a while because I knew
there were those that were prejudice against certain ministers and
then I forgot to give it out and one challenged me and he
said, well, how do you know, how do we know that you're not
bringing us error? If we don't know who the minister
is that you're reading, the reading servant, you could be teaching
us anything. You could be bringing anything.
I said, where is your discernment? Just because I say I'm reading
Philpott, you don't say, well, everything Philpott says is right.
and you don't test it by the word of God, you need that discernment. We need it. And it is God that
gives it. The ear trieth words. And if the Lord has given us
a new ear, then that will discern. And the Lord says this is the
mark of his sheep. They know my voice and they follow
me. Another, they will not follow.
They know not the voice of strangers. It doesn't have a right ring
to it. It doesn't accord to the scriptures. There's something
that is wrong with it, is uneasy with it. Now, years ago, when
I was, I suppose, eight years of old age, walking home from
school, halfway home in about the mile we had, there was a
car drew up going the opposite way to me, beside me. And the
person who I didn't know, they said, did I want to lift home?
They would give me a lift home. And it went through my mind really,
really quick. I don't know this person. They're
going that way. I'm walking that way. No. And I ran all the way home. And you recognize that this is
a stranger. This doesn't add up. What they're
asking, what they're wanting to do is not right. And it is
to have that discernment, to recognize the word of the Lord
will always lead to Christ. Our Lord says in this passage,
no man can come unto me except the Father which has sent me
draw him. I raise him up at the last day. And it is the spirit that brings
the true word of God. So that is that my recognition
is one way. Another way is the nature of
those words, those spiritual words. The words that I speak
unto you, they are spirit. They are words that the natural
man receiveth not, but they are those that are aiming at a spiritual
kingdom, a heavenly kingdom, a holy walk, a spiritual walk,
that which comes from the Holy Spirit, and that also will be
deserved, the nature of those words. Then there is thirdly,
by their effect. He says they are spirit and they
are life. They give life, they impart life. They have the power. My word
shall not return unto me void. It shall accomplish the thing
whereto I sent it. Where there is faith, faith cometh
by hearing and hearing. by the Word of God. It is the
effect that that Word has. It softens hearts. It causes
the sinner to be moved by that Word, doesn't leave them where
it found them. Thy words were found, says Jeremiah,
and I did eat them. They were to the joy and rejoicing
of my soul. When the Lord spoke words to
the blind they saw, to the lame they walked. When he spoke words
to his people, then they followed after him. And so may we learn
the effect of the word of God. And I believe as God's people
go on, sometimes when we have a fresh prison, we remember about
40 years and the same effect, the same voice, the same God
who has spoken to us. And that recognition is a very
sweet, very sacred thing, to recognize that it is the same. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday,
and today, and forever. God is known by the judgment
that he executeth, his handiwork. Those of you that were no tradesmen,
some of you perhaps in the gardening, You could go past a hedge, you
could look at that hedge and say, I know who cut that, just
by the handiwork, just because they're done. You see a house,
I know who built that, because of their style, because of the
quality of the work. The person might not even be
there, but you see the effect of it and recognize it. And so
it is that God is known by His work as well. Bethuel and Laban
were able to say, the thing proceedeth from the Lord. This is the Lord's
doing and is marvellous in our eyes. So may we truly know the
words of the Lord, know that they are spirit and are alive,
and in receiving them, know that the Lord also has quickened us
into life and given us a hearing ear and that there is a difference. We once were just natural, But
now the Lord has given us a spiritual ear and we hear different. Thou
art ye jealous, a member with us for many years. She said when
the Lord began with her, she had a new Bible and a new hymn
book. They were the same books, but
the way that she was reading them was with new ears and seeing
with new eyes. spiritual ears, and to hear the
word spiritually, and then to know that this is the Lord speaking
to us. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen.