Take your Bibles and turn with
me to John chapter 6. John the 6th chapter. John chapter 6 and verse 27 will be our text. Look at a couple of other verses
in this chapter, but John chapter 6 verse 27 will be our text. The title of the message, Christ
Our Enduring Bread. Christ Our Enduring Bread. John chapter 6 and verse 27,
the Lord Jesus Christ says this, labor 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. Now here, the Lord Jesus Christ,
as was common in most all of His preaching, if you'll take
every instance that the Lord Jesus Christ was preaching or
teaching to a multitude, usually He was using some physical thing
that they can relate to. He was using some physical thing
that was around them at that time. Remember the lilies. I
can imagine when he talked about the lilies of the field, that
there was a lily right there at his hand, and he could visually
see it. We think about the man building
his house on the sand and on the rock. They knew what that
was. When he talked about casting seed, these were farming people. They knew what that meant. And
when he was talking about shepherds and sheep, that was something
very common to them. And this is no different here.
Here, the Lord takes a recent event, a recent occurrence in
the lives of these people, and He uses it for a message. He uses it for an opportunity
to preach Himself, to preach the Gospel concerning Himself. These people were the 5,000 that
just were fed at the beginning of this chapter. The Lord Jesus
Christ, seeing the multitude, had compassion on them, and He
sat them down and He fed them with just a few loaves and a
few fishes. And they took up several baskets
full, and they were filled. They didn't just eat one little
piece of bread. They were filled! They were so... Their gut was
about to... Have you ever ate like that? That your gut is about
to bust? These people were relaxing in
that grass, and they were saying, Oh, it's good. It's good. And
so the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing their thoughts, knowing that
these are not His sheep, He then turns and He gets His disciples
into the boat. He said, you go on over to the
other side, and I'll be there in a little while. He went up
to the mountain and prayed, and in the middle of the night, when
He walked across the sea, and they saw Him, and they were scared,
you remember that story, and now they're on the other side.
They made it over to the other side, and the people woke up
the next morning, and they said, hey, where did our meal ticket
go? Where did he go? And he said, they went to the
other side. Well, let's go get him. Let's go get him. And so
they all, oh, I don't know, I mean, many of them, but a multitude
of them, maybe all 5,000 of them, I don't know. They hopped a boat,
cut across the sea, and they found him. They found him. They said, where'd you go? Where'd
you go? Well, he said, I say unto you,
You seek Me not because you saw the miracle. You seek Me because
you ate and your bellies were fat. That's what He said. He
said, You sought Me because you want more physical bread. And this is the instant where
the Lord Jesus Christ says, Don't labor. Don't labor for the bread,
the meat, that perisheth." Now, five points concerning this message
this morning. Five points that I want us to
see concerning the Lord Jesus as the bread that endureth. The first thing I want us to
see is the meat that's perishing. The second thing, the meat that
endureth. The third is when Jesus said
in the other verse down in the text, He says, He that cometh
to Me shall never hunger. What is it to never hunger? If
you partake of this bread, then what is it not to hunger? And
number four, what is it to eat this bread? And number five,
how do we eat this bread? How is it possible to eat this
bread? Okay? I'm going to try to get these
in. I'm going to try to get these in. First of all, the perishing
meat. The perishing meat. Jesus said,
labor not. Labor not. for the meat that
perisheth." A little Bible reading. This will help you in your Bible
reading. And I'm going to mention this later on. When you see the
word E-T-H, you know its present perfect tense. In other words,
that it is perishing and it shall perish. Labor not for the meat that is
continually ever perishing, ever dying. All men labor for meat
to satisfy the hunger that is in their heart. We all, by nature,
are born with a void in our hearts. We, by nature, seek a people
or seek things of this life to fill the emptiness inside of
us. God illustrates this in Genesis
when He says this, the earth was without form, and void. You know who that represents?
Every one of us by nature. Every man by nature has a void
in his heart. It is an emptiness that he feels. He yearns for something to fill
the gap, the void that's in his heart. He may seek it through
education. He may seek it through work. He may seek it through
his family. He may seek it through religion. But he's seeking something. All men are seeking something
to fill the emptiness in themselves. All men by nature are. If you're
without Christ this morning, then you are like the crowd that
followed Jesus. They were coming to Him not for
spiritual matters, but they were seeking physical food. They were
seeking something physical from Him. Jesus said, you didn't seek
Me because you saw the miracles, but because your bellies were
full. Many today are seeking Jesus. You know, there are more
people in church today than there are all year in any of the major
sporting events in this world. Today, there are more people
on one Sunday to attend church than there are that attend all
of the football games in the United States. That's a lot of
people. And you ask them, what are you
seeking? I want to see Jesus. I want Jesus. What do you want
Him for? What are you here for today? Did you come to have your ears
tickled with something? Something new? Something novel? Many people come to Jesus for
many different reasons. Marriage problems. You talk about
people and they ask, do you have marriage counseling? Do you have
a social group? They come for social problems.
You know, do you have a singles group or do you have a child's
group or a young adults group? Many come to church for financial
problems. When they're in financial straits,
they come and ask for Jesus. When they're sick, they come
and ask for Jesus. Many of you come for parental
reasons. My mom and dad made me come. My children are here
for those reasons. They're here because I made them
come. So they have a different set of problems. Now, I know
all these things are needful. I know that all these things
bring us great pain in this life. But no matter how hard you try
to hold on to the things of this life, they will not fill the
void. They will not fill the emptiness
in your heart. They will not do it. The things
of this life are the meat that is perishing. Labor not, Christ
says, Don't spend all your time and energy focusing and seeking
after that which is perishing. The things or people that we
try to use to fill that void never do. They only make the
void bigger. It's like a black hole. Scientists
tell us that when a black hole, it absorbs everything in its
path and it never gets full, it only gets bigger. It only
gets bigger. And that's what our heart is.
Isaiah 55, verse 1 and 2, God says, Ho, everyone that thirsteth.
God says to you that are seeking perishing things to satisfy the
hunger of your soul, Ho, stop! Freeze! Don't move! Listen to
Me! That's what God says. Oh, everyone
that's thirsty, everyone that has a void, listen. Hear, God. Come. Come to the waters. You that
hath no money, come and buy and eat. Come, yea, buy wine and
milk without money and without price. Wherefore do you spend
your money? For that which is not bread,
God says. And your labor, for that which
satisfieth not." Have your sins satisfied you?
Are you full? You done with them? Have you
had enough? Or do you still long for more? And when you get whatever it
is you want, know this, there'll be something else. There'll be
something else, and your whole and your heart will be bigger
than it was when you first started. Why? Because the meat is perishing. It doesn't last. The pleasures
of life do not last. They're perishing. They're empty
and they're vain. Can you not see your labor for
these things of this life are vain and empty? Can you not see
that the things of this life will not satisfy you, but only
increase your lust for them? Seek not Jesus because of the
bread, my friends. Don't seek Him for the things
of your body or your relationship. My friend, you must seek Him
for salvation. This is the main reason. Don't
seek Him for the things of the life or the circumstances or
what you can get out of Him. Labor not in religion to consume
it upon your own lusts, but rather, labor, seek, engage yourself
in looking for that meat which endures. That's my second point. The meat that endures. The meat
that endures. Jesus here preaches the Gospel. He says first that sin and the
world will not satisfy. They will not satisfy. Therefore, don't labor in them.
Don't look for it. Look for Christ. What did Christ
say in Matthew's Gospel? He said, seek first the kingdom
of God and His righteousness and all these things. These other
things. God knows you have need of food.
God knows you have need of clothes. God knows you have need of social
interaction. God knows these things. Seek
first Christ, the bread that endureth forever. The labor not
for the meat that decays, but labor for that which never decays.
Jesus said, that I'm speaking of is one that lasts forever. This is spiritual food that Christ
is speaking of because He is speaking of Himself. He says, you want the meat that
endures, here it is. He said, I'm it! I am the bread
of life, Christ says in verse 35. He that cometh to Me shall
never hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst." Jesus
is the bread of life that satisfies the soul, the void, the emptiness
of our hearts. He alone is the bread sent from
the Father. He was sealed of the Father,
anointed by the Father, by the Holy Spirit without measure to
be the Messiah and Savior of men. He alone. He alone. is the bread that lasts forever. Everything else is perishing.
Isaiah 42, verse 1, God says this, Behold. Behold My servant. Behold, My servant, whom I have
uphold, Mine elect, in whom My soul delighteth." There's that
ETH again. There it is again. God has always
delighted in Christ. He is delighting in Christ. And
He shall always delight in the Lord Jesus Christ. This bread
lasts forever. This bread is satisfying. God says He's mine elect, the
one I sealed. Behold, the Lamb of God, the
Prince of Peace, the Son of Man, the Word of Life, the Bishop
of our souls, the Shepherd, the Savior, the Redeemer, the Bread
of Life. Behold Him. Look to Him. See Him. He is the Bread that
endures forever. The reason for our void in our
heart is because of sin, isn't it? It's because when Adam sinned
and his heart became void, so our hearts became void in him. Our hearts became void. They
became void of seeking God, didn't they? When Adam sinned, he didn't
seek God, he ran from God. And that's what you're doing
if you're lost. You're running from God. You're not seeking
after the bread that endures. You're running. Oh, but all of
us who have sought Christ, we're seeking Him. We're looking for
that bread and we long for that bread. Man was created to commune with
God, wasn't he? God created man as the crowning
image of His creation. He was the pinnacle of God's
creation. Yet when man fell, he lost communion
with God. And therefore, you and I have
lost communion with God, which was our purpose. Everybody's
saying, you know, talking about purpose, you know, purpose-driven
life, and purpose this, purpose that. You know what your purpose
is? It is to commune with your God. That's what the purpose
is in the heart. And that's why there's a void,
because there's a lack of communion with God by nature. It's empty. And my friends, the only thing
that could fill this void is Jesus Christ. He is the only
way to fulfill the purpose of to commune with God. He's the
only way to know God is through Christ. Jesus Christ came from
God to bridge the gap and the great divide. To accomplish what
was lacking in us. He, my friend, is the bread that
lasts forever. He's the only plug that's going
to fill that void. Anything else is just a dream. Anything else is just a dream. He was anointed of God to satisfy
the law of God. He was anointed to satisfy the
law of God. Jesus said this, which of you
convinces me of sin? Could any of you say that? Could
I say that? You convinced me of sin this morning. I did to
Kathy. Didn't I, Kathy? I told you there's a donut over
there. I told you there's a donut over
there. You know, we can easily do that
with each other. We can easily. We're so movable. We're so movable. Christ said,
which of you convinces me of sin? What did His enemies say
about Him? The Jews. Never a man spake like
this man. What did the Gentiles say about
Him? Pilate said, I find no fault
in Him. What did Satan say? He had to flee, didn't he? There's
no sin. There's no sin in Him. He's perfect. And that which is perfect endures
forever. That which is sinless endures
forever. So He, by His pleasing the Father,
and that's what God's testimony about Him was, was it? This is
My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Therefore, Jesus obeyed
the law of God perfectly. In word, in thought, and in deed. And He not only obeyed the law
of God in our stead, but also His obedience to God in the suffering
under the justice of God. Jesus Christ, who had no sin,
who knew no sin, in word, thought, or deed. Scripture tells us that
He was made sin for us. If you ever figure that out,
let me know. The sinless Son of God was made
sin for us. God imputing our sins to Him
so much so that His justice demanded payment from Christ. And what did God say about His
sacrifice? It's enough. It's enough! How do you know it's enough?
How can you tell me that He's the bread that endures forever?
How do I know that He has satisfied God? The tomb is empty. The tomb is empty! If He didn't
satisfy God, then He would still be there. Oh, but my friends,
He has arisen from the grave, and He has left Himself many
infallible witnesses. He is risen from the grave and
God has accepted His sacrifice, therefore He can say, I am the
bread of life. I am the bread of life and He
that cometh to me shall never hunger. What is it then, verse
point three, what is it to hunger? What is it to never hunger? What
does He mean by that? Look at that again in verse 35.
Let's read it again. I am the bread of life, that
bread which endureth forever. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger." What is that? What is he saying? When you believe
in Christ, you're never going to want to eat? I'm hungry now. After this, we're going to go
eat. I'm hungry. I'm going to go eat. That's not what he's
talking about. What is he saying? He's saying, the one that eateth
this bread shall never look at another bread to satisfy. He that eateth Me, he that believeth
in Me, he that cometh to Me, he shall never hunger for any
other bread or have any desire for anything else to satisfy
God's demands. I don't long for anything else
but Christ, do you? He is the sum and substance of
everything I am. and everything I do, the things of this life that
once occupied my time, no longer are the point and purpose of
my life. Sin was the purpose of my life
at one time. Sin is what I tried to use to
fill that void. But when I came to Christ, when
I partook of this bread, I don't want anything else. I don't want
anything else. I heard this poem sung a couple
of weeks ago. John Newton wrote it. How tedious
and tasteless the hours when Jesus no longer I see. Sweet
prospects, sweet birds and sweet flowers have all lost their sweetness
to me. The midsummer sun shines but
dim. The fields strive in vain to
look gay. But when I am happy in Him, December
is as pleasant as May." Do you see? That anything without Christ
is worthless. And no matter what circumstances
I'm in with Christ, they're pleasant. They're pleasant. Why? Because
He satisfies my soul. He satisfies my hunger. He is the only thing I want.
And He is the only thing I need. Everything else is but bitter
herbs. And Christ is the jewel of heaven to me. To those that eat this bread,
They shall hunger for Him only. They shall seek Him first in
all things. They shall see His worship, His
cross, His flesh, His blood as the only thing to sustain them
in this life and the only thing that will present them faultless
and blameless in the next. Is there anything you desire
more than Christ? You that believe, I ask you,
is there anything more precious than Christ? I heard a pastor
talking about this the other week and he said, somebody came
up to him and said, Pastor, you know, you preach Jesus all the
time. You preach Him all the time.
Sunday school you talk about Jesus. You talk about the cross.
You know, in the worship service you talk about the cross. You
talk about Christ. Can't we move on to something
else? What is there to move on to? If there's something to move
on to, you might as well move on to it. I've got nothing else. I want nothing else. Nothing
else satisfies. Nothing. Nothing but Christ. Nothing but Christ. And number
four, my point number four, what is it to eat then? If this bread
endures forever, if Christ endures forever, and you say that He
that eateth this bread shall not hunger and everything will
be satisfied between Him and between you and God, what is
it then to eat this bread? How do you eat it? How is it
to eat? What is it to eat? The bread
of life. It's not physical. It's not physical. We had the Lord's Table last
week and if you ate that, I'm not going to save you. How do
we know that this is not physical? Well, look at our text. Go back
and look at this in verse 61 through 63 of John 6. Jesus said, does this offend
you? He said, talking about eating His flesh and drinking His blood.
Does this offend you? What if you shall see the Son
of Man ascend up where He was before? It is the Spirit that quickeneth
the flesh, profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you,
they are spirit and they are life. I'm talking about spiritual
things, my friend. I'm talking about eternal things. Things that really matter. Everything in this life is perishing. Does it really matter? Does it
really matter? Not in light of this. Eternal
things. Spiritual things. It is a spiritual
eating. It is not a physical eating. He explains that these words
are spirit. The matter of eating and drinking
the flesh and blood of the Son of God is spiritual. To eat is to believe, to come
by faith to Christ. That's what it is to eat. When
you eat a piece of bread, what happens to the bread? It becomes
part of you, doesn't it? It unites with you. The minerals
in the bread are extracted and they're used for energy and life. That's what happens when a person
comes to Christ. He becomes their life. Their
spiritual life. It is to come into union with
Christ and to believe on Him as your only substitute, as your
only standing before God Almighty. Faith is the victory that overcomes
the world. Not faith itself, not faith in
itself, but faith in its object. What is the object of your faith
to stand before God? If it is Jesus Christ, you have
a good standing. You have a great standing before
God. If it's in what you do, or how
you do it, or anything to do with you, you're lost and in
your sins. You have no hope. You must come
by faith. You must believe on the only
begotten Son of God as your Savior and acceptance with God. If you
have no life, and this world is still your prize and your
aim, and you have no hope, if you have believed, then is there any other bread
you want? If you've eaten of this bread,
you know there's not. Notice this in verse 35. In verse
35, "...he that cometh." Verse 54 and 56, "...eateth." What is that? These are present
perfect tense. This is telling us what Peter
told us in 1 Peter 2-4, to whom coming as unto a living stone.
When you come to Christ by faith, have you ever stopped coming? I'm coming to Him now. Right
now. Right now. And I don't rely on
faith I had ten seconds ago to make it ten seconds from now. I rely on the faith now. I believe
now. Faith is present. It's never
future and it's never past. It's always now. The question is, not did you
believe, Do you believe? Now. Okay, how about now? How about now? What about now? Now. Faith is now. It's present. Do you believe now? You see,
I must ever eat this bread. I must ever come to this bread.
I must ever believe on Jesus Christ as my only hope. Therefore, believer, feast on
Christ now. Carpe diem. Seize the day. Seize the moment. There's no
prospect of tomorrow. There's no promise of tomorrow. Our plans are futile and fading. They're perishing. Don't rest
on them. Believe on Christ now. Rest now
and feast to your heart's content. He is the only One that satisfies. Number five. Number five. How can we believe? How can we
eat? My friends, a man could stand
and deliver the most eloquent message your heart has ever heard
with words Sweet flowers and the melody, it rings in your
ears. But my friends, if your faith
is a work of that man or of you, it is not faith. You see, faith is a work of God. In order for me to eat, it must
be a work of God. How do I know that? I'm going
to go back to the Scriptures. Look back in verse 28. And they said unto Him, What
shall we do that we might work the work of God? In other words,
what can we do to labor to get that bread? They're still thinking
physical, but what can they do? They want to know what it is
that I can work the works of God. Jesus said, This is the work
of God. In other words, it's not your
work. This is the work of God. Faith is a work of God. If I
had a rotten corpse sitting on this table here, and I put a
piece of bread beside him, he could never eat it. Without what? Without life. This is a work
of God. This is a work of God. If you
have faith, recognize this. It is a work of God. It is a
work of the almighty hand of the divine providence and love
and mercy of God. Therefore, He gets all the praise. He gets all the glory. This is
a work of God that you believe on Him whom He has sent. Have
you believed? If you have, to God be the glory. Great things He hath done. Great are rejoicing in who? In Jesus, God's Son. Let's stand. We'll be dismissed
in prayer.