Turn back to John chapter 6. John chapter 6. Bread from heaven. Bread from
heaven. Our Lord tells them and us that this bread from heaven has
come into this world. And this bread from heaven is
of God. And this bread from heaven is a person. And then he says,
I'm that person. I'm he. I'm he. Now, the people whom the Lord
fed with a few loaves and a few fishes, it put a lot of effort
in trying to find him. And when they did, our lord exposed
their their motive for finding him they got their bellies full
he fed them and they were well satisfied with that bread that
he fed them with but that bread he fed them with does not give
life it's not life-giving their motives were was purely carnal
it was purely of the flesh and our lord tells them and us NOT
TO LABOR FOR THAT MEAT THAT PERISHES, DON'T LAY OUT YOUR LIFE TO GETTING
THOSE THINGS THAT ARE PERISHABLE. AND IN SAYING THIS, HE'S NOT
SAYING OR SPEAKING OF A PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, THIS IS A SPIRITUAL
ACTIVITY HE'S TALKING ABOUT. THAT'S THE CRAVING OF THE THINGS
OF THIS WORLD, THE MATERIAL THINGS OF THIS WORLD, HE SAYS DON'T
GIVE YOUR HEART TO THESE THINGS. But strive, labor after those
things above. You know, we are told in the
scriptures to spiritually seek the kingdom of God first, and
these other things will be added. I wrote to somebody, I told them,
they called me. I said, I can give you the key
to success in this life. I can give it to you. If you
really want it, I can give it to you. Here it is. Seek ye first the
kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be
added to you. I said that's the key to success. You know, there's
all kind of books written out there on how to be successful,
how to be a millionaire in a week. I read so many how-to books when
I started running a business years ago. You know how business
is successful, really? If God blesses. Even those who don't know God,
He still has to give the increase. And He does that for you. For
you, His people. He gives the increase to all
these big corporations, and they make this big money, but He does
it for you. See, all this has to work together
for us. It all works for us. But he says,
labor not for the meat that perishes, but labor for that meat which
endureth unto everlasting life. And this is not physical effort,
this is spiritual, this is of the heart. Now after telling
them not to labor for the meat that perishes, but labor for
the meat that endures unto everlasting life, they thought he was telling
them That there's something greater to do. There's something greater
for them to do in order to please God. That's what they want to
know. What must we do to do the works of God? They thought there
was something else to be done because he said, labor not and
labor to. And so they took that literally
as the guy here physically do some. What they're asking is this,
what else can we do to please God? What is it? Other than keeping
the law, remember that young man that came to the Lord? He
said, all these I kept from my youth up, what lack I yet? That's
what they're wanting to know. What do we lack? Tell us what
we can do to please God. That's what they want to know.
And our Lord says this, this is the work of God. This is what
pleases God, that you believe on him whom he hath sent. The
prerequisite before doing any work is this, FAITH. You believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. You believe on Him. Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ
is that which is well pleasing to God. Listen to Hebrews 11,
6. But without faith, it's impossible
to please Him. It's impossible. For he that
cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder
of them that diligently seek him." But faith is first. Faith is first and foremost.
And anybody that hears this says it's to believe, you know that's
not a work. That's a gift. I don't work to believe. Faith
is of the operation of God. You know something, if I tell
you this handkerchief here is white, is it a work for you to
believe this? No, it's a revelation, you see
it. That's how faith comes. It's a revelation of Christ.
And it becomes so obvious, He becomes so obvious, you can't
help but believe. You cannot help but believe God
when He reveals Himself to you. You can't do it. But faith is
that which pleases God. And listen here, so he says,
our Lord said that you believe on him whom he has sent. This
is the work of God. This is what pleases God, that
you believe on him whom he has sent. Well, then they say, well,
okay, you want us to believe God sent you, then show us a
sign. does this sound like the same people that he just fed
a day or two ago does this sound like that group of people that
he fed with a few loaves and a couple fishes sound like a
different group doesn't it that's natural man they said
therefore unto him in verse 30 what sign showest thou then that
we may see and believe thee what doest thou work what do you work
They put a lot of effort into making him a king. They wanted
to make him a king. They came across the water. They
wanted to find him, and they still wanted to make him a king.
This one who fed them with those few loaves and a couple of fishes.
But when he called on them to believe, they changed their tune. They changed their tune. This shows how spiritually dead
and ignorant man is. It doesn't matter how religious
he is or how many miracles he sees. He will not believe. Except by the grace and power
of God, he will not. Right in the face of all those
miracles they saw. They saw them. They just fed. They were just fed by him in
a miraculous way. And then he says, now believe
on him whom God has sent. And they said, well, OK, then
show us a sign that God really sent you. That's what they're
saying. Man wants something he can see
and feel, doesn't he? That's what false religion is
all about. It's all about emotions. It's all about excitement of
the flesh. That's what it's about. He wants something that appeals
to his natural senses. You know what Thomas said? I
believe you read that in the study last week. Thomas said,
I will not believe. until I can put my finger in
the prince and his hand and hold his side. He said, I will not
believe. And it's when the Lord said,
blessed is he that believes and has not seen. I won't believe he said, because
we want something that appeals to our senses, our feelings. One writer said this, he said,
here's what they're saying. Who art thou to talk in this
way? What miraculous evidence of your
Messiahship do you have to show? That we may see and believe thee,
what dost thou work? That to prove you're the Messiah,
you'd ask us to believe on you, and what do you work? That we
may see a miracle that proves that you are who you say you
are. And there's something interesting here. Our Lord, when He spoke
of believing, He said that you believe on Him whom He has sent,
that you believe on Him. That's saving faith. When He's
speaking of faith, He's speaking of saving faith. Here's the work
of God, that you believe on Him. You trust Him. You are committed
to Him. You look to Him. But you know
what? Here's what they are saying that
we may see and believe that you're just telling the truth. You know,
the devil believes he's telling the truth, but he doesn't believe
him. He's not committed to him. You
see, there's a difference in believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. and just believe He's telling
the truth. There's a DIFFERENCE! Now listen, there's a DIFFERENCE
in you believing ON CHRIST, the GOSPEL, and I'm standing here
preaching it, we read from the Word of God, and you just believe
I'm telling the truth. Because there's some who believe
I'm just telling the truth, but they've never committed to Christ.
But now some of you believe ON the Lord Jesus Christ. God has
saved you. He's your HOPE, He's your LIFE,
He's your ALL IN ALL. There's a difference between
believing on and just believing someone's telling the truth. Now, he says here now, they bring
up a challenge. They're going to challenge the
Lord of heaven and earth. They said, well, our fathers
did eat manna in the desert, in the wilderness, and our Lord
is going to put this in the correct light. As it is written, He gave
them bread from heaven to eat. When I read that, I thought of
this. This thought came to me. What
can be a great miracle to God's children can turn into a great
delusion to others. That became a delusion to them.
They didn't see Christ in the time. They missed Him. When He
came unto His own, His own what? Received Him not. They turned
thumbs down on Him. ALL THOSE TYPES AND ALL THOSE PICTURES
THAT GOD ALMIGHTY GAVE WHEN HE CAME, THEY MISSED HIM. MY SOUL. THEY MISTAKENLY ATTRIBUTED
THE MANNED FROM HEAVEN TO MOSES, WHICH IS EVIDENCED BY WHAT THE
LORD SAYS IN THE NEXT VERSE. BUT WHAT THEY WANTED TO KNOW
WAS WHAT PROOF DO YOU GIVE THAT PROVES YOU'RE GREATER THAN MOSES? You see, you fed, and they acknowledge,
you fed 5,000 plus with a few loaves and a few fishes. Here's
their thinking. But Moses fed the children in
the wilderness with that manna from heaven, that bread from
heaven, for 40 years. He said, you just did it one
time. He did it for 40 years. That is what they're saying. Moses is greater because he did
it for 40 years and the Lord said to them Aren't you glad
that God tells us the truth and does not leave us in our delusion? Truly truly now listen to me.
Listen to me. I'm telling you the truth. I
Say Moses gave you And he associates them with the fathers that they
were speaking of Moses gave you not that bread from heaven Moses
didn't have that kind of power. He didn't have that kind of power. But listen, my father gave you
the true bread from heaven. Moses didn't give you that bread
from heaven. You know, everything, all good
gifts and perfect gifts come from above. That manna, God sent
it. God gave it every day, faithfully,
faithfully, faithfully, faithfully. In their rebellion, in their
hatred, God fed them every day with that manna from heaven.
They called it light bread. They got tired of it. Just as
people get tired of the preaching of Christ and get crucified.
They wanted meat. They wanted something else to
eat. That manna wasn't, they got tired of it. It wasn't enough. But listen here, God's the giver
of all things. What you and I have, God has
given to us. The bread we will eat today,
the food we will eat today, God gave it to us. The jobs we have,
whatever we have, God has given it to us. Job said, the Lord
giveth and the Lord taketh away. He can take it as easily as he
gave it. He gave it sovereignly. He can
take it sovereignly. He didn't ask me if he could
give it to me, and he's not gonna ask me if he can take it. But
everything I have, he's given it to me and to us. But my father,
he said, giveth you the true bread from heaven. Now our Lord,
as it was said many times in the New Testament, that the Lord
was sent to the Jews first. My father giveth you the true
bread from heaven. And he identifies himself with
here as a son of God. My father giveth you the true
bread. He's calling God his father. And my father gives you the true
bread from heaven. He gives you that life giving
bread from heaven. Bread that nourishes the soul. The manna in the wilderness never
nourished the soul. It nourished the body. If they
kept it for more than a day, it began to breed worms and snakes. But the bread from heaven is
life-giving bread. It's life-giving bread. It not
only sustains spiritual life, it's the giver of spiritual life.
It gives life. Bread that nourishes the soul,
it nourishes the inner man. It's that life of God. It's the
life of God. The manna in the wilderness could
only nourish the body, but not the soul. The manna in the wilderness
rotted, but not that bread from heaven. No, it doesn't rot. It doesn't
stink after a day. To some people it does, but it
doesn't. It doesn't rot. It doesn't breed
worms. Bread from heaven is divine bread.
It's God manifest in the flesh. And it gives eternal life. And then he says here, you know,
first of all, he says the bread is of God. The bread is from
heaven. And now you're going to tell
us here that this bread that he's talking about is a person. It's a person. verse 33 for the
bread of god is he and this goes right over their head we'll see
this here in a minute but this goes right over their head he
said the bread of god is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life into doesn't
offer life but giveth life into the world did god offer you life
you who believe you who have spiritual life God didn't ask
you if you wanted it. He gave it to you. You know,
I was born in 1955. Nobody asked me if I wanted to
be born. My parents didn't ask me, would you want to be born? You want to come into this world?
Nobody asked me that. I was born into the world. I had zero to
do with it. Those who are born of God have
zero to do with it. They are born of God. They are
birthed of God. now before identifying himself
here as the bread from heaven he identified the bread as being
from heaven as being of god and as being a person and hit that person is the lord
jesus christ where the bread of god is he it's a person it's
not a thing it's not material it's he see their mind is on
the manna in the wilderness that it looked like coriander seed
that's what they're thinking But he said the bread of God
is a person. It's he. Which cometh down from heaven. He cometh down from heaven and
he gives life. Listen, he gives life into the
world. He gives life to sinners all over the world. You see,
that manna in the desert was for Israel only. Now it's the
bread that cometh down from heaven gives life to Jews and Gentiles. Gives life to Jews and Gentiles.
It's for sinners, sinners. Our Lord came into the world
that we might have life and have it more abundantly in him, have
eternal life in him. Something stood out to me. I'm
going to point this out. They said, our fathers ate manna
in the wilderness as it is written. He, Moses gave them bread from
heaven. over in verse 49 look over there
48 he says in verse 48 i am that
bread of life your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness they
they did they ate that manna in the whip and they're dead
they're dead now this is there's this there's
something in this there he's showing first of all there's
no life and no salvation in types They were just types, that's
all they were. And they couldn't even sustain life. They're dead. He didn't say they died. He said
they're dead. They're dead. If you remember,
the Lord said one time, He said, God is not the God of the dead,
but of the living. And your fathers are dead, the
ones they're referring to. There's no spiritual life in
the manna. It's only a type. Most of them perish eternally
in the wilderness. Now, not all of them. There's
some who saw Christ. There's some who saw Christ in
the types, and they believed. They believed on the Lord Jesus
Christ. They didn't know him by that name. They knew him by
Jehovah. And so they knew him by that name. But those who ate that manna
in the wilderness, they're dead. They're dead. Religion can't
save you. Ceremonies can't save you. Keeping
the Sabbath can't save you. Keeping all the commands of the
law can't save you. But I tell you what, the bread
of life can save you. The bread from heaven can save
you. Oh, eat of it. Eat of it. The manna could not give life
or sustain life, but the bread from heaven does. Then said they
unto him, Lord evermore, give us this bread. He just said the
bread from heaven that come from heaven is he. It's he, it's a
person. And then I say, Lord evermore,
give us this bread. Who's that sound like? That woman
at the well. Oh, she said, give me this water,
that I won't have to come to this well and draw water anymore. It was all earthly, all material,
it just had nothing to do with anything but this flesh. They still didn't understand
that he was speaking of himself, and he's that bread. He's that
bread. They didn't know God. They would
fight you over that. They'd fight you over that. Tell
them they didn't know God, they'd shoot you over that. The Lord
said to those Pharisees one time, He said to them one time, He
said, you're of your father, the devil, and the works of your
father you will do. Yeah. Oh, you shouldn't say things
like that. I'm so glad he tells us the truth. I'm so glad one
day I heard, I heard Henry Mahan tell me the truth about God,
about me, about Christ, about salvation. Thank God for the
truth. Thank God for the truth that
he tells us the truth. All they were interested in was
the same thing today for the most part in religion, health,
wealth, and a kingdom on earth. You hear these people talk about
the thousand-year reign on the earth, the millennium, and all
that stuff. I don't know about that stuff. I just know how God
saves sinners. How God saves sinners. I know
how it's going to work out. I read the last two chapters
over in Revelation. I know how it's going to end.
Now, all the stuff in between, that's God's business. That's
His business. Natural men have no taste or
appetite for the bread from heaven. It's only those born of God that
find Christ to be the satisfaction of their
soul. He satisfies the soul of all those who eat of him. as Peter said in 1st Peter 2
3 if so be ye have tasted tasted that the Lord is gracious have
you tasted that have you tasted that the Lord is gracious have
you tasted his mercy have you tasted it you won't call it light
bread You won't get tired of Him if you have tasted that He's
gracious and merciful to you. If He just gives you a crumb
like that Syrophoenician woman, Lord, the puppies eat the crumbs
which fall from the master's table. If I can just get a crumb
this morning, it'll be enough. If I can just have a crumb of
the bread of life this morning, I guarantee you that'll carry
me out of here, it'll put a snap in my step, it'll put a hope
in my heart. If I can just have a crumb this
morning, just a crumb. And then our Lord, listen, He
told this bread's from heaven, this bread's of God, this bread
is a person. And He clearly says to them in
verse 35, I am the bread of life. Lord evermore give us this bread.
It's standing in front of you. It's standing in front of you
this morning. I'm telling you the truth. It's here. It's here
this morning. I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger. And he that believeth on me shall
never thirst. I am the bread that gives spiritual
life, that gives eternal life. And the one who upholds and maintains
that life, I'm it. I am, I am. I am the great I
am. The one who said to Moses, tell
them I am that I am sent thee. I am the bread of life. God Almighty is the bread of
life. Not in a type, not in a ceremony,
not in a work. Tell us what we must do to do
the works of God. Believe. Believe on the one who
did the work. Believe on him who did the work.
That's all that's all that pleases God, he said. Faith pleases God. Oh, the Lord said, because I
live, you shall live also. That's why you live, that's why
you have life. The Lord Jesus Christ, God manifest
in the flesh, is the Messiah. He's the Savior whom God has
sent to give spiritual life to the whole world, Jew and Gentiles
all over the world. People out of every tribe, kindred,
tongue, and nation under heaven, every family on this earth has
been touched by the grace of God. They may have died in infancy,
And we, you know, I tell you why. When I hear of an infant,
child, a person that's mentally handicapped, when I hear of one
that has passed away, they've been made whole. They've been
redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. I believe that. I believe
that with all my heart. They've been redeemed, and now
they're whole. Now they're all fully mature,
fully whole. He that, listen, now listen,
and I'm gonna wind this down. He that cometh to me, to come to Christ is a spiritual
coming to him. I was trying to think of who
made this statement. I don't know if it was L.R. Shelton or
who it was, but somebody made this statement. Come to Christ
and don't you move a hair or a muscle. But you come to Christ. Because coming to Christ is the
heart. It's coming to Him from the heart.
Coming to Christ is the same thing as believing on the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's the same thing as believing
on Him. It's the same thing as embracing
Him and loving Him. That's coming to Christ. Coming
to the front of a building is not coming to Christ. Coming
to Christ in faith with all your heart is coming to Christ. Because
it's a spiritual coming, it's a spiritual laboring. And I tell
you what, everyone here who believes you know it's a labor. You struggle
day to day. Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.
It's a gift of God, but I tell you what, you'll labor throughout
your lifetime believing. Because there'll be so many doubts
that come into your mind, and you just have to labor to cast
them out. Lord, cast these out. Help me to believe. As that man
said when he brought his son, the Lord said that he that believes,
and he said, Lord, I believe. Help, help, help, help my unbelief. Help me. To believe on Christ
is to receive God's testimony concerning His Son. It's to receive
it in heart. It's to embrace it. It's to love
it. That's what receiving Christ is. It's receiving Christ like
a glass would receive water, just poured into it. The glass
makes no effort. It just opened up to Him. Lord,
fill me. Here's my cup, Lord. Fill it
up, Lord. Fill it up with yourself. And
he that cometh to me shall never hunger. He that believes on me
shall never thirst. This doesn't mean, this doesn't
mean you're going to be on the mountain all the time. You're
not going to have times where you are spiritually cold, lukewarm. Doesn't mean that. Here's what
it does mean. You'll never want anything that's necessary for
spiritual life. or eternal happiness. You'll
never want for that. We have it in Christ. I'm going
to close with this scripture, Colossians 2 and verses 9 and
10. And here's why we'll never hunger
or thirst. For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily, and you are complete in him, which is the head of
all principality and power. That's why you'll never hunger
and thirst. That manna in the wilderness That bread over in
your house, in the bread box, it's going to leave you hungry.
The water you drink today is going to leave you thirsty. You're
going to have to do it again. But Christ, Christ is this ever, He's this
ever-present bread. Show bread. He's this ever-present
bread. He's this ever-present water
springing up. Springing up. Day by day, you
have thoughts of Christ. Where's that coming from? It's
coming from that bread that's in you, that's coming from that
water that's in you, springing up. It's springing up. If He were not in you, you wouldn't
think about Him. You wouldn't think about Him. You'd be thinking about getting
your bellies full, just like they did. Just like they did. They sought Him for a physical,
material benefit. We seek Him for who He is. You know, really, the Lord deserves
to be worshipped whether He saved us or not. He deserves worship. But we seek Him for who He is,
and we seek Him for spiritual benefits. Forgiveness, pardon,
justification, righteousness, acceptance. That's why we seek
Him. Not for the earthly things. Seek
ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. These other
things will be added to you. And they'll be added to you with
no sorrow. No sorrow. He won't add sorrow to it. When
you and I go after it, it usually ends up with trouble. It usually
does. All right.