I want to begin reading in verse
29 and read down to verse 37. Jesus answered. And this is his
answer to the question in verse 28, what shall we do that we
might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto
them, this is the work of God. that you believe on him whom
he hath sent. They said, therefore unto him,
what sign showest thou then that we may see and believe? What does thou work? Our fathers
did eat manna in the desert, as it's written, he gave them
bread from heaven to eat. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily
I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but
my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread
of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto
the world. Then said they unto him, Lord,
evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am
the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you that you
also have seen me, and believe not. All that the Father giveth
me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no
wise cast out. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your
word. And we ask in Christ's name that
we will be enabled to be of those people who come to your son and
believe on him. Be our teacher for Christ's sake.
Lord, we pray for your mercy and your favor toward us. Lord,
we pray that you'd forgive us of our sins. Lord, we pray for
those who are going through sickness and trials. We pray for your
blessing upon them. We pray for those of our number
who are straying. We pray that you would cause
them to, that you'd seek them and find them and bring them
back. Accept our thanksgiving, Lord,
and enable us to worship you, enable us to hear from you. In
Christ's name we pray, amen. Now what I want you to remember
about these people, these people are the same people who just
that morning had food created, and they witnessed this. They
were there when this food was created, They ate of it, they
experienced this miracle. And they're wanting more food.
So when the Lord said in verse 29, this is the work of God that
you believe on him whom he has sent. They said therefore unto
him, what sign showest thou then? Now wait a minute. They just
ate food that was created that very day before that. What do
you mean you need a sign? What's that all about? What they're
saying is, we don't believe you tell the truth. You're going
to have to give us more credible evidence than this. We do not
believe. Now that's what this sign is
about. We do not believe. You're gonna have to show us
more than this. Verse 30. Then said therefore
unto him, what sign showest thou then that we may see and believe? What does thou work? Our fathers
did eat man in the desert as it's written. He gave them bread
from heaven to eat. Now what they're saying is you're
gonna have to up your game. Moses, provided 40 years worth
of meals for millions of people. His miracle was much more impressive
than yours. In order for us to believe, you're
going to have to up your game. If you're Christ, prove it. Now, as I said, they'd already
seen this miracle. And no one believes because of
empirically observing a miracle. That's not going to make somebody
believe. If I could get up here and create things, it wouldn't
make anybody believe. They did not believe. And what
I thought of is this is very much like the devil was there
when the father from heaven spoke and said, this is my beloved
son in whom I am well pleased. And the devil said, if you're
the son of God, prove it with a sign. You command that these
stones be made bread if you're really the son of God. The father
said he was. What else is needed? All that's
needed for faith is believing what God says. And Satan is calling
this into question. If you're the son of God, prove
it. Command these stones be made bread. If you're the son of God,
prove it. Jump off the pinnacle of the temple. The angels will
catch you. That's what the Bible says. Give us a sign and prove
this to us. I think of the scriptures, the
Jews require a sign. We need a sign that we can first
see in order to believe, which denies what faith is in the first
place. Faith is believing the word of God. Period. Well, I need a sign to prove
it. of the Jews require sign, give me something that I can
see that will enable me to believe. That is a denial of what faith
is in the first place. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for, Hebrews 11 one, the evidence of things not seen. Now my hope is that I stand before
God having never sinned. That's what justification is. Christ made it when he took my
sin and put him away and gave me his righteousness. He made
it to where I'm going to stand before God on judgment day, having
never committed a sin. Now, if that's the case, I can
look forward to judgment with boldness. I've never committed
a sin. That's the hope of every believer.
And my hope is that everything between now and then, because
God says this, Romans 8, 28 says, and we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are called
according to his purpose. My hope is that everything from
this point to when I stand before God in judgment is working together
for my good and his glory. Now that's my hope. Can you see
it? No. No. Can you see that you're sinless?
No. I can't see that. Can you see how everything's
working together for your good? No. But I believe it because
God said it. That is what faith is. It's believing what God has said. But these people are saying,
we need more. Give us a sign. Give us some
evidence. Well, they ate the food that was created that very
day. Their bellies were filled. They just didn't believe. Let's
go on reading. Verse 32. Then Jesus said unto
them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that
bread from heaven. Now the Lord could read their
mind and he knew what they were thinking. They were thinking,
Moses provided a whole lot more than you have. He provided manna
every day for 40 years, feeding millions of people. That's much
more impressive. The Lord knew that's what they
were thinking when they said, he gave them bread from heaven
to eat. Because look what he says. Verily I say unto you,
Moses gave you not that bread from heaven. It wasn't Moses.
But my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. Now what about this manna? This
bread that came down from heaven? You can read about it in Exodus
chapter 16. God miraculously caused manna
to fall from heaven. And it wasn't a three-course
meal. It was just manna. Just manna. Remember how the
people got tired of it? They ended up saying, our souls
loathe this light bread. It's insubstantial. It's not
enough to satisfy us. We need more. But this manna
represents Christ. He came from heaven. He's all, manna was all they
had. Christ is all we have. He's all we have to eat. We look
to him only. And that manna. If you tried
to save it for the next day, what would it do? It would breed
worms and stink. You see, faith is always in the
present. If I got to look to something
yesterday to give me assurance for today, some experience I
had, something I did, I must be saved because this took place
and that took place and I felt this and I did that. Or if I
try to hide in the future, well, I'll I'm going to get things
right one of these days. I'm going to fix things one of
these days. When I can get victory over this sin and when I can
start doing that, that's a false refuge. That's your works. If
you look to the past, you're looking to your works. If you
look to the future, you're looking to something you're going to
do. You look to Christ only right now. That's the manner. That's the spiritual manner we're
eating even now. You look to Christ only right
now. He says, my father giveth you
the true bread from heaven for the bread of God is he which
cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world. Now the Lord is telling us I'm
the one that this bread represents. I'm the true bread that comes
down from heaven and I love to think of this thing of verse 33, for the bread of God
is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the
world. I love the language. This is
the first time of six or seven times in this sermon on Capernaum,
he said, I came down from heaven. Now, if I said, I came down from
heaven, you would say, I do not believe you. Or you would say,
you are crazy. You're mentally deranged. Something's
wrong with you. If you say, I came down from
heaven, what are you talking that way for? Well, I'm sure
they felt the same way when the Lord said that. He said, I came
down from heaven. I was before my birth. I was. He's speaking of his deity
when he says that. He was before he came and he
came down from heaven. For the bread of God is he which
cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world. Turn a few pages to John 3, 16. The world. Now that is the word
cosmos in the Greek, the world. Verse 16. For God so loved the
world. that he gave his only begotten
son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into
the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him
might be saved." Now let's think of this word, the world. He said,
I came to give life to the world. By the world, does he mean every
individual without exception? All men, without exception. Now,
some people use it in that light. See, he loves everybody. God
so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. He came
to save everybody in the world. Well, if I'm going to be consistent,
I'm going to read verse 17 too. For God sent not his son into
the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him
might be saved. If I'm going to be consistent
with what I said just now, I'm going to have to say, everybody's
going to be saved. All men without exception is going to be saved
and there is no eternal punishment. If I'm going to say world means
all men without exception. No, everybody had ever lived. God so loved and Christ died
for everybody to ever live. If I remain consistent with myself,
what am I going to say? I'm going to say, well, nobody's
going to be damned. There is no hell. There is no
eternal punishment. God loves everybody the same.
Can't say that, can you? If you take verse 16 and say
it means all men, you're going to have to take verse 17 and
say there's no eternal punishment. There's no hell. Nobody is going
to be judged. Let's eat and drink. You don't
need to worry about anything. You're going to be saved. Live
however you want because there's no eternal consequences to anything.
You're going to be saved. That's the way you have to look
at that if you look at it in that light. God so loved the
world, this wicked, evil world, people like me and you. God so,
now back to John chapter six. For the bread of God is he which
cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world. The bread of God. This is the
true spiritual food. This is the true spiritual meat.
It's he that cometh down from heaven. Here's my life before
God. He came down from heaven. And
as my substitute, he kept the law for me. And he died for my sins. And he was raised again for my
justification. Now that's the bread of God. That's what I can live on. That's
a full meal to me. I need nothing else. Jesus Christ
is all. And when I say that, amen. Amen. He is all. That is my meal. Like
I said, it's not a three-course meal. It's a one-course meal,
but it's better than any three-course meal. This is everything. Jesus Christ is all. He's all I have. He really is. I don't have anything else to
plead before God but Him. He's all I need. I don't need anything
else. He's all I want. Christ is all. This is speaking
of the sufficiency of Jesus Christ. That is He that came down from
heaven to give life to the world. Verse 34. And then said they unto Him,
Lord evermore give us this bread. Now all they understood was physical
bread. Give me this bread so I don't
have to go out and work for food. I just got a free meal all the
time and everything's going to be fine. Give us this bread.
That's all they understood is they wanted bread. They wanted
physical sustenance. They wanted their lives to be
better. I can use my time for other things
than working. I can maybe build a hospital or educate my children
better. I can make this world a better
place by having this bread where I don't have to go out and scrape
and work for bread. It's all just given to me. Give
us this bread. They had no idea what he was
talking about, did they? Verse 35, and Jesus said unto
them, I am the bread of life. This is one of those I am statements
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has seven of them. I am the
door, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. I love
it when he said, if you believe not that I am, you'll die in
your sins. Now when he says that, he's saying,
I am the one who spoke to Moses from the burning bush, saying,
I am that I am. Tell them I am, hath sent thee. I am. Don't you love that? I
am. This is who he is. Jesus Christ
is God. Jesus Christ is the great I am
that I am. Jesus Christ is the almighty
creator. Jesus Christ, I am the bread
of life. He says, he that cometh to me
shall never hunger. And he that believeth on me shall
never thirst. Now this verse is going to help
us, if the Lord's pleased to bless it, to understand what
faith is. He that cometh to me. Are you interested in what faith
is? Well, here it is. He that cometh to me shall never hunger. And he that believeth on me Shall
never thirst. Now don't leave this statement.
He that cometh to me, salvation is coming to Christ. Well, how do I do that? It's
not a physical movement. How do I do that? Remember the. Scripture, Revelation 22, verse
17, and the spirit and the bride say, come, come to Christ right
now, just as you are. Don't try to make yourself better.
Don't try to improve yourself. Come to Christ right now just
as you are. The Spirit and the bride say,
come. That's the message of the church. That's the message of
God the Holy Spirit. Come to Christ. Don't go and
do. Don't try to make yourself better.
Don't wait. Come to Christ right now. Now somebody says, what in the
world does it mean to come to Christ? Well, he tells us, look
what it says. Verse 35, I am the bread of life,
he that cometh to me, don't miss that, he that cometh to me shall
never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. Now to come to Christ is to believe
on him. It's that simple. To come to
Christ is to believe on him. He that cometh to me, he that
believeth on me. Well, how can I know if I have
believed on him? You're satisfied with him. You're
not hungry. You're not thirsting for anything
else. You're plumb satisfied to be saved by Jesus Christ alone. And you're not looking for anything
else. Satisfaction. Satisfaction. You do not want anything else.
And you know what it is to be satisfied with food when you
don't want anything else. I mean, you're going to hunger
again. I realize that. But after you first eat that meal, you
think, I could never eat another thing. I don't want anything else. In Christ, I'm completely satisfied
to be saved by him. I'm not hungering for anything
else. I'm not thirsting for anything else. I'm satisfied with being
saved by Jesus Christ alone. Are you satisfied with that?
Do you find Jesus Christ to be sufficient and you need nothing
else? In him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily and you are complete, lacking nothing
in him. What is it to come to Christ? It's to believe on Christ. What
is it to believe on Christ? It's to be satisfied that he
is all in salvation. You need nothing else. You're
looking nowhere else. Verse 35. I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger. And he that believeth on me shall never thirst. That's
satisfaction, isn't it? Now, with regard to anything
else, you're not gonna be satisfied with regard to anything else,
but you are satisfied to be saved by Christ only. And you're not
looking for anything else. But then he says in verse 36,
but I said unto you that you also have seen me and believe
not. Now he's looking at these people
who just had this miraculous bread And he says, you've seen
me and you do not believe. That's a blanket statement to
these people. As a matter of fact, by the end
of this message, all these people he had fed are going to leave
him and no one has left, but the 12. But he looks at these
people and said, you've seen me, you've seen this miracle.
And you do not believe. And I want to say this carefully.
I want to say this the right way. But it's as if he said,
you don't believe me, but that's not a discouragement to me. That's
not a discouragement to me. You see, Jesus Christ is never
discouraged. You see, he shall see the travail
of his soul and be satisfied. He said, you don't believe me.
but that's not a discouragement to me. Now look what he said
from verse 37. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. You don't believe, but don't
think I am discouraged over that. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. There's going to be some people
who do believe. And who are these people? Well,
he tells us, all, A-double-L all, no exceptions, all that
the Father giveth me. Now, what he is talking about
is eternal election. There's a word I love. Election,
God electing a people before time begins. God being God, that's
all it means. God's God. If you're saved, it's
because he saved you. If you're saved, it's because
he chose you before time began to be saved, and saved you must
be. All, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. If you're all not coming, well,
I know who will. All the Father gives me. They
shall come to me. And him, look at the last part
of the verse, Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast
out. You can't say, well, I can't
come because maybe the father didn't give me to him. You can't
say that. You have no right to say that.
The Lord says, if you come, You will not be cast out. I can say to everybody in this
room and everybody outside of this room, you come to Christ,
he'll receive you. You don't need to do anything to make yourself
better. You don't need to make yourself worthy. You come to
Christ as a sinner and he will receive you. That is his promise. I don't come to Christ because
I know I'm elect. I come to Christ because I need him. I'm a sinner
and I desperately need him. I need him to do something for
me that I can't do for myself. Need. Let not conscience make
you linger nor fitness fondly dream. The only fitness he requires
is to have a need of him. You know when you'll come to
Christ? When you have nowhere else to go and you need. Him that cometh to me, I will
in no wise cast out.