Verse 2, it says, And a great
multitude followed the Lord, because they saw His miracles
which He did on them that were diseased. A great multitude of people, thousands
and thousands of them. It says in verse 5, Our Lord
lifted up His eyes on this multitude, and He had compassion upon them.
He saw that they had nothing to eat. He turned to one of the
disciples, Philip, and he said to him, where shall we buy provisions,
something for these people to eat? Philip said, well, a large
sum of money, Lord, wouldn't be sufficient to feed this multitude. And then Andrew came to him and
said, well, there's a little boy here who's got five loaves
and two fishes, five barley loaves and two small fishes. What are
they amongst the many? And our Lord said, well, make
the men sit down. There was plenty of grass in
that area. Now there were thousands of people. And He had them all
sit down. And then He took the loaves and
blessed it, blessed the bread and the fish. And He began to
break the loaves and give it to His disciples. give it to
the disciples, and the disciples began to feed the people, give
the people the bread and the fish. Everybody ate as much as
they could hold. And then it says in verse 12,
when they were filled, he said to his disciples, gather up the
fragments that remain, let nothing be left. And they gathered together
and filled twelve baskets with fragments of the five barley
loaves which remained over. And then those men, when they
saw that miracle that Jesus did, they said, this is of a truth,
that prophet that should come into the world, that great prophet,
that great leader of Israel. Moses said, this reference here
is to Moses' promise in Deuteronomy, where he said, the Lord shall
raise up from among the brethren one like unto myself. a great
prophet, and him you shall hear. And they were astounded by this
miracle. They were greatly impressed by
it. And they said, surely this is that prophet that Moses said
would come. And verse 15, when Jesus therefore
perceived that they would come and take him by force and make
him a king, they wanted the kingdom of Israel to be restored, the
power and greatness and majesty of David's kingdom. They wanted
Israel to be delivered from the bondage of Rome. They wanted
Israel to be back into the limelight and the glory. And they thought,
here's our opportunity. Here's a miracle worker. Here's
a great prophet. Here's a man that can take a
small amount of food and feed them all for two. Let's make
him king. And so our Lord slipped away
from them, went up into the mountains. and left them down there. And
his disciples went down to the seashore, the sea of Tiberias,
and they took a boat, and they went across to the other side,
towards the other side. And that's when the sea, the
tempest, began to roll, and the storm fell upon the ship, and
the great wind blew, and Christ appeared to them walking on the
water. You remember the story. And he calmed the sea, and Peter
tried to walk on water to it. And then on the next day, on
the next day, the people were all still gathered together,
all that great multitude, and they saw that Christ was no longer
over here. And the disciples were not over
here. They saw them take a boat and go across the sea. So they
began to get in all kind of little boats and other shipping and
so forth. And they went on the other side
looking for Jesus of Nazareth. They went over to the other side
of the sea. That brings me to my text here in verse 25, the
beginning of the text. And so they found him on the
other side. And they said to him, Rabbi, when did you come
over here? How did you come over here? Well, our Lord certainly was
not going to say to them, I walked on the water. that would immediately
kindle that flame again and make him king. If they could find
one who could heal the sick and feed the multitude and walk on
water, that would immediately make him the king. So our Lord
said to them in verse 26, He said, Verily, verily, I say unto
you, you seek me, you seek me. You have a purpose in this seeking. And that purpose is this, it
wasn't because you saw the miracles like those written about in John
chapter 2. But I'll tell you why you seek
me, because you did eat of the loaves and were filled. That's
the reason you seek me, is because your interest is altogether in
your physical needs and your physical well-being. That's all
in the world you're interested in. You're interested in something
to eat and something to wear. and some place to live, and some
ease and comfort for this body. That's why you seek me. And then
he says in verse twenty-seven, don't strive and labor and work
for the meat that perisheth. Don't work and labor for material
things that perish. The scripture says the fashion
of this world fadeth away. Everything that our eyes behold,
everything that appeals to our senses, hearing and smelling
and tasting and touching and seeing and all these things will
someday fade away, pass away. Don't labor for those things
that perish, but set your affection and your goal and your interest.
Labor for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life. Labor
for that meat which the Son of Man shall give you. For him hath
the Father God the Father sealed, him hath the Father commissioned
anointed sin to be the Redeemer." Don't strive for what you shall
eat and drink and wear. This is what the heathens seek. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and His righteousness, and all these other things will be
added to you as you need them. But that's much like our day.
Like I said, this scripture is so appropriate for today, our
religious, covetous, materialistic day. That's the vein in which
we think. That's the direction in which
we move. That's the direction of the average preacher's ministry
message. Laboring for materialism, financial
security, good health, all these things that appeal to the flesh.
Don't labor for those things. Christ said, don't strive for
those things. And then they said unto him,
now here is the question of the self-righteous that's still ever
occupied with doing. Doing, doing, doing. They have
the idea that salvation comes to those who earn it. Salvation
comes to those who work for it. Like the rich young ruler came
to Christ and he said, what good thing shall I do to inherit eternal
life? Everything materialistic, even
when we talk about heaven. It's no more tears, no more pain. It's the family circle, it's
meeting mother. It's a continuation of this materialism. It's a continuation of this natural
covetousness on our part. And even in getting there, we
want to do something. They said, well, what shall we
do? Give us something to do. What shall we do that we might
work the works of God? How do we get in on this thing? Jesus introduced them to a work
they'd never thought of or heard of, and that is faith. This had never occurred to them.
He said to them in verse 29, He said, this is the work of
God. This is the work of God. that
you believe on him whom God has sent. This is the one thing God
requires of you, that you believe. This is the one thing that God
requires of sinners, to believe, to receive, and to trust the
Lord Jesus Christ. This is the one thing. But this
is not, they don't even think in this area. They don't even
think in this area. They're not even conditioned
to this area. They want to do something. And
then they said unto him, verse 30, Well, what sign do you show
us then? Show us a sign. Here we are back
again. Without the Spirit of God, it
is utterly impossible to bring a natural man to think spiritually. He can't think spiritually. He
can't determine spiritually. He can't act spiritually. He's
in a an area and a world of flesh, doing, going, giving, wearing,
eating, feeling, all of these things. That's his whole world. That's the way these people were.
They ran over there where Christ was. When did you come over here?
When did you come over here? He said, I know why you follow
me. I know what your interest is in me. You ate the loaves
and were filled, and you want me to give you some more. You
want me to provide your needs. You want me to fix it so you
don't have to labor or work anymore. Don't set your heart on these
things. Don't labor and work for the
things of the flesh. All these things shall fade away."
He said, "...labor for that meat which the Father shall give you
through the Son. For him hath the Son..." Well,
what shall we do? He said, "...believe." Well,
they said, show us a sign. Show us a sign, then, that we
may see and believe you. What do you work? Show us a sign.
Show us a miracle. Show me in our belief. I want
to see something. They said, our fathers, when
they're out there in the wilderness, When they were in the desert,
it is written. These fellas knew some Bible. They could quote
Bible. They said it's written in Psalm 78, 25 through 27, that
Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat. Bread fell all around. They ate angels' food. That's
what it was called. Even quail flew down into their
camp, and they had food on the ground, and Moses gave them the
That's the reason they followed Moses, because he showed them
miracles. He showed them signs. He gave
them bread from heaven. Moses took care of their physical
needs. Their clothes didn't wear out.
He took care of their food. They ate food, the bread and
the quail and the water from the rock. And our Lord said,
look at verse 32, "...verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses
gave you not that bread from heaven, To begin with, Moses
didn't give you that physical bread either, by any power of
virtue in himself. It was my Father that gave you
that bread, but that bread was material and typical, and they
ate that bread and died. They ate that bread and they
died. But my Father gives you true
bread, true spiritual bread from heaven. For the bread of God
is he that cometh down from heaven and giveth life to this world.
Life to this world. And here they go again, like
the woman at the well. You remember when our Lord said,
you drink of this well, you'll thirst again. But if you drink
of the water which I shall give you, you'll never thirst. She
said, well, give me that water that I come not to the well to
draw. Give me that one. That's what
we're all looking for. We're looking for an easier way.
And if the Lord can provide it, then hooray for Him. They said
in verse 34, well, give us this bread. That's what we're asking
you. We cannot seem to get across.
I am the bread. I am the bread. Lord, if you'd
have been here, my brother wouldn't have died. Your brother will
live again. I know he'll live again in the
resurrection, but if you'd have been here, he wouldn't have died.
I'm the resurrection. I'm the resurrection. I'm the
life. Lord, give us this bread. Give
us this bread. Give us this water that we come
not here to draw again. Give us this bread that we eat
and we never will hunger again. This water we'll never thirst
again. I am the bread. I am the bread, my son. I am
the Messiah sent to redeem. I am the fountain of life. I
am the sacrifice for sin. I am the vine. I am the door. I am the good shepherd. I am
the way, the truth, and the life. I am all that a man will ever
need, all that God the Father requires. I am all that the law
demands. I am all that justice demands.
I am the bread of life. I am. I am. Paul said in 1 Corinthians
1.30, Of God are you in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom, wisdom, a knowledge of God, an
understanding of His kingdom and His glory and His righteousness,
wisdom, righteousness, that perfection which God requires, which His
law demands. He is made unto us righteousness,
sanctification, Immaculate holiness, what you were talking about,
set apart, declared to be holy, regarded as holy, accepted as
holy. He is our holiness. Redemption,
bought back, purchased. He is all things. He of God is
made unto us all those things. They're in Christ. They're of
Christ. They're through Christ. They're
because of Christ. And He is those things. He doesn't
just provide those things. He is those things. That's what
I'm saying. That's what He's saying to this.
I am the bread of life. I am the bread of life. I am
the bread of life. Colossians 2, 9 says, In Him,
in Christ dwelleth, dwelleth, abideth continually ever. All the fullness of God. All
the fullness of God. Bodily. In Him. And you're complete in Him. This is what we can't... My generation
of religious people have the mistaken idea that Jesus
Christ somehow made a way to God, that He provided a road
which we take at His expense, that we take this road, that
we walk this road with Him as our example or as our guide. He is the road. He is the way. He is the bread. He is the—He
Himself. God loves me in Christ, accepts
me in Christ, regards me in Christ. I'm an heir in Christ. I am Christ. See what I'm talking about? We are elected in Christ. And
when He did what He did on this earth in His obedience, that
was you and I in Him fulfilling. We're crucified with Christ,
buried and risen with Christ. When God accepts Christ, He accepts
us. Christ liveth in us. But, he said in verse 36, now
watch this, but I said to you, you have seen me, you have heard
me. This is a sad note. You've seen
me, you've heard me, you've listened to me, you've observed me, but
you don't believe. You just don't believe. Well,
they had religion now, mind you. Oh, yeah, they had their holy
days. And they did their fasting and tithing and kept the Sabbath
day. They did all these things. These
people read the Scriptures. But Christ stood among them and
in the midst of them. And He said, You've seen Me.
You've listened to Me. I've told you who I am. I am
the bread. I am divine. I am the way. I
am God. I am the water of life. And you've
listened to me, and you've sized me up, and you've observed me,
but you don't believe me. The Scriptures bore witness of
me. The prophets bore witness of
Christ to him. Give all the prophets witness.
The Father hath borne witness that he said, This is my Son,
hear him. The works that he did bore witness of him, the apostles
bore witness of him, and millions have borne witness of him to
us, and yet men believe not on him. They believe religious facts,
they accept religious facts, they follow religious facts,
and they practice religious work, but they don't believe on him. And there's no peace and rest
and satisfaction in any other. Most religious people are not
happy. They've got religion, but they haven't found any peace.
They've got a profession of faith, but they haven't found any rest.
They've been baptized and joined the church, but there's no satisfaction.
They blow here and there and yonder. They hear something new,
and they go that way, and they hear something else, and they
go that way. There's no lasting strength or continuing hope or
foundation in any human program. Only in Christ. And he said,
but you won't believe on me. Men will come to the front, they'll
come to the baptistery, they'll come to the table, they'll come
to a preacher, they'll come to a law, they'll come to a church
constitution, they'll come to a social event, they'll come
to a revival, they'll come to a Bible conference, they'll come
to a Bible class, they'll come to a sharing session, they'll
come to anything but to Christ. They will not come to Christ. And there's no life anywhere
but in Christ. There's no peace. He said, I am the rest and the
peace and the life. He said, but you've listened
to me. You've observed me. You've listened to my words.
You've observed the miracles. You've listened to the record
that God had given concerning his son. And yet he said, you
believe not. Now, hold your seat. Now, here it is. This is our day right here. You know, we get the wrong idea
about these folks here in John chapter 6. We think they're just
a bunch of pulpers and beggars and rabble around. Oh, no. These
were religious folks. You heard them quoting Scripture,
didn't you? These were religious folks. They talked about the
prophet Moses wrote about, and it's written he gave them bread
from heaven. of religious people. And yet they're interested here
in what religious people are interested in. That's what makes
these television preachers so popular. They're interested in
health, and wealth, and materialism, and financial security, and all
these physical things. And that's what this outfit here
wanted. And Christ said, I know why you're following me. I know
exactly what's on your mind. You want some more bread. I'm
the bread. I'm the bread, I'm the bread
of life. And if you, if you can get it,
if somehow get it through your head, at heart or somewhere,
that to eat of me, to drink of me is to never hunger and never
thirst again. And this, these clothes become
secondary to the robe of righteousness. These are necessary things while
we live on this earth, you know, and this, and food for this body
becomes secondary to feeding upon Christ. The earthly family becomes secondary
to the spiritual family. Earthly ambitions become secondary
to that ambition to be like Christ, to awake with His likeness. You
understand what I'm saying? When you feed on Christ. He's that
bread. But he said in verse 37, now
watch it, All that the Father giveth me will come to me." You've heard these things, listened,
observed them, been exposed to them, but you do not believe.
But I'm telling you this. All that my Father giveth me
will come to me. They're going to In other words,
some people shall certainly and surely come to Christ. Thousands
will travel the broad religious road to hell, but some are going
to see what we're preaching, Him whom we preach. And they're
coming to Him. You know why they're coming?
Father gave them to Him. That's why they're coming. They're
coming to Him. They're not coming to a program,
they're coming to Him. They're not coming to a preacher,
they're coming to Him. They're not coming to a denomination.
They're coming to Christ. They're coming to Christ in repentance.
They're coming to Christ in faith. They're coming to Christ having
seen spiritually and heard spiritually and understood spiritually who
He is, what He did, why He did it, and where He is. They know.
And they're going to come to Him because the Father gave them
to Him. And He says they're going to
be saved. Verse 40 says, And this is the will of him that
sent me, that of every one that seeth me, and believeth on me,
will have everlasting life. They're going to be saved, every
one of them. This is the thing that
drives us forth in the ministry of the Lord. This is the thing
that keeps us on radio and television and writing messages and printing
sermons God's got some sheep out there that are going to believe
on Him. They're going to come to Him. Yes, sir, they are. The vast multitude and majority
of religious people are going to keep on clamoring for things
and things and things, but His sheep are going to believe on
Him. They're going to fall in love with Him, because the Father
gave them to Him, and they're going to be saved. If I come to Christ, two things
are true. If I can come to Christ, I'm
not talking about coming to the front, or coming to the church,
or coming to a profession, or coming to a position on doctrine. I'm talking about if I can come
to Christ, two things are true. You know what they are? Number
one, the Father gave me to Christ. If I can come, He gave me to
Christ, or I wouldn't have come. And secondly, I'll be saved.
I'll be fed if I come to Christ, if I come to Him. Because that's
where the food is. That's where the life is. If I come to Christ,
if I can get around these soul winners, if I can get around
these hucksters, if I can get around these present-day religionists
and get to Christ, if I know it by faith in heart, then the
Father gave me to Christ. He intended that I should come,
and I'm going to be safe. Doris and I have some squirrels
over at the house that we've made pets out of. We're getting
a little old, and we sit in the swing and feed the squirrels. Our granddaughter, Carey Grace,
walked up to the house Saturday morning. She said, I thought
I'd find y'all out on the patio feeding the squirrels. Well,
it's fun. A whole lot of pecans, and I
cracked them, and there's Bubba, and then there's Tom and Jerry.
And there's Billy the Beggar. There's four of them. And they
all got their own personalities, and they come and eat. And I
sit out there, and they'll come right up, you know, and I throw
the pecans out. Well, I threw some pecans out.
I was sitting there in the swing the other day, and those pecans
are for my squirrels. That's what they're for. And
I threw some pecans out there, and I was sitting there in the
swing, And a couple of them were there eating, and I saw this
little robin, pretty good-sized robin, big red breast robin,
you know, came flying up, and he lit right out there by the
patio. And he looked around, and he
saw those pecans. He looked at me, and he looked
at the squirrels. I said, go on, Robbie, have one. They're
for you, too, if you want them. If you want a pecan, get it. He came over a little closer.
He looked at those pecans and watched those squirrels. He came
over a little closer. In a minute he walked over and
picked him one up. And that's what I'm saying. Are
you hungry? Are you thirsty? I don't care
if you're a robin or a squirrel, come to Christ. And if you didn't,
the Father intended for you to come. It's for all that are hungry.
But if you're satisfied with this husk of the world, if that's
all your ambition is, you're going to miss it, because it's
all in Him. And Satan has so many subtle
ways of turning our heads toward these things. That's how we think
all the time, these things. And I know, I know, you fellas
have to get out there and mingle with the world and make your
living. Mine comes a lot easier. The church takes care. I know.
I try to remember those things. But if you can, these things
are not the end. They're just means. They're not
the end. The end is Christ. The goal is
Christ. Life is Christ. Bread is Christ. The water is Christ. And if you
can come to Him, come to Him, Come to Him in heart and faith
and life, and feast on Him and feed on Him. You'll be saved. Because He says here, All that
my Father giveth me, they'll come to me. They'll come to... Now here,
note this right here. This is important. One thing
is true of all that the Father gave to Christ. One distinguishing
mark is true of all who are saved. One distinguishing mark is true
of all who will be raised in the resurrection on that day.
You know what it is? They come to Christ. He keeps
saying that all the way through here. All that my Father gives
me will come to me. Him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. And then he said, He that hath
learned of the Father comes to me and I'll raise him up at the
last day. Come to Christ. And I'm not questioning
anybody's profession here. I'm not saying anybody's saved
or lost. I don't know who's saved. Somebody
says, you think I'm saved? I don't know. I'm not God. If you've come to Christ, you're
saved. If you haven't, you're not. Now, I do know that. Because he keeps saying that.
They've come to me. And the thing for you to determine
is not have you come to a position on doctrine, or have you come
from Catholicism to Protestantism, or from some other ism to some...
Have you come to Christ? And my friend, those who come
to Christ, come to Him as sinners. And those who come to Christ,
come only to Him. And those who come to Christ,
come to Him for all they need. And there's no limit as to nationality. There's no limit as to guilt.
Oh, but I'm so wicked. Where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound. No limit. There's no limit as
to age. There's no limit as to time.
The snail got on board the ark as well as the stallion. God
opened the door, and here goes the horse in there. Well, here
comes the snail. But he's headed for the door.
See what I'm talking about? He's headed for the door. By
God's grace he'll go. That's what I'm saying. I'm saying
it took him a little longer, but his aim was the same. He
got in Christ. And here's that eternal promise.
All that my Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that
cometh to me I'll in no wise, under any condition, I'll never,
no never, no never cast out. People get religion and lose
it. People make professions of faith and deny them. People join
churches and quit them. But no man ever came to Christ
and perished. No man ever came to Christ. I'm
talking about to Christ. People have admired preachers
and got to where they despised them. But no man ever loved Him
and despised Him. There's where it is, coming to
Christ. And he said, I'll never cast
him out. When I think of that, never cast him out, I see our
Lord when he was being led before Pilate to be crucified. He looked down there and there
was Peter sitting by the fire, his chosen disciple, his beloved
brother, his companion, the one to whom he'd given so much and
taught so much. There sat Peter by the fire,
warm in his hands. Somebody said, well, he's one
of the disciples. No, I'm not. Somebody else came up and said,
well, your speech betrays you. You talk like, I'm not one of
them. I'll trust a little and show you I'm not one of them.
So he cursed a little. A little maid came up and she
said, I know he's one of the disciples. I saw him with Jesus. He said, I know not the man. And our Lord went on to the cross.
That awful agony, alone, suffering and dying. He was buried and
rose again. He appeared to the women in the
garden. And he said to them, he said,
go and tell my disciples that I'm risen and that I will meet
them. Where was it he told them? Where?
Galilee or somewhere. And he said, be sure and tell
Peter. You remember, it's the only name he called. He said,
go and tell my disciples and Peter that I'll be waiting on
them. Him that cometh to me, I'll in
no wise cast out. Never, never, never. But here's
the thing. It's coming to him. To Christ. Coming to Christ. That's where
salvation is in a person. And it's something that you just
don't get across. It has to be revealed. It has to be revealed. And I
hope these young people here, mothers and dads and older people,
somehow God in His mercy will reveal to your heart that salvation
is not in your living a good life, although God's people will
live a holy life. Salvation is not in the fact
that you love grace. Loving grace is not in loving
Christ. It's not the fact that some of
you have been so generous and helped this church in so many
ways, and you've given, helped us on television, missionary
work, but rather than you to know, and I know, that you can't
buy God. Salvation is free. And I want
you to know this, and I want to declare it loud and clear,
please look to Him, come to Christ, lay hold of Christ, rest in Christ,
believe in Christ. And then if your mother and father
forsake you, He'll take you up. If you lose everything you've
got, you ain't lost anything, really just lost it ahead of
time, you're going to lose it anyway. If you're bankrupt tomorrow,
it won't make a difference. One of these days, you're going
to be bankrupt anyway. If you lose your wife, if she
dies, she's going to die anyway someday. You lose your husband,
he dies, well, he's going to die anyway. But you can't lose
Christ. See what I'm saying? He's everything. He's everything. And all these
other things are really unnecessary. He's the necessity. My Lord is. When you have these trials and
things, you lose your health or your youth or your beauty. Christ is all these things. He's
all in it all. And if you have Him, you have
perpetual eternal beauty, perpetual eternal life, perpetual eternal
holiness, perpetual eternal wealth, perpetual eternal peace. Inhale,
lay hold of Christ. Come to Christ. Don't let anybody
get between you and Him. Come to Christ. Our Father, oh,
burn it in our souls. Burn it in our souls. Take our
eyes off everything and everybody. Let us see the Son. Take our
confidence out of ourselves, the flesh, or anybody, and let
us believe on the Son. All these things that are so
attractive, may they fade into nothingness, and we rest in the
Son, trust in the Son, be one in Christ. Give us faith to believe
Him. and build upon that sure foundation,
he that believeth on him shall never be ashamed. I pray for
Christ's sake. Amen.