It's good to be here in person
with you. I'm always with you through the
broadcast when I'm not able to be here in person, but it's a
special blessing when you can actually be here and see everyone's
faces. Such a blessing. If you would,
look with me tonight to the book of John, John chapter six. John chapter six. This chapter, John chapter six,
begins with the Lord Jesus Christ feeding 5,000 plus with five
loaves of bread and two fish. Five, I think it says small fish. It would have mattered if they
were big fish. 5,000 plus with five small barley
loaves and two small fish. And the men that had seen him
do that, they saw that he went up into the mountain and that
his disciples had got in a small ship and had set off towards
Capernaum. Now what the people had not seen
was that later on that night that his disciples, they were
out there towing or tolling to try to get across to Capernaum
and they were not able to make it across and that the Lord Jesus
had come walking on the water and that as soon as he had joined
them in the ship that they were on the other side. Soon as he
had joined them, the trial was over. And so that's where we
will start tonight, verse number 24. And when the people therefore
saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they also
took shipping and came to Capernaum seeking for Jesus. And when they
had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him,
Rabbi, teacher, when camest thou hither? And you'll notice the
Lord Jesus doesn't actually answer their question. Look at verse
number 26. Jesus answered them and said,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, you seek me, It's not because
you saw the miracles. You don't seek me because you
saw the signs and wonders that I've done, but because you did
eat of the loaves and were filled. You seek me because you saw that
I can fill your bellies." That's what he basically says to them
here. Notice verse 27. He says, labor
not, work not for that meat which perishes. Work not for that meat
which perisheth. Those words, meat which perisheth,
can be written over anything and everything in this world,
except for our relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is the only thing that you could not write those words over,
meat that perisheth. Whether it be our relationships,
And we work hard to maintain good relationships, but those
pass away, don't they? You cannot take them when we
leave this world. Whether it be the possessions
that we work to accumulate, whatever it is, anything and everything
in this world, other than our relationship with the Lord Jesus
Christ, is meat that perisheth. It cannot endure past the life
in this world. But notice the Lord goes on to
say, he says, labor not, work not for the meat which perishes,
but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life. Work for
that meat which endureth to everlasting life. You know, the Lord Jesus
Christ said in another place, he said, strive to enter in at
the straight gate. For many, I say unto you, will
seek to enter in, and they will not be able." What was he saying? He was saying, seek ye the Lord
while he may be found. In another place he said, enter
you in at the straight gate. For wide is the gate and broad's
the way that leads to destruction and there be many which go in
there at. Because straight is the gate
and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that
find it. Enter in at the straight gate.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the straight gate. It's a very narrow
way. In fact, it's a singular way.
There's only one way that we as sinners may come unto God
and be accepted, and that is contrary to what most people
in this world believe. But that is what the scripture
teaches, that the Lord Jesus is the only way, and he said
to strive to enter in at the straight gate. So what was he
saying? Was he saying that man, by his
striving, by his seeking, by his working, can earn his way
of acceptance with God? You know that that's not what
he was saying. Eternal life does not come through
our works. For notice the Lord Jesus goes
on to say in verse 27, he says, which the son of man shall give
unto you. everlasting life, he says, strive
to receive it, strive for that eternal life. He says, don't
work for the things of the world, work for that eternal life. And
then, yet he says, right after that, which the Son of Man shall
give unto you. For you see, the wages of sin,
what we earn with our way in this life, with our works, the
wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal
life through our Lord Jesus Christ. But the point Brother Streeter
tried to say, tell us this morning, he did so well. That woman, though
bowed down, she came. She came. And the Lord Jesus
Christ, he exhorts us. He exhorts us here. Labor for
that meat which endureth unto everlasting life. By nature,
By nature, all of us strive and labor after meat that perishes. Isn't that true? That is as natural
as breathing, to strive and to work for meat which perishes.
We don't need to be exhorted to do that. That comes natural. But spiritual things, the things
concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, the things concerning God, it's
work. We must strive. Isn't that what
the Lord Jesus Christ told these people here? Now, I know tonight I'm gonna
try to read too many verses. There's so many verses here,
a lifetime would not be enough for a pastor to cover John chapter
six. So I need to try to not dwell
so long on each of these verses, because I do want to read several
here. But notice the end of verse 27. The Lord said, for him hath
God the Father sealed. God the Father testified that
it is the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, to whom
all power is given, both in heaven and earth. He sealed him. He spoke from heaven, and you
remember what he said? He said, this is my beloved son,
in whom I'm well pleased. What was he doing? He was attesting,
he was putting his seal upon him. Our Lord Jesus prayed, he
said, as thou has given him power, that is to the son of God, the
son of man over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to
as many as thou has given him. And God proved it once and for
all. If there was any question after
all the miracles and all the signs and the voice that came
from heaven, God proved it once and for all that the Lord Jesus
is the Christ, the Messiah, when he raised him from the dead.
When he brought him forth from the tomb, he proved beyond a
shadow of doubt that this one, that looked just like you and
I did, that he wasn't just like you and I, that he was God manifest
in flesh. He put that seal upon him. That's what the Lord Jesus tells
these people here. He's the one who can give eternal
life. Why? Because God has sealed him
to do so. Now notice verse 28. Then said they unto him, What
shall we do that we might work the works of God? They appear
to have wondered what works our Savior meant when he said, labor
for that meat which endureth to everlasting life. So they
ask, what work shall we do? What shall we do? It makes me
think of the Philippian jailer tonight. When his heart was pricked,
you remember what he asked? He said, sirs, what must I do
to be saved? What must I do to be saved? And they said, believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. And notice the Lord gives the
same answer here, verse 29. Jesus answered and said unto
them, This is the work of God. This is what God requires of
us. That you believe on him whom
he has sent. That's what God requires, that
we believe on him who he has sent. He requires that you and
I believe on his son whom he has sealed. That we believe in
him, that we come to him, that we trust in him. that we rely
on him as our savior, and only on him as our savior, that we
believe on him whom he has sent. Verse number 30. They said, therefore
unto him, what sign showest thou then that we may see and believe
thee? What dost thou work? You know,
these people, they were just like us. Just like us. What sign do you show us then
that we may believe on you? These were the very people that
had just eaten of the food that the Lord Jesus had multiplied.
And after feeding 5,000 with five barley loaves and two fish,
taking up 12 baskets full thereafter of leftovers, and he presses
them with the truth that they must believe in him. And he said,
well, what sign do you show us that we might believe? And it's
easy to kind of start looking down on them for this, but they're
no different than I am. No different. God has proven
beyond the shadow of a doubt that Jesus is his son. By the
works that he did, by the resurrection from the dead, and yet we're
pressed that we should believe on him, and what do we want?
If I could feel something, then I could believe. Lord, help me
feel more than I feel today so that I can believe. Or whatever
it is. God has proven to us time and
time and time and time again that we're his children by faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet, we want to see a sign,
don't we? We want something else. They
were faithless, and how often am I faithless? Lord, I believe. Help. Help my unbelief. Now verse 31, they said, our
fathers did eat manna in the desert, as it is written, he
gave them bread from heaven to eat. Then Jesus said unto them,
verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread
from heaven. See, it doesn't come through
in the verse, but they basically said, well, you know, give us
a sign that we may believe. You know, we know about Moses.
He gave the manna. Fed 600,000 people day after
day with that manna that rained down from heaven. And the Lord
Jesus told him, Moses didn't give you that manna. Moses was
a man just like you and I. Can you imagine if it was up
to us to feed 600,000 people day after day for 40 years? And yet, they gave credit to
Moses. But the Lord tells them here,
he says, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but my Father
gives you the true bread from heaven. He gave the Israelites
the manna, but the Lord Jesus ceases to talk about that. He's
gonna talk about something much more important. He gives you
the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which
comes down from heaven and gives life unto the world. The life, the true bread, the
Lord Jesus Christ, he came to give spiritual life. And it's
eternal life. It's everlasting life. It's not
like that manna. That manna sustained their temporal
life. They ate it day after day, and
they lived for a period of time, but they all died in the wilderness.
It was temporary. It was only a picture of the
true bread of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, that true bread of God
who gives life that is everlasting, that never ends. And you know,
the manna, it sustained the life of the Israelites and only the
Israelites. But the true bread from heaven
gives life to the world. Not just to those few Israelites,
but to the world. The Lord Jesus Christ came into
this world as the bread of heaven. to save some out of every tongue
and kindred and people, tribe, and nation, to save many from
every nation. You see the true bread. That
man, it was a picture, but what a poor picture of the true bread.
Notice verse 34. They said unto him, Lord, evermore
give us this bread. It seems to me that though the
Lord Jesus said to them that the bread of God is he, that
is a person, they still imagined that he was talking about some
type of food, some type of bread. He had just told them that it's
he, but they were looking for some type of bread. So now he
clearly declares in verse 35, Jesus said unto them, I am the
bread of life. I am the bread of life. He that
cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believes on me shall
never thirst. I'm the one and the only one
that gives spiritual life unto the world. I am the bread of
life. I'm the bread that only gives
spiritual life And I'm the bread that only upholds
and maintains spiritual life. You know, we not only have to
receive our life from the Lord Jesus Christ, when we're saved,
when we're born again, when he brings us to life in him, he
gives us that life to start. but he maintains and sustains
our life also, day after day. Just like that manna sustained
them temporally in the wilderness, the Lord Jesus sustains us spiritually
day after day. Why is our life everlasting?
It's because the Lord Jesus Christ is eternal and everlasting, and
our life flows to us from him. We come to Him, we believe Him,
we trust Him, we receive Him. How? As the only mediator between
God and man, the man Christ Jesus. As the only way to the Father,
as the only Savior of sinners. And notice the wonderful promise
that we have here in the end of verse 35. He said, I'm the
bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger. And he that believeth on me shall
never thirst. What does that mean? That means
that all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we will never lack
anything. We will never hunger. We will
never thirst. You say, well, I feel hungry
and thirsty many times. So do I. But the Lord Jesus declares
here that us as believers, we will never hunger, we will never
thirst. What does he mean? That means that we will never
lack anything that's required of us for acceptance with God.
Not in the least, not even the little bit of thirst or hunger
when it comes to us being received by the Father based on the work
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 36. But I said unto you
that you also have seen me and you believe not. You've seen
me and you believe not. As I prepared to try to bring
this message tonight, my prayer was that there wouldn't be anyone
here who would hear this message of the bread of life of the Lord
Jesus Christ and believe not. Believe not. May it not be said
of any of us that are hearing this word that we've seen the
Lord Jesus Christ declared in his word and yet we believe not. That's such a sad account, isn't
it? They came after him, but they didn't come to him. They
came seeking for him, but they didn't come to him. They did
not believe in him. Verse 37. The Lord said, all
that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh
to me I will in no wise cast out. Was the Lord Jesus discouraged
by this conversation with these people? No. He wasn't discouraged. Why? Because he knew all that
the Father giveth me, every single last one of them shall come to
me. And he that cometh to me, I will
in no wise cast down. You know, I've heard that verse,
and I've even thought of that verse, that all who come to the
Lord Jesus Christ seeking salvation, seeking acceptance with God through
him, that none would be cast away or put away or rejected. And that's true. That is true. But that's not what this verse
is talking about. It's talking about Though we
fall, though we fail, though we sin, and I do, and I think
I can speak for all of us, we do. He won't cast us away. That's what he's talking about
here. Just like someone taking some
stones. He that is without sin cast the
first stone. Same word, throw the first stone. The Lord Jesus is not going to
throw us away. Thank God. Praise God. It's of the Lord's mercies that
we're not consumed. Because His compassions, they
fail not. They are anew every morning.
Great is our faithfulness. Isn't that a wonderful, wonderful
message? Him that cometh to me, I will
in no wise cast out. I've had to plead this promise
to myself many times. Verse 38, we'll read 37 again. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. For I came down from heaven,
not to do my own will, but to do the will of him that sent
me. And this is my father's will
which has sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should
lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. Oh, to be a nothing. That's my
prayer tonight, to be one of these nothings. To be a nothing,
it's God the Father's will that the Lord Jesus Christ, the bread
of life, the savior of sinners, should not lose any of the nothings
that God the Father chose and gave him to save. I'm glad to take my place right
there as one of those nothings. Shall the Son of God do the will
of the Father? Is he gonna do it? He said, this
is the Father's will. This is the Father's will which
is sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose
nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. You know he's gonna do the Father's
will, because he always does those things that please the
Father. None that come to the Lord Jesus
Christ for salvation are going to be lost. None. Why? Because the Lord Jesus is
God's perfect servant, and he came to do his Father's will,
which was to lose none that the Father gave unto him. And he
will raise us all up at the last day. Not one's gonna be missing. Verse 40, he said, and this is
the will of him that sent me. that everyone which sees the
sun and believes on him may have everlasting life. And I will
raise him up at the last day. Do you tonight see the sun? Do you see him? That is what
the preacher tries to do, right? When you stand in the pulpit
to preach. Your goal, your prayer is, Lord, that the people who
hear the message may see the Lord Jesus. Not the preacher. I can't help you, I can't help
myself, much less help you. But the Lord Jesus can help you
and me. This is the will of him that
sent me that everyone which sees the son, do you see him tonight?
Do you see him as the bread of life? Do you see him as the one
that God sent into this world to save sinners? Everyone which
sees the son and believes on him may have everlasting life. And I will raise him up at the
last day. The Jews then murmured at him
because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.
And they said, is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father
and mother we know? How is it then that he saith,
I came down from heaven? Jesus therefore answered and
said unto them, murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to
me except the father which has sent me draw him. And I will
raise him up at the last day. Do you come to the Lord Jesus
tonight? Do you come to him? And I'm not
asking, did you come to him a year ago, five years ago, 20 years? Do you come to him tonight as
you hear his word preached? Lord, save me or I'll perish.
You're the bread of life. You're exactly what I need. You
are who I need to be accepted with God. Then God's drawing you. He's
drawing you. No man. Well, Lance, you preached
that this morning. None seek after God. We give
ourselves way too much credit. There's none that seeketh after
God. If we tonight seek God through our Lord Jesus Christ, why is
that? It's because God's drawn us. He has drawn us. That's what he says here. No
man can come to me. Are you coming? No man can except
the Father which has sent me draw him, and I will raise him
up at the last day. It is written in the prophets,
and they shall be all taught of God. Every man, therefore,
that hath heard and hath learned of the Father comes unto me. Not that any man has seen the
Father, save he which is of God, he's seen the Father. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting
life. I like that word hath. That's
tonight. He that believeth on me hath
everlasting life. It's not something we're gonna
have. It's not something we had. It's something that we have.
And we have tonight everlasting life. One more segment here. Verses 48 through 58. The Lord Jesus said, I am the
bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in
the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which cometh
down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am
the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of
this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give
is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The
Jews therefore strove among themselves saying, how can this man give
us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, barely,
barely I say unto you, except you eat the flesh of the son
of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoso eateth
my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, and I will
raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed,
and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father
has sent me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me,
even he shall live by me. This is that bread which has
come down from heaven, not as your fathers did eat manna and
are dead. He that eateth of this bread
shall live forever. I think as I've tried to read
and give a few comments on this verse, as you understand, believers,
you understand why I said that a lifetime would not be enough
to fully expound all that the Lord teaches here in John chapter
six. But the last thing I wanna just
share a few thoughts about here is our Lord's words here. They're
so important. They apply not only to these
people that he spoke to this day, but they apply to you and
I tonight. He said, except you eat the flesh
of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. You know, most of us have heard
these words for, myself, I've heard these words my whole life.
And maybe some of the shock of the words, you know, you might
lose some of that, but someone who hears these for the first
time, maybe there's someone here tonight and this is the first
time you're hearing these words, that the Lord Jesus said, except
You eat the flesh of the son of man, and you drink his blood,
you have no life in you. Many people couldn't bear this
saying. They went away. Why? Because
they were not drawn, they were not given spiritual sight to
understand what the Lord Jesus Christ was saying here. And he's
not talking about the mass. He's not even talking about the
Lord's Supper. He's not talking about that bread
and wine being turned into his body and into his blood and then
when taking that, that's eating and drinking his blood. That's
not what he's talking about here. What is he talking about? What
is it to eat his flesh and to drink his blood? I'm gonna just
give just a couple things. First of all, it's to believe
God the eternal son has come in the flesh. It's to believe
that God, the eternal son, has come in the flesh and is truly
and really man, the God-man, that he is God manifest
in the flesh, that Jesus was God manifest in the flesh. Do
you believe that tonight? That he, that one that walked
amongst other Jews, looked like anybody else, that he was God
walking upon this earth. Unless you believe that, you're
not eating his flesh and drinking his blood. Secondly, it's to
believe that his flesh, his body, was given for the life of his
people, and that his blood was shed for the remission, for the
forgiveness of sins, for our redemption, for the redemption
of his people, That when his body was crucified, when he gave
his life upon that cross, he wasn't dying as everyone else
who dies in this world. He was dying as a substitute
for his people. And that body that was sacrificed,
it was sacrificed in the place of all who believe and trust
in him for our acceptance, for our peace with God. That's to
eat his flesh and to drink his blood. And thirdly, it's to receive
the Lord Jesus Christ as our savior, to receive him as our
righteousness, to receive him as our redeemer, to receive him as a bread of
heaven that gives life unto the world. You see, imagine that
I have a piece of bread here sitting on a plate. And that bread that's setting
up on this plate, it will not help me if I only see it. I can
look at that bread until I'm blue in the face. And just looking
at it won't help me. And it's not enough for me to
admire it. My, that's a fine, fine piece of bread. Will that
sustain me? Will that give me life? Absolutely
not. And it's not enough to understand
its composition. Well, that's white bread, or
that's wheat bread, or it's five grain, or 10 grain, and I don't
know where they find all these grains, 24 grain, whatever. Just knowing the composition
of that bread will not help me. What's the only way that that
bread can actually help me? I have to eat it. I have to receive
it unto myself. I have to eat that bread. And
it's the same way with the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not enough
for us to know a lot about him. It's not enough to even know
that he was God manifest in the flesh, unless we receive him. unless we believe upon Him, unless
we commit our souls unto Him. Lord, save me or I perish. We must take Him. We must take
Him as our Lord and Savior. And when we do, and if we do,
we have everlasting life. I believe that's what the Lord
means. He means so much more. But I believe that that's what
he means when he says that we must eat his flesh and drink
his blood. We must believe who he is, that God manifests in
the flesh. We must believe what he did.
He lived a perfect life for his people, and he died a perfect
death to put away the sins of his people. And then we must
receive him. We must believe upon him as our
savior. May the Lord bless his word tonight.
Thank you.