The Author and Sustainer of Life: Finding True Bread in Christ

• General Revelation [00:06:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that God reveals His glory and power through creation (the heavens, sun, galaxies, DNA), leaving humanity without excuse for not acknowledging Him.
• Specific Revelation [00:11:52 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor identifies the Scriptures as God's specific revelation, citing Psalm 19 and 2 Timothy to establish its perfection, authority, and divine origin.
• The Bread of Life [00:01:27 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor introduces the sermon title and context, identifying Jesus as the 'bread that comes down from heaven' and the 'Author and Sustainer of Life' based on John 6.
• The Authority and Nature of Scripture [00:12:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor cites Psalm 19, 2 Timothy 3:16, and 2 Peter 1:20-21 to establish that all Scripture is breathed out by God, profitable for teaching and correction, and produced by the Holy Spirit.
• General vs. Specific Revelation [00:14:09 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that God reveals Himself through creation (general revelation, e.g., sheep, eagles, rocks) which points to His specific revelation in Jesus Christ, the ultimate revelation of God.
• The Goodness of Work [00:19:42 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor clarifies that work is good and created by God, citing 2 Thessalonians 3:10 and 1 Timothy 5:8 to argue that while we must work for physical sustenance, we should not rely on it for spiritual salvation.
• Spiritual vs. Physical Sustenance [00:17:32 ▶️ 📄]
  > Using the feeding of the 5,000 and the manna in the wilderness, the pastor illustrates that Jesus uses physical needs (food) to reveal the deeper spiritual need for the 'Bread of Life' and eternal life.
• Faith vs. Works in Salvation [00:25:15 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts the natural human response (works-based worship like Cain) with God's revealed response (faith-based justification like Abel), concluding that the 'work of God' is to believe in Jesus.
• Works-Based Salvation vs. Faith [00:25:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts the works-based approach of Cain and modern cultural expectations with the biblical requirement of faith in Christ.
• The Obedience of Christ [00:29:16 ▶️ 📄]
  > Explanation of Christ's active obedience (perfect law-keeping) and passive obedience (sacrificial death) as the basis for justification.
• The Role of Signs and Wonders [00:32:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that signs do not produce saving faith; rather, faith comes through the preaching of the Word, citing the hardness of heart even after witnessing miracles.
• Spiritual vs. Physical Understanding [00:37:38 ▶️ 📄]
  > Illustration of the crowd's misunderstanding, comparing their fixation on physical bread to Nicodemus and the woman at the well missing spiritual realities.
• Christ as the Bread of Life [00:39:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor identifies Jesus' statement 'I am the bread of life' as the core truth, explaining that He is the sustainer of spiritual life, fulfilling the Old Testament picture of manna.
• Old Testament Fulfillment and Misunderstanding [00:38:14 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor corrects the crowd's mockery of Christ by clarifying that Moses did not give the bread, but God did, and that the manna was a temporary sign pointing to Christ.
• Gratitude and Thanksgiving [00:43:52 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor urges the congregation to thank God for temporal sustenance (food, breath) and eternal salvation, citing Romans 1 to highlight the sin of ingratitude.
• Faith vs. Works [00:43:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts trusting in Christ for eternal life with the error of thinking religious attendance or personal accomplishments make one right with God.

• Sermon Illustration [00:08:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the imagery of watching the sun go down on the west coast (California or Florida) to illustrate the immense glory displayed in creation, and contrasts the macro (galaxies) with the micro (DNA replication) to show how all creation declares God's existence.
• Sermon Illustration [00:15:28 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the example of animals (sheep, eagles, rocks) as general revelation created by God to display His glory and point to spiritual truths (we are lost sheep, we need security, we need a solid foundation).
• Sermon Illustration [00:16:38 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the Garden of Eden, where God gave Adam food to sustain life, as a general revelation principle that points to the spiritual principle that we need 'bread from God' to live spiritually.
• Sermon Illustration [00:21:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor compares Jesus' method of teaching to His interaction with the woman at the well (using water to discuss living water) and Nicodemus (using birth to discuss being born again), showing how Jesus turns natural conversations to spiritual ones.
• Sermon Illustration [00:23:20 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor imagines Adam naming the animals in Genesis, noting that Adam saw pairs of every animal and realized his need for a suitable helper, illustrating how physical circumstances reveal deeper spiritual needs.
• Sermon Illustration [00:25:26 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts Cain and Abel: Cain offered works-based produce to God, while Abel offered a blood sacrifice, illustrating the timeless contrast between human effort and God's requirement for faith/atonement.
• Sermon Illustration [00:25:29 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the biblical account of Cain and Abel to illustrate the difference between human works-based worship and God-pleasing sacrifice.
• Sermon Illustration [00:26:46 ▶️ 📄]
  > An anecdote about approaching random people in the Bible Belt to ask about salvation, revealing a common 'works-based mentality' where people believe they must keep commandments to be saved.
• Sermon Illustration [00:27:34 ▶️ 📄]
  > A comparison to other world religions (Islam's five pillars, Buddhism's eightfold path) to demonstrate that works-based salvation is a universal human tendency.
• Sermon Illustration [00:35:10 ▶️ 📄]
  > The story of Judas Iscariot, who witnessed numerous miracles (Lazarus raised, healings) yet remained a 'son of the devil,' illustrating that signs alone cannot change a willfully rejecting heart.
• Sermon Illustration [00:32:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > A reference to the feeding of the 5,000, noting the irony that the crowd asked for a sign the very next day after Jesus had just performed that massive miracle.
• Sermon Illustration [00:40:03 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the biblical narrative of the Israelites in the wilderness receiving manna, explaining it was a temporary physical provision that served as an object lesson or metaphor pointing to Jesus, the true bread from heaven.
• Sermon Illustration [00:41:25 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor cites Psalm 16:5 ('The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup') and Psalm 42 ('As the deer pants for the waters') to illustrate that God Himself is the believer's spiritual food and drink, a concept foreshadowed in the Old Testament.

• Pastoral Charge [00:00:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > Physically turn to John chapter 6 in their Bibles or devices.
• Pastoral Charge [00:02:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > Stand up for the reading of the scripture.
• Pastoral Charge [00:05:25 ▶️ 📄]
  > Turn to Psalm 19 in their Bibles.
• Pastoral Charge [00:09:34 ▶️ 📄]
  > Turn to Romans chapter 1.
• Pastoral Charge [00:11:57 ▶️ 📄]
  > Return to Psalm 19.
• Pastoral Charge [00:18:14 ▶️ 📄]
  > Physically turn to the scripture reading in John chapter 6.
• Pastoral Charge [00:26:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > Engage people in the community by asking them direct questions about their salvation and eternal destiny.
• Pastoral Charge [00:45:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > To continually thank and praise God for both temporal and eternal gifts.

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:00:00] All right, if you would take your copy of the scriptures this morning and turn with me to the Gospel of John, chapter 6, I would greatly appreciate it.
[00:00:08] But be prepared, we will be turning to a number of different scriptures this morning, just to get you your fingers ready to start either flipping on your phone or turning pages in your Bible, however you look at the scriptures whenever we gather together.
[00:00:30] This is one of those times where, as Bill mentioned this morning in our Sunday school Bible study time, that chapter divisions are not inspired and we sometimes can trip up over them.
[00:00:42] This is one of those instances where a chapter division, they got really, really right, where the chapter six is really one big unit in the gospel of John before it then moves on in chapter 7, and it actually makes a clear break from chapter 5. If you notice in the verse 1 of
[00:01:02] chapter 6, it talks about after these things, Jesus went away. And so we see a clear start and a full context that we have, and we're going to see that a lot of what John is going to give us
[00:01:14] with regard to Jesus and what he's teaching the people is this concept of bread and the bread that comes down from heaven. And the fact that, spoiler alert, he's the bread, right? He is the
[00:01:27] one who is the one that has come down from heaven. And that is who he is portraying himself as. And of course, he's given everybody's ulcers because of that, because he is portraying something about
[00:01:41] himself. They came for the physical bread. They came back to find him because they wanted more physical bread, because they understand that there's this sort of, and we're going to see this drawn out today, particularly, that's why I had us read that Exodus 15 or 16 passage,
[00:01:58] as well as the first Corinthians 10, focusing on the fact that God gave them bread from heaven, and that's a major theme of what Jesus is going to be speaking on today, as he is then going to declare himself as the bread of life.
[00:02:12] He is the bread that comes down from heaven, and he is the one that gives eternal life.
[00:02:18] And so that's why I entitled this this morning, The Author and Sustainer of Life.
[00:02:24] So if you would stand with me this morning, and let's read these few verses, verses 27 through 35, as we continue going through the Gospel of John week by week.
[00:02:38] John chapter 6, 27 to 35.
[00:02:41] The Lord Jesus says, do not work for the food that perishes but for the food that endures to eternal life which the son of man will give you for on him god the father has set his seal then they said to him what must
[00:02:57] we do to be doing the works of god and jesus answered them this is the work of god that you believe in whom him whom he sent so they said to them uh they said to him what then what signs do
[00:03:11] you do that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate manna in the wilderness. As it is written, he gave them bread from heaven to eat. Jesus then said to them, truly,
[00:03:23] truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the
[00:03:36] world. And they said to him, Sir, give us this bread always. Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
[00:03:50] As a reminder, this is the revelation of God given to us in this holy word. Please receive it with the authority that it carries, because this is the word of God. You may be seated. Let us pray and
[00:04:02] ask the Lord's blessing upon this time. Our Heavenly Father, I'm constantly reminded of the fact that I am nothing, Lord. I can do nothing. That we, all of us in this room, Lord, must decrease, Lord. That the Lord Jesus Christ and your glory, Lord, would increase. And that's my
[00:04:22] prayer this morning. That through the proclamation of your word, Lord, you would both encourage us, challenge us, convict us. And I pray, Heavenly Father, that it wouldn't be anything about me or anyone else in this room,
[00:04:35] but it would all be about you, Lord God, that you would receive all glory through the proclamation of your word.
[00:04:41] I pray that the Holy Spirit would convict our hearts, Lord.
[00:04:45] I pray that you would open our minds, that you would grant us understanding to the passage of scripture, open our hearts to receive the word of God.
[00:04:54] Give us eyes to see and ears to hear this morning.
[00:04:57] And may you be glorified in everything as we proclaim your word this morning.
[00:05:02] We pray in Jesus' name, amen.
[00:05:05] All right, now that you are here in Gospel of John, I want you to, we're gonna take a little detour for a moment.
[00:05:11] This is apparently the morning for rabbit trails and side quests because we did a little bit of that during our Bible study time this morning.
[00:05:19] We're gonna do a little bit of that this morning as we look at the scriptures today.
[00:05:25] So turn with me, if you would, to Psalm chapter 19.
[00:05:28] Keep your finger in six, John chapter six.
[00:05:31] But here's what I want to discuss.
[00:05:33] I want to go down a little road here to just remind us of something, that there are two revelations given by God to the world to reveal who he is and display his glory, and both are authoritative over our lives.
[00:05:49] And you may be scratching your head a little bit because you're like, wait, what are you talking about?
[00:05:52] I'm not talking about the Bible and the Book of Mormon or anything like that.
[00:05:56] I'm not talking about those kinds of revelations.
[00:05:58] I'm talking about the fact that the Lord God has given us two primary means by which he has revealed himself. Number one, he has given us creation. This is generally called his general revelation. The fact that God is the God who in the beginning, it says in verse one of Genesis,
[00:06:17] that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. So there's no such thing as a distinction between that which is sacred and secular from the viewpoint that we see it. It's that somehow we step out of this place and we go into this world out there and that world out there
[00:06:33] is like somehow not God's or something like that. And while we're in here, this is a more sacred time. No, the fact of the matter is, is that all of creation, all that God created is his and it's
[00:06:45] good. And he reveals himself through that creation and he reveals himself as we're going to see through the scriptures as well. But let's focus on this general revelation at first. So hopefully you're at Psalm 19, and you're going to read with me these first six verses. Listen to what it says.
[00:07:04] It says, the heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the
[00:07:26] end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and like a strong man runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens
[00:07:39] and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat. So this idea that the psalmist here is portraying is this general revelation of God, that God in his revelation of
[00:07:54] things has baked into the revelation revelation or the creation revelations of himself things like when you stand at the uh uh the the seashore especially if you're on like some kind of a west coast either the either california or or like the west coast of florida on the gulf side or
[00:08:13] something like that and you watch the sun go down and the immense glory that is displayed that you look over that and you just say, Lord, you are awesome.
[00:08:26] And just how he reveals himself in that way from the grand magnitude of the expanse of the universe about how when we look out into the sky, what we think are stars that we see
[00:08:38] are sometimes actually whole galaxies containing billions of stars within them.
[00:08:45] The magnitude of his creation cries out the glory of God.
[00:08:51] And then when we drill down to the minuscule, when we look at DNA replication or something that is so microscopic that we can barely even see it except through telescopic or microscopic means or telescopic for the outside one, right?
[00:09:06] But the idea is that we look at that and we see that even what we used to think was this small little piece of information, the cell was like just this tiny thing, but we find out that it's ridiculously, impressively complex.
[00:09:23] And all of it shouts, God is here.
[00:09:26] God has created this.
[00:09:28] All of this is a declaration and a revelation of God.
[00:09:33] Turn with me, if you will.
[00:09:34] We're actually gonna come back to Psalm 19, but turn with me, if you will, also to Romans chapter one.
[00:09:39] Here's a New Testament passage that tells us the same kind of thing, that which is given to us, that God has granted us his general revelation.
[00:09:49] Romans chapter one says that that revelation is enough to leave no one with excuse.
[00:09:55] No one has an excuse for not crying out and turning to God and seeking after him.
[00:10:02] In Romans chapter one, verse 18, it says this, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth for what can be known about God is plain to them
[00:10:19] because God has shown it to them for his invisible attributes namely his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world and the things that have been made
[00:10:36] so they are without excuse for although they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but became futile in their thinking and foolish hearts were darkened.
[00:10:47] Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. They're without excuse. It's not, there are actually no atheists. They literally don't exist. They claim to exist.
[00:11:08] they fight against the God who created them. They suppress the truth and unrighteousness. And every atheist, when they lay their head down on the pillow at night and they're contemplating things in their mind, they are pushing out the things of God because everybody really knows.
[00:11:28] Everybody really knows. Why? Because God's baked it into creation. That God has given us a creation to demonstrate himself, his glory and his power.
[00:11:40] The second revelation that God has given to us outside of his general revelation, his general creation about which we can learn some things about him and ourselves is the specific revelation of God.
[00:11:52] And that is given to us through his sacred scriptures, through his holy word.
[00:11:57] Turn back with me, if you will, to Psalm chapter 19, because I love Psalm 19, by the way.
[00:12:03] What a beautiful psalm, declaring both God's general revelation, the heavens declaring the glory of God, and then his specific revelation, the word of God, the law of God, the testimony of God, the statutes of God. Listen to what it says. If we continue on in Psalm 19, verse 7, it says
[00:12:23] this, the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple the precepts of the lord are right rejoicing the heart the commandment of the lord is pure enlightening the eyes the fear of the lord is clean enduring forever
[00:12:45] the rules of the lord are true and righteous altogether more are they to be more to be desired they are than gold even much fine gold sweeter also than honey and drippings of the hunting comb moreover by them as your servant warned and keeping them there is great reward
[00:13:03] what a lovely psalm about the word of god and its wonderful power and its absolute authority and how it speaks to our lives we also have scriptures like second timothy chapter three you don't have to keep turning well for the sake of time i'll just read that very important passage
[00:13:21] It says, all scripture is breathed out by God.
[00:13:24] This is 2 Timothy 3.16.
[00:13:27] And profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and training, and righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
[00:13:37] 2 Peter 1, verses 20 and 21 says this, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of scripture comes by someone's own interpretation.
[00:13:47] For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man.
[00:13:51] but the men who spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
[00:13:57] And then we know, of course, that through the word of God, the ultimate revelation of God that he has given to us, he's given us a general revelation, he's given us a specific revelation, and then the ultimate revelation, which is really understood
[00:14:09] through his specific revelation, of course, is the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the greatest and most ultimate revelation of God.
[00:14:17] We've read Hebrews 1, 3 multiple times, But just again, because it's so good, he is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.
[00:14:26] And he upholds the universe by the word of his power.
[00:14:30] After making purifications for sins, he sat down at the right hand of majesty on high.
[00:14:36] Why am I going through this exercise?
[00:14:39] Why am I taking so much time to illustrate this point?
[00:14:42] Namely this, our God is the author and sustainer of all of life.
[00:14:48] He is the one that brought everything into existence, whether the thing be a physical thing or whether the thing be a spiritual thing.
[00:14:57] He has created all things that are both seen and also unseen.
[00:15:01] He created our physical bodies and he created our spiritual souls, so to speak.
[00:15:07] You see what I'm saying?
[00:15:08] So this idea is that our God is the author of all of life.
[00:15:13] And so when God has created all things, he's created all things to display his glory, whether they're physical or whether they are spiritual. And within his creation, God has placed things into creation to reveal himself
[00:15:28] specifically. We know that he created sheep to display to us that we are all like sheep.
[00:15:36] We're dumb. We're lost. We go astray. We're in need of a shepherd to come and save us.
[00:15:44] He created the eagle to remind us of the fact that though we are all, in two different illustrations, how wonderful that he covers us by the shelter of his wings, talking about his great security that we have in him,
[00:15:59] but also the soaring of the eagle and the fact that he says that you will soar like wings on an eagle, as he mentions in Isaiah chapter 40.
[00:16:11] We know that he created these things.
[00:16:13] He's given us rocks and bedrocks and things like that to remind us that we have a secure standing on him, you see?
[00:16:22] He put these things into general revelation that he may also reveal to us by his specific revelation that these things are meant to point us to him.
[00:16:33] They're meant to glorify himself in all of these things.
[00:16:38] When God created the first man from the dust, He created him from the earth and it says that he breathed in him the breath of life.
[00:16:48] And then what was the first thing that he said after that pretty much?
[00:16:51] Well, one of the first things, let's just say it that way.
[00:16:53] I'm gonna give you this whole garden and there's all these trees here and all of these trees produce wonderful food and all of this food is yours.
[00:17:06] Save this one tree, don't eat from that tree, but I've given you food to what to sustain your life and so we see a general revelation principle I need food to live that reveals a spiritual principle I need bread from God to live
[00:17:32] and I think it's really cool that in this passage of scripture that we see laid out before us that Jesus takes this general revelation principle, I've fed you, right?
[00:17:46] Feeding to the 5,000, raining down manna from heaven in the Old Testament.
[00:17:50] These principles that are given in revelation to then take the conversation and turn it to reveal for us, we need him not merely for our physical sustenance, but we need him for our spiritual sustenance.
[00:18:08] And so this is the context in which we find the Lord Jesus Christ speaking.
[00:18:14] So turn with me back to John chapter 6 if you're not there, but that's where we are now.
[00:18:20] And so let's take a look at the scripture again.
[00:18:22] First thing I want to talk about is the fact that Christ talks about working for food here.
[00:18:29] In verses 27 through 29, he says, Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.
[00:18:38] For on him God the Father has set his seal.
[00:18:42] Then they said to him, What must we do to be doing the works of God?
[00:18:46] Jesus answered them, This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he sent.
[00:18:53] So working for food is this first portion here.
[00:18:57] So there's one understanding I want to draw from the text.
[00:19:00] One is that there's an understanding that there's a need for work, right?
[00:19:03] There's a need for work.
[00:19:05] He uses this concept of food.
[00:19:07] And I just want to talk about that for a moment.
[00:19:10] We have scriptures that say things in places like 2 Thessalonians 3.10 that says this.
[00:19:16] For even when we are with you, we would give you this command.
[00:19:19] If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.
[00:19:25] For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busy bodies.
[00:19:31] Now such persons we commend and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.
[00:19:39] Work is good.
[00:19:42] From the concept of God giving us work, Jesus brings this up.
[00:19:46] He's talking about do not work for the bread that merely perishes.
[00:19:49] That's the idea.
[00:19:50] But he's not saying that work is bad.
[00:19:52] Work is good.
[00:19:54] Work is the creation of God.
[00:19:55] When God created Adam, put him in the garden, before sin came into the world, what did he do?
[00:20:00] he worked. That's what he did. And so work is good, and working for food is good. In fact, working for food is essential. And the scripture has some pretty bad things to say to people who
[00:20:11] refuse to work. Like this, if a person won't work, neither let him eat. 1 Timothy chapter 5, verse 8 says this, but if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of
[00:20:24] his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. This is in the context of feeding widows and things along those lines. But he talks about the fact that we have to work
[00:20:36] in order to provide for ourselves. So he's using this illustration of work to show us, to then turn the conversation, okay? He says, do not work for the food that perishes. And I think what he means
[00:20:49] there is do not work for the food that merely perishes. Because what are these people doing?
[00:20:53] And remember, he fed them.
[00:20:54] They're coming back because they're like, hey, feed us again, Jesus.
[00:20:57] That was awesome.
[00:20:58] We're looking for more bread.
[00:21:00] But then he uses this object lesson of work and for food to then turn the conversation.
[00:21:06] So do not work for the food that perishes, but work for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.
[00:21:15] Okay?
[00:21:16] So he uses the object lesson of food to turn the conversation.
[00:21:19] The people were rushing for the food that is perishable, but Jesus offers them something different.
[00:21:26] I love how Jesus is a master of this.
[00:21:30] He's always really good.
[00:21:31] Remember the water, you know, during the woman at the well, right?
[00:21:36] He's, this woman's coming out.
[00:21:39] Jesus says, give me something to drink.
[00:21:40] She lets down the bucket.
[00:21:42] He pulls something out and Jesus says, well, if you knew who was, who is asking you for water, you'd ask him to give you living water.
[00:21:49] And she's like, whoa, living water, that's amazing.
[00:21:51] And so he uses the concept of water to turn the conversation.
[00:21:56] With Nicodemus, he uses the concept of birth, right?
[00:21:59] He uses the concept of birth.
[00:22:01] You must be born again.
[00:22:03] So he takes this concept of birth and he's using it, but he's turning the conversation from natural things to spiritual things.
[00:22:11] Those of you who have done any point of any opportunity where you were sharing the gospel with somebody, speaking with somebody, You know that there's a time, like if your intention is, I really am out to share the gospel with folks and things, you enter into a conversation, you're sort of looking for that point.
[00:22:30] You're looking for that point for where you can turn a conversation over to spiritual things.
[00:22:39] And so you're looking for that turnover point.
[00:22:41] Jesus takes this. He's got an illustration of working and bread that he's going to take, and he's going to turn the conversation for them to stop thinking about the temporal understanding of things and consider their spiritual needs. Because just as much as they
[00:22:57] need bread to live temporally, physically, they need food to live spiritually. And that's what he's using. He's showing their need for something. Kind of reminds me of the time whenever God has Adam naming all of the animals, right? You remember that? He creates Adam and then he starts creating
[00:23:20] all these animals. He says, not good for man to be alone. And so Adam starts naming these animals and naming these animals. And my guess is that there's probably pairs of animals there because in the beginning he created a Maryland female in all cases. And I think what he's seeing here is
[00:23:34] that, well, I see that lion has like a chi lion, and I see that that horse has like a she horse, and that alligator has like a she alligator.
[00:23:44] Never thought about that before, but anyway.
[00:23:46] But, you know, and so it's like he's revealing a need in Adam so that he could see, wait a minute, where's my companion?
[00:23:58] Where's the helper that's suitable for me?
[00:24:01] And so God said that it was not good that man should be alone.
[00:24:04] and I will make a helper suitable to him.
[00:24:06] So Jesus is drawing out with them.
[00:24:10] Stop thinking about your physical needs.
[00:24:13] But as you are thinking about your physical needs, remember that all that is doing is illustrating a far greater need that you have.
[00:24:24] And as you need bread and sustenance for temporal life, you need spiritual bread for, you know, you need the bread of life for spiritual life, okay?
[00:24:33] so he says on which the son of man will give you he says for on him god the father has set his seal this is a metaphor for sealing is a common one to giving attestation in other words god has set
[00:24:45] a seal on christ that jesus christ is the truth and he is the one that gives the bread so verse 28 they said to him well then what must be be doing to do the works of god and then the answer
[00:25:01] that Jesus gives is that this is the work of God that you believe in him who he has sent. I always love this passage of scripture because it juxtaposes the natural response of humanity to
[00:25:15] the response that God has given to us through his word, what he has revealed to us. See, this goes right here. These two verses juxtapose to one another, goes all the way back to Cain and Abel.
[00:25:26] I mean, it goes all the way back.
[00:25:29] How do we approach God?
[00:25:32] How do we worship him?
[00:25:35] Cain sought to do it according to the works of his hands.
[00:25:39] You see, he planted those vegetables and fruits and grains and all those things.
[00:25:44] And he worked to produce all of these things so that he may work to bring this offering of all of his produce to God.
[00:25:53] Because he was seeking to gain some sort of connection with God or worship according to his own standards and according to what he would do you see it was a works-based understanding of things whereas Abel came and he brought the sacrifice which first of
[00:26:10] all was that which is pleasing to God firstly but also a recognition of only I'm only justified the blood sacrifice you see and so we see a picture that was illustrated from the very beginning
[00:26:22] very beginning and that goes throughout all time and here we are today walk up to any random person on the street go and preach the gospel anywhere i'm talking about stone county the bible belt south alabama okay go there and ask people what do you think it takes in order for a person
[00:26:46] to be saved or if you were to die today do you know for sure that you'd be with god in heaven and you'll get a lot of, well, I hope so's.
[00:26:54] And they say, what do you think it takes in order for a person to go to heaven?
[00:26:56] They'll say things like, well, you need to keep the 10 commandments.
[00:27:00] You see, there's always this understanding of this works-based mentality.
[00:27:04] I have to do this and do this and do this and do this and do this to be saved.
[00:27:10] That the natural response of humanity, if you think of literally every other world religion out there they're all preaching a works based salvation five pillars of islam the the do you meditate enough or or keep the eightfold path in in uh in buddhism right all of these things so
[00:27:34] they're asking him what are the works that we do in order that we might uh what must we be doing to be doing the works of God, and Jesus answers, you want to know what the work of God is? Believe
[00:27:49] in him who is sent. The work of God that Jesus gives is what he's saying here, is that it's not a work that you're doing, but it's a clinging to, or a grasping on, or a believing upon someone,
[00:28:04] okay? Now, of course, we know from other scriptures that justification comes by faith as a gift from God. But there's still that faith is worked out in our lives by actually exercising it. Does that
[00:28:15] make sense what I'm saying? That by the faith given to us by the Holy Spirit, we then place it in Christ Jesus. That's sort of the idea. But that's the point that Jesus is saying, is that
[00:28:25] it's not about the works that you do, it's about the person of whom you're trusting.
[00:28:30] Are you trusting in Jesus Christ? And that's what he's saying. So he's using this to show them that he is just as much their salvation as the bread that they're hoping for, right?
[00:28:43] And so that's what he's gonna do next.
[00:28:45] And so they go on to say, okay, so then, oh, by the way, one more point about that first part.
[00:28:54] Did you know that we are saved by works?
[00:28:58] It is the truth that we are saved by works.
[00:29:01] We are just not saved by our works, you see?
[00:29:04] that we're saved by the works of Jesus Christ and what he did on our behalf.
[00:29:08] There are two main understandings of this, what are called the active obedience and the passive obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:29:16] The active obedience of Christ is all of his fulfillment.
[00:29:19] He fulfilled all the righteousness of the law.
[00:29:22] He fulfilled all the works of the law.
[00:29:24] He obeyed the law perfectly of God.
[00:29:26] He lived the perfect life that you and I fail to live.
[00:29:30] He's the only person that has ever kept the law of God perfectly. That's the active obedience of Christ. He secured our righteousness by his righteous living, so to speak. So his works of obedience were pleasing to God the Father, which they had
[00:29:48] to be, because if they weren't, then he wouldn't be the sinless sacrifice. He wouldn't be the perfect spotless lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the world, killed for our sins, you see that is his passive obedience after having secured perfect righteousness and standing
[00:30:07] living before God according to the law he then yielded himself to the plan purpose and the will of God that he would surrender himself to be crucified for our sins and so that's the passive
[00:30:22] obedience of Christ obedient to the plan of God yielding himself up to make an offering for the sins of us all. So therefore, as it says in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, at the very end, verse 21,
[00:30:36] it says, he knew no sin. He made him who knew no sin to be of the righteousness of God, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. It'd be better
[00:30:49] if I just turned there and read it. He made him who knew no sin to become sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. So what that means is that
[00:30:58] the Lord Jesus Christ, when he went to the cross, our sins were imputed to him. They were laid on him. And he was just, or just, man, I can't speak this morning. He was, the wrath of God came upon
[00:31:16] our sin on him. So that every person now who is in Christ, the righteous works of Christ are then imputed to us. That's the idea. So we are saved by works. We are doing the works of God,
[00:31:32] but we're doing it by faith. We're doing it by faith in the Son of God because of the works that have been transferred to us. All right, now moving on, verse 30. So they said to him,
[00:31:40] what then, then what sign do you do that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?
[00:31:47] Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness as it is written. He gave them bread from heaven to eat okay what i think is hilarious about this they're asking him for a sign this is like
[00:32:00] literally the next day right i mean they just why are they coming to him in the first place they're coming to him in the first place because the day before he fed somewhere between 18 to
[00:32:12] 20 000 people miraculously and they come to him the next day after jesus says i'm the bread that's come down from heaven, or he's going to say that specifically. But it's like, what more of a sign
[00:32:28] do you need? You just saw the sign happen, and here you are. And so this is a refusal to believe unless a sign was done, even though Jesus had just done an awesome sign. Turn with me, if you will,
[00:32:43] to Matthew chapter 12 for just a moment. This is also something, as you're turning there, this is also something we have to remind ourselves of, is that faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of God, you see. And God draws himself through the foolishness of preaching. That's how
[00:33:03] God brings people to himself. It's not by signs and wonders. Signs and wonders are great testimonies and attestings to the word of God, but that's the whole point of the signs and the wonders is to point people to the word of God that's being spoken. Now we have the full revealed
[00:33:21] word of God, so we have no need anymore for signs and wonders and attestations in that same way.
[00:33:28] We have the revealed word of God. But Jesus says, I'll give you a sign at another time when they asked him, give us a sign that we may believe in you. And in Matthew chapter 12, verses 38,
[00:33:39] so you might have to turn one more page in case uh 38 is where we are this is what he said is is the exchange then some of the scribes and pharisees answered him saying teacher we wish to see a sign
[00:33:52] from you but he answered them an evil and adulterous generation asked for a sign but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet jonah for just as jonah was three days and three
[00:34:04] nights in the belly of the great fish so will the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth the men of Nineveh will rise up at judgment with this generation and condemn it
[00:34:14] for they repented the preaching of Jonah and behold something greater than Jonah is here the queen of the south will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it for she came to the end of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and behold something greater
[00:34:30] than Solomon is here you may turn back Jesus indeed would give a sign and he gave the greatest of all the signs through his death, burial, and resurrection. His resurrection from the dead is what we continue to celebrate during this Easter season and every single Sunday, because that's why
[00:34:47] we meet on the first day of the week. So he gave them the ultimate sign. But you see, the idea is that for some people, signs, you can't ever get enough signs, you see. There's never going to be
[00:34:58] enough signs to change somebody's mind who willfully rejects the truth, you see. No matter how hard you try, no matter how many signs might be given. Think about some of the disciples here.
[00:35:10] Think about Judas. Think about Judas. He saw every sign, almost. There were some times where it was just Peter, James, and John there with Jesus, but all the time that the 12 were there, probably at
[00:35:26] the feeding of the 5,000 right here. He saw he was there when Lazarus was raised from the dead, most likely. He saw people healed, lepers healed. He saw withered hands healed. He saw demons cast
[00:35:41] out before them. He saw all the signs walking right in Jesus' 12, and yet he was the son of the devil. Signs and wonders do not make a person change their mind and suddenly come to faith in
[00:35:59] Christ. The only, so don't try to come up with gimmicks or signs or cute little things in order to try to convince somebody. We are convinced by the scriptures that as we proclaim the word of
[00:36:12] God faithfully, the Holy Spirit takes that word of God, applies it to somebody's heart, bringing conviction of sin and giving them grace to have faith to repent and believe in Jesus Christ.
[00:36:25] these people had just seen all the signs and yet they refused to believe so wicked and adulterous generation seeked after signs today i mean it's still today you hear it in you know the atheist
[00:36:41] and agnostic if god would just reveal himself well he did and and you crucified him you see that's that's what happened whenever god revealed himself of course he's bringing salvation of the world through that. But the idea is that the signs are not what convince people. It's the
[00:37:02] preaching, the foolishness of preaching, the regular word of God. Forgive me. All right, moving on.
[00:37:12] Who is the true source of bread? Verse 32. Then Jesus then said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven, but my father gives you the true bread
[00:37:24] from heaven for the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world and they said to him sir give us this bread always so we have another moment of we've got a Nicodemus
[00:37:38] moment we've got a woman at the well moment right that that Jesus was talking about a spiritual birth and Nicodemus was stuck on a natural birth and and Jesus was talking about spiritual living water and the woman at the well was talking about stuck on physical water. Now Jesus is turning to
[00:37:56] spiritual bread and they're stuck on this physical bread again. And so we see that happening again.
[00:38:03] But the point is, is that Jesus is pointing to himself. And also, by the way, correcting them a little bit, a reminder of the fact that Moses, and Moses would have said the same thing. I didn't give
[00:38:14] you anything. In fact, he says that in Exodus chapter 16, if you remember, he says, this is the bread that the Lord has given to you, okay? Because if you're grumbling against him, that's one of the
[00:38:24] reasons why I had it. But the point is, is that they're sort of making a mockery of Christ in the sense of like, well, Moses was better than you. He gave us bread from heaven. And it's like, well,
[00:38:37] first of all, Moses didn't give you any bread at all. It was God that gave you bread. And by the way, remember what happened literally the day before. He just made a whole bunch of bread for
[00:38:46] all the people to eat you see and so and so there's a there's a misunderstanding of the source because as i mentioned i entitled this sermon the fact this is this is the uh the author and
[00:38:59] sustainer of life that god is the one who gives bread god is the one who gives life temporally god is the god who gives life spiritually so then jesus gets to the crux of the matter and again
[00:39:11] this is another one of those transition verses where we conclude with this verse this week and then not next week because Gavin will be here next week. Exciting about that. But the following week we'll pick up with this verse going on. But this is a hinge verse and it is one of the famous
[00:39:27] I am statements that we see in the gospel of John. And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life.
[00:39:35] whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in me shall never thirst so jesus sort of just breaks it down for him okay you want to know what the bread of life is you know what all
[00:39:48] this is pointing to it's the point of the fact that i am the bread of life i am the one who sustains you i am the one that gives you life the manna in the wilderness what was the point of that
[00:40:03] well of course it was to sustain the people in that time through the wilderness because God sustained them and he fed them bread from heaven but what else was it it was meant to be an
[00:40:14] illustration of something another aspect is that that remind us that man doesn't live by bread alone but every word that comes out of the mouth of God and Jesus in his his prayer he taught us
[00:40:25] he says give us this day our daily bread that was a sign pointing to that but what's the ultimate fulfillment? What's the ultimate understanding of the bread that came down from heaven upon the people? And so that way, by that object lesson, by that thing that God had put into creation,
[00:40:42] that thing that shows us, just as we need bread physically to sustain ourselves to life, Christ is the bread that came down from heaven. He's the fulfillment of that picture.
[00:40:56] the he is he is like the bread itself though physical was even still sort of just a metaphor that pointed straight to our lord jesus christ so that way he could say as this happened this
[00:41:10] is a point this is this is the point to me psalm 16 verse 5 is one of my favorite little verses from the scripture it says this the lord is my chosen portion and my cup you hold my lot
[00:41:25] I love that whatever what Jesus is illustrating here is not new it was forecasted right and what he's about to say about himself because we're going to get into some very very controversial passages as we go through the next few weeks talking about you know where does faith come
[00:41:46] from and how does a person come to faith in Christ about how God draws people to himself that they may believe, but then he's going to go into saying things like, unless you eat the flesh
[00:41:57] of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no portion with him, right? That my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. He's going to get into all of this stuff and people are going to be
[00:42:08] like, whoa, that's weird, Jesus, you know, and a lot of people are going to go away. But I love Psalm 16, 5. David was already saying this. He's saying, the Lord is my chosen portion. What's he
[00:42:21] saying the lord is my food then he says and my cup was he saying the lord is my drink the lord is my food and drink remember the psalm 42 and 43 but 42 says as the as as the deer pants for the
[00:42:41] waters. So my soul thirsts after God, the living God, that he recognized all of my life is wrapped up in the Lord. He is the one that sustains me. He is the one that feeds me. He is the one that
[00:43:02] fills me. So what Jesus is saying here, he's saying, I am the one who am doing all of those things. Have you turned to the Lord Jesus Christ for your spiritual life? Are you looking to him
[00:43:19] and understanding that he alone is our true spiritual life, that he's the one that gives us life? Have you placed your faith and trust in him? Or are you, even if you have been in church all of
[00:43:31] your life, still thinking that it's some kind of accomplishment that you have to do in order to make yourself right with God. Instead of turning to him, clinging to Christ and recognizing he is the one that gives us that eternal life. Also, are you remembering to thank God for all his
[00:43:52] sustenance for you? Are you remembering that everything that you have, all the food that you've been given, the place where you live, the fact that your heart is beating right now, are you currently breathing that is god sustaining life for you that is god giving you life
[00:44:16] do you wake up and thank him when you eat your food do you thank him are you are you because that's one of the things i think that was always so um terrifying to me from romans chapter one
[00:44:32] it says not only did they deny his glory right they're suppressing the truth and righteousness they're denying his glory but then it says and they didn't thank him there is an ingratitude for the fact that god has created us and sustains our life and more than that have you thanked god
[00:44:51] today to say lord jesus thank you for saving me i was lost deep in sin right and i was sinking down. And I was in need of salvation. I was in need of a rescuer to rescue me from my sin,
[00:45:10] to rescue me from hell and condemnation. And the Lord Jesus rescued me. He saved me.
[00:45:18] Have you taken time to thank him for saving you? Because it's the gift of God and we don't deserve it, but have you taken time to thank him? I hope that you have, and I want to as well, to continually
[00:45:35] to thank him and praise him for all of his gift, both temporally and eternally. Let's pray.
[00:45:45] Heavenly Father, thank you that you are the sustainer, the author of life. You created all things, and the scriptures say that you uphold all things by the word of your power. Heavenly Father, thank you
[00:45:58] thank you for the salvation that we have in Christ Jesus our Lord thank you for the life that you give us thank you that here we are in a comfortable place this morning having been
[00:46:11] well fed well taken care of surrounded by family and friends and different people Lord thank you thank you Lord those are all gifts from you thank you for the body of Christ the church Lord
[00:46:25] that those of us there are some of us in here who have no family around or feel very alone in the world, but Lord, we have a body here. We have friends here, people around us, Lord. What a gift. What a gift. Heavenly Father,
[00:46:42] thank you. And I thank you for this time. I thank you that this time of communion that we're about to celebrate, Lord, has been called the Eucharist, Lord, which simply means Thanksgiving. And as we
[00:46:57] eat this bread today, Lord, and drink this cup. I hope that we will do so, Heavenly Father, with thanksgiving in our hearts for the atonement that was made for us through our Lord Jesus Christ, through his broken body and his shed blood. Thank you, Lord, for this tangible reminder
[00:47:14] that reveals this incredible spiritual truth. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.