Come, Work for the True, Enduring Food!

[0:00] please take your Bibles and go to John chapter 6 John chapter 6 if you're visiting with us you need a Bible there's a Bible in the chair in front of you a black Bible and if you go towards the back of that Bible they renumber the New Testament so flip towards the back and find page 76 for John chapter 6 page 76 in that black Bible John chapter 6 we're going to study verses 22 through 34 this morning 22 to 34 when I first preached this I think I did John chapter 6 22 through 71 in two messages

[1:01] I think I'm doing it in like four or five so I'm slowing down my old age that's a joke are you saying amen that I'm old are you saying oh never mind so John 6 22 through 34 I'm going to read mixing a little bit with Greek and New American Standard as I'm reading so that's why it might sound off a little bit different from New American Standard so Matthew verse 22 of John chapter 6 the next day the crowd that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other small boat there except one that Jesus had not entered with his disciples into the boat but his disciples had left alone there came other small boats from Tiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord gave thanks therefore when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there were his disciples they themselves got into small boats and came to the

[2:07] Capernaum seeking Jesus and when they found him on the other side of the sea they said to him Rabbi when did you come here Jesus answered them and said truly truly I say to you you seek me not because you saw signs but because you ate of the bread and were fully filled do not work for the food which perishes but for the food which endures to eternal life which the son of man will give to you for the father God had sealed this one therefore they said to him what shall we do that we may work the works of God verse 29 Jesus answered and said to them this is the work of God that you believe in the one whom this one has sent therefore they said to him what sign then do you do that we may see and believe in you what work our fathers ate the man in the desert as it is written he gave them bread out of heaven to eat therefore Jesus said to them truly truly they say to you

[3:18] Moses did not give you the bread out of heaven but my father is giving you the true bread out of heaven for the bread of God is he the one who comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world therefore they said to him sir always give to us this bread one time I heard a comedian who brought up how we can get so fascinated with bread when we go to eat out at a restaurant and yet we have bread at home there's something about bread at a restaurant it's better right and I think it is almost they prepare it better it is different like olive garden bread oh Chris and I we used to go back in the day go to olive garden and we just get the bread and the salad oh wasn't that wonderful oh yes oh we get the bread at Nick's well we know what Ward likes don't we with the little olive oil and the garlic in there

[4:32] I can't eat that the bruschetta bread with the marinara dip and the cheese ah see what time is lunch now now you're all hungry right let's close the burger and now we come to this large section in John's gospel if you're hungry for bread there's another chapter you want to go through it's all about bread focus on food but rightly so because Jesus will say he's the true bread from heaven he's going to take that theme where you get the other I am statement I am the bread of life today cutting up this section from verses 22 to 34 of chapter 6 as we come to John's gospel come receive Jesus believe know him these verses we're going to see he says come work for the true enduring food come work for the true enduring food the food that's true the food that endures work for that come work for the true enduring food there goes

[5:56] Aaron what are you going to do when you leave what are we going to do call you and fly out come work for the true enduring food which is trusting Jesus who is the bread from heaven and who gives us life he will satisfy our true need which is true spiritual life come work for the true enduring food which is trusting Jesus what's the work you trust Jesus Jesus is the true bread from heaven Jesus is the one who gives life he satisfies our true need which is true spiritual life and so we begin our in depth journey into this chapter and it's going to challenge our trust in Jesus you know deepen your trust strengthen your trust for some of you might begin trust in Jesus challenge our trust in Jesus to have him as a continual object of worship how we doing oh there's this for Jesus to be the continual object of our worship

[7:11] I'll read this statement which is up there on the screen again come work for the true thank you guys come work for the true enduring food which is trusting Jesus who is the true bread from heaven and who gives life he will satisfy our true need which is true spiritual life and he'll take the physical aspect and turn it towards this is what we really need as you need food to sustain life you need Jesus and not just initially because faith is not just an act of faith it's a life of faith of trusting always in Christ Jesus who is our continual object of worship is Jesus our true object of worship our soul focus the one who fulfills us being our true need not for our own selfish ends have we assimilated him into our lives and are we continually assimilating him into our lives our lives are founded and must be focused upon the

[8:28] Lord Jesus who is the true life giving satisfying bread so Jesus is our true need yet we're so obsessed with ourselves and concerned with Christ only when it benefits us and you're going to see this as the challenge because the crowd were willing to sign up to be Jesus disciples as long as he's going to give them what they want you Jesus give us what we want then we're in that's how the world thinks of Jesus and that infiltrates into the church as long as things are good fine and well in my life good well and fine in the church good well and fine in whatever then I'm good with it when things start going haywire in my life well then that's no we become self-focused but as our stomachs crave for food we must crave for the true food for our souls

[9:41] Jesus we'll find out later but I'll tell you this now as you'll see in verse 66 of this chapter the dialogue it takes place in the synagogue of Jesus hometown Capernaum and the dialogue it revolves around the food that their stomachs crave and the true food that's needed for their lives which the crowd didn't get Jesus is the source of life and the substance of life itself he declared himself to be the true bread from heaven the true bread that came down out of heaven who gives life and he'll say later to believe in him is like eating his flesh and drinking his blood it's assimilating him when you eat food you assimilate that into your body and it gives you energy for you to be able to do things or else you will die and that's the same concept believing

[10:49] Jesus is taking him and assimilating him into your life he gives you life he's God's gift to satisfy anyone who assimilates him so Jesus will unveil even more of his identity so will they embrace him as he truly is or will they reject him by the way too only those who have been granted by the father to embrace Jesus will embrace Jesus he'll bring that up too and next week the week after see I'm going to put pose to you present to you kind of contrasting statements because it presents the dialogue between what the crowd says and then what Jesus says how the crowd thinks and how Jesus truly is thinking and what truly is reality so notice how it begins working for perishing food this is how the crowd thinks this is their mentality they work for perishing food starting in verse 22 22 to 25

[12:01] John sets up the historical dialogue between Jesus and this crowd they were looking and seeking for Jesus their intentions were exactly appropriate so they came by foot looking for Jesus not finding him they had entered into boats went to the other side pursued Jesus we'll see that they pursued and saw Jesus because of what they thought he represented not because of what he truly was or is what he truly represented and what he truly gave it was only about their own self interest came to the other side of the sea they found him notice verse 25 rabbi when did you come here rabbi means teacher they didn't truly mean it it did not define their true intention to be his disciples no hunger motivated them not humility the other h word not humility it was hunger he was a teacher and yet they would dispute his teaching and you'll find out later they would grumble rabbi when did you come here notice what jesus says he answered them and said truly truly i say to you there's the truly truly so it's like pay attention here's an authoritative statement here's a significant statement i'm about to make says jesus you seek me not because you saw signs but because you ate bread and were fully filled fully satisfied he one writer put it like this called their bluff by revealing their true motives they sought him to have their bellies filled to have happy tummies to satisfy their selfish desires and passions as one writer put see they wanted a king who would fill their bellies not save from sin they failed to see the significance of the sign by

[14:31] God's grace the sign pointed to jesus alone that's why he says you seek me now because you saw the signs they point to him they point to who he is the Messiah the king the true king of the old testament promise only the father could open the eyes of the blind to see Jesus for who he is the true significance of these signs his true identity and notice Jesus Jesus revealed what their true intentions were remember John chapter 2 verse 24 25 Jesus knew what's in the hearts of people because he's God he knew what they truly wanted and what they were truly seeking you guys just wanted happy tummies so they signed it to be his disciples he's going to give us bread awesome we'll be a disciple verse 27 the first part do not work for the food which perishes they were working for perishing food this bread is only temporary it's brief he challenged them don't work for perishing food instead notice the contrasting statement work for enduring food don't work for perishing food but for the food which endures to eternal life which is lasting notice the contrast temporary versus eternal they had materialistic ideas about the kingdom

[16:19] Jesus is not about this the contrast was between the Jesus they wanted and the true Jesus or as he'll call himself in a moment son of man sent by the father he's rebuking them he's rebuking the God of their tummies and he says here was the son of man and he says that word son of man to reveal his identity his authority and if they were keen they were paying attention thinking about the Old Testament they would realize he's actually calling himself Messiah seek food that really matters work for that food which the son of man gives now what does he give does he give eternal life or does he give the food it's unclear

[17:24] I think he meant food because it's going to talk about himself he's going to say that later how was he able to do this how was he able to give this how does he have the authority to do this notice he says which one shall give to you he has that authority because the father attested to his son and notice how he attested his son Jesus says for the father God has sealed this one that's how it is from the Greek the father God has sealed this one the father gave authority to the son who's endowed with the very authority of the father and directly connected to the father he's marked with the seal of ownership by the father who alone authorized Jesus to bestow this food to bestow himself so the father attested to his son so work for perishing food versus no work for the enduring food now notice what the crowd does therefore they said to him verse 28 what shall we do that we may work the works of

[18:40] God they weren't getting it notice here you see self work trust self now they're thinking about themselves they're still thinking physically they're still thinking selfishly what shall we do that we may work the works of God what shall we do the works of God focuses on their efforts their own self efforts he just told them who he was he just told them what he does he just told them but they can only think about themselves and what they could do tell us what God requires and we'll do it you guys are clueless they were merely thinking about trying to earn merit they were concerned about their self work which only trusts in self friends this is not from

[19:54] God to trust in yourself your effort your work self work trusts self there's one contrast here and then notice what Jesus does he paints the contrast to their thinking which is what God work trusts Jesus the work of notice it's work singular work of God trusts Jesus notice what Jesus says verse 29 Jesus answered and said to them this is the work of God that you believe in the one whom this one has sent notice what Jesus does purposefully he changed the verb they said works of God he says this is the singular work of God and that work is to believe into the one whom the father has sent and it's just not a mere act of faith it's a life of trust our soul work is faith in the son who sent from the father as one writer put it it's trust with

[21:13] Jesus as the object of our faith with Jesus as the object of our trust we trust in the person and work of Jesus for it's through faith we possess the son it's through faith we become God's children it's through faith we're ruled by his spirit and Jesus is the object Jesus is the focus Jesus is the center but they could not properly obey this command because they were totally consumed with themselves focusing upon what they wanted and it comes out again in the next couple verses look what happens starting in verse 30 therefore they said to him what sign then do you do you got to be joking I title this this aspect on them manna satisfied selfish need and it also it's not just verse 30 31 but also verse 34 we'll get to that in a moment manna satisfied their selfish need now they're challenging

[22:25] Jesus oh yeah what about you they emphatically demanded he do a sign to confirm what he just said about himself give us an attesting validating sign of your words and it better be good there's a joke in my family when it's someone's birthday and you get a gift right when you're about to open the gift you go this better be good it's sarcasm it's supposed to be funny okay you don't think it's funny we think it's funny I think it's funny my kids think it's funny it better be good so you open the oh it's good okay this is what they're doing to Jesus you're gonna do a sign and it better be good because look at what they say in verse 31 our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness in the desert as it is written oh now they throw a scripture at Jesus oh let's throw you a bible verse

[23:38] Jesus he gave them bread out of heaven to eat they challenge their excuse me their challenge look back to the old testament with Moses so they're saying this okay look if God showed his activity with Moses by him Moses providing the people with manna Jesus you must do the same no no no as a matter of fact if you're the prophet your sign should be greater than Moses and their quote here taken from Exodus 16 coupled with Psalm 78 if you read that Psalm it's not a very happy Psalm people are very sinful and stubborn and the Psalm talks about that their quote focused upon the fact that the bread was out of heaven so the whole feet of 5,000 or the thousands of people that just heaven that doesn't cut it

[24:45] Jesus the bread should fall from the sky buddy olive garden bread should be falling from the sky the bread from Nick should be falling from the sky with the little things of olive oil coming down too it better be good and I say notice I call it manna satisfied selfish need I say selfish need because of what happened in Exodus 16 Yahweh gave them manna because they were grumbling at him and grumbling at Moses and Aaron oh you brought us out here to just die oh I remember the meat in Egypt and I remember the bread you just brought us out here to die you jerk Moses they grumbled at the

[25:47] Lord they grumbled at Moses and Aaron some things never change because guess what they're going to do in a few verses from that with Jesus they're going to grumble at him they're going to do it very same thing it's all about themselves it's all about their own selfish need notice how the dialogue is going to shift to focusing upon God's miraculous provision of the manna and the significance of that provision and Jesus is going to take their example and he's going to show them that the manna exemplified him the manna was a type of Christ he's going to point that out to them manna is the type Jesus is the antitype to the manna the manna in the wilderness depicted him and our true need and notice so this idea back to that manna satisfied selfish need true bread satisfies true need there's the contrast true bread satisfies true need verse 32 therefore

[27:11] Jesus said to them truly truly there it is pay attention here's an authoritative statement here's a significant statement I'm about to make Moses didn't give you the bread out of heaven Jesus countered their challenge by correcting their lack of biblical understanding an understanding that was self-focused an understanding that was about their own self-interest no no no not Moses my father not not only did they give God kind of like a secondary back seat to the whole manna thing he kicked him back there but they missed the whole type anti-type to the imagery that the manna reveals to us and notice in

[28:18] Jesus challenging statement how he says my father he proclaimed his unique intimate relationship with the father right off the bat this eternal relationship that he's had with the father my father and notice what Jesus does with the verbs Moses did not give past tense my father is giving present tense you see that he shifted the tense of the verb Moses was not the one who gave to you my father he gives to you presently my father is giving you at this very moment the true bread out of heaven it's me for crying out loud Jesus is so patient isn't he he shifted the tense of the verb to rebuke them for their wrong understanding but also he declared his very identity and now look at the basis here's the basis here it is verse 33 for there's the basis for and from

[29:42] Greek the bread of God is he the one who comes down out of heaven I am the revealer of the father I'm the full self expression of the father I have a unique intimate relationship with the father so the bread of God is he the one who came down from heaven and gives life to the world notice he personalized bread declaring that he is that true bread like the manna in the desert this bread has come down from heaven what does that mean he's talking about the incarnation manna sustained life it sustained the life of the nation of Israel in the desert so does this bread who gives life this bread gives true eternal real life not temporary fleeting short lived life like the man in desert and notice too for the bread of God is he the one who comes down out of heaven and gives life not just to

[31:00] Jews not just to the nation of Israel to the world he gives life to the world he provides and he is the very is the bread so Jesus is saying my father is the true provider he's the true provider I am the true bread wife itself not simply satisfying physical hunger is our true need and our true provision and I alone give that satisfying life how does one eat this bread you must believe in Jesus so come repent and trust in Christ God is a holy God and just in all he does we should be condemned by him and yet Jesus came down out of heaven took on flesh died in the place of sinners and rose from the dead repent and trust

[32:05] Christ and you'll be saved he'll forgive you of all your sins there's the gospel come work for that food so he says this and then that's where we come to verse 34 which I have in parentheses because it's repeating man a satisfied selfish need because look at verse 34 therefore they said to him sir always give to us this bread they didn't understand the eternal things and with a cloaked politeness some translation of lord it should be sir a cloaked politeness they sarcastically asked Jesus to always give them this bread oh always give us this bread much like the Samaritan woman you remember that the Samaritan woman when she when Jesus said I'm going to give you this this living water give me this water so I won't have to be coming out here all the time draw water it was like sarcasm okay pal you say you give this bread let us have it they're challenging

[33:17] Jesus again and then Jesus is going to come into I am the bread of life verse 35 we'll start that up next week so recapping Jesus is our true need yet we're so obsessed with ourselves and concerned with Christ only when it benefits us there's the challenge to us are we trusting Jesus and him being our true need even when it doesn't feel like that are we concerned with Christ only when it benefits us there's the challenge as our stomachs crave for food we must crave the true food for our souls have we assimilated him into our lives and are we continually assimilated him into our lives our lives should be founded and focus upon the Lord Jesus the true life giving satisfying bread so come come work for the true enduring food which is trusting Jesus who is the true bread from heaven and who gives us life he will satisfy our true need which is true spiritual life let's ask the

[34:36] Lord to do that in our hearts pray with me please Lord Jesus we pray help us to seek you for who you are and we confess to times you know those times when we're only seeking you when it's going to benefit us when we want something thank you Jesus you died for that so we confess that to you and we repent and so we come with our hands down arms are open wide to you saying you have us we give you our heart we give to our very soul you have us all every part of us

[35:41] Jesus keep satisfying us let's not become distracted or entangled with things that take us away from you being our focus and you being our joy and you being the one to satisfy us keep us from that as your church as your people and yet thank you once again we fall short and you died for that so help us with our unbelief we can have such weak faith so if you would please take these next few moments we do that each week time of silence we can fill your mind with the truth that we've seen this morning ponder let it take root in your heart and you know we'll sing a couple songs we'll pray take this time between you and the lord as the first way to respond to the truth between you and the lord then you can respond by singing to him and we'll respond by a corporate prayer respond now individually between you and the lord like minute minute and a half take this time let it be meaningful that the word will plant deep within your soul will you do that now please would you