Come To The Bread of Life

[0:00] Take your Bibles, please, and go to John's Gospel.

[0:17] John chapter 6. We're trucking through John chapter 6. If you need a Bible, the black Bible in the chair in front of you, go towards the back, find page 76.

[0:30] Of that Bible for John chapter 6. John 6. We're going to start reading verse 35.

[0:41] John 6, 35. And we're going to read through verse 48. 6, 35 to 48. Jane is back playing the piano later on.

[0:57] Ooh. Ooh. She's going to play like this because she's like, I'm not in pain. I'm not in pain. So she's playing too fast. You'll know why. John 6, 35.

[1:14] Notice how verse 35 begins and how verse 48 begins. They both, we begin and end in the same way. Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life.

[1:25] Verse 48, I am the bread of life. Verse 35, Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me will never hunger. And the one who believes in me will never thirst, ever.

[1:42] But I said to you that you have seen me, yet do not believe. All the ones that the Father gives to me will come to me. And the one who comes to me, I will never cast out.

[1:56] For I've come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of the one who sent me. And this is the will of the one who sent me. That all the ones he's given to me, I lose none, but raise it up on the last day.

[2:09] Verse 40, for this is the will of my Father. That all the ones who see the Son and believe into him may have eternal life. And I myself will raise him up on the last day.

[2:24] Therefore the Jews were grumbling about him. Because he said, I'm the bread that came down out of heaven. And they were saying, isn't that this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?

[2:35] How does he now say, I've come down out of heaven? Jesus answered and said to them, stop grumbling among yourselves. No one is able to come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.

[2:51] And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets. And they shall all be taught of God. All the ones who've heard and learned from the Father come to me.

[3:05] Not that any man has seen the Father. Except the one who's from God. He has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you. The one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life.

[3:22] Our son, Andrew, lives in Northern California. He builds apps. He's an iOS developer. He builds applications that you use on your phone.

[3:34] He knows how to do that. He knows how the whole thing works. How it functions. Why this happens. Why that happens. He understands all the intricacies.

[3:45] It all makes sense to him. You know, the company will say, you know, we want to do this and this and this. And he's like, well, you can't because blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

[3:56] And he speaks some language. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, it sounds like Mandarin. They don't even know what he's saying. He knows what he's saying. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

[4:07] They're like, what? But you can do this. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. He understands. It makes sense to him. He gets it. Us?

[4:18] We just use the blasted thing. We don't know how it works. Nor do we even care, actually. Unless it doesn't work, right? We're just glad it works. Yet, when it doesn't work, we rant, shout, scream, yell.

[4:35] Many times it's the user's fault, though. So you come to this passage. And to Jesus, this all makes sense.

[4:54] And it's perfect. There's no need for any upgrades in this passage. Or any passage, for that matter. But to us, this doesn't make sense.

[5:10] Some of the things that Jesus says here, how do these go together? Doesn't make sense to us, but guess what?

[5:21] It doesn't have to. Know this. Know that it perfectly, efficiently, and sovereignly works.

[5:35] It does. And John is calling his readers to receive Jesus.

[5:46] Come, believe Jesus. Know Jesus. Come, receive Jesus. And today, following through in the vein, come to the bread, he says, last week.

[5:59] Come here now to the bread of life. Come to the bread of life. When to say this, come to Jesus, the bread of life.

[6:12] If you do, you'll never hunger. If you do, you'll never thirst. Jesus calls us to come and receive him and to continually receive him.

[6:31] He continues to quench your thirst. He continues to satisfy your hunger, oh, Christian. Don't think this is just for the unsaved.

[6:45] This is for you, Christian. Keep coming to the bread of life. Keep being satisfied with him. Don't reject him. Center on him.

[6:56] So come to Jesus, the bread of life. If you do, you'll never hunger. Come to him.

[7:08] He's the water. You'll never thirst. He calls us to come and receive him and to continue to receive him. Yet, understand that only certain ones will come and they will never be cast out but be raised on the last day.

[7:24] And no one has the ability to come. They must hear and be taught by the Father. So Jesus calls. Come.

[7:37] And you understand. Only certain ones will come. And no one has that ability to come. It's granted to you.

[7:50] Again, you have this presented before us. Is Jesus the object of our worship, our focus?

[8:03] And we're presented with this again. And I said earlier, you have two bookends. This is why I did this. Because 35 and 48, they begin and end the same way.

[8:13] I am the bread of life. Jesus called his audience to come to him as the bread who gives true life. And yet, at the same time, in the very same breath, he told them why they were unable to come.

[8:32] And as far as Jesus was concerned, these coincide perfectly. He knows how this works.

[8:43] He knows all the intricacies of this. grace. So the call to come to Christ is combined with the reality of the irresistible drawing of the Father and his unconditional election of specific individuals.

[9:03] Grace irresistible drew me and opened my eyes to see you are the way. You are the truth.

[9:14] You are the life. Jesus. You just sang that. Just a few moments ago. Remember that. Not as dumb as I look. That's why I picked that song. Don't answer that. So there's the call to come to Christ but it's combined with the reality of the irresistible drawing of the Father and his unconditional election of specific individuals.

[9:44] And again, as I said before, as far as Jesus is concerned, this makes sense to him. It coincides perfectly. So notice the first bookend, the first point we have.

[9:57] All are invited to come. Verse 35. Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me will never hunger.

[10:08] The one who believes into me will never thirst. That never is there from the passage. It says do not. It's never. It's intense. Ume in the Greek. It's a call to believe in Jesus.

[10:22] It's a call for anyone and everyone to come to him. One of the most famous declarations from Jesus Christ. And the first of John 7, I am statements.

[10:35] I am the bread of life. This is his identity. It matters. All are invited to come. Jesus is the true bread which gives life.

[10:47] Jesus is true water who gives life. You remember last week we ended verse 34. The crowd sarcastically asked for this bread always.

[11:00] Oh Lord, always give us this bread. So Jesus offered himself. So here is Jesus' grand, great, open-handed offer offer to all.

[11:12] Come. And believes, the word believes, it clarifies what it means to come. So to come to Jesus is to believe into Jesus.

[11:30] And to believe into Jesus is likened to eating bread and drinking water. Eat this bread, you'll never hunger.

[11:42] Drink this water, you'll never thirst. True satisfaction lies in Jesus. True satiation is there in Jesus.

[11:57] In Jesus alone. As Klink says, I just, his commentary is just amazing. He's so helpful. Quote, Jesus is the recipe for the soul.

[12:13] If you're hungry, Jesus will satisfy your hunger. If you're thirsty, Jesus will quench your thirst. And we'll continue to do that. And we'll continue to do that. Food is the most basic, the most fundamental need we have as humans in order to live and sustain life.

[12:32] We need water, we'll die. We live in Arizona, we understand about water. We're crying out loud. We need water. And Jesus likened himself to that, to bread, to water.

[12:47] If you want spiritual life, come to him. Believe. Trust. Receive. Reach out and take him. He invites you.

[13:05] And then Jesus says this in the very next breath. But only certain ones will come. Look at verse 36. But I said to you that you have seen me, yet do not believe.

[13:21] And they spoke not just to them, but really to other disbelievers as well. They saw God in the flesh, but they came because of curiosity.

[13:36] Because they wanted, remember? Mmm, happy tummy. Yay. Or because of political ideology. He's gonna stamp out those ramen to kill everybody.

[13:49] Yeah. You've seen me. But you don't believe. What's worse, they challenged Jesus and what they saw.

[14:01] Having seen the signs that he worked, they saw him feed thousands of people producing food with his very hands. They had challenged him.

[14:12] You've seen me, yet you don't believe. Only certain ones will come. Why? Why?

[14:24] Why? Jesus gives three reasons. Only certain ones will come to Jesus. Here's three reasons. Reason number one, the ones who come are a gift from the Father.

[14:38] Verse 37. All the ones that the Father gives to me will come to me. Why do these people not believe?

[14:53] Why do people not believe? And why do others believe? I mean, how is it that one person can see and hear the word of God and not believe?

[15:11] But another person sees and hears the very same thing and yet believe. Is it because this person is, they're less smart than that person?

[15:26] So this person is smarter, that's why this person believes this person doesn't. No. This person has more money than this person. No. This person is more poor than this person. No. This person has better social status than this person.

[15:38] No. This is not why. Jesus is very clear. It's because this one is a gift from the Father.

[15:54] It's because all that the Father gives to Jesus will come to Jesus. There's no, oh he's a gift and oh no, we lost him.

[16:08] Oh well. No. They're a gift from the Father to Jesus. The Father's given this gift to Jesus and that gift consists of a group of people and these will come to Jesus.

[16:27] There is no doubt they won't. the success of conversion hinges upon the election and predestination of God.

[16:46] And of those elected of this gift they are a gift given to the Son and the Son will preserve them and keep them in himself.

[16:57] This is the second reason now. first reason why only certain ones will come one, the ones who come are a gift from the Father number two, those ones who come will never be cast out.

[17:10] They will come and Jesus will keep them. Notice, next part of verse 37. And the one who comes to me I will never cast out. But all these that the Father brings in will be kept in by his Son.

[17:28] all of these will not be cast out by the Son because they are a gift from the Father to the Son.

[17:40] That's why. And these two statements in verse 37 coincide together. Now some people use the last part of this verse kind of like as a stand-alone passage.

[17:52] They say, well Jesus will never cast anyone out who come to him. And that's true. It's true. But within its context the reason why these will not be cast out is because of the first part of the verse.

[18:08] They're a gift from the Father to the Son. It's impossible. There's no way it can happen. That's what Jesus is saying.

[18:19] Only certain ones will come. One, the ones who come are a gift from the Father. Two, those ones who come will never be cast out.

[18:30] Third reason, Jesus does the will of the Father. Notice verse 38. For, here's the basis, here's the reason.

[18:41] For, I've come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. the reason the Son works together with the Father when it comes to this gift, the election of His people, it's His whole mission.

[19:00] His whole mission has been defined by the Father. The Son does the task or tasks given to Him by the Father.

[19:15] I'm not here to do my own thing. I'm not here to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. It's not about me, it's about my Father.

[19:28] As He says, the Father, the one who sent Him. Not only do we see the ontological and functional unity between the Father and the Son from this very verse, but Jesus was in essence rebuking the crowd for thinking you can actually separate God and the Son.

[19:48] You can't do that. Go together. Jesus does the will of the Father. Okay, what's the will of the Father?

[19:59] That's what you're supposed to say. Wait, what's the will of the Father? So what is the will of the Father? What is the Father's will? Three aspects and I'll put them up here on the screen immediately.

[20:11] One, Jesus loses none of the gift. Two, all of that gift will see and believe the Son and thus have eternal life.

[20:23] Three, Jesus raises him on the last day. That's the Father's will for Jesus. Only certain ones will come because Jesus does the will of the Father.

[20:40] What's the will of the Father? Father, he loses none of that gift. Notice how it begins here verse 39. And this is the will of the one who sent me. What's his will?

[20:50] That all the ones he's given to me, I lose none. They'll never be lost.

[21:05] What exactly is the will of the one who sent Jesus? First, Jesus loses none of the gift. It is the Father's will to give a large group of humans to the Son, and it is also his will that of those given to the Son, they will never be lost.

[21:24] Never. It won't happen. Anyone who trusts in Christ is a gift from the Father to the Son.

[21:38] Son. It's right there in black and white from Jesus. And this is the will of the one who sent me.

[21:50] All the ones he's given to me, I lose none. But raise it up on the last day. That gives us the last part.

[22:00] Jesus raises them on the last day. So election and predestination is sure and certain.

[22:12] Not only will none be lost, but it's so sure that she or he will be raised on the last day. That's how sure it is.

[22:24] That's how certain it is. To take and eat this bread of life it has ultimate, final, and lasting consequences.

[22:36] You will be raised. Jesus says that twice. Here at the end of verse 39 and then verse 40. It's important right here.

[22:48] And then he'll say it again later on in verse 44. Remember too, this is not merely an act of faith, but a life of faith.

[23:00] It's trusting. Because notice what Jesus says in verse 40, for this is the will of my father. Now notice what he does here. It's not just the one who sent me. Now my father, even more intimate, my father is the one who sent me, Jesus.

[23:15] And even more specific is his will. They're given by the father. They're kept by the son. It is these, you'll notice he says, these of all the ones, all these ones, they will see the son and believe into him, they will have eternal life.

[23:35] It is these that see. It is these that believe Jesus. These are given eternal life. And so sure is this trusting in Jesus that she or he will be raised on the last day from beginning to end.

[23:52] The only reason a person truly comes to faith in Jesus is because she or he is a gift from the father to the son. And that one will trust Christ and that one will be raised on the last day.

[24:10] You can't get around this, folks. This is exactly what Jesus is saying. Again, this is the will of my father that all the ones who see the son and believe in him, they may have eternal life and and I myself, Jesus says, will raise him on the last day.

[24:35] So they're given to the son from the father. The gift of faith is given. The person exercises real personal faith in the Lord Jesus and they'll be resurrected on the last day by Jesus himself.

[24:50] He has power to raise people. Remember John chapter five. So back to that. Jesus loses none of the gift.

[25:02] All of that gift will see and believe the son and thus they'll have eternal life and Jesus will raise him or her on the last day. That's the will of the father.

[25:14] Now let's look at it in a negative way. In a negative way. if any failed, if any are lost, if any do not believe, then it means that the son brings eternal shame upon himself.

[25:37] Because either he was unable to do what the father asked him to do, tasked him to do, or he disobeyed the father. Well, that's not going to happen.

[25:53] Neither one of those is going to happen. You see what Jesus is trying to say here? He means business. Hallelujah Jesus.

[26:11] And now notice what happens. Notice what happens in verse 41 and 42. Case in point, by the way. rejecting the invitation.

[26:25] Rejecting the invitation. The Jews, now he's being specific. First it was the crowd, now it's the Jews, the leaders of Judaism, or really those hostile against Jesus.

[26:38] Interesting too, John showed how these Jews were just like the Jews of the Old Testament. They were grumbling about him because he said, I am the bread that came down out of heaven.

[26:53] Grumbled. Just like the nation of Israel in Exodus chapter 16 when the Lord brought manna.

[27:05] Remember that? They're doing the same thing. Grumbling at Moses, grumbling at Aaron, but they weren't grumbling at Moses and Aaron, they were grumbling at Yahweh, weren't they?

[27:16] Remember? And they're doing it again. They were really rejecting Jesus' claims and they were rejecting Jesus himself. Jesus was the agent of the Father.

[27:29] Jesus was sent by the Father. They're rejecting that. Friends, instead of placing ourselves at the center, that's why we grumble at God.

[27:44] we must place Jesus at the center of our worship, the center of our lives. And look, they thought they knew Jesus.

[27:57] We think we know. That's why we grumble. Because they say, verse 42, they were saying, is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?

[28:09] How does he now say, I've come to heaven. Jesus said he came down from heaven. Contrasted with his earthly home, his earthly family, Joseph and Mary.

[28:26] They thought they knew Jesus, but they had no idea who he was. Once again, you see the irony in John's gospel. They said they knew, but they really didn't know.

[28:40] They said they knew, but they had no clue. So here's the deal. If you're here, and you don't know Christ, you may think you know about Jesus, but maybe you're way off.

[29:01] The only right response is to humble yourself and admit that you lack, which is why this leads us to the next point where Jesus invites all to stop rejecting.

[29:14] All are invited to stop rejecting. Verse 43, stop grumbling among yourselves, Jesus entered and said to them. He rebuked them again, commanding them to stop grumbling.

[29:28] Grumbling to God is what they were doing. Remember, grumbling is a sign of unbelief, a sign of pride.

[29:41] The opposite to grumbling is trusting. The opposite of grumbling is belief. The opposite of grumbling is you humble yourself and you place yourself under Christ.

[29:56] He invites them to stop rejecting him. He invites them to stop grumbling. He invites them, don't do this, stop this. But then in the very same breath, Jesus says it again.

[30:15] No one is able to come. No one is able to come to, look at what he says, verse 44, no one is able to come to me. No one is able to come to me.

[30:32] You do not have this ability. one of the strongest, clearest verses in the whole Bible that tells us specifically why a person comes or does not come to Jesus to trust him.

[30:47] Why? Wait, three reasons. What do I have up here? Oh, inability.

[30:59] You're unable. No one is able to come. Why? There's three reasons. Jesus is going to give three reasons why you can't come. First, you must be drawn by the Father.

[31:15] This is crystal clear. No one is able to come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. No one is able to come.

[31:25] Why? Because you must be drawn by the Father. You have to be. There's no other way. This is crystal clear.

[31:41] We have inability. No one has that ability at all to come to Jesus unless the Father who sent Jesus draws him or draws her.

[31:52] The word draw, it means from Bauer Art Ginkrich und Danker, quote, the object being moved is incapable of propelling itself or in the case of persons is unwilling to do so voluntarily.

[32:11] Everyone should respond to the gospel call and that gospel call goes out to everyone yet they're unable to respond to that call.

[32:26] This is what Jesus just said. They are culpable, people are culpable, but they're not able. They should, but they won't.

[32:39] They can't. They're not able. No one is able to come to me. Now you read this, you're like, that doesn't make any sense. It made sense to Jesus. It makes perfect sense to him.

[32:55] John Piper says this, this act of the father, quote, refers to the sovereign work of God to overcome the rebellion of our heart and bring us to faith in Christ so that we can be saved.

[33:09] Friends, without this work of God the father by his spirit, no one will be saved. No one will trust Christ. The father makes those unwilling to come to Jesus willing.

[33:29] He draws them. And it's the spirit, he does it by the spirit. It's the spirit who gives life, you'll soon look at this in verse 63 of chapter 6.

[33:41] It's the spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing. He makes those unwilling to come to Jesus willing, she runs to Jesus so that he'll run to Jesus.

[33:58] And notice, no one is able to come to me unless the father sent me, draws him and what happens to that one that's drawn? And I will raise him up on the last day.

[34:10] Friends, all people are not drawn to Jesus. If someone says that to you, they're lying to you or trying to sell you something. All people are not drawn to Jesus and that's not what John chapter 12 is saying.

[34:24] People try to use John chapter 12, I'll draw all men to myself. That's what Jesus means here. No, it doesn't. It's very clear. Jesus doesn't draw all people and then it's up to him or her to believe in him.

[34:34] That's not what the passage says. When the father draws a person, that person will believe because that person will be raised on the last day. That's how powerful that drawing is.

[34:51] It's the father who enacts belief. It's a gift from him given to the son and the person whom he draws.

[35:04] That's what happens. They come to Jesus. They trust him. So let me be crystal clear on this once again. All people are unable to come to Jesus unless the father personally and directly intervenes by drawing him or her.

[35:22] Only then will she believe. Only then will he believe. That's what Jesus says. And that person who believes will be raised on the last day by Jesus himself.

[35:36] He was the one who does it. He was the one who did it. Friends, there's no potential salvation here. There's no loss of salvation. There's no exercise in my free will salvation.

[35:53] It's all of the father. So I told you there's three reasons. So there's three reasons. So first, no one is able to come.

[36:04] Reason number one, you must be drawn by the father. Reason number two, you must hear and be taught from the father. Look at verse 45. It is written in the prophets, and they shall all be taught of God.

[36:16] All the ones who heard and learned from the father, come to me. This further explains what Jesus meant in verse 44. And he quoted Isaiah 53, 15, 54, 13, to give that clarification.

[36:32] when one comes to Jesus, that means that that person has heard and learned from the father.

[36:43] So to hear from the father is to learn from the father. So when you hear and learn from the father, you're being taught of God resulting in you coming to Jesus, in you believing in Jesus.

[36:59] That's the result. That's what he says. All the ones who've heard and learned from me, come to me. All of them who heard and learned from the father, they come to me.

[37:16] See, when it's all said and done, the father is the primary agent of belief, as one writer said. He's the one who propels a person to Jesus.

[37:28] He's the one who provides faith. For that person to trust Jesus. And even more, Jesus is the actual teaching of God.

[37:40] Jesus is the embodiment of God's teaching. So to reject Christ is to reject God and his teaching. So anyone or anything that's opposed to Jesus, opposed to Christ, or void of Jesus or void of Christ, is void of God.

[37:56] So when God teaches a person, they will come, they will trust Jesus, they will believe. She or Eve will eat the bread, they will drink the water, giving them true life.

[38:09] You must be drawn from the father. You must hear and be taught from the father. Number three, you must learn Jesus who is the teaching of the father. Verse 46.

[38:20] Jesus says, not that any man has seen the father except the one who's from God. He has seen the father. He's talking about himself. He stopped to make certain it was understood that he's the fulfillment of God's teaching.

[38:39] That's why when we worship, we should focus on Jesus. He's the fullest self-expression of the father. The father wants us to point everything and be centered upon Jesus his son.

[38:53] He's the epitome of the teaching of the father. As one writer says, the teaching presence of God. He's God's spokesman. Ultimately. He's God's final, ultimate spokesman because he is from God.

[39:08] He was with God. He is God. John 1. 1. So no learning of God happens apart from Christ. Because of his unique, intimate, relational relationship with the father.

[39:26] This teaches us so much about our salvation. It teaches us so much what God has done for us. It teaches so much what the father has done. So here Jesus, he trucks through all these things.

[39:37] Only certain ones will come. No one is able to come. He gives us three reasons. And then look at what he does here in verse 47 and 48. Truly, truly, authority of statement, significant, pay attention.

[39:51] Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. All are invited to come. Come. He says it again.

[40:05] Jesus is God. Speaking on behalf of God to come to him, to believe in him. When you truly trust him, you have the present possession. You have eternal life. Come and you'll be saved.

[40:19] Come, trust Jesus and he'll save you. I am the bread of life. This is an invitation from Jesus himself to believe in him, to take him.

[40:30] This is who Jesus is. This is why it matters. Come to this bread of life. Come to Jesus, the bread of life.

[40:43] If you do, you'll never hunger. If you come to this water, you'll never thirst. He calls us to come and receive him and to continually take him.

[40:55] Don't reject him. Center ourselves upon Jesus. And yet understand that only certain ones will come, they'll never be cast out but be raised on the last day.

[41:10] And no one has the ability to come. They must hear and be taught by the Father. They must be drawn by the Father. There's so much today about our salvation which should spur us on to praise the Father for being so gracious to us to bring us to Jesus.

[41:30] You did nothing to deserve this. That's why it's called grace. Undeserved favor. Let's thank him for that.

[41:42] Father, we thank you for being so gracious to us to bring us to yourself, to draw us so we would come to Jesus, so we would believe into Jesus.

[42:03] Jesus. All these promises that we see are yes and amen. It's the promise that you've given to us.

[42:14] we lay claim to these promises. We hold and cling to these promises that are so dear to us.

[42:31] All that you've done Father. All that you've done Jesus. All that you've done O Spirit. Solidify that in us as your church, as your people.

[42:48] Help us to be so thankful, to sing at the top of our lungs. You've been so kind. We were dead in transgressions and sins.

[43:03] But grace irresistible drew us and opened our eyes to see who Jesus truly is. how precious, how rich this treasure we possess in Jesus Christ our Lord.

[43:18] So that we say Jesus there's none like you. Jesus we love you. What love our God that you would show for us.

[43:35] It's like a mighty flood. So may we rejoice in you our Redeemer. As we rejoice in you the wellspring of our heart, the wellspring of our soul, the recipe for our soul that we would say take my life.

[44:05] My heart is yours. my will is yours. Take more of me Jesus. I give you my all.

[44:24] Encourage you this time this few moments to let it be a time between you and the Lord. where you can fill your mind with truth and may it direct your will to more praise and love for Jesus.

[44:54] Just take the few moments to do that and then we'll respond by singing and praying together. So do that now please.

[45:04] Do that now.