Transcription downloaded from https://yetanothersermon.host/_/ctkc/sermons/94008/eat-him-up-part-1/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] Amen. You may be seated. Children, you are excused to your King's Kids classes.! We're going to be looking at John chapter 6, starting verse 22, page 1059 of your pew Bibles.

[0:15] And as we were singing, our salvation is bound up together. I couldn't help but think of yesterday we had this classy carnival, this volunteer appreciation, and we laughed a lot. And so in our laughter, we share joy together.

[0:36] So Zach, thank you so much for acting on your idea to do this. And once again, I just want to thank Amy Bostetter for just the excellent job you did yesterday. We consumed a lot of food, and there was a lot of variety of food. Some would say, I have some friends in the house. I would say it was gross tech when it comes to food. Yep, that was just for you.

[1:08] We're all consumers. Every one of us must eat and drink to live. Feeding is an essential requirement to living. And you know what? I think we would all agree it would do you well. It would do me well to make sure we're asking questions of what we consume. To be asking questions like, hey, is this good for me? You read the label on the back, and you're like, hey, is this the right amount of whatever I'm eating to eat? Does this have the right sort of nutritional values for my body? So we look at labels to make sure what we're eating and drinking is good for us, because we're careful of what we put into our bodies. It's good to question what you're consuming. But let's be honest. We consume things beyond physical food and drink.

[2:14] We consume social media. Has anybody else like me gotten sucked into the scrolling matrix? Yes. It's funny. I scroll and scroll, and I'm hungry for something, but I'm not satisfied.

[2:31] Anybody consume pleasing people? You just want to please people? You make it your aim, but it never satisfies. Making a name for yourself. Seeking to control situations. Maybe you're consumed with your appearance. Maybe you're seeking to quench your thirst by making money. Maybe you're drinking deep from the well of independence. And what I mean by that is it's this posture where you're saying, nobody tells me what to do. And I drink deep from that well. We feed on busyness. We feed on large amounts of entertainment. And wouldn't it be great if on all these consumables there was some kind of nutritional value, some kind of chart to tell us, is this good for me? How much should I consume?

[3:25] Here's my point. We consume far more than just food and drink. And it's good to question what we consume. This morning, we're going to look at a passage in which Jesus answers five questions.

[3:45] And he makes an audacious claim. He says, consume me. I am the bread of life. Eat me up and you will never hunger again. You will never thirst again. Eat me up and live eternally, full and forever life.

[4:08] And so what we're going to do is we're going to look at these five questions and five answers. There's a lot of information here. So I'm just going to keep us moving through it. So you're going to have to keep up with me in your Bibles. Okay. So John chapter six, first question is in verse 25.

[4:27] Rabbi, when did you come here? Let me give you the backstory. The day before this question was asked, this question is being asked in the city of Capernaum. But the day before Jesus had fed 5,000 men, 15 to 20,000 people altogether. He did so as a miraculous sign in the wilderness. And after he fed everybody, he sent his disciples in a boat out on the sea of Galilee. He dismissed the crowds. He went up and prayed. And then around three to 6 a.m., he came to his disciples walking on the water in the midst of a storm. And he revealed himself at sea. He is the great incarnate I am, the king of all creation.

[5:14] And that's really good news for us who regularly deal with chaos. Do I have an amen? Well, it's the next day, verse 22. That's where our passage starts.

[5:24] The crowd comes back to where Jesus had miraculously fed them. And they're looking for Jesus, but Jesus is MIA, missing in action. So in verse 24, they get in their boats, they row to Capernaum.

[5:39] And at the end of verse 24, we read that they are seeking Jesus. And they finally find him in Capernaum. And they ask him the question, Rabbi, when did you come here? And they're asking this, by the way, they found him in the synagogue in Capernaum. We know that from verse 59 in the passage.

[5:58] Now, if it was me, and I am not Jesus, but if a crowd found me and asked, hey, what time did you get here? I would be like, well, you know, after I fed 15 to 20,000 people, I prayed, dismissed you all.

[6:14] And then I walked out on the Sea of Galilee, revealed myself as the great incarnate I am. I got my disciples here, lickety split. It came up on shore. And so, you know what? I didn't even break a sweat. So, you know, three to six AM, that's when I showed up here. But that's not how Jesus answers. What Jesus says in verse 26 is something in which he totally ignores the question.

[6:45] In verse 26, he drops a truly, truly. And there's a number of these truly, trulys in this passage. Truly, truly, I say to you, this is Jesus' way of saying this. Let me set the record straight.

[6:57] Hear me out. And he goes on to tell this crowd that has been seeking him, he goes on to tell them, hey, let me tell you why you've come seeking me. Let me just read this to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of loaves.

[7:27] So what he's saying to them is this. You're not seeking me for me. You're seeking me for you because you ate well yesterday and you want to eat well again. You're here for the food that perishes, not for the food that endures to eternal life. And so at this moment, Jesus does something very interesting. He says, hey, let me tell you something. Let's just be clear. There are two kinds of foods that you work for that you seek. Food number one is the food that perishes.

[8:04] You eat it and you're going to have to eat it again and then eat it again and then eat it again. And food number two is the food that endures to eternal life. You just need to eat it once.

[8:15] And he says to them, essentially, you are here for the food that perishes. Do not work for that food.

[8:27] Do not prioritize. Seek that food above all else. You know, this is the same kind of like do not work for that applies to all of the other consumables that we have already named. Don't prioritize as your name, a number one thing to live for as money.

[8:54] It's a food that perishes. Don't prioritize pleasing people or falling into the scrolling trap.

[9:07] Seek the food of eternal life that is given by the Son of Man. It's a title Jesus uses for himself. Speaks of himself often that way in the third person.

[9:19] And what that refers to is a passage in the Old Testament that anticipates the coming of a forever king who will establish a forever kingdom. And now we're learning that this forever king of a forever kingdom gives a forever food that if you consume it, you live forever.

[9:41] This is Jesus who has been sealed by God the Father. Have you heard of the good housekeeping seal of approval? This is the good, good Father seal of approval on God the Son as the Son of Man.

[9:59] The one whom is authorized and able to be the source of eternal life. So question number one is, hey, Jesus, what time did you get here? And Jesus says, you came here looking for food that perishes, but I'm the food that keeps on giving.

[10:20] Question number two, verse 28. Remember in verse 27, Jesus just said, don't work for the food that perishes, but implied work for the food that endures to eternal life.

[10:34] And these Jewish folks who are seeking something to eat, they're like, work, we can do work. And so they ask him in verse 28, what must we do to be doing the works of God?

[10:49] It's like they're saying, okay, okay. Tell us what we need to do in order to earn, receive, get this eternal kind of food that you're talking about.

[11:01] What do we need to do? Could you spell it out for us? In fact, could you imagine someone saying, someone like me, Jesus, can you spell that out in an itemized list that has little boxes that I can check off as I'm working my way through it?

[11:17] Can you tell me what to do in order to receive this eternal life that is found in you apparently? Their thinking is a classic misunderstanding of how to obtain eternal life, of how to be saved, of how to be made right with God, how to have your sins forgiven.

[11:38] This mistaken understanding of salvation is called a works-based salvation.

[11:49] And the thinking is, I earn God's salvation by doing the right things. It's this thought of, when I come to the end of my life, in the great scales of life, and my good works are weighed against my evil works.

[12:05] If my good works outweigh my evil works, then I have earned God's salvation. But the thing is, that is not what our Bibles teach, and that is absolutely not what Jesus is saying here.

[12:19] It's a tragic misunderstanding, because you cannot receive God's gift by working for it. The gift of eternal life is not received by working for it.

[12:32] It's received by faith, by belief. And so, in verse 29, Jesus says this. Jesus knows that. And so, he's like, let me clarify you what I mean by work.

[12:44] This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent, referring to himself.

[12:55] The work that you must do in order to receive eternal life is by believing in the one that he has sent. The food that endures to eternal life.

[13:07] He's talking about himself in the third person again, which is kind of classic Jesus. And what he's saying is, you must trust me. That's the work.

[13:20] You must believe in me whom God has sent. You must depend on me in order to receive the food of eternal life.

[13:34] God's salvation is not a meal that's earned, but it's a meal that's received as a gift. Have you ever gotten into a squabble with a friend over lunch?

[13:51] Because you're like, I'll pay for lunch. And they're like, no you won't. And you're like, why not? And they're like, because I pay my own way. Duh. And they're like, but no, no, no, no.

[14:03] I want to bless you. And they're like, no, no. I do my thing. I pay for my own food. Do you know why it's so difficult to have someone pay for lunch for you?

[14:17] Because it means you've got to humble yourself and receive a gift. And that's what Jesus is talking about right here. It's not by working. You receive this food that endures to eternal life by humbly believing.

[14:39] Salvation is free to us, but it was not free to God in the giving. It cost him. Jesus paid the price of our salvation, which makes it free to us, but costly to the living God.

[14:59] It's an incredible salvation. And the way we receive it is by believing. So the second question is, what do we do? Okay, okay, do the works of God. Yes. What do we do? And Jesus says, believe.

[15:11] Believe in me. The one that God has sent. Which brings us to question number three. And this is in verse 30.

[15:24] Question number three is, then what sign do you do that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? So again, this crowd that has been fed the day before, they found Jesus in a synagogue in Capernaum.

[15:38] They're starting to ask all these questions. They're like, believe. Okay. You've been sent from God. Okay, show us a miraculous sign to validate that you have been sent from God and you give eternal life.

[15:50] And then in verse 31, they're like, like this. Here's an example. Do a sign like this. Do you remember how our fathers ate manna in the wilderness?

[16:03] Jesus, and how God miraculously provided for them? He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Now, if you could do a miracle like that, Jesus, we would see and believe who you are.

[16:21] Which is incredibly ironic. Because these are the same people the day before. The ones that are asking for a sign on the scale of Exodus 16, God providing manna.

[16:39] These are the same people, a multitude, who were in a wilderness, who were miraculously fed by Yahweh incarnate.

[16:51] They've already been shown the sign. But they don't believe. So this is very ironic that they would ask for that. What this is starting to expose is that there is unbelief in this crowd that has come looking to have their stomachs filled.

[17:08] But Jesus doesn't point out the irony of it in verses 32 through 33. In those verses, Jesus answers them with another, Truly, truly, truly, 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.

[17:29] So it's another truly, truly, it's another one of these, him saying, hey, let me set the record straight. Any grammar nerds in the room? I see that hand.

[17:44] When God inspires the Bible, every word originated in his mind, even the verb tenses.

[17:57] I want you to see the verb tenses. Because in this little verse, the verb tenses matter a lot. You ready? Verse 32.

[18:08] Jesus answers them. And he says, Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave past, present, future. You tell me.

[18:20] Past. It was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father, and we're expecting him to say, who gave you the bread from heaven, but Jesus goes present.

[18:34] But my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. See what Jesus just did right there. It's not Moses. It was my Father back then providing food for you, and it's my Father who is now providing you, giving you the true bread, the real bread, the bread that endures to eternal life, bread, me.

[18:58] Me. He goes from then to now. And so Jesus just stays on target. He's like, you're not getting it.

[19:11] You're looking at the new and better manna, is what he's saying. And so when you pay attention to the verb tenses, you realize that Jesus is doing something extraordinary.

[19:24] It was not Moses who provided the bread, but it's God the Father now providing eternal life. And the scope of that eternal life is the whole world.

[19:37] He's giving life to the whole world. All those who are dead in their sin, living in darkness. Jesus is God's provision of life, eternal life to all.

[19:52] What we're being told here, what we're seeing is, it's like Jesus saying, don't live on the old manna. Don't live in the past. God is giving you new and better manna now.

[20:06] You know, when God first provided manna to the Israelites, do you know what manna means? It literally means, what is it?

[20:19] And so they wake up in the morning, and God provides this stuff on the ground that is flaky, wafer-like, and it tastes a little bit like honey. And they wake up and they're like, what is it?

[20:34] And what Jesus is doing right here is, it's like, it's not what is it, it's who is it? You're looking at the new and better manna. The food that endures to eternal life.

[20:53] In verse 34, they say, we'll take it. Give it to us. And keep giving it to us. But Jesus is like, you're not getting it.

[21:04] I would love to have seen Jesus' facial expression at this moment. Was it this kind of thing where he just kind of rolls his eyes and like, oh man. Because what happens in verse 35 is this audacious claim.

[21:17] To their, like, I'll take it, Jesus says to them, I am the bread of life. It's not an it, it's a who.

[21:28] It's not a what is it, it's a who is it. And it's me. I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

[21:40] What he's saying is, I am the new and better manna sent by God from heaven to give eternal life to the entire world, to those who believe.

[21:50] If you're familiar with the Gospel of John, you know that this is the first of seven I am statements Jesus makes about himself. I am the bread of life.

[22:02] I am the light of the world. I am the gate. I am the good shepherd. I am the resurrection of life. I am the way, the truth, and the life. And I am the vine. These are all different ways of talking about salvation.

[22:14] That Jesus is our salvation. And so when you hear Jesus say, I am the bread of life, you need to hear that as a claim on salvation.

[22:25] I am the source of eternal life. I'm the eternal life you must consume. In verses 37 through 40, Jesus is very clear on why God his Father sent him, and that is to do the will of his Father.

[22:45] We see it. Three times, Jesus says, I'm here to do the will of my Father in this section. And so we get to ask, well, what is the will of the Father? Of why he sent him?

[22:58] In verse 37, we read, all those the Father has given me will come to me, will come to him. It's God's will, God the Father's will, that all that he gives the Son will come to the Son, will believe in the Son.

[23:17] Verse 40, it's God's will that all who he gives to the Son will look upon the Son and believe in the Son and will receive eternal life.

[23:28] Verse 37, it's God's will that the Son cast out none of those who God the Father gives him. And verse 38, it's God's will that God the Son would lose none of those God the Father has given him.

[23:46] In verses 39-41, all that God the Father gives to Jesus will be raised up on the last day. Here's what's going on here. It's the will of God the Father that Jesus the Son save to the uttermost all those the Father gives to the Son to be saved.

[24:09] saved to the uttermost from the earliest beginnings to the coming to the drawing all the way to the last day they will be raised up unto eternal life.

[24:22] All of that is not a salvation of works. It's a salvation by God's grace. what we see here in this passage and it might make some of you uncomfortable is that God has given a specific group of people in other places of the Bible called the elect to the Son to save from beginning to end.

[24:51] It is a work of God from beginning to end. So if you're looking for a sign in the room like this crowd was looking for a sign like like if Jesus if Christianity is the real thing you know what Jesus would say?

[25:16] I am the sign. I am the bread of life. Believe in me. What sign do you do?

[25:28] This third question Jesus is saying I am the bread of life the new and better manna. And what's ironic about this little passage here is that these Jews they had seen what he had already done but did not believe.

[25:50] Do you believe? Now we move to question number four if there was if there was some kind of skepticism in question three it's all on in question four.

[26:05] In 41 and 42 we have this kind of question isn't he Joe and Mary's son? So the Jews grumbled about him because he said I am the bread of bread that came down from heaven this is 41 and 42 they said is not this Jesus?

[26:23] The son of Joseph whose father and mother we know? How does he now say I have come down from heaven? They're not asking Jesus this question.

[26:36] They're grumbling amongst themselves. Jesus overhears them grumbling. You know what's interesting is that in Exodus 16 what led up to the giving of manna?

[26:51] What is it? Israel was grumbling. They were doubting that God could provide for them and they longed for the meat pots of Egypt.

[27:06] And here this group of Jews this multitude who's come seeking Jesus they doubt his claim that he is the new and better manna come down from heaven and in their unbelief they ask this question isn't this guy Joe and Mary's son?

[27:24] Isn't he the carpenter's son? And what they're assuming is that they know where Jesus is from they know his background but they're tragically mistaken because we know John 1 14 and the word became flesh and dwelt among us.

[27:40] We know from the other gospels that Jesus was miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary's womb to be the son of God.

[27:55] Their unbelief had blinded them and so in verse 43 Jesus obviously overhears their grumbling and he tells them stop grumbling. Stop your grumbling.

[28:07] And then in verse 44 he says something that again can make us uncomfortable. No one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him and I will raise him up on the last day.

[28:17] No one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws them. Their unbelief, their grumbling is evidence that they not come to Jesus because of who Jesus is.

[28:34] They haven't been drawn by the father. father. What this notion of God the father drawing a group of people to the son is known as irresistible grace.

[28:50] That those whom God has set his love on from before the foundation of the earth, he will draw them to faith in Jesus Christ by his grace. All that the father has given to Jesus will come to Jesus because the father draws them.

[29:08] Think about it this way. God in his grace inclines the heart of dead sinners to believe in Jesus.

[29:18] That's how sinful we are. That we wouldn't choose Jesus on our own because we're blinded by our sin. Old timers called this drawing of God the quickening of God.

[29:34] that someone would be quickened by the Holy Spirit to believe on Jesus. The Spirit of God inclining our hearts to believe in Jesus.

[29:44] We're so dead in our sins that God must first incline our hearts to believe in Jesus. That's this idea of God drawing us to the Son.

[29:56] Salvation is a gracious work of God from beginning to end unless the Father draws him. And then in verse 45 Jesus goes into further explaining what he means by the Father drawing him to the Son.

[30:12] He quotes Isaiah 54 13 it is written in the prophets and they will all be taught by God. And then Jesus says everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.

[30:23] So this drawing of God is some kind of instructing of God. It's a kind of revealing of who the Christ is to someone who's not a believer.

[30:38] Someone who is in their sin. And the result is that someone who just doesn't hear the gospel. They hear and learn. They take it to heart.

[30:52] And Jesus says hey I know this is the case because of everyone on the planet I have seen the Father. I've been with him. I'm from heaven. In verses 47 through 48 Jesus comes back to this claim that I am the bread of life.

[31:11] In verse 47 he drops another truly truly I say to you whoever believes has eternal life. Whoever believes in me has eternal life. He will not die. He will live.

[31:21] He's saying I am the bread of life. It is this audacious claim on salvation. And then just to push it further he says to these Jews seeking to have their bellies filled your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died.

[31:40] The old manna didn't give life. And then he says in verse 50 this is the bread that comes down from heaven the bread of life Jesus so that one may eat of it and not die but live forever verse 51 live forever what a contrast Jesus is saying that the old manna will not save you but the new and better manna will and the way that you consume me is by believing in me so question four there's this grumbling isn't this Joe and Mary son and then Jesus just reiterates I am the bread of life the new and better manna if you eat of me you will not die but if you eat of that manna you will there's an interesting little phrase in verse 51 and it's it's the phrase at the end and the bread that

[32:43] I will give for the life of the world is my flesh that's really interesting because it's substitutionary language it's it's Jesus saying hey the bread this bread that I will give for the world is my flesh and for those of us who has ears to hear what we hear is Jesus Christ is going to die in our place other people hear it as cannibalism which brings us to question number five question number five 52 how can this man give us his flesh to eat the Jews in the synagogue are like what did he say did he just say that his flesh is the bread that we're to eat because that sounds really gross do you remember Jesus talking with Nicodemus in

[33:43] John 3 Jesus tells him you must be born again and what does Nicodemus do wait hold on a second how am I supposed to get back in my mother how does that work he was thinking literally he was thinking physically but Jesus wasn't talking about a physical rebirth he was talking about a spiritual rebirth do you remember Jesus conversation with the woman at the well in John 4 Jesus says hey I've got I've got I've got living water if you knew I had it you'd ask me for it and she goes but hold on a second you don't have anything to kind of pull water up with in the well steep she's she's thinking literally she's thinking physically what Jesus is talking about is a spiritual nourishment he's talking about the Holy Spirit who once he indwells you brings about springs welling up to eternal life and so what we've seen so far in the book of John is is this misunderstanding of what Jesus is saying and taking him very literally about physical things when he's not he's talking about spiritual realities and that is what's happening here that they think that

[34:50] Jesus is talking about cannibalism eating his flesh and drinking his blood which is rather coarse but what he's talking about is something radical a radical dependence on him a radical vital faith in him so in verses 53 through 58 Jesus very intentionally very graphically repeatedly says that in order for you to have eternal life you must consume his flesh and his blood you must eat his flesh and drink his blood it's not a call to cannibalism it's a call to radical dependence radical belief we must depend on Jesus as if we're consuming him you know just how we eat food and drink water to live we consume Jesus to live eternally he's the only source of eternal life eternal life is found in no one else therefore we must eat him up in order to live there's another clue in this passage in verse 56

[36:06] Jesus says whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him we're going to see that word abide show up again in John 15 John 15 5 Jesus says I'm the vine you are the branches whoever abides in me and I in him will bear much fruit but apart from me you can do nothing it's a picture of radical dependence to live to bear fruit and what Jesus is describing here is this essential vital dependence on him for eternal life it's found in no one else do you know why he's using shocking language it's functioning like a parable if you're familiar with parables like in the parables Jesus speaks in Matthew 13 here's what they do Jesus will speak a parable and for those who are not being drawn taught by God the parable will make no sense to them and will expose their unbelief but for those who are being drawn by God who do have understanding who are being taught the parable makes a ton of sense and so they believe that's what's going on here

[37:26] Jesus is using shocking language to expose to unbelief as well as to nurture faith those who hear cannibalism don't understand the vital dependence of faith in Jesus for eternal life but those who hear Jesus invitation to trust him unto eternal life it's like oh man you just whet my appetite and I'm going to eat you up I can't get enough so here's this question how can this man give us his flesh to eat and the answer is Jesus saying I am the source of eternal life and to consume me is to trust exclusively in me to trust vitally in me and so when we take the

[38:31] Lord's supper here's what that means when we take the cracker and we take the cup these things don't turn into the flesh and blood of Jesus they remind us of what Jesus has done that he is the source of eternal life it's it's a picture of a spiritual reality so five questions five answers we've covered a lot of ground here's the claim Jesus is making I am the new and better manna I'm the bread of life and our response the call is to eat him up eat him up and live trust in him exclusively and vitally so I'm going to apply this in two ways first is it's good to question what you're consuming it's good to question especially if you're consuming food that perishes you got to read the label the labels on that nutritional chart on the back of the packaging of whatever you eat you can use your phone app to do that now you can find out the serving size the calories the nutritional values and you can be thinking like okay how much of this do I need to eat and drink but you're like hold on a second self-ide didn't you say that there are a lot of consumables that we eat a lot and drink a lot of that don't have this label on it what are we supposed to do with that

[40:21] I mean we like to consume! entertainment social media people pleasing control sexual passions sports teams we love our personal fitness and appearance we love to consume money and material things but there's no nutritional labels on those how do we know if it's good for us or not let me give you a crash course in discernment four questions you can ask first one is this what is the nature of this consumable is this perishable or imperishable second can I enjoy this consumable to the glory of God can I consume this and God be praised by it third question what's the appropriate serving size and frequency how much how much is the right amount and how frequently should

[41:26] I can be consuming it that I can still be living for Jesus in a way that pleases him and this last question is a really important question what effect will consuming this consumable have over time will this over time draw me to the bread of life grow me in Christ or will this numb me to Jesus and so so these things don't come with our own nutritional chart we got to bring our own nutritional chart to it that's called discernment and as you mature as a Christian you need to learn how to do this with all of the consumables in our life because we are consumers the second application is eat them up eat Jesus up fill your soul up with Jesus again and again and again do you know what is one of the most difficult things for me to believe and accept do you want to know when

[42:37] I'm standing across from a Christian and they are saying or implying that they are bored with Jesus that they're dissatisfied that they're unquenched that somehow Jesus is not enough that is really hard to stomach you know right now in the presence of Jesus around his throne no one is bored so when a Christian is bored spiritually bored spiritually numb spiritually dissatisfied spiritually checked out spiritually uncrenched with Christ it's not Jesus who's the problem the problem is inside you inside me because what he says in verse 35 is very clear I'm the bread of life he who comes to me shall not hunger and he who believes in me shall never thirst the problem resides in us that we're seeking fullness of life in something other than

[43:49] Jesus some kind of old manna some kind of perishable consumable so that's why we need to be consuming Jesus daily and it'll help us to kind of say no to the perishables I hope you're asking the question how do I do that how do I consume Jesus daily it means you need to put your nose in your Bible it means that you're reading the gospels and you're looking to Jesus and you're reading it slow and you're reading it savoringly and you read until you're like ooh that's so good Jesus and you make space to do that whether that's in the gospels or in Paul's writing or in Peter's writing or in

[44:51] John's writing you know what have you read through the book of Revelation lately you know Revelation has a series of disclosures of Jesus got to eat him up it's going to expand your soul so let me just urge you as a way to eat him up get your nose in your Bible focus on Jesus and when you are feasting on Jesus you're going to find a change in your other appetites these perishable things they just don't taste as good and you know what that's right because they're not as good let me close by just saying this if you're not a Christian in the room but you find yourself craving Jesus you have a hunger for him you have a thirst for him you are saying to yourself you know what

[45:53] I don't know why I'm so interested in Jesus but I am I've got this insatiable appetite for him I want to know him I want to experience this eternal life that he offers friend you are being drawn by God the father to Jesus what must you do believe in him believe on him call upon him and you will be saved you will start to taste the goodness of the bread of life and have your hunger satisfied and your thirst quenched let's pray together Lord Jesus forgive us for turning to the foods that perish as if they can satisfy our soul hunger and quench our soul thirst you alone can do that so father would you pour out your spirit upon us and that even this week as we open up our

[46:57]  Bibles and as we look to the bread of life we look to satisfy our souls in Jesus God would you do just that would you satisfy our hunger would you would you make us those who delight in Jesus we pray this in your name amen who