Transcription downloaded from https://yetanothersermon.host/_/mbc/sermons/92436/bread-of-life-and-seven-questions/.

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] Stay right there, John. John, tell me what this is, John.! I lay him down and put some extra crunchy peanut butter on it.

[0:33] Oh! Extra crunchy. No, just extra crunchy peanut butter. Alright, here. There's your muffin. It's a different kind of try that and see what you think of it. You know, today... You're going to eat the peanut butter.

[0:45] Oh yeah, he's going to have to look for his own peanut butter. Well, today, we're going to be kind of doing the muffin thing. You know, John, what is it you like so much about English muffins?

[0:57] They're easy. They're easy? But there's anything about the bread about it particularly? Okay. Well, I love English muffins too, but I'm like nooks and crannies. There you go. The nooks and crannies.

[1:08] And the more nooks and crannies there are, the better I like them. Well, you know, today we're not going to be toasting them real good. We're not going to be putting a whole lot of condiment, butter, or anything else.

[1:18] We're going to do a light toasting and a just very light little bit of stuff on top of the English muffin because we're going to cover a lot of scripture. And I want you, if you've got your Bible with you, go ahead and go to John chapter six.

[1:33] We are going to have the scriptures up here that we're going to be sharing and everything. I do want to acknowledge that today is Palm Sunday. So if you, if you remember, this is the week before Christ is going to go to the cross.

[1:47] And so I would encourage each one of you to think about that as you, as the week progresses and everything. But if you have not kind of gathered what we're doing here so far, if you've read your scripture that we have and you've been looking at the devotional, we're going to be talking a little bit about bread and everything.

[2:06] And so we're going to be sharing that with you because here you're going to find that Jesus uses one of the first of seven I am statements. And that is, I am the bread of life.

[2:17] You know, John, the Holy Spirit has guided John to write the gospel of John in a very specific way. There's a seven I am statements in there. There are seven miraculous signs that he performs in there.

[2:31] And when I got studying my scripture and looking at it, I found there were seven questions in there that just really jumped out to me. And so I want to share those with you today as we, as we're looking at, looking at our scripture.

[2:43] And so as we go through this, we're going to look at it. And one of the things that John specifically says, and he says this back in John chapter 20, verses 20, 30 through 31, he says, therefore, many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book, but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God.

[3:12] In that believing, you may have life in his name. So we're going to be looking at that a little bit. This has been written specifically so people would know that Jesus is the son of God.

[3:25] And as we look through this, I want you to think about that. Now, last week, our brother Steve shared with us that Jesus had had just done one of those miraculous signs.

[3:35] He had fed 5,000 with five loaves of bread and two fish. And so he sent his disciples on to go across the sea and to go to Capernaum.

[3:48] And he said he sent them off by himself and he said, I'm going to send everybody back home. And then he was going to pray. Well, that's what he did. And then the people that had got fed, they got looking around.

[3:59] They said, where did you go? Where did Jesus go? So they all started traveling over to the other side of the sea also. So this is kind of where we're at. We're in the Capernaum area.

[4:10] And the people, as soon as folks start seeing Jesus, a lot of people start going out into the countryside and saying, listen, Jesus is here. Because this area has been one of the most successful places as far as Jesus' ministry has been.

[4:24] So people are coming from all over. If you look at the other Gospels, it talks about how they would come just to touch the hem of his garment, be healed. So we're going to be looking at different people and different questions that they have.

[4:39] Now, I want you to know that this isn't like a big, long conversation, one thing, but this happens at different times. And there's different people he's going to be speaking to. And so let's start off here with our first question.

[4:53] And if you want to, you can find it in John chapter six, verse 25 in your Bible, if you would like to look at it. Now, these are the people who have been fed, who have come and looking for Jesus. And the first question, I'm going to put my glasses on, make it a little bit easier for me.

[5:07] The first question is, and when they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, Rabbi or teacher, when did you get here? And now that Jesus's answer is truly, truly.

[5:21] Now, we all know what that means when Jesus says something twice, like truly, truly. What's he saying? Yeah. Pay attention. Pay attention. This is something important. Listen, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate some of the loaves and were filled.

[5:39] Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which is the son of man, that son of man will give you for on him.

[5:50] The father God has set his seal. See what Jesus is sort of answering on this very first question. He says, don't get so focused on the world, on your needs.

[6:02] Don't put your hope into the world. He's saying because he says what we eat, what we drink and what we gather is temporal. It's only for a temporary time.

[6:13] But instead, put all your efforts into what will last forever. For God has given us a gift that seals us for eternity with him. And that gift is Jesus.

[6:25] In Jesus and through Jesus and by Jesus, we are saved for eternity of life. Without Jesus, there is an eternity, but it's not with him.

[6:36] It's in hell. So it's important for us to keep that in mind as we look at this. And this is one of the first questions God asked. Now there's a second question that comes up. And this is also some of the people in Capernaum from the surrounding area that have come up.

[6:51] And this is from verse 28. It says, therefore, they said to him, what shall we do that we may work the works of God? Verse 29, Jesus answers them.

[7:02] This is the work of God that you believe in him who he has sent. This is God's plan. Right here it is. The work of God. He said, this is God's plan and that we would believe in his son, Jesus Christ, and through him be saved.

[7:20] This is God's plan from the very beginning. Even in Genesis. In Genesis chapter 3, verse 15, he said, I will put an enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed, and he shall bruise you on the head and you shall bruise him on the heel.

[7:38] God has always had a plan. As our Gideon speaker said, there's a plan. And God, this is the plan. Jesus Christ is the plan. And Jesus is letting them know, all those that will listen to him, that he is the answer that God has sent to them.

[7:55] Now, the people that are gathered around here, they have a third question. And this comes from John chapter 6, verse 30. And this is also the people in Capernaum. And so they said to him, what then do you do for a sign so that we may see and believe you?

[8:12] What work do you perform? Now, this is going to be kind of a two-part answer. The first part starts at verse 32. Here we go. Jesus is saying, what's he saying?

[8:22] Truly, truly. Remember, this means sit up, pay attention. Here's what I want you to hear. I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven.

[8:37] For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world. See, life comes from God. Through Jesus Christ.

[8:49] And it's guided by the Holy Spirit. There's no other way. There's no other plan. There's no other path. Jesus is the only way. And that's what we need to remember.

[9:00] You remember, they're saying after this, they say, give us the bread. That's what they want. They're concentrating on the idea of bread. You remember our pastor John brought about the Samaritan woman?

[9:11] She kept thinking, oh, I want water so I don't have to keep going back to the well and get more water. Where they're thinking, oh, okay, we got this. Give us the bread so we don't have to keep making our own bread and we'll be good.

[9:24] Here comes Jesus' second part. And this starts in verse 35. Jesus says, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not hunger.

[9:35] He who believes in me will never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me, yet you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me.

[9:46] And the one who comes to me, I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him. And you know, when you start thinking about that will of him, that's the plan.

[10:00] This is God's plan. Who sent? So it's the will of him who sent me. This is the will of him who sent me. That all that he has given me, I lose nothing.

[10:12] But raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father. That everyone who beholds the Son and believes in him will have eternal life. And I myself will raise him up on the last day.

[10:24] See, this is God's plan. This is God's promise. All other needs are met through him, Jesus Christ. The world's plan promises to bring maybe pain, tears, hunger, and thirst.

[10:41] All of it offers what it offers is temporary. But God's plan through Jesus Christ, there is a joy, a greatness, a peace, and a fullness that you can feel. And for his promise is the promise of eternity of life.

[10:56] Understand this. Jesus Christ was, is, and will be God's plan to save all who will trust in him as his Son. And all who do will spend eternity with him.

[11:10] And with him, we're perfected. Our body will always be as he intended. Our soul will be as he intended. And our spirit will be as always as he intended.

[11:23] No one can change this. He, Jesus Christ, is the plan. And in verse 35, he said, I am the bread of life. Often when Jesus, when you hear that I am, where have you heard that I am?

[11:38] That's right, I am. This is what God had told Moses at the flame bush. He said, when I go to your people, who am I to say has sent me? He said, I am has sent me.

[11:49] And so, so Jesus has given them answer. Now, we're coming to a different group. And this is in our, our fourth question. And everything. This is going to be in John chapter 6, 42. You know, I read this in a lot of different translations.

[12:02] One of the translations, I can't remember exactly which one it was. It referred to the ones speaking to him as hostile Jews. And everything. So these are basically the leaders and stuff that are looking and tracking Jesus, looking for an opportunity to find something wrong.

[12:16] To, that they can arrest him on or do something and get rid of and everything. But here's our fourth question. It comes out of chapter 6, verse 42. It says, they were saying, is this not, is this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?

[12:32] How does he now say, I have come down out of heaven? See, to them, they've already got something. This can't be who he says he is. Because we know where he came from.

[12:42] We know his lineage. We know his parents. Jesus answers them in 40, starting at verse 43. He says, do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him.

[12:55] I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets. And they shall all be taught of God. Everyone who has heard and learned from the father comes to me.

[13:06] Not that anyone has seen the father except the one who has come from God. He has seen the father. And he said, here we go again. Truly, truly, I say to you. He who believes has eternal life.

[13:19] Now, we'll stop there for just a second. This idea where he says, of course, when he says truly, truly, we're to pay attention. This word when he says he who believes has eternal life.

[13:31] This is a little bit different. This is not just the idea of belief, but it is. It means a continuance of belief. And so it's important for us to understand that. And again, Jesus in verse 48, he says, I am the bread of life.

[13:45] Your father ate your father's eight manna in the wilderness and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven so that one may eat of it and not die.

[13:58] I am the living bread that came down out of heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever. And the bread also which I will give give for the life of the world is my flesh.

[14:11] Jesus is talking about what's going to be happening and what we're going to be celebrating and thinking about here within this next week. So don't let see he's telling him, don't let this upset you when I'm saying and don't let it upset us when we start talking about this idea that he is the bread and we are to eat his bread.

[14:28] It's the idea. There's only one way. And that's Jesus Christ. Now, this upsets the world. This upsets a lot of people when you say there's no other way to God or to heaven except through Jesus Christ.

[14:41] They want to think that there's so many other ways to do. So what you have to do is say, who are you going to trust with your eternity? Is it going to be God or the world? Know this.

[14:51] No one can come to God but through Jesus Christ. And God leads all to Jesus through and by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit reveals the scriptures to us when we read them.

[15:04] The Holy Spirit guides us in our prayers as we lift our prayers to him. The Holy Spirit leads us to Jesus Christ. He, Jesus Christ, is the way. He, Jesus Christ, is the plan.

[15:16] And we need to remember that. God sent him. He, Jesus Christ, paid the price. He, Jesus Christ, bought us. And he, Jesus Christ, made the plan complete in his sacrifice and what he's done.

[15:31] Remember, the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. And next week, we'll probably be coming together and we'll be celebrating communion. And as you take the bread, as we celebrate the Last Supper, it is that idea of taking the bread in remembrance of him.

[15:49] Now, you know, one of the things we think about, when we eat bread, when you consume the bread and everything, you don't just put the bread, you don't just take the bread, but you put the bread in your mouth. The bread is chewed upon and the nutrients of it goes throughout your body.

[16:05] The same thing with Christ. When we accept Christ as our Savior, he isn't just something we take for one little time and everything. It is something that we consume and it becomes every part of our life.

[16:16] And we're going to see even more of that. So in question 5, John chapter 6 verse 52, then the Jews began to argue with one another saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat?

[16:29] See, now they're getting kind of upset because for the Jews, the idea is no blood and they're not going to have any idea of eating any kind of flesh. So they're having trouble. They're taking it so little, they're having trouble understanding what he's saying.

[16:40] But in verse 53, Jesus says, here we go. He says, truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourself.

[16:54] He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. And I will raise him up on the last day. Now, I've not seen anything about this yet, but this last day, this is the promise of eternity.

[17:05] God will come back and one day he will, he will make his world right and he will call all his people together. And this is what he's speaking of. Continuing on, it says, for my flesh is true food.

[17:16] My blood is true drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him. As the living Father sent me, I live because of the Father.

[17:27] So he who eats me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, not as your fathers ate and died. He who eats this bread will live forever.

[17:39] It's not saying the words, it's not just saying the words when you, that you accept salvation in your life, just coming and saying the words, but it's ingesting Jesus Christ into every part of your life.

[17:51] And it's not just on one day, but it's daily that you ingest Christ into your life. We eat and drink Jesus completely. He becomes, in essence, in part of every part of our life.

[18:05] He is our nutrient. This is not done by us, but it's done by the Holy Spirit that indwells in us. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we receive the Holy Spirit.

[18:16] And the Holy Spirit helps us to be able to accept Christ and to understand and to get closer to God. And calling Jesus Lord carries a expectation of obedience.

[18:30] So when we give our life to Christ and we accept Christ as our Savior, we are expected to be obedient to Him. And this was, this is, and this will be God's plan. There's no other plan out there.

[18:41] This is it. So it's that time when you come at communion, when we take of the bread and we take of the Jews and we take those, it's a remembrance of Christ of what He has done.

[18:53] Now for the Jews, a lot of them were having a lot of trouble with this. They were struggling with the idea of what He was saying. But what He was talking to them about is spiritually. And He wanted them to understand that.

[19:04] And so these people who are in the community and the area and the Jewish leaders, they're all struggling with this. But not just them. In our sixth question, John chapter 6 verse 60, Therefore, many of His disciples, when they heard this, this is a difficult statement.

[19:23] Who can listen to it? And Jesus answered in verse 61 through 65, He said, Does this cause you to stumble? What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before?

[19:36] It is the Spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and are my life. But there are some of you who do not believe.

[19:50] And it continues on. It says, For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe and who it was that would betray Him. And He was saying, For this reason I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted Him from the Father.

[20:08] You know, this is one of the things that we've been discussing about John. And that one verse in there, it says, Jesus knew from the beginning. Jesus knows the hearts of those that He's speaking to.

[20:19] Jesus knows the hearts of those in different situations. So I ask you, does this bother you? What He says? When He says, Eat my flesh, drink my blood. Do you do this and remember Him?

[20:31] To give yourself, to ingest Him completely into your life? It shouldn't. But it does bother some. For not everyone will believe the whispers, the shouts, or the directions of the Holy Spirit.

[20:45] The Spirit leads to Jesus Christ. The Spirit through Jesus Christ leads to God. Some will believe and some will stay. Just like in a church, in your church body.

[20:57] Some will believe, some will stay. Some will reject and some will leave. And sadly, some will reject and some will stay in the body. But the plan is Jesus Christ.

[21:09] True belief is not based on human understanding. It's based on the spiritual understanding. And so we have to, that's what we give. And that is the plan.

[21:21] That is for eternity of life. Many will leave. But the Spirit will be there to bring those to draw to Him. That God has called to draw each and every one of us to Him.

[21:34] Now, here's our last question. He turns around after many of His followers start to leave. Many of them start to go because they don't understand. This is a hard statement for them to hear.

[21:46] But this time, Jesus turns around and He asks the question to His twelve. And this is our seventh question. Now to John 6, verse 67. He says, Do you not want to go away?

[21:59] I'm sorry. You do not want to go away also, do you? And the answer comes from Peter, verse 68. He says, Lord, to whom shall we go?

[22:11] You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God. And so, we see here, Peter gives the answer.

[22:22] Jesus is the plan. Jesus is the plan that we, if you are looking for purpose in your life, if you're looking for peace in your life, if you're looking for joy in your life, it all comes through Jesus Christ.

[22:35] And so, He is letting us know that He is the plan. There is no other plan. There is one way. And that one way is Jesus Christ. And then, finally, He closes up with this chapter.

[22:48] He said, Jesus finished with a question and statement. He said, Did I myself not choose you in the twelve? Yet one of you is the devil. And this is His reference as to Judas Iscariot, what He's going to do.

[23:02] So, I just wanted to close it up. And so, what we're coming to a little time here, a time of invitation. Now, you might think, well, what is that? And that's not something that has to be done, but it is an opportunity for you to make a decision.

[23:15] It's a time when you make, when you might be prompted by the Holy Spirit. It's a time that you might publicly want to make a decision and come forward. It's almost like, you know, in a wedding, we like sometimes to go before a crowd because we want them to be our witness as to what we're going to do.

[23:33] To those who are seeking or don't know God's plan, there's only one way to God, and that is Jesus Christ. And so I say to you, choose today who you're going to serve.

[23:44] Now, to you, to those in here who've accepted Jesus Christ as the Lord, and are you ingesting Christ daily in every part of your life?

[23:55] Is He real in your everyday life, in your decisions, what you do, in how you act? Is He the Lord of your life? Are you obeying Him? And so this is an opportunity to think, no, I've not been applying that to my life.

[24:10] I'm not, I'm not searching His Word. I'm not ingesting Christ in every part of my life. And this is an opportunity for you to do so. And so those of you that are here, if you're secure in your faith and you're in God's plan, and you're having that daily relationship with Him, with the Lord, then I say, pray.

[24:32] Pray for those around you. Pray for those that might need to be making decisions. So as we come together here, and I'm going to ask our worship leader and pianist to come up, think of what has been said.

[24:46] Then what is the worship leader comes up and leads us with our last song? If the Holy Spirit moves you, move. Answer to the call. Raise your hands, Pastor John, Pastor Matt.

[24:59] Our pastors are here. If you have, if you want somebody to pray with you, you can ask him. Also, we have part of our prayer team, Miss Teresa. Raise your hand, Miss Teresa. And Pat, back here, raise your hand.

[25:10] And Pastor Matt's on our prayer team too. And I am also, we would be glad to pray with you in any way that if you have an opportunity that you want to make a prayer to the Lord, then please do that.

[25:22] Let me pray this prayer before we go to our last song. Father, we come to you and we just praise your holy name. Lord, we know there is one plan and that plan is your Son, Jesus Christ.

[25:34] Father, we get caught up in the busyness of this world. We get, pull one direction or another. Many things will come in our minds.

[25:45] Lord, even right now as we get ready to leave here in a few moments, when we walk out the door, all the fellowship, maybe how your Spirit has spoken to us and a lot of other things might just kind of fade away in the business of where we're going to go eat lunch.

[26:01] What are we going to do next, Lord? So Father, I just ask that we not let an opportunity pass. But Father, if we do leave and there's a decision that needs to be made, Lord, that whoever that individual is, that they will make that decision, Lord, before it's too late.

[26:18]  So we praise your name, Lord, in everything you do as we come to you, Lord, in song and in our hearts. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. You'll see it.