John 6

[0:00] Pardon me if I sound a little sick. I am. It's actually my first day out of bed in four. But thank you for your prayers. I was really excited to have this opportunity. It's a privilege. An honor to teach from the word. It's always humbling.

[0:21] And this is probably the most ambitious sermon I've attempted. I've covered large sections of scripture and sermons, but the bread of life discourse in John six has remained quite a challenge for me because it's already a sermon.

[0:41] It's a sermon preached by Jesus. It's complete. It can't be made any better. It's perfect. I don't want to present something dimmer. So with God's guidance, I hope to illuminate it with context and pray that each of us will draw something out challenging, encouraging, and leave this place closer to Jesus than when we arrived.

[1:06] So we can turn to John chapter six. We'll actually start in verse 24. When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they also got into boats and came to 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?

[1:35] Jesus answered them and said, most assuredly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the son of man will give you because God, the father has set his seal on him.

[1:54] Then they said to him, what shall we do that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered and said to them, this is the work of God that you believe in him whom he sent.

[2:06] Therefore, they said to him, what sign will you perform that that we may see it and believe you? What work will you do? Our fathers ate the man in the desert as it is written. He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

[2:18] Then Jesus said to them, most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but my father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.

[2:32] Then they said to him, Lord, give us this bread always. And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger. He who believes in me shall never thirst.

[2:44] But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the father gives me will come to me. And the one who comes to me, I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.

[2:59] This is the will of the father who sent me, that all he has given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise up the last day. And this is the will of him who sent me, that everyone who sees the son and believes in him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day.

[3:13] The Jews then complained about him because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they said, is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it that he says, I have come down from heaven?

[3:26] Jesus therefore answered and said to them, do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him and I will raise him up at the last day.

[3:37] It is written the prophets and they shall all be taught by God. Therefore, everyone who has heard and learned from the father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the father, except he who is from God.

[3:49] He has seen the father. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the man in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven that one may eat of it and not die.

[4:04] I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat?

[4:18] Then Jesus said to them, most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

[4:31] For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As a living father sent me, and I live because of the father.

[4:42] So he who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven. Not as your fathers ate the manna and are dead. He who eats of this bread will live forever. These things he said in the synagogue as he taught in Pernod.

[4:58] Lord, bless your word. And fill our ears with its message in our heart, Lord, with its content. In Jesus' name.

[5:10] So Christ's audience here includes the 12 disciples, Jewish leaders, and the people who participated in the feeding of the 5,000, which is recorded at the beginning of this chapter.

[5:26] This discourse takes place the day after the feeding, and after Jesus walked on water, which is how he came to Capernaum. To set the stage for this discourse, Jesus is at a high point in his popularity.

[5:41] Look back at verse 2. Then a great multitude followed him because they saw the great signs he performed on those who were diseased. As his fame spreads, he's finding ways to be alone with the 12 disciples.

[5:58] They need instruction as well. As we'll see, there was mounting pressures and expectations on Jesus from the crowds and hostility from the Jewish leaders. Passover was approaching, based on verse 3.

[6:11] And based on Josephus, the first century Jewish historian, there were about 2 million people flocking to Israel during this season. It was the most popular festival of the Jews.

[6:24] And what do people find when they get to Jerusalem? They find this great excitement over this man Jesus working the works of the Messiah. The feeding took place at a remote location in the Golan Heights, which is the northeast area of the Sea of Galilee.

[6:41] A multitude finds him there. He meets their physical needs by feeding them and builds a backdrop to exhort them about their true needs and our true needs today. So based on verse 59, Jesus is giving this discourse in the synagogue at Capernaum.

[6:56] So let's consider three major themes in this discourse. First one, Jesus overturns cultural expectations of the Messiah.

[7:07] Jesus defines the doctrines of salvation, sanctification, and Jesus sets an example for evangelism. So let's look at that first point. Jesus overturns cultural expectations of the Messiah.

[7:19] So first, Jesus contrasts the people's desire to satisfy material needs with his purpose to satisfy spiritual needs.

[7:32] A number of people stayed overnight at the site of the feeding, we read in verse 22, and they were waiting for Jesus and more so hoped to see him perform more miracles. Again, that's why they were following him. They didn't see Jesus leave on the boat with his 12 disciples or come down the mountain or walk along the shore.

[7:50] So they got into some boats from Tiberias, which is on the southwest side of the Sea of Galilee. There were people coming from all over the place to see Jesus and witness his miracles. And they traveled a few miles across the sea to Capernaum.

[8:05] And when they arrived there, they found him teaching in the synagogue. And they asked him, verse 25, how he had come there. Pretty natural question, I think.

[8:18] But notice he doesn't tell them. He goes on to tell them what they needed to hear, not what they asked to hear. Jesus goes right to the heart of their problem. Verse 26, Jesus answered them and said, Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.

[8:40] What Jesus says, most assuredly, verily, verily, truly, truly, depending on your translation, what he follows with is very important. He says, You're following me for the wrong reasons.

[8:51] You can follow Jesus for the wrong reasons, as these people were doing. They should have seen that the bread and the fish were a sign that Jesus was God and was offering them eternal life.

[9:04] And this brings us to the purpose of John's writing. The feeding of the 5,000 is just one of seven signed miracles in the book of John. There are only seven miracles recorded in the book of John.

[9:16] And they all have a purpose. Our theme verse for John, John 20, 31. But these are written, You may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.

[9:30] That is the purpose. Verse 27. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal on him.

[9:46] These people were laboring for the wrong things. And Jesus challenges their priorities. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

[9:58] Deuteronomy 8. We're all consumers. We all live on something. And this crowd had their bellies filled with physical bread, and they wanted more of that.

[10:11] Jesus is offering them a different kind of bread, and it never runs out. It never leaves you hungry. It's eternal. As we read, what culminates from this teaching is Jesus saying, I am the bread of life.

[10:24] Eat me. And this sounds strange, but what he's talking about is assimilating himself into our very beings.

[10:36] And when you assimilate something, it becomes an inseparable part of you. And that analogy he's using of comparing what you want to do with Jesus to eating, consuming.

[10:48] When you consume food, you ingest it. It becomes a part of you. It becomes inseparable from you. And this is about as far from the Messiah as these people were expecting.

[11:00] This isn't what they were looking for. The natural man, our sinful selves, seek temporary things. Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life.

[11:12] That's 1 John 2.16. Most of what we seek as a natural person can fall right into those categories. Try as we may, we're blinded to eternal things. This crowd sought Jesus for what he could do in material ways.

[11:26] This lust of the flesh. What did they want? Look at verse 15. Therefore, when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he departed again to the mountains by himself alone.

[11:44] Yesterday, some of the people in this crowd wanted to make Jesus king by force. They wanted a Messiah that fulfilled prophecies concerning the future glory and restoration of Israel.

[11:57] I was discussing this scripture with Dave a couple weeks ago and he pointed out if you could feed a crowd, you could feed an army. Right? If you could feed a crowd, you could feed an army, with an army you can overthrow Rome.

[12:15] You could overthrow the Romans. You could make Israel prosperous again, demonstrating God's restored favor. And not that there's anything inherently wrong with those things.

[12:29] It's an idea that can be supported by scripture. Even Daniel chapter 7 prophesies the rise and the fall of the Roman Empire. These people knew that Rome wasn't the end of the story, but they're missing God's desire to save them, to save Israel, the Gentiles, from sin and death eternally.

[12:46] Verse 30, Therefore they said to him, What sign will you perform that we may see and believe you? What more do they want? They've seen, many participated in the miraculous feeding.

[13:01] Some of these people may have been healed by Jesus, had demons cast out. At the very least, they heard about these works, which is why they were following him. Verse 2, Israel was delivered from sickness, blindness, lameness, even death during Christ's earthly ministry.

[13:18] What did Jesus tell John the Baptist's followers, messengers? He said, Go back and report to John what you've seen and heard.

[13:29] The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. During Christ's three-year earthly ministry, he filled Israel with miracles.

[13:46] What more could these people ask to see that they haven't already seen or heard about? They weren't approaching Jesus with thanksgiving, with gratefulness. And that hindered their ability to process the significance of the signs that Jesus showed them.

[13:59] We must always be giving thanks with our hearts prepared to see God's true work. How will we see that work if we're not already thankful for what Jesus has done?

[14:12] Consider the prophets, the psalmists, and how they reiterate through the Old Testament how God with a mighty hand delivered his children Israel from slavery in Egypt with mighty signs and wonders.

[14:25] And then he says, remember these things. And they wrote songs about them. He says, teach them to future generations. Don't forget about this. Be thankful for what I've done. Be thankful for my deliverance. But these people weren't prepared to believe.

[14:40] They knew those things. But somehow missed assimilating something about them. And they were missing Jesus. So instead they go from enthusiastic followers to critics.

[14:52] They imply that Moses is greater than Jesus. In verse 31, Moses gave us heavenly bread. He only gave us earthly bread. You haven't yet reached the greatness of Moses. We want to see more.

[15:05] I think it's safe to say that most people think that seeing is believing. But our natural eyes are never filled. The lust of the eyes show us.

[15:17] Keep showing us. Show us again. These folks wouldn't believe even if they did see another sign. Consider the story in Luke 16. The rich man and the beggar Lazarus.

[15:30] Not to be confused with Mary and Martha's brother Lazarus. But in this story the rich man dies and goes to hell. The beggar Lazarus dies and goes to heaven.

[15:42] And through this conversation that they have the rich man looks up through this chasm and sees Abraham with his beggar Lazarus at his side and he says Abraham send Lazarus back to my brothers.

[15:56] I have five brothers. If they see Lazarus rise from the dead they'll repent and not come to this place. And what does Abraham say? Even if they see a man rise from the dead they're not going to believe. God says that believing is seeing.

[16:14] John 11 it's the story of the other Lazarus not to be confused with the beggar Lazarus Mary and Martha's brother Lazarus he dies and Jesus goes and Martha is just upset Jesus if you'd only been here he wouldn't have died.

[16:33] And in verse 40 of John 11 Jesus said to her Martha did I not say to you that if you believed you would see the glory of God and then he raises Lazarus from the dead believe and see Jesus overturns cultural expectations of the Messiah from something material and physical to spiritual and eternal Peter states the apostle Peter in 2nd Peter 2 16 that we speaking of the apostles didn't follow cleverly devised stories we preached Jesus paraphrase that culture in fact no culture or person could have invented Jesus evidence that he truly is a heavenly gift heavenly bread outside of the expectations of any culture or the invention of any mind other than God because he is God himself alright next point

[17:35] Jesus defines the doctrines of salvation and sanctification Jesus continues graciously despite this crowd's condescension and disbelief in verse 32 then Jesus said to them most assuredly again truly truly verily verily very important I say to you Moses did not give you the bread from heaven but my father gives you the true bread from heaven for the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world he goes on to tell them about what they get when they consume this Messiah bread they get eternal life and they get a resurrected body this is salvation can't wait for my resurrected body doesn't get the flu he tell them about something so much better and I trust everyone in this room has consumed this part of God's gift salvation and if you haven't don't leave today until you've made that choice talk to someone talk to me or the other bald guy or many other people here would love to share our story it's

[18:53] It's an easy identifier. I know your name. Dave. Once we eat and assimilate Christ into our lives, we grow in our faith with God teaching us.

[19:08] That's what it says in here. God teaches us. We begin to understand more and more of what Christ accomplished on the cross and what he continues to accomplish in our lives.

[19:21] John 21, 25. And there are so many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

[19:32] John records seven, but he also records that. That's a lot of books. That's a lot of miraculous workings in a lot of people's lives that we're going to be spending thousands of years in heaven unwrapping.

[19:47] And time will pass and we'll still be eternally digesting the infinite vastness of what Christ accomplished. It's a never-ending bread.

[19:57] It's eternal. Christ bears the scars now and forever in his hands and his feet. It's eternal.

[20:09] It's eternal reminder of his love for us and what he did. Consider the crucifixion. In one event, Christ took upon himself every sin of every person who would believe. And think of the implications of that.

[20:21] Everything I've ever done, everything I will do, forgiven before I was even born, and how that weaves with other believers throughout time, repairs what was broken in the garden of Eden, and on and on it goes.

[20:34] And this is eventually what Jesus points this audience toward, his ultimate suffering and death, as we'll see. There are two doctrines relating to salvation seen here.

[20:45] Read verse 37. All the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out. And then down in verse 44.

[21:02] Sorry, that's a really small print. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. These doctrines weave throughout Scripture, mostly showing up apart, but in this verse, this sermon, Jesus brings them together side by side in perfect harmony.

[21:23] The first doctrine is a doctrine of the sovereignty of God. God is sovereign over all things. He is in control of all things. He's the only being that exists outside of time and space.

[21:36] Nothing happens outside of his control. Satan can't make a move outside of God's control. We can't make a choice outside of God's control. We're not going to surprise God.

[21:47] We're not going to catch him off guard. He is sovereign over all things. Period. Period. The second is the doctrine of the responsibility of man. Even though God is sovereign over my choices, I'm responsible for them.

[22:01] I'm responsible to choose God. If I choose God, I will be with him eternally as his adopted child. If I reject God, I will be separated from him eternally in anguish and punishment.

[22:16] That's my responsibility. Our work is to believe. That's our work. That's our responsibility. Verse 29. So God elects us for salvation.

[22:28] He chooses us. How do we know if we're chosen? If you decide to receive salvation, you're chosen. If anybody wonders, am I chosen? Well, it's easy to know.

[22:38] Choose God. And yeah, you're chosen. And if you choose God, there's no going back. It's eternal. Jesus will not lose us.

[22:52] Salvation cannot be lost. Verse 37, verse 39, and verse 40 all reiterate that. And Jesus didn't just die. He rose again and will raise us up. So resurrection of the body is part of this Messiah bread.

[23:06] Read verses 39 and 40. This is the will of the Father who sent me, that of all he has given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.

[23:20] And this is the will of him who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is the sum total of believers.

[23:34] We will be sinless. In sinless bodies. I accepted Christ as a child. And by his grace, I've grown. Physically, spiritually.

[23:46] But one thing that has never diminished is my sin nature. It's as much a part of me as my skin. It was there when I was born, and it's with me this morning.

[23:57] It never goes away. I can't take a vacation from it. It's tiring. And it's not because I'm constantly sinning, but because it distracts me from perfect fellowship with the saints and perfect worship of God, which is our true purpose.

[24:15] Paul speaks about this tension in Romans 7. These things I long to do, I don't do, and these things I don't long to do, this I do, who will save me from this tent of death, from this body of death. And of course, he knows the answer is Jesus.

[24:27] But it's a tension we live with. And Jesus is saying, you can overcome sin and death. I will raise you up. Restoring the broken relationship with God.

[24:39] Adam brought death. I bring eternal life. That is why I'm here. They were missing the message. In the face of their disbelief, Jesus goes on to the most offensive part of the sermon.

[24:54] Verse 52 again. The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat?

[25:05] Then Jesus said to them, most assuredly, truly, truly, verily, verily, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

[25:21] For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As a living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father.

[25:31] So he who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not as your fathers ate the man and are dead. He who eats this bread lives forever. So not only does he say, eat my flesh, he says, drink my blood.

[25:49] I teach high school, and if my students get frustrated over something, I de-escalate the situation. Jesus throws fire on them.

[26:01] Fuel on the fire. The Jews here are the Jewish leaders in the synagogue, and these leaders, like most of the Jewish leaders, were opposed to Jesus and his ministry.

[26:14] This is the opposition party. And the Jews are having this heated discussion about what Jesus meant. Certainly it couldn't be cannibalism, that would be in violation of Leviticus 3. There's no Jew in his right mind that would suggest such a thing.

[26:27] But what does Jesus mean? Well, he doesn't backpedal and clarify his first assertion, but rather amplifies the statement. Well, it says, surely I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

[26:47] It's the fourth time he uses this introduction. Now, first of all, in saying, I am the bread of life, Jesus is referring to himself as God.

[27:00] And that in itself probably would have been contentious enough for these people, but it's the statement about eating his flesh and drinking his blood that was really the biggest stumbling block for this crowd.

[27:12] This is imagery tied to suffering and death. They were okay with a Messiah, but a Messiah that would suffer and die. No.

[27:23] This is foolishness to the Gentiles, a stumbling block for the Jews. The Gentiles had pay gods. They wouldn't give themselves up for anything. And the Jews, their Messiah, their God was only victorious.

[27:36] They weren't seeing the suffering servant of Isaiah 53. But to eat Christ's blood, sorry, eat Christ's body and drink his blood is the key to salvation.

[27:49] Verse 54, whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. Blood is a substitutionary word for Christ's death throughout Scripture.

[28:01] It means the same thing. The theologian Marcus Dodds writes, I like this quote, the actual flesh and blood, the human life of Christ, was given for men, and men eat his flesh and drink his blood when they use for their own advantage his sacrifice.

[28:20] When they assimilate to their own beings all the virtue that was in him. Think about that. When we do this, we're assimilating all the virtue of Christ unto ourselves.

[28:34] It becomes inseparable from us. And one day we're going to stand before God, and God isn't going to see sinful Ian, you know, the guy that just keeps making mistakes and getting angry on the road and stuff.

[28:47] He's going to see Ian covered with Christ. Covered with his goodness. That is what Christ is offering here.

[28:58] Covered with Christ. But these people didn't want to consider a Messiah that suffered and died. Neither did Peter in Matthew 16 when he rebuked Jesus for speaking about his imminent suffering and death.

[29:12] Surely no. No, Lord. No, Jesus. This isn't going to happen. What does Jesus say? Get behind me, Satan. Without the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness of sin. Hebrews 9.22 It's a lie of Satan that we can know Christ without accepting what he did on the cross or follow him apart from persecution and suffering.

[29:34] We must pick up our crosses daily. Suffering and death are inseparable from Christ and essential for our reconciliation with God. If we're living our lives free of persecution, we're not doing something right.

[29:53] A servant is not greater than his master. If Christ was persecuted and suffered, so will we be when we're standing for him. So we know Jesus isn't talking about cannibalism.

[30:05] He's also not referring to communion. Be clear on that. John 6 is used as a proof text by a number of denominations, most notably Roman Catholicism, that when you take communion, it miraculously becomes the flesh and blood of Christ.

[30:21] This is called transubstantiation. That's not. That's wrong. Jesus isn't even referring to communion in any way, shape, or form in this section of Scripture.

[30:32] This is and always was about belief. Look at verse 47. Again. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in me has everlasting life.

[30:46] And then jump down to verse 54. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. And I will raise him up at the last day. So to believe and to eat and drink both bring eternal life.

[31:00] Why did Jesus use this offensive language? He's emphasizing the kind of belief. When we eat and drink, that substance becomes a part of us. When we consume Christ, we assimilate what Christ did on the cross into our very souls.

[31:12] And it's a solo act. We must do it ourselves. We can be invited to dinner, but each of us has to choose to eat. We can offer others Christ, but they have to choose to consume.

[31:27] And it's not just believing about him. It's not just having the bread on the table, but appropriating, partaking Christ into ourselves. And this we must do daily. And this is the sanctifying part of the Messiah bread.

[31:41] To partake in Christ's blood and body is essential for salvation. And the key to sanctification, to be sanctified, is to be set aside, is to be set apart for God's holy purpose, his holy use.

[31:54] When we assimilate Christ into our lives, we're saved and immediately sanctified, made holy. That's our position in Christ, considered the thief on the cross. He believed in Christ and shortly thereafter died and was with Jesus in paradise.

[32:10] He was immediately sanctified. But sanctification is also a lifelong process, which is different for each of us.

[32:20] Very short, through the thief on the cross. We must continually feed on Christ for sanctification. In verse 53, eat is the past tense Greek word, eat and be saved.

[32:31] In verse 54 on, the word for eat is the Greek present tense, to continue to eat. Eating demonstrates our salvation and sanctifies us. So this is a very graphic picture that Jesus paints.

[32:44] I don't like to visualize my food after it enters my mouth, much less consuming human flesh and blood. The picture is gross. However, we should consider the picture.

[32:58] we grow hungry, choose our food, hopefully look at it, choose to place it in our mouths, taste it, identify it as good or bad, sweet, sour, healthy, junk.

[33:12] We chew it, drawing out all the flavor, breaking down it to usable energy. Sorry. Are we, we, uh, sorry, drawing out all the flavor, breaking down the content in preparation for swallowing.

[33:29] We ingest the food into our stomachs and our body breaks it down to usable energy, which gives us life. This is what we must do with Jesus. In the beginning was the word.

[33:40] The word was with God. The word was God. Jesus is the word, the image of the invisible God. We consume Jesus by assimilating what he did on the cross and continue by consuming every word that proceeds from the mouth of God and we continue to do that every day for the rest of our lives.

[33:55] And it's more than, than reading the Bible and listening to sermons on Sunday. It includes those things, but it's about personally choosing to consume and assimilate Christ.

[34:06] So Jesus defines the doctrines of salvation and sanctification. You can often look at somebody and tell what kind of diet they have. And if you only eat junk food, probably going to show.

[34:20] If you only eat good food, probably going to show. if you only eat shrimp, if you survive, you might turn pink. We went to the zoo the Tuesday after Christmas and that was just an image.

[34:33] We did really, really pink flamingos. And I was thinking about this. They eat a lot of shrimp and they were the pinkest flamingos I've ever seen. But it's an interesting picture to think about.

[34:43] Like you can physically see what they eat. I hope it looks like we eat Jesus. What does that look like?

[34:55] I'd probably turn to Galatians 5, the fruits of the Spirit, John 13, our love for one another. But truly, it's all of this. Everything in here that we assimilate, that we partake in every day.

[35:11] And it changes us. I've visited a lot of churches and Shoreline does stand out as a Jesus-eating church, which is why myself and my family, my wife, landed here.

[35:33] The world should be able to tell that we're full on Jesus. This is essential for healthy fellowship and effective evangelism.

[35:45] Jesus gives a revolutionary doctrinal sermon, but also an evangelistic sermon. He's proclaiming all these wonderful truths in the presence of the Twelve, as well as these critical unbelievers.

[36:00] And in doing so, he gives some lessons on evangelism. I found three. There's probably more. But they're here. Lesson one on evangelism from the Bread of Life discourse.

[36:15] Don't fall into the trap of trying to sell Jesus to people. Tell them the hard truths. Verse 25 again. And when they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, Rabbi, when did you come here?

[36:31] Jesus answered them and said, Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw the signs, because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you because God the Father sent a seal on him.

[36:46] Jesus didn't try to sell himself. He doesn't mention walking on the water. He could have thrilled the crowd with that story, but that was a lesson for his disciples. What do unbelievers need to hear?

[36:59] It's not that they should expect miraculous signs and wonders or whatever else the world thinks God is supposed to do to us. The transformation of our lives, by the way, is miraculous.

[37:12] But they need to hear that they're perishing and need to consume Jesus. The gospel should be uncomfortable for the unbeliever. It's not a pleasant message being told that you're going to die and be eternally separated from all goodness and God.

[37:31] I've never used the phrase consume Jesus in evangelistic effort, but I think that statement really cuts through to the core of the issue. How would a co-worker or a family member even respond to that comment?

[37:45] They probably wouldn't understand. But Jesus didn't back off when his audience didn't understand or start arguing about the message. He guided the conversation well beyond the pain line. For those of you you remember the evangelism study we did last summer.

[37:59] The pain line is that pushing through that conversation with unbelievers to where there's some risk. Some risk of maybe some loss of relationship.

[38:10] Maybe some risk of offending somebody. Jesus pushed through that over and over again. But explaining the meaning of consuming Christ is a great way of presenting the gospel.

[38:22] Lesson two on evangelism. We don't need miracles to proclaim. Jesus. And this sounds basic but have you ever wished you had something a little bit more in your conversation?

[38:37] In evangelism just something a little bit you know bad something to kind of make your point more clear. Jesus doesn't use it here. We read verses 25, 26.

[38:49] Verse 30 they ask for a sign. Jesus doesn't give them a sign. Jesus is the be all and end all of signs. Jesus used sign miracles to point out that he is Messiah but he doesn't use them here to evangelize.

[39:02] He simply demonstrates an obedience to proclaim. Verses 38-40 for I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.

[39:15] This is the will of the father who sent me that of all he has given me I should lose nothing but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of him who sent me that everyone who sees the son and believes in him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day.

[39:31] See how many times will appears there. Not Christ's will but his father's will. God's will is that all should be saved. 1 Timothy 2-4 So we should be obedient to proclaim to all.

[39:44] Jesus had the perfect words. I don't think I've ever walked away from an evangelistic effort thinking that was perfect. I usually feel that I was somehow inadequate.

[39:56] Again, kind of wish I had a little bit more. Maybe if I had like a little spark or something I could get somebody to really believe a little bit more. but any Christian is equipped to do what Jesus does here.

[40:08] There's nothing fancy. We must be obedient to proclaim Christ. That's it. And lastly, lesson 3 on evangelism is not for us to know who's chosen for salvation.

[40:21] Verse 44 No one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him and I will raise him up at the last day. Well, who is Christ who's God chosen?

[40:32] Who's God drawing to himself? Jesus knew. We don't. Evangelism isn't about efficiency. I'm a path of least resistance guy.

[40:46] If I knew who was chosen I could definitely streamline my evangelistic efforts. However, God doesn't call us to the path of least resistance.

[40:57] We must proclaim everything else is above our pay grade. His ways, his thoughts higher than ours. The parable of the sower demonstrates what may be the least efficient method of planting a crop in history.

[41:14] The sower scatters seed everywhere on bad soil, on terrible terrain. It won't grow anything. from a human perspective, can him get a better sower?

[41:29] But honestly, I feel like that sower. I mentioned I teach high school and for the past 17 years I use every opportunity I can to spread that seed.

[41:41] and I've gotten in trouble for it. But this fall was the first time that a student came back to me graduated five or six years ago and shared with me what impact I had in their life for Christ and shared with me about how Christ made paths into their family and all of them are going to church now.

[42:08] One student out of I don't know a thousand. But it's so encouraging because I'm not I'm not called to to necessarily see the end results.

[42:19] We'll see those in heaven. I'm just called to be obedient and not worry about the other stuff. So sowing the seed of the gospel is never a waste.

[42:31] That's a promise. His word will never return void. Jesus doesn't waste time and wasn't wasting time here in the synagogue even though no one but the twelve believed. In fact they jump forward to verse 66.

[42:45] From that time many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more. Disciples people who were following Jesus people who were following Jesus and Messiah walked away from him and walked with him no more.

[43:03] Pride of life. We know better. evangelism evangelism isn't waiting for receptive years. It brings people to account to their responsibility before God to believe and give glory to him.

[43:16] So it's up to us to show the food whether or not they eat it is up to them. So in conclusion let's consume more Jesus.

[43:28] The more we get the more we want. when we first come to Christ he satisfies our spiritual hunger and thirst. Go back to verse 35.

[43:42] And Jesus said to them I am the bread of life he who comes to me shall never hunger and he who believes in me shall never thirst. This is about salvation. We're filled with the Holy Spirit.

[43:54] That doesn't change. We don't need refilling. We all have the same anointing. That doesn't go away. We're filled with the Holy Spirit.

[44:06] That doesn't change. But that doesn't mean that Christ should be a one and done meal. Our desire to eat will grow as we abide in him. Verse 56 which is a continuation to eat.

[44:20] That's the sanctification part. The maturing process. It's our responsibility to continue consuming Christ and continually seeking God in prayer.

[44:32] Ephesians 5 25 and 26 Husbands love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy cleansing her by the washing with water through the word.

[44:43] Love sacrifice cleansing with the word. Ephesians 6 brothers and Do not exasperate your children instead bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

[44:57] Love, grace, training in the word. Verses that exhort us to hunger for the word are peppered throughout scripture. the foundations of shoreline community bible church have been built on the word and we continue to build each week in our community groups families sunday mornings there's so much to be thankful for in the way our church huggers for the word be encouraged thankful but humble and hungry all we have is from god nothing from ourselves may john 6 increase our appetite for christ longing for him as a thirsty deer pants for water i pray as we continually consume christ that we would radiate grace and truth as jesus did even in the face of hostility that we would be not discouraged at unbelief but be in greater awe of god who calls us and teaches us to believe lord wash us your bride with your word amen