WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.980 John chapter 6 verses 41 through 59. 00:00:07.980 --> 00:00:17.900 And as you hear God's word read, remember this is God's inspired, inerrant, infallible, clear and sufficient word. 00:00:17.899 --> 00:00:30.199 For this is the will of my father, Jesus says, that everyone who looks on the son and believes in him should have eternal life. 00:00:30.399 --> 00:00:34.019 And I will raise him up on the last day. 00:00:35.060 --> 00:00:35.679 Verse 41. 00:00:36.239 --> 00:00:42.739 So the Jews grumbled about him because he said, I am the bread of life that came down from heaven. 00:00:42.740 --> 00:00:49.120 They said, is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? 00:00:50.460 --> 00:00:53.920 How does he now say, I have come down from heaven? 00:00:54.840 --> 00:00:58.579 Jesus answered them, do not grumble among yourselves. 00:00:59.180 --> 00:01:04.240 No one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him. 00:01:04.820 --> 00:01:07.320 And I will raise him up on the last day. 00:01:07.319 --> 00:01:12.879 It is written in the prophets and they will all be taught by God. 00:01:13.459 --> 00:01:17.419 Everyone who has heard and learned from the father comes to me. 00:01:17.959 --> 00:01:22.519 Not that anyone has seen the father except he who is from God. 00:01:23.000 --> 00:01:24.339 He has seen the father. 00:01:25.319 --> 00:01:29.659 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 00:01:30.099 --> 00:01:31.599 I am the bread of life. 00:01:32.500 --> 00:01:36.000 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died. 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:42.939 This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat of it and not die. 00:01:43.780 --> 00:01:46.700 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. 00:01:47.219 --> 00:01:50.180 If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. 00:01:50.900 --> 00:01:56.019 And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. 00:01:57.420 --> 00:02:04.159 So the Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat? 00:02:04.159 --> 00:02:16.199 So Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you do not have life in you. 00:02:16.780 --> 00:02:21.560 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. 00:02:21.819 --> 00:02:23.840 And I will raise him up on the last day. 00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:29.700 For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. 00:02:30.300 --> 00:02:36.539 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him. 00:02:37.659 --> 00:02:41.800 As the living father sent me and I live because of the father. 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:46.939 So whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 00:02:46.939 --> 00:02:52.979 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. 00:02:53.479 --> 00:02:57.039 Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever. 00:02:58.300 --> 00:03:03.419 Jesus said these things in the synagogue as he taught at Capernaum. 00:03:04.039 --> 00:03:05.780 This is the word of the Lord. 00:03:07.520 --> 00:03:08.120 Amen. 00:03:08.240 --> 00:03:08.840 You may be seated. 00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:12.659 Let's pray. 00:03:12.659 --> 00:03:16.919 O bread of life. 00:03:18.079 --> 00:03:19.340 Feed us today. 00:03:20.620 --> 00:03:24.139 Our souls are starving until we feast on you. 00:03:25.060 --> 00:03:31.900 You came for this very purpose that we would feast on Christ and have life. 00:03:32.460 --> 00:03:34.719 We trust that you will do this today. 00:03:34.819 --> 00:03:36.259 Once again, through your word. 00:03:36.759 --> 00:03:37.039 Amen. 00:03:37.039 --> 00:03:41.959 Well, beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:03:42.739 --> 00:03:49.479 What I want to show you today is how our king's entire ministry was cross shaped. 00:03:51.199 --> 00:03:52.239 Think about this. 00:03:52.319 --> 00:03:57.159 We saw last week how Jesus looked out over the crowd as they followed him around. 00:03:58.079 --> 00:04:03.680 And he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:08.260 So the ministry of Jesus, that was his heart toward them. 00:04:08.340 --> 00:04:10.260 They are like sheep without a shepherd. 00:04:10.680 --> 00:04:12.980 And he wants to feed them on his green pastures. 00:04:13.939 --> 00:04:22.160 Now, if you fast forward to the very end of Christ's earthly ministry, right before he ascends to the right hand of God, the father in heaven. 00:04:22.939 --> 00:04:26.620 He turns to Peter, who's going to be the leader of the church in Jerusalem. 00:04:26.620 --> 00:04:29.259 And he says, Peter, do you love me? 00:04:30.459 --> 00:04:31.780 Peter says, yes, I do. 00:04:31.980 --> 00:04:32.620 Three times. 00:04:33.660 --> 00:04:36.220 Then feed my sheep. 00:04:37.160 --> 00:04:43.519 So the beginning of his ministry, the heart of the shepherd for these crowds, these multitudes who need a shepherd. 00:04:43.740 --> 00:04:46.019 The end of his ministry, that same heart. 00:04:46.379 --> 00:04:50.579 But he's going to feed them through Peter, through the church, through the ministry of his word. 00:04:50.579 --> 00:04:58.419 What was in between these two points, the beginning of his ministry, the very end on earth, this first coming of Christ. 00:04:58.899 --> 00:05:03.519 At the very center of his ministry is his work on the cross. 00:05:04.479 --> 00:05:15.399 So what I want to try to show you is that the ministry of Christ, his entire earthly ministry in his first coming, his ministry took the shape of his mission. 00:05:15.799 --> 00:05:18.199 And his mission is his work on the cross. 00:05:18.199 --> 00:05:25.079 So I want to show you 10 observations of our Lord Jesus Christ's cross-shaped ministry. 00:05:25.920 --> 00:05:26.959 10 observations. 00:05:27.579 --> 00:05:31.199 We're going to party like it's 1689, Puritan style. 00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:33.219 But I've actually divided it into two parts. 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:39.399 So the first five today, the next five will be next week as we get into the beginning of chapter 7. 00:05:39.860 --> 00:05:41.099 That's what we're looking for. 00:05:41.159 --> 00:05:41.439 You ready? 00:05:41.439 --> 00:05:48.439 And before we actually march through the verses, I just want to make sure it's clear to everyone why this is relevant to you. 00:05:48.860 --> 00:05:52.240 Because if you are a Christian, Jesus calls you his ambassador. 00:05:53.160 --> 00:05:58.220 And an ambassador serves in a foreign land as a minister, as a representative of the kingdom. 00:05:58.860 --> 00:06:02.740 So you are a minister of the heavenly kingdom if you're a Christian. 00:06:02.740 --> 00:06:08.319 And as a Christian that's part of a congregation, you are part of the ministry of this church. 00:06:08.879 --> 00:06:09.680 How do you do that? 00:06:09.780 --> 00:06:17.259 Well, you minister, first of all, to your family, to your loved ones, and then to anyone else God brings into your family and into your life. 00:06:17.259 --> 00:06:21.459 And then for us as a congregation, you minister when you're a part of discipleship. 00:06:21.639 --> 00:06:24.399 You minister when we're with one another. 00:06:24.759 --> 00:06:26.740 We are showing such a ministry to each other. 00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:34.839 As you're teaching Sunday school, as you're serving the kids, as we're part of discipleship, once a month together, we are ministers together of Christ. 00:06:34.920 --> 00:06:37.819 So Christ's ministry, it should shape our ministry. 00:06:38.219 --> 00:06:44.019 And if there's anything our church needs to be known for, it's that we are seeking to be patterned after Christ himself. 00:06:44.019 --> 00:06:47.699 So our ministry also should take the shape of the cross. 00:06:48.539 --> 00:06:50.439 All right, well, let's march through these verses. 00:06:50.879 --> 00:06:52.479 The first observation is this. 00:06:52.620 --> 00:06:58.639 Number one, the ministry of Jesus is cross-shaped because he was opposed. 00:06:59.579 --> 00:07:05.560 When Jesus marched up the hill of skulls with that heavy cross over his shoulder, 00:07:05.560 --> 00:07:14.780 the cultural religious leaders and the crowds they had worked up, they were yelling and chanting, crucify him. 00:07:15.980 --> 00:07:17.480 That's his mission on the cross. 00:07:17.579 --> 00:07:23.019 But his ministry as well, when Jesus marched across Galilee, as we see here in the northern region, 00:07:23.579 --> 00:07:26.439 he was ministering in such a way as well. 00:07:26.439 --> 00:07:33.439 And the cultural religious, these elite up in Galilee and Capernaum, they grumbled, they opposed him. 00:07:34.100 --> 00:07:36.860 So his ministry was marked by his mission. 00:07:37.279 --> 00:07:39.740 He was always opposed by the establishment. 00:07:39.939 --> 00:07:41.000 Let me give a little context. 00:07:41.480 --> 00:07:43.740 Who are these Jews in this area? 00:07:44.060 --> 00:07:50.019 We read at the very end of our text in verse 59 that he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum. 00:07:50.920 --> 00:07:52.680 And maybe you're wondering, what's a synagogue? 00:07:52.839 --> 00:07:53.779 Is that the same as the temple? 00:07:53.779 --> 00:07:57.919 So the synagogues were really places not in Jerusalem. 00:07:58.119 --> 00:07:59.819 They're scattered throughout the land of Israel. 00:08:00.419 --> 00:08:06.139 And they were like a house for the people of God to come together in where they would open up the scrolls. 00:08:06.419 --> 00:08:12.079 So it's one central regional area where everybody could travel to to have the reading of God's word, the reading of the law. 00:08:12.939 --> 00:08:14.359 Synagogues were ruled by elders. 00:08:14.859 --> 00:08:17.799 So there would always be a plurality of elders ruling over a synagogue. 00:08:18.259 --> 00:08:19.299 And that was their job. 00:08:19.300 --> 00:08:29.160 It was to feed the people the word of God, preparing for them to be able to come back to Jerusalem at least once a year for the big day of atonement and have their sins pardoned. 00:08:29.740 --> 00:08:31.900 And so the rest of the year, they would be in these synagogues. 00:08:31.980 --> 00:08:35.259 So it was most likely because he's up in Capernaum in the region of Galilee. 00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:37.600 He's not yet traveled back down to Jerusalem. 00:08:37.940 --> 00:08:39.899 He will go there in chapter seven next week. 00:08:39.899 --> 00:08:41.500 But for now, he's up north. 00:08:41.559 --> 00:08:43.620 So it's most likely these elders in the synagogue. 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:47.480 They're speaking in low tones and they're disputing among themselves. 00:08:47.579 --> 00:08:50.500 They're trying to figure out what is this man's message. 00:08:51.179 --> 00:08:52.259 Look at verse 42. 00:08:53.360 --> 00:08:54.279 Here's their concern. 00:08:54.879 --> 00:08:57.779 How does he say, I have come down from heaven? 00:08:58.159 --> 00:08:59.000 We know this guy. 00:08:59.439 --> 00:09:01.419 We know he used to Joseph, the carpenter. 00:09:01.500 --> 00:09:02.600 Now he's the carpenter. 00:09:02.959 --> 00:09:04.819 We get this insight in Mark 6, 3. 00:09:04.820 --> 00:09:12.780 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon? 00:09:13.240 --> 00:09:15.720 And are not these his sisters here with us? 00:09:15.960 --> 00:09:18.320 And they took offense at him. 00:09:18.700 --> 00:09:19.820 We know this guy. 00:09:19.900 --> 00:09:22.560 He's a local boy and he's claiming to be from heaven. 00:09:23.220 --> 00:09:24.520 So that's why they're grumbling about. 00:09:25.840 --> 00:09:26.860 Now pay attention. 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:30.080 The ministry of Christ is opposed in his own region, his own hometown. 00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:37.480 But these politically savvy elite that are tied in with the establishment in Jerusalem, notice how they're not opposed. 00:09:38.020 --> 00:09:39.040 They've got it made. 00:09:39.920 --> 00:09:46.600 Those who lobbied at Herod Agrippa's court and those who had access to Pontius Pilate, they were not opposed. 00:09:48.020 --> 00:09:54.300 Even today, Satan has no interest opposing the worship of Buddhists or Muslims, does he? 00:09:54.299 --> 00:09:58.019 How about a little closer to home, perhaps? 00:09:59.240 --> 00:10:01.299 Self-promoting ear ticklers today. 00:10:02.079 --> 00:10:02.859 They're not opposed. 00:10:03.539 --> 00:10:05.379 But Jesus was opposed. 00:10:06.039 --> 00:10:07.019 And he makes it very clear. 00:10:07.099 --> 00:10:10.459 If you follow me, be ready to be opposed. 00:10:10.819 --> 00:10:14.659 You're going to face opposition in your service for my kingdom. 00:10:14.819 --> 00:10:15.219 Be ready. 00:10:15.579 --> 00:10:16.079 Be warned. 00:10:18.339 --> 00:10:20.120 I've got this email just today. 00:10:20.120 --> 00:10:26.440 And I'm going to use some coded language just like his email does for his own protection because this audio will go on our website. 00:10:26.560 --> 00:10:27.340 Someone could dig it up. 00:10:27.580 --> 00:10:29.139 I don't want to trace any lines. 00:10:29.299 --> 00:10:30.139 You probably know. 00:10:30.220 --> 00:10:32.460 I have a good guess where this is and who this is. 00:10:32.899 --> 00:10:35.620 Listen to what he wrote asking for prayer just a couple days ago. 00:10:36.679 --> 00:10:44.480 Quote, opposition to the good news and followers here in this undisclosed country continues. 00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:49.720 As we recently heard of two local brothers who were put in prison. 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:59.580 Apparently, they were doing some sharing of the good news and were in a training program at their fellowship for studying the word. 00:11:00.259 --> 00:11:09.360 Ask for them and their families and friends for continued boldness, perseverance, wisdom, and hope. 00:11:10.220 --> 00:11:12.039 Can you read between the lines what happened? 00:11:12.039 --> 00:11:18.099 Let's just pause right now in the middle of the sermon and pray for our dear brothers and sisters in that country. 00:11:18.539 --> 00:11:19.919 Lord, you know this country. 00:11:21.039 --> 00:11:23.439 You know these brothers in prison. 00:11:25.159 --> 00:11:27.299 You know their families and their fellowship. 00:11:29.259 --> 00:11:31.759 We pray that your spirit will be near to them. 00:11:33.819 --> 00:11:41.539 Lord Jesus, they have faced opposition following the cross-shaped ministry that you laid for the church. 00:11:42.039 --> 00:11:44.379 Please comfort them. 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:52.000 We pray for exactly these things that you will continue to give all of our brothers and sisters in this part of the world. 00:11:52.740 --> 00:11:54.299 Boldness, perseverance. 00:11:55.179 --> 00:11:55.919 Give them wisdom. 00:11:56.579 --> 00:11:58.659 And especially, Lord, give them hope. 00:11:58.819 --> 00:12:02.740 Even as they gather in their fellowship this morning as we are here. 00:12:03.620 --> 00:12:03.899 Amen. 00:12:03.899 --> 00:12:11.699 While our king's cross-shaped ministry was opposed, it was also a ministry that exalts God. 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:21.319 From the cross, Jesus exalted his father, who he trusted to bring him into glory. 00:12:21.720 --> 00:12:26.879 In the eyes of man, at his lowest point, the shame and scorn of the crowds. 00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:29.279 Exalting his father. 00:12:29.679 --> 00:12:32.460 He said, to you, I commit my spirit. 00:12:33.879 --> 00:12:46.799 And just in the same way, the ministry of Jesus was to exalt God by preaching that it is God's sovereign grace alone that brings many sons to glory. 00:12:47.039 --> 00:12:48.899 We just read this in Ephesians 1, didn't we? 00:12:50.039 --> 00:12:52.960 His ministry was shaped by his mission. 00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:54.560 Look at verse 44. 00:12:55.560 --> 00:13:04.139 Jesus says, and I pray right now especially, that these words of Christ himself from the word of God alone strip every other system away. 00:13:04.500 --> 00:13:09.519 Let these words shape your theology, your view of how God saves sinners. 00:13:10.019 --> 00:13:10.980 Look at verse 44. 00:13:10.980 --> 00:13:21.980 No one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him. 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:24.340 Do you get what he's saying? 00:13:25.560 --> 00:13:27.940 There's nothing here to debate or discuss. 00:13:28.660 --> 00:13:29.660 He's clear. 00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:34.040 His salvation is effectual. 00:13:35.060 --> 00:13:36.480 It is limited. 00:13:37.360 --> 00:13:39.300 And it is definite. 00:13:40.580 --> 00:13:45.519 It's the will of the father accomplished by the son applied by the Holy Spirit. 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:47.939 That's how God saves sinners. 00:13:47.940 --> 00:13:59.080 Now, let's let the grammar, these Greek words, these words that are breathed out by the Holy Spirit through the apostles, let them kind of paint that picture in your mind what this is like for God to save a sinner. 00:13:59.980 --> 00:14:00.940 Look at the verb. 00:14:00.940 --> 00:14:03.040 No one come. 00:14:03.240 --> 00:14:05.720 No one can come to me unless the father who sent me. 00:14:05.800 --> 00:14:06.540 What's the verb there? 00:14:07.700 --> 00:14:08.400 Draws him. 00:14:08.900 --> 00:14:10.660 Unless the father draws him. 00:14:10.780 --> 00:14:20.140 That same verb is used to describe when the disciples drag in a big load of fish into their net. 00:14:20.820 --> 00:14:22.600 They're drawing in the nets. 00:14:23.220 --> 00:14:25.640 You could say they're dragging these fish. 00:14:25.639 --> 00:14:35.379 It's the same verb in the original language in the Greek used to describe when the apostles were drawn or dragged into prison. 00:14:36.559 --> 00:14:39.259 That's the word that Jesus uses. 00:14:39.740 --> 00:14:42.860 John, who's so close to him, captures what Jesus preached. 00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:44.500 That's what Christ preached. 00:14:45.059 --> 00:14:47.580 That's how his father saves sinners. 00:14:48.759 --> 00:14:50.120 Hold on to this truth. 00:14:51.379 --> 00:14:52.980 Here's a very helpful commentary. 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:55.419 I looked at maybe six different ones on this verse. 00:14:55.419 --> 00:14:58.019 John Calvin, verse 44. 00:14:58.199 --> 00:15:04.860 He says, quote, sinners cannot believe until they have been drawn by God. 00:15:04.919 --> 00:15:07.319 He's just restating what Jesus himself preached. 00:15:07.839 --> 00:15:17.419 As to the kind of drawing, after doing this grammatical analysis, he explains it's not violent as to compel men by external force. 00:15:18.039 --> 00:15:18.979 It's not that. 00:15:18.980 --> 00:15:26.420 But still it is a powerful impulse of the Holy Spirit, which makes men willing. 00:15:27.100 --> 00:15:29.159 See, God makes you willing. 00:15:29.899 --> 00:15:32.740 Who formerly were unwilling and reluctant. 00:15:32.740 --> 00:15:44.279 God must first reform the sinner's heart before the soul that is enslaved to sin will ever willfully go to Christ. 00:15:44.480 --> 00:15:45.139 Isn't that true? 00:15:46.500 --> 00:15:47.620 Wasn't that true for you? 00:15:47.840 --> 00:15:49.360 Isn't that how God saved you? 00:15:49.580 --> 00:15:50.620 He changed your will. 00:15:50.620 --> 00:15:53.539 It's been true for me as well. 00:15:53.720 --> 00:15:55.460 And he keeps you in that same way. 00:15:55.820 --> 00:15:57.340 That same Holy Spirit impulse. 00:15:57.700 --> 00:15:59.980 I need Christ yet again today. 00:16:00.840 --> 00:16:01.899 Ephesians 2, 8. 00:16:02.659 --> 00:16:03.879 Paul preaches it this way. 00:16:04.399 --> 00:16:08.980 For by grace, you have been saved through faith. 00:16:08.980 --> 00:16:12.820 And this, even this faith, is not your own doing. 00:16:13.340 --> 00:16:16.360 It is the gift of God. 00:16:17.159 --> 00:16:18.480 Glory be to God. 00:16:19.680 --> 00:16:25.920 To clarify one step further, Catechism of 1660 by Benjamin Keech. 00:16:26.039 --> 00:16:27.139 Question 34. 00:16:27.860 --> 00:16:33.039 How does the Holy Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ? 00:16:33.980 --> 00:16:34.539 Answer. 00:16:34.539 --> 00:16:50.939 By working faith in us, God persuades and enables you to embrace Jesus Christ freely offered to you in the gospel as your Savior and your Lord. 00:16:52.259 --> 00:16:56.419 Saving faith is also preserving faith. 00:16:56.519 --> 00:16:58.659 Look at what he says at the end of verse 44. 00:16:58.659 --> 00:16:59.519 Jesus says, 00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:14.920 Do you see how those same souls that the Father draws, that the Son saves, it's those same souls that he promises to hold and raise up on the last day. 00:17:15.980 --> 00:17:19.579 Saving faith is preserving faith. 00:17:20.579 --> 00:17:21.599 So fair question now. 00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:22.779 What is the last day? 00:17:22.779 --> 00:17:28.519 What is Christ talking about when he says, on the last day, I will raise them up with me? 00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:32.180 The last day is when the second coming. 00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:33.680 It's when Christ will come again. 00:17:34.019 --> 00:17:36.900 He promises, I will come again. 00:17:37.339 --> 00:17:41.240 And the final words in the New Testament is, come quickly, Lord Jesus. 00:17:41.779 --> 00:17:42.299 Maranatha. 00:17:42.819 --> 00:17:44.200 Come quickly, Lord Jesus. 00:17:44.960 --> 00:17:46.519 We're in agony in this world. 00:17:46.920 --> 00:17:49.019 Please bring your rule of heaven to earth. 00:17:49.480 --> 00:17:50.960 We long for his second coming. 00:17:51.619 --> 00:17:56.059 In our confessions, in our creeds, the ancient creeds from the very earliest days of the church, 00:17:56.059 --> 00:17:57.839 they look forward to this day. 00:17:59.039 --> 00:18:02.700 The last day is when Christ will come with the host of heaven's angels. 00:18:02.839 --> 00:18:03.419 What will he do? 00:18:03.500 --> 00:18:06.179 He will judge the living and the dead. 00:18:06.259 --> 00:18:07.899 We've seen this in the Gospel of John. 00:18:08.440 --> 00:18:12.220 He will establish heaven on earth, the eternal state. 00:18:12.599 --> 00:18:14.319 And he will rule over all. 00:18:14.559 --> 00:18:15.619 We long for that day. 00:18:16.899 --> 00:18:17.720 Well, this is relevant. 00:18:17.919 --> 00:18:19.599 You need to know this. 00:18:19.599 --> 00:18:29.059 Will you be raised with Christ to life, life everlasting in this eternal state on the last day when he comes again? 00:18:30.579 --> 00:18:32.819 Now, listen to Christ's logic. 00:18:33.019 --> 00:18:33.899 Here's what he says. 00:18:33.900 --> 00:18:54.040 You can only know with assurance that God will raise you up on the last day when God brings you to confess that you came to Christ only because God himself drew you, dragged you, effectually called, irresistibly persuaded you of your need for Christ. 00:18:54.220 --> 00:19:00.800 If you can confess that, you can have assurance that that same God will raise you up on the last day. 00:19:00.800 --> 00:19:02.720 Isn't that such a comforting promise? 00:19:03.900 --> 00:19:15.519 I want to illustrate a cross-shaped ministry, how it's God exalting with the final moments of Stephen, the first martyr of the church in the new covenant. 00:19:16.620 --> 00:19:21.440 Stephen was taught by the Holy Spirit this cross-shaped ministry. 00:19:22.340 --> 00:19:25.960 In Acts 7, Stephen was described as being full of the Holy Spirit. 00:19:25.960 --> 00:19:39.539 And even as he had been drug out of the city and stones were hurled at him, hitting his body and his head, before he lost consciousness, Luke records that he gazed into heaven. 00:19:39.539 --> 00:19:48.899 And he declared to everyone, preaching, exalting God, even as he was being pounded unconscious, what he saw. 00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:52.480 He said, I see the glory of God. 00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:58.620 And there is Jesus Christ standing at the right hand of God. 00:20:00.680 --> 00:20:03.579 Standing at the right hand of God. 00:20:03.799 --> 00:20:09.140 The very thing they're stoning him for is the thing he goes down declaring. 00:20:09.839 --> 00:20:11.960 How could he not declare what he beholds? 00:20:12.079 --> 00:20:15.400 And he beholds God exalted in Christ. 00:20:15.400 --> 00:20:18.759 Jesus exalts his father. 00:20:19.759 --> 00:20:22.160 God gets all the glory in our salvation. 00:20:23.920 --> 00:20:28.800 Our king's cross-shaped ministry we've seen was opposed. 00:20:29.300 --> 00:20:30.460 It was God exalting. 00:20:31.019 --> 00:20:32.900 Number three, it opens scripture. 00:20:34.519 --> 00:20:38.259 Think about how Christ used scripture throughout his whole ministry. 00:20:38.259 --> 00:20:46.299 From this temptation in the wilderness until his finished work on the cross, Jesus battled Satan directly with the word of God. 00:20:46.879 --> 00:20:52.099 And his entire ministry was to wield the sword of the spirit, the word of God, the Bible. 00:20:53.079 --> 00:20:55.819 Jesus preached using God's word. 00:20:56.099 --> 00:20:56.859 He opened it up. 00:20:56.940 --> 00:20:58.339 He exposited it. 00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:05.039 He simply showcased and exposed and put on display what the Bible said. 00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:08.379 What the true meaning of all of God's revelation is. 00:21:08.779 --> 00:21:11.000 That's what Christ did with his ministry. 00:21:11.960 --> 00:21:14.099 And his ministry was shaped by his mission. 00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:15.099 Look at verse 45. 00:21:17.079 --> 00:21:18.740 Jesus standing in the synagogue. 00:21:20.559 --> 00:21:22.940 He's read, we're told, from the prophets. 00:21:23.379 --> 00:21:26.240 And in verse 45, he says, you've heard this read to you. 00:21:26.859 --> 00:21:28.039 And I'm going to tell you what it means. 00:21:28.159 --> 00:21:30.200 It is written in the prophets, quote, 00:21:30.200 --> 00:21:35.340 And they will all be taught by God, close quote. 00:21:35.860 --> 00:21:41.080 Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. 00:21:41.799 --> 00:21:46.940 So he doesn't start by simply declaring his word, even though he could have. 00:21:47.160 --> 00:21:47.980 He is God. 00:21:48.340 --> 00:21:49.519 It's his word all along. 00:21:49.940 --> 00:21:56.819 He starts his exposition with the scriptures, the prophets, which they've acknowledged as being given of God. 00:21:56.819 --> 00:21:59.939 And then he applies it to salvation in him alone. 00:22:00.220 --> 00:22:01.519 He applies it to the gospel. 00:22:02.500 --> 00:22:07.439 So this is Christ's expository sermon, in this case, to the men and women gathered at the synagogue. 00:22:07.960 --> 00:22:09.559 And he has read from Isaiah. 00:22:10.599 --> 00:22:12.899 And now he tells them, this has been fulfilled. 00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:20.419 I am the one fulfilling these promises that you've heard about and you've been looking forward to of the coming Messiah. 00:22:21.019 --> 00:22:26.679 Luke 4.21 describes this such a ministry of expository preaching by Christ himself this way. 00:22:27.679 --> 00:22:34.379 Today, Jesus said, the scripture is fulfilled, even as you hear it read to you from the Bible, from the scripture. 00:22:34.939 --> 00:22:36.200 God's son, he says. 00:22:36.619 --> 00:22:37.659 You've heard this in Isaiah. 00:22:37.779 --> 00:22:38.659 The suffering servant. 00:22:39.460 --> 00:22:40.980 I am the servant. 00:22:41.579 --> 00:22:46.599 I am the one who will be cut to cut the new covenant with God's people. 00:22:47.319 --> 00:22:51.599 Our Lord Jesus Christ showed how all of the scriptures point to him. 00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:55.659 And if we're reading and teaching from his Bible correctly, we'll do the same. 00:22:56.660 --> 00:23:02.580 What was he most likely referring to when he says, this is what is written in the prophets? 00:23:03.519 --> 00:23:05.540 Most likely, this is Isaiah 54. 00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:10.680 And also, there's a parallel passage, which is Jeremiah 31.31. 00:23:10.680 --> 00:23:16.940 So, this is what Jeremiah 31.31 says, which they would have been familiar with, he would have had in mind. 00:23:17.039 --> 00:23:20.640 It's the promise of the coming Messiah and what it will be like when he arrives. 00:23:21.539 --> 00:23:25.759 Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant. 00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:28.360 I will be their God and they shall be my people. 00:23:28.740 --> 00:23:29.600 Now, listen to this. 00:23:29.599 --> 00:23:34.419 They shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. 00:23:34.779 --> 00:23:38.359 For I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more. 00:23:38.759 --> 00:23:40.059 Now, here's the part he alludes to. 00:23:40.480 --> 00:23:43.519 I will write my law on their minds. 00:23:43.740 --> 00:23:45.719 I will put it in their hearts. 00:23:46.619 --> 00:23:50.819 See how in verse 45 he said, they will all be taught by God. 00:23:50.819 --> 00:24:01.339 And then he says, whoever has been drawn to me by the Father, has learned this teaching of the Father, I'm fulfilling this in your midst. 00:24:01.799 --> 00:24:04.039 I am teaching your soul to trust. 00:24:04.240 --> 00:24:05.559 I am the Messiah. 00:24:07.859 --> 00:24:14.119 The new covenant he's declaring is inaugurated and all those that God draws are taught by God. 00:24:14.119 --> 00:24:26.059 If God has drawn you to him, if you're able, as you hear a sermon, as you read in his word, as you memorize part of Ephesians 1, you're able to understand this points to Christ. 00:24:26.599 --> 00:24:28.799 And this shows me my need for Christ. 00:24:29.199 --> 00:24:31.479 That's the Holy Spirit teaching you. 00:24:32.059 --> 00:24:36.959 That means that he's given you a new heart and he's drawn you into his new covenant. 00:24:36.960 --> 00:24:47.819 That same grace which God uses to draw you to him, it's efficacious so that those who he draws, they do believe the teaching of God. 00:24:48.200 --> 00:24:49.299 It's really that. 00:24:49.480 --> 00:24:55.640 It's the inward illumination of the Holy Spirit speaking to you, teaching you through the word. 00:24:56.180 --> 00:24:57.860 And here's what Isaiah 54 says. 00:24:57.940 --> 00:24:59.779 He says, the prophets declare this. 00:25:00.259 --> 00:25:02.160 Get the context of what Christ was preaching. 00:25:02.860 --> 00:25:06.180 Scripture says, the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer. 00:25:06.180 --> 00:25:10.820 Remember, the God of the whole earth has called you with great compassion. 00:25:11.519 --> 00:25:16.039 That's the same emotion that Christ, according to his human nature, felt toward them. 00:25:16.560 --> 00:25:20.980 Even as he preached, I will gather you with everlasting love, says the Lord. 00:25:22.259 --> 00:25:28.180 For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love. 00:25:28.259 --> 00:25:30.460 Remember from Ruth, that's my hesed. 00:25:31.080 --> 00:25:34.259 My covenant love shall not depart from you. 00:25:34.259 --> 00:25:37.779 My covenant of peace shall not be removed. 00:25:37.879 --> 00:25:41.460 And here's the phrase that he's referring to in verse 45. 00:25:42.059 --> 00:25:45.720 All your children shall be taught by the Lord. 00:25:46.460 --> 00:25:48.680 Great shall be the peace of your children. 00:25:49.339 --> 00:25:52.799 In righteousness, you shall be established. 00:25:52.799 --> 00:26:04.759 He's telling these people as they've gathered at the synagogue, you and your fathers and your grandfathers, you have wondered for generations how God would show his covenant faithfulness. 00:26:05.059 --> 00:26:06.919 How would he keep his steadfast love? 00:26:07.299 --> 00:26:09.680 Here we are under the rule of Rome. 00:26:09.779 --> 00:26:11.039 We're paying so many taxes. 00:26:11.159 --> 00:26:12.440 We're in survival mode here. 00:26:12.940 --> 00:26:15.059 How is God faithful to us? 00:26:15.059 --> 00:26:19.659 Jesus says to them simply, I am your redeemer. 00:26:20.839 --> 00:26:22.539 I am gathering God's people. 00:26:23.119 --> 00:26:25.879 I have cut this new covenant in my body. 00:26:26.639 --> 00:26:28.559 My blood gives you peace with God. 00:26:29.019 --> 00:26:30.819 All who believe in me are my children. 00:26:31.379 --> 00:26:35.440 God will teach each one of my children by my word. 00:26:35.960 --> 00:26:39.339 I will establish you in my righteousness. 00:26:39.339 --> 00:26:43.779 All those that God draws have heard God. 00:26:44.199 --> 00:26:45.319 They will come to me. 00:26:45.859 --> 00:26:48.759 They belong to me by my covenant of grace. 00:26:49.099 --> 00:26:51.259 And I will teach them. 00:26:53.480 --> 00:26:58.539 There was a pastor, a younger pastor, thought he was very smart, trained to be creative. 00:26:59.039 --> 00:27:01.899 And he got, quote, burnt out of the ministry. 00:27:01.900 --> 00:27:08.780 So he was grumbling to an older, more veteran, Reformed pastor. 00:27:09.560 --> 00:27:15.380 Decades of ministry who practiced expository preaching as we've seen Christ demonstrate. 00:27:16.560 --> 00:27:21.820 And this younger pastor asked the Reformed pastor, don't you worry that you're going to run out of things to say? 00:27:22.940 --> 00:27:27.780 I love the answer that this expository veteran pastor gave. 00:27:27.779 --> 00:27:33.480 He said, I gave up trying to preach my own words a long time ago. 00:27:34.759 --> 00:27:38.039 But God's word, we know, is inexhaustible. 00:27:38.559 --> 00:27:42.940 A lifetime is too short to plumb the depths of the truth of God in Christ. 00:27:43.599 --> 00:27:47.180 That is how Christ promises to feed me and you. 00:27:47.579 --> 00:27:48.299 We are his sheep. 00:27:48.399 --> 00:27:49.779 He is our good shepherd. 00:27:49.920 --> 00:27:55.000 And he keeps his true sheep on the green pastures of a word-based ministry. 00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:59.000 Christ's cross-shaped ministry opens up the word of God. 00:27:59.240 --> 00:28:04.480 Number four, his ministry is personal. 00:28:06.240 --> 00:28:09.480 There's nothing more personal than the cross of Jesus Christ. 00:28:10.759 --> 00:28:15.740 Christ paid for the sin of his church personally. 00:28:15.740 --> 00:28:21.720 He offered up his body on the tree. 00:28:23.240 --> 00:28:28.559 And his ministry requires your personal response. 00:28:29.599 --> 00:28:34.140 Only if you repent and believe do you receive his blessing. 00:28:35.299 --> 00:28:38.059 His ministry is shaped by his mission. 00:28:38.180 --> 00:28:39.140 Look at verse 51. 00:28:40.460 --> 00:28:42.440 Jesus says, I am. 00:28:43.539 --> 00:28:44.660 That's God's name. 00:28:44.660 --> 00:28:46.860 That's how God revealed himself to Moses. 00:28:47.600 --> 00:28:50.220 This is the covenant Lord Jehovah himself. 00:28:51.040 --> 00:28:55.759 I am, Jesus says, the living bread that came down from heaven. 00:28:56.160 --> 00:29:01.720 If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. 00:29:02.240 --> 00:29:07.720 And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. 00:29:07.920 --> 00:29:09.560 Do you hear how personal this is? 00:29:09.559 --> 00:29:14.179 I will give my flesh, my very body, my very blood. 00:29:15.240 --> 00:29:16.819 And you must eat. 00:29:20.079 --> 00:29:24.579 He creates a contrast here using the analogy with manna. 00:29:24.579 --> 00:29:30.960 So God fed your ancestors' bodies with manna in the wilderness, he tells them. 00:29:32.039 --> 00:29:34.539 I have been sent by God to feed your soul. 00:29:35.099 --> 00:29:37.119 See, when they ate manna, their bodies still died. 00:29:37.220 --> 00:29:37.839 They perished. 00:29:38.399 --> 00:29:41.379 But I'm coming to give your soul eternal life. 00:29:41.759 --> 00:29:43.019 You see what a great contrast? 00:29:43.559 --> 00:29:45.859 He's arguing from the lesser to the greater. 00:29:46.439 --> 00:29:47.720 Manna was a type. 00:29:47.799 --> 00:29:48.419 It was a shadow. 00:29:48.519 --> 00:29:50.359 It was a sign pointing to Christ. 00:29:50.359 --> 00:29:51.479 But it was the lesser. 00:29:51.859 --> 00:29:53.179 The greater now is here. 00:29:53.279 --> 00:29:54.639 It's Christ himself. 00:29:55.819 --> 00:30:00.619 See, the manna only sustained life for the Jews while their bodies were breathing. 00:30:01.240 --> 00:30:04.259 But Jesus gives life to believers forever. 00:30:04.959 --> 00:30:06.139 And it's not just for Jews. 00:30:06.219 --> 00:30:07.719 It's for all the nations. 00:30:08.399 --> 00:30:10.899 God gave the gift of manna as a sign. 00:30:11.419 --> 00:30:16.399 But when Jesus came, God gave himself, the one to whom the sign pointed all along. 00:30:16.400 --> 00:30:20.820 Really, the manna cost the creator of the world nothing. 00:30:21.720 --> 00:30:27.620 Just as he makes the dew fall on the grass every morning, the manna would show up, the sweet bread from heaven. 00:30:28.620 --> 00:30:34.480 But he gave his son to ransom sinners at the greatest cost. 00:30:34.480 --> 00:30:39.519 And Jesus says, see my body offered up for your sin. 00:30:40.019 --> 00:30:46.500 Take me by faith as your starving soul's only nourishment on which to live. 00:30:46.720 --> 00:30:49.000 You must trust me more and more each day. 00:30:49.759 --> 00:30:53.940 He says, commune with me and you will have life forever. 00:30:55.640 --> 00:30:59.079 There's nothing more personal than the cross of Jesus Christ. 00:30:59.079 --> 00:31:02.859 There's an old African-American spiritual song. 00:31:03.859 --> 00:31:09.439 The chorus and the title is, were you there when they crucified my Lord? 00:31:10.439 --> 00:31:11.639 Were you there? 00:31:14.359 --> 00:31:23.699 You get none of Christ's blessings until you see that it was your sin who suspended Christ in midair. 00:31:23.700 --> 00:31:31.240 And you see yourself yelling by your sin, crucify him. 00:31:34.360 --> 00:31:36.799 Were you there when they crucified my Lord? 00:31:40.319 --> 00:31:42.340 You need to be able to say, I was there. 00:31:43.660 --> 00:31:45.220 I crucified Jesus. 00:31:46.580 --> 00:31:50.380 It was for my sin that he died. 00:31:50.380 --> 00:31:50.460 I died. 00:31:53.700 --> 00:32:00.559 If you were there, that means you're eating of his body and you're drinking his blood. 00:32:01.799 --> 00:32:04.220 It means he is your savior and your Lord. 00:32:05.100 --> 00:32:12.340 It means his spirit has caused you to repent, turn away and forsake your sin, turning to Christ as your Lord. 00:32:12.339 --> 00:32:24.699 And it means that he is calling you to a cross shaped ministry, to take up your cross daily, to kill the sin that fights within your flesh. 00:32:25.980 --> 00:32:32.079 And to do as he did, which was to proclaim his message in an unbending way. 00:32:32.159 --> 00:32:33.419 And that's my fifth point. 00:32:34.359 --> 00:32:38.559 Our king's cross shaped ministry is unbending. 00:32:38.559 --> 00:32:43.259 See, Christ did not bend his mission on the cross. 00:32:43.339 --> 00:32:43.980 He could have. 00:32:44.480 --> 00:32:47.339 He could have made it lighter for himself. 00:32:47.819 --> 00:32:51.359 They were telling him, well, if you say who you are, if you are, you say you are, call down the angels. 00:32:52.019 --> 00:32:52.679 Make this lighter. 00:32:52.859 --> 00:32:53.460 Make it easy. 00:32:55.179 --> 00:32:57.299 He didn't make it lighter by one ounce. 00:32:57.460 --> 00:33:02.859 And in his ministry, our Lord Jesus did not bend his message of the gospel by one inch. 00:33:02.859 --> 00:33:11.899 We've seen in chapter five, verse 18, how the elite were already trying to kill him early in his ministry. 00:33:12.119 --> 00:33:14.579 Most likely those are the established in Jerusalem. 00:33:15.639 --> 00:33:21.559 And his public breaking of the Sabbath by healing the man, it undermined their whole system of religion. 00:33:22.639 --> 00:33:26.619 Plus, we've seen how Jesus has already called himself equal with God. 00:33:26.679 --> 00:33:28.219 Now they're really coming after him. 00:33:28.220 --> 00:33:38.380 And what we see next, if you skip ahead to chapter seven, verse one, Jesus is not going to go down to Judea right away because he knows they will kill him already. 00:33:39.339 --> 00:33:41.980 There's 21 chapters in the gospel of John. 00:33:42.860 --> 00:33:44.240 He's got more work to do. 00:33:44.759 --> 00:33:45.960 Chapter seven is too soon. 00:33:47.779 --> 00:33:49.140 But that's the intensity. 00:33:49.140 --> 00:33:56.220 That's that's the amount of pressure during his ministry, not just on the cross, even now as he ministered to compromise his message. 00:33:56.580 --> 00:33:58.900 Because at this point, they're saying they're grumbling, they're disputing. 00:33:58.980 --> 00:33:59.180 Hold on. 00:33:59.240 --> 00:34:01.300 You're saying we got to eat your flesh, drink your blood. 00:34:01.540 --> 00:34:02.640 This is a hard teaching. 00:34:03.380 --> 00:34:03.960 Hold on. 00:34:04.200 --> 00:34:05.200 Who is this guy? 00:34:05.259 --> 00:34:06.660 We're all really confused now. 00:34:07.900 --> 00:34:12.099 The temptation, I'm sure, was there to bend the message, soften the gospel just a bit. 00:34:12.380 --> 00:34:12.619 Hold on. 00:34:12.660 --> 00:34:15.119 You're saying no one can come unless the father draws them. 00:34:15.119 --> 00:34:21.199 Well, Charles Spurgeon illustrates, I think, what we see in chapter in verse 55. 00:34:21.460 --> 00:34:25.179 Jesus doesn't back down from my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. 00:34:25.199 --> 00:34:26.319 He doesn't back it down. 00:34:26.980 --> 00:34:29.059 And that's what Spurgeon was under that same conviction. 00:34:29.219 --> 00:34:32.119 Spurgeon, Baptist pastor in London, 1800s. 00:34:33.599 --> 00:34:43.940 I would not utter what I believe to be a falsehood concerning the Lord, even though the evil one offered me as the bait. 00:34:45.119 --> 00:34:49.299 The saving of all mankind thereby. 00:34:50.679 --> 00:34:55.279 Christ was unbending in how he preached the message of the gospel. 00:34:55.699 --> 00:34:58.099 And if we are truly saved, we will do the same. 00:34:58.460 --> 00:35:06.059 We will proclaim Christ and him crucified, shameful, confusing as it is to those who the Holy Spirit has not yet regenerated. 00:35:06.279 --> 00:35:07.199 We will do that. 00:35:07.920 --> 00:35:09.019 Jesus doesn't back down. 00:35:09.099 --> 00:35:11.359 Look at verse 56 and 57. 00:35:11.360 --> 00:35:17.680 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him. 00:35:17.679 --> 00:35:21.899 As the living father sent me and I live because of the father. 00:35:22.039 --> 00:35:26.000 So whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 00:35:26.960 --> 00:35:28.379 See what Jesus is saying? 00:35:29.059 --> 00:35:31.319 Yes, you need to eat my flesh. 00:35:31.679 --> 00:35:33.059 You need to drink my blood. 00:35:33.239 --> 00:35:37.039 Just as you take food and drink with your body and it becomes part of you. 00:35:37.319 --> 00:35:41.559 You must take the reality of my sacrificed, bloody body. 00:35:42.179 --> 00:35:45.960 The price God requires and paid for your sin. 00:35:45.960 --> 00:35:58.880 You must take this truth personally within the innermost being in order to be redeemed from eternal death and to enjoy life in my everlasting kingdom. 00:35:59.280 --> 00:36:02.760 That's the gospel that Christ will not back down on. 00:36:03.539 --> 00:36:06.980 May we be unbending in the same message. 00:36:06.980 --> 00:36:14.579 To be clear, I want to draw out three doctrines that I believe we need to practice and hold to. 00:36:15.139 --> 00:36:18.440 This is how we proclaim this message in an unbending way. 00:36:19.480 --> 00:36:23.079 I see Christ here and you'll see this next week as well, maybe even more so. 00:36:23.179 --> 00:36:26.840 Christ, he gives what's called the free offer of the gospel. 00:36:28.000 --> 00:36:30.460 See, he says, if anyone eats this bread. 00:36:30.460 --> 00:36:33.360 And by anyone, Christ means anyone. 00:36:33.780 --> 00:36:35.840 It's offered freely to the world. 00:36:37.679 --> 00:36:41.420 He says that I will give for the life of the world. 00:36:41.800 --> 00:36:43.699 You need to offer this gospel. 00:36:43.920 --> 00:36:45.960 Offer Christ to all the nations. 00:36:46.159 --> 00:36:47.360 Let God draw who he will. 00:36:47.900 --> 00:36:48.960 So we need to do the same. 00:36:49.039 --> 00:36:52.420 We need to proclaim the gospel to all creation. 00:36:52.900 --> 00:36:54.960 Trusting God will draw his own. 00:36:54.960 --> 00:37:00.420 The whole world will not be raised to eternal life in Christ. 00:37:00.980 --> 00:37:04.720 That's what they preach at a false church called the universal church. 00:37:04.960 --> 00:37:06.880 That no one is going to receive judgment. 00:37:07.420 --> 00:37:08.980 That's not what Christ preaches. 00:37:10.099 --> 00:37:13.039 He will judge those who refuse him, he says. 00:37:13.599 --> 00:37:16.760 Justification does have one condition. 00:37:18.000 --> 00:37:18.920 That's faith. 00:37:19.840 --> 00:37:22.599 And it's a faith that God gives by grace. 00:37:22.699 --> 00:37:23.559 It's a gift of God. 00:37:23.760 --> 00:37:24.619 Ephesians 2.8. 00:37:25.559 --> 00:37:27.880 But his grace is definite. 00:37:28.539 --> 00:37:29.360 It's effectual. 00:37:29.679 --> 00:37:30.400 It's limited. 00:37:30.960 --> 00:37:32.820 And it's conditional. 00:37:33.780 --> 00:37:35.039 Those who have faith. 00:37:35.179 --> 00:37:39.119 And it's only those whom God draws that can come to Christ, he says. 00:37:39.579 --> 00:37:42.720 Only those who come to me can eat. 00:37:43.920 --> 00:37:44.980 Let's close the loop. 00:37:45.139 --> 00:37:46.860 Who is it that will eat of Christ? 00:37:47.579 --> 00:37:51.659 All of those whom God unconditionally elects. 00:37:52.220 --> 00:37:53.960 They will eat of Christ. 00:37:53.960 --> 00:37:57.539 Those who eat of Christ will abide with him. 00:37:57.539 --> 00:37:58.980 They will commune with him. 00:37:59.400 --> 00:38:01.300 They will enjoy life with him. 00:38:01.980 --> 00:38:05.420 And he will raise them on the last day. 00:38:05.420 --> 00:38:11.579 These are the doctrines that he makes very clear that need to define how we minister as well. 00:38:11.579 --> 00:38:14.980 You know, the main message here is the gospel. 00:38:14.980 --> 00:38:19.920 And he brings richness to the gospel by drawing even further comparisons. 00:38:19.920 --> 00:38:21.860 We saw some contrast with manna. 00:38:21.860 --> 00:38:23.680 I want to draw some similarities. 00:38:24.079 --> 00:38:29.420 Jesus is causing them to reflect on this very known truth from their own heritage. 00:38:29.420 --> 00:38:32.700 How God provided for their forefathers. 00:38:32.699 --> 00:38:37.139 So, how is manna a picture of Jesus Christ? 00:38:37.460 --> 00:38:40.759 Here's five observations that commentators have helped me to see. 00:38:41.419 --> 00:38:44.980 Number one, manna means, what is it? 00:38:45.619 --> 00:38:49.619 Exodus 16, 15 in the Hebrew, that's exactly what manna is. 00:38:50.099 --> 00:38:51.659 Manna simply means, what is it? 00:38:52.019 --> 00:38:53.799 They didn't know what this was that was showing up. 00:38:53.800 --> 00:38:54.280 They eat it. 00:38:54.340 --> 00:38:58.620 It tastes like delicious honey bread that God provides every single day. 00:38:59.260 --> 00:39:05.060 So, manna was a mystery to those who saw it on the ground, that God had brought it down from heaven. 00:39:05.660 --> 00:39:08.420 And that's exactly the question for these people here. 00:39:08.900 --> 00:39:10.640 What is Christ? 00:39:11.220 --> 00:39:12.200 Who is this man? 00:39:13.060 --> 00:39:15.780 And that's exactly what Jesus gets to with Peter. 00:39:15.900 --> 00:39:16.760 We'll see this next week. 00:39:16.840 --> 00:39:18.200 Who do you say I am, Peter? 00:39:18.600 --> 00:39:19.360 What is it? 00:39:19.360 --> 00:39:27.519 Number two, God sent manna in the dark of night so that those without a home in the wilderness would be fed and nourished. 00:39:28.360 --> 00:39:34.360 And God sent his son to those dwelling in spiritual darkness in this present evil age. 00:39:34.980 --> 00:39:35.780 They don't belong here. 00:39:35.860 --> 00:39:38.599 They're sojourners waiting for the life of the age to come. 00:39:38.760 --> 00:39:44.460 Number three, manna sustained God's people until they did reach that promised land. 00:39:44.460 --> 00:39:49.519 And Christ sustains his church until we reach heaven. 00:39:50.360 --> 00:40:01.639 Number four, manna was given to a grumbling, rebellious people as a gift of God's grace to those who deserve his judgment instead. 00:40:02.940 --> 00:40:07.159 As you're reading about the Jews, as they travel through the wilderness, they grumble. 00:40:07.320 --> 00:40:08.480 They drive Moses nuts. 00:40:09.240 --> 00:40:11.599 You wish sometimes God would just strike them all down. 00:40:12.199 --> 00:40:13.139 That's what they deserve. 00:40:13.139 --> 00:40:13.859 They knew that. 00:40:13.940 --> 00:40:14.719 Moses knew that. 00:40:15.799 --> 00:40:17.659 Well, think about Christ for us. 00:40:19.299 --> 00:40:24.339 God sent his son to those of us who deserve his judgment. 00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:26.019 We are grumblers. 00:40:26.159 --> 00:40:27.259 We're worse than them, aren't we? 00:40:27.940 --> 00:40:31.339 We have his entire revelation, the entire plan of redemption. 00:40:31.900 --> 00:40:32.759 And yet we grumble. 00:40:34.039 --> 00:40:35.799 Think about how they had to take the manna. 00:40:35.800 --> 00:40:42.400 They had to bend down, reach for it, and then eat it. 00:40:44.160 --> 00:40:46.300 That's what Christ requires for justification. 00:40:46.720 --> 00:40:49.039 You must bend your knee to him. 00:40:49.440 --> 00:40:50.620 You must bow down. 00:40:50.720 --> 00:40:54.260 You must take of Christ, just as you will in a moment with the Lord's Supper. 00:40:54.260 --> 00:40:57.240 And he must abide in you. 00:40:57.940 --> 00:41:00.500 He must fill you from the inside out. 00:41:00.500 --> 00:41:06.079 And in the desert, the sojourning pilgrim people were on the move. 00:41:06.079 --> 00:41:16.159 So any manna that they did not take up and eat, they would be marching on top of as they left that area to their next spot where they would camp. 00:41:17.480 --> 00:41:19.420 And that same is true for us. 00:41:19.420 --> 00:41:27.180 If you do not take Christ and eat Christ, today you trample upon Christ. 00:41:28.340 --> 00:41:35.599 You reject him and you stomp all over his crucified body and his shed blood with your feet. 00:41:37.079 --> 00:41:40.300 Do you see how our king's ministry was cross-shaped? 00:41:40.300 --> 00:41:51.860 Well, if you're like the apostles or the church in every generation or like me, you're feeling this is a ministry for angels, not for men. 00:41:52.220 --> 00:41:58.420 Who is worthy of such a task to follow in the steps of Christ with a cross-shaped ministry? 00:41:58.539 --> 00:41:59.820 I feel that way every day. 00:42:01.100 --> 00:42:03.039 But this is God's design. 00:42:04.840 --> 00:42:07.620 Think about how God saved and prepared Paul. 00:42:07.619 --> 00:42:11.920 After giving Paul a new heart and causing him to behold Christ as the Lord, 00:42:12.579 --> 00:42:20.559 he could have sent Paul off to the wilderness to spend maybe three years of solitude doing nothing but praying and learning directly from God. 00:42:21.259 --> 00:42:26.480 Or he could have sent Paul to a three-day seminar crash course with the angels. 00:42:26.619 --> 00:42:29.159 The angels himself are just going to download it all to you. 00:42:29.559 --> 00:42:30.779 That wasn't God's design. 00:42:30.780 --> 00:42:40.640 God's design was for Paul to go to be part of a church and to be discipled within that church by a saved sinner, just like him. 00:42:41.100 --> 00:42:46.220 Probably for 13 years, Paul was discipled by the elder of his church, Barnabas. 00:42:47.380 --> 00:42:48.500 That's God's method. 00:42:48.500 --> 00:42:54.460 And look at the result in 1 Corinthians 2, chapter 2, verse 2. 00:42:55.159 --> 00:42:55.699 Paul says, 00:42:55.860 --> 00:43:01.739 I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 00:43:02.480 --> 00:43:04.219 That's the result of discipleship. 00:43:04.539 --> 00:43:07.179 We take on the shape of Christ's ministry. 00:43:07.639 --> 00:43:11.400 That's how he feeds his church and his sheep. 00:43:11.400 --> 00:43:17.160 I want to invite you to reflect on a few points of application. 00:43:17.800 --> 00:43:23.700 First of all, let's praise God together for Christ's cross-shaped ministry. 00:43:25.380 --> 00:43:28.579 If you're convicted like me, confess your shortcomings. 00:43:28.579 --> 00:43:36.800 I have not ministered to my wife and my children, to you, the church, in a cross-shaped way consistently at all, not even close. 00:43:36.800 --> 00:43:43.640 I need to confess this, but we also at the same time thank God for all the ways in which we have failed. 00:43:44.100 --> 00:43:48.200 Christ has ministered God's truth on our behalf. 00:43:49.120 --> 00:43:53.280 He's done it perfectly, personally, and perpetually for us. 00:43:53.800 --> 00:43:59.140 There is no condemnation, even for those of us who fail in Christ Jesus. 00:43:59.760 --> 00:44:06.500 And ask him to teach you more and more how you can be part of a cross-shaped ministry like Christ was. 00:44:06.800 --> 00:44:12.460 Our king loves to watch us together learn how to do this better, how to be more like him. 00:44:12.700 --> 00:44:13.740 He loves to watch it. 00:44:14.539 --> 00:44:15.560 Thank God also. 00:44:15.720 --> 00:44:17.940 Thank him for ministers he's used in your life. 00:44:18.019 --> 00:44:20.360 I promise none of them have done it very well. 00:44:20.840 --> 00:44:21.940 I know I never have. 00:44:22.400 --> 00:44:24.240 But thank God for them. 00:44:24.380 --> 00:44:26.460 And also, this afternoon, take out your phone. 00:44:26.580 --> 00:44:28.900 Shoot him at least a note, a text, or an email. 00:44:28.900 --> 00:44:34.800 And say, I saw in John 6 today the cross-shaped ministry of Christ. 00:44:34.940 --> 00:44:43.380 Because the reality is none of us would be here if God hadn't used some minister, some family member, and a cross-shaped ministry to you. 00:44:44.039 --> 00:44:48.880 Even imperfectly, there's enough of Christ coming through that he used that for your salvation. 00:44:49.380 --> 00:44:51.480 Take time to just write them that encouragement. 00:44:51.480 --> 00:44:55.559 I promise you this will be a joy because their desire is to follow Christ. 00:44:57.179 --> 00:45:09.719 And finally, let's also, as a church, let's ask God to raise up from among us, from this congregation, elders, deacons, teachers, evangelists, servants of his church. 00:45:09.719 --> 00:45:14.739 That will practice a cross-shaped ministry like our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:45:15.339 --> 00:45:15.980 Let's pray. 00:45:20.019 --> 00:45:23.799 Lord, you have called us and drawn us to follow you. 00:45:24.839 --> 00:45:26.339 Your way is lowly. 00:45:27.519 --> 00:45:28.480 It's humbling. 00:45:29.759 --> 00:45:33.799 Your way is narrow and hard and few go through it. 00:45:35.199 --> 00:45:37.079 Your way is the way of the cross. 00:45:37.079 --> 00:45:41.739 And you call your true disciples to take up their cross daily. 00:45:43.380 --> 00:45:45.119 Your cross is not heavy, Lord. 00:45:45.799 --> 00:45:47.639 You've carried it for us already. 00:45:47.940 --> 00:45:50.219 We simply follow in your footsteps now. 00:45:50.519 --> 00:45:54.360 And we do this with your strength, with the joy of your presence. 00:45:55.039 --> 00:45:58.259 You are the king who ministers among us. 00:45:59.099 --> 00:46:05.059 We thank you for the mission of Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross to draw us into your kingdom. 00:46:05.059 --> 00:46:10.860 And we pray, Lord, that you will be glorified and that your kingdom will come on earth as it is in heaven. 00:46:11.360 --> 00:46:11.579 Amen.