back to index2020-03-29 I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE
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Again, it's going to take a little bit of time adjusting to preaching to an empty room 00:00:16.920 |
You know, I was talking to a few of my friends who obviously all of them are doing the same 00:00:22.160 |
Some of them are preaching in their garage, some of them are preaching at church, some 00:00:29.200 |
It's very difficult to preach to an empty room because we don't know the response. 00:00:34.360 |
And we are getting texts that there's some issues with the sound, so please be patient 00:00:40.000 |
Our AV team is working hard to kind of adjust that. 00:00:43.400 |
So again, you don't all need to be texting in. 00:00:46.200 |
I think a few of the pastors and the leaders are texting in and saying that. 00:00:50.460 |
So if you, you know, just be patient with us as we get these kinks out. 00:00:55.720 |
And you know, I'm concerned that I may get too comfortable with preaching to an empty 00:00:58.840 |
room and then I have to adjust when you guys come back. 00:01:01.480 |
You know, and I'm going to be just preaching too fast or something. 00:01:04.480 |
The text that we're going to be looking at this morning is in John chapter 6, the whole 00:01:13.200 |
And we're going to be expositing every single word, so obviously not, you know, there's 00:01:20.720 |
We're going to be highlighting, this is a very, very important passage in the ministry 00:01:27.120 |
And it's going to start us off on the seven "I am" statements of Christ. 00:01:32.840 |
I don't think I'll be preaching each one each week. 00:01:36.160 |
Some weeks I may double up because next couple of weeks we have Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. 00:01:41.320 |
So we want to make sure that our preaching is appropriate to that. 00:01:45.520 |
But for today, we're kicking off, and again, this is not a text that many of you should 00:01:51.880 |
I actually taught on this probably at least once or twice in the last maybe about four 00:01:59.280 |
But again, to kick us off on the right direction. 00:02:01.680 |
So let me read this, a small portion of it, and then we'll get, we'll jump right into 00:02:07.320 |
Starting from verse 32 to verse 36, "Jesus then said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to 00:02:13.520 |
you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is my Father who 00:02:20.360 |
For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.' 00:02:24.760 |
Then they said to him, 'Lord, always give us this bread.' 00:02:30.160 |
He who comes to me will not hunger, and he who believes in me will never thirst. 00:02:34.680 |
But I said to you that you have seen me, and yet you do not believe.'" 00:02:41.960 |
Heavenly Father, we pray that your Word would go forth and that it would do the work that 00:02:51.440 |
you have ordained, especially now, Father God, as our lives, our church, the whole world, 00:03:02.480 |
And reminding us, Lord, how weak we are, how finite we are, and how desperate we are to 00:03:09.040 |
know you, to hear from you, to be guided by you. 00:03:14.920 |
We need the light of your Word to cut through the darkness so that we may see clearly. 00:03:27.520 |
Help us, Lord God, to open our eyes that we may see the true glory of the gospel of Jesus 00:03:32.520 |
Christ, that your Word would have its effect, sanctify us, renew us. 00:03:39.480 |
Bless us this morning, in Jesus' name we pray, amen. 00:03:45.280 |
Some of you guys have been, you know, cooped up at home for longer than that, and I know 00:03:49.520 |
many of you are going to work, especially our health workers, first responders, you 00:03:54.480 |
know, people who are working in essential things that you're doing. 00:03:59.240 |
So it seems like to me, percentage-wise, maybe about half or a little bit more than half 00:04:03.400 |
are staying home, and then the other half are actually going out and, you know, risking 00:04:08.680 |
their health to keep the health situation, the hospitals running and tech stuff that's 00:04:16.080 |
And so know that we are praying for you, and hopefully that it won't last long. 00:04:23.640 |
You know, I was thinking about the timing of this, all of this, and it probably was 00:04:27.840 |
really bad for, you know, a lot of the university students, because you were just about to get 00:04:32.840 |
into the finals, and then you had spring break this week. 00:04:36.840 |
And probably many of you had plans to do something, especially you seniors, since this is your 00:04:41.840 |
last hoorah before, you know, going off into the sunset and getting a job and, you know, 00:04:49.240 |
And so this was your last hoorah, so I know there's a great disappointment in many of 00:04:53.480 |
Some of you guys who are in the finance industry. 00:04:54.720 |
I mean, the market just went crazy, and you were disappointed in other ways. 00:05:00.080 |
Many of you who own businesses, and you're dependent on these businesses. 00:05:04.160 |
I mean, what a bad time to be business owners right now, and again, we feel for you, and 00:05:13.600 |
But again, even with the stimulus package, and I can't imagine the stress that you guys 00:05:18.120 |
There are actually several couples that I've known outside the church who have canceled 00:05:24.440 |
their wedding because of this, and again, we have couples in our church. 00:05:28.360 |
We have one who's already canceled their wedding, and then we have other couples who is coming 00:05:33.000 |
up in the next couple months, and they are wrestling right now with whether they need 00:05:39.680 |
And so what a stressful time for many of you. 00:05:43.960 |
In many ways, every single one of us has been affected, and I, you know, for me and my family, 00:05:50.920 |
And again, as I've mentioned, there's been a good blessing to be able to spend more time 00:05:55.600 |
with the children, but as I and many of us are waiting this out, I feel for a lot of 00:06:08.720 |
In fact, this week, Tokyo had to finally come out and say that they're going to have to 00:06:17.640 |
And to understand the gravity of that, that has only happened three times before, and 00:06:23.560 |
each of those times that an Olympic was canceled or postponed, it happened because of war, 00:06:33.320 |
And interestingly, one of those times was also supposed to be held in Tokyo, and they 00:06:40.340 |
also had to cancel it because of World War II. 00:06:43.720 |
So I remember talking to a Japanese businessman just a couple weeks ago before all this started, 00:06:48.960 |
how he was getting information from his company in Japan saying that, telling him that he 00:06:52.760 |
may not be able to come home, and they were so worried because the Japanese economy was 00:06:56.920 |
already struggling, and to postpone or to cancel this Olympic would have devastating 00:07:06.000 |
Every country is hurting, but to have a country to pour billions and billions of dollars preparing 00:07:10.880 |
for this, hotels being built, stadiums being built, especially in an economy that has already 00:07:15.920 |
been struggling, and it was a very, very big decision they had to make. 00:07:21.880 |
So what is going on right now, it is not about individual stuff that's going on. 00:07:27.040 |
It's not just one family, one church, or even one country. 00:07:34.160 |
And I've already shared online that I've been speaking to our Indian pastors, and even in 00:07:41.720 |
So the government actually shut down even villages, that they're not allowed to go to 00:07:47.520 |
And so they've actually put a hard timeline of one month that they can't come out. 00:07:52.280 |
And so for us, we have online, we can still go to the supermarkets and pick up stuff, 00:07:56.880 |
but imagine in the villages, if they can't come out, what kind of effects that they're 00:08:02.400 |
So this is affecting almost every human being alive. 00:08:06.620 |
And so it requires us to pray, it requires us to really seek God. 00:08:13.040 |
And I think that's why it's appropriate for us as Christians, that we really focus our 00:08:17.840 |
attention during this time upon who Christ is. 00:08:22.140 |
Right now, as the world is looking for answers, you know, who has the antivirus, what country 00:08:27.560 |
is doing the best job, what hospitals are handling this virus well, what leaders are 00:08:32.720 |
making the right decisions, and we are looking for all kinds of answers. 00:08:40.240 |
But as Christians, we believe that the answer is ultimately found in Christ and Christ alone. 00:08:47.180 |
There is no authority, the Bible says, that has been established that has not been established 00:08:52.040 |
So it would be severely short-sighted to simply think that if we had the right leaders, if 00:08:58.520 |
we made the right decisions, if we had the right money allocated at the right place, 00:09:02.580 |
that all this is just simply going to go away. 00:09:05.440 |
To recognize that what is happening around the world right now is symptomatic of the 00:09:09.760 |
warning that the Bible has been giving all this time, whether we are living in plenty 00:09:14.200 |
or whether we are living in want, whether we are socializing with our friends, whether 00:09:19.120 |
we are living in safety and abundance, the Bible warns us there is a spiritual reality 00:09:24.480 |
behind all of that that causes us to seek Christ. 00:09:29.240 |
You know, the good thing about all of this, even with all the tragedy, is that the facade 00:09:37.880 |
And the reality of the situation of mankind has been revealed to the world. 00:09:45.040 |
Even if we find a cure to this virus, even if the businesses go back and the stock market 00:09:50.520 |
just skyrockets back into where it is, what you and I are experiencing now is something 00:09:56.760 |
that the Bible has been warning from the beginning of human history, that all have sinned and 00:10:06.920 |
And so it is now more than ever that you and I diligently seek the glory of God. 00:10:15.200 |
The seven "I Am" statements is Christ connecting Himself to Exodus chapter 3 when Yahweh introduced 00:10:22.560 |
Himself and says, "I Am that I Am has sent you." 00:10:29.640 |
How can I go to Pharaoh and say, "This tiny little nation is going to be delivered. 00:10:42.600 |
And so the connection today is it's clear that Jesus' "I Am" statement was not an inconsequential 00:10:51.560 |
And He just happened to be using that in just an average sentence. 00:10:56.400 |
In fact, in the Greek structure, the "I Am" statement is "ego-ai-me." 00:11:09.320 |
So if you were to read it literally, Jesus actually says in Greek, "I Am, I Am." 00:11:15.800 |
But the reason why He does that is because in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of 00:11:21.200 |
Exodus, that's exactly how that verse is translated, "ego-ai-me." 00:11:28.480 |
So when Jesus says in the seven "I Am" statements, He is referring Himself to that same God that 00:11:39.320 |
So Jesus says in the seven distinct statements, "I Am the bread of life." 00:11:46.680 |
These "I Am" statements are telling two things. 00:11:54.360 |
In fact, one of the clearest places where Jesus identifies Himself as God is in chapter 00:12:00.720 |
But we're not going to be studying that today. 00:12:02.360 |
But after He lays that down, He continues on through the book of John, identifying Himself 00:12:11.360 |
So a Jew who was paying attention to Him closely would have clearly understood, even with just 00:12:16.120 |
with one "I Am" statement, Jesus is not simply saying He's a prophet. 00:12:21.320 |
Jesus is not simply saying that He's a rabbi or He's equal to the greatest of prophets 00:12:32.600 |
That's the first thing that these "I Am" statements are clarifying for us. 00:12:36.140 |
But the second thing that He says, along with that, every one of these "I Am" statements 00:12:45.920 |
Kind of the religiousness, how they were looking for the Messiah to come and what they imagined 00:12:52.040 |
How they thought the Messiah was going to come and He was going to bring this golden 00:12:57.420 |
That they're going to overthrow the Roman government. 00:13:03.280 |
And Israel is going to be restored back to whatever glory that they were thinking in 00:13:08.660 |
Every one of these "I Am" statements are breaking down the false hopes of mankind and making 00:13:15.400 |
it very clear that if you put your hope in anything else, that you will hunger again 00:13:23.960 |
And that's why I think it's very relevant for us to study the "I Am" statements of Christ. 00:13:29.000 |
Now that the outside facade of human history, you know, the curtain has been taken out and 00:13:35.360 |
we see who we really are, in the end, we are helpless. 00:13:43.340 |
That our leaders aren't going to make the perfect decision to make this go away. 00:13:53.040 |
But whether we make it through this and some of us get hurt by this, one thing is absolutely 00:14:08.800 |
The only difference between each individual is when this is going to happen. 00:14:13.880 |
Will it happen when we're young or will it happen when we're old? 00:14:18.460 |
But in the end, the Bible says, "Inasmuch it is appointed for all men to die once, after 00:14:24.780 |
Our hope is found in Christ, in Christ alone. 00:14:28.760 |
The first statement, "I am the bread of life." 00:14:33.280 |
In order to understand the statement that he says later on in this chapter, we need 00:14:39.080 |
Because Jesus is not just speaking in open air, just talking to anybody. 00:14:43.680 |
He's talking to 5,000 people who just ate the miraculous bread and the miraculous fish. 00:14:52.000 |
There's only two miracles that are mentioned in the Gospels that are repeated in all four 00:15:00.880 |
This one and the other one is the resurrection of Christ. 00:15:05.240 |
Those are the only two miracles that are repeated in all four Gospels. 00:15:09.800 |
So that tells us the significance of this miracle. 00:15:16.520 |
It happens to be a miracle where the rejection of Christ happens in this chapter. 00:15:24.400 |
Usually when we think of rejection of Christ, we think about Christ coming in on Palm Sunday 00:15:31.120 |
Well, the rejection that happened in mass numbers really happens in this chapter. 00:15:37.720 |
Up to this point, if you remember, every time He performs a miracle, He's concerned that 00:15:43.560 |
His fame is going to spread all over and He would continue to tell the people who experience 00:15:49.680 |
this miracle and saying, "Do not tell anybody yet. 00:15:58.200 |
He deliberately performs this miracle to 5,000 adult male and most conservative commentaries 00:16:05.640 |
will believe that somewhere between 15,000 to 20,000 people were with Him. 00:16:14.400 |
And it took place in the area where He did majority of His miracles. 00:16:19.560 |
This is about two and a half years into His ministry. 00:16:21.800 |
It's about six months or less before He actually ends up going to Jerusalem. 00:16:26.680 |
So He, after this happens, He's going to transition from His public ministry to His private ministry, 00:16:33.360 |
primarily focused on His disciples, preparing them to go to the cross. 00:16:38.400 |
So you can say that this is a turning point in His public ministry to His private ministry. 00:16:50.720 |
Again, I'm not going to go into the details of all of this because I want to give you 00:16:57.360 |
Chapter 6, 14 through 15, it says, "Therefore, when the people saw the sign which He had 00:17:03.080 |
performed, they said, 'This is truly the prophet who is to come into the world.' 00:17:08.760 |
So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him 00:17:13.120 |
king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone." 00:17:21.240 |
Every single one of these people who actually ate the miraculous bread, ate the miraculous 00:17:35.300 |
Or maybe they just heard that in some remote village, Jesus was performing miracles and 00:17:40.040 |
a blind man opened his eyes and a lame man was able to walk and He was able to calm the 00:17:47.240 |
And maybe there's some scattered people in this room who are firsthand eyewitnesses. 00:17:52.760 |
But after the eating of the 5,000, every single one of them was able to touch and eat and 00:18:04.820 |
After He performs a miracle, how many baskets were left over? 00:18:20.880 |
So Jesus was not just only making it clear to the multitudes. 00:18:25.280 |
Can you imagine the disciples who collected enough to fill 12 baskets and each one of 00:18:31.200 |
And so they probably were eating that for the next week or two. 00:18:34.320 |
And every time they ate it, it was a reminder to them that they were eating something miraculous. 00:18:43.800 |
Jesus was preparing to go to the cross and He was declaring who He is. 00:18:50.160 |
But in the very same chapter, at the end of this chapter, these people who are so elated 00:18:55.320 |
with Christ wanted to forcefully make Him king. 00:19:00.160 |
In chapter 666, it says, "As a result of this, many of His disciples withdrew and were 00:19:09.520 |
The same people who wanted to make Him king, just a few verses later in the same chapter, 00:19:17.360 |
said that because of this, they were no longer walking with Christ. 00:19:23.840 |
What happened in between the feeding of the 5,000 and the rejection of Christ? 00:19:28.360 |
That is a really important question because this is the turning point of Jesus' ministry. 00:19:36.840 |
The miracle that leads to the crowds wanting to make Jesus king, it says in verse 14 and 00:19:45.400 |
When the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, 'This is truly the 00:19:53.960 |
Remember when Jesus asked the disciples, "Who do men say that I am?" 00:19:58.680 |
And He said, "Some say you're Elijah, some say you're the prophet." 00:20:03.440 |
And then He turns around and said, "Who do you say that I am?" 00:20:05.720 |
And Jesus basically says, He's correcting them, "Well, who am I really?" 00:20:10.840 |
And Peter says, "You are the Son, the Christ of the living God," or "the Christ, the Son 00:20:16.120 |
Well, these people saw the miracles of Christ and they knew He was not an ordinary man, 00:20:29.680 |
They said, "He must be a prophet because a normal person can't be doing what He is doing." 00:20:38.960 |
They wanted to make Him king because who wouldn't want a king like this? 00:20:43.640 |
In fact, the king that they had now, Herod, they considered him to be a traitor. 00:20:47.480 |
In fact, they didn't even acknowledge him as king. 00:20:49.960 |
So the fact that Christ comes and He's healing people and He's feeding people, who wouldn't 00:20:58.320 |
John 26, Jesus sees that they want to make Him king. 00:21:03.320 |
He knows that they had defected faith and He breaks away from them for a rest and they 00:21:09.680 |
So they pack up their bags next morning and they cross to the other side of where Jesus 00:21:16.240 |
And Jesus, when He sees them coming, instead of saying, "Good and faithful servant, man, 00:21:22.320 |
you guys went through all of that and grabbed your children and sought after me and you're 00:21:27.760 |
Again, instead, Jesus corrects them in verse 26, "He answered them and said, 'Truly, truly, 00:21:34.680 |
I say to you, you seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves 00:21:46.160 |
You're coming to me because you ate, not because you saw the signs. 00:21:54.280 |
Because in the previous verse, in verse 14, it says, "They were coming to Him because 00:21:58.160 |
Jesus says, "You're not coming to me because you saw the sign. 00:22:10.740 |
The difference between what they were doing, what Jesus was saying that they weren't doing 00:22:14.480 |
was they saw the sign as their final destination. 00:22:20.520 |
Because the sign is there for the purpose of pointing to where you ought to go. 00:22:28.000 |
So if you're driving on the road and the sign says, "To LA, 28 miles," you don't stop at 00:22:36.720 |
Because the sign only points to where you're supposed to go. 00:22:41.040 |
So every miracle that Jesus performed, ultimately, was performed for the purpose of pointing 00:22:50.440 |
They saw the sign, they stopped at the sign because the sign was delicious. 00:22:55.200 |
In other words, He's saying, "You came to me because you ate," not because you're following 00:23:06.600 |
We have to be careful that Jesus doesn't simply become the means to whatever goal that we 00:23:17.400 |
And this is where, as evangelical conservative Christians, we will look at the health and 00:23:23.640 |
wealth gospel and say, "These guys are teaching false doctrines. 00:23:28.840 |
And we make fun of them and it's easy to identify because the kind of cars that they drive and 00:23:36.480 |
But this temptation to see Christ simply as a means, not as the end goal, is a temptation 00:23:44.720 |
that you and I all struggle with, every single one of us. 00:23:50.800 |
Before we harp on these 5,000 people or 20,000 people, understand what Jesus is saying. 00:24:00.600 |
You and I, most of us, have not really faced hunger. 00:24:04.320 |
Some of you guys who came from, you know, maybe a war-torn country, maybe your parents 00:24:09.240 |
or grandparents came from, maybe they understand. 00:24:11.480 |
You and I who are, most of you are born and raised in the United States, I mean, you are 00:24:20.480 |
Or you're hungry because you ate too much before and you're trying to lose some weight. 00:24:26.840 |
Or you're just hungry because you didn't have an opportunity because you were busy. 00:24:32.040 |
But have you ever really been hungry because you had no access to food and you didn't know 00:24:41.960 |
Anybody who's raising children right now, at least that I know of, you know, our difficulties, 00:24:48.400 |
you know, when our children are younger is how do we get them to eat this food? 00:24:53.720 |
So we have to trick them, play games with them. 00:24:55.800 |
The airplane's coming or your brother's going to eat it all. 00:24:59.200 |
So the struggle that we have isn't necessarily hunger, it's how do we get this stuff into 00:25:04.320 |
And a lot of these people who are following Christ was not in that situation. 00:25:10.640 |
It wasn't because the bread that Jesus made was so delicious. 00:25:14.720 |
You know, it wasn't simply because it was Italian bread that they've never had before 00:25:18.760 |
and, you know, butter was so delicious, you know, because the Son of God made it so it 00:25:24.200 |
And, you know, instead of the, you know, the flat bread that they're used to eating that 00:25:28.880 |
the Jewish community ate, this was actually very fluffy and delicious. 00:25:38.320 |
You know, when they came to hear Jesus and they were sitting there listening to Him and 00:25:44.840 |
they said, "These people have nothing to eat." 00:25:48.400 |
Some of them, I think, came to Christ, maybe forgot. 00:25:53.280 |
But do you think that maybe many of them were there listening to Him because they didn't 00:26:01.960 |
How many of you parents would be so enamored with anything if your kids were hungry? 00:26:13.800 |
So understandable that they were chasing after Christ because that's where food is. 00:26:20.060 |
So He's not talking about abundance and, you know, which store you're going to go to and 00:26:27.640 |
He's talking about eating and living and dying. 00:26:32.800 |
So before we harp on these 5,000 people, understand the situation that they're in. 00:26:37.680 |
Of course, if you're hungry, you're going to be looking for food. 00:26:40.200 |
I mean, if you're really hungry, nothing matters. 00:26:44.320 |
And so many of them in that context were coming to Christ because they need to eat, they need 00:26:53.000 |
So on the surface, what Jesus is saying seems very insensitive. 00:26:58.960 |
You're coming to me not because you saw signs. 00:27:00.640 |
You're not coming to me because you're coming to me because you want food. 00:27:07.040 |
So understand the gravity of what Jesus is saying. 00:27:11.520 |
He is saying that you're coming to me to eat food, but your faith is defective. 00:27:19.720 |
And the text that we're looking at, it kind of shows. 00:27:22.680 |
It says that they saw the sign, they were coming to Him. 00:27:30.080 |
Now, that in and of itself is an oxymoron because a king is somebody that forces you 00:27:39.600 |
If you force somebody to be king, then you are the king. 00:27:52.960 |
Even if we have to force Him to be our king, why does He have to be my king? 00:27:58.280 |
Because if He's my king, He's going to feed me. 00:28:06.300 |
If He's my king, He's going to restore our nation to its pride. 00:28:14.240 |
And the only person that we can see in the horizon that can possibly give me this is 00:28:22.640 |
That's why they were trying to force Him to be king. 00:28:26.520 |
You know, oftentimes we talk about lordship of Christ. 00:28:33.080 |
You know, a lot of times I recognize this even in my own heart. 00:28:38.420 |
Lordship of Christ, oftentimes in our lives, if we're not careful, is forcing Christ to 00:28:47.500 |
Maybe if we establish Him as king, He'll get me a good job. 00:28:52.340 |
Maybe if we establish Him as our Lord, He'll keep me safe. 00:28:58.140 |
Maybe if we establish Him as king, He's going to make this virus go away. 00:29:03.100 |
Maybe if we worship Him, that our children are going to be healthy, that they're going 00:29:07.320 |
to grow up to marry somebody godly, and they're going to have a great life. 00:29:14.740 |
It may seem innocuous, but at the core of what Jesus is pointing out in their defective 00:29:30.100 |
For them, if they don't eat, they're going to starve to death. 00:29:40.360 |
And so, if we're not careful, every single one of us can be tempted to make Jesus the 00:29:50.680 |
And we have to carefully examine ourselves as we are studying the I Am Statements. 00:29:59.000 |
If Jesus is our destination, then this virus is also a means to get there. 00:30:04.820 |
If Jesus is our destination, sometimes suffering is the means that God uses to get us there. 00:30:11.560 |
But if Jesus is the means, then He's the means that we use to get to safety. 00:30:16.480 |
He's the means that we use to get to feeding. 00:30:22.120 |
And that is at the core of the defect that Jesus is pointing out. 00:30:29.240 |
The whole reason why He fed them, the whole reason why He healed them, the whole reason 00:30:33.420 |
why He doesn't feed them, the whole reason why He doesn't heal them is to get them to 00:30:45.980 |
Is this virus causing us to come to Him and seeing Him as the ultimate treasure? 00:30:56.680 |
Jesus says to them in verse 27, "Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food 00:31:05.940 |
With the Son of Man, we'll give to you, for on Him the Father God has set His seal." 00:31:10.600 |
So He's pointing out to them that you're seeking after this, but there's something more important 00:31:16.560 |
There's something more important than your earthly life. 00:31:18.680 |
It is your eternal life to seek these things. 00:31:21.240 |
And then John 6, 28-29, they respond, "Therefore they said to Him, 'What shall we do so that 00:31:30.200 |
If we want eternal life and temporal life, of course we want the eternal life. 00:31:37.280 |
"Jesus answered and said to them, 'This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom 00:31:46.520 |
When you read that superficially, it's like, "Oh, easy. 00:31:53.680 |
See, if He said, "Go read your Bible," I mean, they probably would have all run and done 00:32:01.040 |
If He said, "Run around this lake 10 times," or if I run around this lake 10 times, even 00:32:06.520 |
with small children strapped around them, that's going to lead to eternal life? 00:32:11.960 |
They probably would have done it because they're talking about their life. 00:32:16.880 |
But what Jesus tells them to do, they can't simply do on their own until God has opened 00:32:29.920 |
So they're asking Jesus, "Well, what can I do?" 00:32:32.680 |
Really, the question behind that, the question behind legalism or workspace righteousness, 00:32:43.760 |
Because workspace righteousness is basically bartering, bartering eternal life with what 00:32:54.040 |
If you're a parent, and even if you're not a parent, I think you can understand this. 00:32:59.320 |
If a child that you've raised all your life, right, they become an adult, get a full-time 00:33:05.440 |
job, and all of a sudden, he wants to become independent, and he doesn't like you telling 00:33:10.920 |
him what to do, or her, you know, "Don't tell me what to do. 00:33:15.760 |
And so he comes to you and says, "I'm making a lot of money now, you know, and I know you 00:33:33.280 |
Let's say you spent $5,000 a year, you know, I live 20-some years of my life, and you calculated 00:33:48.040 |
What if I gave you a million dollars, would that be enough to say, "Okay, we're equal"? 00:33:55.280 |
Okay, okay, a million dollars, now you're offended. 00:34:01.600 |
If I gave you $10 million, would it be equal? 00:34:04.840 |
All the work that you put in to raise me, $10 million would be equal. 00:34:14.920 |
$10 million, all I mean to you is $10 million? 00:34:23.640 |
Would that pay for the labor that you put in? 00:34:28.880 |
There is no amount that a child can say and barter with his parents with the sacrifice 00:34:35.960 |
that the parent made to raise that child and say, "If you give me this amount," because 00:34:44.760 |
There is no amount that you could pay to barter with God and say, "How much can I give to 00:34:51.480 |
How hard can I work so that I can gain this eternal life?" 00:34:55.760 |
God sent his only begotten son to take our place for our sins. 00:35:01.880 |
So for any human being to come before God trying to barter with God and saying, "What 00:35:07.560 |
do I have to do to get this eternal life?" is really asking the question, "How much is 00:35:23.680 |
And that's why Jesus says the only way, only way that we can receive this if we humble 00:35:30.080 |
ourselves and we recognize what God has done. 00:35:36.440 |
And we come as beggars to the throne of His grace. 00:35:42.300 |
And every single one of us, whether you lived righteous lives or unrighteous lives, whether 00:35:48.320 |
you've been doing drugs all your life, or whether you were a good Sunday school child 00:35:53.080 |
all your life, every single one of us comes before the throne of God humbled. 00:35:59.120 |
This virus has humbled every single one of us. 00:36:07.160 |
It is only a glimpse of the reality of the spiritual state that all mankind are under. 00:36:19.320 |
What can I do so that this virus doesn't affect me?" 00:36:23.000 |
Well, if you protect yourself, wear glasses, and don't go out, and you can do all of 00:36:27.440 |
this stuff, and it can minimize it, but you can do all of that stuff. 00:36:35.280 |
And there is no cure for our sins outside of Christ. 00:36:59.080 |
In verse 31, "Our fathers ate manna in the wilderness, and as it is written, 'He gave 00:37:04.640 |
If you want us to believe you, what does He say? 00:37:13.080 |
Again, many of you are raising children who are very strong-willed, you know, and you 00:37:22.160 |
Once they get their mind set on something, I have a child in my house like that too. 00:37:30.200 |
Once they get their mind on something, they just can't let go. 00:37:33.800 |
I mean, these guys, I mean, they wanted food. 00:37:39.480 |
And He said, "Well, if you want me to believe, give us some food." 00:37:41.920 |
So the Jews believed that when the Messiah comes, He was going to recreate that miracle 00:37:48.520 |
You know, as God fed the Israelites in the desert, He said that the Messiah was going 00:37:54.920 |
to come and He was going to perform that miracle. 00:37:56.560 |
And He said, "If you really want us to believe and you're that manna from heaven, give us 00:38:04.600 |
And can you imagine the frustration of Jesus when He says this to them? 00:38:08.480 |
And if you don't read it in the context, you just kind of read it as like Jesus's glorious 00:38:14.520 |
But if you read it in context of the conversation that He's having, my guess is, "I am the bread 00:38:22.760 |
I don't know what kind of personality He had. 00:38:25.480 |
If He had my kind of personality, He probably would have been, "What have I been telling 00:38:31.240 |
I mean, two and a half years, I've been telling you. 00:38:35.960 |
Now it's just, I mean, I made it crystal clear. 00:38:46.040 |
If you want eternal life, you have to come to me. 00:38:48.840 |
Well, if you want us to believe in you, give us some bread. 00:38:58.960 |
Can you imagine the fourth or fifth time He had to say this? 00:39:20.280 |
You push him to a point where he said, "Yes, yes, yes, yes." 00:39:24.760 |
And I can tell when he's frustrated because he doesn't yell like normal people. 00:39:36.160 |
And I know, it'll come out, "I am the bread of life." 00:39:46.400 |
My guess is, looking at what He did at the temple, right, that Jesus probably had some 00:39:55.200 |
You know, my guess is by the time He said it a fourth or fifth time, like, "You just 00:39:59.920 |
I am the bread of life which comes down from heaven." 00:40:05.240 |
That's how I read it in context, in verse 35. 00:40:09.800 |
All the hungering and the thirsting are simply symptoms. 00:40:14.920 |
Jesus says, "He who comes to me will not hunger, and he who believes in me will never thirst." 00:40:22.520 |
Suffering, ultimately our death, are all only symptoms of the real problem, our sins. 00:40:32.840 |
Jesus is the only antibody who has not been affected by sin. 00:40:37.760 |
It is only His blood that can cure our disease. 00:40:52.680 |
They accepted Him as prophet, but they could not accept Him as God in verse, chapter 6, 00:40:57.960 |
"Therefore, the Jews were grumbling about Him because He said, 'I am the bread that 00:41:03.000 |
They were saying, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we 00:41:07.720 |
How does He now say, 'I have come down out of heaven'?" 00:41:12.800 |
You know, if you look at the account of the gospels, the very first place that Jesus is 00:41:20.240 |
We know His father, His brother, His mother, how can He be different than us? 00:41:26.480 |
And Jesus says, "A prophet is not honored in his hometown," and that's exactly what's 00:41:32.920 |
Now, all of us, we didn't see Jesus growing up. 00:41:36.880 |
We don't know the intimate details of His childhood, so maybe it's easier for us to 00:41:42.680 |
But the longer that we've been a Christian, the longer we've heard the gospel, the longer 00:41:49.560 |
that we've been raised at church, it has the same effect on us. 00:41:55.220 |
Even though we say He is God, even though we say He is I Am, when He becomes so familiar 00:42:03.360 |
that He doesn't sound any different than one of us, then we no longer run to Him. 00:42:11.120 |
In Romans 6, 48-51, He says again, "I am the bread of life. 00:42:15.400 |
Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died." 00:42:21.080 |
He says, "You're looking for manna that your father ate, and you want to eat again. 00:42:25.800 |
You're waiting for the manna to come down to sustain you and your children. 00:42:29.300 |
But remember, at the end of all of that, they all died. 00:42:34.140 |
And this is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not 00:42:40.780 |
So the bread that He's talking about and the bread that you want, the difference is death 00:42:53.720 |
"I am the living bread that came down out of heaven. 00:42:57.600 |
If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. 00:43:00.380 |
And the bread also which I am, I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." 00:43:07.520 |
Everything that He did was to bring them to this point. 00:43:12.240 |
See, he who eats the bread of Christ, He says he will never die. 00:43:21.080 |
Right now, the whole world is afraid of dying. 00:43:24.600 |
And that's the fundamental difference between a Christian and a non-Christian. 00:43:28.400 |
Because our death, our death has been purchased by the blood of Christ. 00:43:35.400 |
He who eats of His flesh and drinks of His blood, He says shall never die. 00:43:41.000 |
Not because He will protect us from the virus, not because we will have enough food to eat 00:43:45.520 |
until we retire, but it says this eternal separation that causes this eternal death 00:43:51.440 |
away from the author of life, He said you will never die. 00:44:07.800 |
He came so that we may have life and have this life abundantly. 00:44:12.040 |
And that's what He says in verse 40, "For this is the will of my Father." 00:44:19.620 |
Is it God's will to date this person or not date this person? 00:44:22.160 |
Is it God's will for me to go to this school or that school? 00:44:24.240 |
Is it God's will for me to get this job or that job? 00:44:26.840 |
Is it God's will for me to get this job, buy this house at this time? 00:44:32.680 |
But He says clearly, "This is my Father's will, that we recognize Christ as I am. 00:44:42.800 |
That everyone who beholds a son and believes in Him will have eternal life and I myself 00:44:52.320 |
Again in 52 to verse 53, He's talking to people who just will not get it. 00:44:57.160 |
So after about four or five times saying like, "I am, I am, I am, I am," and He finally says 00:45:04.880 |
to them, verse 52, "And the Jews began to argue with one another saying, 'How can this 00:45:12.600 |
So that Jesus said to them, 'Truly I say to you, unless you eat of the flesh and the 00:45:16.720 |
Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.'" 00:45:21.600 |
Now think how shocking that statement is to a Jew, to anybody. 00:45:26.240 |
Even to us today, like eat His flesh, drink His blood? 00:45:35.080 |
There's nothing more sacrilegious to anybody, but in particular a Jew, because they weren't 00:45:40.360 |
allowed to drink even the blood of the animals. 00:45:44.920 |
Remember that when we started the book of Leviticus? 00:45:47.280 |
If they came in contact with somebody who was dead, what happened? 00:45:52.040 |
And they would have to be quarantined for a length of time, just in case. 00:46:00.160 |
But Jesus tells them, "Not only do you have to come draw near to me," He said, "you have 00:46:07.640 |
Again, if you read that out of context, it's like, "Wow, like who wouldn't turn away from 00:46:16.600 |
He was talking to a group of people who was just hardened, and Jesus, they just would 00:46:20.240 |
not believe, and they were committed to their unbelief. 00:46:27.520 |
If you don't eat my flesh and drink my blood, you cannot have eternal life. 00:46:32.800 |
And it is at that 66, as a result of these statements, many of them no longer follow 00:46:43.440 |
This is what caused them to turn, as a result of this. 00:46:48.640 |
See, this, this that He's talking about, is the distinction between Christian and non-Christian, 00:46:55.560 |
is the distinction between wheat and the tares, is the distinction between somebody who comes 00:46:59.880 |
to church all of his life, declaring and worshiping and singing the same song, studying the same 00:47:05.160 |
Bible, but only sees Jesus as a means to whatever goal that they have established in life, and 00:47:15.160 |
It just, they just found that Jesus is the better means than just making money. 00:47:23.400 |
This is what distinguishes between those who go to heaven and those who are judged in eternity. 00:47:33.400 |
Because they would not receive Christ, they turned away. 00:47:38.700 |
How many people in the church turned away from Christ, this Christ of the Bible, but 00:47:47.320 |
See, we need to be sober, not simply sober so that we can protect ourselves and get back 00:47:57.480 |
And that's a statement that we hear all the time, "What is normal? 00:48:03.360 |
Was the life that you and I were living before this happened, was that normal?" 00:48:08.200 |
Like, pursuing things, making money, getting married, having children, for a Christian, 00:48:19.600 |
A lot of the things that God broke in our lives were not normal. 00:48:24.320 |
It was not consistent with what the Bible taught. 00:48:27.520 |
It was not consistent with people who claim to have Christ as hope, their eternal hope. 00:48:35.720 |
Really what God is doing in our lives is to shake up what we were holding on to that was 00:48:41.160 |
so normal, and to start something new in Christ, not just individually, but maybe as a church. 00:48:52.160 |
You know, this is forcing us to evaluate everything that we're doing as a church. 00:49:02.120 |
I remember when Governor Gavin said that, right, "All non-essentials to be shut down." 00:49:18.320 |
You know, the first thing people did, went to the supermarket and they loaded their baskets 00:49:22.680 |
with toilet paper, hand sanitizers, and all kinds of food. 00:49:29.280 |
But was Christ essential in the part of that? 00:49:32.560 |
Is the love of Christ and the pursuit of Christ, was that essential as a part of all of that? 00:49:38.560 |
Right now, you hear the statement, "I am praying for you." 00:49:47.600 |
People who mock Christians, you know, clearly they don't believe in God. 00:49:54.440 |
And yet that statement, "Oh, my prayers and thoughts." 00:49:57.680 |
Christians are praying because they are desperate, because they have nowhere else to turn. 00:50:02.440 |
So if there is God, maybe He'll help me because I'm desperate. 00:50:07.080 |
If somebody's on their deathbed, who else am I going to turn to? 00:50:09.480 |
If doctors did everything that they could and they can't resuscitate the person, my 00:50:17.400 |
Let's be careful that the way that we follow Christ doesn't mimic the world, that we don't 00:50:26.640 |
Then as soon as things go back to normal, that we go right back to our old life. 00:50:35.400 |
Jesus says in John 6, 67 to 69, "So Jesus said to the twelve, after He saw all of them 00:50:40.280 |
turn away, 'You do not want to go away also, do you?' 00:50:44.000 |
Simon Peter answered Him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? 00:50:47.920 |
We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.'" 00:50:52.920 |
In other words, they don't really understand fully either. 00:50:59.400 |
And it's clear because when Jesus was going to the cross, Jesus said, "I'm going to be 00:51:06.600 |
They were so confused with Jesus going to the cross. 00:51:08.720 |
And then even after Jesus was raised, nobody went to the tomb. 00:51:13.240 |
The ladies went to the tomb to take care of His body, even though Jesus made it very clear 00:51:19.320 |
So the disciples really didn't understand either. 00:51:21.920 |
But the difference between them and the multitude was, they said, "We believe You. 00:51:32.760 |
There are a lot of times in our life when things just don't make sense. 00:51:35.640 |
Maybe there's stuff going on in your life right now. 00:51:40.080 |
But the difference between somebody who perseveres and somebody who quits is his faith. 00:51:46.520 |
Do you believe that the answer is found in Christ? 00:51:52.440 |
And that's what Paul said in 2 Timothy 1.12, "I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have 00:51:56.200 |
believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted 00:52:20.720 |
He already said his life is being poured out. 00:52:22.720 |
So when he says, "I know whom I have entrusted all things," what did he entrust to God? 00:52:40.360 |
So a man who has entrusted his soul to God is not afraid to die because the most important 00:53:00.240 |
And I know, and I don't want to be insensitive because the suffering is real, right? 00:53:04.400 |
And I've already heard people in our church who've lost their jobs. 00:53:08.840 |
And I, we're praying for you as often as we can. 00:53:12.320 |
The health workers, the doctors and nurses and PTs and the first responders and all of 00:53:17.800 |
And I'm watching videos of nurses who are in tears because they're afraid and all of 00:53:29.280 |
We are praying for you and we're going to keep praying for you that you would have courage 00:53:35.040 |
But we're also going to pray that God would give you the faith that your response is not 00:53:44.240 |
That your greatest fear is not that you will suffer. 00:53:48.160 |
Your greatest fear is not that you may have a shorter life than maybe you could have had. 00:53:53.240 |
But that your greatest fear is that Christ would not be exalted. 00:53:59.200 |
That your family and friends who do not know Christ would never confess their faith in 00:54:07.760 |
That our life is found in Christ and Christ alone. 00:54:09.880 |
If Christ came to give us bread, to give us peace, abundance, safety, long life, he could 00:54:27.120 |
He could have given you a better job from heaven. 00:54:28.920 |
He could have given you bread abundant for the rest of your life. 00:54:31.840 |
He could have made you billionaires over and over again from heaven. 00:54:36.440 |
He wouldn't have had to come down, empty himself of the glory that he was receiving, and become 00:54:42.280 |
humbled and to suffer, and then be crucified and resurrected, to be rejected, to be beaten, 00:54:48.560 |
to be scorned, just so that we can, less people would be hungry. 00:55:00.840 |
He came and walked among us, humiliated and suffered on our behalf, because the only way 00:55:06.560 |
to deal with our sins was for him to absorb it upon his body. 00:55:15.040 |
So as this thing continues on, and again, we are praying for you. 00:55:19.640 |
We're hoping that it'll be shorter than later. 00:55:26.560 |
What if they never find a solution to this virus? 00:55:33.240 |
And I don't mean to scare, and I know some of you guys are genuinely concerned, but I 00:55:44.960 |
What if, as they say, some of the people say, that there's 70% of people actually get infected, 00:55:52.160 |
and anywhere between 1% to as high as 20% in some parts of the world. 00:55:58.880 |
What if, and there are some rumors going around right now, like in China, that they found 00:56:03.040 |
another virus, and another 10 people died, and they died from this infection, but it's 00:56:12.360 |
Again, not to freak you out, but this is not fake news. 00:56:18.800 |
I'm pretty sure that they have that contained, right, because they know the consequence. 00:56:30.240 |
It will be if Jesus was just your means, because your goals have been shattered, and maybe 00:56:41.480 |
If Christ was our goal, if Christ becomes our goal, all means that gets us to Christ 00:56:53.520 |
is a good thing, because Christ and Christ alone can give us eternal life. 00:57:01.560 |
I'm going to ask the praise team to come up, and we're going to sing this final song before 00:57:17.760 |
I'd rather be led by his nail-pierced hand than to be the king of a vast domain or be 00:57:26.120 |
I'd rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today. 00:57:31.840 |
As we sing this song, again, I pray that this would become our confession. 00:57:37.560 |
Maybe as you're singing this, you say, "You know what? 00:57:43.320 |
But as we're singing it, pray to God, "Lord, I believe. 00:57:50.280 |
Open my eyes that I may see the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:57:56.200 |
He was not my goal, but then now I want him to be." 00:58:04.360 |
Let's sing this song as a prayer and request that this is what we desire of our lives. 00:58:08.320 |
So let me pray for us, and then our worship team will lead us. 00:58:12.040 |
Heavenly Father, I pray for our brothers and sisters all around the world. 00:58:17.720 |
I pray that this would cause us to see the treasure that we truly have in Christ, that 00:58:22.740 |
all that we have ever needed and possibly even wanted is found in Christ and Christ 00:58:34.320 |
So we pray, Father God, that you would lift up our eyes, that our confession will be consistent 00:58:40.640 |
with this praise song, that we'd rather have Jesus more than silver or gold, more than 00:59:30.280 |
I'd rather be led by His nail-pierced hands than to be the king of a vast domain or be 00:59:53.200 |
I'd rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today. 01:00:46.000 |
I'd rather be true to His holy name than to be the king of a vast domain or be held in 01:01:08.200 |
I'd rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today. 01:01:22.960 |
I'd rather have Jesus than anything this world affords. 01:02:05.240 |
And again, we're going to try to be online to try to connect the church. 01:02:09.240 |
And then next Sunday, remember that at one o'clock that we're going to be having a church 01:02:15.400 |
And so please try to, you know, make that part of your schedule. 01:02:23.280 |
Gracious and loving Father, we pray, Father God, for the leaders of our country, governors, 01:02:29.640 |
mayors, the president, vice president, the doctors who are working with him. 01:02:35.440 |
I pray, Father God, that this divided country would come together. 01:02:40.160 |
Lord, you know that ultimately the cure is in your hands. 01:02:47.960 |
Help us, Lord God, to acknowledge you as sovereign and not simply say it with words but to believe 01:02:54.000 |
Not only sovereign over this world, over our country, over our city, but our very souls. 01:03:01.440 |
Help us to confess as Paul did that we know who you are and we know that you are more 01:03:08.520 |
than capable of keeping unto the day that we meet you, our very souls. 01:03:15.680 |
I pray, Father God, that if we have found our life in trivial things in this world, 01:03:21.880 |
that this will be an opportunity for us to reflect whether our health is truly in danger 01:03:28.960 |
for our health workers who are in their front line, Lord God, doing their best, Lord, to 01:03:33.840 |
manage their anxiety in the midst of serving. 01:03:37.080 |
Give them courage beyond themselves, Lord God. 01:03:39.120 |
I pray that your word would become much more sweeter than it ever was, that their value 01:03:44.760 |
system, Lord God, would be oriented around the foundation of Christ, that our confession 01:03:51.620 |
of Jesus as the bread of our life would not simply be a doctrinal statement but the testimony 01:03:59.680 |
Help us be mindful of the people who are around us. 01:04:02.760 |
Help us, Lord God, to be a resource for people who are in need, physically, but even more 01:04:13.840 |
Let us be the salt of this world during this dark time. 01:04:16.840 |
And so now, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the fellowship that we truly have in the 01:04:24.360 |
Holy Spirit and the love of God our Father, ascent your only begotten Son to suffer on 01:04:37.160 |
Protect us, reorient us, revive us, that our hope may be placed in Christ and Christ alone.