John chapter 6 sermon 02/2015
John 6:45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.
46 Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.
47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
48 I am that bread of life.
49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die
Jesus had just feed the multitude of people with 2 fish and five loaves of bread in which a small boy had given. It was a miracle and thousands of people had seen it with their own eyes and thousands had eaten and were filled.
The people saw Jesus as their leader…their king not their Saviour…look at John chapter 6 and verse 14 Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.
The people were remembering Moses how he took his people from bondage and freed them from the slavery of Egypt and now they were recalling the words of Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15
The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
In that day they were in slavery to the Roman Empire and were looking for a leader a king to free them…not a Saviour from their sins….Moses said God would raise a Prophet like unto me. But in
John 6:32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
Jesus said He is the bread of life….John 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
Feeding the multitude represents feeding people spritely and being filled and satisfied….Jesus is still the bread of life today to those who would believe on Him.
John 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
**Everyone that seeth the Son…..interesting statement isn’t it?....have you seen Jesus?....have I seen Jesus? ..no but…Jesus reveals Himself to you and me…He makes Himself real to us….that bread of life comes to life inside each of Gods children when they believe…..its not just belief…its receiving that bread…its eating from the table of the Saviour…that Holy Spirit that indwells each believer!!
Back to our story:
They were going to force Jesus to be their king so He hurried His Disciples into a boat to go across the Sea of Galilee into a town on the other side called Capernaum and said He would meet them there.
Bible says that Jesus had gone to a mountain to pray on the other side. I believe He had to do that supernaturally. He was on the mountain praying while His disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee.
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The Sea of Galilee is actually a lake….it’s about 8 miles wide and 13 miles long sometimes in the Bible called the Lake Tiberias. It was the fastest and shortest distance from outside of Bethsaida to Capernaum.
Then comes the famous story of Jesus walking on the water……look at
Verse 19 of John chapter 6
So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid
A furlong is about 1/8 mile or 660 feet so if they had rowed 30 furlongs that means they were 3 and ¾ miles from shore…..remember I said Sea of Galilee was 8 miles wide?....they were about half way across….there was a great storm and thought they were going to die and Jesus met them half way…
Jesus meets us more than half way ….Psalms 46: 1 says ..God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Also the Bible says that if God is for us…who can be against us….there is no trouble…there is no sickness…there is no heartbreak……there is no storm in life that God is not right there with us!!
Illus:
Heard a story of a man whose car broke down so, he set out walking to the nearest town. There were no houses or lights to be seen. It was one of those nights it was so dark you could cut it with a knife.
Then a rain storm came up and it began to rain so hard he couldn’t see but a few feet ahead of him. Suddenly a car came up beside him and stopped.
Without thinking, he got in the car and closed the door and it began to take off slowly…then he realized that nobody was behind the wheel. The guy looked and it was coming up on a curve.
Scared to death he started praying, and begging for his life. He was pretty much in shock, when just before he hit the curve, a hand appeared through the window and moved the wheel.
The guy was paralyzed in terror and watched how the hand appeared every time before a curve.
The guy gather his thoughts and the courage and jumped out of the car and ran to the nearest town.
Wet and still in shock, he ran into a tavern and told the bartender to give him two shots of tequila, and started telling everybody about the horrifying experience he went through.
A silence came over the people when they realized the guy was crying and wasn’t even drunk….so he must be telling the truth.About half hour later, two guys walked into the tavern and one said to the other. "Look, that’s the character who climbed into our car while we were pushing it to the gas station.”
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That’s a good joke but God takes everything in our lives serious….He gives us the great privilege of prayer for ourselves and others…and looks upon each one personally.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
***They reached the other side of the Sea of Galilee and Jesus began to teach again and the multitude found Him and was looking for a hand out of food but instead Jesus was trying to convince them that he was the bread of life.
So, He says in verses………54 thru 58
John 6:54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
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This is one of the greatest statements in the Bible….Jesus is not saying they should kill Him and eat Him like an animal….
We are to receive Him just as digesting bread….…we are to believe on Him and receive the Holy Spirit that gives us life eternal.
We look upon the blood of Jesus as the spotless Lamb of God that was slawdered for a final sacrifice for the sins of the world.
There is no other way to look at it……it’s all about our sins and forgiveness through Jesus.
Its spiritual….its all about our sprit…not our flesh…look at what Jesus says next…
John 6:59 These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.
60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?
62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
It is the Spirit that makes us alive; the flesh profits nothing….this old body is going in the ground but our spirit will live forever either in Heaven or in Hell.
Jesus said The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Remember what John said back in chapter 1….the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,
Jesus brought the Word of the good news ….the gospel….He brought life through His blood shed on the cross….He brought a plan to the human race to mend the relationship with God once again.
He spoke the world into existents…..He could easily speak it out of existents…..the same God who spoke and everything that’s created ….stepped out of eternity and into the time that He created and became flesh like me and you …. the only reason He did was to pay for our sins….because for God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever would believe on Him would have eternal life….Jesus only ask us to believe……lets verse at 64 thru 69
John 6: 64 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.
65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.
First verse 65… remember now, you have to put with that “for whosoever will.” …we have a choice
So not to be confused with that verse back up to verse 44 of John 6 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
But some no matter what happens is not going to believe….not going to come to Jesus when God draws them.
66…From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
It’s the ones when persecution comes…they walk away from Jesus…in that day they were looking for free food and a hand out……today some look for recognition as a good fellow in society by going to church but, they are not following Jesus….those are following the fleshly desires also.
Those that walk away were not saved in the first place.
Jesus asks His disciples in verse 67…..will you also go away?
Apostle Peter says it all….and by the way he answers the Lord before Penncost…before he receive the Holy Spirit….. Peter says…. to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
The worlds in a mess…..other religions want to kill you and me….destroy us…..our county is on the verge of collapse ….we cant say the truth without being persecuted …sometimes by our own Christian brothers and sisters
To whom shall we go?......Jesus has the words of eternal life……where else can we go….who else can we put our faith in?....where could I go but to the Lord.
