Classic Christianity – Book of John Part 28 (06-03-19)
Bob George continues teaching from the gospel of John. Currently, he is reading from John 6, picking up after where Jesus just fed five thousand men, not including women and children, on a few loaves of bread and two fish. This whole section here is the key to understanding who you are in Christ Jesus. As you read John 6, notice the response of the Jews. They did not seek to know God but only sought Jesus to have their bellies filled. Seek spiritual food that endures unto eternal life. Let us not seek the Holy Spirit, the Father or an experience but get to know Jesus, that He is God. Do not be proud of heart, but ask the Lord to reveal Himself to you. God look at the attitudes of your heart and not as man sees. He wants to give new life to you. Consider what Jesus is trying to reveal to man about himself, that he is dead and in need of life. That is why he came from heaven, for man to recognize his state of spiritual death and come to Christ for new spiritual food that endures to eternal life. Jesus truly is God in the flesh, as the miracles testify, and he was sent to rescue man. For those in Christ Jesus, we are to walk by faith in who He is and walk by the same Spirit in Christ Jesus who only did what he saw His Father doing and only spoke what His Father told him to say. Ponder over John 15 on the parable of the vine and the branches that Jesus shared with his disciples. Allow Jesus to live His life in you and through you.
John 6:22
The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone.
After feeding of the five thousand, and the disciples going back to other side of the shore without Jesus, they were about three or four miles in the middle of the lake, and a storm came up, and in the evening they saw Jesus walking on the water. In the midst of that Peter thought he might as well do that himself. While he was focusing on Jesus, he was walking on water. But when his got his eyes off Jesus and onto the waves, he immediately sank. But Jesus reached out and picked him up and restored him. Jesus calmed the storm, got into the boat and with his disciples reached the other side.
John 6:23-25
23 Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus. 25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
The truth is they did not care when he got there. What they were interested in is if they had any more food for them. Jesus told them why they really were looking for him, knowing their hearts.
John 6:26
26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.
They did not care when Jesus got there. People are coming to Jesus for what he can do for them instead of coming to Jesus for who he is. In essence, Jesus is saying to them, “You negated the signs, the miracle of what happened, and all you are enthralled with is the fact you ate loaves and had your fill.” And their response is: “I do not care how you pulled it off, that is irrelevant. What I am concerned with is I got my belly fully and I want more”.
Is that not how we are? You get and you want more. Someone once asked Rockefeller, “How much will it take for you to be happy?” He replied, “Just a little bit more.” So that is how we are in life. We get a little success and then we want more. We are never satisfied with what we have. We are never grateful for what we have. We are always looking for the more.
That is precisely what is happening here with these people. Jesus exposes this. The law looks on the outside. Jesus came to look under the skin. The reasons for his ministry for three years was not just to set an example for what grace is but to show us how we really are under the skin. The law deals with the actual act of adultery, but Jesus said this to expose the inner thoughts of man.
Matthew 5:27-28
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
But Paul found the secret of contentment in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:11-13
11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
So Jesus is getting under the skin, where we live. We can all say we are not doing something on the outside, but Jesus is saying, “What are you thinking in the inside?” If you can stand before God in your righteousness knowing that He will or would gauge you based on what you are thinking, how many of you would be anxious to go there?
Romans 3:20
Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
We can gut it out and stop the act, but God looks on the heart. Man looks on the outside but God looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). He looks to see what is going on. That is not bad news. That is good news. Jesus looks to see about what is going on in the inside? The best news for you and me is honest news. Until I can honestly see that in my flesh there is no good thing, and comes to grips with that, then I am not being honest with the truth concerning my condition in sin, which is death.
Ephesians 2:1-3
1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
As Paul said, “What a wretched man I am!” Not a good man that I am, not basically a good man but a wretched man.
Romans 7:23-25
23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
I must see that in my flesh there is no good thing. You need to recognize, like Paul, what a wretched man I am in my flesh, and say, “Who will free me from this bondage of sin and death?” and come back with glorious proclamation, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ my Lord. He has set me free.”
Romans 8:1-4
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Why is that so? God has set me free from the law of sin and death. We came to the truth that we needed help. That is what Christ came to this earth for. John 6 is a phenomenal chapter on spiritual truth here. This whole section here is the key to understanding who you are in Christ Jesus.
God look at the motives of men’s hearts. What is your and my motive? Did we come to Christ to get healed? Did we come to Christ to get a miracle? Did we come to Christ because he is able to perform a miracle. Jesus is greater than the miracle. A sentence is greater than a word. A chapter is greater than a paragraph. A book is greater than a chapter. A library is bigger than the book.
Let us understand the truth of this. We look at what Jesus did but we do not recognize he is the one who did it. God wants to elevate our thinking beyond the physical realm and look at spiritual truth that brought it about.
John 6:26
26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.
Jesus essentially told them, “You are not even looking at me because you saw a miracle but because you ate. You are a step below the miracle”.
John 6:27a
27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.”
There are two kinds food. There is physical food that keeps you and me alive, bread and water that you cannot live without it. Then there is spiritual food. Man in our minds cannot get our eyes, ears or mind wrapped around the spiritual. We are always thinking of the physical. The kind of food Jesus is talking about will enable you to endure to eternal life, which the son of man will give you. Anybody can give you food. The store can give you food. The farmer can give you food. But only Christ can give you eternal life.
John 6:27b-28
27b “For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?
Upon me, Jesus, He has placed his seal of approval. Did they get it? No. So they asked, “What must we do in order to please God?” How many of you asked that question, “What must I do to please God?” Meeting among other believers, Bob is asked that question. A person responds, “I still do not know if I am pleasing God.”
John 6:29
Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
You hear Jesus words but you do not understand. So you ask, “I do not think you understood my question? What must we do to do the work God requires?” God says, “I understood your question well, and I gave you the answer to it. I am way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father except through me.”
John 14:6
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Jesus is saying, “That is why the work the Father requires is for you to believe in me.”
You hear this question often. “What must I do to do the works of God?” The church says you need to get busy. Sick em for Jesus. Get busy. Do this and do that. We become a do-do religion. Everything is do-do, and it stinks from God’s view point.
Bob was working as evangelism minister and recalls a day when a Pastor asked a man, an owner of a clothing store, to come to his church on Sunday and testify of his coming to Christ. The pastor turned to Bob and said, “This is a phenomenal business man. He owns clothing stores all over the city. He knows how to get things done. You take him and get him business, getting him working for the church”. The man said to the pastor, “I do not need a job. I need the Lord”. Bob recalled this incident, looking in the face of Matt, and made up his mind that there is something more to the Christian life than being busy for Jesus.” The words of the man echoed in his heart, “I do not need a job. I need the Lord”.
When you are asked the question, “What do you do for Jesus?” The answer is you trust him. You believe in him. There very Jesus who gave his life for you is the same Jesus who gave his life to you. The reason he gave his life to you was to live his life through you. If I am going to allow Jesus to live his life through me then I have to get out of the way. I get out of action and let him get in action on my behalf. I have to realize that if Jesus wants me to live a life of faith then I got to do like Jesus did. I do not do anything unless the Father tells me to do. I do not say anything until the Father tells me to say it. Jesus said, “As the Father sent me so I send you” (John 20:21).
John 20:21
Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
That is how you live your life, like a branch. Jesus explained this new life in John 15.
John 15:1-8
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
How does a branch live his life? By abiding in the life of the vine. If a branch asked the vine, “What do you do to do the work of a vine?” Believe in me. Real simple, isn’t it? Abide in me. You will bear the fruit but you cannot produce it. You cannot do that unless indwelt by the one who produces the work? That is the key. Are you indwelt by the one who produces the work? If you are not, then you have to produce it. You are either going to produce it or ignore it. But if indwelt by the one who produces it, then you can relax and be yourself and quit acting like a Christian or a heathen, either one, and to relax and to let Jesus live his life in you and through you. Be yourself. God gave you fingerprints that are unique to you. Allow you to be you and he will lead you in his paths of righteousness, if you let him. If you are not trusting Him, then you have no option except to be led by the flesh.
Galatians 5:16-18
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
If you are walking in the Spirit then you will not carry out the desires of flesh. So if you are walking in the Spirit, who’s desires will you be fulfilling? The desires of the Spirit. Not complicated. We just made it complicated by trying to get in the way of Christ, who alone can live his life in and through us.
John 6:29-30
29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?
What are these guys really saying? They are saying, “I am just interested in what you are saying. What miraculous signs will you give that we may see and believe you?” Their hearts are still back pondering over food. They haven’t left the table yet. They are just asking questions around it because they do not want to say what they are really thinking. This is what they are really thinking, “I came over here just to get food so I am saying all these other things. What will you really do to feed our bellies?
John 6:31-32
31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.
There is physical bread and there is true bread. What happens to physical bread over time ? It rots. What will happen to spiritual bread? It endures to eternal life.
Jesus is saying, “I am showing you spiritual things with a physical illustration. You are not getting it but hopefully some day you will.”
John 6:33
33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
Who is that bread of God? Jesus! The bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven. Jesus did not start here on earth. He is eternal before all things existed. Jesus was always there. So in the plan of God, He sent the son of God to earth, who gives life to the world.
Why does the world need life? Because they are dead. You give life to someone who is dead. That should tell something about your condition, to those Jesus talking to then and to us today. Until you accept life sent down from heaven you remain dead. You are alive physically but dead spiritually.
John 6:34
34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
They are still not getting it. They are saying this without spiritual understanding. They are saying, “Whatever this bread you have, whether a bagel or whatever, just give me some of it.”
John 6:35
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
Jesus says that he is the bread of life, one of the seven “Great ‘I Am’s”.
Jesus is saying, “I am your sustenance. I am the one you can live on. He who comes to me will never ever ever grow hungry. You can eat bread and in a few hours be hungry again. When you feed upon me you will never be hungry again. Every desire of your heart will be satisfied in Jesus.”
Is that true in your own life? Always looking for something? There is something that is missing, but when you come to Jesus, you find what you are looking for. And when you found what you are looking for, you are not looking anymore. Nothing to look for anymore. People out there seeking the Holy Spirit, seeking more of the Holy Spirit or a second baptism. Why are you looking for the Holy Spirit if he is living in you? If somebody is living in you, what are you seeking him for? You cannot get more of what you already have. People out looking for the Father. Jesus said, “My Father and I are one. If you have me you have the Father”. What are you seeking the Father for? Jesus said, “If you have me you have the Father.” Well they say, I am seeking an experience just like they were. Give me some more bread?
John 6:36
36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.
To another man, Jesus said:
Luke 16:31
“He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
You would not believe me even if someone was raised from the dead!
John 5:46
If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.
And you do not believe Moses either. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote abut me
Jesus is our life. He is identified as the bread of life. He is our sustenance.
John 6:35
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
You can seek a deeper relationship with Christ but you will not be going to seek it through another identity. You are not going to get a deeper relationship with Christ by seeking the Holy Spirit, seeking the Father, or by seeking an experience. I am going to get a deeper relationship with God by seeking Jesus. Seeking Him is getting to know Him. I do not need to look for for He is here. He lives in my heart and He has given me His word. Everything I need to grow in my knowledge of Christ Jesus is in my heart, in my eyes and my ears and in the book He gave to us. There is not anything to seek. Just begin to access Him through what He has given me.
John 6:36
36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.
People standing and looking in the face of God himself and still have not believed. Blessed are those who have not seen yet believe (John 20:29). How can you see miracles this man has done and turn your back on it? Bob said he could show you the most magnificent site in your life and you will never see it. The Grand Canyon is a most beautiful site and yet you could never see it. How? Turn your back on it.
Remember God gives grace to the humble but resists the proud.
James 4:6
But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
The proud in heart will not see God! What does the proud do? Turn their back. The proud turns his back. Jesus came to give us grace and truth (John 1:14). Pride says, “I do not need grace and I will figure it out myself. I do not need truth. I am educated. I do not deal in absolutes. I deal in relativity. There are no absolutes and for that I am absolutely sure. I do not deal in absolutes. I deal in relative things. I am broad-minded and tolerant. I believe in many ways to God. I believe in all kinds of things. I do not need your truth Jesus. You are narrow-minded, Jesus. You are bigoted. You are dogmatic. I hate dogmatic people. I wish I could balance my books with 2 + 2 = 5. I have not been able to do that but wish I could. Too dogmatic. I do not like those things. I like relative things. That is more intellectual.”
Psalm 10:4
In his pride the wicked man does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.
Proverbs 16:5
The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.
2 Thessalonians 1:8-10
8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might 10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.
