Classic Christianity – Book of John Part 29 (06-04-19)
Bob George teaches from John 6. Bob shares that the humble of heart are the ones the Father gives to Jesus, whom the Father draws and enables to be saved. The humble have come to the end of themselves, their philosophy, their religion, or their best efforts. Their circumstances, such a divorce or loss of income, and world view of life all came crashing down on them to lead them to the point of despair or frustration. They humbled themselves and said to God, “I can’t but you can”. Now they are ready to turn to Jesus for the answer to life, that Jesus alone is the way, the truth, and the life. But God resists the proud. The proud will not see God. The Father will not give the proud to Jesus for they will not trust him, they do not see their need of him and do not want Him. The proud is satisfied with their religion or tradition or insist that there are many ways to God. For the Father only gives to Jesus those who are humble of heart, for they are the ones ready to listen to Him so as to trust him to receive new life.
When you are asking the question, “What do you do for Jesus?” The answer is you trust him. You believe in him. The 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 teaching 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 people 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.
So the Jews have just been faced head on with the truth and yet say, “maybe or could be”. Maybe? How much evidence do you need? That is the way man is. Jesus is saying to us, “You are looking at me and you still are not going to believe. Today people hear about Jesus. Who responds to Jesus? The humble do. How do you get humble? Sometimes we just fall flat on our face. Trials and circumstances of life can make you humble. A divorce or loss of income can make you humble. Anything can make you humble. Simply realizing that I cannot do what I know I ought to do or I cannot stop doing what I know I ought to stop doing can make you humble. You will not come to him until come to the point of humility that says, “I cannot do it”. That is what happened to Matt who was working himself to death trying to please God. Bob identifies with that. It is like a hamster in a cage, not going any place but making good time. You have this attitude of heart, “This is not working. I can’t do this”. Now you are ready for the place in your life to say to Jesus, “I can’t but you can”.
John 6:37
37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
The Father must give to Jesus who he chooses to give to Jesus. Some people interpreted this way, “Then God chooses who he wants to be saved.” This is the teaching of Calvinism, that he chose Billy but not Sally. Let us look again. Who does God give grace to? The humble. Who does God give to Jesus? The humble. Who does He not give to Jesus? The proud. Why? Because they will not believe in Jesus. He knows whose heart is humble and those who are proud as a rock. But those who have been made humble, by whatever means, those are the ones He will give to Jesus to save them.
There are three element of the Father’s business; giving men to Jesus, drawing them and then enabling them, in order they may be saved by the receiving of new life.
John 6:37
37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
The Father gives the humble to Jesus. The ones who come to Jesus are the humble.
John 6:44
44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.
The Father must draw the humble.
John 6:65
65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”
The Father must enables the humble to come to Jesus..
Who is he doing that to? The humble of heart. Come to the end of your religious journey. Come to the end of giving an appearance of who I am not. Come to the end of being hypocritical. Humbled by the fact that you cannot do it. Bob recalled his former days when he looked in the mirror and could not love anybody. He looked in the mirror and said, “What is wrong with me? Why do you not have love that you see in other people? Why can’t I love Amy the way I should? Why can’t I love the kids with depth of love? Why?” That is what brought Bob to the end of himself. It was not his drinking, but his inability to love. Bob told Amy, “I love you as much as I can love any human being, and it is not very much.” He as being honest. Bob did not think anything wrong with Amy but rather something wrong with him. Bob said he could not be the kind of man he wants to be, not just who God wants him to be.
It was July, 1969 when Bob came to Jesus. Bob testifies of a change in him. He changed from a man who never cried to a man with a sensitivity and love for others. God gave him something new he never had before. He now has consideration for other people. He testified of having a heart tenderized that now knows how to cry.
Ezekiel 36:26
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
John 6:37-38
37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
What is the will of the Father? The will of him who sent me. Who are those? Those humbled by the circumstances of life, willing to listen.
John 6:65
65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”
Prior to that time just going through the motions.
What humbles us? Our failures. I cannot be the kind of man I want to be. That humbles you.
John 6:37-38
37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
That was true to the very end of his life.
Luke 22:42-43
42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
John 6:39
39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.
So the will of the Father is to lose none of those who the Father gave him. Who are they? The humble.
What humbles us? Our failures. I cannot be the kind of man I want to be. That humbles you.
John 6:37-38
37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
That was true to the very end of his life.
Luke 22:42-43
42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
John 6:39
39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.
What does that tell us about our salvation? This is the will of the Father. Jesus is saying, “This is the will of God who sent me to earth. When you come to me by faith, I will lose none of you and I will raise them up at the last day.”
John 6:40
40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
Notice that Jesus said, “at the last day”. He did not say, “in the last day” for that would be the end times. He said, “at the last day”. When is your last day? The day you die. Our brother Wayne died. We saw the dead body, but he was not here. Where was he? With the Father for God raised him up at the last day.
John 6:40b
and believes in him shall have eternal life
He did not say and is baptized, joined the church, and lived a good life will have eternal life. He did not say speaks in tongues and performs miracles will have eternal life.
He said that everyone who simply looks to the Son and believes, puts his faith, in him shall have eternal life.
What did Jesus come to do? He came to take away the sins of the entire world at the cross and to be raised again to give life to you and me, life eternal.
John 6:41
41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”
What kind of heart did that message fall on? A proud heart that says, “You are not talking my religion. This is not what my religion is teaching. I want something else.
I am following my traditions, my interpretation of the bible. You are coming and saying my interpretation is wrong and that just goes against my pride.”
So they grumble again. They were grumbling because he was saying he is the bread that came down from heaven. But what they are really grumbling about is when he said that when you believe in me you will have eternal life. We always go to another realm instead of getting to the root of what our problem is.
John 6:42
42 They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”
This is Mary’s little boy? How can he say that?
43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.
Who does the Father give to Jesus? The humble.
Who does the Father draw to Jesus? The humble and he knows who the humble are.
And he says he will raise them up at the last day.
