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Faith Bible Church, Sacramento, CA Sunday Service & Message Pastor John Kane
Well, welcome everybody. Thank you that for those that are here, it could be a part of this time of worship where we're recording for others that aren't able to be here. We just want to be a blessing to them and fellowship as best we can in these difficult times.
God menaced really to be together and to love on each other. And that is that is God's way. And so we're trying to honor him and all things at the same time as best we can. So we're blessed that you're here.
And I wanted to share. We shared this last week. We're going to have a congregational meeting next Sunday right after the morning gathering. And all are welcome is for members. But we also open it up to two active attenders.
So please come out to that. It's going to be kind of a state of the state and where we're at right now. And just just share some things where God has us. And so put that on your calendar. And I see some some new faces here this morning.
Thank you. If you're visiting and we're glad you're here and we hope you're blessed by our worship together. So in you know in these these times these trying times that's that's easy. That's a short way of putting it because it's that's an understatement.
Really it's important for us to trust God. Last week we talked a lot about God's promises and that is absolutely foundational. Part of that foundation is for us to trust him. Do we trust him. He can say all these things.
But do we trust him. Do we have faith that he will do what he's going to do. So I would just encourage you this morning that realizing that trusting God is an active participation. It's an active endeavor and we are to do that.
And we're demonstrating faithfulness just worshiping him today. So Psalm 28 7 says the Lord is my strength and my shield. My heart trusted in him and I am helped. Therefore my heart greatly rejoices and with my song I will praise him.
So let's go before the Lord in prayer. Pray with me please. Lord God we thank you father for allowing us to be together this morning and for the other folks that aren't here today Lord we just ask that you would bless their hearts that you would comfort them that you would for a multitude of reasons and not being here Lord but we just pray that you are in their midst with them.
That they would be calling on you that they would be trusting in you knowing that you are a faithful God and that we can rely on everything that you have told us that you have given us in your word. Thank you for your scripture.
Thank you that we can open up your word today and learn more about your what your will is for each one of our lives. Father for we rely on you for everything and God we thank you for that blessing today.
Lord we ask that you would guide our service our time together father that you would bless Pastor John as he brings what you have laid upon his heart that the truth would pierce our hearts that the Holy Spirit would guide us and instruct us and how we should live and how we should honor and please you father.
Lord may you be glorified may you be honored in everything that we do today that there would be worth and value in all that we do father acknowledging you as the God over all so we commit our time to your care we pray in Jesus name amen.
So if you would stand with me please our worship is in large part we talk about worship that this isn't the only place we worship we we gather and we worship when we're alone meditating when we open God's word we're worshiping and we're driving down the road we're thinking about God we're worshiping him.
So this is our corporate worship but as we display that we pray that we display the worth of God because God is worthy of our adoration of our worship and that we value him above all things in our hearts so God is above it so we're going to sing praise the Savior and we're going to sing in Christ alone in Christ alone because that is where the center of our worship is.
Come forward for scripture reading.
Our scripture reading for this morning is Judges chapter 2 1 through 10. Judges chapter 2 1 through 10. And then an angel of the Lord came up from Georgia to Bokem and said I made you go up out of Egypt and have brought you unto a land which I sought unto your fathers and I said I will never break my covenant with you.
You shall make no league with the heavens of this land. You shall throw down the altars. We have not obeyed my voice. Why have you done this? Wherefore I also said I will not drive them out of or from before you but they shall be as thorns in your sides.
And their gods shall be a snare unto you. And it came to pass when the angel of the Lord spake these words unto all the children of Israel the people lifted up their voice and said erect. And they called the name of that place Bokem and they sacrificed there unto the Lord.
And when Joshua had let the people go the children of Israel went and ran unto his inhabitants to possess the land. And the people saw the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders of Joshua who had seen all the great works of the Lord that he did for Israel.
And Joshua the son of Nun the servant of the Lord died being 110 years old. And he buried him in the border of his inheritance in Tamath. Tamath is in the mount of Ephraim on the north side of the hill Gesh.
And also all the generation from all the generation were gathered there to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them which knew not the Lord nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.
Thank you Jim. I encourage you not to lose your place. Mark that place in your Bible. We'll be going there when we turn to the word of God. But at this time we want to pray for our country and pray for our government with the fires and all the things that are going on.
We need to be praying as Christians for this country. So let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father like Carol just said there this is what you tell us we need to do in the Bible. And we trust your words.
It's authoritative for our lives. And it says do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is. But all the more. As you see the day approaching. And God we look across this country.
And how can we not if we know the scripture if we have any basic fundamental Bible knowledge. How can we not have a sense in our heart that your return could be at any time. So father we do want to obey the scripture and gather together.
There's nothing like it in this life than to be together with other believers and to worship you corporately together. And father we think of our country our president the Supreme Court the Congress. Father our hearts are broken when we think about what's happening in our state.
Father with the recent bills that have gone to the governor's desk. We're just overwhelmed by the evil that is going on around us God. We know that the solution is not a new governor or a new president.
The solution is the good news and the gospel of Jesus Christ. The only thing father that will will turn this country around. And father history tells us it's probably not in the cards. But it's the gospel.
It's a good news.
And God I pray specifically father for Christians around this country. Not that we would just be praying for our country. But father most importantly that we would be salt and light that you've called us to be.
That we would be very sensitive to the gospel. That you would give us gospel opportunities father. And we pray God that you would help all of us with unsaved family members. With neighbors that we talk to that we don't normally talk to.
With cashiers at supermarkets when we go in with masks. God that you would open up doors of opportunity for us as Christians. To truly to be the salt and the light in this world that we need to be God.
We pray for the school systems with this unbelievable task. Of trying to educate children in home over a computer. Churches meeting over computers. And what this is doing to the body of Christ. It's beyond our ability to comprehend God.
But we know that you know all things. Because you're omniscient. And as John chapter 6 says. You know what's going to happen. You have a plan. We don't see it necessarily. There could be a storm another storm.
We think of the thousands and thousands of people that have lost their homes. Even in our the school where I teach part time God. Grandparents up north lost everything father. People with an hour or a half hour to get out of their home.
All of Oregon father 10 of the population. That they're suggesting are going to need to evacuate God. It's beyond our ability to comprehend. So we pray father God for these things. We pray that you would give us as Christians the burden.
Father to pray for these people. To not just pay lip service. But father to be committed to praying for these families God. That are just their lives turned upside down. Just recently with paradise God.
Just two years ago.
And how easy it is to forget. We think about 9 -11. And just the other day father God. To commemorate over 3 ,000 Americans losing their lives. So father we cry out to you. For grace mercy. We cry out to you father.
That you would stir up the love that we have for you. That we might love you truly with all of our heart, mind, soul, strength God. And love our neighbor as ourself God. That you might guide us to do that.
Empower us to do that. We ask these things father. Other things that are represented here. Other needs God. We pray for them. You know what they are. We ask in Jesus name.
Amen.
Pastor John.
Well that was neat wasn't it? Amen. One of the more newer songs. Well if you have your Bible as I warned you. Go to Judges chapter 2. And you're going to have to breathe in for a moment.
Because this week.
You know I'm studying for two messages every Sunday. And in John chapter 6. In preparing for this week. A verse got stuck in my craw. Or craw or whatever you call it. And that's really what I want to preach.
With what's going on in the world. We're going to be in the gospel of John. So if you have your notes. And you're wondering why is Judges chapter 1 verse 1 up there. And why did Jim read from Judges chapter 2.
I'm going to give you the entire Judges message. In about one minute.
Okay.
You ready?
So question.
What's going on in the world today? Look at Judges chapter 2 verse 10. What in the world is going on with the protesting. And the redefinition of marriage. And everything else. Judges chapter 2 verse 10.
When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers. Another generation arose after them. Who did not know the Lord. Nor the work. What's going on with the redefinition of marriage. Is right here.
Now where does this lead? Go to the last chapter of Judges. Judges chapter 21. And go to the very last verse. In the book of Judges. And then we're going to go to the gospel of John. But look at Judges 21, 25.
And look carefully at that verse. In those days. So we're talking about 400 years. The book of Judges takes place over the course of 400 to 440 years. In those days. There was no king in Israel. Everyone.
Did what was right. In their own eyes. What's going on. In the world and in our country today.
It's right here.
Everyone does what is right. In their own eyes.
Now.
God willing, I don't know if it will be next Sunday. Because I really want to encourage you. This business meeting next Sunday is very important. Whether you're a member here or a regular attender. The elders have some important things to share with you.
In terms of pastoral search. And various things like that. So that's next Sunday. So I don't know that I'll have time to preach all of Judges next Sunday. I'll make a decision this week. Whether I'll do that.
But in the meantime. That gives you a snapshot of this book. And what we would have been covering today. But now. Go to John chapter 5. John chapter 5. Verse 17. Now there's a. There's a verse in the book of Hebrews.
Chapter 13 verse 8. That many people quote all the time. Have heard quoted if you've been in church any length of time. It is a fantastic verse that describes the eternality of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it goes like this.
Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.
God's word very clearly and very broadly. From Genesis all the way through to the book of Revelation. God's word teaches us that God is eternal. And there's a whole sermon that you can preach. Just on what does it mean that God is eternal.
Because you go to Genesis for example. Genesis 1 .1. It says in the beginning God. And the reality in the original Hebrew is. There is no beginning with God. Because He's eternal. He always has been. That's why he told Moses.
When Moses said who should I say is sending me in. And he said just tell them what?
I am.
So the Lord Jesus Christ is God. So He is the same yesterday, today and forever. And all three persons of the Godhead are the same. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Always have been. Always are.
And always will be. And the reality is from the beginning of creation. And we can't understand before Genesis 1 .1. Because that's all God has chosen to reveal to us.
Right?
But in the beginning. In the beginning of what? In the beginning of human history. But if God is eternal. How many millions and billions of years did God exist? And what else has He done before Genesis 1 .1?
I can't tell you.
Because God has given us His Word. Holy inspired. Authoritative sufficient. So that's what we know. God is always working. And what an encouraging truth to chew on and meditate on. In the days in which we live.
And what an encouraging and amazing truth to chew on. As we come to John Chapter 6. Which we will in just a moment. Where the Lord Jesus Christ feeds. Probably in excess of 10 ,000 people. Miraculously.
From a couple of loaves and a couple of fishes. 5 ,000 men. But in that day that's how they counted. So there would have been maybe 10 ,000. Because you have wives, single women, kids. Over 10 ,000 people.
Easily.
Probably.
And then He calms a storm that is over the Sea of Galilee. That is threatening this boat that the disciples are in. That are on their way to Capernaum. And they are afraid for their life. And He calms the storm.
He walks on water. But before that. Going back to John 5 .17.
Look at what Jesus says.
Now let me set this up for you. Because Jesus is responding to Jewish people. Who are persecuting Him. For healing on the Sabbath. And telling a man to carry your pallet. His board that he lived on. And you don't do that on the Sabbath.
You don't carry. You don't work. You don't even save your animal from a hole in the ground on the Sabbath. Right? That's how ridiculous the law was. That the Pharisees had come up with. But take a look at John 5 .17.
He tells the Jews that are seeking to persecute Him. My Father has been. Or really the Greek is more. Is working until now. And I have been working. In other words. The Father has been working all this time.
And is working now. And I have been doing the same thing. Now remember what happens in John 2. Jesus turns the water into wine. In John 3. He meets Nicodemus. In John 4. He meets the Samaritan woman by the well.
And remember what he did with John 4. With this woman at the well. He tells her everything about her life. She's been married four or five times. She's living with a man that's not her husband. Remember that?
Never met her in her life. In John 5. He heals a royal official's son. I'm sorry. In John 4. The end of John 4. He heals the royal official's son. In John 5. He heals the lame man that had been lame for over 35 years.
And now in John 6.
This is all Jesus working.
Turning the water to wine. Sharing the gospel with Nicodemus. Talking to the Samaritan woman about her past. And could this be the Messiah? John 4.
The royal official's son.
John 5. The lame man. John 6. Feeding the 5 ,000. John 6. Calming the storm. Walking on water. Jesus is always working. And that's why if you have the notes, you'll see that the sermon title is, Jesus is always working.
And what I want to show you, by God's grace. By God's grace. Is ways in this chapter that we can see that Jesus is always working.
Okay?
Jesus is the same when? Yesterday.
Today.
And forever. Fires.
COVID.
What's going on in your life right now? What kind of trial are you facing right now? What burden did you walk into the church with this morning? Jesus is the same. Yesterday.
He's always working. Let's pray. Father, we need your grace this morning. You know the days in which we live. You know every heart here this morning. It could be a family member that is weighing their heart down.
It could be a financial situation. God, you know. It could be a sadness that they can't even share. So, Lord, I pray that the Holy Spirit would indeed teach us. Open our eyes of understanding. Father, to your word, we pray in Jesus' name.
Amen?
There was a successful businessman who once said he loved problems. And he said, let me quote, Problems are things to be solved. Give me a problem. And somewhere there is a solution. And when we find the solution, somehow we'll find that we're further along in our progress than we were before the problem occurred.
Close quote.
Well, contrary to this man, most people I know, including this guy, we struggle with solving problems. But there is a person who is the best problem solver in history. He has solved the ultimate problem in human history, which is sinful man separated from a holy God.
And it goes without saying that this same person can deal with my daily difficulties, your daily difficulties and dilemmas. And this person happens to know, get this, this person happens to know the solution to every problem before the problem even exists.
How about that? He knows the solution to the problem in advance of the problem even happening. And he knows this because he's omniscient. And he knows everything and he's always working. And see, these are the kind of truths about the Lord Jesus Christ that are really the setting for the verse that we're going to look at this morning.
Because so much of what happens in John chapter 6 kind of orbits around this whole idea, this whole truth, this whole kingdom truth, kingdom truth, Bible truth, that Jesus is always working. And look at verse 6 in John chapter 6.
John chapter 6. Look at verse 6. What an interesting verse. He's talking to Philip. Actually look at verse 5 just to give you the context. Jesus lifted up his eyes. He sees this great multitude coming towards him, which is his regular event in his life.
He said to Philip, where shall we buy bread that these may eat? Look at verse 6 carefully. But this he, Jesus said to test him, Philip, for he himself knew what he would do. Now don't get thrown off because when it says in verse 6 that Jesus is testing him, he's not tempting him to sin.
Because God never tempts. He can't be tempted by evil because God is 100 holy. James 1 and other verses let us know he doesn't tempt us, right? What tempts us? Our flesh, the world, and Satan. Not God.
God never tempted Job. Who tempted Job?
Satan.
With God's permission. Okay, so that's a whole sermon, right? I don't have time to preach it. But I just want you with me to think about the implications of this verse. See, we can truly lift this verse out of this passage and apply it all to life.
We can apply it to any problem or to any decision or to any need or to any discouragement or to our future. Because in our sovereignty, the Lord, I'm sorry, in his sovereignty, in his goodness and his love, God may allow things in our lives.
They may challenge us or test us. But listen, the Lord already has in mind what he's going to do. Will you think about that for a moment? What burden did you come into church with today? What kind of problem is on your heart?
You see, this theme of a loving God always at work in all things is what I want to explore this morning. Because this truth about the Lord Jesus Christ that you see, please look at it for yourself. He himself, Jesus, knew.
He knew how much, how many people were there. He knew what this little boy had with him that we'll read about in a moment. He knew what he would do. Jesus knows the future as well as he knows the past.
He knows the solutions as well as he knows the problem. He knows the answers as well as he knows the questions. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And at this moment in time, and in every moment of time, he knows what he's going to do.
Jesus is omniscient. He's omnipotent. He's eternal. He is the God that says to us, is there anything that is too difficult for me? An answer?
No.
I don't care what we came in with this morning. I don't care what the wolves are facing with their little boy. He knows what he's going to do. He is the one who already has in mind what he's going to do in any given circumstance or situation.
I think I already said this, a family in our school, their grandparents lost their home. They sent the pictures to the school, and the school distributed those pictures to the teachers. You know, we don't have any students.
We're teaching over a computer screen, the weirdest thing you ever had to do. And they had the pictures of the home. There was nothing. The fire was so hot, it incinerated everything, everything except the steel thing over the top of their fireplace was laying there.
And then at the end of the school year, in June, one of the sweetest ladies in our school, her husband was involved in a serious car accident. He's paralyzed from the neck down. This family of five, four kids, husband and wife, are living in the garage of somebody's home.
They don't know that he will ever walk again or talk again. Beloved, what did you walk into this church building with this morning or leave at home? What kind of problem? Jesus already has in mind what he's going to do in our future, in my future, your future, in the future of the United States, in the world, in the entire galaxy of our concerns.
And what a truth to rest in because Jesus already knows right now what's going to happen when the President of the United States lands at McClellan Air Force Base tomorrow. And what's going to happen the day after that.
He already has in mind what he's going to do with Philip and these thousands of people. So let's look a little deeper into this passage, right? And look at some applications that John the Apostle, one of the inner circle of three, some of the applications that he makes of verse 17 in chapter 5 and verse 6 in chapter 6.
Jesus is always working, always working, always. I don't always work. You know what's going to happen to me about 145 this afternoon? My family's going to look at me and they're going to see in my eyes.
And they don't even, they say, I don't even have to say anything.
Bye, Dad.
Bonk. I'm not always working. Jesus is always working. And he knows what he's going to do. Number one, the truth that Jesus is always working is seen in how he's always meeting our needs. Follow along in your notes.
The kingdom truth that lets us know and debt and shows us that Jesus is always working is seen in how he's always meeting people's needs. And we can see this in verses 1 through 15. Jesus demonstrates his love and his care and his concern with this amazing miracle where he feeds well over 5000 people.
And he already has in mind what he's going to do. And look at verse 1. After these things, the things that happened in chapter 5, after these things, Jesus went over to the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.
Now, if you go to Luke's Gospel, which we don't have time to do, what happens here occurs in a remote area near the town of Bethsaida, the northeast shore of the Sea of Galilee. I don't have the maps for the PowerPoint this morning, but you can just go in the back of your Bible and look at the map of Israel.
But look at verse 2. Then a great multitude followed him. Now, this goes all the way back. If you read the first five chapters, it's amazing how this all ties together. A great multitude was following him because they saw the signs which he had performed on those who were diseased.
And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. Now, the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. Then Jesus lifted up his eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward him, said to Philip, Where shall we buy bread that these may eat?
But this he said to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Now, you remember how this turns out. Andrew, one of the disciples in verse 8 that we never hear about. This is about, I heard a whole sermon on Andrew one time.
And this is all that we know about him, other than his name is in the Bible, Simon Peter's brother. There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish. But see, all the way through John up to now, everything is always in the natural.
With the woman at the well, Jesus is talking about living water, remember? But she's like, But I'm thirsty. Give me some of this. Nicodemus, How can a man be born again? So, Jesus is always talking on the spiritual level.
And the people are always like, Help me here. I'm thirsty. I don't want to lower the bucket down anymore into the well. It's hysterical. Nicodemus could not wrap his mind around this whole thing. He was freaked out.
And he was a ruler of the Jews. So, these guys are like, Wait a minute. This is all we have. So, Jesus gives thanks. He sits down. He gives thanks to God. And he begins breaking up the loaves. And he begins passing out the fish.
And it never stops. I would have loved to have been there. Right? Because you've got these couple of fish and this little boy. And here's Jesus. I mean, what happened? Did the bucket get bigger? I mean, what happened, right?
And this stuff just keeps coming out, and coming out, and coming out, and coming out. And most scholars would agree at least 10 ,000 people because you're talking about wives, and kids, and single women.
And then notice it says there's 12 baskets left over. They gathered them and filled 12 baskets. One guy said, more than one guy, that's probably for the disciples. Then look at the response, verse 14, to all of this.
Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, this is truly the prophet who is coming into the world. This is the guy that we've been waiting for for hundreds of years. So, here is another evidence and proof of Jesus' claim to be Israel's promised Messiah.
And keep in mind that Jesus can feed 5 ,000 as easily as He could feed 5, right? The Bible tells us to pray for our daily bread, right? And it warns us against worrying about not having enough. So, we can trust Jesus for our needs, whether it's physical, whether it's emotional, whether it's mental, or whether it's spiritual.
Amen? There's a lady that wrote, let me quote, My late husband was an incurable romanticist. Amen, ladies? Yeah, that was fine the first couple of years. Every birthday, wedding anniversary, or holiday, oh boy, I don't know if I want to share this.
Every birthday, every wedding, every holiday was an occasion for, I know what it says, I was just being funny. Was an occasion for him to give me a gift. And I received many I could write about. But the one I have chosen was one that at the time I really didn't love.
My favorite flowers are, and always have been, roses. He gave me roses. Red roses, yellow roses, pink roses, coral roses. Many different kinds of roses on different occasions because he knows how much I love them.
And I enjoy flowers, especially roses. But eventually they wither and die. Then for some unexplained reason, one birthday, he gave me a dozen beautiful silk roses. Why? I wondered. Hadn't he given me live flowers?
I tried to act appreciative. Oh, thank you, honey. But I resented artificial roses. Anyway, I put them in a vase, put them in my dining room table for quite a long time. As time went by, I got very tired of seeing those artificial roses.
And blowing the dust off of them. I'm quoting this lady, by the way. So I boxed them up and left them hidden in a closet. He probably never even noticed that I had hidden them away. Then one day he passed away quite suddenly, unexpectedly.
After his death, I had forgotten about the red roses that he gave me. One day while I was in the closet looking for something, I found them in a box that I had carefully stored away up in a corner. I brought out the box and arranged the red silk roses in a vase.
Thankful that I still had the roses for my dear John that would never wither or die away. See, the Lord knew in advance what the future held. And maybe he prompted that husband to buy her those silk roses.
In advance. Maybe it was the Lord's way of meeting her need. Knowing that he was not long for this world. You see, our loving Savior already had in mind what he was going to do here. With these loaves and fishes.
And these thousands and thousands of people. Number two. The truth that Jesus is always working is seen by how he stills our storms. Which you find in verses 16 through 20. You see, we can say secondly that the Lord already has in mind what he's going to do in stilling our storms.
Verse 16. Now, when evening came, his disciples went down to the sea. Now, the other Gospels, I don't have time to have us turn to each parallel account of this. But it tells us that the disciples and Jesus were exhausted at this point.
They'd been traveling. He'd been teaching. So, Jesus tells his disciples to get in a boat and start across the Sea of Galilee. He dismisses the crowds. He sends them home. And Jesus goes up the side of the mountain.
Most likely to pray. But from his perch, and if you see a map of the Sea of Galilee topographically, there's mountains that surround the sea. And they run right down to the Sea of Galilee. So, he probably went up on the side of the hill and was looking out over the Sea of Galilee.
And he sees his disciples struggling to make progress, rowing across the Sea of Galilee. There's a storm. The waters start to get rough. Even to this very day, storms are very common on the Sea of Galilee.
Severe storms. And then John gives us this abbreviated version of what happens in verse 17. They got into a boat. They went over the sea towards Capernaum, which would have been on the northeast shore.
And it was already dark. And Jesus had not come to them. Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing. Now, this is a real account. This happened. But it can also be taken in a parabolic sense.
In the sense of a parable. Where sometimes we find ourselves in a place where the skies are dark. Where the winds are contrary and the seas are rough. And if you think about it for a moment, isn't weather often an accurate metaphor for life?
You know, some mornings, some mornings we wake up and there isn't a cloud in the sky.
Other mornings, we wake up, and man, there's a storm blowing. I'm hearing thunder and lightning. Sometimes those storms come and go. Other times they can be intense and destructive. But listen, when it comes to the weather, there's very little we can do about it.
Try flying a kite without wind sometime. Some of my worst experiences as a parent was buying kites, going to the park, and trying to fly a kite. I don't know what it was. I felt like I was cursed of God sometimes.
Because the wind is blowing when we leave the house. Ask my kids. They say, don't tell me about it. They never want to fly a kite again as long as they live. They never want to see a kite. Because it's blowing wind.
We go to the park, and it stops.
So I'm running down the park as fast as I can.
I can get it up. Oh, there's a little gust.
Life can be just as unpredictable. They're sitting there going, yep, that's true. I hope I never see another kite. But that's another story. Some days are almost problem free, right? Some days are like vacation days.
Other days, there's clouds, there's overcast, and some days are downright destructive. But here in the middle of the darkest time of the night, in the middle of stormy weather, when the disciples are frightened, and if you actually look at the verse, in verse 19 it says,.
They were afraid.
That's a strong word in the Greek. They weren't just like casually afraid. They were afraid. And look what happens at verse 19. When they had rolled about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat.
And here it is. They were afraid. The other gospel writers talk about the fact that the disciples thought they saw a ghost, but look what Jesus says. It is I. Do not be afraid. I don't know what you came to church with this morning.
Ask yourself that. Are you like Mr. and Mrs. Wolf this morning that maybe went to church and their little boy is in the hospital with leukemia? Maybe you got a phone call this week. It is I. Do not be afraid.
And you see, this is one of the wonderful things about daily Bible reading and devotions. If you're in a crisis, you're overwhelmed, and you're in daily Bible reading, you've got your Bible open every single day, and you're in that crisis, and you come across this verse.
It is I. Do not be afraid. Those words can speak to you personally, and as powerfully as when Jesus said it to the disciples, they willingly received Him into the boat. Jesus is always working. We see evidence of this in how He daily and is always meeting our needs.
We see it in how He stills the storms of life and number three, we see evidence and proof of how Jesus is always working by how He is constantly guiding our lives. Look at verse 21. Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and this is very interesting.
Look carefully. And immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.
Now, this is interesting.
Because we don't know if the boat immediately coming to the land is a miracle or not, right? It's possible the disciples in their confusion or fear, because John was with them and he's writing the Gospel, they were closer to the land than they realized, that Jesus reached them just as they were pulling up to the shore.
In the other Gospels though we get this idea that they were more in the middle of the Sea of Galilee. But whatever the case if you look carefully Jesus already had in His mind where He wanted them to be, when He wanted them to be there, and how He wanted them to be there, safe and sound.
And the comfort and encouragement and hope we can have from the fact that you and I may be unaware of the future, but the Lord already has in mind where and how He wants us to lead us and when He wants us to lead us there.
Some of you know, maybe two people here besides myself, I had to wait a year for Janet. I talked to her one day about an interest and she said over my dead body, seriously, in your dreams, click. I can't remember how many times in my life I've been confused about my future, maybe you have.
And we pray and we look back and we can say and we can share a testimony that our Savior has led us the song, Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us, the song we're going to close our service with, I Run to Christ.
What a wonderful Savior Christ has for sin atonement made. What a wonderful Savior. Whether we're young or old, we need guidance from the Lord every day of our lives. We need Him to lead us in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
We need Him to get us safely to our destination, to the other shore at the right time in the right way, following the right path. The Lord already has in mind what He is going to do in guiding a believer's life.
And then number four, we have time. We can also see how Jesus is always working and is bringing people to salvation. Now, it gets interesting because over in verse 28, the truth that the Lord already has in mind what He's going to do is demonstrated and seen by how He is going to save our souls and give us eternity.
Now, I don't know about you guys, but I've baptized a few people in my ministry over the years, okay, and I've seen people baptized. I've led, I've had the privilege of leading a few people to Christ in my years as a Christian.
Victor and Barb could probably get up and give testimony to this. I have never heard, never heard a salvation testimony the same as another salvation testimony. They're all unique. They're all unique.
No salvation testimony is ever the same. And in this next section, it's the next day, the crowds catch up to Jesus and the disciples. And in verse 29, Jesus addresses the multitude and He says to them, this is the work of God.
And look carefully at this verse. This is the work of God that you believe in Him whom He sent. Now, if you know anything about this gospel up to this point in the gospel, it's gospel appointment after gospel appointment after gospel appointment.
Nicodemus, the woman at the well, the royal official's son, the lame man by the pool of Bethsaida in Jerusalem, it's gospel appointment after gospel appointment after gospel appointment, right? And Jesus' life on this earth was going about doing His Father's work.
And what was His Father's work? The miracles? It was bringing the good news. He was mad. Remember He rebuked them, you come for the miracles.
But He said, right here, this is the work of God.
Hey, I'm doing all these miracles. I fed the thousands, right? I calmed the storm. But here is why I am here, that you believe in Him whom He sent. Now, this is so important because there's a little two-letter word after the word believe.
Do you see it?
Believe in Him. This changes the meaning of the word believe. When you believe something... Now, wait a minute. When you believe something, basically when you believe something, you give an intellectual assent to it.
We believe that this rope will hold us up. We put the ladder up against the side of the house, and we're looking at the ladder, and we believe that the ladder will support our climbing on the roof.
Isn't that right, Jim?
When you do some roof work, or clean out the gutters? You believe. I saw Victor one time, I came in here, he was on a ladder, and I bet Barb would have killed him if she knew. Right here in the middle of this floor, he was up there working on those projectors, and this thing is going like this.
What is it with these guys? I had one of those. He went home to glory, like you. On the top of the ladder, on the church steeple, working on the cross, everybody's sitting there going, Dear God.
Everybody pray, quick, Jim.
Victor's on the ladder. Okay, I believe the ladder will hold me, right? But watch. It doesn't say believe.
It says believe in.
See, believe in goes deeper, because it implies a sense of personal commitment and confidence and trust. It means that we are willing to grab the rope, or we are willing to go up the ladder. And the point is, it is not just enough to believe Jesus.
I mean, they believed he was the prophet, right? This has to be the prophet. Because why? Because he does all these miracles. It's not just to have an intellectual assent. Listen, I'm talking to you this morning.
You might be here, and you believe Jesus. You know he existed historically. But do you believe in him? You see, Herod believed in him. I'm sorry, Herod believed him. Pilate believed him. We must personally believe in him and trust him as our Lord and Savior.
Jesus said to the people, look at verse 29.
This is the work of God,.
That you believe in him who he sent. Therefore they said to him, What sign will you perform then that we may see it and believe you?
Notice it doesn't say believe in. What work will you do?
Our fathers ate the manna in the desert, as it is written, he gave them bread from heaven to eat. Then Jesus said, Most assuredly I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven, for the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.
You see, they're thinking physical, right? All the way through this gospel,.
It's always physical.
How can a man be born again? Give me some of this water so I don't have to come out here and lower my bucket. It's constantly coming back to this whole thing. They're missing the point of the manna in the wilderness.
Let me connect the dots for you. Let me connect the dots for you. The bread of God wasn't the manna in the wilderness. It's he who comes down from heaven and gives to the world. So we have another of our Lord's wonderful symbols for himself and for eternal life.
With Nicodemus, it was being born again. With the Samaritan woman, it was the living water. And now Jesus calls himself the bread of life, and he's going to carry this theme all the way through the rest of his ministry on the earth, all the way up to the upper room, all the way up to the Passover night when he says, take, eat.
Remember, of the bread, take, eat. This is my body, which is given, broken for you. Jesus is always working.
Look what they said.
They said just what the Samaritan woman said. Lord, give us this bread always.
What did she say? Give me some of this water. Ah, it's not there yet.
So he's going to now help him a little further. Look at verse 35.
I am the bread of life.
He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.
But I said to you that you have seen me,.
And yet you do not believe.
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. This is the will of the Father who sent me.
Here's why I'm here. That of all he has given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up the last day. And this is the will of him who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son, and notice what it says carefully, believes in him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
Dear friends, Jesus is always working. How long? Even up until what? The last day. Do I need to draw a picture? Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. John 5, 17, He's always working. John 6, 6, He knows exactly what He's going to do, no matter what the circumstances.
You remember Time Magazine? Anybody ever get Time Magazine anymore? Does anybody read a magazine anymore? Time Magazine has had some famous covers over the years. Many, many years ago when Google first started going, I wish I had bought the stock, yeah?
You and me, right? And it said this, here was the cover, Can Google Solve Death? There was an article inside about an attempt by Google, which they do whether you know it or not, to collect information and research regarding healthcare and age-related illness.
The writer said that if all the research regarding cancer, for example, could be tracked, this was the justification back then of gathering your personal data and collecting it all. Are you with me? Some of you don't know what this is.
This is called a smartphone. You know what this does? It gathers all your data. Every news story you ever look at, every ad you ever look at, and it collects that. And pretty soon you start to get like, I just got an ad for a new Bible, Jim, because I was looking for a Bible for you.
So now I get these funny little ads for Bibles on sale. And if I talk long enough about cat food, and I don't have a cat and don't want a cat, because Johanna's allergic to cats, and it's one more thing to take care of.
We got five chickens. How many chickens do we have?
Six.
We almost had five the other day. Six chickens, a rabbit, a bird. I got enough to take care of. Anyway, if you collect all this information together and synthesize it, and we could expedite a cure for cancer, we can add three years to everybody's lifespan.
Now, I'm sure we're all grateful for improvements in fighting disease and life expectancy. But you see, Time Magazine was overly dramatic with this headline, Can Google Solve Death? Because first of all, neither Google nor anyone else can ever solve the problem of death.
And number two, the problem of death has already been solved. And it's solved in the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean if that doesn't give you goose pimples, will you check your goose pimple thing? Jesus has already done it.
If you want to find the answer to death, get on your computer, get on your smartphone, and just Google the Gospel of John. Even as Jesus spoke these words in John 6, He already had in mind what He was going to do.
He already had in mind the death that He was going to die. He already had in mind the cross that He would bear. He already had in mind the hope and the healing of the rest of His ministry. He's always working to give people the gift of eternal life and to raise them up on the last day.
And He tells us this in the Gospel of John over and over and over. You know, you might be here this morning and you have no idea what to do in the given circumstance of your life. You may call friends and advisors and counselors.
They may not know what to do. We may be stupefied, mystified, petrified, baffled, and bamboozled, but the Lord Jesus already knows what He's going to do. He says, grip me this week. It's funny when something grips you and you're trying to get other people gripped by it.
Come on, get gripped with me.
And they look at you.
I can't get gripped.
Chapter 5, verse 17, My Father is working until now, and I myself am working. John 6, Jesus has in mind what He's going to do in meeting your needs, in stilling your storms, in guiding your life, in saving your soul and giving you eternal life.
All you have to do is believe in and have faith in and trust Jesus Christ, the one sent down as the bread from heaven.
So take a minute before Harold comes. Pray. Just take, I'm going to give you time to pray and to think about what I said, what you read in Scripture for yourself. Number one, do you believe in Jesus Christ for sure?
Ask yourself that question. Do I truly believe in Jesus Christ? Not just believe, but believe in Him and trust Him for salvation. And secondly, whatever might be going on in your life, just go to the Lord with that, and then I'll ask Harold to come up and lead us in a closing song.
As you leave these doors, remember to trust in the Lord in everything, and He will direct your paths. You are dismissed.
