The Answer To Mans Great Hunger

Man’s Great Hunger and the Need to Seek Christ

So, we will reserve these particular points. Number one, and first of all, first and foremost, the first point I'd like for you to observe with me is know that man has a great hunger and a great need.

Know that man has a great hunger and a great need in which I've already very quickly pointed out some of that in my introduction. Second would be the second answer to acknowledge that man's motive is corrupt.

Man's motive is corrupt. We'll see that in verse 26 and verse 27. The third answer is given is labor for the food that endures, that gives eternal life. And we will see that in verse 27 and then in 28 and then verse 29, 28 and 29, I'm sorry, we will bring it down to the last and final point, do the work of God.

Do the work of God and that is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Sounds simple but it's really profound, beloved. Let's look at the first one. Know that man has a great hunger.

He has a great need. He has a great, great need within. Verse 22 to verse 25 is what I've already read. John sets the scene for us in this text. The disciples took the only boat, the text tells us, at the shore and left.

It is now the day and after one which 5 ,000 and the rest were fed, the multitude was fed. It's the morning and Jesus is nowhere to be found as the text pretty much implies. The multitude of people, now think of this, this is like a whole city.

This is just not a handful of people, it's more than 5 ,000 here. It probably goes up to 18 to 20 ,000, almost a multitude of a city of people and they're still here on the northeast of the Sea of Galilee and they had watched the disciples get into this small boat as we looked at last Lord's Day that the Lord went on the mountaintop and he sent the disciples across the sea.

So they went into the small boat the previous evening and they knew Jesus had not gone with them so only one boat had been available at the time and the disciples had taken that.

Boat.

Actually, verse 23 says,. However, other boats came from Tiberias near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks. So the following day, the boats had come from Tiberias near the place where the Lord had fed the multitude.

So these two verses basically indicate that the crowds who witnessed Jesus' healings and his feeding of the multitudes were still at the original site of these miracles. Keep in mind though that the crowds now are growing very curious to find Jesus once again.

They're looking for him. They want their bread king. They want to seize him. So what does this tell us about the crowds who sought out Jesus out of curiosity? There are several observations I'd like to bring out here and namely is this.

First of all, the people had been miraculously fed by the fish and loaves. Jesus even sent the disciples out on a test during the evening to see if they learned that lesson. That was for the disciples.

Now here is the crowd. So the people were convinced that, oh, this is a Messiah, yeah, he's come, but we must keep in mind, what are you thinking about the whole time when you read this text? They're seeking the Lord.

They want the Lord to provide, but they're following him for the wrong motives.

This is huge, folks.

They're following him for wrong motives, wrong reasons. These reasons were self-centered. They were only thinking about their stomachs. They were only thinking about themselves, to have their personal need fulfilled.

Any wonder they went after Jesus? They wanted the Lord to be their personal bread king, so they were diligent in seeking the Lord. Yet as we see, we will see in this text, their desire and motives in seeking Christ were for the wrong reasons.

Verse 24 says, when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they also got into the boats and came to Capernaum, and underscore this, they are seeking Jesus. They're seeking Jesus.

Now people had watched Jesus very carefully.

They did.

They were watching him. They knew that he had gone up into the mountain to pray. They actually probably didn't know quite the reason why to pray, but we know from Mark's Gospel that Jesus went there to pray.

But they knew that he went to the mountaintop, and they knew that he had not gone into the boat with the disciples across the lake, because yet on the following day, he was nowhere to.

Be found.

So what do they do?

What do they do?

They decided in the text, as we read, to cross the sea to Capernaum, where the disciples were most likely to be. They could not understand how Jesus could be there, but because last they remember, Jesus went to the mountaintop, and we know from the story, as the crowds did know, during the night, the fourth watch of the night, Jesus walks on the water towards the disciples, does a fifth miracle, the fifth miracle there, and startles and frightens the disciples.

And of course, Jesus speaks to them as we looked at last Lord's Day.

It is I.

Be not afraid. I am. He's there.

He's deity.

He's the Lord. He's Yahweh. Well, the people didn't know this. They figured maybe he might be somewhere on the mountaintop.

I don't know.

They might have thought he got lost, but they could not understand how Jesus could be there, but they decided to go and seek Jesus anyway. So they're seeking after Jesus. Verse 24, again, they also got into the boats, came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.

Seeking Jesus. You know, this is interesting. There's a great lesson, I think, here for us all. Man has a great hunger and he must recognize his hunger. And here we see in the text that they were seeking Jesus.

Wow, that's interesting. You know, I remember R .C. Sproul answering the question. Somebody asked him and says, do people seek God? Well, he says, in their own way they're seeking God, but truly seeking God comes by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Because God first, he comes to seek us. We're not the seeker, really, God's the seeker. Because God's not lost, man's lost. But how can he seek God? If you know people that they're seeking God, and R .C. answered this, they want God for the benefits.

They want God for what they can get out of God. But they don't want God for who He is. They don't seek God for who God is. But here the text says seeking Jesus. They sought Jesus, believing that Jesus was the answer to their personal need.

They did what they should have done.

They sought Him.

Is it good that people seek the Lord? Well, of course, you know, Scripture says in Isaiah 55, 6, seek the Lord. Seek the Lord. It's like a command. While He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.

And don't forget where R .C. was coming from, there are none that seek God. That's what Scripture says, but it turns around and here it says the command is seek the Lord.

In prayer.

Hebrews 11, 6, we all love Hebrews 11, 6, but without faith it is impossible to please Him. For he that cometh to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them, of those that diligently seek Him.

So Scripture does say we are to seek God. But you know, really that text is for the believer. Now Isaiah, seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. That would be for the non-believer.

That's a command. Like repentance is a command. All men are to repent. Even Jesus, the Lord says in Luke 11, 9 and 10, and I believe this is to the believer because He is teaching them as He did on the Sermon on the Mount as we looked at today this morning.

Jesus says, I and I say unto you, ask and it shall be given you. Seek and you shall find and knock and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth. He that seeketh findeth. To him that knocketh it shall be opened.

So the people were seeking Jesus, right? Yes they were. But let us not forget, they were seeking Jesus with the wrong heart motive. Their hearts were not in the right place. Actually they were seeking Jesus with their stomach.

They wanted Jesus for their belly. As Paul says, their belly is their God. They were not seeking Jesus for their soul. They wanted only to use Jesus. They wanted Jesus just for their personal need, not because they had an affection and love for Christ.

Guaranteed, these people sought Him for the wrong reason. Man's great hunger is first to recognize that he has a hunger. Isn't it that the thing we would desire to share with our lost relatives and the lost friends that we have?

And don't you feel with me the deep sense that only we are channels to tell them the word of the living God. And I have sat down, I'm telling you folks, with so many of my relatives, and I'm sure I'm not alone in this, and looked at them in the eye with tears and pleaded with them about the judgment to come, unless you repent you also likewise perish, and that the love of God would desire you to come to Christ and to turn from your wicked ways and follow the Lord while you have breath in your body.

And don't you feel with me that the only way that these people can see this is to have the Holy Spirit.

That's why we pray.

That's why we turn to God ourselves and seek the Lord and call upon His name. Because we can't change them. We think we can at times, but we might be able to influence people, right? But we can't change what's in that heart.

The psalmist says, God has fixed my heart. You think about this. I think John Wayne said a saying like, man, you can't fix stupid. Am I right around that?

That's the truth.

But you know something? God can fix a heart. And He can give wisdom. God can fix the heart. And only God can. You know, so man must recognize, first of all, he has a need.

He has a hunger.

Man’s Corrupt Motives and the Search for the Perishable

This leads to the second point, is to answer man's greatest hunger is not only to recognize that he has a deep hunger, but also to acknowledge that his motive, his heart, is deeply corrupt. You know, for us to understand the gospel, we must see this.

Man is totally depraved. One preacher said, I can't remember, it might have been Sproul, I listen to a lot of Sproul, but he said, you know, when man fell in the garden, when Adam fell, he did more than just break a leg or break an arm, folks.

He broke his neck and his back and everything, spiritually speaking. He broke everything. The Bible says that there are none that seek God. All have gone their own way, like sheep, we have gone astray, Isaiah 53.

You see that man is totally corrupt. There's none righteous, no, not one, not one. Only God is completely righteous, holy.

Only God is good.

Jesus told the rich young ruler, he comes to him and trying to flatter Jesus, good master. Jesus knew what he was doing. He said, why call me good? Only God is good. But we know Jesus is good, right? He's God in flesh, of course, but there's a reason why Jesus told him this, he was flattering Jesus and Jesus didn't take the flattery.

So he points him to the father. Well, man is totally corrupt. Verse 25 to 27, verse 25 says this, and when they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, Rabbi, when did you come here?

When did you come here?

Interesting, isn't it? You know, look at this. Jesus answered them and said, and there's a crowd of people coming to him, when did.

You come here?

Rabbi, yeah, trying to flatter him. Jesus knows all about flattery. He knows all about the pride of men. Most assuredly, verily, verily, I say to you. And listen to what Jesus says very closely.

You seek me.

He didn't deny that they sought him, right? But notice what he says, you seek me not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. That tells us everything, doesn't it?

Our Lord Jesus is the searcher of hearts. He knows our deepest, innermost need, our need for God. And we don't even, people don't know that. They go everywhere else, look back to and fro, thinking this of the world and that of the world, the pleasures of the world is going to satisfy them.

I want you to notice one thing here, that Jesus does not answer their question. He gives them an answer, but he goes right to the heart. He does not answer their question. Instead, what is he doing? He draws out their motives.

He draws it out. They aren't coming to him to inquire the meaning of the miracles or the significance of the signs. Basically, Jesus said that. They're coming to him for another meal. They come to him for more bread, a physical meal.

Now I want you to understand this. If you go to Ecclesiastes, there's pleasures in this life. This is a whole other sermon. Actually, we can go a long time on this, but I'm going to try to keep it short, okay?

For the sake of time, we've got communion today as well. So, God gives us things in this life as gifts, not to be idolized. Voddie Botman said it like this, God's not against us having things, but he is against us for things to have us.

That's the problem.

We are so prone to make idols of everything. Houses, cars, family, friends, everything that we see.

Our job, it becomes that thing.

And I like what Luther says here, an idol is anything that I put before God. That's simple. It's anything that people put before God. Their pocketbook, oh, oh my. That covers multitudes of people here in America.

Their pocketbook, the love of money. Well, this is basically what they're doing. They're coming to Jesus because they wanted the physical. They wanted to take care of the physical. They love the show.

They love the bread for the physical only. I underscore that only. Remember, this is the same could be who wanted to make him their own personal bread king. The fact is, and here's a footnote, I read this somewhere and I can't remember the source of it, but in this time of the Roman Empire when Caesar's approval ratings were low in the Roman Empire, they would give them, the people, bread and circuses.

Bread and circuses. I want you to think about this. They would open up the arena and would give free bread. Wow, sounds like today, doesn't it? It never changes. No new thing under the sun. They would give free bread to everybody.

Hey, give the people free bread and put on a gladiator show for free. Circuses. Bread and circuses. It was enough to buy back the people's favor and approval. It was always strings attached. Someone said there's no such thing as a free meal.

Ah, some things just never change, do they? There's nothing new under the sun, Solomon said. Our approval is often bought at a low cost of a loaf of bread and a show. You see, this is what was happening here.

And Jesus knew their hearts. He did not commit himself because he knew. He did not commit himself to men because he knew what was in man.

He's the Lord.

In verse 27, Jesus really gets down right to it. Begins to teach them about the kind of food that truly satisfies and that never perishes. Say, you want to eat food? Let me tell you about the food that will never perish.

Do not labor for the food which perishes. Don't you work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life. Because the Son of Man will give you.

God gives it.

Christ gives it. He's the giver. Because God the Father has set his seal on him. No one else.

Not Buddha.

Not Mohammed. No other false prophet that tells people, blind sheep out there, that that's the way.

No sir.

It is Jesus because Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And no one comes to the Father but by me.

Folks, that's absolute truth.

You can bank on that. Jesus says it. You don't labor for a food that will waste away and perish. But you labor for the food that endures to life eternal. He also says that he is able to give it because God the Father has set his seal on him.

Didn't the Father say, this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased? He said it several times. MacArthur notes here, I read in his commentary, I thought this was a good quote. In this verse, Jesus rebuked the crowd for purely materialistic notions of the messianic kingdom.

Although Messiah's kingdom would literally and physically come someday, and it is here, but he's talking about the kingdom to come and the consummation. The people failed, listen to this, the people failed to see the overriding spiritual character of blessing of everlasting life given immediately to those who believe the witness of God and to his Son.

End quote. That's so good. Jesus said labor. Labor for the food which does not perish. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life. He's talking about the eternal, folks.

Jonathan Edwards said it, Lord stamp eternity on my eyeballs. We are just too earthly minded, folks. I speak to myself as well. We're just too earthly minded. Now, let me, in a small way here, before I say this, go to Matthew 6.

Let's go to the Sermon on the Mount. We're talking about the Sermon on the Mount this morning. I thought about this, just a few verses. Three verses, Jesus said, about laying up treasures in heaven. Look at chapter 6, verse 19, 20, and 21.

Great, great verses here. He's just talked about our fasting to be seen only by God. Now, he tells them where to lay your treasures up at. Where are you going to lay up your treasures? Are you going to lay it up in the 401K?

Are you going to lay it up here on the banks on this earth? Hide all the gold? What if God does bless you with millions? What are you going to do with it?

Jesus tells us.

I've got a practical thing to say about that in a minute. So, put it on pause right there, okay? Jesus said this, and Jesus means what he says, right? About the king and the kingdom. Here's the king, he speaks.

Verse 19, do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth. First of all, he says, just like he said back in John 6, do not labor for the food which perishes. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth.

That's the negative. Why? He says, where moth and rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal it.

You're going to lose it.

It's going to waste away somewhere down the road it's going to go. Verse 20, but lay up for yourselves, there's the positive, treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, where thieves do not break in and steal.

It's secure.

Your treasures, I believe Corrie Ten Boone put it this way, everything that I've had in my hands has gone. But everything that I've put in God's hands is secure. Verse 21, Jesus gets right to the motive, folks.

Look, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Where's your heart? Now, let me go, what is Jesus saying back in John verse 27? Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures the everlasting life, which the Son of Man would give you, because the God the Father has set a seal on Him.

What's He saying here? You know what He's saying? Don't spend any time or any effort. Is He saying don't spend any time or any effort at the normal, everyday, mundane requirements of life? Not exactly, not exactly.

There's a place for the physical, folks. The problem is we make idols of the physical, as I said earlier. There's a place for eating. We've got to eat. If we don't eat, what happens to us?

We die.

We stop living.

The Bible says we're to work. Matter of fact, it says if you don't work, you don't eat. And then it speaks, Paul's talking to believers, and if you don't provide for your family, you're worse than an infidel.

That's the Bible, folks. We need to tell people that today. There's a lot of people out there that don't believe in working, period. God is a working God. There's a place for eating. There's a place for raising families.

There's a place for going to school, children. You must go to school to learn, right? If you go to home school, you learn there. How about serving in the community? There's a place to serve. We should serve.

God's not against all this. All these things are important, and all of them have their place in a well-designed, purposeful life. Go with me very quickly to Colossians. I'd like you to see this. Paul deals with this.

You know, Paul's pattern was always sound doctrine first. He taught them, and here the believers at Colossae, he's teaching them. And usually, the first chapter, the second chapter, third chapter is theological.

It's theology. The doctrine is set straight, then he brings out the practical. He does this in Romans. All the way from Romans chapter 1 to Romans 11, and then you see from Romans 12 to Romans 16, there's practical application.

Well, he begins practical application here, but in chapter 3, let me read it. If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above. Now he tells us what to seek. Seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.

Set your mind on things above, not on the things on the earth. For you died, what he's talking about, you died with Christ. He's talking to believers. Your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also appear with Him in glory.

And notice what he starts to do now. He starts to tell us what to put off and what to put on. Therefore, put to death, that means to mortify, your members which are on the earth, fornication. He's talking to believers, folks.

You think this was going on in churches then? Yes, it was. You're to put to death these desires in your members, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, covetousness, which is what? Idolatry. They put these things, these senses, before God, these passions before God.

And then he says in verse 6, because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. But now, but now you yourselves are to put off these things.

Anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Let me stop right there. There's a preacher out there, Billy Graham's grandson. He's on the internet trying to tell people it's okay to use God's name in vain.

To blaspheme God's holy name, folks. And he says that's a prayer. That's something that's good. That's something that God does. That is from the pit of hell, folks. Paul says here, we are to put off filthy language out of our mouth.

Do not lie to one another.

We're not to lie.

Since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, who is renewed in the knowledge to the image of him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all in all.

Now, here's an application, folks.

Therefore, therefore,.

As the elect of God, your God's chosen, your God's elect, holy, separated, beloved, beloved, you are loved of God, put on tender mercies. God's people need to put on the tender mercies of God. Kindness,.

Humility,.

Meekness, long-suffering. This is the character of the new man. Bearing with one another, forgiving with one another. And if anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you,.

So you also must do.

To forgive one another. And above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body.

And be thankful.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs and singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do, do in word or in deed, do all, do all,.

Whatever you do,.

All in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Hey, that's not the end of it. Then he talks about how the home should look like. Hey, the home's important, isn't it? Yes.

Wives, submit to your own husbands as it is fitting in the Lord. That's important.

He speaks to wives.

He speaks to husbands.

Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them. He speaks to children. Children, obey your parents in all things for this is well pleasing to the Lord.

Obedience.

Fathers, do not provoke your children lest they become discouraged. Then he talks to bondservants,.

Employees.

Obey in all things your masters, your bosses, basically, according to the flesh, not with eye service as man pleases, but in sincerity of heart,.

Fearing God.

And whatever you do,.

Do it heartily.

Do it with all your might, folks, as to the Lord and not to men.

Because it's God.

We shouldn't be men pleasers. We should do it unto God. Knowing that, and listen to this, that from the Lord you will receive the reward of inheritance.

For you served the Lord Christ.

But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done and there is no partiality. Basically, what he says in another place, vengeance is mine, says the Lord. God's going to take care of that. Don't you worry about it.

You see that?

David Paul Tripp says this, Everyone hungers for paradise. No one is satisfied with things the way they are. So either they would try their hardest to turn your life right here, now, into the paradise it will never be and therefore become driven and disappointed or you will live in this broken world with the rest and peace that comes from knowing that a guaranteed place in paradise is yours in the future.

Amen.

In other words, right now is not the paradise, and it should be, heaven's that paradise. It's kind of like saying it's not your best life now. Your best life is to come. And by the way, I like what MacArthur says there, if you live in your best life now, you're going to hell.

Your best life comes later. It's always a cross before a crown.

Always. Always.

Let me say this, folks. Every physical blessing and every physical longing is desired by God to be a signpost. This is the way I like to put it. It's a signpost that always points us to a greater blessing and it points us to God.

There's a spiritual fulfillment found in Jesus. Well, let me get to the last point. Our time's about gone. The last one is, do the work of God. What is the work of God? Go back to John 6. This is very, very important.

The work of God is really to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 28, they said to Him, What shall we do that we may work the works of God? But Jesus answered them and He turned that all around.

He said,.

If you want to know what the work of God is, you believe in Him whom He sent. In other words, you believe in Jesus. Now, we look back. They didn't know He was going to the cross at the time. Right? But we look back and we see Jesus hung on a cross and in His last breath He said, It is finished.

Paid in full.

Man, what's to do? God has already done it. He's completed it in Jesus Christ. Jesus saw... You know, I like to think of it this way. Jesus saw through their hypocrisy here, these people. The hypocrisy they pretended that they wanted to work for God.

And yet, they did not want to have anything to do with Jesus whatsoever. Jesus knew this. And Jesus told them that the first thing they must do is believe in the One whom God the Father sent. But before they can do any good works for God, they must first believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

It's the same with the Catholics. Same with all religion in the world. It's always trying to do something to get to God. And God has come to us. All the works that needs to be required and fulfilled is in Jesus Christ.

And He fulfilled it.

He took care of it.

He pleased God.

If anybody worked their heaven, you could work themselves to heaven. It's Jesus. He's the only one that can work His way to heaven. Because His works satisfied the God of creation. The God, the Holy God.

The only work desired was faith and trust in Jesus Christ. The work of God requires that we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. See, when you and I work for something, our payment is not a gift, right?

It's earned.

Makes me think of this. We deserved it, right? Let me give you an example here. When you go to work and your company pays you, you can be grateful you have a job, amen? But that paycheck is not a gift.

It's been earned. You deserved it. It's the way people are. They feel like they're deserving even from the things of God. But really, that's the wrong attitude to take. But the illustration here is important.

Faith is not a work.

It's a gift.

How do we know this? Well, it's said in Ephesians, in chapter 2, But God, who's rich in mercy, because of His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses and made us alive together, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved, raised us up together and made us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding greatness, the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

And here it is. For by grace, God's favor,.

Undeserved favor,.

You have been saved.

Through faith.

Faith is the instrument.

It's the gift.

And that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. What's the gift of God? I really do believe, if you look closely, faith is the gift of God here. You see this? Because we can't do this.

We can't.

Faith is not within ourselves, folks. It must be outside of ourselves. It is God that comes to us and gives us the faith. You know, when we come in the camp of Armenianism, we all come that way. We think, hey, it's something I've done.

I've had the faith to lay hold of God. Well, we do lay hold of God, but faith comes as a gift to us from God. Like repentance. It's granted.

It's given.

It's not something you can earn. It is the gift of God. Not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

You see that? It ends in obedience. See, as I was talking about, man needs to know that he's a sinner. He needs to recognize that he's depraved. And eventually, when we are saved, God renews us, regenerates us, converts us.

We turn from our sinful ways and we become His workmanship, His instrument, His beauty, created in Christ Jesus for good works. See, we're not saved by good works. We're saved for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

That means obedience. See, did you know obedience is only two things required for salvation?