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April 23, 2023 Covenant Reformed Baptist Church Pastor Jeff Rice
All right, if you will, at this time, take your copy of the Scriptures. We're going to continue in the Gospel of John, chapter 6. We will consider verses 22 through 27. The Gospel of John, chapter 6, 22 through 27.
O God, in Jesus' name, and by the power of your Spirit, Lord, we as a people call upon you, Yahweh, to at this time minister to us through your Word. And Lord, we pray that you will use your Word to grow us into the image of your beloved Son, our Savior, through your Spirit.
Amen.
So this is our 31st message in this Gospel, and I'm going to begin by reading the text. The Gospel of John, chapter 6, verses 22 through 27, which reads,. On the next day the crowd which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other small boats there except one, and that Jesus had not entered with his disciples into that boat, into the boat, but that his disciples had gone away alone.
Other small boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the small boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.
And when they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, Rabbi, when did you come here? Jesus answered and said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.
Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on him the Father, God, set his seal. Our theme for this Lord's Day is The Reality of False Disciples, Part 2.
The Reality of False Disciples, Part 2. And I mentioned that this is going to be the overarching theme of this chapter. So we will have varying propositions, and today my proposition is this. Those that work for the food that perishes will likewise perish.
If you are working for food that perishes, you will likewise perish. And that's what we're seeing take place in the text. The question is this, why is Jesus speaking to the crowd in terms of bread? That's the question that we ask.
But to answer that question, I want to remind you of chapter 4, where Jesus is speaking to a woman from Samaria. She was half Jew and half Samaritan. The Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans, if you can remember, especially men did not speak to women.
And as I was breaking down that portion of text, I pointed out that a Jewish man would not be seen in public speaking to his own wife, nor his own daughter, much less a woman of Samaria. Jesus speaks to the woman of Samaria and speaks to her, if you can remember, not in the same way, the only thing different was he spoke to her about water and not bread.
He spoke to her about the living water, which we concluded was the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the living water. And Jesus made a statement, whomever he gives this living water to will never thirst.
So in chapter 4, he speaks concerning water. And now here in chapter 6, he is speaking concerning bread. In our outline, we're going to see Jesus expose the heart of false disciples. And he'll do so in three ways.
He'll show the reason why they follow, the wages of which they earn, and the wages of which we have not earned. So point number one, the reason why they follow. Point number two, the wages of which they earn.
And point number three, the wages of which we have not earned. And if you can recall, last week's message where Jesus walked on the sea, I mentioned that this event was not just sandwiched in between these two major bread events.
The meat, like how I did back there, right? The meat concerning Jesus walking on water, which is found in between these two bread events, is to show us what true disciple, true followers of Jesus Christ look like.
So if you want to know what true disciples and true followers of Jesus looks like, look no further than the story of Jesus walking on the water. I mentioned one incident where Jesus, excuse me, where the 12 were in a boat in the middle of the sea, in the middle of a storm, and they had Jesus with them.
Jesus was asleep in the boat and his disciples came and woke him up and said to him, Do you care that we are perishing? If they actually at this time knew who it was that was in the boat with them, they would have known that they are in the most safest place in the storm.
They have right there in the boat with them, though he's napping, the Messiah. The Messiah is not going to go down in the boat. He is predetermined to be crucified. He will not drown. And I say this quite often when it comes to my own death.
If God has predetermined me to die by fire, I am not going to drown. They are with the Messiah and they go and they wake him up because the storm has overtaken them and they say, Do you care that we are perishing?
Jesus wakes up, speaks to the storm, Be still, the wind and the waves become calm. After seeing this, his disciples marveled and said these words, What kind of man is this that even the winds and the seas obey him?
And I pointed you to Psalm 107, beginning in verse 28 and 29, which says,. And they cried out to Yahweh in their trouble, Do you care that we are perishing? Then they cried out to Yahweh in their trouble.
And he brought them out of their distress. He caused the storm to stand still so that the waves and the wind were hushed. He said to the storm, Be still. If they were able to recall this portion of Scripture, they would have understand that this man, Jesus the Nazarene, was and is Yahweh.
Jesus is Yahweh. Only Yahweh can command the storms, the wind and the sea for them to obey him. Now back to John 6. This time they were in a boat in the middle of the sea, in the middle of the storm, but they were without Jesus.
They were without the one who commands the obedience of the wind and the sea. And they knew that their only hope was Jesus Christ. Do you see the difference? They knew he's the one that can speak to the storm and the storms obey him.
That's the difference. That's the difference between true disciples, true followers versus false disciples, false followers of Jesus. True disciples know that they need Jesus.
Nothing else.
Jesus.
Reminded of that song, All I Have is Christ, or that song I hear when I think of it, I hear Vince Gill's voice when he says, Give me Jesus. Give me Jesus. He says, You can have all the world. Give me Jesus.
That's what his disciples wanted, and that's the difference. Now in John 6, verses 22 through 24, these verses are giving us the context of the story. So in verse 22 where it says, On the next day, it is speaking of the day after the feeding of the 5 ,000.
This is the day after, well, it's still a part of that day, so it was evening first, then morning. So as that day started in the evening, so the story of Jesus walking on water, when you read it in Mark and Matthew, it speaks that it was in the fourth watch of the night, which would have been about 3 a .m. to 6 a .m.
So this is right after Jesus had walked on water. Let's read that real quick again before we explain anything. So verses 22 through 24. On the next day, the crowd stood on the other side of the sea and saw that there was no other small boat there except one, and that Jesus had not entered with his disciples into the boat, but that the disciples had gone away alone.
Other small boats came to Tiberias near the place where Jesus, near the place where they, excuse me, ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the small boats and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus.
Now, if you remember, when Jesus and his disciples did not land at Capernaum, they land at Gezeret. I think that's how you say it. It's one of those troublesome names. Gezeret, Genezaret. It's something.
Gezeret or Genezaret. Pick one. I'm fine with both. So they were headed towards, they were going to Capernaum. Where they were, you had to head towards Bethsaida. Because of the storm, they landed in Gezeret or whatever I said a minute ago.
Two streets for that name. So that means Jesus in this prior time as they have landed with the boat early in the morning, they had to, I would say, after Jesus had done some miracle works there, would have to walk over to Capernaum.
We know from the other Gospels they did not land in Capernaum. It doesn't tell us how they got to Capernaum. I imagine they just walked over because it was right beside Capernaum. Now let us remember why this group of Jews are following after him.
They are following after Jesus because after Jesus gave thanks over the five loaves of bread and the two fish, he was able to feed upwards to 20 ,000 to 25 ,000 people. The text tells us it was 5 ,000 men plus women and children.
Upwards to 20 ,000 to 25 ,000 people out of a sack lunch. I believe this crowd of Jews remembered the prophecy given to them by Moses about the prophet and that the prophet that was to come would be like Moses.
I believe this group of Jews saw the shadow of the prophet being fulfilled in Jesus Christ and because they wanted to take him by force and make him king. I mentioned last week and I believe maybe the week before, but I know I did last week, that the 12 disciples would have went right along with this.
The 12 disciples would have helped the crowd seize Jesus to make him king, which is why Jesus makes them get into the boat and he drives away the crowd. The next day, the crowd begins to look for Jesus, so they travel to Capernaum.
So let's get to point number one, the reason why they follow. We see this in verses 25 and 26. Verse 25, And when they followed him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, Rabbi, when did you come here?
Jesus answered and said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. The reason why they followed was because they ate of the loaves.
Jesus to them, I mentioned this last week, was nothing more than a fish and bread dispenser.
Right?
Did you imagine that?
You ever seen those PEZ dispensers? You open them, get you a piece of candy. That's what Christ was to them. He was someone who can provide for them food. God, through Moses, fed the Israelites for 40 years in the wilderness.
This group of Jews were probably thinking that since Jesus is the prophet like Moses, the one that Moses spoke about, he would probably do the same as Moses for them. They were looking to him as a cash cow, not a savior, not the one who is going to redeem them, but someone who is going to feed them.
They were looking to Jesus as their cash cow, hoping not to have to strive after bread. Bread at this time was a high commodity and not everyone could afford it. If you recall, one of the curses placed on Adam for his disobedience had to do with bread.
We see this in Genesis 3, verse 19, which says, By the sweat of your face, you will eat bread. John 20, verse 30 and 31 certainly tell us that the signs performed by Jesus and the signs that are written are for a purpose.
So all the signs performed by Jesus and the signs that are written in the gospel, which were seven different signs, are for a purpose. Let's read that real quick. John 20, verses 30 through 31. Therefore, many other signs Jesus also did in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book.
I mentioned earlier, just a few seconds ago, only seven signs are given to us in this gospel. Read Matthew, Mark, and Luke. They have other signs that Jesus done. John is declaring that it's even more than what's written.
Jesus performed so many more miracles and that these miracles that he's performed is for a purpose. Look at verse 31. But these things, speaking of these seven signs, have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Notice he says that these things have been written. That's why the theme of this book is evangelistic, right? The book of John, the gospel of John, is evangelistic. It has been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ.
But if you were there at this time and saw the signs and believed, it didn't hold the same purpose. You say, what are you saying? Well, it's clear. Over and over, when someone would believe because they saw the signs that Jesus was doing, they were rejected by Jesus.
If you go back to chapter 2, so John, the gospel of John, chapter 2. Look at verse 23. Now, when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, so this is dealing with the first Passover, we'll see three Passovers in John.
During the feast, many believed in his name.
You see that?
Many believed in his name when they saw the signs which he was doing. But Jesus, on his part, was not entrusting himself to them, for he knew all men. And because he had no need for anyone to bear witness concerning man, for he himself knew what was in man.
So these guys believed in Jesus because they saw the signs. Look at chapter 3, verse 1. Now, when a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, this man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Watch this.
Now listen to what Jesus says, verse 3. Jesus said to him,. His response was, No, you don't. You don't know that I've come from God. You cannot see the kingdom of God unless you're first born again. Seeing the signs and truly believing hinges on the new birth.
So just because someone sees the signs and believes, doesn't mean they believe salvificly. That salvific belief has to do with the new birth. Their belief displays by...
Excuse me.
The belief displayed by the Jews was merely a misinterpretation of the signs. They were chasing him because of the signs. So why were they following Jesus? Answer, because they ate of the loaves. They were a part of the signs.
They saw it and they also partook in the sign. And they wanted to continue to eat from the loaves. They wanted to continue to have Jesus to provide for them food. Point number 2. The wages of which they earn.
We see this in verse 27a. Verse 27a. Chapter 6, verse 27a. Jesus says, do not work for the food which perishes. Now this should go without saying. Bread perishes, right? Bread doesn't last. Whether you eat of it or it goes bad, it perishes.
Take a loaf of bread, set it up, don't touch it, and watch what happens. Watch it begin to mow. Watch it begin to perish. Bread perishes. Now before I tell you what I think is being communicated, let me first tell you what I know is not being communicated.
Jesus is not, listen, he is not telling them not to work and earn a living to provide for their families. He's not telling them not to work and by the sweat of their brow, by the sweat of their face, to eat bread.
If that's what he is saying, he's going against scripture. So we have to conclude that Jesus is not telling them not to work like a job to provide for their family. 2 Thessalonians 3, verse 10 says this.
If anyone is not willing to work, neither let him eat. 1 Timothy 5, verse 8 says this. But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially of those of his household, he has denied the faith and he's worse than an unbeliever.
Clearly, Jesus is not communicating for them not to work, right? So when our text says, do not work for foo that perishes, this chord has aggravated me, sorry. He is not telling them not to get a job and work to earn food.
However, what is he communicating? I believe he is speaking about them following him. He is speaking about them, false disciples, following him. It's work for a false disciple to follow Jesus. Why? Because they haven't been given the grace to follow Jesus.
They have not been given the grace to follow Jesus. So they're actively following him as of their own doing, and it is considered work. It took a lot of effort for this large group of Jews, I think 20 ,000 to 25 ,000 people, to cross over the sea looking for Jesus.
I can't even imagine taking my small family across over the sea to do something. Imagine how wore out you would be.
You ever been camping?
I know Pastor Cal has PTSD stories from it. But man, camping is hard work.
It's hard work.
You try to have a family camping trip, and you come back and feel like you worked a month with no days off. And yet, I believe it was yesterday, my family were talking about the church having a camping trip.
I probably just talked us out of it. Pastor Cal is shaking his head. But doing stuff, whether it's with your family or a large group of people,.
And you have 20 ,000 to 25 ,000 people traveling over the sea to follow Jesus. This effort of following after Jesus was not an easy thing to do. And as was stated earlier, they were doing so with wrong motives.
They didn't have right motives for following him. They haven't been given the grace. Remember I said earlier that Jesus to them was nothing more than a bread and fish dispenser. He was their meal ticket, their cash cow.
They were working for the food which perishes. They didn't cross over there for Jesus. They crossed over there for bread. Jesus can take a sack lunch and feed all of us, 20 ,000 to 25 ,000 people. Let's not let this get away from us.
Let me read this again. They were working for the food that perishes, and what they have earned by doing so, listen, is what all of us have earned, and that is death. Following after Jesus for the wrong reason is sinful.
The wages of sin is death, right? The soul that sins shall die. Every one of us who have sinned, we will die. This work does nothing positive for them in the eyes of God. No good work done in the body can merit favor with God.
You, outside of Christ, alone with your works, will perish. Our works cannot save us, and when we try to add anything to the finished work of Christ, we only condemn ourselves, therefore turning our good works into sinful behavior.
Name the greatest deed that can ever be done, and put in front of it, I'm doing this to earn favor with God. That great deed is sinful. The Bible tells us the wages of sin is death. When you die, that's your paycheck.
This is what you've earned in life, death. The Old Testament shows us how God has promised to destroy death, while the New Testament shows us how God destroys death. Point number three, the wages of which we have not earned.
We're going to read all of verse 27. Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on him the Father, God, set his seal.
Clearly, listen, clearly verse 27 is teaching us that not, excuse me, clearly verse 27 is teaching us that we are not to follow Jesus for the benefits he may offer. We're not to follow Jesus for the benefits that he may offer.
In the case of our text, it's bread. They're following him for bread. If Jesus is a dispenser of any kind of benefit, you're following him for the wrong purpose. However, we are to follow him for the benefits of him, of having him.
We're to follow Jesus for the benefits of having Jesus, not for having bread, not for having good health, name it. If it's not him, then it's no benefit to us. We are to follow Jesus for the benefit of having him.
When our text says for the food which endures to eternal life, it's speaking about Jesus. Look at verses 33 through 35. John chapter 6, 33 through 35. Jesus speaking, For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.
Then they said to him, Lord, always give us this bread.
Do you see it?
Always give us this bread. They're still thinking physical bread that perishes. Jesus said to them, here's where he gets in trouble with them. I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never hunger, and he who believes in me, think back to chapter 4, will never thirst.
When you believe in Jesus, what do you get?
The Holy Spirit.
Jesus is the bread of life. Jesus is the one who came down from heaven in the incarnation. Isaiah, excuse me, Psalm 14, Psalm 53, tells us that God sits on his throne, and he looks down, and he sees that no one seeks for him.
No one seeks for him. What does he do? He steps down from the throne. He enters into creation. He lived the life we couldn't, speaking in his incarnation. Look back at verse 27. Again, at the words, for the food which endures to eternal life.
The Greek word here for endures is mino. Mino, which means to remain. To remain means, listen, not to perish. For the food, don't work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life.
For the food that remains. Jesus is the bread. He is the one who remains. He does not perish. We cannot consume it all, right? We try, right? We try to eat up as much of Christ as we can, reading the scriptures, trying to learn, learn, learn, and we'll never get there.
10 ,000 years in eternity, we still won't get there. He cannot be consumed. It does not go bad, right? He is efficacious for all. What Christ has done is powerful enough for all people. We spoke about this this Friday night at the Man's Hangout.
Following Jesus, for the sake of Jesus, Jesus endures, remains for eternal life, because Jesus has procured eternal life for us. If Jesus has not procured eternal life, then it perishes. It does not remain.
And as a matter of fact, our chasing after him, our working for this bread is sinful. You in life right now, and your sanctification following Jesus is not sinful. It's not 25 ,000 people trying to cross the sea.
We have been given the grace of God and our sanctification to follow after Jesus, and it's not sinful. We're not doing it. Again, if you're not doing it for the reasons of trying to get something, benefit, whether it's loved ones, whether it's food, just name it.
Again, the name it and claim it. Health, wealth, prosperity gospel. If you're seeking Jesus for that purpose, health, wealth, and prosperity, it's sinful, and it's going to perish. So following Jesus, for the sake of Jesus, endures, remains for eternal life, because Jesus has procured eternal life for us.
This being the life that he lived as a substitute and the death that he died as a substitute. And listen, that's how he is destroying death. That's how he is destroying death. If you were here for our Easter Sunday, we mentioned his resurrection is an already and not yet fulfillment of what takes place in 1 Corinthians 15, when that old saying goes, death, where is your sting?
Oh, death, where is your victory? There's going to come a day when you and I, when we die, when Christ comes back, and the dead in Christ are raised, when that will be fully, fully here. Oh, death, where is your sting?
Oh, death, where is your victory? Jesus will, once and for all, destroy death. Right now, he is destroying death. One day, death will be destroyed. It will be put underneath his feet. That same section says, the last enemy to be destroyed is death.
No more will die. Jesus tells Martha, who is speaking on the resurrection, he says, he who believes in me, even though they die, yet shall they live. Death is being destroyed, and it's through the life that Jesus lived as a substitute in my place and the death that Jesus died as a substitute.
This which he freely gives to us, for on him, on Jesus, God the Father has set his seal. At this time, in the text, if you were given the seal of a king, you spoke for the king. So, thanks signet ring.
If a king gives you his signet ring to go out, and he made that seal on him, you spoke for the king. Whatever you said, it is as if it's coming from the mouth of the king. The seal of God is the Holy Spirit, and at the baptism of Jesus, we see that the Holy Spirit came and rested on Jesus.
And according to Hebrews 1, verse 1, God has spoken through his son, Jesus, in these last days. Jesus, by that sign appearing upon him at his baptism, it's a saying, this is my signet. He has my signet.
He's the one you are to listen to. And now, by faith in Jesus, following after Jesus, seeking Jesus for Jesus, we have been given the seal of God. Ephesians 1, if you will turn there, look at verse 13.
Ephesians 1, verse 13. In him, speaking of Jesus, you also, after listening to the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed, were sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise.
Jesus taking that ring and sealing us. Turn over to chapter 4 of Ephesians. Look at verse 30. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. If you have the seal of God, you will not fall away.
That's the difference, right, between a false disciple and a true disciple. False disciples fall away, true disciples endure to eternal life. Because they have been given the bread of life,.
Jesus Christ.
If you have the seal of God, you will not fall away, you will not lose the seal of God. And you will not fall away, not because you're doing the right thing, quite the opposite, you will not fall away because Jesus is the bread of life.
What he says,.
Those who,.
I had it memorized, now I don't have it memorized. I'll have it memorized, but it slipped my mind. Do not work for the food which perishes, right here, but for the food which endures to eternal life. If you have Christ, meaning you are in Christ, listen to this, you cannot be un-in Christ.
If you have Christ, that means you are in Christ, you cannot be un-in Christ. If you have been given the seal of God, if Christ has set his seal upon you, giving you the Holy Spirit, you are in him. Ephesians tells us we are in him, with him, sitting in the heavenly places, in the already and not yet.
And if you're in him, you cannot be un-in him. Which is why, we will see that these disciples that are following Jesus after the bread that perishes are not true disciples, they are not true followers, they are not Christians, they are not in Christ, they are not Christians, and they are not Christians because their faith was not in Jesus.
What was their faith in? What was their faith in? The signs, the bread. Their faith was in the bread. It was in the gift, and not the giver. It was in the gift, and not the giver. Now, I don't know what this feels like a hundred percent, but I know twenty percent.
All of us, we have kids, and we give them gifts. And sometimes we see our kids, and they're playing on the gift, and they're more enamored by the gift than they are the giver.
When I see my kids, whatever gift it is, let's pick on Trinity, since I normally do, she's on her electronics. I walk in, she doesn't even look at me. She's focused on the gift and not the giver of the gift.
That's what's taking place here. They're focused on the gift and not the giver. They're focused on the gift and not the giver. The difference between true followers of Jesus Christ and false followers of Jesus Christ don't let this slip your mind, if you don't remember anything else, remember this is the object of which our faith is in.
Is your faith in the signs? Is your faith in what you can get from Jesus? Or is your faith in Christ? If your faith and hope are in material blessings of being a follower of Christ, or is your faith in Christ?
One more time. Is your faith and hope in the material blessings of being a follower of Christ, or is your faith and hope in Christ alone? And I'll leave you to answer that question. I'm available to anyone who wants to talk, Pastor Cal, Josh, as well, if you have felt the Lord move in your heart, if you have anything that you want to talk about, any prayer, please come and see one of us.
Let's pray.
Father, Lord, we love you and we thank you for your word. God, I know that I can be distracted in life, and I'm sure that everyone in here can echo what I'm saying. I can be so distracted in life that it can seem as if I'm looking at everything going on without focusing on you.
Lord, please forgive me. Grant to me repentance. Help me to not be a disciple, a follower who focuses on the gift and not the giver. Father, everything that I have is being given to me by you, my wife, my kids, my life, this church, my church family.
Lord, help me, please, as I give thanks for these things that you've given me, to never take my eyes off of Christ. To never think, look what I have done, but to give thanksgiving to you for providing what you have provided for us.
And Lord, you have given us something great, which is the supper, the supper which reminds us of what you have done for us in your death, the body that was broken for us and the blood that was shed for us.
Please, in this moment that we partake in this supper, Lord, we ask that you grant grace, forgiveness and grace, and that you will use it just as I pray you did today with the preaching of your word to grow us in the image of your son.
We pray this in Christ's name.
