The Gospel of John 6. For those of you who may be visiting, we are going through John's Gospel, verse by verse, chapter by chapter. And we're currently in John 6. And today we come to John 6, verses 22 through, and I'll read it down to verse 35. So John 6. verse 22 through 35. And so, brothers and sisters, give your attention now to the reading of God's holy, inerrant, and inspired Word. On the next day, the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples. but that his disciples had gone away alone. Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten 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 boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, Rabbi, when did you come here? Jesus answered them, truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him, God the Father has set his seal. Then they said to him, what must we do to be doing the works of God? Jesus answered them, this is the work of God that you believe in him whom he has sent. So they said to him, then what sign do you do that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written. He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Jesus then said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave 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. They said to him, sir, give us this bread always. Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. As for the reading of God's holy word, may he bless it to our hearts now. Brothers and sisters in Christ, several years ago there was an interview with Tom Brady on 60 Minutes. Now in case you don't know who Tom Brady is, he's one of the most successful quarterbacks to ever play football. American football. He plays for the New England Patriots. And he's now a four-time Super Bowl champion, having played in six Super Bowls. He's a three-time Super Bowl MVP, a two-time NFL League MVP. And he has a laundry list of other awards. He's also done all kinds of product endorsement. The guy's basically a model. And so between that and his football career, he's a multimillionaire. He's loaded. Oh, and he's also married to the highest paid supermodel in the world. So his story is basically all about rich, beautiful people winning Super Bowls. And yet, at the height of his career, shortly after he had won his third Super Bowl, when he was just before he was 30 years old, he did this interview with 60 Minutes, and he said this, he said, why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there's something greater out there for me? I mean, maybe a lot of people would say, hey man, this is what it is. I reached my goal, my dream, my life, and yet I think, God, it's got to be more than this. I mean, this isn't, this can't be what it's all cracked up to be. And so the journalist asked, what's the answer? And Tom Brady responded, I wish I knew. And this is an excellent modern day illustration of the book of Ecclesiastes. Tom Brady has discovered what the author of Ecclesiastes discovered thousands of years ago, namely vanity of vanities. All is vanity. What does it all amount to in the end? All of our pursuits in this world, ultimately, as the author of Ecclesiastes puts it, it's a chasing after the wind. And in the end, death comes for us all. Unless there's something more. Unless there's an answer to that emptiness that even the richest, most successful people in the world like Tom Brady still feel. And thankfully there is. Tom Brady, his answer to that emptiness is in our passage this morning. The satisfaction of his hungry soul and your hungry soul is right here in God's Word today. So if you want to be filled with what Tom Brady was lacking despite all of his fame and fortune, I invite you to pay attention to God's Word today. And in this passage known as the Bread of Life Discourse, Jesus we see here contrasts the food that perishes with the food that endures, that satisfies. And he tells us how we receive that food that endures. And so we're going to contrast that today. We'll see the contrast here between the food that perishes versus the food that endures. And that's our first and second point. Now, not everything's gonna fit neatly under these two separate categories, because it's hard to talk about one without the other. But I think that that's a good theme for us. I think that's the theme of this passage that helps us remember it. And so let's consider first the food that perishes. We just saw how Jesus fed the 5,000. And more accurately, that was around 20,000. As it says in John 6 that it was 5,000 men. It didn't count the women and children that were likely there as well. And then we saw how He walked on water last week during a storm and then brought His disciples safely to shore. And we're seeing here in John 6 that Jesus is revealing that He is truly God in the flesh. that He is the Christ, the Messiah, the promised Messiah of God's people, and He's the greater Moses. He's greater than Moses, bringing about a new and greater exodus for God's people. And now we go on to read in verse 22 that the next day after this walking on water incident, the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but that His disciples had gone away alone. And other boats from Tiberias came to the place where they had eaten 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 boats and went to Capernaum seeking Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, Rabbi, when did you come here? So this is a scene of these people searching. They're wondering, wait, where did Jesus go? And they're searching. They're seeking him out. They ask him, you know, Rabbi, how'd you get here? Wouldn't it have been great for Jesus to say, well, you know, I walked on water. But no, he doesn't do that, of course. He's not, he didn't come to just show off or anything. He actually ignores their question. Cuts right to the heart of things as we've often seen him do in John's gospel. He answers them Truly truly now. We've seen that several times. I don't think I've ever mentioned commented on it But whenever you see truly truly that's in the Greek. Amen. Amen, or amen. Amen, and it means pay attention This is very important what I'm about to say and he says truly truly I say to you you are seeking me and Not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on Him God the Father has set His seal." So immediately Jesus calls them to account. And He has the authority to do so because as He says, He's the Son of Man upon whom God the Father has set His seal. Now children, do you know what a seal is? I see you taking notes there, children. Let me ask you, do you know what a seal is? What Jesus is talking about here? Well, he's not talking about the animal at the sea that barks. He's talking about the kind of seal that kings often use children. Perhaps you've seen the movie Robin Hood, or heard the story, and you know that Robin Hood was a wanted man by the king, and perhaps you've seen in that movie whenever the king places a wanted poster around town, Robin Hood wanted, and the price to pay to capture him, if you deliver him. There's often a seal at the bottom of that wanted poster, children, and it's like a wax imprint that bears the impression of the king's signet ring, his ring. And he presses that on there, and that's to indicate to the people that this document didn't come from just some average Joe in the town that just wanted Robin Hood. It's not an imposter posting this. It's not a fake. It's the real deal. That's the kind of sealed children that Jesus is talking about here. And so God the Father has set His seal on Jesus. And everything He says is from God the Father and is true and certified. And as the Son of God, He knows their heart we see here once again. They're following Jesus for all the wrong reasons. They're following Jesus for what they can get from Him. We've been seeing this over and over in John's Gospel. They're following Jesus for the material benefits. They just want free food for the rest of their lives, and Jesus says, don't you get it? Don't you get it? I rain down bread and fish upon you, not simply to feed your bellies. It was a sign. It was a sign of something far greater. Food spoils. Bread gets moldy. Children, have you ever seen moldy bread? When it gets those little green spots on the bread? Bread gets moldy. I had to take care of some moldy bread this week. Some of it I tried to pick out and eat, but that didn't really work. I thought I'd forget it. And even though you eat bread, you still get hungry again, right? Jesus is trying to teach us that there's something more to life than food. Even though food is necessary to live by physically, and God delights to provide for us our daily bread, and we give Him thanks for that, Jesus also teaches us in His temptations in the wilderness that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. And in general, there's more to life than what we see in this world. And we can be thankful for that today, can't we? That there's more to life than what we see in the news, right? We just saw last week these shootings in Dallas, and then this week this terrible attack in Nice, France, where 84 were killed by a man who ran them over with a large truck on Bastille Day. Thanks be to God, there's more to life than this world. And aside from all the evil in the world, even the good things, even the good things don't ultimately satisfy us. Our hearts are restless. We get anxious, even if we're the richest person in the world. We covet and lust after things that we don't have, and we get bored easily with the things that we do have. We think, oh, if I could just get to this, promotion, if I could just get this raise, if I could just get a better house or a better car or whatever, we think well then we'll be good, we'll be content, we'll be happy. But if you've lived long enough, you know that that's not the case. You're going to get bored eventually with that as well. Maybe you saw on the news this week that there's this new craze out there called Pokemon Go. You know, I probably shouldn't admit this but I'll admit it. I played a little bit this week with my kids To see if it's gonna be a good father-child bonding experience It's nice it gets us out of the house it gets us walking around and you know, I could use the exercise I even discovered some cool places in Regina. I never knew about like the Kiwanis waterfalls Park. It's pretty nice and This is a hugely popular game right now. But you know, I guarantee you that Pokemon Go is not going to last forever. Pokemon's not going to endure. And nor will your smartphone that you spend so much time with. Nor will sports like hockey or the Rough Riders. Reminded there's a Rough Riders game. You can never... It wasn't known a Rough Riders game is in the city. Everybody's wearing green and rider's gear, right? But the Rough Riders won't endure. Nor will your house or your car, nor will your career, your hobbies, or anything else in this world, ultimately. None of it will last forever, and any of it can be taken away in a moment's notice if you die, or if God just takes it. That's why Jesus says to us in Matthew 6.19, do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is there your heart will be also. You see, there has to be something more than the fleeting pleasures of this world. C.S. Lewis once wrote, the Christian says, Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger. Well, there's such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim. Well, there's such a thing as water. Men and women feel sexual desire. Well, there's such a thing as sex. He says, if I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. That's what Tom Brady has just begun to learn. That's what we all feel ultimately in this world apart from Christ. An emptiness, no matter how wealthy we are. And that's what Jesus is teaching here. There's food that perishes, and then there's food that does not perish, that endures unto eternal life. And by eternal life, he doesn't just mean living forever. I mean, think about all the myths and stories about immortals, where the person who simply lives forever eventually gets bored, or eventually continues to face tragedy and sorrow in life when the mortals that they fall in love with die. When the Bible talks about eternal life, it's not just simply talking about just living forever. It's not simply talking about quantity of life, but more importantly, quality of life. A life of abundance, a life of blessing, a life of eternal satisfaction and joy forevermore at God's right hand. And so Jesus is saying, don't labor only for the stuff of the here and now. Look beyond this present evil age, which is already passing away. Look beyond it to the world to come. But they still don't get it. Notice verse 28, they say to him, what must we do to be doing the works of God? Once again, they've misunderstood Jesus' teaching. They focus in on the fact that Jesus just mentioned laboring. It's like they hone on that word. He said, laboring. We gotta do something. And so they ask what they need to do to earn this bread he's talking about. But Jesus wasn't focusing on earning something. It was on having a proper goal or pursuit in life, namely eternal life and the glories of the age to come, which can only be found in him. But if they want to know how to receive what He's talking about, it's not by merit. It can't be earned. And Jesus answers them in verse 29, this is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent. That's the work of God, to believe in the one in whom He has sent. You see, eternal life is a gift of free grace. This goes against our nature of wanting to do it ourselves, and not wanting to admit that there's something we can't do, right? We live in a do-it-yourself culture. We live in a, if you just dream it, you can accomplish it, right? That's our culture today, but Jesus says you can accomplish this. It's a free gift. I like to ask my children often, what is grace like, children? And the answer they're supposed to say is grace is like a gift. And I tell them, do you work for a gift, children, or do you receive a gift? And they've got it down now. They say, you receive a gift. And I ask them these questions over and over again because I want them to know that whenever we talk about eternal life as a gift of grace alone, that they know that you don't work for eternal life. It's a free gift that you receive by faith. It doesn't mean nobody worked for it, right? Whenever you buy somebody a gift, you work for that. The person who buys the gift works for it. And that's the point. Jesus worked for it. But for us, we receive it as a gift. But the Jews here still don't get it. He's claiming to be certified by God the Father and greater than Moses and to offer them the bread of eternal life. And they think, if he's so great, then he should prove it. And so they say to him, verse 30, then what sign do you do that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written. He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Now, this is, if you've read John 6, just a few verses earlier, I just think a couple Sundays ago, what miracle did we see there in the beginning of John 6? What did he do? He fed 5,000 men and maybe 10 to 20,000 people total. Five loaves of bread and two fish. Has He not given them a sign already? Don't they remember? Their memories are terrible. You see, though, He could show them all the signs in the world, but their hearts are hardened. As Paul describes in Ephesians 2, they're dead in their sins and trespasses. You see, and unless the Spirit gives them spiritual life and opens their heart to believe, they'll never believe. And that's what Jesus goes on to teach further on. We'll see in John 6 that unless the Father draws them, they will never believe. And this is an example of the fact that faith doesn't come simply by seeing a miracle. Faith is created in our hearts by the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Gospel. Faith comes by hearing. Through the Word. By the Spirit. So they're laboring for the wrong thing, and then when Jesus presents them with the right thing, they think they can earn it, when in fact it's a free gift to be received by faith alone. And they think the glory days were when their fathers ate the manna in the wilderness. But the wilderness generation was characterized by grumbling and complaining. There's this song that my children sing from Jamie Soules, the guy that just did a concert for us recently, and he asks for grumps in that song. Do we have any grumps around here? Grump, grump, grump, grump, grump, hey! And then it says, we don't, no, no, no. And they get to complain and pretend like they're the Israelites. And, you know, they're probably maybe quoting Psalm 78 here. And just read Psalm 78. Yes, it talks about the manna in the wilderness, but read the rest of the psalm. The wilderness generation was characterized by grumbling and complaining. And that's what we're going to see in a few more verses here. They're going to grumble and complain. The wilderness generation was characterized by unbelief and rebellion, and they ultimately perished. They didn't enter the promised land. So what's the point? Don't labor for the food that perishes. But let's consider more specifically the food that endures. Verse 32, truly, truly, Jesus says, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. You see, they gave Moses far too much credit here. And so Jesus reminds them that Moses was just a mediator, a go-between. It was ultimately God who gave them the manna through Moses. And not only that, but once again, they're living in the past. They view the time of Moses as the glory days. And yet, God was not pleased with that generation, as I've said. They didn't enter the promised land. But you know, we often are tempted to think about the past as the glory days, aren't we? Perhaps you sometimes think of a time in history as the glory days. The problem is that we often forget the bad things of that time. You know, sometimes I, being a Reformed pastor, wish I could live in the days of the great Protestant Reformers like John Calvin or Martin Luther. Or maybe you like the era of Downtown Abbey, that well-known historical period drama today, or some other period drama. But you know what? There was still great evil in the world in those days. There was still great sin in people's lives. And let's not forget how many children died in infancy, and how many died from the flu. You know, John Owen, one of my favorite Puritans, who lived in the 17th century, lost 10 out of 11 children in infancy. You know, my wife had a C-section with our firstborn, and I think they both would have probably died in infancy. So you know, as much as I might think it would be great to live in the glory days of the past, no. There's really no such thing as the glory days in this life. There's no such thing as the glory days until we get to the new heavens and new earth. And so he shifts their attention off the past to the present. He shifts his speech to the present tense, in fact, and says, my Father now gives you the true bread from heaven. And the man that they received in the wilderness wasn't even the true bread. The true bread is standing right in front of them, you see. Notice verse 33. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. You see, the food that endures is not simply a thing. It's a person. This bread that Jesus is talking about is Him. And it's not just for the Jews, notice what he says. He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. It's not just for the Jews, it's for all nations, brothers and sisters. It's for everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord in repentance and faith in Christ. And they say to Him, Sir, give us this bread always. You see, like the Samaritan woman that we saw earlier in John 4, they still don't get it. And so Jesus puts it as clearly as possible in verse 35. He says, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. He says, I am the bread of life. This is one of the first of Jesus' seven I am statements in John's gospel. I was reviewing some of the top 100 movie quotes this week. Some of those include the following. Here's looking at you kid from Casablanca or Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore. The Wizard of Oz or go ahead, make my day. Clint Eastwood from Sudden Impact or may the force be with you. or Star Wars, or show me the money. Jerry Maguire, you can't handle the truth. I'll be back. Some of the more memorable well-known lines from movies. And I wonder what the most well-known lines of Jesus are. But I'll bet these I Am statements would be right up there. these seven I Am statements in John's Gospel. Here he says, I am the bread of life. And he's going to go on in John's Gospel to say, I am the light of the world. I am the gate. I am the good shepherd. I am the resurrection and the life. I am the way, the truth, and the life. I am the vine. As I said last week, this is Jesus claiming to be Yahweh. The Lord, God of Israel, the great I Am, who was revealed to Moses at the burning bush. Here he says, I'm the bread of life, which teaches us that it is Jesus who spiritually sustains us. He's the one that we must eat. He's the one we must be united with. When we come to him, our souls don't hunger or thirst. Now you may be thinking, that sounds so weird, talking about eating Jesus. And he's going to say that a little bit more specifically later. But what does he mean? Well, it's not to be taken literally, but it is a vivid metaphor, and it's meant to teach us that we need to be united with Jesus. We need to be united with Christ. Think about food. You can have a man like Gordon Ramsay cook up the most amazing meal for you that would have all kinds of nourishment for you and wonderful tastes and smells and presentation. But if you don't eat it, if you're not united with that food, if you don't consume it, you don't get any of that. You don't get the benefits of that food. You don't get the nourishment, the pleasure, the satisfaction. And in a similar way, Christ cooked up a feast for our soul in His life, death, and resurrection. But it needs to be applied to us in some way. We have to consume it in some way. We have to be united with Christ in some way. And the way we receive Christ and all His benefits is by the Holy Spirit through faith. As John Calvin used to say, faith is the mouth of our souls. And so that's how you eat the food that endures to eternal life. You have to have faith in Christ. You must trust in His life, death, and resurrection, ascension, and return. And He is the food that endures. When you come to Him, your hunger is satisfied. Your thirst is quenched, He says. Think about some of the things that your soul hungers for in this life. Are you hungry for purpose in life? Perhaps you struggle. What's kind of feel like a failure? Do I have any purpose in life? Well, Jesus reveals your purpose to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. You and I are created in the image of God, and Jesus is the image of God and the exact imprint of His nature. If you want to know your purpose for life, look at Jesus. Are you hungry for joy and pleasure in life? Well, Jesus is the fulfillment of Psalm 16, which says, You make known to me the path of life. In Your presence there is fullness of joy. At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Are you hungry for love and affirmation in your life? Perhaps you feel like you never receive the kind of love that you crave from your parents, or from your spouse, or your children, or your friends, or peers. What could be greater than being called a beloved child of God? One whom the Father looks upon with favor and affirmation and love and will never leave you nor forsake you. He accepts you. Are you hungry for faithfulness or loyalty? Perhaps somebody has been unfaithful to you or disloyal. Jesus is the faithful bridegroom of His people. God the Father is the faithful Father. Are you hungry for forgiveness? Ephesians 1.7 says, In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace. If you struggle with guilt and you need forgiveness and you're hungry for that, go to Jesus. Are you hungry for healing? Perhaps you've got aches and pains. Perhaps you've got cancer. Perhaps you've got Parkinson's disease or diabetes or whatever it may be. We get new bodies in Christ. Philippians 3.20 says, our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to Himself. Are you hungry for companionship? Brothers and sisters, our fellowship is with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and He also gives us each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. Are you hungry for justice? No doubt we hunger for justice after the last couple weeks in the news, last year in the news. 2 Thessalonians 1.6 says, God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us. When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, justice is coming. Are you hungry for security, for peace, for protection? Jesus is the Good Shepherd of Psalm 23. He provides for us and protects us, even when it costs Him His life. And He earned for us the security, peace, and protection of heaven. This is how the Bible ends, holding this out for us. Revelation 7 says, these are the ones coming out of the Great Tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will shelter them with His presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more. The sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. In Revelation 22 it goes on and says, "...the tree of life, with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month, the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." And how do we need that now? The healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will worship Him. That's the glories of the new heavens and new earth. That's the food that endures. All of these things are found in Christ and in Christ alone. This is what Jesus is talking about when he's talking about the food that endures. That food is him and all of his benefits. And you receive that food by feeding on him by faith alone apart from any of your works because he, as I said earlier, he did all the work. He actually did labor for the food that endures, and He's the only one who ever earned it. We deserve to perish with the food that perishes. But on the cross, His body was broken for you. His blood was shed for you. He was abandoned for you. He received God's justice for you. But God raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand and exalted Him there. And He's coming again to judge all those who lived only for the food that perishes and tried to earn that eternal life. But for those who have fed on Him by faith, He will raise them up to abundant eternal life in the new heavens and new earth. And He gives you now this sign and seal, this beautiful sign and seal of these promises. in the Lord's Supper. If your soul is hungry, then believe in Jesus this day. and you will find satisfaction for your hungry soul. You will be nourished unto everlasting life. And then continue to rest, continue to feed and trust in Christ. Go to Him in prayer daily. Feed on His Word daily. Come to church on Sunday and feed on the food that endures unto everlasting life. Amen. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank You for The precious promises that you give us in Christ of food that endures, that you have given us your only begotten son to have died on the cross for all of our sins and be raised for our justification in eternal life. Help us to be satisfied now in him, satisfied by your spirit. Satisfy our hungry souls. We thank you that we have been born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, it cannot spoil, that is kept in heaven for us and guarded by the Holy Spirit until we see Christ face to face. So preserve us until Christ comes again. Feed us on Christ by faith unto everlasting life. We pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.