Did everybody get a copy of the lesson tonight? Is there anybody that did not get a copy? All right, we've got two, three, four. They're going to go out on the counter there. Raise your hand again and they'll get you a copy of the lessons that are coming in. Tonight you'll follow with us. There's some over here on this side, two fellows. We'll be in the 6th chapter of the book of John tonight, where we'll be in the Scriptures, and we've covered verses 1-15 about the creative power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Tonight's lesson is on the Bread of Life. And so I want to read tonight from the book of John's Gospel, chapter 6, verses 33 down through verse number 35. And when you find that in the Bible, would you stand with us to rest yourself and also reverence God's Word tonight as we read about the bread of life this evening. Bear in mind before we read tonight that Jesus through the Apostle John is endeavoring to help those that He's encountering and those that He's teaching to learn that He is Himself the Savior, the Son of God. And He's met with a lot of opposition. He's met with a lot of objection. And so Christ continues to expound upon this, and tonight He will relate the manna that they had received from heaven before to Himself as truly being the true bread of life. John chapter 6 verse 33, if you're there, say Amen. For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life, he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. Let us pray. Our Father, we ask your blessing tonight upon the reading of your precious word. Now we pray, God, that You'll open our minds and our hearts as we look at this study tonight and the teachings of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Give us the understanding, give us the ability to appropriate by faith these promises and make the application of them in our own lives. Heavenly Father, Lord, tonight we pray and remember the special needs of those that we prayed about this morning. We prayed for John this morning and did not know, Lord, that he was leaving this earth. And it's a blessing to hear that he had faith, that he had exercised a praise unto you, even when he had gone through some tests and they didn't find cancer, but he acknowledged that he was appreciative of you, God, and give you the glory. And it was an aggressive cancer, and it took him quickly. And Lord, if his faith was anchored in Jesus, then tonight he's at home, and he's at rest, and he'll not suffer ever again. I pray God if his brother Tony loved him as much as he seemed to have loved him, and was as concerned for his suffering as he was, Now I pray, God, that it will be Tony's desire to know Jesus and to go to heaven so that he can be reunited with his brother. Please remember the other special needs that's been spoken throughout this day, and Father, bless our study of the Word of God tonight, that when we leave the house of God, we can say it's been good to be in the Lord's house. For it's in Jesus' name I pray, and all of God's people said, Amen. You may be seated. Tonight as we go along in the lesson and I begin to teach it and preach it to you this evening, I will follow the format of the lesson and you'll find some places where there's blanks on your lesson. And you can fill in the words there as we go along this evening. I start the lesson like this, the question of this multitude in 625, like that of the Jews in 642, is after the flesh. So go to verse 25 with me for just a moment in John chapter 6, and let's notice what the question was there, as well as what the question was in verse number 42. In verse number 25, the question was presented to Jesus in the latter part of that verse, When camest thou hither? And the reason He said that is because, remember now, that the day before they had been on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, and there Jesus had taken the five loaves and the two fish, and He had fed the multitude. Then He sent the crowd away, sent His disciples on board the ship to go to the western side of the Sea of Tiberias, and Jesus went alone to pray. And if you remember while He was praying, the disciples at sea had gone just a little ways, almost four miles, and a storm came down on the sea. And Jesus came walking to them on the water. So the next day when the people that had been fed the day before came down, they saw that the disciples' boat had departed, but Jesus' boat was not there, but yet He was on the other side. And so they were wondering, how did He get there? How did He get over there? Well, He walked on the water. And that's how He got there. And when He came on board the ship with the disciples, the storm was calmed, and the Scripture says that immediately the ship was at the land where it went in verse number 21. And so they asked Him, When camest Thou hither? Now look at the question in verse 42. Here he says in verse 42, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? Their question is this, How is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven? And because of their knowledge of Joseph and Mary, And Jesus making the statement, I came down from heaven, they reject that because they cannot see Him as being the Son of God, as One who came down from heaven, because they had knowledge of His birth. But because these two questions were after the flesh, it receives no direct reply from the Lord Jesus Christ. Instead, the Lord solemnly warns His hearers that their interest, and that's what you need to fill in the first blank, their interest, was in him is now based on nothing better than the hope of a material benefit. So the two blanks is their interest and the hope of a material benefit. Why is that? Well, let's look at it. Jesus says to them when they came to Him the next day, in verse 26, you seek Me not because you saw the miracles, but because you did eat and were filled of the loaves. So they're after a material benefit here, and that is their interest in Him. They're not interested in, is He really the Son of God? Is He really the Savior, the Messiah that was to come? And so He's warning them of this dangerous position that they're in. Their thoughts must be raised to a higher level. And so in verse 27, they are bidden to work or give service in order to secure not a perishable food, but a lasting food which it issues into eternal life. Now fill in the word eternal there and then look at verse number 27. And here's the point of this lesson tonight. What is the motive behind why you serve God? Or what is the reason why you would follow God? Are you following Him because of your interest and material benefit that you think He will bring to your life? And do you see that that's what these people were doing who had been fed by the small amount of loaves and fish, and it was a great miracle, And Jesus knew that they would take Him and make Him a king, and for that reason He had to get away and depart, lest they do that and create a big problem with Rome. And so He knew that their interest was in a material benefit alone. But Christ wants us to do something more than that. He wants you and me tonight to rise to a higher level when we pursue Him. Look at what He said, "...labor not for the meat that perisheth." You do understand tonight, beloved, I pray, that all that is in this world and the fashion of this world someday will come to a conclusion. And it will all pass away. And nothing that you and I possess now or possess in the future will benefit us anything when we stand before God. But rather, Jesus said, labor for the meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you. For Him hath God the Father sealed. Do you believe tonight with all your heart that when you put your faith and your trust in Jesus that He has given you this eternal life? If you believe it, shout Amen. And so that's the reason tonight that we should pursue and follow Christ. So then they asked, what do we do in order that we might work the work of God? That was their question in verse number 28. And they learned that only one service is required, and it's found in verse 29. Listen to what Jesus said. This is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom He hath sent. And so the one word that you need to fill in there is believe. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what Paul said. And you shall be saved. It doesn't say you have to understand it. It doesn't say that you have to figure it out. Nicodemus couldn't figure it out. Jesus said, The wind bloweth where it listeth, and ye hear the sound thereof, but ye cannot tell from whence it cometh, neither do ye know where it's going. But whosoever is born of the Spirit of God, there is a change in their lives. And what Christ is trying to help them see here is that there's one work that you have to do, and that work is simply believe on Him. Their response to that answer was this, What sign will you show us that we may see and believe? That's their reply in verse number 30. Now if you remember, Jesus had already once told these people in John 4.48, Except you see signs and wonders, you will not believe. See, they want to know, what have we got to work, Lord, to have this life? And Jesus said there's one work, and that's to believe on the Lord. And then they turned right around rhetorically and said, what sign do you show us? After He's told them that you will not believe unless you have signs. And faith is not based in signs, but faith is based upon the facts of the Word of God. And when the Word of God says, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, if you will believe Him tonight, you will be saved. Just like the Scriptures teach you and I this evening. So they justified asking this by the statement in verse number 31. Here's what it says in verse 31. Our fathers did eat manna in the desert, as it is written. He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Now you see, here's what they're thinking. Well, our fathers could believe in Moses, because when they hungered and cried out for something to eat, He prayed and God gave them bread. That was their sign. And that was the manner which came down to them in the days of Moses. but they had a lack of understanding, and Jesus would correct that in verse number 32. Jesus said, Verily, verily, and when He says those two words, verily, verily, here's what they mean. Truly, truly, I say unto you. Say that with me. Truly, truly, I say unto you. When God is saying verily, verily, He's wanting you to embrace truly, truly, what He is saying. Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. Now, He didn't say, My Father giveth you, gave you that bread. But He's saying, My Father giveth you the true bread. So here's what you need to remember, and what Jesus was correcting. The bread which they eat in the wilderness was not the true bread. Yes, it satisfied a physical need, but they had to have it every day. But when you find the true bread, it satisfies you for now and for eternity to come. and Jesus Christ would be the one who is that true bread. And so the bread in the blank fill in the word bread of God is He that giveth His life unto the world. And that's where my text begins tonight. For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven and giveth His life unto the world. Like the woman at the well in chapter 4 and verse 15, who said to Jesus, Sir, give me this water that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. In verse 34, look at what these said. Evermore give us this bread. Now they're trying to embrace Jesus. They're trying to understand Jesus. But they just can't seem to understand Him. I mean, they were fascinated with the fact that He took five loaves, two fish, and fed that multitude, 5,000, besides women and children. They pursue Him the next day with the question, How did you get over here? And He didn't reply to them. But it didn't seem to matter to them. They found Him. They're back in His presence. And Christ knows why they came. And here's the thought again that I impress upon your heart. Why do you serve Him? Why do you follow Him? Why do you pursue Him? Do you do this because of a personal interest? Or do you do this because of the material benefit that you think that it will be for you? And Jesus said, You didn't come to Me because you saw the miracle. They missed the miracle. But Jesus said, You did eat the bread and you were full, and so here you are again today seeking more bread, seeking another physical benefit, and you missed the total miracle. Folks, listen tonight, as God's children, don't miss the miracles. He is a miracle-working God. He's still on the throne. And how many of you believe tonight He can still do miracles in this hour? He can do it, and we need to look for those miracles. And so Jesus says unto them, He said, Now when Jesus said, I am the bread of life, This is the first of seven self-declarations in this gospel. The I Am's, there are seven of them that John records for us, and this is the first one of them. And it reveals that it is He Himself of which He has been speaking. He does not merely impart a gift, Fill in the blank with the word gift. He is not merely imparting a gift which He brings, but He is that gift. And tonight I hope that you understand what eternal life is. Eternal life is not the promise of words. It is the gift of God, and the gift of God is a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. You and I who have Jesus in our lives have received the gift of eternal life. Read John chapter 17, and there he tells us that Jesus is eternal life. And that's why Paul said that the wages of sin are death, but the gift of God is eternal life. All of us have already sinned and come short of the glory of God, and we all are under the sentence of death. But when we receive Christ as our Savior, we have received that gift, the gift of life, and the recipient will no longer hunger or no longer thirst. What does he mean by that statement, no longer hunger and no longer thirst? It means that you won't have to be pursuing for something more and something deeper in your experience. Jesus Christ, Paul said, you are complete in Christ. If you have Christ tonight, you've received Christ tonight, He's all you need. That's all you need is the Lord Jesus. Now there's people that say, oh there's greater experiences and there's a deeper walk and there is. You can get closer to God. You can have your spiritual eyes open and you can see things that you've never seen. And you'll see things, and I'm not talking about some fantasy thing out here in the world. I'm talking about God revealing things to you in the Word of God that you'd never see. and things from God's Scripture that will be a blessing to you and that will be encouraging to you. And sometimes you'll read it and you'll see it and you'll think, I don't know if I should say anything about that. Somebody might think I'm a nut. And all of a sudden a preacher will get up and preach it, come right down that avenue, touch on what you've seen in the Scripture, and you know what the Holy Ghost will do in you? He'll leap inside of you like John the Baptist did in the sight of Elizabeth because all of a sudden God has confirmed to you, I've shown you something here. And that's when it's good. Amen? How many of you can say amen? You've seen things in the scripture you've never seen without God. See, He has to give that to you, and He's willing to open your eyes for that. At once, however, the Lord reminds His hearers that they're in danger of forfeiting His gift in verse 36. He said, I said unto you that ye also have seen me, and you believe not. They had a unique privilege of seeing the flesh, in the flesh, the fountainhead of life and truth. And there in Matthew 13, 17, here's what it said. Jesus said this. Many prophets and many righteous people have desired to see the things that you see and to hear the things that you hear. He was talking to the crowd that day. Many prophets and many righteous people, Jesus said, have desired to see and hear the things you've heard, and they've never seen it. And they saw it and heard it and still didn't believe it. And that's what Jesus is warning them of here, the danger of forfeiting this gift. And it has not yet led them to believe upon Him. Everything given to the Lord by the Father will come to Him, and be received, since our Lord's sole purpose is to do not His own will, but the Father's will. Look at verse 37 and 38. Listen to this very carefully. This is a beautiful scripture. Verse 37, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise do what? Cast out. Now, here's a key thing that you need to look at tonight. Can I come to God on my own? Or does God have to draw me? Well, there are theologies that teach today, this Calvinistic philosophy or theology, that He has only chosen and preselected and elected them that will be saved and the rest of the world will be lost. But when Jesus came into the world, He said, I am not come to do mine own will, but I am come to do the will of my Father. What is the will of God? The will of God is that none should perish, listen to me, but that all should come to Him in repentance. God is not looking to select just a few people in the world and save them, a few Jews and a few Gentiles. But the Bible says that whosoever will may come and take this water of life freely. If you were talking to somebody in that theology, here's how they would answer the word all. The all of them who are preselected. And it doesn't say that in the Bible. From Genesis to Revelation, the picture God gives to the whole world is that He loved the whole world. And He was not willing that the world should perish, but that the whole world would come to Him in repentance. Did God know the world wouldn't all come to Him? I think so. God knows that. And sometimes people say, well then, how can you believe that God can be sovereign if He doesn't pre-select? He's more sovereign in the fact that He gives you a freedom of will, and He sets life and death before you, and He lets you make the choice yourself. Therefore, it shows His independence, and it shows the surety and security that He knows He's the sovereign God, and it doesn't change who He is, and what He is, and what He has the power to do, whether I choose Him or not. He doesn't have to go around doing the choosing, but He does give to everybody that privilege. Look at John 6, verse 44. Listen to what Jesus said here. No man can come to Me except what? the Father which hath sent me, draw him. So let me just say this, go back to verse 37, All that the Father giveth me. God the Father draws you when the gospel is preached, the drawing of the gospel since the death, burial, and resurrection, and the ascension of Jesus Christ, was when the disciples was empowered in the New Testament Church in Acts chapter 2, Go ye forth into all the nations of the world, and preach the gospel unto every creature. And he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. God opened that dispensation, and God extended that call, and God has appointed you. If you're lost tonight, you're watching on the camera, or wherever you're at tonight in the service, if you're lost, that invitation's open. God has extended it to you. And He said, All that the Father gives me, that cometh to me, I shall in no wise cast out. It don't make any difference how deep in sin you are, how rotten you think you are, how unworthy you think you are. If you know in your heart your loss and you know that God loves you enough to let Jesus die for you and that His blood can cleanse you from your sins, the invitation and the door is open. Come to Jesus and you will not be cast out. Hallelujah. And then look at verse 38. And there Jesus said, I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. Now then in verse 39 and 40, listen to what Jesus said. This is the Father's will, which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should what? Now look up here to me for just a minute. I'm fully aware this is a Free Will Baptist church. and I'm fully aware that the danger of you or me deciding I won't follow Jesus is possible. The Scripture warns against it. The Scripture warns of the danger of it. But why in the world would you want to be lost? After being lost, He saved you. And gave you this promise here, of all that the Father gives me, I shall lose nothing. If you want some eternal security, anchor it right there. That is eternal security. And don't be so haughty about that, that you don't think that it's possible. Because the scripture would never have warned you of the danger if there was no possibility. A little child doesn't know that a stove is hot. So why in the world do you warn them when they get near a hot stove? You'll holler, hot! As if they've got a vocabulary and a dictionary mind to understand what is hot. They'll touch it and figure out it's hot. Amen? But listen, you warn because you know it'll burn, because you have the knowledge and know it's hot. God, who has all power and all knowledge, wants you to understand that when you give your life to Jesus, you're to trust Him because you believe Him forever, and believe what He promised you. But at the same time, remember, He allowed you to be a free moral agent to choose to accept Him or reject Him. And just as surely as you could choose to accept Him and did accept Him, at some place in your life, you can get discouraged and disheartened and disappointed, and you could choose to turn away from Him. And you might turn your back on the church, turn your back on God, and you say, well, I'll still be saved. Find that in the Bible. Find that in the Bible. Because God said, let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. I Corinthians 10. Peter warned and said, be careful that you be led not away with the error of the wicked. You see, it matters who your counselors are, and it matters what is going to impact your life. And so let's move on with the rest of the lesson. The Father's will is threefold. All that the Father gives to Jesus, He is to lose nothing. Fill in the blank with the word lose. Secondly, He is to raise them up. Listen to verse 39. I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And then the last thing is, at the last day give them everlasting life. Listen to verse 40, This is the will of Him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life. And I will raise him up at the last day. You know why God said these words? Because if you live long enough, it's been appointed to you to die. And death isn't going to separate you from God if you've been saved. God has given you the assurance here that He'll lose nothing, and God also has given you the assurance that if you depart this life with your faith in Jesus Christ, you will be raised up in the resurrection. That is a great eternal promise that's given to us from God. The Jews in verse 41 and 52 resent his assertion on the grounds that they know his physical parentage. In verse 42 it states that, "...they believe themselves to have adequate knowledge to discern or to pass judgment on these matters." And yet human judgment is a very small thing. Paul writes in I Corinthians 4.3, I judge not myself, nor does it matter to me to be judged of you. In God's presence man is reduced to silence and cannot but abhor himself. Do you know tonight if you or I or any of us was brought into God's presence, we would do what Job did. He said in chapter 42 verse 6, I abhor myself in the sight of a holy God. Let me tell you something that God doesn't want us to do. He doesn't want any one of us to look at our life and place it up against someone else's life. Because if you judge yourself in light of someone else, you could either be better off than them, you think, or worse off than them, you think. So what does God want us to judge ourselves by? The standard is to lay our life in the presence of Jesus. Lay our life against Him. And you know what that does for all of us? It puts us on level ground. Because there's none righteous, no not one, there's none of us that is as holy and as good as Jesus Christ. And when we see ourself in His light, then we know we need forgiveness, and we know we need cleansing. And that will also help you to remember that if you'll judge yourself not against others, but in light of Jesus, then when the devil tries to get you to do that against others, you can turn from him and not allow it to happen. So in God's presence we are reduced to silence and cannot but abhor Himself. As long as men are content to remain confident in their own ability, without divine help in assuring experiences, or the meaning of an experience, they cannot come to the Lord. Only the Father can move a person to the step of both coming to Him and believing on Him. And I showed you verse 44. Have you ever talked to somebody that was lost and you couldn't get them interested? They know what's right. They know what's the truth. Why then won't they give in to the truth? Because you need to come back and accept the Scriptures. You see, you're going to wear yourself out and wear yourself to death fretting over why won't God do something. Well, first of all, what you need to understand is the person that has caused the frustration, because you're trying to persuade them and convince them to believe in God, and you hear them say they have belief and they know what they ought to do, but they won't do it, you need to understand God ain't moving them at this moment or at that moment to take that step. They'll not take that step until God moves them. But that doesn't lessen the responsibility that you have to witness to them or that I have. We should share our faith and we should talk about how good it is to be forgiven of sin, to lay down at night knowing that if you die you're going to heaven. And to have the peace that passeth all understanding and the experience of walking in the power of the Holy Spirit of God. Many times when we witness we don't talk about things like that. But we talk about how important it is to repent and how important it is to surrender your heart and give your heart to Jesus and turn your life over to Jesus. And God isn't moving them to take that step of faith, and they'll not take it until God moves them. Look again at John 6, verse 44. No man can come to Me except it's given unto him of My Father. And how does the Father give them? When any man hears the gospel, the Bible says, then the Holy Spirit begins to visit with their heart. And that's when the convicting presence of God can come on their life. If you'll look at the life of the Apostle Paul, he testified everywhere he went of his conversion experience. He told how that on the road to Damascus he saw the glory of God. It was above the brightness of the sun, said Paul. And he said, I heard a voice, what a voice, that said unto me, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? And I said, what would you have me to do, Lord? And the Lord told me where to go and what to do. And when I got there, the Lord sent another little brother in who laid his hands on me. And scales fell from mine eyes, which had been blinded by the glory which I seen. And he said, immediately my sins were forgiven. I received Christ as my Savior. I was baptized. I received meat. And from that day until this day, I'm still telling people of the good grace of God. That's what you should witness, is what God has done for you in your experience. It was foreseen long ago in prophecy in verse number 45 of chapter 6. And listen to what it says in that verse. It is written in the prophets, And they shall all be taught of God, every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. And so that's what I wrote here. It was foreseen long ago in prophecy, the divine purpose that all should thus be brought to the Lord, and there is no thought here of a limited number or selected individuals. I'm making reference there to those that are predestined and those that are not predestined. Predestination is merely this, what God has predestined and predetermined is that we can all be the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ who adopts us. And when Paul writes in the book of Romans about predestination, he's merely telling you over there that what God has also predestined is that you will be glorified with Jesus Christ when He comes back to receive you unto Himself. And so don't let doctrines of predestination confuse you in the Word of God. It is open to everyone that hears the Father's voice. And if you look at the last part of John 18.37, it tells you that everybody that's of the truth hears the voice of God. Now look at verse number 46. Here again is a reminder, and I want you to write this word in, of the Logos, L-O-G-O-S doctrine. The Logos doctrine. Go back with me for just a moment now to John chapter 1. When somebody says, do you know the Logos doctrine? What would you tell them? You might say, what is that? Or you might be one of those foolish people in the world that says, I don't preach doctrine. I don't teach doctrine. Then what do you preach? And what do you teach? Well, I preach the Bible. I teach the Bible. You can't preach the Bible nor can you teach the Bible and not teach doctrine. Doctrine establishes what you believe and doctrine dictates your behavior. Well, I don't believe doctrine matters. Well, it does matter when it comes to eternal life. And it does matter what you believe about the doctrine. The doctrine should not be the doctrine of what a church says, but the doctrine should be what thus saith the Word of God. So what is the Logos Doctrine? Well, look back to St. John chapter 1, verse 1. Here is the Logos Doctrine. The word Logos is a Greek word for the word Word. in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Logos, in the beginning was the Logos, the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God. Sometimes people look at Jesus as if He's someone who emanates differently than God. Somebody that God sent into the world. God sent Him into the world, but Jesus is the fleshly form, human form if you will, and the divine man of who God is. Jesus Christ is God. I hope you understand that. And if somebody asks you, do you know the Logos doctrine? Your response should be immediately, yes, I know the doctrine of the Word. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word is God. When you read this book, you ought to know tonight, you're hearing from Jesus Christ. Now look at verse 2. The same was in the beginning, John said, with God. Why did John emphasize that again? Because he knew that people would not understand it, that Jesus existed even at the beginning with the Father. And how was it that He existed? He existed as the Word. Look at verse 3. All things were made by Him. By who? By the Logos. In the beginning He was the Word. And everything that is made and created was created by the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. And without Him, John said, was not anything made that was made. Look at verse 4. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. Those four verses sums up eternity past, the present age that we live in, and where life itself gets its existence. In Him we live, we move, we have our being. The Logos Doctrine is Jesus Christ, the Word of God is God. And that's simply what Jesus was trying to get these folks to understand. Man by himself cannot see or hear God, according to John 3.13, only he who is from God. I give you verse 1, then verse 14, He said the Word was made flesh. In verse 18, He was in the bosom of the Father and came and declared Him. Only these are capable of this. all other sight and knowledge of God is and must be mediated through Him. You and I tonight can be wonderfully blessed and reassured that this promise of eternal life, He's working to make certain that it happens. Why? Well, because first of all, He's given us the logos. He's given us the Word that we can read and study. Secondly, Jesus has ascended into heaven and sat at the right hand of God the Father on the throne to be our mediator. So when you talk to God, Jesus is there to receive your words and to talk to the Father for you. And then when the Father wants to speak back to you, He, Jesus, speaks through the Holy Spirit back to us and by the Word of God, and this is the exchange we have. He's our mediator today. He's doing the mediatorial work this present time that you and I are living. And so we have a lot of help. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God and the angels of God are all at work in seeing to it that you make it to heaven. I hope you go home and sleep good tonight. Why? Because you need to rest in who you've anchored your faith in. And when the devil starts telling you you're not going to make it, he's a liar. And when the devil tells you, you've messed up, he's a liar. And when the devil tells you, you can't stay with it, and you won't stay with it, remember, he is a liar. And tell him that's what he is, and remind him of his eternal destiny. On the back of your paper, Jesus makes a statement in John 6, verse 51. And here's what that statement says. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. Now listen to this. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. To make it clear in his language, that in verses 32 to 35, is not to be understood that the bread of life which he gives costs nothing to the giver. See, those who came for the manna didn't have to do anything to get it, it was just there for them. It was not the true bread. Jesus has already declared that My Father gives you the true bread, and the true bread is He that comes down from heaven to do something for us. He's going to pay a price. It's going to cost Him something. On the contrary, His gift involves His death. He has to die. Jesus must die. What a wonderful learned experience it is when Jesus' death really means something to you. You can realize when your mom dies or your dad dies, it has a meaning behind it. It means they're gone from you and your connection with them and your fellowship has ended here. The hope that you have is a reconnection over there. But there would be no over there or no reconnection if you have not experienced in your faith walk with God this bread of life, who died for you and gave His flesh for you. The death of Jesus should always be held highly sacred in your faith. Highly sacred. But He's not dead today. That's the difference in our God and all the other gods of the world. He did die and through the shedding of His blood He paid for our sins. But on the third day, he stepped out of the grave and said, I'm he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I'm alive forevermore. That's why he is referred to as the living God. Finally Jesus said, the bread that I will give is my flesh. That's where He's going to death for the life of the world. That will involve both His flesh being mutilated, and you can read about how they plucked the hair from His face, crowned Him with thorns, nailed Him to the cross, and His blood would be shed according to verse 51. Once again we see the Jews struggling in verse 41 and murmuring at Him saying, He was the bread that came down from heaven, In verse 52, they strove again over him, saying, He would give his flesh to eat. Many could not receive this saying. And so you know what they did? They turned away, and they wouldn't follow him anymore. And I want to tell you that there's no difference in the world we live in today. The thing that separates truth from false and error is the Logos. Why is this Word doctrine so important? Why is it important that I believe in the Word, that He was from the beginning, that He is God? Because all of the doctrines that you'll believe and all of the belief that you'll have which does impact and influence your behavior comes spiritually from God's Holy Word. And if you question or you doubt it or you reject it, it can be your demise and it can be your ruin. There are things that I don't understand yet, if God would reveal them, and I say yet because I'm still living, and I'm still praying for my eyes to be open, and I still want more revelation of this book. But I surmise that I probably will never have my eyes open to see it all, because Jesus will want to teach us Himself. And can you imagine, and I'm satisfied, that when I sit and listen to Him teach, I'll probably think, whatever made me think I was a preacher? He'll be a great teacher and a great preacher. And can I tell you something about Jesus' preaching if you'll study Him? Jesus didn't romp and snort and holler around all the time. Jesus raised His voice. He got it loud enough that the multitudes way out there could hear Him. But Jesus Christ, in His preaching, did mostly teaching. And that's why it's important for a pastor, for a preacher to understand that yes, you can have that evangelistic service where you preach like I did this morning, but I still preached the Bible. I still took you to the Scriptures and showed you being in the Bible and people in the Bible who had not had their eyes opened, but God opened them in what they seen. But tonight we shift gears and we come to a lesson format that's written out for you to fill in some blanks. Why do we do that? Because even as I'm delivering this in a preach mode, I'm giving you teaching. Teaching that comes directly out of this chapter that was the teaching of Jesus Himself. And why did he want them to know these things? Because he knew that he was the one that was the true bread from heaven, that God was given and that the true bread would pay a price and that price would be his death on the cross. And how do I eat that? I eat that by believing in that. My wife fixed something for dinner today that I told her today and I rarely say things like this and don't get no big ideas. But the dish she fixed today, I said, is second only to my favorite dish. And she knows what that is. And you know what her reply was? Wow. Well, why is that? Well, because the more I eat this second only dish, and I don't get the first dish, putting in a promo here, that second dish becomes pretty likable. Why do I need to, by faith, eat Jesus? He's not talking literally chew on His flesh. That's why they couldn't receive Him. That's why they were rejecting Him. How is this man going to give us His flesh to eat? How is He giving us His blood to drink? He's going to give it in sacrifice and in offering unto His Father on the cross and through the death and through the resurrection. Whosoever believes in Him eats and drinks. through faith of the flesh and the blood of Jesus Christ. And so from that time on, many of the disciples that were following Jesus in that day, they turned away and went away from Him. In simplicity, Jesus was simply trying to help them to understand, in the same way that we take and eat bread to sustain physical life, if we will receive Him, the bread of life, whose flesh and blood He'll sacrifice for us, He by the Spirit will quicken us. Look at John 6, 63. It is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life. You know why a preacher is to teach the Word and preach the Word? Because listen to what Jesus said, the flesh don't profit anything. So if you could chew my flesh and drink my blood, that wouldn't profit you. But what I'm saying to you that is going to happen, if you can receive that, the Spirit will make you alive. To be alive in God takes the Holy Ghost. You cannot be alive spiritually without the Holy Spirit of God. At last he asks, will you go away? Will you also go away? He asks this to his own twelve, and Peter learned the lesson. And listen to what Peter said, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life, and we are sure that Thou art the Son of the living God. If you're sure tonight that Jesus Christ has the words of eternal life, and you're sure tonight that He's the Son of the living God, then where will you go? There's no church that's going to save you. There's no catechism that you could learn that's going to save you. There's not enough water to baptize you enough to save you. The only thing that can save you is faith in the promised words that you receive in the Word of God. I'm just like Joshua. I don't know what you're going to do, but as for me and my house, I'm going to serve this Lord. Amen? Let's stand together. Father, I thank you tonight for your Word and the truth of your holy, precious Word. I thank you for the power of the Holy Spirit to take the Word of God and to convict our hearts, to make us understand that the Father has given us to Jesus. And you said if we come we will not be cast out. but will be raised up in the last day, and you're true to your word and true to your promise. I'm not running around worrying about losing anything, God, because I'm not trusting that I saved myself, nor am I trusting that I'll keep myself, but I'm trusting in Jesus who saved me, and I'm trusting in Jesus that I believe will keep me, and not me only, but all that hear us as we speak tonight. The question that Jesus asked in the conclusion of His teaching and lesson, will you also go away? And that's something that we need to answer with ourselves. To whom shall we go? Because we believe that you're the Christ, the Son of the living God, and you, Lord, have the words of eternal life. Thank you tonight, Father, for the truths of your divine word, and bless it to our understanding, and help us to appropriate it by faith, and keep it settled in Christ, I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.