We're blessed again this morning to be able to turn to the Word that's given to us by God. Inspired by His Spirit and written down by the Apostle. The Gospel according to John, chapter 6, verse 15. So let us give Him our ears, our minds, and our hearts. John 6, 15. So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take him by force to make him king, withdrew again to the mountain by himself alone. Now when evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, and after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea began to be stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. Then, when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat, and they were frightened. But He said to them, in His eye, Do not be afraid. So they were willing to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. The next day the crowd that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other small boat there, except one, and that Jesus hadn't entered with His disciples into that boat. but that His disciples had gone away alone. And there came some other small boats from Tiberias, which is on the western side of the lake, near to the place where they ate the bread, on the eastern side of the lake, where 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... Now this again is on the northeast side of the lake. ...and they came to Capernaum seeking Jesus. When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, Rabbi, when did you get here? Well, Jesus answered them, and He said, 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 has set his seal. Therefore they said to him, What shall we do so that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered and said to them, This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent. So they said to him, What then do you do for a sign, so that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the man in the wilderness, as it is written, he gave them bread out of heaven to eat. Jesus then said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, it's not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is my father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the true bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world. And then they said to him, Lord, always give us this bread. And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not hunger, and he who believes in me will never thirst. Father, thank you that you have spoken to us through the Apostle. Thank you for this eyewitness testimony of the events that occurred on both the eastern and western side of the Sea of Galilee that day and night. Lord, I pray that as we hear from You this morning, we will hear You with ears that are able to understand and believe. I pray that You will open hearts and minds to the knowledge of the truth, that this Word will have a transforming effect on all who hear it. In Christ's name, Amen. Chapter 6, verse 15. Jesus is in Galilee where we are this morning. He'd been teaching and preaching there for a period of somewhere between 6 and 12 months. He'd performed many miraculous signs there. And these signs were confirmation that He is God. That He was sent by God. They were validation of the truth of the message He was preaching. And last Lord's Day, we looked into John's account of Jesus' feeding of 5,000 men with just five barley cakes and two fish. This was on a mountainside on the northeast side of the Sea of Galilee. Now John, you have to remember, is an eyewitness. He was there. He is testifying to what he saw. So verse 11, Jesus took the loaves and the fish. He gave thanks and He distributed them to those who were seated. He had them seated in groups of 50 and 100. They had as much as they wanted. They had so much that after they were finished eating and were filled, He told His disciples to gather up all the leftover fragments. And they filled 12 baskets full of broken pieces. Not crumbs, but fragments. So, there was far more left after Jesus fed them than there was when the boy first arrived. Now, if you don't believe in God, if you don't believe Jesus was God, this will all sound like a bunch of hooey to you. If you do believe in the truth that Jesus is God, that He was sent by the Father, that He died on the cross to save you from your sins, then you can understand this was child's play for Him. The one who could create all things, who could speak the universe into existence, could certainly feed a group of 5,000. Well, the reaction of the people when they saw this sign, they didn't doubt it. They said, truly this is the prophet who's to come into the world. This is what John tells us. This is the prophet who was described by Moses in Deuteronomy 18. And some saw this prophet that Moses wrote about, and he said, I will send among you a prophet who will speak to you, and you shall listen to him. And some believed this was a Messiah that Moses was writing about. Others believed he'd be a forerunner of Messiah. But the point is, Jesus manifested His divinity to that group that day. And the people were right in identifying Him as the prophet of Deuteronomy 18. He had been prophesied, in many cases, in many ways, by many of the prophets. And these people may have even realized Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah. But even if they viewed Him as Messiah, He was not the earthly, political Messiah that they had anticipated and that they wanted. Because they wanted someone to come and overthrow the yoke of Roman rule for them. They wanted the kingdom of Israel to be re-established. So they didn't fall before Him in worship. Imagine if somebody came in here and fed us all with a piece of bread. And we were all ate and were filled. I'd like to think we'd fall down before that one in worship. They weren't overcome by their sense of unworthiness of this one. They didn't cry out to Him for forgiveness. They wanted to take Jesus by force, take Him to Jerusalem and make Him king. And what they saw in him was a fulfillment of their hopes. And he would later say to Pilate, my kingdom is not of this world. His is an eternal heavenly kingdom. He reigns in the heavenly Mount Zion. This is the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, the writer of Hebrews tells us. It's the place where the angels dwell. So He's not an earthly king. He didn't come to be an earthly king. In fact, in feeding the 5,000 men that day, Jesus was showing them and us that He is the source of all spiritual nourishment. That He's the very fountain of life. If what He's saying is true, it's imperative that we turn to Him and believe in Him. He's going to tell them He's the true bread from heaven who gives life to the world. You should know, we all come into the world spiritually dead, children of wrath. We walk according to the course of this world, according to the course of Satan. We indulge the lusts of our flesh. But God can make a person spiritually alive, and Christ is God. These people, they were fed by these five loaves and the two fish, and didn't understand the meaning that Jesus was teaching them. And they weren't seeking a Savior from their sin. You see, if we don't recognize we're sinners, we've got no hope. Because that's got to be the first step. Realizing we are unworthy of Christ. Unworthy of God and eternal life. If we don't realize that, we won't recognize our need for a Savior. And we won't come to Him. Well, that miraculous event, feeding the 5,000, that provides the backdrop now for our passage this morning, and it's going to provide the backdrop for our passages the next couple of weeks. Because Jesus is now going to tell them why He came to earth. I mean, nobody seriously doubts Jesus of Nazareth lived on this earth. teaches us about Himself and His purpose here, the work He came to do. So look at verse 16. When evening came, His disciples went down to the sea. Now they're on the northeast side of the Sea of Galilee. The Sea of Galilee is about seven miles across. It's about 600, 700 feet below sea level. They get into the boat. It's already dark. And Jesus didn't go with them. He'd gone off to the mountain alone to pray. Told them, go across the sea to the western side to Capernaum, which is where some of them lived at this point. And then He sent the crowds away before He went off to the mountains. And as they're going across the sea, it's a little seven-mile trip, the sea began to be stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. Strong wind was blowing. How strong? Well, sometimes, the Sea of Galilee itself, as I said, is six, seven hundred feet below sea level, but the Mountains on the sides are rise to a height of 2,000 feet and sometimes we've seen this Lake effect snow now what happens when there's a 5,000 foot area of cold air over top of the warm air of Lake Erie and what that does is create snow Well, in the Sea of Galilee, this 2,000 feet of cooler air comes down and meets the warm air of the lake and causes storms, wind storms, and great waves. And sometimes this can be a violent storm. And it was. Matthew tells us, the boat was already a long distance from land. It was battered by the waves because the wind was contrary. So the wind is coming from west to east. Mark tells us, the boat was in the middle of the sea. It was about three to four miles into the journey. So that's how we know it was seven miles across, aside from the geography itself. The boat was being tossed by waves. The wind was against them. They were straining at the oars into the wind. And Jesus was still on the east side of the sea alone. Now, Mark's account confirms they struggled for several hours against the wind. Mark tells us about the fourth watch of the night, which would be between 3 and 6 a.m., they were now in the middle of the lake. And what they saw next caused them to be even more frightened. When they rode about three or four miles, John tells us, they saw Jesus walking on the sea. You're free to doubt that if you like. But it's true. John's testifying to it. The other 11 apostles, apart from Judas, all got murdered, executed, martyred, because they would not recant these things they saw. They drove three to four miles. They saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat, and they were frightened. They see this figure coming toward them on the sea, in the middle of a storm, at night, in the dark. They didn't recognize Him. And they're terrified. Matthew 14, 26. When they saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified and cried out in fear, It is a ghost! So, they see him walking, and the writers of the Gospels tell us he was going fast enough that they thought he was going to pass by them. Mark tells us he was about to do that, and he stops and he says, I do not be afraid, it's me, it's I. Well, Matthew recorded what happened before Jesus got into the boat. Matthew 14, 28, Peter said to Jesus, who's walking toward the boat now. He says, Lord, if it's You, command me to come to You on the water. Will any of us do that? Jesus said, come. And Peter, as he's watching Jesus, gets out of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. That's what John says. John was there. That's what Matthew says. Matthew was there. That's what Mark says. He got his account from Peter. He got out of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus, but when he looked at the wind, seeing the wind, Peter became frightened and beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me. Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and he took hold of him and he said to him, you of little faith, why did you doubt? He began to doubt whether he could walk on the water. Now, clearly Jesus enabled him to do this. But notice, when Peter's eyes were on Jesus, he too was able to walk on the water. But when he turned his eyes away from Jesus and looked at his circumstances, looked at that wind, he sank. Mark tells us, the disciples had not gained any insight from the feeding of the 5,000. Their hearts remained hardened. You'd think these miracles would have done something to their thinking. Well, they received Him into the boat, and then another miracle occurred. Matthew 14, 32. When Jesus got into the boat, what happened to the wind? It stopped. This was not the only time. Verse 21, another miracle. Immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. This is why the theory of evolution was so damaging to Christianity. Because people began to believe, well if God didn't create everything, well then He couldn't do this other stuff either. But if He did create everything, this stuff is not all that difficult. Boats immediately at the western side of the lake. He brought the boat in an instant three to four miles to the western shore. Now the miracle on the sea is really four miracles in one event. He walked on the sea, didn't suspend the law of gravity, but he did exercise control over it. The one who puts the laws of gravity and biology and physics and chemistry into effect is in authority over them. Second, he exercised control over the storm, over the wind and the sea. He enabled Peter to walk on the sea. And He demonstrated that He's not restricted to space. He could move three to four miles in an instant. The reaction of the disciples, Matthew 14, 33, those who were in the boat worshipped Him, saying, You are certainly God's Son. Well, they believed. They believed. Again, they all died rather than recant what they had witnessed. And this is the only appropriate response to Jesus, is to fall before Him in worship. Now back on the eastern side of the sea, the people had seen the disciples get into the boat. They had seen that Jesus didn't get into the boat. Now there had been other boats that had come across the sea to the place where Jesus fed the 5,000. And many in the crowd got into some of those boats and came back across to the western side of the sea. And now the people on the western side of the sea are looking for Jesus. Now Jesus was doing supernatural works. He was doing them to demonstrate who He was and to validate the message. He wanted the people to know He had authority to forgive sins. But that's not why they were following Him. The crowd was looking for Jesus, but for the wrong reasons. They'd witnessed and they had experienced His power and His provision. But instead of responding in worship, they wanted more from Him. It wasn't spiritual blessing they were seeking. And this is true of many today, isn't it? People come to Jesus because they want, they think He'll make this life better for them. That's not the promise of the gospel. Well, they finally found Jesus on the other side of the sea, on the western side, and they said, Rabbi, when did you get here? Well, He didn't answer their question, and really this whole event now was so that he could teach them what he's about to teach them. And it wasn't going to be how he crossed the Sea of Galilee. It's going to tell them that which they and we desperately need to know. "...He answered them and said, Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled." They were satisfied physically. Now back in chapter 2, Remember what we read, he performed signs in Jerusalem during the Passover and many believed in him because of the signs he was performing. They saw his power, his authority over sickness and disease and over nature. But their belief was not really very different from the demons. The demons believe and they shudder. Their belief was an intellectual belief in his power. And belief in Jesus' power is not sufficient to save anybody. Saving faith must be something more than belief in His power. It must be belief in Him as the one who cleansed you of your sins. Here in chapter 6, they weren't believing because of the signs Jesus said. He had fed them. They ate of the loaves and were fed. That's why they were seeking Him, He says. And here He says, it wasn't amazement at His power that had caused them to follow Him to Capernaum, but the fact that their bellies had been filled. Their bellies had been filled. Now a sign, a supernatural work, signifies a divine truth. And Jesus' feeding of the 5,000 did signify something. It signified He is the source and giver of life. And they didn't see it. They failed to see that. They failed to see His divinity that had been so gloriously displayed before them as He fed them all from these five loaves and two fish. It didn't occur to them. not only is He the source of bodily life, He's the source of spiritual life. And folks, we all come into this world spiritually dead. That's what the Bible says over and over again. And only God can make us spiritually alive. These people had had this bread, they held it in their hands, they took it into their mouths, they ate it, but they didn't understand the meaning of it all. They didn't profit by this spiritually. What they sought from Jesus was to live happily and content and at ease in this world. Take care of us. That's not why He came. That is not why He came. He came to reform sinners, to cleanse them from the guilt and the stain of sin, and to reform sinners into His image. to give them His Spirit, that they would be guided by His Spirit throughout their lives, to give them eternal life, to clothe them in His righteousness. You see, because He did live a righteous life, He lived a sinless life. And those who believe in Him, His righteousness is imputed to you, credited to you. God looks upon you and sees you as not guilty. They didn't understand any of this. They didn't understand these great works were signs which pointed to Him as the Messiah. Signs which pointed to Him as the Son of God. And He said to them, Don't work for food that 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 has set His seal. So look what He's talking about here in verse 27. The food that perishes and the food which endures to eternal life. So Jesus was saying to them by these words, and to all who would hear these words, it's a grave error to make your life about seeking the things of this world, to seek your contentment in the things of this world. Because all that is of this world is of limited duration. And none of the things in this world can ever bring total contentment. But, he said, that which I provide is of eternal value. It will never perish. The things of this life, some of them are wonderful. They're all gifts of God, but they'll all perish. We take none of it with us. It will never bring us pure joy, not the pure joy that He can bring us. They wanted a miracle worker who would fill their earthly needs, who would fill their stomachs. And He's telling them, look higher. And I'm telling you, look higher to the blessings of God, to the heavenly things. That food which endures to eternal life is Jesus Himself. That doesn't mean we actually consume His flesh when we celebrate the Lord's Supper. It means that spiritually He feeds us, not only in this life, but into eternity. This is the only food, Christ, that truly satisfies the heart and soul. And notice what Jesus says here. He says the divine seal of the Father has been placed on Him in His humanity by those very words. God attested Jesus as His own Son. He's been God for all eternity. He took on flesh. He remained God. That's why He could do all these things. They said to him, Well, what shall we do that we may work the works of God? Well, we have this word work all through here. And it takes on different meanings between verses 27, 28, 29, and 30. The question that they're asking is in response to Jesus telling them, don't work for the food that perishes. Work for the food that endures to eternal life. What do we do? Where do we get this? Now, most think they thought of these works as works commanded by God. What do we have to do? What are the meritorious works that we can do that will get us eternal life? Well, there are no such works. And Jesus answers them. Whatever that was in their minds, He says, look, it's a work of God. This is a work of God that you may believe in Him whom He has sent. He saw their questions as an opportunity to teach them the way of salvation. The work that feeds one into eternal life is not a work any man can do. It's belief in the Son who was sent by the Father. That's the work, and it's a work God does in a person. It's a work of God, he says, that you believe. He was saying this is a work God must do in a sinner, a work wrought by God. So they demanded a miracle, another miracle. These first five weren't enough as proof of Jesus' words. Five loaves, two fish, that wasn't enough. His walk across the Sea of Galilee, no, in the midst of a terrifying storm, that wasn't enough. One more sign, they say, and then we'll believe. obviously an absence of gratitude in their hearts for the signs God had already provided them, because they were blind. Even to His power. This is why it's so necessary that God open our eyes. We go through life and we just resist this and we reject Christ and His church. And it's because God has to open our eyes. From our perspective, we must come to Him and say, Lord, I want to know. I know I'm not good enough to enter into Your heaven. Save me. When He had miraculously fed them the day before, They wanted to make Him king. Now, it seems as though that never even happened. Give us another sign. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that human nature? Isn't that fallen human nature? And now, they think back to the manna in the wilderness. You didn't do that, Jesus. You fed us just this stuff. You had the bread to start with. But in the wilderness, the manna came down from heaven. So they're thinking about this and they're asking Jesus to do at least that much, do at least as much as what Moses did. Provide us with an unending supply of food as proof that you're the Messiah. We're left in astonishment that they were already dismissive of all these miracles they'd already witnessed. Because Christ didn't comply with their wishes. Didn't want to become king. And because they did not find in Him what they had hoped for in Messiah. One who fulfills carnal desires. One who destroys Roman oppression. They reminded Jesus, our fathers ate man in the wilderness. As it is, He gave them bread out of heaven to eat. Jesus had just multiplied some bread cakes. He just fed 5,000 with the five loaves. They apparently didn't see that as on a par with what Moses had done. In their minds, Jesus gave them earthly bread. Moses gave them bread out of heaven. They appeared to be saying that Moses' provision of the manna was a greater work than what they had experienced the day before. And in his reply, Jesus made it very clear, Moses wasn't the one who provided this food. He said to them, truly I say to you, it's not Moses who's given you the bread out of heaven, but it's my Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world. So not only was Moses not the provider of the manna, but the manna was not the true bread out of heaven. Manna fed only the fathers. And only for a few years. And it only fed their bodies which perished where? In the wilderness. It was food that would not endure to eternal life. It was not that kind of bread, but it did foreshadow the true bread out of heaven, the bread that does impart eternal life. And the true bread of heaven was standing there right before them. And the true bread of heaven isn't just for the sons of Jacob and not just for people out in that wilderness. It's for people from every nation, tribe, and tongue. And this bread feeds all those who partake of it. For how long? Not just for a day, not just for 40 years, but for all eternity. He feeds not merely their bodies, our bodies. Gives us spiritual nourishment for our souls. It's the Father who's the giver of this bread. He's given His one and only Son. He's the bread. He's the true bread of God. That's what Jesus says, I am the bread of life. These Jewish people were totally blind with respect to the spiritual meaning of what Jesus was saying to them. They said, verse 34, Lord, always give us this bread. Never fail to supply us with this wonderful bread which sustains bodily life, physical life, life in this world. They didn't understand. They could only think in carnal, material terms. 1 Corinthians 2.14, The natural, unregenerate man does not understand the things of the Spirit of God, for they are, what? Foolishness to him. God doesn't regenerate you, make you spiritually alive. This will all sound foolish. And their request, give us this bread, it recalls the Samaritan woman at the well in chapter 4. Before she came to understand what Jesus was saying. She said to Jesus, give me this water so I will not be thirsty or have to come to this well anymore. There's a parallel in the modern world, even in the churches today. We see it in those who come to Jesus seeking to have their earthly needs met. Money, children, better job, good health. And our Lord does provide these things, but He provides so much more. And those things, none of them endure to eternal life. Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not hunger and he who believes in me will never thirst. Now we know he's not saying you're never going to want to eat again. You're never going to be thirsty again. He's talking about something else. He's talking about spiritual hunger and spiritual thirst. And he's saying he will satisfy your spiritual hunger and your spiritual thirst. This is the first of seven I am sayings in John. I'm the resurrection and the life. I'm the door. I'm the bread of life. One who both imparts and sustains life. Not merely physical life, but eternal spiritual life. He said he's the only way. I hope you believe him. I hope you believe him. Because the alternative is gloomy indeed. He was speaking about spiritual hunger, spiritual thirst. And he's saying that he who comes to him with a believing heart will never be hungry or thirsty. All who come to him will receive complete and enduring spiritual satisfaction, contentment, peace of the soul. And I can testify that's what he gives us when we come to him, contentment. Doesn't mean the end of trials in his life. But it means contentment. It means assurance of an inheritance and glory for those who really believe. To come to Christ is to forsake the old life of sin. It doesn't mean we earn our salvation because we can't. It's a gift. We forsake our self-indulgence and submit to Him as Lord. To believe in Jesus is to trust in Him, totally. To trust in what He said, to trust in what He did on the cross. To acknowledge that salvation comes only through Him. It's to separate ourselves from our sins. Charles Spurgeon said, you and your sins must separate or you and your God will never come together. So Jesus employed the metaphor of bread here. It all started with that miracle on the hillside. Fed Him with this bread to teach them He is the bread of life. Because when we learn that He is the food by which our souls must be fed, this penetrates more deeply than if He had just said, I am life. He said, I'm the bread of life. I'm that which sustains you. Our souls do not live by any power which we naturally have in ourselves. Our souls are made alive and live by His power, by the life that is in Him. That's why John said in verse 4 of this very first chapter, in Him was life. We receive this food, if you want it, when we receive Christ as a hungry person by faith. Obviously, we don't eat His flesh or drink His blood, as some would say. We receive Him through the gift of faith and through the spiritual nourishment that Jesus provides to us day after day and into eternity. It's through faith, through being joined to Him in an intimate, eternal, spiritual union. Just as physical bread's taken in physically, the spiritual joiner to Christ nourishes a man for all eternity. Here's his words, he who comes to me will not hunger, and he who believes in me will never thirst. If you recall nothing else of what I've said this morning, of what he said this morning, remember this. Revelation 7, 16, you see a picture of victory in heaven. They will hunger no longer, nor thirst any more, nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat. This is the people who believe in Him. For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of the water of life. At the very end in the New Jerusalem, Revelation 21.6, Jesus said to John, it is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of water of life without cost. And we'll see in a few weeks, John 7, 37. Jesus, on the last day, the great day of the feast, He stood and cried out, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. That's His call to all of you. This is the good news that Jesus brought. I pray no one would refuse Him. This news, this good news flows throughout this gospel. It flows throughout scripture. It's the message of God to his people for all of human history. John's gospel is a call to people to believe in Jesus and so have eternal life. That's what this gospel is. And the question for each of you this morning, have you heard his call? If you've not, I pray you'll hear Him this morning and believe. Be forgiven and have eternal life in glory with God. Well, let's take a moment, meditate on the words spoken to us this morning, and then let us examine ourselves, those who are of faith, and then we will gather at His table. Heavenly Father, I pray Your Spirit is at work among us even now. I pray that I've communicated Your Word rightly. I pray You'd correct any error I might have made. I pray, Lord, that this Word reaches all our hearts. I ask, Father, that this be a transforming hour for us all. And I ask it in Christ's name, Amen.