I am the Bread. Eat!

It's hard to even imagine what it's going to be like to see the entire universe bow and confess that Jesus is Lord and bow the knee, but that's exactly what the Bible says is going to take place when he comes back. I wanted to just say something about these Bible studies. I don't think the college career Bible study is going to begin again this week and I don't remember what night it is. What night is that? Thursday or Friday? Thursday night at the Critchfields? Yeah, Thursday at the Critchfields. If you want directions, you can talk to Brent. And then Gene Cedar, that Bible study, which meets at the Crimes, will begin in a couple of weeks. I'm not exactly sure of the date. Are you guys sure?

Two weeks? Oh, wait. Okay. And they're going to be doing a series on church history, the history, the history of Christianity. It's a wonderful study. It's a video series and then some time in great discussion. So you ought to, if you're not in another Bible study plan on doing that. Jason's study on Monday night is centered around, really, it's an evangelistic, not just to evangelize people, but to train you in a way that you can share the gospel in an effective way. So that might be of interest to you as well. You share with me to John chapter six. This is the Sunday that we break bread together. We come around the Lord's table as God's people and break bread. It's a greatly significant time for us.

It is the one thing that Jesus said that we are to be doing it as a congregation until he comes. In fact, Paul said every time we come to this table and break bread and drink of this cup that we are showing forth. We are preaching his death until he comes and he promised that he would not eat this supper with us again until he comes in power in the kingdom. And so we take it in anticipation that Jesus is coming back. It's to remind us. That's one of the things that it does. We look back to the cross because this symbolizes his death, the shedding of his blood for us, the giving of his life for us. It symbolizes the fact that we are one loaf. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10 that we are all one body, many members, and there's great diversity, but we constitute one body.

And so everyone that we break bread together with is a part of that body. And then we look forward. We look forward to the coming of Jesus Christ because he's going to come back. And we are going to gather around the table with him, the marriage supper of the Lamb. And it's going to be an incredibly glorious time because we're all going to be glorified. All your faults and weaknesses and bad attitudes are going to be gone. It's getting so hot up here. Is that thermostat turned up? Is that one's taking care of? Okay. I'm going to be teaching the Philippines leaving Thursday night and I'm hoping it's not going to be too hot there. I think it's just about 80 to be like going to Hawaii. So hope no heaters.

John chapter 6. So wonderful passage of scripture. It begins with Jesus feeding a multitude, 5,000 men. Perhaps there were 10,000 people there. The amount of money when Jesus in verse 5, Jesus therefore lifting up his eyes and seeing that a great multitude was coming to him. They were following him because they saw him heal the sick. They saw him do miraculous things and they heard him teach. And so they gather to hear him. And he says to Philip, where are we to buy bread that these may eat? Now Jesus, of course, knew what was going to happen, but it says in verse 6, he was saying this to test him for himself new what he was intending to do. And Philip, of course, says, how could we possibly do this?

This would cost us probably $20,000 is about what is equal to today's money. It cost us about $20,000 to feed these people. Bread. So what can we do? And Jesus feeds the multitude and there is so much. Everyone eats all that they want and then they pick up 12 basket fulls of leftovers. Now imagine that. Sounds like a church dinner, doesn't it? And so they are now absolute of him. Jesus then sends his disciples north. They're in Tiberius. He sends them kind of across the lake, across the section of the lake up to Caesarea. And he goes and prays. But then you know the story. They're out on the sea and it begins the water begins to get very rough and Jesus comes walking on the water. And then they're at land.

And then the people notice that Jesus is gone, but they didn't see him leave with the disciples. And so they hear that he's in Thessalonians. So they go around the lake about a 30 mile, a little 25, 30 mile walk or some of them go on boats. And when they get there, they can't figure out how Jesus has arrived. And so they're wanting to hear him. And notice in verse 25, as they then approach him, it says, and when they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, Rabbi, when did you get here? And Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw signs. In other words, not because you understood that these signs, these great miraculous acts were pointing to his identity and who he was, fulfillment of the Old Testament identification of the Messiah who's going to come and rescue his people.

You did not come to me because you saw the signs and you understand what they point to, but because you ate of the rose and were filled. We've noticed the round here, if we have a dinner after our service, we can always attract more people. It's a great way to get more people to come to church. And they will endure a sermon and other things and then in order to eat. And so Jesus says to them, the reason you're seeking me is not because of the spiritual reality that you see in me, not because you know who I am, not because what I am saying is penetrating your mind and your heart. And then he says to them this, in verse 27, do not work with the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man shall give to you, for on him the Father, even God, has set his seal.

And they should have picked up on exactly what he was saying because in Daniel, the Son of Man is identified as the one that God sends into this world who has got himself and yet a man in order to establish a kingdom that's going to reign and rule over all the kingdoms of the earth. And he says, you shouldn't be working so hard to get physical food, but rather the food that you can only receive from me, the spiritual food that comes from me because God, the Father has set his seal upon me. He has identified me for who I am. In verse 28, they said, therefore to him, what shall we do that we may work the works of God? It sounds like perhaps the message is penetrating the heart. But Jesus answers and says, this is the work of God that you believe into him whom he has sent.

Very strong expression, that you put your trust, you latch your faith, you take hold of him by faith. That is the work of God. To take hold of Christ, they said, therefore to him. Now listen how there's no spiritual perception here. They said, therefore to them, what then do you do for a sign? Is it because they're doubting and they want real proof? No, it's not that. Notice what they say to him. This is very a very unsettled hint. What then do you do for a sign that we may see and believe you? What do you perform? And then notice they let him know exactly what they're wanting. Our fathers ate mana in the wilderness. As it is written, he gave them bread out of heaven to eat. In other words, they want some more bread.

They want another miracle. They want another banquet of bread. And Jesus, therefore, said to them in verse 32, truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven. He picks up on the expression that they use, if they describe the mana that fell in the wilderness. And he is saying to them, as he has said throughout the gospel of John, that these things point to him, the tabernacle pointed to him, the temple points to him, the Sabbath pointed to him, the Levitical sacrifice is pointed to him. They were the shadows, and he is the reality. And he says to them, I say to you, it is 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.

The thing towards which the mana was pointing, the person himself, for the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world. Now, you can imagine how they're interpreting this. Bread gives life. It sustains life. It's food. It gives them nourishment. It gives them strength. But what he's talking about is himself, that he has come into the world. He is the bread of God that has come down out of heaven to give life to the world. There's not a person in this room that if you turn to Jesus Christ and you take hold of him by faith, if you eat him as the bread of life, as he uses the expression here, that you will receive life. He gives life. He has come down from the father because the father wants to give life to all who take hold of him.

For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world. But notice how the mind of the flesh works in verse 34. They said, therefore to him, Lord, ever more give us this bread. They want more bread, not him, but the bread that he fed him with before. And Jesus said to them, I am the bread. I am the bread of life. He who comes to me, shall not hunger and he will believe in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet you do not believe. Isn't it amazing how powerful unbelief is? I know most of you, if you read the Bible in the gospels very much and you think, how could they be so unbelieving? How could they be so obstinate? How could they be so hard-hearted that right before their eyes, they see him.

They see him manifest who he is by the way that he speaks, by the people that he heals, by those that he raises from the dead and yet they do not believe on him. They know that he is from God and yet they will not trust him. They won't believe upon him. We are the same way, apart from God's intervention. And notice what he says. But I said to you, verse 36, that you have seen me and yet you do not believe all that the Father gives me shall come to me. This is quite a bold statement that he has said to them. The reason you are not coming to me, if you don't come, it is because the Father has not given you to me. And the one who comes to me, that is all that the Father has given to the Son will come to me.

He says, and the one who comes to me, I will certainly not cast out. Then that is a wonderful promise. If you come to Christ, he will not cast you out. You don't have to fear that if you come to him, that somehow he might reject you. He might refuse to receive you. He says, everyone who comes to me, I will certainly not cast out. Here you have the divine and the human role. The divine role is that God the Father must give you to the Son, but you must come. And then he says, for I have come down, verse 38 from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. The Father sent me into the world to give life, and that is why I am here. And this is the will of him who sent me. That of all that he has given me, I lose nothing, but I raise it up on the last day.

For this is the will of my Father, that every who holds the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I myself will raise him up on the last day. Everyone who beholds the Son, everyone who sees him for who he really is, you have to be able to see. And only Father can empower and enable a person to see. If he doesn't open up blind eyes, people don't see who he is. There will be as blind as these Pharisees and others who saw him with their physical eyes, but had no perception of who he really was. But he says, all those who are that the Father allows to see the Son, behold him, and therefore they believe in him. They will have eternal life, and I myself will raise him up on the last day.

The Jews, therefore, were grumbling about him because he said, I am the bread that came down out of heaven. And notice what they're grumbling about? And they were saying, verse 42, is this not Jesus, the Son of Joseph whose father and mother we know? How does he say, I have come down out of heaven? Now he is teaching in Capernaum, it's about 30 miles from Nazareth. And so they would know about him to a certain degree. They've heard about him and who he is and whose parents are. Jesus answers them in verse 43 and said to them, do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets and they shall all be taught of God, everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.

Not that any man has seen the Father except the one who is from God, that is he himself, who has come down out of heaven. He has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes as eternal life. I am the bread of life, your Father's eighth manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread. He was no doubt pointing to himself. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread also which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh. The Jews therefore begin to argue with one another saying, how can this man give his flesh to eat?

What a strange thing to say. He has given his flesh so that we eat his flesh. In Jesus' response, verse 53, truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood as eternal life. And I will raise him up on the last day for my flesh is true and my blood is true drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him. As the living Father sent me and I lived because of the Father, so he who eats me, he also shall live because of me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven. Not as the fathers ate and died. He who eats this bread shall live forever. They wanted manna and he wanted to give them the living bread.

These things, verse 59, he said in the synagogue as he taught in Capernaum. Why didn't they believe? What was wrong with their faith? Why in seeing him but their own eyes? There are those today who read this text and don't believe it. They don't believe that it's true. They don't believe it's an actual historical account. Now it's one of the, it's the Bible, the New Testament. There's more textual evidence. There's more historical evidence. There's more archaeological evidence to confirm the truth of the New Testament gospels and epistles that any other ancient literature of its age and yet some choose just not to believe that this is even historically accurate but what was it that caused these people who saw Jesus with their own eyes?

They saw him raise the dead and healed the sick. They saw him multiply five rows into enough to feed 10,000 people. Why didn't they believe? What was wrong with their faith? Why was their unbelief so powerful that they would not believe upon him? What keeps people from coming to Christ to believe upon Christ? What is it? We'll notice three things in this text. First of all, they didn't examine the evidence. In verses 41 and 42, it says they say about him, how can he say this that I've come down out of heaven? And they were saying is not this Jesus is sort of Joseph whose father and mother? We know. Somebody has said an expert is an ordinary guy from out of town. It's well as people you don't know anything about them.

I went and spoke to a group of elders and leaders in the church in San Francisco. None of them knew me. They knew nothing about me. And they were asking me, they wanted me to come over and speak about an issue in the church, the structural issue of the way that they elders and decons function and so on. So I went and spoke and I was thinking the whole time, you know, they don't know a thing about me. They don't know whether I practice what I preach or not. But when you hear someone that you know, it's an amazing thing. It was an offense to the people in his hometown that Jesus was preaching with such authority. Who does he think he is? That's the point. Who does he think he is making statements like this?

This is the son of Joseph and Mary. We know who he is. He isn't, you can't fool the rule over eyes. But what they fail to do is to look to really examine the evidence. If they would have lived back, if they would have actually examined the evidence, they would have discovered that he had a supernatural birth, that there was confirmation of who he was. It was the testimony of the shepherds and the wise men who came a couple of years later that this truly was one who came down from heaven and was born of a virgin. They didn't examine the evidence and that's the reason many people today don't come to Christ. They simply don't examine the evidence. They don't want to. They don't want it to be put before them, that there is a choice to be made and that this is the great divide what you say about Jesus Christ.

We sang this morning, there is no other name. That's what Peter said. That there is no other name given among men under heaven whereby we must be saved. The only path to get to the Father, but they refuse to examine the evidence. The second thing is that they were not enlightened by the Father. Notice that in verses 43 through 47. He says that the reason you're not coming to me is the Father is not enlightened you. It's not enough to hear the story of his life. You have to be enlightened. You have to have your eyes opened to who he really is. In fact, there's a wonderful expression. It's a beautiful thing. In fact, when it happens, I've seen this happen so many times. I've been in the presence of people when this has happened.

When God supernaturally opens eyes that are blind to the truth of who Christ is and in verse, you don't have to turn there, but in chapter 24, Jesus, at the very end of the gospel, Jesus says to disciples, these are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you that all things which are written about me in the law and Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled and he had been talking to them for some time and they didn't recognize who he was. This resurrected Christ. These were his disciples. They had seen him for three and a half years but they were blind to who he was. Supernaturally, but then it says in verse 45, then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures.

They understand. They understood who he really was. They understood that he wasn't just someone who was going to be a political ruler. They understood who he was because they understood the scriptures. The scriptures are God's means of opening our eyes to the reality of who Christ is. That's why it's so important to be in the scriptures. That's why it's so important to immerse yourself in it because it tells you it unveils to you the truth of who Jesus Christ is and who you are and what God thinks about you and the love of God, the height and depth and breadth and length of his love for his people. Sometimes it's overwhelming. I remember Dwight Elmudi after the great Chicago fire and the church building was burnt down and so he had to go to New York to meet with some men to try to get money to rebuild it.

They didn't have insurance and he hated this. He hated the whole thing that he had to go and ask and beg for money. He got into New York City and he was at a hotel and he began to pray and basically he was just appealing to God to let him off the hook to somehow not force him to have to go and ask people for money, other Christians, rich Christians for money to rebuild the church in Chicago. He says as he was praying and reading, God began to unveil to his mind the greatness of the love of Christ and he said he became so overwhelmed emotionally that he had to ask God after a period of time to stay his hand. Will you just back off? I can't take anymore. He was happening to him. It was that the father was enlightening his eyes.

He was unveiling to his eyes the truth of who Christ really is. Now we sit in this room today and all of us, some great number of us are Christians. We've rested our faith in Christ. Some of you have not come to that place yet but all of you know certain things about Christ and all of us who vowed to need Christ. We have become his disciples. We have believed upon him that he is the son of God that he came into this world that he lived a perfect life and accomplished the will of God and then he went to the cross and he became a substitutionary curse bearer in our place and he died for us and then God raised him from the dead and he ascended back to the Father and he reigns on high that he is the head of the church and God has made him head over all things in this universe for the benefit of the church.

We know those truths. You know there are moments when you realize those things, those things I mentioned just now, it is so overwhelming to you emotionally, you can hardly contain yourself. It's just because what happens is the living God sometimes opens our eyes to this. He opens our eyes to who God really is. You know in Genesis it says that God created man in his own image. He created him male and female. He created them in his own image. What does that mean? Well one of the implications of that is that we are created in order to mirror God in the universe in this created universe. We were the ones, not the angels. Above us not the animals below us, we were created in the image of God in order to reflect the true nature of who God is.

We're like mirrors. But have you ever noticed that a mirror is useless to you until you face it towards you so that you can see your reflection? The only way we can fulfill our calling, the purpose of our existence is to have our eyes opened and fixed upon the living God. The more we understand about who he is, the more it impacts our lives, the more we can fulfill the very thing for which we were created to be in the image of God. It's an amazing phenomena that a simpleton or a dullard can suddenly be transformed by having his eyes open to the truth of who Jesus Christ is and all of a sudden they begin to function as a glorious image of the living God. That's what you were created for. You were created for that and every part of your life, all that you do, every area of your life, your work, your family, your leisure, all the things of your life, and all those things you were designed to live in such a way that God can be seen in his reflection in your life.

That's what happened in Isaiah 6 when Isaiah, this young man who probably wasn't even 20 years old yet, went into the temple and when he went in he was quite depressed because the king who had reigned and under his reign Isaiah had been born. He was a glorious king but because of his sin he contracted leprosy and he died and in Isaiah 6 it says in the year that king Isaiah died. Isaiah went into the temple and he's downcast. What's going to happen of the nation? His son comes to the, Isaiah's son comes to reign, he's a horrible king, he's a king of no faith and Isaiah is quite depressed and he goes into the temple thing, is all lost? Is all of our hopes dashed? What's going to happen? And what God does, you know in your bathroom, you have glass in your bathroom that lets some light in but it blocks the vision, it's a frosted kind of glass.

What God did was he reached down to the life of Isaiah and he broke his little pain of glass and he allowed Isaiah to see the glory of God and it's so overwhelmed him. It's so changed him that he spent the rest of his life knowing that the people of Israel and Judah would not listen to him but he spent the rest of his life proclaiming the truth about the glory of God because he couldn't remain silent. So they didn't believe because they weren't enlightened by the Father. The reason everyone in this room who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ believes is because the Father has enlightened you. The Father's given you eyes to see and you've seen the Son and you know what He wants, He wants in your life to keep opening your eyes and keep that vision having the greatest impression and impact on your life of anything else in life that you know or see.

The third reason that they didn't believe is they preferred symbols to reality. They preferred the symbols to the reality towards which those symbols pointed. They preferred the manna in the Old Testament that they could eat. They preferred that over the bread of life towards which the manna pointed. You know there are people like that today. They prefer being a member of a church, being baptized, participating in the ordinances of the church just like the Jews did. They preferred the tabernacle and the Sabbath and the sacrifice and the high priest and the temple and the feasts over the one towards which those things pointed. Every festival pointed to Jesus Christ, Passover and Pentecost and the feast of booze.

They all pointed to Jesus Christ and yet they preferred the shadow to the reality. You know we can be like that in our Christian life. We can prefer the shadow to the reality of Christ. I wonder what would happen if our eyes were opened at one point in time. The Spirit of God came and His purpose we are told is to mediate the presence of Jesus Christ. That's what Jesus said in the upper room. The Spirit is going to come to mediate my presence to you so that you will know I'm with you. Imagine if the Holy Spirit would open our eyes to the reality of the Christ that is among us today. We're two or three are gathered together. My name there I am in their midst. We're such a noisy bunch the church in America today and we have to market the church and we have to be more entertaining and we have to have more noise, more commotion because we're not impressed with the presence of Christ.

I mean think about it. I was going to show you I forgot all about it. In fact, put those two pictures on it. Just hit it. Hit it. Where'd you go? You're going backwards? Right there. That is a go back one. That one more back. You're not too good at this. Right there. That is a grace Bible institute in the Rosarita, Mexico. I went down November. You folks sent me down there and you actually paid to bring several pastors from southern Mexico. There's three of those guys in that picture that traveled over two days on a bus to get there and to sit under the teaching of the word for a week. You know, it was an amazing thing. Those folks, when we got together every single day, they would sing praises every day and it was immediate.

You didn't have to warm them up. All it was was an old acoustic guitar and he'd begin to play the guitar. He would hit a chord and it'd begin to sing and they would begin to close their eyes and raise their hands and sing to Christ. I mean they actually believed that he was right there in our midst. I never forget my son and my Randi said to me when he started. When I first met him, I first got introduced to him and I knew he was interested in my daughter and I was asking him about where he went to church and he said, I go to a southern Baptist church. He told me the church. I know it. The southern Baptist church on sunny mornings and I go to this assembly of God church on Sunday night. And they go, I got to bat the castle on my hands here.

I said, what do you do that? He said, because at the Baptist church, I go to the sunny school class and they really teach the Bible. I'm learning the Bible and then I go to this assembly of God church on sunny night because they act like God is really there. That's a good thing. That's like God is really there. That's what the Holy Spirit's work is. It's to open our eyes to the fact that we, as we gather in His name, He's here. It's refreshing sometimes to be with a group like this, the simplicity of it. Like flip the next picture. These are pastors from all over Mexico. There's eight of these guys they brought in and then the first picture I showed you was a whole student body of this Grace Bible Institute.

The guy who heads that up attends Grace School of Theology flies up every Tuesday to come to class and he has this burden to train untrained pastors. Three of those guys, in fact that whole group, really, all those eight guys that he brought in are men who are pastoring but they've never been trained. Some of them have never really been taught how to study the Bible and how to put a message together, how to actually teach the Bible. It was a wonderful privilege but I think the biggest thing to me, and then one more, this is the church. Eagle's nest is that what's called Eagle's nest. This is the church where in fact our folks were down and ministered and had a wonderful time. They act like God's there don't they?

When you get together they're very unrestrained in their exuberance to worship the living God. You know, it wasn't even offensive. It was wonderful. You can turn it to the next one, the black one. Some people prefer the symbols rather than reality. Reality is scary. I watched the other night. I came home kind of late after meeting with a couple of guys. I wasn't real late but it was about 830 and I had to eat dinner so I said down to eat a sandwich and Judy and I were there and I turned the TV on and was a Michael Jackson, whatever, 30th anniversary. And I actually watched that for about 30 minutes because it was fascinating to me. This was a worship service. This was modern day idolatry. You know what's so powerful about it?

They were all worshiping themselves because they worship Michael Jackson and believe me it was worship. It was exuberant worship. They didn't have to put the words up on the wall. Everybody knew the words. That puzzled me. Why is it as a church? We have to put words up on the wall. These people can sing 56 songs and never miss a word. But they were worshiping him. Amazing. And we get together together and worship the living Christ. Oh, I love this. I would much rather be with you people here today than to be at the front table, at the Michael Jackson 30th anniversary. Why did God send mana to point to Christ? Dear Raniyadi, the reason I gave you mana was so that you would learn that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

Bread alone means not a physical bread itself, but it is God who gives life. And it was a point to the Lord Jesus Christ. But think about what it would be like to be fed that way in a wilderness journey. A couple of million people traveling out in the wilderness. Times no water, no water close, no food, or the food was so born they couldn't stand it. And God gives them mana. Mana. So every day they have to get up. By the word the Hebrew word mana means what is it? They didn't know what to call it. And so every morning they couldn't purchase mana. They couldn't acquire any way the rich didn't have any more than the poor. It was available to all, but they couldn't store it up. They couldn't hoard it.

It would go rotten. And they couldn't buy their own ingenuity figure out a way to profit from it. They couldn't market mana. Mana is not marketable because they give it away. God gave it away. And this is where we have this picture of daily bread. When Jesus tells us in the sermon on the mount that we should pray, give us this day our daily bread. Why does he do that? To harken back to the man and say, have an attitude of dependence upon me. But I think it also points to Christ that he is our mana. He's the bread out of heaven. We need to feed upon him every day and you know what he's available. I really do think Christians don't think Jesus Christ is available to them personally in a real way.

And there are times that we try, there are times we are exhorted to start getting the word and we start praying and we usually come with lists. I usually when I'm really, somebody motivates me to pray and I have to get a list about three pages long of all these things I want God to do. And I go and I get on my knees and I begin to pray those things and I pray intensely. And when I get through the list, I look at my watch. I've been praying three and a half minutes. And then I begin to pray for everybody. I know all the missionaries, all my family, the church, everybody in the world. I look at my watch and it's been six and a half, seven minutes. You know what he wants us to do? He wants us to come into his presence.

He wants us to rest in his presence. He wants us to actually love him so much that we enjoy being with him. Have you ever just practiced silence before God? Have you just ever been quiet before him? I don't know if I'm sure you're like me. Haven't you done that where you prayed in your intensity and you get to think, what up? What a motor mouth I am. You find yourself it's just stream of consciousness praying. You're not even really talking to the Lord, you're just talking. And then just to stop and be silent before him. Because he is the bread and we must eat. In fact, it's interesting here that Jesus Christ, the bread out of heaven, that all he asks you to do is eat. The Pharisees said, how can we do?

The Jews said, how can we do the work of God? And he says, this is the work of God that you believe on him, at the Father of Son. That's the work. Believe on him. Rest in him. Take hold of him. All you have to do is eat by faith. They had to exercise faith every day. Get up and go out into the outside the camp and gather up the man. They had to believe that it's going to be there tomorrow. There's a wonderful little story. The story of, this is William R. White's, he's quite a storyteller, just a simple little story to you. There was once a king who ruled a small country with justice and love. And known to his subjects, the king would put on a disguise in the evenings and he would roam the streets of the town in order to understand life and the perspective of the people.

One night as he walked into skies, the king was drawn to a simple cottage. The doors and windows of the house were thrown wide open and inside a rather robust man was eating and singing with great volume. Knocking on the door, the king inquired, is a guest welcome here? A guest is a gift from God, the man shouted, please enter and eat with me. The king sat down and began to eat the very simple but substantial food that rested on the table. The two men taught freely, immediately feeling a bond between them. Finally, the king asked, what is your trade, my friend? I am a cobbler. Came the enthusiastic reply. Each day I take my toolkit. I wonder about the town, fixing people's shoes. They give me some pennies.

I put them in my pocket when the day is over. I spend it all to buy my evening meal. You spend all of your money each day, the king asked, and credulously, don't you say for the future, what about tomorrow? Tomorrow is in the hands of God, my friend, laugh the cobbler. He will provide and I will praise him day by day. Before the king laughed that evening, he asked if he might return the next night. You are always welcome, my friend, the cobbler replied, one way. On the way home, the king developed the plan to test the simple cobbler. The next morning, he issued a proclamation prohibiting the repair of shoes without a permit. When he returned the next evening, he found the cobbler eating and drinking and making merry.

What have you done today, dear friend, the king asked, hiding his surprise? When I heard that our gracious king had issued a proclamation prohibiting the repair of shoes without a permit, I went to the well, I drew water, and I carried it to the homes of the people and they gave me some pennies. I put them in my pocket and went out and spin it all on this food, the cobbler saying, come and eat, there's plenty for all. You spin it all, the king asked, what if you cannot draw water tomorrow, then what will you do? Tomorrow is in the hands of God, the cobbler shouted, the cobbler shouted. He will provide and I his simple servant will praise him day by day. The next morning, the king decided to test his new friend again.

He sent his heralds throughout the land announcing that it was illegal for a person to draw water for another. That evening, when he returned to the dish at the cobbler, he found him eating and drinking and enjoying life as before. I worried about you this morning when I heard the king's proclamation, what did you do? When I heard our good king's new edict, I went out to chop wood. When I had a bundle, I brought it to town and sold it and people gave me some pennies I put in my pocket. When the work day was over, I spin it all on food. Let us eat. You worry me, the king said, what if you cannot chop wood tomorrow? Tomorrow, a good friend is in the hands of God, he will provide. Earlier, the next morning, the king said, I announced that all wood shoppers should be put immediately to the place, the palace for service in the king's army.

The cobbler turned wood cutter, obediently reported him, was trained all day. When evening came, he was given no wages, but he was allowed to take his sword home. On the way home, he stopped at a pawn shop where he sold the blade. Then he bought his food as usual, returning to his house. He took a piece of wood and carved a wooden blade attached it to the sword's help and placed it in his sheath. When the king arrived that evening, the cobbler told him the entire story, what happens tomorrow? If there is a say in the question of the king asked, tomorrow is in the hands of God, answered the cobbler calmly, he will provide. In the morning, the officer in charge of the palace guard took the cobbler by the arm.

You are the act as executioner today. This man has been sentenced to death, cut off his head. I am a general man, the cobbler protested. I have never heard another man in my life. You will do as you are commanded, the officer shouted. As I walked to the place of execution, the cobbler's mind was exploding. As the prisoner knelt before him, the cobbler took the hilt of his sword in one hand and raised his other palm to the heavens and he prayed in a loud voice so everyone could hear. Almighty God, you alone can judge the innocent and the guilty. If this prisoner's guilty, let my sword be sharp and my arms be strong. If however he is innocent, let my sword be made wood. Dramatically, the cobbler pulled his sword from the sheath and the people were amazed to see that the sword had turned into wood.

The king who had watched the events from a distance ran to his friend and revealed his true identity. From this day forward, you will come and live with me. You will eat from my table. I will be the host and you will be the guest. What do you say about that? The cobbler smiled from year to year. What I say is the Lord has provided and you and I together will praise him day by day. That's a daily bread. See the wonderful thing about daily bread. When you live in dependence upon God even for today's sustenance, it makes you realize that Christ has to be present or you can't live. I grew up amongst a group of people who were pretty poor. They were all blue collar, dirty blue collar. They didn't have a lot but the one thing I noticed about them as I looked back on it is they always sing about heaven and they always sing about Jesus being their friend.

That was the two main themes of our songs. Jesus is a friend of sinners and won't it be wonderful there when we sing. See he's our bread and we must speed upon him. It's interesting in this text that he actually switches words in the Greek in verse 54. It says, he eats my flesh and drinks my blood as he turns alive and I will raise him up in the last day and he uses a tense that means this is an event that takes place and the word eat means consume to eat completely to take in by faith. But then he says, for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. He who eats and he uses a different word. The word that he uses here refers means literally to chew. He who, and it's a present tense, he who is eating my flesh and drinking my blood abides in me and I in him.

There's union and communion. See what he's getting at? All of us who are believers, we have eaten his flesh and drank his blood. That's just a metaphor to say we have placed our trust in him. We have received this life, this body that was given. We've received his life into us and we have believed that his death for us, his shed blood has paid for our sins. And so we come to this table. The early church came to the table every day for a long time. Perhaps that would be the best way to do it. To come to the table every day, remember that we need our daily bread from him, that he is the bread that has come down out of heaven. He says in verses 52 through 57 that it is absolutely necessary for us to receive his life.

And so this table that we come to every month is to remind us. It's Christ that we have received and it's Christ that we need every day. We need to chew upon him. We need to take him in, take hold of him. Trust him daily for our daily bread. I think that's especially hard for us because we have so much bread stored up. We hardly have to shop more than once or twice a month. Go to Costco and buy a dozen loaves of bread. But in the early church, they understood that every day they were dependent upon the living God to feed them. And you know, we are dependent upon him every day to feed our souls. Some of you here today, I've read statistically that in every church across the board about half the people who come to church come because they feel such a great need to meet with God.

It's not because they want to hear a sermon. It's not because they want to sing certain songs. They want to meet God. That's what this table is all about. They come to meet the living God. This is why it's called the Lord's Table. It's the Lord's Table. We used to sing an old song, come and die in the master call of come and die. You may feast at Jesus' Table all the time. He who fed the multitudes turned the water into wine to the hungry call of now come and die. You hear the day and you've never received Christ and you watch this and observe this. What you are seeing is people take a cup and they take a piece of this loaf and eat it. If they are expressing the fact that they have put their trust in this one who's given his life, who became a man and came into this world in order to rescue us from our alienation and sin and bring us into a relationship with God in fact to make us his children.

When they drink the cup, they're saying, I believe that his death on the cross, that cup represents shed blood and shed blood represents violent death under judgment. Christ was a substitutionary curse bearer and his blood was shed and those millions of gallons of blood in the Old Testament of the sacrifices all pointed to this one event, the high point of all the ages when Jesus came to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. That's what we celebrate but it's more than simply looking back. It's taking, it is testifying to the fact that I need him every day, that I need to feed upon Christ every day. Whatever your need is, whatever you're facing, if you have physical problems, if you have relational problems, if you're in depression, if you're full of anxiety over what you're faced tomorrow, it doesn't matter what it is.

I can tell you that Jesus Christ is the bread of life that has come down out of heaven and he promised, I'll be with you. If you believe in me, you'll never die. You pass out of death into life. In fact, you will never see death. When you pass out of this world, it's simply the inner end of the presence of God. It's no longer a penalty, it's just a passageway into the presence of Christ. So as we protect, we are proclaiming his death. I'm going to pray and I want the men to come forward if they were going to serve. Let's pray. Our Father, we are so grateful for what these symbols point to. They're such simple symbols. There's no majesty then. They're so simple and so lowly, a little piece of bread and a sip from a cup, but they point to the reality of who Christ is and what he has done for us.

That the God of the universe became man and entered into this world so that he could give us life, but like a seed, he could not give us his life until he gave his life for us. And we celebrate that today as we come around this table. So we ask you to prepare our hearts right now. I pray that every one of us would take seriously what this table symbolizes. Perhaps there would be someone here today that for the first time in their whole life, they would come to see their eyes would be open, that the Father would open their eyes and they could see the reality of who Christ is. This suffering, dying, risen Savior who is raining and is going to return some day for his people. We pray you're blessing upon this simple meal as we celebrate what Christ has done for us.

Please humble our hearts at our hearts. Father, none of us are worthy to come to this table, but we don't want to do it in an unworthy manner. And so we ask you to help us take it seriously. We ask you father to examine ourselves to make sure that as we think about this cup and this loaf that we truly have rested our faith upon this person, upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and that we are feeding upon him even today. We pray in Jesus' name. We have a couple brothers read. Where are they? As the men come forward and pass out the elements, they're going to read from the scriptures and just listen to these words as they're passed out. The guys will come up with them. Okay, now listen to the word of the Lord this morning, reading 1st of my day of 7th, 10 to 15.

Lord, over the Lord, spoke again to Ahas saying, ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God. Ask it either in the death or in the height above, but Ahas said, I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord. Then he said, here now, O house of David, is it a small thing for you to worry men, but will you worry my God also? Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel. Courts and honey, he shall eat, that he may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the government will rest on his shoulders, and his name will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, eternal Father, prince of peace.

There will be no end to the increase of his government or of peace on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this. Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant and coming in the likeness of men.

And being found in appearances of man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore, God also has highly exalted him and given him the name, which is above every name. That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord the glory of God, the Father. Isaiah 53, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed, where he grew up before him like a tender chute and like a root out of perched ground. He had no stately form or majesty that we should look upon him or appearance that we should be attracted to him.

He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and like one from whom men hide their face, he was despised and we did not esteem him. Surely our griefs he himself bore in our sorrows, he carried, yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted, but he was pierced through for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the chastening for our well-being fell upon him. And by his scourging we are healed, all of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. He was oppressed and he was afflicted yet he did not open his mouth, like a lamb that is led to slaughter and like a sheep that is silent before it shears, so he did not open his mouth.

By oppression and judgment he was taken away, and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due. His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet he was with a rich man in his death, because he had done no violence nor was any deceit in his mouth, but the Lord was pleased to crush him, putting him to grief. If he would render himself as guilt offering, he will see his offspring, he will prolong his days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in his hand. As the result of the anguish of his soul, he will see it and be satisfied. By his knowledge, the righteous one and my servant will justify the many as he bears their iniquities.

Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great and he will divide the booty with the strong, because he poured out himself to death and was numbered with the transgressors, yet he himself bore the sin of many and interceded for the transgressors. Revelation 5, 1-13. And I saw on the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll, written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the scroll and to lose its seals. And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look at it. So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll on the look at it.

But one of the elders said to me, do not weep the whole, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has prevailed to open the scroll and to lose its seven seals. And I looked and behold in the midst of the throne, and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders stood a lamb, as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Then he came and took the scroll out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. Now, when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the lamb, each having a heart and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

And they sang a new song, saying, you are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals. For you were slain, and you have redeemed us to God by your blood. Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God, and we shall reign on the earth. Then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures and the elders, and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands. Saying with a loud voice, who is worthy as the lamb who was slain, to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing? And every creature which is in heaven and on earth and under the earth and such as our in the sea and all that are in them, I heard saying, blessing and honor and glory and power be to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb forever and ever.

This is the Word of the Lord. You are going to have my Father, we come in your presence today. The Word has said, we are two and more together in my name, they are in their midst, and here we are Father, worshiping you, glorifying you, praising you and thanking you. For your Son Jesus Christ, for his body that was sent to us, who redeemed us, who was the second Adam, the perfect Adam. Thank you, Father, for your love, your compassion, and your forgiveness. And we, prior as we take this communion today, you will remind us of the importance and the significance that Jesus Christ was born and married, lived, and gave up his body for us in Jesus name. Our Father, we thank you for your Word, and we do come today and we do feed and feast upon this person, the Lord Jesus Christ.

We thank you that he is worthy to receive all of our praise and our lives we lay before him because of what he has done, that he has borne all of our iniquity, and we thank you that his blood covers all of our sin, so that we can come right into your very presence, and that's what we do this morning. I ask that you would be with your people here, and that you would bring your presence right here now. Thank you for the cup, thank you for the bread, and Jesus name. Let's all protect together. Let's just wait before I'm for just a moment. Our Father, we are grateful that you gave such a gift that you would spend your own son in order to rescue us. That says so much about the greatness of your love for your people, that we were worth a son to you.

We thank you for this communion meal. It's so simple and yet so profound, that we celebrate a fresh, and we proclaim as testimony to the whole world, that we have come to rest all of our trust. We have thrown all that we are, all that we have, all that we hope to be upon Christ. We thank you that we have found him to be a solid foundation, a firm foundation. We thank you for this time of fellowship around this table. We thank you that Christ is here, able to minister to every single heart, to do what we cannot do. We thank you in Christ name. Amen.