43: Preaching/Teaching: John 6: More than a sign!

An All Satisfying Savior

EOT-Jesus feeds 15,000+ as the great Moses while challenging his audience to follow him as an all satisfying savior.

EOS-3 Responses to an all-satisfying Savior

DDS-This week we will pray Tozer’s prayer of satisfaction in God!

Key Verse-I am the Bread of Life!

Introduction:

God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him!

We were created for hunger.

God made us to hunger: we all have desires.

James 4:1 NASB95

What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?

The question is not if you desire, it is what do you desire?

What were you hungry for growing up?

I was hungry for 2 main things growing up!

Accomplishments-

Band

Karate

Basketball

Pleasing People-

But what I hungered for most was approval of my parents especially my dad.

These were not bad things but I hungered for, but they were wrong because I did not hunger for God.

God created us to hunger after him. My greatest hunger growing up was not for God, but for these things.

What did you hunger for growing up?

What do you hunger for today, right now?

Life is not always black and white, and at times we may follow him for his stuff while at other times we may follow him because he is an all satisfying savior.

Did you know the chief purpose that God created you for was so that you would enjoy him.

Could you picture if your greatest hunger was for God.

Today we are going to talk about 3 responses we can have towards an all satisfying savior.

What I want us to see is that our hunger will determine how we will respond to an all satisfying saviour.

Throughout the book of John we see that people were looking for and anticipating a greater prophet than Moses.

Before we dive into John 6 we need to look at some context of what is going on.

People were looking for the greater Moses:

Deuteronomy 18:15 NASB95

“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.

Picture when Jordan was leaving the game avid basketball fans were asking who is going to be the next Jordan, some said Kobe, others said Lebron.

In a much bigger way people were looking for the prophet.

We saw what they said in John 1:45

John 1:45 NASB95

Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

But Jesus does not back away from this tension he embraces it with these statements from Scripture called the I AM statement.

Today we are going to see the first I AM statement

Explain the burning bush with Moses : I AM WHO I AM

Exodus 3:14 NASB95

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”

John 6:35 NASB95

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.

There were similarities

Moses fed God

Jesus fed the people

There was a difference

God appeared to Moses

Jesus was God

The bread Moses fed satisfied for a meal

Jesus satisfies forever.

John 6:1–3 NASB95

After these things Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias). A large crowd followed Him, because they saw the signs which He was performing on those who were sick. Then Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat down with His disciples.

Notice he is always spending time with his disciples.

John 6:4 NASB95

Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near.

Passover-Explain this and the significance and how the passover was finally going to be a once and a lifetime things.

This is the only miracle of Jesus that is recorded in all five gospels.

6:4-Why is Jesus mentioning his passover because it points to his death the very thing he came to do for mankind.

John 6:12–13 NASB95

When they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments so that nothing will be lost.” So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.

How are you responding to the all satisfying savior.

Today we are going to see three responses to an all satisfying savior

The first response to an ALL satisfying savior is

1. We can love him for his stuff (Crowds)

What happens when we love Jesus just for his stuff?

A. The Why is will be off (14-15)-

John 6:14 NASB95

Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

Notice these people got it. Jesus is the prophet who has come into the world. I don’t know if they fully grasped who Jesus is but they did grasp that he was the greater Moses to at least some degree.

THIS IS HIM.

John 6:15 NASB95

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.

This is such an amazing verse because Jesus could have become their king. But Jesus was not going to become a king that was not in line with his kingdom.

We also need to be reminded in these verses that Jesus is God and he actually knows the intentions of hearts. WE CAN”T DO THAT

This isn’t all bad. Many times the reason

The Gospel according to John 3. The Feeding of the Five Thousand (6:1–15)

6:2. A great crowd of people (cf. Mk. 6:33–34) followed him, not so much because they wanted to obey him, but, like those described in 2:23–25, because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick.

Why do you follow Jesus?

Is it because of the stuff you get from him.

Heaven

Health and wealth

Is it because he is an all satisfying savior

When we first come to Christ we will never purely love him just for him. The reality we are receiving forgivess of sins, heaven and a connection with the living God. But what if our whole life we just loved God for his stuff.

Isn’t this a great model of relationships. Heather I love you because you …

In maturing we are to love God because he is the all satisfying savior.

What happens when we love Jesus just for his stuff?

B. We are in danger of falling away (66)

John 6:66 NASB95

As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.

Before this verse Jesus gave them some hard teachings. Teachings many of them did not like.

When someone believes in Jesus we are saved. We did not earn our salvation and we cannot keep our salvation. But how many friends do you know who at one time loved Jesus and now they are not walking with him at all.

Stat on pastors.

Do you want to get to the end of your life and not have experienced a real deep walk with God?

Application:

There are times when all Christians have loved Jesus for his stuff. That is part of the point of the gospel. But is this your heart right now that you follow him just for the stuff.

The next response to an ALL satisfying savior is

2. Rejecting Jesus!

Many of the Jewish leaders rejected Jesus for a lifetime.

There are people even today who are hostile towards Jesus. You can say that is bad. But here is the reality. When Heather and I used to work with college students we would spend 9 weeks in the summer in Breckenridge discipling students.

Here is what I loved about Breck: The mountains. But here is what I loved about it. When we shared the gospel people were so brutally honest about where they were with God.

One time guy cussed me out to my face and then slammed the door on me. I could go on but they knew were they were with Christ.

Many people today will reject him for a lifetime.

You can reject his claim (35)

John 6:35 NASB95

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.

As I shared earlier this is a very direct claim.

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic— on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse.

McDowell, Josh. More Than a Carpenter (p. 27). Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

You can reject Jesus your whole life (41-42)

John 6:41–42 NASB95

Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, “I am the bread that came down out of heaven.” They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?”

Here is what every cult, every person who rejects Jesus, they will accept his humanity, because he is a areal factual person, just like Napoleon. But they will reject his divinity.

John 1:11 “He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.”

john 8:59 “Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.”

Application:

But I want to hold out hope right now for this reason. Sometimes the people who are the most hostile people, can be the very people that God wants to pour grace upon. I think about Paul when I think about this.

The last response to an ALL satisfying savior is

3. Walking with him in this life and the life to come. (66-68).

John 6:66–68 NASB95

As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.

Why should we walk with him for a lifetime?

We don’t have to fear (15-25, Key focus v.20)

John 6:15–19 NASB95

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.

Many of these guys were fisherman. And they had a reason to be afraid.

Aren’t there a lot of things that we can be afraid of?

I thought about different things I am afraid of:

Will I be a good enough husband, dad, pastor?

Will my kids do well when they go off on their own.

Death

Sickness

They were afraid.

John 6:20 NASB95

But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.”

Do you realize that the word do not be afraid is mentioned 365 times in the Bible.

Why should we walk with him for a lifetime?

Remember what I started off with:

God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.

b. He satisfies.

Before Jesus we are all like the Rolling Stones song, I can’t get no Satisfaction.

He gives a greater satisfaction

John 6:27 NASB95

“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.”

God gives us this greater satisfaction: Which the son of man will give to you.

God gives us this food:

Are you looking for your satisfaction in him?

Are you allowing him to satisfy you?

I remember as a high school senior: I had finally arrived and our team was winning I was not very good until my junior year and there was this game that we won, I scored my career high in points. I should be satisfied. But you know what I was not and I just wanted more.

It does not matter what exploits we go after, without Jesus we will not be satisfied the way God has created us to be satisfied.

John 6:28–29 NASB95

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.”

Notice how we get this food by believing.

This is the Gospel!

John 6:30–31 NASB95

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 manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’ ”

So Moses gave a food that did not satisfy. If you remember in the OT and the people complained about it. But if this is the ultimate food we are going for we will be severely let down.

John 6:32–34 NASB95

Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, 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. “For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.”

Are you settling right now?

Or are you feasting after God?

Are you letting the all satisfying savior satisfy you or are you letting something else?

Conclusion

John 6:5–11 NASB95

Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?” This He was saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do. Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.” One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. Jesus then took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted.

When we allow Jesus to be our all satisfying saviour here is the beutiful thing.

We get to be this boy

We get to serve him to othes

The Pursuit of God: The Human Thirst for the Divine Chapter 1: Following Hard after God

O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, that so I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, “Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.”Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long.

In Jesus’ name.

Amen.

Confession of Sins

But I also want us to see this in a way that we all the all satisfying savior to satisfy us.

Communion

John 6:53–58 NASB95

So Jesus said to them, “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 has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. “For My flesh is true food, 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 live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will 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 will live forever.”