All He Gives, All Who Come

Jesus is the bread of life

Jesus is the

35 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.

We must call to mind the fact that Moses has been called up in the preceding text. Moses did a mighty thing in the wilderness by feeding Israel according to the Jews. Jesus corrected them by pointing out the fact that it was the Father who fed them.

“I am” They are missing the point so he makes it more explicit for them.

It is from his fulness that we receive. Prologe

Jesus told us earlier that he gives the bread. And here we learn that he is the bread itself. The bread and water that Jesus gives are himself. And the reason I can give it to you and you and you. And to such an extent that if you eat and drink you will have eternal life, is because the bread and water that I give, becasue I am of the same eternal, self sufficient, inexhaustable essence as the one from the bush. The bush doesn’t burn up because it’s burning is of an in consumable essence, ie, the Lord. His power, wisdom, love, justice, are never diminished because they are infinite and eternal. Jesus says to the soul, “I have spiritual food and drink of such nature for you!

Ryle “The soul of everyman is naturally starving and famishing through sin”

We know that every human is famishing and starving becasue all human beings without exception are desparatley trying to find satisfaction and meaning and significance through whatever means they will. Even if it means using everything and everyone as a means of fulfilling that hunger and thirst.

Gill:

men in a state of nature are dead in trespasses and sins; and whatever they feed upon tends to death; Christ, the true bread, only gives life,

which is conveyed by the word, and made effectual by the spirit: and because he supports and maintains the life he gives; it is not in the power of a believer to support the spiritual life he has; nor can he live on any thing short of Christ; and there’s enough in Christ for him to live upon

They ought to come to Christ, they ought to believe in him. This is the free offer of the gospel that Jesus proclaims to sinners.

It harkens that classic text in Matthew 11:28–29 “28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

Is 55 Ho everyone who thirsts come!

This is the call to you this morning whether you have already come to him or not. Come and come afresh. Cast yourself on Jesus today and be filled.

Ryle:

To 'come' to Christ is to 'believe' on him, and to 'believe' on him is to 'come to him.—Both expressions mean that act of the soul whereby, under a sense of its sins and necessity, it applies to Christ, lays hold on Christ, trusts itself to Christ, casts itself on Christ.-

'Coming,' is the soul's movement towards Christ. 'Believing,' is the soul's venture on Christ.—If there is any difference, it is that

'coming' is the first act of the soul when it is taught by the Holy Ghost, and that 'believing' is a continued act or habit which never ends. No man 'comes' who does not believe; and all who come go on believing.

He says:

“Never hunger, Never thirst”

2 double negatives oo mae, oo mae. No not, no not. It is impossible to hunger or thirst if you come to Jesus. Psalm 34:8–10 “8 O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! 9 O fear the Lord, you His saints; For to those who fear Him there is no want. 10 The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; But they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing.” This verse is ultimately filled out in Jesus. The Psalmist invites the reader to exhaust the waters of the Lords delight if he can. He will surely find it impossible to exhaust the inexhaustible. This all began with the initial come and see? In the earlier chapters. Come and see for yourself.

Chapter 4 gave us living water, earlier in Ch 6 feeding with the imperishable bread. Now here it’s brought together to show us in another magnificent way the fulness which resides in Jesus.

The sole sufficiency of Jesus Christ. There is nothing and no one like Jesus.

Again, All of our souls are spiritually thirsty, spiritually hungry. I remember all throughout my childhood experiencing moments of great emptiness, a great void, we would go to the cabin and fill our time over the weekend, with great food and time on the lake, and games and movies and family time, etc. And every time, without fail, the agonizing two hour drive home, there was this great ache in my soul, a longing. I didn’t know that I was hungering and thirsting for something or someone that could fill it. You see, it wasn’t that any of those things were bad, they were all good things. It was the fact that I was seeking them as ends in themselves. Any creature sought as an end in itself will leave the sinner wanting, but if good and lawful things are sought with a view to God in Christ. If God is the end of all your endeavors, then they will tend to your genuine enjoyment, and God’s glory. As we know, whatever you do do in faith.

Again hear this savory wisdom from JC Ryle:

When our Lord says 'shall never hunger,' and 'shall never thirst,' he does not mean that a believer on Christ shall no longer feel any want, or emptiness, or deficiency within him. This would not be correct. The best of believers will often cry, like St Paul,

'O wretched man that I am!' (Rom. 7:24).

The man who 'hungers and thirsts after righteousness' is blessed (Matt. 5:6).—

What our Lord does mean is, that faith in Christ shall supply a man's soul with a peace and satisfaction that shall never be entirely taken from him,-that shall endure for ever.”

……..

the man who comes to Christ by faith, gets hold of something that is an everlasting possession. He shall never die of spiritual famine, and perish for want of soul nourishment. He may have his low feelings at seasons. He may even lose his sense of pardon, and his enjoyment of religion. But once in Christ by faith, he shall never be cast away and starved in hell. He shall never die in his sins.”

Before we move on consider with what simplicity our Lord expounds on the nature of his person and work. There are millions of pages written on this great and awesome subject,(person and work of Jesus) yet our Lord boils it down to bread. Everyone can understand bread. Rich and poor, old and young, all understand what bread is to humanity. Bread is a necessary part of life, of nourishing the body. Bread sustains, and strengthens life. Bread communicates that which supplies the necessities of our well-being.

36 “But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe.

Think of the contrast. How many never saw him, yet believed. The patriarchs and OC saints, never saw but believed and were glad. Perhaps its better to say though that some did see in the dark shadows they did see and believe and were glad. But they have seen. Much more privileged position than were their fathers. It is amazing to think that many saw Jesus in this way and did not believe. But we don’t look down at them. Flesh and blood have not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.

You’ve seen Jesus says

You’ve seen enough. You are not lacking evidence.

Example, I say, Dave, hey have you seen Steph Curry? Yeah. Light skinned black guy, plays basketball for the Warriors. I say, no have you seen him? Have you experienced watching him play? You gotta see him play? Have you seen Zion national park? Yeah I’ve seen photos of it in a National Parks book at my grandmas house. Oh, no you haven’t seen it until you’ve been there, descended from the top of the canyon to the bottom of the canyon. You haven’t seen certain things until you’ve experienced them. That’s what Jesus is saying here. You haven’t just seen me in passing. You’ve had an intimate acquaintance with me. Consider again the 5 witnesses evoked in our previous chapter, but most importantly, his life, his teachings, and his miracles. You’ve seen enough and yet you do not believe.

Aug: “You desire bread from heaven; you have it before you, and yet you do not eat.”

………and Jesus knows whats in them. John 2:25 “25 and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.”

But we have another consideration before us here. That I believe will help us think through this. Let me ask a question first. Don’t answer out loud. True or false; Jesus is a believer?

If you answered true, you answered correctly, Jesus is true man and true God, and according to his humanity, he walked by faith in God throughout his whole life. He grew in maturity and stature. He acquired knowledge about himself, and his mission in the Scriptures. As good theologians, we also know that according to His divinity, He knows all things at once with the Father and Spirit, Jesus is the omniscient one. But again according to the humanity, in our text, Jesus is walking by faith. For us. Isn’t that a blessed thought, one moment we see him as the Source of our deepest need, the next he is walking by faith in the form of a servant on our behalf.

His holy soul must trust in God’s promise to him even in the midst of opposition and unbelief. He doesn’t know who will believe or won’t believe. In the form of a servant(according to humanity), he doesn’t know who will or will not believe.

He does know according to Isaiah 53 that many won’t, many will oppose him, even his own people, but it is the blessed truth and promise of the Father, from the same Chapter of Isaiah “that he will see his posterity” that bolsters his faith in a time like this. Jesus says, You don’t believe, and many won’t I have come to understand that I will be mocked and even considered cursed of God, betrayed and abandoned by all in the end. But in spite of this, though I see your unbelief with sorrow, I am not surprised, nor am I anxious, because my Father has promised me a people, and he will give them, for he already has begun. Verse 37.

37 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.

Jesus is saying in a sense, your unbelief does not throw me off my mission or discourage me from it. Again, I know that though many believe not, their are some who will believe though they be few.

You look and see that the Father is currently giving a people to me. What do you make of my disciples who have believed and come to me and are with me right now? What about Samaria? The Father is doing all this. I am currently working and the Father is giving.

As we’ve noted, this is a major shift in Jewish thinking and expectation. The axe is laid to the root of their corruption. Jesus, as usual, is way ahead of them in this chess match. As I’ve hinted at, there is a hypothetical objection lingering. We are the people of God. Are you saying God is unfaithful to his promises to us? The truth that Jesus is bringing to them is that if you do not believe me you are not God’s people, unless you believe in me you have no right to claim God as your Father in any way, he’ll tell them rightly in Ch 8 that their father is the Devil. You are not his people, because you won’t come to the Son he sent, but God has a people, and he will get them, regardless of your unbelief. Your unbelief does not nullify the faithfulness of God!

Again, in addition, this is Jesus assurance that he is not come in vain. One of the Psalms states this, several do. Ps 2. “Ask of me” Is 53. He will see his posterity. All nations will be blessed in Jesus. Jesus learned that from studying and memorizing the Scriptures, do you think the Father is going to short him one?

Imagine we advertise a church event were we want to get as many attendees from the community as we can. We have things that will appeal to every age and every ethnicity in the community. And we plan big, for over one hundred people. We have a bouncy house, a slip in slide, bingo with a couple nice prizes, we have bag toss, volley ball, we have good gourmet coffee not church coffee. We have amazing appetizers, and several types of barbeque smoked meet. We do all this expecting over 100 and only 12 people show up. What a let down, it would be sort of embarrassing, a failure. Brothers and sisters, it will not be like this at the consummation, in glory.

The text says everything. Not every person, but everything, expressing the sovereignty of God and the completeness of the gift. There won’t be any looking at the map and wondering why folks from this generation and this part of the world didn’t come. Neither will God just be content with any number. God is particular for his glory. He was particular at the construction of his tabernacle and temple building, will he be any less in the true tabernacle, and the heavenly temple, which is his people. Not one empty room, not one empty seat, not one missing voice to sing the Lambs praise for eternity. May the thought that that could be, parish from our minds. “All that he gives will come.”

Psalm 33:11 “11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation.”

Proverbs 19:21 “21 Many plans are in a man’s heart, But the counsel of the Lord will stand.”

Isaiah 46:9–10 “9 “Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;”

Isaiah 40:26 “26 Lift up your eyes on high And see who has created these stars, The One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them is missing.”

Question: Will his good pleasure fail in something much more tending to his glory than inanimate stars? Will one of his redeemed image bearers, will one of his redeemed stars or luminaries(Phil 2:15) be missing? Not one of them will be missing. None of them.

“He won’t cast out.” What sweet words. As if to remind us again that the love of God reaches down to the dregs. To the lowest. The most vile, the most weak, whatever you’ve done, whoever you are, the one who comes to me( in faith as mentioned above) I will certainly not cast out. Never no never will I cast one out. God in the flesh said this to you. That would be enough. But the next two verses strengthen and bear out the reason for this saying.

38 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

We should take this similar to the way we looked at John 5:20-30. As the very Word of the Father, the eternal Word, Jesus has come to explain the Father to the world. When Jesus acts and speaks, he is making known the Father. Jesus will, and power, are one with the Father. Though Jesus does have two wills, I believe in our text that he is accommodating himself to the Jews. I’m not here on a rogue mission. I am here to do the Fathers will, because it is none other than my will.

Notice again how the following bares out the unity of will.

39 “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.

Past tense here. From the wonderful pen of John, communicating more than just present blessing of salvation given as in verse 37, but enduring, eternal, unchangeable. Jesus was depicted as waiting by faith in verse 37, here the gift is depicted as perfect and complete in the will of God. Notice the perfect tense, “has given”. The perfect communicates to us that an event or action that took place in the past has abiding and ongoing results.

This communicates what God did prior to Christs coming. It was the good pleasure of the triune God to will and decree to save a people for himself. The Son doesn’t scramble to find a way to appease the wrath of the Father post fall. It was his all wise plan the whole time. To exalt the Lord Jesus Christ in the salvation of the elect. God is not Macgyver. He is not resourceful and quick to solve problems on the fly.

“GOD hath Decreed in himself from all Eternity, by the most wise and holy Councel of his own will, freely and unchangeably, all things whatsoever comes to passe;”

What can we say, what can we render to God for this unimaginable gift. The why escapes us, and the words of praise escape us. It is truly ineffable unspeakable. We cannot speak the words of praise that fit this gift of salvation. Praise, tears, self-sacrificial service are all we have to offer. What shall I render to the Lord for all the benefits he’s given to me? Rhetorical…..I will lift up the cup of salvation the God has filled and praise his holy name. Praise and thanks are it.

Gods will compared to mans will. The will of man is bent on destruction. The thoughts of their hearts were only evil continually. Did anything change in mans evil bent after the flood? Was his heart any less deceitful and desperately sick? Did man begin in his new beginnings after the flood to seek ofter God. No. No one seeks after God, no not one.

But the will of God. The promise of God. That the believing seed of Abraham would be blessed in Christ. That in spite of mans hell bent will. God willed to bring a people to himself in his Son, whom the Spirit would quicken, whom the Father himself would draw us with cords of love.

Ryle says: However wicked men may abuse this doctrine, it is full of comfort to a humble believer. He(believer) did not begin the work of his salvation. He was given to Christ by the Father, by an everlasting covenant.

The believer, in being brought into covenant, is brought into this eternal trinitarian dance of love, fellowship, blessedness, and fruitfulness. It is really so much more than a covenant or contract, it is one of delighted communion. Proverbs 8:30–31 “30 Then I was beside Him, as a master workman; And I was daily His delight, Rejoicing always before Him, 31 Rejoicing in the world, His earth, And having my delight in the sons of men.”

I don’t believe we can grasp the depths or heights of a text like this, “playing and delighting it says” but that is you, that is us, before the we and the world and all things existed, he delighted in us. Which means nothing other than his people, the sons and daughters the Father had given him.

Those who believed became sons of God. The sons and daughters of God. John 1:13 “13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

40 “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.””

In other words, they are “the fruit of electing love.”

Question: How do I know if I am elect? You mean you don’t see all of the capital E’s glowing above all of the rest of the elects heads hear. Don’t you see that halo hovering over brother Davids head. No. If you have believed! Do you believe in Jesus? The text gives us two perspectives to consider. One is from God’s perspective. We do not have this perspective, but the revelation of it for our good and comfort. God, who’s will is just as his being, has unchangeably willed, in his good pleasure, to get a people for himself through the work of his Son, and in time and space to be effectually called by his Spirit. From our perspective what do we have? A glimpse into the decree to see if I’m elect? Is the Lambs book of life opened for you to see all the names? No. Yours is in the text, everyone who beholds the Son and believes in him will have eternal life. Only the Lamb can open the book, Have you come to him and believed on him as your only hope, as a beggar, as a vile and sinful, rebel, confessing that you bring nothing but your sins and lay them at the foot of the cross. If that is you then you are one of the elect. You are one given by the Father to his Son.

But pastor, what if my faith is weak? What if I struggle with assurance? Then this text is for you, dear one. Because nothing can take you out of Jesus mighty arms. Nothing! “I myself will(not might), I will raise him up on the last day” to an everlasting salvation, says Gill. Let that bolster your faith, your love for him, your service and obedience. Nothing dear believer. Not the devil, or the world, or your own self. Nothing in heaven and earth. Not your doubts, your sins, not persecution, nor death, can separate you from the love the Father has toward you in Christ Jesus. Nothing can overcome Gods love because it is an unchangeable, eternal, and independant love. It is a love that burns like the burning bush. Of it self, nothing caused it. From an independant fulness. Just as the creation is not of necessity, but a spilling over of the goodness and love of God, so is your salvation a spilling over of the eternal blessedness of the triune God willing decreeing to bring creatures-fallen creatures- into eternal fellowship with himself! Oh how glorious. How can I sit up here and fumble over a love so glorious and unspeakable……Who is adequate to proclaim such profound gospel mysteries. No one, but by the grace of God.

This is why we study the doctrine of God, Trinity, decree, and election, Christology. These are heavy weighty doctrines. We are exercising our spiritual muscles. If we put in the effort, we become stronger in every facet of our Christian walk. We also study them because they are everywhere. They are unavoidable. Unless, like some do to the detriment of themselves and their listeners, unless you preach topically and avoid all of these texts, you will run into them everywhere. Jesus taught election, the apostle John, Paul, Peter, the author of Hebrews. You can’t avoid it! And we shouldn’t want to, because it gives us unspeakable comfort and assurance to those who are humble and contrite.

Luke 10:20 “20 “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.””

and that comfort and assurance are the means God uses to stir willing and free service to himself and to those around us.

What kind of obedience does someone who lacks assurance generally render? Servile obedience, not free and loving obedience. Faith that lacks assurance generally renders slavish obedience. Slavish obedience is obedience rooted in fear and self-interest, rather than love and faith.

7. The Doctrine of this high mystery of predestination, is to be handled with special prudence, and care; that men attending the will of God revealed in his word, and yielding obedience thereunto, may from the certainty of their effectual vocation, be assured of their eternal election; so shall this doctrine afford matter of praise, reverence, and admiration of God, and of humility, diligence, and abundant consolation, to all that sincerely obey the Gospel.

Lets pray.