Let’s follow Jesus part 5

When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?

What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

INTRODUCTION

Good morning Southpointe!! We are ending our series on Let’s follow Jesus this morning.

In our text this morning, Jesus is talking to His disciples as they are walking this journey together.

Now this is what I want you to understand these disciples had just seen Jesus perform the miracle of feeding the multitudes (5000 men plus the women and children). And all that Jesus had was 5 loaves and 2 fish.

Look at this:

When the people saw Him do this miraculous sign, they exclaimed, "Surely, He is the Prophet we have been expecting!"

Jesus left basically He sneak out because the people were planning on force Him to their king and that was not the plan of the Father, for Jesus to be their earthly king.

The disciples go down to the boat hunting Jesus and He did not come back so it was late.

But as darkness fell and Jesus still hadn't come back, they got into the boat and headed across the lake toward Capernaum.

I want to put this in there because it kinda chasing a rabbit deal, but look at this Jesus didn’t come back in time so that when on their own way.

Just a thought here: if they would have waited on Jesus instead of pushing out on their own maybe they would not have ran into the storm.

The disciples had just rolled out around 3 or 4 miles and the storms hit, and we find Jesus walking on the walk to the disciples in the boat.

Then later on we find Jesus walking on the walk to the disciples in the boat.

The disciples were afraid and Jesus tells them.

but He called out to them, "Don't be afraid. I am here! "

Jesus will never let you down. We may not always understand and sometimes wonder where He is at, but you can rest assure that you will hear His voice, I am here.

Let me tell you when we try it our way instead waiting, and storm hit, you will be like the disciples.

Then they were eager to let Him in the boat, and immediately they arrived at their destination!

You see, when you let Jesus in your boat, your plan, your life then immediately you will arrived at the right destination.

For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

But I need to move on, to where I believe that God wants us to me at today.

You see, there’s two difference type of people in this whole story being told: There’s the disciples, who have faith but need more faith and then there’s the crowd, which are concerned disciples.

The crowd the night they had got their belly full and basically forgot about Jesus and even the miracle of feeding of all those people.

They woke up from the night of sleep and they start searching for Jesus. They went down to the lake and saw a boat missing and they load up and went to the other side to find Jesus.

Now understand they knew Jesus had left before the disciples and they also knew that there was only one boat gone. And the disciples had taken it.

When they found Him on the other side of the lake they asked Him:

Five questions:

When did you get here?v25

What sign will you give us so that we can see and believe? v30

Will you always give us this bread?v34

How can you say that you came from heaven?v42

How can this man give his flesh for us to eat?v52

Now if you will notice they didn’t even think about how He got to the other side, they just assumed that He had walked around the shore of the lake all thru the night to get there.

Jesus didn’t answer their questions, instead He went straight to the heart of the matter, and He exposed the real reason the crowd had followed Him.

Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, you want to be with Me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs.

They didn’t recognize that He was Christ, the Son of God and that they need to put their trust in Him.

But they were following Him because they had eaten their fill of the loaves that Jesus had multiplied.

Now think about this it was their belly that they were concerned about.

Their appetite had become their God.

Phip 3:19 They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth.

Whatever is your appetite is that will be your God. In other words, whatever has more of your time, love, and money.

Your devotion, what control you, what makes you tick. Is your God. Many people fit in the role of the crowd.

Whatever meet their need now. They don’t care about the anything else. And It will create in your a junk up life.

The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul: but the belly of the wicked shall want.

You see, what this means is that the godly will get satisfy on God, but the wicked, they never get satisfy, they never feel the satisfaction that fill that longing, because the world cannot do that for you.

Pro_13:25 The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul: but the belly of the wicked shall want.

No matter how much stuff you put in your life, it is never enough.

Whatever we worship, is our God. We have got worship all messed up. We think worship as bowing down to an idol, we think worship is singing a song.

But worship is so much more. Worship is our lifestyle. In other words, it is how you live your life. And our life is like a stage, and God and people around you are watching you.

And many of us have so many things on our stage and there should be only one on the stage with us and that is God.

I want to close with this:

"Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what He is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it.

In this text it’s deals with one living a victorious life and that God will give you the manna that hidden in heaven.

That manna is the bread of life.

Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, Moses didn't give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now He offers you the true bread from heaven.

The true bread of God is the One who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

"Sir," they said, "give us that bread every day."

Jesus replied, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty.

Jesus was telling them that Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven, My Father did. Understand this man can not give you what you need, and the Father can give you the real bread, which is Jesus Christ.

Jesus will meet your needs and satisfy you. And you will never be hungry again.

But the next thing:

And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it.

There are many interpretation of this: It all was dealing with the culture of their day.

A white stone: In Rome, a great gladiator was hero admired by everyone. If he had a great career when he grew old he was allowed to retire in honour.

And these men were given a tessera, which is a ivory (white)stone with the letter SP on it.

SP stands for the Latin word spectatus, which means a man whose valour has been proved beyond a doubt.

Christian are the gladiators of Christ and we have prove our valour in the battle of life, then we are allowed to enter into the rest which gives with honour.

Now listen to me: in our story: the disciples and the crowd,

Which one are you? The disciples or the crowd

Disciples wanted Jesus, they want to partake in the bread of Life.

But the crowd, This is what they did:

From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

These guys like being fed by the bread of this world but not the bread of life. Jesus

Listen to this:

Do the song: clean the stage

The Revelation of John, Volume 1 Pergamum: The White Stone and the New Name (Revelation 2:12–17 Contd)

(c) In Rome, a great gladiator was a hero admired by everyone. Often, a gladiator had to fight on until he was killed in combat. But, if he had had a particularly illustrious career, when he grew old he was allowed to retire in honour. Such men were given a tessera with the letters SP on it. SP stands for the Latin word spectatus, which means a man whose valour has been proved beyond a doubt. This would mean that Christians are the gladiators of Christ and that, when they have proved their valour in the battle of life, they are allowed to enter into the rest which Christ gives with honour.

The Revelation of John, Volume 1 Pergamum: The White Stone and the New Name (Revelation 2:12–17 Contd)

. In one of his letters, Pliny tells a friend that that day he had had the joy of hearing in the law courts the cases made by two magnificent young advocates in whose hands the future of Roman oratory was safe; and, he says, that experience made that day one marked candidissimo calculo, with the whitest of stones (Letters, 6:11). It was said that the Thracians and the Scythians kept in their homes an urn into which for every happy day they threw a white stone and for every unhappy day a black stone. At the ends of their lives, the stones were counted; and, depending on the greater number of white or black stones, a person was said to have had a wretched or a happy life. This would mean that, through Jesus Christ, Christians can have the joy that no one can take from them (John 16:22).

Revelation: An Introduction and Commentary c. To the Church of Pergamum (2:12–17)

With this is linked a white stone inscribed with a new name. This has puzzled commentators for centuries. At least seven suggestions have been made with some confidence. One arises from legal practice, where a member of a jury who was for acquittal handed in a white stone. A second view sees a reference to reckoning, since white stones were often used in calculations. A third idea is that the white stone is the symbol of a happy day (like our ‘red-letter day’). Along somewhat the same lines is that which sees the stone as an amulet bringing good luck. A more prosaic suggestion is that the white stone represented a ticket to bread and circuses. A sixth suggestion arises from a rabbinic speculation that when the manna fell from heaven it was accompanied by precious stones (note that manna has just been mentioned). The seventh view is that the reference is to a stone in the breastplate of the high priest with the name of one of the tribes written on it. A variant sees a reference to the Urim (Exod. 28:30). Some of these may legitimately be criticized on the ground that either the stone is not white or it has no inscription. But none of them carries complete conviction. We simply do not know what the white stone signified, though clearly it did convey some assurance of blessing.