Sermon
Christ Is the Bread of Life | May 3, 2026 AM
Publisher transcript
Transcript
-
Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives.
-
The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist
-
Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us
-
or contact us at my libertybaptist.org or just look
-
us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this
-
message from God's Word will be a blessing to you.
-
Well, this morning we are in John chapter 6.
John 6 chapter mention
-
The title of my message is this. It is that Christ is the bread
-
of life. Now this is different than some
-
of the other messages that we have looked at thus far because
-
we have looked at Christ from a multitude of angles, looking at
-
his characteristics. But we haven't exactly called
-
Jesus Christ anything close to bread in our series here thus
-
far. But these are not my words here
-
that I'm giving you this morning.
-
I am not trying to make a clever analogy and trying to call Jesus
-
Christ the bread of life, life. Rather this is Christ's own
-
words for us to help us understand exactly who he is and
-
that he is the sustainer of life, both physically and
-
spiritually. All life is found in Jesus
-
Christ. And so I wanted to get right to
-
it this morning. John chapter 6.
John 6 chapter mention
-
Why don't you go ahead and stand with me, if you will.
-
John chapter 6 and we're going to read one verse say, pastor,
John 6 chapter mention
-
that going to be it's going to be a short message.
-
And the answer is, Don't you wish all right?
-
Verse #35 says this. And Jesus said unto them, I am
-
the bread of life, He that come to me shall never hunger, and he
-
that believeth on me shall never thirst.
-
Why don't you read that with me again out loud?
-
Verse #35 And it says, And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread
-
of life. He that cometh to me shall never
-
hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
-
Why don't you be seated and let's pray together?
-
Heavenly Father, we do thank you for this morning and we thank
-
you for all we've received. Well, Lord, we do come to the
-
place where it is the Word of God that needs to be brought
-
forth. And I pray that it is done so
-
that it's not myself or anything that I do this morning that
-
causes hearts and minds to be able to be changed.
-
Or if that's the case, it'll be very short lived.
-
But rather I pray to your Holy Spirit that illuminates the
-
hearts here today. If someone has never tasted of
-
that bread of life, may this be that day where they trust in
-
Christ as their Savior. For some of us who maybe have
-
gotten to the place where we feel a little self-sufficient in
-
our life, help us to remember that the bread of life isn't
-
just about being saved, but rather that Christ is our life
-
no matter what stage of life we are in.
-
And we ask it all in Jesus name. Amen.
-
You know we think of Christ being the bread of life.
-
It could cause a little bit of confusion at 1st and the reason
-
why is because for us bread is good but it's not exactly the
-
sustainer of life is. In fact, it seems quite the
-
opposite nowadays with gluten free everything, it seems like
-
everybody's trying to get bread out of the house.
-
What do people say? You pass them some bread, say,
-
oh, I'm watching my carbs right. You know they don't want bread
-
anymore. Nobody wants bread.
-
I'll say this, if you don't want the bread, give it to me.
-
All right? I'll take your bread if you
-
don't want it. Because I enjoy bread, but it's
-
not the sustainer of life as it would be maybe thought of in
-
other times. In fact, I remember we lived in
-
Tampa, FL and that's where I grew up.
-
And then after Bible college, we lived there for seven years.
-
And one of my favorite memories on Saturdays when there wasn't
-
anything going on, which didn't happen very often, but when
-
there was a Saturday where there wasn't a whole lot going on, I
-
remember Saturday morning, I go to a little store right around
-
the corner from where we live. And I'd get some Jose, Are you
-
ready? Some Cafe and I get some Cuban
-
bread. That was my favorite.
-
Now, not that Miami Cuban bread that you're used to, Jose.
-
All right, I'm talking about real Tampa Cuban bread.
-
It's a little bit different, but it's all good.
-
Amen. But they would toast it and put
-
butter on it and it's just, it is so unhealthy to.
-
So you got dairy, you got carbs, You got it all, man, I'll tell
-
you. I miss it.
-
All right. There's not much I miss about
-
Florida. I enjoy living in New England by
-
the grace of God. But I will say this, that Cuban
-
bread, on a Saturday morning, if I have to visit Tampa or do
-
business or anything like that, the first thing I do is go to a
-
place that will serve real pressed Cuban bread with butter.
-
And it is delicious. Now, I say that saying I enjoy
-
it. But, you know, living up here
-
now for over 13 years, my life has gone on just fine without
-
it. I mean, I like bread.
-
I like Cuban bread particularly. I don't know what it is about
-
the crunchiness of the crust, the softness of the inside, and
-
of course, lots of butter. But I, I can live without it.
-
But yet Jesus tells us here this morning that this is situation
-
that's different than what we're used to.
-
We're used to pushing the bread to the side.
-
It's got carbs. We're used to pushing the bread
-
to the side. I'm not doing gluten.
-
We're used to saying that bread is a side, but not the main
-
attraction to that which we eat. Nobody says, what's the meal
-
tonight? And you say?
-
Bread. I mean, you might, you're
-
struggling if that happens, if we probably all been there,
-
here, there, haven't we? But for the most part, we
-
understand that that's not the way that man lives, that we
-
don't live. By eating bread in that sense.
-
But for while for us the bread of life title may not lend
-
immediately understanding of what it is, but yet we
-
understand that to the Jews he was speaking to, they understood
-
exactly what he meant when He said I am the bread of life.
-
Our understanding might be clouded a little bit, but the
-
Jews were very well understanding of exactly that
-
which Jesus was speaking about. Now for us to truly know why
-
Jesus is saying verse #35 in the 1st place, it helps us to
-
understand what's going on in the rest of the chapter.
-
Now we're not going to read the rest of the chapter because it's
-
well, you know, over 60 verses. But if you're to go previously
-
from verses 1 to 14 is the very famous passage of the feeding of
-
the 5000. You'll remember there were 5
-
loaves and the fish that were there and there were 5000.
-
But I want to remind you that it wasn't just 5000 that were fed.
-
The Bible makes it clear as 5000 men that were fed.
-
So that would have been, there were women and children as well.
-
I've heard that it could have been anywhere from 12,000 to
-
20,000 people that were fed on that day.
-
Well, it doesn't matter. There wasn't enough for three
-
people to eat, let alone 12,000 or 20,000 or 5000.
-
But here's what we know, that when God took that little bit
-
that was offered by that little boy and blessed it, it went far
-
beyond that which man could expect or understand.
-
That's a reminder to us today. You give God the little bit that
-
you have and that He will stretch it far beyond that which
-
you can do on your own. I'm not just talking about
-
money. I'm not just talking about your
-
food. I'm talking about your life.
-
Give Him whatever you have and He will take you far greater
-
places than you could even imagine.
-
I'm not talking about going to some far-flung country when I
-
say going to greater places. I'm just saying that He will do
-
more with your life than you could ever do with it on your
-
own. And then you get to verse #15
-
and Jesus tells the disciples to get on the ship and to go across
-
the Sea of Galilee. Now, it seems like every time
-
these guys, they were fishermen, but every time we read about
-
them going over the sea of galley, something bad happens.
-
It's like a three hour tour. You know what I'm saying?
-
Some of you at a certain age know what I'm talking about, and
-
others have no clue what I'm talking about, but that's OK.
-
And they go out on the water and of course calamity strikes.
-
Here is the the water becomes boisterous.
-
And in the middle of all of this, what happens?
-
Jesus is walking on the water in the midst of the storm and
-
brings peace to them in the midst of storm.
-
A reminder again that Jesus doesn't always save us from the
-
storm, but he can bring peace to us while we're in the midst of
-
the storm. Amen.
-
And so we see that there is the bread that has been fed to the
-
Jews anywhere from 12 to 20,000. Then they go all the way across
-
the Sea of Galilee. Not a large body of water, but a
-
tempestuous body of water as it's shown here in our text.
-
But then in verse #22 it tells us that the multitudes realize
-
that they go back the next morning, that Jesus is gone.
-
And So what do they do? The word starts to get out that
-
the disciples had gone across, across the Sea of Galilee.
-
So now all of a sudden there's a Stampede.
-
All of these people are now trying to find their way across
-
the Sea of Galilee, going around the Sea of Galilee.
-
Whatever they can, they are trying to find Jesus.
-
They want to know more about him.
-
And I would submit to you, they also want more bread.
-
And so they come and they get to this place where they find Jesus
-
in verse #25 there's a conversation that begins to
-
unfold between these physically hungry people that they fed.
-
They were fed the day before, but now they're hungry again.
-
They have come to find Jesus Christ.
-
But Jesus is going to engage with them in a different way
-
than he did the day before. So go back to verse #25 just go
-
maybe a page over in your Bible, and let's look from verse #25
-
And it says, And when they had found him on the other side of
-
the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi meaning, Teacher, when
-
cometh thou hit her? And Jesus answered and said to
-
them, Verily, verily, I say unto.
-
You ye seek. Me not because you saw the
-
miracles, but because you did eat of the loaves and we're
-
filled. Now stop right there.
-
Every time that someone asked Jesus a question, he avoids the
-
question because he answers the real question that's in their
-
hearts. It's not because he's not able
-
to answer the question. They say, hey Jesus, when did
-
you get over here? He doesn't answer that question.
-
He says I know why you're here. He said the reason why is
-
because you did eat the loaves and were filled.
-
You are looking for more bread. I know why you're here.
-
Jesus knew the heart by the way. God knows your heart this
-
morning. There is nothing you can conceal
-
from God. There's nothing you can hide
-
from God. Now to some that is scary
-
because of what's in the heart. To others that brings peace,
-
because God knows the troubles and the difficulties and the
-
struggles that you have. Now he continues in verse #27 He
-
says, labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that
-
meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son
-
of man shall give unto you. For him God the Father sealed.
-
Now Jesus trying to communicate something not earthly but
-
heavenly. Here He says, You came for meat
-
meal that made you hungry. Again He says, But I've got
-
something that'll satisfy if you'll listen, because the Son
-
of Man who was sent from God is ready and willing to give it to
-
you. Now the Jews ask him a couple
-
questions, and they show their lack of spiritual understanding
-
and discernment with the two questions that they ask.
-
First is this verse #28. And they said unto him, What
-
shall we do, that we might see the works of God now?
-
I'll remind you that the they that's there goes all the way
-
back to what we saw come earlier in verse #22 it says the day
-
following when the people which stood on the other side of the
-
sea saw that there was none of the boat there.
-
Meaning these were the people that were on the other side.
-
These are the people that Jesus is now addressing, many of whom
-
had received the miraculous bread yesterday.
-
And now they're saying this. Well, what have you done for us
-
lately? What kind of work are you going
-
to do? Just took the loaves and the
-
fishes and had 12 baskets that were leftover.
-
I don't know about your house, but it don't take long for the
-
groceries that are full to be empty.
-
It doesn't go the other way around unless I've been to the
-
store and spent about $500 on five loaves and two fishes.
-
That's what it feels like right now.
-
But what do we see here? Jesus, you're asking?
-
What shall we do that we might work the works of God?
-
They don't understand what is right before them.
-
And Jesus answered and said to them, This is the work of God,
-
that you believe on him whom he hath sent.
-
He says you want to know what the real work at work here is,
-
if you will. It's that you need to believe in
-
the one who was sent from God. That's what's at work here.
-
This is not some kind of kind of feeding mission.
-
This is not Jesus giving a philanthropic help to those who
-
were hungry, although He did. The point of feeding their belly
-
was to meet the need of the heart.
-
By the way, any kind of ministry that we have here at Liberty
-
Baptist Church, we may want to meet physical needs, but the
-
real point is to meet spiritual needs because we could have a
-
food pantry. We do not, but we could have a
-
food pantry. That's a blessing.
-
But if we have the food pantry and don't meet the spiritual, we
-
missed the mark. Here's what we do have.
-
We have a back to school bash that comes every summer and we
-
hand out school supplies and haircuts and all kinds of stuff.
-
But I think this year we'll have vision checks.
-
We have a a group that's coming in that's going to help check
-
visions of the young people and all these different things.
-
That's all wonderful. But if we do that and never tell
-
them about Christ, we've missed the mark.
-
And so Jesus says here, you've missed what this is really all
-
about. It's not about the bread, He's
-
going to say in a minute. It's about the bread of life.
-
Verse #30 Here's a second question.
-
They said therefore and to him, What signs show us thou then
-
that we may see and believe thee?
-
What does thou work now? This is even worse than the
-
first. Because he is saying to them,
-
you need to believe on me. And they say, why should we?
-
What have you done? What can you do?
-
Now they're wanting a repeat of that which Jesus had done
-
before. Now understand that the prophet
-
often authenticated himself with a sign.
-
This is common in the Old Testament for the message to be
-
authenticated. The Jews did seek after a sign.
-
This is biblical that they would do such a thing, and Jesus would
-
often speak to them through signs to authenticate the
-
messenger. But Jesus has already been
-
authenticated. Jesus has already showed who he
-
is. And there are some who would say
-
something like this. Well, if Jesus did this in my
-
life, then I would believe it. Well, if Jesus would Get Me Out
-
of my financial situation, then I believe Jesus would heal me,
-
then I believe him. If Jesus would write it in the
-
clouds, then I believe him. And the fact of the matter is
-
that faith is not about what you see, but about what is unseen.
-
Hebrews chapter #11. And it comes to the place where
-
it's not about what Jesus can show you, but about what you
-
believe of how he's revealed himself through His word.
-
What more did Jesus have to do? He had taught for a extended
-
period of time 1st and taught of Himself.
-
Then he had fed them. And that still wasn't enough.
-
And so it says Jesus says rather verse 30, they said, therefore,
-
until well, we already read that verse 31, our fathers did eat
-
mana in the desert as it was written.
-
He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
-
Now stop right there. Now we're getting to this place
-
where the bread is important because again, to us bread is a
-
supplemental. To us, bread is extra.
-
In fact, to us bread is something that we cut out
-
sometimes nowadays. But now the Jews had brought up
-
the fact of the mana which fell in the desert.
-
Now, what is mana? And the answer is, what is it?
-
You say, well, I thought you said, what is mana?
-
Well, that is, what is it? The word mana in Hebrew
-
literally meant what is it? Because they were out there in
-
the desert and they needed sustenance and what took place?
-
God brought the mana down from heaven every day.
-
And the first day they looked at it, they picked it up and they
-
said, what is it? Mana?
-
I said, it's called a mana for the rest of the time.
-
Can you imagine that? What is it?
-
So every day, what do they eat? What is it?
-
Every day sometimes maybe you look in your house, you look at
-
something in the refrigerator, you say, what is it?
-
Now you can say it's mana, but I'll tell you it's not mana from
-
heaven because there's stuff growing on it.
-
Probably. I'm mana from heaven, all right,
-
but you might. Look at it, say, what is it?
-
But that's what they were doing. But it was the bread of it
-
literally was the sustenance of which they were able to eat for
-
40 years that God continually fed them from his heavenly ovens
-
every day. And the Bible says that it
-
tasted like honey and like coriander seed and it was
-
something unlike anything thing that we could even imagine that
-
literally from God's own hand he fed them, He did give them bread
-
from heaven to eat. But in verse 32, then Jesus
-
said, and then verily, verily I say unto you, Moses gave you not
-
that bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread
-
from heaven. Now verse 31, when it says he
-
gave them bread from heaven to eat, because of the way Jesus
-
responds, it makes it seem like that really the Jews believe
-
that the he there is not God who provided the bread, but Moses
-
that provided the bread. That that pronoun there he needs
-
an antecedent meaning that what does that word stand for?
-
Well, the way Jesus corrects them, it seems like they think
-
the bread came from Moses because he corrects them.
-
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread
-
from heaven, but my Father giveth you that true bread from
-
heaven. See, they had such reverence
-
from Moses, but this is where the problem was.
-
They had such reverence for the past, but yet they had not
-
reverence for the God of the past.
-
They said they revered Moses. They said they revered the
-
prophets, and Jesus would expose the later time.
-
You say you love the prophets, but you killed the prophets.
-
You hated them, but now you say you love them.
-
And so here they are. They are ascribing to Moses that
-
which actually came from God himself, and they are
-
spiritually blinded. To what God is doing here, my
-
Father, giveth you the true bread from heaven.
-
For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and
-
giveth life into the world. Then say, said unto him, Lord,
-
evermore, give us this bread. They said, Jesus, if you're
-
offering something like that bread that came from the
-
heavens, then we want it now. And Jesus looks at him in verse
-
#35 and says, I am that bread. And Jesus say that I'm the bread
-
of life. He that cometh to me shall never
-
hunger. He that believeth on me shall
-
never thirst. By faith, those people in the
-
wilderness ate the bread. God provided more water
-
miraculously for them, and they lived.
-
And Jesus said, even greater than that is I the bread of
-
heaven, that if you believe on me, you will be sustained.
-
Psalm 105, verse 40 says the people asked, and He brought
-
them quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
-
Nehemiah Chapter 9, verse #15 And gave us them bread from
Nehemiah 9 chapter mention
-
heaven for their hunger, brought us forth water for them out of
-
the rock for their thirst, and promised them that they should
-
go in to possess the land which they had sworn to give them.
-
So what happens? Jesus is responding to their
-
faithlessness. Jesus responded to their
-
questions, well, will you show us something?
-
Will you just do something? And then when he does something,
-
it's basically, well, but will you do more?
-
And the issue wasn't about what Jesus wasn't willing to do.
-
The issue was this, that they kept moving the goal posts
-
because really they did not want to believe in Christ.
-
The fact that they didn't even understand who provided them the
-
man in the wilderness showed them that they had a
-
misunderstanding of who God was. So Jesus responds, verse 32 to
-
35. But let me show you a couple
-
other places. Go down to verse #47 because we
-
can't cover this whole chapter. Look at verse #47 He says,
-
Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath
-
everlasting life. Now we'll just stop here.
-
For a moment. There are those who try to teach
-
that Jesus was just a good man, that he was a prophet, He had
-
some good words. That verse alone would take that
-
thought process and throw it out the window because either Jesus
-
was exactly who he said he was, or he was a charlatan.
-
Or he was crazy because he was literally offering people
-
eternal life and good men don't do that when they can't have the
-
means to do it. But Jesus offered it because,
-
well, he was who he said he was. Verse #48 I am that bread of
-
life in my Bible have circled I am.
-
Who else was the I Am? Well, he himself, the father, of
-
course, is the burning Bush, but God himself, Jesus being God, he
-
is making a clear line between himself because every time he
-
says that word I am, it seems like people get upset.
-
In fact, he said in the garden when the the the soldiers were
-
coming around him, they said, are you Jesus of Nazareth?
-
He said I am. And they all fell backwards as a
-
way to show that they weren't going to take Jesus.
-
He was going to go with them willingly because you don't trap
-
the IM of IMS. I am that bread of life. 49 Your father's did
-
eat man in the wilderness. They are dead.
-
This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may
-
eat thereof and not die. I'm that living bread which came
-
down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he
-
shall live forever. And the bread which I will give
-
is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
-
I like bread. I like going down the White's
-
Bakery right around the corner here.
-
This isn't a sponsorship, all right.
-
We don't do anything like that, particularly from the pulpit.
-
But right around the corner on Pearl St. there's Sunday
-
afternoons right after church when we're finally ready to go.
-
Then I'll go down the White's Bakery and get a loaf of bread
-
and take it home to go with lunch.
-
And it's good. And I enjoyed, I'll tell you I
-
don't like buying it because I'll say, you know, I just, y'll
-
have a slice or two, You know, it's kind of like a Lay's potato
-
chip. You can't eat just one and it
-
doesn't last. Why?
-
Because. And everyone says well where did
-
it go? And I usually blame AJ but it's
-
usually me go because because it's so good.
-
But here's the problem in a couple hours.
-
You're hungry again. You.
-
You. Eat it and you're satisfied.
-
But the satisfaction? Does not last.
-
Now this is important. Jesus says if you have the
-
bread, the mana that was in in the earth that your father came,
-
that your father's ate that was from the the the bakery of
-
heaven, if you will, that if you ate that, if I provided you that
-
today you'd still be hungry and you'd still die just like your
-
father's did. But I'm offering something
-
lasting and abiding. I am that bread of life that
-
gives what everlasting life drop down to verse #58 This is that
-
bread which came down from heaven, not as your Father's did
-
eat manna and are dead. He that eat of this bread shall
-
live forever. See, this is where the
-
adjustment in our thinking is necessary.
-
Bread for us again is a wonderful additive, but it is
-
not necessary in the sustaining. Of life, but Jesus proclaimed
-
that He is the one that we partake.
-
We shall be enlivened and sustained spiritually.
-
Just the Israelites could not have lived in the wilderness
-
without having sustenance from God.
-
You and I cannot live physically or spiritually without the bread
-
of life sustaining us. You need the bread of life.
-
He is not just something to add to your life with everything
-
else that you have, like having a loaf of bread and a meal.
-
That's the way a lot of people. People treat Jesus Christ today
-
well. I'm going to have my own things,
-
but then I'm going to add some bread as well.
-
No, no, He is the bread of life. He is a sustainer without man
-
and they died. And without Jesus Christ you'll
-
die in your sins and iniquities. And that instead of eternal
-
life, the Bible says there's a second death at the lake of
-
fire. See, there's two issues here
-
today that are needed for us to understand.
-
And the first is this, that you need the bread of life for
-
salvation. You need the bread of life,
-
Jesus Christ for salvation. I was taking AJ to an
-
appointment here just a few days ago down in Boston.
-
And as we were driving through, we went through the very well
-
known intersection of Mass and Cast.
-
So you know exactly what I'm talking about.
-
You can watch it on the news, you can read it online, and you
-
can find the hopelessness that's there.
-
Diane and I have gone through Mass and Cast before and seen
-
people on the ground passed out with needles hanging out of
-
their arms. It's that every bit of it.
-
And worse, you know, the answer to mass and cast, you say, is
-
it, is it, is it some sort of detox facility?
-
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that.
-
In fact, there's some need for that, isn't there?
-
Is it some sort of program? There's nothing wrong with the
-
program. There's some need for that.
-
But you know, important, more important than any of those
-
other things is they need the bread of life.
-
They need the bread of life because what good is if they
-
detox and what good is if they come clean, and what good is if
-
they live sober for 20 or 30 or 40 years and then die in their
-
iniquities and sins and still split hell wide open.
-
What good has been done? You put window dressing on
-
something, but yet never really met the needs of the heart.
-
They need the bread of life. And I'm afraid that when we
-
think of those who need the bread of life, we think of those
-
who are the down and outers. We think of those who are strung
-
out. We think of those who are
-
drunken. We think of those who are living
-
on their last dime. These are the people that we
-
think of. But yet there's millions, yeah,
-
billions who live on this world. That may not be strung out, that
-
may not be Alcoholics, that may not be adulterers, but they just
-
as needfully must have the bread of life in their life as well.
-
What does this world offer? Not bread.
-
It offers tainted goods. The tainted goods of vain
-
religion. Self promotion.
-
Sexual promiscuity, unbridled greed, the love of money, the
-
desire for promotion, hatred, all of these things are welled
-
up within the heart of man and these are dainties of which
-
Satan is trying to feed people on and trying to control people
-
with. And it's all the same time
-
they're looking at those on massive caste and saying at
-
least I'm not as bad as that. Well, no, you are ending up in
-
the same spot as they are because they are sinners in need
-
of the bread of life and you are a Sinner, Sinner in need of the
-
bread of life. And you may be a lesser Sinner
-
than that Sinner if we were to judge that way.
-
But you're still a Sinner in need of a Savior, and only the
-
bread of life can satisfy. There is nothing of this life of
-
which you can partake that will satisfy you other than Jesus
-
Christ. Well, I need another promotion.
-
Well then what happens after that?
-
Well, I need someone who gadgets, but what happens after
-
that? I need a new car.
-
What happens after that? We need a vacation.
-
What happens after that? I need a spouse.
-
What happens after that? Over and over again.
-
We can name all of these issues that would try to fill your
-
life. Not all of them are bad, but
-
they won't fill your life like Jesus will.
-
The issue is the world will offer like a smorgasbord, all of
-
these different things. Taste it, it's good.
-
The man will go around and take a little bit of this, a little
-
bit of that. We went to a smorgasbord in
-
Lancaster, PA, a few years ago called Shady Maple.
-
For $16.00 you could eat until you're in a coma.
-
It's unbelievable. I've never seen anything like it
-
in my life. It's unbelievable.
-
It really is. Could you imagine all these
-
pastries and and fruit and nobody ate the fruit?
-
But anyway, all these, all these meats and vegetables and all
-
these different things. It was incredible.
-
But could you imagine somebody just sitting down with a couple
-
of rolls, having paid 16 bucks and say, you know what?
-
I think I'll just stick to these rolls.
-
There's there's steak man, there's.
-
There's. There's fish, there's all the
-
seafood you want, there's prime rib.
-
What are what are you doing? You just eating bread?
-
Nobody would do that. We know what the we know what
-
Satan does. Says why would you need Jesus?
-
You think that's going to fulfill you?
-
I got all these other things fulfill you.
-
They all look so exciting until you realize that the end thereof
-
is the ways of death. The Bible says you don't need to
-
dabble around to find what you need.
-
You just need Jesus. He is the bread of life.
-
You need Him to be the bread of life and salvation.
-
But secondly, you also need to understand this, that if He is
-
the sustainer of your life as it deals with salvation, He is the
-
sustainer of your life after you get saved as well.
-
No, He continues to give your life meaning and purpose and
-
direction and on and on. Oh, do we need the bread of life
-
for heaven? Yes, but do we need the bread of
-
life for this earth as well? Oh yes, that the bread of life
-
isn't just about a ticket to heaven.
-
The bread of life is about understanding.
-
I need him every hour. Could you imagine going to a
-
steakhouse and they have beautifully cooked steaks?
-
You see how from the other tables, how how well marbled
-
they are and how, how expensive they are.
-
And you see all of these things and they come to your table and
-
say, what would you like? And you've already looked around
-
at what everyone else is eating. So you know what?
-
I I like a Big Mac Now now now why do?
-
Why do people like Big Macs? You know, look, you know, it's
-
funny. Everyone says I don't eat at.
-
McDonald's. So somebody's eating at
-
McDonald's because it looks like the line's out the door out
-
there some of these days. And I know not everybody does,
-
but you wanted people like Big Macs.
-
I'm one of them to do. Unfortunately.
-
They're quick and they're cheap. Well, they were quick and cheap,
-
but they're. Supposed to be.
-
Quick and cheap. That's the idea.
-
We know even after we're saved, Satan does a wonderful job at
-
trying to get us to partake in things that are only temporary.
-
They don't last. The bread of life was about
-
eternality. It was about things that would
-
remain. Jesus would say in Matthew
Matthew 8 chapter mention
-
chapter 8, he would say actually Matthew Chapter 7, I believe he
Matthew 7 chapter mention
-
says do not lay up treasures in heaven where moth and dust doth
-
corrupt and where thieves breakthrough and steal.
-
They not on earth, but lay up in heaven those things for where
-
your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
-
What does he say? There's things that abide and
-
they're things that last. You know the bread of life will
-
sustain you. You eat of him.
-
You will be sustained. Your television won't sustain
-
you. Sports won't sustain you,
-
particularly the Celtics. They won't sustain you.
-
Your upcoming plans won't sustain you.
-
Your money won't sustain you. Your family won't sustain you.
-
You say, well, what's wrong with some of those things in and of
-
themselves are not bad, but they won't sustain you, Sir.
-
Your wife won't sustain you spiritually.
-
Vice versa is true as well. Children, as you grow, your
-
parents won't sustain you spiritually.
-
You have to have a spiritual walk of your own, a place where
-
you get to realize that it's not the faith of my parents, but
-
it's my faith as well. Not just trusting him as your
-
Savior, but also that you're going to serve Him day-to-day,
-
even after you leave the home. That He is the bread of life.
-
He's, He's everything. That manna to them was
-
everything. And that for us in our lives,
-
Christ is the manna. He's the bread of life.
-
He sustains us the words clear about this issue.
-
Psalm 34 verse 80 taste and see that the Lord is good.
-
Blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
-
Psalm 119 verse 103. How sweet are thy words, and am
-
I taste sweeter than honey to my mouth.
-
First, Peter 2 verses 2 and three as newborn babes, desire
-
the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if.
-
So be have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
-
The more I read this book, the more I read how gracious God is.
-
The more I read this book, the more I realize how loving God
-
is. The more I read this book, the
-
more he sustains. Me the the bread of life as we
-
find it here in this book. It's labor for those things that
-
last for eternity. This is what sustains us.
-
And as believers, far too often we get caught up in all these
-
other things. And I know we have to deal with
-
this world. We can't just avoid the world
-
all together. In fact, we need to interact
-
with the world so we can help win the world to Christ.
-
Amen. We're not to participate in the
-
world shenanigans, but we're able to meet people where they
-
are, to be able to help them to know there is a different way,
-
the only way. Jesus Christ, this is what we're
-
called to do. But don't think that you can
-
sustain yourself on your own. Maybe you have trouble with
-
habitual sin in your life. You don't know what to do.
-
You're at your wit's end. Well, I'll tell you, the answer
-
is not in you. The answer is in the bread of
-
life. He is the one who will sustain
-
you through the trials of which you've imposed on yourself.
-
He is the one that will get you through.
-
He is the one that will help you.
-
He is the one that will give you guidance.
-
It's all about Him in every way. It is all about Jesus Christ.
-
So what's the conclusion of this whole matter?
-
Because Jesus is talking to these people that should have
-
known better, they didn't know better.
-
And really it comes down to this.
-
There's only two options. Drop down to verse #66 if you
-
will. And I've said this before, I
-
don't think this is a coincidence that this is John
-
666. You'll understand in a minute
-
when we read it. From that time, many of his
-
disciples went back and walk no more with him.
-
There were some who claimed to be disciples, to claim to be
-
followers who said this? I'm not down for this.
-
And they were gone. This book is serious, following
-
Christ is serious. And there were some who said I
-
don't want that, I don't want that.
-
And they walked away. Can you imagine Jesus having fed
-
you to the full bread and fish the day before miraculously, and
-
the next day stumbling at the fact that he said he was the
-
bread of life and being gone? That's John 666 but go to the
-
verse #68 actually go to, just go to 67.
-
Jesus said of the 12, will you also go away?
-
Says what about you guys? Seems like we started the day
-
with 12. We magnified by a few thousand
-
and by the time the day is done, we're back to 12.
-
What about you guys? And Peter again, not the most
-
perceptive man before the day of Pentecost, says one of probably
-
the two best things he said in the Gospels.
-
He said, this Lord, to whom shall we go?
-
Why, thou hast the words of eternal life, and we believe and
-
are sure that thou art that Christ the Son of the living
-
God. There were two choices.
-
Some walked away, said the bread's not for me, and they
-
died in their trespasses and sins.
-
There were others like Peter and ten others who said this, Where
-
else are we going to go? Because you have the words of
-
eternal life, we will follow you.
-
And when you truly understand who Jesus Christ is, I mean,
-
truly you will do whatever you can do to make sure that He is
-
the priority in your life. And when he's not the priority
-
of their life, it tells us that we don't truly understand him as
-
we ought because if we did, we would be appropriating him for
-
every single area of our life. Going back to that story about
-
Cuban bread a little while ago, we were in Springfield, MO about
-
a year ago, I guess it was, and we were visiting there and
-
preaching and I was online and I, I found that there was a
-
Cuban sandwich shop in Springfield, MO.
-
You said that doesn't make a lot of sense.
-
And the answer is it don't make a lot of sense, to be honest
-
with you in the middle of the Ozarks that there is a Cuban
-
sandwich shop. So I had a lot of questions.
-
So I went over to this shop and with the family and we said
-
we're going to go get Cuban sandwiches, Cuban sandwiches
-
made with Cuban bread. It has ham and pork and Pickles
-
and mustard. And depending on where you go,
-
they put other stuff inside of it too.
-
But it's all pressed together in that Cuban bread and it's again,
-
amazing. All right, so I go there and the
-
owner is there working and I kind of like it said about the
-
Pharisees of Jesus. I proved him with hard
-
questions. It's like I I want there's some
-
things I need to know. All right, So I, I said, hey,
-
I'm from Tampa, FL. I said, where did, where did you
-
get your bread from? Because usually even around
-
here, there's a couple Cuban restaurants around here.
-
When he asked I went to one. They made a Cuban sandwich for
-
me and I said, where'd you get your Cuban bread?
-
He she's at Costco. No, not quite.
-
And so it was good, but it was a Cuban bread.
-
So I asked him where, where did you get your Cuban brace?
-
I'm from Tampa too. He says I I get my bread from LA
-
Sagunda. Now, if you're from Tampa, you
-
know, La Sagunda is where it's at.
-
They make the bread for almost everybody in Tampa.
-
A lot of people that have Cuban bread, they get it delivered
-
every day from LA Sagunda. They make it fresh right there
-
in the oven. They put a little palm branch in
-
it. It just goes.
-
Anyway, you don't want to know about all that.
-
But anyway, I'm getting to a point here.
-
Or just give me a second. And so I started asking, well,
-
how do you make this and how do you make that?
-
How do you get the bread? And he's explaining this all to
-
me, and it's incredible. I said, well, how do you get La
-
Segunda to send you bread from Tampa all the way to Missouri?
-
He says well I had to ask them if they would make me a special
-
size of loaf, one that I could make 2 sandwiches out of.
-
They don't even make a loaf like this, but they made special
-
pans. I made a special order and they
-
make it for me. They par bake it and then they
-
flash freeze it and then they send it here and then I bake it
-
in my ovens, finish it off, cut it and do all that.
-
And I tasted it and it was just like I was sitting in a
-
restaurant back in Tampa in the middle of the Ozarks.
-
Don't make any sense. Total cost per sandwich, $25.
-
No, I'm just kidding. That was it was.
-
No, it was actually fairly reasonably priced for all the
-
trouble he went to to be able to get that.
-
And and I was amazed that this man went to such incredible
-
lengths to achieve the authenticity of what he was
-
trying to get for bread. But this is the conclusion I
-
came up to listen to. We're almost done.
-
The conclusion I came up to was he understood that the bread was
-
so important that he would have gone to any length to make sure
-
that he got it in his shop. He knew that having it was so
-
important, he would go to any length and almost any cost to be
-
able to get it. I think if a guy was willing to
-
do that for a loaf of bread that only myself and Jose and my
-
family in this room even understands about, and certainly
-
not one of the Ozarks understands about because we're
-
the only one there. My question is, shouldn't we,
-
who knows the bread of life go to whatever length we need to to
-
make sure that He is our everything in every part of our
-
life? He will sustain you through
-
temptation, believer. He will help you.
-
He will sustain you through your financial difficulties.
-
He will help you. He will sustain you when you are
-
discouraged, He'll help you. He will sustain you when you
-
don't know which way to turn. He'll help you.
-
He will sustain you when you're not sure how you're even going
-
to go another step. He will help you.
-
Why? Because he's not just any bread.
-
He's not even Cuban bread. He is the bread of life who
-
gives eternal life but also meaning to this life as well.
-
Thank you for listening to the sermon from the pulpit of
-
Liberty Baptist Church. If this message was a blessing
-
to you, or if there's any way we can serve you, please let us
-
know by contacting us at [email protected].
-
Or you can visit us this Sunday at 800 Washington St. in Easton,
-
MA. May the Lord bless you as you
-
grow in His Word.