John 6:1-15 - ”The Provider” - Abundant Life (Gospel of John)

Our

Old Testament reading this morning is

Psalm 78 verses 10 to 25. Let's hear

Psalms 78:10–25

God's word.

They did not keep God's covenant but

refused to walk according to his law.

They forgot his works and the wonders

that he had shown them. In the sight of

their fathers, he performed wonders in

the land of Egypt, in the fields of

Zohoan.

He divided the sea and let them pass

through it and made the waters stand

like a heap. In the daytime, he led them

with a cloud and all the night with a

fiery light. He split rocks in the

wilderness and gave them drink

abundantly as from the deep.

He made streams come out of the rock and

caused waters to flow down like rivers.

Yet they sinned still more against him,

rebelling against the most high in the

desert. They tested God in their heart

by demanding the food they craved. They

spoke against God, saying, "Can God

spread a table in the wilderness?"

He struck the rocks so that water gushed

out and streams overflowed. Can he also

give bread or provide meat for his

people?

Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was

full of wrath. A fire was kindled

against Jacob. His anger rose against

Israel because they did not believe in

God and did not trust his saving power.

Yet he commanded the skies above and

opened the doors of heaven. And he

rained down on them mana to eat and gave

them the grain of heaven. Man ate of the

bread of the angels. He sent them food

in abundance.

And our gospel reading today is from the

book of John

6:es 1-15.

After this, Jesus went away to the other

side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the

Sea of Tiberius.

And a large crowd was following him

because they saw the signs that he was

doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the

mountain, and there he sat down with his

disciples.

Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews,

was at hand. Lifting up his eyes then

and seeing a large crowd was coming

toward him. Jesus said to Philillip,

"Where are we to buy bread so that these

people may eat?" He said this to test

him, for he himself knew what he would

do. Philip answered him, "200 dinari

worth of bread would not be enough for

each of them to get a little."

One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon

Peter's brother, said to him, "There is

a boy here who has five barley loaves

and two fish, but what are they for so

many?" Jesus said, "Have the people sit

down." Now there was much grass in the

place. So the men sat down, about 5,000

in number. Jesus then took the loaves,

and when he had given thanks, he

distributed them to those who were

seated.

So also the fish, as much as they

wanted. And when they had eaten their

fill, he told his disciples, "Gather up

the leftover fragments that nothing may

be lost." So they gathered them up and

filled 12 baskets with fragments from

the five barley loaves left by those who

had eaten. When the people saw the sign

that he had done, they said, "This is

indeed the prophet who is to come into

the world." Perceiving then that they

were about to come and take him by force

to make him king, Jesus withdrew again

to the mountain by himself. This is the

word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

So there's some good news in

Christendom. Men are coming back to

church. Never in generations has that

happened. In fact,

generation zed is actually got more

interest in spirituality than the

females. first time since 1900.

There's a lot of theories of why this

is. A lot of the theories is well,

they've been treated really bad by the

culture.

But the point being is there's a problem

with this. It's good, but anytime

something good happens, something bad

sneaks in. And there's this movement

also that's trying to get these men to

um get involved in politics

to get involved in trying to create a

nation for Christians through might and

militant action. It's called Christian

nationalism.

And unfortunately some of these men are

becoming radically radicalized.

The question is what can we say to them

as a church? What can we do because

these men belong here?

What can we do to help them?

Well, Jesus ran into a world where they

wanted to make kings. They wanted to be

involved in politics.

He came into a world where they only

understood violence. And they took all

of their new young men and tried to make

them.

And in that world, they completely

missed Jesus.

What can we do now that we know these

young men are coming as a church to keep

them away

from the darkness of the powers of the

world and focused on the living God?

Well, Jesus gives us a hint right here.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, thank you that you've

been so faithful.

May you help us. May you drive us

towards you.

in Jesus' name. Amen.

In Jesus' day, they wanted a res a

revolution. In Jesus' day, they wanted

to take on and make kings. And Jesus

looked like the one that might do it.

And then they come up to him on the

Passover today. And the Passover was the

one time they believed their deliverer

would come. Just like a Moses figure

like David, he would come and deliver

them.

Well, listen to what happens when they

run into Jesus.

After this, Jesus went away to the other

side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the

Sea of Tiberius.

It's funny how he says Sea of Tiberius.

It was supposed to be the Sea of

Galilee, but Herod gave Tiberius because

that's what they wanted, kings, and

Tiberius was a Caesar. And he gave them,

they gave them as Jews, the kingship of

the lake, the name of the lake over to

Tiberias. This made the Jews hate them,

but Herod did it.

And a large crowds was following him

because they saw the signs that he was

doing on the sick. Now, we know John's

gospel by now, looking for signs and

wonders. And John's gospel is not a good

thing. Why? We've seen again and again

that the people who refuse Jesus are

always looking for signs

because they're not looking for Jesus.

Jesus went up the mountain and there he

sat down with his disciples.

Who and when did we see somebody go up a

mountain to hang out? Moses to go see

God. Right?

So all of this is being laid out. Jesus

is playing something here. He's almost

playing like an Exodus. And why that was

so po important to them is we must

remember the first Exodus.

The first Exodus, that famous story

where Egypt had them enslaves, the

Israelites, and he used signs and

wonders to get rid of them. He had them

walk through the Red Sea. this

incredible story of an empire that had

control of them who God had delivered

them and used Moses.

And so when they would celebrate

Passover, that was the great celebration

of that event.

They weren't just celebrating year after

year, just like we might celebrate an

event that happened like the 4th of July

or Canada Day. They were celebrating

Passover because they were under the

awful Romans and they longed for

deliverance. And they and it if God

could do it once way back when with the

Egyptians, then he could do it again.

And their leaders had told them this was

exactly what was going to happen. You

see, the Passover was in the month of

Nissan. And listen to what this one

rabbi said during that time. In the

month of Nissan, the Israelites were

freed from Egyptian bondage. And in the

month of Nissan, they will be freed

again. You see,

it's going to happen again.

1 million people came from the Roman

world. 1 million Jews would come into

Jerusalem during this time waiting. Is

this the time that God will deliver us?

And their deliverer, by the way, was not

like Jesus. the deliverer they longed

for. He was a devidic figure. He was

going to be one in the line of David.

Yes, like Moses, a prophet, but he was

going to be a great deliverer, a

militant deliverer. And they looked and

they looked and they looked and they

waited and they waited for that time

because only God could defeat the

Romans. They knew that.

So, they were always watching, who is

this Messiah? Is it time?

Well, enter this.

The Passover, the feast of the Jews was

at hand.

That's why they're all there. And why

are they following Jesus, my friends?

Because

they're looking at him as if he's the

militant deliverer. That's really why

they follow Jesus. These early Jews,

people ask me, how could they go from

following Jesus to saying, "Crucify

him." I can tell you right now, they're

following him because they want a king

like Caesar.

and they yell crucify him because he's

not a king like Caesar.

That's exactly why this happens.

Now, there was another thing that they

were told these early Jews about this

great kingly deliverer that would come

and that was this that just as God had

fed the people in the original Exodus,

just like you know the story how the

mana fell from heaven. They said just

like that when the new messianic player

came, the militant one, they believed he

would also provide that.

Rabbi Isaac, as the former redeemer

caused mana to descend, so will the

latter redeemer cause mana to descend.

They were looking for another feeding,

weren't they? A miraculous feeding to

come. And they're out there with Jesus.

And oh my gosh, what happens?

The Passover's on. And lifting his eyes,

then Jesus sees the large crowd that was

coming towards them.

What happened with Moses when he took

them across into the wilderness?

There were 600,000 people, right? As as

the Bible tells us. In this case, he's

got probably 20,000. He says 5,000 in

number, but you didn't count men and

women or children. You called, sorry,

you only counted men, not women and

children.

So, they're both in a situation where

how do we get fed? The first time the

mana comes because they can't be fed.

But just like that, when they're all

following Jesus, they're in the middle

of Galilee. There are no costs. There's

nowhere to go and get food. Just like

the first Exodus, they're actually in

trouble.

They're following this Jesus faithfully,

undoubtedly thinking he must be the new

deliverer who will feed us.

So, what does Jesus do? Well, first of

all, he has to prove that not only is he

the Mosaic figure, but guess what?

He's the God who feeds. He is Yahweh.

So what he does first is he says to

Jesus as to Philillip

where are we to buy bread so that these

people may eat. He said this to test

them for he knew what he would do.

Philip answered the logical question and

always in John's question the real

logical question isn't the answer that

you need to follow Jesus because Jesus

is beyond logic. Jesus is one of

miracles. His

answer is 200 dinari which takes one

dinari to to for one man's wage in the

ancient world. So basically almost a

full year of a man's wage of bread would

not be enough for each of them to get a

little.

Why would John put that in that

conversation?

Because guess who's going to be the

Moses figure in this story? It's not

Jesus.

Jesus is actually going to play Yahweh.

Philillip. And how did he do this?

Philip, he asked the question and Philip

gives the natural answer.

Well, in the original Exodus story,

Yahweh asks Moses, "How's this going to

work?" And listen to what Yahweh, sorry,

Moses says, "The people among who I am,

number 600,000 on foot, and you have

said, I will give them meat

that they may eat for a whole month."

Listen to his natural response. Moses

gives the right respon the same response

as Philillip. Shall flocks and herds be

slaughtered for them and be enough for

them? Or shall all the fish in the sea

be gathered together for them and be

enough for them? And the Lord said to

Moses,

and here's the key.

He's right, by the way. So is Philillip.

There's no way you can do it. They're

desperate.

But Moses always the Lord puts it this

way. Is the Lord's hand shortened?

Now you will see whether my word, that

word word means promise.

But if I said it, it's going to happen.

You're going to see whether my word will

come true to you or not.

So you've got Philillip doing the exact

same thing as Moses. And Jesus is asking

the question of Yahweh.

Then you have this next weird section.

Andrew Simon, Peter's brother, said to

him,

"There's a boy here who has five barley

loaves and two fish. But what are they

to so many?"

Now, that seems to be an odd thing to

ask, don't you think? Can you imagine?

You're sitting there and there are

literally 20,000 people and no food.

Why would you go look at the little kid

and look at his lunch?

Do you understand what I'm saying? It's

a it's a unusual thing to do.

But he did something by doing this that

connects to another feeding. You see,

not only is Jesus the God of the Exodus

and the New Exodus that everyone longed

for, he's also the prophet of prophets.

And there was another prophet who fed

people he couldn't have had the

resources to feed and his name was

Elijah.

And so what Jesus is going to do here

when he mentions about this boy with the

food and the lunch, he's pointing them

back to the time Elijah did the saying.

But his servant, and the servant means

little boy, that's the connection.

That's exact same word, said, "How can I

set this before a hundred men?" So he

repeated, "Give it to them so that they

may eat, for thus saith the Lord, they

shall eat and have some left." So he

said it before them and they ate and had

some left according to the word of the

Lord. So we've got the exact same

feeding except who is Jesus in both

stories?

He's God.

He's Yahweh. He's greater than Elijah.

He's greater than Moses. He's the one

who leads the Exodus. He's the one you

have to follow to leave the Exodus.

And we have to go back for a sec.

He says about this boy something that's

really profound that Jesus is going to

make a point of. He has five barley

loaves and two fish. What does 5 + 2

equal?

Have you ever heard the number seven in

the Bible?

What's this number seven mean? If you

guys could remember

divine completeness.

So though the world sees this meal as

incomplete,

what's being told to us is this is a

very complete meal cuz it's God's meal.

Remember that.

Well, what does Jesus do after that?

He had the people sit down.

Now there was much grass in that place

because it was a spring. So the man sat

down and then he comes up with this

number about 5,000 in number. Notice he

says about two. Why does he put 5,000?

Remember Jews never wrote without

purpose to their numbers.

Well, you're going to have to go back to

when I taught Revelation.

What does the number three mean?

Complete.

Right? What's the number 10 mean?

Complete, right? We agree with this. If

you remember, you have to go back and

study.

What's 3 * 3 * 3?

>> 3 Sorry, 3 * sorry, 10 * 10 * 10. 3 10.

What's 10 * 10 * 10?

>> It's a thousand. You all agree?

Okay. So, that's means this whatever

this is, this is the complete amount of

people. Why did he choose the number

five?

How many books start in the book in the

first part of the Old Testament?

Five. And what's in those five books?

The Exodus, right? So what he's saying

here is there's there Exodus people are

there of this new Exodus. All the people

that will need to be delivered, he will

feed.

And unlike the people from the first

Exodus where the people, the Jews serve

them, notice what happens here. Jesus

does not have his disciples feed them

the food. He feeds them. Why is that

important? Because in the Old Testament,

it says Yahweh fed the people. Yahweh

provides. There is no intercessor here.

So the man sat down about 5,000 in

number, the complete number of the

Exodus people. Jesus took out the loaves

and when he had given Eucharist, which

is where we get that name from, thanks,

he distributed those to those who were

seated. So also the fish as much as they

wanted. And when they had eaten their

fill, he told his disciples,

just like the Elisha story, gather up

the leftover fragments that nothing may

be lost.

So they gathered them up and filled how

many baskets.

Now you guys must know the number 12 by

now. What's 12 mean?

>> 12 tribes of Israel. 12 disciples,

right? So 12 means the people of God.

And he has enough bread. It doesn't say

fish. No. All of a sudden the fish are

gone because that's not the important

point now. That whatever happens, he has

enough to feed the original New Exodus

community being his disciples that were

there. And he's going to have enough

left over for all of the people of God

as long as they need. And that's why the

12 baskets meet. Do you see how it's

written?

Bet you didn't see that the first time.

with fragments from the five barley

loaves left over by those who had eaten.

When the people saw the sign he had

done, they said, "This indeed is the

prophet who's come into the world."

Remember guys, that's the verse out of

Deuteronomy 18 where it says Moses says,

"There will be a prophet that follows

me." This is the same prophet they think

is coming that they're applying to their

kingship.

So right away they are saying this guy

has done what we heard just as the one

who fulfilled the feeding in the first

exodus. The second one will come and

feed us in this exodus. So they're

getting excited. This is the redeemer.

This is the king.

You can see you can almost see the

excitement. Finally Rome will be

defeated. Finally we have our David

figure. Get out the swords. Let's get

excited. He's here. He can feed us. What

can he stop? If we have food, we can

fight any army.

H

perceiving then that they were about to

come and take him by force to make him

king, Jesus withdrew again to the

mountain by himself.

What does Jesus do with human kingships?

He goes the other way.

He disappears.

They wanted to make him king. They were

willing to grab him and carry him if

they had to to the temple to make him

king

and he snuck away.

That's because he knows something much

deeper, something so much more profound

that we need to get today.

He is not about the kingships of this

age that are temporal.

He has a kingdom that's eternal.

And he is not a god who comes and does

what Caesar does. He does the exact

opposite of Caesar.

You see, what we're going to find out is

that bread

he's talking about is exactly the bread

we celebrate here.

You see, the Exodus bread is ultimately

going to be him.

You remember in chapter 2 we went to a

wedding of Kaa, the water to wine. Do

you remember all that? And John had a

theology ultimately for those of you who

weren't there, just trust me

that when we take the cup, it is

literally God's tangible grace of the

forgiveness of our sins and the blood of

Christ cleanses our sin. Do you remember

that? Well, now he's actually going to

tell us what the bread means. And the

bread means this.

Later on Jesus said, "Ego me, the bread

of life. I am." What did Jesus call

himself? What did Yahweh call himself in

the Old Testament?

I am that I am. I am the bread of life.

Your fathers ate the man in the

wilderness and they died. This is the

bread that comes down from heaven

so that one may eat of it and not die.

Ego me. He says it again.

I am the living bread that comes down

from heaven. And then listen to this

in this new Passover meal for his new

covenant. If anyone eats of this bread,

he will live forever.

And the bread that I will give for the

life of the world is my flesh.

This new Exodus and this new Passover

and this new covenant and this new meal

means more than the old.

It means when we take the cup, we are

drinking forgiveness, the washing of our

sins.

And when we take this bread,

we have the tangible grace that we are

eating upon ourselves

eternal life.

Isn't that incredible?

So, what about this Christ is king

thing? What about this whole Christian

nationalism?

What about this desire to make our

politics the center? I have uh it's by

the way I've done a little research and

the young men are being tempted by this

and I'm listening to the guys who are

selling it and it's all on the internet

and podcasts you know all that stuff and

it's usually young men who are just

basically angry and it's always American

in this case and they're not happy with

the American left because they've hurt

men and so they're going to go and

redeem the American left through this

new we're going to get Christian

governments and we're going to do it

through the ways of this world. That's

why they had sold. What do you do with

that? Well, first of all, you don't feel

bad for them. Cuz I got news for you.

We've always tried to shoehorn our

politics, Jesus into our politics.

Always.

Since before Jesus came, every empire

had a god that had them winning wars,

gaining power. Mars, Zeus, all of those

guys that you've heard of, they were all

gods that they could rely on that would

back them. The Jews wanted a god that

could do it, too.

All that's a difference now is we put

Jesus in the name.

And in North America, by the way, people

want to have divine right to rule.

Correct?

You say, "No, I say this.

It hasn't changed. Oh, Emry, you're

being um proTrump. Okay, hold on. Hold

on.

That lady, I forget her name.

You know, these are all photo ops, but

what are they saying? Power through God

being on our side, right?

Then I hear from people, "Oh, Emry,

that's just Americans."

Oh, there's our friend Mr. Carney. He's

at church. He's very, very serious.

Oh, Emry, you just don't like the

liberals. Oh, really? Well, how about

there, Pierre? He's sitting there doing

his church thing.

It happens again and again and again and

again and again. We want to put Jesus

into our world and have him endorsing

us.

We want to shoehorn him into Oh, I got

more. By the way,

there's Carney with some guy that wears

a lot more robes than I do. I think he's

winning an award. Best Christian of the

month.

And there's Pierre. And I have no idea

what these guys are, but he's happy.

That's nice.

My point being,

politics and religion are always there

and these young guys are just learning

this now because God has hit them.

And that's the truth. Just like they

wanted to make Jesus as king after he

fed them and showed him he was Yahweh,

it's no different.

But here's the problem.

God's kingdom

is not the kingdoms of these worlds.

God doesn't do photo ops.

Jesus doesn't need to make sure enough

money is given to his fund to vote

Jesus.

He doesn't fit in this world and he

didn't fit in their world. And I'm going

to tell you what, this is incredibly

good news for you and me.

Because you know what? If he chose to be

like Caesar, what does Caesar do?

He kills. He ms. He destroys in the name

of power. And what do politicians do

today?

The biggest lie that I've ever heard is

that your politicians are liking you.

Like they sit and like to you. One

person said, "It's kind of like when

you're getting served by a waitress and

you really think she's flirting with

you.

They don't like you. They're doing their

own thing. They always have

and they always will." You know, if I

wake up today and I say, "Darn that,

Carney." Do you know what? He doesn't

go, "Oh, Emry,"

he doesn't care I exist.

Right?

And the best part is because he's not a

king like this, he brought a kingdom

that's greater than anything we could

have imagined.

You see, the biggest problem with

Christian nationalism, actually I'm

going to quote Tim and Wright on this.

Christian nationalism is impoverished as

it seeks a kingdom without a cross. It

pursues victory without mercy.

Yet it claims God's love of power rather

than the power of God's love. We ought

to remember that Jesus refused those who

wanted to make him king by force just as

much as he refused to become king by

calling upon 12 legions of angels.

Now before you say, "Oh, Emry, you're

taking on the right." I can tell you the

left is just silly.

This guy James Telerico has just come

out and said we aren't going to call God

may uh lord or king or king or lord

because that's too masculine.

I guess so.

It's all a mess.

The good news, folks, is we don't have

to choose

because we have a whole different king.

Our king reigns.

He is the one in charge. But he doesn't

reign like the worlds around him. And

when people walk around and try and make

him fit into their little bubble, their

little hobby horse, their little thing,

they lose the very king there is. In

fact, they have faith in something that

isn't God.

Lesly Noob again. This is not faith

actually but unbelief. They have not

understood who Jesus is. Jesus will not

be the instrument of any human

enthusiasm or the symbol for any kingdom

program for any human program. To say

Jesus is king is true if the word king

is wholly defined by the person of

Jesus.

If it is false and blasphemous,

blasphemous, if Jesus is made

instrumental to a definition of kingship

derived from elsewhere,

Jesus has come to proclaim liberty to

the captives, but he will not become the

mascot for a people's movement of

liberation.

Whether you're on the left or the right,

whatever you are, Jesus won't be shoved

into your spot.

And that is fantastic news. Do you know

why? Because the way he delivers

is so much greater

than the kingdoms of this world.

Don Carson said it so well. Jesus

himself knew that the way his kingdom

would triumph would not be by beating

the enemy in siege warfare. That's what

the kings of the world do.

but by dying and rising from the dead.

He would go to Jerusalem not to wield

the spear and bring the judgment,

but to receive the spear thrust and bear

the judgment.

Every other king wants you to serve them

now and before

Jesus came to serve us.

Every other king wants your allegiance

or your death.

Jesus wants your soul and life

so much that he died for you.

Think of all the kings and the leaders

in our world. How many do you think

would die on a cross for you?

I thought about it and there's only one

way we can really find the true king

and we have to lay down power.

And how do we lay down power?

By being desperate.

The desperate need

equals salvation.

It is only when you are nothing do you

get the Jesus who became nothing and

then he takes you out of nothing and

makes you something.

As soon as you have something, you will

seek power and you will seek people with

power and you'll stick Jesus in those

spots. But when you've been emptied,

when you've hit your low point, you

can't be there.

You remember that little church in Nicol

then Nicolatians

in Revelation

said Jesus said I'm going about to spit

you out of your mouth my mouth. Do you

remember that?

And everybody's like why would you want

to do that? Well listen to these words

for you Nicollesians

say I am rich. I have prospered. I need

nothing.

You'll never find Jesus.

Not realizing the Lord says to them that

you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind,

and naked.

If you have power, you will seek after

power, and you will take Jesus with you

to whatever power politics you go.

But if you were emptied,

then there's you'll realize there's only

one king.

This is why I say to people when they're

at their lowest points, you're probably

closest to God.

I've been in churches where people say,

"Well, you just got to have enough faith

and you'll get more and you'll have more

and you'll be healthier." You might be

and you'll totally miss God.

Cuz guess who God hangs out with?

Misfits like me.

I love this quote by Carl Bart.

If we fix our eyes upon the place where

the course of the world reaches its

lowest point,

where its vanity is unmistakable,

where its groanings are most bitter and

the divine incognito most impenetrable,

we shall encounter there Jesus Christ.

The transformation of all things occurs

where the riddle of human life reaches

its ultimating point.

The hope of his glory emerges for us

when nothing but the ex existentiality

of God remains. It's the only way

and he becomes to us the veritable and

living God

when everything else is lost.

He whom we can apprehend only is against

us all of a sudden stands there for us

when we're empty.

I found a quote by a lady. I didn't have

a clue she existed before this week.

And she talked about why we need Jesus

and Jesus only. And she took every

reference from John's gospel. And she

flipped it and said, "Jesus says he's

this and if you don't believe Jesus,

this is what it means." And I just want

to read it because it's so powerful why

we need to be desperate.

If Jesus is the bread of life, loss of

Jesus means starving.

If Jesus is the light of the world,

loss of Jesus means darkness.

If Jesus is the good shepherd, loss of

Jesus means wandering alone and lost.

If Jesus is the resurrection and the

life, loss of Jesus is eternal death.

And if Jesus is the lamb of God,

sacrifice for our sins, loss of Jesus

means paying that price for ourselves.

I'm going to tell you, it's really

important what I'm going to say to you

right now.

Go and do your politics. Go and vote.

Do whatever you want. You You got

issues. You got things you're excited

about, go ahead. You realize you're

really, really lucky. You don't live in

first century Rome where you didn't have

the vote,

but please

don't shoehorn Jesus into your politics.

Don't try and make him king by force

because as soon as you do, you're going

to look around and he'll be gone.

The truth is, and this is the greatest

thing we pray, your kingdom come. And

it's going to come.

It's not a kingdom of this world.

It is a kingdom that is coming that'll

be like nothing we could imagine.

No eye has seen, right? No ear has

heard. Everything we're seeing now is a

fade, just a a a bad image of it.

One day the king comes back and he is a

king.

And for those who sought him in their

desperation, he will say, "Well done.

Come on in."

And those who said, "Thanks. I've had it

all figured out. I got the power."

Is going to go very well. Your will be

done.

When we take this,

we are not just remembering an event

that happened sometime in the past.

When we take this, our living God is

here with us right now.

Our King is here right now to equip us,

to cleanse our sins, and to give us

eternal life. The tangible graces

through these elements.

Now, you say, Emry, are you saying this

is literally Jesus? No, I'm not a

Catholic.

I It's not literally Jesus' body and

bread because where's Jesus right now,

by the way? Where is his body?

He ascended. He's in the heaven with the

father. Can't kill him. And he said

there's only one sacrifice anyway. It's

not It's not his body

and blood.

It's also not just a memory of an event

that happened.

And no, Luther, God bless you, Luther. I

always tried to find the third way. who

he actually said, "I love Luther on

this." He said, "No, it's not his

literal body and blood, but once it goes

past your esophagus, it becomes his body

and blood."

Don't try and look that up biblically.

It's not there.

We're reformed.

John Calvin is the one area where I

think he nailed this. This was his

moment. And he said it like this, and

it's so true.

When we take this meal, we are invited

at the king's table by faith.

And he is there in those elements. The

one who cleanses us, the one who gives

us eternal life. Who is he there for?

What does the Bible say his presence on

earth is? Who is it? By the Holy Spirit.

This is not a nothing thing we're doing.

The Holy Spirit breathes on this in in

so much it becomes Jesus' life. I have

been amongst people who believe this and

people get healed at times because it

really is Jesus spirit's presence there.

I talk to charismatics who don't believe

this and I'm like you're missing it man.

This is better than the fakey jaky bakey

lakies. Like it is better than all that

cuz this is God's there. He's there.

I'm not against all the other stuff but

this is it.

And you know what this tells us when we

eat this? That this is the kingdom we're

aligned to.

And by faith, we got our eyes looking

over the east for him to come back.

And one day we will sit with our king

and eat with him. That's what that

promises,

gentlemen.

two generations removed from John the

gospel writer I'm reading today his name

is Irenaeus

he studied under Polyarp and Polyarp was

basically John's disciple

and he wrote this incredible thing about

the bread I want you to read it before

we take communion

just as the bread which comes from the

earth having received no invocation of

God is no longer sorry having received

the invocation of God is no longer

ordinary bread. The Eucharist consisting

consisting of two realities, earthly and

heavenly. So our bodies having received

the Eucharist are no longer corruptable

because

they have the hope of the resurrection.

When we take these elements by faith,

when we put it in, what Jesus is saying

is when you eat of this bread, you have

eternal life. I just read that. Did you

hear that?

When you take these elements, your body

isn't corruptible. It's not that you

aren't going to die, but in God's sphere

and in his economy, you have eternal

life.

Is there anything greater than that?

So my friends, please

don't get caught in the worldly

politics.

Don't stick Jesus.

Don't don't paint a picture like that

one person of Jesus writing laws through

Trump's hand or whatever it was. Please

don't.

Jesus transcends that and his kingdom

transcends that. Be citizens of heaven.

And on that day, and people will mock

you for not being so into politics.

On that day, you really will hear those

words, "Well done, my good and faithful

servant."

Cuz you followed the only king and God

who's eternal.

Also, I have to remind you that all of

the politics you're seeing, everything

you see on the news tonight

is going to disappear.

Tiberius is gone.

Every Caesar is gone. Every emperor is

gone.

The one that's lasted is who?

Jesus Christ.

Because he's the one eternal God.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you

that you have been so faithful to us.

We thank you that you um pour yourself

upon us.

We pray that you will be in these

elements, that you will transform us

even today, and that you will give us

the belief that your spirit is truly

alive doing amazing things amongst us

in Jesus name.

Amen.