John 07:25-36 - When Ignorance Is NOT Bliss

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC, 10:45 am service, 2008-10-02

Text: John 7:25-36

The title of our message is derived from the common saying, 'Ignorance is bliss.' This saying is based on the idea that what you don't know cannot hurt you. It may be true in some situations. For instance if you are the type of person who tends to get paranoid about everything, it may be better for you not to know that there is a risk of 1 in 80,000 that you may be struck by lightning when you are outside, or that there is a risk of 1 in 5,000 that you may die in an airplane crash when you fly. Ignorance of such insignificant risks can be blissful.

But not all ignorance is bliss. In the recent China milk scandal, thousands of parents have been feeding their babies milk laced with melamine without knowing it. Their ignorance was definitely not bliss. In some occupations ignorance about certain safety regulations can be fatal. And if one remains ignorant of certain truths regarding God and salvation from sin the results will be eternally disastrous! Now, we who are Christians should not be ignorant of these truths since we have the Bible to reveal these truths to us.

But it has been observed that many Christians today are quite ignorant about the Bible. A survey on Bible knowledge was conducted in the U.S about 12 years ago by a well-known research group. 641 adults were asked some questions about the Bible. Among the Christians who took the survey, only 61% knew that the Book of Jonah is in the Bible; 39% thought it is not. When asked whether there is a Book of Thomas in the Bible, 22% answered Yes while 13% said they did not know. On a more encouraging note 70% of these Christians knew that Jesus was born in Bethlehem while the rest thought He was born in Jerusalem or Nazareth.

The question in the survey that many found difficult to answer was this: Is there a verse in the Bible that says, 'God helps those who help themselves'? 42% of the Christians answered, Yes. 20% said they do not know. Only 38% of them correctly said that the saying, 'God helps those who help themselves' is not found anywhere in the Bible. Actually this saying comes from Benjamin Franklin (an American inventor and writer), and not from the Bible. 

When we conducted our own church survey 2 months ago we did not include questions like these. But we did ask two questions on Bible reading and the results were quite revealing. When asked, 'How often do you read the Bible?' 28% answered that they read it once a week. Only 64% read their Bible daily, and this is a drop of 4% from last year's survey figure. This shows that our programme this year of reading one chapter of the Bible a day has not made any difference.

What was even more disturbing was the answer to the other question: 'How many times have you read through the Bible completely?' 72% answered that they have not read through the Bible even once. This would be understandable if most of the 417 respondents are new believers. But 80% of them have been in Life church for more than 5 years. How can it be that such a large number of us who have been Christians attending church for more than 5 years have not even read through the whole Bible once? If we can read the latest best-sellers from cover to cover, why can't we do the same with the Bible? And if we can read the newspapers every day, why can't we do the same with the Bible?

Please don't misunderstand me. I am not saying that we should all read the Bible just to be able to tell everyone that we read it daily and that we have read it from cover to cover. I am saying that we must read it well in order to know what God wants us to know. We must read it well so that we will not be ignorant of all the precious truths God has given to us in His Book. For unlike other kinds of ignorance, this kind of ignorance is not bliss. The things of God that we do not know can and will hurt us. Now we shall study a passage of Scripture that shows this quite well. 

It was the month of October of AD 29. The people of Israel had come to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem to celebrate the annual Feast of Tabernacles. But there was a different atmosphere at the feast that year - beneath the surface of the usual worship rituals and prayers led by the priests each day there was plenty of whispering, quiet discussions and arguments going on in the crowds. And they were all talking about the same person - Jesus of Nazareth. Some were telling others excitedly about His miracles they had witnessed. Others were expressing their doubts about Jesus. Many were curious to know His whereabouts because 3 days of the feast had already passed and He was nowhere to be seen. The Jewish leaders were also anxiously looking for Jesus, but for a different reason - They wanted to get rid of Him. 

Why? Because He had spoken against them, and He had supposedly violated the Sabbath. They had judged Him unrighteously - based on their own man-made rules and on His outward appearance - and according to their unrighteous judgment Jesus was worthy of death. Now they were looking for an opportunity to have Him arrested and condemned.

But when Jesus finally made His presence known to the crowds on the 4th day of the feast these Jewish leaders seemed to have forgetten all that they had planned to do against Him. Why? It was because of the unusual power and authority with which He spoke and taught the people. It left the Jewish leaders spell-bound and wondering how He could teach the way that He did. They were so amazed at this that none of them tried to to stop Him or rebuke Him or remove Him. 

And this forms the background for what we read in vv.25-27 - The Jews of Jerusalem who knew that their leaders had planned to kill Jesus were confused by their silence. This made them say, 'Why are they doing nothing? Could it be that they think that Jesus may really be the Messiah? But how can it be? We all know who Jesus is and where He comes from - He is only a carpenter's son from Nazareth in Galilee. But when the real Messiah comes no one will know where he comes from. Therefore Jesus cannot be the Messiah - don't our leaders know that?'

I. The Cause of Ignorance - Misplaced Confidence

What the Jews of Jerusalem said in these verses reveals something very seriously wrong with them. They had placed their confidence in the wrong source for some vital information - information concerning the promised Messiah of Israel. The Messiah was the One that God would send to bring complete deliverance and prosperity to Israel and to turn them into a mighty nation. His coming had already been foretold in the OT. The Jews had been waiting expectantly for the Messiah for a long time, and all their greatest hopes and expectations were focused on His coming. 

In the English language the word 'Messiah' is translated as 'Christ'. And so the word 'Christ' in vv.26 and 27 does not refer specifically to Jesus, but to the Messiah whom the Jews were expecting. They should of course have recognized Jesus to be that Messiah, as we do whenever we refer to Him as Jesus Christ. Christ is not the surname or family name of Jesus as some would think. It is a title for Him. So Jesus Christ really means 'Jesus the Messiah'.

Coming back to our passage, we see that there was something terribly wrong about the source the Jews placed their confidence in for information about the Messiah. That source was not the Bible but some strange Jewish traditions regarding Him. There is no verse or passage of Scripture that teaches that when the Messiah comes into the world no one would know where He is from or that He would appear mysteriously 'out of nowhere' as it were. But this unbiblical view was apparently quite widespread among the Jews. More than a hundred years later, when a Jewish rabbi named Trypho debated with Justin Martyr (Christian apologist), he used this very same teaching to argue against Jesus being the Messiah. Trypho said that when the Messiah comes, he would be unknown even to himself, and would have no power until the prophet Elijah returned and anointed Him to begin the messianic era.

But God had already revealed in the Bible that the Messiah would arise from the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10), that He would be a descendant of King David, that He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), and that He would be called a Nazarene (Matthew 2:23). With such clear information in the Scriptures on the origins of the Messiah, why did the Jews believe that when He comes His origins will be unknown? The reason is simply this: They had not placed their confidence in the Scriptures. They had instead allowed their ideas of the Messiah to be determined by some fanciful imaginations of men. Their misplaced confidence was therefore the cause of their ignorance which in turn caused them to wrongfully reject Jesus as their Messiah.

Dearly beloved, there is a useful lesson here - a lesson on where you ought to place your confidence. With regard to all knowledge that matters in life, you must place your confidence firmly on the Scriptures alone. The Bible must always be your primary source of learning. It must be your final authority on every area of your life, whether it is your family life, your choice of a career or a life partner, your relationships, and even in the management of your finances. 

Don't put any confidence in worldly wisdom that urges you to seek for personal fame and glory. Don't put any confidence in so-called experts who tell you that if you really want to become a success you must forget your Christian values and do things in a selfish and deceitful way. And don't put your confidence in methods and strategies that the world uses to solve its problems, as they are often based on wrong assumptions. 

We all know that the world is now experiencing a crisis of confidence. Many have lost confidence in banks and financial institutions because of the global financial crisis. Because of inflation many have lost confidence in the buying power of their money. Many have also lost confidence in food that has milk products in it because the milk may come from China. Closer to home, the escape of a terrorist from a maximum security prison 7 months ago, and the failure to find him until now may have caused some to lose confidence in our nation's security system.

In times like these where should we place our confidence? For help and security we must place our confidence in God. He will never fail us or forsake us. And for all truth and knowledge that really matter in life, we must place our confidence in God's Word. Make the Bible your source of learning and your final authority for every area of life. You will not go wrong by doing this. Please settle it firmly in your hearts today that you will live your life by this Book. And when you are committed to doing that, you cannot afford to remain ignorant any longer of what is written in it. Read it daily, read it thoroughly and resolve to follow it! And as you do this you will not only know how to live, but more importantly, you will know God Himself.

From what Jesus said at the end of v.28 of our text we see that the Jews He spoke to in Jerusalem did not know God ('but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not.') These Jews thought that they knew God, but how could they have known Him when they had not placed their confidence in the Scriptures He had given them so that they may know Him? Whatever real knowledge they had of God was merely superficial. It was no different from their superficial knowledge of Jesus and of His origins which had led them to judge Him so unrighteously. 

For if they had truly known Jesus and where He comes from, they would not have failed to recognize Him as their Messiah and to believe wholeheartedly in Him. And v.31 tells us that there were many people in the crowd who believed in Jesus, because of all the great miracles He had done. In contrast to them the Jews of Jerusalem openly displayed their ignorance of Jesus by reacting badly against what He had said against them in v.28 'He that sent me is true, whom ye know not.'

II. The Characteristic of Ignorance - Misdirected Efforts

This led them to make an attempt to arrest Jesus. 

But they could not succeed because they cannot win against God. Verse 30 tells us that 'they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come.' Our Lord Jesus still had another six months to go before the hour when He would have to die on the cross. Until then, no one could stop to Him. Shortly after the failed attempt of the Jews of Jerusalem, the Pharisees and Chief priests made another attempt to arrest Jesus: This time, according to v.32, they sent armed officers to take Him. But v.45 tells us that these officers returned to their masters empty-handed. 

Why did they keep on doing something that was so futile? It was because of their ignorance of who Jesus really is. Ignorance is often characterized by misdirected efforts. Because of ignorance people spend much time and effort on things that go completely against God's plans and purposes for them. But their misdirected efforts will eventually yield nothing to them.

The same thing happened to Paul the apostle before he was saved. Listen to what he wrote in 1 Timothy 1:12-13 'And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.' During the time of his ignorance Paul was fighting a losing battle against the Lord Jesus. He went from house to house looking for Christians, and when he found them he cast them into prison (Acts 8:3). But as he was going to Damascus to do the same thing there, Jesus appeared to Paul and said, 'Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.' (Acts 9:4,5).

How shocked Paul must have been to realize that his misdirected efforts had caused him to persecute God, and to fight a losing battle which would only hurt himself. Let us be careful not to do the same thing. Dearly beloved, are your efforts misdirected? Are you doing certain things that are actually against God's will? Perhaps the Lord has been patiently speaking to your heart on some matter. But instead of listening to Him and yielding to Him, you have been ignoring His calls to you and insisting on doing things your own way. You are fighting a losing battle against God. What should you do? Do the same thing that Paul did when Christ stopped him in his tracks - he said, 'Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?' (Acts 9:6). (All this while Paul had thought that he knew what the Lord would have him to do.)

Admit your ignorance and also your need of instruction from God. Ask Him what He would have you to do. And then resolve to do everything that God shows to you in His Word. Then your efforts will no longer be misdirected, but will be gainfully directed to fulfill God's will. Earlier on we had seen that we need the Bible to ensure that our confidence is placed in the right knowledge. Now we learn that we need the Bible to ensure that our efforts are directed to do the right things. And once again I must urge you to read your Bible daily and devotionally to allow God to direct you and guide your daily life.

We have already seen how ignorance is caused by misplaced confidence and how it is characterized by misdirected efforts. The last part of our passage (vv.34-36) shows us one more thing about ignorance:

III. The Consequence of Ignorance - Missed Bliss

This is what Jesus said to the Jews in verse 34: 'Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come.' Because of their own wilful ignorance the Jews of Jerusalem will have a woeful end - they will be kept out of heaven, the place that Jesus would return to about 6 months later, after His death on the cross and resurrection from the dead. In v.34 Jesus was telling them that one day far in the distant future, they will seek Him desperately, not to arrest or kill Him any more, but to beg Him for mercy and salvation. And they will not find Him but be left to languish forever in the outer darkness. What an awful price to pay for ignorance! But the Jews did not understand what Jesus had said here. Because of their persistent ignorance, they wrongly inferred in the next verse that He was talking about going to some place outside Israel where they would never be able to find Him.

If only they had known God and believed in Jesus as their Messiah they would surely have understood what He meant - that He was going back to heaven to be with the Father. And then they would not miss the wonderful bliss of being with Jesus for all eternity. Was there any hope left that any of these Jews who had tried to arrest Jesus would not miss this bliss? Yes there was. The hope is found in the gracious words of Jesus in v.33, 'Yet a little while am I with you.' This means that the door had not been completely shut yet. The day of grace was not yet over for them. Jesus was lovingly extending His grace to them to come out of their ignorance and to come into the saving knowledge of their Messiah. 

Perhaps there may be someone here this morning to whom Jesus is also saying, 'Yet a little while am I with you.' You have been living your life in ignorance of Jesus Christ and who He really is. As a result of this, your confidence has been misplaced, and all your efforts have been misdirected. And if you persist in your present ignorance of Jesus, you will miss forever the opportunity to live in eternal bliss. 

But Jesus says to you now 'Yet a little while, am I with you - won't you come to Me now while there is still time for you to do so? Won't you come out of your darkness of ignorance while the door is still open for you?' Come! Come to the Lord Jesus without any more delay. Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation.

John 06:53-69 - Jesus, The Teacher of Life

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 8 am service, 2005-08-14

Text: John 6:53-69

There is just so much for us to learn about our Lord Jesus Christ. We can keep on knowing Him, knowing Him and knowing Him without ever getting tired of Him. His whole nature, character, life, ministry and teachings are so richly captivating and so enriching, that there is nothing more satisfying to the soul than to know the Lord Jesus! 

This was the testimony of all who knew Him when He lived on earth among men 2000 years ago. When Jesus came to Bethany, to the house of two sisters, Mary and Martha, Mary could spend hours just sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to Him. And when Martha got a little irritated that her sister was not helping her to serve Him, Jesus told her that Mary had 'chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her.' (Luke 10:38) The good part that she had chosen was to spend time knowing Jesus and learning from Him. Dearly beloved, whenever we choose to sit at the feet of our Lord Jesus to know Him and learn from Him, we are also choosing that 'good part' - the choicest part of all experiences in life!

It is no wonder then that those who have known Jesus would want others to know Him too. When Andrew was introduced to Jesus by John the Baptist, and spent just one day with him, he immediately went to look for his brother Simon Peter to bring him to meet Jesus (John 1:39-42). Shortly after that, Philip did the same thing for Nathanael (John 1:45,46). The woman at the well of Samaria only had a brief unplanned encounter with Jesus under the hot noonday sun, and that was enough to stir her up to action: She immediately went to tell all the people in the city to come and see Him (John 4:28-30). And when they came, and talked with Jesus they confirmed that what she had said about Him was true. They told the woman, 'Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard Him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.' (John 4:42) And they probably spent more time with Jesus after that.

Even the officers who were sent by the chief priests and Pharisees to arrest Jesus, were so captivated when they heard Him teaching that they all returned to their masters empty-handed. When asked why they had failed to carry out such a simple order, they answered, 'Never man spake like this man.' (Mark 11:2) There was clearly something wonderful in the character and teaching of Jesus that reached out to the hearts and minds of men. Those who met Him and heard Him could not help but to be amazed at his teachings. Jesus was the Teacher of Life. There is no doubt at all that He is the Teacher above all Teachers! 

Although this world has seen many great human teachers, none of them were like the Lord Jesus Christ. This can be seen in the extent of His teaching ministry. A great part of His public ministry was spent in teaching. As Matthew 9:35 says, 'Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom' He was ready to teach at a moment's notice, not only to crowds of 5,000 people, but also to individuals like Nicodemus, who came to consult Him at night. Jesus could teach people anywhere: At the Temple, in synagogues, in their homes, along the roads as He traveled, at the shores of the Sea of Galilee, and also on a mount - from which we have His famous 'Sermon on the Mount'. The whole world was His classroom!

In our passage of scripture from John 6, we will see one important feature of Christ as the Teacher of Life: That He was not afraid to teach truths that are offensive to man, and that would even cause people to turn away. There are many teachers who crave for publicity and popularity. They will only teach whatever people want to hear and love to hear, so that they will be invited again and again to give lectures to huge crowds of people. This is true of the many popular self-help gurus in the world today, whose public lectures and seminars are often advertised widely and given much publicity. And many are prepared to pay hundreds of dollars to attend these seminars to learn how to be successful in life or in business. Why? Because the self-help teachers promise them the world, inspire them, motivate them and make them feel very positive and good about themselves! They would never teach offensive truths like the consequences of sin, or the depravity of man, or the cross that one must bear to obey God. Doing this would instantly diminish their popularity before the world!

In contrast to such teachers, our Lord Jesus stands as the true Teacher of Life, who dared to teach truths that are offensive to the ears of sinners, but are nevertheless the most important and crucial truths for them to hear. Let us go back now to our text of Scripture now to find out the answers to 3 questions:

1. What Did Jesus Teach about Life? 2. Why Could Many Not Accept His Teaching? and 3. How Can We Persevere in Following Him?

I. What Jesus Taught about Life (vv.53-59)

The background of this passage is that on the day before, Jesus had performed a great miracle of feeding 5,000 men with just 5 loaves and 2 fishes. (You may remember Pr Calvin Loh preaching on this miracle of Christ 3 weeks ago in his sermon 'Jesus, the Bread of Life') That miracle was of such great magnitude that it created a powerful sense of euphoria and excitement in those who were present. Some of those who had witnessed this miracle even desired to take Jesus by force and make Him their king (v.15). Their euphoria also caused them to make every effort just to look for Jesus the next day, and after they crossed the Sea of Galilee in some ships, they finally found Him at the synagogue in Capernaum (v.59). 

Now Jesus knew the hearts of these people very well, because He is the omniscient God. He know that these crowds of people were seeking Him with ulterior motives - they wanted to satisfy all their selfish desires (vv.26,27). They did not come because they sincerely wanted to believe in Him, or to know Him personally. They even doubted what He said when He told them that He is the Bread of Life (v.41). To them, Jesus was just a means to an end. To them, He was only a wise Teacher of Religion from Nazareth (v.42) who had great miraculous power that they could now use and exploit to meet all their physical needs. It was to such people that Jesus now gave some teaching which brought their real motives to light.

Let us see what He taught them in v.53 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you. 54 Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.'

What Jesus said here may sound utterly repulsive to anyone on first reading. How can anyone tell others to eat his flesh and drink his blood? It sounds quite gross and even cannibalistic doesn't it? But it would only be so to those who were undiscerning. You see, the words 'eat' and 'drink' here are not meant to be understood in a literal sense, but in a spiritual sense. 

And the Jews who heard these words should have understood that well, because of what Jesus had already said to them earlier in vv.28-29 'Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.'

It should not be too difficult for them to realize that what Jesus meant when He said that they must eat His flesh and drink His blood is that they must fully believe in Him. It is a spiritual eating and drinking of Him that Jesus was talking about, not a physical eating or drinking of Him. And the terms 'eating and drinking' are deliberately used to convey the idea of a very close and intimate spiritual relationship, where the Lord Jesus Christ is received or appropriated by the soul. When a sinner truly repents of his sins and believes in Jesus, his soul appropriates Christ as his life. When a soul appropriates Christ, the life that is in Christ becomes his forever. This truth is also expressed clearly in 1 John 5:11-12 'And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.'

Dear friends, the life that you need to have is not merely that of being physically alive, and just existing here on earth. It consists of close, eternal relationship with God who is the Giver and the Source of all Life! And the only way that you can appropriate that life is through Jesus who is the Way, the Truth and the Life! Perhaps there may be someone in our midst this morning who has not appropriated that life yet. Have you eaten the flesh of Jesus Christ, in a spiritual sense? Have you spiritually drunk His blood? In other words, do you have Christ in you right now? If you do not have Christ in you, then you simply do not have life. You may be alive physically, but you do not have the true and everlasting life, because your soul has not appropriated it yet.

Now, this spiritual appropriation by the soul of the life that is in Christ is quite similar to what happens when we who are baptized Christians partake of the Lord's Supper. When Jesus instituted this some time after the events of John 6, He gave His disciples the bread to represent His body, and the cup to represent His blood. But why did they have to actually eat of that bread, and drink from that cup? It was clearly not to feed their stomachs, but rather to feed their souls. The bread which is broken would speak to them of Christ's subsitutionary death on the cross for their sins. The cup would speak to them of Christ's precious blood that was shed on the cross, and that alone can wash them and make them whiter as snow. 

Your outward act of eating the bread, and drinking from the cup will not have the slightest benefit for you, if it is not accompanied by the inward spiritual act of your soul to meditate and appropriate what Christ has done for you on the cross. 

So coming back to John 6, we now understand that Jesus was teaching them exactly what it means to believe in Him. The crowds had, as a result of the miracle which they experienced, come to believe in His power, but not in His person. They had come to Him not to seek Him, but to seek for more of the good food that He had miraculously multiplied, and for many other benefits from Him. But the words that Jesus spoke to them in vv.53-58 were designed to make them understand that He is all the food that they need to have!

What was their response to this? According to the next part of the passage, they refused to accept what He said! 

II. Why Many Could Not Accept His Teaching (vv.60-66)

Let us look at verse 60 'Many therefore of His disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?' The first thing you would notice here is that it not just the Jews among the 5000 who had been fed, who could not accept what Jesus had just said. Here we are told that many of Christ's own disciples also could not accept it. Now the word 'disciples' here refers to those in a larger group than just the 12 disciples that Jesus had personally chosen. In Luke 10:1,17 mention is made of a group of seventy whom Jesus sent out 2 by 2 to preach in the cities and villages that He Himself would visit after that. Perhaps the disciples who left Jesus were from this group.

The second thing we want to observe is what these disciples said - This is an hard saying; who can hear it? Some may take this to mean that they had a problem understanding what Jesus meant. If that is the case, then a simple explanation from Jesus is all that they needed - that the eating and drinking are not to be taken literally. They could simply request for clarification and they would have received it. But we are told in the verses that come after this that there was a worse problem in these disciples. It was not that they could not understand, but that they could not accept what Jesus had said. 

We see this in v.61, where Jesus said to them, 'Doth this offend you?' Jesus knew very well what was going on in their hearts. He could see that these disciples were greatly stumbled or offended by what He just said. Why were they unable to accept it? It was because they had been following Him for the wrong reasons. They were willing to continue following Christ as long as He kept on teaching them things that were right in their own eyes, things that did not offend them. But now that Christ taught them things that to their own minds were out of order and not to their liking, their attitude toward Him changed completely.

Now by having this response, these disciples really revealed their inward unbelief. Despite Jesus telling them that the words He had taught them are spirit and are life they rejected His words, and they left Him. Verse 66 tells us that 'From that time many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him.'

A true follower of Christ would never reject anything that He says, even though he may not be able to fully understand it. There may be certain teachings of the Scriptures that we find hard to understand. Try as we might, we cannot explain them or rationalize them, and so they remain a mystery to us on this side of glory. But we still accept them and receive them, on the simple basis that they come from God who is trustworthy. The true believer says, 'God says it. That settles it. I fully believe it!' If we were to question God on anything that He says, then we doubt His intregrity, and we show that we do not trust Him anymore to be the authority of all truth. This is what happened to the disciples who walked no more with Jesus. They rejected not only His words which offended them, but His authority as well.

III. How We Can Persevere in Following Christ (vv.67-69)

But if we do not doubt whatever God has given in His Word, and simply accept them on the basis of His authority, then we would be like the 12 disciples who continued to walk with Jesus after this episode. Let us read verses 67-69 to see what what Jesus asked them 'Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?'

We observe that the question that Jesus asked the 12 disciples here was prompted by the going away of the other disciples. We are not told how many of them had left and walked no more with Jesus, but perhaps the number of them was large enough to affect the remaining 12 disciples adversely, and challenge their commitment to follow Christ. It must have been quite discouraging for them to see so many who had once followed Christ together with them, and who had laboured together with them for a time, now leaving the group, and especially when their Master seemed to do nothing to stop them from leaving. If there was ever a time in the history of their walk with Christ when the twelve disciples may have felt most accutely the temptation or the pressure to leave Him, I believe that this was it!

Dearly beloved, perhaps some of you may sometimes have wondered why you still keep on following Christ now, when so many of your contemporaries who used to follow Him before, have ceased from following Him and have gone back to the world. And you find that you alone are left plodding onward. Have you at times ever felt discouraged by this, and wondered whether it is really worthwhile to carry on with your pursuit of Christ? How should you handle thoughts like these? How can you persevere in following Christ? Well, you can learn from the twelve who stayed on with Christ. The apostle Peter who was their spokesman when he said: 'Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.'

This answer of Peter teaches us that there are at least two ways that we can persevere in following Christ. Firstly, by considering the great value of the Words of Life that Jesus has taught us. There is no one else that we can go to, because no one else has such wonderful words of eternal life to teach us. Every other teacher who has claimed to have the words of eternal life, only prove to be disappointments. Their words are based only their own faulty speculations and their own limited understanding. 

But Jesus is Himself the living Word and the Wisdom of God. What He teaches satisfies us deeply and satisfies our soul! Who but Jesus, the author of life is qualified to teach us all that we need to know about life in this world and the next? Dearly beloved, I would like all of us to be thoroughly convinced this morning that there is no better Teacher of Life and no surer foundation for our faith than the Lord Jesus Christ! 

When you treasure His Word well, you will then want to devote much time and effort to learning it well, and applying it well. It will be the very first thing that you will want to read at the beginning of each day, so that your soul will be equipped with the words of eternal life to meet each day's challenges! And when the words of Christ prove to be very difficult for you to accept you will not say, 'This is a hard saying, who can hear it?' Instead you will say, 'Lord, I fully accept Thy Word and will obey it?'

The other way that we can persevere in following Jesus is to consider the supreme worth of Jesus Himself. With Peter, we ought to confess will full conviction that He is that Christ, the Son of the Living God. We ought to adore Him who is the long awaited Messiah, whom the prophets had foretold. Our souls should cherish Him in all His glory, as the divinely appointed heir of all things, the One by whom the worlds were made, the brightness of God's glory and the express image of His person, and the One who now upholds all things by the Word of His power. 

Dearly beloved, the best way for us to persevere in following Christ when others are not, is to renew our love for Him. Contemplate on all that makes Jesus precious to you - His great love for you, the agony of His suffering and death on the cross for you, His power to deliver you, His faithfulness to you, and His promise to return from heaven for you. And may your resolve to persevere with Him who is your Teacher of Life be firmly strengthened.

John 06:41-59 - Eat and Live!

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 8 am service, 2008-06-08

Text: John 6:41-59

Food is a basic necessity of life. But having sufficient food does not necessarily mean that one's life will be sustained. In order to sustain life, the food must be eaten and digested. You may have all the food in world, but if you cannot eat any of it you will soon starve to death. There are a variety of causes for this: It may be due to nausea or to an inability to swallow food. It may also be due to a total loss of appetite. This is what happens to those who suffer from anorexia nervosa - an illness that affects people who are so afraid of growing fat that they refuse to eat. Some have lost their lives because of this. 

While it is sad to see how people can suffer and die of starvation despite having food to eat, let us be aware that the same thing happens in the spiritual realm. Many people are starving spiritually despite the availability of food for their soul. The human soul needs food in order to live and grow. But many do not have the appetite or ability to eat it. This is what we will see as we study John 6:41-59.

I. Sin Renders Your Soul Incapable to Eat and Live (vv.41-43)

The passage records an event which took place at a synagogue in Capernaum. Jesus was teaching in the synagogue when a group of Jews who were looking for Him found Him there (v.25). Why were they looking for Him? It was because they had been so amazed at His great miracle of feeding over 5,000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 small fishes. Our Lord knew that all these Jews wanted was to see more miracles from Him and be fed with more supernatural food. In v.31 they even suggested that Jesus should give them manna to convince them that He is just as great as Moses. It is clear that they were not interested in knowing Him or serving Him. All that they were interested in was what He could do for them in providing for their material needs and wants. 

Many people are like that - they believe that as long as they can get all the material things they wish for, they will be fine. But they do not realize that what their souls really need is not all these things, but to have the Lord Jesus in their lives. In order to help them see their real need, Jesus made a very startling statement in v.35, 'I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.' And He went on to say to them in v.38, 'For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.'

When the people heard this, their mood suddenly changed. They began to murmur against Him. Earlier on they had respectfully called Him 'Rabbi' (v.25) and 'Lord' (v.34). Now they doubted what He was saying to them. 'How can this man make such a preposterous claim? Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? Didn't he grow up and work as an ordinary carpenter in the nearby town of Nazareth? How is it then that he now says, I came down from heaven? Isn't he the same as everyone of us?'

What Jesus claimed was too much for them. They just could not accept it. And so they murmured among themselves. Murmuring is a sign of a sinful and rebellious heart. It had happened before during the time of Moses, when the Israelites had left Egypt and were on their way to the Promised Land. They had witnessed miracle after miracle - the parting of the Red Sea, their victory over the Amalekites, the provision of manna for food and of water from a rock. And yet they murmured against the Lord (Number 14:27). They grumbled and complained bitterly that God had deceived them - that He had brought them out of Egypt only to be massacred by the Canaanite forces. This revealed how shallow their knowledge of God was and how bad their unbelief was. Because of this, that whole murmuring generation forfeited their opportunity to enter into the Promised Land. 

And now at Capernaum their descendants were murmuring just because Jesus said that He is the bread which came down from heaven. They could not accept this because they thought that they knew who Jesus is. To them He was only the son of Joseph and Mary who grew up in Nazareth. But they knew nothing about how Jesus was born miraculously of a virgin in Bethlehem. Had they known this they would not have referred to Him as the son of Joseph (v.42). Now, they should have accepted what Jesus said about Himself because of the obvious testimony of His miracles, but they could not do this because they were blind. And they were not the only ones who could not see the truth. On another occasion when Jesus asked His disciples what people were saying about Him, they replied that some thought He was John the Baptist, some, Elijah, and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. (Matthew 16:14)

There is a well-known story that may help us to understand the spiritual condition of these Jews - a story of 6 blind men and an elephant. Each of the 6 blind men felt the elephant and was asked to describe it. One of them felt the huge side of the elephant and said that it is like a wall. Another one felt the elephant's tusk and he claimed that the elephant was much like a spear. The 3rd man held the elephant's trunk and concluded that the elephant is really a kind of snake. The 4th man felt one of the legs and said that it is clear to him that the elephant is like the trunk of a tree. The 5th man happened to touch the elephant's ear and said, 'Even the blindest man can tell that the elephant is like a fan.' The last man felt the elephant's tail, and said that the elephant was actually a rope. These 6 men argued with one another, each claiming that he was right and the rest were wrong. The truth was that each of them was partially right, but all of them were also completely wrong!

In the same way, the Jews in our passage murmured against Jesus because they were convinced that they knew everything about Him, when in fact they knew very little about Him. They refused to believe in Him as the Bread which came down from Heaven, the One who is the Life-giver. Since they would not believe in Him, they could not receive the life He gives.

If you do not come to Jesus and believe in Him, you too will not receive the life that your soul needs. And if you deprive your soul of the life that is in Jesus Christ, then you will starve and die spiritually. Therefore come to Him. Please don't delay any more, but come. Come to Jesus now! But who will come to Christ on his own? Romans 3:11 answers so plainly: 'There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.' This shows the extent of damage that sin has done to our lives. Sin has not only affected our attitudes and actions. It has also affected our will and our understanding. How can we come to the Lord Jesus for life and salvation, when we don't even have the most basic ability of all abilities - the ability to come to Him? 

II. God Enables Your Soul to Eat and Live (vv.44-46)

This is where we see how marvelous the grace of God really is. It goes right down to the root of the problem and deals with it most effectively. Listen to what Jesus says in John 6:44-45 'No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.' Here we find two things that God does to enable you to come to Jesus for life and salvation. 

Firstly, He draws you to Christ (v.44), and this effectively overcomes your lack of willingness to come to Him. Now, God does not force you to come to Him against your will. But He remoulds your will until it has the ability to respond to the call of Christ, so that you will come to Him freely and voluntarily. This does not mean that a person will respond immediately to the Gospel when he hears it. Many people do resist and struggle against the call for a time just like a wild, untamed horse trying to throw the rider off its back. But eventually it learns how blessed it is to yield and to be led willingly by its rider. 

Secondly, He teaches you who Jesus Christ is (vv.45) and this effectively overcomes your lack of understanding of spiritual things. You may have heard the same truths about Christ over and over again but they make no sense to you. You can't understand why your Christian friends are so excited over Him. Then one day you see the truth for yourself and it becomes as clear to you as day. It is as if someone turned on the lights after you had spent years in darkness. It would be like the story of the 6 blind men and the elephant ending with all the men having their eyes opened miraculously, and now they can see how deficient their knowledge of the elephant had been. 

Have you been taught of God? Have your eyes been opened? This makes all the difference in your life. According to 1 Corinthians 2:14 'the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.' And 1 Corinthians 2:10 tells us that 'God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.' 

When you are taught of God, you will find that things in the Bible that make no sense to the world make real good sense to you. E.g. Creation of the whole universe out of nothing, The Trinity - how there can be one God in 3 persons, Salvation by faith without works, Christ's substitionary atonement - Only those who are taught of God are able to accept all these things wholeheartedly. 

III. You Need to Have Christ in order to Eat and Live (vv.47-59)

And if you are taught of God you will also be able to understand and accept what Jesus says in vv.53-54 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life' Without spiritual understanding you would be absolutely put off by these statements, thinking that Jesus is advocating cannibalism and the drinking of blood. Perhaps you would even say, 'What an utterly gross and bloodthirsty cult this is!'

The Roman Catholic Church has distorted this passage to support their unsound doctrine of transubstantiation. They teach that the bread and wine in the Lord's Supper (or the Eucharist, as they call it) change into the actual flesh and blood of Christ when the priest performs the mass and that eating them is absolutely necessary for salvation. This distortion began when Pope Innocent I issued an epistle in AD 417. Since then the Roman church has re-interpreted what Christ said in v.53 to teach that, 'Except you receive the Eucharist you have no life in you.'

With spiritual understanding we would realize that the eating that Jesus talked about here is spiritual, not physical. Just as your body needs to feed on food in order to have physical life, your soul needs to feed on Christ in order to have spiritual life. And though it is unusual and even unthinkable to ask people to eat one's flesh, our Lord was using this as a metaphor to teach deep and wonderful spiritual truths. 

Firstly, the act of eating in order to live stands in direct contrast to the original sin of our first parents. When God made Adam and Eve they were sinless, and they enjoyed the most perfect relationship with God in the Garden of Eden. But all that was spoilt when they wilfully disobeyed God. It brought spiritual death to themselves and to all mankind. It also brought physical death into all creation and all the corruption and decay that we see in the world today. Now, what was the commandment that Adam and Eve disobeyed? 

They were told not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. According to Genesis 2:17 God said, 'thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.' Hence at the beginning, the Word that God gave to man was, 'Do not eat, if you want to live.' But now that man has sinned, the Word that God gives to save him from sin is 'Eat and live!'

Can you see now that the metaphor Jesus used in our text is really quite appropriate? Since man found death by eating, it follows that he should now find life by eating. However, the act of eating in order to live is done spiritually not literally. God has not planted another tree to give life to those who will eat its fruit. But God has sent His only begotten Son to give life to those who will trust in Him! In v.51 Jesus says, 'I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever.'

Secondly, the act of eating in order to live has some elements that help us to grasp what it really means to believe in Jesus. The way in which food gives us physical life bears interesting similarities to the way in which Christ gives us spiritual life. There are at least 4 steps involved in the process of eating. These 4 steps are Eyeing, Engaging, Enjoying and Exhibiting. 

A. Eyeing Him

Whenever you have a meal, your eyes must first recognize that the object which is on the plate before you is food - you must visually assess that it is edible and fit for human consumption. In the same way, the first step to believe in Jesus is to recognize Him as food for our soul. You must recognize that He is the bread of life (v.48) and He is therefore what you need for your spiritual hunger and thirst. This first step is absolutely needful for salvation. In fact, the Lord beckons you to do it in Isaiah 45:22 'Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.'

And please ensure that you look only unto the real Saviour - the One who is revealed in the Bible, and not to some idol or picture or any man-made representation of Him. Many restaurants showcase their food not just in pictures but in the form of wax models which look exactly like the food they represent. I often gaze at them and wonder how they are made to look so much like the real thing. But if I am hungry, I'd rather look at the real thing. Only that can satisfy my hunger. Your soul can only be satisfied with the real Saviour. You must look only unto Him.

B. Engaging Him

Looking at food is only the first step. It does not satisfy your hunger. It only increases it. You gain no real benefit from the food on your plate unless you take it and put it in your mouth. Once the food is taken into your mouth it becomes yours in a very personal sense. Others may not mind eating food that is still on your plate, but no one in his right mind would want to eat food that has been in your mouth!

In the same way, you must receive Jesus into your heart. You must personally engage Him to be your Saviour and Lord. That condition must be met for your soul to live forever. Look at V.51 'I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever' I would like you to note the change of terms from v.48 to v.51. The term 'Bread of Life' in v.48 focuses on the life-giving property of the bread. But the term 'Living Bread' in v.51 highlights the nature of the bread itself - it is no ordinary bread, but one that lives - one that is a person. To eat this bread is to engage the Lord Jesus permanently to be your own Saviour and Lord. 

You may know everything that Jesus can do for you, through what you have heard about Him and read about Him. But all that is of no use to you until He truly becomes yours. You must be able to say, 'Jesus is truly mine!' Unless you personally engage Him to be your Lord and Saviour, you will die in your sins. And you are doomed to spend eternity in a place of endless torment called Hell, bearing the eternal punishment that you deserve for all your sins. But when Jesus is yours, you will be spared from suffering such a horrible end. Why? Because being yours means that He has paid the price for your sins. It means that He has given His own body to be broken on the cross for you. This is what Jesus said in the latter part of v.51, 'and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.' Now that we have seen that eating Him requires eyeing Him and then engaging Him let us go on to the 3rd step:

C. Enjoying Him

When you eat food in sufficient amounts, you will have the pleasant feeling of satisfaction. This is the reason why eating is a favorite pastime for some people. Singaporeans are well-known for this: Many of us enjoy eating and we will not mind going to great lengths to find our favourite rojak, sushi or tiramisu. The taste, texture and aroma of the food satisfy our senses as we eat it. In the same way, the soul that feeds on Jesus will be fully satisfied. Look at what Jesus said in v.55 'For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.' When you feed on Christ, you will not be disappointed. He will prove to be everything that the soul needs. Let us also look at 2 other verses: Psalm 34:8 'O taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed in the man that trusteth in Him.' Psalm 63:5 'My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness.' And when you have experienced the goodness of God, you should then go on to the next step which is:

D. Exhibiting Him

This is similar to the next step in eating food. When it is digested and assimilated into our body, food produces certain effects. E.g. physical growth or energy to do some work. There is a saying that goes, 'You are what you eat.' Generally speaking if you eat lots of healthy food, you will be healthy and strong. But if you eat lots of junk food, then you will be quite weak and sickly. 

In the same way, the soul that feeds on Jesus will soon experience the effects of such feeding. Let us look at verses 56-57 'He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.' There are two effects of eating mentioned here by our Lord: Firstly - Dwelling in Him and He in us. This speaks of His abiding presence. What a joy it is to know that Jesus is always with us, just as He promised in Hebrews 13:5 'I will never leave Thee nor forsake Thee.' What great comfort and peace this gives us! 

The other thing that exhibits Christ in us is Life. Verse 57 says, 'He shall live by me.' This is not merely physical existence, but a new abundant life. It is a meaningful life that is lived with Christ and for Christ, as Paul testified in Galatians 2:20 'I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.'

Seeing how wonderful it is to have Christ living His life in you, will you now resolve to eat and live? Or will you let your soul become spiritually anorexic? What a pitiful soul this is, that is emaciated and dead even though there is food to eat. Please don't let this happen to you. There is enough of the Lord Jesus for everyone who will come to Him. Will you come to Him now to be satisfied and nourished?

John 06:16-24 - It Is I; Be Not Afraid

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 8 am service, 2008-03-09

Text: John 6:16-24

Two weeks ago a 7.2-magnitude earthquake took place about 580 km away in Sumatra, and the tremors were felt in many parts of Singapore at about 4 pm. The news reported that 53 buildings on our island were affected, and some people were evacuated. Early the next morning some residents in Geylang and Marine Parade were rudely awakened by tremors of the aftershocks of that earthquake. Thankfully, no damage or injury was reported, as has always been the case with all previous instances of tremors.

However, those who live in places like Padang and Bengkulu have every reason to fear and rush out of buildings whenever such tremors are felt, because they may be harbingers death and destruction. And many who run out of their homes will stay outside for a long time, because they fear the aftershocks. And their fear is real. Only 5 days earlier, a 7.5-magnitude earthquake had rocked the province of Aceh in Indonesia, killing 3 people and seriously injuring 25 others. This brought back memories of the earthquake in December 2004 which triggered huge tsunami waves that destroyed coastal towns and villages around the Indian Ocean and killed 168,000 people in Aceh. 

While many people are fearful of death, some have greater fears that may even overcome their fear of death. Many years ago there was a history professor in our local university who became a Member of Parliament. He was sent on a mission to communist Russia, and had a very unpleasant experience there with the KGB. After he was rescued and returned to Singapore, he continued to be plagued with fearful nightmares filled with gunshots and memories of being pursued and interrogated. One day, when he was depressed and resting at home, he heard what he thought was gunfire. Actually it was only the sound of riveting going on in a construction site nearby. But this was enough to trigger off the fears in him again, and he hanged himself in the bathroom.

Fear is one of the greatest enemies of man. It brings out the worst in people and makes them do the most irrational things. Some respond to fear with antagonism, and rebellion. Others respond to fear with total despair and even suicide. 

And we who belong to the Lord sometimes find ourselves gripped by fear too. We are not immune to fear, and if we are not careful fear can lead us to commit grievous sins against God. It was fear that caused Abraham to tell the half-truth about his wife, instead of trusting in God to protect him in Egypt. It was fear that caused Elijah to run for his life from the wicked queen Jezebel, instead of trusting in God to deliver him. It was fear that caused the apostle Peter to deny Christ three times!

Seeing what fear can do even to the ablest of God's servants it is important that we learn how to respond to fear in the right manner. This morning we will learn from God's Holy Word that the secret of responding well to fear is to know who is with us when we face any trial or difficult situation in life. Whenever you feel afraid and your heart is gripped with fear please ask yourself this question: Who is with me? It is not just a trusted friend or loved one, but the Lord Jesus. This thought alone can remove all fear from your heart. Dearly beloved, Jesus is all that you need to deal with fear, just as He said to His fearful disciples 'It is I, be not afraid.' We shall now read the passage where these assuring words were spoken - John 6:16-24. (Read)

Let us first consider how this event took place. It was just after Jesus had fed the 5,000 on a mount on the east shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was now late in the evening and the twelve disciples were tired from all the work they had done in distributing the bread and fishes and gathering up the fragments. Jesus instructed them to return home to Capernaum which was on the other side of the Sea, but He Himself did not go with them because He wanted to spend time alone in prayer. 

And as the disciples got into their boat and set sail for Capernaum the sky grew darker, the winds grew stronger and the waves grew larger. And very soon they were caught in a terrible storm at sea. According to v.18 'the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew.' The word 'arose' here literally means 'woke up thoroughly.' It was as if the sea was a sleeping giant that had now woken up to toss about the little boat of disciples. Nine years ago I had the opportunity to sail in a similar boat across the Sea of Galilee and my trip was wonderfully smooth and calm. 

But I was told not to be fooled by the serene calmness of the Sea of Galilee, because it is well known for its sudden violent storms. These are caused by the temperature difference between the hot air above the sea (about 40 degrees C) and the cold air on the surrounding mountains. 

As the cold air descends the mountain sides it collides with the hot air, creating strong air currents. Sometimes, this happens all around the lake at the same time, and because the terrain is shaped like a funnel, the winds converge on the water with great force to whip up a raging storm within minutes. One such storm in March 1992 sent waves 3 meters high crashing into the coastal city of Tiberias and causing considerable damage to it.

A fishing boat with 12 disciples will definitely not be able to withstand such a maelstrom especially at the middle of the sea, where the winds and waves are most violent. A wave or two breaking over them will fill the boat completely, and it will sink, with only the strongest swimmers having a chance to make it to shore. This is why v.19 tells us that the disciples 'rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs.' They were rowing the boat as hard as they could against the wind, to get to the shore and prevent it from being swept towards the middle of the sea. 

But the distance they traveled indicates that they did not succeed in doing this. Five and twenty or thirty furlongs is about 6 km. If they had traveled that far in good weather they would have arrived safely at Capernaum within half an hour. But because the strong winds and waves had prevailed against them, they had drifted way off course. Their boat was now right smack in the middle of the Sea of Galilee which is 11 km broad (Matthew 14:24) and they were being lashed back and forth by the merciless waves. This was really the worst nightmare of the disciples' lives! Their chances of survival were extremely slim, and death seemed very very imminent for them. All hope of salvation was gone. 

After several hours of struggling in the dark against the elements and clinging desperately on to the boat for their lives, the disciples suddenly saw a strange figure coming towards the boat. In the darkness of the night they could not see who it was or what it was, but it was clearly moving toward them on the surface of the waters. It was already bad enough to be caught in a violent storm at sea on a dark night. The last thing they needed was to be further terrified by the approach of this mysterious figure. This was really the last straw. It was all that these weary men could take. According to Matthew 14:26 they 'cried out for fear,' and said, 'It is a spirit!' It was then that they heard a most familiar voice saying to them, 'It is I, be not afraid.'

And they realized that the mysterious figure on the water was none other than their Lord Jesus who had come to their rescue. What joy and comfort filled their hearts when they heard the soothing sound of His voice saying those assuring words, 'It is I, be not afraid.' 

Perhaps these are words that some of us here really need to hear today: 'It is I, be not afraid.' Perhaps your life has lately been filled with stormy winds and you are already being tossed to and fro by them. You dread going to work because of the stormy situation you have to deal with at the office. Or perhaps you are fearful of going home after work to face the raging storms of family strife and unhappiness over some trivial matter. Or perhaps you have committed an error or sin and you are fearful of the horrible storms you may face if you were to accept full responsibility for it. Whatever the storm in your life may be, you need to hear those words from our Lord Jesus - 'It is I, be not afraid.'

Or perhaps things are going quite well for you right now, but the Lord is using this message to prepare you for some crisis you will face later on. The days of calm sunshine you now enjoy may turn suddenly and unexpectedly into chaotic darkness. Then like the 12 disciples, you will find yourself right in the middle of a sea of trouble. Perhaps it may be the darkness of loneliness, helplessness and insecurity. Or perhaps it may be the darkness of defeat, disease or depression. And perhaps what strikes the greatest terror in your heart is the darkness of death. There have been an unusual number of deaths in the first two months of this year - I have attended 2 wakes, preached at 4 vigil services and officiated 2 funerals. Perhaps you fear that someone you love is getting weaker and may soon depart because of old age or illness. Or perhaps you are fearful about facing your own death. What will it be like to breathe your last breath and close your eyes for the last time in this world? If you fear any of these things, please listen to the One who says, 'It is I, be not afraid.'

What we need to know now is the reason why we should not be afraid. What is it that convinces us to abandon our fears? The answer is found in knowing who it is who says, 'It is I.' There are at least 5 things you should know about Him. Firstly, 

A. It is He Who Sees You and Knows Your Needs

According to v.15 of our text, Jesus had departed into a mountain alone. And what did He do there? 

Let us turn our Bibles to the parallel passage in Mark 6:46-48 to find out: 'And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray. And when even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and he alone on the land. And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary unto them.' Even though Jesus was not in the boat with His disciples He was still watching them from afar. He saw them struggling at the oars against the winds and waves. He saw their boat drifting helplessly into the worst part of the storm. He knew that they were in great danger and He felt their distress and misery in His heart. And He did all this despite being about 6 km away from them. Our Lord does not need to have telescopic vision to see what was going on. Distance is no restriction to Him. And though He has now ascended up to Heaven, He can see every struggle you face and is aware of every pain and sorrow you feel.

And our Lord could see His disciples very clearly despite the darkness of the night. Darkness is no impediment to His watchful eye. He does not need night vision goggles to see what was happening to His disciples. Psalm 139:11,12 tells us, 'If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.'

Dearly beloved, He who tells you not to fear is the One who sees you and knows your needs. He sees you when you are at the furthest corner of the earth. He sees you when you are in the deepest darkest of the night. This truth can relieve you of all your fears. When no one knows and understands the burdens in your heart, He knows. He understands. When everyone around you is too busy with their own problems to notice your distress, He sees you and watches over you.

B. It is He Who Tarries in Order to Test You

But you may ask, If Jesus sees me and understand my needs, why does He not answer me now? Why has He not come to deliver me yet?' This may have been the thought of some disciples in that boat. How they wished that Jesus was there with them. Then He can easily stop the winds and waves from raging. This is what Jesus had done for them in an earlier miracle, not recorded in John's Gospel, but in the other 3 gospels (Matthew 8:23-27; Mark 4:35-41 and Luke 8:22-25). They were sailing across the Sea of Galilee in the evening and Jesus was asleep on a pillow at the rear end of the boat. 

The boat was caught in a violent storm and the strong waves were filling it with water. In their desperation they woke their master up and said, 'Master, carest thou not that we perish?' (Mark 4:38) All that Jesus did was to rise up and say, 'Peace, be still' and everything became calm instantly! The disciples were thoroughly amazed that even the wind and the sea obeyed Him.

Now in John 6, the disciples were caught in a storm at sea again. The difference is that Jesus was not in the boat this time. How they must have regretted leaving the shore without taking Him along! But though Jesus was not with them He could see them from the mountain where He was praying. And yet He did not immediately command the winds and waves to stop troubling His disciples. He allowed the storm to rage until He came to them. And Jesus did not come to them immediately when He saw their distress. He waited a few hours until about 3:00 am (The 'fourth watch' in Matthew 14:25 and Mark 6:48) before He went to them.

Why did He delay? It was actually for their own good - so that His disciples will grow in faith and patience. The storm was not there by accident. Jesus had planned for it, and He had deliberately made the disciples face the storm without Him. The earlier incident when He was with them had already taught them to trust Him to calm the winds and waves. They had grown spiritually from that, but they needed to grow some more. Another test was necessary, and this time it was to be a more difficult test to refine their faith further and to teach them to wait patiently for His deliverance. 

Dearly beloved, the Lord may do the same thing to you to accomplish the same purpose in your life. He wants you to grow into the fullness of spiritual maturity. He wants you to have a stronger faith in Him and to develop more patience in prayer. But the only way you can have these important virtues is to go through times of testing. Listen to what James 1:2-4 says: 'My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.' Knowing this helps you now to understand why there are times when you do not immediately receive what you had prayed for, and why the deliverance you had hoped for still has not come. The Lord is working faith and patience into your life. You must let Him finish that work. Then, and only then, will His deliverance come. 

C. It is He Who Controls All Things

And when His deliverance finally comes, you will realise that Jesus doeth all things well. And all things are at His disposal to accomplish His purpose for your life. Every circumstance of your life is a tool that He uses to shape you andmould you, and also to wean you away from your love of the world and from self-reliance. Nothing is beyond His control, not even the stormy winds and waves. 

All these seemingly uncontrollable elements are His faithful servants, doing whatever He commands them to do. They are all 'under His feet' (cf. Psalm 8:6 'Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet.') When Jesus walked on the water, each wave of the sea rose up obediently to catch every footstep and to support His weight. And so when He said to the fearful disciples, 'It is I, be not afraid' it may be understood to mean, 'It is I, who have full dominion over all things - even the winds and waves that you have been struggling with. Be not afraid. No harm can befall you when I am in full control.'

This is the meaning of the miracle of Jesus walking on the sea - it speaks to us of His sovereign control of all things. And you must let your thoughts focus on this awesome truth whenever you feel helpless against seemingly uncontrollable forces in your life. The Lord is in control. He arranges all things for His glory and for the good of His children. This truth will relieve you of every fear, as the psalmist says, 'Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.' (Psalm 46:2-3)

D. It is He Who Comes at the Right Time

Thus far we have seen 3 reasons why we should cease to be afraid. Firstly, the Lord sees us and knows our needs. Secondly, if He tarries, it is only to test us and develop patience in us. And thirdly, He is in fullcontrol of all things. We now come to the 4th reason. It is the assurance that He always comes at the right time. The Lord Jesus never arrives too late at the scene. In verse 19 we observe that He drew near to the ship of His disciples. It does not say that He drew near to the shipwreck of His disciples, or to the place where the ship had sunk and His disciples had drowned. He came to save them at the right time. The Lord's timing is always perfect and precise. 

And this also applies to the timing of His second coming. When we look at developments in the world and see things going from bad to worse, we wonder when Christ will come. The Lord will come just at the right time, and it will not be a moment too late. When all things seem hopeless and utterly desperate He will come to save His beloved bride which is the Church and He will bring her safely home to His glorious home in heaven. This brings us to the last point of the message: 

E. It is He Who Brings You Safely Home

We need not fear, when we know that the One who said, 'It is I, be not afraid' is He who will bring us safely home. In verse 21 of our text, we see that the moment the disciples took Jesus into their boat they instantly found themselves at their destination. Jesus had miraculously transported them from the middle of the sea to the shore next to Capernaum. They did not have to row their boat for the distance of 6 km to reach home. 

Dearly belove, one day it will be your turn to be taken home by the Lord Jesus. If this should happen before His Return, and you leave this world from a deathbed, you can be assured that you will be immediately in heaven. If you belong to Christ, you have nothing to fear in death. As you close your eyes for the last time you may hear Someone saying to you, 'It is I, be not afraid.' It is only the loving voice of Jesus coming to bring you safely home. It means that your struggle with the winds and waves of life has finally ceased and you can go home to your eternal rest. 

But if you are blessed to be able to live right up till the time that Christ returns, rest assured that there is nothing to fear when He comes for you. This time He will come, not walking on water anymore, but riding on clouds of heaven. And when you are caught up to meet the Lord in the air, you will be glad to leave this stormy world behind, and to be with the Lord Jesus forever. That day may be coming soon. Let us all be patient to wait for His coming. In the mean time, while we must press onward to sail on the stormy waters of life, let us relieve ourselves of all our fears by knowing that He who said, 'It is I, be not afraid' is He who sees us and knows all our needs; He who tarries in order to test us; He who controls all things; He who comes at the right time, and He who brings us safely home.

John 06:22-40 - The True Bread From Heaven

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 8 am service, 2008-05-11

Text: John 6:22-40

This morning we will continue from where we left off in our study of the Gospel of John 2 months ago. We were in chapter 6 where Jesus fed a crowd of five thousand with just five loaves of bread and two small fishes. In today's sermon we see the people's response to this miracle. And we will be a little disappointed at their response. In summary they went around looking for Jesus, but it was only because they wanted Him to keep on feeding them and doing miracles for them. They wanted to have all the benefits He could offer to them, but not the commitment that He required of them.

The situation in the world today is still about the same. Many people would gladly honour anyone who will provide the best benefits to them, and who is able to carry out whatever the people want them to do. This usually becomes evident during election time. If a political candidate is able to do what our Lord Jesus did, in feeding a crowd of 5,000 miraculously at his election rally, he would become an instant success. 

And if someone who had the same power that our Lord Jesus had were to run for election, he would probably win all the votes, because he can easily work miracles to feed and provide anything and everything that the people want. There would be no inflation because he provides all the food, water and basic necessities that are needed. There would be no more fear of hand foot mouth disease or dengue because one word from Him will instantly heal all the sick and eliminate all the aedes mosquitoes. 

If terrorists were to try to come into our shores secretly, He would know it beforehand and stop them before any harm could be done by them. He would also know where Mas Selamat is hiding and put him back into detention. Can you see how nice and convenient everything would be if only a person with the same kind of power that Jesus had would stand for election? 

But that is not the reason why Jesus came down from heaven. He did not come to provide people with all the material blessings we could wish for. He did not come to be a dispensing machine that gives us whatever we want when we press the right buttons. He did not come to be the solution to our material needs, our wants and our greeds. What then did the Lord Jesus come down from heaven for? He came to restore us to a right relationship with God. He came to be our Lord and claim His rightful ownership of our lives.

And what this means is that when we come to Jesus, what we should seek above all things is to give ourselves to Him. It is utterly wrong for us to come to Jesus if our motives are to find a convenient way of having all our material needs provided for. In today's study from John 6 we want to see the right way in which we ought to come to Jesus. Let us turn our Bibles to John 6 and read from verses 22 to 40 (read). In the outline you will notice that there are three steps in coming to Jesus the right way. The first step is to:

I. Seek Him for the right reasons (vv. 22-26)

In vv.22 to 25 we notice that there was a large group of people who were seeking for Jesus. These were the same people who had eaten the food that Jesus had multiplied just the day before. But now they could not find Him there because Jesus had already left. Let us read v.24,25: 'When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither His disciples, they also took shipping and came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus. And when they had found Him on the other side of the sea, they said unto Him, Rabbi, when camest Thou hither?'

This question that they asked Jesus reveals one of the reasons why they were seeking for Him: they were intrigued by His miracles. They were amazed at how He could suddenly appear at Capernaum, when there was no transport to take Him across the lake. According to v.22, the people knew that there was only one boat that had left the place where Jesus had fed the 5000, and only His disciples had left in it. 

Jesus really had no way to reach Capernaum about 11 km accross the Sea of Galillee and to be there by the very next day. It was clearly a miracle. And so they asked Him, 'When did you arrive here at Capernaum?' What they did not know of course, was that Jesus had miraculously walked on the water accross the sea of Galillee the night before until He came to the boat His disciples were in and then He joined them for the rest of the journey. We know that this happened from our study of the preceding verses 2 months ago. Nevertheless we see that the people took the trouble of crossing the Sea of Galilee because they were primarily interested in the amazing results of His miracles. And what they expected from Him was more miracles and more miracles.

Many people today seek Christ for the same reason - not because of who He is, but because of the so-called miracles that are being performed in His name. But miracles by themselves cannot save or satisfy the soul. Only Christ can do that. Those who seek for miracles, signs and wonders will always need to see more miracles and more signs and wonders. They will not remain satisfied with the miracles they have already seen, but will always crave for more of the same thing. If you were to do a Google search on the Internet for the word 'miracles' and you will find over 20 million websites on them. And some of things that happen at miracle rallies are really strange - gold dust falling on a crowd during a meeting, dental fillings changing into gold, holy oil oozing from a person's palms with a smell of frankincense and myrrh. There are many who have an insatiable appetite for things that are miraculous and strange.

Coming back to our text, we see that in v.30, the people who looked for Jesus were just like this. They asked Him for another miracle. They said to Him, 'What sign shewest Thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work?' We find this quite strange. Had they forgotten so quickly that Jesus had just performed two great miracles in feeding the 5,000 and in arriving at Capernaum without a boat? No. They just wanted to see more, and even greater miracles from Jesus. 

Let us be careful that we do not seek Jesus for this same reason. His miracles were not an end in themselves, but a means to an end - to authenticate His identity as the divine Son of God and our Lord. We notice that Jesus did not answer the question they asked Him in v.25 'When camest Thou hither?' He did not tell them when He arrived. Why? Because that would only have fed their appetite for more juicy amazing happenings.

Instead he said in v.26 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek Me, not because ye saw miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.' Here Jesus reveals the hidden agenda or the real reason why the people sought after Him: They simply wanted to get more free meals!

We must be careful that this does not become our reason for seeking Christ. It can easily become that. The world today has become increasingly pragmatic. We tend to measure everything in terms of its usefulness or benefits to meet our desires to solve our problems. If something can help us to advance quickly in life, to increase our well-being and status, we say: 'Make full use of it.' But if something cannot do these things for us we say, 'Don't waste any time or effort on it.' Unfortunately this pragmatic approach is also carried over into the church. There are Christians who make their service and devotion to the Lord conditional upon His material blessings in return to them. If God does not bless them and give them all that they want in life, they will forget Him and resort to some other means to get what they want.

Dearly beloved, we must be careful not to treat God this way. We must also be careful that we do not misrepresent God in our efforts to win people to Christ, by telling them, 'If you will come to Him, you will get all the success and material benefits you desire.' Listen to what Martyn Lloyd Jones, the famous pastor of Westminster Chapel once said, 'Any teaching that starts with us and our needs rather than the glory of God is unscriptural and seriously unscriptural. That subjective approach is what has led many astray for so many years.'

The term that is used for th)s approach is 'seeker-sensitive' and it is very popular now in the church growth movement. This means finding out what the people need and then giving it to them. Hence they will first conduct a survey of the community to find out what the people really want. Then they will seek to satisfy those needs in the church - e.g. a running a fitness centre, cooking classes and a cafeteria. But these are only meeting the felt needs of the people and not their real need.

In contrast to this, listen to what Jesus said in v.27- 'Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you.' Let us not labour for the meat which perishes. Don't get caughtkup in the materialistic and consumerist trends of the world today. We all need to work in order to earn an honest living to support ourselves and our family. 

But there are definitely more important things in life than just food and drink, property or success, popularity or influence, wealth or health. Jesus said that a man's life does not consist in the abundance of the things which he possesses. God's Word tells us to set our priorities on spiritual things, on things that are above, and on our relationship to God. This is what we should be seeking Christ for, at all times.

So when you come to Jesus, please make sure that you seek Him for the right reasons: Not because you want to see miracles happening, or because you want material blessings from Him, but because you want to live in a right relationship with God - this is life in its fullness: to know your Creator and to love Him.

Now we go on to look at the Second step in coming to Jesus. And this is to:

II. Believe that He is the True Bread from Heaven (vv.26-33)

In v. 27, Jesus said 'Labour 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 hath God the Father sealed.' 

We observe that the emphasis here is not so much on what Jesus will give, but on who Jesus is - He is the One on whom God the Father has placed His seal of approval. In v.29 Jesus said, 'This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.' In v.33, Jesus describes Himself as 'He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.' We notice that in the whole passage our Lord keeps on emphasizing His own identity - that He comes from God and that He is the One sent by God to be the only divinely-appointed means of salvation and the only One who is worthy of our faith.

What does this mean when we come to Jesus? It means that when we come to Him, it must always be on the basis of who He is and not on what we want Him to do for us. Anyone who comes to Jesus must acknowledge that He is rightfully the Lord of all heaven and earth, and the Lord of our lives, with all the rights and privileges thereof. 

But in our text, we observe that the people did not regard Jesus this way. They misunderstood who He was. They came to Him without properly understanding and acknowledging His true identity. In v.31 they compared Jesus with Moses, saying 'Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, he gave them bread from heaven to eat.' This implies that if Jesus would do the same miracle of producing manna everyday for 40 years as Moses did, then they would acknowledge that He is as great as Moses.

But Christ cannot be compared with Moses at all. Moses was only a man who became a great prophet. Christ is very much greater than him, being God Himself in the flesh, the Lord of all, the One by whom all things were created. When we come to Christ, we cannot acknowledge Him as being anything less than that.

Jesus pointed out how much greater He is than Moses, in v.32, as He said: 'Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven and giveth life to the world.' The manna that Moses gave to the Israelites in the wilderness was not the true bread of heaven. It was only a symbol or type which ultimately points to Christ. In v.35 Jesus says: 'I am The Bread of life.- Jesus is the one and only Unique Bread from heaven that can give life not only to the Israelites, but also to the world. There is absolutely no one else who can rightfully make this claim. 

To come to Jesus in the right way, we must therefore fully agree with this, and we must fully aknowledge that this is what He is to us. To believe in Jesus is not just entertaining the possibility in our minds that what the Bible says about Him is true. It is to be fully convinced that Jesus is all that He claims to be, without any doubts at all. To believe in Jesus is to be so fully convinced, that one is even willing to act and respond to that knowledge with simple child-like trust and full commitment. This brings us to the third and most important step in coming to Jesus the right way:

III. Commit our lives fully to Him alone to save and keep

No one can say that he has come to Jesus until he has committed his life fully to Him. It does not matter how many miracles of Jesus a person has seen, or whether he has talked with Jesus face to face like those in our text did: Unless a person has committed his life fully to the Lord Jesus, he has not come to the Him yet. 

In v.36 Jesus Himself stressed this principle to the people who came looking for Him. He said 'But I said unto you, that ye also have seen me, and believe not. All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out.'

Why did Jesus say this to the people? Had they not shown great zeal in looking for Him? Had they not taken a lot of trouble to sail across the Sea of Galilee to look for Him at Capernaum? And yet Jesus said that they do not believe, and that they have not come to Him, for if they had really come to Him, he would not cast them out. When I think about this situation I am reminded about the many people who take great pains to make long pilgrimages to so-called holy places, all in Jesus' name, who climb up mountains and bathe themselves in holy waterfalls, thinking that this will somehow please God and gain them some special privilege or blessing from God. 

How futile it is to do all of these things. These actions seem to display some form of devotion, but how deceiving they are. The people who came looking for Jesus at Capernaum asked Him in v.28 'What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?' To them, obtaining salvation and eternal life consisted in finding just the right formula of things to do, to please God. It is like they were asking Jesus, 'Please just tell us the secret code that will open the combination lock on God's safe of salvation.' And they expected Jesus to prescribe for them a list of tasks that they could do and get over with to meet all of God's requirements. But what did Jesus answer them? 

He said, in v.29 - 'This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.' He said: All you need to do is accept the gift of God. Simply commit your life entirely to Him and depend entirely on Him - that's all. It is such a beautifully simple and fundamental response, and yet it is not easy for people to respond this way. Why? It is because commitment means full surrender of our lives to Jesus Christ. When a person commits himself to Christ, he must abandon his trust in everything else and he must even abandon trust in himself. He is then able to say, like the apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 1:12 - 'For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.'

But the sinful nature and pride that is within every one of us dislikes commitment, because it means we no longer live this life for our selves but for someone else. Commitment involves swallowing our pride, and humbly but willingly giving up to Christ every right that we claim for ourselves. Man's self-centered nature does not like this at all, and he would rather settle for some works that he can do to fulfill the requirements, works that he can just get over and done with quickly, without commitment; works that will boost his ego when he can accomplish them and then say with pride - 'I have done them! Mission accomplished.'

In commitment to Christ, one can only humbly say 'Not I, but Christ! Christ has done it! And by the grace of God I am what I am.' In our commitment to Christ we also will not have any grounds to boast that we by our own good judgment and will, have overcome our pride and committed ourselves to Christ, because even that would not have been possible if God the Father had not changed our hearts and given us to Christ first. In v.37 Christ says 'All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me.' and in v.44 He stresses again, 'No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent me draw Him.'

But how can you know whether you are one of those whom the Father has given to the Son? How can you tell if you are one of those whom the Father has drawn to Christ? The answer is that there is no need for you to know what you cannot possibly know on this side of glory. You only need to come to Jesus. And when you really come to Him and make Him your Saviour and Lord, then the things that Jesus says in vv.37 and 44 are true of you.

Dear friends, if you have not come to Christ yet for salvation, God commands you to do so today. Coming to Christ is actually the most important step in your life. God holds you responsible if you refuse to do this. Come to Him now and do not delay. And you have the assurance from Jesus Himself that when you come to Him, He will certainly receive you and welcome you. He will not turn you away. 

I am glad for those of us here who have already come to Christ. If you have committed your life to Jesus Christ, you have the most wonderful, blessings for life and for eternity. In v.35 Jesus says that anyone who comes to Him and believes in Him shall never hunger and never thirst. This does not mean that you can stop eating and drinking, but it means that there is now a deep and lasting satisfaction, a satisfaction of your soul that no material blessing in this world can ever give to you. 

And in v.40 Jesus gives us the wonderful assurance that 'every one which seeth the Son and believeth on Him may have everlasting life: and I will raise Him up at the last day.' The blessing never departs from us. It will always keep us right till the very end of time. Once saved, always saved! But if you have not come to Jesus for salvation you have none of these things. It may be possible that there are some here this morning who have not come to Jesus yet, even though you have been attending our worship services regularly. 

Only you can tell as you look into your own life and search your own heart, whether you have really received Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord or not. 

And if you discover that you have not, please do not delay, but come to the Lord Jesus right away. Please do not end up like the people in the text we have just studied: They came seeking for Jesus, and they even heard His words of life, but they were not willing to commit their lives to Him. They had come so close to being saved, but they missed it. Why? Because they sought Him for the wrong reasons and they did not acknowledge that He was the True Bread of God from heaven, the Life-Giver of the world.

John 06:1-15 - The Supernatural Supper

By Rev Charles Seet

Preached at / Published Life BPC 10:45 am service, 2008-02-24

Text: John 6:1-15

The title of our sermon is 'the Supernatural Supper.' This title refers to the miracle of our Lord Jesus, in which He fed more than 5,000 people with only 5 loaves of bread and 2 small fishes. If you are wondering why the sermon title refers to this meal as a supper, it is because a 'supper' is defined as an evening meal, and the account of the same miracle found in the other Gospels tell us that it was already evening when this meal took place (Matthew 14:15; Mark 6:35 'when the day was far spent.'). 

It turned out to be the most memorable supper for all who were present. It wasn't merely for the purpose of filling their hungry stomachs. It was truly a miraculous meal which was meant to reveal the real identity of their host to them. It was meant to teach them that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah of the Jews and the special Prophet through whom God would reveal Himself to the world.

I. The Purpose of the Supper (vv.1-4,14)

This purpose was achieved in the end. Look at v.14 'Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.' Who was this prophet? He is the one that was foretold in Deuteronomy 18:15-18 'The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, [Moses] and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.'

In this passage Moses foretold the advent of a special prophet that God would raise up from Israel to reveal His Word to them. Now, after the time of Moses, there had been many other prophets sent by God, e.g. Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah and Micah. 

Even John the Baptist was known to be a prophet (and at the time of the miracle in our text, he had just been beheaded by King Herod). But while these prophets were all great in their own right, none of them had ever been recognized as the fulfillment of the prophecy given in Deuteronomy 18. Why? Because none of them had important qualification that this special prophet must have ' he has to be like Moses. Did Christ has this important qualification? Yes, He did.

In His miracle of feeding the 5,000, there were several points that would have made the crowd recognise His close resemblance to Moses. The first point was the location of the miracle - according to v.3 'Jesus went up into a mountain.' This was exactly what Moses had done ' he climbed up Mount Sinai and there he received the Law of God in the form of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 19:20) and gave them to the Israelites who were gathered at the foot of the mount. Jesus likewise went up into a mount and when the crowd gathered, He taught them with divine authority. Moreover the 12 disciples who sat with Jesus on that mount would correspond to the 12 tribes of Israel that had been present with Moses at Mount Sinai.

The second point was the time when this miracle took place ' according to v.4 of our text, 'the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.' Who implemented the Passover? It was Moses. You may remember that the Passover was instituted by God through Moses on the night before the Israelites left Egypt. It remains the most important annual feast of the Jews to this day. Now, there were some interesting ways in which the meal that Jesus hosted for the 5,000 men resembled a Passover meal. The Jews always have their Passover meal in the evening, and the family would sit together at the dining table. The head of the home would lead them through a prescribed order of service, which included thanksgiving, the reading of portions of scripture and singing. At a certain point in the meal, he would break a piece of unleavened bread and distribute the broken pieces to everyone at the table.

Now, what Jesus did at the mount ' making everyone sit down (v.10), giving thanks for the meal and distributing the bread to them (v.11) - all this reminded them of the Passover and of Moses who had first implemented it for Israel. This in would have helped the crowd to realize that Jesus was the prophet like unto Moses.

The third and most convincing point of all that did this was the way in which the food was provided for the multitudes ' it was by a miracle. When Moses led the Israelites in the wilderness he had a huge logistic problem. Where would He find sufficient food to feed such a huge number of people in the wilderness? 

The answer came in the form of a supernatural food called manna which miraculously appeared on the ground in great abundance every morning. This bread from heaven filled the stomachs of about 2 million Israelites every single day for about 40 years! And now that Jesus provided food to fill the stomachs of 5,000 Israelites with a miracle, His close resemblance to Moses was unmistakeable.

Thus we have seen how the supernatural supper that the multitudes enjoyed from the hand of Jesus convinced them all that He is none other than that great prophet like unto Moses, who would one day come into the world. Now, all the details of this miracle have been carefully recorded in the Bible to convince many more of the same truth - that Jesus is truly that Prophet who was foretold in Deuteronomy 18, the One that the whole world must now listen to carefully, because He is none other than God's anointed revealer of truth to the world. This is stated so well in Hebrews 1:1-2 'God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.'

Dearly beloved, please consider what this truth should mean to you. Since Jesus is God's anointed revealer of truth, have you made Him your only source of truth and knowledge? Do you listen to Him and obey Him? There are many different voices in the world today and all of them clamour to be heard, and claim to lead people to the right knowledge. There is the voice of philosophy that advocates human reasoning alone. There is the voice of the New Age Movement which advocates transcendental meditation to realize that you are God. There are the voices of many cults - Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Scientology, etc. Which of them should you listen to? The answer was provided by God the Father on the mount of transfiguration 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.' (John 17:5). There is no way that anyone can know God accurately and personally except through His Son, Jesus Christ!

Now, the supernatural supper that the 5,000 men had, not only revealed that Jesus was that Prophet that should come into the world. It was also displayed how good He is. The meal was a beautiful demonstration that Jesus is truly the Good Shepherd who cares for His sheep (John 10:14). You ask how this is so. Firstly, it is seen in His desire to feed the great multitude. He knew that they were very tired and hungry by now. Verse 1 tells us that Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee. He and His disciples took a ship across the northern part of the lake. 

But according to verse 2 a great multitude followed Him because they had seen the miracles He had done. Now, how did that group of 5,000 people follow Him if they had no ships to sail in? The answer is found in the parallel account of Matthew 14:13 which tells us that when Jesus departed from Capernaum by ship, the people followed Him on foot. Since they can't possibly walk across the sea, they ran along the northern shore of the sea, and crossed the River Jordan to get to the place where the ship of Jesus landed. This means that they traveled a distance of about 4-5 km on foot. 

As our Lord Jesus saw these weary people coming towards Him, His heart was filled with compassion for them, and He wanted them to be refreshed with food. And this led Him to perform the great miracle. The good shepherd made His flock lie down in green pastures (v.10) and He served them a nourishing meal of bread and fish. That meal was exactly what those tired and hungry multitudes needed after their long journey on foot. Dearly beloved, do you know that this same Jesus who fed the tired and hungry multitudes that day knows all your needs? His heart is filled with compassion when you come to Him, hungry and in dire need of physical and spiritual refreshment. His loving eyes can see how tired and weak you are. His loving heart can feel how despondent you are, and He longs to strengthen you and support you with His abundant supply of grace! If you came for worship this morning with a heart that is weary and troubled with the cares of life, let your soul be refreshed by your Good Shepherd. Commit all your cares to Him.

And after you have experienced the goodness of your Good Shepherd, you will surely testify, like King David 'My cup runneth over.' (Psalm 23:5) Whatever the Lord gives to you is never insufficient. His goodness ensures that His supply is more than enough for your needs. As a child of God you are therefore the most blessed creature in the whole universe, because you have a Good Shepherd who watches over you day and night, who is mindful of your needs, and who keeps giving and giving until your cup overflows. Just look at the abundance of bread and fishes that the multitudes enjoyed when Jesus fed them. Verse 12 tells us that they were all filled - they ate and ate until they were fully satisfied - and there were plenty of leftovers - enough to fill up twelve baskets. Their cup truly overflowed! 

Dearly beloved, let us never cease to thank our Lord for His overflowing goodness to us. If we have received so much from Him and experienced His great goodness without measure, surely the least we should do is to give thanks to Him. Whenever you wake up in the morning, do you thank Him for a good night's rest and for keeping you throughout the night? When you travel on the road and reach your destination without any mishap, do you thank Him for journeying mercies? Please don't take these blessings for granted. And whenever you sit down at the table for a meal, be sure to give thanks to Him. Saying grace at every meal should be done from the heart, and not merely as a habit or custom. And we must learn to do this from the example of Jesus Himself - v.11 tells us that when He took the loaves, Jesus gave thanks before distributing the food to the multitudes.

We who are parents should also set this example at home. Make it a point to say grace when you sit with your family at the dining table, and encourage your children to say grace at every meal. When your children learn to thank God for something as basic as the food they eat, they are more likely to be thankful to Him later on for every other manifestation of His goodness. 

And besides teaching your child to be thankful for everything he receives, teach him also to share his blessings with others. As Matthew 10:8 says 'Freely ye have received, freely give.' Since your cup overflows with blessings from the Lord, it is not good to hoard up and keep all the surplus blessings for yourself. Whatever overflows from your cup can be used of God to bring much joy and satisfaction to others. This is what one child who was among the multitudes discovered. He did not keep the five loaves and two fishes in his lunch box all to himself but he gave them to Jesus. And that was all that Jesus needed to feed the 5,000!

II. The Provision of the Supper (vv.9-13)

There is something interesting about this child, which is not brought out by the English translation of v.9 'There is a lad here.' The word 'lad' does not tell us much about this child. But the Greek word paidarion does. And that is the actual word that was used here. This word has a diminutive '-arion' ending, and it is better translated as a 'little boy.' We can also add that he was a poor little boy, because the barley loaves he had were the bread of the poorest classes in society. Those who were economically well ate loaves made from wheat, not barley.

And here is another interesting fact; The word 'lad' is not the only word in this verse that has this diminutive ending. The words 'small fishes' also carries the same ending. It is actually the Greek word opsarion. And this refers to the small sardine-like fishes that were commonly caught, dried and salted by people who lived around the Sea of Galilee. These were eaten more as a savoury tidbit to add flavour than to fill the stomach. Just as most of us hardly eat plain bread without butter, jam or kaya, the two small fishes were only meant to make the plain loaves taste a little better.

Now, the presence of these two diminutive nouns in one verse brings out the idea of insignificance. And this in turn accentuates the feeling of helplessness conveyed by the question at the end of verse 9 'But what are they among so many?' What can this poor little boy do? What can his five barley loaves and two tiny fishes do? In the eyes of the world they can do nothing. We might as well not have them at all.

Before the poor little boy offered his lunch to the disciples, Philip had already estimated how much would be needed to feed so many people. Look at what he said in v.7 'Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.' Now 200 penny worth is 8 months wages of a rural worker. And this is roughly about S$4,800. This was perhaps the amount that the 12 disciples had if they pooled all their funds together at that moment. And even this would not be enough to fill the stomachs of the multitude - just a small snack. Perhaps in Philip's mind what would really be nice was to have a rich philanthropist come forward to donate 2 or 3 times that amount for them to purchase bread in the nearby villages. 

But all they had was this insignificant little boy with nothing except for 5 pieces of bread and two small fishes. What are they among so many? Have you ever asked a question like this? Have you ever faced a situation where you felt so helpless because the responsibilities that you were assigned were simply too great for you to bear? You asked yourself - How can you attempt to do so much, when you have so little? The Church faces a similar situation - the Lord has commissioned us to bring the Gospel to a lost world of 6 billion people. He said that we should be His witnesses even unto the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8). But when we look at ourselves and our resources, we see that we are just like that little boy with his 5 paltry loaves and 2 small fishes. How can we possibly do it?

A similar situation was faced by Zerubbabel, the leader of the Jews who returned from their captivity in 539 BC. When he started to rebuild the city of Jerusalem from its ruins and the Holy Temple which had been destroyed, he was very discouraged by the magnitude of the work, the scant resources he had and the huge obstacles he faced. He probably felt that his very best efforts were at best insignificant and futile. But God's Word came to him in Zechariah 4:10 'For who hath despised the day of small things?'

Dearly beloved, please do not despise the day of small things. The Lord can use and will use small insignificant things to bring glory unto Himself. Just let Him have full use of them and you will be amazed at the things He can do with them. This was what the little boy did. He gave to the Lord Jesus all that he had: his 5 barley loaves and 2 small fishes. And that was all that Jesus needed to feed the hungry multitudes! We can imagine how that little boy must have felt after everyone had eaten the bread and fishes he had given, and he himself had enjoyed a good meal with them. I don�t think he had any regrets at all about emptying his lunch box. And I don't think that boy had any doubts after that about what he would do if Jesus should ever have need of anything he had. He would definitely let Jesus have all of it.

How about you? What should you do with your possessions? What should you do with your time, your talents and your treasures? What should you do with your life? Give them all to Jesus. Let Him use them in whatever way He wants to use them. He may not use you to do something really extraordinary or impressive - to plant churches, to translate the Bible into an unknown language, or to write hymns that move hearts to tears. He may use you to do something very ordinary and insignificant - perhaps to be a doorkeeper in the house of God (Psalm 84:10), or to serve tables (Acts 6:2), or wash the feet of His disciples (John 13), or even to offer cups of cold water (Mark 9:41). But whatever the Lord uses you to accomplish with your life will bring the most significant results. As someone aptly put it: 'Only one life - twill soon be past; only what's done for Christ will last!'

A few short years after this miracle of feeding the 5,000, Christ used the lives of His 12 disciples to turn the world upside down (Acts 17:6). What were they in the eyes of the world? Just 12 ordinary men who came from the lower classes of society - a few of them were fishermen, and one was a former tax collector. But when their lives were yielded to Christ, He used them to change the entire course of history and to bring the life-giving message of salvation to countless souls. The legacy they left behind can never be fully fathomed. 

However, when you offer yourself for the Lord's use, you must also be prepared to bear the cost. It will cost you not just your comfort or convenience. We notice that the loaves and fishes first had to be broken to be of any use for feeding the 5,000. And the more they were broken, the more lives they blessed. This is a picture of the life of our Lord Jesus. It first had to be broken to yield up the fruits of our salvation. He had to suffer great personal loss and deprivation in order to minister to the multitudes all over Israel. He had to suffer persecution and derision from the authorities to bring the truth of God to sinners. And at the end, He had to suffer the most shameful humiliation and death on the cross to bring life to the world. The last verse of our text reveals that Jesus had chosen the cross instead of the crown.

IV. The Political Response to the Supper (v.15)

Verse 15 tells us, 'When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.' The people wanted to make Him their King by force. This was a terribly wrong response to the supernatural supper that they just had, because it was politically motivated response. They believed that if Jesus can feed all of them miraculously, then He should be their King. 

Do you know that there is a close relationship between food supply and political power? Recently inflation has caused food prices to soar to new heights globally. This is not because there is a worldwide shortage of food. The year 2007 actually saw a record grain harvest of 1.66 billion tons of cereals (wheat, barley, oats and rice). This means that there is actually enough food for every person in the world. And yet 852 million people today are suffering from chronic malnutrition and 30 million die from hunger each year. Why is this so? Some say the problem is the inefficient distribution of resources. Three-quarters of the world lives at subsistence level and only one-quarter lives at surplus level. The real reason is not an inefficient distribution of food, but rather, the sinful desire to gain wealth and power, and keep it. 

The crowds who wanted to take Jesus by force and make Him their king intended to use His miraculous power to gain political power. 

In their minds if only they had a King who could provide all the food they needed they can overthrow their Roman overlords and make Israel a powerful kingdom. But our Lord refused to be part of their political agenda. When Satan had tempted Him earlier on, offering Him all the kingdoms of the world by taking the easy way out, Jesus had flatly rejected his offer (Matthew 4:8-10). Why did Jesus reject Satan's offer? And why did He similarly refuse the crowds' efforts to make Him their King? Because He knew that His crown of glory must only be attained through the cross of shame. His life must first be broken on the cross, before His authority to rule on the throne can be established. 

And this is the path that that you and I must now choose, following the example of Christ - not the path of selfish gain for yourself, but the path of selfless giving of yourself. If you have been seeking Christ for selfish gain and for greater convenience for yourself, then you are just like the crowds in v.15 who would take Him by force and make Him their King. He will not allow Himself to be exploited by you to fulfill your own ambitions and purposes. Christ rather wants you to allow Him to use your life to fulfill His own purposes. He wants to be your King, but it must be on His own terms. You must deny self and accept your cross. You must submit to being broken like the bread and fishes and even reduced down to nothing. Only then can your life be used to accomplish His purposes of feeding the multitudes of this world with the Word of Life. Will you do this? Will you take up your cross daily and follow the Lord Jesus Christ?

  1. John 05:31-47 - Unbelievable Unbelief!
  2. John 05:18-30 - Greater Works Than These
  3. John 05:1-18 - Lawless Lawkeeping
  4. John 04:43-54 - Believing is Seeing

Subcategories

Gospel in Dialect

Do you face a language barrier when trying to witness for Christ to dialect-speaking relatives? Or do you need to polish up your Mandarin in order to share the Gospel with your Mandarin-speaking friends? This Gospel toolkit will help you to learn how to share the Gospel in Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien and Teochew.

There are 15 lessons covering the various topics in gospel presentation. Each lesson consists of a set of phrases, written in English, Chinese characters and Hanyu Pinyin.

To hear the proper pronunciation of the phrase, click on the respective plugin associated with each phrase. When the phrase is read for you, you should repeat it aloud. You can keep on playing back the phrase and repeating it aloud until you have mastered the phrase. Then go on to the next phrase in the lesson.

As you learn to speak new phrases, keep on reviewing the ones that you have learnt. Finally, test yourself to see if you can say the following in Mandarin / dialect aloud: 

Family

Introduction

Why a family resource page?  It has been often said that the family is the most important institution in the nation.  But never has this sentiment been as greatly emphasized in our history as a nation than now in recent times.  Indeed, the family is the most important institution because it is the first environment to which every person is exposed; it is the primary influence of a person, especially in his early formative years.  And failure of the family to influence and mould the child positively has contributed to the moral and ethical breakdown of societies.  Even the expert opinions of sociologists and psychologists point to the truth of this statement.  Counselors and mental health workers increasingly have to rely on Family Therapy to deal with the problems of the clients, seeing as how many adult conflicts and problems are actually conflicts and problems not resolved in youth within the family.  Of course, it is not surprising to find such delinquency and immaturity in the world.  And sadly, it is not surprising to find such worldliness and worldly problems in the church, as families capitulate their God-given rights.  More than ever, there is need for a family resource page, where families can be encouraged and taught to raise up Godly homes and to revive the Covenant family.  

And one of the main emphases of this resource page is on the subject and discipline of Family Worship.  According to the Westminster Directory of Family Worship, we are told that “BESIDES the publick worship in congregations, mercifully established in this land in great purity, it is expedient and necessary that secret worship of each person alone, and private worship of families, be pressed and set up; that, with national reformation, the profession and power of godliness, both personal and domestick, be advanced.”  Herein, it is suggested that national and ecclesiastical revival finds its genesis in the home.  And this is biblical. 

The theological foundations of family worship is in Deuteronomy 4:9,10 where believers are told to “keep thy soul diligently…[and to]…teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.” 

It is also in Deuteronomy 6:4-7 where the words which God had commanded believers should be taught diligently to their children, that they should “talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”  The chief Christian educators of our children are their parents, who have been given this sacred duty.

Psalm 78:2-7 also teaches this, especially when it says regarding the law “which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: that the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born, who should arise and declare them to their children: that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments.” 

According to Dr Joel Beeke, “Every church desires growth. Surprisingly few churches, however, seek to promote internal church growth by stressing the need to raise children in covenantal truth. Few seriously grapple with why many adolescents become nominal members with mere notional faith or abandon evangelical truth for unbiblical doctrine and modes of worship. I believe one major reason for this failure is the lack of stress upon family worship. In many churches and homes family worship is an optional thing, or at most a superficial exercise such as a brief table grace before meals. Consequently, many children grow up with no experience or impression of Christian faith and worship as a daily reality.”

“Would we see revival among our children? Let us remember that God often uses the restoration of family worship to usher in church revival. For example, the 1677 church covenant of the Puritan congregation in Dorchester, Massachusetts, included the commitment ‘to reform our families, engaging ourselves to a conscientious care to set before us and to maintain the worship of God in them; and to walk in our houses with perfect hearts in a faithful discharge of all domestic duties, educating, instructing, and charging our children and households to keep the ways of the Lord.’”

Douglas Kelly says that “Family religion, which depends not a little on the household head daily leading the family before God in worship, is one of the most powerful structures that the covenant-keeping God has given for the expansion of redemption through the generations, so that countless multitudes may be brought into communion with and worship” of God. 

So may these resources help all Lifers to build up their families in the fear and admonition of the Lord; that Family Worship would not be an optional exercise but a time of day and activity well-sought after by Godly parents and children.  Amen.

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