Jesus, the Bread of Life: John 6:35-51
00:45:10
Andrew Dostal
God is going to move in you towards sharing, towards serving, towards loving, towards holiness, towards missions. Let's walk with Jesus together daily. What are the ways that we need to trust Jesus for daily bread? Let's help each other to do that. Finally, there are those of you this morning who have not put your faith in Jesus yet. You have not embraced him as your daily bread, friends. Don't miss this truth this morning. We are Will. We are Jeff. We're starving in the outback. We're the grumbling and rebellious nation of Israel in the desert.
00:46:02
Andrew Dostal
We are the multitude that went looking for Jesus after He fed them the best fish and bread they ever ate. We are no different than the rich and famous superstars who are still lonely, still searching, still afraid, still hungry. We are empty and starving, trying to fill that emptiness with all manner of things. And Jesus is calling out to you and me this morning. Truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. Come to Jesus this morning, that you might not die, that you might have real life. Jesus invites you this morning to trust in Him for life.
00:47:00
Andrew Dostal
Guys, looking at the bread of life, it won't save you. Smelling the bread of life, it won't save you. Liking the bread of life won't save you. Jesus is a cool guy. He did some cool things. He said some cool things. You must receive him by faith. Jesus must become part of you. He must fill you. Anyone who eats of this bread will live forever.
00:47:31
Andrew Dostal
This faith. This is what we're talking about here. This kind of language—faith that connects us to God through the finished work of Jesus. I was trying to think of a way to illustrate this because I know people struggle with what does faith look like? And I thought of a section from Charles Spurgeon's book on faith—the short book called All of Grace. And he says, 'Faith is the hand that takes hold of God's grace. Jesus has done all the work; we're simply receiving His incredible gift.' And he tells this cool story—the story told of two men some years ago caught in a current after their boat was flipped over above Niagara Falls. There was nothing they could do to resist the mighty pull of the river.
00:48:22
Andrew Dostal
Some folks on the shore saw their peril and managed to float a rope to them. They seized upon the rope and were being pulled to safety, but it was no doubt an uncomfortable and hard way to be saved, bouncing up and down in the rapids, water up your nose, gasping for breath between bouts of being dumped under. One of the men, seeing a large log floating by, lunged for it, and it being larger and buoyant was far better to cling to than the rope.
00:48:52
Andrew Dostal
However, the log too was caught in the current. It had no connection to the shore. It mattered not how big it was, how easy it was to cling to, how well it floated. It had no union with the shore. The log and the man soon plunged over the abyss and down the falls. While the man who held fast to the rope, though dunked and choked with water, was soon safely pulled ashore. So it is with a man who puts his trust in his works. Or to the sacraments, or to anything of that sort, he will not be saved, because there's no junction between him and Christ. But faith, though it may seem to be like a slender cord, is in the hands of the great God on the shore, infinite in power, pulls us in through the connecting line, and thus draws the man from destruction. The blessedness of faith! It unites us to God.
00:49:54
Andrew Dostal
As we close in our final song together, you're invited this morning to take hold of Jesus by faith. Won't you reach out? Won't you grab that cord of faith and be joined to Jesus? Be joined to life. Won't you trust in Him this morning? I'm going to invite you to stand as we sing one final song together, and you have an opportunity right now in this moment to get daily bread.
00:50:24
Andrew Dostal
To ask, to feast, to walk. Maybe you need to come this morning and say, 'I want the bread of life. I receive Him. I surrender that this morning.'