Work for the Bread that Lasts - John 6:22-29

2:45And the main command is tied to work for that which endures, work for the food which lasts, do not work for the food which perishes. So what I want to do this morning as we begin this Incredible discourse called the Bread of Life Discourse. I want to look at this command: work. I want you to know how to work for the bread that lasts so that you're not going to waste your life chasing after things which do not last. You all make decisions. How are you going to, what are you going to pursue in life? What are you going to give yourself to? And I want you to know how to work for that which lasts. So you're not going to spend your life chasing something that doesn't last. Well, that's where we're going this morning. So the first thing I want you to see to work, how to work for the bread that lasts, is you need to be honest with yourself. Be honest with yourself. Look back at verse 25.

3:50When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, Rabbi, when did you get here? So they use this expression, when, when? This is evidence that a miracle took place, that they know something strange happened out there on the sea for him to get from where he was to where he was. And they ask, when? When did this happen? And verse 25 is that leading question that will take us into this bread of life discourse. Previously, we've surveyed the whole discourse, the whole mountain, so to speak, and now we're going to go back verse by verse and go through. This incredible centerpiece of Jesus' teaching in the Gospel of John. But this is the leading question that takes us into the discourse. Rabbi, when did you get here? Now look at Jesus' answer. Jesus answered them and said, Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. So notice that Jesus doesn't answer their question. They ask, when did you get here? And he goes right to the heart of the matter. He doesn't start out, you know, he could have said something like, well, let me tell you. About 3 a.m., I just started walking on the water and started heading out to where the disciples were. They're out in the middle of the boat, and then I snuck up on them. Wow, scared the daylights out of them. Boy, you should have seen them, you know. And so then they let me in the boat, and as soon as they got in the boat, I immediately transported them supernaturally over to the shore, and that's how we got here so early. Now, he doesn't go through that at all. And had he done so, they probably only would have fueled their, it would only have fueled their ambitions to make him king. They wanted a king with power. They wanted a king who could provide. But he doesn't even go there. He doesn't answer their question. He ignored their irrelevant question. He ignored their superficial question. And he got right to the heart of the issue. He says, look, you are seeking me for just another temporal blessing. You're not seeking me for spiritual direction.

6:05You know, and that's a good question for us. You know, what are we doing here? What do we seek Christ for? Do we seek him? What do we seek God for? What do we seek a relationship with God for? Are we seeking him for just another temporal blessing? Or are we seeking him for spiritual direction, spiritual life, spiritual counsel, spiritual vitality, spiritual connection? And Jesus gets right to the point. He says, you know what, you're following me not even because you saw the signs. Your motives are even lower than that. You ate a big meal yesterday, and now you're hungry again.

6:46And now you seek me again. You see, we need to put ourselves for a moment in the shoes of this crowds, in this crowd. And we need to be honest with ourselves. And we need to recognize that in us is this tendency to be just like them. We want God for certain things, but oftentimes it's not to give us what he wants to give us, but to get from him what we think we need, right? And we certainly don't want to come to a text like this and observe their faults and what they did wrong and then go out of here and do the same thing that they did. So we need to be honest with ourselves, and that's what the purpose of this is. He wants them to be honest with themselves, and I want us to be honest with ourselves as we look at them. Well, there are two things in this text that we can be honest with ourselves about. Number one, that's the fickleness of our appetites, the fickleness of our human appetites, the fickleness of the human heart. And this is a condition that we all share. And whether it's in the realm of food or in the realm of entertainment, you know what? We can easily get bored of things that once really excited us, right? Some of you guys are really excited. I've already heard it. New Star Wars movie's coming out, right? Give it a few months, the old hat, right? Right? And that's the thing. Something that really excites you, eventually you can get tired of. And certainly, that's why we have trends. That's why we call them fads, right? Whether it's in the area of food, whether it's in the area of clothes, whether in housing or cars or whatever, whatever it is, we can easily, things go out of style and our tastes change. We get tired of something that once excited us. How many of you have found a good restaurant here in town and have eaten it over and over and over and over? And then one day you say, you know what, I just don't want to eat there anymore.

8:54Well, one of the reasons that Jesus didn't come to serve ourselves. Fallen human appetites is because such appetites will never be satisfied and they will always be changing. You have to think about it. Even the signs that Jesus was performing would get old. I mean, after a while, I mean, let's okay, we've seen the cripple, let's see another. Okay, now we've seen the eyes, that's good. Let's keep going. Okay, the dead, let's keep going, let's keep going. And what will happen is eventually you'll even get tired of the signs. And then Jesus will have to do more and more spectacular to hold their attentions. The food will have to get more extravagant. You know, that bread and that fish was pretty good. But, you know, we've had that three days in a row now. Can we do something? We can get some Atlantic salmon or can we get something in here, you know, something else? But eventually they get tired. You see this in Israel? Certainly, that was their history as they wandered through the wilderness after the Exodus. But we need to be honest. We do not need our fallen appetites to be fed. We need new appetites. We need our appetites to take on a whole new direction, a spiritual direction. And that's what Jesus wanted for this crowd. This is what He wants for us.

10:21He wants us to seek Him for direction, for newness. And we have to ask ourselves, what is it? What are you seeking this morning? Why are you here? Are you seeking spiritual direction for your whole being or something else? So, a second thing we need to be honest about: number one, our appetites are certainly fickle, but number two, we cannot hide our motives from Christ. Be honest, you're not going to be able to do it. Be honest with yourself and know for sure that you're not going to be able to hide your motives from Christ. Look back at verse 26. Jesus answered them and said, Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He knew the crowd better than the crowd knew themselves. He knew why that crowd was following him. He knew what they were after.

11:27And likewise, he knows who you are today. He knows why you were here. He knows why you utter the prayers you utter. He knows what you're ultimately seeking in life. He knows. And there is absolutely no way to hide from him. Deep down, I think you know this is true. Be honest with it. There is no way to hide from him. You cannot even hide from your own conscience. You can suppress it, but deep down you can't even hide from your own conscience, let alone the all-seeing eye of Christ, the judge of all things.

12:13Listen, I think we would all admit: God would not be God if He didn't love the truth and expose the motives. Jesus, God incarnate, He loved the truth, didn't He? That's what we'd expect. He doesn't love pretense, He loves honesty, and He is going to expose everyone's motives, everyone's deeds. So be honest with yourself by acknowledging that you can be interested in Jesus for wrong reasons and take that to Him. Be honest that I'm not always honest.

12:56But that's okay. He bids me to come to Him anyway. So, second thing. First, how to work for the bread that lasts? First, be honest with yourself. Second, be wise in your pursuits. Be wise in your pursuits. We come to the heart of this exhortation here. Look at verse 27. Do not work for the food which perishes. That's the imperative command. Get to work, right? Be working, be active, be engaged in. Activity. Try to accomplish something. That's the idea of the word work here. Be working. That's commanded, right? Command, right? And Texas would say, y'all get to work. Y'all be working, really. You all, plural.

13:46Be making effort to obtain something. Be expending yourself and your effort and your energy. Be expending yourself pursuing a goal. That's the command. Now, keep in mind what has just happened: the people had searched for Jesus all night, right? They'd certainly been expending a great amount of energy trying to catch up with him. They had to anticipate his moves. They had to track his whereabouts. And they had to then be able to transport themselves by land or sea to get themselves to him. They were very active in trying to find out where he was going. And it's in this context that he says, Look, be wise in what you are pursuing. Don't just pursue me for the food that perishes. Be wise in what you pursue. And he's going to give, he talks about two kinds of food, right? First, look back, the food that perishes. Do not work for the food that perishes. Do not be expending yourself trying to obtain that which is perishing, that which is going to be done away with. Which is being consumed, burnt up, used up.

15:04And that's what they did, right? They were seeking that which would leave them hungry again. They'd just eaten, and now they're hungry again. And what Jesus is saying, and we all need to dial into this: do not let your life be nothing more than a series of meals. I think that's the way we live sometimes, right? Life is nothing more than a series of meals and a series of jobs so that we can get those meals. Now, he envisions something far more for life than that.

15:38And we can expand this word food here is literally the word eating. Do not work for the eating which perishes, the consuming that perishes. The idea, of course, food. But we can see also in Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:16 applies this concept to the whole outer being. Therefore, we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. He goes on to in verse 18, he says, We do not look at the things which are seen, but the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

16:26And that's what Jesus is saying. Life is. Is more than a series of meals and a series of jobs. He wanted this crowd to seek him for who he was, for what he was doing. The outside, he was giving them meals, right? That which was seen. But what he wanted them to see, he wanted them to come to him for that which was unseen, that which was eternal. So he's saying it's not wise, we can deduce from this, it's not wise to expend all of our energies seeking after things that are passing away. But there's another kind of food. There's another kind of food. Look back. There's the food which perishes, but then there's the food which endures. Do not work for the food which perishes, but work for the food which endures to eternal life.

17:31Be active. There is a kind of food out there which endures. It's not perishing. It's enduring. It continues to feed. It continues to nourish. Not only does the food continue into life eternal, but those who consume it endure into life eternal. It's a constant supply. There is such a thing as this constant supply of food which gives nourishment to those who consume it. And it gives nourishment forever. Now, that's some good food, right? Yeah, go after that. If you're going to spend your energies, put it in that kind of paradigm, that which is after spiritual food. And you might say, that sounds like a little bit like a doctrine of works. Look, I'm just following the words in the text. That's what I'm doing, following the exhortation, trying to get to his meaning here and what he's exhorting this crowd. And keep in mind, this is a largely lost crowd. And yet, here he is saying, Work for that which endures. But he's not teaching the doctrine of works. You can look right back. Look at keep reading. There is a gift involved, right? Verse 27: Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. It's a gift. Work for the gift. The food which endures is a gift. Future verb in the place of emphasis: he will give to you. Work for that which he will give to you. Expend yourself on obtaining what he has freely given.

19:19So, just as they have been actively pursuing Jesus to give them physical food, Jesus wants them to be actively engaged, actively expending. Themselves after the spiritual food. And that's going to take listening. That's going to take understanding. That's going to take getting your mind around. That's going to take more than just feeding your flesh and going on. It's going to take a relationship. But look back. Not only is there a gift, but there is a giver. It says, Do not work for the food which perishes, but the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on him the Father has set his seal.

20:07Jesus is the one who gives the gifts. Gift. He is the Son of Man. That is the title He likes to use to refer to Himself. It carries the idea of His humanity, but also it hearkens back to Daniel 7 and the picture of glory of the one, the Son of Man, who comes to receive the kingdom. It's never going to pass away. All that. This is the One, the One with all authority. This is the One who will give it to you. And what He gives, no one can take away. What He opens, no one can close. What He closes, no one can open. This is the One.

20:50And upon Him, the Father God has set His seal. That's His mark of approval. That is His mark. That's the distinguishing characteristic of the one. Approved by God. We've already seen the testimony of Scripture, John the Baptist, the signs, the miracles, Jesus has already testified that these are all marks of the Father's approval upon him. And this is the one that the Father has granted to give eternal life, to give that food which endures. But know this: just as Jesus had compassion on the physical needs of the crowd, he also had compassion on the spiritual needs of the crowd. In fact, more so. He was more concerned about their spiritual well-being than their physical well-being.

21:46Same is true today. Now, listen, Jesus has compassion on our physical situation. Don't hear that he isn't interested in that. But understand that he is more interested and more sympathetic to our spiritual needs. Just as then, as now, the crowd was right to pursue Jesus, but they pursued him for the wrong thing. They sought him to give them something that would not last. And that's not wise. He exhorted them. On that fine spring day to work for food which lasts.

22:38Work is good. Work is good. He's not putting aside work at all. It's the goal that matters. And so, exhortation to us: as we are working for the bread that lasts, be in what you go after, be wise in what you expend your energies. You know, we only have strength for a few days, right? We only have strength for a little time. We only have mental energy. We only have capacity for a little time. It's all being expended one way or the other. So while we have strength, let us pursue that which really matters.

23:25Let the physical be servant to the spiritual. There's nothing wrong with needing food. That's part of the physical makeup. We need food. We need jobs, right? We need to work. We need to provide. There are things we need physically, but they don't find their meaning as an end into themselves. Their meaning is that they are to support the spiritual pursuits. God gives you days. He gives you strength. Use those days. Use that strength to pursue Him. Spiritual direction, relationship with Him.

24:01You've heard me say that my business has always been Christ, but there was a time in my life when I had to engineer to pay the bills. Always let the physical, your pursuits of the physical needs be subservient to the spiritual pursuits. And that's what Jesus is saying here. He's making a comparison. He's not saying you don't need food to eat, nor is he diminishing the value of work. It's like, be wise in what you pursue.

24:41So, as we come to this passage, we want to learn how do we work for the food which lasts. Number one, be honest with yourself. Number two, be wise in your pursuits. And number three, be believing in the one that God has sent to you. Be believing in the one that God has sent to you. Look back at verse 28. Therefore, they said to him, What shall we do so that we may work the works of God? Now, that's a good question.

25:17The expression, work the works of God, is kind of a play on words, but it could be stated this way: What should we be doing in order to accomplish the things that God wants us to accomplish? Be a way to express that. What should we be doing to do the things that God wants us? What must we work? How do we work to work the works of God? What do we do so that we may work the work of God?

25:44It's a good question. And I don't think we should read into these a mindset of a works righteousness, though certainly it was prevalent there. I don't think that this is what this expression is trying to communicate. I think they're simply asking a logical and good question: What should I be doing to do the things that please God? You see that same question show up in the Jews at Pentecost and Acts 2:37. After Peter preaches this message, they pierce to the heart and they say, Brethren, what shall we do? It's the right question many times. It could be an expression of faith. Paul on the road to Damascus after he meets Christ in Acts 22:10, he says, What shall I do, Lord? You know, the Philippian jailer, Acts 16, 30, after all that had happened in prison, and after all the things he saw, he comes out and says, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

26:50It's a logical question. What shall we do to work the works of God? Look at our Lord's answer, verse 29. Jesus answered and said to them, This is the work of God that you believe in him whom he sent. So, in a very plain statement, very clear statement, very straightforward answer, Jesus tells them, Let me tell you what God wants you to do. This is the work of God. This is the thing that God wants you to be doing to please him. This is the work of God that you believe in him whom he has sent.

27:30That expression, believe, is a present. The work of God that God wants you to be doing is believing in the one he sent. Be believing. Be believing. It's important that you recognize that what you believe is going to shape who you are. What you believe, what you take to be true, is the spring from which all of life flows. What you hold to be true will determine how you live. It will be that fountainhead from which your life flows. And all kinds of works that you do, all the kinds of works, must come out of this fundamental belief, this original point, this fountainhead of believing in the one he has. Sent. That's the work. That's what you must do to work the works of God. To be doing what God wants you to do.

28:40You can't do anything until you get this right. Until you get this one right, you cannot do what He wants you to do. And that's what Jesus is saying. This is the beginning, and this is to permeate all of your works. And if you cannot, you cannot please God. Let me put it this way: you cannot please God if you do not believe that He has a Son, if you do not believe He has one sent to you, if you do not believe that He has died in your place, you have not, you cannot do the work that God wants you to do. You must be believing in the One He sent.

29:23Very straightforward answer. This is the work that God wants you to be doing. Be believing in the One He has sent. Now, good question for us. If this is the work, how do we work at believing? It's an interesting concept, right? But that's where the plain language takes us. How do we work at believing? You know, you can expend yourself doing all kinds of activities that serve your own interests, or you can engage yourself in all kinds of activities. That promote belief in the one he has sent.

30:06So I'm going to give you a 10-step program real quickly about how to work at believing. You've heard of 10-step programs, 12-step programs, I don't know, 20-step program. Well, I'm going to give you 10, a 10-step program, right? Really quickly, number one, you need to desire to know the truth. That's where it begins. How do we work at believing? Be growing in your desire to know the truth. Number two, be willing to follow the truth. That is, be committed to the truth wherever it takes you. Be willing to follow the truth. Number three, confess your unbelief. Listen, as you're getting honest with God, if you come to something or you don't be afraid to bring, God, I'm struggling with this. God, I don't know if I believe this. But I want to know the truth and I'm willing to go wherever it takes us. So help my unbelief. I confess it.

30:57And then number four, ask God to remove all obstacles to unbelief. God, if you are true, if your word is true, remove those obstacles that keep me from believing it. Number five, and this is where you just need to believe the verse we're in. Verse 29, believe that God has sent someone for you to believe. This is the work of God that you should be believing in him whom he has sent. He has sent somebody for you to listen to.

31:29So, number six, Inform your mind about what the scriptures say about the character and nature of Jesus. You know what we have with the scriptures? We have the most important book that's ever been written in human history. I don't care by what measure you use, this one will come to the top. And you know, it starts with Christ. Though it doesn't mention his name, it does mention the individual that will come, that will destroy the work of evil in this world. We see his, we see, we anticipate him through many ways throughout the Old Testament scriptures. We come to the Gospels, we get his name, Jesus.

32:14The end of the Revelation, you see Jesus victorious with the promise to come. Yeah, the most important book in the history of mankind is the Bible you hold in your hands, and the very key figure, the center point of all of it, is Jesus Christ. So inform yourself. You want to know what you should be doing about how to work for the bread that laughs? Be believing in the one that God has sent. And inform your mind what the scriptures say about him. That's a good way to expend yourself in this life.

32:50And then number seven, choose to believe what the scriptures say about Christ. Unless you find absolute clear reason not to. But choose to believe. Let your default be belief, not skepticism. And you'll find those places where you found hard to believe won't be so hard to believe anymore. In fact, you'll see a beauty and a glory in places that you may have stumbled in the past. So choose to believe. Let your default be belief unless you have absolutely clear reason you think not to.

33:40Number eight, inform your mind about the things Jesus said. That is, listen carefully to the words of Jesus. He said a lot. We're reading his words now. Inform your mind about that, not just what the whole scripture says, but then narrow in on what he himself says. That's a good way to spend your life. Study this guy. Study this one from heaven. Study this man who walked upon the water, who created food and supplied the needs. Study this guy, the most key figure in all of it. Expend yourself. Expend yourself. That's what you should expend yourself doing. And let your physical pursuits find their meaning in the pursuit of knowing him. That's what Jesus is saying to this crowd this day. So, number nine, accept the implications of his word. So, number eight, you're to inform your mind about the things that Jesus said, listen carefully, and then number nine, accept the implications. Not only are you hearing him, you're hearing him with the spirit of a true disciple. I'm going to accept what you say, and I'm going to work at accepting what you say. And as you start looking at the commands of Christ and you start looking at the things he says, all of a sudden I can spend a whole lifetime accepting the implications, and number 10, adjusting my life accordingly. So, number 10, adjust your life accordingly. Number nine, accept the implications of his words, and number ten, adjust your life accordingly. And then just repeat: start over, desire to know the truth, be committed to the truth, confess your unbelief, ask God to remove your obstacles of unbelief, believe that God has sent him to be listened to. Informed, keep informing your mind about what the scriptures say about him. Choose to believe. Inform your mind about what he said, accept the implications, and adjust your life accordingly. That's how you work for the bread that lasts.

35:43You know, life is short. Do not waste your life chasing after things which do not last. Rather, expend yourself on that which really matters. And that's what he's saying. Work for the bread that lasts. Last. Be honest with yourself. Be wise in your pursuit. Be believing in the one that God has sent to you. And the good news, the good news of the gospel is this: that the one who sees our motives is also the one who knows our true needs, is also the one who gives the food which we need. And this is the one we're called to believe in. The one who sees is the one who knows, is the one who gives. The one who sees you is the one who knows you, is the one who gives you what you need. So believe in him. He himself is the gift as he's going to flesh that out. He himself is the bread.

36:44You know, we have an oak tree out here. If you go out here, you see a really big oak tree. And it's about 250 years old. And I know that because we had another tree, a similar size, smaller tree, fall down. Had the tree guy come out. He sliced it up and he started counting the rings. And he said the smaller one was at least 230 years old. And this one is much bigger. So it's very likely that this is around 250 years old.

37:23That makes it older than Texas, even older than the United States of America. And the question, you know, what makes this tree last so long is its elaborate root system. One of my daughters picked up an acorn from that tree this morning. This is what that big tree, you can go out here and look at it, this is what it once looked like. A little bitty thing like this. I want to just take you on a little, a quick little journey of how a little acorn, just like this, some 250 years ago, became a tree that big. Sometime prior to the American Revolutionary War, a little acorn fell to the ground at that location right out there, and it germinated sometime later. The tap root immediately went downward, and after the first year, the tap root was about a foot long and about a half inch wide or thick. And then, during the first few years of this new seedling's life, it focused its efforts on growing downward and outward before it really took off upward.

38:35And so it starts with the big, large root system. And so what happens is the tap root eventually became less prominent and it gave way to these numerous lateral roots that shot off in every direction. They went about four feet deep and they went up to 90 feet. Away from the trunk. Now that's way under the canopy, by the way. That's long. Okay? Four feet, 90 feet in all directions. And this anchored the tree to the soil. Tree was anchored by these large roots. But it needed another set of roots to be able to take in the nutrients. And so it developed this very fine root system. So from these large lateral roots, it developed this fine root system, which formed this real dense mass of roots, very fine roots. And this is what feeds the tree by absorbing the nutrients and moisture from the soil. So the large roots anchor it to the soil. The little roots take in the nutrients from the soil. And so you go outside. We see a majestic, huge, towering oak, profoundly beautiful. And I encourage you just to take a little time and look at it sometime. It is impressive. But here's the point.

40:08If this little acorn, some 250 years ago, didn't seek to tap into the rich resources of the soil on which it fell, the tree would not be here today. Listen, an acorn that doesn't connect With the ground will not live. Likewise, a soul that does not connect with God will not live. And you can think of the human faith as something like that root system, like the large roots that anchors it. The Spirit must be anchored to the Creator, and it must get the nutrients and all that supply of life. That's what believing is. Work at connecting to God by believing in Him. That's what faith does. And this is not a gospel of works.

41:15This is the way Jesus says, this is the way you should spend your life. This is what you should labor for. And see, the problem with the crowd that day is that they failed to comprehend that God was in their midst. They only saw a man. Maybe they saw him as a man, a special man from God that could do great things, but they did not see him as the very word of the Father, the very expression of Creator God Himself. And because of that, they didn't listen to Him. They didn't connect with Him. They didn't connect with God.

41:58Listen, think of it this way. When you believe a person's word, you connect with the person that spoke that word. Listen, we are fundamentally spiritual beings. Yes, we have flesh and blood, but just because you're sitting next to each other doesn't mean you're in any kind of spiritual proximity, right? I've seen husbands and wives that may sit together and may live under the same roof, but they are spiritually very far apart. No, we commune with one another as we hear one another, as we hear the words, believe the words, and that is the basis of connection. That's how spiritual beings connect, is by spiritual means.

42:45That is what is significant. And when you are believing in Jesus, you are connecting to the rich supply of God Himself. And that's what Jesus is saying. Work for the bread that lasts. Work at connecting yourself to the rich supply of your heavenly Father. And you do that by being honest with yourself, by being wise in your pursuits, and believing in the one that God has sent to you. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gift of your Son. Father, forgive us where we have treated him lightly. Father, where he has not become the object and the desire of our souls and the goal of our affections and the goal of our labors. Father, forgive us. Renew in us a new love, a greater love for Christ, a greater distance between us and the things which do not last. May they hold no more treasure for us. May we see in your Son the treasures of all of heaven itself. Father, we thank you for your gift. Help us to truly be believing. Help our unbelief. We thank you in Christ's name. Amen.