App
Fred R. Coulter—September 13, 2003
- PDF | Audio | [Up]
or Download
God expects us to continually grow in grace and knowledge.
God expects the brethren to be taught on the Sabbath so that they are perfected in Christ.
As they have found out, those people who use their mind all their lives… That's why if you get bored and turned off with TV, thank God! You can use your mind for something constructive, rather than being dumbed down by all the stupidity of the world.
I gave a sermon on Carlstadt and the Sabbath. It was revealing and it came out of the book The Essential Carlstadt: Classics of the Radical Reformation by E.J. Furcha—meaning Sabbath-keepers. I've been reading more of this book, and it shows that regardless of who you are, where you are at any point in time in history, and you have the Word of God and you're willing to obey it, that God will give you knowledge.
That's the intent of the Bible! That's why God gave it. That's why it's been the most widely printed and distributed book in the whole world. God has a purpose in it.
In reading this about Carlstadt, I came across this section regarding the worship and homage of the signs of the New Testament that he's talking about concerning the sacrament. One thing I learned with this is that along with the Scriptures in every age you need commentary designed to reach the people of that age.
To reach the people of the Reformation, what did you need? Contra Eucharist! Contra the actual body and blood of Christ! So, they spend a lot of time on that. That was one of the essential doctrines of the Catholic Church. I don't think the author got to the point of the Passover, yet, but when you're coming out of the Catholic Church you grow in grace and knowledge and you progress in everything.
One of the things the author said was that 'the bread and the wine was to take you in the New Covenant with Christ and lead you to the Father.' Then he quoted this:
Note how faith abandons heaven in all creatures…
that's saints in heaven and all that.
…and clings to God alone.
What else did Christ mean when He said, 'Whosever believes in Me, believes not in Me…' He meant that whosoever believes in Christ does not stop with the human Christ but transcends to His Father Whose commandment and Word proclaimed.
Christ also said, 'Whosoever sees Me, see the One Who sent Me (John 12:45).
To have seen Christ was not help to the Jews, but when believers see Christ it helps them toward their salvation because they see something that is above ever creature.
Therefore, Christ says, 'Blessed are your eyes, which see what you see.' Christ always leads His disciples beyond Himself to His Father.
So, he was well beyond the reformers of his time.
This sermon will tie into the sermon The Greatest Gift of Grace. What I have learned in reading Carlstadt that when you're reading and studying it sparks God's Spirit to give you ideas and understanding. What Carlstadt wrote here was excellent, but we're going to go beyond Carlstadt today.
We're going to spend a lot of time in John, because we're going to find out something profound about John, but let's first go to:
Acts 2:21: "'And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.' Men, Israelites, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarean, a Man sent forth to you by God, as demonstrated by works of power and wonders and signs, which God performed by Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know; Him, having been delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you have seized by lawless hands and have crucified and killed" (vs 21-23).
God has a plan! This plan begins with something very profound. It begins with the main mission of Jesus Christ, not only to be the sacrifice for the sins of the world, because 'God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,' but also the most important thing that He was to do was to reveal the Father!
- that has everything to do with conversion
- that has everything to do with salvation
- that has everything to do with your personal Christian life
If this were taught in the Churches of God, they would soon understand that there's no room for a hierarchy. The purpose of revealing the Father was so that you will be able to have contact with the Father. That's the purpose of it; not numbers, not people, not organization, not a hierarchy, but you and me!
Matthew 11:25: "At that time Jesus answered and said…" That's why it's a sign of the true Greek text, because in the impurity of language it would rather have answered or said. So when you get to these texts out of Alexandria and so forth, they modified it.
"…'I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and have revealed them to babes.'" (v 25).
If you reveal it to the wise and intelligent they would think that they were wise and intelligent and that God had to do that. So, if we feel stupid many times, the reason because we are! That's one of the reasons that God called us: to teach us!
Verse 26: "Yes, Father, for it was well pleasing in Your sight to do this. All things were delivered to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; neither does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son personally chooses to reveal Him" (vs 26-27). That's taken from the middle voice verb of chooses. That means Christ's personal involvement.
I want you to understand that God the Father and Jesus Christ are personally involved in your life and your salvation. It's dependent upon God and your relationship with Him, and not on any man.
The way that you understand about the Father is that Christ did it for you. His own personal involvement. Let's grasp that; let that sink in! Like Jesus said, 'Let these words sink deep in your ears.'
Jesus began revealing the Father immediately. What I want you to understand is that in Matthew the word Father, referring to God the Father, is used 26 times. In Mark, 3 times; in Luke, 12 times; in John, 117 times. That's profound! And in the Epistle of 1-John, 10 times.
I think it's very interesting that here in Matthew, and soon we're get into the book of John, that Jesus chose to reveal the Father through the Apostle John more than any other apostle, and he was the apostle whom Jesus loved. I find that very significant, because the difference between 127 times and 3, 26 and 12 is absolutely mind-boggling. Yet, it's been there ever since the New Testament has been written down.
- How many years have we been in the Church?
- How many years have I been a minister?
Even though I taught some of these things, it didn't crystallize until I was reading Carlstadt. That's why it's important to do reading. Let's look at a few in the book of Matthew.
Matthew 5:14: "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a mountain cannot be hid. Neither do they light a lamp and put it under a bushel basket, but on the lampstand; and it shines for all who are in the house. In the same way also, you are to let your light shine before men… [we're not to go hide in a corner] …so that they may see your good works, and may glorify your Father Who is in heaven" (vs 14-16). Here Jesus begins to reveal the Father.
Verse 43: "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'" You can never really understand how to love your enemies unless you love your enemies. Why? You have no reason to love your enemies, especially if he's against you!
Verse 44: "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you."
What you do is just put them in God's hands. In the meantime, when you are praying about a situation that is very contrary to you and people are against you, you don't get mad at the people. Don't do that; lay it before God. Pray for them and you pray this way:
- God, help them to see the truth, if they may
- God, intervene in their lives, and do with them as You please whether for good or for correction
- Is God able to do it better than you? Without a doubt! That's how you love your enemy.
- How do you think they prayed for Saul when he was persecuting the Church? Lord, kill that man, get him far away from us!
But when he was converted they were all amazed. You never know whom God is going to call. Remember. He personally decides it; that's what's profound!
Verse 45: "So that you yourselves… [middle voice verb] …may be the children of your Father Who is in heaven…" Here Jesus brings out part of the plan and purpose of being in the Family of God.
"…for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not the tax collectors practice the same thing? And if you salute your brethren only, what have you done that is extraordinary? Do not the tax collectors practice the same thing? Therefore, you shall be perfect… [this is what God wants] …even as your Father Who is in heaven is perfect" (vs 45-48). There is succinctly the plan of God! This is why Christ came to reveal the Father!
There are many other Scriptures here and you study out some of these things even more. But here is something that I want to cover. Jesus cursed the fig tree, then:
Mark 11:20: "And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. Then Peter remembered and said to Him, 'Look, Master! The fig tree that You cursed has dried up.' And Jesus answered and said to them, 'Have faith from God'" (vs 20-21). This means have God's faith! The faith that comes from God!
Verse 23: "For truly I say to you, whoever shall say to this mountain, 'Be taken away and be cast into the sea,' and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that what he said will take place, he shall have whatever he shall say."
The more that you understand about the Father, and the more that you understand about God, the more faith that you are going to have, which comes from God. That's what's important, because your faith—which you have to have—is only part of the equation.
When someone professes belief in Jesus, instead of having the faith of Jesus Christ, or the faith of God—God's own faith—it is a self-work. The faith of Jesus Christ, as the gift of the Holy Spirit, comes from God! The self-work of professing to believe excludes one from the faith of. Hence, one is professing Jesus without the true faith in Jesus Christ that comes from God the Father and Jesus Christ and salvation by grace. They are trying to secure salvation by a self-work.
- How do they do that?
- What is the term the Protestants use? Appropriate Christ to yourself!
- Have you ever heard that term?
No one can appropriate Christ to themselves! That is a lying impossibility! God has to give or impute to you whatever God decides. You can't appropriate Christ! That is a self-work, so therefore, that is salvation by works. And Protestants who accuse Sabbath-keepers of trying to receive salvation by works are themselves trying to receive salvation by works by appropriating Christ and ignoring His commandments! Therefore, it's of themselves.
In keeping Sunday, they are transgressing the Sabbath every week. The Sabbath is the day in which God puts His presence for those who seek Him. For those who don't seek Him, His presence is not there. Against the world; they're all out there buying and shopping and getting the best sales. They're going to sporting events, doing this and that. God is not with them. God fellowships where He's wanted, and where the fellowship of God is, the Father is there.
What is the conclusion of this? They are half-way Christians! Christ is knocking at the door, but they have not yet opened the door. They have not yet opened the door of their heart through true repentance of sin and self. That all has to do with revealing the Father!
Now we will see how John did this. Jesus reveals not only about God, but about Himself and caused John to write this:
John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." You know, the same argument that they bring about today concerning this was already covered in the Reformation. It's very clear that "…the Word was God." God does not have the definite article; it is 'Theos' and not 'ho Theos' meaning that the Word was everything that God is and was in the very nature of God. That's Who Christ is.
Verse 2: "He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and not even one thing that was created came into being without Him" (vs 2-3).
Verse 11: "He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him"—meaning to welcome as you hug someone, close to your bosom.
Verse 12: "But as many as received Him, to them He gave authority to become the children of God…" Right in the beginning it's telling us that if you're children you belong to a family. If you don't belong to a family then you're bastards.
You belong to a family, you're children; "…even to those who believe in His name; who were not begotten by bloodlines, nor by the will of the flesh, nor by the will of man, but by the will of God" (vs 12-13).
You receive the begettal from God the Father. Here He's revealing right straight forward.
Verse 14: "And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (and we ourselves beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten with the Father), full of grace and truth." There John is revealing the Father and the Son, both! You can't have one without the other; you must have both.
Verse 15: "John testified concerning Him, and proclaimed, saying, 'This was He of Whom I said, "He Who comes after me has precedence over me because He was before me."' And of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace" (vs 15-16).
I'm convinced and sure that this is one of those later edits that John did when he was finalizing the New Testament as a summary of their whole apostleship.
Verse 17: "For the Law was given through Moses…" There's nothing wrong with the Law. The Law is good, spiritual, holy and true.
"…and the grace and the Truth came through Jesus Christ" (v 17)—because now we operate at a higher level than the Law of Moses. How is that demonstrated?
Pretty soon we're all going to observe the Day of Atonement. What was one of the key things concerning the Day of Atonement? A special ceremony that was done only on that day? The high priest was allowed once a year to enter the Holy of Holies!
We're going to see that that has great significance for us in comparison to once a year with the high priest. That's why the Father was revealed.
Verse 18: "No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, Who is in the bosom of the Father… [that's where John was when he was writing this] …He has declared Him."
This is interesting; John alone calls the temple of God the house of my Father or my Father's house.
John 2:13: "Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money exchangers sitting there; and after making a scourge of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with both the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money exchangers, and overturned the tables" (vs 13-15). I imagine that they were scrambling for every nickel and dime.
Verse 16: "And to those who were selling the doves, He said, 'Take these things out of here! Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise.'"
Not only just for those, but it also tells us that if it was a sin to merchandise in the area of the temple, think of how much greater a sin it is to merchandise the people of God in the Church of God. It's the Father's house! That's the point!
Remember, counting the Gospel of John and 1st John, 127 times: the Father, My Father, our Father.
Verse 17: "Then His disciples remembered that it was written, 'The zeal of Your house has eaten Me up.'" We need to have more of that ourselves!
By the way, as you pass by John 3 where it talks about born of water, born of spirit, there are two appendices in The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version:
- Appendix P: What Does it Mean to be "Born Again"?
- Appendix Q: What does it Mean to be "Born of God"?
The church age that we're living in is the age of Simon Magus, the money-making church. There are some churches that get old Bibles and they auction off a single page and some people have paid as much as $20,000 for single page. Someone brought that up to me as a good way to raise funds. I said, 'No! I won't do it; that's merchandizing people.' Also destroying ancient texts.
The Pharisees had come to John and wanted to know Who was Jesus and who was John the Baptist?
John 3:27: "John answered and said, 'No one is able to receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear witness to me that I said, "I am not the Christ," but that I am sent before Him. The one who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the voice of the bridegroom; in this then, my joy has been fulfilled. It is ordained that He increase, and that I decrease. He Who comes from above is above all….'" (vs 27-31).
That's very simple. Where did Jesus come from? From above! It doesn't take any great size elephant brain to figure out what that means.
"…The one who is of the earth is earthly, and speaks of the earth. He Who comes from heaven is above all; and what He has seen and heard, this is what He testifies… [in revealing the Father] …but no one receives His testimony…. [he's talking to the Pharisees] …The one who has received His testimony has set his seal that God is true; for He Whom God has sent speaks the words of God…" (vs 31-34). Not only of Christ, but also of any minister. They're going to speak the words of God in truth and sincerity.
"…and God gives not the Spirit by measure unto Him [Christ]. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand" (v 35)—revealing the Father.
We'll see how this progresses as we go through surveying parts of the book of John.
Verse 36: "The one who believes in the Son…" the Greek there is 'eis' that means coming out from you and to the Son, and then:
Romans 1:17: "…the just shall live by faith…"—unto faith. It comes from the faith of Christ to you, and then you believing in Christ and back to Him. That's what it means to believe, continuously believe.
John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish, but may have everlasting life."
footnote in The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version for John 3:16:
The Greek present tense participle 'pisteuon' means "everyone who continually believes in Him." Such belief is a continuous deep life-long inner conviction of faith accompanied by loving obedience to God the Father and Jesus Christ, rather than a mere mental or verbal acknowledgement of Jesus Christ.
What the New Testament really has and to teach us is really something. Remember how we are to learn from the Bible:
- rightly divide the Word of Truth
- line upon line
- precept upon precept
- here a little, there a little
And we put it all together!
John 5 reveals quite a bit about the Father. This made the Jews angry.
John 5:17: "But Jesus answered them, 'My Father is working until now, and I work.'" On the Sabbath God does His greatest work, His spiritual work. That's what's important and why the Sabbath is profound. It's how you keep the Sabbath, and how your relationship is with God the Father and Jesus Christ.
- Did the Jews have the Sabbath? Yes!
- Did they have the Passover and the Holy Days? Yes!
- Did it do them any good? No!
It is the spiritual work that is accomplished on the Sabbath Day. They couldn't understand that. For a Jew to work on the Sabbath meant working as in laboring, working, producing, buying and selling.
Verse 18: "So then, on account of this saying, the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, not only because He had loosed the Sabbath…" Jesus never broke the Sabbath inasmuch as sinning, but He loosed the Sabbath from the law of Judaism, which says that 'you shall not carry your bed on the Sabbath,' and that means bedroll, that's all they had, like a sleeping bag. How dare He undo one of their laws!
"…but also because He had called God His own Father, making Himself equal with God" (v 18). They understood one thing: if you're a father, when your children grow up they're going to be equal to you. Are they not going to be adults? Yes, they are!
In the human realm, sometimes our children are greater than we are! This tells us that they understood exactly what Jesus was saying and Who He was. This is why He is so dogmatic here in John 5. this has a great deal to do with revealing the Father that relationship of Christ and the Father.
Verse 19: Therefore, Jesus answered and said to them, 'Truly, truly I say to you, the Son has no power to do anything of Himself, but only what He sees the Father do. For whatever He does, these things the Son also does in the same manner." That must have just 'blown their minds'!
- How did Jesus see what the Father does?
- How did Jesus receive His education?
Anthony Buzzard and Charles Hunting say that He was an ordinary Jew and was taught by the Jews, therefore, was thoroughly Jewish. Nothing could be further from the Truth!
- How was Jesus taught?
- How did He see what the Father was doing?
Remember that by the time we come to John 7—the Feast of Tabernacles before the last Passover:
- What did the Jews say?
- How does this man know letters?
- Where was He schooled?
You can be guaranteed of one thing very important: Don't you think, know and understand that every one of the leading rabbis checked out with all of the other leading rabbis and said, 'Did you teach this renegade?' So they could take care of that guy who taught Him! Because if one of them taught Jesus these things, they had made a great mistake!
Stop and think for a minute. Do you think that God the Father would leave the education of Jesus Christ to wine conniving, Satan-led rabbis? No! Here's how it's done; this is how Jesus was taught:
Isaiah 50:4: "The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of the learned…" Remember what happened when Jesus was 12-years-old and He was in the temple talking with the priests. They were astonished at His understanding.
"…to know to help the weary with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning…" Every morning God the Father woke up Jesus Christ and taught Him, and probably saw Him.
"…He awakens My ear to hear as one being taught. The Lord GOD has opened My ear, and I was not rebellious, nor turned away backwards" (vs 4-5). Then it goes into how that held even to the things in the scourging and tearing off His beard.
This something! Whatever the Son sees the Father do, He does in the same manner. That's how He did it! That's how He learned!
John 5:20: "For the Father loves the Son… [now we're talking about the love of God—Father and Son together] …and shows Him everything that He Himself is doing. And He will show Him greater works than these, so that you may be filled with wonder. For even as the Father raises the dead and gives life, in the same way also, the Son gives life to whom He will. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son" (vs 20-22).
That's why we shall all appear before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ. Not the judgment seat of the Father. He's given all judgment to Christ.
Verse 23: "So that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father Who sent Him. Truly, truly I say to you, the one who hears My Word, and believes Him Who sent Me…" (vs 23-24).
Ultimately the faith that we have goes back to the Father. That's what I want you to grasp and understand today. The reason that Christ revealed the Father is that because through Him everyone who comes to Christ has access to God the Father Himself!
That is the greatest and most profound teaching of the New Testament. When you understand it, it is the very heart and core of our calling! When we understand and grasp it the way we ought to, you will see how so many people are falling short, because they are not having that relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ that they ought to.
Verse 30: "I have no power to do anything of Myself; but as I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father Who sent Me." This is where our lives need to come.
What did Jesus do? He didn't use His own individual personal will—did He? He could have! God has given us all free moral agency and choice, and we're to choose. He does not expect us to give up our will. Jesus didn't say, 'I give up My will.' He said, 'I seek not My own will!'
What we are to do is this: By seeking the will of God the Father to let the will of God the Father become our will. If that is so, then you're not going to do anything on your own. If that is so then salvation is going to be through God and His mercy and grace and not by your works.
What we're talking about here: Have you ever wondered about the statement that is made, the simplicity of Christ? How in the Church of God did it become so complicated? When we're done today, you're going to understand:
- the simplicity of Christ
- the greatness of your calling
- the great and fantastic relationship that you ought to have between you and God the Father and Jesus Christ
Guess what? It's been there all the time!
Sometimes when we go through these things, I have to ask myself: What took you so long? Maybe this will help a lot of other people so it won't take so long!
Verse 31: "If I bear witness of Myself…" If you have opinion and you state your opinion, you're bearing witness of yourself. I believe… If you don't believe what God says to believe, then your opinion is worthless!
"…My testimony is not true." That's why I let it be known when I give an opinion, so that we don't confuse it with dogmatic teaching.
Verse 32: "There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the testimony that he witnesses concerning Me is true. You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the Truth. Now, I do not receive witness from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining light, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light" (vs 32-35)—until He said, 'Oh generation of vipers, who has warned you to flee the wrath to come. Repent and bring forth fruits showing repentance.' Then they turned against Him.
Verse 36: "But I have a greater witness than John's; for the works that the Father gave Me to complete, the very works that I am doing, themselves bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. And the Father Himself, Who sent Me, has borne witness of Me. You have neither heard His voice nor seen His form at any time" (vs 36-37). The only one who did was Jesus Christ!
Verse 38: "And you do not have His Word dwelling in you, for you do not believe Him Whom He has sent." Remember, the one whom God sends speaks the words of God! They didn't believe Him.
Verse 39: "You search the Scriptures… [Who is responsible for studying? You are!] …for in them you think that you have eternal life… [there are a lot of people who think they have eternal life] …and they are theones that testify of Me. But you are unwilling to come to Me, that you may have life. I do not receive glory from men" (vs 39-41). In other words, 'Don't come to Me and stroke Me, pet Me and compliment Me.'
Verse 42: "But I have known you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves…." That's an indicting statement. We covered earlier: 'If you love Me, keep My commandments.' Doesn't this tell you that they were not keeping the commandments? Doesn't this tell you that they weren't even keeping the Shema, saying everyday that 'you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and being'?
This shows that you can mouth the words, say the words, but is it in your heart?
"…I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; but if another comes in his own name, you will receive him" (v 43). Remember the Bar Kokhba and Rabbi Akiva?
The temple was destroyed in 70A.D. When it was destroyed the first time in 586B.C. it was 70 years until they began to rebuild it. So, the Jews looked at the destruction of the temple in 70A.D. and said, 'We have it figured out. Since we don't accept Christ as the Messiah, the Messiah is going to come in 70 years and He's going to rebuild the temple.
So, when Rabbi Akiva—who was half Esauite—pronounced Bar Kokhba, half Edomite, as the Messiah, then the last Jewish war ensued. That's why they went down to conquer Jerusalem, so that Bar Kokhba as the Messiah would rebuild the temple.
Now you know why the Jews suffered doubly difficult when they tried that. The Romans crushed that rebellion of which we have the movie Masada, where the last of the Jewish remnant committed suicide up on the top of this fortress.
"…if another comes in his own name, you will receive him" (v 43). Someone is going to send me a complete listing of all of the false messiahs that the Jews believed were the messiahs down through time. The latest one is Rabbi Schneerson. He died, but he's coming back to life.
They won't believe that Jesus was resurrected from the dead, but they believe that Rabbi Schneerson will come back.
Verse 44: "How are you able to believe, you who receive glory from one another, and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, even Moses, in whom you have hope. But if you believed Moses, you would have believed Me; for he wrote about Me. And if you do not believe his writings, how shall you believe My words?" (vs 44-47).
You see how progressively Jesus is revealing the Father as given in the Gospel of John, the disciple whom the Lord loved. It's very fitting that He is doing this.
Now, after the feeding of the 5,000 and they all wanted to get their food. Instead of having to go get their 'food stamps' they wanted the real thing. 'If we could just corral this guy, because we saw what happened when He blessed the food; the bread kept growing. Every time they broke it off it grew back; same way with the fish. We have to find this guy.'
John 6:25: "And after finding Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, 'Rabbi, when did You come here?' Jesus answered them and said, 'Truly, truly I say to you, you do not seek Me because you saw the miracles, but because you ate the bread and were satisfied'" (vs 25-26). Strictly physical things.
God wants to bless you with all sufficiency in all things. He's promised that! So, if you have a right relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ, He will bless you. Does He not have the power to do so? Of course! How He will do it is up to Him, but He will do it!
What is the greatest blessing that you can have? Not just the physical food like they were after. But the spiritual understanding of God the Father and Jesus Christ. That's the greatest blessing! That's what we need more than anything else. He said, "…you do not seek Me because you saw the miracles, but because you ate the bread and were satisfied" (v 26).
Verse 27: "'Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures unto eternal life, which the Son of man shall give to you; for Him has God the Father sealed.' Therefore, they said to Him, 'What shall we do… [human beings are built this way] …in order that we ourselves may do the works of God?'" (vs 27-28). Another middle voice verb: we want to do it ourselves!
Verse 29: "Jesus answered and said to them, 'This is the work of God: that you believe in… [Greek: 'eis'; a flowing belief and a flowing faith going to God the Father] …Him Whom He has sent.'" You're to believe in Christ and God the Father, both.
Verse 30: "Therefore, they said to Him, 'What sign will You perform, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do?…. [they're tempting Him] …Our fathers ate manna in the wilderness, as it is written: "He gave them bread to eat that came down from heaven"'" (vs 30-31).
- What are You going to give us?
- Are You going to do better than Moses?
'We saw the fish and the bread, now let's one up on that, so all we have to do is go out every morning and just pick it up.' You don't have to go to the market anymore, the market comes to you.
Verse 32: "Then Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven; but My Father gives you the true Bread from heaven…. [that's Christ] …For the Bread of God is He Who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.'" They didn't understand that so they said:
Verse 34: "Therefore, they said to Him, 'Lord, give this bread to us always.' Jesus said to them, 'I AM the Bread of Life; the one who comes to Me shall never hunger; and the one who believes in Me shall never thirst at any time'" (vs 34-35).
So, we have the eating and the drinking, the bread and the wine. Plus we have in John 7 that those who receive the Holy Spirit spiritually speaking out of their bellies shall flow rivers of living water. That's how you will never be hungry or thirsty.
You continually thirst and hunger, but it will always be filled by the Spirit of God. It says, 'Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled.' Then this all becomes the whole process of learning, growing, teaching. See how all of this works together?
Verse 44: "No one can come to Me unless the Father, Who sent Me, draws him…" How did you ever become interested in the first place? Maybe you got interested through a person; maybe your heard a program; maybe you read some literature; maybe you heard a tape. But it wasn't the person or the physical thing that did it, but it was God's Spirit behind it that drew you.
- What was it that changed your life one day when God was calling you?
- What was the thing that convicted you in heart, mind and spirit when God began dealing with you?
- It was God the Father!
We're going to see the joint operation of Jesus Christ and God the Father. That's pretty special! That's really something to think about.
"…and I will raise him up at the last day" (v 44). When you grasp that; when you understand that and you let that become:
- part of your personal life
- part of your study
- part of your prayer
- part of your daily living
you will find that there will be a great change:
- in your attitude
- in your approach
- in your though process
- in everything that you do
You will see that it is the intent of God the Father and Jesus Christ to strip away—as He did with the scribes and Pharisees—all vestiges of 'religiosity' and 'religion' and have the true personal relationship between you and God the Father. God the Father is the One Who has drawn you!
- we are not dealing with a personality course on how to improve yourself
- we are not dealing with a 'religious' discipline so that you can be approved by other people and thought as something special
God the Father and Jesus Christ Themselves are personally unilaterally—through the power of God's Holy Spirit—working with you! They have called you to eternal life! They have called you with the most profound calling that can ever be in this life. It's not gone to the world, but to those whom God the Father draws.
In order to make this more magnificent, in order to make this more confounding to the world, He has chosen:
- the foolish things of the world
- the weak things
- the base things
- the things that are nothing
So that in His magnificent plan, in the fulfilling of it at the end, He is going to undo everything that is great in the world by those who are nothing in the world! That's our calling!
God has given us a great and magnificent thing to do. That's why He's called us! That's what's so important with this.
Now you know why when you read Rev. 3, when people become lukewarm and have need of nothing, when they need God continuously all the time, they are 'spewed out of His mouth'!
Verse 51: "I AM the living Bread, which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this Bread, he shall live forever; and the bread that I will give is even My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.' Because of this, the Jews were arguing with one another, saying, 'How is He able to give us His flesh to eat?'" (vs 51-52). This is spiritually understood!
Verse 53: "Therefore, Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, you do not have life in yourselves. The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up in the last day; for My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink. The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood is dwelling in Me, and I in him. As the living Father has sent Me… [this is how we are to conduct our lives] …and I live by the Father; so also the one who eats Me shall live by Me" (vs 53-57).
That's why Christ came to reveal the Father!
All Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version
Scriptural References:
- Acts 2:21-23
- Matthew 11:25-27
- Matthew 5:14-16, 43-48
- Mark 11:20-23
- John 1:1-3, 11-18
- John 2:13-17
- John 3:27-36
- Romans 1:17
- John 3:16
- John 5:17-19
- Isaiah 50:4-5
- John 5:20-24, 30-47
- John 6:25-35, 44, 51-57
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Romans 17
- John 7
Also referenced:
Sermons:
- Carlstadt and the Sabbath
- The Greatest Gift of Grace (Grace of God series #8)
Book: The Essential Carlstadt: Classics of the Radical Reformation by E.J. Furcha
from: The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version:
- Appendix P: What Does it Mean to be "Born Again"?
- Appendix Q: What does it Mean to be "Born of God"?
FRC: bo
Transcribed: 1/4/18
