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That's connectwithskip.com. Now let's get started with today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig. Before I found a parking space at the mall during Christmas time, that's wonderful, but it's not a miracle. A miracle is the suspension of natural law, and if you have ever seen one, it changes you. Because what it immediately does, it brings to you the awareness that God is real and that God is near.
And it usually shakes a person to the core. Early on in Jesus' ministry, when our Lord said, throw the nets on the other side of the boat, and they had that great catch of fish, it dawned on Peter what was happening. It dawned on Peter that what he just witnessed and felt in that catch of fish was not normal. It was not natural.
They had been fishing all night. There was somebody who was able to control the forces of nature itself, and he's in the boat, and his reaction wasn't, oh, that's so cool. He said, depart from me, Lord.
I'm a sinful man. In realizing who he was looking at, he realized who he was himself, and it shook him. I told you before about my friend Tony, who had an accident lifting something, hurt his shoulder tremendously, and his radial nerve, and I forget which hand, right or left, but of course, was impinged. It was pinched.
So his hand was deformed. And he was over at my, I was single, he was over at my apartment one night, and he had fallen a little bit away from the Lord, and he's in this condition, and doctors were treating him. And so as we were falling asleep, I just prayed that the Lord would touch him and heal him. I didn't even pray out loud. And I did make a show of it. I didn't pour oil on him. I didn't say, thus says the Lord.
I didn't do any of that. I was falling asleep, and it's just, oh, Lord, it would just be so amazing if you just touch Tony and heal him and just show him how much you love him. And I'm drifting off to sleep, and suddenly the light goes on, Tony gets out of bed, and he starts yelling at me, calling my name, and he's going like this, moving his hand right in front of my eyes. I saw it with my own eyes right after my prayer. And I was shaken. I started filling up with tears, and we were both weeping.
And it was just a tremendous opportunity. It does something to a person. However, miracles can also change, perhaps, the way one relates to God, the way one prays, the motivation for following the Lord. So that you begin to seek the Lord, not for who he is, but for what he gives, what he might do now, what's next on the miracle agenda.
I begin the study tonight with that, because that is what you're going to see happening here. You're going to see people following the Lord, seeking after the Lord, which in most churches we would go, amen, put their name down, and let's count them as part of our group, and it's so exciting. But Jesus confronts them because of it. And the confrontation will lead to many of those would-be disciples turning away and walking away from him.
It was James Montgomery Boice in his commentary in the Gospel of John who said, we have now come to a place in American Christianity where we are seeing that lamentable tendencies for people seeking the Lord based on personal need than just seeking God himself. And so we begin in chapter six in verse 22 on the following day. This is after the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 men. We can guess there were maybe 15 or 20,000 people total on the following day when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea, that is the Lake of Galilee, when they saw that there was no other boat except that one which his disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but his disciples had gone away alone. However, other boats came from Tiberius near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks, when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, now look at the wording, seeking Jesus.
Ooh, this sounds good. They're seeking the Lord, we would say. They're following after him.
They want him. And when they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, Rabbi, when did you come here? Now you know he didn't take the boat, he walked.
He walked on the water. He met them, calmed the sea, and got in the boat and went the rest of the way with them. They said, Rabbi, when did you come here? Jesus answered and said to them, most assuredly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. In other words, he calls their bluff. No words of nicety.
This would be the kind of counseling session that people would get up and leave and try to phone the senior pastor and say, do you know that that counselor of yours was rude to me? He called me out. He said, you're not seeking me for the right reason or seeking the Lord for the right reason.
This is Jesus' own language. You seek me not because you saw the signs, but you had a good meal and you were filled. So in other words, there are those people who seek the Lord, not because they love the Lord, not because they want the Lord, but they want what the Lord gives to them.
They're seeking the gifts rather than the giver. And it was precisely this that Jesus was saying to them. They woke up the next day. They were hungry again. It was breakfast time. This is sort of like saying, hey, that miracle yesterday, that dinner time meal was great.
It was really cool. But what's for breakfast? That was in their hearts. They wanted another miracle.
They wanted another sign. And they will ask for that in just a few verses. So rather than hungering and thirsting after righteousness. They're just hungering. Period. For physical stuff, for physical food. Nothing's wrong with that, of course.
You need food to eat. But that was their motivation. The miracle got them hooked and they just wanted another miracle, another sign.
So much so, just to show you how important this is and grave a situation. Because as Jesus goes through his message in this chapter and they realize he's not going to give us what we want. In verse 66, many of his disciples turned and walked away and followed him no more.
So it's an issue about motivation. I remember when I came to Christ by watching Billy Graham and when he used to preach his crusade messages. He would end in a very peculiar way.
It would sound peculiar to us today. He would lead people in the prayer and then he would, some of his final words were, and don't forget to go to church this Sunday. He would always tell people to go to church. And it's a good thing to go to church, but I guess we need to ask ourselves the question, why do I go to church? What is my reasoning? I'm glad you're here. And I would dare say our midweek folks are here for the right reason. They want to learn and grow that they might grow in relationship and please the Lord. But it's a good question for all churchgoers to ask, why am I coming to church? Why am I praying?
Why am I reading my Bible? Some years ago, a group of researchers did a study of churchgoers. Churchgoers. But they went a little deeper examining four areas of churchgoers' life and practice. Besides just going to church, church attendance, they looked at four other areas of their lives.
And they discovered, they made this discovery. They said, churchgoing Americans, about 22% are avidly spiritual. They put into practice what they say they believe. They're avidly spiritual.
They're truly committed. About 19% were people going to church who the survey considered moderately religious. You know, they come to church, but it's hit and miss. They do other things, spiritual exercises, but it's hit and miss. They're never really committed and deeply consistent. And it said 29% of churchgoing Americans are nominally religious. That is in name only. They're not really committed to any great degree at all.
They're there for other reasons, other motives. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we get back to Skip's teaching, Nate Heitzig has written a children's book just in time for Christmas. And this month we're offering it to you as thanks for your support of Connect with Skip Heitzig. Christmas Under the Tree follows the timeless story of Jesus Christ from the cradle to the cross through the eyes of an unlikely character, a humble tree. This beautifully illustrated book, which includes a companion audio experience, is a wonderful way to tell the Christmas story and the story of Christ to the children in your life. This resource is our thanks for your gift of just $25 or more today to help share biblical teaching with more people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig.
Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your copy when you give $25 or more today to reach people all around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Let's continue with today's teaching with Pastor Skip. So it's always a good question to ask ourselves that I don't need to badger you with it or probe you with it. May the Lord do that with each one of us. But why do I do what I do spiritually?
What is my real motivation? I've spoken to young men who say, honestly, I've come to church. He told me that I used to come to your church because of the cute girls. And so I said, well, did you find any?
He said, yeah, but they weren't interested in me. And I thought, good. They're being fed well. Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes.
But for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you because God the Father has set his seal on him. In other words, don't aim below to satisfy physical needs of your decaying flesh or decaying body. Don't aim below. Aim up high. Aim at heaven. In the words of the Apostle Paul, set your affections, your mind on things above, not on things of this earth, but on things above where Christ is raised and seated at the right hand of God.
C.S. Lewis used to say so perfectly, you know, he had a knack with the words. He said, aim at heaven and you'll get earth thrown in.
Aim at earth and you'll get neither. The words of Jesus are even clearer, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. What our Lord is saying here in this chapter is the equivalent of what he has already said in the fourth chapter to the woman at the Samaritan well. When he said, if you drink of this water, you will thirst again.
But if you drink of the water that I will give, you will never thirst. So let me ask you a question. How do you get your needs met? I love asking these kinds of questions. I love asking application probing questions.
I do it to myself when I'm asking you this question. How do we get our needs met? The real and the best answer is by seeking the Lord. But, but you get your needs met by seeking the Lord, not so that you can get your needs met.
You get your needs met by just seeking the Lord, period. It's all about him. It's his will. It's his kingdom.
It's his righteousness. He'll take care of you. You seek him. Don't seek him as a means to an end. Seek him as the end.
Seek first the kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. Then verse 28, then they said to him, now this is all a fluid dynamic conversation. They said to him, what shall we do that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered and said to them, this is the work of God that you believe in him whom he has sent.
Now understand the flow of the conversation so you understand this question. What must we do to work the works of God? He has just told them not to work or labor for physical things, but labor for spiritual things. So they immediately take that when they're listening to me. I've got to do something to work for salvation, to work for heaven, to work for the right relationship with God.
So what must we do to work the works of God? Now, why would they ask a question like that? Because that's how they were programmed. That's how they've been taught. They grew up believing in a works-based righteousness. I get to heaven by doing religious work.
So, okay, you did a miracle and you're telling us these things, so what must we do to work the works of God? That's how they were programmed. In Romans chapter 10, Paul speaks about the Jewish nation, Israel, in Judaism. And he said they have a zeal for God, not according to what?
Knowledge. They have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. He continues, Romans 10, this is around verse 2, 3, 4, right around there. For they, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. They are looking to be right with God by doing certain works, instead of submitting themselves to the righteousness of God. Now, this is something that's foreign to them.
The idea of justification by faith, a New Testament staple, a foundational truth, the idea of justification by faith is completely unfamiliar to them, but that is what Jesus is teaching them. Verse 27, notice again, Do not labor for food which perishes, but for food which endures to everlasting life, watch this, which the Son of Man will what? Give you. You don't earn it, it'll be a gift. You receive a gift. You don't earn a gift.
You're thinking about working works. This is justification by faith. It will be given to you. So they're asking the question, what must we do? Jesus is saying, this is the work of God that you believe in Him whom He has sent.
I hope you can see the difference here. They're thinking, I have to do something. He's saying you have to believe someone. Do something or believe someone.
Would you agree that most of the people you meet are in the first category? What do I have to do to get to heaven? That's why people will say, you know, I try my best. I give it my best shot. I have the right reason and motivation. I am not perfect, but I'm working hard and I go to church and I read my Bible and I do this.
I take the sacraments, whatever background or persuasion you might have, hoping that in the end it'll all shake out. Because what they're saying is that to get to heaven you have to do good works. But here's a question I have for you. Let's think of this logically. If you can get to heaven by being good, then the follow-up question is, how good do you have to be?
So imagine a conversation. If I say, how do you get to heaven? Well, by being good.
Okay. How good do you have to be? I mean, are you going to set the standard or is that guy over there drinking that double macchiato, is he going to set the standard? His standard may be different than yours. Whose standard of goodness are we going by here? Yours, mine, his or God's?
Because if you're going by God's standard, you're going to have a huge problem. For Jesus himself, when the rich young ruler said, good master, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus said, why do you call me good? There's only one good and that's God. Now he either is saying I am no good or he is saying I am God. But he asked the poignant question, why are you calling me good? Because last time I checked, that standard of goodness can only be defined by the one who created the world and its moral values and that is God. What must we do to do the works?
The answer is fitting because the rest of the answer would be there's nothing you could ever do that's good enough. Therefore, here's the work of God. Believe in him whom he has sent. By the way, John, the writer, loves the word believe. He loves it. It's his favorite word. He uses it more than any other writer in the New Testament. Did you know that the word believe shows up 241 times in the New Testament? John uses it about 100 times in this gospel alone. He takes the lion's share and talks about believe, believe, believe. 107 times, John uses it in all of his writings, 98 times in the gospel of John. Therefore, verse 30, therefore, they said to him, what sign will you perform then that we may see it and believe you?
What work will you do? What's wrong with this question? Right, you're getting, this is ludicrous. Only somebody blind could ask this kind of a question.
That's the point. They're spiritually insensate, they're blind. What sign are you going to do? What part of the free lunch yesterday did you guys not get?
When did you ever see any sign like that? But we have to read on to really understand their thinking. Our fathers ate the manna in the desert. As it is written, he gave them bread from heaven to eat. Suddenly they're comparing Jesus and the feeding of the five or 20,000. Let's just be realistic.
To Moses in the wilderness and the manna that came down from heaven. Why would they make the comparison? It's simple. Two reasons. Well, really one reason.
Two parts. Moses himself in Deuteronomy 18 said, the Lord God will send another prophet like me to you. And so the Messiah was sometimes called in Judaism the prophet. The prophet. Are you the prophet, they asked John the Baptist. Go back to verse 14 of chapter 6. Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, this is truly the prophet who is to come into the world. They're already learning to equate Jesus with the prediction of Moses in Deuteronomy 18 as being the fulfillment of the prophet.
What sign are you going to give? Moses gave manna. Now in saying what they are saying, they are marginalizing what Jesus just performed. Marginalizing his miracle.
Let me loosely paraphrase. You know, you gave us food yesterday, but it was only one meal. Moses provided it for 40 years in the desert every single day. Which, by the way, was part of the reason they complained in the desert.
Right? Because of the manna. I mean, it was amazing stuff. It tasted all sorts of different ways. It could be baked. It could be cooked a number of different ways. You know, manna cotti, I suppose. Manna souffle in all sorts of different ways. But they started loathing it.
They started hating it and complaining against it. But manna bread, they... Jesus said to them, verse 32, Most assuredly, I say to you, Amen, Amen is the Greek. Amen, Amen, or truly, truly, Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Thanks for listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We hope you've been strengthened in your walk with Jesus by today's program. Before we let you go, we want to remind you about this month's resource that will help you and the children in your life see the timeless story of Christ with fresh eyes.
Nate Heitzig's book, Christmas Under the Tree, with Forward by Levi Lusko, is our thanks for your support of Connect with Skip Heitzig today. Request your copy when you give $25 or more. Call 800-922-1888.
That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. And did you know that you can find full message series and libraries of content from Skip Heitzig on YouTube? Simply visit the Connect with Skip Heitzig channel on YouTube and be sure to subscribe to the channel so you never miss any new content. Come back next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Make a connection Make a connection at the foot of the crossing Cast your burdens on His word Make a connection Connection Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
