Why do you go to church? Is it out of a sense of obligation, a responsibility you feel to honor Jesus? Today on Truth for Life, Alastair Begg explains why true faith involves more than simply admiring Jesus from a distance or seeking his blessings. Let's open our Bibles to the Gospel of John, chapter six. The Son of Man is Jesus' favorite self-designation.
Over eighty times Jesus uses the Son of Man of himself. As a picture, as a reminder of that great anticipation in the book of Daniel, that there would be one like unto the Son of Man. And he does it. in order that he might make clear. That in him The realities of heaven can be found On earth.
In him The realities of heaven. Descend to the earth. He is the only one who came from heaven, who can speak to people about heaven. He is the only one. And here these poor souls He has to tell them that I wish you were here for a different reason, but the fact is you're only here for the food.
Well, that gives rise to the second question in verse 28.
Well, then they said to him, What must we do? to be doing the works of God. What do we have to do to do the works of God? It's the routine question. of religious people.
It's the routine question. of people when you talk to them in the street. But I don't I don't The baseline is this. Salvation from this perspective is yie is viewed has been as a result of human effort. There must be something I can do.
To make sure of entry into heaven. You have it in the rich young ruler, in the the story that Jesus told. That the man came to him in his opening gambit was the same master. What good thing must I do to inherit if Eternal life. Salvation is a gift to be received.
Not a reward. to be achieved. Not something to be sought after and provided by our own agency. And it was this, of course, which sparked the revolution. In the heart of a Roman Catholic monk called Martin Luther, and across into Switzerland and France and into Scotland and England and so on, as suddenly people began to read their Bibles.
Martin Luther was consumed with the thought that he could possibly become righteous enough for acceptance with God. That was his great design in going to Rome, in the hope that there in the center of it all, as he understood it, he may be able to finally click open that door that would provide entry to him. And he came back disillusioned. More disillusioned than when he'd gone. And then suddenly God opened his eyes.
Well, many of my friends are sincere in these things. They are making their journey through life, I know, because I spend time with them. They make fun of what they think is our Gospel story. But mainly they are making their journey through life. Feeding on a diet of good works or human merit, Believing in the intercession of the saints.
Facing Purgatory. or praying for their families somehow. to be removed from purgatory. and completely blind. to the answer that Jesus gives.
completely blind. You see, religion will inoculate you. Against the gospel. It'll be like you had a thing here, and it's made you now oblivious to stuff. No, that can't be.
That possibly couldn't be. After all, think about all the people all over the world who have believed this and so on.
Well Do you want to believe the Son of God? The work of God For you is to believe in the one. whom he has sent to you as verse twenty nine Jesus answered them, This is the work of God. that you believe in him whom he has sent The first and only thing you have to do, he says. is believe on the one whom he has sent.
If you look back again just for a moment to chapter one, And to The f Familiar verses 11 and 12. Let's just remind ourselves of this. He came. to his own. And his own people, that's verse 11, his own people did not receive him.
But to all who received him, Who believed in his name? He gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of God. This is what Nicodemus is going to encounter in chapter three. This is what happens when people are brought to living faith in Jesus. A lot of people say, you know, I thought we were all God's children.
And the answer, of course, is that we are all God's children. by creation and by provision. He has created every one of us. He makes the sun to shine on the righteous and the unrighteous. He provides for those whom he has made.
And so the New Testament sees God as the Father of all men in that way. But men or women, men and women, are only the sons and daughters of God. In the fullest sense, When they have received all that God has given to them. In Jesus. And so you've got this constant interface between the idea of believing and receiving.
It is not simply credence, it's not saying, Well, I believe the the Apostles' Creed. It's possible to believe things about That is why the receiving, believing interface is so vitally important. Because the shorter catechism has it wonderfully when it says that faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace. Whereby we receive and rest upon Christ alone for salvation, as He is offered to us as a gift in the gospel.
So, when we talk about faith, we're talking about that. When Jesus is talking about it, this is what He means: it's a spiritual change. Whereby I cease to rely upon myself Upon my efforts, upon my achievements, upon my good name. That's why you see we have to repent of all our good deeds. Because all our righteousness is as filthy rags.
It is a very preventative. In finally acknowledging, I am wretched, poor, blind, sinful. I need a Savior. It is at that point. That belief.
Merge from Simply credence to commitment. And we have to make sure that when we're talking to our friends and we want to be able to talk to our friends, we let them know that we're not talking here about a program, we're talking not about a philosophy. We're talking about a person. You see, the Bible, and we're going to get to this in a further study sooner rather than later. The Bible is very, very clear that we are blind and that we are dead spiritually.
and that we cannot approach God on our own terms or in our own time. That's why As we'll go on to see, Jesus says, All that the Father gives me. will come to me. Are you sitting there this morning and say, Well, I'll get around to this whenever I'm. Ready.
It's not. a notion of I can believe any time I want. No, we can't. And so these people The Jews. to whom he came.
Say to him, and this is their third question. Then what sign do you do? that we may believe in you. What are we supposed to do?
Well, what you're supposed to do is believe in the one who is sent. You'd think that would be fine. They'd say, well, then. Uh help us with that, no.
So they said to him, Then, what sign do you do that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Show us a sign that we can believe you. Show us a sign. Jesus might have been forgiven for saying, Excuse me?
Party? I mean, were you there yesterday afternoon? Yesterday Although it appears to be unanswerable proof. Not for them. And not actually for many of our friends.
I'm sure you find this as I do too. There's a large company of people. who continue to deceive themselves with the idea that if they just had one little bit more evidence they would believe. The feeling of 5,000 is not good enough. Apparently, you've been walking on water.
I'm prepared to consider that, but it doesn't move me.
Now, the reason that I don't believe this gospel It's because of a lack of of evidence. The honest truth is. Nobody. is kept back from Christ. as a result of a lack of evidence.
The problem is not intellectual. The problem is moral. It is an issue of the human heart. The human heart is a rebel heart. The human heart is at enmity with God.
The human heart is unable to restart itself. It has gone out. and cannot be brought back. except by a divine invasion. And that divine invasion is the work of God the Holy Spirit, who comes as a light surprises into the darkness of a life, into a moment when somebody is unthinking and not even considering many of these things, and suddenly the truth dawns.
What are they saying, though? Basically, I think they're saying, look, our fathers ate manna in the wilderness. You know, we were impressed yesterday. I mean, five loaves and two fish for 15,000 people, that's a big deal. But what about manna in the wilderness?
How many people were there? Three million people? For forty years? That's a flash in the pan yesterday. The miracle was undeniable, but it was totally unacceptable to them.
You see, because to quote someone that I hardly ever quote, Paul Simon. I was just a poor boy, though my story is seldom told. I squandered my existence for a pocketful of mumbles, such are promises. All lies in jest.
Well, a man sees What he While man hears what he wants to hear. and disregards the rest. That's right. You hear what you want to hear. You disregard the rest.
I like the part about this, I don't like the part about that. If it's the total package, I'm not interested in it. I want a king that will serve me rather than one before whom I bow. I like the idea of a guru, I don't want a savior, whatever it might be. Incidentally, you may have seen the video that a friend sent to me.
from New Zealand just two days ago. And Paul Simon is being interviewed. And the interviewer As um Now listen. Time is running out for us both. What about God?
And what about death? And Paul says, well As far as I'm concerned about God, I love the universe, I love where I live. If it is a God who made all this, then I want to say to him, Well done.
Well done, you did a great job. But however, if there is another explanation for the universe, It's still a nice place to be. And I'm happy that I've been here. He previously acknowledged that at least three of his songs he feels he was a conduit rather than the author. The sound of silence, Bridge over troubled waters.
in Graceland. He said they came to me. Mysteriously. I don't know where they came from. And then the guy says, well, what about death?
You say, well. I have a friend who is dead now he was a Tibetan monk. And he told me That when you die You've got like about three bad weeks. And then You're incarnated. And um He said, but I said to him, I'm I'm not inclined.
to b to believe that. But he said I like you. And I admire you. And so because you said it, Maybe. It's worth consideration.
There's no one. Told This little man About Yeshua. About the Messiah. about the living bread of life. Not a Tibetan monk.
But a Galilean carpenter who declares both by his life and by his lips a reality that is beyond the ken of everybody. Until God makes it known. You see, we've already learned. that whoever does not honour the Sun, does not honour the Father who sent him. He can't get to God.
except through Jesus. Truly, truly, says Jesus back in John 5: whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me. has eternal life. Whoever hears my word, but a man hears What he wants to hear. and disregards the rest.
So Jesus corrects their misunderstanding. Moses did this. He says, Well, you should know that it wasn't Moses that did it at all. It wasn't Moses that gave you the bread. And frankly, even the bread that he gave you wasn't the true bread that gives life to the world.
It wasn't Moses who gave you the bread. My Father gives you the true bread from heaven, for the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven, which is the first little hint of what He's about to say in verse thirty-five, where we stop. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. gives life to the world. Who would make such a claim?
Yeah. It is fantastic. This is life for the world, for the whole world. This is not life for a special group of people. This is life given to the world, for God so loved the world.
That God loves the world. The lost world, the world in rebellion, has drawn the compassion of God. That's what he's saying. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. You want to get focused here on the bread from yesterday afternoon?
You're missing the point here.
So That stirred them up a little bit. And in verse thirty-four they said, Well, then, sir, Give us this bread always.
Now we're going to go on and see that Despite this little moment of enthusiasm, if you like, they were still earthbound in their thinking. And it may be that their response is similar to the initial response of the woman in John chapter 4 that we don't get to study. Because remember, when Jesus speaks to her about living water, she says, Oh, give me that living water.
So that I won't have to keep coming here every day. And yes, they explain. No, no, no, no, no. We're not talking about buckets and stuff like that and hose pipes. No, no, no, no, this is something very different.
Oh, give us that food. Help me. You see wishing. and admiring. It's not the same as conversion.
And so Jesus says to them, I am the bread of life. and here we must stop. I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger. Whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
This is our starting point in going on. Notice what a declaration And what an invitation. There's an inherent invitation, whoever comes. Whoever believes The gospel. the Gospel which is to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Romans 1 Jesus is the fulfillment of all that the Bible teaches us about bread. Aren't you a burden for your Jewish friends? Aren't we, I hope? They know all about manna in the wilderness. They know all about the twelve beautiful loaves of bread.
Provided on a golden table in the center of the temple to be enjoyed by Aaron and his sons, the priests. They know all about that. They know that feasting signifies fellowship. They know that it is God who provided the table, it is God who provided the temple, it is God who filled the table with that which they could eat or taste and see. That the Lord is good.
Blessed is the man who is good. who takes refuge in him.
Now, somebody says, Oh, yeah, I believe some of that stuff. No, no, I rely entirely upon you. I have no one except you. I have no hope in Christ alone. That's it.
One of my good Jewish friends, he brings me chala. Brett. At um Rosh Hashanah. And he bakes it himself. And he always wants to deliver it personally.
Because that personal delivery is an expression again of fellowship, of friendship, of engagement, and so on. And it moves me. that he cares that much. I want to say to a man How about the bread that comes down from heaven? That's what this stuff that you're giving me is all about, ultimately.
Well Yeah. to be continued. to be continued. Let's pray. Father, open our eyes.
that we may behold wonderful things out of your word. Uh take some How about from simple credence. to the kind of commitment that Just turns our world upside down. And changes are priorities. from that which is purely temporal to the eternal.
Accomplish your purpose as we pray. For Jesus' sake, amen. Yeah. Yeah. You're listening to Truth for Life with Alastair Begg.
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