 Amen. So John chapter 6. So we're going to do something a little bit different tonight and the reason we're going to do things a little bit different is because John chapter 6, it has several stories that are in this chapter. It's a long chapter. You know, we've got 71 verses here. There's several stories, but they're all tied together. And Jesus actually kind of brings this together as a lesson at the end of the chapter. So I don't want to lose the forest for the trees. So we're going to preach through, I'm going to preach through the entire chapter tonight. We're not going to go verse by verse. I've got it broken into four parts. We're going to preach through the entire chapter. And then in following weeks, I'll come back and we'll look at a couple of the stories individually. But I don't want to lose the meaning of the whole chapter by going into studies on the individual miracles and the individual stories here. So what I've done is I've broken it into four parts. I've broken it into four parts. There's two miracles. Then there's a cause and effect section at the end. And Jesus has a lesson with all the things that happen here. So let's go ahead and get started for sake of time tonight. We're not going to go verse by verse. So we're just going to go through each of these sections. So the first section is the first miracle, which is this miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. All right. Look at verse number one, where the Bible says, after these things, Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias, and a great multitude followed him. So this is important. This multitude is kind of with Jesus the whole time. They're kind of following him around throughout this whole chapter. It says, Jesus went up into a mountain there. He sat with his disciples. And the Passover of Feast of the Jews was nigh. When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, he saw a great company come unto him. And he said unto Philip, When shall we buy bread that these may eat? That means from where are we going to get bread? Then the Bible kind of explains that he knew that they weren't going to go get bread. And Philip then goes ahead and he says 200 penny worth of bread is not sufficient for them, saying Philip basically says it doesn't matter if there was a bread store because we only have 200 penny worth and that's not enough to feed all these people. Anyway, of course, Jesus knew that he was going to perform this miracle. In verse number nine, it says there's a lad here, which have five barley loaves and two small fishes. But what are they among so many? And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. There was much grass in the place. So the men sat down in number about 5,000. Now there may have been men and women and children there. So it may have been more than 5,000 people. But then the Bible says Jesus took the loaves. When he had given thanks, he distributed it to the disciples and the disciples to them that were sat down and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. And when they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain that nothing be lost. And therefore they gathered them together and filled 12 baskets with fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above them that had eaten. So it's this great miracle. He feeds all these people with these five loaves and these two fishes and there's more left over than they even started with. So obviously a great miracle happens here. That's the first part of John chapter six. I'm not going to dig any further into that because it comes up here in the third section of John chapter six. But all that to say this, he does this great miracle by feeding these people bread. And that is the nature of the miracle itself. Look at part number two, what I call part number two. I'm segmenting the Bible here for you so we can understand this chapter. In verse 14, we see this next miracle that Jesus does. So what happens is in the second part of John six that he does this great miracle by feeding all these people and then Jesus goes away because he fears they're going to try to make him a king, make him a ruler. They're pretty excited about this miracle that he did. So Jesus goes up into a mountain and the disciples get in a ship or in a boat and start rolling across the sea of Galilee. It says, look at verse 14, those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, this is the five thousand. This is this company, this great group of people. It says this is of the truth that a prophet should come into the world. Now was Jesus a prophet? Jesus was the son of God, he was the Messiah. So these people aren't really grasping the entire gravity of the situation. Let's put it that way. When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a king, he departed again into the mountain himself alone and he was not even when even was now come his disciples went down under the sea. So it's interesting to get into this boat in the dark and go across the sea. I don't know what they were thinking. Maybe they had navigation lights or something, but whatever. Look at verse 17. It says now and entered into a ship and went over the sea toward Capernaum. Now this the sea of Galilee is like, I don't know exact dimensions, but it's several miles we can just see from the next verse coming up here. It says the sea rose in verse 18, a great wind that blew. So they had rode about five and twenty furlongs. They see Jesus walking on the sea, drawing nigh into the ship, and they were afraid. So they rode about five and twenty furlongs. So a furlong is about 200 meters, I suppose. And if you look at like 20 furlongs, 25 furlongs or 30 furlongs, we're talking about three, four, five miles here. So they had been rolling in the dark in this temptuous storm for a long time, and then they see Jesus walking on the water. Now this is a very famous miracle. We get a lot more detail miracle in Matthew chapter 14 and Mark chapter 6, and we're going to look at that in coming weeks. But all that to say this, he does this great miracle and look at verse number 22. It says immediately, verse 21, immediately the ship was at the land where they went. So Jesus says it's eye not afraid. We know there's a lot of other things that happen there, but he does this miracle. But look at verse 22. It says, the day falling when the people which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was none other boat there, say that the one we're into his disciples were entered, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples were gone away alone. So they knew something was up here because they knew that Jesus was gone and the disciples were gone, but there was only one boat. And they knew also that Jesus didn't get in the boat with the disciples to go across. So the point I'm getting at is what the Bible, the reason the Bible is giving us this detail here in the detail in the next couple of verses is it's showing us that this great multitude of people knew that Jesus walked across the sea. They knew that Jesus did another miracle here. It wasn't just the disciples that knew. Look at verse 23. It says, how be it there came other boats from Diberius, nigh unto the place where they did eat bread, after the Lord had given thanks. When the people there foresaw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they also took shipping and came to Capernaum seeking for Jesus. And when they found him on the other side, look at this, they said unto him, Rabbi, when came is thou hither? They're like, how did you get here? So they knew that something again miraculous has happened here because they knew he didn't leave with the disciples. There was only one boat. They took boats, went across, and there he is with his disciples. So they know again, this is the second part of, you know, John chapter 6. So we see another great miracle that this same great company or this group of 5,000 has witnessed. They are seeing miraculous things from Jesus. Now part three is this. Part three is what I label starting in verse number 26. Part three is what I label is kind of the meat of the chapter, and I label it the lesson, the lesson that Jesus teaches to these people. Look at verse 26. Jesus answered them and says, verily, verily, I say unto you, ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles. What miracles? The miracles of how he magically got across the sea of Galilee, and also the miracle of him feeding the 5,000. It says, labor not, it says, but. Look at this. He says, but. So he says, you're not here because you saw the miraculous things that I have done. This is why he knew why they were there, but because he did eat of the loaves and were filled. Jesus is saying, you're here because you want bread. You're here because you want me to feed you again. You say, how do I know that? Look at what Jesus says in verse 27. He says, labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you, for him hath the God, God the Father, sealed. Then they said unto him, what shall we do that we might work the works of God? And Jesus now, he just gives them simple salvation here. He doesn't go into, if you've ever wondered why Jesus went into this hard saying, as they call it later on in the chapter, of I am the bread of life, you must eat my flesh and drink my blood, which has confused Catholics for centuries. If you ever wonder why he gave that cryptic type of analogy of salvation, this is the answer right here. He started with simple salvation. Look at verse 29 where he says, Jesus answered and said unto them, this is the work of God that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. There's the Gospel right there in a verse. Jesus is saying, you must believe on me. God the Father hath sent me. They said therefore unto him, what sign show us thou then that we may see and believe thee? What does thou work? I mean, hello, he just did these two great miracles and now they're asking for a sign. Now look at verse 31, who brings up the bread? Who brings up the bread? Jesus brings up the bread of life analogy and this is why you see the bumper stickers and I am the bread of life and he brings it up to answer what these people said. Look at verse 31. They said, our fathers did eat manna in the desert as it is written, he gave them bread from heaven to eat. So the people say, look, it's okay to give us bread because God gave Moses bread from heaven. So why don't you give us bread? So Jesus kind of chastising them saying, no, no, no, no, up in verse 26, he's saying, you just want more bread, actual physical bread to eat. You want another free lunch and what you need to be thinking about is believing on the Son of God. You need to be thinking about getting saved, believing the Gospel. He's teaching them salvation and they're obsessed with bread. They're obsessed with the physical bread. They're like, what? And they try to convince him to give him more bread. Well, God gave Moses and the Israelites bread in the wilderness and that was bread from heaven as it fell from the sky. But now Jesus starts into this great analogy of the type of bread that they need. Look at verse 32. It says, verily, verily, Jesus sayeth unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which comeeth down from heaven and giveth life unto the world. Then they say unto him, Lord, evermore, give us this bread. They're still not getting it. They just, they still want bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth here it is again, believeth on me shall never thirst. So what is he using? He's using the physical analogy of hunger and thirst to describe salvation. Just like he told the woman at the well, you need living water. You need the living water. But I say unto you, that you also have seen me and believe not. See, this is the problem with these people not that they don't have enough to eat. They don't believe. Look at verse 37. And the Father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me, I in no wise shall cast out. Skip down to verse number 40. He says I can't know he talks about how in verse 38 and verse 39 how it's the Father that sent him that he was sent from the Father. It's the Father's will that it sent me. Look at me. This is the will of him that sent me talking about God the Father that everyone would see at the Son and believeth on him. How many times does he have to say this in this verse? May have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day. There's a nice little parallel here to Matthew chapter 7 verse 21. Let's just go ahead and turn there real quickly. Matthew chapter 7 especially for you soul winners. I will go to Matthew chapter 7 verse 21 many times with people that are Catholic and just it's a good verse, good set of verses in verse 21, 22 and 23 about how anybody that claims the name of Jesus is not automatically saved. Just because you know a lot of people believe that today. This is ecumenicalism today. Anybody that just mentions Jesus you know in their belief system is just they're going to heaven. But Jesus is explaining in verse 21 Matthew 7 21 22 and 23 that no it's those that trust completely on Jesus as they believe on Jesus. But look at verse 21 where it says you should have a reference in your Bible here if you write in your Bible from John chapter 6 40 to Matthew chapter 7 verse 21 because a lot of times or sometimes you'll have people that are Catholic bring this up and what they'll say in verse 21 when you read this to them where Jesus says not everyone sayeth unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven. A lot of times you'll have a Catholic say to you or rarely but sometimes you will have somebody who is Catholic or believes in works based salvation could be Pentecostal anybody that believes in works based salvation they'll say see you have to do the will of the father. See that's faith plus works right there. And you just take them right to John 6 40. What is the will of the father that you believe on him. The will of him that sent me is that everyone would see it the son and believe it on him may have everlasting life. So the will of the father is that everyone that hears about Jesus sees Jesus here's the gospel would believe it. That's the will of the father. Alright it's not works based salvation it's just that's the will of the father. And he says it twice he says it actually up in verse 39 too. This is the father's will which hath sent me. So the father's will is that all would believe on the son. That's the father's will all over the New Testament. You will find that. Alright now look at verse 41 back to John chapter 6 and verse number 40. So I don't want to derail the point here. I hope I'm not getting too deep but I want you to see that Jesus does these two great miracles and he has this big group of people following him and they're asking him for more bread basically. Jesus knows their hearts. He knows that they're not there because he did miraculous things. He knows that they're there because they want more bread from him and he's saying no you need bread from heaven. You need the gospel. You need to be saved. That's what Jesus is saying. He says what? Believe on me. Believe on him whom the father hath sent. Believe on, believe on, believe on. And then he finally just they're obsessed with bread. So he starts into the Synology of I am the bread of life. He's like you don't need physical bread. What you need is me. I am the bread of life. I am you know once you have this bread you will never hunger. You will never thirst. He's giving them spiritual reference to the physical thing they're obsessed with. This is why he goes into the bread of life. Now look at verse 41. The Jews are just completely not spiritual at all here. They're just like the Jews murmured him because he said I am the bread which came down from heaven. So the Jews aren't even like bread. They're just like he said he's from heaven. He said he's God. See so I mean don't ever give me this. They didn't know you know that Jesus was claiming to be God. I mean that was the only reason that the Jews were constantly upset with Jesus. It's just because he was claiming to be God constantly. Look at verse 42. And they said is this not Jesus the son of Joseph whose father and mother we know? How is it then he say I came down from heaven? So that's what was offending the Jewish leaders here was that he was claiming to be from heaven. Okay which means he's claiming to be from God. Now look at verse 47. Skip down to verse 47 where he says verily verily I sand you he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. We should count up how many times the Gospel was in you know John chapter 6. He's just saying you have to believe on me believe on me believe on me. And then he's saying oh for those of you that are obsessed with bread and obsessed with the miracle of just getting more bread he's like I am that bread of life. This is why Jesus goes into this you know next few verses where he just gives this bread analogy to these people that were obsessed with the miracle of him feeding them all. Look at verse 50. This is the bread would come down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die. So he's trying to use their words he's saying you know look what he says I am the living bread which came down from heaven if any man eat of this bread he shall live forever. And the bread that I give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world. Kind of showing there forecasting that he's going to die for the sins of mankind. Then look at verse 52. The Jews therefore strove among themselves saying how can this man give us his flesh to eat? They're taking him completely literally. Then Jesus said unto them verily verily I say unto you accept ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood ye have no life in you who so eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day. He's saying look verse 54 look at verse 54 verse 54 equals I mean verse 54 is kind of cryptic if you just read it by yourself if you just read it by itself and say who so eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day if that's all you read right there you could go ahead and create a religion where you give people bread and say this is actual the body the real actual body of Jesus and then you could give somebody a cup of juice or wine or whatever you want to say and say this is Jesus' actual blood look at verse 54 but if you read the whole chapter you understand what Jesus is saying here. Verse number 54 equals verse number verse number 54 where am I at here I lost my place it equals verse number 40 it's just a more complicated way of saying you know believe on me and you'll have everlasting life but he's using the thing that they're obsessed about this bread saying no no no you need the bread of my body you need to believe on me I'm going to die for the sins of the world my blood is going to be shed for the sins of all mankind he's saying you must trust on that on my flesh what I am going to die for and but my blood is going to be shed for is exactly what Jesus is saying verse 40 equals verse 54 it's just a more complicated way of saying it because of what these people were obsessed about this is why he went into this whole I am the bread of life thing it's not like Jesus is just trying to confuse people he wasn't trying to he was actually trying to get through to them and show them you're thinking of only physical things you're thinking of only physical things that you need you need spiritual things look at verse number 55 for my flesh is meat indeed and my blood is drink indeed he that eat of my flesh and drink of my blood dwelleth in me and I and him as the father as the living as the living father has sent me and I live by the father so he that either me shall live by me this is this now right here he he connects the two things he connects verse 31 and verse 58 by saying this is the bread which came down from heaven not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead they did not have the living bread they're dead he that eateth of this bread shall live forever he's saying physical bread is not what i'm talking about so that's what the catholic needs to look at that he needs to look at verse 54 and then look at verse 58 it's he's not talking about physical bread turning into his flesh he is talking about this analogy of they need to stop thinking about the physical bread the physical food the physical drink just like the woman at the well and start thinking about the spiritual and how to be spiritually saved because if you're spiritually saved if you eat of that spiritual bread you will live forever you'll have everlasting life eternal life this is why he's saying this now part four so there's the lesson there's a lesson right there look at verse number 59 part four thinning of the herd all right now here's where we kind of come into the the cause and effect part of you know Jesus's lesson here he says these things said he in the synagogue as he taught in cappernum therefore many of his disciples when they heard this said this is an hard saying who can hear it so even people that did believe in Jesus were having a hard time with some of the things that he was saying there were some believers here when Jesus knew in himself in himself that his disciples murmured at it he said out of them doth this offend you what and if you shall see the son of man ascend up where he was before where was he before was he talking about the fact that he came from where were the Jews offended that he said he was coming from he's talking about what what are you going to be offended when I go back up to heaven look at verse 63 this is the point of the whole chapter in verse number 63 right here he says it is the spirit that quicken it the flesh profiteth nothing the words that I speak unto you and here's here's here's what the Catholics need to hear the words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life what he is saying to these people is the final lesson right here is that you are carnally the that you are thinking about are all carnally are all carnal thoughts you're you're a hunger and your desires on this earth the things that I'm speaking to you are spiritual things that I'm speaking to you that's why you're not getting it that's why it seems hard for you look at verse 64 now there was a lot of non-believers there as well but look what the bible says is verse 64 it says there are some of you that believe not so this whole thing is like the herd is thinning out here you got some people that were actual disciples of Jesus that are now they're like well you can't hear this it's too hard to hear and they leave and then you have some non-believers that are now leaving all right so this is you know kind of part four of my you know the last part of the chapter that I call the thinning the thinning of the herd here it says now there are some of you that believe not for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believe not and who should betray him so we're talking about Judas we're talking about two separate things there Judas is scary it would betray him and then there were some people in the group that just did not believe okay so it's calling out Judas but it's calling out a bunch of people that just believed not when Jesus is saying what do you need to do you need to believe on believe on believe on all right from that time look at verse 66 many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him then Jesus said under the 12 will ye also go away I'm going to come back to the last four verses at the very end of the sermon so the cause and effect John chapter six is a cause and effect lesson I went through the four parts I went through the miracle number one miracle number two the lesson that Jesus gives that you are carnally minded and not spiritually minded and then the thinning of the herd but it's a cause and effect lesson the cause is the fact that they are carnal and not that's the cause the cause is that these people are thinking about nothing but carnal things just the actual I mean they're just here for the bread Jesus literally said you don't even care about the miracles you're just here for the bread these are people that are carnal and not spiritual the same thing can happen to us and the same problem will happen with people that are not believers people that are not believers are you know look we will have people that are not believers come to church we will have people and I've been asked this question just a few weeks ago I've been asked this question like what if somebody comes to church and they're not saved well we're going to try to give them the gospel of course but other than that we're just going to be friendly and it's just going to work itself out you say why because the carnal minded see a lot of people I've seen it many times people that I've seen it here I've seen it at Verity I've seen it at other Bible preaching churches that I've been to and gone to and been a member of but here's the thing if people just come for the bread like you know an example of this would be someone that just comes here for the fellowship they just come here because they're conservative and they come here and they see a lot of like minded people a lot of people that maybe we're all going to vote the same way or whatever you know we have all the same opinions on different things you know maybe we all think the same thing about you know some of the things going on in the country and they just want a fellowship with like minded people and they're just they're not saved they're not really interested in getting saved they're not too interested in the gospel they're not too too interested in it they're just they're just not spiritual but here's the thing it's not going to work it's just not going to work look I'm not mad at people like that I mean they're welcome here and we're going to love them and be friendly to them but it's just not going to work because the sayings in the bible they're hard to hear they're hard to hear and if you're carnally minded they're really really really hard to hear sometimes they're hard to hear for even a spiritual person but what the bible is saying look it's the same with us to a degree it's the same with us turn to Romans chapter 8 it's the same with us to a degree you have to be careful that as a believer you don't start to slip into this you know carnal mind it can happen it can happen there was believers and the only reason I point out that there was believers and non-believers that left here in John chapter 6 is because the same thing will happen to us the same thing will happen today with believers and non-believers so somebody that's a non-believer that just doesn't really care about spiritual things doesn't really care about the bible doesn't really care and just wants to come for just like like-minded fellowship they're gonna have a very hard time with the bible at some point and those things are either gonna they're either gonna get saved and get spiritually minded or it's just gonna be so hard to hear that they're just not gonna come anymore that's just how it works that's just the mechanics of it so if you wonder like okay you know just don't worry about it I mean it's you know we try to give the gospel to everybody that comes here you know but you can't force somebody to believe you can't just take the bible maybe if I just just shove it in their face like 10 more times they'll get saved you know you can't do that it's a heart issue with that individual but the point is the bible's hard to hear it's harder to hear if you're not spiritually minded but we must be careful of this too of becoming carnally minded look at Romans chapter 8 look folks you have to be out in the world you then especially you got to go out there you got to go out there and you got to you got to go out and you got to make a living for your family the bible tells you you have to do that you got to go out there and you got to be amongst unsaved people you got to deal with people outside church family outside brothers and sisters in Christ you are going to be involved in a lot of carnal things out in the world and that you know you say where is the line well look at Romans chapter 8 in verse number 6 look we can become carnally minded as well bible says in Romans 6 Romans 8 6 it says for to be carnally minded is death this was the problem in John chapter 6 these people were carnally minded this is why they didn't understand anything Jesus said they said this is hard to hear it says but to be spiritually minded is life and peace which of which of those two do you want? because the carnal mind is enmity against God it makes you an enemy against God for it is not it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can it be so then they are in the flesh cannot please God so the bible here is saying just because you're out in the world and you have to go and do things out in the world make a living do all these different things be around unsaved people that doesn't mean you're to get carnally minded not supposed to start thinking like the world you're not supposed to be that's not the goal of those things those are just things that we have to do it's the problem so you say where's the line? where the line is is when you allow the carnal things to bump out the spiritual things the carnal things are a means to the spiritual things you go out and you support your family so you can live your life and you can support your wife that she can raise the children in the Lord and that you can have a living so you can all eat bread and have food and drink and clothing and those things that God provides for your family through your labor but the goal is the spiritual the goal the end is the spiritual when the carnal things start to bump out the spiritual this is when you are going to start seeing problems like these people were seeing in John chapter 6 and let me tell you something it is a risk to the believer it is a risk to the believer that you become carnally mind it I mean look first of all it's just I see it all the time but it's just foolish it's just foolish to think that well if I just if I just work more and I just you know do all these things and then I can get ahead look folks if God isn't in it you're getting nowhere trust me I've been that guy if God's not in it you're going to sit there and you're going to spin your wheels for years and years and years you're not going to waste a little bit of time so look the goal can never be the carnal the carnal is a means to the spiritual and as soon as the carnal start bumping out the spiritual you've got a problem on your hands and guess what when you start getting carnally minded you are going to start you know what you're going to start doing you're going to start hearing the bible you're going to start hearing preaching from the bible and you're going to start thinking this is an hard saying and that's going to start creeping in on you I mean for the unsaved I mean it's it's a it's a tough transition enough for the unsaved to get spiritually minded enough to want to hear the gospel to want to have their heart in a place where they want to hear the gospel and are willing to believe it but look to be to to go from salvation to spiritual minded and then get back to carnal minded again you're going to start noticing that the things that you used to like to hear you don't like to hear anymore you will notice it I mean it's it's people that you know people that used to like preaching they get back sliddened they get carnally minded and the sayings get hard all of a sudden I've literally had people tell me this turn to Hebrews chapter 4 look folks the bible is hard for a lot of people to hear the bible is hard for a lot of people to hear from a pastor's perspective it really does feel like an uphill battle at times I'll just tell you that just from my perspective from my perspective I mean I feel like I'm fighting a battle where I I can't fight in certain areas because I sit up here and I preach the bible I want you to receive God's word I want you to hear whatever is preached and and wherever however hard it is preached however hard it sounds from the bible I want you to receive that I want you to take that and be like man you know that that was that was a hard saying I've had some people come up to me after service be like that was a hard saying that was that was hard to hear but I needed to hear it that's somebody that spiritually minded because the bible is hard to hear at times but the more carnal minded you get the more you will burr up against the word of God and the reason it feels like such an uphill battle for me is because I want you to receive what's preached I'm not making up anything new up here I want you to receive the bible I want you to hear God's word sometimes it may be sometimes you know I talk you know I call them gummy bear sermons sometimes they're easy right when I'm preaching a sermon on like evil politicians or or you know weird old perverts or something it's like everyone's like yeah those are gummy bear sermons because like those aren't hard to hear everybody agrees with that everybody knows that it's when it hits home it's when it hits you in the face it gets harder and harder to hear but here's the thing why is it an uphill battle for me something or it seems like it's an uphill battle at times because I want you to receive God's word but I don't control what you listen to during the week I don't control you know what you apply and what you allow to actually influence what you do I don't control which part of the sermon tonight you're going to take and actually put into application in your life I don't control that and then you go off and I preach to you for three hours a week and then you go off and you immerse yourself in God knows what all week long I don't control that and then what does that do that makes you more carnally minded and more carnally minded and more carnally minded and then the next sermon that I preach it gets sharper and sharper for you and I've literally I've literally had people that are back so they didn't tell me the preacher is getting pretty sharp I'm like the preaching is the same the preaching is not what's changing look down to Hebrews chapter four in verse number 12 it's the word of God that is sharp it is the word of God that is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword it's not what could I say get up here and give you some motivational speech or something no it's the word of God that is sharp piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and to the joints and marrow is the serner of the thoughts and the intense of the heart I mean there's many times that people come up to me and they will say like man like that sermon you have no idea like well I need to hear that or that's I mean that really like did you know I mean like no I don't know I don't know I don't know what's going on during the week I don't know the carnal things that people get into that make them even more carnally minded where they bumping out those spiritual things the sayings get harder and harder and harder and sharper and sharper I don't control that but I stand up here and I give the same word of God and then it just cuts harder and then you need to watch this you need to do a check on yourself on this if the preaching is all sudden just like hitting you in the face like every single sermon it's not because I'm sitting here writing sermons for you it's because the holy spirit the word of God is the is the is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of your heart it's the word of God it's not me so you need to save people need to check themselves on this I'm not preaching anything different up here if it starts to hit you every single sermon or it starts to get sharper and sharper you start to think this is an hard saying who can hear it you start to think that way look the problem is in the mirror the problem is you because I've already told you that I don't sit up here and write sermons for one person it's just that's how you feel when you get back slidden that's how you feel that is the holy spirit saying like something's wrong something is getting too carnal in your life it's trying to cut the word of God is trying to cut through the flesh in you that's what it says it's literally it's literally of the joints in the marrow the word of God is trying to cut through the carnal mind and get you back into the spiritual it's trying to cut through the flesh that is ruling you turn it back to John chapter 6 so look here's a good goal for 2024 this isn't a new year's sermon but here's a good goal for 2024 let's just take a lesson from John chapter 6 a good goal look this is a good goal for me this is a good goal for you as to what is to get more spiritually minded and less carnaly minded that is a good goal check yourself just what are the carnal things that are you know ruling me what are are there carnal things in my life that are causing me to bump out spiritual things what are those things and I need to fix those things do the carnal things that you need to do do the things out in the world that you're that you're commanded from the bible to do but those things are not the goal look the whole point of it the spiritual is the goal the spiritual is the whole point of it church life and everything that surrounds it that's the goal that's the goal soul winning discipleship that's the goal of the spiritual life that's the goal why not be carnal minded because other people will suffer if you're not spiritually minded I mean discipleship be more spiritually minded and disciple some people in 2024 make a goal that you're going to go out and make some connections with people get some people in church and not just go out and preach the gospel to people and then just forget their names but preach the gospel to people and then try to get them in church try to change their life try to help you know get them out of the carnal and into the spiritual that is what the spiritually minded person can accomplish in 2024 it's all going to be accomplished by the spiritually minded though turn back to John chapter 6 did I have you turn back there go back to John chapter 6 I want to show you that the first the last the last few verses here I hope you succeed in 2024 of becoming more spiritually minded and less carnal minded I hope you use this lesson that Jesus gave you in John chapter 6 about recognizing recognizing look we we don't just get back slidden in five minutes and follow the Christian life in five minutes it's the same it's the same these stupid glasses I'm carnal minded about these glasses falling off my face but it's the same thing with the marriage a marriage doesn't end in five minutes marriage doesn't go on for 10 years 11 years 12 years and in five minutes a wife does something and the husband just like that's it that one thing in five minutes it's not how it works the same thing is with the Christian life so many people fail in the Christian life and look I hate to break it to you but you're gonna see this you're gonna see this and and you know it's depressing that people come here and they leave here people come and people go and look I I don't want anybody to leave I don't want anybody to fall out of the Christian life people always ask me what happened to so and so what happened to so and so what happened to so and so and most of the time I can't say anything about any of it but the whole thing is people get carnally minded and they don't want to be in the Christian life anymore people that are saved people that are saved get carnally minded that just don't want to follow Jesus anymore John 6 it's exactly what happened it's just too hard it's just too hard to handle so when things happen and things get preached and every single time you know maybe you hear 9 out of 10 sermons you're like that was pretty good I'm applying that and then you hear that one and you're like eh I'm not applying that one that is bad that is going to start you backsliding and backsliding it's going to make the next sermon harder and the next time you read the Bible harder it's all these things where people say no I'm not going to do that part no I'm going to stop short there it's people I mean I don't care what it is the simplest things baptism I'm saved and I'm going to come to church I'm just not going to get baptized though what in the world you know it's like the first thing so if you won't do the first thing what are the odds you're going to do the second, third, fourth and fifth things so every single time you hit something in your Christian life that's preached or you read out of the Bible and you say eh I'm just not going to do that though that is a red flag you need to tell yourself there's signs folks there's signs of being backslidden there's signs when you just I don't really feel like going to church anymore look that's a problem before people stop coming to church they feel like stopping coming to church first right I mean I like coming to church I like it the minute you stop liking going soul-inning there's a problem there look we all get tired and maybe you have one day or something where we're like eh you know this seems like work I get it but if you just like lose the desire for soul-inning just lose the desire to open the Bible and preach the gospel to someone there's a problem there before you quit something you are always going to lose the desire first and you can catch yourself on these things you can see the carnal mind setting in this is what I'm saying it doesn't just happen in two minutes just like a marriage doesn't end in two minutes it's years and years and years of treating each other badly it's years and years and years against sinning against the Lord it's years and years and years of ignoring God's Word it's the same thing there's signs there's things that you can see so look I hope you all succeed I hope you all succeed in recognizing these signs and picking yourself back up again and just fixing it and just getting back into the mechanics of the Christian life but know that not everyone's going to succeed some people left here some believers left here okay but here's the final thought and I went off there here's the final thought for you if you let the carnal rule you and you let and I can't tell you how many times I've had this thought and I thank Peter I thank Peter for I thank the Holy Spirit for writing the Word giving it the words to Peter and having Peter you know dictate it in the Bible for us but look at verse number 68 where you know Jesus looks at the 12 all these people left you know that there was a church split or whatever you want to call it all these people left and Jesus turns to the 12 he says will you also go away he says are you going to leave too and look what Peter says then Simon Peter answered him Lord I mean he's I mean say what you want about Peter but he's thought this through he's Lord to whom shall we go thou hast the words of eternal life I've thought this so many times to people that fall out of the Christian life now where are you going to go what are you going to do now you're still saved you still got that Holy Spirit inside you where are you going to go you know you can't you know you can't unknown especially especially when you're sealed with the Holy Spirit you know you can't unknown the truth because the Holy Spirit is always going to be in you until your last breath on this earth until you go to heaven Holy Spirit whether you're doing right or you're doing wrong the Holy Spirit is going to be in you truth truth truth you're not going to find anybody where are you going to go you're going to leave church and who's going to tell you the truth you're going to go watch the news are you going to tell you the truth there you're going to find somebody on TV to tell you the truth there's nobody telling the truth today what are you going to do I mean these you fall out I hope you all succeed because you fall out of the Christian life and this is going to haunt you for the rest of your life you're going to know look you can't unknown this stuff you can't unknown the truth you can't unknown these doctrines you go to some lame church where they're you know jumping around and you know telling you you're awesome you know that's not true you're going to know that's the thing it'd be one thing if you could forget it all but you can't and that's what Peter is saying here he's like where we're going to go you're going to leave too he's like Peter didn't say they weren't hard sayings Peter didn't say that everything that Jesus says is easy he said where else am I going to go there's nowhere else it's the only place where the truth is where else are you going to go are there are there bible preaching churches are there are there 50 bible preaching churches in every city in America no there's like a handful in the whole country I mean where are you going to go to hear the truth the truth is always going to be in your ear if you have the Holy Spirit you can't unknow that you just can't unknow it no one else is going to tell you so it's best to not fall out of it it's best to stay spiritually minded and not let this happen to you like it happened to so many people in this chapter it's such a valuable lesson that's why I wanted to show the whole chapter because Jesus is just giving this super valuable lesson that is directly applicable to us today and it takes so many people out of the Christian life look there's a lot of carnal things out here folks I hope you all I hope you all had a great 2023 I hope you all were super successful I hope that that the bills were paid I hope that the rent was paid I hope that you paid some things off I hope that you know jobs are looking good for you I hope that everything is looking good going into 2024 but if those things are pulling you out of the Christian life if those are taking over your spiritual life I hope they go away for you because they will wreck you and once they wreck you then to whom will you go and that's I think about Peter's words often there is nowhere else to go I want to be where the truth is I want to be where the truth is being yelled and screamed I want to be where people are not just politically together I want to be with people who are spiritually with the entire word of God because of the truth if you go somewhere where they preach 80% of the word of God and they purposely leave out 20% or they purposely leave out 5% or they purposely leave out 1% that is not the truth so if you go somewhere that's pretty good but they leave out 1% it's not the truth to whom will you go stay spiritually minded in this next year if you've got carnal things that you think are bumping out your spiritual life and fix those things that is a great goal for 2024 get spiritually minded and stay that way watch for these red flags that Jesus brings up here let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer