 John chapter 6 beginning at verse 22 reading to verse 24. We'll get into our study and I chose to simply entitle this particular portion of John Jesus the bread of life So John chapter 6 beginning at verse 22 reading to verse 24 on the following day When the people who are standing on the other side of the sea Saw that there was no other boat there 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 When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there Nor his disciples. They also got into boats and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus So these particular events that we're looking at here in verse 22 following take place on the day after Jesus had fed the five thousand You see the people had returned to the area. They found that he and his disciples had left They knew that Jesus hadn't departed with his disciples Because of the storm other boats had harbored in the area, so they couldn't figure out where he was so they departed to Capernaum Jesus had miraculously fed them and They were determined to make him their king and because of this they're diligently looking for him verse 25 Says when they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him rabbi When did you come here? And so it's interesting that they knew where he was they went and knew where he was and Verse 59 when we get there is going to inform us that that Jesus was in the synagogue in Capernaum So it would be well known people would have known where he was at. He was in a synagogue so there they are in the synagogue and they wait till the service ends and Now they have an opportunity so they go and they speak to him and they ask him a simple question notice They say when did you come here? They hadn't seen him leave and knew he came alone. So they wonder when did you arrive? They were aware that he didn't take a boat. They wondered how he made it over the sea And so they're asking when did you come here in verse 26? Jesus answered them and said most assuredly I say to you you seek me not because you saw the signs But because you ate of the loaves and were filled You're coming to me not because the miracle and the things that I've done have caused you to see something in me that is beyond human You're coming to me because you ate your stomachs were filled and you were satisfied and so They had come to him because Jesus had Metaphysical need that means that they're materialists They're not interested in in reflecting on the significance of the miracle of the feeding of the 5000 And because he begins to confront them and and by the way, I ought to point this out again. I want you to see something I want you I'll let let this kind of settle on you It's like Jesus is there in a church like this. We'll say he's innocent of God The people are there looking the place must be packed The service is over and They approach him and they want to know when did you come here? But I want you to see something. This is something that Sometimes needs to be pointed out. I want you to see how he speaks to them I want you to see again in verse 26 most assuredly I say to you you seek me not because you saw the signs But because you waited the loaves and were filled that is confrontational That is very direct speech keep that in mind because a lot of times guys the church likes to picture Jesus as some Almost a spineless man Sometimes he's portrayed as always having kind of a silly grin Maybe a lamb on his shoulders But Jesus was confrontational Not all the time but sometimes he spoke directly And that's what he's doing right now so When you read your bible or you go to a bible study And sometimes things come off directly Don't get upset about it Because if the lord is asking a direct question it's important to be able to give a direct answer And when jesus spoke he made it very clear You're really not hungry for the things that I do salvation wise and who I am You're following me because you're hungry And you think that I am your ticket To material satisfaction And so he's gonna he's gonna rebuke them and that's what he begins to do because in verse 27 He says 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 when he says do not labor he's saying you made great effort in searching for me You great you made great effort in finally finding me But you did it to satisfy your physical hunger For your physical appetite To seek and to find has been worth your effort But the fact is and this is so important A spiritual hunger cannot be met in a material way And that's something I think that we need to always remember it has to be something That we understand Material things do not satisfy spiritual needs. We all know that But as I was going through this and preparing the study I made a note that I'll share with you Witness the many wealthy who are completely bankrupt spiritually There are so many people that are very materially wealthy So when I think of that I used to think of of bill gates But now he's he's kind of poor Compared to jeff bezos Listen to this Let me let me provoke you to covetousness Jeff bezos It's difficult to know how much money he has It it fluctuates But in 2019 His net worth Is estimated to be around 154 billion dollars Okay, I'll let that set for a minute. We don't know what that means But one source said it like this Jeff bezos makes approximately $230,000 A minute There you go That hit that's a smaller number I wish he'd give me five minutes of his time I'm just asking for five minutes jeffy $230,000 A minute Let that settle You Let's see if I got this right You would need To spend 421,917,000 808 dollars a day To spend it all in a year 421 million dollars a day For 365 days in a row Okay, here's another one For jeff bezos When he spends about one and a half million dollars It is like the average person spending one dollar There you go that hit With all of his money And of course I'm not bringing a word of condemnation on jeff bezos. I'm using his wealth as an illustration But with all of his money He is not known For having peace And satisfaction in life He's not known for that You will never see an article Unless he comes to faith in christ That I'll ever say jeff bezos says my money doesn't matter I've got jesus This man's money And no rich man's money without christ Will ever satisfy Spiritual needs Are never satisfied by material things They just aren't They just aren't The bible tells us in ecclesiastes chapter 6 verse 7 All the labor of man is for his mouth And yet the soul Is not satisfied Jesus asked a question in matthew 16 26 What profit is it to a man If he gains a whole world And loses his own soul Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul Remember how Jesus Spoke to the woman at the well and gave her an invitation That she might have living water for if she drank of that water She would thirst again But if you drink of the water that he gives she'll never thirst again You see jesus is the one who who gives us the invitation To have satisfaction By coming to him that's why in matthew 11 28 Jesus said come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden i will give you rest So from the popper to the richest person We all need the same thing We need rest in christ And so when jesus is speaking here and he says to them in verse 27 do not labor for the food which perishes That is something for all of us to hear You are you're coming after me because i fed you well don't labor for the food which perishes But for the food which endures to everlasting life Now the food that endures speaks of that which strengthens your soul not just your body And that food is is is Is knowing and and is doing God's will remember in john 432 through 34 jesus said i have food to eat of which you do not know Therefore the disciples said to one another has anyone brought him anything to eat? And then jesus said to them my food Is to do the will of him who sent me finish his work And so the food that endures is that which strengthens your soul? It's knowing and it's doing god's will and as he's speaking concerning that he says The son of man will give this to you why because god the father has set his seal On him Now when it says god the father has set his seal on him This seal represents ownership And a seal during the time of christ was used to approve or to authenticate Someone said as as a person who wishes to communicate with another who is at a distance writes a letter Seals it with his own seal and sends it directed to the person for whom it was written So jesus came to reveal god's will to man bearing the seal of god In the evidence of his miracles god has set his seal god owns me i am his i belong to him And he has authenticated me by the works so that work that he had just performed the feeding of the multitude Was intended to communicate to them Who jesus is? Well as he's communicating to them and sharing this with them notice verse 28. They said to him Or what shall we do that we may work the works of god? Jesus had said labor for the food So they said well, what should we do? In other words, what good things what good works must we do to have that? What kind of works must we perform? And so jesus answers Verse 29 this is the work of god That you believe in him Whom he sent you see The one thing that is necessary Isn't your laboring and working to somehow try to fulfill the law of moses and to live it perfectly You can't do that What you need to do is you need to believe in the one whom god sent That's what is required you want to perform works But jesus is saying in order to perform works You need to first and foremost have me in your life So that you are no longer working for salvation But are now working out your salvation And there's a world of difference between those two things You need to believe on the one whom god has sent. This is the work of god Earlier in john in chapter one verse 12 remember how john had said as many as received him To them he gave the right to become children of god to those who believe in his name It isn't by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy He saved us by the washing of regeneration by the renewing of the holy spirit And i i didn't come to a relationship with god by trying and working hard and that's what he's saying here Well, what must we do? What good work must we do? This is the work you want to know how it begins you want to know the origin of all real works Believe on the one whom the father sent It begins there You don't work your way into a relationship with god you work out your relationship with god So you need to partake in me you need to have me in your life So as he's speaking to them verse 30 therefore they said to him Well, what sign will you perform then that we may see it and believe you what work will you do Our father's ate the manna in the desert as it's written. He gave them bread from heaven to eat So now they're demanding a sign He's they're saying moses provided bread for us. Why won't you if you're our deliverer Now moses fed more than two million people with bread from heaven So do something like this Then we'll believe in you as we have believed in moses And so as they say that Verse 32 jesus said to them most assuredly i say to you moses didn't 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 You see he's saying very simply listen. It wasn't moses who provided this bread The bread that was provided came through god In exodus in the old testament chapter 16 verse 15 It says when the children of israel saw it they said to one another one another. What is it? They didn't know what it was And moses said to them This is the bread which the lord has given you tea. So They're misunderstanding scripture. They're saying well moses gave us bread and jesus says moses didn't give you bread God gave you the bread the bread from heaven God gave the bread from heaven to the children of israel And god gave jesus who is the true and living bread that he might give life to spiritually hungry people And so verse 34 they said to him lord give us this bread always And jesus said to them shut up you bother me And jesus said to them I am the bread of life He who comes to me Shall never hunger He who believes in me Shall never thirst Like the woman at the well They immediately asked him to provide living bread They're blind They don't see the spiritual meaning of his words They're not seeking his truth Jesus and luke 12 23 said life is more than food the body is more than clothing So jesus specifically states in verse 35 i am the bread of life Now when you go through the gospel of john you're going to note that there are seven It's called the seven i am statements of jesus This is the first of seven i am statements I am the bread of life And he's saying i am the only source of spiritual nourishment I am the only way you can have spiritual life You see when you come to me You'll never hunger or thirst again Because I will fully satisfy you When I came to faith in christ as a young man I didn't come to hear christ receive of his teaching And then later on start saying well those are good words. I wonder what buddha has to say And those are interesting words. I wonder what muhammad had to say And those are interesting words. I wonder what christina had to say Now when I came to christ I no longer was interested in what buddha christina or muhammad had to say Because I had taken and so had you in the true bread from heaven So if you take of the bread you never hunger for anything else again There there are people who like to discuss issues related to our salvation Do you lose it? Do you always have it? Once saved always saved. Oh, no, you can lose your salvation That's one of those questions that i'm not going to try to answer tonight Because that's not part of my study, but I use that as an illustration My approach to that to that is such a simple it's a simple approach If I've been filled by jesus if my hunger has been satisfied by him Then he's all that matters to me for the rest of my life I'll never hunger for anything else. I'll never thirst for anything else I I don't worry about those things When matters in matters of salvation people say oh, you can lose your salvation. Oh, no, you don't lose your salvation Some people my pastor illustrated it like this. He said People think that salvation is like, you know, he says I look at salvation like a pickup truck He said and I'm in the back. I'm there In in the back of the truck He says some people think that the the tailgate is down and on your journey you can bounce on out Others believe that the tailgate is up And no matter how rough the ride you can bounce all around in and you'll never fall out So one person says you can fall out Another person says you can't fall out But what's the answer? What's the solution? And I love what chuck said He said stay close to the driver That's true Have you guys ever been in the back of a pickup truck just bouncing around like that? For me, I discovered a long time ago and I was a kid and we used to be able to do that You can't do it anymore, but I used to I just would lean against the cab I had no concern about bouncing out of a truck. I had no concern why because I was close to the cab And when you take of christ When you partake of him when he is the bread of life And you and you and you feed on him. You'll never hunger for anything else You'll never thirst for anyone else. It's all about him. And that's what he's saying. I am the bread of life Come and eat of me partake of me. You'll never hunger for anything else in john 17 3 This is eternal life that they may know you the only true god and jesus christ whom you have sent Jesus is saying you're never going to hunger. You will not thirst. I will fully Satisfy you I hope that he's satisfying you by the way I hope that he is I hope that he's everything to you That's that's a heart of christianity It's just loving him with all of your heart and I hope that you do You won't hunger or thirst for anything else now he says in verse 36 that I said to you But I said to you that you have seen me and yet Do not believe You've asked for a sign and you received it man of front heaven the living bread. You've seen me Yet you still reject me Verse 37 all that the father gives me will come to me And the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out all that the father gives to me salvation originates with god He's the one providing the means of salvation In matthew 11 27 jesus said all things have been delivered to me by my father No one knows the son except the father Nor does anyone know the father except the son and the one whom the son wills to reveal him And so all that the father gives me will come to me And the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out By his spirit god draws people to jesus And jesus receives them and he doesn't reject them It's kind of like a homeowner being kind To a beggar who comes to the door He doesn't reject them And we are spiritually impoverished And who came to christ And he didn't reject us He says you need just to come to me And he says and i'm not going to by any means cast you out For verse 38 i have i have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me This is the will of the father who sent me That of all he has given me i should lose nothing But should raise it up at the last day and this is the will of him who sent me that Everyone who sees the son and believes in him May have everlasting life and i will raise him up at the last day I don't have a separate interest from my father I've come to bring salvation And it's his will that i should lose no one that he's given to me It's his will that i might raise them up on the last day And The power without which they could not believe He freely gave them But the use of that power Was their own So when you come to him You have security notice i will hold on to them until the end and i will raise them up on the last day Now he's already alluded to this in john 5 28 and 29 He had said do not marvel at this the hours coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forth Those who've done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation So he's simply saying i'm going to raise you up at the last day See for me, it's again in a practical application to this It's just a powerful thing to realize that um yesterday i had the opportunity to To meet with um with the number of pastors and their wives Every month every month here in the church every month i have a meeting with about 20 20 to 28 senior pastors And they will come and we'll have a two hour meeting every month And just yesterday One of my friends Mike Rodriguez from calvary chopper corona had asked if we could go to his His uh his facility and and bring our wives and and have a luncheon and and a get together With the pastors and wives and and staff members and we did that yesterday And uh One of the we i was in a panel answering questions from the other pastors and leaders and and uh One of the things that was asked of us was how do you uh deal with With uh difficult situations and times that you're going through hard hard times. How do you deal with that? and so i'm i'm i'm actually I'll say it like this. I don't know a better way to say it. I'm i'm the senior the senior man in that group And i've been walking with the lord for for a long time and pastoring for a long time Just a couple weeks ago on july 31st. I didn't even mention it was a wednesday night Just a couple weeks ago. I celebrated my 40th anniversary of ordination And he did it on a wednesday night. I didn't even think about it outside. I said, oh guess what 40 years ago today I got ordained as a pastor 40 years of pastoral ministry And longer than that when it comes to teaching. I've been teaching Uh home bible studies to church studies since 1973 in september I'll celebrate my 46th anniversary of beginning home bible studies and moving into ministry. That's a long time I never realized it, but it but it is it's a long time So 46 years of teaching 48 almost 49 years of walking with the lord and the question is asked What do you do? Who do you go to? And if you've got if you're down, who do you go to if you have a need in and so that was part of the answer And so let me say briefly to you when I when I say it like this. I said, you know what guys? I've been walking with the lord For a long time. It is now second nature For me to cast my cares on him Because I know he cares for me I my my god has been faithful to me every step of the way for almost 49 years He has never failed me. He has never failed me and he never will So and you too we could we could say the same just just when did you get saved? From that day He has never failed you I'm gonna illustrate this on sunday in the book of james To the herd of john, but I will be doing this this upcoming Sundays and sharing some things with you but one of the things that is is Is so much what it means to be a christian Is lord to whom shall I go? You have the words of eternal life Who else is there? Who else is there that I could go to? Who else loves me? Like you do who else cares for me? Like you do who else is given to me? what you have Who else is provided for me? Like you have who has been with me closer than a brother Who has walked in my darkest hours who has lifted my my my my my head that was down Down cat who has lifted me up who has given me joy who has given me blessing Who has forgiven me of all my sins if not you why would I turn from you? You are the bread of life When I have eaten and have drunk of you, I am satisfied. Why would I look to somebody else? Why would I want something else? Who could be better to me than jesus? And who could be better to you Than jesus that's he's saying this to guys who they just want the material needs met He you sought me and you found me because I I fed you You were hungry and you want someone who be your ticket for life And you don't understand That what I have to offer you that even when you're hungry is still going to satisfy your soul Because your body may be hungry, but your soul will be satisfied in me and you don't understand And I think the church needs to remember those words to be honest with you We need to remember that in these last days In verse 41 the jews then complained about him Because he said I am the bread which came down from heaven. They said is Is not this jesus the son of joseph Whose father and mother we know How is it then that he says I've come down From heaven They're offended He said he came down from heaven. You see jesus's words divide They either will draw you or they repel you It just depends on who you are and where your heart is Here's another scripture jesus gave matthew 10 34 do not think that I came to bring peace on earth I didn't come to bring peace but a sword And is that not true? You got saved you told your mom and your dad your friends did they jump up and down if they were christians? Maybe they did If they weren't did they throw you a party did they kill the fatted calf? Did they say oh your prodigal came home? No, I don't think so No, they didn't What's wrong with you? I still remember my brother telling me That he thought I was a phony I've seen you go through so many things david and this is just another one of those things It's a fad. It's it's just something you're going through you've done so many things now you're this That was my brother And I I I would suppose that some of you in this room had the same kind of thing We're friends that I've known you I know what you're like. I know what you do. I know you're trying But you'll go you'll come back You'll be what you were before, you know, uh You you can't change that's just not true with god all things are possible And then you can change but there's they're speaking and so they say in verse 42 is is this not Isn't this jesus the son of joseph? Now a moment ago they had begun to murmur now they're beginning to scoff and mock How could he say he came from heaven? When people knew of his father and mother You see jesus was raised in nazareth nazareth. It was a very small village It may have had a population as small as 80, but no more than 200. That's a small village Uh nazareth was around 30 miles from capurnium. That's not too far Some would have known mary and joseph So it's possible that they knew of the circumstances of jesus's birth and they were rejecting him because remember They believed that jesus's mother mary had committed sexual sin And so they knew some of those circumstances And so they didn't recognize god as being his father And in not doing so they were rejecting him matthew 13 verses 55 and 56 has a similar kind of thing Where it says is is this not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called mary and his brothers james joses simon and judas and his sisters Are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things? So they didn't recognize him for who he is So verse 43 jesus therefore answered and said to them do not murmur among yourselves When he says do not murmur murmuring is rejecting And as long as you reject what i say jesus would be saying you can't be saved charles virgin a great preacher of another day said murmuring is a great sin And not a mere weakness It contains within itself unbelief pride rebellion and a whole host of sins You see god is the one teaching people to come to jesus Again, he does this by a spirit in their hearts he says In verse 44 no one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him I will raise him up at the last day and so jesus is the one raising the dead on the last day which speaks of the very end Here he's speaking of the resurrection of those who have believed in him In verse 45 it is written in the prophets. They shall all be taught by god Therefore everyone who has served and learned from the father comes to me And so When he says it is written that comes out of isaia 54 13 Where the scripture says all your children shall be taught by the lord And great shall be the peace of your children So this would refer to the special understanding those called by god Would have by god spirit those hearing jesus are given understanding of who he is verse 46 not that anyone has seen the father except he was from god He has seen the father most assuredly. I say to you he who believes in me has everlasting life No one has seen god the father except for me In verse 47 I've come that you might have life And this life comes Through believing in me and by the way, one of the things that I might want to note at this moment just briefly I want you to see how he's been saying in verse 47. You see it He who believes in me has that that's something you have right now You have age abiding life you have it And This life that you have in christ Is is not simply length of days It's not that you're going to continue And and you'll never cease to exist. It's not simply that it's not just the length of days It's also a quality Eternal life is fellowship with god and that produces a quality in your life A quality of relationship a quality of Enjoyment a pleasure of joy of peace a quality of thankfulness of of fellowship It's the thing that that you have now that that when you're going through something and and it's a difficult time and it's it's it's hard That that you can cast your cares on him and and you know, he cares for you It's it's going through the valley of the shadow of death because we all do But it's fearing no evil because we know he is with us It is it's being an overcomer Even when we are tried in some Deep and powerful way and sometimes our the trying of our faith Is a long lasting and an enduring kind of thing that it just doesn't stop there There have been times in in your life. There have been times in mine when when when it seems like life is like Waves that keep on crashing on me And and then I I just have the ability to to get out from underneath when another hits me And then I get out from beneath it and then another hits me and another hits me And and it's just one after another and you say, oh my god, what's going on how come? And and that's when I have learned to and I think you have to if not you will That's when I've learned I'm never alone I'm Jesus will see this when we continue on in john's gospel. Let me say this. Yeah, amen to that amazing clapping, but um Jesus said Now i'm alone and yet i'm not alone Now i am alone And yet i'm not alone for you are with me Have you been there yet? Have you been there yet? Some of you have Have you ever been on your face on the carpet in a bedroom? Just you and god? Have you crying? god, what are you gonna do? What are you gonna do? My child is in trouble What are you gonna do? My mom's sick and I don't know how am I gonna help her What are you gonna do for it? My dad lost his job my father my father had worked for this one company for For many many years and and one day he came home And I was only 22 at the time and my dad had worked there all of my life He worked at a place called davies warehouse I used to think davies warehouse was named after me I did is a little boy I thought they named it after me. It's davies warehouse And my my dad comes home and he's depressed and and i'm just a young guy and a new believer really I was only a couple years old in the lord and my dad had Never had a day that he didn't have a job as an adult never had a day that he didn't have work And my dad was providing for my my mom and for his kids And now he has no job for the first time in his adult life And he comes home on a friday and he's depressed and I didn't know why And I I see my dad my dad was not one of these guys who would would wear his Emotions on his sleeves. So I I I I couldn't read him and I just looked at him And I knew something's wrong, but he wouldn't tell us he didn't tell us any of these things He would tell my mom and my mom would come and tell us your dad and so My mom walks up to me and she says your dad lost his job today Your dad hey when you lose your job your bills still need to be paid, right? You still have to eat, right? My dad had nothing nothing I was a young kid 22 years old And I still remember talking to my dad And I in his dad at his house I said dad I don't know much. I don't know much at all, but I do know this I do know and I was a new christian. I said I do know my god shall supply Our need I know that And dad, let me tell you something and I'm again you got to put it in a perspective. My dad was 46 years old I was 22 My dad very easily could have looked at me and said what do you know about life? What do you know? You're just a kid You haven't even held a job that long You don't know what it's like to work and to provide to buy a home pay for cars raise your kids You don't know any of that My dad could have done that But he didn't he just listened to me And I said dad I don't know much, but I do know this My god shall supply all you need according to his riches in christ jesus my my god is able daddy let me pray for you I still remember holding my dad's hands there in his den And I prayed and I said father or something like father, please in jesus name my dad needs work They had sold the company And everybody had been let go and all of these all of his His life as an adult was working there For the first time my mom said in his life as As an adult he didn't have a job waiting for him on monday And this was a friday and we prayed And on monday my dad got a phone call And the company that had purchased davis warehouse was called webers webers trucking And my dad and his two brothers All worked for davis And they were hired to work for webers My dad didn't miss a single day of work See so I I have seen The goodness of the lord I know my god shall supply And I know he loves us and he will do Abundantly above all but we need to receive and trust him And jesus is saying you want you want what I give you but you don't want me You you want things But you don't want relationship You need to know I am that bread of life I am that Verse 48 and the bread of life your father's ate the man and the wilderness they're dead This is the bread which comes down from heaven that one may eat of it and not die You see the physical bread your ancestors partook of didn't grant them eternal life. They all died But in contrast to this I am the heavenly bread that gives eternal life through my death I'm that living bread He said again in verse 51. I'm the living bread which came down from heaven If anyone eats at this bread, he will live forever the bread that I shall give is my flesh Which I shall give for the life of the world the jews therefore quarreled among themselves saying How can this man give us flesh to eat? Well, some understood him And they're arguing They took his word literally eating flesh and drinking blood. How is that possible? Well, Jesus said to them most assuredly I say to you and unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood you have no life in you Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life And I will raise him up on the last day for my flesh is food indeed and my blood Is drink indeed Unless you one time for all time partake of me You won't have life By using an illustration of eating He's simply saying you must receive me in your innermost being You must partake in my life and my death And this full participation in me will result in life Well verse 56 he who eats my flesh and drinks my my blood abides in me and I and him As the living father sent me and I live because of the father So he who who feeds on me will live because of me This is the bread which came down from heaven not as your father's ate the manna and are dead He who eats this bread will live forever These things he said in the synagogue as he taught in Capernaum What is he saying? He's saying this You need to fully commit yourself to me Because this full commitment Is what results in eternal life And jesus is saying You need to realize that I am the bread that came down from heaven It's not a physical wooden literal interpretation. It is a spiritual ingestion Take of me so that you might live And as he's doing this he's teaching them notice and we'll close at verse 59 in a synagogue there in Capernaum When we go to israel we'll go to the general area where this particular synagogue would have been And we have bible studies there And we go through passages similar to this and it gives us a Gives us good insight and in closing just a couple thoughts because when it says these things he said in the synagogue as he taught in Capernaum Well, Capernaum is a place that he often ministered in remember with me in matthew 4 413 Capernaum had become his headquarters in matthew 8 verse 5 It was in Capernaum that he had healed a centurion servant In mark chapter 2 that's where jesus had healed a crippled man who was brought to him by friends And they had removed the the ceiling tiles and had lowered the man that was in Capernaum In john chapter 4 jesus had healed a noble man's son who was sick there in Capernaum, but Ultimately jesus Jesus condemned Capernaum for unbelief in matthew 11 23 He says you Capernaum who are exalted to heaven will be brought down to hades For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom it would have remained until this day In order to have life We receive christ at his word We don't ask jesus to be our savior so he can give us A great day every day We ask jesus to be our savior Because we've sinned against him and need forgiveness But the benefit of it is that he is now With us He does provide for us He sticks closer to us than a brother He provides for us. He convicts us by his spirit when we're wrong And in every single facet of our life He is our bread He is Who sustains us. He is the one who nourishes us When when I first got saved We were hippies. They used to just call us freaks Hippies were called freaks. Some of you are old enough to remember that Some of you have read that in your history books, but they called us freaks And so when we got saved They called us jesus freaks Because we were freaks for jesus and You can dress up an old man like me Cut my hair and put a shirt on me in shoes But in my heart That's what I still am I'm a jesus freak That's what I am just just there. There you go. There you go That's what I am because the lord Has I has done so much You know every once in a while and I'll close with the thought here every once in a while At least a couple times a week I should say it's not just once in a while I will I will count my blessings I have a habit of doing that. I don't know if you do It's a good habit to have You know I I count my blessings god has given to me an incredible wife God has given to me beautiful children They're tough But I love them God has given to us grandchildren And I mentioned to you I just dedicated my olivia jesus an amazingly beautiful little thing and my my daughter karin at 42 Is adding to my grandfather quiver and We will have another baby in november And i'll be dedicating that baby probably on easter And my son david's wife is going to be giving birth to a baby in february You know another one and uh And I think about that I think about that I He is given he has given me friends And he's given me family. He is giving me blessings He's given me joy that is unspeakable He's written my name in the lambs book of life He he is Isn't he good? I mean he's he's good you know He's good And there's nothing i've ever given up that I needed I never lost anything somebody asked me once what is the Greatest lesson that you have learned After all these years of walking with the lord, what is the greatest lesson that you have learned? After all of these years and you know what the greatest lesson i've learned it's real simple It all works out in the end It all works out in the end What I was concerned about so worried about needed to be it all works out in the end Somebody has asked me what would you change if you could change something? Anything what would you change and the answer after a lot of thought nothing Nothing why? There were there's been pains. There's been losses. There's been Because Everything I've ever gone through has made me who I am today I would not want to not be who I am by the grace of God And I have learned that my god will never abandon and never never stops caring for me I have learned that through walking through the valley of the shadow of death I have learned to abound and i'm learning what it's like to be abased and and I can do all things through christ jesus Who strengthens me because that is the secret of being content is to know that your god Is next to you and he is on the throne and he has never abandoned you and jesus is the bread of life And that's how it works That's how it works