[audio:http://crosschurch.net/media/audio/10june27.mp3]
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Sermon Outline:
1. Skeptical Grumblers: Unsatisfied Unbelief
2. Sovereign Grace: Dragged Believers
3. Saviors Gift: The Living Bread – His Flesh
Sermon Text:
John 6:41-51
41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— 46 not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
Sermon Notes:
So You Want To Go Back To Egypt…
Christians complain a lot. If we’re honest, we grumble about everything while we say at the same time we trust the Lord. As one man shared with me years ago, “why do we pray that God’s will be done in our lives and then when He does it we complain about it?” Exactly.
The story of the children of Israel is very much the same thing. They had prayed and prayed for a deliverer to come; to release them from the bondage and oppressive tyranny of Pharaoh. And so the Lord answered their prayers. He brought them a deliverer in Moses. Moses pleaded by God’s command for Pharaoh to soften his heart and release Israel from bondage. But Pharaoh hardened his heart against the Lord. Finally, the tenth plague came to Pharaoh and all of Egypt (the death of the firstborn son) and in great sorrow and rebellion he let Israel go free. It’s profitable to remember beloved, that not only did Pharaoh harden his heart, but God hardened it as well. And when God hardens the heart – there is no softening!
In the midst of such providential freedom, joy, and celebration, it didn’t take Israel long to begin to complain and turn away from the Lord. Listen to these whiney words from the wanderers while in the wilderness: “Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at” (Numbers 11:4-6).
Does any of this sound familiar with our lives? We are in bondage to something; we ask the Lord for deliverance; He provides a way out from our troubles; at first there is joy and celebration; but then the road gets a bit hard and things aren’t working out like we’ve imagined; we begin to complain and grumble against the Lord doubting His will. And just like Israel of old, we are all too quick to say, “Was it really that bad a few months ago? I had the club membership, a live-in girl-friend, steady paycheck. I slipped into the back of my mega-church and left without anyone noticing. But now, life is much harder! And frankly… the manna in my life isn’t much to look at anymore.”
Paul says in Phil. 2:12b-14 to “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or questioning,” Notice, the complaining and questioning wasn’t with another person, but against God Himself. “Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker—“ (cf, Is 45:9).
This week – say good-by to Egypt! Trust and believe in His Sovereign provision alone – for your daily needs and your only hope for eternal life. He is the living Bread – feast upon Christ and live!
