Hallelujah!
Revelation 18:20-19:5
Hallelujah!
Revelation 18:20-19:5
Main Idea: We are summoned to join the hallelujah chorus of heaven because Babylon will be judged and defeated.
I. The Harlot Condemned (18:20-24)
While the kings of the earth (18:9), merchants (18:11), and sailors (18:17) “weep and mourn” over the fall of Babylon, the “saints, apostles, and prophets” are commanded to rejoice in God’s judgment over the great harlot and the wicked city (18:20; cf. Rev. 6:10).
Jeremiah 51:47-49: Therefore, behold, the days are coming
when I will punish the images of Babylon;
her whole land shall be put to shame,
and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
Then the heavens and the earth,
and all that is in them,
shall sing for joy over Babylon,
for the destroyers shall come against them out of the north,
declares the Lord.
Babylon must fall for the slain of Israel,
just as for Babylon have fallen the slain of all the earth.
The mighty angel throws a “great millstone” into the sea (cf. Jer. 51:60-64), symbolic of the total and complete judgment that will be poured out on Babylon. The emphasis of Babylon’s final judgment is on what will be “no more” (6x):
No more music (18:22a)
No more industry & work (18:22b)
No more light (18:23a; cf. 21:23)
No more weddings (18:23b)
The reason for Babylon’s judgment is threefold:
1. Self-glorification (18:23c; cf. Gen. 11); Babylon’s merchants were pridefully the “great ones” of the earth, who propped themselves up by exploitation and greed.
“The chief purpose of humanity, according to [Revelation], is to glorify God and to enjoy him, not to glorify yourself and enjoy your own achievements. Self-glorification necessitates judgment in which a forced humbling occurs. It is idolatrous for Babylon and her allies to call themselves “great.” This title is reserved only for the true God. To focus on humanity as the center of everything and to forget God is the greatest sin.”
~ G.K. Beale, The Book of Revelation (NIGTC)
2. Deceptive influence and seduction of the nations to idolatry (18:23d)
3. Persecution and violence toward the prophets and saints (18:24). “It’s important to think of judgment and its horrific finality not primarily in terms of the suffering it inflicts but in terms of the just retribution it represents.” ~ D.A. Carson
II. The Hallelujah Chorus (19:1-5)
After John is shown the final judgment and the end of Babylon, the worship in heaven is unveiled to him. The “great multitude in heaven” cries out with a loud voice: “Hallelujah!” (lit. “Praise God!”; 4x in Rev. 19; cf. Ps. 146-150).
This burst of ‘Hallelujah’ praise is because of:
God’s salvation: He rescues us out of Babylon by the victory of the Lamb (cf. 12:11; 17:13; Eph. 1:3-14).
God’s glory: He is eternally ‘weighty,’ significant, and consequential.
God’s power: He alone is ‘immeasurably great, not mighty Babylon or Rome (cf. Eph. 1:19-20).
God’s perfect justice: He has avenged Babylon in righteousness for her immorality. (19:2a; cf. Rom. 12:18)
“That’s the goal of everything the angel has been revealing. That’s what the whole book of Revelation is about. That’s the point of all God’s judgments, all God’s dealings with the world. All God’s plans for history from beginning to end have this one goal— worship God! Don’t worship the wealth of Babylon, don’t worship the power of Babylon, don’t worship the pleasures of Babylon, and don’t even worship the holy messenger who brings you the news that Babylon has fallen forever. Worship God! ... God let John hear the celebration of heaven so that in his exile and his suffering he might join in and worship God. And John wrote it down in a book so that we might listen to the worship of heaven and join in.”
~ John Piper, “Worship God!”
In response to the loud, exuberant, joyful worship of heaven, the twenty-four elders (representing the totality of God’s people) and the four living creatures (representing all of creation) join the chorus: “Amen. Hallelujah!” (2 Cor. 1:19-20). As the hallelujah chorus swells, a voice from the throne summons all of God’s servants, “small and great,” to join in worship (19:5; cf. Ps. 115:13).
“Corporate worship is the declaration in the midst of Babylon that we will not be drawn into her harlotries because we have found in God the satisfaction of our souls. Corporate worship is the public savoring of the worth of God and the beauty of God and power of God and the wisdom of God. Worship is an open declaration to all the powers of heaven and to all of Babylon that we will not prostitute our minds or our hearts or our bodies to the allurements of the world. Though we may live in Babylon, we will not be captive to Babylonian ways. And we will celebrate with all our might the awesome truth that we are free from that which will be destroyed... Corporate worship is the blatant, public savoring of God in the midst of a seductive Babylonian culture. Worship is the flagrant, open enjoyment of God as the fountain of life. It is a public declaration that God is more to be desired than all the pleasures of Babylon.”
~ John Piper, “Worship God!”
Psalm 150:6: Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!
Come Out of Her, My People
Revelation 18:1-20
Come out of Her, My People
REvelation 18:1-20
Main Idea: We who belong to Jesus are free from Babylon and commanded to break up with her.
I. What is Going on Here?
God is bringing judgment on Babylon.
Babylon is iconic as not just a place or an empire, but as a pattern of power opposed to God. As such, Babylon symbolizes political power used unjustly, economic exploitation, cultural arrogance, and moral corruption.
Revelation 18 predicts the utter and final fall of Babylon as a fiat accompli which occurs in history at the return of Jesus. (Revelation 19)
1. Why is Babylon judged? For her iniquities.
“Her sins are heaped high as heaven and God has remembered her iniquities.” (18:5)
She glorifies herself imagining she is entitled to the outlandish luxury she enjoys at other’s expense. So established is her mark on human history, she thinks she can never be dethroned. But her extensive network of seduction, commerce and might is nothing more than a "dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit” and beast. Her unequalled might amounts to nothing but smoke and debris before the Lord God almighty who has judged her.
2. How is Babylon judged? Suddenly and completely.
“Her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire.” (18:8)
Whereas the plagues of Egypt played out over weeks and months, the plagues Babylon faces will happen “in a single day,” more specifically, “in a single hour!” Even those drunk with the wine of her excesses will recognize it for what it is: JUDGMENT (18:10)
In the ancient world, as in our own, fire is representative of total loss. When a thing is “burned up,” it will never be repaired. It will never be seen again. The “smoke of her burning” is the only thing left to prove she was ever there.
3. What reaction does Babylon’s destruction produce? It depends on your relationship to her.
There is weeping and mourning among those who had become dependent upon her and entangled with her in her crimes. (18:9-19) This community is made up of:
“All nations (who) have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality,”
“The kings of the earth (who) have committed immorality with her,”
“The merchants of the earth (who) have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.” (18:3)
II. What are We to Do?
Come out of her, my people
A death sentence has just been passed on “Babylon the great.” We are to decisively, determinedly, and definitively “break up with” Babylon, “lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.” (18:1-5)
The text lists two reasons for this “break up”
1. We can neither resist her wiles nor escape her plagues if we stay.
Keep in mind that “all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.” (Rev 18:3) You are a fool to think that you shall resist or escape what these could not.
2. We do not belong to her.
We are GOD’S PEOPLE. We belong to Him because He loves us and has freed us from our sins by Jesus’ blood. The very Son of God was slain for us, and by His blood He ransomed a people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and Jesus has made us a kingdom and priests to God, and we shall reign on the earth. (Rev. 1:5-6; 5:9-10)
We may reside in the precincts of Babylon and live out our days under her dread shadow - just as John was in exile on Patmos and his readers lived out their lives under Rome’s heavy hand - but we no longer belong to her.
III. How are We Supposed to Do it?
While this specific passage only gives the high-level command, keep in mind that the entire Revelation was written to seven churches just like ours. These people in the churches were the “my people” to whom the voice from heaven was speaking directly.
1. Repent
The first step to breaking up with Babylon is brutal specificity and ruthless honesty about the sins she has lured you into with an eye to killing them! Repentance requires admitting the specific ways in which we are “drinking the wine of her sexual immorality” and forsaking it.
Repentance is not a generalized uncomfortable feeling about some vague shortcoming you may or may not have. It is a specific awareness of a pattern of behavior that is either luring you into bed with Babylon or proof that you are already in bed with Babylon.
2. Remember
The second step is to remember Whose you are and re-orient your identity to Jesus and to Jesus alone. It is this remembering that strengthened the suffering saints in Smyrna to “be faithful unto death” (Rev 2:10) and enabled the succeeding saints in Philadelphia to “hold fast what (they) have, so that no one may seize (their) crown.” (Rev 3:11)
3. Overcome
Those who “overcome” are those who “conquer.” This idea shows up in each of the letters to the seven churches. It refers to those now anchored in Christ who re-structure their lives to pursue holiness and love, purity and peace, righteousness and virtue. This kind of life is made possible because they hear and obey “what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Rev 2:7,11,17 26; 3:5,12,21)
4. Rejoice.
This is how we know we have “broken up with” Babylon. At one time in our lives, we were “drunk” at her party along with everyone else. For now, we are forced to live in the shadow of her tenement and endure the humiliations and persecutions she doles out to her former lovers. But we are looking for Jesus and we know how the story ends. God gives judgment for His people against her. She burns, we live. “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets!” (Rev 18:20) THAT IS US!
Beauty & The Beast
Revelation 17:1-18
Beauty & The Beast
REvelation 17:1-18
Main Idea: We must resist the deadly seduction of Babylon and faithfully follow the Lamb.
I. The Harlot (17:1-6, 18)
John is given another look at the coming judgment and the end of history (cf. 16:17-21) through the fate of the “great prostitute.” John is given an ‘apocalypse’ into her identity, immorality, and influence from one of the angels of judgment.
Her Identity: The Harlot is revealed to be “Babylon the Great, the mother of prostitutes” (17:5; cf. 14:8; 16:19). “Babylon” is an example and ‘type’ of all nations who seek to deify themselves and therefore hate the Lord, his anointed, and his people (cf. Gen. 11; Dan. 4:30).
“Babylon cannot be limited to any one individual or institution or nation or city. You can’t point to any one location or country on a globe and say, ‘That alone is Babylon.’ You can’t confine Babylon within any particular geographical or territorial boundaries. Babylon is found wherever and whenever there is Satanically inspired deception and idolatry. Babylon is the symbol of all worldly entrenched opposition to Jesus Christ.”
~ Sam Storms, Our God Reigns
Her Immorality: The sexual immorality of the Harlot is symbolic of idolatry, spiritual adultery, and unfaithfulness to God. Her immorality is expressed through deceptive seduction or persecution against the saints (17:6). She is profiting off her immorality, holding a “golden cup” full of her “impurities and abominations” (17:4).
Her Influence: The Harlot is arrayed with royal clothing, gold, silver, and beautiful pearls. She allures and holds sway over:
“The kings of the earth” (17:2a)
“The dwellers on the earth” (17:2b; unbelievers throughout Revelation); she is "seated on many waters” (17:1), later identified as “peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages” (17:15).
1 John 2:15–17: Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
II. The Beast (17:7-13)
The ‘beast’ that the harlot rides has already been introduced in Revelation 13; it is supporting and upholding the harlot in her immorality and sinful influence over the world by providing political support and military might.
Just as before, the beast is merely a Satanic “parody” of the true Lord:
The Lord: “who is, who was, and is to come” (1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 16:5).
The beast “was, and is not, and is to come” (17:8); it ‘is not’ because of the finished work of Christ, who has overcome all the cosmic forces of evil that stand against him (cf. Col. 2:15). It ‘is to come’ because this powerful figure seems to have a resurrection from a mortal wound (cf. 13:3), but it is only to rise to destruction (17:8, 11).
The beast’s “seven heads” are a clear reference to Rome, a city built on “seven mountains” (17:9). However, the scope of the beast’s power extends beyond Rome; the seven heads and the ten horns likely represent the fullness of oppressive power throughout the ages. As powerful as a Rome-type power seems at any given time, they ultimately rise and fall, and will “only remain a little while” (17:11).
“The people in the churches who first received John’s letter would have found it difficult to envision a day when Rome would fall. But that day came, just as it has come for so many world powers since then… every human government has a shelf-life. One day all the many ‘isms’ that have such a grip on the many cultures of the world - classism, racism, materialism, consumerism, egoism, hedonism, humanism - will no longer rule the day. Every kingdom will one day give way to the true kingdom.”
~ Nancy Guthrie, Blessed: Experiencing the Promise of the Book of Revelation
III. The Lamb (17:14-17)
Despite the harlot’s seductive influence and the beast’s power, we are told of their sure and ultimate defeat:
The Lamb will conquer them (17:14). As the “Lord of lords and King of kings” he will overcome evil once and for all - and he will bring with him “those who are called and chosen and faithful.”
The Lord will turn evil against itself (17:15-17; cf. Gen. 50:20; Acts 2:23)
Psalm 2:1–6: Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
“Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”
He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
“As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”
“The harlot Babylon allures with pleasure that leads to the embrace of death and despair. The Savior Jesus calls with life from God for those who believe. The only blood he bears is the blood he shed in our place, to free us from the penalty of our sin. The key to Christian living, then, is in part to see the ugly destruction of the harlot who rides the beast. An even greater key is to see Jesus, who is altogether lovely, and who imparts true beauty, life, and glory to those who take the cup of life from his hands.”
~ Richard Phillips, Revelation
All or Nothing
John 6:60-71
All or Nothing
John 6:60-71
Main Idea: As the Bread of Life, Jesus is all or nothing.
I. The Scandal of Christ (6:60-62)
As the crowd following Jesus continues to “grumble” (cf. 6:41, 61) about his teaching about flesh, blood, and belief, they conclude: “This is a hard saying… who can listen to it?” Jesus’ teaching is not “hard” because it is complicated but because it is difficult to accept in humility.
Hebrews 4:12–13: For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Jesus knows what’s going on and asks a pointed question: “Do you take offense at this?” The grace that Christ offers is a ‘scandal’ for two overarching reasons, because it tells us:
You cannot save yourself (cf. Naaman, 2 Kings 5)
Jesus is the only way to eternal life (cf. 14:6)
Jesus warns that if we are offended (‘scandalized’) by his words, what lies ahead on the road to his ascension back to heaven will be even more offensive (cf. 3:13-15; 8:28; 12:32). The cross is the ultimate scandal and offense (cf. Gal. 3:11; 1 Pet. 2:8).
1 Corinthians 1:18, 22-24: For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God… For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
II. The Spirit of God (6:63-65)
Jesus distinguishes two responses to the scandal of his grace. You can either work according to the…
“Flesh” by your own strength, power, and intellect, which is “good for nothing” (cf. 6:28)
‘Spirit” who brings us new life in Christ (cf. 3:5-8)
John 1:11–13: He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Jesus continues to make clear that the only way to embrace the scandal of grace is if the Father draws those who belong to him (cf. 6:44). This “granting” is accomplished through the word of Christ and the regenerating, illuminating work of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 16:14; Rom. 10:17).
III. The Words of Life (6:66-71)
What began as a crowd of 5,000(+) following Jesus now dwindles further as “many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.” Jesus is unimpressive with the crowds and he seems unbothered by the leaving of these so-called disciples (cf. Matthew 13:1-9, 24-30).
With only the twelve remaining, Jesus asks them: “Do you want to go away as well?” Every part of Peter’s answer is correct:
“To whom shall we go?”
“You have the words of eternal life”
“We have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God”
While Peter responds correctly, Jesus continues to invite him (and all of his true disciples) to a posture of humility: “Did I not choose you?” (6:70; cf. Matt. 16:16-17). The twelve can’t take credit for their position nor should they presume upon being part of the “inner circle” of the disciples, since one of them was to betray Jesus.
“Jesus has chosen and called them, but they are free – free to be with him or to leave him. Jesus will never cast out any who come to him. But neither will he cajole, persuade, or bribe anyone to remain. His company will therefore always include those who do not believe and who will in the end betray. To believe is to have been brought to the place where you know that you have to rely completely on Jesus, and on Jesus alone.”
- Lesslie Newbigin, The Light has Come
Come, Eat, and Live
John 6:35-59
Come, Eat, and Live
John 6:35-59
Main Idea: Jesus is the satisfying, sovereign, and sustaining bread through His sacrificial life to all those that come to Him.
I. Satisfying Bread
John 6:35: Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”
“The crowds are ready to believe that Jesus can give them what they want but they have not yet seen that He is what they need.”
~ Lesslie Newbigin, The Light Has Come
“Many follow Christ for loaves, but few for love; many follow him to be useful, not to be precious.”
~ Thomas Brooks
Jesus is satisfying bread because:
There is no other bread like Him
He’s bread given from the Father (v. 32)
He is the true bread from Heaven (v. 32)
John 6:36: But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.
II. Sovereign, Gracious Bread
John 6:37: All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
John 6:44: No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
There are 2 impossibilities in 6:44
No one can come to Jesus apart from God drawing
Jesus failing to raise up on the last day every person that God draws to Him
Genesis 37:4: But when his [Joseph’s] brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated Joseph and could not speak peacefully to him.
John 6:45: 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.
“I asked for questions. One lady, in particular, was troubled. She said, "This is the most awful thing I've ever heard! You make it sound as if God is intentionally turning away men who would be saved, receiving only the elect!" I answered her in this vein: "You misunderstand the situation. You're visualizing that God is standing at the door of Heaven, and men are thronging to get in that door. And God says to various ones, 'Yes, you may come, but not you, or you, or you—yes, you may come, and you, and you, but not you, etc.' The situation is hardly this! Rather, God stands at the door of Heaven with His arms outstretched, inviting all to come. Yet all men without exception are running in the opposite direction towards Hell as hard as they can go. So God, in election, graciously reaches out and stops this one, and that one, and this one over here, and that one over there, and effectually draws them to Himself by changing their hearts, making them willing to come. Election keeps no one out of Heaven who would otherwise have been there, but it keeps a whole multitude of folks out of Hell who would otherwise have been there! Were it not for election, Heaven would be an empty place, and Hell would be bursting at the seams!" That does put a different complexion on the thing, doesn't it?”
~ Mark Webb, What Difference Does It Make?
III. Sustaining Bread
John 6:37: ...whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
“They have been given over to Christ, and committed to His charge and care.”
~ George Hutcheson, Exposition of John
Jesus will not lose but keep:
1. The quantity of every soul and body of the believer
John 6:50: This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.
2. The quality of our souls
IV. Sacrificial Bread
John 6:51: 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.
Isaiah 53:5: But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities.
Revelation 7:9-10: After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Hebrews 2:13: Behold, I and the children God has given me.
“And when the census shall be read of all the children of the living God, not one of the blood-bought and blood-washed shall be absent. They shall all come to Christ in heaven as they all come to Christ on earth”
~ Charles Spurgeon
Eating is Believing
John 6:35-59
Eating is Believing
John 6:35-59
Main Idea: Jesus is the Bread of Life for today and tomorrow; therefore, come and eat.
I. Drawn by the Father (6:35-48)
“Jesus’ confidence does not rest in the potential for positive response amongst well-meaning people. Far from it: his confidence is in his Father to bring to pass the Father’s redemptive purposes: All that the Father gives me will come to me. Jesus’ confidence in the success of his mission is frankly predestinarian.”
~ D.A. Carson, The Gospel According to John (PNTC)
Summary of the section:
The Father gives a specific group of people to the Son.
The Son comes down from Heaven to do the Father’s will.
The Father’s will is for the Son to lose none of them but raise them on the last day.
These people come to the Son by looking at him and believing.
The Son gives them eternal life.
The Son will raise them on the last day.
No one can come to the Son unless the Father who sent the Son draws them.
II. Sustained by the Son (6:49-59)
John 6:40: For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
John 6:54: Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
“Yahweh is Lord of History, who orchestrates and arranges the world as he pleases. He is never faced with a world that is not of his own making, and so does not need to adjust to it. Rather, he arranges the world to be just the sort of world he wishes to speak into.”
~ Peter Leithart, Creator
“Throughout chapters 2 and 3, the author carefully monitors the man’s ongoing relationship with his Creator through the theme of eating. At first, God’s blessing and provision for the man are noted in the words: ‘from all the trees of the garden you may freely eat’ (2:16), recalling the good gifts in chapter 1 and the pronouncement that all was then ‘very good’ (1:31). Then, in chapter 3. It was precisely over the issue of ‘eating’ that the tempter raised doubts about God’s ultimate goodness and care for the man and his wife (3:1-3). Finally, the man and the woman’s act of disobedience in Chapter 3 is simply though thoughtfully described as ‘she ate it … and he ate it.’ It is no surprise, then, that the author calls attention to precisely the aspect of eating in his description of the judgment on the man: (vs. 17). Such a focus on eating. Which seems to dominate the author’s depiction of the Fall, is connected with the author’s interest elsewhere in the importance of eating and its association with humankind’s relationship to God.”
~ John Sailhamer, The Pentateuch as Narrative
Isaiah 55:1-3: Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
Seek the Bread of Life
John 6:22-34
Seek the Bread of Life
John 6:22-34
Main Idea: Seek Jesus as the only one who can satisfy the hunger of your soul.
I. Are You Curious about Jesus? (6:22-24)
Colossians 1:16-17: For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”
~ Augustine, Confessions
II. Are You Seeking Jesus? (6:25-27)
“They had not reflected on the spiritual significance of the sign they had seen…They were moved not by full hearts, but by full bellies.” ~ Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John
“It's called selfism, the fastest growing religion. They just dress it up and call it "Christian.” Don't be deceived by this funny biz. If you come to Jesus for money, then He's not your God, money is! Jesus is not a means to an end. The Gospel is He came to redeem us from sin. And that is the message, forever I yell. If you're living your best life now you're headed for hell!” ~ Shai Linne, “Fal$e Teachers”
“The Lord Jesus, we should never forget, is still the same….He reads the secret motives of all who profess and call themselves Christians. He knows exactly why they do all they do in their religion. The reasons why they go to church….all are naked and opened to the eyes of the great Head of the Church.” ~ J.C. Ryle Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John, 3 Vols.
III. Do You Believe in Jesus? (6:28-34)
1 Peter 1:23: Faith does not come from seeing but believing the Word of God.
“We must read our Bibles, like men digging for hidden treasures. We must wrestle earnestly in prayer, like men contending with a deadly enemy for life. We must take our whole heart to the house of God, and worship and hear like those who listen to the reading of a will. We must fight daily against sin, the world, and the devil, like those who fight for liberty….This is “labouring”. This is the secret of getting on about our souls.”
~ J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John, 3 vols.
Philippians 3:8: Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
Believe in the Bread of Life
John 6:22-34
Believe in the Bread of Life
John 6:22-34
Main Idea: We can only find true satisfaction by believing in Jesus and submitting our whole lives to Him in faith.
I. Seeking Satisfaction in the Bread of Life (6:22-24)
John 6:22-24: On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.
"The Lord Jesus, we should never forget, is still the same.... He reads the secret motives of all who profess and call themselves Christians. He knows exactly why they do all they do in their religion. The reasons why they go to church ... are all naked and opened to the eyes of the great Head of the Church."
~ J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (Volume 1)
II. Finding Fullness in the Bread of Life (6:25-27)
John 6:25-27: When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”
Isaiah 55:2-3: Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.
“Are you trying to live without Christ? You might satisfy your ego with success. You might satisfy your material needs with money or your desires with pleasure. But you will never satisfy the inescapable needs of your soul without Jesus Christ.”
~ Richard Phillips, John: Reformed Expository Commentary
III. Believe and Live by the Bread of Life (6:28-34)
John 6:28-34: Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave 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.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
“The human mind is always flattered when it is conscious of doing something for God. What is more, for his doings man considers himself entitled to a reward. How pleased we should all be if we could only earn salvation! In that case we would have succeeded in bringing God into the humbling position of being in debt to us, and we would love it. But this is not the way of salvation.”
~ James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John
“The works of God” touch every area of life (1 Corinthians 10:31; 15:58) and therefore our submission to God’s word and willingness to “hold fast” to what he commands has eternal significance and impact (Revelation 2:26).
“But we may think it strange that God approves of nothing but faith alone; for the love of our neighbour ought not to be despised, and the other exercises of religion do not lose their place and honour. So then, though faith may hold the highest rank, still other works are not superfluous. The reply is easy; for faith does not exclude either the love of our neighbour or any other good work, because it contains them all within itself. Faith is called the only work of God, because by means of it we possess Christ, and thus become the sons of God, so that he governs us by his Spirit. So then, because Christ does not separate faith from its fruits, we need not wonder if he make it to be the first and the last.”
~ John Calvin, Commentary on the Gospel according to John. Vol. 1
John 6:34: “Sir, give us this bread always.”
The King We Need
John 6:1-21
The King We Need
John 6:1-21
Main Idea: Jesus provides for our truest needs and his presence calms our greatest fears.
I. A Great Miracle (6:1-13)
Jesus and his disciples are followed by a “large crowd… because of the signs that he was doing on the sick” (cf. 2:23-25). The fact that the Passover was “at hand” is significant for this scene and throughout John’s gospel.
Jesus “tests” Philip and his disciples, seeing where they would turn with the obvious problem at hand, already knowing “what he himself would do.” In this moment, the disciples can only think in terms of earthly resources (cf. 2:19-20; 3:3-4; 4:10-11; 5:6-7), knowing they are short on money and the only food available is a young boy’s lunch. They feel the futility of their own resources and power to solve the hunger of the people.
“[Jesus] did not scorn the loaves because they were few in number, nor the fish because they were ‘small.’ How this tells us that God is pleased to use small and weak things!… Dear [Christian], perhaps He is ready to use you—weak, insignificant, and ignorant though you be.… But mark it carefully, it was only as these loaves and fishes were placed in the hands of Christ that they were made efficient and sufficient.”
~ A.W. Pink, Exposition of the Gospel of John
As the miracle unfolds:
Christ has everyone sit down in the grass (cf. Ps. 23:1-2)
He gives thanks and distributes the loaves and the fish (1 Cor. 11:24)
The people had “as much as they wanted” and they had “eaten their fill” (cf. 1:3)
The disciples gather up leftover fragments in twelve baskets
II. A Great Misunderstanding (6:14-15)
Upon seeing this sign, the people rightly proclaim: “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” (cf. Deut. 18:15-18). In this miracle, Jesus is reenacting the history of Israel and revealing himself to be a greater Moses (cf. 5:45-46).
However, the crowd tries to “come and take Jesus by force to make him king” (6:15). There was a gap from the king that they wanted vs. the king that they actually needed. The crowd was more interested in the bread that Jesus gives rather than the Bread of Life that Jesus is (cf. 6:26, 35, 41).
Deuteronomy 8:3: And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
“This is not faith but unbelief. They have not understood who Jesus is. Jesus will not be the instrument of any human enthusiasm or the symbol for any human program. To say ‘Jesus is king’ is true if the word ‘king’ is wholly defined by the person of Jesus; it is false and blasphemous if Jesus is made instrumental to a definition of kingship derived from elsewhere. Jesus has come to ‘proclaim liberty to the captives,’ but he will not become the mascot for a people’s movement of liberation. At the very moment when the cry ‘Make Jesus king’ is rending the air Jesus abruptly disappears, leaving both the crowds and the disciples with no visible goal for their enthusiasm … the crowds and the disciples are – in every sense – in the dark.”
~ Lesslie Newbigin, The Light Has Come
III. A Great Misunderstanding (6:14-15)
The disciples found themselves in a storm on the Sea of Galilee, in the dark, and without Jesus. Just as Jesus was “testing” them with the bread (6:6), he is also testing them in the midst of this storm as he looks down on them from the mountain (6:15).
As the disciples make it to the middle of the sea, Jesus walks on water to the boat; this is a clear sign of his divinity as the Son of God in the flesh (cf. Job 9:8; Ps. 65:5-7; 89:9) as well as a greater reenactment of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea (cf. Ps. 77:16-20).
Jesus meets his disciples in the midst of the storm and reassures them: “It is I” (lit. “I am”; cf. Ex. 34:6); therefore: “do not be afraid.” Jesus gives them the miracle of his presence in a place that seemed impossible for him to reach. After they receive Jesus into the boat, they “immediately” arrive at their destination, safe with their Savior.
Psalm 107:25-30: For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,
which lifted up the waves of the sea.
They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths;
their courage melted away in their evil plight;
they reeled and staggered like drunken men
and were at their wits' end.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
He made the storm be still,
and the waves of the sea were hushed.
Then they were glad that the waters were quiet,
and he brought them to their desired haven.
These two signs invite us to see that there is a world of difference between coming to Jesus for the things you need vs. coming to Jesus as the thing that you need. “You don’t realize Christ is all you need until Jesus is all you have.” ~ Tim Keller, Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering
“Consider the situation when Jesus fed the five thousand: the needs surpassed the resources. What the disciples had in the moneybag was insufficient for their need. In the presence of Jesus, money is not the answer. Human innovation is not the answer. Leadership and initiative from the disciples were not what was needed. The situation called for Jesus. We are inadequate, and that is the point. He can make five barley loaves and two fish enough for five thousand, and he can make our stumbling inadequacy enough to meet the need.”
~ Jim Hamilton, John: ESV Expository Commentary
Isaiah 43:2-3: When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
See the Son, Believe the Word
John 5:19-47
See the Son, Believe the Word
John 5:19-47
Main Idea: See the Son. Believe the Word. Come and Live.
I. The Son’s Authority (5:19–30)
Perfect Union (5:19–20)
John 5:19: Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.
The Authority to Give Life (5:21, 24–25)
John 5:21: For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.
In the Old Testament, the raising of the dead and the giving of life is a prerogative that belongs to God alone.
Deuteronomy 32:39: See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
1 Samuel 2:6: The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
The Authority to Judge (5:22–23, 27–30)
John 5:22-23: The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
Equal Honor (5:23)
John 5:23: ...that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father.
To honor the Son is to honor God. To reject the Son is to reject God. There is no middle ground.
II. The Son’s Witnesses (5:31-37)
Jesus calls forward witnesses like a prosecutor in a courtroom. This is covenant lawsuit language, echoing Deuteronomy and the prophets. In Deuteronomy 30, Moses sets before Israel life and death and calls heaven and earth as witnesses. In Isaiah, God summons the nations and presents His case. And now Jesus stands in the dock fulfilling the Law and the Prophets - but as more than a prophet. He is the One to whom all the witnesses testify.
The Testimony of John the Baptist (5:31–35)
John 5:33–35: You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.”
The Testimony of the Signs (5:36)
John 5:36: ...the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.
The Testimony of the Father (5:37)
John 5:37: And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen.
The Testimony of the Scriptures (5:39–40)
John 5:39-47: You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
The Testimony of Moses (5:45–47)
John 5:45-47: Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?
The Tragedy of Missing the Point (5:41–44)
John 5:41-44: I do not receive glory from people. But I know that you do not have the love of God within you... How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
See the Son. Believe the Word. Come and live.