2004-06-13 Communion Dedication - Baldwin Christian Church

John 6:27-29
27. Labour 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 God the Father sealed.
28. Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
29. Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

Belief is a funny thing.

Way back in verse two of this chapter, we're told that these multitudes of people were following Jesus because they saw Him perform miracles of healing. Then, even though it was becoming apparent they had nothing to eat, and that He had led them to a place nowhere near a source of food, they did obey His command to lie down in the green pasture, and those who obeyed Him were fed fish sandwiches. When their bellies were full, they decided to seize Him and pronounce Him king of the welfare system, but He snuck out the back way alone.

On the next day, in verse 25, they track Him down in the next town, and in verse 26, He tells them the truth about why they believe in Him: "Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled." At first, they believed because of what they saw. Now they believe because of what they've tasted. It probably wasn't a simple task for them to find Jesus. Some of them had to row boats for several miles. Some had walk those same miles, and that required that they cross the obstacle of the Jordan river in springtime.

Their belief inspired them to work, but because their belief wasn't properly founded, it was setting them up for failure, for a falling away from faith. They laboured to find Jesus, to find again the bread that had filled them, only to be told that they were working for the wrong bread.

1 Timothy 4:8 For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.

Jesus explains in verse 27 that He's stamped with the Father's seal of approval, and that He is the source for the Bread of Life. It's a gift from Him, it's His body, and it's the fruit of our spiritual labour, not physical. Some churches claim to be the only source of this "meat which endureth," and therefore claim the right to deny communion to non-members. That doctrine simply doesn't hold up when compared to God's Word. It leads to the blindness of legalism in a church body, which leads to a lack of spiritual understanding in their ranks, and therefore makes it impossible for them to admit that sometimes non-members are better discerners of the body of Christ than their own members are. This legalistic attitude can easily cause folks to examine everyone other than themselves during communion, and that's why we don't lay that burden on you in this church.

Matthew 7
1. Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4. Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5. Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

What happened on that cross was serious business. Only the author and finisher of our faith, Jesus Christ, could do it. Only you can decide whether or not you're in the right frame of mind, and only you know if your heart is in the right place to remember Him through this sacrament of communion, to reflect upon what His sacrifice means to you. Anyone, any ministry, any church that lays claim to knowing you better than you know yourself is a liar. Any church claiming to be the only place where you can find the actual body of Christ (the Bread of Life), makes Jesus a liar. He said He would give it unto you. He did not say (in verse 27 of John 6) that He would give "that meat which endureth to everlasting life" to a church organization, to a priest or to a minister to then give unto you.

So, should we fall into the same trap that this multitude did? Thinking and believing carnally instead of spiritually? Is it this flatbread and new wine that saves our souls? Jesus did not tell us to quit our jobs and work for the "meat which endureth." Verse 27 sets the tone for understanding this entire chapter: this is a spiritual lesson, not carnal. Work today, provide for your families, but do not worry about tomorrow.

Matthew 6:25-26
25. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26. Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

Belief is a funny thing. It can be very frustrating at times. It's possible to be a man or woman of faith your entire lifetime, and never receive "the promise" that God has made. Just ask anybody whose name is written in Hebrews 11, "the hall of faith." It's possible to have faith, to believe in something or somebody, and find out later your faith was in vain. It's possible to be deceived into believing in something because of what you saw, heard, felt, smelt, or tasted. When Jesus told the people to work for spiritual things instead of carnal things, their natural response was, "What should we do to work the works of God?" This sounds like a spiritual question, like they really wanted to know how to receive the "meat which endureth to everlasting life," but I'm not convinced yet.

Belief is a funny thing. It will cause you to do things and say things that you wouldn't normally. Jesus responded to their question by saying, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." Belief can indeed seem like work to us during times of frustration and unfruitfulness, but imagine how the prophets and the apostles felt:

Hebrews 11:36-38
36. And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
37. They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
38. (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

We have no perspective of this kind of frustration, as we sit in these comfortable pews for an hour, and then drive our comfortable cars to our comfortable homes. We ask the Lord, "Why am I going through this difficulty? What must I do to work the works of God, that I may be delivered from this suffering, and receive the blessings of God?" He replies, "Believe on him whom I sent."

Belief is a funny thing. If we believe in Jesus, we believe that (as He told Pilate) His kingdom is not of this world. Honest belief will cause us to hunger more and more for the spiritual food, to build the family of God (His body, the church), to do His bidding in even the smallest details, to forsake the cares of this world, to care for and shepherd those who don't know Jesus, to remember Him with a heart for the lost.