A Full Stomach vs. a Hungry Heart, Part 1 is from a series of sermons based on John chapter six.

Learn more from the complete series of A Full Stomach vs. a Hungry Heart:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

In Part 1, the Lord tells us to focus on our spiritual life, not our material life.

Key verses:
John 6:1-29

I’m going to ask you to take your Bible and turn with me to the Gospel of John chapter 6, John chapter 6. This has been on my heart to do a series, a short series, in this chapter. We’re not going to try to do the entire chapter tonight. It’s not impossible to do so but to cover it rightfully, I don’t think we’re going to attempt to do the entire chapter. So, tonight we plan to do the first 29 verses of John chapter 6.

Some of this is going to be very familiar territory for you if you’ve read it, and you heard it, probably had it taught to you, or you’ve taught it yourself. And so, there’s, again, a lot of familiar territory here.

The first account in this chapter you’ll see in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, as well as John. The second story given here is in Matthew and Mark; you’ll find these things. Probably the central feature of the chapter is the Lord’s sermon on the bread of life. It’s interesting. This is one of His great sermons. All the Lord’s sermons are great, of course. This is one of the more famous ones and one that’s touched many people. It contains great truth and yet after He gave that sermon, many of the people who were following Him turned away and they didn’t follow Him anymore.

Now, we’ll not get to that part tonight, but I want you to think about that just a little bit. So, in John chapter six, we’ll be starting at verse one. But I want you to look down at verses 26 and 27 because that’s central to what we’re thinking about tonight. John chapter 6, verses 26, 27:

John 6:26: “Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.”

John 6:27: “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.”

I want to talk to you tonight about a full stomach versus a hungry heart.

Jesus Fills Our Needs

At the beginning of this chapter is one of the miracles that Jesus did, and I want you to notice something. It says in verse one:

John 6:1: “After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias.”

John 6:2: “And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.”

Watch very carefully the wording of verse two, “A great multitude followed him,” – a large crowd of people following Him. Why? Because they saw His miracles which He did on them that were diseased. So, many people had seen Him healing other people and because they saw Him healing people, they followed Him. Now, that’s in direct contrast to what we read in verse 26. We’ll come back to that in a little bit. But Jesus states a very different reason why they were following Him later on, but they, the large crowd, are following Jesus. We don’t know exactly how many people were following Him, but it was in the thousands. You’ll see how we know that in just a moment. In verse 3, it says:

John 6:3 “And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.”

Often, the Lord would sit and teach. He would sit down and teach. Did He ever stand up and preach? Yes. But quite often, He would sit down and teach. I think there are a number of reasons for that. But when we were in Israel so many years ago, they took us to a spot where they say is where … the amplifier was howling, I don’t know if you can try to do something about that. It’s interesting that we’re talking about feeding and we get feedback.

So, they took us to a place where they say the Sermon on the Mount was given and they took us up on the side of this sloping hill. And then two men stood down at the foot of the hill. We’re all sitting up on the hill and they’re standing down at the foot of the hill. They stood there and read the Beatitudes, the first verses of Matthew chapter five, to us and we could hear him very clearly. It was like a natural amphitheater. Yeah, it was quite impressive to me at least. But Jesus would often sit when He was teaching. In verse 4, it says:

John 6:4: “And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.”

So, it’s getting near Passover time. One of the things that we know about the life of the Lord Jesus is that His ministry, the story of his ministry, is told in the time period of three Passovers. That’s how we get the idea that his ministry lasted approximately three and a half years because it’s told in three Passovers.

Here it was near Passover, not the final Passover, that was when the crucifixion occurred, but it was near Passover time, so that tells us this happens in the spring of the year.

John 6:5: “When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?”

Now, I’ve told you many times here and I’m going to say it again, the Lord never asked a question to find out the answer. He’s asking Philip, “Where are we going to buy enough bread to feed all these people? They’re hungry. How are we going to feed all of them?”

He doesn’t ask a question to find out. He wasn’t expecting Philip to say, “Well, we could do a fundraiser and we can bring up some money and maybe…” That wasn’t it. He wanted Philip to think about that question. He wanted Philip to think about how would we ever have enough money to buy bread or enough bread to feed all these people. How’s it possible?

Now, I don’t know but maybe some of you here have done this. I know people who have cooked for large crowds and fed hundreds and maybe thousands of people. I’ve never done anything of that sort at all. If I feed two or three, I’m doing good. But the fact is I’ve known people that feed thousands of people, hundreds of people, and that’s the proposition that Jesus sets forth to Philip here. How are we going to do that?

“Now, how do you know that you’re interpreting this thing right? You always say the Lord asks questions not to find out the answer but to get us to think about it.” Well, I read verse six:

John 6:6: “And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.”

So, again, He’s not getting information from Philip. He’s not getting ideas from Philip. You got a suggestion, Philip? What are we going to do? No. He wants Philip to think about how is this possible and to understand what’s about to happen. So, verse 7:

John 6:7: “Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.”

200 pennyworth, the penny mentioned here is the denarius and it was, again, as we’ve told you many times, an average day’s wage for a working person. You might think about that. Today, what would that be? Well, if you’re keeping up with the local minimum wage and I’m not sure who can, but that’s about a hundred and fifteen dollars a day right now, at minimum wage. So, you have people, because if you had 200 times that, it wouldn’t be enough to buy enough bread, enough food, for all these people. He was right, He was right. So, if you worked almost two-thirds of a year at an average wage you would not earn enough to pay or to feed all of these folks. So, three of the disciples mentioned so far in this chapter, are Philip, Andrew, and Simon Peter.

John 6:8: “One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him,”

John 6:9: “There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?”

What is he saying is why does he even bother to tell that, because obviously, that’s not enough to feed more than just that one boy. I think what Andrew is saying is, “You’re asking Philip, how are we going to feed all these people? And this is all the food that’s available. I don’t know what we’re going to do with it.” Verse 10:

John 6:10: “And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.”

“And Jesus said, Make the men sit down.” Now, this is interesting to make the men sit down. I want you to know that “the men sat down, in number about five thousand.” And five thousand men, now there were women there, no doubt. Why? Well, throughout Jesus’ ministry, you find women are present and there were children there. How do you know that? Well, one of them had his lunch with him, didn’t he? So, how many people were actually there? We don’t know. Five thousand men. They only counted the men, and there were others, so potentially, I’d say 15 to 20,000 people. That’s a tremendous number to try to feed. Verse 11:

John 6:11: “And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.”

John 6:12: “When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.”

And when they were filled, everybody had enough, everybody ate all they wanted to eat. There was no limit to it. There was no, “Well, you can have one now and if there’s any leftover, you can come back for seconds.” It wasn’t like that. Everybody had enough, everybody was filled, and everybody had their need met. “And he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.” the Lord is very interested that nothing is wasted, that nothing is lost. That’s a theme that you think about as you read through the Gospels.

John 6:13: “Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.”

So, they filled 12 baskets. 12 Apostles filled 12 baskets. Each one had a basket, likely something like a bushel basket, so a large basket. But even if it was a smaller basket which I don’t think it was, if it was, they each had a full basket left over after everybody was filled. The Lord is showing something here. He’s showing that the bread He gives is enough and more than enough. He’s showing that He is more than sufficient to meet their need. He’s showing that He’s more than sufficient to meet our needs.

The Promise of a Messiah

But that’s only part of what he’s teaching. In verse 14:

John 6:14: “Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.”

“Then those men when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did,” – what miracle? It’s that feeding of these five thousand-plus people with five loaves of bread. Now, a loaf of bread isn’t one of these like you buy at the store. You’re talking about something more like this five loaves of bread and two fish.

Those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, “This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.” Now, that’s interesting that he says, “that prophet.” What is he talking about here? That prophet. Well, it’s a prophecy that comes from Isaiah and Isaiah tells us about a prophet that is coming. Many people think that that’s a prophecy of justice. I’m sorry, let me try that again, the prophecy of John the Baptist because John is considered to be that prophet who would come before the Messiah, but John the Baptist had already come at this point. He’d already done his work as a forerunner of the Messiah. So, Jesus here, the Messiah himself, is referred to as that prophet. So, what they’re saying in verse 14 is this, “This has got to be the Messiah. Look at this. He fed all of us. He fed thousands of us. He fed us with just very little. He must be the Creator. He must be the Messiah.” They recognize that.

Now, understand the setting in which Jesus is working. Israel, at this point, is not a free country. They’re certainly not an independent country. They are under Roman rule, and they have been for a long time. At this point in history, those who knew the prophets knew that from Daniel’s prophecy, it was time for the Messiah to come.

There had been, we learned in the Gospels, many who had risen up and claimed to be the Messiah. And of those, many, quite a few of them, were the men who were called zealots. Now, the zealots were zealous for their country and very patriotic individuals. So, what they did was they got together bands of men, and their goal was using what we would call today guerrilla warfare. That doesn’t have anything to do with large apes. It’s spelled differently but they would use that type of warfare to drive out the Romans.

At this point in history, the Roman army was the most powerful army on the planet, and yet they thought by using their tactics, they could drive out the Roman army. Each and every one of them failed. These attempts at rebellion continued even after Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, resulting in the total destruction of Jerusalem and of the Temple, and of all that that the people of Israel materially had to hold on to.

Now, I told you that to help you understand verse 15:

John 6:15: “When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.”

“Take him by force to make him a king,” – they wanted to force Him. They said He’s the Messiah, He’s got to be the Messiah. Look at the miracles that He does. He’s healed people. We learned that in verse two he’s healed people. Now, He’s fed people. He’s sufficient, He can give us all we need. What better leader could we have? What better king could we have than someone who could supply all our needs? Why, we probably wouldn’t even have to work anymore. I mean look at this, all the food that we need, all the food we could want, healing, nobody’s getting sick anymore, this is great. He’s got to be the Messiah, and we’ve got to make him take the throne and get rid of the Romans.

Jesus wasn’t on board with that idea. Well, wasn’t He the Messiah? Yes. Wasn’t He the prophesied king? Yes. Wasn’t He the one who was to sit on the throne of David? Yes. But he didn’t come to drive out the Romans. You have to understand that that wasn’t His purpose. He came to save lost people and specifically, He came to save the lost sheep of the House of Israel.

They were religious and they were zealous, and they wanted their country back. We can understand all of that, but that’s not what He came for. He didn’t come to prop up traditional religion. Now, don’t misunderstand me.

I had people say to me over the decades and recently, “Well, I just don’t believe in organized religion.” You know that’s a pretty generic term, and if you talk to people and you ask them, “What do you mean by organized religion?” A lot of them don’t have a solid answer for that. Some would but a lot of them just don’t have a solid answer for that. It’s just something they’ve heard somebody else say, and they’re echoing it. What they think they mean is they didn’t believe in churches. That’s what they think they mean. You can believe, and you can without going to a church. That’s true you can, but that’s not the way God outlines it in the New Testament. So, verse 15 again:

John 6:15: “When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.”

They were going to take him by force. This sheds light on something Jesus said in another passage where He says, “The kingdom of God suffereth violence and the violent take it by force.” He would not be forced by any movement no matter if it were thousands of men. He would not be forced by any movement to forgo the reason that He came. He wasn’t there to be a political leader. He was there to be the Savior.

The Great Wind

John 6:16: “And when even was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea,”

Remember at the end of 15 He’s gone up in the mountain alone to pray. The disciples have gone out to sea. Why did they do that? Well, many of them were fishermen. They had crossed the Sea of Galilee to get to where they were at this time and now, they’re going back.

John 6:17: “And entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them.”

Capernaum, that was home base for them, and it was now dark. If I understand the geography described in this chapter properly, they had crossed down to the southwest coast, the central southwest coast, of the Sea of Galilee, and now they’re going back to their home base, Capernaum, which is on the northeast corner of this Sea of Galilee. 17 again:

John 6:17: “And entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them.”

By the time they set sail, He hadn’t returned.

John 6:18: “And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew.”

This little trivia I’m going to share with you right now. You see those words “great wind,” how many of you ever heard the word “typhoon”? Raise your hand if you’ve heard that. Okay, somebody real quick, tell me what a typhoon is. No, it’s not a tsunami that’s different. Okay, it’s a hurricane. Sure, it’s a hurricane, and in the Atlantic, we call them hurricanes. In the Pacific, they used to call them typhoons. Now, depending on where it is in the Pacific, they’ll call it a hurricane. The word “typhoon,” translated into English, means great wind. That’s exactly what it means, okay? Just thought I’d share that little trivia with you.

So, it says the sea arose by reason of a great wind or a typhoon. In other words, this was a really bad storm. This wasn’t just your normal summer thunderstorm. This was a really bad storm, “by reason of a great wind that blew.”

John 6:19: “So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid.”

“So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs,” – if you’re into horse racing, you know how long a furlong is. About five and twenty furlongs, “they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid.” Who wouldn’t be? You’re out here and in the middle of this giant lake, this typhoon, this great wind, has come, you’re in the middle of a hurricane-like storm and you look out and somebody’s walking on the water. What are you thinking? You’re thinking, this is it. It’s over. They’re coming to take me home. I mean, isn’t that what you would think? Sure. But that’s not what was happening, is it? Verse 20:

John 6:20: “But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid.”

Now, it’s interesting, Matthew and Mark tell us more about this and we will not go into all that now for the sake of time. But when he says, “It is I; be not afraid,”

John 6:21: “Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.”

I think that’s so subtly stated but so amazing. As soon as He got in the boat, they were at the shore. I mean, that’s part of the miracle. Now, you know from Matthew and Mark, He calmed the sea. You know the other things that occurred there, but as soon as He got on board, the ship was at this shore. In other words, once He was on the boat, there was no more trouble. The sea is calm. There’s no more problem. They’ve reached their destination and where they were going. They were going home, and they were safe at home. Verse 22:

John 6:22: “The day following, when the people which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was none other boat there, save that one whereinto his disciples were entered, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples were gone away alone;”

So, they’re thinking, where’s Jesus? The boat they got into is here, and it got across during the storm. They don’t know how they got across during the storm and Jesus wasn’t with them.

Seeking Jesus

So, where’s Jesus? Why are they looking for Him? Well, we’re going to get an answer to that in a moment.

John 6:23: “(Howbeit there came other boats from Tiberias nigh unto the place where they did eat bread, after that the Lord had given thanks:)”

John 6:24: “When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they also took shipping, and came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus.”

So, they set out from Tiberius again, the center-west shore of the Sea of Galilee. They cross and go northeast to the northeastern corner of Capernaum. What are they doing? They’re seeking Jesus. Now can I help you with something? That’s great. I want to do another series if the Lord allows me on seeking the Lord, but that’s not it tonight. But that’s what they were doing. They were seeking for Jesus. Notice something here in verse 24:

John 6:24: “When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they also took shipping, and came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus.”

John 6:25: “And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither?”

“And when they had found him,” – you know, the Lord says if you seek Him, you’ll find Him. He’s not hiding from you. He doesn’t play a game of hide and seek. He says if you seek after Him, you’ll find Him, of the Beatitudes we mentioned earlier.

My favorite one is where Jesus said, “Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Do you know what that means? If you truly in your heart desire to know God, if you truly in your heart want to find Him, you will. You will. And so, they sought after Him and they found Him. 25 again:

John 6:25: “And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither?”

“How did you get here? We know you didn’t get in the boat with the twelve?” And it was too long for Him to walk around the shore. “How did you get here?” Do you know He doesn’t answer them? He doesn’t explain to them, He doesn’t say, “Well, see, there was a storm, and the disciples were afraid, and I came walking on the water, and” He doesn’t tell them any of that. Why? Because He knows their heart. He knows they’re not overly concerned. They’re amazed that He’s there, but they’re not overly concerned with what happened in between.

Wanting a Full Stomach

They’re looking for something else and this is the point of everything that we’re saying tonight. This is the thing I want you to get hold of and let it get hold of you. Again:

John 6:25: “And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither?”

John 6:26: “Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.”

“Ye seek me not because you saw the miracles,” – stop right there. Go back to verse 2:

John 6:2: “And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.”

This crowd started following him because He was healing people, and people needed to be healed and people still need to be healed. He saw that. He says here in 26, “Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles.” What is he saying to them? He’s saying, “Your motive for following me has changed. You started off following me because you saw that I was healing people. You saw that I was helping people. But that’s not why you came all the way from Tiberius to Capernaum. That’s not why you’re following me.” now look at 26 again:

John 6:26: “Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.”

Do you know what he’s saying? “You start off following me because you thought I was the Messiah. You start off following me because you saw that I was helping people, healing people,” and I think it safe to say, no, He didn’t say this, that it’s safe to say, saving people. He said, “But now you’re following me because you want another free meal. You got all that you wanted to eat, and you want some more. You want to make me King because you thought I’d get rid of the Romans. And you thought I would give you Roman Meal bread. Most of you don’t remember that, probably. But that was a bread brand years ago.

And He says, “That’s why you’re following me.” What is He telling them? “You don’t have the right focus. You’re coming, you’re coming and you’re seeking after me, but not for the right reason. You want me to be king but not because you recognize that I am the rightful Messiah, the Savior of Israel, but because you want me to restore the kingdom to Israel and get rid of the Romans for you. You’re coming because you think I’m going to give you a great food program.” And by the way, I’m not preaching against food programs, don’t misunderstand me. But Jesus is teaching something here that’s very important.

You ate the loaves in your field, you had your stomach filled, and that’s why you’re coming because you want again, and then you’ll want it again, and then you’ll want it again. It’s not the right reason to follow me.”

What the Lord is saying here is don’t follow Him just because you think He can supply your needs. He can supply your needs, your material needs. He can do that but don’t follow Him just to get your material needs. Now, does anybody teach that today? Oh, my goodness, yes. If you name it and claim it if you can just say the right words and you say to Him with enough faith, you’ll have whatever you want.

Years ago, my wife and I went to another church not terribly far from here, or not right here in town, but not terribly far away, and they had an evangelist there. We went to hear the evangelist. Now, to be fair, this evangelist did give the Gospel and people responded to the Gospel, and I’m all for that. But during the course of his sermon, he was saying, “Whatever you call something, it will be so.” This has been called the word faith movement. So, if you say something or whatever you pronounce, it happens.

Can I share something with you? The only person that that’s true of is God himself. He’s the only one who speaks, and exactly what He says happens. I’m not saying your words don’t have potency; they do. Words can hurt, words can encourage, and words can do many things, but you can’t just speak things into existence. Only God can do that.

So, this evangelist was saying if you want your house to be sold, call it sold, it’ll be sold. All right, folks, I don’t recommend you try it. I really don’t. He’s saying if you want a new Cadillac in your carport, call it yours, and it’ll be there. I’m not making fun; I’m telling you what the man said. This is the kind of thing that people are looking for today. They’re looking for the Lord to just give them what they want or perhaps what they need. Well, don’t you think if you pray, and you pray in faith, believing God will answer your prayers? Yes, I think if you pray in faith, believing God will answer your prayers. Well, don’t you think you can pray for somebody that they’d be healed? I not only think that I’ve seen it happen.

I talked to somebody today who told me that the Lord had healed them. I have no reason to talk to them and say, “No, He didn’t.” – not going to say that. We could go on and on with testimonies like that, but the point is very clear here and the point is these people wanted their material needs met. They wanted their hunger fed, their physical hunger fed.

Come with a Hungry Heart

Look at Jesus, going on in verse 27. Well, let’s start 26 again to get the flow of thought:

John 6:26: “Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.”

John 6:27: “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.”

“Labour not for the meat which perisheth,” – don’t work for food that’s going to spoil. If you don’t eat it today, it’s temporary. “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.”

What a powerful verse He’s making there. He’s saying, “Don’t come to me wanting a full stomach. Come to me with a hungry heart. Come to me because you have a spiritual hunger and thirst after righteousness. Come to me because you need to be saved and you need to be sanctified and you need to be satisfied spiritually. Come to me and I will be all you need and more.”

Did they understand that? Yeah, they did. How do you know they understood that? Well, go back to the beginning, verse 27:

John 6:27: “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.”

John 6:28: “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?”

Okay, do you want us to work on that? We can do God’s work and we can inherit eternal life. What shall we do?

Look at what He says, verse 29, and we’re through:

John 6:29: “Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”

Here it is. Here’s the work you need to do in order to be saved. Are you ready? Look at it.

John 6:29: “Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”

That’s what you need to do. In this statement, Jesus is saying many things. He’s telling them that salvation is not by work. It’s by faith. He’s also telling them that you need to understand that believing is the work that God wants you to do, and you need to believe on the one who is sent to be your Savior.

He’s also telling them, He’s about to preach to them. “What I’m about to tell you is a spiritual truth. Some of you are going to take it as a material message and you’re not going to understand it,” and that’s exactly what happened. Some of them took it as speaking materially and physically rather than spiritually, and they didn’t get it. They didn’t understand it and at the end of this message, He’s about to give them, many of them turned around and walked away, didn’t follow Him anymore. A: Because He didn’t give them more food on that occasion, and B: And more importantly, because they didn’t get the spiritual truth.

Focus on Your Spiritual Life

John 6:29: “Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”

The Lord is with his believers even when we don’t recognize Him. They come to Him. He comes to them walking on the sea, they don’t recognize Him. The Lord is with those who receive Him as their Savior. They are not only saved, they are sealed, but some seek Him just for what they can get in this life. If you’re following the Lord just for what you can get in this life, you’ve got the wrong focus.

Now, can God take care of you? I could tell you testimony after testimony. Many of you could stand up and testify of how God has supplied material needs, but that’s not the main focus. The main focus is to come to Him not seeking a full belly but seeking to fill a hungry heart.

“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled.” You seek the Lord desiring to know Him, you seek the Lord desiring to be saved, you seek the Lord desiring to have your spiritual needs met, and then He’ll take care of your material needs.

I share this with you as an introduction and a lengthy one to John chapter six. I hope to come back on subsequent Sunday evenings and finish out the chapter. Too much, as I said to cover in one hour, but I want you to get all of this as the setting for what He’s about to preach and what is called the bread of life sermon. Because if you don’t get it, you’re going to be like those people who didn’t understand and they walked away. Focus on what the Lord does for your spiritual need. That which is physical is temporary. It will pass away.

One of the little girls who’s here at church today, after church, we were talking with their family, and just the little girl, I think maybe six or seven if that, and she said to me, “How old are you?” And I told her, and she said, “How close is that to being a hundred?” I thought, well, she’s thinking, so I told her how close it was to being a hundred. You know what? Even if you live to be a hundred, it’s temporary. Your spiritual life is forever. That’s what the Lord is telling us, to focus upon your spiritual life, not your material life, your spiritual life.

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Father, thank you so much for blessing us. Thank you that we have the instruction that you give us in your Word. Thank you that we have your Word that we can trust, we can understand, we can learn, and we can grow to be like you. Now, Lord, bless us as we come to this invitation time.

If you have spoken to the heart of someone tonight, let them respond. Lord, we trust this to you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Watch the prerecorded live version of the entire service and sermon, A Full Stomach vs. a Hungry Heart, Part 1, on Facebook.

Learn more from the complete series of A Full Stomach vs. a Hungry Heart:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

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