Address—C. Buchanan
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As you're turning to John 6.
We will read a little bit.
Our quote a scripture.
Timothy.
Which says, but if I carry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the House of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. There we have the Church of the living God. In John six we're going to read a few verses, and then we're going to go to Hebrews and read a few verses.
But we're going to come back to John 6 and talk from there, first of all. But let's get a few verses out of John 6 primarily.
To find where it speaks of this living God.
Verse 66.
Of John VI.
From that time, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him.
Then said Jesus unto the 12 will ye also go away?
Then Simon Peter answered him. Lord to whom?
Shall we go?
Thou hast the words of eternal life.
And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ the Son of the living God. Now hold this place, and turn over to Hebrews chapter 3.
And we'll.
Speak next after we read this verse back in John again.
We'll read just one verse in Hebrews 3.
Verse 12.
Take heed, brethren.
Unless they're being any of you and evil heart.
Of unbelief in departing from the living God.
That is exceedingly solemn. We'll come back to that.
Notice that there is brethren now back in John. It's disciples back in John again.
We trace a few verses coming up to where we read, beginning with verse 47.
The Lord was there ministering.
And disciples had been gathered around him.
They were hearing what he had to say.
Now that's what we want to hear, too.
What the Lord has to say?
And that's the only way of intelligence in the things of God, to listen to what he has to say. In the 47th verse he says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. You believe that? Don't you thank God for every believer in this room.
We believe what he said.
Then what do we have? Everlasting life?
Verse 48.
I am.
Bread of Life.
Your Father's did eat man in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which came which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat there oven not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. Now that's simple. You can understand that, can't you? Jesus says I am the living Brad which came from a living God came down from heaven.
And he says, If a man, if any man, eat of this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give him is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
Let's go down now to.
Verse 57.
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As the living Father hath sent me.
And I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven, not as your Father's did eat men and are dead. He that eateth of this bread shall live forever.
Verse 59 These things, said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum, where he was brought up.
Many, therefore, of his disciples, when they heard this, said. Now notice what they say. This is an hard saying.
Who can hear it?
Stop and speak about that a bit.
What seemed like a hard thing.
It was actually a simple thing.
And it enters into our souls by believing what he says.
As we understand it.
Life comes.
Through that 46th verse.
47th verse.
Verily, verily I say unto you, He that believeth on me shall have on me hath everlasting life, that is, appropriating Christ to self is compared to eating. Taking him in by faith gives life to start with, and then later on in the 57th verse, it is sustained by the same bread of life which came down from heaven. Now Peter.
Is the one that asks that question here as we go on and take it up.
But only writes in one Peter one he says to believers being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. Now that's appropriating Christ by faith and believing through the Word by the Spirit and getting the life. Then he goes on down a few verses in the second chapter and he says as newborn babes.
You desire the sincere milk of the Word that ye may grow thereby. So it wasn't a hard saying. Life comes through believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, taking that bread which came down from heaven is given to us, and that same life is sustained by feeding upon that life, feeding upon Christ.
And they said this is a hard thing.
And going on here, Jesus says.
When Jesus knew in himself verse 61 That his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Duh, this offends you.
What and if he shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before? Now he was the bread which came down from heaven. He was going back to heaven. He says. What are you going to do if you see me go up? Is that going to be a hard thing? Are you going to believe that?
It is the spirit that quickeneth.
The flesh profiteth nothing. Now he gets down to the root of things.
We must receive that life by the Spirit we cannot in the flesh, in the comprehension of the mind and all the qualities that man is given in nature.
Understand and get life. It doesn't profit anything. We can glibly quote this verse and you have to learn it practically. We perhaps have to have patience and learn something of this every day that the flesh in me, the flesh in you doesn't promise. So he takes the occasion to say that the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. Now Peter had used that being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth.
And abideth forever. These words give life when they are believed in the soul. Then we got to go right back to this word and feed upon it.
Verse 64 But there are some of you that believe not, For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should be betray him. And he said, Therefore said, I under you, that no man can come unto me, except that were given unto him of my Father, the whole of the work of my salvation. The credit is to God.
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To God, not to me. Ever.
It's gone.
It's all of God. All things are of God.
And thank God that we have been drawn.
Now in these two scriptures we have read briefly we want to use these and John.
To attract to Christ. Now I speak to you as having believed. And when you believe, when you have believed, the Spirit of God has brought you to Christ.
The problem is to stay there.
That's the history of brethren as such.
That is, the word was written.
It was hidden for centuries in this age of 2000 years, but God kept the word and he brought it out and Bibles were printed and justification of.
The life saved by grace through faith alone was brought out and then.
And as Bibles were printed.
And as.
Saved ones were subject to the Word of God.
And were taught of the Spirit, the light of the revealed mind of Christ.
Was all brought out.
More than 100 years ago.
The problem with brethren as such, I speak to myself. I speak to those that you know about.
Was not to get anymore, but to hold what was given.
And that's what the enemy tries to take away from us.
And we get a warning about that in Hebrews.
But the thing we want now to impress is to be continually.
Attracted to the one who is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and to stay where he is.
In this same book in the 12Th chapter.
Jesus says where I am, there shall also my servant be.
Now that's absolute in the end, because he's going to bring us right into glory.
But practically, it should be so now. And I say, the Spirit of God in these two scriptures sets before us how we can be constrained to stay with Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God. Let's read these verses again here.
From that time, verse 66 again, many of his disciples went back and walked no more.
With him.
How sad this is.
He had gathered. We touched on it in the first chapter this morning.
And He had brought disciples, they had been attracted to Him, and quite numbers of them had been attracted to Him.
And in the second chapter.
Just turn back to the second chapter to see what it says there.
In the 23rd verse.
We're talking about disciples now. In this book, disciples are brought into nearness, to Christ, attracted around him, and in the end of the second chapter.
Now verse 23. When he was in Jerusalem at the Passover in the feast day, many believed in His name.
Now, what kind of a belief that is, I'm not going to tell you.
God knows.
But I suggest that there are 1,000,000 today that believe in the name of Jesus, and how much farther it goes I don't know.
God does.
When they believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.
Man's idea is to see and believe.
That's as far as this went.
Thomas was told lesser days are they who have not seen me and yet have believed.
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Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. That's the reason we want to read the book. Read it.
For yourself and listen to it and pay attention to what God says.
And then what happened? Verse 24? But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew only and needed not.
That any should testify a man, for he knew what was in man, that is.
I'll use a kind of a slang expression. No one could pull the wool over the eyes of the Lord.
We can't hide one thing from God, from the Lord who is God and he knows whether you're a true disciple or not.
Now, the comfort and peace that you and I need is to know in ourselves about that.
And to walk close to him. Peter is so right in these verses here.
But from that time, verse 66, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. They couldn't quite.
Take the idea, you know, feeding upon bread and getting life and then feeding upon bread and being sustained in that life. They couldn't receive that.
Why? I don't know. When God says it, we should believe it. As we were coming along Route 80 here yesterday, the driver passed up a.
Camper track. And on the back of it is this well known bumper sticker. You've seen it too.
God says that. I believe it. That saddles it. You're glad when you see somebody has that kind of bumper sticker. It's always true when God says it.
And so.
Why couldn't they believe what he said? Why was it too hard for them? I don't know. The Bible is not hard language. We had that this morning. It's just to believe and then we see.
Then these touching words of the Lord in the 67th verse.
Then said Jesus, under the 12 will ye also go away?
That touches my heartstrings.
How the Lord felt that those had been walking with Him as disciples, as following the Lord, and they departed. You can be sure that the Lord still feels it today if we turn our back on Him, turn away from Him who is in the midst.
Peter, how wonderful, he remarks. Simon Peter answered him. Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.
And we believe in our sure that there weren't that Christ, the Son of the living God, here he is. It's a living God we have. It's a living God we worship.
Some two or three years ago, our daughter and son-in-law had into their home.
A Palestinian.
Born in Jerusalem.
Showing kindness to him.
And his mother and sister, I think it was three or four of them in the home.
And Joanne fed them roast lamb. They ate it like they hadn't eaten for about a week. And as we talked with them.
The student there warmed up a bit. We had given thanks for the mail.
And he said, you know.
You folks have the same God that we have.
That was too much for me. I knew he was wrong.
I said no, we have a living God, an empty tomb. You're God's death boy. I tell you that that cut the conversation off right away, but that's the truth.
The Spirit of God would bring us to the living God to attract us to Him to win our hearts.
We're going to be brought up there where he is. We can be.
Where he's promised to be now.
Can that drawing power, can the love of Christ, constrain you and I to stay there?
No matter what the opposition is, the tricks of the enemy, the weakness, turn to God. He's our strength. He wants to keep us there if we listen to His word.
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Obey it, we'll stay there.
Well, we go over now to Hebrews take up from the first verse of Hebrews 3.
In the end of John's gospel, or at least in the 20th chapter, we have the new relationship brought in as brethren. We're going to get that in this third chapter, in the first verse.
We are also instructed in.
John's gospel at the end to stay his disciples and to keep on following him.
But now.
The new relationship is brought out. So this wonderful verse three one of Hebrews says, Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus.
Are you one of the holy brethren?
I say if you're one of the brethren, you're one of the holy brothers because of what he has done.
That's the place he puts you in and myself in.
Now we're supposed to think when we get in that position. Turn your thinker on.
What are you going to think about?
Christ the Apostle. In this book of Hebrews, Christ is the apostle.
You don't get Paul mentioning himself at all. He's in the background. Peter tells us he wrote it. But the epistle is written to the Hebrew Christians, presenting to them that Christ is their apostle. And that first chapter is like the one we had in first John in many ways.
The scent 1.
The Father sent the Son not just to save the Hebrews, to be the Savior of the world.
Now think about him. That's the way he's presented in chapter one.
And then in chapter at the end of chapter one and chapter 2.
Well, in chapter 2 and going on in chapters 34567, we have.
The high priest.
Now Christ was an apostle on earth.
He's a high priest in heaven.
This gives us a large range of thought to consider, to think of.
That one who came down, sent to the Father, to the earth.
To make God know.
Now who has gone up and is our high priest?
There on the Father's throne.
Christ Jesus.
In chapter.
12 We're told to consider him again.
As the one.
Who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross. So in this epistle we can think of him as the one who was sent down, who tried the whole course of the path of faith and went up. And there is our high priest. Now that's helpful for you and I, because this is the wilderness book, and we're in the wilderness.
And God gives us something to occupy us, something to think about that will help us.
And a supreme and perfect example in Jesus, who walked this course in all perfection, and who has ended up in the glory of God, where you and I are going to end up. So think about Him. Well, what about Him? Verse 232 of Hebrews.
Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.
For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more glory than the house. I think we had it parallel thing in John one this morning, in that we had the person and then the Creator and creation dispensed within one verse and many and much precious thoughts as to the person that is here. Christ is the builder, and he's greater than the house.
But he's over it.
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Every house is built by some man, but he that built all things is God.
Yes, all things, there it is again. And Moses barely was faithful in all his house as a servant for a testimony of those things which were spoken after, but Christ as a son over his own house.
Whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end? You and I are being advised here.
And that may the picture of Israel walking through the desert.
And the faithfulness of Moses in that house down there. But now we've got Christ as a son over his own house.
And we already quoted from First Timothy 3:15.
But if I tarry long that thou mightest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the House of God, which is the Church of God, Church of the living God. The pillar and ground of the truth were looked at it under the test as to our behavior, as to our conduct with Christ, a son over his own house, and we pressing on.
Now, are we going to stay with Christ?
Are we going to have to be warned not to leave him?
Or are we going to be 1 by seeing his beauty constrained?
By his love to stay where he is.
Are we?
No, Ahab. King Ahab made one remarkable statement that I don't forget.
He says, let not him that putteth on his army boast like Him that putteth it all. I can't boast, and while you're living you can't either. We're still got the armor on. We're still to earnestly contend for the faith once delivered for the Saints. The battle's not over. The wilderness is not passed. Heavens in view are soon going to be there. Christ has promised to be with his people down here.
He's just as much here for faith.
As he presented himself.
In the Tabernacle and in the temple, with a visible sign of glory, He is.
Faith sees them.
And it's a sight of that person, of the wonders of who he is and that alone that will keep you an eye.
For the enemy hates the position.
That shows that Christ lives, and it lives in his Saints down here, witnessed by the one loaf on the table. He battles it.
The flesh don't want that kind of reproach.
The world's against it.
God is for it, Christ is for it. Oh, let's be drawn, let's be drawn, Let's keep our eyes on that one. Let nothing turn us away from seeing Christ in the midst.
But there's warning, and it's adequate warning. Let's go on and read.
Verse 7 Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith today, if he will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
As in the provocation in the day of temptation in the wilderness, the history of Israel. Have you read it, young people? Have you read the Old Testament? Do you know what we're talking about here? God is talking about it.
It's worthwhile.
On your father's tempted me, proved me, and saw my works 40 years.
40 years is a proving time.
I suggest.
That your proving time and my proving time is our whole lifetime in the wilderness, which this world is for the believer. That is, we don't get out of the wilderness, practically speaking, until the Lord comes and takes us out. And some of us have been here more than 40 years.
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Some only walk the journey a few years.
Some, perhaps only a few months, but that's a proving time.
God knows how long your test will be. He knows how faithful or unfaithful you will be. But He's pulled us over to this example, He said 40 years they were tested.
Verse 10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always earn their hearts, and they have not known my ways, so I swear in my wrath they shall not enter into My.
Rest.
This gets real serious, doesn't it?
Who's talking?
Who is who? Are we being pointed to? The living God?
The living God that cannot lie.
The living God that would draw you and I and keep us to Christ. Now he had warned us.
And probably this is apostasy. In this verse we read. Take heed.
But we must take it practically. Take heed What a warning it is. Beware.
Lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God.
Faith, I don't believe can depart from him.
Faith believes God.
When I turn my back on the Lord, I have failed in my faith.
An aged brother, some of you will know who I'm quoting used to say this to us.
All our failure.
Springs from unbelief of the goodness that's in the heart of God toward us.
You know, our first mother.
Proved that, she thought.
That Satan had something better to offer than God.
Unbelief.
Do you believe God? Thank God you do.
So do I. I like to read the story of that father who brought his son to the Lord.
And said if thou canst do anything.
Help us, and the Lord says, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
And then he said, Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief.
This is a comfort to me.
Oh, what a sad thing.
To depart from the living God.
I'm afraid that those that are spoken of here turn out to be apostate.
I don't know who an apostate is. Men don't know who apostates are. We might think that some look like they are. God knows, but thank God, you gospel preachers, you can say to anybody, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall be saved. Christ Jesus came in the world to save sinners. That is why there's a life on the earth. There is a possibility of belief, but we know that some of them went on.
What a warning it is. Well, I'm going to stop just to remind you again that the Lord by the Spirit would attract us to the living God through the beauty that we see in Him.
And witness and woolest, and draw us to His blessed person, and keep us there in the witness to that. As long as we are in our wilderness journey, I thoroughly believe there shall be that witness. Will you be there? Will I be there? Or do we get our eyes on men and on failures?
And the allurements of Satan in this world and turn our backs and say Satan's got something better. You wouldn't say that, would you? Well take heed. That's to be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief and departing from the living God. Let's sing 256 most well known in the 4th stanza.
Would reinforce something of what's been said or it says keep us Lord.
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Oh, keep us cleaving to thyself and still believing. Faith. Faith honors God. God honors faith. Still believing.
Through our 40 years till till the end or of our receiving promise joys with thee. 256 please.