John Bunyan's Text - Part Four

Posted 10/6/14 by Donald Barnhouse
SCRIPTURE
John 6:35-51
 
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. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 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.”
 
So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. 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—not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 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.”
 

LESSON

Just by believing someone's word, you can experience complete relief of heart and mind. During the first week of World War II, in September, 1939, Hitler invaded Poland on a Friday and on the following Sunday morning at eleven Neville Chamberlain declared war. That same week I had left my family in France, to go to Belfast, Ireland, where I was to hold a series of meetings. Naturally, when the war broke out, I was concerned about my family. So the layman in charge of the meetings took me to see the postmaster general of Ulster where we asked about sending a telegram to my family.

 
He said, "We aren't sending any personal telegrams, but if you want to send a wire to the American consul, we will put that through."
 
I wired the consul, told him where my family was and asked him to get in touch with them. I assured him that I would guarantee their passage home.
 
After we had sent the telegram, my friend said to me, 'What are you going to do for money?"
 
"Well," I said, "they have travelers' checks and they have their tickets for a ship which will sail a month from now, but they want to go home right away, as soon as possible."
 
My friend said to me, "You can count on me for anything you need, up to a thousand pounds." As soon as he said that, I didn't need to worry any more about the finances. If I needed extra money, it was there. I knew that person's character and I believed his promise.
 
In the same way, Jesus has given His word to us. "Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out." We know what He did for us to guarantee that promise. He came and He died and He rose again to show us that we could rely on Him, that we could trust His word. Just as I felt relief and deep thanks to my friend in Ireland for his guarantee of funds, so you and I can say with great assurance, "Thank You, Lord Jesus for meeting all my needs." This is the reliability of Christ.
 
"Oh," said John Bunyan, "that word did sweetly visit my soul!" Do you have a word that sweetly visits your soul? Can you say, "My religion is not hope so, maybe, possibly, perhaps?" or do you say, "If I walk the straight and narrow way for twenty years, maybe I shall perhaps have eternal life?" None of that! Away with doubt! Away with basing anything on human experience! Jesus Christ is approachable. Jesus Christ is universal. Jesus Christ is reliable. On Him you can stake your soul! "Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out."
 
This verse gave John Bunyan to the world. This verse can lift all weight from you. If you doubt, go back to the Word of God. Turn the pages and say, "0 Lord, here is my need! Meet it. Here is my emptiness! Fill it! Speak some verse to my soul so that I can say, `Here it is! this is for me!"' And when once you find the verse that speaks to your heart, you can base all of your life on God.
 
STUDY QUESTIONS
  • If Christ is the one who provides our sustenance can we lose our salvation?
  • What does it mean when the scripture refer to God as the great comforter? 
  • How does God as comforter connect to His provisions?