The Words that I Speak unto you are Life
John 6:63 “It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”
Many times in the scriptures, Jesus spoke to those that “hath ears to hear”. ( Matthew 11:15, Mark 4:23, Like 8:8)
It is one thing to hear with the ears attached to the sides of your head…and another altogether, to hear with the “ears” of your spirit.
(In the Old Testament, The Lord often reproves Israel for their lack of hearing Him. He says, “You did not even incline your ear.” That is, you did not even try to hear Me.
Jeremiah 11:7-8 “For I earnestly protested unto your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even unto this day, rising early and protesting, saying, Obey My voice.
Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked everyone in the imagination of their evil heart: therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do; but they did them not.”
Actually there are eight verses in Jeremiah which say pretty much the same: Jeremiah 7:24, 26; 11:8; 17:23; 25:4; 34:14; 35:15; 44:5)
It is the Spirit that gives life. And the Words that Jesus speaks unto us, are Spirit and Life.
That means that the Holy Spirit within us gives us understanding of what Jesus is saying to us.
And He gives us awaking, light, ability….all the things that spiritual life demonstrates, to us.
John 6:51, 61, 64-66 “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples murmured at it, He said unto them, Doth this offend you?
But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray Him.
And He said, Therefore said I unto you that no man can come unto Me, except it were given unto him of My Father.
From that time many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him.”
Hearing Jesus and obeying Him is the price of discipleship, and many did not want to pay it.
They were “offended” at His words. It was not just that they did not understand them….but that they saw these as “hard, “harsh”, and “narrow”.
So they let their emotions rule, and became scandalized, or offended.
Isn’t that what Israel thought of the covenant? That it was too hard?
Isn’t that what many people think today, of Christ’s way of Life? Too narrow?
Jesus was speaking of Himself as the Bread of Life:
John 6:35 “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.”
The disciples knew He was talking about being the Messiah, the Life-giver to Israel…but did not like the “I will give My life for the world”, part.
That seemed a bit extreme….too extreme for some; for it meant that they, too, would be walking in the same way, with Him.
To live for Jesus, we must be empowered to do so: you can not, of yourself, come to God, or follow Him. We must be empowered to do so.
But He has it for us….He really is the Bread of Life.
We don’t need to be “hungry”, or “thirsty”. For He is Life for our life, and Strength for our weakness, and Help for our troubles, and Knowledge for our inexperience. (And so much more)
I have been laughed at, especially when I was first called to preach….me? A preacher? (Well, I could have laughed with them…the way I had been!)
But I was really trying to learn to hear everything the Lord wanted me to say to everyone. To incline my ear.
I tried to say what God wanted me to say, about my testimony, and my calling.
That was not always easy…but necessary. I was told to preach to people who did not “approve” of my calling. And some who did…because it was like theirs.
But the word the Lord gave me, or showed me for the situation was to be honored; above all.
It did not matter what I felt, or they felt; but what the Lord wanted said.
His Word by His Spirit will “quicken” us. The written Word of God, and the spoken word, by His Spirit, within us.
He has promised us life, and He will give it to us, in each situation. It is His life.
And if it is not so quickening us, then we ought to see just what is stopping the flow of power to us.
Maybe we have become “offended” at something.
John 6:67 “Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?”
This is the only gospel that tells of this trial for Jesus. The crowds were always following Him for what He would do for them…
But those, and there were quite a few at first, who followed Him thinking Him to be the “One who was to come”, The Messiah. Yet did not “believe” it.
(Believe is a favorite word of John. It is written four more times in John then in each of Matthew, Mark and Luke.
Here it means to “have faith, to entrust one’s spiritual well-being to Christ”. “Believe” says: Christ Jesus, You are my goodness of life; with You I have everything I need; without You, my life is a mass of sin sickness.)
John 6:68-69 “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.”
You gotta love Peter….so many faults, but Peter had a zeal for Christ.
And at the end of his second epistle, he wrote, warning the believers; that we do not understand everything at once….but the Lord will teach you….just continue believing the Lord Christ.
2 Peter 3:16-18 “As also in all his epistles, speaking of them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest (pervert), as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness.
But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen.”
Let us yield to Christ’s Words and learn to live His life through us, by His Holy Spirit.
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 