INTRODUCTION
• Have you ever wanted something but you just could not quite put your finger on it?
• Many times it happens when we go out to eat. There are so many places to eat in Springfield that the choices can be overwhelming at times.
• I do not know how many times Robyn and I would be looking for a place to eat and I would ask the dreaded question, “Where do you want to eat tonight?”
• What is the usual answer? I do not care. Then she would ask me and I would say, “I do not care.” Then we would drive around a bit and we would list off the places. Do you want to go here? No, what about here? No. What about here? No. Finally we would settle on some place (usually Chinese) that does not really hit the spot for us.
• How many times have you dug through the pantry or refrigerator at home looking for something, but nothing looked good because you wanted something but you just did not know what you wanted? Finally you settle for something that just does not satisfy.
• How many times have you been looking for something more out of life and you could not quite put a finger on what it was? You know something is missing out of your life; you just are not quite sure what it is.
• I believe the pursuit of satisfaction can be either one of the most frustrating pursuits of our livers or one of the most rewarding depending on what we find.
• The pursuit of satisfaction can be frustrating if you spend your whole life looking for something and you do not know what you are looking for.
• When you know what you are looking for, the pursuit can be so rewarding when you find it.
• All of us have a hunger within us. What are we going to pursue in order to fill the hunger? I wonder how many people reach the end of their lives and feel a sense of emptiness because they tried to fill their hunger with the things of the world?
• People are not happy. They are discontent. I believe a lot of those feeling spring from looking in the wrong places for satisfaction.
• Today we are going to look at “Search For Satisfaction.”
• John 6:22-71 takes place after the feeding of the 5,000 and Jesus walking on the water. This sermon takes place the next morning. The disciples had left in the boat to go to Capernaum. The people knew that Jesus did not go over in the boat with the disciples so they were looking around for Jesus.
• What were they looking for? Did they want to learn more from Jesus? Did they want to let Jesus satisfy their hunger within or were they there just to see more miracles and be physically fed?
• What are you looking for in life? Will what you are pursuing satisfy you, or will it lead to wanting something else? Can you fill the hole in your heart with just anything?
• Let us look at the keys to being able to satisfy the search for satisfaction.
SERMON
The first key in the search for satisfaction is to:
I. KNOW YOU ARE HUNGRY (22-25)
• Read verses 22-25
• The people had witnessed a wonderful miracle in the feeding of the 5,000. The day after this happened; the people were looking for Jesus. I am sure that word had spread about what had happened the day before.
• Many of the people who were there for the miracle had to find shelter for the night since they were most likely far from home. When the crowd started to gather they looked for Jesus. They knew that He had not gotten into the one boat that was there so they expected to find Him in about the same area in which He performed the miracle.
• When they did not find Him they decided to go across the sea (lake) to Capernaum to seek Jesus. Why were they looking for Him?
• The people had been miraculously fed. It was a common belief that the Messiah would give manna from heaven even as Moses had done; in fact, it was thought that the Messiah would give more than Moses had given. The people were convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, so they wanted to lay hold of Him and make Him king (John 6:1-15) (Preachers Outline Study Bible)
• The people wanted to see more of Him. They had a need, but they thought their need could be taken care of by making Jesus the earthly king of Israel.
• The people had a deeper hunger that at this time they were not will to acknowledge, their spiritual hunger.
• The people were so blinded by their situation with the Roman occupation that they had ignored their real hunger.
• Have you ever been so busy that you just forgot to eat? This is what was happening to the people, they were so preoccupied with their problem that they had been ignoring their real hunger.
• We must be willing to acknowledge we are spiritually hungry.
• We can get so caught up in the pursuits of life that we forget to take care of the real hunger.
• I have been around some people who do not eat because they do not know they are hungry or they thought they had already eaten. That is a tough position to be in because you can starve yourself of needed nutrition. We can do the same thing with our spirit; we can starve if we do not realize that we are spiritually hungry.
• MATTHEW 5:6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
• The people were looking for Jesus, but they were not looking for the right reason. They did not know what they really needed yet.
• When we realize that we are spiritually hungry we need to acknowledge it and seek that which will satisfy us.
• Jesus tells us in LUKE 11:9-10, "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. "For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.
The second key in the search for satisfaction is to:
II. KNOW WHAT YOU REALLY HUNGER FOR (26-27)
• The people got to the spot where they thought the disciples had gone to and low and behold, there was Jesus. The people asked Him how He got there.
• Jesus ignored the question and went right to the heart of the issue.
• READ VERSE 26
• Jesus tells the people the real reason they were seeing Him. They were hungry for some more food and more miracles.
• The miracles they witnessed were only seen as marvels, not tokens of His power and position.
• They had seen the “signs” produced by Jesus (verse 2), but this one had led to wild fanaticism (verse 14) and complete failure to grasp the spiritual lessons.
• All the people understood was they were filled. The word “filled” means literally to eat grass, then to eat anything, to satisfy hunger. They were more concerned with hungry stomachs than with hungry souls. It was a sharp and deserved rebuke.
• This where the pursuit of satisfaction can be very frustrating, not knowing what you really need.
• This is where people try to fill the emptiness inside of them with material things, substances, other people, entertainment, or other pleasures only to come away without being satisfied, only wanting more in the quest to be satisfied or fulfilled in life.
• I used to think that money was where it was all at. There is nothing wrong with money as long as you do not let it become your God. You do not have to be wealthy for that to happen either.
• Jesus tells the people why they really came after Him, now in verse 27 we see why they should really be seeking Him.
• READ VERSE 27
• Jesus told them they were wasting their time by pursuing earthy food.
• 1 JOHN 2:16-17 says, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.
• Earthly food will not satisfy. He had fed the people all they wanted to eat the night before and they were hungry again. This is the same lesson that we have when Jesus encountered the woman at the well and He offered her the living water that would satisfy her thirst forever.
• Jesus said He was offering a food which would endure to eternal life.
• Jesus is telling us the reason we should be seeking Him, to receive the bread of life He has.
• Materialism, entertainment, money or anything else you can think of will not satisfy you like what Jesus has to offer you will. Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 6:7, “All a man’s labor is for his mouth and yet the appetite is not satisfied.”
• Jesus is not telling us to sit at home and do nothing, we are being encouraged to seek God first, much like we find in Matthew 6:33 which says, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
• These people were not seeking Jesus to serve Him, but to get all out Him that they could. They wanted their needs filled (hunger) but at this point they were not interested in giving themselves over to Him. The Savior was their butler.
• They should have been interested in Him for who He was, not what they could get out of Him.
• Why are you seeking Jesus? Is it to have your spiritual hunger satisfied or is it so He will just take care of your physical hunger? Are you looking just to take from Jesus or are you willing to give?
The third key in the search for satisfaction is to:
III. KNOW HOW TO SATISFY YOUR HUNGER (28-29)
• For many people our answer to satisfaction is for us to find something to do. When we find it we want to take it to God and tell Him He will accept what we did.
• Look at verse 28.
• The people wanted to know, what shall WE do that WE may work the works of God.
• On the surface this looks like a great question. The question misses the mark. The Jews of Jesus day and most people today want to be able earn a ticket to heaven. The question implies a desire and a sense of self-sufficiency. Give me something to do so that I can EARN my way to heaven. Then I have no obligation to anyone since heaven is my PAYCHECK.
• It is not a question of finding the right formula for performing works to please God. Jesus was going to direct them to the gift of God obtained in a different way.
• We have a tendency to see people in three categories.
1) There are good people, people who do plenty of good works. They live good, moral, and just lives; therefore, they are acceptable to God.
2) There are bad people, people who do mostly bad works. They live immoral and unjust lives; therefore, they are not acceptable to God. They are not saved.
3) There are compromising people, people who do both good and bad. They live both moral and immoral, just and unjust lives. They are close to securing God’s approval, not quite, but close. By doing just a few more good works and living just a little more morally, God will accept them.
• God sees thing a little bit differently than we do. Without Jesus, you are LOST!
• Jesus answers the question in verse 29.
• Our job is to believe. Our work of God is faith. Believing in God should lead to action. James tells us that faith without works is dead. (James 2:18-26)
• Our works should spring out of our faith, we do not work to be saved; we work because we are saved!
• Jesus tells us that the work we are to perform is to believe or have faith. If you are not working, you do not have a faith or your faith is very weak or your understanding of what faith really means is lacking.
• If we believe in Jesus, our lives will never be the same. If we just say we believe in Him, you may or may not see a difference. True faith shows itself in the way we live our lives!
• If we have faith in Jesus, we will be able to let go and trust Him with our lives.
• The way we satisfy our hunger is by believing in Jesus! WE are to have an active faith, because only real faith is active.
CONCLUSION
• Are you hungry? Where are you going for your satisfaction? If you are going anywhere but Jesus, you will find that your satisfaction is very temporary.
• Over the next few weeks we are going to continue to look the 6th chapter of John to get a better understanding of why Jesus is important to us and why how we respond to is so important.
• Jesus wants to fill the void that is in your life, He wants to give your life a deeper purpose and deeper meaning.
• If all there is to life is living and dying, then there is not much point to life is there.
• When we realize that life and death are only the beginning, then we will start to understand the importance of truly giving your life to Jesus.
• If you are afraid you will get cheated by God if you give Him your life, you are wrong. God will give you more than you ever had before.
• Come to Jesus and be satisfied!
