Are you a fan, follower, or disciple of Jesus?

John 6:60-71

Announcements

Camp is fundraised for. If you want to go I still need deposits. We have plenty of spots.

National Day of prayer is tomorrow. We will be having times in prayer during FCA at the middle and high school.

Planning a fun thing for May 29th. Stay tuneddddd.

Introduction

Thank John for last week and filling in. Leslie (GIGI) sent me pictures from the services, and i told the people i was around, awwww, I miss those hooligans! So I am pumped to be back this week, and really to roll through the summer with you all!

Hook

I want to pose a question to you tonight. What is the difference between a fan and follower?

A fan is good when things are going well. We are all fans of something. When the Saints won the super bowl they were the best. But they haven’t won in years

Add a layer of what about a diisciple

John 6:60–71 “When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” Jesus answered the…”

Pray

Recap of last week

Jesus has fed the 5 thousand, he has allowed peter to walk on water, then it brought us to this teaching that Jesus is the bread of life.

The Fan will leave. V. 60-65

Explanation

We must ask the question what did they hear? The disciples noted here were different than the apostles, they were a crowd of followers with him, along with the 12.

Well let’s look back, the word they are referring to was Jesus proclaiming that he is the bread of life. That he has also come down from Heaven. He is proclaiming and teaching that He is God, and also that he grants life to those people. But when Jesus explains in V. 62 that if they physically to ascend into Heaven. But also when he says in verse

The Jews thought they were saved just by being in the lineage of Abraham, and following the law. But Jesus addresses this head on in verses 44-45.

Some people take this passage out of the original context and language. It is not teaching that God just randomly chooses people to follow Him. Rather, the contingency for someone to follow Jesus is if they truly know God through his word, which Jesus quotes

Isaiah 54:13 “All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.”

So, if Jesus is teaching that he is the way to eternal life, why would the Jews be offended?

Warren Wiersebe puts it this way, “Our Lord’s teaching was not hard to understand but hard to accept once you understood it. The Jewish religious leaders both misunderstood His words and rejected them.”

Really what Jesus is showing in these verses is that even if he ascended in front of them right now, they would not believe. The reason for that is their heart and relationship to the Father. The Jews could have seen all of the miracles would perform, but they still never really were devoted to Jesus.

The Jews were reliant on their fleshly understanding of Jesus. When we look back at the last chunk, in verse 38 Jesus declares that he has come down from Heaven, once again claiming He is God

Look at how the Jews responded, in verse 42, John 6:42 “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’?””

How often do we try to understand the Word of God on our own understanding? Such as a popular verse of

Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

I am sorry to my gym bros, but this verse does not mean you are going to hit your max this week.

But when we come to the Word of God the only way for us to have a true understanding of what is being said and taught is if we have are relying on the Holy Spirit.

Illustration

The house illustration of peeking through a window. Rather than being in the room a whole different picture since we have been allowed in the room. Then having a personalized tour from the home owner to show every nook and crany of the house, each time you go.

Application

Have you accepted the invitation?

Gospel presentation.

The Follower will eventually leave. V.66-71.

Explanation

Verse 66 does not mean you can lose your salvation.

Verse 70- Jesus responds to Peter, that he chose them, but one of them is a devil. The word for devil does not mean Satan himself. Rather it is referring to adversary to the Lord.

Illustration

The Disciple will stay. V.66-71

The example of Peter that shows in verse 68 & 69. He confesses him as Lord

As i was studying and preparing for this, it hit me the language that Peter uses to describe Jesus here. He says Lord. But he uses this we statement, as in all of the disciples seek him as Lord, which is whym through inference, Jesus calls and says one of them is a devil, referring to Judas.

There are several applications to these verses. The first one that is being shown is that your walk and relationship with the Lord is a personal one. It is not a collective walk.

Your walk with the Lord does not mean you are either saved or not because of your family or friends.

Your walk with Jesus is a personal relationship with Jesus. It should not be dependent on

A disciple devotes their life to their leader. They submit to their leader fully and wholeheartedly. We as Christians take that as meaning that Jesus Lord.

Illustration

The disciples being murdered for what they saw. They became true dsciples of Jesus.

Application

Being a disciple takes a step further than a follower.

Harold Shaw says this

10,000 Sermon Illustrations (A Student)

In Bible times, a student. Whereas a student today studies a subject (law, architecture, or whatever), a disciple in olden days learned from a teacher. Attachment to a specific teacher was the essence of discipleship. The Pharisees and John the Baptist had disciples (Mark 2:18). The Jews saw themselves as disciples of Moses (John 9:28). The term is used often in the Gospels and Acts of the followers of Jesus. They learned from him and attached themselves wholeheartedly to him. It meant putting Christ before family and possessions. It meant taking up the cross (Luke 14:26–33). Today, too, to be a disciple of Jesus means total commitment.

Key in on those last two statements. and read

Luke 14:26–33 ““If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”

Have you renounced all you have? Have you looked at Jesus and said, all of family, my friends, my possessions are worth it to lose to follow you?

This is not an easy thing to ask. In our culture we are told to do the exaxct opposite. We are to have all the money, the perfect job, the perfect family, the perfect kids, the perfect career, so on. But what happens if Jesus calls you on mission to a 3rd world country to live in a dirt hut to go the nations.

Takeaways

If we are not willing to be obedient to Jesus and His teachings, we must examine ourself. Ask the question. Why am i doing this?

We are to obediently follow Jesus, wherever he has us go.

Will you be a Peter, or a Judas?

Gospel presentation

Small Group questions

What type of faith do you have in Jesus? Are you a fan, follower, or disciple?

How can we become and stay disciples of Jesus?

What is holding you back from being a disciple?