Sticking With Jesus | John 6:67–69

Opening Remarks:

I’m going to visit John 6 one more time tonight with a specific application. This is similar to a truth I’ve preached before - probably 3 years ago - but I couldn’t shake the thought after going through the text this week in preparation for this morning.

If this morning’s message was, “There is nothing better than Jesus, so don’t walk away,” then tonight’s message is this, “There is nothing better than Jesus, so let’s let the next generation see that in our lives.”

We sent a few of our young people off to Bible college in OKC a couple of weeks ago. Daniel Spillman and Jesse Jacob are in Bible college in California and Tennessee. I believe we’re going to see a surge of young people from our church deciding to give their lives to God. And I don’t just mean ministry. I mean whatever God wants.

The problem is, our culture is pulling hard the other direction. Saying, “Question truth. Live your truth. Tradition bad. Novelty good.”

And if we’re not careful, complacency could cause us to relax our faith when they need it more than ever. We have a responsibility not only to stick with Jesus, but to help them to stick with Jesus.

Just think about what’s happening in our country:

They DNC literally advertised abortions like a badge of honor. It’s like baby sacrifice in the OT, and it hardly made the news.

Sinful lifestyles are not just accepted, they are celebrated and even supported in many ways.

People that go to a church of any kind are now the minority.

It’s always been hard, but it’s never been any harder, culture-wise to follow the Lord.

So how do we help the next generation resolve to stick with Jesus instead of turning to a culture that hates Him? That’s the application of this text I’d like to make tonight.

Review From This Morning

Jesus has spent time talking about eating His flesh and drinking His blood.

And when they murmur rather than asking questions, He explains in Vs. 63 that His message is spiritual. It’s not literally about eating flesh. It’s about choosing to believe just like you would sit down and say, “It’s time to eat.” Belief is necessary to eternal life like eating is necessary to physical life.

But when many of his disciples left and walked no more with him, look at what Jesus tells the 12 in Vs. 67.

“Will ye also walk away?” I think the fact that He asks the question meant some of them were doubting.

That’s not surprising, this was a hard saying. Sticking with something is never easy. Not just spiritually, but in life.

We’ve all had moments in which we were tempted to give up:

If you’ve ever tried to learn to play an instrument

If you’ve tried to learn a new language

If you’ve ever resolved to lose weight and get in shape

A project at work that went on and on and on

Saving money and getting to a certain amount

A house project that was never ending

So knowing that’s a human tendency also means we have to be careful of this spiritually. Because we all, at some point, will come face to face with a moment that tests our faith.

In our text, it was Jesus presenting hard truths that they didn’t want to hear.

But tonight I’m also thinking about the next generation. They haven’t had those moments yet. Many of our kiddos don’t have a choice. They have to be at church. They have to go to youth activities. I think it’s good for parents to make those decisions early on and say, “This is what we do.”

But we have to understand as parents that one day our children will have to make those decisions for themselves. When they find themselves alone without the mom and dad, youth pastor, pastor, godly friends, or church family, they will find out how committed they are to Christ.

Will they stick it out or disappear? The statistics say about 70% of young people walk away from the Lord in the 5 years after high school.

So we know this a dangerous season of their lives, but the scary thing is we can’t make them avoid those moments that test their faith. They’re coming. But we can do our best to help them stand.

How? The first thing is to recognize the common situations that test the faith of young people:

1. First job around those who are lost

I’m telling you, workplaces can put our kiddos around some awful people.

Illustration: Olivia working at a restaurant here in Sioux Falls, and the things the employees were allowed to openly talk about was shocking.

The first time our children get jobs and will be around the lost, that could become a moment that tests their faith and tempts them to walk away.

Have we prepared them to say no to the temptations they’ll have at their first job?

2. Going to College

The environment at many schools is partying, drinking and immorality.

Will we prepare them enough to stand in the face of those temptations? If not, is it a good idea to put them in a position I’m not sure some adults could stand against?

Not only that, but higher public education will not affirm a biblical worldview but seek to tear it down. Have we prepared them for that?

3. A major tragedy

It’s human nature when things are difficult to look to blame someone.

As I mentioned this morning, the tendency when things get hard is to blame God and choose an inferior option.

Blaming God for suffering has been around almost as long as humans have been around.

We tend to convince ourselves that, “God doesn’t love me. God isn’t fair. God doesn’t care about me like He does other people.”

Have we showed them that suffering doesn’t have to destroy us, if we believe that God can turn it into something for our good and His glory?

4. For some, it’s loneliness

Taking a stand sounds easy until you’re the only one doing it. Ask Daniel.

If you stand alone for too long, you’ll go from feeling like Daniel to feeling like Elijah, who had a pity party because he thought he was the only one left.

I remember in High School what it’s like to feel like I was the only one trying to do right. Everyone else was out having all kinds of fun and I was at home with mom and dad on Friday nights.

I was the Homecoming King of my High School but I couldn’t even go to the Homecoming Dance. You talk about feeling alone.

5. An offense

Too many young people that are bitter about something that happened to them or someone that let them down.

They blame their parents for what they perceive as a mistake made.

Or they blame an entire church for one person’s choices.

Too many young people are walking away because of an offense.

Have we taught them how to handle offenses and practice forgiveness?

6. A false doctrine or teaching

This happens too. There’s a lot of false teaching out there, and too many young people don’t know where they stand well enough to stand against it.

Have we taught them what the Bible says well enough to help them withstand their walkaway moment?

7. How about when their other friends walk away from the Lord?

It’s sobering when that starts happening. I remember when kids I grew up with in church started getting into things and then finally leaving church and the Lord. It was shocking to me.

The twelve watched their friends leave. People they would have called disciples.

And I believe they reconsidered their position because of it.

How are we going to prepare our young people for that?

Standing alone and watching others leave plants seeds in the hearts of those coming behind.

So one of the ways we can avoid the spiral is reduce the number of those walking away.

And I just want to give a reminder about Peter’s profound statement in vs. 68. “If you can give eternal life, and you are the Messiah, To whom shall we go?”

Peter knew one thing: You can’t just think about what you’re leaving. You have to consider what you’re going to.

Young people, when you are faced with a test of faith, the first question to ask yourself is “If I walk away, where will I go?”

Illustration: When I was a kid I remember being upset about something silly and I told my sister I was going to run away. I was packing the essential like my GI Joe lunch box and matching thermos when my sister asked me, “Where are you going?” And it hit me. I had no idea. Where was I going to turn when I needed food? When I needed shelter? When I needed a place to watch Transformers? You know, essential questions.

When you’re young, leaving sounds fun, it sounds like an adventure, until you start asking the important questions like, “Who’s going to help me and be with me?”

We tend to turn to things that are inferior to Jesus Christ:

We TURN to our own way.

Young people don’t want authority from parents, or pastor, or teachers, but Solomon said the “Way of the transgressor is hard.” It’s not better than Jesus. It’s harder than Jesus.

We TURN to someone else

Maybe a relationship with a member of the opposite sex.

Young people think “Love is all you need” until you have to pay for electricity. Or you have a spiritual need.

Too many times we TURN to pleasure, thinking that will be better.

Young people look at all the “Fun” the world is having and think it seems so enjoyable. But what the world presents as so fun is never better than Christ.

I’ve heard more than my share of young people say, “I just want to try it for a while and see what it’s like.” But the ones that tried, most of them, never came back. And the ones that did, came back with scars. Prov 28:13 “His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself and he shall be holden with the cords of his sin.” There’s no guarantee you’ll escape the trap once you get into it. Samson didn’t.

Question 1: If I walk away, where will I go?

Question 2: If I walk away, what am I leaving?

Vs. 68 – You’d be leaving Jesus, the One who has the words of eternal life. The only One who could ever provide you with life in Heaven. The pull of the flesh must be so strong to make us think leaving Him is better.

He’s the only One who loves us unconditionally. The old phrase goes, “When everyone else walks out, Jesus walks in.” He knows and accepts and understands you like no one else.

He’s the only One who can satisfy you internally. That’s the point of this passage. He provides for our greatest needs. You don’t leave that flippantly.

When you really wonder who Jesus is, just consider that He also faced a walk away moment:

He asked for the cup to pass from Him

He knew what was coming

But He still went to the cross

He could have walked away but He stayed

Because of who Jesus is, there’s not a better alternative, even when it’s hard.

So how do we help them, as parents, church members, mentors, teachers, friends, survive the moments that test their faith? I believe we must have three things:

1. A Personal Walk With God

How will we convince them that Jesus is better if we don’t operate like Jesus is better?

Do we have a personal walk with the Lord that would be convincing to them that a life with Jesus is better?

Or do we go through the motions of church and life without truly communing with Him?

How consistently do we seek God through His Word?

How often are we on our knees in faith-filled prayer?

How important does church seem to us?

Do we think these things will be priorities for them if they aren’t for us?

Second generation Christians are usually less committed than the generation before them. Set the bar high in your walk with God.

How real is your walk with God? How close is your relationship?

I wonder how many young people walk away because they’ve watched their parents and mentors go through the religious motions.

2. Joy In Every Situation

This passage is about how we respond to the hard things. That will greatly influence how likely the next generation is to walk away.

When things are hard, do you accept them with contentment or worry?

Have you responded to difficulty with a bitter-free spirit?

Do we turn to God and trust Him when we face our tragedies?

We may be mature enough to handle the hard moments, but our response will likely be what convinces our children to stick with Jesus or not.

3. Confidence In What Is True

The root of the problem here was unbelief. It was a matter of faith.

We must major on truth if we’re going to help the next generation stay when everyone else leaves.

The day is coming when our children will face tests Americans never have before.

If they aren’t convinced in their hearts that the words of this book are true, how do we expect them to remain standing when the pressure comes?

If they don’t know the truth, how will they stand against falsehood?

And don’t say, “That’s the church’s job.” The moral and religious education of children was given to parents, not youth pastors.

The next generation needs us to teach them what it true and what is right if we expect them to withstand the moments that test their faith.

I’m not saying it’s all on us. They make their own choices. It’s never all our fault and we never deserve all the credit. Our children have their own choices to make. But I can do some things to put them in a better position to make the right choices. I have that responsibility, and so do you. The question is, “Will we take our responsibility seriously enough to help the next generation stick with Christ?”

How?

Walk with God

Have joy in every circumstance

Teach them what is true

The next generation is more likely to reject Christ if we neglect our responsibility to reflect Christ.

Conclusion:

Young People - Don’t make your decision based on someone else. Take personal responsibility in your quest to stick with Jesus. But attach yourself to the people in your life who put God first and have a Christ-like spirit.

Rest Of Us - Are you doing all you can to be an example? If the next generation follows your example, will they stick it out or will they be casualties?