Do You Want to Walk Away? — Defectors or Disciples (Part 1)
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[SLIDE 1] Introduction
If you have your Bible, then please turn to John 6:60-71.
I want to thank Pastor Keon for continuing in the series in John’s gospel while I was on parental leave.
By the providence of God, he preached his last sermon in John’s gospel just right before this passage.
So, we’re going to continue in our expositional message in John’s gospel.
We’ll read this whole passage, but we’re only going to focus on verses 60-66 for this morning’s message.
60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? 62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 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. 64 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.) 65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” 66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” 70 Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” 71 He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.
Illustration
I’ve been wanting to preach this passage.
Not because it is my favourite text.
But it addresses a fundamental problem and concern that I as a pastor have for the Christian church.
Which is Backsliding, Apostasy, and Spiritual Defects in the church.
I’ve been attending this church for 22-23 years, and I have been a Christian for 17-18 years, and I have seen a lot of friends who professed to be Christians walk away from Christ.
Some of them were student leaders in my Christian club.
Some of them were in this church.
Some of them I have worked closely with in ministry.
My heart breaks for them.
I try to pursue them and reach out to them.
I pray for them.
Even as I’m speaking, you may already be thinking of those individuals that you personally know.
In the Christian church, there will always be those who pretend to be Christians, or those who THINK they’re Christians.
In reality, they are not genuinely Christians.
They do not genuinely love Jesus.
They have not genuinely experienced salvation.
They may have grown up in the church.
But, when they became adults, they have “deconstructed” their faith.
Now, they’re known as “Exvangelicals.”
What’s also troubling to me is another category of false disciples.
And I’m not talking about nominal church goers who come to church and leave.
I’m referring to those who APPEARED to be genuine disciples of Jesus.
They made a profession of faith.
They were baptized.
They served in the church in various ways.
They were discipled and went through training for years.
They seemed to be bearing good fruit.
Yet, the troubling and disappointing reality is that they turned their back on Christ and walked away from the church and Jesus.
They may walk away because they’re more in love of this world.
They may walk away because living for Jesus is difficult and hard.
They chose to enter the wide gate and easy way that leads to destruction.
Let me ask you these questions:
Do you personally relate to these disciples who walked away from Jesus because his teachings were hard and offensive?
If Jesus asked you, “Do you want to walk away as well,” then how would you answer?
Does that question make you uncomfortable?
Does it stir anger in your heart?
Or, does it cause you to respond like Peter, “Lord, to whom shall we go?”
You have the words of eternal life!
You are the Holy One Of God!
You’re my everything!
You’re my All In All!
Jesus, I will follow you no matter the cost, and I will submit to your Lordship.
How in the world I can turn my back against you!?
Biblical Theology
Context
If you recall the previous context that led up to this passage, you may remember that Jesus fed the 5000.
Jesus, then, challenged the crowd that they’re seeking Him not because of the signs, but because He can fill their worldly desires.
Jesus declared Himself to be the Bread of Life.
He’s the true bread that came down from heaven to give life to the world.
Jesus continued with a tough conversation with the Jews.
He talked about eating his flesh and drinking his blood.
Of course, he was speaking figuratively (or metaphorically), not literally.
Jesus meant that they need to trust and believe in Him in order to have eternal life, and no longer hunger and thirst spiritually.
The previous text concludes with Jesus being in the synagogue at Capernaum.
His audience would include the non-believing Jews back in verse 41; the crowd back in verse 22; many of His disciples plus the 12 Apostles.
I wouldn’t be surprised that the people sitting in the synagogue would have a mix reaction towards his teachings.
Many of their reactions would be negative.
In a similar way, I wonder if you would react the same way to Jesus’ teachings in the local church in the city of Vancouver.
As we begin to expound this passage, I want to give you the main idea for you to remember:
[SLIDE 2] False Disciples Will Walk Away Because They Are Spiritually Defective.
My hope in this sermon is to diagnose the underlying condition behind spiritual defection.
We’re going to ask ourselves five questions as a way to check our own hearts.
Exposition
[SLIDE 3] First, do you want to walk away because you're quietly resisting hard truth rather than humbly receiving it (vv.60-61)?
Take a look at verse 60: John 6:60
60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”
Jesus had many disciples during His earthly ministry.
A disciple is someone who is a learner, follower, and student of a teacher.
This was especially normal in the Jewish culture where students would learn from and adhere to their teachers or Rabbis...
And build that teacher and student relationship.
Our Lord Jesus had the 12 disciples, also known as His chosen Apostles.
What’s interesting is that John never uses the technical term, “Apostles,” to refer to the 12 in His gospel.
They’re simply called disciples.
We know in Luke 10:1 that Jesus had 70-72 disciples.
We also know that there were 120 disciples in Acts.
It would have been a special privilege to be a disciple of Jesus Christ during his earthly ministry.
Sadly, many of these disciples are the same disciples who leave Jesus in verse 66 because they cannot adhere to the hard teachings of Christ.
So, these disciples said and question, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”
They weren’t talking to Jesus directly.
We are told in verse 61 that they were grumbling amongst themselves.
They were murmuring or complaining secretly that Jesus’ teaching were hard, strong, and even harsh.
What’s interesting is that this context in John 6 mentions Moses, the wilderness, and God providing the bread for the Israelites.
Do you remember what happened to the Israelites in the book of Numbers chapters 11 and 14?
Israel complained and grumbled against Moses (and sometimes including Aaron), and ultimately against God.
They were discontent and complaining why Moses brought them out of Egypt and into the wilderness.
Israel even formed an assembly to protest against Moses and tried to appoint their own leader to return to Egypt, and no longer follow Moses into the promise land.
So, just like Israel in the desert, the group of disciples reaches a necessary point of division and decision.
For the disciples, it’s not that Jesus’ hard saying was difficult to UNDERSTAND...but difficult to ACCEPT.
So, what did Jesus teach that was hard and unacceptable.
If you’ve been following the preaching of John 6, there were four different statements that were offensive to them.
First, Jesus claimed a heavenly origin.
He’s the bread of life who came down from heaven.
And we are told in John 6:41 that the Jews grumbled about it.
Second, Jesus claimed that they are to receive Jesus Christ in order to have eternal life, and that salvation is not by works of the law and merits.
Third, Jesus rebuked them for seeking Him only because they were interested in having their desires filled.
Spiritual defectors are seekers of personal prosperity only.
They are consumed with earthly things instead of hungering for spiritual things.
Fourth, Jesus spoke about eating His flesh and drinking His blood in the previous passage.
The Jews were arguing and fighting among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
All four of these points add up to singular message from Jesus as the Bread of Life.
And Jesus - in His divine knowledge - knew that His disciples were grumbling about his hard saying.
So, he asks them, “Do you take offense at this?”
The word, “take offense,” is σκανδαλίζω.
It’s where we get the word, “Scandal.”
Other translations like the LSB or NASB say, “Does this cause you to stumble?”
Are you offended and scandalized by my difficult teachings?
This leads us to the second point:
[SLIDE 4] Second, do you want to walk away because God’s truth offends you? (v.61)
This is not the only time that Jesus gives hard teachings that are unacceptable by our modern world and even church goers who profess to be Christians.
And brothers and sisters, if we’re honest with ourselves, we sometimes struggle with Jesus’ difficult teachings as well because our flesh often resists the things of the Spirit of God.
So, what are the other difficult teachings from Jesus? Let me give you some shotgun examples:
Jesus claims to be the only way to the Father in John 14:6.
Salvation is exclusively through Jesus.
This excludes all religions, philosophies, ideologies, and human merits.
If you come to church and worship Jesus while at the same time worshipping other idols and adhering to false religions, you might not be saved.
Do you love your family more than you love Jesus?
Jesus taught that you are to hate your own family for His sake in Luke 14:26-27
26 “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. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
Listen to this: What Jesus meant by “hate” is not detesting or being hostile towards your family.
Jesus’ command to “hate” family (Luke 14:26) means our love for Him must be so supreme that all other loves—even for family or self—seem insignificant by comparison.
Jesus also offended religious leaders of His day.
In Matthew 23, He called religious leaders hypocrites.
He exposed their legalism and corruption.
If we’re not careful of our own hearts, Jesus’ message to the Pharisees can also be applied to church leaders, like myself, or the elders, or deacons, or Sunday school teachers, ministry leaders.
Let me address a bit of a side note, but related to this topic.
I want to talk about the preaching of the local church.
I have come to a deep conviction that the philosophy of preaching ought to expository preaching.
Expository preaching basically means explaining and exposing the plain meaning and authorial intent of the passage.
Practically, what this looks like is going through a book of the Bible sequentially without skipping any verses.
Sometimes, we do topical series, but the passages preached should be expositional and biblical.
Sometimes, I deal with easy passages.
And sometimes, I’m forced to deal with difficult passages.
For me, I don’t preach to please my audience.
I preach to please my LORD and hopefully edify the body of Christ.
It’s not my objective to be offensive, but I want to preach God’s word faithfully even if it means offending you with the text or making you angry at me...
Or worse case scenario, getting let go out of my job.
Brothers and sisters, I pray that you came to church this morning with a genuine desire to hear the Word of God.
Jesus’ teaching is rich and multifaceted.
They can be encouraging, challenging, hopeful, and difficult.
But if you find yourself only wanting a Jesus who never offends or a message that never challenges you or confronts your sin, it may be worth asking whether you've shaped an image of God according to your own preferences rather than who He truly is.
Jesus would certainly fail “Church Growth 101” by today’s standards, wouldn’t He?
He focused on preaching and teaching the truth.
He offended people, instead of being seeker-sensitive.
They eventually unfollowed or unsubscribed Him, instead of being devoted to Him.
So as a church, our priority must be truth, not popularity.
And if God chooses to bless us with numerical and spiritual growth because we’ve remained faithful to the truth, then all the glory belongs to Him.
[SLIDE 5] Third, do you want to walk away because you haven’t truly experience the Life-Giving Spirit? (v.62-63)
Jesus, knowing that His disciples were offended, then proceeds with this saying in verses 62-63:
62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 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.
The disciples were already offended that Jesus came down from heaven.
So, Jesus is saying, “What if I were to tell you that I’m going to ascend back to where I came from?”
I think there’s more to the word, “ascend,” than what we realize.
Yes, Jesus is talking about His ascension back to the right hand of the Father.
Some Bible commentators mention that this ascent also implies and includes a continual movement from the cross to the resurrection to the ascension.
What Jesus might be implying is that if His disciples were offended and scandalized by Jesus’ difficult teachings, how much more would they stumble and be offended by His execution on the cross?
Even Jesus’ Apostles, like Peter, was upset with Jesus (and even rebuked Jesus) when He foretold His death that He’s going to be killed and raised on the 3rd day.
And the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:23
23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
Some of the Jews were resisting towards the idea of Jesus’ resurrection.
Acts 4:1-2 tells us that the religious leaders were greatly annoyed because Peter and John were proclaiming the resurrection from the dead.
Regarding Christ’s glorious ascension, I like what a commentary said:
“If all this has offended you, what will you think when you see Me in glory, and have to answer to Me in judgment?”
Better to be offended now and to get over it, than to be offended on that day.
Jesus then talks about the Spirit and flesh in verse 63.
Jesus seems to be switching topics, but this is not the case.
He’s connecting verse 62 regarding His ascension to the giving of the Holy Spirit.
We know this happened in redemptive history where the Holy Spirit was poured out after the ascension of Jesus in Acts 1.
Jesus is contrasting their human understanding - which is the flesh - to a spiritual understanding - which is the Spirit.
Jesus is alluding back to His teaching in John 3:6
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
So, a sinner needs to be born again by the Spirit.
A sinner cannot have life in himself by the flesh because the flesh is no help at all.
This highlights what we believe as a church in our Article of Faith regarding Total Depravity or Total Inability.
A sinner - in his state of fallenness - is unable and incapable of receiving the things of the Spirit of God apart from the quickening grace of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus tells them that the words that He has spoken (the hard teachings) to them are spirit and life.
Jesus’ words and teachings are Life-Giving Spirit.
They are spiritual food for us.
God’s word nourishes spiritually.
Spiritual Defectors do not focus on the spiritual things.
They do not seek personal relationship with Christ.
They seek earthly things.
They may use God and His name for worldly gains and worldly satisfaction.
Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
And although Jesus’ word are life-giving Spirit, Jesus sovereignly knows that some of His disciples don’t believe.
Which leads to our fourth point:
[SLIDE 6] Fourth, do you want to walk away because you do not truly believe? (v.64)
Take a look at John 6:64
64 But there are some of you who do not believe.”
What a shocking statement from Jesus.
They may claim to be disciples of Jesus, but they do not truly believe in Him and His words.
Remember, they were deeply offended by Him, and such offense is rooted in their unbelief in His word.
But, Jesus is not surprised by their grumbling.
He’s not surprised that His teachings would offend.
He’s not surprised by their unbelief.
Why is that?
The Apostle John gives us a commentary at latter half of verse 64.
He explains why Jesus said some of the disciples do not believe.
You can see the parenthesis in the ESV: “(For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.)
Jesus sovereignly knew two things from the beginning, which I think is in reference to those who followed Jesus.
1. He knew which disciples did not truly believe.
2. He knew which disciple would betray Him.
I invite you to turn back to John 2:23-25.
Let me summarize this passage.
At this point of the story, there were many people who believed in the Lord Jesus because of the signs that He performed at the Passover Feast.
These are the so-called disciples that Jesus knew who did not truly believe because they have believed in Jesus for the supernatural instead of Jesus Himself.
They want the miracles instead of the Miracle-Worker.
They want the gifts instead of the Giver.
And Jesus, however, did not believe in their belief in Him because He knew all people and knew what was in man.
Their faith was a counterfeit.
Additionally, not only did Jesus know from the beginning who those were who did not believe...but he also knew from the beginning who it was who would betray him.
This is obviously pointing to Judas Iscariot.
We’ll talk about him next time since he’s brought up in verses 70-71.
Tying this message to the upcoming Good Friday, Judas Iscariot is probably the supreme example of what an unbelieving, false disciple looks like.
Not only did he leave the Lord, but he betrayed Him for 30 pieces of silver.
His betrayal led to Jesus’ arrest, trial, scourging, and eventually death on the cross.
Jesus knew exactly who were not truly His disciples from the moment they followed Him.
This may be the hardest thing for you to hear, but Jesus knows if you’re not TRULY His disciples.
If you’re spiritually defective, Jesus knows that you WILL walk away from Him.
Jesus knows if you’re pretending to be a Christian.
Jesus knows that you’re NOT truly born again.
You may be able to trick and deceive everyone in the church, but you cannot mock God because He sees you.
Since some of His disciples do not believe, Jesus then closes with this statement in verse 65: “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
Jesus knew in advance that He would be rejected by many because no one can come to Him unless it is granted him by the Father.
And, knowing this, he earlier explained in John 6:37, 44
37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
We see the essential role of Divine Sovereignty in tension with Human Responsibility.
The Father lovingly draws those He has given to the Son and graciously enables them to believe.
Those who are truly His people will ultimately not walk away from Him because God will preserve His elect.
John 10 tells us that nothing in this world can snatch His sheep out of the Father’s hands.
While sinners are to respond to the gospel in repentance and faith, salvation is not ultimately the result of human autonomy, but of God’s gracious initiative.
Salvation is ultimately God’s sovereign grace and sovereign election.
Salvation is monergistic, which means that God alones initiates and accomplishes salvation.
The reason why these false disciples do not truly believe is that God did not give them the gift of faith.
This certainly would offend many people who are self-reliant and focus on their own will and works.
Sovereign Election is also an offensive doctrine because people have a difficult time understanding that they truly have zero contribution to their salvation.
Our church’s Article of Faith states this:
[Election] is effectuated by the Holy Spirit through God’s Word in drawing sinners to Christ so that their wills are freely brought into compliance with God’s elective purpose.
Salvation belongs to the LORD. Absolutely no one can come to Christ unless the Father draw them.
Therefore, it is becoming apparent now at this point in the gospel of John that the disciples now have to count the cost of following Him.
This passage is the dividing line between Jesus and many of His (false/defective) disciples.
So, what happened afterwards?
This gets us to the final point:
[SLIDE 7] Fifth, do you want to walk away because you were never truly His people? (v.66)
It says in John 6:66
66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.
These so-called disciples (or false disciples) permanently abandoned Jesus after this point as a result of His teaching and His indictment against their unbelief.
They did not persevere and accept Jesus and His teachings; thus, demonstrating that they were not truly saved.
19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.
Application
[SLIDE 8] So, we have learned from this text that False Disciples Will Walk Away Because They Are Spiritually Defective.
It’s a sadly reality that every Christian church has to face. As a church, we need to take backsliding and apostasy seriously.
We should care about each other’s souls.
We should do our best to check in with one another.
12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
At the same time, we should examine ourselves to see whether we’re truly in the faith.
What’s also a big burden for pastors and elders is that they are responsible to keep watch over your souls (Hebrews 13:17) because men like myself have to give an account to the Lord for how we cared for the sheep.
Finally, I want to offer some hope and encouragement.
Sometimes, genuine Christians can backslide in their walk with Christ.
It is possible that they can walk away for a time being and God in His grace and mercy will bring them back to the fold.
It is also possible that they can walk away and indulge in the pattern of sin, and they realize that they made a foolish decision.
Maybe that’s you this morning.
You’ve wandered away from the Shepherd.
You have not been in fellowship with God’s people for however many years.
And yet, God brought you back.
If that’s you, can I encourage you to persevere?
Can I exhort not to turn back to your folly?
God’s loving arms are ready to embrace you if you repent and turn back to Him.
If you know someone who has walked away from Christ and hasn’t returned, it’s okay to feel heartbroken.
They could be your children.
They could be your friends whom you grew up with in church.
But don’t lose hope.
While they’re still alive, there is still hope for them.
So, we need to pray for them that God in His grace and mercy would grant them repentance.
[SLIDE 9] Conclusion
Brothers and sisters, I even invite you after the sermon to pray for individuals who come up in your mind who were like these false disciples.
Afterwards, I encourage you to consider reaching out to them.
It could be a simple text message or an email.
“I miss seeing you. I hope you’re doing well.”
Prayer
19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
Benediction
Announcement
PKL Gifts -
We have a special announcement. And he and his family do not know about this, but I want to invite Pastor Keon Lum to come up to the stage.
I know you already received an applause a couple of Sundays ago, but we want to again thank you for serving us faithfully and sacrificially during the past 3 months.
The English congregation has some special gifts for you. Thank you Mary for facilitating this initiative and for Kevin for helping her.
We know you preach from your same iPad mini for many many years. We are also aware that you’ve been wanting a new computer.
So, as a gift, we want to bless you with brand new iPad with a keyboard. And I think there’s an extra gift card inside for you and your family.
We trust and pray that you will continue to preach God’s word accurately.
Whenever you preach from this iPad, imagine that you are bringing us with you.
