To Stay or Leave
Notes
Transcript
To Say or Leave
To Say or Leave
Leave
66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
Stay
68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.
The final result - The feeding of the 5,000
The trip across the lake with a storm
The miracles in Capernaum
The discussion of deity
The metaphor of bread
Manna from heaven
Coming down from heaven
Flesh/Blood
The calling of the father
The drawing of the father
Now there will be two groups
one will walk away
66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
One will get it and claim Jesus is the Christ
68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.
Ladies and gentlemen its time for you to decide.
Walk away or leave or confess and accept.
No doubt its a spiritual conviction coming directly form God
Many the sayings of Christ do no line up with preconceived convictions - too hard does not make since and now that the free food and miracles are over we will leave .
Believe in Christ walk with Him or move on ....
There comes a time when a decision needs to be made.
Leave or Believe
Jesus stated that He was the bread of life and they must accept Him to have life
This was a hard saying
As the people began to understand His teaching, they found it to be totally unacceptable.
Besides the hostile Jewish leaders, many of the Galilean disciples turned away from Him.
He might be a great Healer, but His words were a hard (i.e., harsh) teaching. Who could accept it, that is, obey it? How could they personally appropriate Him[1]
The misunderstanding of the multitude was bad enough, but the murmuring among many who had attached themselves hopefully to this miracle-working prophet, in expectation of a soon-coming material kingdom, was the worst of all.
Many were following Jesus :
Some wanted a political uprising
15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.
Some wanted more miracles:
30 They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work?
26 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.
A decision needs to be made :
keep following
Tun back
Illustration - Stay or turn away ....
Has God opened you eyes to Him then staying is easy and there is really no choice at all …
IF believing the bread of life looks impossible then leave...
Staying requires a work from God to overcome the world
I. The Rumblings
I. The Rumblings
60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? 61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?
vs 60 hard saying - harsh or unwavering
Hard - this greek word is used 5 times in the NT… it means harsh unbending
What jesus is saying is dogmatic and unwavering
I am the only way
I am the bread of life
I am life eternal
By accepting me and eating of my flesh and blood you have eternal life
Jesus is getting down to the final appeal
You seen the miracles
You have been fed on the hillside
I have lectured you about true bread
You understand what it means coming down from heaven
The problem is you view it as harsh
You view it as manna not bread from heaven ‘
You past is clouding your future
Stop laboring for food that perisheth
dogmatic
vs 61 - murmured complain or grumbled
Jesus knew that they were complaining within themselves.
Many of his followers, unable to follow his metaphoric style, said,
“This is an hard saying; who can hear it?” The Lord read their thoughts. He said, “Does this offend you?”
Even those who grasped the metaphor were outraged. The Lord made himself greater than Moses. He claimed to come from heaven. He claimed to be one with God. He was pointing to his death as the way to life.
The discourse, was downright offensive. “Who can listen to this kind of talk?” they said. The Lord had exposed their hearts
This was noisy rebellion
They would walk away John 6:66
They would let all know this was offensive
Does this offend you? Does this cause you to sin?
The bottom line the murmuring and complaining was a sign of unbelief.....
It a sign of unbelief .....
Leaving denied the
II. The Supernatural
II. The Supernatural
62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? 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.
key - what if?
Spirit not flesh
The sprit allows you to understand and see
We note what he explained (6:62–63).
He explained the supernatural (6:62) nature of things: “What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?”
Some have rephrased the question like this: “If therefore you should behold the Son of man ascending up where he was before, will you be offended then?”
The Lord’s whole life was a supernatural life.
His birth was supernatural, his life was supernatural, his miracles were supernatural, his death was supernatural and attended by the supernatural, his resurrection was supernatural, and his bodily ascension into heaven was supernatural.
It supernatural to believe Christ and accept Him
It cant be done by works
It cant be forced by tradition
It’s an act of God ...
The Lord points to the supernatural nature of his coming ascension as proof of the supernatural nature of his incarnation.
But there was more to it than the supernatural; the Lord explained also the spiritual (6:63) nature of things:
“It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”
We are reminded of the Lord’s words to Nicodemus: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (3:6).
The Lord’s words are lifegiving. They are “spirit.” They can engender spiritual life; they can “quicken,” make alive, impart the life of God.
Its the supernatural that allows us to believe.
Its supernatural to believe Jesus came down from heaven
Its supernatural to accept him by faith
When we do an honest reading and searching of the Scriptures we soon discover that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is supernatural.
It takes a supernatural happening for us to be born-again by the Holy Spirit.
It takes a supernatural enabling for us to live the Christian life,
Jesus came to bring us into a whole new way of life and living.
When Jesus was here on earth He demonstrated a supernatural Gospel; He taught a supernatural Gospel, and He gave His disciples power and authority to do supernatural things.
Before He returned to His Father in heaven He gave commandment for His followers/disciples to make sure they were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit in order for them to be His witnesses and to carry on His ways and works (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8).
8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Supernatural
III. The Result
III. The Result
64 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. 65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. 66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
Some believe not
God was not in their minds or thoughts
Their hearts could not be pierced
Two circles of disciples
Outer circle - those that were interested followed Him liked the miracles
Impressed by His teaching
But were not converted
There are people today that:
Love church programs
Love church friends
Love the fellowship
But dont believe ....
Jesus is saying
Even as He said these things, the Lord realized that some of His listeners did not understand Him because they would not believe.
The difficulty lay not so much in their inability as in their unwillingness.
vs 64 - Jesus knew from the beginning that some of His professed followers would not believe on Him and that one of His disciples would betray Him. Of course, Jesus knew all this from eternity, but here it probably means that He was aware of it from the very start of His ministry on earth.
6:65 Now He explained that it was because of their unbelief that He had previously told them that no one could come to Him unless it were granted to him by His Father.
Such words are an attack on the pride of man, who thinks that he can earn or merit salvation.
The Lord Jesus told men that even the power to come to Him can only be received from God the Father.
6:66 These sayings of the Lord Jesus proved so distasteful to many who had followed Him that they now left Him and were no longer willing to associate with Him. These disciples were never true believers. They followed the Lord for various reasons, but not out of genuine love for Him or appreciation of who He was.
false believers today
walk no more becase of health
walk no more because of a bad relationship
walk no more because of a besetting sin
19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
Those that believe not walk away .....
Kit Carson - ever could give a clear testimony of salvation
Asked by an evangelist - just would not talk about it
Eventually revealed himself
Ho many in the Church of Jesus Christ are Goats not sheep!
Bottom Line they walked away .....
IV. The Remaining
IV. The Remaining
67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? 68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. 70 Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? 71 He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.
Look at Peter response
yes he made mistakes
Peter the rough fisherman
Peter the man that would put foot in mouth
Peter the man that would deny Christ on the eve of the crucifixion
Or perter
The man that preached boldly on Acts two
Peter the man that opened up the Gospel to the gentiles
Peter the author of the NT - tow books
peter that walked on the water
Peter tat Christ first appeared after the crucification
I believe thou hast the words of life....
Guess what He stayed
68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.
Belief ....
Are you staying or leaving?