The Battle for Truth

September 28, 2008

John 6:59-71

Today’s message will complete the sixth chapter of John. John MacArthur calls this a “long tragic chapter” because of the large crowds who turned en masse from truth. My reading from Blackaby today comes from the end of this tragic chapter – verse 65. It is called “The Father Draws You” He said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless it is granted to him by the Father.”

Throughout Jesus' ministry on earth, He never seemed intimidated by the crowds. Instead, He looked into the multitudes and focused on those whom His Father was sending to Him. Jesus knew that because of sin, no one naturally seeks after God. Sinful man's inclination is to hide from God, rather than to come to Him (Gen. 3:8; Ps. 14:1–3). Therefore, whenever Jesus saw that the Father was drawing a person to Himself, Jesus immediately began relating to that person.

Jesus observed the great lengths to which the despised tax collector, Zacchaeus, had gone in order to see Him pass by. In response, Jesus immediately left the crowd and spent time with this man in whom the Father was obviously working (Luke 19:1–10). When Jesus noticed a man following after Him, Jesus spoke to Andrew, “Come!” (John 1:39). Every time the disciples experienced a new insight into the truths of God, Jesus recognized that it was the Father who had been at work in their lives (Matt. 16:17).

As the multitudes gathered around Jesus, He spoke some truths that were difficult for the people to grasp (John 6:60). So challenging were His words that many of His listeners departed, but Jesus did not become discouraged. He saw that the Father was working in the lives of His disciples, and that is where Jesus invested His time.

As you desire to spend time alone with Jesus, recognize that this is the Father drawing you to His Son. You do not seek quiet times with God in order to experience Him. The fact that He has brought you to a place of fellowship with Him is evidence that you are already sensing His activity. As you read the Scriptures and pray, trust that God will honor your response to His leading by teaching you more about Himself.

Please open your Bibles to John chapter six, and follow along as I read verses 59 through 71: “These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum. Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?" When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you? What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father." From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?" But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve,and one of you is a devil?" He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.

Here is a passage rife with tragedy, for in it is the beginning of the end. It is the culmination of John 1: 10-11: “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.“ There was a time when men came to Jesus in large numbers. When he was in Jerusalem at the Passover many saw his miracles and believed in his name (Jn 2:23). So many came to be baptized by his disciples that the numbers were embarrassing (Jn 4:1-3). In Samaria great things happened after Jesus’ confrontation at the well.(Jn 4:39). In Galilee the crowds had flocked after him just the day before (Jn 4:45; 6:2). But the tone of things had changed; from now on there was a growing hatred which was going to culminate in the Cross. Already John launches us on the last act of the tragedy. It is circumstances like these which reveal men's hearts and show their true colors. If you look back through John 6, you will have seen the battle unfold. The chapter begins with huge crowds watching for miracles, loving the spectacular, and ends with many falling away. The battle for truth is underway. And it is that battle which we will follow today. Let’s start by examining the three attitudes toward Jesus found in the large group surrounding Jesus. The first is the attitude of the deserters found in verse 66. Some turned back and walked with him no more. They drifted away for various reasons.

Some saw quite clearly where Jesus was heading. It was not possible to challenge the authorities as he was doing and get away with it. He was heading for disaster and they were getting out in time. They were fair-weather followers. It has been said that the test of an army is how it fights when it is tired. Those who drifted away would have stuck by Jesus so long as his career was on the upward swing, but at the first shadow of the Cross they deserted him. They wanted to back a winner. They were expecting the long-sought Messiah-King who would wield a sword against Rome. But there were also those who defected because the road Jesus wanted them to follow was too hard.

Some shirked the challenge of Jesus. They had come to Jesus to get something from him; when it came to suffering for him and giving up all their riches for him they quit. No one can give so much as Jesus, but if we come to him solely to get and never to give we will certainly turn back. The man who would follow Jesus must remember that in following him there is always a Cross to bear. And then there was the greatest deserter of them all – Judas – but I will mention him later in this message.

The years can be cruel. They can take away our ideals and our enthusiasms and our dreams and our loyalties. They can leave us with a life that has grown smaller and not bigger. They can leave us with a heart that is shriveled instead of one expanded in the love of Christ. Do you ever get disillusioned when following Christ? Has your first love died? Or do you still have an attitude of determination. This determination is found in Peter's great confession at Caesarea Philippi (Mk 8:27; Matt 16:13; Lk 9:18). When many deserted Jesus, He turned to His disciples (v.67) and asked, “Are you also going to leave?” These words pierced Peter’s heart and exposed his fierce loyalty to Jesus. To Peter, the simple fact was that there was just no one else to go to. Jesus alone had the words of life.

Peter's loyalty was based on a personal relationship to Jesus Christ. There were many things he did not understand; he was just as bewildered and puzzled as anyone else. But there was something about Jesus for which he would willingly die. Christianity is not a philosophy which we accept, nor a theory to which we give allegiance. It is a personal response to Jesus Christ. It is the allegiance and the love which a person gives because his heart will not allow him to do anything else. This is personal growth.

People put a lot of stock in church growth. But as I look through the Bible, I find that God places His emphasis on personal growth. He is not nearly as impressed with numbers as we are — and He proves that over and over. Large numbers are not necessarily evidence that God is blessing a church. The enemy can do that too, and will do so if we focus on numerical instead of spiritual growth.

For example, in Judges 7, when Gideon summoned the men of Israel to battle against the Midianites, 32,000 answered the call. But the Lord told Gideon that 32,000 was too many. Gideon would have to "down-size" his army. So Gideon sent home 22,000 men — but the Lord said 10,000 was still too many for Him to work with. So Gideon tested his men until he had whittled the number down to 300. And God said, in effect, "Great! That's a number I can work with." God is more interested in quality than quantity.

Here, at the end of John chapter 6, we see this principle again. Prior to this point in His ministry, Jesus has attracted scores of disciples with His startling new message and His miracles. But now many of these disciples begin to discover that He will not do miracles on demand, and that His message is not the promise of prosperity and political liberation they want to hear. And so they fall away.

But here again, as in the story of Gideon, we will see that God is not interested in quantity but in quality. Many desert Jesus — but those who stay will be the ones whom Jesus will train and pour His life into. And they will be the ones who, after His death and resurrection, will turn the world upside-down for God.

Here is the first thinning of the ranks in our Lord's ministry. The battle for truth is raging!

Notice the characteristics of those who desert Jesus. First, they take offense at difficult truth. "This is a hard teaching," they said. "Who can accept it?" By this statement, they implied that they did not want to be troubled with difficult teaching.

I have often found this to be true when people drop out of the church: They are bothered or even offended when difficult doctrines are taught. For example, some feel uneasy about the doctrine of election or predestination. How can God draw us and yet give us free will? It is difficult to understand. Others struggle with the doctrine that God providentially allows difficult experiences — hardships, disasters, suffering, and so forth. "What kind of a God would allow this kind of suffering?" they ask. "These teachings are too hard to understand. Who can accept these teachings?" If you become bothered or offended by difficult doctrines in the Bible, then the odds are that, sooner or later, you too will drop out of the Christian cause, just as these disciples did.

In His response, Jesus points out the problem that these people had: In verses 61 and 62, He challenges: "Does this offend you? “Do my words offend you?” What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life." Read that way, Jesus seems to be saying, "Are you offended by what I said about eating flesh and drinking blood? Well, that's nothing compared to the offense you are going to feel when you see me ascending into the heavens!"

People often miss the thrust of Jesus' words because they put too much literal emphasis on the symbols He employs. In John 2, Jesus said to the Jews, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." They immediately thought He was talking about the beautiful building on top of Mt. Moriah. But John hastens to explain that Jesus was speaking of the temple of His body, which was symbolized by the building.

And in chapter 3, when Jesus told Nicodemus, "You must be born again," Nicodemus gaped at Him in amazement and said, "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus was thinking literally, whereas Jesus was speaking symbolically about the gift of eternal life.

So when Jesus speaks here of eating flesh and drinking blood, He is using symbols to describe an eternal reality. Those who focus solely on the symbols of Christianity usually become disillusioned sooner or later — and often fall away. Thousands of churches across our country today are almost empty because of this kind of disillusionment. All these churches offer are the symbols, the sacraments: baptism, the Lord's supper, ceremonial prayers, ritual music. There is no reality. No Bible teaching. Only symbols.

Jesus is reserved for those who seek the truth wherever it leads, no matter how uncomfortable, unpalatable, or difficult to understand. Our challenge is to feed on the promises and the warnings of God's Word, to accept the truth, to hear what Jesus actually says to us — not just hear what we want to hear. Truth can be very disconcerting, but we must continue to battle for it!

"People stumble over the truth from time to time," said Winston Churchill, "but most pick themselves up and hurry on as if nothing happened." May that never be said of you and me. When the words of Scripture are difficult to understand, stop! Do not move on without stopping and examining each truth. How can you apply what you don’t know? Remember, we are chosen to know Him and believe that He is who He says He is. God incarnate, God in the flesh. (Is. 43:10) It is not enough that we simply read our Bible, nor is it enough that we understand its teaching. For the truths of Scripture to have real us in our lives, they must be applied. We must live out these truths in our lives each and every day that God keeps us here in this world.

Jesus is clear on this: Those who draw back are those who really do not believe the truth. He knew from the beginning who would believe in Him and who would betray Him. That is why He says in John 6:65, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him." The purpose of God's teaching is always to open our eyes to truth — not just religious truth, but any kind of truth, for all truth is from God.

It is a spiritual principle that when people obey the truth they know, then they will be taught more truth. But those who resist the truth will lose their capacity to see and to hear the truth anymore. That is the problem Jesus addresses here. He is saying, in effect: "Instead of allowing the Father to draw you to me, you are resisting." Or as Jesus put it on another occasion, "Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him." (Matt 25:29)

What a tragedy! And it happens all the time. It happened to many of the Lord's disciples. They were so close to the truth — but ultimately they could not accept all that Jesus had to teach them. So they rejected Jesus and lost even the glimmering of truth that they had. That is why we read these sad words in verse 66: "From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him."

They had gone as far as they would go — and then they turned back. Hebrews 11:6 says, "Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." These who drew back had stopped seeking Jesus — and they lost an opportunity to gain God's reward.

I'm not suggesting that the opportunity was lost forever. I believe some of those who pulled back probably returned again, after the death and resurrection of Jesus. But they missed an opportunity to walk alongside Jesus and learn from Him during His earthly ministry.

You can sense the deep disappointment, even a sense of betrayal, in the next words of Jesus in verse 67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.

But note the strong, passionate words of Peter in verse 68 and 69: “Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."

When Jesus asked if the remaining disciples would leave Him too, it was clear that He was not trying to control them. They were free to go. Jesus never holds anyone by force, against his or her will. The few who remain are there by choice, not by force. And here we see the mark of the true believer: He cannot quit Jesus, because his heart has been captured! Has your heart been captured? Responding to our Lord's words, Peter says three things, two of which are profound truths and one which is a profoundly ironic error.

First: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." This statement is one of the marks of a true believer. Peter cannot quit Jesus because he knows that only Jesus has the words of eternal life.

Second: Peter says, "We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." In the original Greek, the tense of these words implies a process that has been going on for weeks and months: "We have believed, and have come to know . . . ." This statement is another mark of a true believer. Peter cannot quit Jesus because he believes that Jesus is the Messiah, the Holy One sent by God.

If you have found Jesus to be (1) the Source of eternal life and (2) the Holy One of God, then where else can you go? Who else is worth following? Who else can measure up? That is the testimony of all those who walk with Him and follow Him. That is the mark of a true Christian: A true Christian can't quit!

The third implication we find in Peter's statement is a mistaken assumption: "Lord, to whom shall we go? . . . We believe . . . ." Peter is wrong when he says "we," meaning the Twelve. And Jesus corrects Peter's mistaken assumption in the last two verses of the chapter when He exposes the devil in their midst.

There are three kinds of disciples in this passage: (1) Those who follow Jesus for awhile, then fall away; (2) Those who cannot quit, because their hearts have been captured; (3) Those who have never really come, but who will not leave — and that is the problem. Three remarkable things are said here about the one who stayed, the one who betrayed Jesus: Judas Iscariot.

First, Jesus states that He chose all of the Twelve, including Judas. In Luke 6:12, we see that Jesus spent an entire night in prayer before choosing His disciples. Out of the hundreds who were following Jesus, these Twelve were the ones which, according to the wisdom of the Father, would be alongside Jesus throughout His earthly ministry. These are the Twelve that He would train, mentor, and pour His own life into. Now, as well as defection by fair-weather followers and scared-off supporters, there was disappointment and It is in Judas above all that we see this. Jesus must have seen in him a man whom he could use for his purposes. But Judas, who might have become the hero, became the villain; he who might have become a saint became a name of shame. Jesus knew the character of Judas, and he was not chosen by accident or mistake. It was the will of the Father that one among that twelve-member apostolic band would betray Him.

Second, Jesus gave power to Judas. On one occasion, Jesus sent the Twelve out before Him into the cities of Galilee and gave them power to cast out devils and heal the sick. The Twelve came back — including Judas! — reporting that they had done all these things. Don't ever forget that: God can give power to do miracles even to those who are not His, if He so chooses.

Our Lord also gave Judas the trusted position of treasurer within the apostolic band. Jesus gave him the bag to keep, from which Judas stole on a regular basis. As the story of Judas develops, it is clear that Judas was never really with Jesus, he was always against Him. Jesus said all along that Judas was a "devil." That is a strong word, and it suggests a lot about Judas — that he was always opposed, always out for himself, always subversive. Judas traveled, lived, ate, and slept with the other disciples, but he was not one of them. He was never one of them.

Thirdly, John tells us that Judas is branded forever as the traitor above all others. There are other names that have gone down in history as symbols of betrayal — names such as Benedict Arnold— but the name of Judas Iscariot tops that. Outwardly a disciple, a man who loves Jesus — remember, he betrayed Jesus with a kiss! — yet inwardly a traitor, an enemy, a devil.

I believe that in almost every church congregation, there are probably representatives of all three kinds of disciples. There are those who start out well, who follow Jesus for a while, and then they drop out, they quit. There are those who won't quit, who can't quit, because their hearts have been captured.

And there are the Judases. There are some who want to stay in the church for their own purposes. They want to appear to be Christians but they are not. They are only out for themselves. They do not follow God; they want to use God. And they are the ones who will betray Jesus and His church!

Which group do you belong to?

This passage of Scripture challenges us to renew our commitment to Jesus, to cling to His words of eternal life, to search our own hearts and make sure that we are the kind of disciples that never quit, because our hearts have been captured by God. To whom shall we go? Indeed, only Jesus has the words of eternal life.

In “The Truth War”, John MacArthur states: “The gospel message is a clear, definitive, confident, authoritative proclamation that Jesus is Lord, and that He gives eternal and abundant life to all who believe.

We are not merely ambassador. We are simultaneously soldiers, commissioned to wage war for the defense and dissemination of the truth in the face of countless onslaughts against it. We are ambassadors – with a message of good news for people who walk in a land of darkness and dwell in the land of the shadow of death. And we are soldiers – charged with pulling down ideological strongholds and casting down the lies and deception spawned by the forces of evil.

That’s a lot to think about isn’t it? We are the frontline soldiers in defense of the truth. Jesus said that he was “the Way, and the Truth, and the Life”. Do you really believe Him? Are you willing to lay down your life in defense of the truth? What is our weapon? The Word of God is our strength and our shield; it is our defense against the lies of the enemy. But it won’t work as a weapon if we don’t use it! We must read it, study it, digest it, understand it, apply it, and use it as we engage in “THE BATTLE FOR TRUTH.

I’m going to quote some words of wisdom from A. W. Tozer. I wasn’t going to use them today, but the more I studied them the more I realized that they apply to some, possible many, of you and they are eternally important. If you find that they apply to you, you need to act on them – now! “The Christian believes that in Christ he has died, yet he is more alive than before and he fully expects to live forever. He walks on earth while seated in heaven and though born on earth he finds that after his conversion he is not at home here.

The Christian soon learns that he may be safe if he puts himself in jeopardy; he loses his life to save it and is in danger of losing it if he attempts to preserve it. He goes down to get up. If he refuses to go down he is already down, but when he starts down he is on his way up.

He is strongest when he is weakest and weakest when he is strong. Though poor he has the power to make others rich, but when he becomes rich his ability to enrich others vanishes. He has most after he has given most away and has least when he possesses most.

He may be and often is highest when he feels lowest and most sinless when he is most conscious of sin. He is wisest when he knows that he knows not and knows least when he has acquired the greatest amount of knowledge. He sometimes does most by doing nothing and goes furthest when standing still. In heaviness he manages to rejoice and keeps his heart glad even in sorrow. He fears God but is not afraid of Him. In God's presence he feels overwhelmed and undone, yet there is nowhere he would rather be than in that presence. He knows that he has been cleansed from his sin, yet he is painfully conscious that in his flesh dwells no good thing.

The Christian is a citizen of heaven and to that sacred citizenship he acknowledges first allegiance. He cheerfully expects before long to enter that bright world above, but he is in no hurry to leave this world and is quite willing to wait for God to call him home.

Obviously the death and resurrection of Christ do not automatically save everyone. To the question "What must I do to be saved?" we must learn the correct answer. To fail here is not to gamble with our souls; it is to guarantee eternal banishment from the face of God. Here we must be right or be finally lost.

To this anxious question evangelical Christians provide three answers, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ," "Receive Christ as your personal Savior," and "Accept Christ." Being spiritually lazy we naturally tend to gravitate toward the easiest way of settling our religious questions for ourselves and others; hence the formula "Accept Christ" has become the route to instant Christianity, a process fatal to many. Too many seekers use it as a shortcut to the Promised Land, only to find that it has led them instead to "a land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness" (Job 10:22).

The trouble is that the whole "Accept Christ" attitude is likely to be wrong. It shows Christ applying to us rather than us to Him. It makes Him stand hat in hand awaiting our verdict on Him, instead of our kneeling with troubled hearts awaiting His verdict on us. It may even permit us to accept Christ by an impulse of mind or emotions, painlessly, at no loss to our ego and no inconvenience to our usual way of life. Our faith believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, the whole Christ without modification or reservation, and thus it receives and enjoys all that He did in His work of redemption, all that He is now doing in heaven for His own and all that He does in and through them.

By "instant Christianity" I mean the kind found almost everywhere in gospel circles today and which is born of the idea that we may discharge our total obligation by one act of faith, or at most by two, and be relieved of all anxiety about our spiritual condition. We are saints by calling, our teachers keep telling us, and we are permitted to infer from this that there is no reason to seek to be saints by character. An automatic, once-for-all salvation is present here that is completely out of character with the faith of the New Testament.

The trouble is that we tend to put our trust in our experiences and as a consequence misread the entire New Testament. We are constantly being exhorted to make the decision, to settle the matter now, to get the whole thing taken care of at once—and those who exhort us are right in doing so. There are decisions that can be and should be made once and for all. There are personal matters that can be settled instantaneously by a determined act of the will in response to Bible-grounded faith. No one would want to deny this.

The questions before us are, Just how much can be accomplished in that one act of faith? How much yet remains to be done and how far can a single decision take us?

By trying to pack all of salvation into one experience, or two, the advocates of instant Christianity ignore the sanctifying effects of suffering, cross carrying and practical obedience. They pass by the need for spiritual training, the necessity of forming right religious habits and the need to wrestle against the world, the devil and the flesh.

This pre-occupation with salvation being a single, once for all act, has led many astray. If all we do is “receive” Jesus as our Savior and carry on living as we did before, or with little in the way of change, we are treading on shaky ground. If this is where you are, you nee to seriously evaluate your walk with Christ.

If we are truly saved, we will be filled with the Holy Spirit who will work in us, around us, and through us. We will not be content with staying as we are. We will have a passion for God’s Son. We will hunger after God’s Word and will look forward to changing so that we become all that He wants us to be.

Instant Christianity is twentieth-century orthodoxy. I wonder whether Paul, who wrote Philippians 3:7-16 , would recognize it as the faith for which he finally died. I am afraid he would not. Here it is in The New Living translation, please listen carefully: “I once thought all these things were so very important, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God's law, but I trust Christ to save me. For God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith. As a result, I can really know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I can learn what it means to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that, somehow, I can experience the resurrection from the dead! I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be. No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven. I hope all of you who are mature Christians will agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. But we must be sure to obey the truth we have learned already.”

I will end this message the same as Jude ends his brief letter of exhortation (Jude 24-25): Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.