The Gospel According to John: 6:60-71
The Gospel According to John: 6:60-72 • Sermon • Submitted
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· 69 viewsThis is the 23rd sermon in the series.
Notes
Transcript
Drew will read the text for me and then pray.
60 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble? 62 “What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? 63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. 64 “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 it was that would betray Him. 65 And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.” 66 As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. 67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” 68 Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. 69 “We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” 70 Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?” 71 Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him.
[Pray]
Thank Drew.
Give a short personal update.
Remind of theme verse:
The theme verse for our series is John 20:31
John 20:31 – “…these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”
Give brief recap of John 6 narrative.
Jesus feeding the 5 thousand (closer to 20,000) w/ 12 basket fulls left over.
Jesus walking on water.
Jesus teaching on the Bread from Heaven
Today’s text… (the truth of God’s word confronted the people and forced them to make a choice to either repent from their sins and trust in Christ or reject Jesus and turn back to their selfish sinful desires).
There are 3 ways we can respond when confronted with the truth of God. And we will look at them as three different types of people. Today a line is being drawn as all of us are being lovingly confronted with the truth of God’s word. And that is what always happens then we spend time in the Scriptures. God’s word calls us to repentance. So the question is: which type of person will you be today as you respond to the Word of Christ?
The first type of response or the first kind of person we will look at is...
The Deserter
The Deserter
(v. 60-65) “60 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble? 62 “What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? 63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. 64 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 it was that would betray Him. 65 And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.”
The response…
(v. 66) “As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.”
They deserted. They quit on Jesus. In 24 hours Jesus went from having 5-20 thousand followers (disciples) to only 12. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
One of the 12 was a fraud, so really, Jesus only had 11 followers left.
This should serve as a reminder to us… the Jesus of the Bible isn’t popular. The popular “Jesus” is the made up version that doesn’t resemble the biblical Jesus at all and the only similarity is the name. Why is this important to remember?
People quit for all sorts of reasons. Most common is because they never truly believed. But sometimes people quit for other reasons. Let me give you a couple that are seen in John 6 and one bonus one found in 2 Timothy 3.
Their expectations are not being met.
15 So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.
26 Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.
2. It is becoming difficult.
60 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?”
3. They love or desire something else more than they do God.
1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
A Deserter ultimately chooses their own way rather than God’s way. How tragic!
The second type of person that we don’t want to be is...
The Deceiver
The Deceiver
(v. 64b) 64b “...Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him.”
The response...
(v. 70-71) “70 Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?” 71 Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him.”
A deceiver can fool other people but cannot fool God. (v. 64b, 70-71)
It is stupid to try and fake it. You are trying to do things in your own strength, for the wrong reasons, getting no credit and no reward. For the deceiver, it is all dependent on them. They carry their own burdens, they work with no help, they labor and toil and gain nothing in return except exhaustion, misery and disappointment.
“Being honest is easy. You only have to live in reality. It's deception that's the hard work because you have to fabricate a false reality.” - Jordan Peterson
In the end, the only person ultimately deceived by a deceiver is the deceiver.
Judas hadn’t fooled Jesus. The person Judas fooled the most was himself.
I beg you. Do not be a deceiver. Don’t pretend to repent. Truly repent! Don’t pretend to follow Jesus. Truly follow Jesus. Faking it will profit you nothing and cost you everything.
Instead of being the Deserter or the Deceiver, God has a better option. It is the best option. God desires we be this last one...
The Disciple
The Disciple
(v. 67) “So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?”
The response...
(v. 68-69) “68 Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. 69 “We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”
A Disciple is someone who truly and faithfully follows Jesus and teaches others to do the same.
A Disciple loves God, loves others and makes disciples.
God has called no one to be a convert to Christianity. God calls people to be disciples. We mistakenly think that praying a sinner’s prayer or making a decision for Jesus is what it is all about. It isn’t. Those things are only some of the starting points. God’s purpose is that we would yes, have a saving faith in Jesus Christ that leads to repentance but His purpose is so much more than that. God’s purpose for us is that we would be disciples.
23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
What is Jesus saying? He is calling people to be disciples.
Jesus invites people into a relationship with Him by using the phrase, “Follow Me” over 20 times in the Gospels. It is the number one way Jesus calls people into a relationship with Him. Remember, a Disciple is someone who faithfully follows Jesus and teaches others to do the same.
You will find not find Jesus call anyone anywhere to be merely a convert. You will see is Jesus calling anyone and everyone to be a disciple.
It is also important for us to acknowledge and understand that we need the Holy Spirit to enter into our lives and equip us and empower us to be disciples of Jesus Christ. We cannot follow Jesus in our own strength.
(v. 63) “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.”
“The flesh profits nothing”! Wow! What a profound and sobering truth.
“It is the Spirit who gives life”! Life to faithfully follow Jesus, life to the full and life forever.
All that is required of you to take the first step in being a faithful follower of Jesus Christ is found in John 6:28-29
28 Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”
Do you truly believe in Jesus?
Are you a disciple of Jesus Christ?
If so, I encourage you to rely upon the Holy Spirit to equip you and empower you to be faithful.
Notice Jesus tied it to the Word of God…
(v. 63b) “...the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.”
If you want to be a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ you need the Spirit of God to use the Word of God in the life of the Child of God.
If you are not yet a disciple of Jesus Christ, who are you?
Are you currently a Deserter?
Have you been hearing the Word of God but turning away again and again to follow your own desires?
Repent! Turn back to Jesus. Confess your sin to God and put your faith and trust in Jesus and what He did for you on the cross. Believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead and you will be saved! Then, with the help of the Spirit and the truth of the Scripture, faithfully follow Jesus.
Maybe you are hear today and you are currently a Deceiver.
Maybe no one else in here knows you’re faking it, but you know and God knows.
Be honest with yourself and more importantly, be honest with God. God already knows the truth about you anyway, and He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die in your place so that you could be saved. God the Father did this, knowing full well that you were going to try and fake it and fool Him. But you are the one being fooled.
Confess your sin and deception today. Be real. Put your faith and trust in Jesus and what He did for you when He died on that cross. Believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead and you will be saved!
Ask God for help. Surrender to the Holy Spirit and let the truth of the Scriptures mold you and shape you into a faithful follower Jesus Christ.
Deserter, Deceiver or Disciple? The choice is yours. Which will you be?
Let’s Pray.