John 6:60-71
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Welcome to our 5th Sunday Family Service.
In order to give our incredible children’s team a breather, we invite everyone to enjoy this time with our kids during service.
Today we conclude our mini-series of sorts on the theological and doctrinal realities presented in John 6:60-65 and see the shocking conclusion of chapter 6.
We have been going verse by verse and chapter by chapter through the Gospel of John
Several times we have found deep concepts that required additional attention to grasp.
The first time we tackled this section we looked at the Sovereignty of God - And we asked ourselves...
Does God have the right to reign and rule over His creation as He sees fit?
We specifically looked at the word granted. In John 6:65 Let’s remind ourselves of that verse.
And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
So, Can God choose who can come to His Son?
Ultimately we had to look at and understand the depths of the Sovereignty of God.
At least to the lengths that our finite mind can understand.
In our survey of Scripture we found 3 amazing titles.
First that God is Lord - Say God is Lord!
We saw, God is King, say God is King,
And God is Sovereign, say God is Sovereign.
He is the ruler over His Creation.
Now this could cause us to great concern. Why?
Because we are very familiar with Lords, Kings, Presidents, Dictators, who appear to be Sovereign and are terrifying.
Perhaps for our younger ones, teachers and principals could fall under this category.
Is our God to be feared? Well, yes, yes He is.
I’m reminded of the great C.S. Lewis Book, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.
In it Mr. Beaver says about Aslan: He is a Lion, The Lion, The Great Lion
Susan Responds: Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous meeting a Lion.
Mr. Beaver replies Safe? Who said anything about Safe? Course He isn’t Safe. But He’s Good. He’s the King, I tell you.
The key difference between earthly rulers and the Sovereign King, ruler over all, is that God is good.
He’s not safe, but He’s good.
It is God being good and specifically His Holiness and Justice is why He’s not safe.
This is what led us to last week’s message.
Most people have no problem with God being Sovereign and God choosing who can come to His Son. Why?
Because the thought process is that God is like the gate keeper.
Show God that you believe in His Son and He will grant access to His Son.
But, we were surprised to find that all through Scripture this concept is not spoken of in this way.
Faith is the only key to Jesus and because of our sin, we are unable in and of ourselves to produce this kind of faith.
This is one of the great problems we find in the Bible.
But behold the good news.
To this end we discovered that Jesus is the author (and finisher) of our faith.
We do not author our own faith. Jesus does! This is good news!
Faith is a gift from God by means of grace. Ephesians 2:8-9 reminds us that it isn’t our doing.
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.
Is that truly our spiritual condition? That we are completely and totally unable to come to God due to our sin and being a slave to our sin?
Last week we discovered that this is the case.
Jumping over Everyone!
Last week I shared how as much as I could try, it is physically impossible for me to jump to the back of the room. It is not possible.
The same can be said about it being spiritually impossible for us to come to Christ.
Here I have gravity preventing me and holding me down, physically - Spiritually I have sin/my flesh convincing me that the last thing I want is God.
We searched through 44 scriptures from the Old and New Testament to exhaust this understanding.
Which leads us to today and the two major concepts we will look at, today:
1st - If God is the one who grants to us His Son, and we are unable to do anything of our own merit be worthy of God granting us His Son, then How is one saved?
Thus we will first look at the ultimate choice of God in our salvation
Also we will look at why this reality brings us great joy, hope, and praise.
Secondly, we are going to compare and contrast a True disciple vs a false disciple.
True faith, verses a false faith
True belief, versus a false belief
True convert versus a false convert.
Ultimately testing ourselves to see which we are.
That will be our road map for this journey, so let’s buckle up and open up our Bibles or turn them on if that is your preference, to the Gospel of John Chapter 6 verses 60-71
Let’s take a look at our text in its entirety before we break it down.
John 6:60-71
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.
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These are the Words of our Lord. Amen, Let’s dive in.
When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”
It wasn’t that these disciples were struggling to understand what Jesus was getting at, no. The greek makes it clear that this was offensive, harsh, intolerable.
Illustration: It wasn’t a hard saying like you must eat your vegetables before you can have your ice cream
It wasn’t harsh like we hear you have to do your chores before you can go play outside.
It isn’t offensive like telling me that tinker-bell really doesn’t fly from Cinderella’s Castle. (She really does by the way)
What was Jesus saying that was so offensive?
Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.
Jesus is saying that nobody can come to Him unless they feed upon His flesh and blood.
What Jesus is saying is not cannibalism
Jesus is saying that it is Him that we must symbolically feast upon not the miracle of food that He provides.
The feeding of the 5000 was a temporary, momentary sign, that met its specific purpose to point to Jesus.
But if you want life, then do not feast upon the temporary but on the eternal, which is Jesus Himself.
The next verse we see Jesus using His supernatural powers to respond back, let’s look at that together.
But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this?
We love super heroes probably more now than ever because we have theme parks, movies, TV shows, super heroes with super powers are everywhere.
While those are made up and not real, Jesus, being the Son of God, the very essence and being of God can do things that we can’t.
Jesus knew what they were thinking and complaining about even without hearing them.
The context here solidifies what we see in the greek.
What Jesus said was offensive.
But there are only two options when it comes to Jesus. Follow Jesus or Fight Jesus.
We either look to Jesus, submit to Jesus, learn from Jesus, and follow Jesus.
Or we go against Jesus, against the will of God and thus fight against Jesus.
But imagine what happens if we were to fight against the Hulk?
You're going to get hulk smashed!
Fight against God? You will lose.
The Bible uses the phrase, heart of stone of those who are in rebellion against God.
When a heart of stone comes face to face with Jesus it will either be softened or it will be shattered.
Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?
So Jesus, knowing that they are offended doubles down even further.
Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?
Jesus is pointing to his ascension but also pointing to the cross.
It would take Jesus being beaten, whipped, spat on, nailed to a cross, and crucified before He would ascending to where He was before.
This is offensive.
Our Savior being crucified is offensive.
But, don’t think this is a sign of weakness. To the unbeliever the cross makes no sense.
Paul says this very thing:
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
To the one going against Jesus the cross makes no sense at all.
But to the ones who see Jesus, embrace Jesus, love Jesus, and know Jesus, this is what is saving us!
Next we join into what was offensive not only for the time of Jesus’s day but highly offensive today as well.
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.
What is crazy is that this is not meant to be offensive.
It is reality.
The only reason it is offensive is because our flesh wants to cry out against it.
Our sinful nature that wants autonomy for itself, that wants to be its own god, that wants to be lifted up, despises this type of talk.
We dress up as our favorite super heroes because deep down we want to be one.
But, here is what we discover. We make really bad super heroes and thus we need a true and better hero.
This is why Jesus and the Spirit are the ones who give life.
Our flesh, our abilities, our good works, our thoughts, nothing is enough.
It is no help at all!
Jesus says it isn’t us who gives life, it is the Spirit who gives life.
It is the Spirit and Jesus who gives life, and Jesus’s words are Spirit and life.
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.)
Jesus knows whom are His and who are not His. He knows those that have been given to Him by the Father and those who are left to continue in their rebellion.
If our flesh is in rebellion against God, if our Sin keeps us as slaves to the enemy, if our heart of stone wants nothing to do with the life giving words of Jesus, then how can we be saved?
Is there any hope at all for us?
And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
Yes there is hope, our hope is not in ourselves but in God.
Why is this good news?
why does this reality brings us great joy, hope, and praise?
This leads us to the first of the two main topics that I want us to look at today.
God’s choice in salvation, which is also understood as God’s election.
If God is going to will my Salvation then there is nothing that can stop that.
Nothing and no one can thwart the plans of God, God’s plan will be accomplished.
This is good news not just for those of us who are saved, but those of us we are praying for friends and family to be saved.
Why?
Because even if I fail, God will not fail.
Even if I mess up in presenting the Gospel, God will not mess up.
Even if they are rejecting God now and continuing in their rebellion, they cannot over power God!
This is such good news!
So this brings us joy.
Sorrow comes when we are helpless, but that is not the story of God.
Sorrow comes when there is no hope, but as long as God is providing them life, there is hope.
Joy comes as we trust in God, rest in God, and participate in the story of God.
Joy comes when we share the good news of Jesus, tell of the wonders of God, and show how we can be rescue, redeemed, ransomed, and restored.
Which then brings us to praise.
When we are defeated by the law, and when we see how we fail at following God’s will.
When our sin keeps us as slaves and our flesh delights in that which opposes God.
When we see that we have no hope and are without Christ in this world.
When God reveals this through conviction to us, our eyes are open, and hope is lost, it is then we see our need of a Savior.
It is then we see that the Father has provided His Son.
Jesus died for our sins. Jesus bled for our iniquity. Jesus brought us from spiritual death to spiritual life.
This is what causes us to praise, this is what causes us to sing, this is what causes us to shout!
But when does God choose us?
Is it when we show that we are worthy? No
Is it when He sees that we have faith to believe? No
Is it because He looks down the corridors of time and can see who will believe? No
Does God foreknow everything?
Absolutely but that isn’t what is being discussed.
Did God choose you because He knew you would first choose Him?
Here soon we will come to Jesus speaking with His disciples and says these words:
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
We see that answer to be no.
God choose us because apart from His choosing, we wouldn’t choose Him.
So when did God choose us? This is fascinating.
even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love
We were chosen not when we displayed faith, not when God thought we would be ready to serve, not when God thought we were good enough.
No, we were chosen before the first star was hung in the sky.
The first shape was made to our planet, and before life was given, we who believe in Christ were chosen.
It gets better.
he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
We were not just chosen but predestined or it was pre-determined that we would be adopted into the family of God!
But why? Why you? Why me? Why would God do this!
He did this to bring about the purpose of His will and to the praise of His glorious grace.
This is why we were chosen.
But are we positive it doesn’t have anything at all to do with us?
Positive God isn’t using His foreknowledge to see how good we are?
How valuable we would be to His Kingdom?
No because if that were the case we would share in the His glory, we would be worthy of praise.
Here is one of the most mind blowing and radical verses in the Bible that pertains to this topic.
though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—
she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
Before Jacob and Esau had done anything good or bad, this decision was made.
Well, then it must have been because God saw in the future and decided.
No because it is not because of works, but because of God who calls.
How can God then say He hated Esau?
That is awful, you might say.
What is wild is not the Esau I hated part.
What is wild is the Jacob I loved, part
God hates sin.
We are told to hate the Sin and love the Sinner. Am I right?
Well that should be our motto, but it isn’t God’s.
Well, no.
The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.
God hates the sin and hates the sinner.
Romans 9 teaches us this along with Psalms 5.
What is one way that you know you have a true and authentic faith?
By knowing that you are utterly helpless and hopeless to save yourself apart from Jesus.
The evildoer that sees Jesus, trusts Jesus, Rests in Jesus, is the Evildoer that has been saved.
The evildoer that believes in himself, his works, his actions, his heart, his ability, is the one who will die in his sins.
The evildoer who looks to Jesus for healing, health, wealth, prosperity, food, ect.
The evildoer who looks to the gifts of Jesus, the miracles of Jesus, but cares more about the gifts than the giver.
These are the evildoers that will face God’s wrath.
That is what brings us to what happens in verse 66.
After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.
Do you see this?
Many of those who were following Jesus, turned back and no longer walked with Him.
They were there for the miracles.
They were there for the gifts.
They were there for the food.
They were there to follow the latest trend, the newest craze.
What they were not there for was Jesus Himself.
This is the difference between a true disciple vs a false disciple.
Which moves us to our second main point.
What are the differences between a true disciple and a false disciple.
Now that we have seen the false disciple, let’s look at the true disciple.
So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?”
What does Peter jump up to say?
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,
and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
Right there. Did you see that.
They came to know, not of the works, not of the miracles, not of the gifts, but of Him.
Jesus is the Holy One of God. Jesus is Lord. Jesus is King. Jesus is Savior.
It is Jesus not anything else.
All everything else is meant to do is to point us to the person of Jesus.
Here we have the difference laid out before us between a true disciple vs a fake disciple.
A true disciple recognizes this:
Hear me because these are important
A true disciple has recognized that God is the creator, the ruler, and the one who sustains all things.
A true disciple is one who recognizes that because God created us and made us and sustains us that God’s ways are not just “A” way, but “The” way.
A true disciple then recognizes that we have completely, fully, utterly, failed at following the law of God.
A true disciple understands that if we follow God’s law perfectly then we would be saved, but we have 100% missed the mark.
A true disciple then sees that apart from God’s grace, mercy, and intervention, we have no way of saving ourselves.
But now we will see why the Gospel is called the Good News.
A true disciple then finds that God has not left him or her alone but has given us a way to be rescued.
A true disciple then looks away from Himself or Herself and gazes upon the one who has been sent to redeemed.
A true disciple sees that it is the Son of God who followed the law perfectly and it was the Son of Man who freely gave up His life so we could have life.
A true disciple finds the name above all names, Jesus, to be our sacrifice, our atonement, our propitiation.
A true disciple recognizes that Jesus, upon the cross, took our sins upon himself while giving us His righteousness.
though we did not earn it, could never achieve it, and impossible to pay back.
A true disciple upon given the free gift of Faith to believe in Christ places that faith upon the only one deserving of that faith: Jesus the Messiah.
A true disciple upon placing their faith upon Jesus will also place the responsibility of their failure upon themself and thus repents of their sin.
A true disciple is one who knows that it isn’t good works that has saved them, but they have been saved for good works.
Let me ask you this question this morning and do not think that you can go another moment without knowing the answer.
Are you a true disciple.
Can you hear these words and know whether you are a true disciple or a fake disciple.
Are you willing to test yourself, question this, and do you see yourself in the faith.
I wish we could end here, but there are two more verses left.
Two shocking verses.
After many disciples walked away, when only 12 were left.
Jesus turns to them.
Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.”
He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.
John Calvin a famous theologian during the reformation shares this:
That reprimand of Christ may be interpreted thus: “You twelve alone remain out of a large company. If your faith has not been shaken by the unbelief of many, prepare for a new contest; for this company, though small, will be still diminished by one man.”
Even in a group of 12 there was one that was not a true disciple.
Even though we are a small congregation, it is very likely and probably that there are false converts here too.
Those who think they are following Jesus but are not.
Those who believe they are a Christian but are Christian in name only.
I can say this because I used to be that person:
Illustration of my life before Christ:
Knew Christ, but wanted His blessings
Knew Christ, but wanted His gifts
Knew Christ, but wanted to be made great.
When this didn’t happen, neither did my Christian walk.
If this can be my story than it can be your story.
I didn’t have anyone who challenged me, tested me, or rebuked me
Don’t let this day go to waste and do not let this opportunity to ask yourself if you are a true disciple.
Being saved isn’t going to the alter, because it isn’t a work that you do.
Being saved isn’t raising your hand when the pastor asks if anyone wants to be saved, because salvation isn’t a gesture.
Being saved isn’t saying a sinner’s prayer because there is no sinner’s prayer in the Bible.
Being saved is a gift of God, by the power of God, for the glory of God, opening your eyes and heart to the need of a Savior and then giving you the free gift of faith to believe in Jesus that He has saved you.
Being saved is accompanied by repentance and baptism and a following after Jesus.
Not following after anything else but Jesus, not the miracles, not the fame, not for health reason, not for financial gain, but following Jesus to get Jesus.
That is the mark of a true disciple.
That is what Chapter 6 of the Book of John is all about.
Let us pray.