You Are What You Eat – Pt. 8

I’m always a little bit wistful
when I come to the end of a chapter, especially one so grand as this
particular chapter, knowing that I may never have
the opportunity to preach this great chapter again. And so,
as we come into this final treatment, we have literally been in John
6 for months. Let’s just take another brief
review. It comes on the heels of so much
of it, so much of the discourse on the feeding of the 5,000 and
the subsequent miracle that Christ did specifically for His apostles. challenging his apostles to greater
faith. When Jesus took up this discourse,
it was on the occasion of a great multitude of people that literally
followed him around the lake and essentially chased him. to find him there on the other
side of the lake. And Jesus began almost immediately
with the chastised men. He chastised them first for their
earthly consideration, that they were only interested in bread.
They were only interested in breakfast, more free food. Jesus enters into a lengthy discourse
with them. And we pick it up, I want to
pick up really in verse 41, down through the remainder of it.
Jesus is teaching them, he has dealt with their wish, desire,
that if it isn’t real earthly bread, that perhaps God could
provide more of the heavenly bread that he had as in the manna.
Jesus says that that isn’t the nature of the occasion, that
isn’t what Jesus is intending to do, God has indeed provided
something far greater. He has provided the bread of
heaven. Let’s begin in verse 41. Therefore
the Jews were grumbling about him, because he said, I am the
bread that came down out of heaven. They were saying, is this not
Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How
does he now say, I have come down out of heaven? Jesus answered
and said to them, ìDo not grumble among yourselves. No one can
come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I
will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets,
ìAnd they shall all be taught of God.î Everyone who has heard
and learned from the Father comes to Me. Not that anyone has seen
the Father except the one who is from God. He has seen the
Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, he
who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your
fathers ate manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread
which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and
not die. I am the living bread that came
down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread,
he will live forever. And the bread also which I will
give for the life of the world is my flesh.” Jesus is mercifully
preaching and proclaiming the gospel. And even in the midst
of this stupendous moment, sinners cannot be other than what they
are. And in their utter faithlessness,
they rudely interrupted with their grumbling. Look at verse
52, the Jews began to argue with one another saying, And Jesus takes, as we saw, essentially
a sidebar, an occasion to explain to them, to challenge their thinking
for any who are in their midst, who might already be in the process
of being drawn by the Heavenly Father. Look at verse 53, Jesus
said to them, truly, truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh
of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats 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. He who eats my flesh and drinks
my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the Father sent me, I
live because of the Father. So he who eats me, he also will
live because of me. This is the bread which came
down out of heaven, not as the fathers ate and died. He who
eats this bread will live forever.” 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 difficult statement. Who
can listen to it? But Jesus, conscious that his
disciples grumbled at this, said to him, said to them, does this
cause you to stumble? What then if you see the Son
of Man ascending to where He was before? It is the Spirit
who gives life, the flesh profits nothing. The words that I have
spoken to you are Spirit and are life, but there are some
among 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. 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. As a result of this, many of his disciples withdrew
and were not walking with him anymore. So Jesus said to the
twelve, you do not want to go away also, do you? Simon Peter answered him, Lord,
to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal
life. We have believed and have come
to know that you are the Holy One of God. Jesus answered them,
did I myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you
is a devil? Now he meant Judas, the son of
Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray
him. As I suggested to you last Lord’s
Day, what Jesus comes to here in verse 59 is what I would call
a watershed moment. Within two hours drive, we have
the Continental Divide. That’s a watershed. Whatever
lands on the peak, whatever drop of water, whatever snowfall,
is going to go either east or west. That’s the nature of the
divide. You have a barn roof. And at the top of that barn roof,
a raindrop may fall, but it’s not going to rest at the top
of the barn. It’s going to go one way or the
other, and that’s exactly the picture that is presented before
us. It’s a watershed. One way or
the other, The water and people cannot sit
on the ridge any longer. They will be either believing
or they will be unbelieving. There is no middle ground. There
is no third option. Even deferring faith until a
later date is essentially unbelieving, even for the self Jesus puts it in context. Verse
65 says, 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. There is either faith or there is a lack of faith.
Let’s start with the first response this morning. The first response
is the response of the faithless. Look at verse 59. These things
He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum. Therefore,
many of His disciples, when they heard it, said, this
is a difficult statement. Who can listen to it? I take the word, this, in verse
60, this is a difficult statement. I take that to refer really to
the same thing in verse 59, these things, which really sows up
the entire discourse that Jesus entered into. Remember, they
were contrary to him almost from the start. They didn’t like the
idea that he didn’t offer them again earthly bread. They didn’t
like the idea that he criticized their desire for manna for a
miracle from God. They didn’t like the idea of
him offering himself some kind of earthly flesh They didn’t
like any of Jesus’ teaching. They especially didn’t like the
idea of justification by faith. They didn’t like the idea of
coming to Christ in need for their sin. They didn’t like any
of what Jesus had to say. It’s the response of the faithless. The disciples, when they been laying out to us, these
things that you’ve been teaching us, this is hard stuff. But know, from whom these criticisms
came, many of His disciples. We would like to think, in our
earthly thinking, a lot of times we like to think that if a person
has a name of a thing, they are legitimate. We often cling to
that. We often cling to the title Christian. We will cling to the idea of
convert. We will cling to the idea of
one having professed faith, or perhaps being part of a particular
denomination, or a particular ism of Christianity, Baptist,
what have you. We especially would be favorably
inclined to cling to the term disciple. That once we have placed
our faith in Christ and begun to walk with Christ, we would
like to think that, having been given the name disciple, that
we are true disciples. This is not specifically referring
to the Twelve. This is referring to a much larger
pool, followers if you will, of Christ. And it was kind of
a shifting company, wasn’t it? There were people that were there
one day and they were gone the next, much like Christianity
of our own day. It was a much larger circle than
just the circle of the twelve apostles, but it certainly included
even them. It was all of those who had begun
to attach themselves to Jesus really for whatever reason, even
a free meal occasionally. So it was the 12 and not just
the 12. It was those that were part of
that greater concentric circle that were following Jesus for
all kinds of motives. As one pastor said, it is plain
that these were not true believers. Many who followed our Lord about
and who were called His disciples had no real grace in their hearts. And it’s no different than today,
as we’ll see. There are many who profess to
be part of this church or that church, or profess to be Christians,
or profess in a name to be a particular thing, and they’re not. They’re unbelievers even still.
And in this particular case, they begin to manifest themselves
as being unbelievers. They might call themselves disciples. They would like to think of themselves
as disciples, but when the water begins to move on the
ridge pole, it must go one way or the other. And the particular
direction of these is towards unbelief. And so they state that
this discourse that Jesus has been giving, these ideas that
He’s advancing, that salvation is directly tied to faith in
Him. as the Messiah, they were hard
sayings. They weren’t hard to understand,
they grasped fully. As we’ve seen throughout this
discourse, they knew exactly what Jesus was saying. They just
found it to be hard to accept. They took issue with what Jesus
had to say. It was hard to understand, rather
hard to accept, not difficult to understand. And so they said,
who can listen to this? How can you sit and listen to
this? And just like they had in many
occasions, they began to make a big scene. Look at verse 61. they were following Christ, conscious
that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, does this
cause you to stumble? Now that would have been quite
surprising, because they were grumbling. It was under their
breath, they were criticizing Christ, wagging their heads,
rolling their eyes, and if not for the visual displays, they
might not have been discovered. But Jesus knows their hearts. Jesus knew through divine knowledge
where each person was. And we have seen that throughout
John’s Gospel, right? Jesus didn’t need anybody to
inform him about the character, the nature of Peter, Cephas. Jesus didn’t need anybody to
tell him about Nathanael. Behold, an Israelite in whom
there is no deceit.” Jesus didn’t need anybody to tell Him about
any man. And in fact, at the end of chapter
2, Jesus makes it clear, He didn’t need anyone to testify concerning
man, for He Himself knew what was in man. Now there was a man,
Nicodemus. Jesus didn’t need anybody to
tell Him about Nicodemus. Jesus didn’t need anybody to
tell Him about the woman at the well, Jesus didn’t need anybody to
tell Him about the character and the nature of the cripple
that He had healed near the well. Jesus didn’t need anyone to tell
Him about anybody. Jesus knew all men. And He knows
the nature of their attitude towards Him. It is the same thing
manifesting itself all over again. He’s seen it again and again.
It’s our word. And it has an onomatopoeia to
it. It’s that murmuring. It’s that
grumbling. It’s the criticizing under their
breath. And Jesus knows it. Jesus knows
their heart. Jesus confronted it already in
verse 43. Do not grumble among yourselves.
He knew what they were doing. As God in the flesh, Jesus Christ
knew the nature of their attitude towards Him. And He calls them
on it just like He had called the nation of Israel. And He asks them. This is a difficult statement.
Who can listen to it? And Jesus calls them on that,
conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said, does
this cause you to stumble? This is such a cool, beautiful
but. Shocking word. The word here
for stumble is scandalizo. You’ve heard it. It’s from where
we get our word scandal. It was a shocking offense. They
were shocked at Jesus. So shocked that it was scandalous
what he was saying. The word was used as a bait stick. I remember as a little kid I
was going to catch a bird. And I’d seen it on cartoons.
And so I set up a box and I got myself a stick. And then I waited. There was nothing to trip the
stick. I thought maybe the bird just flying in there would hit
the box and knock over the stick. But Jesus says, essentially,
you think that I have tripped the stick. You think that I’m
nothing more than a trap, I’ve set a trap for you and now you
are ensnared by my words into sin? That’s the suggestion. They were so offended at Jesus
for saying the things that he had, that it was a stumbling
block. It was a snare, it was a trap. Over and over again, this is
one of the rare occasions where John used very frequently. Matthew
records all kinds of instances. Matthew 11-6, blessed is he who
does not take offense, is not scandalized by me. Matthew 13-57,
they took offense at him because he said that I’m a prophet, is
not without honor except in his hometown. Matthew 15-12, 18-6,
24-10, uses of the word. It was probably
a very popular word for Christ. John uses it only here. I’ll
tell you an interesting place where all three of the Gospel
writers capture it, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. They capture
it in the parable of the soil. Those on the rocky soil of those
who when they hear receive the word with joy, these have no
firm root while they believe for a while in time of temptation
They are scandalized. They fall away. You see, that’s
the end result. And that’s what John is pointing
to. As he captures Jesus using this word, what Jesus’ point
is that this is so scandalous to these so-called disciples
that they are scandalized. They won’t have anything more
to do with Christ. The water is flowing in a particular
direction. It can’t stay static. It can’t
land on the ridge pole. It can’t land on the top of the
mountain and remain undecided. And same with these, except they
are drifting in the direction of unbelief. Glance if you would
at verse 62. Where Jesus challenges them Now this is obviously pointing
to the Ascension. That’s what He’s telling them
about. He’s not inviting them. He’s not saying, if you want
some proof, stick around for a couple of years, I’m going
to be crucified, then I’m going to be buried, I’m going to be
with my disciples for a number of days, and then I’m going to
be ascended into heaven by a glorious transformation by God Himself. The interesting thing is John
never records the Ascension, and that causes some people a
little bit of difficulty. How can Jesus be referring to
the Ascension if John in his Gospel never refers to it? That’s
not a problem. It still happened. The Gospel
writers, Luke particularly, and the book of Acts records the
Ascension. It’s a historical fact for us
as believers. Jesus doesn’t imply here. way, shape, or form to the ascension
itself, but he’s merely speaking hypothetically that it’s possible. What if? What if you were standing
there when God translated me into heaven? The eleven remaining
disciples, the apostles themselves, were the ones who watched that
happen. Jesus’ point here Jesus is pointing
at the level of their unbelief. He’s pointing at the nature of
their, the degree of their lack of faith. I mean, here’s his point. If they
were to witness even the ascension, and you take into account all
that that includes, it includes Jesus’ earthly life, His complete
innocence, though found guilty His crucifixion, His death, His
burial, His time with His apostles, and then His ascension. Even if they were to witness
the ascension, there would be no additional argument or proof. Nothing more for Jesus to offer
them. But the implication here is they
would reject that even still. they would even still be unbelieving. I’m amused sometimes to hear
that so-and-so is looking for the Shroud of Turan, or so-and-so
is looking for the Ark, as if we could find one of those things,
the Holy Grail itself, and that would prove everything to the
unbelievers. No, it wouldn’t. No, it wouldn’t. One of the most graphic examples
I have is when The rabble came to arrest Christ in the garden,
and one of the soldiers drew near to Jesus, and Peter lopped
off his ear, remember? Flopping around on the ground,
and Jesus picks it up and puts it back on, heals the man on
the site, and he goes right on arresting Jesus. They’re unbelieving. It’s the nature of the case.
It’s who they are. Plants at verse 63, it’s the
Spirit who gives life. That’s the problem. They are
dead where they stand. They are walking dead men. It
is the Spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. When he says that the Spirit
gives life, it is that word that means to quicken, to enliven. It is the distinct work of the
Holy Spirit. One pastor said, there is unquestionably
a reference to the Holy Spirit, the life giver. Only as the life
giving spirit informs him, may a man understand these words. He is not concerned with the
good that men may produce by the efforts of the flesh. All
his teaching presupposes the necessity of the work of the
divine spirit within man. He says, let me tell you why
you are unbelieving. You are unbelieving because the
Spirit has not yet granted you life. It is the Holy Spirit who is
the author of spiritual life in the soul of man. It is by
the Holy Spirit walk of sanctification. I carried this quote for several
weeks. I could have used it at a number of different points.
Charles Spurgeon said it this way with regards to the work
of the Spirit. can never exist in an unrenewed
soul. He’s telling these people, Jesus
is, that look, you are unrenewed. The Spirit has not done His work
in you. It’s perfectly obvious and logical
that you would go your way and do your thing because you are
yet unrenewed. You are walking dead now. Spurgeon says it quite flowerly,
flowerful when he says evangelical repentance can never exist in
an unrenewed soul. We are as helpless to cooperate
in our regeneration as we are to cooperate in the work of Calvary. And as it is the work of the
cross alone that meets the guilt of sin, so it is regeneration
alone that meets its power. Sinner, unconverted sinner, I
warn thee, thou can never cause thyself to be born again, and
though the new birth is absolutely necessary, it is absolutely impossible
to thee, unless God the Spirit shall do it.” That’s powerful
stuff. That’s the truth. That’s what
Jesus is saying to this crowd. Spurgeon goes on. Still, at your very best, there
is division as wide as eternity between you and the regenerate
man. The Spirit of God must make you. You must be born again.
The same power which raised Jesus from the dead must be exerted
in raising us from the dead. The very same omnipotence, without
which angels or worms could have a being, must step forth and
do as great a work as He did in the first creation. in making us anew in Christ Jesus
our Lord. That’s exactly what Jesus says.
It is the Spirit and the Spirit alone who gives life. The flesh,
all this self-effort, all this trying to do good works, all
this what shall we do to do the works of God, all of it is worthless. Absolutely worthless. He has just told them that it
is the Spirit who gives life. And yet, verse 64, there are
some of you who do not believe. He’s telling them the obvious.
He’s telling them how desperately they need the work of God in
their lives. He’s telling them how desperately
they need the Holy Spirit to awaken and quicken their soul. 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 who would betray Him. None of
this catches Jesus off guard. None of this is a surprise to
Him. Jesus Christ’s words were life. They gave life. But they were
life to those who believed. They were life to those in whom
the Father was working. The truths that Jesus has been
speaking are to be received in faith. And the great mass of
this group had no faith. They had no prior work of God
in their hearts. There were many that were following
Christ without believing Him, and it’s no different than today.
You have churches that are packed to the gibbels. The people who
do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, they do not believe they’re
sinners. They do not believe that Jesus
Christ is the only way. They do not believe that simply
by placing their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation,
they are righteous before God. They don’t believe it. Jesus knew from the beginning
who they were. He didn’t catch Him off guard. Jesus knew the
nature of their discipleship. When He says, from the beginning,
that doesn’t necessarily have to be from eternity past, although
God and Jesus Christ as God are absolutely omniscient. What He’s pointing to here is
though, from the very moment that these disciples began to
kind of gather around, from the very first moment that they began
to follow Jesus, He knew their character, He knew their heart,
He knew from the very beginning of His ministry and from the
time when these began to walk with Him, He knew this doesn’t
catch Him off guard at all. And the obvious question becomes,
why on earth, as He mentions Him, why on earth did Jesus choose
Judas of all people? Did Jesus make a mistake? Was
He just willy-nilly counting twelve guys and oops, chose Judas
by accident? I think that’s exactly what Jesus
is addressing here. That it’s a lesson and reminder
for all time that evil constantly resides among us. Evil is in
this world. Remember the parable of the wheat
and tares? We don’t go around trying to root up and destroy
tares. Because in destroying the tares,
we very well could destroy wheat. Evil is in the world. Evil is
in this community. You don’t need me to convince
you of that. Evil is in our greater families. Evil is in this church. That shouldn’t surprise us. False profession, just this base
profession of faith, so-called discipleship, It’s everywhere. Jesus not only knew Judas’ heart
when he began to follow Christ, Jesus knew his heart before it
ever began beating. And still he called him with
divine purpose to become part of the inner circle of followers.
Jesus wasn’t caught off guard. Jesus wasn’t caught off guard
by this unbelieving craft. He wasn’t caught off guard by
Judas himself. Look at verse 65, he was saying,
for this reason. This is the explanation to this
conundrum. How can there be all these unbelievers?
People that were on board last week, our numbers were growing. What about Judas? He’s one of
the twelve. For this reason, I’ve said to
you, no one can come to me unless it had been granted him from
the Father. And what he basically says is
that there were a lot of people that were pushing themselves
into these meetings, following, dogging Jesus’ steps, that God
hadn’t done a single second of work. He points back to the saying
of verse 44, glance down if you would, no one can come to me
unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him
up on the last day. Faith, if it comes at all, comes
as the first impulse from God at work in the life and heart
of the individual. And if there were some who did
not believe, and one who would be a traitor, this is not a surprise
to Christ, it’s proof. One pastor said it this way,
unbelief is to be expected apart from a miracle. If you’re sitting
here today, and you have placed your faith in Christ, you are
a living, walking, breathing miracle of God. Because He took
your dead heart, enlivened it, called you to the Savior, you
placed your faith in Him, and have been walking ever since.
A walking, living miracle. Unbelief is to be expected apart
from a miracle, which means that if God hasn’t done a miracle
in the heart and life of an individual, if God hasn’t awakened them to
their spiritual need, if God hasn’t drawn them to himself,
to use Jesus’ language, what else do we expect but unbelief?
The water must flow a particular direction. He goes on and says it is impossible
for anyone to come to Christ without the Father giving him
the grace to do so. Left to himself, the sinner prefers
his sin. Conversion is always a work of
grace. You have people literally stand
up in this meeting, throw their hands up, slam their Bibles down
perhaps, and walk out on the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse
66. As a result of this, that final
statement, that final push by Christ, that final attempt to
explain, that final attempt to lay out the Gospel call, and
to plead with them to humble themselves. As a result of this,
many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him
anymore. It’s that greater circle, although
it certainly includes the apostles among them, probably some of
whom were even wrestling with this statement. They were wrestling
with these things. We know one was absolutely unbelieving. Judas will eventually betray
Christ. We didn’t plan it this way, but
even the passage which we read in scripture today, the New Testament
reading, even Peter will deny Christ. But when he says they withdrew
and were not walking, it’s a continual drifting away. They turned their
backs on Christ and they started walking. They withdrew, they
retreated from any association with Jesus. It wasn’t that, you
know, they’re going to go away and come back, we’ll come back
and we’ll give them another try. No, there’s no other try. They
went away, not just from the synagogue, they went away from
discipleship, they went away from Christ Himself. I mean, look at it. Look at how
plain it is. They were not walking with Him anymore. Which means,
at one point, they were walking with Him. They spent some time
with Him. They had heard Him. They had
seen miracles. There was cause on their part
to walk with Him, but no longer. They left. They quit. They abandoned their walk with
Christ. They deserted Christ, never to
walk with Him again. It can’t be one way and another. It’s one way or another. It is
either faith or it’s unbelief. There is no middle ground. Even
deferred faith, even let me think about that for the weekend, is
continued unbelief. And there were two responses.
We saw the response of the faithless. Look, if you would, at the response
of the faithful. said to the Twelve, verse 67,
You do not want to go away also, do you? In John’s Gospel, this
is the first mention of the Twelve, but John speaks of them as a
very well-known, familiar group. You do not want to go away also,
do you? It’s as if John says, the 12. Remember the 12? They had been
gathered, the other gospel writers make great purpose in naming
them and talking about their being set apart. Mark 3, he appointed
the 12 so that they would be with him and could send them
out to preach. And then he names them, he gave them authority
to cast out demons, he appointed the 12, Simon to whom he gave
the name, Peter, James, the son of Zebedee, To them He gave the
name Vaughn, which means Sons of Thunder, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James, the son of Alphaeus, Thaddeus, Simon
the Zealot, Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him. But in John’s Gospel,
He just says the twelve. He knows that we know who He
means. The question that he asks, recording
Christ, is, expects a negative answer. You do not want to go away also,
do you? It’s not that Jesus didn’t know.
It’s not that Jesus was unsure. It’s not that Jesus lacked confidence. It’s not that he had a complex
of some sort that, you know, oh, what if my friends leave
me too? It’s not it at all. Jesus knew not only the unbelief
of the many, but He knows exactly who is faithful and who isn’t. The question was asked to prove
His followers. The question was an opportunity
for them to declare their faith. And while so many were turning
in great faithfulness to abandon Christ in droves, one small group
with one spokesman and a fisherman at that, stands to profess his
faith. Look at verse 68. Simon Peter
answered him, Lord, and I take that that’s
about the tone. As Simon perhaps rose to his
feet, building in his confidence, building in his courage to stand
and testify, to the Lord Jesus Christ because Peter knew that
Christ knew. Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal
life. We have believed and have come
to know that You are the Holy One of God. What a powerful testimony. As I said, the form of the question
itself expected a negative answer. Of course not. Peter could have
left it right there. No. We don’t want to leave. But Peter builds upon his answer
and note that he answers on behalf of the twelve. He answers on
behalf of all of them, including Judas. We know Peter to be somewhat
impetuous. We know him often to take this
role, to speak when everybody else is thinking the same thing. That’s what we love about Peter.
He’s thinking exactly what we’re thinking, but only he has the
courage to ask it. Peter is the first to speak,
and he speaks on behalf of his brothers. And he declares his
faith, he declares their faith. He says, we, whatever is the
case with the rest of this crowd, even if everybody else leaves,
we believe. And his answer, if you note,
it’s almost, it builds upon itself, doesn’t it? Note first, he says, there’s
no one else. Where else can we go? There is
no alternative to heaven. There are no alternative messiahs. There is no other way. There
is no other truth. There is no other savior. As one Puritan put it, no one who
has come to know Jesus’ life-giving word would ever forsake Him.
Would you? Would you walk out on Christ?
Knowing what you know now, that Jesus Christ paid for your sin, When a man once knows Jesus,
none else can satisfy him. And Peter looks him in the eye
and says, where else? Where else would I go? And the
second thing he says is that the Lord Jesus has all that they
need. He has said all that they need.
He has communicated to them the gospel, as he has done so eloquently
throughout this whole and life. Peter knows. He’s acknowledging
that Jesus’ words aren’t just mere sounds. They’re certainly
not just pleasant sounds. They are powerful words. They’re dynamic words. They’re
life-giving words. And he believes, Peter does,
that he and those with him have taken Jesus Christ at His
word, they believe. And note, thirdly, there is one
Messiah. We believe that you are the one
Messiah. You are the Holy One of God.
We have believed it. We’ve come to know it. We’ve
placed our faith, and our faith has only grown from there. You are the Holy One of God.
God Himself consecrated you, set you apart, and then sent
you. And when He sent you, we came
to believe. Jesus closes with this. Did I
myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil? such a simple equation. Judas
is not literally a devil, but he was so influenced by the devil
himself that he was doing the devil’s work. He deserves to
be called nothing less. As one said, this one servant,
the instrument of the devil, while others, so many of them,
had deserted the Lord when they felt that they could not agree
with Him, this one individual remained with Him so devilish. Here he is, professing,
I mean if there was ever a time to correct Peter, I’m Peter,
I’m out. And that’s what makes him so
despicable in this particular case. He’s pretending once more
to be of them. And he’s not. John tells us who he is. Verse
71, he met Judas. the son of Simon Iscariot, for
he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.” See, it’s no
less true for Judas than it is for anyone. That unless God has
done a work, unless God has drawn him to himself, unless God has
done it, unless the Spirit gives life, he’s a walking dead man. Last week, we pondered this passage
and wondered why Jesus was dwelling upon those
words, eating his flesh, drinking his blood. And we said that this
was a living parable. But why did Jesus tell parables?
For the sentence-specific purpose of communicating truth to those
who would hear it. hiding that truth from those
who have not. I suggested to you that there
was an occasion, one more occasion, where Isaiah 6 was recorded in
the New Testament, utilized for this very purpose. Would you
turn to Acts 28? I told you that John 6, especially
the closing, is a watershed passage. There is no middle ground. You
are left either placing your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,
if the Lord has enlivened your heart to do so, or you are left
dead and unbelieving. There is no middle ground. And
it’s the same thing at the end of Acts. Pick up with me, if
you would, in verse 23. When they had set a day for Paul,
they came to him at his lodging in large numbers. Remember, Paul
is under house arrest, and yet he continues to preach and proclaim
the gospel. They came to him at his lodging
in large numbers, and he was explaining to them by solemnly
testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade
them concerning Jesus from both the law of Moses Here’s Paul. What a powerful
scene. People are coming to him to hear
the gospel. And he’s giving them the gospel
over and over again. Taking the Jewish people through
their own scriptures and showing to them time and again Christ
the Messiah. But it’s a watershed. It’s a
watershed. Look at verse 24. Some were being
persuaded by the things spoken. but others would not believe.
There were some that came and they heard the Gospel, they heard
about the Savior from the pages of Scripture, they heard Him
prophesied, likely from Isaiah, and their heart was turned. They
knew that this was the Savior that they longed to greet, but
others would not believe. It’s a watershed. just happens to quote, and when
they did not agree with one another, Paul began leaving after he had
spoken one final word. The Holy Spirit spoke through
Isaiah the prophet to your fathers saying, go to this people and
say, you will keep on hearing, but will not understand. You
will keep on seeing, but will not perceive. For the heart of
this people has become dull, and with their ears they scarcely
hear. They have closed their eyes,
otherwise they might see with their eyes, and hear with their
ears, and understand with their heart, and return, and I would
heal them.” It’s the same passage. It’s the purpose of parables.
They conceal the truth from the unbelieving They reveal the truth
to those whom God is drawing. What have you done with the truth?
In what direction does the water flow? You can’t sit in the middle. You walk out of this room unbelieving
or believing. There is no middle ground. Thomas
Watson, the Puritan, said, Secure your interest in Christ. Make
it your great business, your work, your heaven, to secure
your interest in Christ. This is not an age, an hour,
for a man to be between fears and hopes, between doubting and
believing. Take not up an aim to live when
you are dead, Godward and Christward. Take not up an outward form and
privilege. Follow God. Leave no means unattempted
whereby your blessed interests may be cleared up. Jesus Christ
is the only way, and by placing your faith in Him, your sin is
accounted for, paid for in full, and you are granted eternal life
with the Lord Jesus Christ. Our merciful King, we thank You
for this incredible chapter, John chapter 6. We thank You
that You are at work in this day just as You were in that
room in Christ’s day. As Jesus so mercifully preached
and proclaimed and pleaded with souls, Lord, we do so even today
knowing that Your Spirit is at work And if there is even one
person in this room who sits on the fence, God sees hold of
their hearts and feet. Bring them to knees of repentance.
Bring them to faith in Christ. There is no other way. It’s in Jesus’ name that we pray. Wonderful, merciful Savior, Precious
Redeemer and Friend.