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I've titled this two-part series as we continue our study through John chapter 6, Lord to whom shall we go, to Lord to whom shall we go. Although both John chapter 5 and John chapter 6 narrate the rejection of Jesus, these two chapters give to us different kinds of rejection, different kinds of rejection as we see in chapter 5 and chapter 6, from the narrative.
In John chapter 5, among the Judeans, we see Jesus against the world, so that not even man, whom Jesus heals, seems interested in following Jesus. Yet in John chapter 6, however, the rejection of Jesus comes not from the hostile enemies, but from the people who have eagerly followed and sought after Jesus, and they're even called disciples.
So we see that the narrative of John chapter 6 then does not primarily offer a judgment against the most outwardly rebellious, but a warning to those who are following Jesus, urging us to continue following the Lord, even when following Jesus becomes very difficult and very hard.
We've all been there. On the way here, I was listening to John MacArthur preach from this text, and he was talking about Christian deconstruction, that we see this much in our day. People defecting from the truth, but it's become a popular thing.
It's become a noble thing to defect from the faith, to pull away from the Lord Jesus Christ and the church, as we know. Well, with that being said, this passage does not drive us to despair. I want to say that from the beginning.
Yet, it's a wonderful passage that does soberly cause us to search our own hearts, and it does it again, does it drive us to despair, wondering if we are strong enough to resist the temptation of walking away and defecting from the truth and following Jesus.
No, in the final analyst, I believe this. This is a passage to encourage us in the faith, which our Lord Jesus preserves His people, His very own, rather than how we should muster up all the strength we can and drag ourselves across the finish line when we take our last breath and face God.
To those who do not truly believe, by the way, the words of Jesus here are words that are very scandalous, and they are offensive. As you well know, the message of the cross is offensive, and it's supposed to be offensive, it's supposed to be scandalous.
But that is not the case of those who really belong to the Lord Jesus Christ and those who truly believe in Him and His words. The words of Jesus, as we will see, they are spirit and they are life. And His words assure us of the reality of our faith and drives us away from the possibility of apostasy, to defect from the truth.
So, we're going to look at this in a two-part series, and it's sobering, as sobering as it is to search our own hearts in all this. The message is to encourage us and to build us some of the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
So, the theme in our text is that our Lord Jesus Christ really graciously preserves His people by His promises, by His assurances, by His warnings. It's very sobering, therefore there are warnings. But the warnings that our Lord gives is always with a motive of great love.
Always. So, this Lord's Day morning, please turn to John chapter 6 as we continue our series through John chapter 6. And actually, what we're looking at here is the conclusion of this chapter. And as you have well seen that there's much in this chapter.
It's actually stems from Jesus' sermon that He preaches about Himself that He is the bread of life. So, let's begin with verse 60 and I'd like to read to verse 71. Hear the word of the living God. Verse 60, let me back up, let me just start with verse 59.
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, a difficult 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? Great question. Verse 63, 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've 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. That's the confession of the church, by the way. Verse 70, 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. Please bow with me in prayer as we seek our Lord's face and blessing in this hour of worship as we look into His word.
Our Father in heaven, we do praise you. Lord, we thank you. We thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the bread of life, the living bread. Lord, we hold this lady up before you right now, Lord, that Brother Ben is speaking to and Brother Keith spoke to.
And we prayed for her, Lord. And Lord, we're concerned for her soul. There's a great need in her life, but her greatest need is Christ. I pray at this moment, Lord, I know she has physical needs. And Lord, it could be devastating news about her daughter.
We don't know the details, but Lord, you know all things. And Lord, you know this lady. Lord, I pray this will be an evangelistic opportunity for Brother Ben. And Brother Keith and Lord, all of us. Lord, we bring in her before you right now because providentially she was brought here.
Lord, you know. Lord, within this message, I pray help us to see that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from your mouth. Help us, O God, by your spirit to truly see this, that the flesh profits nothing.
Your words are spirit and they are life. So, Father, I pray with your words, you will sanctify us wholly through and through. That we may wholly see the Lamb of God, the bread of life, and who He is. May we apply these great words, Lord, to our hearts.
May it search our hearts. All that really matters in the end, Lord, is not only us knowing you, but you knowing us. And we can know this through your word. We can have this assurance. We pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Perseverance. Perseverance. This is really making it to the very end of the finish line faithfully. This is our goal in life as a born-again Christian. Our goal is Jesus Christ and He is at that end as a child of the living God, born of the Spirit of God.
It is by God's grace that we will even get there. So, let me begin with some questions here. So, how do Christians make it all the way faithfully to the end? To the finish line. To be found faithful to the end.
And to say with the Apostle Paul as he said in 2 Timothy 4, 7, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Notice those three Greek words. I have fought. Have fought.
Have finished. Have kept. We want to fight. We want to finish. We want to keep all the way to the end of the finish line. Yet, here in John 6, as we have read, verse 61 to 66, we see disciples, many disciples fall away.
They defect from following Jesus Christ. Who walk away from Him deliberately, openly, publicly, right there after Jesus speaks to them in the synagogue in Capernaum. Yet, these are distinguished from the 12 who remain with Jesus.
At least to this point, there will be 11. We know that one of them is the devil as Jesus says in verse 71. So, the question is, what is the process? What is the procedure by which believers in Jesus are preserved all the way to the end of the finish line?
What preserves us? Or should I say, who preserves us? And there is the 12 here. And again, one is a devil, but 11 are preserved. Many, many of the crowds here that claim to be disciples and follow Jesus for the wrong reasons.
Actually, they were following Him for what they could get out of Him as a bread king. But yet, they defect from the faith. They defect from following Christ. So, what is the procedure by which believers in Jesus are preserved all the way to the end of the finish line?
Is there a 12-step plan in which so many churches would give to you for us that we must go through to make it? No, I don't think so. I don't believe there's a 12-step plan. But we do see how Jesus graciously preserves His very own to the end.
He does give us the promises. He does give the assurances. And He does graciously give the warnings, by the way. And I believe that's critical because the warnings serve for a good reason. To help sober us.
To see how serious this really is. We're talking about our eternal soul here. And you think about the many who fell away and defected from the truth could be in hell right now because they fell away and defected and deliberately went away from Jesus Christ.
Lord, keep us by Your grace. And it's only by grace that we are kept. Even when the way is very hard and very difficult, the Lord Jesus Christ comes alongside and He says, I am with you to the end. I will never leave you.
I will never forsake you. My outline is very simple. I'd just like for us to look at, first of all, the false disciples. And number two, I'd like for us to look at true disciples. Among the congregation of the Lord, we won't be able to get this all in one sermon.
And Lord willing, next Lord's Day, we will pick up. And I'd like to also bring and incorporate why the gospel is offensive. Why the gospel is offensive. We're going to look at that and why so many people defect from the faith and are offended and turn away and turn against the message of salvation, which is only in Jesus Christ.
So let's begin by looking and observing, first of all, false disciples. The false disciples. And this is who we see from verse 60 to verse 66. Verse 60 says this, Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, This is a hard saying.
It's a difficult saying. Who can understand it? Here we see the reaction, the reaction of Jesus' disciples. I'm going to say this and quote disciples. They basically were learners of Christ. They followed Christ, but they followed Him for the wrong reason.
And they are really giving this reaction to really His sermon on the bread of life and who He really is. It's all summed up in John 6 .35. Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.
Moreover, Jesus teaches that He is the one that anyone who looks on Him and who looks on the Son in verse 40 and believes in Him may have everlasting life. He gives that promise to them. And I will raise Him up at the last day.
Then finally, there's an order here. And this is why I'm bringing up these verses of Scripture that we've already looked at. As Jesus goes on to unpack this truth about who He is, the truth that He unpacks becomes very hard, offensive, and scandalous when Jesus begins to proclaim in verse 54, and this was the thing that offended them.
This saying right here, whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. Now, that's the hard saying that they were offended of. They did not like the point in verse 54, whoever eats my flesh, Jesus says, and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
My flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. This is very offensive. But you've got to understand, at this point, as they were looking at the bread, they were thinking of physical bread.
They did not understand the metaphor because they did not have the Spirit of God showing them who Jesus really is. You see, in this sermon from our Lord Jesus Christ, He is unpacking bit by bit, I like to say precept by precept, and He breaks it down.
He points them to the truth of who He really is. From His exposition of the gospel according to John, as I was looking at this, I thought this was a great footnote about this text. We see in verse 60, John Gill says this,.
The illusion may be to food that is hard of digestion. Hard of digestion. Since Christ had been speaking of Himself under the metaphors of bread and meat, as some of the doctrines of Christ are comparable to milk, which is easy of digestion, others are like to strong meat, which belongs to those who are full of age and cannot be digested by children, by babes in Christ and much less received and eaten and digested with ease.
And pleasure by carnal minds. There is no hearing, no bearing them. Hence, we afterward read that these withdrew from the ministry of Christ.". You see what's happening here. It's as if Jesus begins with milk, I'm the bread of life, to feast, bread.
It's as if then it becomes more difficult as of the meat, the eat of the flesh is very difficult to digest. Now, we take this in spiritually. People did not understand this and they thought He was pointing them to cannibalism.
By and large, that's not what Jesus is talking about, far be it from the Lord. He's talking about metaphors. And verse 66 says,. From that time many of His disciples went back, went away, they defected, walked away from Him and did not follow Him.
They stopped, they said, no more. Very sober in truth. Why did these disciples fall away? Why did they fall away? The text tells us, before I bring this to your attention, by the way, in our text, the text answers that question you see in verse 60 to verse 70.
And it basically describes there are three responses to Jesus' comments here as He speaks about this powerful truth. Number one, there's desertion. And then two, there's devotion. And number three, there's deception.
So those three you see packed, those are the three responses here. And here we see desertion. There's desertion. Then from the true disciples, we see devotion. And then last we see from Judas Iscariot, there's deception.
Desertion, devotion, deception. Here, let's see why the disciples deserted our Lord. These are deserters. They go apostate. They outright make the decision, we're not going to follow you no more. This is a hard saying.
As a matter of fact, that is a scandalous saying. It's offensive. It's offensive to us. It's scandalous to accept and they abandoned Him. They walked away and did not follow Him no more. We see this today.
But it's become a popular thing to desert and defect from the faith. And by the way, you could become a big celebrity with the social media today. And if you talk about this, you become a well-known person and a hero as you are defecting from the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ.
But Jesus speaks offensive. He makes a note of apologies about what He says. It's scandalous. It's not that the teachings, by the way, were not too hard to understand. That's not the point. You know what the problem was?
Was their hearts.
That's the problem. And by the way, that has not changed today, beloved. It's still a heart problem. And it's still an unbelief problem. Because of the hardness of hearts. John Calvin said this, the reformer.
It was, quote, it was in their hearts and not in the saying of Jesus that the harshness lay, end quote. So the problem is not that is a hard, difficult saying, but because it was hard hearts, unbelieving.
That's why they defected.
That's the reason these disciples fell away and abandoned our Lord. The problem is never with our Lord. It's never with Jesus. No, it's with the hardness of hearts. Unbelieving hearts. This reminds me of the parable of the soils.
Doesn't it to you?
You see, you can see the whole. But let me give you just a couple of verses here from Matthew 13, 20 and 21. Jesus speaks about this and He says, but he who received, and this is the explanation about the different soils, the different hearts, but he speaks of those of the stony places, which is the hardness of hearts.
He says, but he in verse 20, chapter 13 of Matthew, but he who received the seed on stony places is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy and enthusiasm. As brother Keith pointed out.
Verse 21, yet he has no root in himself, but he endures only for a while. Jesus said he doesn't endure to the end. He only endures for a while. And then he goes on to say, for when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.
He's offended.
Beloved, I submit to you that this crowd that Jesus is speaking to here, many of them that fell away fall in that category except for the 12. And one is a devil, of course, so we can actually say 11 did endure to the end.
And we know that, that they did because we see the final record. But many of them betrayed him. But Judas was the head betrayer because he had a devil. They defected from the truth. Why? It was because of the hardness of their hearts.
They might have made an emotional appeal. They were only enthusiastic for a little while, but yet they were false. It was superficial. They had a superficial commitment to salvation in Jesus Christ. They had a false profession, a false belief, and they had a false commitment.
It was all external pretense. Well, we go on to see. So in other words, they did not undertake and count the cost in following Jesus, which is always a sacrifice to pay. But no, they abandoned, they fell away, they defected from the faith, which was once delivered to the saints.
Keep in mind, as Jesus said in Matthew 13, 21, immediately he stumbles, immediately he stumbles. And this is what happened here. They were offended. Look at verse 61 of chapter 6. Text says, when Jesus knew, verse 61, when Jesus knew in himself that his disciples grumbled, they complained about this, he said to them, does this offend you?
Does this offend you? Jesus is saying, do you take offense at this? And as already has been said, the word take offense is the Greek word, we get the word scandalize. Does this scandalize you? Another way to put it honestly, and I know it sounds very straightforward and it sounds almost foreign to us, but Jesus is basically saying, does this horrify you?
Does this horrify you? Do you find my words horrifying to you? Does this turn you against me? Then Jesus asked the question in verse 62, what then if you should see the son of man ascend where he was before?
Where was he before? In heaven, in full blazing glory. He says, see, they took offense because Jesus said that he had come down from heaven, see? That's why they took offense, he came down from heaven.
He's the bread that came down from heaven, sent down from the father. He comes down, he condescends, he's humbled himself now. This is God in flesh and they were grumbling about that and now they're grumbling about the words that he speaks to them.
And then he says, what if you see the son of man ascend back into heaven now? By which, by the way, he did after his resurrection and while he's being glorified. So in other words, Jesus is saying, what if you saw me in my glory coming on the clouds?
What if you were to see me in my glory? Makes me think of, you find this all through the scriptures, but I was thinking about Daniel chapter 7, what it said there in Daniel. Go with me to Daniel 7. We see this before Christ came to this world in which he made.
He is the word made flesh that became flesh. He takes on flesh, tabernacled among us. We see Isaiah saw the same vision. We see a Daniel, we see Ezekiel and they see in heaven, they got a glimpse and a vision of the Christ of God, the son of God before he became the son of man.
And it says in Daniel 7, notice this, in verse 9, I watched, this is Daniel, till thrones were put in place and the Ancient of Days was seated. That's Christ, folks.
He was seated.
Doesn't this sound familiar? Very the same as John later on, on the Isle of Patmos, as he is in the, and on the Lord's day, he's in the spirit and God shows him that incredible vision of what is to come in the future.
And he sees the same thing. Daniel saw the same thing. Isaiah saw the same thing. Ezekiel saw the same. His garment was as white as snow and his hair of his head was like pure wool. His throne was a very, was a fiery flame, its will a burning fire, a fiery stream issued and came forth from before and thousands, a thousand thousands ministered to him.
10 ,000 times 10 ,000 stood before him. The court was seated and the books were opened. The apostle John saw the same, but John was given more details. But here, Daniel, the prophet sees Christ in his glory.
In verse 11, I watched in because of the sound of the promptest words, which the horn was speaking. And I watched till the beast was slain and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame. As for the rest of the beast, and they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.
I'm not going to go into the interpretation of all that, but what we're looking at is the Christ of God here in heaven. As Daniel saw him, as Jesus speaks about, what if you were to see me in my glory?
In verse 13, I was watching in the night visions and behold, one like the sun, a man coming with the clouds of heaven. And he came to the ancient of days and they brought him an ear before him. Then to him was given dominion and glory and kingdom and all people's nations and languages should serve him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion. And which shall not pass away in his kingdom, the one shall not be, which shall not be destroyed. His kingdom will endure forever and ever. And here he sees, of course, the ancient of days, the father.
And then you see one like the sun, a man coming with the clouds of heaven. Jesus says, what if you see me fully revealed in my glory?
What then?
Would this scandalize you? Would this horrify you? Would you still take offense at all that I have spoken to you? And verse 61 says, his disciples complained, they grumbled. Listen to that. Talk about a hard heart.
Side note here, by the way, these false disciples, this is really searching to all of us, what are the fruits of our lives? Do we complain? Do we grumble? This text is very convicting, folks, to search our own hearts.
It's interesting that they spoke of as grumbling. These false disciples are spoken of as they complained against the sayings of Jesus. The passage alludes to the Old Testament, of course, of the manna from heaven in the wilderness, which the children of Israel complained and they grumbled.
Exodus 16, 2 says, and the whole congregation, listen to that, the whole congregation of the people grumbled. They complained against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness. And now here in John chapter 6, we read in verse 64, Jesus knew.
Jesus knew.
Jesus knew in himself. That his disciples complained about this. Does this scandalize you? Is this horrifying to you? In both cases, Exodus or John's gospel, folks, it's those who complain and grumble.
Do not trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a lack of trust.
It's a lack of belief.
It searches our own hearts. Do we complain? Do we grumble against the Lord of glory? Beloved, this contains, this certainly teaches us not to grumble, does it? And not to complain. It's a sin. It is a sin that God hates.
Because what this lip speaks comes from the heart. But to come to a true understanding, beloved, of faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and in Exodus, you notice, he sustained them with the life of the manna from heaven.
And here, Jesus, in John's gospel, God provides everything that we need in his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, that bread that came down from heaven. So we see that false disciples looked at Jesus' outward appearance, think of this, as a common man.
Is not this the son of Joseph? He's a common man to look upon. Who does he think he is as he comes down from heaven? So these false disciples just looked at his outward appearance, and who Jesus is, and here he is, the son of man, the very son of God, the Word, the Logos, who existed with God in eternity past, but yet, he is God.
He was with God, and he is God. The Word tabernacle, the Word, the Logos, was, took on flesh, and he dwelt among us, and he tabernacled among us, and here he is, the only salvation that these people have, and they defect from the truth because of the hardness of their hearts.
They cannot believe what he is saying. It's scandalizing. Beloved, that's a scandalous thought, isn't it? How do you claim that for yourself, basically, was they were asking. It's still scandalous. This gospel is still scandalous.
Tell the gospel like it is, and tell people that God commands them to repent or else. That's scandalous. Tell them about a man, and all the salvation, the only way to God is only through one man, Jesus Christ.
That's scandalous. People don't like it. You think of it. The apostle John said it. Behold, he's coming with clouds. Every eye shall see him, and even those who pierced him. I always wondered about this text, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him.
Even so, amen. I always think, is that going to happen in a brief moment, or is this could be very well the judgment of the great white throne judgment that every eye will see him, and even those who pierced him will look upon him.
I believe that could be the case that this takes place at the judgment. You see, God doesn't necessarily always give us time frames. You notice that? And notice everybody today is all curious about the time, the time and time.
But you know what the time is? The present time.
Today's the day of salvation.
That they need to be getting their souls right with God. They get all hooked up in the miraculous and the prophecy and all that. And I'm not to say we shouldn't study prophecy.
We should.
But the most important thing is, is your soul right with God. Prepare to meet thy God. Are you ready to see him? Are you ready to meet him face to face? That's what matters. How do we believe that truth?
That's scandalous. Well, how do we believe these kind of truths? How do we believe any of the truth? Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. Do you know what, Jesus? He answers that question.
You know, we cannot believe the words of Christ unless the Spirit of God does the work.
Let's look at it.
Look at verse 63. Jesus said it. Right after he asked the question, what then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where he was before in his glory and his majesty? Well, verse 63, it is the Spirit who gives life.
The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit and they are life. Stop right there and look at this. Jesus has really given a simple but profound truth in this verse. These people had been thinking in terms of Christ as literal flesh.
They did not get the metaphor, but here Jesus told them that eternal life was not gained by eating flesh, but by the work of the Holy Spirit of God. None of us could be regenerated today unless the Spirit of God did the work.
None of us could understand what Jesus is really meaning in the metaphors here and it's deep, simple truth unless the Spirit of God shows us. Think of that. It makes me think we were looking at Sunday school this morning that when Peter said, and Jesus says, who do you say that I am?
And Peter says, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus said, flesh and blood did not reveal that to you. That came by the supernatural revelation from the Father. And folks, as it is, all of us that are born from above, we know who Christ really is.
And what he says and what he means. Aren't you glad for the Spirit of God? And this is what he's saying. The flesh cannot give life. The flesh profits nothing. Only the Holy Spirit can do the work. Let's look very closely at this.
And we already covered this territory, but it always bears repeating, doesn't it? Look at John chapter 3. And here in John chapter 3, in verse 4 through 8, we see Jesus answering Nicodemus of how can these things be?
Nicodemus, by the way, notice what Nicodemus is doing. He's thinking the same way these Jewish followers, these disciples of Jesus is thinking. They were thinking literal. How can we eat his flesh? Jesus says to Nicodemus, you must be born again.
You must be born from above.
And he says, how can that be?
He's doing exactly what these false disciples are doing in John 6. They are interpreting Jesus' words literally. And Jesus noted that if someone is to enter into the kingdom of God, they must be born from above.
And by the way, he says it like this. They must be born of water and the Spirit. This is very significant, brother. This phrase water and the Spirit is parallel to being born again or born from above, which it spans on that truth.
And Jesus' words is referenced to Ezekiel 36. Let's look at that very quickly. Now, Jesus is saying this to Nicodemus in verse 4 to 8 about being born again, born from above. This is so important.
What is it called?
It's regeneration. Born from above. It's so important. Jesus said, which is born of the flesh is flesh, which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Do not marvel. That means don't be surprised that I said to you, you must be born again.
The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it. The effects of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. Now, if you go to Ezekiel 36, look at verse 25 to 27.
Now, I'd like for you to notice here. And if you if you're one of those and I thank God for the other that mark up your Bible. But I want you to notice how many times that God says here. And from verse 25, 26 and 27, three verses that God says, I will, I will, I will, I will.
You know, that's the sovereign work of God.
He didn't say we do it.
God doesn't.
Notice this.
Ezekiel, then I, this is God speaking. I will sprinkle clean water on you. God knows exactly what we need. What must happen. I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean. And I will cleanse you from all of your filthiness.
All of it. And from all of your idols. And I will give you, God gives, give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and you will keep my judgments and do them. So it is when everyone is born of the spirit of God. That's the promise of the new covenant that comes and fulfilled and the work and the person of Jesus Christ.
And it's the spirit of the living God that makes this happen.
Aren't you glad?
God does the work. Makes me think of Titus 3, 5 in verse 6 and 7 as well. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy, his compassion. He saved us through the washing, get that, the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit.
Whom he poured out so lavishly. Poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior. That having been justified by grace, his grace, we should become heirs of according to the hope of eternal life.
That's the promise of the of regeneration that God does the work and it's because of his mercy and his compassion that he loved us with an everlasting love. He chose us, it's nothing we have done. He not of works of righteousness, no.
But according to his mercy, all of mercy. Mercy there was great, grace was free. Pardon there was multiplied to me. There, oh my heart sings of Calvary. Oh, Calvary's love. All because of Jesus Christ.
People become members of an earthly family of the church of the living God and we do it and we become children of the living God through spiritual births, the invisible church. Illustration here, people become members of an earthly family by natural births.
In order to be second born, you got to first be first born, right? That's why we're here, because of your parents and God created you from the womb. God did that and then you're born into a family. But Jesus said what's most important is we've got to be second born.
We've got to be born twice. We've got to be twice born, I should say. We become members of God's family by spiritual birth. First there's natural birth, spiritual birth, new birth. So, Jesus illustrated his point to Nicodemus by comparing the work of the Holy Spirit to the blowing of the wind in verse 8.
The word wind and spirit, wind and spirit translate the same Greek and Hebrew words, by the way. While the wind's origin is invisible, its effects are apparent. You see that? You can't see the spirit work.
God is invisible, God is spirit, but the evidence is there. Something takes place, the actions speak, the fruit, the good fruit. Its effects are apparent. The same is true of those who have been born of the Spirit of God.
Let's go back to John, look at verse 63. It is the Spirit who gives life. Notice, the Spirit. It is the Spirit who gives life. Notice what Jesus is saying? Who, not a force, He's a person.
Who gives?
What does He give?
He gives life. What kind of life?
God's life.
Zoe, that's the Greek word here, Zoe, eternal life. It comes from the eternal God, the eternal Spirit. Verse 64, Jesus says,. But there are some of you who do not believe. But Jesus knew from the beginning who they were, who did not believe, and who would betray Him.
Even as Jesus said these things, the Lord realized that some of His listeners did not truly understand who He really was. They did not believe in who He was, that He's God in flesh. Again, the difficulty is not so much in their inability in a sense, even though they're not able to come to Christ on their own, but it is really their unwillingness to come to Christ because of the hardness of their heart.
John 2, 23 reminds us, we've already covered this, but Jesus Christ is the discerner of hearts, and He is the discerner of hearts here because He knows them, He knows them. Now, when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, looking at John 2, 23 through 25, even at that time at the Passover during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs, which He did.
And by the way, those many here could be very well many that was following Him up until this point. Verse 24,. "...but Jesus did not commit Himself to them.". Why? Because He knew all men. This is why He did not commit to them.
The Scripture says,. "...and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for he knew what was in man.". Pastor John MacArthur notes here, John based these two phrases on the same Greek verb for believe.
And this is important, folks. Listen to what he says here. This verse, speaking of what I just read to you from John 2, this verse subtly reveals the true nature, MacArthur says, of belief from a biblical standpoint.
He says,.
"...because of what they knew of Jesus from His miraculous signs, many came to believe in Him. However, Jesus made it His habit not to wholeheartedly entrust or commit Himself to them.". Because He knew their hearts.
Verse 24 indicates that Jesus looked for genuine conversion rather than enthusiasm for the spectacular. How many people follow Jesus today for the spectacular and the enthusiasm? He goes on to say this,.
"...the latter verse also leaves subtle doubt as to the genuineness of the conversion of some, which is found here in John 6 and John 8, verse 31 and 32.". And this emphatic contrast between verse 23 and 24 in terms of type of trust, therefore reveals that literal belief in His name involved much more than intellectual ascent, MacArthur says.
"...it called for a wholehearted commitment of one's life to Jesus as His disciple.". So it is with the false disciples here. They followed Him for the wrong motives, for they had a hard heart. They really didn't believe Him for who He really was, or they would have never defected.
Once again, Jesus explains that it was because of their unbelief that He had previously told them in verse 65. If you look at verse 64, let's go back,. "...but there are some of you who do not believe, for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe and would betray Him.".
Speaking of Judas, about the betrayal. The betrayer, verse 65,. "...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.". Notice. He reiterates that truth again.
After they defected, after they said, who can receive this? This offends us. We don't want to follow you no more. We defect from the truth. And Jesus says, no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.
Powerful truth. And yet, this one truth is really rejected in evangelical, so-called evangelical circles today. Jesus reiterates that salvation involves God's sovereignty and the selection of His elect.
And can I tell you this? I've seen this as a pastor down through the years. The people attack the doctrine of the sovereignty of God, doctrine of election. Why? You want me to tell you why? Because the words of Jesus and the words of the apostles attack their pride.
It's their pride. They want something to do with their salvation, that they cooperate with God in salvation. There's something that they got to do. Man thinks he's got to earn or merit his salvation or whatever.
But the Lord Jesus told men that even the power to come to Him can only be received from God the Father. No exceptions. That's scandalous, folks, isn't it? Well, that tells us a little bit about the false disciples.
I want to give a little bit here on the true disciples. My time is dwindling away very quickly. Briefly, there's a transitional verse in verse 66. From that time, many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.
That's a powerful, tragic verse, isn't it? I honestly could say that's one of the saddest verses in Scripture. Many of them. Many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. These so-called disciples fell away.
They defected from the truth. They defected from our Lord Jesus Christ, from following Him. Many of His disciples went back and went away from Him. They abandoned ship, folks. This is tragic. 1 Peter 2, verse 6 and 8 says, therefore it is also contained in the Scripture we said this morning.
Peter quotes from Isaiah 28, 16, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame. Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious.
To those who believe, He is precious. Wonderful word. God chooses the words very carefully. And Jesus is precious to those who believe. Amen. He's precious. That means He's more than life to us. He's more than anything.
He's more than anything. He's first in everything. First in our heart. But to those who are disobedient, there's another word to disobedience,.
Disbelieve.
The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. Verse 8, Peter says, A stone of stumbling. What's that word stumbling?
Offense.
Scandalous.
A rock of offense. Peter's basically quoting here again from Isaiah 8, 14, that every human being, Jesus Christ is either the only means of salvation if they believe or the only means of eternal judgment.
There's nothing in between, folks. And we will see this later on. And this is why the 12, Jesus looks to the 12. He says, well, do you also want to go away? Simon Peter has answered, speaking for the 12.
Lord, to whom shall we go? You had the words of eternal life. And don't you, don't we all agree with the apostle Peter? Where else are we going to go? Jesus is our only hope. He has the words of eternal life.
You don't go back to the hell hole in the world. The world's passing away. And all the lust thereof. That's sinking sand. That's going to burn up. But not Jesus. He lives and abides forever. And he that does the will of God who lives and abides forever.
Now, I want to give application here. Wow, I got five minutes to do this. Pray for me. 1 John 2, 19. I got more to say if you go to the book of 1 John 2, 19. But this really summarizes. And it actually goes along with our Sunday school lesson this morning.
Because the apostle John basically says. They went out from us. And they were because they were not of us. For if they had been of us. Talking about true believers. They would have continued with us. That word continued.
Jesus says that.
If you love me, you continue. You abide in my words. That means continue. They would have continued with us. But they went out. They went out that they might be made manifest. That none of them were of us.
Now, that's just not. It does apply of walking away from the truth. And the fellowship of the truth. But it literally means walking away from Jesus and the truth.
As a whole.
But it does apply also to the fellowship of believers. And I want to tell you why. This is an awesome verse. Because I would like to give application here. Because in this message. And like Jesus says in verse 67 of John 6.
As we look at next Lord's Day. We'll see the true disciples. But here the false disciples. But there's something here. Within this text in 1 John 2 .19. It speaks about true disciples and false disciples.
Did you notice that? John 2 .19 tells us much about the false disciples. And the true disciples. Let's look at it very quickly. The first characteristic. Here mentioned is antichrist. And he speaks of the antichrist in another way to put it.
These antichrists are false teachers in that day. They were false disciples.
They were deceivers.
And by the way. A lot of times when they walk away. They take others with them. They make disciples of themselves. They're within the church. They're like the Trojan horse within. That's the danger of today.
Is the false disciples. And the false. The heretics. The false teachers.
The deceivers.
Scripture is very serious about it. How can we know for sure and spot a false teacher and a deceiver? Well scripture tells us. Scripture tells us from the inspired word of God. Notice in verse 22 to 26 in chapter 2.
He says this.
Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ. See that? The anointed one. In other words that Jesus is God. How many people deny that? How many churches you know that denies Jesus is God? A lot.
He is antichrist who denies the father and the son. So basically if they denied Jesus is Lord. They're denying the father. Whoever denies the son does not have the father either. He who acknowledges the son has the father also.
So we see this in verse 24. Therefore let that abide in you. Therefore let that abide in you which you have heard from the beginning. And that which you heard from the beginning abides in you. You also will abide in the son and then the father.
And this is the promise that he has promised us eternal life. These things I've written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. The deceivers right? They're liars.
And but he says this.
This is the second characteristic. Of this is a I'm sorry. This is a characteristic of a true disciple. That anointing which you have received from him abides in you. And you do not need anyone teach you.
We'll look at this in a minute what that means. That doesn't mean there's not a place for pastors and teachers.
No.
But what he's saying is the true teacher is the spirit of God. He teaches the truth. But as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things. And it's true and it's not a lie. And just as it is has taught you.
You will abide in him. In other words you will continue in him. The spirit of God that with dwells a habitat. Habitats and habit. I'll get it in a minute. Dwells within us. How about that one? He has made his home within us.
We have been born from above. So see the truth is that. This is what Jesus. Is who he is. It's mainly. It's all about his person. It's about who he is. And we understand that because of the spirit of God.
Another characteristic again. As we just looked in verse 22 to 23. These false disciples outright denied that Jesus is the Christ. That he is God in flesh folks. And that's who these defectors really are.
In John 6. Now I got to drive this home. There's so much more that could be said here. I'd like to pick it up God willing. Next Lord's Day. You remember what the Apostle Paul warns the elders? In Acts chapter 20.
There's a reason the Apostle Paul warns elders. They were the leaders within the church. And what did he say in verse 29 to 31? For I know this that after my departure savage wolves. Those are false teachers.
Will come in among you. Not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up. Listen to this. Speaking perverse misleading things. Why do they do that? To draw away disciples after themselves.
What did he say? You got to have discernment. He said watch. Therefore watch. Actually as I as your pastor here. And a servant of the Lord. If I am not watching in this degree. And I like what Calvin says.
The voice of a shepherd. A pastor has two voices. One to preach the word of God. And two to warn the sheep against the wolves. To watch and remember that he says. Three years I did not cease to warn everybody.
Everyone night and day with tears. This man was serious about this. It broke his heart.
And he warned them with tears.
Weeping because of false teachers among them. Theotrophies was a false teacher. There's many characteristics here that we see. False disciples. True disciples. But one of the main characteristics of a true disciple.
Is that he has the Holy Spirit. Genuine Christian has the Spirit of God. You have the anointing from the Holy Spirit. And you know all things. This is how the true believer knows and discerns what is false.
Is by the Spirit of God. And by the way. Anything the Spirit of God teaches us. It's just not this mysticism out here. It's always in connection to the Word of God. Anything is said must connect with the Word of God.
That's why if anybody comes in here and says. The Lord told me. Forget that.
Throw it away.
And if they claim to be a prophet. In which we know there's no more prophets. But if they're going to speak a prophecy. Well scripture says in the Old Testament. If they prophesy about it. And if it doesn't come to pass.
According to scripture. They're to be stoned to death. That's the way God looked at it pretty harshly.
Well the Spirit of Truth.
The Spirit of Truth enables us to understand the truth. Who is Jesus Christ. Who He is. And to discern between truth and error. What is false.
What is true.
To differentiate between the two. And always bears witness with the Word of God. Never apart from the Word of God folks. That's why we need to be good Bereans. That's why we need to saturate ourselves.
In this book.
And then when you get on your knees. If you don't understand it. And there's a lot of things I still don't understand. I've been a Christian for over 40 plus years.
And I still.
The more I see. And the more I read. The more I don't know. But folks what I do know. Is through the revelation of the scripture. And it humbles me to the dirt. And one thing I do know. That God will never reveal Himself through the Word.
If we're prideful. We must humble ourselves before the mighty hand of God. So let me leave that with you. Always humble yourselves before God. Stay humble before God. On your knees before God. And if the things you don't understand.
Say Lord. Maybe it's not meant for me to understand. Jesus said to His disciples. I can't reveal this to you right now. It'd be too much for you to bear. Matter of fact. I think we have plenty of truth right here.
The 66 books of the Bible. That's inspired of God.
That's plenty of revelation for me. I don't want any more. Well the Spirit of God teaches us. Aren't you glad? To discern what is true and false. So much more can be said. Let me close with something.
I read from Spurgeon. He said this.
We believe the truth.
Of the final perseverance of the saints. Concerning the true people of God. But the question comes to our heart.
Are we such?
Is there in us. The incorruptible seed. Of God. That lives and abides forever. How are we to know that we are such. But by this perseverance. While it is in an effect of grace. It is also one of most certain tokens of it.
But there is not one. Not the truth. I'm sorry. There is not the true grace of God. In the heart. Where there is no. Perseverance in grace. Even to the end. In Matthew 10 .22. But the one who endures to the end.
Will be saved.
And I quote. First John 2 .19b. If they had been of us. They would have continued with us. And it's right here beloved. We learn. The true faith. In Jesus Christ. Always has the quality of permanence.
Perseverance. Always. If one has truly been born again of the spirit of God.
We.
He or she will go. Onward and forward. In the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the direction. Every day. We're going forward or backwards. Are you going forward? Are you going forward? Not drawing backwards. Not going back.
But pressing forward. To the mark of the prize. Of the high calling of God in Christ.
Jesus.
Let me say this in closing. There may be pitfalls. Failings at times.
But he.
But the child of God arises. And gets back up. Goes toward the Lord. He repents. Does not draw backwards. It does not mean that we are saved by enduring to the end. But rather that those who endure to the end.
Are saved. May it be so with us.
By the grace of God.
Let's pray.
Our Father in heaven. Lord. We need help. By your grace. Lord even though your word. Through the apostle Paul says. We're to take hold. Lay hold of eternal life.
But we know.
That it's Christ who has laid hold of us first. We love.
You.
Because you first loved us. And it's nothing of us Lord. That helps us to persevere. But it's all of your grace. And as your servant Spurgeon says. It's thy hold of Christ. That saves us to the uttermost.
It is Christ alone. Not our joy in Christ.
But Christ alone.
It's not even our faith in Christ. Though that be the instrument. It is Christ's blood and merits.
Therefore Lord help us.
I pray.
That we look not so much. At thy hand. With which you grasp.
Through Christ.
But help us. Not even look.
To our hope.
But look to Jesus.
Who is our hope.
Look to the source of our hope. Look to the source of our faith. Who is Jesus alone. And who alone is the author. And finisher of our faith. Lord grant this. I pray to each and every one of us today. By your grace.
And we would ask this for your honor and glory. In Jesus name. Amen and amen.