Saying Yes or No to Christ

How many of you enjoyed singing this morning?

Come on, raise your hand.

! Did you enjoy singing this morning?

We sang a little longer than we normally do.

! Listen to me.

And that's okay.

In fact, that's wonderful.

But I still get time.

And honestly, I have a heart that's full.

And the truth of the matter is,

is that the Scriptures are what make our singing what it is.

Do you understand that?

It's the truth that frames our singing.

And it's the truth that encourages our affection.

And it's the truth that we delight in this morning.

Let me read the passage to set the text

and then ask that you join me in prayer.

John chapter 6, we're going to look at first at verse 53.

John 6 · chapter mention

Verse 63.

They said,

This is a hard saying.

Who can listen to it?

Our Father God,

for us this morning,

prayer is

our thankful

expression of confidence in you,

our happy

recognition of your

person and your presence

and your

abiding interest

that we who are your children

find the glory

and the fullness

that we have in relationship

with the Lord Jesus Christ.

And in this

period of time

that we call life

before we step into your presence

as believers

to enjoy

the presence of Christ

forever,

we are thankful

we are thankful

that you have given to us

your word,

you have given to us

your Holy Spirit,

and we would ask

that we

with humility

would depend upon the Spirit

and rely upon your word

that we would grow

in our love

for the Lord Jesus

that someday

we are going to see

and that as a result

of that,

we grow in our humility

and our affection,

the holiness

of our passion

for your glory,

the clear

and deliberate

lifestyles

that display

the character

of Christ

in a broken

and struggling world.

We ask this

in Jesus' name.

Amen.

I want you to know

as you pick up this passage

we're going to be looking

at John chapter 6

John 6 · chapter mention

from verse 60

to 72

and I'll tell you

ahead of time

that what this chapter is

is a closing summary

or better yet

a grand finale.

As I was thinking about it

in a musical sense

and I don't profess

to be a musician

of any form,

but I do appreciate

good music.

I would say

that in some senses

John chapter 6

John 6:60

verse 60

from that verse

on to 72

is a little bit

like the Hallelujah Chorus.

It is the summary

and the great blowout

to this extended chapter

in which John

has been building

a case

and lifting

the glory

and the supremacy

of Christ.

It's also a little bit

like Tchaikovsky's

Overture 1812

and any of you

that are musicians

know how that ends.

Tchaikovsky was writing

to celebrate

the victory

of the Russian army

over the invading French

and the way in which

that comes to a grand finale

is they actually used cannons

to kind of boom, boom.

Now they emulate that

using cymbals and drums

and even on occasions

they'll pipe in

the sound of cannons.

but it's something

that if you are

in any way

inclined musically

when you come to this part

your hair stands on end.

How many of you

have that happen

every now and then?

Your hair stands on end.

I mean,

on the arm

it goes up.

It happens to me

when I'm fired up.

The hair on my arm

goes up.

They're like,

I'm into that.

My wife said

don't shout

so I gotta back off

a little bit.

Hi Judith.

I love you.

She's my best critic.

So,

anyway,

don't shout.

I made a note to myself

even and it doesn't

pay attention.

But you know,

you get fired up

thinking about

what we're looking at

this morning.

This is

the climax

to John chapter 6.

John 6 · chapter mention

There'll be more climaxes,

trust me,

but this is

an early one.

Remember how

John comes together

and what his goal is?

He wants us

in reading the book

of John

to know

that Jesus

is the Christ,

the Savior of the world

that knowing that

we can believe on Him.

John 6 opens with,

how's it open?

Does anybody remember?

Remember he takes

his disciples

and they go away

because they need

a little bit of break.

They're kind of washed out

and fatigued from ministry

and they need to get away

but when they're getting away

the crowd follows them

about 20,000

and they're out there

and when he sees

the opportunity

guess what he does?

He starts teaching.

I mean at the end of the day

his affection for people

led him to open

the scriptures

and inform them

of the things

they needed desperately.

They stay

past dinner time

and he feeds them

about 20,000.

As the result of that

you'll remember

that the crowd decided

that it would be

a good idea

to make him king

and what does he do?

He resists.

He sends his disciples away

to protect them

from being carried away

with that ambition

and then he goes up the mountain

to pray by himself.

The next day

he finds himself again

surrounded by the crowd.

He had moved over to Capernaum

and there he was

and the crowd came

and he preached

an extended sermon.

An extended sermon.

And in that sermon

that we find

the substance of it here

he makes it

undeniably clear

that he is

the only way

of salvation.

He alone.

He makes reference

to the fact

that he would die

and that his sacrifice

would be the only hope

that people have

in satisfying

the wrath

of a holy God

against sin

and that faith

in him

was the only way

of heaven.

Well as you look

at this passage

what we're going

to find

is this summary

of the lengthy part

that we've talked about

pressed together

and we're going

to see first of all

salvation refused.

Now that's hard

to imagine isn't it?

Salvation refused.

We're also going

to see salvation received.

And then here's

what I want you to do.

I want you to stop

just for a minute.

Take your Bible

or take your

whatever you have

iPad or whatever

and I want you

to put your finger

on a couple

different things.

Look at verse 64.

It says

he knew who it was

who would betray him.

Now we're dealing

with a kind of

a global summary

at the end

of the chapter

about Christ's ministry

and here is a little

it almost seems

to be a little

marginal comment.

He knew who was

going to betray him.

It even gets ramped up

if you will go ahead.

You look there

at verse 70

it says

Jesus answered then

did I not choose

you the twelve

and yet one of you

is a

what?

Devil.

Verse 71

he spoke of Judas

the son of Simon

Iscariot

for he

one of the twelve

was going to

betray him.

Now look

you can understand

the Jews

redacting Jesus.

I mean we follow

that.

We see that.

You can understand

the disciples

who else shall we

go to?

You have the words

of life.

What is Judas

doing in all of this?

Ask yourself

the question

what is Judas

doing in this picture?

I wouldn't ask

the question

if I didn't have

an idea.

And I want you

to chew on that

and think about it

because I think

Judas' presence

is profoundly

significant to us

in our awe

at the glory

of salvation.

Well let's get

into the passage

and pick up

first of all

on salvation

refused

there in verse 60

when many of his

disciples heard it

they said

this is a hard

saying

who can listen

to it?

And I want you

to recognize

that when we

pick up here

in verse 60

we find that

this is at the

conclusion of

actually two days

of ministry

and in those

two days of

ministry

I want you

to know

that Christ

had over

and over

again

made the

issues

of salvation

undeniably

clear

and lest

you have

any question

about it

salvation

is not

something

that just

kind of

delivers us

from mediocrity

and gives us

something better

than what we

had before

salvation

is

the grace

of God

that delivers

us

from the

moral

bankruptcy

and darkness

of our own

heart

and gives

to us

eternal life

a change

we who were

dead in

trespasses

and sin

become alive

in Christ

Jesus

we who were

once

the absolute

miserable

hopeless

broken

individuals

in our

rebellion

against God

become the

children of

God

salvation

always has

the starting

point in

helping a

man recognize

the hardness

of his heart

and the despair

of his soul

and unless

you understand

the darkness

of your heart

and the sin

that is there

you have no need

for the Savior

Jesus made that

clear in his

preaching

and as you

work your way

through the

passage you

will see that

actually when

people heard

what Jesus

had to say

they were

offended at it

that brings us

here to verse

60 and mark

what it says

this is a hard

saying

and what I

want you to

understand

is this

is that people

understood

Christ's message

and they didn't

like what they

heard

they didn't

like what they

heard

how many of you

have wondered

that well

if I could

just make

the gospel

a little

clear

I mean

obviously

everybody

would like

it

hey

that's not

necessarily

the case

and the

absolute

perfect

instrument

and messenger

of the Lord

of hosts

namely

his own

son

who with

perfection

and humility

and with

tenderness

preached the

gospel message

at the end

of the day

when people

understood it

they didn't

like it

now mark

what this

actually is

saying

the statement

was really

not a

humble

understanding

or a

humble

admission

that the

gospel

was difficult

to understand

when it

says this

is a hard

saying

how many

of you

have actually

had to deal

with hard

sayings

that you

couldn't get

your hands

around

I mean

you know

someone's

trying to

explain something

to you

man can you

go over that

again slowly

because I

don't get

it

it's hard

it's complex

that's not

what they were

saying at all

what they were

saying is this

is they

understood

exactly what

Jesus was

saying

and they

were irritated

by it

they found

the gospel

objectionable

now why

is that

why is that

the truth

of the matter

is is that

the gospel

begins by

helping us

recognize

the bankruptcy

of our soul

and the

darkness

of our

heart

and the

rebellion

of our

nature

against the

authority

and the

supremacy

of God

and the

gospel

begins by

first of all

letting us

know that we

are in a

terrible

situation

it's kind

of interesting

actually I was

thinking about

this this

morning as I

was praying

because if

you were to

listen to a

lot of

televangelists

you would

hear a

very interesting

gospel do you

know what it

is Jesus

has a wonderful

plan for your

life and if

you kind of

send me a

check or two

I will see to

it that you

prosper how many

of you heard

something like

that or if

you put your

hand on the

tele not the

telephone anymore

that's and not

the TV anymore

flat screen but

you know hey if

you do this and

that whatever I

can either take

care of your

financial needs I

can make you a

happy and wealthy

person everybody

in your neighborhood

will like you just

follow my plan and

write your check

thus and so and

I'm going to

bless you that's

not the gospel

that is a

huckster peeling

to people's

carnal desire

the gospel is

this first of all

you've got a

horrible disease

that is going to

doom you forever

and Jesus has

the answer and

come to him with

a broken and

contrite heart and

he is going to

save you I do

want you to

understand that the

gospel is hard

news before it's

good news and

it's often

rejected and so

when we bring the

sweetness of the

gospel when we

bring the hope that

is there in Christ

Jesus we shouldn't

be overwhelmed if

on occasion it

ends up offending

people and is

really troublesome

you see people don't

mind having some of

their symptoms to

sin addressed but

what they really have

a problem with is

having the root issues

of their heart

exposed and brought

out into the light

where only Christ can

deal with them and

so as you look at

this opening passage I

do want you to

understand that as

we get a drift of

what ministry was

like for Christ we

shouldn't let people's

rejection of Christ

and the message of

hope of salvation in

him alone end up

being something that

overwhelms us and

causes us to be

discouraged in sharing

our passion to see

people come to

Christ don't let

people's struggle

discourage you from

ministry now

incidentally as you

look at this passage

you find there in

verse 60 people are

pretty irritated but

look at 61 Jesus

knowing in himself

that his disciples

were grumbling about

this said do you

take offense at this

that's kind of a

duh question isn't

it like is this really

a problem for you

how many of you

learned that sometimes

questions are just

designed to frame the

moment are you

having a problem

here is there

something bothering

you he knew what

was going on look at

verse 62 then what

what if you were to

see the son of man

ascending to where he

was before you see he

had helped them see

that their real problem

in life was not that

they needed another

meal or increase in

their income or maybe a

little bit of health

care the real issue was

the spiritual hardness

of their heart and

their moral depravity

and they struggled

with that they got

irritated he says hey

let's take it a step

further how is it going

to affect you look at

verse 32 62 how is it

going to affect you if

you were to see the son

of man ascending to

where he was before

what is that all about

remember Jesus had come

down from heaven and

here he was on earth

preaching that he was

the son of man and he

was also going to be

the one who was their

redeemer and hope and

he says and I'll tell

you what if you're

irritated with hearing

what I have to say let

me tell you the time is

coming when I'm going to

go up turn in your

Bibles over to Acts

Acts 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2 so you have a

little further

understanding of this in

Acts chapter 2 the

Acts 2 · chapter mention

sermon that Peter

preached at Pentecost

begins this way now

you're going to wonder

if I'm going to skip

over to verse 14 no I'm

not okay but in

essence what Peter says

is this is listen you

guys listen carefully to

what I have to tell you

there in verse 22 men

of Israel hear these

words Jesus of Nazareth a

man attested to you by

God with mighty works and

wonders and signs that

God did through him in

your midst as you

yourself know this

Jesus delivered up

according to the

definite plan and

foreknowledge of God

you crucified and killed

by the hands of lawless

men hey is that a way to

win friends and influence

people when you tell

them what they are I

mean hey you guys out

here a bunch of skunks

and let's top it off keep

on working forward Peter

explains and this Jesus

who you crucified what

happened he rose from the

dead and let's go a

little further if you

will notice in verse 36

it says let all the house

of Israel therefore know

for certain that God has

made him both Lord and

Christ this Jesus whom you

crucified in the context of

the argument he explains the

fact that Christ abides in

heaven he's lifted up he's up

there now and he is going to

come back someday and he is

going to deal with those who

have rebelled against him and

refused him and here is

Jesus going back to the

passage in John what he is

doing is telling them

undeniably and clearly the day

is coming when he is going to

rise again and rising again he

is going to be the judge and the

Lord of the whole earth if they

were struggling with hearing him

in the flesh tell them that they

had a sin problem he says that's

nothing compared to when I show

up again and I actually deal with

all the issues going on in your

life look at verse 66 after this

many of his disciples turned back

and no longer walked with him the

verse marks a very distinct change in

Christ's ministry very public open and

we find that this large throng of

people who heard the gospel clearly

proclaimed ended up saying we don't

want anything to do with what we're

hearing and what we see here is that

gospel truth eventually leads people

to believe or reject Jesus and so one

of the things that you can kind of

evaluate in your own ministry and by

the way why are we drawing breath

today does anybody have an idea why

we're drawing breath listen to me it's

not so you can kind of accumulate

something so you can retire and

eventually end up in a nursing home

everybody got that we are here on

temporary assignment for one explicit

reason and as a draw people to Jesus

and when that's over we're checking out

and going home

everybody said amen we're not here

together primarily primarily just to

enjoy one another's company we are here

to have our hearts and souls

encouraged by the glory of Christ and

as we are here together it is to kind

of catch the virus and the infection

and we go out and spread the happy

disease of Jesus is the only answer

everywhere we go right don't be

surprised if people don't like it don't

be surprised and you can evaluate the

testimony and ministry of Christ and use

it as a as a benchmark or an example of

how you go about it for one I do want

you to know that faithful witnessing

involves meeting needs say it with me

faithful witnessing involves meeting

needs when we go out what day is it

Greg we're going out to do oatmeal

19th I should have asked Connie Connie what

day are we going out it's 19th when we go

out and pass out little cups of oatmeal

and by the way there it's really nice it's

hot it's been fixed and in the back do

you put strawberries and raspberries on

top of it and then there's a separate

little baggie that has you know sugar in

it and a spoon and a napkin I mean it's

really well prepared we're going out

there and we're showing kindness but do

you know why we're really doing it because

there are people that need Jesus and I

don't mind whatever it is that gets an

opportunity and by the way so far I've

not had one chance really really to share

the gospel with anybody that I've talked

to there it takes time the last well I

won't go there we get sidetracked okay

you start with kindness everybody got

that say it with me you start with

kindness I do want you to know that

eventually faithful witnessing involves

more than just kindness it involves the

gospel and when that happens don't be

surprised if people don't accept it well

that's pretty sobering look at verse 66

it says and from this time many of his

disciples turned back and no longer walk

with him maybe he should have taken a

class in how to be persuasive you know

try something I mean well let's keep

going so Jesus said to the 12 do you want

to go away as well now I want you to look

at salvation received and do understand

this that when Jesus asked this question

everybody look up so you don't miss this

he wasn't asking because he was insecure

how many of you sometimes have asked

questions where you're really trying to

hope that the question comes back or the

answer comes back and kind of elevate

your spirit I mean out of 20,000 about

the crowd you can see them kind of

shuffling off and irritation muttering

with each other about low life Jesus I

mean why did he just keep feeding us

giving us this business about our sin

and blah blah blah we're leaving and he

says are you guys packing up and leaving

too and he wasn't asking because he

didn't know what the point was he wasn't

asking because he didn't know the hearts

of men his question was not for the sake

of discovery but really for the sake of

display so many times in your life the

challenges that we endure are more for

the sake of helping us see the issues so

we can actually come to grips with what's

going on and we can find the sufficiency

of Christ do you understand that point let

me say it slowly the difficulties and the

challenges that you face are often brought

into your life to help you discover the

needs that you have and the sufficiency

of Christ well I do like Peter's answer

look at it we just sang it earlier Peter

says Lord to whom shall we go you have the

words of eternal life well that's an answer

that just knocks it out of the park isn't

it and I want you to understand as you as you

look at this passage that here is is Peter and

he steps out to the front he says listen I see

all these people who are rejecting you but you

know what are we going to do you're the one that

has the words of life these dear men that that

were part of this little little group 12

were not casual followers that were intrigued by

occasional miracles out of the 11 apart from

Judas 10 of them would die as martyrs and so I

want you to know that when Peter says what he

does here in this passage he says you're the ones

has the words of life what he was saying is this is

that the salvation that we've received brings

complete faith in the finished work of Christ

alone now when you stop and think about this here

is 20,000 who walked away and 11 basically that

stayed it would be interesting for us to kind of

stop and say how did it happen that way well for

one I want you to look then at verse 68 or 69 or I'm

sorry 70 Jesus in 70 answers so how is it that you've

come to faith he says did I not choose you the 12 how is

it that those individuals had come to faith he says I

chose you now go back to 44 just for a minute and not for

the sake of of irritation but I want you to understand

that when Jesus said did I not choose you the 12 the point

that he was making is that your relationship with me is of my

drawing you to faith verse 44 no one can come to me unless the

father who sent me draws him no one and so it's interesting as we

look at this passage to recognize that here is Peter making a profession and

confessing his faith and yet Jesus also reminds him of the fact that his

understanding was the work of grace it was not Peter just being smarter than

the rest let me give you another illustration that is exactly the same

and I want you to turn for it because of the importance of the of the

argument I make turn in your Bible to Matthew chapter 16 verse 17

Matthew 16:17

go back to keep your finger in John because we are coming back there but

Matthew chapter 16 verse 17 just mark what what happens in that case Jesus is

Matthew 16:17

talking with the disciples he said hey by the way who do men say that I am

and they kind of rattle off different things that they'd heard and and Jesus

says that yeah okay but what do you say well who do you think I am Peter says

what you are the Christ the son of the living God and I can see Jesus breaking

into a smile and say let me put an a-plus in your grade book you are smarter

than the rest of them is that what he says huh you got it Peter I mean you're the best

student I have is that what he says oh verse 17 and Jesus answered him did did

did Jesus let Peter give himself an attaboy and a pat on the back what would he do

immediately after Peter's confession Jesus launches he says blessed are you

Simon Barjona for flesh and blood what has not revealed this to you but my father is

who's in heaven you got it with someone else's help

don't want to ask you the question but how many of you ever relied on somebody else to

get an answer in a class huh you know is that you didn't know the answer you

and there you are you got you look brilliant don't you

Peter got the answer right Jesus turned around and said you didn't get it with your own help

you didn't get it by yourself the father my father he's the one who lit you up and helped

you understand and so why is God so focused on helping us understand that salvation is his

business and he's the one who does it I must confess that the fact of God's sovereignty

in salvation and the truth that salvation is his work alone could be a little frustrating a little

confusing if kept to itself how many of you heard what I just said

you see I believe entirely in the sovereignty of God in salvation

but at the same time I recognize that salvation is something that is profound in its beauty

and its declaration of the glory of Christ and as you think about this matter of salvation

it should awe you that God saves it all

earlier in the week I listened to Louis Giglio in his video or his DVD called indescribable

how many of you ever listened to Louis Giglio raise your hands come on get him up I'm losing

out the crowd here Louis Giglio and has a great you can pick it up on YouTube a thing called

indescribable he knocks it out of the park talking about creation listen to me creation is small potatoes

in terms of its significance in declaring the glory of Christ in this universe do you want you to

recognize that at creation you want you to recognize that at creation the angels kind of shouted for joy

it's like yeah you know another universe you know whatever and and that's small salvation is something

that causes them to be awestruck

so why is Judas in this picture

why is Judas in this picture

there

in verse 64 Jesus says

he knew from the beginning

who those were who did not believe

and who it was who would betray him

and in verse 70

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

and as you look at this what I want you to recognize is we have the Jews who rejected Christ

we have the disciples who are drawn by grace to receive Christ

and overarching this thing is the awesome glory of a God who cares enough for us

that he is unrelenting in his interest in our salvation

and here's Judas in the picture and he is there to show us grace abounding

I want you to recognize that every step of the way

Christ who had chosen Judas to walk with him knowing fully that Judas would betray him

had to have pled with Judas

with the tenderness of Christ

that he would walk away

in faith

and not in doubt

Judas spent three years watching Jesus

he watched Jesus perform miracles

he saw Jesus handling the scriptures

he heard the teaching of Christ

he saw the compassion of the Savior

who came into the world to save sinners

and I have no doubt

that over and over again

Jesus with a winsome and a broken heart

ministered to Judas

and how did Judas handle it?

He turned his back

you know what?

the night that Jesus was betrayed

what he did was he broke bread with his disciples

and after he had done that

he washed their feet

do you know whose feet he washed along with the other eleven?

he washed the feet of Judas

I don't look at the statement in verse 70

as an indictment

or even so much as prophetic

but as one that was a recognition

of the desperate spiritual need of Judas

for the sake of drawing attention to the Savior

that he might be saved rather than doomed

and here is Judas

a model

and an example to us

of how Christ loves the broken and ruined sinner

and even in his rebellion

is winsome in his appeal to them

the last thing that Jesus said to Judas

when he came into the garden was this

do you betray me with a kiss?

are you doing this?

for real?

and the way that Jesus ministered to Judas

reminds us that in gospel ministry

there are no limitations to our affection

and our tenderness

do you understand that?

listen to me

it gives me an idea of how to handle a neighbor

who's really irritable

be like Jesus

it helps me understand how to handle a rebellious child

be like Jesus

it helps me know how to deal with rejection

and the disappointment of

the hardness of the world that we live in

be like Jesus

so as we close John chapter 6

John 6 · chapter mention

here's what I want you to recognize

that this passage gives to us

a wonderful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ

truthful in exposing sin

and pride

people walked away from hearing Jesus

and they understood exactly what their heart's condition was

we see also that Jesus was humble

in explaining that salvation

is the work of God

we also see that he was wonderful

in bringing salvation

to all those that were called

and he was loving

even to the most hard

and unrepentant sinner

in the mix

so let me ask you this

that's my Jesus

do you know him

do you know him

do you know the one

who came into this world

to save sinners

of whom I am chief

or are you sitting out here this morning

with a heart that

is burdened by the guilt and shame of your life

and I want you to know

Jesus is the only answer

Jesus is the only answer

let's close in prayer

our father

as we look to the scriptures

this morning

and we see

the glory of our savior

our longing is this

is that he would be lifted up among us

and that we would delight in him

as our God

and our savior

and I pray this morning

that as

we bring this service

to a close

that

those who are here

that do not know Christ

would have their hearts

warmed by the Holy Spirit

and recognizing

the burden of their soul

would come to Christ

repenting of their sin

and believing in him alone

for their salvation

that's our prayer

that's our desire

as we sing

that Jesus would be lifted up

and we ask this in his name

amen

let's stand together

as our band comes to lead us

in our closing song

let me encourage you

if you're here today

and you recognize

the spirit of God

is addressing

a spiritual need you have

you may be here

and he is calling you

he's talking to you

about the spiritual burden

of your heart

and you recognize

I need Christ as my savior

as my savior