 Sermon title this morning is I thought to have it deserters over offense little play-on words there Really what we're talking about in John chapter 6 verses 60 through 71 here is defecting false disciples Defecting false disciples and we're gonna see a picture of what a defecting false disciple looks like from John chapter 6 here Versus 60 through 71 now. This has been a glorious chapter. I just love John chapter 6 and there's just so much Content we could spend so much time here. There's so much to learn. Has it been a blessing to you guys? Amen It's been a blessing to me to study it It's just been a joy and I feel like we're just scraping the surface But as the Lord would allow we've learned so much and just very very grateful to the Lord for all that's here This chapter this great chapter Opened with the Lord Jesus Christ going over the Sea of Galilee and already a great multitude is following him In fact in John chapter 6 verse 1 it says that they followed him because they saw his signs They followed him because they saw the the miracles that he performed now Think about that up to this point what the Lord has done if you're familiar with the Gospels You've read other sections of scripture think about to this point what the Lord has done the Lord Jesus Christ is daily Healing people in the language of the the New Testament here is continuously working miracles continuously Regularly healing people he knows their heart it points to the omniscience the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ He's teaching with authority and the people are astonished at his teaching. He is forgiving sins He's clearing out the temple great act of power in the temple. He claims a lordship over the Sabbath He's commanding unclean spirits. He's controlling the weather walking on water reading their minds right feeding the 25,000 raising the dead it is an almost continuous Display of the deity and the power of the Lord Jesus Christ his omnipotence his omniscience By this point. He's told John the Baptist witness of himself He's told John the Baptist the blind sea the lame walk the lepers are cleansed the death here The dead are raised and the poor have the gospel preached to them He's had a full ministry already and it has been Astonishing all the Lord has done and all of that so far in fulfillment here specifically of Isaiah's Old Testament prophecies about him But so many prophecies fulfilled about him already if you're familiar with the Old Testament You can just count numerous prophecies from Old Testament prophets that have been fulfilled by Christ to this point clearly overwhelmingly Confirming affirming that Christ is the promised Messiah the son of God the word of God having become flesh now and dwelling among them if you remember John the Baptist preached bearing witness of him saying behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world The word of God has borne witness of him his own works bear witness of him God himself bears witness of him, right? This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased Even to this point the demons bear witness of him you are the Christ the son of God So they're cast out the word has certainly gotten around about him and to this point. There are thousands thousands of eyewitnesses to his miracles thousands that have heard his preaching there are thousands that have been healed at one point in Luke chapter 6 verse 17 there were Thousands a great multitude at one time that were healed of their diseases It's a word has gotten out from all over Jerusalem all over Judea. They came from Tyre. They came from Sidon and To behold those miracles to hear that teaching to experience the overwhelming outpouring of divine power Demands a response It demands a response. You can't sit by Passively in the face of that great testimony that great experience that great power Of course, there are those that say they believe in him Of course, you would expect a multitude to be following him Of course, there would be many who would respond to him in this way There was already a great multitude following him in Jerusalem if you remember from John chapter 2 during Passover week a Great multitude followed him and in verse chapter 2 verse 23 They believed in his name when they saw the signs which he did Here in John chapter 6 another a great multitude Still following the Lord now next to the Sea of Galilee and Capernaum and they believed in him so Convincingly that they were about to take him by force and make him king of Course there would be many who would say I'll follow you wherever you go. I'll follow you to my death Of course, there would be many who would come and would follow him They say until the Lord took them home and according to Matthew chapter 7 verse 22 of course There would be many many who would call upon him Lord Lord and set out to be his disciple Doing works in his name. I think about it for a moment What does the Lord Jesus Christ end up saying to the many? They call him Lord and profess to follow him in Matthew chapter 7 verses 21 through 23 The Lord says not everyone who says to me Lord Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven But it's he who does the will of my father in heaven many will say to me in that day Lord Lord Have we not prophesied in your name cast out demons in your name and done many wonders in your name Then I will declare to them. Jesus says I never knew you depart from me you who practice lawlessness What did the Lord say of the great multitudes that followed him out of Jerusalem that we could pass over in John chapter 2 verse 23 Jesus said he did not commit himself to them Because he knew all men and had no need that anyone should testify of man for he knew what was in man He didn't commit himself to them because they were hard-hearted because they were rebellious. He knew what was in their heart Although it says there they believed in him There was something gravely deficient about their so-called faith There was something tragically missing in their response to him in their response to who he is and what he's done Many think about this many many followed him around on foot in rough terrain for days Often not even considering their own personal needs and yet there was something Eternally lacking in their commitment How you respond to Christ and how you respond to his word will determine your eternal destiny Biblical preaching Christ-like preaching when the Lord Jesus Christ preached that biblical preaching will confront you With the necessity of a response How can you in the face of the claims of the Lord Jesus Christ just sit idly by and not respond? It's an absurd thought Either he's Lord or he's a lunatic But if he's Lord then follow him it demands a response a response of words certainly but also response of your life Will you follow the Lord Jesus Christ? What does that look like? Biblical preaching will command Repentance and it won't use the devil's dictionary to define that Biblical preaching will command faith And it will demand that your faith produce fruits Biblical preaching will command you to deny yourself Take up your cross. It'll convey the high cost of discipleship It will demand that you count all that you have even your own life as nothing to gain Christ Biblical preaching will command Obedience preaching that doesn't command to those things doesn't demand that response is not biblical preaching Biblical preaching will proclaim the glories of heaven without ever neglecting the judgments of hell How will you respond? Think about it right now. How have you been responding? What does your life look like? How have you responded to the preaching of God's word with your life? So much of what passes today for preaching doesn't even come close to biblical preaching Falls far far short more like self-help motivational psycho babble nonsense, right? But not the Lord Jesus Christ look at what the Lord says in John chapter 6 verse 53 Most assuredly Jesus says unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood you have no life in you That was offensive to them then and it's offensive now and it's offensive because it's biblical preaching It demands a response. It demands a response of your commitment to him demands a response from your life Like all biblical preaching these words demand a response Those words there And the rest of his sermon in John chapter 6 and the synagogue at Capernaum that day got a response And it's a response here as it is today as it was then the response separates the sheep from the goats Your response will separate the wheat from the chaff the loss from the saved it'll separate True disciples from here what we're talking about defecting false disciples And we see that first In the response of the false disciple to his words to his words Then we begin with verse 60 First their response to his word verse 60 Therefore now put this in context because of his words Because of his preaching to this point this sermon on the bread of life And because of the high commitment that the Lord was calling them to Many of his disciples here it says when they heard this said here's their response This is a hard saying who can understand it That john here in john chapter 6 calls them disciples calls them disciples metheatase What that is basically is just a learning follower of the lord jesus christ At this point in time Pharisees had disciples right john the baptist had his disciples rabbis had disciples This is merely someone who attached himself to a teacher to learn something And here they're attaching themselves to the lord jesus christ When you consider down in verse 70 if you look there very quickly Because of verse 70 we know That the 11 Were true disciples and they were there one of them is a devil We know that and then you have this other crowd that was crowding around that were also called disciples here So among this crowd there were true disciples and there were defecting false disciples Both in the same crowd both here called disciples now Knowing that there's true disciples knowing that there's false disciples There's also true saving faith and there's also damning Unsaving faith damning false faith There are true disciples of the lord jesus christ here and there are damned deceived defecting disciples The question becomes and the question we want to answer from john chapter 6 here is who is true and who is false What is the counterfeit and what is the genuine? We do that first here in verse 60 by looking at their response to his word their response to his word They describe his word in verse 60 as Sclare us harsh when they heard this they said wow. This is a harsh Hard saying Sclare us who can understand it More closely. This should be translated as harsh as intolerable As offensive in other words Unacceptable is unacceptable. This is harsh. This is hard. It is intolerable. We simply are not going to listen to this They follow that saying up with at the end of verse 60 Who can understand it if you've got a new king james there that word understand a little bit of an unfortunate translation It really means who can listen to it literally who can listen to this who can accept it Who can stomach it and the answer to that rhetorical question in their eyes is no one This is unacceptable simply unacceptable. It's ridiculous if they're listening. This is an intolerable statement It's ridiculous. No one is going to believe this. No one is going to accept this. Certainly not us I'm not going to take this nonsense. Anyone not anymore. I'm not going to listen to this I'm certainly not going to obey it And so it's intolerable. It's ridiculous. It is unacceptable Reminds me of if you've got a young child at home Trying to feed a baby something they don't want to eat You put the spoon toward their mouth. It is intolerable. It is harsh. It is offensive already the Starts and they're not going to eat it. You're not going to get that down no matter what Okay, same thing here with the words of the lord jesus christ. You're not going to get it down They view it as harsh. They view it as intolerable. It is Unacceptable to them. That's really important to understand this It's not because it wasn't understandable. That's the reason there for the poor translation of the new king james They rejected his words because his words were unacceptable to them not because they didn't understand them They rejected his words here because they were intolerable and harsh Not because they didn't know what he was clearly saying. We looked at that a lot last week They refused to submit to him as the bread of life In order to have eternal life and they refused to humble themselves. They simply just willfully rejected what he was saying looked at his words from an earthly standpoint Had no faith were not humble and did not consider that what he was saying might be true Simply rejected him out of hand now We get to verse 61 when jesus knew in himself That his disciples complained about this when he says disciples there We're talking about all of those who were gathered around including the 11 One of which was the devil the 12 one of which was the devil here He knew within himself that his disciples complained again. He knows the heart of every man Every heart is laid bare and exposed to before him. He knows what's in the heart This is another statement of his deity. All right another statement of his omniscience In knowing that He knew that his disciples complained. There's that word gone good so again Here not enough to say no. Thank you They had to quarrel and complain and gripe and groan about what he was saying They had to express to each other In complaining and saving face maybe in justifying themselves and being defensive They had to express all the ways in which his word was just unsatisfactory to them And so they complained and they griped about it So one they described his word as intolerable two is simply unacceptable three they began complaining Grumbling groaning about it And so jesus said to them does this offend you Do my statements does my sermon so to speak offend you false disciples number four are often offended at his words offend there Means to stumble or to fall over They hear the teaching They hear what the lord is saying they understand it. It's simply unacceptable to them because it's unacceptable that they stumble and fall all over it Completely unwilling to embrace his words in faith And they fall all over them the reason for that point five the way to discern a false disciple Is through their response to his word all of their reasoning is from their flesh. It's worldly reasoning They approach the word of god From a fleshly standpoint from an earthly perspective complaining grumbling quarreling. It's unacceptable to them. It's harsh It's intolerable and all of that coming from their flesh They don't see things from an from a heavenly perspective, right? We saw the same thing didn't we in john chapter three when the lord jesus christ was talking to nicodemus Nicodemus came in earnest asking earnest questions But yet nicodemus couldn't understand spiritual things or jesus christ talking about heavenly things Nicodemus just couldn't get it We saw the very same response didn't we when jesus christ spoke to the woman at the well In sychar And the woman at the well simply couldn't understand his teaching on living water yet She had to have her understanding open her heart hoping to understand those things But at first just stuck in the earthly Had an earthly perspective not a heavenly perspective here the same thing now Let me explain what I mean by that their reasoning is from their flesh. It's worldly reasoning look at verse 62 Here's what we get a sense of that verse 62 says the lord says What then if you should see the son of man ascend where he was before What then if you should see the son of man ascend where he was before in other words One of the statements that contributed so much to their hostility that contributed so much to their Intolerance for his word was the statement that jesus said I am the living bread which came down from heaven I'm the living bread which came down from heaven knowing their hearts the lord knew they took a fence at the idea That jesus christ you know whose father and mother we know Live right over there marion joseph right who is this guy who doesn't think he is They took a fence at the statement that he made that he's the bread of life that comes down from heaven So the lord jesus christ takes that very statement and he puts it right back in their face again They have to contend with it again What then if you should see the son of man ascend where he was before in other words knowing their hearts jesus takes that which is giving them the most fits And he forces them to contend with it again if you don't believe me now If you don't believe me now, what if you literally saw me go right back up to where I came from You see how that would have offended them even more It's sarcastic, but it makes a point. Would you still take offense after that if you saw me ascend to where I was before? Earthly minded people would you believe me then jesus says and once again He makes a distinction between the heavenly and the earthly there in verse 62, but they're bound up They're bound up in their earthly thinking They can't imagine that the lord jesus christ Is true to his claim that he came down from heaven They just don't think past the point that he's this guy that lives over there That they know and they can't seem to think that uh the lord is the messiah that he's come down from heaven And so again the lord jesus christ makes that claim they out of hand reject it So the lord explains in verse 63 He explains this it is the spirit who gives life The flesh profits nothing if you take these words literally It's these words about eating of my flesh and drinking of my blood if you take these words literally The word is useless to you these words are spirit and they are life if you Reason with this and your own earthly thinking using human wisdom This word is useless to you in other words stop reasoning from your flesh The flesh is powerless The flesh is ignorant. The flesh is unsubmissive. The flesh is argumentative The flesh is harsh and intolerable Here they're responding with prideful carnal hearts that were spiritually dead again Not because they didn't understand what he was saying It's because of the condition of their heart. These are the grumbling dead They're dead and their trespasses and sins and they simply are not responding spiritually Jesus says the words that he speaks are spirit And life and we're reminded of what paul says again in first corinthians chapter 2 verse 12 listen to this Paul says now we have received not the spirit of the world But the spirit who is from god Listen in order that we might know The things that have been freely given to us by god The only way that you understand fully the things freely given by god is when you have the spirit of god Without the spirit of god, you just can't understand Just not going to get it. You're going to find his words unacceptable. You're not going to follow. You're going to fall away We've been given the spirit of gods that we might understand. He goes on in verse 13 These things we also speak Not in words which man's wisdom teaches But which the holy spirit teaches comparing spiritual things not with earthly But comparing spiritual things with spiritual But here again the natural man in verse 14 does not receive the things of the spirit of god For they are foolishness to him nor can he know them. He's simply unable to know them There's an inability there. He can't know them because they are only spiritually discerned So as we look here again defecting false disciples Revealed in their response to the lord's words five ways in which we saw that one They view his word as harsh and intolerable two simply unacceptable. They refuse to listen three They grumble and complain and murmur about it revealing the condition of their heart four They're offended by it. They fall over it. They stumble over it because it's offensive to them completely unacceptable, right? And number five they reason from their flesh. They simply cannot understand spiritual things With that you look at a false disciple A false disciple Cannot separate the words of the lord jesus christ from jesus christ himself So when a false disciple rejects the word of the lord, he not only rejects the words of the lord He rejects the lord himself This is the lord of glory who preaches this truth. You cannot separate the two So when they reject his words, it is an unashamed unabashed rejection of the lord as well They respond here in such a way That prompts jesus christ to say in verse 64 There are some of you here who do not believe So among the disciples quote unquote There are many we know that from verse 70. There are many Who don't believe Among the disciples there are false disciples who don't believe now this This response we have to contend with from scripture. It's not unusual It wasn't unusual in the first century and it certainly isn't unusual today And we live in a country where 85 percent of the people in our country claim to be christians You understand that 85 percent of the people claim to be christians and claim this is a christian nation And yet when we go out witnessing It appears that 85 percent of the people we talk to are these false defecting disciples They're not genuine disciples of lord jesus christ Now listen Just like these false disciples in the first century Most people don't realize it most people wouldn't admit to it But the only reason they follow christ is not for who he is and what he's done But because of what they could get out of the deal The only reason they would follow him around the sea walk through rough terrain over days not being concerned with their own well-being Is for what they can get he was simply a dinner in a show They just want heaven today false disciples. They're not thinking about the lord jesus christ They don't desire him as their treasure. They simply want to get out of hell free card Well, of course, I want heaven. So I'll say this little prayer. I'll do this little religious ritual I'll go through the motions. I'll show up at church every once in a while and I'll get heaven Similarly not the way that it works They want heaven. They just don't care if christ is there not when they get there They want forgiveness, but they don't see themselves the way the bible describes them. They don't see themselves as bad They don't see themselves really in need of forgiveness. It's just a religious ritual they go through. That's what I'm supposed to do I'm a sitter god's a savior. I just ask for forgiveness. That's all that's necessary They want to continue in their sin with no genuine repentance If you witness to them If you preach the gospel to them and tell them that they are a rebellious enemy of god because of their wicked works If you tell them that if you tell them that they must be willing to give up everything to follow christ If you tell them that they can't be a drunkard and a christian, there's no such thing as a drunkard christian If you tell them they cannot be in a sexual relationship outside of marriage And call themselves a christian. There is no such thing If you tell them there is no such thing as a gay christian does not exist If you tell them they cannot be in love with this world in love with its pleasures its lifestyles its pursuits its media its music Whatever it is you tell them they cannot be in love with this world and call themselves a christian If you tell them that they can't be a christian and tolerate any of this stuff If you tell them that they are lost Because they never obey the lord in the in evangelism If you tell them they're lost because they never demonstrate any love for the brethren Right the bible says he who says i know him does not keep his commandments is what is a liar If you tell them that they are lost because they have never mourned over their spiritual bankruptcy before god If you tell them they're lost because they have no hunger and thirst for righteousness If you tell them they're lost because they never strive to pursue holiness without which no one will see the lord If you tell them they're lost because they don't deny themselves anything If you tell them they're lost because they have no great desire for christ no love for his word no great hatred for their sin If you try to tell them that by the way they respond to the word of god that they are heart-hearted Defensive self-justifying and on their way to hell They will respond just like these false disciples in capernaum There'll be no difference. This is a harsh saying who can stomach it These demands of the lord these demands are so high The cost of discipleship is so high It's a harsh saying. It's just unacceptable to me. That's intolerable to me. In fact, we're all sinners Right, we just do our best we can Let the chips fall where they may It's exactly what false disciples do today It's exactly the way false disciples respond today and that's exactly how these false disciples Rejected the lord here on the sea of galilee in the first century So what do false disciples do today? How do they how do they rationalize themselves out of this? You know here in john chapter 6 it says it says that they went back and followed him no more They took a look at those high demands of christ. They took a look at that high call to commitment They said listen, this is unacceptable. I'll not have this man to rule over me. I'm not going to follow him in this way I'm going to come to christ if I come I'm going to come on my own terms They look at that high cost of discipleship and they go back and follow him no more. What do they go back to? You know today when a false disciple just simply rejects the word of god out of hand and begins to defend themselves Begins to justify themselves in their sin begins to You know working around in their mind, you know, their deceptive heart leading the way How can I have my sin and still go to heaven when I die? How does a false disciple do that today? How do they how do they get themselves out from that? certain Terrifying expectation of judgment that the lord preaches Paul says it He says it in 2nd timothy chapter 4 verse 3. He says the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine That was a harsh statement. Who can who can accept it? It's a hard statement. Who can tolerate that it is intolerable Time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires Right, they're gonna come if they come they're gonna come on their own terms They're not gonna let anyone influence them. They're not gonna let the lord jesus christ be lord over their lives They're not gonna give up their sin. They're not gonna deny themselves According to their own desires because they have itching ears. They're gonna heap up for themselves teachers What are those teachers gonna say? Are those teachers gonna preach that you have to deny yourself take up your cross daily and follow him? Are those teachers gonna define repentance accurately and biblically to say that you must turn from your sin? And follow christ in faith Are those false teachers gonna preach against sin and call you to holiness? Are they gonna preach against sin and preach judgment and wrath which is something that is We need to hear amen It's the most loving thing you can do is to warn the deceived disciple that they're going to hell How much of a hater do you have to be to hate them so much that you won't warn them? You know what the word of god says you've been entrusted with the gospel Wow They're gonna heap up for them for themselves teachers and those teachers are gonna tell them everything they want to hear These are the teachers that preach peace peace where there is no peace Just do the best you can Listen, did you say that prayer? Let me ask you. Did you mean it when you said it? Well, if you were sincere when you said that prayer, where is jesus right now? That's right He's in your heart. Don't you ever doubt it if you ever doubt it. It's because satan is making you doubt No, that's your conscience screaming out to you that you're in sin and the lord calls you to repentance They'll turn their ears from the truth paul says and they'll be turned aside to fables You know when these in john chapter six went back and followed him to war. What do they go back to? They went right back to their fables Right back to misunderstanding of the law right back to their legalism right back to their false religion because it was comfortable to them They were turned aside to Fables you know we And others out there we do a terrible Despicable and unloving disservice to anyone If we try to water down and make more palatable The word of god in order to avoid offense You've got to preach the word of god in its undiluted truth and that's exactly what we see the lord doing here He doesn't try to make it easier. He doesn't try to make it more palatable He doesn't he gives it to him again in the same way they got it the first time and they're forced to contend with it again Because it is the truth of god The most unloving thing you can do is to try to pedal a lie on the back of god's word It's despicable. You just have to preach the truth False defecting disciples are going to respond how they're going to respond We'll see why in a moment Our responsibility is faithfulness to god's word and you let god take care of the results, right Jesus said in john chapter eight verse 31 That if you abide in my word, not if you reject my word, not if you turn away from my word Not if you find my word intolerable. Jesus said if you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed If the words of jesus christ Are grasped rightly as spirit and life Then rather than rejecting and ignoring him and rebelling against him true disciples will Worship him and see him as their supreme treasure long to be with him Honor him with their repentance honor him with their faith their commitment their obedience And the bible says they will have everlasting life Had a true disciples respond to the lord's word. Jeremiah said this in chapter 15 verse 16 He said your words god were found and i ate them and your word was to me The joy and rejoicing of my heart for i am called by your name Oh lord god of hosts how many christians would say amen to that If it's god's word the joy and rejoicing of your heart You long to obey it Long to honor the lord in it is it your meditation day and night There are true disciples here and there are false disciples and we understand false disciples by the way that they respond To the word of god now. Let me give you Next the reasons for that response There are reasons that they respond in that way and the lord explain explains those beginning in verse 64 the reasons for their response Jesus says but there are some of you who do not believe 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? so now The original faith quote unquote so to speak the original belief That caused many that day in the crowd to get up off the couch and get out and follow christ Right they heard his teaching. They saw his miracles and so that faith So to speak that belief that caused them to follow in that way has now been shipwrecked That faith is gone. It's been shipwrecked. It's been broken on the rocks Not for lack of information Not because they didn't understand not because of a lack of evidence The first reason giving for their damning response is false faith It's simply false faith Just like there are true disciples of christ and there are false disciples of christ Here there are those whose belief is genuine in saving And there are those in the crowd Who believe as james alludes to No differently than a demon would believe Their faith is unsaving. It's not genuine not true james said in chapter 2 verse 19 He said you believe that there's one god you do well Even the demons believe in tremble That should make you think for a moment What's the difference between your faith and the faith of a demon? A demon has seen the lord jesus christ A demon has been in the presence of the lord jesus christ. A demon knows the word of god What's the difference between your faith and the faith of a demon? simon magus simon magus in acts chapter 8 is said to have believed And was baptized and soon after exposed as a false defecting disciple You have in the new testament the account of demas Who is a false defecting disciple having left ministry having forsaken paul in love with this present world In love with worldly pursuits the things of the world, you know making money pleasuring himself whatever the case may be We see the example here in this passage of the ultimate False defecting disciple that's judas himself the quintessential false disciple the second reason For their response for the rejection of the word of god. We see in verse 65 look in verse 65 And jesus said Therefore i have said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted to him By my father the therefore is referring to the fact of unbelief the phenomenon so to speak of unbelief Why does unbelief exist why do people persist in unbelief because jesus says no one can come to me unless the father draws him Why are you unbelieving? Because you can't come to the father unless i can't come to the son unless the father draws you you see The therefore means that it's not been given to them To believe that's the second reason for why they respond to god's word in the way that they do There are those who will not believe the reason it's not been given to them to believe jesus being omniscient And knowing from the beginning who did not believe And knowing that is because they are dead in sin Hard hearted and earthly minded he here in verse 65 reaffirms the truth that we already looked at in verse 44 No one can no one is able. They don't have the power. They don't have the ability No one can come to christ unless it has been granted unless it's been given by the father Salvation from start to finish is completely and entirely a gift from god That's what the bible means when it teaches grace alone grace It has to be it has to be grace alone because man in his flesh is unable to come to christ They are dead in their trespasses But it's not saying only here that man is unwilling that's certainly true man is unwilling in their flesh to come to christ It says here that unless god grants it no man can come No man is able to come James again says that of god's own will He brought us forth by the word of truth of god's own will And not by the will of man not by the exertion of man not by the wisdom of man not by the might of man But of god's own will not by the decision of man Right, but of god's own will that means that even the faith Even the faith by which we believe unto righteousness even that faith is a gift from god Therefore it must be granted it must be given to dead sinners It must be given by the father to dead sinners that they can come to christ in faith When you believe when you believe it doesn't happen because of your power doesn't happen because of your wisdom Your understanding or your strength it happens because of the spirit With the word of god who draws you and Overcomes your power overcomes your so-called wisdom Overcomes your weaknesses overcomes your lack of strength overcomes your inability and draws you to god the father The second reason is that it's just not been given to them believe but there's a third reason here A third reason that they respond to the word in this way The third reason is that they prefer their own understanding They just prefer their own thinking they prefer their own terms Their own perception of truth They will not accept his words because they are intolerable. They're unacceptable And they prefer The tenets so to speak of their own false religion And they just go back to it. That's how we know that they prefer it They're going to reject christ. They're just going to go back to what they believed before verse 66 says from that time The time of that sermon and the lord revealing those truths to them From that time many of his disciples just went back and walked with him no more, you know Hey, we gave it a try We listened for a while We took it into consideration. You know, I thought about it a little bit. Listen not what I expected Certainly not what I wanted. So I'm heading back. Who's coming with me, right? Got a horde going with them John would later say in first john chapter 2 verse 19 Author of our gospel here in the thing First john chapter 2 verse 19. John says they went out from us Because they were not of us For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us But they went out in order that they might be made manifest that none of them were of us We've seen that before Yes, sadly so It's sadly so They went out from us because they were not of us The reason they went out Given here in first john chapter 2 verse 19 is that it might be made manifest That it might be demonstrated clearly demonstrated a clear distinction Between true disciples and false defecting disciples. They went out so that it could be clear They weren't of us. They were never of us Ultimately it's because they rejected his word They rejected his word faith comes by hearing hearing by the word of god if you reject that word You're rejecting faith in christ. You're rejecting christ It can't be saved There are many that Would profess to follow christ here at the synagogue and convert them today our day and age We see people that profess christ all the time And yet they go out from us. That's because they are not of us. They're false Defecting disciples is what we see here. These disciples just defecting So how are you going to respond to the word of god? How will you respond? To the word of god look with me quickly for an example of this in matthew chapter 13 matthew chapter 13 You know if you've been with us any length of time this is a very familiar passage to us And many are somewhat unfamiliar with it, but it bears repeating And bears a regular look because it's just so informative And it gives us good ground on which to examine our own response to the word of god matthew chapter 13 beginning in verse three This is the parable of the sower a parable of the sower Listen to the parable verse three Then he spoke many things to them in parable saying behold A sower went out to sow And as he sowed some seed fell by the wayside and the birds came and devoured them Some fell on stony places where they did not have much earth And they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth But when the sun was up they were scorched and because they had no root they withered away And some fell among thorns and the thorns sprang up and choked them But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop some a hundredfold some 60 some 30 He who has ears to hear let him hear one of the distinctions between true saving faith and false defective faith False defecting faith is a lack of fruitfulness a lack of fruitful fruitfulness Consider that in the lord's explanation of the parable beginning in verse 18 look at verse 18 Therefore now hear the explanation of the parable of the sower Verse 19 when anyone hears the word of the kingdom And does not understand it then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart This is he who received the seed by the wayside and we've already understood from the lord's teaching Why is it that people don't understand or why is it unacceptable? Because of their hard heartedness because of their sin because of their rebellion So the word is the seed that seed of god's word is sown and if it lands on your hard Concrete like heart Then it just sits there on the surface. It can't penetrate concrete and it just tick tick tick tick tick the seed Just dropping on the concrete sits there on the surface and immediately the bible says satan comes And sweeps that word away and you're lost. It's not a saved person This is a false disciple someone who believed for a time like simon magus and is gone right Look at verse 20 But he who has received the seed on stony places This is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. We see that frequently You know someone comes into the church from the world And they may profess for a time so sick and tired of my sin Just under the burden of my sin. I want freedom. I want christ. I want forgiveness I want to be cleansed. I want to go to heaven when I die and just so charged up about the things of god And yet how does it end for them verse 21? He has no root in himself But endures only for a while For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word immediately he stumbles You know, it's interesting there. You sometimes you think he endures only for a while And you're tempted to think well, that's a short time You know, how long does he last is that the guy that comes in one day and maybe six weeks later? He's gone. Maybe three weeks later. He's gone. Maybe two months and he's gone. I mean, what is it? It's interesting here. It's not the time that is emphasized It's the things which make him stumble When tribulation and persecution come now think about this Got those that profess to be christians that go to easy believers of churches where there's never any difficulty Never because everybody's just playing christian They're not they're not doing church for real. They're just playing church. It's a glorified social club Right they go to there to make friends make business contacts, you know set up a bunco night on friday I mean, it's like that kind of so-called christianity. So nothing ever happens. That's difficult Nothing ever no persecution ever come. You know why no persecution comes along because nobody's talking about christ Nobody's loving their brother enough to go to them and resolve conflict or to lovingly confront them in their sin Because you care about their soul. No one's going out in evangelizing. There is no persecution So they can sit there in that deceived state for decades and then die and go to hell When you come to a biblical godly church where people love their brother enough to get involved in their life Then there's going to be tribulation. There's going to be some difficulty There's going to be some adversity and the lord will see to it because we are sanctified in the soil of our adversity We're sanctified through those trials through those difficulties, but here it could be years It could be years you come to church everything goes great There's joy and there's fellowship and there's all this stuff But it's when that time of adversity comes it's that time that reveals true from false Now by the lord's grace to us. We've gone through some adversity, haven't we? By the lord's grace to us But that reveals true from false That kind of adversity reveals this kind of false defecting disciple from those who are true They went out from us because they were not of us if they had been of us They would have continued with us, but they went out that it might be main benefits. They weren't of us Look at verse 22 Now he who received the seed among the thorns Is he who hears the word and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and he becomes Unfruitful you notice that all of these are unfruitful Plant dies plant dies plant dies no fruit all false defecting disciples. So here whether it's tribulation Whether it's persecution whether it's the deceitfulness of riches Whether it's the cares of the world at some point that false defecting disciple is going to stumble over his word and he's out Revealed and exposed for the false disciple that he is bears no fruit and he's gone Listen to verse 23 though distinction between false and true He who received the seed on the good ground Fertile soil of a humble heart Prepared by the lord to meekly receive the word That good ground is he who hears the word and understands it in other words accepts it when you listen to the word of god Doesn't James also say don't be just hearers of the word deceiving yourselves Be doers of the word. So he who listens It's not it's a bit likely listen. It's not in one ear out the other you respond with obedience You respond with following obeying the word of god living for the word for the lord, right? It's in one ear In your brain down in your heart changing who you are And then it results in fruitfulness for the lord results in you living for the lord. That's understanding That's hearing the person that just hears in one ear out the other. It's not listening right not hearing Here they understand it and indeed bears fruit You want to know if you're a true disciple of the lord jesus christ or a false disciple you're bearing fruit Listen, if you're not pursuing fruit, you're not going to bear fruit So if you call yourself a christian you call yourself a christian and yet you're not Fervently pursuing fruit in the christian life You're not a bear fruit You need to be in god's word Devouring god's word devoted to god's word learning god's word so that the word of god with the spirit of god will produce fruit in your life Fruits of the spirit you need to be out evangelizing so you can produce fruits You need to be loving the brothers so that you can produce fruit You need to be discipling someone Being discipled yourself so that you produce fruit here the genuine disciple produces fruit some 100 fold some 60 some 30 This is a glorious truth of scripture a great way to tell if you're a disciple Be zealous in pursuing fruits right Lastly on your notes back in john chapter six All of this right we see the the the response that a false disciple has to the word of god And that response outlined in several ways We see the reasons for that response the lord exposes their heart and gives us the reasons why they respond the way they do And next i want you to see their response the response of the defecting false disciple I want you to see that response revealed in contrast Revealed in contrast now against how true disciples respond to the word of god look at verse 67 Then jesus said to the 12 Do you also want to go away? I remember as a new christian when i first looked at this passage My heart was broken. I just my heart was broken Here's all these that were a crowding around the lord these multitudes and you see jesus christ They're preaching his heart out and all the disciples just forsake him except for the 12 and one of them is a devil And so you sort of have a tendency maybe to look at this passage like jesus sort of hat in hand Maybe discouraged the discourage in his heart turning to his 12 and saying are you going to leave me too? Right listen that is not what's going on here Is not what's going on here consider in this passage at this point what jesus knew jesus christ is omniscient He said he knew Those who would not believe and he knew who would betray him the lord jesus christ is clear minded here He's got his eyes wide open. He knows exactly what's going on. And so this question Is not for himself. This is not a gloomy or glum or discouraged question This is a challenge to the 12 in the face of such tragic defection This is a challenge to them. So he turns to them. He says listen All this has happened. You see all these people turning around leave. He turns to the 12 and says Surely you're not going to leave also. Are you that's sort of the mindset or the challenge to his disciples Listen all these people they're following the dictates of their own heart You're not going to leave are you in other words consider your actions here Consider what your response will be you say that your disciples of me. You're my disciples Surely you're not going to respond the way they're responding. Are you? That's the question that he asked of us also The christian will persevere through adversity The christian will last will stay through difficult times. This question is not for his sake It's for the sake of the disciples. What are you going to do in the face of this defection? What are you going to do in the face of such faithlessness? What are you going to do christian? What are you going to do in the face of such hostility? What are you going to do when you're preaching the gospel you've commanded the priest of the gospel and everyone turns away from you What are you going to do christian? What are you going to do when you hit the road going door to door? And you get 50 doors slammed in your face before you have one conversation. Are you going to give it up? Are you going to turn away? Are you going to go back? Do you want to do go back to the life you had before? How are you going to respond in the face of such faithlessness? In other words, this is a challenge to you and I. Are you going to let this shake you? Are you going to just go along with the crowd? What are you going to do church when you have difficulty in your midst and your best friend is disfellowshipped? What are you going to do? What are you going to do christian when you have friends that are out of the church slandering the church Where are your loyalties lie? Are you going to go with the crowd? Are you going to go with them? Who are you following? Are we as a church following man or following christ? In other words, you got to make that decision ahead of time Formulate your decision ahead of time Who are you following? I've told good friends of mine before I've had this conversation with several people maybe some of you in this room I love you man. You're my brother And I would do anything for you and I want to man help you and I want to be there with you and times get tough You're my brother, but I tell you this The day that you turn from christ is the day that we're done Is my loyalty is to the lord if you're not going to follow christ then I want nothing to do with you You're an object of my evangelism now That's because I love them and want what's best for them But we we have to make that decision ahead of time We have so many examples of that right so many examples How many examples you have to see before you start getting it right if you Put your loyalties with the world or you put your loyalties your faithfulness with that Defecting false disciple and you'll face the consequences of that. It's going to show up in your life It's going to show up in your life Decide ahead of time Peter thankfully responds right We see a great response from peter verse 68 Simon peter answered him lord Where else are we going to go to whom shall we go you have the words of eternal life amen Peter's not ashamed of his words Peter's not rejecting his words his words aren't intolerable peter here. You got to understand part of the disciples that Took offense He's part of the disciples the group here that maybe didn't understand or had difficulty with what the lord was saying And yet peter in great faith in great determination with the resolve of a genuine christian Right with the resolve the will of a genuine christian empowered by the spirit says i'm not going anywhere There's nowhere else to go lord. You are the one with the words of eternal life There's no other alternative for me here. How many of you have been in situations like that where maybe you're in sin I've talked to many who get to a point in their sin where they're ready to throw in the towel It's like this is too hard and this christian life is too hard. I can't do it anymore. I just want to go back to my life of sin Listen you think to yourself. I've been there when I was a new christian I've been there think to myself man. I just don't think I can make it. Maybe it's best. I just give up Whatever that's not an alternative That's not a decision It's like you've got no choice lord. You are the one with the words of eternal life Where else am I going to go back to my sin and then on to hell? That's no choice Are you tormented for all eternity What nonsense is that man? It's crazy. It's absurd There is no other alternative lord. You're the ones with eternal life. Where else am I going to go? And look at how peter addresses him such great christology in this verse in 68. He calls him lord They were to submit to the lord to whom shall we go in other words? There is no one else He is the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through him There is no it's exclusive, right? He is the unique son of god. There is nowhere else to go You have words of eternal life far from being ashamed at his words He acknowledges the truth of his words. They are the words of eternal life being that they come from the lord Jesus christ that means the lord jesus christ is the life giver the source of eternal life And again, you think about this Looking at the contrast between how peter responds here and how a defecting false disciple responds The line between true and false always drawn by the biblical teaching about christ by biblical teaching the biblical truth about the lord jesus christ when you Accept the lord jesus christ so to speak for who he is And you're not ashamed at his words you accept his words by faith And you've got right christology right understanding right heart He has the words of eternal life But the false disciples simply going to reject both the word of god words of christ and christ himself So peter continues in verse 69 He says also We have come to believe we are convinced, right? We've come to believe and we're convinced and know that you are the christ the son of the living god Look at that faith, you know, it's it's similar to peter's confession in matthew chapter 16 You were the christ and what does it say there in matthew chapter 16 about that confession? Jesus told peter that flesh and blood has not revealed that to him, but who? It's father in heaven In other words can't come to christ unless it's been granted This confession just like peter's confession in matthew 16 Just like the perseverance and confession and steadfastness and faith of every genuine christian is because God drew us to himself god Granted it in our last sermon. How is it granted? How does god draw us to himself by revealing his word to us giving us of his spirits that we can understand his word Here are the same thing for peter How do we know that it's been granted to them here verse 7 70 jesus answered and said did i not choose you? John 15 says jesus says you did not choose me, but i chose you and it's interesting they're chose them to go forth and bear fruit bear fruit Here he says did i not choose you to 12 and even within the midst of a Of the 12 here Such a faithful group of men that would preach christ until their deaths Satan is at work One of them here is a devil doesn't catch christ by surprise. In fact, it's according to god's plan that he's there The devil is at work even amongst a biblical godly church where people love the preaching love the word of god love one another Even in the midst of a church like that satan is at work It requires that we be vigilant Requires that we be on the lookout that we do what the bible says and when someone's in sin We go patiently lovingly confronting them in their sin We endeavor to labor to keep the peace the unity of the peace and the bond of the spirit It's we've got a responsibility here satan is always at work It says in 71 that he spoke of judice's scary at son of simon For it was he who would betray him being one of the 12 That picture just of judice Breaking up the 12, you know, similar to the 12 tribes of israel now We have the 12 disciples this new exodus we've talked about and satan at work to Scar it to destroy it to corrupt it Even among those closest to christ the devil is doing his work all of that to say Christ is going into this with his eyes wide open. He's headed to calvary. He knows exactly what's going to take place This is again an example of true faith In the face of faithlessness Where's your faith this morning? How would you respond? Christians persevere both in the face of sometimes hard words, right? But also in the face of hard situations hard circumstances hard-hearted faithless defecting disciples But true disciples persevere when others fall around them They're faithful And why is that it's because god has granted it Because god preserves us because god has been gracious to us. You can't be prideful in that We are dependent entirely upon god. So what about you? What about you this morning? How will you respond? Will you respond in faithfulness of the lord depending upon him and his strength? Accepting his words by faith and just living faithfully for him Will you hang in there? Will you endure difficulty will you stay? you know no matter what False faith defecting disciples are going to do around you. Will you follow the lord? If you're here today, and you're not saved Will you Switch sides Don't be among those ignorant hard-hearted defecting false disciples in capernaum that day. Don't do it There is no other alternative turn from your sin. Put your faith in christ And if you put your faith in christ the lord grants to you all the blessings of eternal life Blessings strength empowerment enablement joy Faith all gifts from god and he'll give it to you if you'll trust him. Amen. Amen. Let's pray Father in heaven I thank you for your word. I thank you for this depiction here this true account Of these defecting false disciples and god I pray for strength Help us lord to avoid that terrible falling away. There simply is no other Direction to go there is no other alternative you lord alone have the words of eternal life And it is our great joy the great rejoicing of our heart to light jeremiah embrace your word To devote ourselves to your word to vote ourselves to you in faith And to follow you lord But we are weak and we acknowledge our weakness god preserve us By your grace and mercy because of the finished work of christ on the cross god preserve us to the end Help us to be faithful to you god deliver us through The awful temptation that comes when others around us stumble and fall And despite how many fall god If this world just went to hell God I pray that you would preserve us That we would stand fast steadfast in your words steadfast faithfully serving you for your glory And we can't do it in of ourselves. We need help. So lord we depend upon you today Ask you for wisdom ask you for strength Help us lord and find us faithful to serve you for your glory god in jesus name. Amen