I get the privilege of preaching from two passages at the end of John chapter 6, one today and one next Sunday, Lord willing.
! I have an amazing passage that communicates some very encouraging truths.
!
Today I will be reading the entire section because there's a sense in which they're both intertwined.
But each one does stand alone and has a chiastic center that we'll be looking at.
So today let's look at the whole passage and then we'll be focusing just on the first.
John 6, 60.
It is the spirit who gives life.
The flesh is no help at all.
The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
But there are some of you who do not believe.
For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe and who it was who would betray him.
And he said, this is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the father.
After this, many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.
So Jesus said to the twelve, do you want to go away as well?
Simon Peter answered, Lord, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life.
And we have believed and come to know that you are the Holy One of God.
Jesus answered them, did I not choose you, the twelve?
And yet one of you is a devil.
He spoke of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.
Heavenly Father, we look to you and your word this morning, asking that your spirit would move among us, illuminate us,
allow us to breathe the fresh life that your word provides.
Help us to see your truths and cling to them, cling to Christ,
instead of drifting away.
Through your spirit, feed our souls and strengthen our faith today.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
There are a few passages in scripture that show the divide between true and false disciples as well as this one does.
In the midst of a crisis of faith,
where many of Jesus' disciples turned away from following him,
Peter makes an amazing, faithful confession.
Lord, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life,
and we have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.
Now, I believe that confession is a clear demonstration of the drawing love of the Father,
the life-breathing breath of the Spirit,
and the keeping power of our Savior.
This same kind of faith and divine preservation can be seen throughout the history of the church.
Through the crises of faith that happened in each generation,
and though from generation to generation that crisis or crises differed,
God has continued to preserve a remnant of true believers who remained faithful to him.
And you don't have to look far around you to see the same contrast in our generation.
We've seen pastors, worship leaders, Christian authors,
even friends or family members who once professed faith,
now saying,
I am no longer a Christian.
Their reasons vary.
Some talk about suffering.
Some talk about unanswered prayer.
Church hypocrisy.
Unanswered peace.
The difference between science and the Bible.
Apparent contradictions in the Bible.
Moral restrictions.
Divine justice.
And the exclusive claims of Jesus Christ.
And they can use any kind of new terminology they want to justify it,
but it is simply unbelief.
At the same time,
the church is still alive and growing and in many places thriving.
God's faithfulness to his people is unchanging.
And he wants to strengthen you today to endure well.
The question I believe this text puts before us this morning
is how do we respond when Jesus's words confront us
or when others walk away?
And the wisdom I believe this passage also provides is this.
When confronted with Jesus's difficult teachings,
he wants you,
he wants me to hold on to his words,
to be strengthened by the life that the spirit gives through them.
I believe this text shows us at least three reasons
to cherish and hold on to Christ's words.
One,
because they expose your sin.
Two,
because they are your life.
And three,
because he
holds on
to you.
So let's start
with considering the first reason
to hold on to Jesus's words.
Verses 60 through 62.
Hold on
to his words
because they expose your sin.
When many of his disciples heard it,
they said,
this is a hard saying.
Who can listen to it?
But Jesus,
knowing in himself
that his disciples were grumbling about this,
said to them,
do you take offense at this?
Then what if you were to see
the son of man ascending
to where he was before?
Now,
verse 60
introduces us
to another group
of people.
They weren't just the crowds
that followed
because of the signs.
They weren't
the religious leaders
from Judea
called in this passage
the Jews
who were
already
predisposed
to find fault with Jesus.
No,
these were his disciples.
People who had committed
to follow him
and to learn
from his teachings.
But they found
Jesus' words
hard.
The term used here,
skleros,
translated hard,
doesn't mean
hard to understand.
It means
hard to accept.
they obviously
didn't understand
all that he was saying.
But they resisted
what they did understand.
John's use
of the term
grumbling
in verse 61
puts these disciples
in the same category
as the unbelieving
children of Israel
who grumbled
in the wilderness
when the manna,
when they
got tired
of the manna.
the claims
Jesus made
earlier
about coming
from heaven
and his superiority
to Moses
most likely
bothered them
as well.
And his words
about eating
his flesh
and drinking
his blood
provoked them
and exposed
the true state
of their hearts.
They really
didn't
believe.
this is what
Jesus knew
in himself
when he responded
to their grumbling.
He then says
to them,
do you take
offense
at this?
Then what
if you were
to see
the son
of man
ascending
where he was
before?
Now this
response
might not
be easy
to understand
but I believe
it is
instructive.
he refers
to himself
as
the son
of man
a messianic
title
and he
speaks of
ascending
to where
he was
before
another
affirmation
of his
pre-existence
both
things
that they
had
trouble
believing.
Yet
he used
those words
to indicate
that their
offense
was
unfounded.
In
essence
he was
saying
if you
can't
accept
my
words
now
how
will
you
respond
when you
see me
exalted?
And
perhaps
understand
that that
exaltation
had to
come
through
death
and
resurrection.
And
what's the
greater
offense
anyway?
The
image of
eating
flesh and
blood
or
of
death
of the
Messiah
king
through
envy
and
jealousy.
Their
offense
wasn't
just a
metaphor,
wasn't
just about
the
metaphor,
it was
about his
identity
and his
mission.
He had
said earlier,
don't work
for the
food that
perishes,
but for the
food that
endures to
eternal
life,
which the
son of
man will
give you.
They
couldn't
accept that.
They
couldn't
accept that
he was
the son
of man
from heaven
and they
couldn't
accept what
he was
saying about
their own
misplaced
priorities.
Whether
they could
understand it
or not,
Jesus was
simply saying
that eternal
life comes
through
believing in
and partaking
of him
as the
one
who gives
his
flesh
and blood
for the
life of
the
world.
The
apostle
Paul
refers to
the
preaching
of the
cross
as a
stumbling
block
to the
Jews
and as
folly
to the
Gentiles.
But he
adds that
those who
are called
both Jews
and Gentiles,
Christ is
the power
of God
and the
wisdom
of God.
But these
disciples
considered
hard and
couldn't
believe is
that God
has provided
for you
to live
through
Christ.
Even when
we don't
fully understand
his words,
we must hold
on to them
for our
own
eternal
good.
How do
you respond
when
Jesus'
words
expose
your sin?
Do you
receive them
with faith
or do you
struggle
with them?
Every
difficult
teaching
of
the
Bible
exposes
what's in
our heart.
It shows
us where
we're at.
And let
me tell
you,
after 40
years,
it doesn't
get any
different,
any better.
When you
open your
Bible and
the words
cut deep,
someone said,
remember,
they are
words that
heal.
God's
truth is
like a
surgeon's
scalpel.
It may
sting,
but it
never cuts
to harm.
It cuts
to heal.
And so,
when confronted
with Jesus'
difficult words,
hold on
to them.
When they
show you
your sin,
take them
before God
in prayer.
So that's
the first
reason,
then,
to hold
on to
Jesus'
words because
they gracefully
expose our
sin.
Now the
second reason.
Hold on to
the words of
Jesus because
they are
your life.
for 63.
It is the
spirit who
gives life.
The flesh
is no help
at all.
The words
that I have
spoken to
you are
spirit and
life.
In this
verse,
we come to
the central
verse of
the passage,
the chiastic
center,
what some
have called
the interpretive
heart of
the passage.
church.
And Jesus
really is
continuing his
response to
their offense
as well as
expanding on
the teaching
of the way
to life.
The disciples'
unbelief had
blinded them
to the most
significant part
of Jesus'
teaching.
Their focus
on the
flesh and
blood imagery
and the
idea of
coming from
heaven caused
them to miss
the entire
point of
his message.
He had been
showing them
the way
one gains
eternal life
and that was
centered in
him.
The word
life is
mentioned
directly and
alluded to
in various
ways 25
times or more
in this
chapter alone.
It speaks
of never
hungering,
never thirsting,
never being
cast out,
being raised
on the last
day, never
dying and
living forever.
Now, in
this passage,
he adds,
it is the
spirit who
gives life.
Well, that
thought echoes
Ezekiel 37.
If you remember
Ezekiel's vision
of the valley
of dry bones
where God
tells Ezekiel
to call to
the corners
of the earth
for the
breath to
come and
it did
and brought
those bones
back to
life.
And then
God interprets
that vision
for him,
saying this
is the
spirit of
God and
the spirit
breathes
life into
the people
of Israel.
And then
again in
John 3,
we saw
that there
Jesus tells
Nicodemus,
you must be
born of
the spirit.
The flesh
is no help
at all.
No amount
of human
effort,
reasoning,
or religion
can produce
eternal life.
Only the
spirit can.
And with
this word,
Jesus addresses
the real
issue that's
in the heart
of man,
self-reliance.
D.A.
Carson
writes,
this phrase
sums up
the entire
problem of
human self-reliance.
We cannot
produce
spiritual life
through human
means.
But notice,
the spirit
gives life
through
the words
of Christ.
the words
I have
spoken to
you
are spirit
and life.
The words
themselves,
even the
difficult
ones,
are spirit
and life.
Andreas
Kostenberger
writes,
Jesus'
words are
spirit because
they are
animated
by his
spirit
and communicate
spiritual
truth.
They are
life
because
they
mediate
the life
of the
kingdom
to those
who receive
them
by faith.
J.C.
Ryle
adds this,
the Christ's
words,
when received
and believed,
quicken the
soul,
feed the
heart,
and sanctify
the life.
life.
The same
spirit who
gave life
to sinners
then works
through the
word of
God
today.
You cannot
separate
spiritual
vitality
from the
word of
Christ.
When you
receive his
word in
faith,
the spirit
uses it
to awaken
and sustain
life in
you.
So,
what if
you feel
spiritually
dry?
Don't look
to something
novel.
Don't look
to the
wisdom of
this world.
Look to
Christ.
Go to
Jesus.
Hold on
to his
words.
Feed your
soul on the
word of
God because
his words
are spirit
and life.
Read the
scriptures daily.
Meditate on
them deeply.
Obey them
joyfully.
Someone once
said,
if your
Bible stays
closed,
your faith
will grow
cold.
But when
you feed on
the word,
the spirit
will breathe
life into
your soul.
And I
believe that's
what God
intended when
he said,
man shall
not live
by bread
alone,
but by
every word
that proceeds
from the
mouth of
God.
So,
hold on
to Jesus'
words because
they expose
your sin,
because they
are your
life,
and now
thirdly,
hold on
to the
words of
Jesus because
he holds
on to
you.
But there
are some
of you who
do not
believe.
for Jesus
knew from
the beginning
who those
were who
did not
believe,
and who
it was
who would
betray
him.
And he
said,
this is why
I told you
that no one
can come to
me unless
it is granted
to him
by the
Father.
After
this,
many of
his disciples
turned back
and no
longer
walked with
him.
Jesus
states
plainly
what we
have
assumed
all along
that
there are
some of
you
who do
not
believe.
And John
comments that
Jesus knew
this all
along.
And knowing
this,
I think it's
interesting that
he didn't
soften his
message.
he didn't
try somehow
to eliminate
the
response,
the
offense.
You see,
unbelief
is more
than doubt.
It is
resistance.
It is
rebellion
against the
truth.
It's not
just
innocent
doubt.
It's
rejection.
And John's
gospel
portrays
unbelief
in various
ways.
It's the
rejection
of the
light.
It's the
love of
darkness.
It's
the
hardness
of heart.
And yet
Jesus knew
also
that this
unbelief
would serve
God's
plan.
He knew
who it
was
who would
betray him.
God's
And at
this point
we are
told
that many
turned
away from
him.
Unbelief
results
in that
apostasy.
But Jesus'
final words
in the
section are
both
challenging
and
confronting
or comforting.
Yeah,
they're both
that too.
No one
can come
to me
unless it
is granted
him by
the
Father.
These
words
are also
hard words
for many.
No man
can come
to me
unless it
is granted
him by
the Father.
He stated
that once
before and
he's telling
them that
this is the
reason why
I said it
before and
he repeats
himself.
And the
context in
which he
said that
before was
the grumbling
of the
Jews.
How can
this man
give us
his flesh
to eat?
And his
answer was
no one
can come
to me
unless the
Father draws
him.
And here he
says it a little
different.
No one can
come to me
unless it's
granted to
him by the
Father.
Now those
words challenge
our pride.
It challenges
us deeply
because the
implication here
is that it
really has
nothing to do
with you.
And I have
to admit that
this is probably
one of the
in the
what is it
40 years
that I've
been a
Christian
probably one
of the
most
difficult
words I've
heard people
complain about
Christians
complain about
this idea
that no one
can come
to him.
And the
objection is
well how
can God
not give
you and
me a
choice?
And that
is the
implication
here that
these people
who walked
away really
didn't have
a choice.
But that's
not true.
All it
says is
that no
one can
come to
me unless
it's
granted to
him by
the
father.
You see
these people
had a
choice.
They made
that choice
and their
choice followed
the natural
inclinations of
their unbelieving
heart.
God.
They were
free to
choose and
they chose
what they
wanted.
And it's
still true
today.
To come
to Christ
requires more
than
a simple
choice.
It requires
the grace
of God.
God.
Because all
men have
inherited our
father's
Adam's
nature.
And that
nature is a
nature of
sin and
death.
And it
takes the
grace of
God to
draw.
It takes
the grace
of God to
give us
faith.
In fact
that is
the
implication
of what
Jesus had
said earlier
as well.
I didn't
write this
down but I
have to
read it.
So let
me look
for it.
In
verse 35
Jesus
says
I
am the
bread of
life.
Whoever
comes to
me
shall not
hunger.
And whoever
believes in
me
shall never
thirst.
Now this
is an
example in
Greek of
a Hebrew
parallel
ism.
And it's a
synonymous
parallel.
It says
two things
that are
basically the
same.
One
whoever
comes to
me
shall not
hunger.
And two
whoever
believes in
me
shall
never
thirst.
The
parallels
are
come to
me and
believe in
me.
And
shall not
hunger
and never
thirst.
Both
references
to life.
God
and the
implication
there is
that
coming to
Christ
is the
same
as
believing
in
me.
And so
when we
read
this
chapter
here or
this
verse
here
where
Jesus
emphasizes
at this
critical
point of
a crisis
of faith
where he
could have
said
anything.
He could
have tried
to soften
his
message.
He could
have
tried
to
encourage
them to
faith
somehow.
He
basically
concluded
that
no one
can
come
to me
believe.
In other
words
believe
unless
it is
granted
him
by the
father.
Definitely
hard
words
but the
word of
God.
These
words
challenge
our
pride.
They
remind
us
though
that
salvation
is by
grace
alone.
And
they bring
us
comfort
assuring
us that
those to
whom the
father
draws
Jesus
will
never
lose.
That's
the
assurance
we have
verses
37
through
39.
All
that
the
father
gives
me
will
come
to
me
and
whoever
comes
to
me
I
will
never
cast
out.
This
is
the
will
of
him
who
sent
me
that
I
should
lose
nothing
of
all
that
he
has
given
me
but
raise
it
up
on
the
last
day.
This
is
why we
need to
hold
on
to
Christ's
words.
One of
my
favorite
psalms
is in
is
psalm
63
and
one of
my
favorite
verses
in that
psalm
my
soul
clings
to
you
your
right
hand
upholds
me.
Two
sides
of the
coin
my
soul
clings
to
you
your
right
hand
upholds
me.
Over
quite a
few years
now I've
had the
privilege of
holding
many
babies
in my
arm
14
of my
own
children
29
of my
own
grandchildren
plus
many
others
and I
learned
early
that
babies
have
and
Renee
tried to
tell me
it was
something
about a
moral
or
palmer
reflex
and she
wasn't
sure which
one it
was in
this
case
but
they
have
this
reflex
so that
when
you're
holding
them
and
if
you
were
walking
and
stumbled
a little
bit
they
would
react
and I
remember
one time
specifically
when one
of
my
children
were
holding
onto my
hand
while I
was
walking
and I
did
sort of
release
my grip
a little
bit
and I
felt
a strong
little
finger
hand
grabbing
onto
my
finger
and it
was a
it was
a great
feeling
to experience
that
and
I
realized
that if
I were
to slip
and release
that grip
would never
have held
that baby
there was
just no
way
but
he gripped
anyway
he gripped
because
that's
what he
needed
and this
verse
reminds me
so much
of that
experience
my soul
clings
to you
your
right hand
holds
me
take
heart
if you
belong to
Jesus
he will
not let
go
you
might
feel
weak
your
grip
might
slip
but
his
grip
never
does
when
others
walk
away
don't
interpret
that as
a failure
of the
gospel
it's a
an exposure
of
unbelief
when
you
abide
when
you
keep
holding
on
remember
it's
because
the
father
the
spirit
and
the
son
are
holding
on
to
you
so
what
is
Jesus
saying
through
this
passage
hold
on
to
my
words
even
when
they're
hard
when
they're
hard
they
reveal
truth
expose
!
sin
and
point
you
to
grace
hold
on
to
them
because
they
are
your
life
the
spirit
breathes
through
them
hold
on
to
them
because
I
am
holding
on
to
you
my
grip
is
stronger
than
your
weakness
when
others
walk
away
and
many
will
remember
what
Jesus
says
he
wants
you
to
endure
well
when
truth
offends
listen
when
faith
feels
weak
rest
in
his
strength
because
the
very
words
that
once
seemed
hard
are
the
words
that
give
you
life
hold
on
cherish
!
Cling!
Rely
on!
Never
let
them
go!
Let's
pray
together!