How to Remain with Jesus Part 2: Reaction to the Bread of Life Discourse - John 6:61-71

0:53Any work? It's not moving, huh? There it goes. Sorry. All right, well, getting close. We began working our way through this. Specifically, we've already looked through this discourse on specifically how to come to Jesus. Second aspect, how to feed on Jesus. And then the third aspect that we began last week, how to remain with Jesus. How do we remain with Jesus? Well, first of all, Well, hold on. Say, first of all, we'll wait a second, right?

1:41Well, while that's coming up, I want to talk to you about the dating and courting expectations in the Baber family. You know, while we're sitting here just waiting, just thought we'd talk about this. So, I think marriage to the right person is one of the best blessings, and I'm serious, one of the best blessings a person could ever experience here on earth. And I want my kids to marry. I really do. I want them all to marry. I want them to marry well.

2:22I love marriage. It's a blessed institution. At least marriage to the right person, right? So, the question becomes: I know I'm going to embarrass all my kids, but most of them were in the early service, so most of them are okay. But how do I, as their father, navigate them from singleness to Mr. Wright or to Mrs. Wright? How do I get them there? And one of my most important tasks, I would say, as a father is to give them counsel and Guidance in this area because who they marry is going to be one of the most important decisions they make in their life, for sure. Other than following Christ, this is the top. This will define you, shape you, determine what your life is going to look like more than anything else, who you marry. And so, I want to talk about some things while we're sitting here waiting for the thing to come up.

3:30That's okay, put it down. I'll talk. We're on. Okay, well, we'll get there in a second now that I've already started this conversation, right? I want them to marry. And I'll talk about this from the vantage point of those young men who want to date my daughters. Even though I will hold my sons to the same standard as they go and seek to find a suitable spouse. And so I'll hold them to the same standards, but it's easier to just talk about it. Okay, young men coming to my house to talk to, to want to take out my daughters. I want to say that one of my first philosophies is: I don't want to create a barrier that's too big that even the noblest man himself could not get across. I want my daughters to marry. I do not. Intend to put up unrealistic expectations. So, if you want to marry my daughter, if you want to take it to the next level, don't think that I'm going to require you to go build three miles of fences with me and have two years of Bible study before you can take her out for a cup of coffee. You may want to make sure that she has shown some kind of interest into going out with you for a little bit before you come talk to me. But anyway, and I don't intend for you to have to court me or date me. You know, right? You don't want to date me, you want to date my daughter, and I don't want to date you. I want, you know, that whole thing. So, we can get that out in the open too. And I don't think it really matters if you use the word date or court. The idea behind it all is sin. There's a kind of dating which can not have sin. There's a kind of courting that cannot have sin, and vice versa. There's a kind of dating. I often tell my kids: do whatever you want, just don't sin and avoid the appearance of sin. That would be the general pattern that I have for dating or a courting.

5:43But there are four things that I do expect. Four things that I do expect. And I'm going to count down from the least important to the most important. What do I expect of the young men that come to court or date my daughter? Daughters. First of all, or fourth, countdown, four, number four, I want them to respect my role as her father. All right? I have a duty to seek her well-being. Don't put me in a situation that causes me to compromise that. Understand that. I am her father, and I have a duty to seek her well-being. Countdown, number three. Strive to be a man that I can, in good conscience, give my daughter. And don't come in expecting me to compromise my ability to be a good father by suggesting she should marry you. Okay? I would expect some kind of the qualities of faith in God, faith in the God of the Bible, and that's so important. Faith in the God of the Bible as revealed in the scriptures and scripture alone. Faith in the God of the Bible.

7:01Be responsible. Okay? Be responsible. Demonstrate that you are taking on those roles of being a man who will take on the responsibilities of work, provision, sacrifice, hard work, discipline. Show me that, be that kind of person and be kind, right? Demonstrate this is something I can. Let my daughters marry. So strive to be a man that I can, in good conscience, give my daughter. Countdown number two: respect her relationship with me. Do not expect her to give up her relationship with me. Oh, it may change come wedding day, yeah, and it's going to change.

7:56Don't expect me to give up my relationship with her. She's my daughter. Don't expect her to give up her relationship with me. I'm her father. There's something close there. So, because you come in the scene doesn't change that, and don't expect it to. In fact, you will become, by marrying my children, you become closer, if you will, in relationship to me and to my wife, Nancy. Countdown number one, top of the list. Approach my daughter with a clean desire. Approach my daughter with clean desire. Do not seek what she cannot give.

8:43Do not ask from her what she cannot give. Pretty simple, right? Do not sin. Avoid the appearance of sin. Have clean desire. That's how I want someone to approach my daughter. Now, what does this have to do with John 6? Everything. Everything. You see, only those who come to Christ with a clean desire are going to remain with him. The father loves his son. The father wants a bride for his son. The father wants his son to marry. He wants his son to have a people. But he wants his son to have those who come to him with a clean desire.

9:45And only those who the father draws will have such a desire. Because such a clean desire comes from heaven. It doesn't come from earth. You must be taught of the Father. You must be drawn by the Father. Only then can you come to Christ with a clean desire. So, one of the major elements of the whole bread of life discourse is we should leave John chapter 6, the one prayer that should constantly be on your mind: Father, give me a clean desire to come to your Son. Let me Me come, let me keep coming in a way that honors him because I know he's very precious to you.

10:41Well, back to John 6. You see, there were many people in Jesus' day that were interested in Jesus for the wrong reasons. Their desires were not clean, their desires for him came from earth, not from heaven. They wanted a leader to lead a great movement against the Roman Empire. But when they realized what he really stood for, they didn't like it. Same is true today. There are many who want a Christ who will be their personal champion, or their personal provider, or their person to make sure everything goes smoothly, goes well. They want a Christ who will serve them and their interests.

11:36But you must understand, he cannot be anything else than he is. And do not expect that you can go to Christ with the Father's blessing if you want to make him do something for you that he cannot do. That would break the relationship with his father. Such is offensive to the father. You see, they wanted something that he could not give. He offered something they didn't want. What does the Father want for his son? The Father wants those who will come to him with their unqualified allegiance and enduring perseverance.

12:38It shouldn't be hard to understand, right? We want the same for our children. I want the same for my daughters. And I expect the same of my sons as they go, that they would pledge themselves in unqualified allegiance to their spouses. God accepted, of course. And that they would endure, persevere in fidelity towards him. But where does such come from? It is a work from above. And that's what Jesus is saying. Even to come, you have to have been taught of the Father, born from the Father, to have that clean desire because it doesn't come from earth.

13:27What about you? How do you approach Christ? Do you have in your hearts a desire that is clean before the heavenly Father? Or do you approach Christ from an earthly desire? If so, you will not remain. You will not remain. You know, in verse 62, if you look back there, Jesus speaks of his ascension back to the seat of the highest glory. Been talking about his descent to earth, his incarnation, taking on flesh, and then he goes back to heaven. He goes through the cross, through death, and up into heaven.

14:18But notice, verse 62, he goes back as the son of man. He goes back as the son of man. Now think about this for a moment. A man now sits upon the throne ruling heaven and earth. Think about it. A man, the God-man, but human flesh, glorified human flesh, now sits upon the throne, the highest throne, over the universe, over all creation. Human flesh and blood, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh. Never forget this. Let this sink deep in your mind, who now reigns upon the throne.

15:13He didn't set aside his flesh. In fact, he came, he descended for the purpose of taking upon his flesh and going to the cross, going through the grave, and going back as the Son of Man. Human flesh. I mean, why should we value human life? Well, because God does. The devil may tell you that you are of little value. You ever heard that one before? Remember this: human flesh, bone of your bone, and flesh of your flesh, now occupies the highest place in all of heaven.

16:00And because he descended and has ascended, heaven is now the home of everyone who eats his flesh and drinks his blood. The call to repent from your sins is a call to reign with him, to be seated with him in the heavenly places. That is where he is. That is our home. And those who have taken in, who have believed in His incarnation, who have believed in his death, and have drank in his sacrifice, reign with him.

16:45The question becomes: who are those who have eaten of his flesh, who drink of his blood? Who are they? The answer is: those who remain. Those who remain. Let's read our text, verse 66. As a result of this, many of his disciples withdrew and were not walking with him anymore. So Jesus said to the twelve, You do not want to go away also, do you? Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that you are the holy one of God. Jesus answered them, Did I not myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil? Now he meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him. So just to give you an idea of where we've been in John 6, in order to remain with Jesus, you cannot be offended by his teaching. We looked at that last time. You cannot reduce your relationship with him to mere ritual.

18:00Number three, your desire for him must come from above. And number four, where we'll spend our time today, you must believe his words. You must believe his words. See, the focus is now on the twelve. Remember, it started in John 6 upon the crowd, and then it moved to the Jews, and then it moved to the disciples, and now the focus is upon the twelve. What will they do? What will they do? And this is what he asked in verse 67.

18:34You do not want to go away also, do you? The occasion was a great defection. The occasion was the path of popular culture. Would they choose between this individual who has made some of the most outlandish claims, or will they go the route of popular culture of their day? It's an important question that we all will face. There will be many times in life when you will come to a crossroads and you will have to decide: are you going to follow Christ or are you going to go a different way? Is there a point? At which the demands of Christ will become so great that you will defect and turn back to as you were formerly.

19:40And there are many crossroads we come to, maybe different doctrines. Some doctrines are more comfortable than others. There's changes in popular culture, right? Our culture is very much changing. Your crossroads may be a love of pleasure, a love of sin over commitment. Maybe it's a specific relationship. And the question is: are you a true follower of Christ or not? A true follower of Christ is not characterized by persistent defection. There may be setbacks, but the pattern is not one of persistent defection.

20:36Are you a true follower? Well, Peter, Peter's response is really noble. It's very instructive. And in just two sentences, Peter vocalizes that confession of the heart that characterizes all of those who remain with Jesus. Is this the confession of your heart? As we go through this, I want you to think: is this the confession of your heart? Can you stand here today as we walk through this text and can you come to the conclusion that this is indeed resonates with my own heart?

21:17Peter's confession really needs to be your confession. And so I want us to look at Peter's confession, and then I want to look at Jesus's correction of Peter's confession. So we'll look at Peter's confession and then Jesus' correction of Peter's confession. So, first of all, John records several aspects of Peter's confession, but I want you to notice the question that Peter turns around and asks Jesus. Look at verse 68. Simon Peter answered, Lord, to whom shall we go?

21:55Who shall we be going? Where will we go? Where else is there to go? In fact, it's the same word that's used of Judas to go to the chief priest in Mark 14:10 in order to betray. It's the only time it's used there. Where shall we go? It says, Oh, Peter's mind did a quick scan and said, What other possibilities are there out there? He came up empty. That's because. Deep within Peter's heart, there was no desire to follow any other ideal than that which was embodied in Christ. He loved Christ. He believed Christ. And he goes on to make two statements that articulate the heart disposition of everyone who remains with Jesus. Do you remain? Will you remain? Let me ask you what your heart disposition is. Let's look at Peter's confession. Look at the first statement. At the end of verse 68, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. You are the one possessing the words of eternal life. Wow, what a difference when you look at the contrast between Peter and these nominal followers. What a difference between the true believer and the nominal follower.

23:25You remember what was it that attracted the others to Christ? The miracles. Look back carefully. What is it that attracted Peter to Christ? The words. Look back. You have the words of eternal life. He doesn't say, you have the power to walk on the water. Nobody else has that. You have the power and the ability to create food out of nothing, and that was good food, so we're not going anywhere else. And on down the road, you can do the miracles. You have the power. No. Peter, you have the words.

24:08You have the words of eternal life. Where can we go? See, the opposite is true about true disciples. It's not the works of Christ, it's the words of Christ. The words of Christ had sunk deep into Peter's heart. And because of that, he could not go anywhere else. Such is the truth, such is the mark of a true Christian. They believe the words. May not have to explain them all, may not be able to understand them, but they believe and have taken them in.

24:52Who do you follow? It's a good question. If not Jesus, then who? Who else rivals the Jesus of Scripture? And if we do not accept his words as true, guess what? Or if you do not accept Christ's words as true, let me ask you: who do you accept as true? Who else is there that has words like his? You must rely on somebody, or maybe you rely upon your own limited perspective, but something's guiding your steps.

25:30Who do you follow? Peter was basically saying, We cannot go anywhere else because we believe you to be the Holy One of God. We believe there is no other. So, in Peter and in a true disciple, there isn't something or someone else that rivals. There's not a belief in someone else that is in them to go someplace else. Because when you believe in Christ, when you truly believe his words, there is no rival. And therefore, he's saying it cannot go away.

26:11Look back at Peter's second statement in verse 69: We have believed and have come to know that you are the holy one of God. That is, we have believed. We have taken in. Everything that Christ has been saying so far, the whole eating and the drinking, synonymous with our parallel expression to taking in spiritually, believe, believe. We have taken in. We have received your words. And we have come to know. A very important expression. It's usually an expression that speaks about entering into the relationships of the closest kind. We have come to know by personal experience, not just awareness.

27:01Not just convincing by external proof, but by intimate experience, we have come to know. We have come to know by a deep-seated realization that you are the Holy One of God. It's important to understand here. Look back here. Look at the order here: belief and then confidence. Belief and then confidence. We usually get it backwards in the world. First, prove this to me, then I can believe, right? Scripture has it the opposite. You must first believe before you'll ever come to have confidence in. You can have a million empirical proofs, and all they do is create a probability, and they don't necessarily lead to belief. But if you believe, then you can come to know biblical truth. You must first believe biblical truth before you can come to know. I mean, you cannot prove that Jesus walked on water. You must believe it. You cannot believe, you cannot prove that Jesus died for your sins. You must believe it by faith.

28:28So you must believe. In order to be sure. Well, what did Peter believe and was sure of? Look back at verse 69. We have believed and come to know that you are the Holy One of God. You are the Holy One of God. And that's a title that describes the closest possible intimacy with God. You are the Holy One. And this is the believing response. He said, I am the bread of life. And this is what that believing response is. I believe you are the Holy One. That is that one who is in the closest possible, possible union with the Father.

29:13Incidentally, the only other place that this shows up in the New Testament is the testimony of a demon in the same synagogue there, Capernaum, Mark 1 and Luke 4. You know, I just want to point out something. 69, if you're reading a King James, there is a textual variant that says, Also, we have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Best manuscripts have the expression, You are the Holy One of God. It's probably in the majority text, probably picked up this expression here, echoing Peter's confession at Caesarea Philippi. But where Jesus asks them, Who do you say that I am? And Peter gives that resounding response. You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. But the best manuscripts have the Holy One of God.

30:11But this is a remarkable statement. This is a humble fisherman, one of the lower ones in society, one of the least or one of the lesser in stature. But think about this: this is the testimony of a humble fisherman in light of the fact that mass defection, in light of the fact that the scribes, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees had decisively rejected this individual, Christ, and yet here is the testimony of a fisherman. You see, God's Word equips even the littlest in society to get it right.

31:07Friends, read your Bible. Listen, there is more wisdom here than all of popular culture, than all the learning of those who would say contrary. The one who is wise, accepts the words of Scripture, and builds his life upon them. So says Jesus. This is the wise person who builds his house upon the rock. So read your Bible. Believe your Bible. You know, interesting, many of you may have heard the ministry of Tony Campolo and his progressive Christianity that began to really champion more of a social gospel.

31:56What also is well known now is the defection of his son, Bart Campolo. He is well known for his rejection of the Christian faith. And though he doesn't like to use the term atheist, he no longer believes in God. And he currently works as a humanist chaplain. But in recently, he described his departure from Christianity. I think the points that he makes, the milestones that he makes, are very important for us to pay attention to. This defection took place over 30 years.

32:45But Bart explained his journey away from Christianity when he was first exposed to urban poverty. He said, it messed with my theology. I had a theology that said God could intervene and do stuff. But after a period of unanswered prayer, Bart Campolo says this, I had to change my understanding of God. Sovereignty had to get dialed down a bit. And then he goes on to say this: once you start adjusting your theology to match up with the reality you see in front of you, it's an infinite progression. So over the course of the next 30 years, my ability to believe in a supernatural narrative or a God who intervenes and does anything died a death of a thousand unanswered prayers.

33:35I pass through every stage of heresy. It starts out when sovereignty goes, then biblical authority goes, then I am a universalist. Now I am marrying gay people. Pretty soon, I don't actually believe Jesus actually rose from the dead in a bodily way. He calls this progressive Christianity, which he has now abandoned, as the ragged edge of Christianity. And once you start moving away from central truth, it winds up in mass defection, great defection. You see, certainty that Christ is the Holy One of God does not come by listening to the skilled arguments of religious leaders.

34:30Doesn't come from studying books on empirical evidences. It doesn't come from agreeing with me on certain points. Certainty that Christ is the Holy One of God comes by believing all that God has said about Christ in his word. That's where certainty comes from. And Peter was sure that Christ was the Son of God because he had believed. He had the words of eternal life. Listen, if you do not have words of eternal life, if you do not have the words of eternal life, your life will be characterized by uncertainty, for sure. And that is our times. Uncertainty, uncertainty, uncertainty. And the reason there's so much uncertainty is because there is very little belief.

35:25Well, to remain with Jesus, you must believe his words. So we've looked at Peter's confession. Now I want you to see Jesus' correction of Peter's confession. Look back at verse 70. Jesus answered them, Did I myself not choose you the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil? The choice of a devil. Verse 70. Wow, Jesus, I chose a devil. Now, what Jesus is Doing here, I believe, is that he is responding to the we statement made by Peter. Haven't we? You see that? We have believed and come to know. And Jesus is like, not all of you, not all of you.

36:20Not all of the 12 were on the same page as Peter. And obviously, Peter didn't know Judas like Jesus did. Judas was no, he was not a nominal follower. His condition was far more severe. He was a devil. In fact, some translators say it'd be more right to translate it as he was the devil. But he certainly had the character and quality of the slanderer. And that's what Diablos means. It's the slanderer. He was a slanderer. That is, he opposed the cause of Christ. And what's interesting is he forsook all and he accompanied Jesus the whole time.

37:15But not in intent, not in a desire to be like Christ, to learn from Christ, but to oppose, discredit, and accuse. He never followed Judas. I mean, Judas never followed Jesus. So Jesus makes a choice of the devil, corrects Peter. But then also look back at the purpose for a devil among the 12. That's an interesting thought. Jesus had a purpose for a devil being among the twelve. Look at verse 71. Now he meant Judas. So John is injecting his thought here. The apostle, now he meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him, literally on the verge of betraying him. See, Judas was never a true believer.

38:09And why is that? Well, he came to Christ with an unclean desire. The desire he had for Christ was not born from above, but born from the earth. This is very evident in John 13. You remember when the disciples are getting their feet washed? Jesus comes around to Peter and says, Peter says, You're not ever going to wash my feet. Jesus says, if you don't let me wash you, you have no part with me. Or if I don't wash you, you have no part with me. Simon Peter said, Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head. Got to love Peter, right? Now, this is what Jesus says in verse 10. He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean. Clean, but not all of you. For he knew the one who was betraying him. For this reason, he said, Not all of you are clean. Judas never had a clean desire to follow Christ.

39:16What about you? What is your desire? God does things so differently than we do. A suffering Messiah, a devil among the twelve? But it's a good question. Why? Why a devil among the twelve? Dissertations have been written on this. I think John included it because at the time of the writing, it was very important that a defense be made. The whole idea of a crucified Messiah made absolutely no sense in a Gentile world. If the Jewish people killed their Messiah and one of their own twelve betrayed him, Jesus cannot be legitimate. This doesn't make any kind of sense. And yet, John is giving an answer through his gospel. Oh, Jesus had all this in control all along.

40:23But it's important for us to look at the life of Judah as a warning, a warning. Judas shows us how close one can get to Christ and not know him at all. You see, you may see the greatest miracles. Judas certainly did. You may hear the greatest messages. Judas certainly did. You may associate with some of the godliest people. Judas certainly did. You may do all of these things and never be born again. Judas was absolutely lost.

41:06So Judas is a warning. He shows us how close we can get to Christ and not know him at all. He also shows us, number two, Judas is a reminder that there will be hypocrites in our churches. And that hypocrisy one day will be exposed. I mean, think about it. Judas, he left all. He remained with the Savior all the way up to the last night. But then he was exposed. Third thing, Judas's testimony warns us is that there will be devils in church leadership.

41:50A devil among the twelve. And this should convince us. Certainly, Scripture plainly warns. That there's going to be false prophets, false apostles, who are nothing more than ministers of Satan. And what this should teach us is that we are to place no confidence in man. We are to put our confidence in the words, in the words of the God who spoke them. The words of Scripture alone. No confidence in man. And even as I preach these, I don't seek for your confidence to be in me, but we go through this slowly and carefully because I want you to be convinced that this is what it says. This is what it means. This is how it applies to your life. I see my role as a gospel minister, as an introducer. I want to introduce you to a friend like no other. I'm not significant. The friend like no other is God's word. They are spirit and they are life. And I want you to see them. I want you to be acquainted with them. I want you to come away convinced of their truth. And I don't care if you remember me. I want you to remember his words. And that's what a faithful minister of the gospel strives to do. And let that characterize everything we do. I want to introduce you to a friend, God's word.

43:30And then, once that introduction is made, I'm not needed. But all this was God's perfect plan. God had a good and sufficient to let evil have its day, and he will bring it to an end. Why did Peter and the others remain with Jesus? Well, they believed his words. They believed his words. And so must you. So must you. Well, as we come to the end of John 6, we also come to the closing scene of the Galilean ministry.

44:18And Jesus met in Galilee the same refusal that he met in Judea. From here on, John's going to focus on the ministry in Judea, and more specifically, the ministry to his disciples. But as we leave John 6, I want to bring you back to the essentials. If there should ever be one prayer that you come away with out of John 6, it's Lord, give me a clean desire. That I may come to Jesus, feed on him, and remain in him as you so desire.

45:10Let's pray. Heavenly Father, indeed, this is our desire that we have a clean desire, and we are humbled that it is not in us to even desire you for the right reasons. And so we ask for a work of grace in our lives, a quickening, an illumination of our hearts, that we may come in a way as the King deserves. Father, and we are sinners, bankrupt and empty, but such you sought to be your own. To such you offer your flesh and your blood. To such you offer to reign with you. Father, too wonderful for us to even comprehend the very doctrines that bring us to the ground and show us our bankruptcy, and the very truths that fill us up to overflowing. So, Father, give us that clean desire for your Son.

46:27Jesus, we come to you. Desiring to know more of you, to fellowship more deeply with you. Forgive us of our sin. Forgive us of our unclean desire. Forgive us for wanting you to be our servant rather than our Lord. Father, thank you for your sacrifice in your Son. Father, all this, we give you thanks. In Jesus' name, amen.