Well, it's good to see you. I
want us to take our Bibles and turn back to John chapter 6. John chapter 6. We looked at
this chapter last week. I dealt with John chapter 6,
verses 60 to 65. And I'd like to just Pick up those last verses in
John chapter six. I've told you last time, this
book has been, I know, to all of us such a blessing. John chapter six. The scripture says, starting
in verse 66, From that time, many of his disciples
went back and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto
the 12, will you also go away? And Simon Peter answered him,
Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. And we believe and are sure that
thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered
them, have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is the devil?
He spake of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for he it was that
should betray him, being one of the twelve. Now the passage that I want to
look at for this evening for a few minutes is one that sets
forth the great difference between true salvation and a heart changed
in regenerating grace by the Lord, and that which is nothing
more than a formal profession. that last just for a season. A group of people referred to
as his disciples. I looked at that, look at that
verse 66 with me for just a second. From that time, many of his disciples,
now this was not the apostles. These weren't the apostles. These
were people that followed him merely because of the benefits
that they seemed to behold, that they could get out of following
after the Lord Jesus. They got him, we looked at this
last time, they got him something to eat, had some miracles performed. and they followed him for a while. But then the Lord said something
to them after we had looked at those first verses, mid-50s up
till about 64. He said something in verse 64
where we ended right about this 64, 65. He said in 64, but there
are some of you that believed not. For Jesus
knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, who should
betray him. And he said, therefore, I said
unto you, that no man can come unto me except it were given
unto him of my father. Now, when he said that, as we
considered last time we looked in this passage of scripture.
Now he's starting to get down to the heart of it, and we're
going to start talking about sovereign grace now. Sovereign,
saving, particular, redeeming grace. No man can come. No man can. No man has the ability. Scripture says, in verse 66,
from that, You'll notice time is in italics from that. Many of his disciples, here again,
not apostles, just mere nominal professors, just those that were
following him, because God's people called by grace, regenerated
by God's spirit, they follow Christ. And let me tell you something,
they don't leave. They don't leave, not God's people.
Why? They're kept by the power of
God through faith. But a nominal professor, one
that just, he talks the talk. He knows the right words. He
knows the right things to say. But unless the spirit of God
keeps him, He's not going to stay. They will not stay. They won't stay. They're going
to be gone. They won't be with you. You say,
well, I've known a lot of people that appeared as though to me
they stayed according to the scriptures. God's people are
kept by the power of God through faith. I may not be able to see
it. Somebody may put on a false show for the rest of their life.
but they don't know the Lord. If the Lord says they don't know
him, if the Lord says they're outcast, if the Lord says they're
tares, then they're tares. These actually left. From that, many of his disciples
went back and walked no more with him. Now, from this passage of scripture,
we know, you know the old saying, all that glitters is not gold.
Well, that fits also in this saying of following after Christ. Obviously, there's counterfeits. There's tears among the wheat. There's always tears among the
wheat. They're always there. And as
I mused on that today, I thought to myself, with tares always being found
among the wheat, unless the Lord keeps me, unless the Lord keeps
me, I'm going to be found counterfeit. Somebody said, well, I'd never
do that. Don't, don't, don't say that. Don't say that. If
the Lord doesn't keep me, I'm gonna leave. I will leave. There
were counterfeits then, there's counterfeits now. And though
we know that the foundation of God's stand is sure, though we know that the Lord
gives life unto his sheep, eternal life, and he says, and they shall
never perish. I'm telling you, there's always
tears among the sheep. God's people, the Lord said,
they shall not be plucked out of my hand. No man can pluck
them out of my hand. Nobody can pluck them out of my father's
hands. But there's still counterfeits. And the way that they're exposed
is through the preaching of the gospel. Here's how you know whether
or not one knows God or no. My sheep hear my voice. They follow me, and I know them,
and they shall never perish. There's maybe wayside hearers. That word of the Lord will be,
if their wayside hears, that word will be plucked away by
Satan. Stony ground hearers, I'll tell
you what they're gonna do. When the heat of the gospel is
turned up, they will not stay. There's no root in them. Thorny ground hearers carried
away by the cares of this world. Oh, how quickly the cares of
this world carry away a heart not generated. It's just evidence
that the heart's not there. Just the things of this world
become so important. It's just not there. Though many
may run well for a season, we know this. Don't be surprised
to see or hear a false professor that forsakes the hearing of
the gospel of Christ. They will. They will leave. They'll
leave. And here's the amazing thing.
I want you to remember this. I've learned this. I think I've
learned this from the scriptures and from experience, just watching
it. I've told you this before. They'll always have a good excuse. It's a good excuse. It sounds
good. It sounds legitimate. It just
sounds like it's just, it makes sense to them. Not to a believer,
but to them it does. They'll find reason to leave. From that time, many of his disciples
went back and walked no more with him. In verse 67, and as many times
as we've looked at this passage of scripture, this is the wonder
of God's word. How many times, I wonder, Those
of you especially that sat under Scott, I mean, I sat under false
religion for years and years and years. Pastored, Chuck, a false church. I wonder how many times I've heard
this scripture right here, verse 67, and didn't, it didn't, that
can't apply to me. Then said Jesus unto the 12th,
will you go away? Will ye also go away? I can tell you this, I can remember
sitting under false religion, reading that scripture. I read
the Bible. I knew the Bible, what it said. I studied it at Sunday school
class. Will you go away? I can tell
you this, my answer, emphatically no. Will you go away also? Not me. Others probably will, but you
see the problem with them is that they're not as faithful
as I am. They weren't as faithful as me.
If they'd been as faithful as me, they could have said that
with the sureness that I could say it with, What a foolish thought. What a foolish, foolish thought. And when the Lord asked, He wasn't
talking to these false professors, all those disciples, those followers
of Him, you know, for the meat, you know, for the miracles. Now
He's talking to the twelve. From that time, many of his disciples
went back and walked no more. Then said Jesus unto the twelve."
Now he's talking to those that have sat under his ministry,
that has listened to him preach, that's listened to the word of
God, from God, by God, speaking in their ears. And God himself
said, then said Jesus unto the twelve. Will you also go away? Now, I'm thinking, we all know
each other right here. I mean, I know who y'all are.
You've been here for so long and I'm thinking, Lord, that
question is deserving for all of us. Will you go away also? asked me, this puny lump of clay, will you go away also, Marvin? Will you leave? And I thought
to myself, here's the Lord asking the 12. And I thought, And here's
the Lord, verse 64, Jesus knew from the beginning who they were
that believed not and who should betray him. And I wondered, I
go back and try to read some of the things that led up to
when Judas betrayed him. How much did Judas know about
himself? I don't doubt, I don't know what
went through his mind. But I can tell you that I'm sure
out of just the pride of a man's heart, I wouldn't do that, Judas could
say. I couldn't do that until it presented itself perfectly,
until it came right down to it. Will you do it? Will you forsake
him? Will you walk away? You say,
I would never, I would never do that. I'm gonna tell you something
right now, be careful. Be careful what you're saying.
Pride comes before fall. You say, I would never forsake
the Lord. No, this is what you better say, but for the grace
of God, I'll not forsake the Lord. If the Lord keeps me, I
won't forsake the Lord. If the Lord leaves me to myself,
I'm gonna leave. I will quit. You mean at this
stage of the game, Marvin, your life, you just, hey, look, you
ain't got that much more time. I'd leave right now. I'd leave
tonight. But for grace of God, will you go away also? Then Simon Peter said something that I thought
What an answer that every believer holds in his heart. Every true
believer regenerated by the grace of God. Then Simon Peter answered
him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Will you go away? Where would
you go? Where would you go? This is the
only answer that can be given by one who has been regenerated
by the grace of God. Lord, where am I going to go?
Lord, if you're not there, where am I going? To whom am I going
to cast myself on? You're the master, you're the
savior. Let me ask you something. Would
you go back, you that know him, I'll just ask him, when you've
answered yourself, would you go back to the law and try to
keep the law? Try to keep the law of God and
go back to the rituals and the incense, go back and all of the
beautiful robes and stuff, would you go back to that? Is that
gonna satisfy you? Did you go back to that, your
self-free will decision? Are you going to go back to that?
Well, I gave my heart to the Lord, so I know this, I've done
something. Are you going to go to that free
will that's unprofitable and all that because it's dead? Where
are you going to go? Where are you going to go if
you don't have Him? Are we going to go to our own
wisdom and righteousness, which is, according to the scriptures,
filthy rags? Where are you going to go? What
are you going to do? Peter said, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast
the words of eternal life. You think to yourself, to a believer
who is constantly struggling with himself inside, constantly,
doubting, and he sees, he sees the frailty of his flesh. He
sees, he sees that in him, as Paul says, I see in me, that
is in my flesh. There dwelleth no good thing. Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou
hast the words of eternal life. Lord, you've declared unto me
that I, of myself, I'm totally depraved. I have no ability You've
told me, Lord, that no man can come to you except it were given
unto him of the Father. And, Lord, if you're not here,
if I don't have you, to whom shall we go? Where are we going
to go? Lord, you've revealed to me that
you've loved me with an everlasting love, that you, Lord, you saw
me before there was anything else. You saw me in Christ. And the Lord himself has eternally
been my surety. And you brought me into this
world and caused me to get under the sound of the gospel of your
free and sovereign grace. And you stopped me, you arrested
me. threw me out of the darkness of unbelief and gave me a new
heart. Lord, you gave me a new heart.
I believe that. Lord, if I don't have you, where
am I going to go? What am I going to do? A believer has no other
hope. Don't talk to me about making
a decision. Don't talk to me about The Lord's
done all he can do. Now all you have to do is don't
talk to me about that. I don't want to hear that foolishness. You tell me about him. Peter said in verse 69, Lord,
and we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the son
of the living God. You're, you're the bread of heaven.
Lord, You, you've paid it all. That's what we just thought about
that when we sang that song just a minute ago. Jesus paid it all,
all to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain.
He washed it white as snow. He did that. If I don't have
him, where am I gonna go? We believe, we're sure thou art
that Christ, the son of the living God. And having been given faith,
We believe by the revelation of your spirit that you are that
Christ promised of God, the promised Messiah that the Holy Scriptures
has declared that should come. We believe and ensure you're
God. Lord, you're God. Lord, I don't
want to go anywhere else. I don't want to go anywhere.
Lord, keep me, keep me from falling. Lord, keep me. That's what you
say, we're kept by the power of God through faith. Lord, don't
let me go. Where am I gonna go if I don't
have you? Matthew 16, our Lord asked his
disciples, whom say ye that I am? Simon Peter answered, he said,
you're the Christ. Some said Elijah, some said Jeremiah. Who do you say I am? You're the
Christ, the Son of the living God, the Son of God Almighty. The essential truth is known. This is life eternal. John 17 3. This is life eternal. If they might know thee, the
only true God in Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. If a believer
has been made to cast himself upon the mercy of the Lord Christ
himself, Jesus Christ, God's Messiah, the surety, the representative,
a substitute for a people chosen in him from before the foundation
of the world. You're convinced that he's the
redeemer given by the father. If he is according to God's revelation
to you, the only great high priest that ever liveth to make intercession
for his people, for his bride. If he is all that you have, then
where else are you gonna go? Many of them walk no more with
him. Many of them, and they were just
like me or you. They were human beings falling
in at them, just like me or you. And they walked away. I'm not going to have that man
rule over me. No, I'll take this false refuge
over here. I'll go to this place over here.
They make me feel good. You don't make me feel good,
Margaret. You're always so, I don't know, down or something, I don't
know. I'm gonna tell you something. We've got one hope, and it's
the Lord Jesus Christ himself. We believe, verse 69, sure thou
art that Christ, the Son of the living God. Verse 70, Jesus answered
them, have not I chosen you 12 to be apostles? Have not I chosen
you 12 to be apostles? chosen you 12 in electing grace
because of what he just said. Right after that, have I, have
not I chosen you 12 and one of you is the devil? He chose 12
apostles in electing grace. He chose 11 out of those apostles. One of them was the devil. One
of them was left to himself according to God's goodwill and God's pleasure.
Eternal counsel, he spake, verse 71, of Judas Iscariot, the son
of Simon, for he it was that should betray him, being one
of the 12. I think about that scripture in
Matthew 26, 21, in closing. It says, verily I say unto you
that one of you shall betray me. And they were exceeding sorrowful
and began everyone to say unto him, Lord, is it I? Am I the one? Now let me tell
you, a believer, a true believer is going to have that attitude.
One of you is the devil and you're going to betray me. One of you
is going to do it. As the Lord is my witness, I
thought about that today as I was going over these notes, going
over and going over. And I just, I thought about this
congregation right here. I thought about, I just got thinking
about the ones that the Lord had put providentially in this
congregation. And if the Lord wouldn't say
unto us, one of you is going to betray me, I'll tell you what a true believer's
gonna say. He's not gonna say, well, it
won't be me. It won't be me, you can count
on that. I won't be the one. No, here's
what a believer's gonna say, Lord, am I the one? Lord, is
it me? Is it I? Lord, I know that left
to myself, I know that propensity to go away is there. There's
no man in me. And Lord, if you leave me to
me, I know what I'm gonna do. But Lord, is it me? But he spoke
of Judas. He told us. But I'm telling you,
every believer will think that. Oh, may the Lord bless these
words to our hearts and cause us to remember. We're here by
the grace of God. We're still here by the grace
of God. And if we're kept unto the end, believing on Him, trusting
Him, in the midst of all of the animosity and the rebellion that
this world offers against God's people. How can you believe that? How can you believe that sovereign
grace stuff? That Jesus Christ only died for the elect. How
can you believe that? One of you is going to leave
me. I pray the Lord bless it, to
his glory and our good.