Good morning. Let's turn to John
chapter six. John chapter six. All right, John six. In our text
today, we're witness to a departing, a departing of people from Christ. There were disciples there that
were hearing their Lord speak, and they heard him declare the
gospel. They heard him declare the gospel,
and they were offended at his word, and they left. They left the Lord. They departed
from the Lord and his people. Now, these weren't Pharisees. They're not scribes. They're
not even described as often is as being the Jews when we see
people hearing the Lord and being offended by what he was saying
and being contrary to what the Lord was saying. These were disciples. They were disciples. It says
in verse 60, many therefore of his disciples, when they had
heard this said, this is an hard saying, who can hear it? And
verse 66, from that time many of his disciples went back and
walked no more with him. By disciples, it means that they're
learners. They're there to hear from Christ. They have a favorable disposition
toward Christ as opposed to the Pharisees and the scribes and
those Jews that resisted him. What I want to look at this morning
with you is to answer these questions. What were they offended by? And why were they offended? Because Christ describes, he
tells us why they were offended. And then we'll see the witness
of Christ's true disciples, the witness that he bears in his
people, revealing that they are his children. I've titled this,
Christ Preserves His Disciples. Christ Preserves His Disciples. And so let's begin here with
this offense. We're told in verse 59 where Christ was speaking
these things. He was in the synagogue and he
was teaching them in the synagogue in Capernaum. And in response
to what our Lord was saying, verse 60, many therefore of his
disciples, when they had heard this, said, this is in hard saying,
who can hear it? They were offended by what Christ
said, and that's why it was hard for them to hear it. It was hard
to them. It came to them as a difficult
thing that they couldn't bear. They just couldn't hear it and
receive it. Did Christ do something wrong?
Did he do something wrong in what he said? Was he wrong? Or did they hear it with an offense? What our Lord was saying that
was so offensive to his disciples is he was plainly declaring the
truth of the gospel to them. He was plainly declaring the
truth of the gospel to these men. He spoke concerning himself. He spoke of his kingdom. He revealed
salvation in Christ. He revealed his salvation, his
sovereignty, his glory. before these people and they
heard it and couldn't receive it. They were confused by it. They were offended by what he
said because they didn't have the Spirit of Christ whereby
to hear it. The Spirit didn't interpret it
for them. The Spirit didn't reveal it to
them and give it to them. And so they were confused and
they were offended by his doctrine. And so offended were they that
many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. Let's see these four things that
the Lord brings out here that got them so offended. First,
look at verse 37. What he's saying here is that
God has a chosen people, a people that Christ will save. God has a chosen people whom
he'll save. Verse 37, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. Christ isn't driving them away.
The Father brings them to Christ, and he receives them and draws
them to himself. Verse 40, And this is the will
of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth
on him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the
last day. Our God shall lose none of his
people. he'll lose none of his children.
All who are his shall come to him, and he saves them to the
end. They're his. They cannot be lost
by Christ. Second, our Lord declares God's
divine sovereignty in saving whom he will. It's his sovereign,
divine choice. He's God, he can do as he pleases. Look at verse 44. No man can
come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him,
and I will raise him up at the last day. The third thing that
they were stumbling over is that Christ declared his deity. He is God. He is of the Father. He has the authority to say the
things that he's saying. Look at verse 46. Not that any
man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God. Christ is
of God. He hath seen the Father. He's of God. He is God. He was with the Father in the
beginning, and He is God. He said earlier in verse 38,
I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the
will of Him that sent me. He came from the Father. The
Father sent Him. He saw the Father. He was with
the Father. He is one with the Father. And fourth, Christ declared that
they must feed upon Him. they must eat his flesh and drink
his blood for their very life. Look at verse 53 and 54. Then
Christ said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except
ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, he
hath no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last
day. Our Lord is declaring that His
disciples have faith in Him. He's speaking of a complete faith
upon which we lean upon the Lord, rest in the Lord, fall completely
in His arms. It's a complete salvation. He's
all our salvation. Without Him we have no salvation. And many of his disciples heard
him and judged him according to fleshly judgment. They judged
him as the flesh judges a man. They didn't like what they heard,
and so they judged him. They didn't hear the spiritual
truth in what Christ was saying. They didn't hear the spirit of
what Christ was saying. They didn't try to understand
what Christ was saying. They became offended and went
away. And this brings us to our second
point. The Lord tells us why it is that man cannot hear the
gospel. Why it is that he will not hear
the gospel. Though it's true, though it's
spiritual, though it's of the Lord and spoken by the Lord himself,
why is it that men cannot hear the gospel? Well, we know that
the hearing of Christ's word was too much for them. They called
it a hard saying and asked, who can hear it? And what they're
saying there is, if I can't hear it, no one can. Who can hear
it? If I can't hear it, no one can
hear it. Because I'm a pretty good judge of what the truth
is. If I can hear it, then other
people will hear it. But if I can't hear it, no one
can hear this. And they departed. And Christ,
before they departed, took that time to explain in their presence
why it is that they could not hear him speak, what he was saying. He gives us a reason why they
departed before they even left physically. Verse 61, when Jesus
knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto
them, doth this offend you? Doth this offend you? And he's
telling us they were offended. They were offended. What they
heard offended them. They didn't like what they heard.
And the reason is because Christ declares that the work of salvation
is a finished work. Our Lord's salvation is complete,
full, finished in Him. Our God is satisfied with His
children. What Christ did, what He accomplished,
is all of our salvation and needs nothing more from us. Look at
verse 62. What and if ye shall see the
Son of Man ascend up where He was before? Our Lord is speaking
of His ascension glory. When our Savior was on the cross,
When He went to the cross to put away the sins of His people,
He said, from the cross, it is finished. He made satisfaction
there on the cross for His people. The work is finished. And when
God raised Him from the grave, It declared to us, it bore witness
to us that God is satisfied, holy justice is satisfied with
his people. The law has nothing more to say
to you, child of God. You are under the blood, under
the grace of Jesus Christ and your God receives you. And Christ
ascended up to the throne, to the right hand of the throne
of his father, and it declares to all that it is finished. God is satisfied with his people. There is nothing more that our
flesh can add to the work of Christ. And that's confusing
to man. When man hears that salvation
is already complete in the Lord Jesus Christ, it's confusing
because he's wondering, how can that be? I didn't give any input
into this yet. I haven't agreed with God yet
that Christ is my Savior. How can it be that the work is
already finished? Don't I need to give my stamp
of approval? Don't I need to say that I agree
and that I want Jesus to be my Lord and Savior? How is it that
a sinner is saved unless he does something? He's got to do something. Doesn't he have to make a decision
for Jesus? Doesn't he have to believe before
Christ can save him? And our Lord answers this question
in the next verse, verse 63. He says, it's the spirit that
quickeneth. It is the spirit that quickeneth,
the flesh profiteth nothing. It is all in God's hands. Your
flesh adds nothing to the work of Christ. The words I speak
unto you, they are spirit and they are life. Our Lord is declaring
the truth, that salvation is all accomplished in Him. and
therefore anything necessary is already determined and shall
unfold according to the will and purpose of God." Unfold from
our perspective. We'll see it. We'll see the hand
of the Lord because it's his work. He's doing it. He cannot
fail. So our Lord isn't waiting for
man's decision. He's not waiting for man to accept
Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. That's how this world's
religion speaks. That's how the ignorant, depraved
man thinks that God saves him. It's according to his decision,
his faith. what he does or doesn't do with
this knowledge of Christ. But the reality is man's choice
left to himself. Man always rejects the Christ
of God. Man left to himself always rejects
the salvation that God has provided for his people. He doesn't like
a sovereign savior. He doesn't need a sovereign savior.
He can save himself. All he needs maybe is a little
help, but he's got it. He'll take care of it if he wants
to be saved. But the Lord shows us that no
man comes to him. He said, You will not come unto
me that you might have life. John 5, 40. The natural man will
turn to Christ, but it'll be a false Christ. It'll be a Christ
that needs him, that needs some part of him fulfilling something
on his part for his salvation. But our Lord says, that's not
how I save my people. It's the spirit that quicken
him. It's the Spirit that quickeneth.
The Spirit gives life to the dead sinner. And by the Spirit's
work, that born-again creature shall hear the voice of the Son
of God. That born-again creature, that
creation of Christ, shall see the Son of God and believe on
Him by that God-given faith. God gives the faith. He works
that faith. in whomsoever he will, and he
brings out that faith that looks to Christ. He gives that hope,
that joy, that peace in the Lord Jesus Christ. As we read in Ephesians
2.8, by grace are ye saved through faith. And that, that faith,
not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Additionally, our
Lord says in verse 64 that this salvation, it's already ordained
of the Father. It's been ordained. It cannot
fail. It cannot fall short to accomplish
that which Christ has already succeeded in doing. He's already
redeemed his people, purchased them with his own blood. They
shall never fall short of the will of God for them, that they
should hear and believe on the Son of God. They shall believe. He says in verse 64, there are
some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning
who they were that believed not and who should betray him. There
are some that won't believe, meaning he also knows them that
will believe because he's accomplished their salvation. Our Lord has
a people whom he loves, whom he chose before the foundation
of the world. And his scriptures bear this
truth out. He says in Acts 13, 48, as many as were ordained
to eternal life believed. As many as were ordained to eternal
life believed. And then in John 10, verse 26
and 27, he says, but you believe not because you're not of my
sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. his sheep follow him, his sheep
shall hear, and those that don't hear and don't believe, it's
because they're not his sheep. And so he continues in verse
65, he said, therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto
me, except it were given unto him of my father. Salvation is the free gift of
our God, and he gives it to whomsoever he will. Salvation is not something
that man does for God. It's not something that he does
to get himself saved. Salvation is of the Lord. It's what our God does to save
his child. It's what our God does to save
his people. And what the Lord does in the
salvation of his people, it's all revealed to them in divine
revelation. He gives it to his people by
the Spirit through regeneration, giving us life where there was
no life, bringing truth out of, bringing life where there was
only death, where there was nothing to believe God. He gives life
and he gives life by his seed, by the seed of Christ, giving
life in his child, in the inner man, the new man that looks to
Christ, that hears the Spirit, that believes Him. His people
hear Him and they come to Him. And if all Christ's sheep come
to Christ and believe on Him, what does that mean then for
these disciples, these that are called disciples, that are there
listening to Christ, what does it mean for them when we read
in verse 66 that from that time many of His disciples went back
and walked no more with Him. They left the preaching of Christ. They left off hearing from him
and went back to their old form of worshiping God. They went
back to an old form of worshiping God in the law, in the synagogue,
in slaying of animals, to put away sin, in trusting a man as
the high priest to put away their sin. They went back to that which
they did in spiritual ignorance and in darkness, they departed
from the Lord. And that was really, that was
a major trial in the church that day. That was the first significant
trial for the church because a lot of the disciples left. It's as many Many of his disciples,
many who confessed Christ, left and went back and walked no more
with Christ. They were happy with the miracles,
but they didn't want a master. They were happy with him healing,
They're sick. They were glad and rejoicing
in the thought of an earthly Jewish kingdom being established.
They like that, but a sovereign Savior declaring that salvation
is all of the Lord, that he must save his people, and that apart
from him they have no life, that they couldn't hear. It couldn't
bear with it. And this defection verifies the
truth of what Christ is saying. He said in verse 63, it's the
spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. And men today
still trust in their flesh to add something to the work of
the Lord. We've got, the Lord's teaching
us that it's all of him. It's all of him and apart from
him we can do nothing. They were proving that they were
all flesh and no spirit. All flesh and no spirit. As Christ
said in verse 65, no man can come unto me except it were given
unto him of my father. When they were pressed to eat
the flesh of Christ and to drink his blood, It was revealed that
they had no will and no faith to believe Christ. They didn't
trust him. They weren't hearing him speaking to them as Lord.
They were hearing him speaking to them as a good man, a man
who could do miracles, but they didn't believe him according
to his word that he is the Lord sent from heaven, sent from the
father to say these things, to declare these truths to us and
to put away the sin of his people and bring them unto himself. This brings us to the third and
final point, the witness. Though we see that many departed
from the Lord, the happy truth is that none for whom Christ
died, none of his disciples, none of his true disciples can
depart from the Lord. If Christ purchased you, you
cannot leave him. And our Lord bears witness in
his chosen saints, in his people, they shall confess him and they
shall continue in Christ. They're not going to be able
to depart from him. And the way he does it here is
he proves his disciples with a question. He asks a question
and it's their response that reveals that they're children
of grace. God's grace is working in them. God's grace is revealed in them. They're drawn by the Father.
Look at verse 67. Then said Jesus unto the twelve,
will ye also go away? And our Lord is revealing to
us that true believers can never quit the Savior. They can't quit
the Savior, they're special objects of His love. Now, we have a lot
of doubt in us. We have unbelief in this flesh. There's much unbelief, much doubt,
much worry, but our Lord is the one that preserves His people.
We're not preserved by our strength. It's not our grip holding on
to the Lord. were preserved by the grace of
our God in his Son, Jesus Christ. We're in the eternal covenant
of God's grace for us. He established it in the blood
of his Son. We're saved by him and his mercy. These disciples, they were tested
in seeing such a multitude depart from them. But Peter answered
in verse 68, look at verse 68 with me. He said, Lord, to whom shall
we go? To whom shall we go, Lord? And
that testimony right there you see in Peter is he calls him
Lord. He's Peter's Lord. What he speaks
is truth. Whether Peter understands it
all right then and there, Doesn't matter, that's not the point.
He trusts Christ. He believes this is the Christ. Lord, who are we gonna go to?
Who else has life that we can turn to? Where else can we go? We don't understand everything,
but one thing we do know is our God is in control. He's ruling
and reigning and controlling all things and doing all things
for our good. He says, he asks, Lord, to whom
shall we go? Lord, you alone are salvation. There's no work that we can turn
to. There's no work that we can do
to purge ourselves of our sin. There's nothing we can do to
please our God or work this salvation for ourselves. Lord, there's
no one else that we can turn to. There's no other Christ coming.
You alone are the Christ scent of God. Your flesh, Lord, is
meat indeed, and your blood, Lord, is drink indeed. You are the fullness of our salvation. We have nothing apart from Christ,
and by faith we're kept feeding upon Him for our life. He's made more necessary to our
bodies than food itself. He's more of our sustenance than
food is our sustenance for these bodies. To whom shall we go is
the believer's response to departing from the Lord. And by his Holy
Spirit, we understand thou hast the words of eternal life, Lord.
The Spirit shows us that we're coming to a person. We're coming to Christ. We need
him. There's not salvation in our
works. There's not salvation in our
form of religion. We're coming to Christ. We're
coming to Christ. He alone has the words of eternal
life. When he speaks, Lord, we live. We hear, Lord, we live by you. Apart from you, we're spiritually
and eternally dead. And Peter continues in this witness
being borne out in him, verse 69, And we believe and are sure
that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. The witness that our Lord bears
in His children is faith before sight. We believe and are sure
that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. the will
of the many disciples that departed from him, they asked in verse
30, they said, what sign showest thou then? What sign do you show,
Lord, that we may see and believe? These disciples that left Christ,
they wanted to see something first. They needed to see it
proved out with their eyes before they believed. Whereas Peter
said, Lord, we believe and are sure. We believe you. We hear your word and we believe
you. We know that you're the Christ.
We're confident of this very thing. The witness of the spirit
in his people says we believe and are sure. Whereas the witness
of the many is show us a sign. Show us a sign first, Lord, and
then we'll believe you. We've got to see some things
before we can believe. We don't need to see first. We
believe our Lord. who is our salvation, who says,
I've chosen you. I've drawn you to myself. I love
you. I've provided your whole salvation. Everything is ordained by me.
Everything you need is all provided by your God, your Lord. You shall
not be lost. What more do you need? He has
given us assurance. He sent His Son and spared Him
not. He shed His own blood to put
away our sin and declares to us, Your sin is put away. You are mine. You shall never
be lost. I shall return and raise you
up at the last day. We believe, Lord, and are assured.
The psalmist in Psalm 27 verse 13 said, I had fainted unless
I had believed to see. unless I had believed to see
the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." Psalm 27,
verse 13. So we read that from that time,
many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him.
But our Lord is saying, he'll never lose one for whom he died. He'll never lose one of his children
for whom he died. You know, Peter denied the Lord
three times. Peter denied the Lord three times
and the Lord restored Peter. In John, John 21 verse three,
he records where Peter said, I go a fishing. I'm going fishing. And the disciples, there were
disciples there that went with him that said, we also go with
thee. And they went forth and entered
into a ship immediately. And that night they caught nothing. There in the night they caught
nothing. The Lord didn't bless their departing
from him. He called them to himself, and
they went. They went back to their old ways.
They went back to fishing. And the Lord had called them
to be fishers of men, to follow him, to trust him and believe
him as their Lord and their Savior. But even though they departed,
he graciously went out, he sought them, and He restored them completely. He restored them to His body,
and He used them mightily in the Kingdom of God. Our Savior
shall lose none for whom He died. He'll lose none for whom He died.
The children of God, those for whom Christ shed His blood, can
never apostatize from Christ. They can't leave Him. They cannot
leave Him. Turn over to Hebrews 10. Hebrews
10. And we'll go to verse 35. And we'll read down from verse
35 to verse 39 together. Hebrews 10.35, cast not away
therefore your confidence which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience,
that after ye have done the will of God ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he
that shall come will come and will not tarry. Now the just
shall live by faith. But if any man draw back, my
soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who
draw back unto perdition. but of them that believe to the
saving of the soul. Many leave because the gospel
offends them. Regardless of what excuse they
give, many leave because the gospel offends them. But if they're
the Lord's, they can never leave the Lord. They shall never leave
him and they shall never be lost because Christ has provided for
them. He shed his blood. He seeks out
his people. He draws them to himself and
he'll put them in his kingdom and use them in his kingdom according
to the will and purpose of God. We're told from that time many
of his disciples went back and walked no more with him, but
All the true disciples of Christ are preserved in Christ. They
shall never be lost. They're fixed in Him. They will
not depart and they will not apostatize from Christ. And that's a good comfort for
us who have unbelief and doubt in this flesh and struggle ourselves
with worries and fears. The Lord has provided and none
shall be lost. They're His people. and he shall
not lose them. All right, brethren, let's close
in prayer. Our gracious Lord, we thank you, Father, that this
salvation is not of us. This flesh profits nothing. But
Lord, it's your spirit. It's by you. It's your work. And Lord, you've provided everything. Your spirit quickens. Your spirit
gives life. Your spirit holds and preserves
us. keeps us in the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord, that we can
never be lost. Father, we thank you for your
mercy and grace to us. We pray for your people that
you indeed shall keep them, that you would seek them out, draw
them to yourself, and keep them ever fixed and safe in Christ
our Savior. Lord, because we know it's not
of us, it's not of our flesh, but it's all of you. The work
is of you to the praise, honor, glory of your name. And it's
in Christ's name that we pray these things and give thanks.
And Lord, we think of our sister, Claudia, who's going into surgery
tomorrow. We pray, Lord, that you would
have mercy upon her, that you would protect her, give the doctors
great wisdom, that they would not overdo the medication, but
that they would hear her and work with her and do that which
is precise and exact and perfect for her. And Lord, that you would
bring her through it with strength and health. And Lord, give the
doctor's wisdom that our sister would be restored to us again
quickly. It's in Christ's name we pray and give thanks. Amen. Let's take a 15 minute break
and then we'll start again.