And hope we never get over what
it took to save us. Henry said one time, when grace
quits being amazing grace, it's not grace anymore. Saved by the
amazing grace of God. Turn back to John 6. Lord willing,
we will finish this chapter this morning. I'm going to kind of
backtrack a little bit. I titled this message, Does This
Offend You? Does This Offend You? When our
Lord preached He preached plainly, so much so that children could
understand what he was saying. They understood what he said. They didn't like what he said. He spoke of coming down from
heaven. They didn't like that. He spoke of being the true bread
from heaven, that a man may eat their oven and not die. They
didn't like that. They heard His message. They
heard what He was saying. It was fine when He was feeding
them bread, but when He opened His mouth and spoke the truth,
they hated Him for it, hated Him. You see, they could not
reconcile their view of salvation by works, by the works of the
law, with salvation by grace through union with the Lord Jesus
Christ, that man standing in front of them. You see, him standing
there in the flesh was a stumbling block to them. He did not look
like what they thought the Messiah would look like. He stood there as a poor, as
a poor common man. And when they looked at him,
it's like, nah, you couldn't, you couldn't have come, came
from heaven. No, you, that couldn't happen. They were embarrassed
to own such a person to be their Messiah, their King, their God. They were embarrassed of him.
We know you, you're the carpenter's son. You're the carpenter, that
poor carpenter, you're his son. They wouldn't have it, they wouldn't
have it. You see, the natural mind, the natural enmity that's
in the mind of every human being comes out when truth is preached. He could have said anything else.
He could have taken the law and read the law to them and they
said, okay, you know, we can do this. Israel said that one
time when they read the law time, he said, do this. And he said,
we can do it. They never did any of it. But when he came out and told
them the truth, I'm the Messiah. Life is in me. I am life. I am life, not just a giver of
it, which he is, but I am life itself. If I have life, I have
Jesus Christ. I have him. He is life. And they
heard what he was saying. And as they looked at him, he
was like, no, no, this is not, this is not the way we thought
you'd look like or be at all. And that natural enmity comes
out against God when the truth is preached. You can say anything
else, anything else, and people will receive it. But when the
truth is preached, God has to save you in order to receive
it. You won't receive it until then. In verse 60, many therefore
of his disciples, those who called themselves his disciples, those
who followed him, a disciple is a learner. They sat and they
was trying to learn, so called. But when they heard, they said this, this is a hard
saying. Who can hear it? Now the Greek
word hard here does not mean hard to understand. It doesn't
mean hard to understand. It means hard to accept. It means
it's intolerable. What you are saying is intolerable. You coming down from heaven is
intolerable. To eat your flesh and drink your
blood is intolerable. We can't accept this. It's not
that it's too hard to understand, it's just we're not going to
accept or receive what you're saying. That's what they're saying. You see, many are disciples in
name only. In name only. The disciples spoken
of here, not the 12, but it's those who saw the miracles, they
heard Him speak, and then they followed Him until He spoke the
truth to them. Now, He spoke the truth always,
but now it really came home. You know, I've seen this over
the years. I've seen this. I've seen people come in. I've
seen them sit down. I've seen them listen. And I
preached to a place for probably two months. When I first started preaching
there, they said, amen. I mean, it was amen everywhere.
They were saying amen. The second time I preached, there
was a little less amen. By the time I got to eight weeks,
there was no amen, but one man, one man. And, um, they called this one
man is in a wheelchair. And he said, I believe this gospel
you're preaching. He said, I've been listening
to your pastor Henry on television. I believe this gospel you're
preaching. Then on a Saturday night, they called me. I can't
remember the man's name. They said, Mr. So-and-so died
last night. You don't need to come back.
They said, you don't need to come back no more. God sent me
there for that one sheep. For eight weeks, I preached to
that one sheep. The rest of them started out,
amen, amen, like these disciples. And then all of a sudden, they
heard what I was saying. They heard the message of sovereign
mercy. And it got quiet. I did this
at my father's funeral. My father's funeral, I preached
the gospel. And they started out, amen, because dad grew up
around a bunch of Armenians. I mean, it was Armenian church
everywhere. And he was in it for a while. And the house was
full. They started out saying amen.
By the time I finished preaching, nobody said a word. They didn't
say a word because the truth, I'm telling you, the truth is
offensive. It's offensive, I'll show you here in a minute. Truth,
now listen, truth will eventually separate the sheep from the goats.
Truth will finally divide them. Turn over to Matthew chapter
10. Matthew chapter 10. Look in verse 34. Think not that I am come to send
peace on earth. I came not to send peace, but
a sword. For I am come to set a man at
variance against his father and his daughter, against his against
his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law
against her mother-in-law. And a man's foe shall be they
of his own household. He that loves father, mother
more than me is not worthy of me. And he that loves son or
daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that takes
not up his cross and follows after me is not worthy of me.
He that finds his life shall lose it. And he that loses his
life for my sake shall find it. In other words, the gospel will
even divide a house. It will divide a house. You know,
back especially in that day, and it's still that way in some
places, especially over there, when one confesses Christ, they
are cut off from the family. They're excommunicated for believing
the gospel. And Christ said, you know, in
one place he says this, To his followers, to those who are going
to follow him, sit down and count the cost. You know, the Lord
tells everyone, everyone who hears the gospel, sit down and
count the cost, because it's going to cost you your life.
It's going to cost you your friends. It may cost you family. It's
costly. It's costly. Salvation is costly. Look what it cost our Lord to
save us. Costly. But here, they were offended,
and He knew they were offended. He knew it. When Jesus knew in
Himself that His disciples murmured at Him, He said to them, Does
this offend you? Does this message that I have
just given you, the truth, does it offend you? You know, people
are willing for Christ to be anything but the Christ, anything
but God incarnate. HE CAN BE THE HEALER, HE CAN
BE THE MIRACLE WORKER, JUST NOT THE CHRIST FROM HEAVEN, NOT THE
SOVEREIGN CHRIST OF GOD, HE CAN BE ANYTHING BUT THAT, BECAUSE
OUR LORD SAID, LET ANOTHER COME IN HIS OWN NAME AND HIM HE'LL
RECEIVE, NO MATTER HOW RIDICULOUS IT IS, HIM HE'LL RECEIVE, BUT
YOU WON'T RECEIVE ME, NOT WITHOUT A DIVINE WORK OF
GRACE, Now it says when he knew in himself, no one had to tell
him. The disciples, you know, Peter
didn't say, Lord, do you know that you offended them? You know
they're offended. He knew in himself. He knew they
were offended. He knew their thoughts. Our Lord
knows the thoughts of every human being on this earth. He knows
every thought because every thought is going to be brought into judgment.
Every thought that's ever, that a person has ever had that's
lost is going to come back to judgment. You know, Scripture
says a thought of foolishness is sin, and it's going to be brought
up in judgment. But he says, does this offend you? Does the message of substitution,
the message of the gospel, which is good news, but does it offend
you? Does it offend you? Does eating my flesh and drinking
my blood by faith offend you? Does a cross of Christ, do you
find it offensive? Many find the cross to be offensive. They find it to be offensive.
And I'll tell you why they find it to be offensive. If you really
stop, if you really stop and look at the cross, look at Christ
hanging on the cross, Look at his mutilated body. He's there
under the wrath of God. When I look at the cross, I look at it and I say, what
does that say about me? How evil must I be for such a
one as a son of God to have to die such a death in order to
save me? What does that say about me? It takes the power of God, the
grace of God, the work of God to bring you to love Christ crucified. It takes the power of God. People
do not see themselves to be that evil, really. You know, all that
Job went through, and at the end of Job, he said, I abhor
myself. By the hearing of the ear, I've
heard of thee, but now mine eye seeth thee, And I love myself. He doesn't say that. He says,
I abhor myself. Well, the apostle Paul, after God saved
him, said, Oh, wretched man that I am. He had never said that
before. He would have never said, I'm
a wretched man. He said, I'm the least of the
saints. I'm the least. That's a work of grace. But apart
from that, people find the cross offensive. It's a bloody message. It's a bloody ministry. Like
Moses' wife. God was going to kill Moses because
he didn't circumcise his son. And the reason he didn't do that
is because his wife didn't want that to happen. And she was upset. And God met him in the way and
was going to kill him. And God would have killed him.
If he hadn't done what he said, God said, you circumcised that
boy. And his wife, she called him a bloody husband. She said,
you're a bloody husband. You know, our husband is bloody.
The Lord Jesus Christ is a bloody husband. He shed his blood to
save our souls. His blood is the blood of atonement. Man naturally finds total depravity
offensive. I prefer to use totally dead.
That's the way I prefer you because Adam, I told you this before,
we call it a fall. And when you think of a fall,
most people think you can get back up from a fall. But when you
say dead, you say somebody's dead. You know they ain't getting
back up. Totally spiritually dead. It's offensive. You mean I'm
spiritually dead? I can't do anything? Not spiritually,
you can't. That's why the scripture says,
there's none good, no, not one. Men and women left to themselves
find this offensive. It offends their thoughts of
themselves. We naturally think we're better
than we are, don't we? Naturally, don't we think we're
more intelligent than we really are? Really. Ask a man how tall he is and
subtract two inches. I'm telling you. He thinks he's taller than he
is. I tell you, I'm six foot tall if I get away with it. But
you know I'm blind. You know I'm blind. That's right. We think we're better than we
are. better looking than we are, more intelligent than we are,
and it's offensive to tell us you're not. You're not. Paul said in Romans 3, 4, God
forbid, yea, let God be true, but every man a liar, every man
a liar. For it's written that thou mightest
be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou
art judged. I want to ask you a question. How many lives does
it take to be a liar? One. One lie and you're a liar. It doesn't take 50 or a thousand,
it just takes one. That's why he said, let every
man be a liar. God be true. Every man's a liar. That's so. And the evidence of man's depravity
shows up in his inability to come to Christ without a divine
quickening. drawing of God the Holy Spirit
it says over there that's what he says over there and back over
there in verse 44 no man can come to me except the Father
which has sent me draw him and I'll raise him up at the last
day no man can come because he will not come that's what he
said you will not come you have we have a will problem we have
a we have a depravity problem we have a nature problem And people just, I mean, they
hate it. They hate that message. They
hate the truth. That's the truth. It's the truth. Then man naturally finds God's
sovereignty and salvation offensive. In Romans 9, 18, Therefore hath
he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth?
Does not the potter have power over the clay? Well, yes, but
not this clay. You can have power over that
clay, but not this clay. By nature, we don't have too
much problem with God's sovereignty until he reaches into our house.
He reaches into our home. I mean, he can be sovereign in
your house, but not mine. He can do what he wants with
you, but not me. God's sovereignty and salvation
is probably one of the most, if not the most, offensive truths
of all. God being God. God doing with
what He will, with whom He will, when He will. And He doesn't
ask anybody. It says over in Job 33, Why dost
thou strive against Him? For He giveth not account of
any of His matters. That just makes men and women
mad. You know, mom or dad tells you
to do something, you say, why? They said, because I said so.
That just makes you mad. God doesn't owe us an explanation. He never apologized or explained
to Job why he did what he did. The earth is the Lord, the fullness
thereof, and they who dwell therein. It's his. My house is his. If he wants to burn it down,
he can burn it down. And he doesn't have to give me a call. He can
burn it down. He can burn it down with me in
it if he wants to. Isn't that right? He can do as he will.
And everything he does is right. God can do no wrong. And bless God for those who understand
that. We do worship and preach a sovereign
God. And other than that, there is
no God. There is no God. Man finds particular redemption
offensive. He says, it's not fair. It is
not fair. You know what? All of humanity
has forfeited all rights. Now, when you and I deal with
one another, okay, when we're dealing with one another, we
have rights. Because I'm a sinner, you're a sinner. And the Lord
has given us laws and things by which to deal with one another.
But now before God Almighty, We have forfeited all rights,
and that happened in Adam. That happened in Adam. We forfeited
all rights. I have no rights before God.
I can't claim my rights. The only right I have before
God is death. The wages of sin is death. And nobody's asking for that. And man finds grace, he finds
salvation by grace alone and Christ alone. They found that
offensive. You mean, you mean to tell me
that all my works, not one, not one, not one of them accounts
for any good? Absolutely. Not one of them. Not one. It says in Ephesians
2, 5, Even when we were dead in sins, when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us, made us alive together with Christ.
When we were dead in sins and hating God, He saved us. He made
us alive. He quickened us. He gave us spiritual
life. And all that, He says here, by
grace you're saved. All that was by grace, unmerited
favor. Ephesians 2 by grace are you
saved through faith that not of yourselves? It's the gift
of God Salvation by grace alone in Christ alone gives no one
an advantage You said that doesn't give me
an advantage over you you over me or that doesn't give me an
advantage over anyone I Thought of this example I Said it makes
it makes men and women man lost. I'm talking about lost. I You
remember that in the story of the prodigal son? You remember
the story of where the son that stayed home? He stayed home. He did all that his father wanted
him to do. You know, he went out, worked in the garden, helped
him, and did all that. And then the prodigal, who took
all his living, went out and squandered it, you know, he's
sitting there at a hog pen, and he remembers his father's house,
so he comes back, and the father sees him afar off, and he runs
down, and the father kisses him. The father doesn't sit up there
and say, well, it's about time you come home. I can't believe
you did what you did. The father never mentioned it
to him. He never mentioned it. And it made that one that stayed
home mad. It made them mad. I see a picture
of the Jews here. They're the ones who claim to
keep the law. And us Gentiles went out there
and squandered it all. You know, we went out there and
rioted us living. And then God include us Gentiles? You serious? And made them mad. It made them
mad when Christ sat down and ate with publicans, sinners,
people like you and me. It made them mad. Sovereign grace
makes mad. It makes the self-righteous mad.
And because it gives them no advantage, it puts them on the
same ground as us, sinners. And here's something else that
natural man finds offensive. All out, total commitment to
Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ owns me lock, stock,
and barrel. I'm His. I realize that the only
reason I exist, and I tell you every child of God realizes this,
some to a greater degree than others. The only reason I have
an existence is for Jesus Christ. All things were made by Him and
for Him. I was made for Him. My life,
every day I get up out of bed, every time I go through the day,
my life is for Him. It's not for me. It's not for
my joy. He is my joy. He's my joy. I tell you what, if He's my joy,
whatever I'm doing, I'll find joy in it. Whether I'm working
or whether I'm playing golf, I find joy in it. I find it. I'm for Him. I have a purpose.
All these people, they go out in the woods trying to find a
reason for their existence. I saw one about Matthew McConaughey,
went out and trying to find himself. You're never gonna find yourself.
You're never, because here's one of the reasons why. You won't
face the truth. You won't look in the mirror.
You don't have to go to the woods, just look in the mirror and be
honest with yourself. Be honest. Total commitment to Christ. Jesus
Christ is not a, He's not fire insurance policy. Jesus Christ
is my life. For me to live is Christ that
dies again. I have no reason to live except
for Him. Except for Him. If I can't be
here to worship, if I can't be a witness to Him, I have no reason
to exist. I have not. It's daily living upon Christ. He that eateth my flesh, listen,
verse 57, back in verse 57, as the living Father sent me and
I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, that eateth me, feedeth
on me, means continually. That's not just something you
did some years ago. That's continually. I'll tell
you what, stop eating today and see how long you live. And those who quit feeding on
Christ, one of the reasons, they have no appetite for it. They
have no life. It's evidence of no life. Dead
people don't eat. They don't drink. You have to
have an appetite to do that. And God has to give us an appetite
for the bread of life. He has to make us to hunger and
thirst after righteousness. And Christ is a fountain. He's
the fountain of righteousness. He is our righteousness. And
thank God you know that, and I know that. And he says to them,
if this offends you, if this offends you, in verse 62, if
me coming down from heaven, being the true bread from heaven, and
a man may eat thereof and not die, except you eat my flesh
and drink my blood, if this offends you, of me coming down from heaven,
It's really going to offend you when you find out I'm risen.
It's really going to offend you when they preach the resurrection. If coming down offends you, going
back up is really going to offend you. That's right. You just wait till all that I've
said comes to pass, and you stand before me as your judge, you're
really going to be offended. All the weeping and wailing and
gnashing of teeth by those in hell is not just against one
another, but it's also against God. People who are cast into hell
are not sorry. They're not sorry. If there was
true repentance, it would be over with, but there's not. They
hate God. Here's what happens. You see,
God right now keeps in check The absolute hatred, and this
is the truth, is he keeps in check the hatred of the human
race. We couldn't live here. In hell, it's unleashed. Weeping,
wailing, gnashing of teeth. That's what it says. That's what
our Lord says. He says here in verse 63, it's
the spirit that quickeneth. Eating my flesh, this physical
flesh, he said, eating my flesh, that profits nothing. The words,
listen, the words that I speak to you, they're spirit. I'm talking
about the Holy Spirit. The words that I speak are spirit
and they are life. It's the Holy Spirit that gives
life and regeneration. The flesh, This flesh profits
nothing, eating it. It's spiritual eating. It's an
exercise of faith in and on the Lord Jesus Christ continually. That's what prophets. But there
are some of you that believe not. Jesus knew from the beginning
who they were that believe not and who should betray him. The
Lord's not fooled by pretense. We could fool each other, but
we can't fool him. He knows who believes. He knows
who believes. You know why? Faith is a gift
of God. He knows who he gave it to. You know, if I gave two or three
of you a gift this morning, I know the rest of you don't have it
because I didn't give it to you. Faith is a gift. You see how
we are shut up to the sovereign mercy of God. Lord, have mercy
on me. That's what I'd be crying. He knew who didn't believe he
wasn't fooled. He knew, listen, he knew before
the world was created who would believe and who wouldn't. He
knew that. Not just at that time, he knew
that. And many laughed over his message. They didn't leave over
the miracles. They didn't leave over the fact
that he fed them. It's like, we're gonna leave,
he fed us, we don't like that. We don't like what you're saying.
We don't like the message. and it says that from that time
from that that message that he spoke they heard many of his
disciples they went back they said i'm going back home i'm
not i'm not going this is intolerable this is absolutely intolerable
and they walk no more with him and the lord asked his disciples
he said will you also go away oh what a Will you, this morning,
will you also go away? Will you go away in unbelief? And Peter gave the right answer.
Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Where are we going to go? And every one of you that believe
this morning, you're saying the same, where are we going to go?
Lord, thou hast the words. You have the gospel. of eternal
life, there's no one else to go to. If you're not the Savior,
there's not any. Because he says here in verse
69, And we believe and are sure,
confident, that thou art that Christ. You're that Christ spoken
of by the prophets, spoken of in the Psalms. You are that Christ,
the Son of the Living God. You're God's Son. You're God incarnate. They believed
Him to be God incarnate. But sadly, not all who confess,
not all who profess, possess. Verse 70, Jesus answered them,
have not I chosen you twelve, and wanted you the devil? Always
tares among the wheat, always goats among the sheep. He spake
of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for he it was that should
betray him, being one of the twelve. To whom shall you go? Lord, we
have no one to go to. Does this message offend you?
Not anymore. Not anymore. By God's grace,
I love it. I love it. I love the message
of sovereign grace, because if it were not for the sovereign
grace of God, nobody would be saved. No one would be saved.
None. Zero. There's not a just man
on the earth that does good and sins not. Nobody, no one would
come to Christ. He said, except my father draw
him, except my father exert divine power, the power that it took
to create the heavens and the earth and for him to exert that
same power on you. If he doesn't do that, you're
not coming because you will not. Your will is not to come. All
right.