If you turn back to John chapter
6, remember next Sunday we're going to have a lunch together
after the service, a church dinner. I always look forward to that.
And tonight through Wednesday night, I'm going to be speaking
in Liberty, Kentucky for the Rocky Ford Baptist Church. I
don't have the exact directions as to how to get there yet. Hopefully
I'll have them by this afternoon. And if anyone wants to go during
the week, call me and I'll have them. John 6. Verse 59. These things said he in the synagogue,
as he taught in Capernaum. Now, if you're familiar with
John 6, you know the things that he taught is what is known as
the doctrine of grace. The doctrine, there's only one
doctrine, the doctrine of grace. Let me just show you the verses
of scripture I'm referring to. Look in verse 44 of this same
chapter. He said, no man can come to me
except the father which has sent me draw him. Now that is human
inability. You and I cannot come to Christ
unless he draws us. If God leaves me to myself, I
will not come. I'll go to hell and you will
too. We're totally dependent upon
him. And then look in verse 37 of
this same chapter. He said, all that the father
giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me, I will
in no wise cast out. Now there he teaches divine election. The Father gave the Son of people,
and they will be saved. Every one of them will come to
the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 39. And this is
the Father's will, which has sent me, that of all which he
hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it
up again at the last day. Now there the Lord is teaching
his effectual atonement for his people. Everybody the Father
gave me, They're saved. I'll raise them up at the last
day. I'm paying for their sins. And then in verse 45, it is written
in the prophets, and there should be all, all the elect, all those
the father gave me, all those I died for, it is written in
the prophets, and they should be all taught of God. Every man
therefore that has heard and have learned of the father comes
to me. Invincible, irresistible grace. And then look in verse 54, whoso
eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, eating and drinking
upon Christ himself, feeding upon him, hath eternal life,
not temporary life, but eternal life. And I'll raise him up at
the last day. Now these things, verse 59, said
he in the synagogue as he taught in Capernaum, verse 60, many
therefore of his disciples, These are people who claim to be his
followers. When they had heard this, said, this is an hard saying. Who can hear it? That word hard
is harsh. Dry. That's what the word actually
means, dry. Inhumane. It's sometimes translated
austere. Who can be expected to listen
to this? This is a hard saying. Who can
hear it? Verse 61, when Jesus knew in
himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, doth
this offend you? Are you offended by what I've
said? What and if you shall see the
Son of Man ascend up where he was before? Now when he makes
that statement, he's saying if you're offended now, you'll really
be offended then. When you see me in my glory ascend
up where I was before. Verse 63, it is the Spirit that
quickeneth, that gives life. The flesh profits nothing. Now,
the flesh is fallen human nature. It profits nothing in this thing
of spiritual life. It's the Spirit that quickens.
The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak unto you,
these words that you find harsh and hard, He says, they're Spirit
and they're life. Now that's what Christ calls
his word, spirit, life. But verse 64, but there are some
of you that believe not for Jesus knew from the beginning who they
were that believe not and who should betray him. And he said,
therefore said I unto you that no man can come to me. This is the reason I said this.
No man can come to me. except it were given him of my
father." Now, there are some things that will not happen except something
take place. No exceptions. For instance,
the Lord said, In Matthew 5.20, except your righteousness, your
personal righteousness shall exceed, surpass, be better than
the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no
case enter the kingdom of heaven. We read in John 3.3, except a
man be born again, born from above, birthed into the kingdom
of God, he cannot see the kingdom of heaven. And then we read in
Matthew chapter 18, verse three, except you be converted and become
as little children, humbling yourself as a little child, humbling
yourself before God, you won't enter the kingdom of heaven.
And he said in Luke 13, five, except you repent, except you
change your mind. You shall not enter. kingdom
of heaven you'll all likewise perish and no man can come to
me except it were given him from above verse 66 from that time
after the lord said this from that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him now
this was the straw that broke the camel's back There was a
great defection at that time. And many, most of his disciples
went back and walked no more with him. They claimed to be
his followers, but they went back. Literally, they went away
to the before, what they were before they were disciples. They
went back and they walked no more with him. As the dog returns
to its own vomit, As the pig that was washed to his wallowing
in the mire, they went back. Now, why would these disciples
leave? It says disciples. Why would
these disciples leave? Well, there's only one reason.
Our Lord said, if you continue in my word. If you continue in my word, then
Are you my disciples? Indeed, in truth, in reality,
John said in first John two 19, they went out from us, but they
were not of us for if they had been of us, they would have no
doubt continued with us, but they went out that they might
be made manifest that they were not all of us. Now here is a sad, sad fact that
many. Most. Who begin. Do not end. They don't continue in his word.
Why do they go back and walk no more with him? We read of
these disciples, many, many who claim to be his disciples, they
went back, they went back to what they were before and walk
no more with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, why would somebody go back?
What would their reasoning be? Well, in the context, they didn't
like his doctrine. They didn't like what he had to say. These
are hard words. These are harsh words. We don't like hard words.
They didn't like his doctrine. False doctrine can seduce many. Some leave for gain. They begin
with Christ, but it's not to their social or economic advantage
to follow him. They see what it costs them.
They don't like what it costs them. They're ahead to another
agenda. So they go back. Some leave because of persecution.
It's not worth this. I mean, I didn't sign up for
this. I mean, I thought everybody liked this. And when they're
persecuted for the word's sake, they leave. Some leave the Lord
Jesus Christ because of evil companionships. The scripture
says evil communications corrupt good manners. And if I make an
unbeliever my friend, he's going to bring me down and away from
the Lord Jesus Christ or marriage. You marry an unbeliever. How
many times have you seen this? Somebody marries an unbeliever. They profess
to be a believer. Where are they now? They leave
quickly. Some leave Christ because the
pleasures of sin have more attraction than Christ. Lovers of pleasure,
more than lovers of God. Some leave because they're thorn-choked
hearers, and the attractions of this world, the lusts and
deceitfulness of riches, the lusts of other things, choke
the word, and they lose their interest. They become the thorn-choked
hearer. Some have a change in circumstances,
a promotion, prosperity, and all of a sudden they don't need
the Lord anymore. Some when trials and tribulations come, they're
upset, they're mad, they leave the Lord. What's the use? Some are just
lazy. There's too much effort in this
thing of following the Lord Jesus Christ. And these disciples walked
no more with Him. And I believe one of the scariest
things about this verse of scripture, as these disciples walked away,
he didn't ask them to return. And he didn't ask them to reconsider
their position. You see, there's a time when
the lights go out on the road to hell. He didn't ask them to
come back. He watched them leave. You know, the Lord will let us
do what we want to do. Lord, make sure my want to is
the right thing. But He'll let us do what we want to do. Now
look in verse 67. Then said Jesus unto the twelve
as that great multitude left Him. And I want us to think about
the Lord asking this personally to us. I want to hear Him say
this to me. I want for you to see him saying
this to you, will you also go away? Is this your wish? Is this your
desire? Will you also go away? Now the
word go away means to depart without noise or notice. Would you depart without noise
or notice? Nobody will know. Now's your
chance, if that's what you're looking for. You see, the Lord
will not have unwilling disciples. He won't do it. If we don't want
to be his disciples, he doesn't want us to be his disciples.
You see, Psalm 1103 says, thy people shall be willing. Thy
people shall be volunteers in the day of thy power. Will you also go away? Verse 68. Then Simon Peter answered him. And Simon Peter is the spokesman
of all of God's people at this time. Then Simon Peter answered
him, Lord. To whom shall we go? It's not like we have an option.
It's not like we have a choice. To whom shall we go? Thou hast
the words of eternal life. These words that the crowd say
is harsh, the words of eternal life. And we believe and are
sure that thou art that Christ, the son of the living God. Lord,
to whom shall we go? Back to the law? Oh, I don't want to have anything
to do with that. Back to human religion? No. What's there? Back to this present
evil world? Well, we see the world for what
it is. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride
of life, the world's pleasure, the world's popularity, the world's
power. Who cares about it? I mean, I
see it for what it is. I don't want to go back there.
Now, Peter is saying the fact of the matter is we have no other
options. We've got nowhere else to go.
That's what I'm titled this message. Nowhere else to go. Do you want
to know when a man will come to Christ? When he has nowhere else to go.
That's when a man will come to Christ. You know, when you'll believe
when you got no choice. You don't choose to believe.
Nobody ever chooses to believe. Well, I'm gonna believe. Oh,
congratulations. You don't choose to believe.
You believe because you have no choice. You are driven. You got no choice. Thou hast
the words of eternal life. These words that the temporary
disciples found hard and offensive, we find to be words of life. This is the difference, this
is so important, this is the difference between the letter
and the spirit. The letter and the spirit. What's the letter? Turn to 2
Corinthians chapter 3. I want to read a couple of scriptures. Verse six, who hath also made
us able ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter,
but of the spirit. For the letter killeth, but the
spirit giveth life. Turn to Romans two. Romans two. Verse 28, For he
is not a Jew, which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision,
which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew, which is one
inwardly. And circumcision is that of the
heart, in the spirit and not in the letter, whose praise is
not of men, but of God. Now, have we received his word
in the letter or in the spirit? The letter, Paul tells us, kills. The spirit gives life. Now, what is it to receive the
word in the letter? The letter gives assent. I agree
with that. Now, if you read John chapter
six, You're going to have to come up with the conclusion that
the Bible does in fact teach the doctrine of grace. It doesn't
teach free will. It doesn't teach works. I mean,
somebody that preaches free will, somebody that preaches works,
they don't believe the gospel. That's clear. The teaching of the Bible
is sovereign grace. You see that? So what? If you just see that,
all you've seen is the letter. Giving a cent is the letter.
It's one thing to see this, it's another thing to need. If I am dead in sins by nature,
that's my nature. If I'm a sinful person, I'll
tell you what, I agree, the Bible does teach sovereign grace, but
I need God to elect me. I need Christ to die for me. I need God the Holy Spirit to
give me life. I need to be preserved by the
grace of God. Now, it's one thing to have the
letter of something. I know the meaning. You know,
you can know how to spell something. There's a lot of words I know
how to spell, but I don't know what they mean. You know, when I was in grade
school, I remember spelling these. I love those things. And I always
had a great ambition to win one. I never did. But I thought of
all the, it'd be great to win a spelling bee and have all that.
But you know, you can spell the words correctly and not know
the meaning. That's receiving something in the letter. You
can give the textbook definition and not really know the meaning. That's the letter. The spirit
understands, knows the meaning. You receive the spirit If the
words are words of life, I find life in these words. I must hear
these words. Now look what he says, back to
our text in John chapter 6. There's a divine order here that's
very important. John chapter 6, verse 68. Then Simon Peter answered him,
Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal
life and we believe and are sure now that word sure is the word
that is generally translated no look at the order we believe
and we know we believe and we're sure that thou art that Christ,
the Son of the living God. We believe and we're sure that
thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Now we believe
that thou art the Christ, God's anointed, God's prophet, God's
priest, God's king. Now not only do I believe that
He's the Christ, I need Him to be the Christ.
I need Him to bring God's Word to me. I'm blind and ignorant.
I need Him to be my priest to represent me before God because
I can't come on my own. I need Him to be my King to rule
and reign in me and cause me to believe and cause me to repent
and cause me to do His will. I need Him as my prophet, my
priest, and my King. Now that word, know, we believe,
I believe He's the Christ. Whoso believeth that Jesus is
the Christ, is born of God, I believe He's the Christ. But that word
is also, we believe and are sure, or we know. We know. You can't
know something until you first believe it. You don't know, then
believe. You believe, then you know. Now, when you believe He's
the Christ, you know He is. I know He's the Christ. And you
know this word, know, it has more than just a scent. Same
word, Joseph knew not Mary. It has something to do with an
intimate acquaintance and a love. I believe he's the Christ. I
know he's the Christ. I love that he's the Christ. Now that is saving knowledge.
Because they receive not the love of the truth, that they
might be saved. I believe, I know, and I love
that he is the Christ, the son of the living God. You remember
when the Lord said to his disciples, whom do men say that I am? They
answered, well, they put you in some high cotton. Some say
you're Elijah, Jeremiah, one of the prophets. They say good
things about you. But whom say ye that I am? Thou
art the Christ, Peter said, the son of the living God. I believe that. I know that. And I love that. We believe and know that thou
art the Christ, the son of the living God. Now, regarding the
teaching of our Lord in this passage of scripture, I know Because I believe. I believe
the Bible is God's word. I believe it's the inspired word
of God. When I was preaching a funeral
yesterday of Julie, somebody came up to me that I'd never
seen before and didn't know. And they said, that's the word
of God. Amen. That's the word of God. I believe the Bible is the Word
of God. And I know it is. And I love that it is. Aren't
you in love with this revelation of God? The Bible? I believe that God is sovereign.
I believe that He controls everything. I believe that. And I know it. I know it. I got no more doubts
about that than I know it. And I love it. I believe I am what the Bible
says I am a sinner. I believe that I believe God's
testimony regarding me. I believe I'm a sinner. I know
I am. And you know what? I love that
I am in this sense. Not that I love the sin, but
I love the fact that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
I love that. A sinner is a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost hath made him
so. Christ said, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners
to repentance. I believe God chose before time
began who'd be saved. I know he did. And I love that
he did. It wouldn't be my saved if he
didn't. I believe that Christ accomplished
salvation when he said it is finished. The sins of all the
elect were blotted out. I believe that. Not only do I
believe it, I know it. And not only do I know it, I
love it. I love it. I believe that God's grace is
irresistible, invincible. When he comes in power, he gives
life. I know it so, and I love it. I believe God's people are preserved
by the grace of God. I know it. I love it. I believe that the Lord Jesus
Christ is all in salvation. I know it. And I love it. I believe what Paul said in Ephesians
2, 8 and 9, for by grace are you saved through faith. And that, that faith, it's not
of yourselves, it's the gift of God. Not of works, lest any
man should boast. For his workmanship created in
Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained,
that we should walk in them. I believe that, do you? I believe
salvation's all of grace. I believe that every aspect of
salvation's by grace. And I know it. I know this. There's no doubt in my mind the
only way I can be saved is by free grace. And I love it. I love being saved by grace.
Wouldn't be hope for me if it wasn't like that. I believe what
Colossians 2.9 says when it says, in him, in the Lord Jesus Christ
dwells all the fullness of the Godhead in a body. I believe that. All that God is resides in the
man, Christ Jesus. I believe that, and I know it
so. I know it, and I love it. And I believe the next verse,
in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead and body, and
you are complete in him. I know it. Because I believe. I believe what God's Word says.
I know I'm complete. I know this. I know that when
God looks at me, He sees no lack, nothing missing, nothing wrong,
no evil, perfectly righteous and holy in His sight. I believe
that. I know it. I love it. I believe He's Lord. You believe
that? Jesus is Lord. You believe that? I do. I surely do. I believe. I don't mean an empty title.
I mean he's in control. I know it. And I love it. We believe and are sure that
thou art that Christ. the son of the living God. I
believe that what he did is all that is needed to save me. I
know it and I love it. Peter said, to whom shall we
go? It's not like we have any options.
It's not like we have someplace else to go to whom, to whom shall
we go? About a hundred years ago, it's
a true story, a young man wanted to be a missionary to a foreign
land. And his parents objected greatly. They had other plans for him
and they didn't want that to take place. But he would not be changed. And he sailed off
to a foreign land to preach the gospel. And within three weeks,
he was dead. He went over there, caught some
kind of disease from that land, and he died. Wasted life? Should he have obeyed his parents
and not gone? Well, his dad went to get his
body and bring it back to the States. And he was thumbing through
his belongings. And he opened up his Bible and
he found on the back page, these words written, no reserve, no retreat and no regrets, no reserve, no reserve. No retreating and no regrets, no matter what
takes place. Now, this is the way I want to
follow the Lord Jesus Christ. When he says, will you also go
away? No, by your grace, no, no, no
reserves, no retreating and no regret. I want to have no reserve
in this thing of trusting the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to
trust Him only. He only is my salvation. He only is my rock. I want to
trust Him completely. I'm not looking anywhere else.
I'm not looking to myself. I'm not looking to you. I'm not
looking to my preaching. I'm not looking to my works.
Here's what I'm looking to when He said it is finished. I was
saved. I'm trusting Him. No reserves. No reserves in this thing of
following Him. No reserves. Oh, don't let me
be someone who follows afar off, who follows cautiously. No, I
want to have no reserve in being an out and out disciple of the
Lord Jesus Christ. No reserve. No retreat. No going
back. No hedging. And no regrets. Nobody on their deathbed will
regret following Christ too much or trusting Him too completely. No regrets. 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, verse 70.
I love his answer. Jesus answered them. Well, I
sure am thankful you fellas weren't like the rest of the crowd. I
commend you and I admire you for not leaving. No, what did
he say? Have not I chosen you? What a glorious thing to be chosen
by the living God. If you're a believer, if you're
someone who says, where would we go? Thou hast the words of
eternal life. It isn't because you're smarter
than the folks who left. It's because he chose you. The Lord said in John chapter
15, verse 16 to his disciples, you did not choose me, but I
chose you. and ordained you that you should
go and bring forth fruit. Don't you know that so? If you're
a believer, and what a humbling and amazing thing to be chosen
of the living God. Have not I chosen you? And what of you? Speaking of
Judas, he's going to let us know that that person that ends up
betraying him is not one he chose. One of you is a devil. I've chosen
you 12 and one of you is a devil. He spake of Judas Iscariot, the
son of Simon, for he it was that should betray him being one of
the 12. Now the Lord says to each one of us, will you also go away? Would you leave without noise
or notice? And every believer says, Lord,
to whom shall we go? Thou has the words of eternal
life. And we believe and are sure that
thou art that Christ, the son of the living God. Let's pray together.