In the sermon titled 'Do You Want to Go Away?' by Scott Brown, the focus is on a challenging passage from John chapter 6, where many disciples struggle with Jesus' hard teachings. Jesus highlights the difference between the Spirit, which gives life, and the flesh, which profits nothing, emphasizing spiritual nourishment over worldly desires. The sermon explores characteristics of false disciples attracted by crowds, popularity, power, the supernatural, and material success, contrasting them with the true faith and realization of Jesus' divinity by Peter and the eleven. As Jesus' ministry shifted focus to his disciples, many left him due to the cost and inflexibility of true discipleship. Peter's declaration that Jesus has the words of eternal life underscores the commitment of true disciples. The sermon challenges listeners to reflect on whether Jesus' words are hard or comforting, urging them to seek spiritual fulfillment in Christ.

We're going to be reading from John chapter 6 starting in verse 60 Therefore many of his disciples when they heard this Said this is a hard saying who can understand it When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples complained about this, he said to them, Does this offend you? What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit and they are life, but there are some of you who do not believe. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray him.

And he said, Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted to him by my father. From that time many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more. And then Jesus said to the twelve, Do you also want to go away? But Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

Also we have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered them, Did I not choose you the twelve and one of you as a devil? He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray him, being one of the twelve." Let's pray. Lord, you have put these words before us right now, Lord, I pray that we would listen, have an open heart, Lord, that we would have soft hearts to hear. Lord, I pray that we would listen, have an open heart, Lord, that we would have soft hearts to hear.

Lord, I pray that we would stay and listen in our heart, Lord, that we would desire to hear the words from you. Amen. Well, I pray that the meditation upon these words this morning would touch off a thousand thrilling reverberations in your heart. I pray that it's a time where we so meditate upon and relate with what Peter said when he said, Lord, where would we go? You have the words of everlasting life that that would just move in our hearts, that we would consider it all day long today, savor what that means, if we really can relate with it, you know, if we really feel that same way that this really would be a thrilling day to to meditate on such such a marvelous thing and and you know also to recognize that this this section of scripture is is a moment in a storyline of many people's lives who were following Jesus Christ.

They were observing Him. They were interested. They were amazed. They had heard his true message, but as it began to truly resonate what he was saying, they quit him. And it was a moment in time.

It was a moment in time for Peter and the eleven disciples, but it was a very different moment of time for the crowd because for the crowd it brought them to a disastrous decision. For Peter and the disciples, it thrilled their hearts, it made them so happy. And you can see that in their response. But what you find here is people that are at a crossroads, thousands of people, quite likely, and there's a change. It's the beginning of one phase in their life.

I mean, it's the end of one phase in their life and the beginning of another. And for the crowd, it was the end of Jesus. But for the disciples, it was a realization of just how good He is. And I pray that's really what resonates and reverberates in our hearts today, but also to recognize that, you know, there may be some with us here today who in their hearts they know they're saying, I'm done with him. And the question that the Lord Jesus is saying is, Are you really done with me?

It does happen. It's very common that people get done with Christianity. I pray that there aren't any here today, but if there are any here today who are thinking, I'm done, I'm done with Christianity, that you would just continue to consider the testimony of Jesus Christ. Now in this chapter, you have, in the entire chapter, we've spent many weeks in this chapter, and we've seen over and over again how this is a picture of spiritual defection, what it looks like, what fake Christianity looks like, and what true Christianity looks like, what true affection for Jesus Christ looks like. Those two things are constantly played before us.

And you find these characteristics of true disciples and false disciples. And it's very clear there are a number of characteristics of false disciples. I'll give you five of them that are here in this text. First they're attracted by the crowd. Secondly they're attracted by popularity and the buzz.

Thirdly they're attracted by power. Fourth they're attracted by the supernatural. And fifthly, and most prominently in this chapter, they're attracted by success. They want food. They they want health.

That's what they want. And Jesus seems, you know, to be offering that to them. But Jesus says to them, I'm not talking about that kind of success. I'm not talking about that kind of food, and I'm not talking about that kind of health. I Gave you food to tell you about what's true food.

I'm healing to tell you where true healing takes place Because it's not the food in the healing that make all the difference in the world. And the reaction of the crowd comes really at the very end of the chapter in verse 60, therefore, many of his disciples, when they heard this, said, This is a hard saying. Who can understand it? So that's really sort of where the entire chapter is going, it's summarized just in the last few verses. And then what happened is that the disciples, quote-unquote because there are disciples and there are disciples the disciples dwindled from thousands to eleven disciples twelve who looked like disciples, but only eleven true disciples.

And so you have the whole reality and the pain of defection and also the joy of affection for Jesus Christ that we find in Peter. Now this whole scene takes place at the very end of Jesus' Galilean ministry. John doesn't say very much about the Galilean ministry, but the other gospel writers do. Matthew, Mark, and Luke explain many details about particularly the power and the healing and the love and the compassion of Jesus Christ that was demonstrated in his Galilean ministry. But after this time, it's both recorded in the other gospel writers and in John, Jesus' ministry shrunk, and it shrunk dramatically.

And his ministry from this time on was no longer primarily to the crowds it was to his disciples and he was teaching his disciples this small band of men and And so this really begins Jesus Christ's journey to the cross, where his ministry shrunk dramatically, and he's beginning to disciple his men. Now, as you can see in the outline in front of you, I've divided this passage of Scripture according to the contour of the conversation and what is actually happening in the text. So let's look first of all at the controversy. Verse 60 documents the controversy. Of course, verse 60 is kind of a summary of the controversies that have been raging in this chapter.

But verse 60 says, Therefore many of his disciples, when they heard this, said, This is a hard saying. Who can understand it? And so notice the word therefore in verse 60, you know, what they said here was the result of what Jesus has been saying all along and it was the subject of the quarrel it was kind of an escalating quarrel that ended up being described in a Greek word that actually means to fight So it became a tremendous tumult and the quarrel was really described maybe in verse 52, the Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? And so the crowd's objection was not about his miracles, wasn't about what he was doing, but it was about his words, what he was saying. And here's what he's been saying.

This was the quarrel, this was the objection, this is what caused them to leave. First of all he claimed to come from heaven and That was offensive to them. It's one thing to have somebody who's a really great communicator that can kind of help you with your life, but it's a complete another thing to have somebody who has come from heaven. That's different. It's a lot easier to get a coach, a success coach who will help you kind of get through life, right?

But that's not what Jesus is. He's God. He came from heaven. All right? So they were, they actually wanted someone a little lighter than that.

And That's really pretty much what the crowd wants today. They want They they want improvement That's why the whole self improvement industry is so massive and it will always be massive and the great writers That you know that sort of give the next new hype thing in the success industry will always have a following. You can go down to Amazon and you'll see the hottest success books to fix your life up. But Jesus is more than that. He came from heaven.

And that's a big difference. Secondly, he claimed to be true bread, not like physical bread. The physical bread was just a picture of it. He said, I am the bread of life. He that comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.

He's the true bread. So what Jesus is saying, and it's offensive, stop eating the bread of this world. It's not nourishing. There's no life there in this world. Eat of me, because there's life in me.

When you hunger, your hunger will be satisfied, not like the bread of this world. The third thing is that he claimed that to be part of him you had to eat his flesh and drink his blood. In other words, you had to embrace him completely, not just acknowledge him and sort of add him on as a little, you know, another app in your life, but to actually receive him into your innermost being so that he really becomes the operative force, the operating system in your life. Because Jesus isn't just asking that you'll consider Him and think about how remarkable He was, but that He would become your God, that He would rule your life, and that you would realize that you're not really capable of ruling your life so he claimed that to be part of him you had to eat his flesh and drink his blood and then and so they finally determine it's just too hard to Follow Jesus that the bar is too high Now when they said this is a hard saying here's what they weren't saying They weren't saying that they didn't understand. It wasn't a hard saying in the sense that it was kind of hard to get your mind around.

No. They got their mind wrapped around it. They understood this. They understood very clearly that he said he was from heaven, that he was the only way, that he was a true bread, and that they, he wasn't just calling them to add him on to their life. They knew that, and so it was tremendously offensive.

So it was a hard saying, And the word that John uses here is a Greek word that means severe, demanding, inflexible, well literally hard. There's a hard line, right? It's a hard line. The big question is, do you think that the sayings of Jesus are hard? That's why people quit following Jesus is when they say, no, he's too inflexible, it's too binary.

And so you have the inflexibility of Jesus Christ's claims here. And, but this question, you know, do the words of Jesus seem hard to you? Or are they the softest, the sweetest, the most wooing words you've ever heard? Do they repel you? Do they draw you?

You know, a passage like this should just bring you to that crossroads of where you're recognizing where you're at with this, you know, where you're parked with Jesus. Do you love His words? Are you attracted to them? Or are you thinking there's something there? Thinking there's something there.

And, you know, do you, do they make you want to run from him? Or do they make you want to run to him and embrace him and receive him and and never let him go well thankfully he says he'll never let you go but the heart of a Christian is really spoken of here so okay so after John identifies the controversy, the controversy led to them saying, this is a hard saying. After John identifies the controversy, then Jesus answers the controversy in verses 61 through 65. You can see it there on your outline and there are four elements of his answer to the controversy so Jesus is going to address directly their statement this is a hard saying And so that's why we read in verse 61, if you could look at it there, when Jesus knew in himself that his disciples complained about this, he said to them, so now he's going to respond, does this offend you? He says, what then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where he was before?" So Jesus answers the controversy in four ways.

And the first way is in the first phrase in this phrase in 61. They were offended and Jesus questions the crowd. He says, does this offend you? So he turns the question back to them and they were offended. Jesus was controversial.

Were offended and Jesus was controversial. He divided mankind into two groups and they were offended by that. You know, in The way that Jesus has explained the world there are sheep and there are goats. There are there's light and there's darkness. You know in other places Jesus says there are two different kinds of trees.

There are two kinds of ways. There's the wide way and there's the narrow way. There are two gates. That's the great divide. You know, there are two kinds of houses.

There are two kinds of fruit. You know, with all the racial controversy today, I think we should just say there really are only two races. There are sheep and there are goats. That's all there are. We're all of one blood, but there really are only two races in the world today.

The way that the Lord has ordered the world and the way that he sees it. And that's why the Lord Jesus in Matthew chapter 7, he said, Enter by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction. And there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way that leads to life and there are few who find it. So Jesus is answering their question, does this offend you?

Because they were offended and they're getting ready to leave now one of the It says a sideline here You know The people were offended and they leave. But remember who was preaching here. It was Jesus. Jesus is the speaker. Jesus is the one.

And I've often thought wrongly, you know, What if you had Jesus here preaching? It would be so much better. People would respond more, there would be more repentance, there would be more reality. What if the Apostle Paul was here? If he was here in our church, wouldn't they feel the love of Jesus more?

Wouldn't it compel them more? Wouldn't it be more helpful to their sanctification? Wouldn't the people be more holy? Wouldn't they be more receptive? You know, if Jesus was the one, would they have more devotion to the Word?

Would they have more conviction of sin? You know, you would think that if you had Jesus who was preaching here that your life would be a lot better. But here we find that the real problem is the hardness of our hearts. That's why we don't hear. And even the best preaching can't get through unless the heart softens.

And I've thought many times, if I could just speak with more wisdom or more clarity or more genuine passion or more depth or more humor you know you don't have the funniest pastor in the world here that's a problem I know but then people like like like if you just if you could just use humor more, it would just unlock everyone. But here Jesus is the preacher, but the issue is that men and women stand before God either with a hard heart or a soft heart before Him. That's really the factor that changes people's lives. The God, the Holy Spirit working on the hearts of people to soften them, to open up their hearts, their receptivity, their refusal to quench the Spirit. That's really the most pivotal factor in the change and the beauty and the happiness that happens in a church.

But then the second thing Jesus does is he's answering this controversy. He acknowledges that they're offended, but then he speaks about a greater offense. He says, if you're offended now, you're going to be offended worse later because, Well, he says it right here in verse 62. What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where he was before? And I think what Jesus is saying is, John Gill says it most clearly, if you're not amazed by what you've seen now you know how will it be how will it be when I'm a cent when I'm ascending to heaven and you watch me that will offend you you've seen all these miracles you want to be offended I will offend you again when I'm ascended to my Father's right hand.

More offenses are coming. They're greater than these current offenses. Then Jesus continues. He distinguishes between the Spirit and the flesh. He's answering this controversy at the end of verse 63.

It is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are Spirit and they are life. And so Jesus again is underlining what he's already been saying. He's saying, I fed you, you 5, 000 in order to tell you that I am the living bread. You want more physical bread, but I am spirit and I'm life I think he's continuing to make that argument you know what they said Lord give us this bread always and then Jesus said no I'm the bread they didn't when they said give us this bread they wanted more food they wanted to have food rep beautiful food replicated for them every day so they wouldn't have to worry about that ever again.

But Jesus was saying no, no, it's the Spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing. It isn't your food that makes your life, it's the Spirit. The words that I speak to you are spirit and they're life In other words your success doesn't do anything for you all your desire for personal peace and influence it doesn't it doesn't get to use your spirit and they just wanted physical bread but Jesus is offering spiritual life and again we come down to this disclosure of false disciples. False disciples want worldly blessings. They want the success that you feel when you're well thought of.

They love the respectful greetings in the marketplace like the Pharisees. They want to be known as good people and part of all the right things. And, you know, this is kind of Southern evangelicalism right now. You know, you you can kind of, you know, collect, be part of a church and everybody will think everything's OK with you and you'll be looked up to and everything like that. And you'll kind of gain your good reputation in the community and you can pass your business cards around and you can actually do really well you know particularly if you go to a really big church you know there's a lot of work you can get that you can do and be paid for it so you know people want success and often they're part of the crowd because they want success.

And now there are two kinds of statements here in verse 63. This is a critical statement in the entire chapter where he speaks of the Spirit gives life and the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are Spirit and our life. This is really pivotal to the whole message of the chapter. Now first there's a positive statement because there are two kinds of statements here, and I'd like you to see how they fall.

The positive statement, it is the Spirit who gives life. Now that's a general statement about well-being, it's a statement about happiness, it's a statement about mental awareness, it's a statement about peace, it's a statement about every good thing. It's the Spirit who gives life. And then there's a negative statement. The flesh profits nothing.

In other words, the places where we think will feed our souls, whether it's our spouses or our houses or whatever it might be, those things don't feed your soul. The flesh profits nothing. You know the Things that we're attracted to that we think will be helpful to us, they sort of energize us, they're part of sort of the system of idols in our hearts, that we think they'll satisfy us, but the closer you get to them and the more of them you get, the more you realize that they don't. You just need more. You want more.

Something else now. And often you'll find people just kind of going from one jag, one fad to another. They're just looking, looking, looking, looking. They're looking for life, but it isn't there. The flesh profits nothing.

So he's speaking of this general principle that really governs the souls of every person who's ever been created. And then the summary is the words that I speak to you are spirit and they are life. Well but he's saying this and he's answering the crowd because the crowd wants the prophet that is of the flesh, That's their life. And so Jesus is answering them. But he's saying that he is spirit and he is life.

And I thought of Hebrews chapter 4 where there's this beautiful statement about the Word of God. Jesus is the Word of God. And for the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart, and there is no creature hidden from his sight. But all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give account." But it's the Word of God that's powerful. It's the Word of God that does the surgery that we need.

It's like a sword. It wounds and then it heals. That's the Word of God and We need we need words of life, you know We've been singing this song in our house all week sing them over again to me wonderful words of life Let me more of your beauty see." Wonderful words of life. That's what Jesus is proclaiming himself to be, words of life. Spirit.

In other words, they go down to the deepest part of who you really are. They penetrate who you really are. Because Christianity isn't just putting on the facade of some morals. It isn't just cleaning up your life. If you want to clean up your life, go somewhere else because there are lots of places you can get that done.

But Jesus actually wants something deeper and better and more profound, more helpful, more beautiful. He wants to go into your innermost being and do surgery in who you really are, so that your life isn't just something that you just put on, it's something real, it's connected to the vine, it's connected to life. You've actually received Him. You haven't just made Him an add-on into your life. And Jesus continues to answer the controversy.

Then the next thing he does, the fourth thing he does is he explains their unbelief. Look at verse 64. But there are some of you who do not believe, for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray him. And He said to them, Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted to him by my father. So he's Answering this controversy and he's telling them why they don't believe It hasn't been granted them By his father now that is a hard saying isn't it that is a hard saying It's inflexible And it really is offensive because it means that God is in control of everything.

God is the ruler of the universe. He does what He wills in heaven and on earth. That's offensive. If you don't want a God like that, then you're going to have to be your own God, your own sovereign, because God is claiming to be sovereign. Now, I think we should be clear here.

It says, No one can come to me unless it has been granted. And I want to say it a similar way, but like this. The Bible doesn't teach that we are totally unable to come to Christ. Rather, it teaches that we are totally unable to come to Christ apart from Him. We are only able to come to Him through Him.

And we are able to come when He draws us and gives us the gift of grace that we hear and we come and we're thankful to come because He compelled us to come. And that's what Jesus is saying there. And it's really another restatement of verses 37 and 38, where Jesus already said, all that the Father gives me will come to me, and those who come to me I will be by no means cast out so the Father gives a gift to the Son and that is his church his people but it but it's a work of divine power and Then we read about the desertion in verse 66. From that time many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more. Notice the word many.

Many. They abandoned him. The crowds that thronged to him were no more and now this is the end of his Galilean ministry and his following has shrunk dramatically and the reason is because it was too costly. Jesus was too inflexible. You know in Matthew chapter 13 in the parable of the sower gives us an illustration of what happened and in Matthew 13 you have these different kinds of soils that receive seed you know the sower went out to sow and he Jesus says you know everyone who hears the word of the kingdom of God is going to respond a different way.

And some hear it and they don't understand because the wicked one just snatches what was sown in his heart and they just reject it outright. But then there's another kind of seed that falls on the stony places. And these people hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy, they become part, they're excited. I mean, they've seen changes in their lives, good things are happening, their thinking is changing on certain matters, but their joy only endures for a while and then they fall away. And Jesus says that there are reasons they fall away.

Tribulation, persecution, because of the Word. And they stumble. In other words, something difficult happens to them and they are angry with God. And then there was the seed that was sown among the thorns and They hear the word of God and embrace it for some time, but then they fall away too. Jesus says that The cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches.

So that's a whole other class of people who fall away. Now within this crowd I expect there were different kinds of these people. In this crowd right here, this is a beautiful illustration of it. But then Jesus says that the seed that fell on good ground, they hear it, they understand it, and they bear fruit, and some produce fruit a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, and some thirty. But they bear fruit.

There are actual outward manifestations of their faith. Their lives change and they begin to bear fruit. Everybody doesn't bear the same amount of fruit or the same kind of fruit, but they bear fruit. You can see it, you know. But it's because they remain and they are connected to the vine.

So Jesus is explaining this, he's explaining the desertion, and then Jesus questions his disciples in verse 67, and this is really one of the most remarkable moments in this entire narrative, verse 67, Then Jesus said to the twelve, Do you also want to go away? What a question, he's now turned to the 12, his little band of disciples. Now he knows the answer to the question. I think Jesus is exercising their faith and He really is designing to thrill their hearts, to show them how thrilling it is to love Him and want Him And to know it with all your heart. I think he wants to thrill them.

I do And so he asked them asks them a question. He already knows the answer to And you know Jesus asks many questions to to his disciples now I want I want us to personalize this question. And I want you to know today whether that's the most thrilling question you've ever wanted to answer, or whether you do want to go away. I want you to know that you'll sense the thrilling joy of the answer to this question from your heart of hearts. You know, Do you also want to go away?

There are so many questions that Jesus asks in the Gospels. Here's one in Matthew 6, can any of you by worrying at a single moment in your life span? I think they knew the answer to that question when he asked it. Or why are you anxious about your clothes in Matthew 6.28? He knew the answer to that question.

Do you believe that I can do this in Matthew 9? What profit would there be if one would gain the whole world and lose his own soul? And what would a man give exchange for his soul? Well that They knew the answer to that question Everybody knows the answer to that question. What would you give in exchange for your soul And Jesus is asking this question in order to inspire them.

You know at the very end he says to Peter, do you love me? Jesus knew the answer to that question. He said, I do love you. I think Jesus was caring for the souls of his disciples and he wanted to thrill them by asking them that question so that they would know, so that they would have the satisfaction and the happiness that they were resting in Him. That they knew in their hearts that they wanted Him and they loved Him.

My perspective is that He wanted to comfort them or to disturb them. Do you also want to go away? Personalize that question because the way you answer that question means everything. Eternity, destruction, happiness hinges on that question. What you say in your heart to that question is so important.

Do you also want to go away? Now I'm praying that that question thrills your heart because you don't want to go away. And then John records Peter's answer because Peter's going to answer, of course Peter's going to answer this question. He's Peter. So, he's going to answer the question and he's going to answer it for everyone.

Verse 68 and 69, Peter answers to the disciples, but Simon Peter answered him, Lord, To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. And also we have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. You know, the crowd thought this was a hard statement, but not Peter He loved that statement and he He thought that Jesus words were life Notice that He thought that Jesus' words were life. Secondly, he addresses him as Lord.

Lord. He desired the lordship of Jesus. He wanted to humble himself before God and have a Lord. He did not want to be the Lord of his life anymore. That really is the mark of a Christian.

And then He saw Jesus as different than all the others. He said to whom shall we go? Where else would we go? Peter's comparing Jesus to all the other options all the other philosophies and opportunities that are out there, but but Peter Peters like David, you know, he's saying your mercy. Oh Lord is in the heavens your faithfulness Reaches to the clouds your righteousness is like the mountains your judgments Are a great deep as David said in Psalm 38 verse 5 that was Peter's perspective and You know Peter Peter wanted to be near him, you know Somebody once said if Jesus was your boss, he'd be the most wonderful boss you ever had.

If Jesus was your landlord, he'd be the best landlord that anybody ever had. If he was your father, like if Jesus was your father, he'd be way better than your current father. He's the best father. He's the best landlord. He's the best Lord of your life.

There's none better. I think Peter is thinking how sweet are your words to my taste, Psalm 119, 103, sweeter than honey to my mouth. And the Lord Jesus drew that out of his heart, you know. But Jesus, you know, was asking, where would you go? Because here's the reality, everybody goes somewhere.

Everyone by the way must go somewhere. No man lives alone in their own little bubble. Everybody has a bubble. But who's in your bubble with you? What do you fill in your bubble with?

Because everybody lives in a bubble. Now what's yours? That's really the only question. And man doesn't stand alone. He's always influenced.

He's always led. And you've got, you know, you will serve somebody. It may be the devil. It may be the Lord. But you've got to serve somebody.

Now, would you like to go back, like would you like to go back to your old life? How would that be? Or would you like to, you know, make the sum of your life and your relationships with those people who've really rejected God? Is that the crowd you want to run with in this world? Do you want to go hang with the people who are always feeding their flesh and Gloring in their sins where their glory is their shame actually just do you do you do you I mean?

Do you want to go to the Burning man festival and be part of that crowd and experience all the devastation that takes place because it's nothing but devastation. You know, do you or go with the people who just deny that God exists but are really nice people. There are a lot of those out there. Extremely moral, nice, well-mannered people. Many of the atheists I've known are just so nice.

They're so well-mannered to a point. But do you want to go with Muhammad in jihad? Do you want to go with Muhammad, you know, in jihad? Do you want to go with Buddha and nothingness? Do you want to go to narcissism or nihilism or into drugs and all is that is you know what's where do you want to go that's the question where do you want to go but Peter's Peter speaks for the 12 and he says, to whom shall we go?

You have the words of eternal life. Now notice, have you noticed this? Peter actually has miscategorized the disciples. He has not correctly assessed the spiritual state of all the disciples Judas specifically What will Judas must have had the same profession of faith, the same lifestyle, he preached the same message, he was following Jesus. You know, Peter was going to find out that the Person who he thought was a saint was actually a devil.

He's gonna find that out because they're Judas was One of the disciples is very common the wheat grows with the tears Now it won't be it'll be maybe six eight months, maybe a year before Judas is going to betray Jesus. So Jesus says this six months to a year before the betrayal. But Judas is still hanging back. He knows who he is. But the disciples don't know who he is because he's living the life.

In fact, he has the purse. He's the one that's distributing the, He's taking the money in, he's calculating it, you know. He's a good accountant, maybe that's why he got the job. But he was also pilfering, he was taking money. But nobody knew that, he hadn't been caught yet, so he was just one of the twelve.

Jesus sent him out to preach, he saw the miracles, he was there, he was affirming everything, but Peter didn't understand that. And then Judas is exposed in verse 70 Jesus answered them did I not choose you the 12 and one of you is a devil he spoke of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon for it was he who would betray him being one of the twelve interestingly enough the whole chapter ends up with a disclosure of a false disciple who's right in the midst of the 12 and nobody knows it So you have these different kinds of false disciples, you know, that are characterized. But you can see what unbelief looks like. You know, you can participate in everything. You can preach to others.

You can be numbered among the disciples. You can be a card-carrying member. You know, you can be actually a member of a church. This can happen. Judas stayed with the disciples even after Jesus said this to the end, well almost to the end.

And he looked like a disciple, he walked with the disciples, he endorsed the disciples, he was probably a very nice guy. JC Ryle says if there ever was a man who had great privileges and opportunities, that man was Judas Iscariot, a chosen disciple, a constant companion of Christ, a witness of his miracles, a hearer of his sermons, a commissioned preacher of his kingdom, a fellow and friend of Peter, James, and John, it would be impossible to imagine a more favorable position for a man's soul. You know, the integrity of your family is not enough, your child raising is not enough, the companions of your children are not enough, your attendance at church is not enough. It's not enough. God is enough.

Only God. Enough only God you know AW pink gives seven reasons why Jesus had chose Judas It's a strange thing that he would choose Judas, but he did. Number one, he says it furnished an opportunity for Christ to display his perfections. Lo, I have come to do your will, and he is fulfilling a prophecy. A familiar friend will lift his heel against him.

Number two, it provided an impartial witness of the moral excellency of Christ because Judas will eventually say, I have betrayed innocent blood. In other words, A devil is going to declare that Jesus Christ was innocent. Number three, it gave occasion to uncover the awfulness of sin. Number four, it supplies sinners with a solemn warning that It shows us how near a man can come to Christ and yet be lost. Number five, it tells us that we might expect to find hypocrites among the followers of Christ.

Six, it tells us that a devil is expected to be among the servants of God number seven it affords one more illustration of how radically different are God's thoughts from ours that God would actually appoint a devil to be one of the closest companions of Jesus. Okay, so this whole chapter that we've had so many weeks in, speaks of a moment in the story line of people's lives that were following Jesus and they were interested and they were amazed, but They saw a dividing line, a hard saying that actually divided them, and some of them made the most disastrous decision they ever could have made, and they went away. But Peter and the eleven, they drew near. And that's the heart of the matter and so so the question do you do you also want to go away do you think the sayings of Jesus are hard or are they the sweetest words the most compelling things to you So I do pray that today would be a day of rejoicing in your response or being terrified at your response and run to Jesus Christ turn repent of your sins don't go in the direction Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.

Eat of the bread of life. You can do that. You know, the call of God is going out today. And It really is a call to just rejoice that your names are written in the book of life or be terrified that they're not and come to Him. That's the message.

It's a really very simple message in this passage today. Looking back on the chapter, Jesus says, Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal on his son and this is the work of God that you believe in him Whom he has sent who said I am the bread of life Whoever comes to me shall never hunger and he who believes in me shall never thirst praise God I pray that today's a thrilling day for us to recognize what Peter recognized Lord you have the words of life I want more would you pray with me Lord we thank you for words of life. We thank you that you are light. We thank you that you are the way, the truth, and the life. We thank you that you've come to us with transforming power, that your loving kindness is everlasting.

And Lord, that you are bread, you are true bread. I pray, O Lord, today that you would turn all of our glances away from the unnourishing things of this world. And if there's a glance toward that world, Lord, that it would turn back, and there would be that affirmation, you have the words of life. Amen.