Why Christians Should Not Forsake Jesus

JESUS WAS FORSAKEN BY SOME DISCIPLES
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
John 6:66 66Fromthis time many of his disciples
turned back and no longer followedhim.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
DesertionAnd Adhesion
John 6:66-69
J.R. Thomson
It is instructive to observe that, in the course of Christ's ministry, there were
those among his professedfriends who forsook him. And it is also instructive
to observe that such casesofdesertion led Christ's real and attachedfriends to
ask themselves what it was that held them to their Lord, and to form upon
this matter a definite and decided conviction. Thus the desertionof merely
nominal adherents became the occasionofa mental process whichwas
singularly advantageous;for faith and love were thus calledout and
strenghtened. Our daily observationshows us, that as it was during our
Lord's ministry, so now and always there are those who cleave to Christ, and
those who quit him.
I. HOW IS IT TO BE EXPLAINED THAT SOME PROFESSED
CHRISTIANS FORSAKE THE LORD?
1. Fickle and frivolous natures, when the novelty of discipleship wears off,
revert to the carelessand irreligious life of the past. Their heart is in the
world, and, like Lot's wife, they look back. Some transient excitement, some

personalinfluence, induces impressible natures to acknowledge in words that
Jesus is their Saviour and Lord. But only the surface of the soul is reached,
and the world has possessionofthe inmost depths.
2. Christ's claims to Divine authority are rejectedas too lofty to be accepted
by those accustomedto merely human standards. And his moral requirements
are too stringent for a low ethicalstandard to submit to. Many would hold to
Christ did he make a lowerclaim, or impose a laxer rule.
3. The doctrines which Christ reveals are too profound and spiritual for the
carnalmind. The disciples of Jesus find that if they would know the Master's
thoughts they must brace themselves to an arduous effort of spirit. From this
they shrink, and consequentlyturn to a creedmore commonplace and less
exacting. One thing may certainly be said of all the various classeswho are
chargeable with the guilt and folly of forsaking Jesus. It is this: those who
leave Christ have never really known him. If they had found eternallife in
him, they would never have forsakenhim for causessuchas those described.
II. WHY CHRISTIANS SHOULD CLEAVE TO CHRIST.
1. Becausethere is no one else to whom to go. The invitations and allurements
which conflict with the attractions of the Saviour, howeverspecious, are
altogethervain. In the time of his earthly ministry, to whom could men go, if
not to Jesus? Theycould find no satisfactionin the teaching and societyof
Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes,etc. So is it now.
2. BecauseChristis the supremely excellent. As the Messiah, the Sonof God,
able to secure forgiveness andacceptance, able to procure us all spiritual help
and blessing. He is beyond all comparisonthe most precious. To desert him is
to turn the back upon all moral perfectionand Divine grace.
3. BecauseChristhas the highest of all gifts to bestow;i.e. eternal life. With
this what can the promises of others for a moment compare?
4. BecauseChrist's own remonstrance begs us to staywith him. "Will ye also
go away?" is his gracious appeal. As much as to say - For your own sake,and
for my sake, remain! Since Christ has not forsakenhis people, his people are
bound not to forsake him. Wonderful as is the fact, it is certain that Jesus is

pained and grieved by the desertionof those for whom he has done and
suffered so much; it is certaia that Jesus is gladdenedwhen his people cleave
closelyto him in the seasonoftemptation or discouragement. - T.
Biblical Illustrator
From that time many of His disciples went back. Those who are mentioned in
regard to
John 6:66-69
The touching appeal
Anon.
I. THE FACT RECORDED.
1. The designationgiven them. Disciples.
2. Their number was considerable.

3. The period of their desertion — "From that time;" the delivery of the
discourse.
II. THE APPEAL MADE was —
1. Touching.
2. Seasonable. Whenothers turn their backs it is wellto warn those who
remain.
3. Important. Backsliding is a sin of peculiar aggravation.
III. THE ANSWER GIVEN.
1. To whom shall we go?
(1)To the scribes and Pharisees?Theyare blind guides.
(2)To heathen philosophers? Their foolish hearts are darkened.
(3)To the law? It thunders above our guilty heads its anathema.
(4)To the world? It has proved itself deceitful.
(5)To the ways of sin? The end of them is death.
2. "Thouhast the words of Eternal life — we will stay with Thee, the Son of
the living God for —
(1)Pardon;
(2)purity;
(3)wisdom;
(4)strength;
(5)consolation.
(Anon.)
A home question and a right answer

C. H. Spurgeon.
I. THE REASON FOR THE QUESTION. It was askedbecause —
1. It was a seasonofdefection. In all churches and ages there have been times
of flocking in and flying out; ebbs and floods; and it is well at such seasons
that decisive questions should be put.
2. It was a seasonofdefection among the disciples;not merely camp followers
who went after Him for the loaves and fishes. And this sets forth the grievous
guilt of those who weartheir Prince's regimentals and then turn aside to false
doctrine or sin.
3. It was a defectionon accountof doctrine because of the preceding
discourse.
4. This defectionwas a "going back." Theydid not go off the straight road,
they simply reversed their steps and went back to their old lives.
5. It was open defection. They once walkedwith Jesus in the public streets, but
now they will have no more to do with Him. This was at leasthonest and
better than many a modern hypocrite.
II. THE QUESTION ITSELF. He might well press it for —
1. One of them would certainly do so. He only chose twelve, yet one was a
devil.
2. All of them might do so, and apart from His grace would. "Let him that
thinketh he standeth."
3. If they turned aside it would be specially sad. The chaff had been blown
awayand only the wheat was left, and that mixed with a little tares. These
were picked men. How sad when an office bearerfalls!
4. Apostasyis very contagious. Like sheepwho, if one goes wrong, the next
will follow.
5. He wishes His following to be perfectly voluntary. None canwalk truly with
Jesus who walk unwillingly.

III. THE ANSWER WHICH QUICK-VOICED PETER GAVE. It was
threefold.
1. "To whom shall we go?" The thought was intolerable. Would you like to
follow your old sinful life again?
2. "Thouhast the words of eternal life." We cannot go awaywhen we think of
eternity. Those who turn back from Christ, what will they do in eternity?
3. We believe, and are sure, etc. Do you believe that? How then canyou go
away?
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
A mournful defection
C. H. Spurgeon.
I. WHY DO MEN GO AWAY?
1. Becausethey cannotbear Christ's doctrine. "This is a hard saying." There
are many points in the gospeloffensive to human pride.
2. Forthe sake ofgain.
3. Becauseterrified by persecution. Although the fires of Smithfield are
extinguished there is much persecutionstill. Godless husbands tyrannize over
their wives; employers over their servants;workmen over eachother.
4. Out of sheerlevity. In a list of wrecks youwill find some which have gone
down through collisions, or by striking on a rock;but sometimes you meet
with one "foundered at sea";how, no one knows, ona calm day. So there are
many who make shipwreck of faith in easycircumstances. At the space ofa
moment they profess Christianity, and then suddenly, to everybody's surprise
and without troubling themselves about it, renounce it.
5. Through wickedcompanions and unequal marriages. It is hard to keep
religion when one pulls one wayand one another.

6. Forthe sake ofsensualenjoyments.
7. Through change of circumstances.
(1)Some because they have become poor and cannot look and do as they did.
(2)Some because they have become rich and religion is unfashionable with the
setto which they now belong.
8. Unsound doctrine occasions many to apostatize.
9. Laziness causes others to turn aside. They do nothing, and as a consequence
soonhave nothing to do.
II. WHAT BECOMESOF THEM?
1. Some are very unhappy, and return.
2. Others are hardened in their obduracy and go from bad to worse.
III. WHY SHOULD NOT WE GO AS OTHERS HAVE GONE? Only
because ofthe grace ofGod.
IV. IF YOU WOULD BE PRESERVED FROMFALLING you must —
1. Keep humble and rely on the Holy Spirit of God.
2. Be jealous of your obedience, be circumspect.
3. Watchand pray.
4. Shun profane company.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Apostasy
N. W. Taylor, D. D.
I. OUR LORD'S QUESTION was —

1. The language of affection. Spokenin view of the loss of friends and
immortal souls He came to save.
2. An implied warning. The propriety of such a question now rests on two
grounds.
(1)The possibility, so far as they know, that professeddisciples are not real
disciples.
(2)The possibility that if real disciples they may apostatize. How our Lord's
declaration(ver. 70) must have constrainedeachto ask "Lord is it I?"
3. Anxious concernin view of abundant reasons forit.
(1)Many disciples had already forsakenHim.
(2)They were all the subjects of much weaknessand prejudice.
(3)They were to be exposedto many temptations and dangers.
4. They were ignorant to a greatextent of the nature of Christ's salvation, and
similar reasons existin the present day for anxious concernand it may be
useful to considersome of the sources of danger.(1)The deep depravity of the
human heart. How easilydoes this depravity —
(a)lead men to deny or disregard the greatpracticaltruths of the gospel;
(b)to lose all just impression of the distinction betweenChristians and the
world;
(c)to disregardthe comparative worth of temporal and eternal things;
(d)to become insensible to the danger of small departures from duty;
(e)to banish the thought of eternity;
(f)to become more solicitous to preserve appearancesbefore men than reality
before God;
(g)to neglectthe means of grace.(2)The powerof temptations without us,
arising from wealthor poverty, business, society, etc.

II. THE DISCIPLE'S ANSWER, whichbespeaks a just sense of his wants as a
sinner and of his dependence on Christ as a Saviour.
1. As sinners we need the forgiveness ofGod, and can obtain the blessing only
through Christ.
2. As sinners we need sanctification, guidance, support, consolationwhichno
one but Christ can give.
3. We need eternal life: Christ only has the words of eternal life.
(N. W. Taylor, D. D.)
The uses to be made of the falls of Christians
S. Green, D. D.
It behoves us —
I. TO THINK WITH GRATITUDE OF THOSE WHO YET STAND, Many
went away, but some, and they of the most value, remained. To despond
would —
1. Unduly magnify the importance of the apostles.
2. Give too much pleasure to the enemies of God.
II. TO FEELAND ACKNOWLEDGE OUR OWN DANGER.
1. Becauseothers have gone their own way and there is no likelihood of our
following them, that is not to say that we are not in danger of pursuing a way
of our own from Christ. You are in no danger of drunkenness, are you in
danger of pride?
2. This sentiment will provoke charitable sentiments respecting falls of others.
III. TO COME WITH ALL FAITH AND SUPPLICATION TO THE
SAVIOUR FOR PROTECTIONAND MERCY. Neglectofthis is the fruitful
cause ofbacksliding.

(S. Green, D. D.)
Going and staying
D. Wilcox.
I. THE SADNESS OF APOSTASY.
1. Many take up a professionof Christianity who afterwards go away.
(1)The matter of fact. They ran well, and to all appearances judgedby
outward standards, were excellent Christians.
(2)To what this is owing.
(a)Largely from the want of the root of grace within;
(b)From insufficiently counting the cost.
(c)The want of a sensible joy in Christ as soonas was expected.
2. The sadness of their case.(1)In generalit is worse than if they had never
made a professionof Christ (2 Peter2:20, 21).
(a)As the Holy Spirit is grieved, and it may be, retired, their recoveryis more
doubtful.
(b)As they have put themselves out of the way of the Spirit's influence it
cannot be expectedthat it should follow them.
(c)As Satanhas got fasterhold of them.(2) As their case is now worse than it
was at the beginning, so by forsaking Christ they judge themselves unworthy
of eternal life and out of the wayof heaven. In the day of judgment they will
be convicted of base ingratitude, the greatesttreacheryand unfaithfulness and
of the most unaccountable folly.
II. CHRIST'S TENDER CONCERN FOR THE SAFETYOF HIS REAL
DISCIPLES.
1. How this appears.

(1)In His incarnation and death;
(2)In His intercession;
(3)In His approachableness.
2. Whence it proceeds from.
(1)Their being ransomed by Him (1 Peter 1:18);
(2)Their being entrusted to Him by the Father(John 6:38, 39);
(3)Their being not only His servants and friends, but the members of His
body;
(4)Their being speciallyloved by Him;
(5)Their danger through apostasyand their blessednessthrough abiding with
Him.
III. THE BELIEVER'S REASON FOR CLEAVING TO CHRIST.
1. They are sensible that they have no one but Christ to whom to go.
2. They dread the thought of going away, considering its sin, folly, misery and
ingratitude.
3. How many soeverrevolt from Christ, sincere believers will and ought to
cleave to Him still.
(1)To repair the dishonour castupon Him by apostates andto witness that He
never gave any just occasionto leave Him.
(2)To show that their choice of Him is not built on what others say, but upon
what they know and experience of Him.
(D. Wilcox.)
Experience and hope conservative offaith
T. Binney.

1. In the discourse ofthis chapter we have many "dark sayings," whichgave
greatoffence to many, and were the occasionof the apostasyof some of our
Lord's disciples.
2. The men who replied to our Lord felt the mysteriousness ofHis teaching as
deeply as others, and at different times confessedas much. But in spite of all
difficulties they did understand that their Masterhad what no other teacher
had — "the words of eternallife," and for that reasonthey would cling to
Him. So with many of His disciples in the present day.
I. THE MEANING OF ETERNALLIFE.
1. It has been saidthat "Eternal" is expressive of the characterand quality of
a thing not of its continuance, and stands for what is divine and spiritual in
present enjoyment, e.g —(1) If any being possessedofanimal or intellectual
life were to have its being perpetuated for ever, though this would be life
everlasting it would not be life eternal.(2)If an angelic orhuman being
possessedof this divine life were to be annihilated for a period it would still be
proper to saythat they had been made partakers of eternal life.
2. This is only half a truth and needs completing before we cangraspwhat
was in the disciples'minds. Let all this be granted, yet the subjectof our
Saviour's teaching must have included perpetuity. He calledthem to a
subjective life now, and declared that that in its ultimate issues, was to be
their everlasting possession.
II. LET US SEE HOW THIS MEANING MAY BE ILLUSTRATED IN THE
ANSWER OF THE DISCIPLES. This answercould not have embodied all
that we know. It was given previously to our Lord's redemptive work which
throws such light on our Lord's teaching, aud previously to the dispensation
of the Spirit. Moreover, they were slow to learn and misunderstood the
meaning of much which our Lord did teach. Nevertheless, theyknew
something about eternal life from —
1. Our Lord's teaching.(1) He demanded of them a present divine life in its
origin, continuance, and outward graces.(2)He authenticated the popular
belief in a life after death.

2. Our Lord's example embodied the first and was connectedby Him with the
prospectof entering upon an endless life which they were to share. There was
no uncertainty about this, and when askedif they would abandon Him of
whom they had learnt it, they felt it to be impossible.
III. TO WHOM COULD THEY GO?
1. To the Sadducees — the rationalists of the age? Theyrejectedimmortality,
and this being gone, what room was there for the culture of a divine life, or
even of secularvirtue, seeing that "we might eat and drink for to-morrow we
die."
2. To the Pharisees — the ritualists of their day? They believed in a future life,
but held such views of what constituted the presentreligious life of man as to
rob it of everything, spiritual and divine,
3. To the Essenes — the ancientmonks and ascetics?These wentfurther than
the Pharisees. Theytried to reachthe Divine by ceasing to the human, and by
practices which, if universal, would have brought societyto an end, showed
that they could not have the words of eternal life.
(T. Binney.)
A critical hour
E. Bersier, D. D.
What the first battle is to an army whose generalwishes to test its courage, so
was this trial to the disciples. In this crisis there were two causes oftrouble
and temptation for their faith.
I. THE FORSAKING OF JESUS BY THE MULTITUDE.
1. The inclination of most men is to yield to the authority of numbers. This is
seenin the camp of the freestphilosophy as well as in that of religion. Nothing
is more rare and difficult than adhesionto truth in the face of dominant
opinions, as is shown by the history of greatinventors, teachers, martyrs. In
the eyes of the multitude truth, like victory, lies on the side of greatbattalions.

2. All is not absolutely false in this assumption. True religion should be the lot
of all; and the gospelis universal. Yet it has never made any appeal or
sacrifice to popularity and has triumphed in the teeth of antipathy and
resistance.
3. On the other hand, as in the text, there are defections from it, and these
defections severelytry those who abide.
II. THE STRANGE CHARACTER OF THEIR MASTER'S TEACHING. At
present the subject of the discourse seemedfantastic and impossible. But by
and by in the Cross they understood it, which teaches us that the gospel
contains mysterious points which raise difficulties and objections which are
only to be overcome gradually. Mostacceptit on a side which responds most
to their inmost aspirations, and acceptthe rest on trust; and, after years of
Christian experience, they come to a comprehensionof the harmony of
revelation. Suppose, then, one of you in a situation like the apostles, whatmust
you do?
1. The partisans of absolute authority say, "Submit yourselves, and the more
difficult the submission, the more valuable the faith." But it is never safe for a
man to go againsthis conscience,and it is no honour to Godto bring him the
heart of a slave and the blind obedience of a fanatic.
2. Rejecteverydoctrine that wounds the conscience orthe reason. This is
what these disciples did, and forgot many admirable discourses andworks of
mercy. And how many to day yield without a struggle, never trying to getto
the bottom of their doubt, nor asking if there is not a deepermeaning!
3. The faithful apostles by their example seemto say, "Wait." Why?(1)
Becausereligious truth must be full of mystery. A Divine revelationwhich
should not surpass our comprehensionwould be no revelation.(2)Becausethe
fault may be less in the doctrine than in our minds.(3) Becauseanexperience a
thousand times repeatedproves that that which hurts us is preciselythat
which ought to heal us. Were the Phariseesright in being offended at the
universality of the gospel?(4)Because the greaterpart of the gospel
enlightens, consoles andsustains. Will you reject this for the fraction which

you misunderstood?(5)Becauseexperience may, and will, show you the
futility of your objection, "If any man will do," etc.
(E. Bersier, D. D.)
The dividing point
E. E. Jenkins.
In the state of Ohio there is a courthouse that stands in such a way that the
raindrops that fall on the north side go into Lake Ontario at the Gulf of St.
Laurence, while those that fall on the south side go into the Mississippiand
the Gulf of Mexico. Justa little puff of wind determines the destiny of a rain
drop for two thousand miles. And how small apparently the influence which
decides whether the current of our lives shall flow towards Christ or away
from Him. Speculationand faith: —
1. The chief cause ofdeclensionin the Church is the pre-occupationof the
mind with an imaginary Christ. This narrative teaches us that a miracle is no
match for a pre-determined judgment. These men believed on Christ because
they saw His miracles, and they framed in their minds a conceptionof what
that Messiahshipshould mean; but when they found that Christ's conception
differed from theirs, in spite of the miracles, they re. jectedHim. They could
not understand a Messianicempire over the hearts of men.
2. But they ought to have understood something; that the position of Christ
would invest Him with mystery, and that His teaching would be original, and
that His disciples should have no pre-occupations and be able to distinguish
betweenstatementand parable, and that Jesus required childlike honesty and
docility in his hearers.
3. The chief disputants on this occasionwere leading Jews striving to turn the
current of popular favour from Jesus. The declarationat which they affected
to stumble was that of ver. 51. "How canthis man," etc. (ver. 52), was the
carnalreasoning of the adversaries. The Master's reply afforded no help, but
rather otherwise (ver. 53). The disciples were silent, but these strange words

shockedthe men who had imagined that fellowship with Jesus would be a
steppingstone to power(ver. 60). His explanation (denied to incorrigible
adversaries)to them preserveda medium betweenthe indulgence of curiosity
and the repressionof an honestdesire to learn the truth (vers. 62-65).
4. These "wentaway" becauseno proof could touch them which threatened
their anterior conceptionof Christ. Not miracle, nor the unique personal
influence of Jews.
5. This picture of the force of a pre-judgment inspired by passionwill guide
the Christian Student in interpreting modern unbelief. Science is supposedto
have no prejudgments; but then it affirms that a miracle is inconceivable, and
therefore no testimony can make the recordof a miracle credible. What is this
but a prejudgment I And since Christianity is based upon the resurrection of
Christ, then, according to this, it is logicallya fraud. Let us now consider —
I. THE APPEAL OF CHRIST.
1. It should be regardedas an appealwhen the Church is surrounded by an
unstable mood of thought concerning Christ.
2. This mood is highly dangerous and brings death with noiselessfootsteps,
and its ravages are seen, when, in connectionwith some sentiment of passion
or selfishness, it puts back the faith or destroys it; and it is answerable forthe
loss to Christ of thousands of our youth, and the wide failure of initial steps of
Christian profession.
3. It may be traced in modern secularliterature when the writer simply refers
to a Christian doctrine or fact, indicating no bias whatever, so different to
those firm strokes whichfifty years ago showedus if the public mind was
pervaded by an impression of the Divine authority of the Scriptures.
4. Notthat this necessarilythreatens an unusual reverse to the Christian faith,
but everything depends upon the way in which this unstable mood is dealt
with during the next fifty years.
5. The appeal of Jesus is intended to bring into conspicuous contrastthe
immovable form of the Rock ofAges.

II. THE ANSWERING CONFESSIONOF THE CHURCH. Are we prepared
to drift? or to prosecute a new search? If Christ has failed to give us the words
of eternal life, where shall we go to fro' them?
1. To some ancient religion? Thanks to modern research, the new science of
comparative theologyis now accessible to every one. The question is not
whether the religious systems of India or China are not possessedof fine
sentiment, but whether they cancompete with Christianity.(1) What are they
all but at best obscure impressions of mysteries which in Christianity are
definitely proclaimed!(2) What have they done for the people I Instead of
elevating the generalmind, they have narrowed, impoverished and depraved
it. Modern researchtherefore pronounces that the religionof the future must
be the Christian or none.
2. To modern philosophy?(1) Where is its moral power to come from?(2) How
is this moral power to be disseminated? With all its boasts, it is built upon an
hypothesis which, as yet, has constructedno thing: whereas we have a faith
which has been attestedby the history of centuries, whose Divinity is verified
this day by the only civilization which is living.
(E. E. Jenkins.)
Temporary discipleship
W. A. Griffiths.
I. THAT JESUS CHRIST AND HIS DOCTRINESARE NECESSARILY
OFFENSIVE TO UNREGENERATEDHUMANITY. But let us inquire what
were the hard sayings, the unpalatable truths, that offended the crowd.
1. That Christ was greaterthan Moses.This was a mortal offence to the Jews.
While Moses was yetalive the treatment he receivedwas anything but
respectful, but after his death their venerationfor the greatlawgiverknew no
bounds. Again, they spoke of the manna in the wilderness very highly indeed,
but their fathers had a very different opinion of it.

2. That God is the God of the Gentile as well as the Jew (ver. 37). Another
hard saying —
3. That the atonement (the bread from heaven) is the life of the world.
Millions wilfully rejectthis heavenly food, to pine awayand die on the
unwholesome, adulteratedfare dearly supplied by pleasure, ambition, and
philosophy, falselyso called. Such were the hard sayings that made many of
the disciples turn back and walk no more with Jesus. But what offended the
Jews is no longeroffensive to us. Yet many forsake Him in our days.(1).
Becausethey do not know Him. One may be acquainted with all the facts of
His life, from the mangerto the cross, and yet be totally ignorant of .the
principles that animated that life.(2) Becausetheycannot have Christ and
their sins at the same time. The people of Rome demanded of Brutus why he
had stabbed Caesar, by his own admission"the foremost man of all the
world"; and he answeredto this effect, "Notthat I loved Caesarless, but that
I loved Rome more." The surgeonof intemperate habits kills himself by
degrees, andknows it; does he hate life? No, he loves drink more, and is
content to fall into a premature grave. Men are loth to admit this, and many
try hard to deceive themselves and others that they are kept awayby doubt, as
though intellectual pride was pardonable and praiseworthy. Samsonperished
under the ruins of his prison — why? Was it for the want of evidences? I trow
not. His burning lust for Delilah brought him to that vulgar, shameful end.
Demas turned His back upon the Redeemer, and forsook Pauland the
churches when they greatly needed his sympathy and help. Was it "doubts"
that causedhis apostasy? No;he "lovedthe presentworld." "Your iniquities
have separatedbetweenyou and God."
II. JESUS CHRIST HAS NO DESIRE TO SEE PEOPLE FOLLOWING
HIM AGAINST THEIR INCLINATION. "Will ye also go away?" The
question suggests two things —
1. That the gospelis a moral influence, and not a coercive agency. In making a
personalappeal to the undecided, once and againhave I been told, by way of
self-justification, that they expectsome irresistible power, some messenger
from the dead, to compelthem to believe the gospel. Oh, false and foolish
expectation!In a speechof the Earl of Chatham the following passage occurs,

which, with a little modification, will help to illustrate this point: —George the
Third endeavoured to give undue influence to the prerogative of the Crown;
but the greatorator strenuously opposedhim, and stoodup for the
constitution, saying, "The poorestman may in his cottage bid defiance to all
the forces ofthe Crown. It may be frail — its roof may shake, the wind may
blow through it, the storm may enter — but the King of England cannot
enter. All his forces dare not cross the threshold of the ruined tenement." You
are at perfectliberty to stay with Him or go awaywith the multitude that do
evil — choose ye.
2. That religion without love is no religion at all. In this commercialage
people are apt to introduce a mercenary spirit even into spiritual things, and
ask with the apostate Jews,"Whatprofit shall we have if we pray to Him?"
Many of us, in our visits to rural districts, where the inhabitants cling
tenaciouslyto primitive customs, have been made sad and solemn by meeting
a funeral processionbearing a dead one to his burial; and although strangers
to us, no one need tell us who the relatives of the departed one are — they are
easilydistinguished from all others both by their nearness to the coffin and
their willingness to endure any inconvenience in order to follow him they
loved to his long, long home. Others may, and will, turn back half-way, if the
distance be far and the weatherfoul, but such is their griefafter the departed
that, howeverrough the wayand stormy the weather, they will walk to the
brink of the grave, and shed the tears of affectionon his coffin-lid as they look
down and bid their lastfarewell. The relatives of the Saviour likewise are
easilyrecognizedby their nearness to Him in thought and duty, and also by
their fidelity to their beloved Redeemer, through honour and dishonour,
through evil report and goodreport, even unto death.
III. THERE ARE A FAITHFUL FEW IN EVERY AGE AMONGST THE
FAITHLESS MANY. "To whom shall we go?" Go to the service of mammon
with boats and fishing-tackles, andleave others to become fishers of men. Go
to swine-land, the far country of self-indulgence and carnalpleasures, and
spend your substance with the prodigal in riotous living. Go to Vanity Fair
and the City of Destruction: follow the crowd!No; we have alreadybeen to all
those places, and failed to find a resting-place for a weary, heavy-laden soul.
You had better stay, then. Peter's reasons for staying were —

1. Becauseno one else could give such a clearaccountof the future. "Thou
hast the words of eternal life."
2. BecauseHe was the Divine Redeemer. "And we believe, and are sure, that
Thou art Christ, the son of the living God."
(W. A. Griffiths.)
Departing from Jesus
R. S. Barrett.
In Mammoth Cave the old guide told us how people had been lost there from
time to time. When found, they overwhelmed him with embraces and other
demonstrations of gratitude. Some became insane through fright; some fled in
terror from the guides. Once a woman was lost for about twenty-four hours.
In that terrible darkness, in the silence in which hearts beat loud, she had
waited in dreadful suspense. Superstitious dread filled her crazed heart. At
last the guide came, his footfalls echoing like whispers and groans, his lantern
casting ghostlyshadows upon the walls. The poor terrified creature arose, and
tied awayinto the darkness. The guide pursued — a veritable black devil he
seemed!At last he overtook her — unconscious, prostrate, ashywhite. In his
strong arms he raisedher from the ground, and carried her out to safetyand
light and home! How often is it so:When the Saviour comes, we flee from
Him. Misconceptions ofHim, distortions of Him, shadows of Him in this dark
world, fancies of Him in our sinful hearts, make Him seemother than He is.
And we flee from our Saviour and our Guide — flee awayinto the darkness.
And yet He came to find us, to save us, to bear us to the light. "He came to His
own, and His own receivedHim not."
(R. S. Barrett.)
The physiology of backsliding
Prof. Drummond.

Within the body of the Hermit crab a minute organismmay frequently be
discovered, resembling, when magnified, a miniature kidney bean. A bunch of
root-like processeshangs from one side, and the extremities of these are seen
to ramify in delicate films through the living tissues of the crab. This simple
organismis known to the naturalist as Sacculina:and though a full-grown
animal, it consists of no more parts than those just named. Not a trace of
structure is to be detectedwithin this rude and all but inanimate frame; it
possesses neitherlegs, nor eyes, nor mouth, nor throat, nor stomach, nor any
other organs, externalor internal. This Sacculina is a typical parasite. By
means of its twining and theftuous roots it imbibes automatically its
nourishment ready-prepared from the body of the crab. It boards, indeed,
entirely at the expense of its host, who supplies it liberally with food and
shelter, and everything else it wants. So far as the result to itself is concerned,
this arrangementmay seemat first sight satisfactoryenough;but when we
inquire into the life history of this small creature we unearth a careerof
degeneracyallbut unparalleled in nature. When the young animal first makes
its appearance, it bears not the remotestresemblance to the adult animal. A
different name even is given to it by the biologist, who knows it at this period
as a Nauplius. This minute organismhas an oval body, supplied with six well-
jointed feet, by means of which it paddles briskly through the water. For a
time it leads an active and independent life, industriously securing its own
food and escaping enemies by its owngallantry. But soona change takes
place. The hereditary taint of parasitismis in its blood, and it proceeds to
adapt itself to the pauper habits of its race. The tiny body first doubles in
upon itself, and from the two front limbs elongatedfilaments protrude. Its
four hind limbs entirely disappear, and twelve short forkedswimming organs
temporarily take their place. Thus strangelymetamorphosed the Sacculina
sets out in searchofa suitable host, and in an evil hour, by that fate which is
always ready to accommodate the transgressor, is thrown into the company of
the Hermit crab. With its two filamentary processes — which afterwards
develop into the root-like organs — it penetrates the body; the sac-like formis
gradually assumed; the whole of the swimming feet drop off — they will never
be needed again— and the animal settles downfor the rest of its life as a
parasite .... There could be no more impressive illustration than this of what
with entire appropriateness one might call"the physiology of backsliding."

We fail to appreciate the meaning of spiritual degenerationor detectthe
terrible nature of the consequencesonly because theyevade the eye of sense.
But could we investigate the spirit as a living organism, or study the soul of
the backslideron principles of comparative anatomy, we should have a
revelation of the organic effects of sin, even of the mere sin of carelessnessas
to growth and work, which must revolutionize our ideas of practicalreligion.
There is no room for the doubt even, that what goes onin the body does not
with equal certainty take place in the spirit under the corresponding
circumstances orconditions. The penalty of backsliding is not something
unreal and vague, some unknown quantity which may be measuredout to us
disproportionately, or which, perchance, since Godis good, we may altogether
evade. The consequences are alreadymarked within the structure of the soul.
So to speak, they are physiological. The thing affectedby our indifference or
by our indulgence is not the book of final judgment, but the present fabric of
the soul. The punishment of degenerationis simply de-generation— the loss
of functions, the decayof organs, the atrophy of the spiritual nature. It is well
known that the recoveryof the backslideris one of the hardest problems in
spiritual work. To reinvigorate an old organseems more difficult and hopeless
than to develop a new one; and the backslider's terrible lot is to have to
retrace with enfeebledfeet eachstep of the way along which he strayed; to
make up inch by inch the leewayhe has lost, carrying with him a dead weight
el acquired reluctance, and scarce knowing whetherto be stimulated or
discouragedby the memory of the previous fall.
(Prof. Drummond.)
The effects ofbacksliding on the steadfast
E. Bersier, D. D.
When, at the close ofthe First Empire, our soldiers fought againstunited
Europe, there frequently arose from the midst of the battle a cry that troubled
all hearts. The reasonwas that a corps of the army, deserting the flag of
Napoleon, had turned to the enemy. It was so at Leipsic: when the Saxons
abandoned the French eagles the blast of ruin passedover the whole army, for

treasonwas seeneverywhere. And we also, in the desperate struggle in which
the Christian army is engaged, we have often seendiscouragementagitate the,
most steadfast, whenin the front ranks of the enemy, to have to encounter
those who but the day before helped our faith and stoodclose around our flag.
Only yesterday our allies, to-day our implacable enemies, directing their
sharp, haughty, and contemptuous criticism againsta cause whose weak
points were well known to them. The crisis has been a terrible one, and more
than one heart has succumbedunder the anguish. But in this heart-rending
apostasywe seemto hear the voice of our Head sayto us, as formerly to His
disciples, "Will you also go away?" In reply to this appeal we have
acknowledgedourMaster;shame has laid hold on us for having a moment
submitted to the contagionof example; we have felt that never should His
cause be more dear to us than when it was abandonedby the multitude; that
the number and assentof masses are nothing and ought to be nothing; and
with a more profound faith we have said to the Christ, "Lord, to whom can
we go?"
(E. Bersier, D. D.)
A backslider's end
Luther.
Albert, Bishop of Mayence, had a physician attachedto his person, who, being
a Protestant, did not enjoy the prelate's favour. The man, seeing this, and
being an avaricious, ambitious, world-seeker, deniedhis God, and turned
back to Popery, saying to his associates,"I'll put Jesus Christby for a while
till I've made my fortune, and then bring Him out again." This horrible
blasphemy met with its just reward; for next day the miserable hypocrite was
found dead in his bed, his tongue hanging from his mouth, his face as black as
a coal, and his neck twisted half round. I was myself an ocular witness of this
merited chastisementofimpiety.
(Luther.)

A brave martyr
Anne Askew, when askedto avoid the flames, answered, "I came not here to
deny my Lord and Master."
Where backsliding begins
In the Life of Philip Henry it is said, "He and his wife constantlyprayed
together, morning and evening." He made conscienceofclosetworship, and
abounded in it. It was the caution and advice which he frequently gave to his
children and friends, "Be sure you look to your secretduty; keepthat up,
whateveryou do; the soul cannot prosper in the neglectof it. Apostasy
generallybegins at the closetdoor." Besidesthese, he was uniform, steady,
and constantin family worship from the time he was first called to the charge
of a family to his dying day. He would say, "If the worship of God be not in
the house, write, 'Lord, have mercy upon us,' on the door; for there is a
plague, a curse in it.'"
A backslider's misery
After poor Sabat, an Arabian, who had professedfaith in Christ by means of
the labours of the Rev. Henry Martyn, had apostatizedfrom Christianity, and
written a book in favour of Mohammedanism, he was met at Malaccaby the
late Rev. Dr. Milne, who proposed to him some very pointed questions, in
reply to which he said, "I am unhappy! I have a mountain of burning sand on
my head! When I go about I know not what I am doing." It is indeed "anevil
thing and bitter to sin againstthe Lord our God."
Reasonsfor backsliding
Those who forsake Godto return to the world, do it because they find more
gratificationin earthly pleasures than in those arising from communion with
God; and because this overpowering charm, carrying them away, causesthem

to relinquish their first choice, and renders them, as says, the penitents of the
devil.
( Blaise Pascal.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(66) From that time.—The addition of the word “time” has given a definite
and questionable meaning to the Greek, which is indefinite. “Fromthat”
probably means on that account, because ofthe words He had spoken. The
actualdeparture was the result of the teaching, which testedtheir faith and
found it wanting, and was at that time, not gradually from that time onwards.
(Comp. Note on John 19:12.)
Many of his disciples.—Co-extensive withthe same term in John 6:60.
BensonCommentary
John 6:66-69. From that time many of his disciples went back — This
discourse of our Lord was, in all its different branches, so offensive to many,
who till now had followedhim, and professedto be his disciples, that, from
this time, they ceasedto attend on or hear him. So that he now beganto purge
his floor: the proud and carelesswere driven away, and those only remained
who were meet for the Master’s use. Then said Jesus unto the twelve — Jesus,
perceiving this defection to be very general, askedthe twelve if they were
going to leave him with the rest. Then Peter — With his usual zeal; answered,
Lord — If we were really disposed to quit thee; to whom shall we go? — Or,
what advantage could we expect by it? Thou hast the words of eternal life —
Thou, and thou alone, speakestthe words which show the way to life
everlasting;and hast even now been directing us therein; and God forbid that

any other hopes and views should ever be preferred by us to these! And —
Howeverothers may be governedby their carnalprejudices, and a deluded
multitude may treat thee with contempt; we firmly believe, and assuredly
know, on the most convincing evidence, that thou art the Christ, the Son of the
living God — On which persuasionwe are determined to cleave to thee, to
continue to learn of thee as thy disciples, to confide in thee for salvation,
present and eternal, and to hazard all in thy service. So that Peter’s implicit
faith in our Lord’s doctrine was founded, as it was right it should be, on his
faith in him as the Messiah, the Son of God.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
6:66-71 When we admit into our minds hard thoughts of the words and works
of Jesus, we enter into temptation, which, if the Lord in mercy prevent not,
will end in drawing back. The corrupt and wickedheart of man often makes
that an occasionfor offence, which is matter of the greatestcomfort. Our
Lord had, in the foregoing discourse, promisedeternal life to his followers;
the disciples fastenedon that plain saying, and resolvedto cleave to him, when
others fastened on hard sayings, and forsook him. Christ's doctrine is the
word of eternal life, therefore we must live and die by it. If we forsake Christ,
we forsake our own mercies. Theybelieved that this Jesus was the Messiah
promised to their fathers, the Sonof the living God. When we are tempted to
backslide or turn away, it is goodto remember first principles, and to keepto
them. And let us ever remember our Lord's searching question; Shall we go
awayand forsake ourRedeemer? To whom can we go? He alone cangive
salvationby the forgiveness ofsins. And this alone brings confidence, comfort,
and joy, and bids fearand despondency flee away. It gains the only solid
happiness in this world, and opens a way to the happiness of the next.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
Many of his disciples - Many who had followedhim professedlyas his
disciples and as desirous of learning of him. See the notes at John 6:60.
Went back - Turned awayfrom him and left him. From this we may learn,

1. Notto wonderat the apostasyof many who profess to be followers of
Christ. Many are induced to become his professedfollowers by the prospectof
some temporal benefit, or under some public excitement, as these were;and
when that temporal benefit is not obtained, or that excitementis over, they fall
away.
2. Many may be expectedto be offended by the doctrines of the gospel. Having
no spirituality of mind, and really understanding nothing of the gospel, they
may be expectedto take offence and turn back. The best way to understand
the doctrines of the Bible is to be a sincere Christian, and aim to do the will of
God, John 7:17.
3. We should examine ourselves. We should honestly inquire whether we have
been led to make a professionof religion by the hope of any temporal
advantage, by any selfish principle, or by mere excitedanimal feeling. If we
have it will profit us nothing, and we shall either fall awayof ourselves, orbe
castawayin the greatday of judgment.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
66-71. Fromthat time, &c.—or, in consequence ofthis. Those lastwords of
our Lord seemedto have given them the finishing stroke—theycould not
stand it any longer.
walkedno more—Many a journey, it may be, they had takenwith Him, but
now they gave Him up finally!
Matthew Poole's Commentary
His disciples at large, so calledbecause they followedhim, partly to hear what
he would say, partly to see his miracles, followedhim no more. Many
professors andseeming disciples of Christ may draw back and fall from their
profession, though none that truly receive Christ shall fall away, but be by the
powerof God preservedthrough faith unto salvation.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
From that time many of his disciples went back,.... Notany of the twelve
apostles, forthey are distinguished from these in the next verse;nor any of the

seventy disciples, for their names were written in heaven, and could not
apostatize totally and finally, as these did; but some of the multitude of the
disciples, who followedChrist, heard him, and professedto believe in him,
and were baptized in his name, but were not true disciples, only nominal ones:
they had never heard and learned of the Father, otherwise they would have
known what it was to come to Christ, as the Father's gift, and under the
drawings of his grace;and would not have been offended at the words of our
Lord, just now spokenby him, concerning that sort of coming to him: but
from the time he spoke those words;"because ofthis word", as the Syriac,
Arabic, and Persic versions render it; they withdrew themselves from his
ministry, they dropped their professionof faith in him, and relinquished him
as a Saviour and Redeemer:for finding that he would not be made king, nor
setup for a temporal redeemer;and talking of himself as the bread of life, and
of coming to him, in a sense they did not understand; they turned their backs
on him; and as the words may be literally read, "returned to the things that
were behind"; to the world, and to their old companions, to Satanand their
own hearts lusts; like the dog to its vomit, and the swine to its wallowing in the
mire: their true picture is drawn, in the parable of the unclean spirit going out
of the man, and returning, Matthew 12:43. And they returned to their
quondam teachers, the Scribes and Pharisees, andto the law of works, and to
seek forrighteousness by it; setting up their own righteousness,and not
submitting to the righteousness ofChrist; and thus to look back and draw
back, is a sad case indeed:
and walkedno more with him; never returned to him more, or went with him
from place to place as before: never more attended on his ministry, or had any
intimacy and fellowship with him: and so it commonly is with apostates from
the professionofChrist; they seldom or ever return, or are recovered;it is
difficult, if not impossible, which is sometimes the case, to renew them again
to repentance.
Geneva Study Bible
{15} From that time many of his disciples went back, and walkedno more
with him.

(15) Such is the malice of men, that they bring about their own destruction,
even in hearing the very doctrine of salvation, but there are a few who believe
through the singular gift of God.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary
John 6:66-67. Ἐκ τούτου]not: “from this time forwards” (so usually even
Lücke, De Wette, Hengstenberg), for a going awayby degrees is not
described; but (so Nonnus, Luthardt): on this account, because ofthese words
of Jesus, John6:61 ff., which so thoroughly undeceived them as regarded their
earthly Messianic hopes. So also John19:12;Xen. Anab. ii. 6. 4, iii. 3. 5, vii. 6.
13. Comp. ἐξ οὗ, quapropter, and see generally, concerning the ἐκ of cause or
occasion, Matthiae, II. 1334;Ellendt, Lex. Soph. i. 551, who justly remarks:
“His etiam subest fontis, unde aliquid exoriatur, notio.”
εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω] they went away, and went back, so that they no longer
accompaniedHim, but returned to the place whence they had come to Him.
Comp. John 18:6, John 20:14;1Ma 9:47; Proverbs 25:9; Genesis 19:17;Luke
17:31;Plato, Phaedr. p. 254 B; Menex. p. 246 B; Polyb. i. 51. 8.
τοῖς δώδεκα]who and what they were, Johntakes for granted as well known.
μὴ καὶ ὑμεῖς, κ.τ.λ.]but ye too do not wish to go away? Jesus knowsHis
twelve too well (comp. John 13:18) to put the question to them otherwise than
with the presupposition of a negative, answer(at the same time He knew that
He must exceptone). But He wishes for their avowal, and therein lay His
comfort. This rendering of the question with μὴ is no “pedanterie
grammaticale” (Godet, who wrongly renders “vous ne voulez pas?”), but is
alone linguistically correct(Baeumlein, Partik. p. 302 f.). According to Godet,
the thought underlying the question is, “If you wish, you can,” which is a pure
invention.

Expositor's Greek Testament
John 6:66. ἐκ τούτου, “onthis”;neither exclusively “from this time” ἔκτοτε
(Euthymius), “from this moment onwards” (Lücke), nor exclusively “onthis
account,” but a combination of both. Cf. John 19:12. Here the time is in the
foreground, as is shown by the οὐκ ἔτι following. Lampe has: “Qui ab illo
tempore Iesum deserebant, clare indicabant, quod propter hunc sermonem
istud fecerint”. πολλοὶ ἀπῆλθονεἰς τὰ ὀπίσω … περιεπάτουν. Many of those
who had up to this time been following Him and listening to His teaching,
returned now to their former ways and no longer accompaniedJesus.[ὀπίσω
δὲ νόει μοι, καὶ τὸν πρότερονβίον αὐτῶν, εἰς ὃν πάλιν ὑπέστρεψαν,
Euthymius.] εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω occurs John18:6, John 20:14;also Mark 13:16. But
the most instructive occurrence is in Psalm44:18, οὐκ ἀπέστη εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω ἡ
καρδία ἡμῶν, where the literal sense passesinto the spiritual meaning,
apostasy, abandonment of God.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
66. From that time] This may be the meaning, but more probably it means in
consequence ofthat. Hereupon has somewhatof the ambiguity of the Greek,
combining the notions of time and result. The Greek phrase occurs here and
John 19:12 only in N.T.
Bengel's Gnomen
John 6:66. Πολλοί, many) By this means their number was clearedofthe
unworthy, and made the more select[and this, in the very place (Capernaum
we may suppose) in which He had sojourned previously for the longesttime.—
Harm., p. 337]. A promiscuous multitude is not of so much consequenceas is
sincerity. [This was a most severe purification.—V. g.]
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 66. - Upon this (ἐκ τούτου;cf. ἐξ οῦ, equivalent to qua propter). Not
"from that time forwards," not a gradual thinning down or departure of some
disciples, one today and anothertomorrow, but a kind of rush and stampede
took place. Those who a few hours before were ready to call him their
Messianic King, were entirely disenchanted. The claims of Christ were so

profoundly different from what they anticipated that upon this many of his
disciples went back, and walkedno more with him. The fascinationthose felt
who had seensome of the excellences ofJesus ledthem to put themselves at
his disposal, to wait upon him, to desert their ordinary occupations. Hence
part of the phraseologyofredemption was derived from the method of Christ.
Men "came" to him; they "followed" him; they "walked" withhim; they
could "go back," desert, forsaketheir Lord. These actions ofhis first disciples
have createdthe vocabulary of the kingdom of God. Christ's teaching tested
as well as attracted men. There was a repellent force as well as an infinite
fascination. He sifted as well as saved. The very deeds and words that broke
some hearts into penitence rousedimpatient and angry remonstrance in
others. There is seenin this Gospela continual departure and a deepening
faith.
Vincent's Word Studies
From that time (ἐκ τούτου)
Render, as Rev., upon this. As a result proceeding out of (ἐκ) this. Compare
John 19:12.
Went back (ἀπῆλθον εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω)
The Greek expressesmore than the English. They went away (ἀπό) from
Christ, Literally, to the things behind, to what they had left in order to follow
the Lord.
Walked(περιεπάτουν)
Literally, walkedabout, with Jesus in His wanderings here and there.
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES

ALAN CARR
John 6:60-71
NOT EVERYONE WALKS AWAY
Intro: Every ministry faces difficult times. It is just a given! There will be
times when things are up and there will be times when things are down.
During all those times there are few ministry leaders who are doing all they
can to see that the ministry loses supporters. In fact, those who are calledto
leadership positions in the church and other Christian ministries are doing all
they can to ensure the continued success andgrowth of the ministry.
In John chapter 6, Jesus seems to be doing all He can to drive away as many
people as He can from His ministry. Evidently, He didn't readsome of the
books I have read on the subject of leadership and success in ministry. I mean,
we are always trying to find a successful"enlargement" campaign, here, Jesus
ran a successful"ensmallment" campaign!When John chapter6 opens, Jesus
has over 5,000 people following Him and listening to Him speak. When this
chapter closes,He only has 12 men with Him and one of them is not even
saved.
If Jesus is doing anything in these verses, He is issuing a callto commitment.
He knows that many of these followers are merely there for what they canget
for their flesh. Jesus lays down the gauntlet and calls for everyone of those
followers to commit to Him and to Him alone. His call to commitment has a
two-fold outcome. First, it clarifies His call, His mission and His ministry for
those who would follow Him. Second, it purifies the ranks of His disciples,
effectively weeding out most of those who are not genuine in their faith or
commitment.
Our text verses revealJesus clearlystating he truth about Himself and His
ministry. Here, we are allowedto see thousands of people turn their backs on
Him and walk away. After the crowds leave, v. 66, Jesus immediately turns to
His 12 disciples in verse 67, and asks them to make a personalcommitment as
well. One can almost hear His heart break as He asks them, "Will ye also go
away?"

Friends, we are living in an hour when many are walking awayfrom the
things of the Lord. This should not surprise us because it is exactlywhat the
Bible said would happen in the last days. We are told that there will be a
"falling away", 2 Thes. 2:3. We are also told that in the end times, men will
"have a form of godliness, but denying the powerthereof.", 2 Tim. 3:5. Yet,
when we see it happening all around us, we are surprised. We are shocked!
I think the verses we have read this morning shed some light on this problem.
There are some insights in this text as to why people make the decisions they
do concerning their walk with the Lord. Allow me to share a few of them with
you are we considerthe thought: NotEveryone Walks Away.
I. V. 60-66 NOT EVERYONE CAN HANDLE THE TRUTH
(Ill. The fact of the matter is that while not everyone walks awayfrom the
Lord, some do. Why is that? If we take this passageas the answerto that
question, it becomes clearthat Not Everyone Can Handle The Truth.)
A. As this chapter unfolds, it becomes increasinglyclearthat doubt, suspicion
and hostility are mounting againstthe Lord Jesus. These people who wanted
to make Him king after He fed them, v. 15, want nothing more to do with Him
after they hear His message, v. 26-65.
B. Why the change? Jesus toldthem the truth and they could not handle it!
Notice His claims:
1. To Be The Way Of Salvation - v. 29
2. To Be The Son of God - v. 32
3. That He Is Superior to Moses andthe Manna - v. 35; 49-58
4. That Salvationwas a matter of faith alone - v. 35-40;63
5. That apart from God's intervention, they could not believe - v. 44; 65
C. When truth is revealedto us, there are only two possible reactions to it: It
can be received, or it can be rejected. People receive the truth when they see it
for what it is: Truth! People rejectthe truth for many reasons. Here are just a
few:

1. Some People Misunderstand It - Nicodemus thought Jesus was talking
about gynecology, whenHe was actuallyspeaking of the new birth. The
woman at the wellthought Jesus was talking about plumbing, when He was
actually talking about Himself, the Water of Life. The man at the pool of
Bethesda thought Jesus was talking about a rescue mission, when He was
actually talking placing faith in Jesus. This trend continues today! That is why
people join the church and are baptized without ever being saved. That is why
the Word of God is so offensive many people. They misunderstand the truth
and, as a result, they rejectit.
2. Some People Are OpposedTo It - As Jesus revealedHimself and His
demands in this passage, the Jews were in constantand increasing opposition,
v. 41-42;52; 60. The Jews were notable to acceptHis Deity, His impending
Deathor His claims of Lordship. They opposedHim at every turn! So it is
today, many are opposedto the truths of the Bible and the claims of the Lord
Jesus Christ. His call to commitment goes againsttheir desire to live for self,
and as a result, they find themselves in opposition to the Lord. Friends, the
claims of the Gospel, the cross and the blood of Jesus are designedto be
offensive!
3. Some People Are Blind To It - All the way through this passage, the Jews
had this approachto Jesus:"Show us and we will believe." Theyhad already
seenHim feed five thousand with five loaves of bread and 2 fish, v. 5-13. They
had already surmised that He had somehow, miraculously, crossedthe lake, v.
22-25, yetthey were blind to Who He was and what He was doing. When He
made His claims and issued His call to commitment, they were unable to see
the truth because they were blind! The sadfact of the matter is this: all men
are blind to the truth until their eyes are supernaturally opened by the
intervention of God, 2 Cor. 4:4; John 6:44; 65. That is why so many people
rejectthe truth and embrace the lie, they are simply blind to the truth!
4. Some People Want The Experience But Not The Expectation- These people
were following Jesus because He had satisfiedtheir fleshly appetites, v. 1-15.
They wanted more of the same, v. 34. In fact, they wanted Jesus to prove that
He was greaterthan Moses,v. 22-31. Theywere looking for something that
satisfiedtheir flesh and that made them feel goodabout themselves. They

wanted an experience!They wanted to be following the next king. They
wanted the miracles and the sensational. But, when Jesus beganto talk about
His expectations and issueda call for commitment, they turned awayfrom
Him and walkedaway. Why? They wanted to be carried awayin the
excitement of the moment with no commitment.
The same mentality has developed within the church! There are many today
who want a religious experience, but without and expectations. Theywant to
serve God for what they canget out it, without any concernfor His glory of
His will. They want entertainment and excitement without the commitment
that comes along with the proclamation of the truth. The churches that are
growing the fastesttodayare those who minimize biblical doctrine the
requirements of the faith and emphasize entertainment and experience. All
you need to succeedtodayas a church is a contemporary band, a messagethat
challenges no one's life, a youth program that will babysit the children while
the parents are lulled to sleepby a "touchy feely" religion that is devoid of the
truth! (Note: People who walk away from the things of God are selfish! They
are only concernedaboutthemselves and how they feel. Imagine how the
disciples felt when the multitude walkedaway. Those who are left are always
adverselyaffectedby those who choose to walk away.)
D. Not everyone canhandle the truth! Sometimes, the truth is tough!
Sometimes the truth makes demands upon our lives. Sometimes the truth is
brutal and seems unfeeling. But, the truth is always true! It is always right
and it is always perfect. Not everyone can handle the truth! Can you?
II. V. 64, 70 EVERYONE LIVES IN A GLASS HOUSE
(Ill. Another insight in this passagethat needs to be addressedis this:
Everyone Lives In A Glass House. Simply stated, regardless ofwhat we may
think, we are hiding nothing from the gaze of the Lord, Heb. 4:13.)
A. In this passage, we see the truth that Jesus why the multitudes were
following Him, v. 26-27, 64. He also knew the deepestsecretsofthe hearts of
those who appearedto be the most committed to Him, v. 64, 70-71.

B. When the Lord looks atyour life, what does He see? DoesHe see absolute
commitment and faith? Or, does He see a life that wants the experiences but
lacks the commitment? The harsh truth is that He sees you and me just like
we are! He sees us in ways that we cannot even see ourselves!Nothing and no
one is hidden from His all seeing gaze today!Not Zaccheaus in that tree, not
Peterby that Roman fire; not even the hearts of the hypocritical Pharisees,
not even Judas Iscariot, who was numbered with the 12. (Ill. Even Judas had
deceivedthe 11 other disciples! They did not know that he was a fake!)
C. My friends, you and I live in glass houses this morning! I cannot see into
your heart and you cannotsee into mine, but God sees us just as we are. What
does He see when He looks atyou? Friends, we may deceive eachother, but
we will never deceive God! He knows where you stand spiritually this
morning. There has never been a better incentive for us to look carefully at
our hearts
D. I recently had a conversationwith a man who was attempting to hide his
lack of commitment behind a smokescreenof excuses.The bottom line is this:
say what you will, but there are some people who do not want to serve the
Lord. They do not want to be committed to His will or His work, but at the
same time, they want the benefits they can derive from being in the church
and being around God's people. These people may deceive us, but they will
never deceive the Lord! He sees through their excuses and the smokescreenof
lies they attempt to hide behind. He knows what lies within their hearts and
will hold them accountable forthat!
III. V. 67-69 GENUINE FAITH CANNOT WALK AWAY
A. When the disciples are askedby Jesus if they too will leave Him, Peter
answers for the group. He expressestheir total commitment and states the fact
that they know Jesus is the Christ, the Sonof God and is the way to eternal
life. Peterhad takena step that many in his day had not, or could not take.
Peterhad made the necessaryconnectionbetweenthe words of Jesus and
Jesus Himself. To receive Christ is to receive His Word. To receive His Word
is to receive Him! They are always takentogether!BecausePeterhad placed
his faith in Jesus and in His Word, Peterwas made the partaker of two great

possessions. Thesetwo possessions allowedPeterto make an absolute
commitment of his life to the Lord Jesus Christ. Those two possessionsare:
1. Faith - ("we believe")An inward conviction that Jesus is Who He claims to
be.
2. Experience - ("and are sure") A changedlife, a full heart and a new desire
and direction in life are all to potent to be ignored.
B. Peterknew how his life had been changedand this was enoughto make his
state with confidence that he would not walk away!Oh, there came a time of
weakness in Peter's life when he failed the Lord. He did turn his back on Jesus
for a time, but he did not walk away forever! One of the best definitions I have
ever heard of what a Christian really is was this: "One who cannot walk
away!"
C. Once you have felt the powerful touch of Almighty God, once you have
walkedin the light of His glory, once you have tastedof His goodness and
experiencedHis best, you will never be satisfiedwith substitutes and
imitations! You may wanderfor a time, but you, like the Prodigalson will
"come to yourself". You will remember what it was like in the Father's house
and you will come home! When you do, He will receive you with open arms
and perfectrestoration.
D. What are we to think of those who do walk away from the truth? What of
those who choose the way of the flesh of the wayof faith? What of those who
willingly rejectthe truth in favor of the lie? I think the Bible has the answer:1
John 2:19. We are to love them and warn them, but when their decisionhas
been made, we are to leave them in the hands of God, Titus 3:10. At the same
time, we should examine the level of our own commitment to the Lord! Let us
be sure that we are where He wants us to be, so that we do not become
castaways as well.
Conc:We come back at the end to the question Jesus askedHis disciples in
the beginning, "Will ye also go away?" Noteveryone walks awayfrom Him!
In fact, some people make a total commitment to the Lord and to His will for
their lives. I hope that is you. On the other hand, some people hear the claims

of Christ and the demands of the Gospeland just walk away. They go off in
searchof a better deal, of something more agreeableto their flesh. Not
everyone walks away, what will you do?
STEVEN COLE
The Antidote to Spiritual Defection, Part1 (John 6:60-71)
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December1, 2013
If you’ve been a Christian for a while, you’ve known people who professed
faith in Christ, who seemedto follow Him for some time, but then they fell
away. In some cases,they have even servedin the ministry. I’ve known
pastors, including the pastor who baptized me, who have left the ministry,
turned awayfrom the Lord, and lived as unbelievers.
Often, the cause ofspiritual defectionis moral failure, as it was with my
former pastor. In other cases,the defectionmay be due to unresolved doubts
or unansweredhard questions about the Bible, such as:How do you resolve
the seeming contradictions in the Bible? How canyou reconcile the creation
accountwith modern science?How cana loving and powerful God permit all
the evil that goes onin the world? If God loves everyone, why doesn’t He let
them all hearthe gospel? If God is sovereign, then aren’t we just a bunch of

robots with no free will? We could go on and on with the difficult issues that
cause some to defectfrom the faith.
But let’s bring it a little closerto home: If you’ve been a Christian for any
length of time, you have faceddifficult issues that have challengedyour faith.
Maybe it was some of the hard questions that I just mentioned. Or, maybe you
prayed for something that seemedto be in God’s will and for His glory, but
He did not answerfavorably. Perhaps you trusted some promise in the Bible,
but it didn’t work out the waythat you had expected. Maybe you’ve had to
suffer some illness that has greatly hindered your ability to serve the Lord.
Perhaps a spouse or Christian friend betrayed you. Maybe your children,
whom you love sacrificiallyand taught God’s ways, have rejectedboth God
and you.
How do you handle these kinds of hard trials and disappointments? What do
you do when those you love turn awayfrom Christ? In short, how do you
persevere in your faith when you encounterthings in the Bible or in your own
experience that don’t make sense? Whatis the antidote to spiritual defection?
Our text reports the aftermath of Jesus’feeding the 5,000 and His discourse in
the synagogue inCapernaum on being the bread of life (6:60): “Therefore
many of His disciples, when they heard this said, ‘This is a difficult statement;
who can listen to it?’” Jesus’reply to their grumbling (in 6:61-65)did not
placate them (6:66): “As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and
were not walking with Him anymore.” Also, John twice (6:64, 70-71)mentions
Judas, one of the twelve, who would soonbetray Jesus. So there were many
spiritual defections among those who had professedto be disciples of Jesus,
including Judas.
But in contrast, when Jesus asksthe twelve (6:67), “You do not want to go
awayalso, do you?” Peter gives a greatreply (6:68-69), “Lord, to whom shall
we go? You have words of eternallife. We have believed and have come to
know that You are the Holy One of God.” So we have here the antidote to
spiritual defection:
Persevering faith in God’s Word and in God’s Sonis the antidote to spiritual
defection.

In Hebrews 10:36, the writer tells his readers, who were enduring severe trials
as Christians and were tempted to go back to Judaism, “You have need of
endurance.” Then he proceeds to give them an entire chapter that shows how
the saints of old endured by faith. We need faith in God’s Word and faith in
His Sonif we want to persevere and not fall away. In this message, Ican only
deal with faith in God’s Word. We’ll look at faith in God’s Sonnext time.
1. Persevering faith in God’s Word is the antidote to spiritual defection.
But to begin, we need to acknowledge:
A. There are hard truths in God’s Word that must be submitted to, even if
you don’t understand or like them.
The Jews in John 6 had eatenthe miraculous bread and fish. As a result, they
sought out Jesus afterHe returned to Capernaum, but they soughtHim for
the wrong reason. Theywanted a political Messiahwho would provide
freedom from Rome’s yoke, peace, andprosperity. But they stumbled over
Jesus’claim that He was the bread of life that came down out of heaven(6:35,
41). They knew Him as the young man that grew up in Nazareth, the son of
Josephand Mary. So they couldn’t acceptHis claim to have come down out of
heaven.
Jesus confrontedtheir grumbling and told them that they were unable to
come to Him unless the Father drew them (6:43-44). He proceededto
emphasize repeatedlythat He was the bread out of heaven and that He would
give His flesh for the life of the world (6:48-51). But this causedmore
grumbling (6:52): “How canthis man give us His flesh to eat?” In response
(6:53-58), Jesus didn’t back off, but in graphic language He told them over
and over that they must not only eat His flesh, but also drink His blood to
have eternal life.
This led to the response of many of His disciples (6:60), “This is a difficult
statement; who canlisten to it?” As goodJews, they were grossedout over the
thought of eating Jesus’fleshand drinking His blood. They thought that their
Jewishreligion and heritage were goodenough to commend them to God.
They didn’t see their need for a Saviorfrom sin, who had to die as their

Passoverlamb. So they grumbled. But Jesus didn’t back off. He was saying,
“You must trust in My sacrificialdeath on your behalf.”
Note that they didn’t come to Jesus with teachable hearts, saying, “Lord,
we’re confused. Can you help us understand?” Rather, John says (6:61) that
Jesus was conscious thatthey were grumbling at His teaching, implying that it
was among themselves. But He doesn’t softenHis earlierstatements or
explain things to them, because they didn’t have teachable hearts, seeking to
understand these truths that they didn’t like so that they could obey. Rather,
they were sitting in judgment on Jesus:“He’s that kid from Nazareth, whose
parents we know! How canHe gross us out with all this talk about eating His
flesh and drinking His blood? Our views are what normal people think; it’s
Jesus who is crazy!”
In the same way, I’ve seenpeople who getoffended by something that I say,
but they never come and talk with me to get the matter clearedup. They don’t
want to change their minds or learn new things from God’s Word. They don’t
have a teachable heart in submission to God’s Word. Rather, they sit in
judgment on what they heard, leave, and go find a pastorwho agrees with
them.
If you come to God’s Word with that kind of attitude, you won’t grow in your
walk with God. You may not like what the Bible says about God sovereignly
choosing some for salvationand passing over others, but Jesus repeatedly
teaches that in this chapterand it’s taught from Genesis to Revelation. The
starting place for growing in the Lord when His Word confronts you with
things you don’t like is to humble your heart before the Lord and ask Him for
understanding. If you reject it because youdon’t like it, you’re sitting in
judgment on God’s Word and you won’t grow.
This applies to many difficult areas where the Bible goes againstour culture
or againstour preferences:the role of women in the home and in the church;
homosexuality; sexual purity; divorce; hell; etc. But if we acceptonly the
parts of the Bible that fit with what we like, then we’re not following Jesus as
Lord, but rather ourselves as lord. We’re just using certainparts of the Bible
that we agree with to support our own biases. To be a Christian is to submit to

the teachings ofJesus and Jesus believedin God’s Word as truth (John
17:17). But, how do we submit to hard truths?
B. To submit to hard truths, we must be born of the Spirit.
In 6:63, Jesus says to these fair-weather disciples, “It is the Spirit who gives
life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spokento you are spirit
and are life.” Jesus here confronts the root problem of these grumblers: They
were not born again. Jesus’opening words to Nicodemus were (3:3), “Truly,
truly, I sayto you, unless one is born again, he cannotsee the kingdom of
God.” In other words, “All your religious learning and religious activities are
incapable of getting you into heaven. You need the new birth.” Jesus explains
further (3:6): “Thatwhich is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born
of the Spirit is spirit.”
In 6:63, Jesus is teaching the same thing: “The Holy Spirit imparts life to dead
sinners. Human religious effort will not get you into heaven. Apart from the
new birth, you can never understand why it is necessaryto eat My flesh and
drink My blood.” As we saw in our laststudy, eating Jesus’fleshand drinking
His blood mean that we must trust His sacrificialdeath on our behalf as the
only way to have eternal life. But Jesus confronts these fair-weatherfollowers
(6:64), “But there are some of you who do not believe.” The Spirit had not
given them new life and so they did not believe.
The crowdthought that Jesus’words were hard (6:60), but actually, He says
(6:63), His words “are spirit and are life.” This means (D. A. Carson, The
GospelAccording to John [Eerdmans/Apollos], p. 302)that His words “are
the product of the life-giving Spirit,” and “rightly understood,” Jesus’words
in the discourse that He just gave are the source of life for the one who
believes. Carsonadds, “One cannot feed on Christ without feeding on Christ’s
words, for truly believing Jesus cannotbe separatedfrom truly believing
Jesus’words (5:46-47).” The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to impart new
life to sinners so that they canunderstand it (James 1:18; 1 Pet. 1:23; 1 Cor.
2:14).
A. W. Pink (Exposition of John, on monergism.com)points out the balance in
6:63-64:“It is the Spirit who gives life,” points to God’s sovereignty. He must

impart new life to us. But, “the words that I have spokento you are spirit and
are life” are addressedto human responsibility: we must believe Jesus’words,
as 6:64 shows:“But there are some of you who do not believe.” Jesus was
pressing on these superficialdisciples the need to truly believe in Him.
In 6:64, John adds, “ForJesus knew from the beginning who they were who
did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him.” This anticipates 6:70-
71, “Jesus answeredthem, ‘Did I Myselfnot choose you, the twelve, and yet
one of you is a devil?’ Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he,
one of the twelve, was going to betray Him.” The defectionof these “disciples”
and of Judas shows us how hard the human heart is and how desperatelywe
need God’s sovereigngrace and the new birth. These disciples had seenJesus
and yet did not believe (6:36). Jesus had chosenJudas as an apostle. He was
with Jesus for three years. He saw His miracles and heard His teaching. He
was friends with the other apostles, with whom he could discuss the things of
God. He went out on a mission and saw Godwork miracles through him. Yet
he did not believe and he was lost!
C. To submit to hard truths, we often must go againstour cultural and
religious backgrounds by confronting our preconceivedideas.
These superficialdisciples were grumbling because they could not imagine a
Messiahwho would give His flesh for the life of the world (6:51). Their view of
Messiahwas that He would conquer Israel’s enemies and usher in an age of
peace and prosperity, not that He would die. Also, “the world” meant
Gentiles, and they didn’t like the idea of Messiahincluding those “dogs” in the
kingdom! And their religion said that it was abominable to drink blood, but
this carpenterfrom Nazareth who claimed to have come down from heaven
was saying that to have eternal life, they needed to eat His flesh and drink His
blood. Wasn’t being a goodJew enough to getthem into heaven? So all of
these things confrontedtheir culture and religion and went againsttheir
preconceivedideas of Messiahand His kingdom.
Jesus askedthese unbelieving “disciples” (6:62), “Whatthen if you see the Son
of Man ascending to where He was before?” He was confronting their
mistakenexpectations. Theythought that the Messiahwouldremain forever

to reign (12:34). But here Jesus was talking about giving His flesh and
drinking His blood. Later, He talked about being lifted up (12:32). After the
cross, He would be raised from the dead and ascendagaininto heaven.
Just before His ascension, evenHis loyal disciples asked(Acts 1:6), “Lord, is it
at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” Theystill thought that
He might setup His earthly kingdom at that time. They needed to confront
their preconceivedideas and submit to God’s plan for Jesus to ascendto the
Father and to return to reign at a later time.
I think that in part, wrong expectations about Jesus were why Judas betrayed
Jesus. At first, he thought that Jesus would setup His earthly kingdom and he
(Judas) would be one of the top officials in that reign. He liked that idea. He
could get into sitting on one of the twelve thrones of Israel, reigning with Jesus
(Matt. 19:28). But to his alarm, Jesus seemedfixatedon dying! That didn’t fit
Judas’ vision for the future!
When we begin to follow Christ, most of us have many wrong expectations
and preconceivedideas about Him and the Christian life. Some of those ideas
come from our cultural or religious backgrounds. Some may come from the
“pitch” we heard for the gospel:“Come to Jesus and He will give you peace,
joy, and an abundant life.” While that statementis true, it may not be true in
the sense that we envisioned. He may give us peace, joy, and an abundant life
in a prison cellwhere we are tortured and eventually killed because ofour
faith. Ask John the Baptist or the pastorin prison in Iran about that
“abundant life”!
Thus, we’ve acknowledgedthat there are hard truths in God’s Word that we
need to submit to. To submit to them, we need the new birth from the Holy
Spirit. And, we often must go againstour cultural and religious backgrounds
by confronting our preconceivedideas.
D. To submit to hard truths, we must acceptthat God is sovereign, evenover
evil and unbelief.
Jesus againbrings up to these unbelieving “disciples” the truth that He stated
in 6:44, which was also implicit in 6:37. He says (6:65), “Forthis reasonI have

said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from
the Father.” As we saw when we studied 6:37 & 44, eachtime that He states
this truth, it’s in response to unbelief or skepticism. In 6:36, He tells His
critics, “You have seenMe, and yet do not believe.” Then He immediately
adds (6:37), “All that the Father has given Me will come to Me.” In 6:43, Jesus
confronts their grumbling about Him and then adds (6:44), “No one cancome
to Me unless the Fatherwho sent Me draws Him.” Here, Jesus again
confronts their unbelief (6:64) and then adds (6:65), “Forthis reasonI have
said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from
the Father.” Then, in 6:70 Jesus againmentions His sovereigntyin choosing
the twelve in the face of Judas’impending betrayal.
What’s the point of this repeated cycle of unbelief counteredby God’s
sovereignty? As I explained when we studied 6:37-40, Jesus is showing us that
we can take comfort in God’s sovereigntyeven overthe forces of evil and
unbelief. If you’re not careful, the spiritual defectionof your close friends or
loved ones can be contagious. Youcan easilystart thinking, “If he was such a
strong Christian and he fell away, maybe I should re-examine my faith.” Or,
if evil people do bad things to you, you can begin to wonder, “Where is the
sovereignand loving God? Why didn’t He protect me from their evil deeds?”
(See Matt. 11:2-3.)
But Jesus shows repeatedlyin this chapter that even when people who saw His
miracles and heard His teaching rejectHim, it has not thwarted God’s
sovereignplan in the slightest. The flaky disciples turned awayfrom Jesus
because Godhad not drawn them or granted for them to come to Him (6:44,
65). Judas, one of the twelve, was chosenas an apostle even though Jesus knew
from the beginning that he would betray Him (6:64).
So even if difficult things happen to you, even if close friends betray you or
turn awayfrom the Lord, Godis still the sovereignGod“who works all things
after the counselof His will” (Eph. 1:11). He still “does according to His will
in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can
ward off His hand or sayto Him, ‘What have You done?’” (Dan. 4:35). You
can persevere in faith when you acceptthat God is sovereign, evenover evil

and unbelieving people. And yet they are responsible for their unbelief and
will come under God’s judgment if they don’t repent.
E. When you submit in faith to the hard truths of God’s Word, you gainthe
foundation for certain knowledge.
In the face of this widespreaddefectionby these professedfollowers, Jesus
turns to the twelve and asks (6:67), “You do not want to go awayalso, do
you?” Wow, what a question! The waythe question is stated indicates that
Jesus did not expect them to say, “Yes, we’re out of here, too!” He saidit to
test their faith.
Peter, speaking for the group, gives the greatconfession(6:68-69), “Lord, to
whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have
come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” We need to wait until next
week to look more closelyat this confession. Butfor now, I want to look at the
part where he says, “We have believed and have come to know.” The terms
are roughly synonymous, but the order is important. First, we believe and
then we come to know.
The world says, “Seeing is believing,” but God’s Word tells us, “Believing is
the wayto seeing.”Hebrews 11:3 affirms, “Byfaith we understand that the
worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seenwas not made
out of things which are visible.” Faith yields understanding, or knowledge.
Faith is not a blind leap in the dark, because ourfaith is based on God’s
testimony to His Son through trustworthy eyewitnesses. Butthis means that
you will never attain complete knowledge apartfrom believing. The main
reasonpeople do not believe in Christ is not because they have intellectual
problems with God or the Bible, even though they claim that’s the reason.
They do not believe because they love their sin and they don’t want to submit
to the lordship of Jesus Christ. It’s only after we believe in Jesus as Saviorand
Lord that we will come to the full assurance ofknowing that He is the Holy
One of God.
Conclusion

Next time we’ll look at persevering faith in God’s Son as the antidote to
spiritual defection. But for now, note that there are three groups represented
in our text: (1) There are those who were initially interested in Jesus and
followedHim until He startedteaching some things that they didn’t like. Then
they defected. (2) There are those, representedby Judas, who seemfully
committed to Jesus. Judas keptup such a goodfront that the other disciples
did not suspectthat he was the betrayer. But his life ended in tragic rejection
of Christ. (3) There are those, like Peter, who submit with persevering faith
even to the hard teachings, becausethey know who Jesus reallyis and they’re
committed to follow Him.
Which group are you in? Your perseverance unto eternal life depends on
being in that third group. Make sure that your faith is in God’s Word and in
His Son!
[Next week:Part2]
Application Questions
How does spiritual defectionfit in with the perseverance ofthe saints? Can
true Christians lose their salvation?
Note that Jesus not only toleratedthe truth of God’s sovereignty;He rejoiced
greatly in it (Luke 10:21-22). How can we developthe same attitude toward
difficult truths?
What are some of the hard truths in the Bible that run counter to our culture?
How can we identify and embrace these truths?
What Scriptures support that God is sovereignoverevil and yet not
responsible in any way for it?
Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2013,All Rights Reserved.
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American
Standard Bible, Updated Edition © The LockmanFoundation
RelatedTopics:Bibliology(The Written Word), Christian Life, Christology,
Failure, Faith

Steven J. Cole
Steve served as the pastorof FlagstaffChristian Fellowshipfrom May, 1992
through his retirement in December, 2018. From1977-1992 he was the pastor
of Lake GregoryCommunity
STEVEN COLE
The Antidote to Spiritual Defection, Part2 (John 6:60-71)
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December8, 2013
It’s always distressing for pastors when people leave the church. It’s one thing
if they getinvolved in another church where God’s Word is taught, but it’s
grievous if they move to a liberal church or drop out of church completely.
While I realize that we always have room to improve and that we should try to
learn from the reasons why people leave the church, at the same time I take
comfort in the factthat Jesus lostpeople who at first professedto be His
disciples. At the start of John 6, Jesus has 20,000 people singing His praises
after He fed them the loaves and fish. By the end of John 6, He has twelve, and

one of them is a traitor! Maybe Jesus neededto read some books on how to
grow your ministry! Things weren’t looking good!
Probably the twelve were deflated. Earlier, it seemedlike Jesus was onthe
brink of widespreadsuccess.The wave of popular support was building. The
people wantedto make Jesus king (6:15). Wasn’t that God’s plan, for His
Messiahto reign over Israel? But then Jesus’shocking comments abouteating
His flesh and drinking His blood drove awayalmost everyone. And then He
asks the twelve (6:67), “You do not want to go awayalso, do you?”
So we’re looking at the problem of spiritual defectionand how to avoid it. The
overall messageis:
Persevering faith in God’s Word and in God’s Sonis the antidote to spiritual
defection.
Last week we saw:
1. Persevering faith in God’s Word is the antidote to spiritual defection.
A. There are hard truths in God’s Word that must be submitted to, even if
you don’t understand them.
B To submit to hard truths, we must be born of the Spirit.
C. To submit to hard truths, we often must go againstour cultural and
religious backgrounds by confronting preconceivedideas.
D. To submit to hard truths, we must acceptthat God is sovereign, evenover
evil and unbelief.
E. When we submit in faith to the hard truths of God’s Word, we gain the
foundation for knowledge.
This week our focus will be on how persevering faith in God’s Son is the
antidote to spiritual defection. But, first, note:
1. There are many things other than God’s Son in which to put your faith, but
they all will fail.

Peterasks the haunting question (6:68), “Lord, to whom shall we go?” I’ve
often thought about that question when I’ve encountered difficult issues.
Before you turn awayfrom Jesus because ofhard truths or difficult
circumstances ordisappointed expectations, stopand ask yourself, “Lord, to
whom shall I go?” There just aren’t a lot of other viable options.
Comfortable religion will ultimately fail if you turn to it. These fair-weather
disciples who couldn’t handle Jesus’statements abouteating His flesh and
drinking His blood as the requirement for eternallife went back to their
Jewishheritage and religion. They thought that being the physical
descendants ofAbraham, Isaac, andJacoband following the Jewishreligious
rules and ceremonies was goodenough. They had hoped at first that Jesus
would be the Messiahwho would deliver them from Romanrule and usher in
an age of peace and prosperity. But, when they heard His shocking teaching
about giving His flesh for the life of the world and the need to eatHis flesh
and drink His blood, they just turned back to the religion that they always
had known.
That was a comfortable option for them, but it was spiritually ignorant and
stupid because itignored the serious reality of their sin and guilt before the
holy God and their desperate needfor a Savior. When the Holy Spirit convicts
you of your sin and guilt, you realize that no amount of religionor gooddeeds
on your part can atone for your many sins. You realize that your best deeds
are worthless as a defense againstyour true guilt before God (Isa. 64:6). John
Owen(Apostasy from the Gospel[Bannerof Truth], p. 90) comments on those
who turn awayfrom Christ:
If they had had a true conviction of their need of Christ and had experienced
his powerin meeting that need, why do they now forsake him? A personwho
has been truly convincedof his need of Christ for forgiveness and salvation
and has, as a result, receivedhim by faith will never forsake Christ. To be
truly convinced of our need of Christ, we must first be convincedof the
nature, guilt, pollution, powerand punishment of sin, for he came to save us
from our sins.

Money and power will ultimately fail if you turn to them. John twice mentions
Judas (6:64, 70-71)in the context of these disciples who turned awayfrom
Jesus. Later(12:6) John explains that Judas was in charge of the disciples’
money box and that he used to stealfrom it. Arguably, Judas had acceptedthe
invitation to become an apostle because he saw it as a goodcareermove. If
Jesus was the promised Messiahwho would conquer Israel’s enemies and
reign on David’s throne, then being in the inner circle meant financial security
and powerful influence.
But when Judas heard Jesus talking about giving His flesh for the life of the
world and how the Jewishleaders wouldput Him to death and how those who
followedHim must take up their cross anddie, he started backpedaling. That
wasn’t what he had signedup for! So he betrayed Jesus for the measlysum of
30 pieces of silver. When he realized that he had betrayed innocent blood, he
threw the silver down in the temple and went and hanged himself (Matt. 27:3-
5). Money and power never bring us into right standing with God. They fail
all who trust in them for satisfaction.
Education, saving the environment, the arts, sexual pleasure, drugs, and
alcoholwill ultimately fail if you turn to them. These are some of the things
that King Solomontried (Eccl. 2:1-16) to alleviate the vanity of life (he didn’t
know about drugs, but he did try alcohol, and he probably would have
smokedsome marijuana if he had known about it!). But his conclusionwas
(Eccl2:17), “So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun
was grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.”
Some of the things he did are legitimate enterprises in the proper sphere and
in balance, but none of them provide eternallife.
So it’s not wrong to do well in your careerand to provide adequately for your
family. It’s not wrong to run for public office and use your powerto better
society. It’s not wrong to help save the environment as a goodstewardof
God’s creation. It’s not wrong to study and learn all that you can. But the
point is, if you put your faith and effort in anything other than Jesus Christ, it
will evaporate the secondyou stand before God for judgment. Even legitimate
things will be vanity if your faith is not in Christ to save you from your sins.

But that leads to a question: If all else fails us at death and death is 100
percent certain, why do people turn awayfrom Christ to these vain things?
2. Many wrong reasons canleadyou to put your faith in things that never can
save.
(C. H. Spurgeondevelops some of these in his sermon, “A Mournful
Defection,” MetropolitanTabernaclePulpit [Pilgrim Publications], 50:602-
609.)More could be added, but here are nine:
1) You don’t like some teaching or commandment in the Bible.
These “disciples”turned awayfrom Jesus becausethey found His teaching
about eating His flesh and drinking His blood to be difficult (6:60). Also, they
stumbled over His teaching that He had come down from heaven(6:41-42),
which implies His divine preexistence. Theyknew Him as the son of Joseph
and Mary. They had watchedHim grow up. So His implicit claim to deity
grated on them.
They also didn’t like Jesus’repeatedstatements (6:37, 44, 65) that they were
unable to come to Him unless the Father drew them. After all, they were good
Jews, notGentile dogs. They followedMoses andthe Law. So they didn’t like
Jesus’assertionthat they were spiritually unable to come to Him. It implied
that they were helpless sinners! How dare Him saysuch a thing!
There are many today who profess to be disciples of Jesus but they don’t like
certain doctrines or commands in the Bible. They don’t like the doctrine that
God predestines some, but not all, for salvation. They don’t like the doctrine
that He will punish the unrepentant in hell for all eternity. Some don’t like the
doctrine of the Trinity. Others don’t like the biblical teaching on the role of
women or homosexuality or sexual purity. So they turn aside from the only
Savior to things that they like. But those things cannever save.
2) You stupidly forgetthe certainty of death so that you live for immediate
pleasure in these few, uncertain years, rather than for lasting pleasure in light
of eternity.

These people wanted a lifetime supply of bread, but they were not laboring for
the food that endures to eternallife (6:27). They wanted Jesus to be their king
if He would usher in an age of peace and prosperity, but not if He had to die to
atone for their sins. But if we start thinking that more stuff and a better house
and careersuccessand a comfy investment portfolio will bring ultimate
satisfaction, ourpriorities are wrong. We fall into the trap of Solomon, Judas,
and Demas, who desertedPaul because he loved this present world (2 Tim.
4:10).
3) You are frightened by the prospectof rejectionor persecution.
The recipients of the Letter to the Hebrews were tempted to return to their
former Judaism because they were suffering for their faith as Christians.
Perhaps one reasonfor Judas’defection was that he wantedto be on the good
side of the Jewishreligious leaders. Butwhen he saw that Jesus was always
clashing with them and that to be Jesus’followerwould mean alienation from
the Jewishleaders, he decided to ingratiate himself with them by betraying
Jesus.
4) You think that following Jesus willrob you of “the goodlife.”
Many young people fall into this trap. They think that if they follow Jesus,
they’ll have to give up everything enjoyable and fun and start doing all sorts
of things that sound perfectly dreadful. I used to worry as a teenagerthat if I
yielded my life to the Lord, He would send me to some jungle to live as a
missionary. But it finally dawned on me that if He is a loving and all-wise
Father, He would only ask me to do what would be for my ultimate good.
5) You allow trials and difficulties to grow into disappointment with Christ.
Like Judas, you think that “signing up” with Jesus means financial prosperity
and the abundant life. But then you realize that the “abundant life” may
include persecutionand martyrdom, so you turn awayto other things.
6) You get busy with other things that crowd out the most important thing.
Seeking afterthe Lord and walking with Him require time and effort. But
we’re all prone to drift into other things that fill our time: TV, computer

games, sports, socialnetworks, andmany other things can easilycrowd out
seeking first God and His kingdom.
7) You are too lazy and undisciplined to keepChrist first in your priorities.
Paul tells us to discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness (1 Tim. 4:7).
By definition, discipline means denying yourselfsome immediate gratification
for a more worthwhile long-range goal. It implies that the long-range goal
won’t happen by default if you kick back and cruise through life doing what
feels good. If you don’t want to drift awayfrom Christ, you have to confront
your laziness and discipline yourself for godliness.
8) You sin, which causes yourthinking about Christ to become muddled.
Following Christ is a rational decisionbasedon the evidence about who He is
and what He did for us on the cross. Butthe problem is, sin is always
irrational and it causes us to become mixed up in our thinking. Sin skews our
judgment and causes us to make other wrong choices to coverup or justify
our sin.
9) You don’t grasp the supremacy and excellence ofChrist.
You don’t see what Petersaw, that Jesus is the only one worth following.
Where else or to whom else can you go that even begins to compare with
Jesus? Thatleads us to the main point:
3. Persevering faith in God’s Son is the antidote to spiritual defection.
Petersums it up (6:68-69):“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of
eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy
One of God.” We could be here all day and then some if we were to catalog
the many wonderful qualities of Jesus Christ, but here are four:
A. Jesus Christ alone has words of eternal life.
Life is extremely short and uncertain, but eternity is forever. Jesus is the only
one who came from heavento earth to tell us how to go to heavenwhen we die
and to provide the atonement for sin that we need in order to stand in God’s
holy presence. Jesusput it in perspective (Matt. 16:26), “Forwhat will it

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