TEXT: John 6:66-69 "From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. {67} "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. {68} Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. {69} We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."
OBJECTIVE: That the Congregation will live the four steps necessary to experience the fulfillment of eternal life.
I. EVERYONE IS TEMPTED TO QUIT JESUS
Illustration: Failure..."You’re blocking the way, sir," said the usher to a man sprawled in the aisle of a movie theater. "Please get up." The man didn’t move or reply. The usher called the manager over, who said; "I must ask you to move." Still the prone man didn’t reply. So the manager called the police. "Get up or I’ll have to take you in," the officer said. "Where did you come from anyway?" The man stirred finally and said, "The balcony."
A. I bet Jesus felt like he’d been tossed from the balcony on many
occasions during His life and ministry. Such was probably the case in the scripture selection today.
1. In one day Jesus reaches the pentacle of popularity as he
miraculously feeds over 5000 with just a couple of fish and a few small loaves of bread. The next day while teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum, He denounces the mass popularity accusing the people of only supporting Him because He gave them a free lunch.
2. He then coupled the slight with a difficult teaching that was really a foretelling of the symbolic meaning of His death. John 6:53-56 "Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. {54} Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. {55} For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. {56} Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him."
3. To those who couldn’t peer into the future, it must have sounded
like cannibalism. If I were there, I think I would have put my arm around Jesus and said, "Look maybe you better rephrase that. It sounded kind of weird."
4. Jesus doesn’t seem to base the validity of His ministry upon the
numbers of people who followed Him from day today. He was more interested in telling them the truth rather than what most do these days; telling them what they want to hear.
5. And so, people, even people who followed Him before the
miraculous meal, desert Him en mass.
6. They decided that He wasn’t the type of savior they thought He
was. He certainly wasn’t the type of savior they wanted.
B. This sort of thing happens all the time;;even in our time. I guess I’ve watched more people quit Jesus than commit and hang on for the long haul. I’ve seen people quit for a number of reasons.
1. I’ve watched as people have brought broken situations, damaged
marriages, relationships on the rocks, lost opportunities, wrecked lives. They want a quick fix that will be painless and won’t really cost them anything or inconvenience them in any way.
ILLUSTRATION: I was speaking to a man who had become a minister the other day. He told how one Sunday morning he was a chain smoking, alcoholic, desperately hooked on crack. He went to church, to get his wife off his back, as he had done on many occasions in his life. But something reached out and grabbed him that day and he was completely delivered from all the garbage that was ruining his life. I thank God for his testimony.
a. God deals with people in different ways. Some people have this
kind of marvelous experience.
b. But most people, God decides to work with in a process. Most
people don’t want a process that is going to require a relationship with God; they just want the product.
c. My experience has been that God doesn’t do that too often give the product with out the process; offer the kind of life people are looking for outside the context of a day to day relationship.
d. I’ve sadly watched many people quit Jesus in situations like this.
2. Some people have quit Jesus because of some teaching they
found as harsh, or one they just couldn’t understand.
3. Others have just gotten discouraged due to the slow nature of
progress they see in their lives.
4. Have you ever been tempted to quit Jesus? At some point in time
every person in this room will be tempted to quit Jesus. I maybe talking about you today.
5. I have to admit to you that there have been times in my life when
my faith was at low ebb. The results of the ministry to which I have been called have been pathetic, accomplishing nothing. There have been times when I have been tempted by lusts of every sort. Because of discouragement, I allowed my prayer life to become none existent. Times when the Holy Spirit seemed millions miles away. "When was the last time I was really filled or fulfilled anyway?" It’s been in times like these that a voice from the darkness would call to me and say, "Why not just stop trying so hard at something you’ve already failed at so many times. You’re never going to make it." It’s been in times of overwhelming futility such as this that a scripture comes to me and gives me the encouragement to get off my rear end and start following Jesus again. "Lord, to whom shall (I) go? You have the words of eternal life."
6. I’ve come to realize that in the times I’ve been tempted to quit
Jesus, That’s when I’ve really needed Him most. " I need Thee, Oh, I need Thee. Every hour I need Thee"
II. ONLY JESUS CAN OFFER ETERNAL LIFE
A. (v 68)"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."
On another occasion, Peter would say, (Acts 4:12) "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
1. This is the bedrock, the foundation upon which Peter had built his
life. It was Peter’s reason for continuing to follow Jesus even when he didn’t understand. There were times when He was confused about everything else. But you could not shake this one pivotal truth from his heart. The only way you can experience Eternal Life is by following Jesus.
2. Though I’ve wandered, stumbled, forgotten and at times have
failed miserably, I’ve reached the same conclusion. When I’ve felt lost this one truth has been true north for me.
a. The only way I’m going to lead a satisfying, fulfilling life in the
hear and now; and the only way I will get to heaven and live with God forever is if I continue now, even if I don’t feel like it, to apply the truths which Jesus taught to my life today.
b. And, apply again the sacrifice He made for me when He died on
the cross to my sinful condition.
c. You see, that’s when I need Him most. And He has never failed
to deliver.
3. Let’s be honest. There have been and will be times in our lives
when we are going to have to admit that we are just not living the eternal and abundant life, which Jesus so longs for us to live. It doesn’t mean all of the sudden we have lost our salvation. It just means that there is something vital and powerful missing from our lives.
4. Right now, are you living the life Jesus wants you to live? Are you
fulfilled? Are you satisfied? Are you confident about where you will spend eternity? Do you have the joy and peace, which Jesus promises to those who will follow come hell or high water?
TS. If you want what I’m talking about, if you want to follow Jesus, I’m going to challenge you to take four steps. If you’re going to follow Jesus, your first step will be to.
III. RENOUNCE THE WORLD
A. (Luke 18:28-30) "Peter said to him, "We have left all we had to follow you!" {29} "I tell you the truth," Jesus said to them, "no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God {30} will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life."
1. And yet the vast majority of those who profess to follow Jesus are reluctant to take this first step. Even though we know, and may have experienced the fact that this world offers nothing that will satisfy for the long haul.
2. So many clinging to the lie that "He who dies with the most toys
wins." philosophy have found that it only produces misery. Eternal abundant life can not be experienced if the major goal of your life is to get more stuff, bigger, better, fancier.
ILLUSTRATION: Money...A wife called her husband on the phone one day and said excitedly, "Pack your bags! I just won a million dollars in the lottery!" The husband said, "That’s great! What clothes do you want me to pack? Casual? Dress? Beach? Camping?" She said, "Pack them all. I want you out of the house by 6:00!"
ILLUSTRATION: Go to any yacht basin in any place in the world. Nobody is smiling, nobody is happy, living the good life. I’ll tell you why. Something broke that morning. The generator’s out; the microwave oven doesn’t work…things just don’t mean happiness."
ILLUSTRATION: Money...Charles Ralston was the president of the Bank of California and bought several Comstock Lode mines believed to have been tapped out. The bank supplied the capital to dig deeper and the results paid off in spades when the silver veins struck were richer than any previously discovered. Ralston had a dream of building the most opulent and modern hotel in the world. It would be known as the Palace Hotel and the initial budget was estimated at $2 million but soon swelled to $5 million. The final project encompassed an entire city block in which 31 million bricks were required in its construction. The hotel was twelve stories tall and contained 28 miles of water pipes and included five elevators, the first installed west of the Mississippi. Before construction was completed, the banker purchased a brick factory, a forest and furniture plant to furnish its rooms. However, five weeks before the hotel opened its doors, Ralston’s good fortune evaporated. News spread that the Comstock Lode had petered out and the subsequent panic sparked a run on the bank. Ralston was unable to pay the depositors and the bank’s board of directors fired him. Within a matter of days, the once most powerful man in the city was on the street and penniless. A few days later, his body was found floating is San Francisco Bay where he had gone for his daily swim. Physicians on the scene attributed his death to a heart attack but those who knew him best believed that he died of a broken heart.
3. Others search for satisfaction through the pursuit of some fleshly
pleasure or lust. (Gal 6:8) "The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; " Many of you have found this truth to be undeniable through first hand experience. Let me reassure you, It will remain true no matter how many times you try to prove it false.
4. In what way are you continuing to cling to the world? You can’t
embrace the eternal life Jesus wants you to have until you renounce the world.
TS. If you’re going to follow Jesus there is another step you will have to make. You will have to.
IV. HAVE FAITH IN JESUS
A. (John 3:14-15) "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, {15} that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life" (John 3:36) Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him."
ILLUSTRATION: Faith...A four-year-old boy was at the doctor for a check up. As the doctor looked down his ears with an AutoShape, he asked, "Do you think I will find Big Bird in here?" The boy was silent. Next, the doctor took a tongue depressor and looked down his throat. He asked, "Do you think I will find the Cookie Monster down there?" Again, the boy said nothing. Then, the doctor placed a stethoscope to his chest and said, "Do you think I will hear Barney in your heart?" The boy looked up and said, "Oh, No. Jesus is in my heart. Barney is on my underwear".
1. This may sound elementary. But I believe that many who think of
themselves as Christians have failed to take this step as well.
2. Oh, there are uncounted multitudes who can parrot statements
like, "I believe that Jesus is the Son of God." "I believe that Jesus died for my sins."
3. But few are those who are believing on a daily basis that because
of who He is, Jesus is able to make meaningful and lasting changes to our lives. We have to have faith that He can change us from sinners to children of God.
4. I think we have to believe that He in inside of us, retooling,
reengineering, and molding us into people who can live lives that are pleasing to God.
ILLUSTRATION: Change. A naval aviator told how many pilots have died because they stayed with disabled aircraft. They preferred the familiarity of the cockpit to the unfamiliarity of the parachute, even though the cockpit was a deathtrap. Many people have seen their careers/lives crash because they preferred the familiar but deadly old ways to the risky but rewarding new ways.
TS. Another step on this journey of following Jesus is to:
V. FIND YOUR NITCH IN THE MINISTRY
A. (John 4:35-36) "Do you not say, ’Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. {36} Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together."
1. There have been times when I’ve been tempted to quit Jesus and
the ministry. There is likely not a minister who hasn’t. But I have not found a thrill that equals the rush of being used by God at specific places and times in my life.
ILLUSTRATION: When I was thirteen, I began teaching a third grade Sunday School Class. I taught for five years until I went away to college. Now virtually every time I return to my home church there is a young adult that comes to me and says, "Hi, remember me. You taught me in Sunday School." We make some small talk. There have been many times that the conversation will end on this note. "I just wanted to say, one day you led us in prayer to invite Jesus into our hearts. That prayer has made all the difference in my life."
2. If you want to follow Jesus. You won’t be fulfilled; you won’t really be living the eternal life Jesus wants you to have until you find your place of ministry.
TS. Here is another simple yet neglected step on the road up which
Jesus leads:
VI. SOW TO THE SPIRIT
A. (Gal 6:8) "The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from
that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life."
1. Just a farmer sows, or plants seeds in the ground believing that the seeds will germinate and generate fruit, so must we make an investment of time, energy and faith into practices which will produce spiritual fruit and spiritual gifts within us.
ILLUSTRATION: Growth..."You cannot go on being a good egg forever. You must either hatch or rot."; C.S. Lewis
2. The first part of the process of sowing to the Spirit is to make sure that you have invited the Holy Spirit to fill you, planting Him deep into the bedrock of your life.
3. Another aspect, which cannot be overemphasized, is becoming a
part of a TLC group, which will encourage you to a daily time of Bible Study and prayer, which in turn will naturally strengthen your relationship with God.
VII. CHALLENGE
A. So are you ever tempted to quit Jesus? Look over your life, it’s
probably because you have not expended much effort into these four important steps.
1. If you don’t take these steps you will not experience the eternal life Jesus promises. You will find yourself frustrated in your faith.
2. Renounce the world. Believe that Jesus can really make a
difference in your life. Find your niche in the ministry. And commit to investing your time, energy and faith into spiritual pursuits that promise to produce results.
3. Are you tempted to quit? Today is when you need Him most!
