The Bread of Life part 3 The Effects of Jesus Message

Take your Bible this morning and turn with me to John chapter 6. John chapter 6 should be a familiar place in your Bible. As we are studying through these books, chapter by chapter, paragraph by paragraph, sermon by sermon, situation after situation, verse by verse, you should have well-worn pages in your Bible and I hope that that is reflective of a heart that has absorbed the truth, a life that has appropriated the truth that the Lord is giving us. So we are in John chapter 6 and this morning we will finish John chapter 6 and we will finish this very insightful two-day event in the ministry of Jesus.

Now, I use this word insightful on purpose. Now, why do I use this word insightful? In this chapter we gain so much insight not only into the person of Jesus, remember? This book of John is all about elevating Christ as deity, but also the necessary works of conversion. First, we see that God must draw men for them to be converted. We've learned that here in John 6. And then second, man has a great responsibility to believe in Christ. Now, a question is that needed in the life of the church today? This proper insight and understanding that we've seen in John 6, most definitely. It's definitely needed in the life of the church.

I want to take a minute to point you to two verses that really summarize what Jesus has been teaching. Turn and look to verse 44. What do we see? Jesus says, "No man or no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him." What do we see? That is the work of a sovereign God bringing lost humanity to the feet of Jesus to be converted by that atoning death on the cross. Then the other verse, I think is the key verse, is verse 51. We spent some time on verse 51, really in two messages. Jesus says, "I am the living bread that came down out of heaven.

If anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever, and the bread also which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh." What do we see? Man's responsibility. Last week we talked about the fact that Jesus Christ is sufficient for all men, but he is sufficient only for those who come to Christ, who trust and believe in Christ. Now that is motivation for me to help send those to India and other parts of the globe to go right down the road to your friends and neighbors and also into our families. What do we see? What is this insight that we have gained out of this chapter? How God works in conversion.

I am so happy that it does not depend upon me. It is only God who can bring a man to conversion. But yet we see the motivation out of verse 51 that God loves the world. And I believe God desires that all men be saved. We don't understand all of the workings, but we trust it and we believe it and we preach it and we teach it. So that is that great insight. Now I want to quickly recap what we have seen and we have learned throughout this chapter. You don't have to write these things down.

If we take our Bibles and we look at our Bibles, we will see in the beginning of John chapter 6 there is that great miracle of feeding the 5000+ on the first day. The end of the first day finds Jesus walking on the water with that semi-public miracle. And then we see on the second day Jesus move into that great masterful preacher and teacher and then that second day carries us all the way to the end of the chapter. So if we break down what we have looked at, we saw the feeding of the 5000 out of verses 1-15. We saw Jesus walking on the water out of verses 16-29. Then we saw the bread of life, part 1, the true bread.

That was out of verse 30 to verse 40. And then there was a continuation of that same message in verse 41-51. And then last week we saw the bread of life, part 2, partaking or appropriating this bread of life. Now, as we move on into the last message in this event, this preaching event, these miracles of Jesus, we will see the effects of Jesus' message on these people. Now, notice the progression. First, the signs, the miracles. Remember John likes to use the word signs. The signs were to point those who were in attendance to Christ. That great miracle there at the wedding there in Cana of Galilee.

Jesus turned the water in the wine and the disciples believed on Him. See, the miracle pointed them to Christ. Then second, Jesus preaches, Jesus teaches here in John 6, that He is the true bread which came down from heaven. There's this lengthy message there. Then third, Jesus seems to give them this invitation. What does He say? "If you are going to come to Me, you must eat My flesh and drink My blood." We understand that speaking of spiritual things. Then there is a very high standard that's given there. It's not just this profession of a belief in Christ. Then last, we will see the effects of Jesus' message on the people.

Now, I'll give you the title of the message. This is a part 3. We see the bread of life, part 3, the effects of Jesus' message. The effects of Jesus' message. We will start in verse 60. We will finish the chapter, verse 71. We will look at three main truths. Some disciples were offended. Jesus' response to these disciples. Now, I know in my notes I have quotations around this word "disciples." We will see why. Then some disciples were edified. You see the breakdown of the verses. I want you to take notes for your own study. For your study tomorrow, this week, and then maybe a month or two from now.

If the Lord were to lead you to go back because we are all to come to His table, to dine on the Word of God, to be fed, to grow, to be changed and molded into the people that God wants us to be. So we are looking at the bread of life, part 3, the effects of Jesus' message. Let's look at verse 60 together. Verse 59, I'll back up. These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum. Many, therefore, of His disciples when they heard this said, "This is a difficult statement." Who can listen to it? "But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, 'Does this cause you to stumble?

What then if you should behold the Son of Man ascending where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were and who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him." Verse 65, "And He was saying, 'For this reason I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted Him from the Father.'" Verse 66, "As a result of this, many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.

Jesus said, 'Therefore to the twelve, you do not want to go away also, do you?' Simon Peter answered Him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.' Jesus answered them, 'Did I myself not choose you? The twelve. And yet one of you is a devil.' Now He meant Judas, the son of Simon Ascariot, for he of He, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him." Now you see how we're going to break these verses down? And let's look at main truth number one. Some disciples were offended. Some of the disciples were offended.

We see this from verse 60 on down to verse 66. Now here in these verses we will see the reaction of these followers to the message of Jesus. Remember, this message started really about verse 30, and it comes on down to verse 58. One continuous message, 'He was the true bread from heaven, and there's that call to come partake in Him.' But now starting in verse 60, we will see the reaction to this message of Christ being the true bread that came down from heaven. Now three things out of these verses. First, who were these disciples? Go back to verse 60, meaning therefore of His disciples.

Now all of the translations that we use use the word disciples here. And this word disciple, it refers to one who is a student or a follower. It refers to one who learns from a teacher. And what is said here is that this group was following, and they were learning from Jesus, but it says nothing about the quality of their devotion. There is no mention of their obedience to Christ, and we will begin to see as we divide these verses, the authenticity of their discipleship. We remember that this phrase disciple has been applied to the 12 in their journey as well, but we must see who these disciples were.

They were following, and they appeared to have a devotion, but we will begin to see, and ultimately we will see, the authenticity of their discipleship. Second, what was their reaction? Remember they're reacting to Jesus' message that He has been giving them. Look at verse 60, "Many therefore of His disciples, when they heard this, said," this is a difficult statement, "Who can listen to it?" Now notice that they ask a question here that reveals the authenticity of their discipleship. Now all of the translations that we study have this question virtually the same.

Now there is a key word here in this question, and that is the word difficult or hard. The English Standard Version uses the word hard. Now the meaning of this word in the original, it is rough or stiff or offensive. Here in this situation, it means difficult to bear. Now there is a big mistake that is made here by some, in interpreting this phrase or this sentence to mean difficult to understand. That is not accurate. They could understand Jesus, but what He taught was rough, it was stiff, and it was offensive to them.

Notice they ask this question, "Who can listen to it or who can hear it?" They are not saying what Jesus is teaching is not understandable, but this is not acceptable in their hearts and in their lives. They are understanding more and more, but they are rejecting. As more and more understanding is brought to them and seeing what Jesus is teaching, they are grumbling, they are arguing, and they are rejecting. So I wanted you to see their reaction. And the third thing, another question, where did they go? Where did they go? To see that, let's look on over to verse 66.

"As a result of this, many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore." Now I know we skipped over some verses, but we will go back. I want you to see ultimately where they went. The New American Standard reads, "As a result of this," and this can be also translated from this time. This is referring to this time when Jesus, and I'm going to use this language, Jesus drew a line in the sand with His teaching. Go back and look at the Scripture. They pose the question in verse 60. "Who can receive this?" This is offensive to us. And Jesus teaches even more. He draws a line in the sand, and we will see from that time on.

Now also, there is a key word here, and that is the word "withdrew." The English Standard uses the word "turn back." The King James uses the phrase "went back." Now the original language is a little more expressive here and indicated that they went back to the things that they left behind previously to follow Christ. You see? They went back. They turned around, and here we see these disciples. They understood what Christ was teaching, but they were offended. They were offended, and they refused to receive it. And they were revealed as false disciples, pseudo-disciples, surface-level disciples, disciples who wanted their bellies full.

They wanted another miracle. They were not following for the right reasons. We see these truths illustrated in other places in the Scripture. I want you to write down Matthew chapter 13. Matthew chapter 13. These truths are illustrated in the parable of the sower. I've referred to the parable of the sower many times in my teaching because it is so fundamental in understanding people's reaction to the gospel and how the gospel works in a human heart. But in the parable of the sower, we have one who sows the seed. That is one who preaches the gospel, witnesses for Christ.

The seed is representative of the gospel, and the different soils represent the different types of human hearts. We should understand soils. This is the time of the year when a lot of people prepare their gardens. On the way to church, you'll be able to see how some have broken up that ground. Maybe they've got those gardens rowed up, and they've got crops already planted. Maybe someone's corn is already about knee-high. But what we see is an agricultural illustration. But when we look at the explanation starting in verse 10, Jesus shows them the different people's reaction to the gospel.

And what we see here in Jesus' explanation is that there are some who receive it, but they receive it with great joy. They receive it in their emotions, but ultimately they fall away. Ultimately, they do not stay. Why? They go back. They were not truly converted. So what I want you to see is there are other places that teach in the Scripture how people react to Jesus' preaching and Jesus' teaching. I ran across this early in the week. John MacArthur gives a good description, and really this kind of helps with application of false disciples. Listen to this quotation.

He says, "False disciples do not follow Christ because of who He is, but because of what they want from Him." That's what was happening here. "They have no problem viewing Him as a baby in a manger at Christmas, a social reformer with a broad message of love and tolerance, the ideal human that everyone should emulate, or a source of health and wealth and worldly happiness. But they are unwilling to embrace the biblical Jesus, the God-man who fearlessly rebukes sinners and warm them of eternal hell, and that salvation from that hell comes only through believing His words.

Those who resist or reject Jesus' teaching fail the test of true discipleship that He Himself laid down." That's exactly what Jesus does. He is laying down layer upon layer, drawing that line in the sand of what true discipleship is. And this group, this group of disciples, they turned, they said this is offensive to us, and they went back because they were false disciples. Now for you, for me, for us, we must, now listen, we must see the call to discipleship given by Jesus and its standard. This is the standard. Jesus is the standard. What He says is the standard.

And I'm afraid what we have today in so many churches and in our South Mississippi Bible Belt culture is a substandard. I'm afraid we have a substandard Christianity. And when real Christianity, Bible Christianity, comes along, it looks so out of touch and out of joint with what we have. But Jesus, He gives a call to discipleship, and He is the standard. Now for whatever it's worth, in my opinion, we have churches full of people who have never been, now listen, forced to make this decision. Now let me explain what I mean by this decision.

So much preaching and teaching is weak and man-centered, and so much theology concerning salvation and conversion is so weak, most people who quote-unquote follow Christ, they follow Christ for the wrong reasons, therefore they are never forced to examine the authenticity of their discipleship, and they're never forced to make this decision that these followers had to make. Jesus could not proceed in His gospel ministry with these false pseudo-disciples following Him, because they never would stand the test. And He forced them to make this decision.

I guess if we can put it in our language, He forced them to put their money where their mouth was. And I'll be honest with you, I speak from personal experience. If you preach and teach along these lines, and if you raise the standard and try to raise Christianity above this subnormal standard of Christianity that's out there, it'll get you in trouble. I've gotten in trouble because of preaching messages like this far more than overspending a budget, or staying out too late with students, or even putting a dent in a church van. I've gotten in trouble. I've gotten in hot water by trying to raise the standard.

And I've been accused of even heresy. Why? Because the standard is so low. So what do we see? Some of these disciples, they were offended. And I want to tell you, when you begin to preach the real gospel, and when the Spirit of God begins to move on people's hearts, you always have some who are offended. It's just normal. It happened to Jesus, and it should be happening in our ministries today. Let's move on. Let's look at truth number two. Jesus' response to these disciples. We'll go back from verse 66 to verse 61. Jesus, conscious that his disciples grumbled at this, said to them, "Does this cause you to stumble?

Well, then, if you should behold the Son of Man ascending where he was before. It is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing. The words that I've spoken to you are Spirit and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were, who did not believe, and who it was that would betray him." And then verse 65, "And he was saying, 'For this reason I have said to you,'" this is a repeat of verse 44, "'that no man or no one can come to me unless it has been granted him from the Father.'" Now, here we see Jesus respond to these so-called disciples questioning him and his teaching.

Here in these verses, Jesus calls them to a time and a place of decision to prove their discipleship. The authenticity of who they were is being tested here. I want us to look at four things out of these verses. First, he knew they're grumbling. Look at verse 61, "Jesus, conscious that his disciples grumbled." Here we see this knowing of men's minds and hearts. He supernaturally and intuitively knew men. He knew that in their hearts they were grumbling and complaining against him. Now, notice that he poses a question to them.

Go back to the verse, "Jesus, conscious of this grumbling, he says, 'Does this cause you to stumble?'" And he goes on to say, "What if you should behold the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?" Now, the New American Standard uses the word "stumble," the English Standard. And the King James used the word "offend" or "offense." Both the words are correct. The original word here can mean to take offense or to give up believing. Here we see that these false disciples were offended at Jesus' teaching and that they stumbled over his demands. They were offended at his commands and at his demands, and they gave up following him ultimately.

They were grumbling. Second, notice he adds to their offense. He adds to their offense. Look at verse 62. "What then if you should behold the Son of Man ascending where he was before?" You might say, "What do you mean he adds to their offense?" They were offended that he said that he had come down. And now he says, "What if you see me go back up?" See, Jesus here adds to what he had already been teaching, and we will see that that raises the bar. Previously he had taught that he had come down. Verse 33, verse 35, 48, 50, 51, and 58.

Jesus is saying, "I have come down." And now he says, "What if you see the ascension?" How will you react to that? That's what he's saying. How would you react to that? Of course, tied up in that is the crucifixion and the resurrection. See, that is implied. He is saying, "What would you do if you saw all of this? Me coming down, me going to the cross, me going into the tomb, me being raised on the third day, and me ascending to where I was before." Now, what is Jesus doing here? He is raising the bar of discipleship. He is proving them for who they truly were, and he's adding to their offense. Third, he speaks of true life.

Look at verse 63, "It is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life." Three things out of this verse. Notice, here Jesus says that he has the words of life. Jesus had the Spirit without measure. Therefore, he had the words of life. So he's speaking of himself. John 4, verse 34, "For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure." So what do we see? Here Jesus is saying that he has the words of life. Notice here, Jesus is saying that their thinking and spirituality was out of the flesh.

Notice this phrase, "What this profits them." Go back to the verse. "It is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh, it profits nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life." What do we see here? Notice that this profits them nothing. Remember that they were hung up on the bread that Moses gave their forefathers in the desert. Remember, their forefathers ate and they died, and Jesus says, "That bread that I give gives life." And here, Jesus is saying that his words, they bring life. So Jesus, he speaks of true life. Fourth, notice he revealed their true condition.

Verse 64, verse 65, "But there are some of you who do not believe." He calls them out. "Jesus knew from the beginning who they were, who did not believe, and who it was that would betray him." For this reason, he said, "I said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted to him by the Father." Now, notice in the middle of these verses, it says that Jesus knew who would believe and who would betray him, speaking of Judas. Now, he knew this supernaturally, intuitively, because he knew men's hearts. Two things out of these verses. First, notice their responsibility.

Look at verse 64, "But there are some of you who do not believe." Here, Jesus states that there were some in the crowd that refused to believe. It is very important to see that he is holding them accountable for their unbelief. He does not rebuke them for not understanding his words, but for rejection. And then second out of these verses, notice God's sovereignty. Look at verse 65, "For this reason, I have said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted to him from the Father." This is a repeat of verse 44 that we've studied previously.

Here, Jesus simply repeats what he has already said, that no man, no woman, no person, these people could not come to him unless the Father enabled them or drew them to Christ. Now, in these verses, we are seeing that Jesus, he really knew the outcome of the situation. He knew that many would reject and refuse to believe. He knew how things work in the salvation of men. And those who would come to him truly are drawn by the Father. But what we must see is how Jesus responds to their rejection or their offense of him. He did not tone down or alter the message to accommodate these people. Notice what he gives them.

First, the totality of the gospel message. He says, "I've come down, and what if you see me go back up?" That is a summary of what? The death, the burial, the resurrection, and the ascension. So he gives them the totality of the gospel message. He's been talking about his death all along. And second, he reasserts himself as deity, the giver of life. He did not tone down the message one bit. And as a matter of fact, when they began to be offended by the message, he drew a thicker line in the sand of truth.

See, for you, for me, for us, we must see that no matter how people respond, we must give them the old-fashioned gospel message, which we find out of the Word of God. We must give men, we must give women, we must give young people, what? The gospel, the only thing that can save. I like examples. They can help us flesh out truth in our minds, in our hearts, and help us in our understanding. I had mentioned from time to time one of the pastors that I follow, his name is Jeff Noblett. He's the pastor of Grace Life Church in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. He's one I could recommend for you to listen to. He handles the Word of God very accurately.

But one of the things that I respect about Jeff Noblett is that he has been at one particular church for over 25 years. He started off as a youth pastor, and that's kind of an interesting story, how he ended up as the pastor. But in one of the testimonies that I heard from him, he had described the different trials and difficulties they had had in the life of their church. But in one of the trials, he described how they had a split, and there was a group of people who wanted unsound doctrine and bad methods, and they left and they moved away from the church.

And they left and they took a lot of people and hurt a lot of people, and he was describing the inward work that God did in him. And he said that God whittled him down and God took all the props that were up under him, props like believing in how hard they had worked and the good methods that they had brought into the life of the church. And the work that God did in him was to bring him to the place where he realized that the gospel must save men, or they must be, listen, a failure. That might sound odd to some of you, but he's right on the money. Listen, if the gospel doesn't save, and we accumulate all types of people, what do we have?

A room full of goats? Listen, if the gospel does not save, we must fail. If the gospel does not save, we need to close shop, sell the property, and go do something else. Because listen, we must preach and teach the gospel, and the deep truths of the Word of God, we must rely on God the Father as he sends the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, and we must trust in God to save men and women and young people. We must trust what? The message of Jesus. And that's exactly what he did. If it offended them, so be it. If they could not receive it, so be it. If it made them mad, so be it.

He would not alter the message, because he knew that to alter the message would alter the gospel, and to alter the gospel would ruin the conversion of men. See, we must stick to Jesus' example of not altering the message. Let's move on to truth number three. Let's see that some disciples were edified. Some disciples were edified starting in verse 67. Now, the scene has changed. These pseudo-false disciples are gone. Now, notice, in our eyes, this is depressing. The beginning of the chapter, there's 5,000 plus, and now it's just the 12.

Verse 67, Jesus said, "Therefore to the 12, you do not want to go away also, do you?" Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and we have come to know that you are the Holy One of God." Jesus answered them, "Did I myself not choose you?" The 12, "And yet one of you is a devil." Now, he meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the 12, was going to betray him. Here, in these remaining verses, we will see a much different reaction to Jesus. His teaching and his expectations. Note that in verse 67, John mentions the 12. Go back to the verse.

Jesus therefore said to the 12. Now, this is the first time that John uses this language to refer to the 12, apostles or disciples. John does not, in his gospel account, record Jesus calling the 12 disciples like the other gospels do. We see that in Matthew 10 verse 2, Mark 3 verse 13, and Luke chapter 6 verse 1. Jesus calling the 12. But John simply mentions the 12 here, referring to these 12 disciples, these 12 apostles. Now, I want us to notice three things out of these verses. First, Jesus' big question. Jesus and his big question. Go back to verse 67. You do not want to go away also, do you?

Notice here that Jesus' question is in the negative. It's almost like he expects an answer to be given in the negative. This negative twist is purposeful, and this negative twist comes from the original language. Jesus is using this negative situation of the false disciples leaving, and the negativity of his question to drive the seriousness of the situation into the hearts of the 12. One of the commentators, D.A. Carson, that I use, points out that Jesus was not being moody. I like that. He wasn't being moody. He wasn't playing tricks, but he was challenging, and that question is not for his sake but for theirs. He was negative for them.

And I like that observation because I think it's very accurate. He wasn't moody. He wasn't in a bad mood. There is a negative situation and a negative question, and it is for them. It is important to see the seriousness of this question. This question was for them to mull over, to contemplate, to think over, and to take very, very serious. The circumstances magnify the question greatly, and they had a very, very hard question to answer. See, verse 67, "Jesus therefore said to the twelve, 'All had gone, all the fanfare was gone, all the crowds were gone.' He said, 'You do not want to go away also, do you?'" So what do we see?

This difficult big question. Notice number two. Number two, Peter's response. "Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.'" Now this is Peter's response, but he seems to be responding, not only for himself but for the others as well. Of course, Peter did not know who Judas was. Jesus knew, and we know, that he was that false disciple as well. Now it is important to see what Peter is saying here, and he makes two great statements, and I'm going to give those to you, and I want you to notice first, who Jesus was.

Who Jesus was. What does he say? "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." He says the words of eternal life and the Holy One of God. One of the commentators that I read says that this is a full messianic confession. He is confessing Christ as the Messiah. Peter is confessing that he and the twelve believed that he was that promised Messiah, and of course he did not know Judas. But notice that. Notice this confession. Notice this statement. He says, "You have the words of eternal life, and you are the Holy One of God." That is confessing who he was.

And then second, notice what they have done. What they have done. Go back to the verse. "Simon Peter answered, said, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.'" Again, he is speaking for the others. And it is important to see two key words here in what they have done. They are verbs. They are action words. The first is believed, and the second is to come to know. So what we see here is first he says that they have believed. And it is in the present tense meaning that this happened in the past with a continued ongoing result.

I have said it like this to you before. Peter is saying, "We believe yesterday, we believe today, and we will continue to believe because we are in a state of belief." That's what it means when it says the present tense. Second, he says that they have come to know. This is in the present tense as well, meaning that they have come to a knowledge of Christ that is ongoing with ongoing results. We came to know you yesterday. We know you today, and we will continue to know and be in that relationship of knowing you in the future. That is his response. And then third, notice Jesus' apostles are chosen.

Jesus answered, "Did I myself not choose you the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil." Now there is a little debate here as to the meaning of these verses. And many make the mistake of believing that this speaks of conversion. But that's not the case. Conversion has already taken place in these men's lives. But this is speaking of their position as apostles. Now notice that within his choosing them, there was Judas. Jesus knew full well what Judas would do. Judas chose, as we will see, to betray Christ. So what do we see? Some of these disciples were edified. There was this great question.

We see Peter's wonderful response, and that they are the chosen band of apostles by Christ. And it is very important for us to see two things here. First, that these disciples were converted. The construction of the language clearly communicates that they had previously been converted. It was not simply a profession of faith. It wasn't a pseudo-disciple ship. And second, that these disciples were edified. But I want you to notice, this was a negative, challenging, even a brutal edification. That might strike some of you strange. Look back at how Jesus dealt with the disciples. Did he go up to them and put his arms around them?

Did he just go up to them and say, "I know all the other crowds are leaving, but you know it's just different with you." No, he did not. This was a very brutal, a challenging, even a negative edification. Because listen, this was very difficult for the disciples. Their world was challenged. It was rocked. This great crowd had dispersed, and he had revealed them for who they were, and he even questioned them to the point where he said, "Are you going to leave too?" A negative edification.

And listen, for you, for me, we must see that sometimes, many times, the Lord Jesus edifies us through difficult truth, difficult circumstances, and even trials by fire. Let me repeat that. We must see that sometimes, many times, the Lord Jesus edifies his believers through difficult truth, difficult circumstances, and even trials by fire. I know I've referred to this before, but I remember when I had to digest and understand the meaning of the parables in Matthew 13.

I remember my pastor, Brother Dennis, preaching through the parable of the soul and the other parables, which they're all interlocked and communicate the same truths, but I'll never forget Brother Dennis preaching that narrow road gospel out of those parables in Matthew 13. And listen, it was difficult for me because to digest those truths, I had to come to the place where I realized some of the people that I wanted to believe were truly converted were not converted. And when I got to the place where I digested those truths, it was a negative edification because it was bitter medicine, but yet I needed that medicine.

When I left full-time ministry, I spent four or five years in negative edification. The ministry that I had so dearly loved was taken away from me, and the Lord Jesus began to ask me negative questions and reveal negative things to me and to purge things out of my life, and it was negative edification. But yet it was desperately needed. See, you see what he's doing with the disciples? Are you going to leave too? Everybody else has. Oh, I've raised the bar. If you're going to follow me, this is the only way. Are you going to leave too? You see? Now in conclusion, I want us to see this great provision.

Verse 51, "I am the living bread that came down out of heaven. And if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever, and the bread also which I give for the life of the world is my flesh." Last week we read in 1 John chapter 2 verse 10 that Christ is the propitiation for our sins, and not only ours, but also for the sins of the world. That is that substitute. And this is the wonderful, the great provision of Christ. And I also want us to see the great call to partake in Christ. See the great call? Isn't that what we saw last week? Isn't that what we see here? Christ calling, Christ calling, Christ calling.

It's as if we hear this great call from Calvary. Come, come to Christ and be saved. Oh, but stop. Oh, but wait. You can only take Christ in his totality. You can only come to Christ in his death, in his burial, and in his resurrection. And listen, the terrible message that is preached in so many churches today is this. Come to Christ. He'll help you. He'll give you a better life. Oh, come to Christ. He'll fix the problems that are in your life. He will even give you a home in heaven that is straight out of the pits of hell because it is man-centered and it is not glory of God-focused. But the true message from these passages is this.

Come to Christ and die. Die to self. Die to sin. Die to your will. Die to self-effort. Die to who you are. Come and die so that Christ may live in you. Now listen, for his glory and for his honor and for his purposes. But we must see that this is a great line of division because Christ's message always, always affects men, either to grumbling, complaining, and rejection, or to life. So I want to ask you, have you partaken, have you appropriated, have you received this true bread that has come down from heaven? You know it doesn't matter if you're nine or 19 or 89.

It doesn't matter if you're born and raised around the world or you're a neighbor. All who come to Christ biblically come and they die. They die at the cross. They die in Christ. They're given a new life. They're converted. And it is a work of God the Father. It is a work of the power of the Spirit. It is them coming to the end of themselves and God bringing them to that place where they trust and confess and believe. And the miracle upon miracles happens. They're converted and made new. Isn't that what the disciples are saying? We don't have anywhere else to go. You're it. See, that's the theme of all of those who've been converted.

We don't have anywhere else to go. We don't want to go anywhere else. It's just you, Jesus. We're following you. Lord, take these truths. Seal them in our hearts. Form us biblically, truthfully, so that we can deal with sinners correctly.