hOw fAr cAn wE gO?

Soldiers of Christ: How far can we go?
John 6:60-71

In I Timothy 4:1, Paul says that in the later times, some will abandon their faith. Today, how many of the people we know have abandoned their faith? Do you know someone who has already turned his or her back on God’s love? I hope we still remember the time when we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. It’s so amazing how God created such clever ways (sometimes unusual) and used certain people (sometimes unexpected) just to draw us near to Him! It’s just so sad that some people chose to step out of God’s grace after spending some time with Him. But it’s not surprising because in the days of Christ’s ministry, even those who were once His disciples have stopped following Him. Why did it happen? Why did they choose to leave Jesus? Here are some reasons that we can find in John 6:60-71, and maybe we can draw out some ideas why people nowadays share the same problem.

1. Verse 60, Unteachable Heart

After hearing Jesus teach, many of His disciples were complaining about His teaching. They said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” Why can’t they understand His teaching? What is lacking? Have we experienced this in our Christian life? (i.e., bible studies, bible reading, sermons) What do you think is the reason for that?

2. Verse 61, Unrepentant Heart

After hearing His disciples complaining, Jesus asked them, “Does my teaching offend you?” That’s very true. Sometimes there are teachings in the Bible that offend us, and it is really hurting to find out that some of the things that we value are against the teaching of Jesus. It’s painful, as Hebrews 4:12 describes it. But we must repent our sins. We must learn to let go, if the Bible says so. But we must thank God for giving us the strength to obey His Word.

3. Verse 64, Unbelieving Heart

As we can see in verse 64, some of Jesus’ followers didn’t have believing hearts. Jesus was teaching the very words of eternal life, but they did not believe Him. And we can see the same problem today. There are a lot of people we know who are unbelievers. But why? In what things are these unbelieving hearts focused to? In what things are they busy with? These people, and sometimes us Christians, are focused on material things and busy with worldly desires. But what did Jesus say in verse 63? “The words I have I have spoken to you are spirit, and they are life.” Jesus’ teachings are no t about material things and worldly desires, they’re spirit and they focus on spiritual things.

Further, there are some people today who believe in some of Jesus’ teachings but reject same of His teachings. They accept what benefits them and rejects what contradicts their lifestyle. But this is not pleasing to God! Jesus wants all His teaching to be obeyed! In Matthew 28:19-20, the Great Commission, Jesus says, “…and teaching them everything I have commanded you.” II Timothy 3:16-17 also testifies about the authenticity of the whole Scripture.

4. Verse 70-71, Unfaithful Heart

Everybody knows the story of Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver coins. Thirty silver coins are equivalent to a laborer’s salary for four months. So if a person today has an income of P10, 000 per month, thirty silver coins are equivalent to P40, 000. Some people today would betray a friend for such huge amount.
So Judas became unfaithful to Jesus, and chose his desire for money instead of following and obeying Jesus. Hmmm…Many people today desire money to become wealthy. And it’s quite disappointing to see some Christians who put Jesus in the least of his or her priorities. We must not be like those people who trade Jesus for money. We should not have an unfaithful heart. We should not have the heart of Judas!

These are some reasons why some people today abandon their faith: unteachable heart, unrepentant heart, unbelieving heart and unfaithful heart. Now the challenge is: What should we do to our brothers and sisters who have these attitudes? What should we do to our brothers and sisters who abandoned their faith? Galatians 6:1-10 explains it all.

What then shall our heart be? There is a heart that pleases God. A heart that is teachable, who understands the Word of God. A heart that is repentant, who confesses his sins and asks for God’s forgiveness. A heart that is believing, who believes and accepts the Word of God. A heart that is faithful, who doesn’t betray God but follows and obeys His Word. A heart that is totally submitted, totally dependant and totally surrendered to God. A heart who says “Lord, to whom shall we go? Lord, Your Word gives eternal life! Lord we believe in You! Lord, You are the Holy One of God!” Just like Peter said in verse 68-69. Tonight/today, brothers and sisters let us all reflect on this message of God. And let us focus on this one verse, John 6:65. And I leave you with this one question. Soldier of Christ, without Christ, how far can we go? Good night/morning and God bless.