Will Ye Also Go Away?

 Temple Baptist Church - 2-8-2023

John 6:60-69

 

Introduction:

 

A.  In the previous verses of this chapter, we saw the masses who had seen the glory of God in the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 reject the Son of God! 

 

John 10:19  There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings.

 

B.  So many people begin coming to church because they are looking for something other than Jesus.  They come for a while and say that what we have is what they are looking for, but they soon begin to disappear.

 

C.  They leave because they are looking for the wrong things:  John 6:26  Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.

 

1.  They come because their lives are in a mess.  They want things fixed, but do not want to do the thing that will fix it.  They do not want salvation or the Son of God.

 

2.  They come because they have a guilty conscience.  They want their conscience cleared but do not want to do what it takes to sooth it.  They do not want salvation or the Son of God.

 

3.  They come because they think there is something that can be gotten from the local church.  They desire things, but they do not want salvation or the Son of God.

 

D.  My message for tonight is not to the unsaved or unchurched.  Jesus asked His disciples this question:  John 6:67  Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? 

 

Going away can be sudden or it can be gradual.  In the story of the prodigal son, one prodigal left home but one prodigal remained at home.  Both were prodigals!

 

E.  It is a question that was answered by Peter:  John 6:68-69  Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.  (69)  And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.

 

F.  It is a question that needs to be answered by each of us!  So many whom we once walked with are no longer walking with us.  They were not bad people.  They were good people who made some bad choices.  Not everyone who left Temple Baptist Church left for the wrong reasons.

 

G.  What may cause me to leave?  What may cause you to leave?

 

1.  We may go away because we become offended by the Word.  John 6:60-61  Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?  (61)  When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?

 

2.  We may go away because of family peer pressure.  Matthew 10:34-37  Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.  (35)  For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.  (36)  And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.  (37)  He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

 

3.  We may go away because our hearts harden.  Matthew 13:20-21  But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;  (21)  Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

 

4.  Because of suffering as a Christian.  Matthew 26:31  Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.

 

5.  Because of the love of money.  Luke 16:13  No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

 

1 Timothy 6:8-10  And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.  (9)  But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.  (10)  For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

 

6.  Because of the cost of discipleship.  Luke 14:33  So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

 

7.  Because of the fear of this changing world.  2 Thessalonians 2:1-2  Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,  (2)  That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

 

8.  Because of the love of the world and its pleasures.  2 Timothy 4:10  For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.

 

1 John 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

 

Conclusion:  Let us answer this question as Peter did.

 

John 6:68-69  Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.  (69)  And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.

 

Hebrews 13:12-13  Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.  (13)  Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.