Rev. David Holwick H
First Baptist Church PERSONALITIES OF THE PASSION
Ledgewood, New Jersey The Apostates
March 5, 2000
John 6:53-69
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I. Personalities of the Passion.
A. People who came in contact with Jesus at end of his life.
1) Many have familiar names - Pilate, Judas, Peter.
2) One group is anonymous - those who abandoned Jesus.
a) Must have been sizable, since thousands flocked to him
but only a handful stayed to the bitter end.
b) The gospel of Mark even uses this to organize the
chapters, moving from the popularity of Jesus to the
rejection of Jesus.
c) Even today, the door of salvation can seem like the
revolving kind - as many leave as come in.
Eugene Patterson writes:
It is not difficult in our world to get a person interested in
the message of the Gospel;
it is terrifically difficult to sustain the interest.
Millions of people in our culture make decisions for Christ,
but there is a dreadful attrition rate.
Many claim to have been born again, but the evidence for mature
Christian discipleship is slim.
In our kind of culture anything, even news about God, can be sold
if it is packaged freshly;
but when it loses its novelty, it goes on the garbage heap.
There is a great market for religious experience in our world;
there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of
virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long
apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Christians
called holiness.
#4411
B. It is hard to stick with Jesus.
1) Church burnings in Ethiopia, India, Nigeria.
2) Harsh criticism of Religious Right in political primaries.
a) We have become the "Boogymen" of America.
b) Their call for non-divisiveness results divisiveness.
3) Apart from outside pressure, there is inside pressure.
a) We don't like being criticized.
b) We want life to be easier for us.
4) Jesus says many begin, few finish.
a) Throughout our society, many are dropping out of the
church.
b) Without a doubt this trend will continue.
Walt K., a psychologist and an agnostic/humanist/free-thinker,
has this to say about Christianity:
"When Christians talk with me about their faith, I usually feel
sorry for them.
I feel that I have gone on to a more intelligent approach to
spirituality.
I used to be a very devout Christian, but have been completely
turned off to traditional religion.
I know some Christians are sincere and try to live their faith;
I respect that.
I do not respect the hypocrites, self-deceivers, liars, and
self-serving proselytizers.
There is nothing about Christianity that attracts me anymore.
I'm turned off by the typical power game played by those who
say, "I know God; therefore, I have truth and everyone who
disagrees with me is wrong and will burn in hell forever!"
Give me a break.
This is all due to ego, power, and self-deceit.
About Christianity, I say, "I tried it and don't like it!"
It's lacking in consistency, truth, and any real relation to
the actual universe.
Since rejecting Christianity, I have found peace, lack of guilt,
and self-acceptance, as well as a degree of tolerance that
most Christians will never achieve.
#3379
II. Jesus did not make it very easy.
A. You need to be cannibals. John 6:53-56
1) Cannibalism has always been a touchy subject.
a) Some scholars believe it has never been actually
practiced except during starvation episodes or
special funerals among some tribes in the Pacific.
b) Nobody admits to it but everyone accuses of it.
1> It is always something the other tribe does.
2> Are Christians supposed to do it?
2) Catholic view of communion?
They teach that communion is literally a form of
cannibalism, of eating God, based on this text.
Why do Protestants disagree?
Jesus says it long before he is crucified.
Like being "born again," Jesus means this in a
symbolic sense.
3) Total commitment to Jesus is in view.
a) Eating him is as close as you can get.
B. Total commitment is easier said than done.
1) Hard things about being a Christian:
a) Rejection of other truth systems/religions.
b) Accepting Jesus' high moral teaching, doing it.
c) Standing against world.
2) Do you think you will be a committed believer 10 years from
now? 30 years?
a) What about your children?
b) It is sobering to have young children who love church
and Sunday School, yet know all the spiritual
pressures they will face in high school & college.
C. Total commitment requires God's help. John 6:65
1) Jesus says unless God the Father enables us, we cannot
come to salvation.
2) If he enables us to come, he can enable us to persevere.
III. How to stick with Jesus.
A. Make sure you are a genuine Christian.
1) Religious people are not necessarily saved people.
a) Having spiritual thoughts and good intentions does not
make you a child of God.
b) Even the acceptance of the Ten Commandments does not
put you on God's side.
2) Essential question: erase Jesus and what happens to your
religion?
a) If it stays about the same, you may not be a Christian.
b) If the heart of it ends up gutted, you are on the right
track.
3) Salvation is something we accept, then grow into.
a) Debate about baptizing young people.
1> Can they really know what it is about?
2> If you have been saved 30 years, do you know?
b) There is always more to learn and experience.
1> Just make sure there is a firm foundation, right
on Jesus Christ.
2> His death redeems us.
3> His resurrection empowers us.
4> His Spirit guides us, every day.
B. Give God the benefit of your doubts.
1) Many people rashly reject God because of misunderstandings.
a) The Bible may not say what some people claim it does.
b) God may not demand what some people say he does.
1> Don't let kooks define your faith.
2) The gospel can be harsh. Find out why.
a) Topics like hell, predestination, wars in the OT can
make us uneasy.
b) There is always a valid reason behind them.
1> Search it out.
2> Ask God to give you peace about it.
c) The harshest truths can be the most important.
1> Often we need to be warned about areas we feel
secure in.
C. Recognize the temptation of worldly cares and desires.
1) A committed Christian life can seem too hard.
a) Jesus expects a high level of morality.
b) Our attitude toward material things should be different.
2) Take note of the long term effects of "sin for a season."
a) Many of the "flower children" of the 1960's ended up
burned out on drugs, alcohol, and failed marriages.
b) Real satisfaction can only come from above.
D. Focus on Jesus instead of jerks.
1) Many fall away because Christians disappoint them.
a) Redeemed people often act worse than non-believers.
b) Even the best Christians have flaws and sins.
2) Only Jesus is perfect.
a) He alone can save us.
b) He is the only one we will answer to in the end.
IV. Where else can you go?
A. Peter's response - only Jesus has the words of life. John 6:68
B. There is nowhere else to go.
1) The Church has its problems, but the world has even more.
2) Stick with Jesus and you will not be disappointed.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
#3379 "Unbelievers Speak," by unknown author, in Discipleship Journal
#83, September 1994, page 59.
#4411 "A Long Obedience in the Same Direction," by Eugene Peterson,
quoted in a sermon by Rev. Bill Denton called "Four New Years'
Resolutions For Every Christian," entered Nov. 24, 1998.
These and 5,500 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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