Apply Within

Bob Davis: A lot of people come to Jesus because they want a healing. A lot of people come to Jesus because they want a job. A lot of people come to Jesus because they're in trouble and in threat of prison and they're trying to find a way out of that. A lot of people come to Jesus for all kinds of things. It's become a worldly saying: "So and so had a come to Jesus moment, now he's trying to tell the truth." They don't mean he's born again, they just mean he's trying to weasel out of something.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Apply Within, a verse-by-verse study of the word of God with Pastor Bob Davis of North Country Chapel. We invite you to join with us as we, by the power of God's Holy Spirit, apply His word within our own hearts as we study line upon line, precept upon precept, verse by verse through the Bible. We are looking at atonement through Jesus Christ as our study of John continues in chapter six, verse 52. Here's Pastor Bob.

Bob Davis: So we go into chapter six, verse 52: "The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, 'How can this man give us his flesh to eat?'" They are absolutely confused. The language is they're outraged. They're even arguing among themselves about what he just said.

Listen, God's word forbids the eating of human flesh and forbids the eating of blood of any kind, true? He says eat my body, drink my blood. Well, doesn't the word of God forbid that? Yes. Leviticus chapter 17, there are many places, but I'll just pull one out of the law here that you may be familiar with. Leviticus 17, verses 10 and 11: "And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that travel among you, that eats any manner of blood, I will even set my face against the soul that eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls. For it is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul."

That's why Jesus had to shed his blood, remember? So we know immediately that he's not physically talking about eating his body and drinking his blood. We know it because the Bible says no. God's not contradicting the Bible, he's not contradicting himself. He's making a point that's spiritual and everybody is listening to it and all they're thinking is physically, right?

So they're very confused, and it makes them angry. They're arguing even among themselves. The Jews are thinking about the physical while Jesus is speaking about the spiritual. We see that throughout the Gospels. Jesus will make a spiritual point and everybody go, "Well, that's freaky, why would you say that? That's impossible." They think physical. Nicodemus is such an outstanding example, John chapter three. When Jesus says to Nicodemus, who's a man probably in his early 90s, Jesus says to him, "Nick, you must be born again." And he says, "How can a man be born again when he is old? Can he go back into his mother's womb?" See, he's thinking physically and Jesus is speaking spiritually.

We have to understand that he's not asking us to eat his body and drink his blood. The language he's using is clear. We've seen it throughout the Gospels. Jesus often uses physical things to teach spiritual truths. So what is Jesus saying then, "Eat my body, drink my blood"? Well, let me try to paraphrase. Just as you take food and drink within your body and it becomes part of you, in the same way, you must receive me, Jesus says, within your innermost being so that I can give you life.

We need to receive and take into our own hearts Jesus Christ himself, his body broken, his blood shed. Have you done that yet? It's a simple thing to do. We surrender all. We just surrender and say, "Me too, Lord. Save me. Wash my life. Wash my soul. Wash my sin away."

So look at verse 53. Jesus will try again to help them understand because now they're saying this is sick, "How can he give us his own flesh to eat?" They're not getting it, everyone. They're not grasping it. "Then Jesus said unto them, 'Truly, truly, I say unto you, except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up—or her up—at the last day.'" Once again, spiritually speaking, but they can't hear it. And now they're not wanting to hear it. They don't want to. That's weird, that's freaky, that's gross.

Truly, truly, we must believe on him to have eternal life. We must believe on him, receive him, trust in him, and make him our very own. "For my flesh is food indeed and my blood is drink indeed. He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood dwells in me and I in him. As the living Father has sent me and I live by the Father, so he that eats me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven, not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead. He that eats of this bread shall live forever."

These things he said there in the synagogue as he taught in Capernaum. Just as your physical body needs food and water, Jesus just said you need me to sustain you spiritually. I take the food and the water in because my body uses it as fuel, but it's all temporary. No matter how much you eat, it's still temporary. But Jesus Christ is saying that what he does is permanent. Jesus, just like your physical body needs food and water, Jesus says you need me to sustain you spiritually for all eternity.

You have to have Jesus in your heart, in your life. That's what he's saying to them. And he again reiterates that he is the bread of life from heaven. He came down from heaven. No one has come down from heaven except Jesus Christ, no man except Jesus Christ. He came down from heaven and he says that he is much greater than the manna that came down in the wilderness. That bread was only for temporary physical sustenance. Do you believe it?

Jesus said these things there at the synagogue when he was teaching in Capernaum. That's where Capernaum was where his headquarters were, his home base, so to speak. So look at verse 60: "Many therefore of his disciples"—what? Not just your average garden-variety people that are watching, many of his disciples—"when they had heard this, they said, 'This is a hard saying, who can hear it?'"

They are not understanding. Most of them showed up, as you recall, not because they loved the Lord but because they had dinner the night before and they were looking for breakfast in the morning. A lot of people come to Jesus because they want a healing. A lot of people come to Jesus because they want a job. A lot of people come to Jesus because they're in trouble and in threat of prison and they're trying to find a way out of that. A lot of people come to Jesus for all kinds of things. It's become a worldly saying. I hear it starting to hear it in the news a whole lot: "So and so had a come to Jesus moment, now he's trying to tell the truth." They don't mean he's born again, they just mean he's trying to weasel out of something.

Are you looking for Jesus to help you weasel points and get out of what you're in? That's what some of these are doing, wanting Jesus because we're hungry. We got dinner yesterday, we'd like to see it today, plus it was really cool to watch some of these miracles. Do another one, Jesus. They are not understanding what Jesus is trying to say to them and they didn't like one bit what it sounded like to them. It's too freaky. Literally the language basically they communicate, "We don't want any part of this. This is a hard saying, who can hear? We can't listen to this anymore. Who can listen to this stuff?" We thought he was some kind of cool miracle worker, but the guy's weird.

"When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured"—what amazes me isn't just the common crowds, these are people that had been following—"when he knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said to them, 'Does this offend you? What and if you shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before?'" What about that? "It is the spirit that quickens, makes alive, the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. But there are some of you that do not believe."

For Jesus knew from the beginning—mark it, from the beginning—Jesus knew who they were that did not believe in him and who should betray him. When he says the beginning, some say he means the beginning of his ministry. I believe from the beginning means before the foundation of the world and the beginning of his ministry, too. He knew when he chose Judas, he knew who he was getting. You say, well, if he knew that the guy would betray him, why did he take him on board? Because he died for everyone. Everybody has an opportunity to say yes or no. It just so happens that Judas said no thank you. But that was his choice, true?

Jesus welcomed him with open arms knowing. He'll say that in a moment. Because Jesus is God Almighty in human flesh. Keep that in mind because Jesus is God Almighty in human flesh. He knows his audience. Right now, he knows every one of us here. You can say anything you want, but he knows. So we're not going to fool Jesus, and they're not fooling him. He knows what they are feeling. He knows what they are thinking. That's why he even says it: "Oh, does this offend you?" What? Well, he said I've come down from heaven, I'm the bread of life from heaven, much more powerful than the manna that came down in the wilderness. Does this offend you that I came down from heaven? That I am the bread of life? That you need to receive me to have eternal life, just like you had to eat that bread in the wilderness to keep your physical life going? Does that bother you? Does that really turn you off?

What will it do when you see the Son of Man ascend back to heaven? How's that going to freak people out? In other words, if this freaks you out, what is it going to happen when you see the Son of Man ascend back to heaven where he came from? It is the spirit who gives life. The Spirit of God. It is the spirit that makes alive. Flesh and blood can't give life. Only the Spirit of the living God can give life. And then he says, "And there are some of you that do not believe." You're refusing to hear what I'm saying to you now.

Jesus knew, we're told, from the beginning that some of his professed followers would not believe on him, and he knew that one of his disciples was going to betray him, and he knew which one. And he chose him anyway to show you the grace and the mercy of God, that no one will be without a chance. He will offer himself for all the world, to include Judas, to include anybody else right now who doesn't belong to the Lord.

Look at verse 65. "And he said, 'Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.'" He's already told us no one could come to him unless we're drawn by God. So it's a reminder. He reminds all of us that the Lord God is in absolute control. No man can come to me except it were given to him by my Father. God's sovereignty, man's free will. You have a choice to make. What's your choice?

Let's look at verse 66. "From that time"—once Jesus did that in Capernaum there at that synagogue and they listened and it freaked them out—"many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him." They didn't like what he was telling them. They just didn't like it. They did not believe, and he knew it, but he kept giving them the opportunity to believe.

They wanted food, they wanted entertainment. They liked how they were treated by the people around them. They were kind of nicer. I have had people tell me that, "I like coming to North Country because the people are so nice to me." Do you are Christian? "No, I just like coming here because the people are nice." Good. Well, you know, there's somebody we can pray for. They were never true believers, but they did follow the Lord. Wherever he went, they were there, the big crowds, because they were getting whatever they were trying to get. But it wasn't out of a sincere love for Jesus and it wasn't for knowing him who he really was—the bread, the Son of God, the bread of life that came down from heaven. They didn't want Jesus because they needed him as a savior. They wanted him for what they could get or how it made them feel or how it made them look maybe in their community. Who knows?

You know what they did? The language in the Bible is very clear here. From that time, verse 66, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. They went back to the way they were before. Jesus knew their hearts. He was never fooled by those that were hanging around. He was never fooled by Judas, who was with him the whole time of his ministry, so trusted among the disciples he carried the money. You're not going to give the money to somebody you don't trust. You wouldn't give it to Matthew, he was a tax collector. There ain't no way you're going to let Matthew carry the money, right?

But you got Judas, the most honest guy in the bunch, and nobody knew it. Nobody knew it. Look at verse 67. "Then said Jesus unto the twelve, 'Will you also go away?'" Everybody else left. His whole ministry left. Tens of thousands of people gone overnight. But you got the twelve in there kind of like the Bumbling Brothers Circus, I call them. And I would have fit right in with those guys, you know, the Bumbling Brothers. Hugo and I go, yeah.

"Will you go away also?" Jesus says it's up to you. You got a choice to make. What do you say? Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Your words are spirit, spiritual. You have the words of eternal life, and we believe and are sure that you are that Christ, the Son of the living God."

Jesus answered them, "Have not I chosen you twelve and one of you is a devil?" He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. For he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve. Amazing. Does Judas know he's not saved? Yeah, he knows. He's not there to be saved. Judas comes from a very wealthy family. You just do a little study about Mr. Judas, comes from a wealthy, wealthy neighborhood and always wanted—he wanted to have the best of everything and he hated Rome. And when he knows—he knows Messiah—when Messiah comes, he'll kick out the Romans and he'll sit on the throne and I'll—if I hook up with him, if I get in the group and hook up with him, I'll get a—I mean just a nice job, like in the president's cabinet. I'll be right there overseeing, get these Romans out of here and we'll take it. That was his heart.

He didn't love Jesus. He didn't really care who Jesus was. If everybody says he's the Messiah, he goes, "Good, then let's kick out Rome, give me a good job, I'll just—I'll work for you. While we're doing this, I'll carry the money." Oh, the trouble was though, he was stealing the money. Nobody knew it except Jesus. You know, that amazes me. If you were Jesus and you had a ministry and you didn't have much money, would you give it to a guy you knew was stealing it? No. You know why? Because we're totally cool.

Jesus is grace and love and mercy. Undeserved kindness and mercy to give that man that position in hopes that he will listen and finally take the word to heart and be saved. That's what he did with me. Isn't that what he did with you? He let us come around and hang around. Jesus turns to the twelve disciples, Judas is one of them. So many people had just turned away. Do you think Jesus' feelings were hurt? I don't think so. I think his heart was breaking, but it didn't hurt his feelings. He wasn't here to have people like him. He wasn't here so people could think he's something. He was here to save anyone who would listen, anyone who would surrender their heart.

So he turns to the twelve because so many people had turned away. Jesus says to them, the language is: "You do not want to leave too, do you?" So everybody's got a choice, you got a free will here. But you see, eleven of them were already believers. One of them wasn't. So he gave them a choice: "Do you want to leave?" Peter speaks up, and here's Peter—God bless him, I understand how he feels. And he says, "Lord, to whom would we go? You are the only one, the language is, with the words of eternal life. There is no other. There is no other person we can go to, you're it, we know you are. We know it. Here's the language: 'We believe and we know.'" Isn't that what the Bible says, isn't that what Peter said? "We believe," verse 69, "and are sure. We know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. You're the Messiah. We believe it and we know it."

And I think we believe and know that you are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Look at the order of the language. That's a perfect order of the language. First, they believe, they put their faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord, and then they know in their hearts. Believe it by faith and you know at that from that point on. Once I received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, there was—I just knew it from then on, didn't you? To believe and then know. And that's what he said, "We believe and we know you're the Messiah, the Son of the living God."

So Jesus, speaking to all twelve, corrects what Peter just said: "I have chosen all twelve of you, but one of you is a devil." Now that had to be a shock to their system because just like you and me, Peter would be going, "Oh, I hope it's not me." Wouldn't you be thinking that if we're all standing in there and there's just twelve of us and he goes, "One of you is a devil"? I'd have to go to the restroom, excuse me. You know, you're thinking, "Oh, oh no."

The Greek word here *diabolos*: a false accuser, a slanderer, one who accuses and divides in order to destroy. That's what Judas was doing and was going to do or try to do. Take note. Take note: not one of Jesus' disciples knew that Judas was not a believer. You know why? Because everybody can play the game and none of us can see the heart of anybody else. That's what makes it so important for you and for me to be sure that *we* belong to Jesus Christ, because nobody can do that for me, nobody can do that for you. Not one of the disciples knew that Judas was not a believer, but Judas, I'm convinced Judas knew. The party's somewhere out there, I'm pretty sure.

Who was the non-believer? We all know, but the disciples right here don't know. John puts in commentary in verse 71. They didn't find out until the night he betrayed Jesus. They didn't know. So John says he was speaking of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he that should betray Jesus being one of the twelve. John didn't know until the night Jesus was betrayed, so he could put that in the commentary right here. The non-believer is Judas Iscariot. Judas never believed. He probably could quote it, he probably knew it, but it never got into his heart. You and I maybe can quote it, but we need to have God's word in our hearts.

So at last, God's word tells us he went to his own place in everlasting darkness. Judas walked with Jesus for almost three and a half straight years every day, all the time, and never believed. You see, you can come to church and win awards for not missing any services and never give your heart to the Lord.

Guest (Male): Thank you for listening to Apply Within with Pastor Bob Davis. Apply Within is a radio outreach ministry of North Country Chapel. Our Sunday morning Bible studies are at 9:00 and 11:00 AM. We also have a Friday evening Bible study at 7:00 PM and a Monday evening Bible study at 7:00 PM. You can download today's message in its entirety at northcountrychapel.com/studies. That's northcountrychapel.com/studies.

If you would like a copy of today's message, write to us and ask for the message with today's date. The address is Apply Within, 2281 West Seltice, Post Falls, Idaho 83854. Or call us at 1-800-572-8851. That number again: 1-800-572-8851. And our mobile app is available for iPhone and Android. Download it to listen to full-length studies, watch the live stream of our services, or to find out more about church events. If you have been blessed by the teaching or have prayer requests that you would like to share with us, write, email, or call us as well. Please join with us every Monday through Friday as we study together verse by verse on Apply Within, sponsored by North Country Chapel. God bless you.