A Parting of the Ways

It's that time of year for preseason practices for fall sports. And if you're involved in any fall sports on the high school, middle school, college, level, whatever, you realize that the first week or two, you don't even see a football or a soccer ball or a volleyball. It's all about conditioning drills, right? You go through drills and laps and sprints and boot camp and all the rest. The reason for that is the coach is wanting to weed out those who are really serious about playing the game from those who are just marginally interested. Just want to wear the uniform, look good on the sidelines, impress the girls or the boys at school, that kind of thing. Weeding out the ones who are really committed, really serious from those who are just in it for the show, marginally interested. That's exactly what Jesus is doing in John chapter 6. I invite your attention to the sixth chapter of John's Gospel where we find that Jesus has presented himself as the son of God with a great miracle, the feeding of the 5,000, maybe 10 to 15,000 people in all, 5,000 men. Following that, the crowd wants to take him by force, take him to Jerusalem and set him up as king, overthrow the Romans, and install him as a king, anyone with that kind of power who can feed them like he did. Surely that's who they want on the throne. Jesus knows their motives are not pure and so he sends the crowd away. He forces the disciples to get into a boat, go across the other side of the sea of Galilee, where Jesus is found the next day by many in that crowd. They find him teaching in the synagogue and Jesus knows it's time for a parting of the ways. He knows it's time to separate those who are truly committed to him from those who are marginally interested for whatever reason, feeding of the bread. We've found a king who can overthrow the Romans, whatever their motive may be. He's going to separate the true from the false. He's going to separate the genuine from the pretenders. And so Jesus preaches this hard sermon. He lays down the truth of bearing their motives in verse 26 of this chapter, where he says, basically I know you're not interested in the signs that I'm the son of God. You're just interested in getting your bellies full. That's it. That's the only motive you have. And so he says, give more attention. In fact, give your earnest effort in verse 27 to food that endures to eternal life. And he says, the son of man will give that to eternal life is a gift. It's not earned like your rabbis tell you from doing the works of God, good works, to save yourself. It's a gift that I will give you. And by the way, he finishes verse 27 by saying, I have the father's good house keeping seal of approval. I am the only one that the father's put his seal of approval on. I am the only way. So Jesus lays down the gauntlet. And he says, there's only one way to get eternal life. And that's as a gift from God, from Jesus himself. And he is the only way of salvation because the father's put his seal of approval on him and him alone. So Jesus lays down the gauntlet and there are four objections to that truth. We saw last week in Jesus over rules all those objections. And basically reinforces the point. There's only one way of salvation. It is a gift from me. And I have the father's seal of approval on me. I am the only way of salvation. Now what that does is it separates the crowd into three different groups. Here's what we'll find today. Christ's hard sermon divides those following him into three clear groups. It is unmistakable that it was Jesus' point in this sermon for a parting of the ways to occur, to separate the wheat from the chaff, the genuine from the false. And that's exactly what happens. I want us to examine those three groups today because their characteristics are described for us as we follow along in the story from verses 60 to 71. But I want us not just to focus on them in the first century because I'm convinced that probably every one of us in this room this morning, most of us at least would fit into one of these three groups. And so I want us to examine our own hearts and our own lives to see which of these three groups we may fall into. Which of these three categories best describes us, best describes me. Here's the parting of the ways, the first group that comes to the surface is the superficial follower of Christ. Notice in verse 60, on hearing it, on hearing this hard sermon by Jesus in the previous verses, on hearing it, many of his disciples said, this is a hard teaching who can accept it. Wasn't hard to understand. It was hard to accept. It was hard to agree with in their hearts. Now I have to pause for a moment and explain the word disciples here because it almost sounds like this is Peter, James and John, and the others of the 12 who are about ready to walk away. And it's important that we understand the way the word disciples is used in the New Testament. It's used three different ways. The word disciple itself simply means a learner or a follower. It has those two connotations. One who learns from someone or one who follows someone. Sometimes it is used of the 12, particularly in the gospels. At other times, particularly in the book of Acts, it is used of all true believers in Christ. But on a few occasions it's used in a more general sense of anyone who follows Christ for whatever reason. That seems to be the sense it's used here. This huge crowd had followed Jesus across the north side of the sea of Galilee to the point where he got off the boat. He fed the 5,000. He disappeared overnight and they followed him back to Copernum and meet him in the synagogue or at least a portion of them do. And so in that very general sense, they're following him around. They're following him around as a crowd listening to him teach. And I think that's the word that's the way the word is used here. It is the most general sense of followers, superficial followers. They will be seen to be. How do we know that? Because of the way they're described. There are three characteristics of superficial followers of Christ. The first is a superficial follower responds negatively to the word. Verse 60 on hearing it. On hearing what the word the word that Jesus spoke in the previous verses. On hearing the word many of his disciples said this is a hard teaching who can accept it. Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this. Jesus said to them, does this offend you? Jesus has just spoken the words of God to them and their response, their negative response to the word of God can be summarized in three words. The first is they grumbled. You see it there? In verse 61, aware that his disciples were grumbling about this. They grumbled at the word they had heard. This discourse of Jesus on the bread and then he is the true bread come down from heaven. They started grumbling about that. It's not that it's difficult to understand. It's hard to accept from their worldview, from their perspective. There are lots of ways. And as long as you're a good person, as long as you keep the law, as long as you try to do the works of God, as we saw last week, what the rabbis taught and rabbis taught different things you needed to do. You would be okay. So for Jesus to come along and say, none of that will get you to heaven. I am the only way to heaven. That's hard to accept for them. And they start grumbling about it. As many people grumble today. When the Bible makes it clear, there's only one way of salvation. Jesus had laid down that gauntlet in verse 27. Only one way, there's only one way the fathers put his approval on. That's through Christ and his death for our sins. There are a lot of people today who nominally, superficially affiliate with Christianity who say, man, that's intolerant. That's really intolerant. We live in an age of tolerance. We need to respect all the views of all the religions while we need to be respectful to people who may hold different views and may worship in other ways and may hold different religions. Tolerance does not mean that you are respectful of every viewpoint and treat them equally. That's not what the Bible teaches. And there's still people who grumble today saying, that's so hard. That's so narrow. Well, Jesus said it was narrow. He said, narrow is the gate. narrow is the way that leads to life eternal. This is not open for every view and every religion. So people grumble still today and indicate that they're not really true followers of Christ. If they're not willing to say there's only one way and that is Jesus Christ. He is the bread from heaven on whom the father has put his seal of approval. There is no other way. The gospel of tolerance today has caused many people to be superficial followers of Jesus giving at the same time lip service to every other way to God. There is only one way and that's through Jesus. And so people grumble at that. But not only did they grumble, they also stumbled. Notice it in verse 61. Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this. Jesus said to them, does this offend you? The word offend or offense is a word that's used throughout the New Testament to mean stumble over. It's not it's not talking about an offense like, Oh, I'm offended at that. I don't like that. Paul uses it in Romans 14 of offending a brother in Christ. And basically he makes it clear there. What he's talking about is causing someone to stumble. This is the way the word is used in the New Testament. So he's talking about you're stumbling over this truth that I'm the only way. And the Bible makes it clear that this is the case. Jesus is often presented in the New Testament as a stone of stumbling. He is the cornerstone set in place by God around which and the foundation on which the entire building will be built. In other words, no other way to be in God's family in God's house except through Christ. He is the foundation stone. And yet Jews stumbled over that. They fell tripped over that. They didn't want to accept that. Look at the way Paul describes this truth in Romans chapter 9. What then shall we say that the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have obtained it? A righteousness that is by faith. But the people of Israel who pursued the law as the way of righteousness have not attained their goal. They haven't attained righteousness. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith. But as if it were by works, they stumbled over the stumbling stone. And here's the concept. He quotes from Isaiah. As it is written, see I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And the one who believes in him will never be put to shame. But just like the Jews in the first century, there are many today who stumble over the truth that Jesus is the only way of salvation. They cannot believe that it would be true. They demand that there must be something else added to what Christ did in order to make us right with God. They simply cannot accept or will not accept the truth that Jesus and Jesus alone is the only way of salvation. And so those who are offended at that stumble over that to their own destruction, that's what it means to stumble and fall. It leads to an eternal destruction in hell. That's stumbling. And notice what Jesus asks them in verse 62. He said then what if you see the son of man ascend where he was before? In other words, if what I've said already offends you and you're stumbling over that, you're not going to be able to handle what's coming next. In the book of John, the time whenever the ascension is referred to, it refers to everything around the ascension. It refers to the crucifixion, the resurrection, the time between the resurrection and the ascension. It refers to that whole process by which Jesus would go back to his father and it includes the cross. And what Jesus is saying is if this sermon causes you to stumble, you'll never be able to handle the cross. And they didn't handle the cross. It was a terrible offense to them for the Jews to think that their Messiah would lower himself to the death of a common criminal. The worst of criminals and be put to death under the Roman system, no upright law by itself righteous Pharisee could believe that their Messiah would come that way. And so they could not handle the cross. If they can't handle this sermon, they'll never handle the cross. Jesus has said you never handle how I ascend to the father. And that's exactly Paul's indictment of people who stumble at this clear presentation of the cross in 1 Corinthians 1. Look at how Paul says it. He says for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. Jews demand signs and that's exactly what we saw they did in chapter 6. They asked for another sign. You're feeding the 5,000 wasn't enough. Do it like Moses. Do it 40 years. Do it for the whole nation. Do it bread from heaven. We need a sign. Jews demand signs. Greeks look for wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified. It's a very simple, straightforward, plain message. It's not colored and leading down with all manner of wise eloquent sayings. It is a plain, simple message. Christ crucified. Notice what happens. That's a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. Nonetheless, that is the only message that saves. It's the only message that has the power to save. It's the only message that will break through the hardness of the heart and the blindness of the mind is the message of the cross. And so people who are superficial followers grumble at that message, stumble at that message. And then thirdly, they fumbled. They fumbled away their opportunity to be saved. And that's exactly what Jesus points to in verses 63 and 63. The spirit gives life. The flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you. They are full of the spirit and life. Jesus draws a contrast here between the spirit and the flesh. And obviously in the context, he's talking about two different ways supposedly to try to reach God, to try to get saved, to try to be righteous. One of those ways that is attempted is through the flesh. And that stands for every work that we seek to do on our own to make ourselves pleasing to God, to mark up some brownie points so that God will look at us and smile. So you know, you're really not too bad. I think I'll let you in. That's the flesh. That's anything we do. It's anything we try to accomplish in our own goodness, to merit salvation, to earn it, to gain it. And Jesus makes it clear that counts for nothing when it comes to salvation. All that you do to try to be good. Join the church, be baptized. Try to live better. Treat your family better. Work harder. Whatever. All that you do adds up to a big fat zero. It counts for nothing when it comes to life. Jesus says it is the spirit. The spirit gives life. And what he's talking about is following up what he said last week. He said nobody can come to me except the father draw him. And we saw that that work of God and bringing people to himself is done through the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that creates conviction of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, and calls us people to see their own need and their need of Christ. That's what the Holy Spirit does. The spirit gives life. Now how does the spirit do that? Jesus tells us again like you did last week. The words I have spoken to you, they are full of the spirit and life. So how does the spirit give life through the words that Jesus spoke? They are full of the spirit's power and of life. It is this book and this book alone. It is the Word of God alone. That is the seed, the Spirit of God plants in the heart of a lost person so that it might germinate and bring forth life. It is this book alone that will bring salvation. It is the gospel, the gospel message that we are all sinners and that we need a Savior and God loved us so much he provided a Savior in Jesus who died for our sins, to pay our penalty on the cross. That is the gospel, that is the message, those are the words of Christ, the Word of God. And so he says basically you got these two options, the flesh, the spirit. The flesh gives you a big fat zero. The spirit gives life, eternal life. And you are on the verge of squandering away, fumbling away your opportunity to have that life. It is just like a football team that drives down to the one yard line. And they say hey we got a guy on the bench over here that can get it into the end zone, 270 pound. Big guy and we will put him in. He will play the full back position. All we got to do is hand in the ball. Everybody knows we are giving it to him. Everybody knows what we are doing but he can plow through anybody and get it into the end zone. One yard and the guy hits the line, somebody line back or gets in and trips him up and he fumbles the ball and the other team gets it and the team loses their opportunity to score. It is exactly what is happening to the Jews. I have handed the ball off to you, Jesus says. It is a no-brainer. I have told you simply what it means to be saved. There is only one way of life and that is through me, the bread from heaven, the Holy Spirit must work in the Word of God. The Holy Spirit must work in your heart to convince you of that and it is through my Word that he will do that. It is that simple believe in me but you are fumbling away your opportunity. The superficial follower of Christ, one who is not really genuine, one who really does not have the depth of belief in Christ in their heart, just kind of superficial following the crowd, following the church, responds negatively to the Word of God. That is a sign of a superficial follower of Christ. There is a second sign however. A superficial follower has never trusted Christ. Never really trusted Christ. Look at verse 64. Jesus says, yet there are some of you who do not believe. For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray Him. Jesus knows. You see Jesus knows our heart. Christ knows every heart here today and He knows those of us who may simply be associated with Christ's followers like this crowd was. Along the bandwagon for what is happening that is kind of cool, kind of neat that we love the excitement about but have never placed your faith in Christ as you saved your, never trusted Him from your heart. The work of God has never really been done in your life. You see there are some people that feel like they are associated with the church and because they are associated with the church they are okay. They are superficial, fringe followers of Christ but not from the heart. Jesus knows your heart here today. He knows whether or not there has ever been a time in your life when you fell to your knees and recognized you were a center and you needed Christ as a savior. He knows why you are here. He knows why you are following. He knows everything in your heart. He knows whether or not you have really ever trusted Christ as your savior. 1979, Hurricane David swept across the Caribbean one of the most destructive storms ever in the Caribbean. A category five hurricane when it hit Dominican Republic. There were thousands of people killed. Over 2000 in the Dominican Republic alone were killed. Hurricane David. It was the first hurricane to ever be retired. The name to be retired by the National Weather Service. It was just absolutely devastating. Into the Dominican Republic, 400 of those over 2000 people that were killed. 400 of them were killed when they took refuge in a church building that they thought would protect them. And the horrific winds leveled that church building and killed everyone inside. How horrible. Yes, indeed. And how horrible it would be to seek refuge among God's people in his church and yet never trust from your heart that Jesus died for you and commit your life to him as your savior. How horrible it would be to seek refuge in association with God's people but never really to be one of God's people because you've never really trusted Christ as your savior. The consequences would be more horrible than what happened then in that place because they would be eternal. They would last forever. Superficial follower of Christ has never trusted Christ. But the third characteristic of a superficial follower is that he or she has ceased to follow Christ. They ceased to follow Christ. Notice verse 66. From this time, many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. Jesus had gone on to say in verse 65. This is why I told you no one can come to me unless the father has enabled them. God's got to be doing this work through his spirit and his word. And from this time, many of his disciples turned back and no longer follow him. He's talking about those followers who are simply following him for the food they get. And that's all they want. They just want to king who can meet their needs and overthrow the Romans. They have no deeper knowledge or understanding than that. And Jesus makes it clear to them what the gospel is. And by the way, it's not wrong for people to come because they have needs. You know, that's part of the DNA of our church. We do have a lot of ministries that reach out to the needs of people. But if all we do is fill their bellies, we're doing no more than what the superficial followers expected. If all we do is meet physical needs, we're doing that. If we don't use that as the opportunity to introduce them to Christ, and that's what Jesus did. He preached this message about the gospel. If we don't do that, we fall in far short. And we will only draw superficial followers who are here for whatever we offer them. And then when the real claims of Christ are presented, they walk away. And you don't see them anymore. Can't find them anymore. Why? Why? Because they've never really understood the gospel and embraced Christ by faith. Superficial followers at some point will turn and walk away. Now, this is not the temporary walking away of just the wavering in your faith or a rough time you go through where you're questioning things. Even the disciples will do that after the resurrection. They'll walk away temporarily, but they came back. This is someone who really doesn't understand the claims of Christ, who's here just because of what you get. And as long as it benefits me, I'll hang around. But when when the sermon starts coming, it's hard that talks about the only way of salvation that sounds so intolerant. Walk away. Didn't count on that. Didn't think about the claims of Christ. This is a permanent walking away and going back to the old life. The superficial follower ceases to follow Christ. It's the difference between in Paul's experience, a John Mark and a Demise, two men who worked with Paul who walked away from him. John Mark walked away and we don't know all the reasons why, but he walked away. But then he came back and he ended up even stronger than before. His heart really showed. Demise, Paul says in 2nd Timothy 4, has forsaken me having loved this present world. That's where his heart is. And although there's not much of the testimony of Paul left in his life for sure, there's no evidence that Demise ever came back. And certainly what Paul says is his heart is over there. It's not with us. His heart is with the world. He's loved this present world system. The superficial follower ceases to follow Christ. Where are you? Are you in this category? Are you only here because of what you get? Materially speaking or because this is a fairly nice church and it's close to where I live and has a family here. Kind of nice to them and people are supposed to go church on Sunday, right? Well, I'm glad you're here, but I'm trusting and hoping that when you hear the real claims of Christ, you'll come under the conviction of the Spirit of God and receive them and not walk away. Superficial followers who were here for their own agenda end up walking away. But there's another group and that's the true disciples, the true followers, the true believers in Christ. They are described in verses 67 to 69. Look at verse 67. You do not want to leave too, do you? Jesus asked the 12. What a question. What a gripping moment. As the crowds are walking away, Jesus turns to his men, his 12. And the question is rightly translated in the NIV. It's a question that we know from the construction of it was designed to get a no answer. And so it's well translated here. You do not want to leave too, do you? He's expecting the answer no. Jesus asked the 12. And by the way, that leads me to the first mark of a true believer. The first mark of a true believer desires to follow Christ. She desires to follow Christ. A true believer desires to follow Christ. Jesus looks at them. Where is your heart? You don't want. You don't desire to leave either, do you? And again, the way the question is formed in the original language anticipates a negative answer. He's expecting no. He's confirming the fact that he knows in their hearts they are true believers. Why? Because he knows there is a desire. You do want to follow me. You do have a heart desire. But Christ will test all of our hearts in that way. He will test us to see whether or not our heart is with the religious crowd, with religious ritual, with religious good works to try to get your way to heaven. He will test us in our hearts to see if our hearts are really with the world, really with the world system of thought and philosophy and way of living. He will test us to see where our hearts really are, where our desires really are. And he will ask us the same question you don't want to go to, do you? Where is your heart? And I would ask all of us today, where is our heart? Is our heart really with Christ? Is our hearts desire really to follow Him from the depths of our heart? Does it mean we do it perfectly? None of us do. And sometimes we fail. But where is your heart? Is there a genuine desire to be a Christ follower, to live like He lives, to walk with Him, to please Him, to obey Him? That's characteristic of a true believer. Second characteristic is this. A true believer is satisfied with Christ. All I love, Peter's answer, verse 68, when Jesus said, you do not want to leave too, do you? Simon Peter answered him, the Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Peter, the impulsive, impetuous, quick to speak, Peter answers for all of them. Sometimes when he does that, it's really bad. Sometimes when he does it, it's pretty good. Here it is absolutely marvelous. It's brilliant. I love this heartfelt answer. Lord, to whom shall we go? There is nobody else. There's no other place to go. There's no place where my heart would be satisfied. Lord, there's no one else. There's nothing else. We have found all we desire in you. Lord, to whom shall we go? Is that true for you? Where is your heart most comfortable? Where is your heart most satisfied? Is your heart most at home in this world? With its philosophy of life, is your heart more at home with your own sin? Is that where you're satisfied? Or does your heart cry out like Peter's? Lord, there's no other place to go. There's no one else to turn to. Our heart has found all we need in you. Is that where you are today? That's the mark of a true believer. Satisfied with Christ. But the third mark is this. True believer loves the Word of God. I love Peter's second part of his answer to. He says, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of life. Lord, that's what's attracted us to you. That's why our heart is with you. That's why we can't leave you. You have the words of life. Peter did not say, Lord, you have great miracles. He didn't say that. No, you have the words of life, Lord. Peter didn't say, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have all the power. He didn't say that. He said, you have the words of life. Peter was not saying anything about what we get out of this, what the benefits are to us. That was the superficial follower. Jesus nailed them when he said, all you want your belly, Phil. You don't want anything else. So Peter says, Lord, the reason we are with you, the reason our hearts can go nowhere else, not because of the miracles. They're great. Not because of your great power. That's wonderful. But you have the words of life. A true believer is attached to Christ through His Word. There is a love for the Word of God. And I would ask you again, what is it that attracts you or keeps you here? Is it because it's a nice church? Is it because there are nice people here? I hope those things are true. And sometimes those are things that attract people to our church. And that's wonderful. But what is it that from your heart really keeps you here? Is it God's Word? Is it the words of life from the scriptures for a true believer? That's what resonates from your heart. That's what binds you to Christ is His Word. You have the words of life. I had an uncle who lived in St. Louis, an unbeliever, his whole family, unbelievers. And he chose a church in St. Louis because he thought it would be a beautiful place for his daughters to have weddings. He thought it would be a beautiful place for his daughters to have weddings. It was a beautiful church. You know what? I'm glad he started going there. But I'm glad it didn't stop there. There was a preacher in that church, Central Presbyterian Church in St. Louis, who preached powerfully the Word of God. My uncle Bill came to know Christ as his Savior. His family came to know the Lord as their Savior. So I understand what people would be attracted to church for any number of reasons. But if that's all you get, you'll be a superficial follower and walk away someday. Unless the Word of God penetrates your heart through the Holy Spirit, you realize your need of Christ and you trust Him. And there becomes a bond between you and Christ through His Word. And it is His Word that nourishes you and builds you up and feeds you and causes you to grow and challenges you to serve and to get out into the community and be Christ for other people. It is His Word which does all that. A true believer loves the Word of God. But then fourthly, a true believer confesses faith in Christ. Peter goes on to say in verse 69, we have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God. What an amazing declaration of faith. I love the content of it. He says, my confession of faith is that you are the Holy One of God. That is a powerful term. It is an Old Testament name for God used in a couple of the prophets. And so Peter being a good, well-school Jew knows that he's using an Old Testament name for Jehovah and applying it to Christ. It is an amazing confession of Christ as God. You are the Holy One of God. There's only one other time in the Gospels. That term is found used of Jesus. It's recorded both in Mark and Luke, but it's the same account where Jesus is casting out a demon in someone and that demon possessed man. Actually, the demon speaks and says, you are the Holy One of God. What are you here to do with us? It becomes a title that is given to Jesus in the book of Acts. Peter himself uses it again in his sermon in Acts 3 in the temple. The Holy One of God. What an amazing declaration. But I also love not only the substance of it, but when it was given as the crowd walks away. Peter is found saying, I know everyone else is leaving, but I stake my claim right here. We have come to believe and we have come to know that you are the Holy One of God. Doesn't matter what everybody else does. Our hearts are settled on you, Lord. And then I love the certainty of it. We have come to believe and we have come to know. We have come to a firm settled faith in you as the Holy One of God. And we have come to know anytime John uses that word. It's used of knowledge by experience. We have come to know not because someone else told us, not because we studied in a book. We have come to know by experience that you are the Holy One of God. You know what he's thinking about, don't you? If you've been with us the last few weeks, he's thinking about what happened the night before. Remember the very reason Jesus put them out on that lake was to prepare them for the hard sermon. And when he came walking to them on the water and Peter went out walking to Christ on the water, Jesus still the storm. Remember their response? Matthew 14 declares their response was, truly you are the Son of God. They experienced his power, his deity, his greatness. And so now their hearts are settled. We have come to know. Peter says that you are the Holy One of God. We saw it last night on the lake and it is firmly in our hearts that you are the Son of God. You are the Holy One and nothing can shape that. They have made it through the hard sermon, which is driven away the crowd because they know from experience Jesus is who he says he is. Where is your heart today, my friend? Do you confess Christ, your faith in Him, regardless of what others do? Do you know that you know Him? The true believer desires to follow Christ is satisfied with Christ, loves the Word of God and confesses faith in Christ. When everybody else is walking away, that is a true believer. But there is one other group quickly. It is a group of one. It is the pretender. There is a pretender in their midst. Peter has spoken for all of the twelve when he has said we have come to know, we have come to believe, and Jesus is going to say, no, not all of you. There is a pretender in the midst. Notice what Jesus says in verse 70. Then Jesus replied, have I not chosen you, the twelve, yet one of you is a devil. He meant Judas, the son of Simon is chariot, though one of the twelve was later to betray him. There was a pretender among the group, and there are three characteristics of pretenders in Jesus description and John's description of Judas. The first one is this, a pretender remains among believers, though never said. This is not the superficial follower who walks away when the preaching gets hard, when it becomes clear that we are not tolerant of every religion and way, supposed way to God. When it becomes clear that there is only one way, when it becomes clear that the word of God is true, when those things become clear, superficial followers walk away, the pretenders stay. They remain among believers, though never said. Judas didn't walk away with the crowd. He was an out and out imposter. He posed as a disciple. He played the part and he played it well. He was in every sense of the word a pretender. Jesus calls him a devil, not the devil, not the personal Satan, but a devil, one who has the same characteristics, a deceiver, a deceiver like Satan. And oh, did he ever deceive everybody? That leads me to the second characteristic. The pretender may be undetected by others. You see what John does in verse 71. He puts an explanation in parenthesis. Do you see that in your Bible? When Jesus is talking, John, as he's writing later, adds this in parenthesis as an explanation by the way, he meant Judas. John was writing about 60 years after the events and he writes that in that was not a part of the actual happening that was written in as John writes the gospel, which indicates the disciples didn't realize at the time Jesus was speaking that Judas was the betrayer. He fooled them all. He really did. Even up to the very end Judas fooled them. He played the part so well. Come to the last night of Jesus' life before he will die on the cross. Jesus is in the upper room with the disciples and Jesus looks at them and says this very night, one of you will betray me. What do they do? They all started asking, is it I, Lord? Is it I? Nobody pointed the finger at Judas. They didn't know. Not up to the very end. In fact, I'm convinced that they probably didn't know in the Garden of Gethsemane. I think they probably believed as that Roman cohort of soldiers came up that they had apprehended Judas after Jesus had sent him out from the upper room that night. They probably found him forced him to reveal where Jesus was. They watched as Judas walks up and plants a kiss on his cheek. Jesus calls him friend. They all run and Judas stays. You know most of the disciples must have thought Judas was the only one who stayed faithful to Christ that night. I'm convinced they did not understand he was a deceiver till after the resurrection. Jesus explained everything to them. Judas played the part very well and it could be that there's some of you here today playing the part very well. You look like a Christian. You act like a Christian. You talk like a Christian. You are a pretender. You're playing a part. I would not dare presume what your motives are for playing that part. But if you search deep into your heart, you know that you're just pretending you're playing a part. You're doing it for whatever reason that may benefit you. And you remain among believers, but you yourself are not a true believer in Christ. What a dangerous position to be in. And here's the reason. The third mark you cannot deceive Christ. Jesus knew have not I chosen you the 12 yet one of you as a devil. He knew. And earlier we saw last week in this in the preaching the message that he gave. He knew who would betray him. The Bible says. Jesus knew you cannot deceive him. You can play the part well, my friend. But if you've never really from your heart come to know Christ is your savior. There will come a day when you stand before Jesus and your deception. Your pretence will be revealed. You ever heard the expression you got to face the music. You realize where that comes from. It comes from a true story that is about the old imperial orchestra in Japan many many years ago. The orchestra that played for the emperor. There was a man who gave a lot of funding to that orchestra and who was pretty influential in his position in Japan who wanted always to be on the stage. That was his dream. He wanted to be on the stage. You wanted to play with the orchestra. He didn't know music. He couldn't play an instrument. He couldn't read music. So he appealed to the director of the orchestra to let him be on the stage. He was playing an instrument. He was so influential in the community. The director agreed to this scheme. He said, okay, we'll put you in the second row. You'll be behind the first row. We'll give you a flute. You watch carefully what other people do. You move your fingers like they do. He did. The ruse lasted for two years. Every concert he took his chair on the second row. He picked up his flute. He puckered his lips or whatever you do with your lips when you play a flute. He moved his fingers. It looked like he was playing with the orchestra. He never played a note of music. That lasted until the director resigned and they hired a new director. The new director of the orchestra wanted everyone to have a personal audition so that he could have a personal evaluation of their skills and know what chair he wanted them placed in in the orchestra. This guy started sweating bullets. He feigned sickness when it was his time to audition but the director had a doctor go in and check him out. He was fine. He was forced to go in and the scheme was revealed. He was unceremoniously kicked out of the orchestra. There will come a day my friend when you stand before the divine conductor. And if all this time you've been sitting in the orchestra picking up your instrument, looking good, playing with the others it appears. Playing the part very well. You can deceive everybody else. You cannot deceive Christ. The game will be up someday when you stand before him. How much better would it be to honestly admit I'm not saved. I know everybody thinks I am. I know I play the part pretty well but I'm not saved. I know I've never trusted Christ as my savior. How much better would it be to do that today? Here's the real question my friend. The real purpose of this passage is this. What do you see in Jesus? Why are you identifying with Jesus? Is it because you're lonely and you need a companion? Is it because you're suffering from identity crisis and you want meaning and purpose? Is it because you're hungry and you want to provide her? Is it because you're oppressed and you want a champion? Is it because you're discontented and you want a revolutionary? Is it because you're hopeless and you want some inspiration in your life? Don't misunderstand me. Christ will prove to be all of that and more. And those may be the initial reasons why you are attracted to church or to him. But if you never come as a sinner in need of a savior, you will never get to heaven. You will end up being a superficial follower who will eventually walk away or even worse yet a pretender. But your pretence will be found out someday. So wherever you are in your attraction to the things of God or to Christianity or to church, wherever you are, please my friend, I am pleading with you and I ask God through His Spirit and His Word to help you see that you need to come as a sinner needing a savior. That's the only way you'll be saved. That's the only way you can ever stand before God. Would you pray with me, please? Father, I pray that you would speak to our hearts, all of our hearts today. All of us need to examine ourselves to see which category we fit in. Jesus challenges disciples with where they were. We all need to be challenged. So I pray that we will do a serious heart self-examination before you today. And if that reveals that we are simply superficial followers of Christ who are kind of in the crowd, but not genuinely committed to you, I pray that today we would turn to you in faith and become a true believer. I pray that if there's pretence in our hearts and we're just playing the part, we may look good, sound good, do good. But we've never come as a sinner needing a savior. I pray that today, as we examine our hearts, we find ourselves as a pretender that we would come to you as savior. Moving hearts by your spirit and your word, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.