From the very beginning, from the earthly ministry of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to this very day, unsaved and undedicated man has demanded that Jesus Christ and His followers compromise. Compromise. This is such an interesting word. Webster's Dictionary defines compromise as “An amicable agreement between parties in controversy, to settle their differences by mutual concessions”. In other words, two equal parties are at odds with one another, and in order to reach an agreement both parties decide to concede certain points to the other party. Both parties decide to lower their requirements a bit in order that the two reach an agreement.

This is the condition that the Church of Jesus Christ finds itself in today. I want you to notice that, in our focal text, those who wanted to compromise with Jesus were His disciples, that is, people who were His followers. The text says that those who were in disagreement with Jesus were ..

(John 6:60a) "... Many therefore of his disciples ...”

and,

(John 6:66) “... From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him..."

These were disciples, the Greek word mathetes {pronounced math-ay-tes’} meaning student followers of Jesus. These people had, as the old time Baptists like to say, “walked the aisle”, came forward, and professed allegiance for Jesus Christ. These people, disciples, were supposed to be lovers of God, children of the King, and lights in this dark and evil world. Yet these disciples said, as the New American Standard renders it,

(John 6:60 NASB) "Many therefore of His disciples, when they heard this said, "This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?""

They employed the same standard, the same tactic that many local churches employ today: “We must compromise this message, or we will not have a following. We must walk away from what the Scripture shows as truth, or else the church house will be empty.”

This is the message that the world has given the Church – walk away from Jesus, or walk away from “our support”. Yet what have we gained by walking away from Jesus?

1. Misunderstanding and Walking Away

In the history of the Church many people have walked away from Jesus because they misunderstood. They misunderstood either the message of the preacher – which may or may not have been the preacher's fault. Sometimes people just don't listen! Or else they heard the message, but felt that it was inappropriate for this day and age. That was for yesterday, but not for today. Others still have walked away because the Word of God was offensive to the traditional lifestyle of the hearer. This was the case with these disciples. Those who heard Jesus were Jewish, they heard Jesus preaching in the Temple of God, and they heard Him speak a Word that was offensive to their traditions. The hard saying that these disciples rejected was this:

(John 6:53-58 KJV) "... Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. {54} Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. {55} For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. {56} He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. {57} As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. {58} This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever."

The disciples heard that they had to eat Christ's flesh and drink Christ's blood if they expected to live forever. When they heard these words they immediately began to grumble - “This is a difficult statement – we can't hear this! Eat His flesh, drink His blood? Who does He think He is?”

Jesus was what Jesus is – God Incarnate, God in the flesh, come to dwell among us. His words need to be treated carefully, for they are the words of God, they are the words of life! In the Old Testament the Word of God was considered so holy that it's text was bound in boxes and braided in the priest's hair:

Deuteronomy 11:18-21 (KJV) "Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. {19} And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. {20} And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: {21} That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth."

The Word of Christ has value for it is the Word of God. These disciples walked away from the Word because they did not understand it, just as so many in our day have come to Church – heard the Word – then walked away because they could not understand it.

God does not call for our understanding, but for our obedience. When we take that Word and bind it upon our hands, lay it up upon our hearts, teach it to our children, dwell on it when we rise and when we set, write it upon the door posts of our houses, and obey it whether we “feel right” about it or not – then God promises us blessing. Our days will be multiplied, the lives of our children increased, our land blessed and healed, and our paths all straightened out.

When we go to the doctor and are told that a virus has infected us, that we need a certain shot to get well, we do not question the doctor and demand that he explain how such a thing can cure us. We do not demand that the doctor draw diagrams, that he hold a class and lecture us, that we be given a course of study – complete with degrees – before the needle pierce our skin. No, Beloved, when the doctor tells us we need thus and such, then we say “Do it! Heal me! Stick me! Make me well!”

Jesus can do nothing for the person who wants to be their own doctor. The disciple who feels that – as long as what Jesus asks me is reasonable, then I'll do it – this disciple belongs with John, not with Jesus. If you want to fix yourself, go to the Wal-Mart and buy bandages. If you want to be healed, go to the Great Physician.

Matthew 9:12-13 (KJV) "... They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. {13} But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

There are many things in this life that I do not understand, yet I enjoy these things by faith. Ancient civilizations would not have understood how music could have been transmitted through the air – for there is music all around you right this moment. You only need a radio to pick it up. You may not understand how this works, even today, but you know it is true because you have experienced it.

It is a simple thing to understand the words of Christ if you pause and, by faith, consider these words in the light of the Scriptural context, for Jesus compared Himself spiritually to the manna that Israel received when they wandered in the wilderness.

Israel in the desert had no food available but the manna that fell as the dew in the morning. The Christian in this life has no sustenance available but Jesus Christ our Savior. Manna was provided by God to Israel because of the Grace of God.. Jesus is provided by God the Father to all who will accept Him because of the Grace of God. The Jew neither earned nor deserved the manna that fell, but picked up enough for that day's bread from the ground when it fell. God the Son, Jesus Christ, was sent by God the Father to an unbelieving world. The believer who is sustained by Christ neither earns nor deserves salvation. Anyone can take Christ to themselves, for He is freely offered to all.

(John 12:49-50 KJV) "For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. {50} And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak."

Just as manna was sent for Israel, Christ was sent to the world by the Father. Each day the Jew woke up he knew that his only means of survival was to gather the manna that God dropped in the morning. Likewise the Christian knows that our Savior must be clung to, that He is our sustenance, our only means of survival. The Jew who refused to gather manna went hungry until the next day, and the disciple who refuses to clasp Jesus to his breast – to absorb Jesus – to take Jesus intimately into his life – then this person remains hungry, unsatisfied.

Manna provided temporal life for the Jew, whereas Christ, our Manna from Heaven, provides eternal life for the believer.

Just as manna was Israel's only source of life, Christ Jesus is our only source of life. We must absorb Jesus. We must eat His flesh and drink His blood – not by communion, nor by literal cannibalism, but by believing on His Word.

There is no validity in believing in Christ if you will not believe on His Word.

When I was a child there were many things my parents told me that were astounding to my young mind. I did not understand these things, but because I loved my parents I accepted them as true. And you know what? When I grew up, I found out that – what I accepted by faith – was true. My parents did not lie to me.

Jesus Christ never lied to us, either. If we would just accept that fact, and believe on Him, we would find that His Word is always faithful – even when we don't understand it.

2. Walking Away Breeds Monsters

John 6:63-64 “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. {64} But there are some of you that believe not.”

or

(John 6:63-64 NASB) ""It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. {64} "But there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him."

Walking away from Christ's Word breeds monsters in the nation, in the state, in society, in schools, in families, and in the Church. I have often looked at the testimony of Scripture and stood in amazement at the monstrosity of those who walked away from the Word of God.

Matthew 2:16 (KJV) "Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men."

I have wondered at the monstrosity of Herod who, because he could not catch the baby Jesus, had all the children of Bethlehem – little babies, under two years old – murdered. What could cause such monstrosity? What could take someone so far from simple human compassion that he would think nothing of killing tiny babies?

2 Kings 17:17-18 (KJV) "And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. {18} Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only."

I have wondered at the monstrosity of Israel who, because they began to worship false gods, sacrificed their babies on the altars of these strange gods. What parent who loved their children could do such a thing to their own flesh and blood?

2 Samuel 11:15 (KJV) "And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die."

I have wondered at the monstrosity of David who had a faithful warrior murdered so that he could take his wife to himself in adultery. I have wondered, in awe, at other monstrosities that have been present in our society, in our world, in America, in our families. I have wondered of the monstrosity of Columbine, where two children murdered so many other children. I have wondered at the monstrosity of the Holocaust, where so many millions of innocents were killed and incinerated. I have wondered at the monstrosity ...

The truth is that every human has in himself an Old Sin Nature, and has in himself the ability to choose God's Word and reject the evil. If any person choose to reject or walk away from Christ, then that person automatically choose another path, the path of sin. God said:

Proverbs 1:29-31 (KJV) "For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: {30} They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. {31} Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices."

Monsters are created when we walk away from Christ. We create monsters in our families. We ourselves turn monstrous. Our nation begins to be monstrous as people turn away from God our Savior and toward our own ways. When we walk away from Christ's words, the Word of God, because:

a. We do not understand, or because
b. We think we know better in ourselves, or because
c. We are not receiving the good feeling we thought we should receive, or because
d. We just do not care to surrender to God our Savior

Then we set a precedence in our lives that can lead to monstrosity. There is power and life in the words of God. The same Word that created all life, all living things – that made all things in six days, that said “Let there be light” and there was light – this word has the power to bless and give life. Jesus said:

John 5:24 (KJV) "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."

and,

(John 10:10 KJV) "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."

Those disciples who walked away from Christ walked away from life that day. They didn't just walk away from eternal life – though eternal life comes only by believing on Jesus Christ – but they walked away from blessed temporal life.

We can accept God's manna from Heaven, Jesus Christ God's Word, or we can can reject the manna and find death and defeat. The Church of Christ can hear His words and know that ..

they are spirit, and they are life

and prosper, or the Church of Christ can reject His Words, compromise His Words, and become just like the unbelieving world. There is no victory apart from a solid, living, devoted faith to Christ and to His Words. As the Scripture says:

(1 John 5:4-5 KJV) "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. {5} Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?"

Monstrosity and loss comes from a life that is apart from Christ. Salvation and eternal blessing comes to the life surrendered to Christ our Savior.

3. Walking With Christ

(John 6:63, 66) “... the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. ... {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. {66} From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him."

What a sad thing, that these disciples - who walked and talked with Jesus – walked away and walked no more with Jesus. How sad! So many people lose a blessing and a blessed life because they will not be still and see the salvation of God.

Their walking away not only effected them, but effected their families as well. They became a curse, and not a blessing. Their children became a curse, and not a blessing.. Listen Beloved ...

The difference between a blessing and a cursing is your relationship with God our Savior, Jesus Christ. Jesus asked these wayward disciples:

John 6:62 “What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?”

or as the New American Standard says:

(John 6:62 NASB) ""What then if you should behold the Son of Man ascending where He was before?"

Our Lord's question was, quite simply, “If you saw Me in the glory of Heaven that I came from, would you believe Me then?” These people saw Jesus, not as God the Son descended to man, but as mere man. They went away without experiencing the blessing of salvation by faith in Jesus. They went away without seeing Jesus ascend to the Father, as the eleven faithful disciples did:

(Acts 1:9-11 KJV) "And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. {10} And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; {11} Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven."

Because these people refused to believe – because they busied themselves with Church hopping and compromise and shallow faith, they missed an even that would come only once in eternity, the Ascension of Christ.

Beloved, when we disbelieve Jesus, when we make a decision to reject His Word because it is too hard to hear in favor of a easier word from the world, we strip ourselves of blessing.

The manna that God the Father gave us is Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord. The manna that God has given us is the Word that He has spoken to us. If you reject Jesus Christ as Savior, you have not rejected this Church, this Preacher, nor this congregation. You have rejected life. Only Jesus' can clean up a life:

John 15:3 (KJV) "Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you."

John 12:48 (KJV) "He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day."

There is no salvation apart from Jesus. There is no life apart from Jesus. There is no lasting happiness apart from a relationship with God in Christ Jesus. There is no salvation apart from a life surrendered to Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:18-31 (KJV) "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. {19} For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. {20} Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? {21} For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. {22} For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: {23} But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; {24} But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. {25} Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. {26} For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: {27} But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; {28} And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: {29} That no flesh should glory in his presence. {30} But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: {31} That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."