Exploring The Difficulties Of Becoming A Disciple of Jesus

SERMON SUBJECT: EXPLORING THE DIFFICULTIES OF BECOMING A DISCIPLE OF JESUS

SERMON TEXT: John 6:60-71

SERMON THESIS: Discipleship demands our all.

INTRODUCTION: The explorations of space during the 20^th Century and into the 21^st has brought both successes and failures in the arena of science.   Continuing to move forward, however, in spite of the difficulties has opened vistas of knowledge beyond the human imagination. Yet the challenge is still before this scientific generation. 

Today I want to talk to you about another type of exploration.  As science is to space, I want to talk to you about what difficulties are to discipleship under the title: Exploring

The Difficulties of Becoming a Disciple of Jesus.  Like the explorations of space, while the challenges are great, so it is with becoming a disciple of Jesus.  On the flip side, however, the challenges pale in light of the rewards to be gained.

First . . .

1.  BECOMING A DISCIPLE OF JESUS DEMANDS HIGH MORAL STANDARDS

The Bible says, “On hearing it, many of His disciples said, ‘This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?’”(v. 60).

In John’s discourse on the Bread of Life, he gave the would-be followers of Christ some hard teachings to follow.  While teaching in Capernaum, Jesus laid down some hard teachings.  Those who were listening to his teachings even said, “This is a hard teaching.

Who can accept it?” 

The Greek word for “hard” here is “skleros.”  This word does not mean hard to understand.  What it does mean is hard to accept or hard to tolerate.  The disciples knew what He had been saying in His discourse on the Bread of Life.  They knew that He was the life of God sent down from heaven, and that no one would go to heaven without submitting to His Lordship.  Commentator Barclay coined their difficulty in submitting to Jesus, and obeying His teachings in these words, by saying, “ . . . it is not the intellectual difficulty of accepting Jesus which keeps men from becoming Christians; it is the height of Christ’s moral demand.”  He goes on to say, “It demands an act of surrender to Christ, an acceptance of His as the final authority; and it demands a moral standard wherein only the pure in heart may see God.”

 Modern Christianity, I suggest to you has become a watered-down Christianity.  Here is what has happened, we have taken God’s high moral standards and mixed our lower moral standards with them and thus come out with a watered-down Christianity.  For example, the Bible says, “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.  Nor should there be any obscenity, foolish talk or  course joking, which are out of place . . .”(Ephesians 5:4-4).

Concerning “sexual immorality,” according to the authors of every man’s battle, “ . . .

we’ve simply chosen to mix our own standards of sexual conduct with God’s standards.” This can be true of any of God’s moral standards as outlined in Scripture.

Having mixed our lower moral standards with God’s higher moral standards, the question is asked, “How far can I go and still be called a Christian?” The question that we should be asking, however, is this, “How holy can I be?”  In light of our mixed standards with God’s fixed standards of obedience the prophet Hosea ask these question, and I paraphrase . . .

“What is going on here? Why are my children choosing to be impure?  They are Christians, for heaven’s sake! When are they going to start acting like it?”

Becoming a disciple of Jesus demands high moral standards.  That is why there are so few of them.  That is why the disciples stopped following Him.

Second . . .

2.  BECOMING A DISCIPLE OF JESUS  MEANS BELIEVING IN MIRACLES  BUT TRUSTING IN JESUS -

In the larger context of this passage, Jesus fed the five thousand (6:1-150), and He walked  on the water (6:16-24).  Observing these two miracles “The crowds were attracted to His signs more than to His truth.”  Miracles are not an end in themselves as some might think.  One must look for the message in the miracle.  A person can benefit from a miracle like those who ate the bread at the feeding of the five thousand, who said, “Sir . . . from now own give us this bread”(v. 34), but never see the “sign” or the message pointing them to faith in Jesus.             

 I suggest to you that most followers of Christ want what He can give them, more than they want Him and His truth.  We too often say to Jesus, as those who stopped following Him, “. . . from now on give us this bread.”  We want the bread, that is to say what He can give us, but find the Savior Himself distasteful.  Many are looking for the miracles but not for the man of the message.  Allow this writer to capture this idea for us . . . “There is no one who can give us so much as Jesus, but the fact remains, if we come to Him solely to get and never to give we will certainly turn back.  The man who would follow Jesus must remember that in following Jesus there is always a Cross.

Becoming a disciple of Jesus means believing in miracles but trusting in Jesus!

Third . . .

3.  BECOMING A DISCIPLE OF JESUS HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THE FATHER’S INITIATIVE -

 Jesus said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless the Father enables him”(v. 65).  In verse 37, Jesus said, “All that the Father gives Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never drive away.”  He also says, “No one can  come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him . . .”(v. 44).

“The Lord appeared to him from afar, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness”(Jeremiah 31:3).

“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”( John 12:32).

1) No one is capable of coming to Jesus on his own.  Why?  We are sinners and cannot save ourselves.”  A drowning man who has fallen from a ship and cannot swim in the middle of the ocean cannot save himself.   Quote Ephesians 2:8-9 . . .  I state it again. No one is capable of coming to Jesus on his own.

2) One comes to Jesus only as a gift from the Father.  Note the phrase in verse 37, “All that the Father gives Me . . .” 

Jesus prayed in His High Priestly Prayer . . .

“Even as Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind that to all whom Thou has given Him, He may give eternal life.”( John 17:2).

“I manifested Thy name to the men whom Thou gavest Me out of the world:Thine they were, and Thou gavest them to Me, and they have kept Thy word.”(John 17:6).

“I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine, and Thine are Mine; and I have been glorified in them.”(John 17: 9).

“Father , I desire that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, in order that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me; for Thou didst love Me before the foundation of the world.”(John 17:24).

God gives us to Jesus as a gift.

Becoming a disciple of Jesus has everything to do with the Father’s initiative!

Forth, and final . . .

4.  BECOMING A DISCIPLE OF JESUS COMES DOWN TO A CHOICE -

 I like the way in which Eugene Peterson in The Message, paraphrases verses 66-67,  he writes,

     “After this a lot of His disciples left.  They no longer wanted to be associated with Him. Then Jesus gave the twelve their chance (choice): ‘Do you also want to leave?’”

Who were “the twelve” disciples to whom Jesus poised this question? 

“Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax-gather; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him.”( Matthew 10:2).

It was, first, Jesus’ choice to choose them.  Jesus asked, “Did I not Myself choose you, the twelve . . .?”(v. 70). 

Second, it was their choice to follow Him.  Now they had a choice to make - to say with Him, or to leave Him.  Jesus asked, “You do not want to go away also, do you?”(v. 67).  Peter speaking for the other ten, excluding Judas, spoke for the rest of the group, He said, “ . . . Lord, to who shall we go? You have words of eternal life.  And we have believed and have come to know that You are the  Holy One of God”(vv. 68,69).

Eleven of them made the right choice.  One made the wrong choice.  In making the choice to not leave, they were choosing to serve Jesus’s purposes.  In the words of one writer, “Jesus created the circle of twelve disciples to serve His special purposes, not the purposes of the disciples.  Like the twelve, we are to serve Jesus’ purposes, not our own inventions.”

Every day you and I have choices to make.  When these tough choices come concern our discipleship, Jesus being the gentleman that He is simply asks, “Do you also want to leave?”  Discipleship, you see, always comes down to a choice.

Concerning Jesus’s call and our choice to follow, or not to follow, here are three attitudes that  many express . . .

        1.  The attitude of defection.  The Bible says, “From this time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him”(v. 66). Demas was numbered among them.

“ . . . for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia( 2 Timothy 4:10).

Not only in their the attitude of defection for whatever reason, there is . . .

 2.  There is deterioration.  This is the attitude we see in Judas. 

“Jesus answered them, “Did I myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil? Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him.”( John 6:70-71).