An examination of John, Chapter Six and correlations for us today.

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On hearing it, 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? Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you--they are full of the Spirit and life. 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. He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them." From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God." -- John 6:60-69 (ESV)

The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) has become a catchall term for modern day heresies. It has many tentacles that choke out sound doctrine and it is driven (pun intended) by the Purpose Driven Church (PDC) and the seeker friendly industrial complex. Now the PDC was an actual book written in 1995 as a new guidebook for pastors to grow the mega church monstrosities we see dotting the evangelical landscape today. Among other things, the PDC teaches that we must compromise the Gospel in order to draw more goats to church every week. It markets the church away from the sheep and onto the goats. It makes "reaching them" such a bloated priority that it leads to biblical myopia. Rick Warren actually taught younger pastors that in order to convince their Easter visitors to comeback to their church they should NOT preach the Gospel! He said start a series on some unmet carnal need. That is what happens when you no longer consider the lost unsaved but instead view them as merely unchurched. Let us consider these things as we read through the sixth chapter of John's Gospel account.

This chapter provides a stark and interesting contrast. The first half of the chapter deals with the feeding of the five thousand. I liken this to those sitting in apostate churches who are contented with the positive experiences of Christianity. Everyone was fed. Everyone was happy. So much so they rushed to exalt Christ as King! This despite the fact that they did not know Him. They mistakenly thought He was just a prophet who had come into the world. This is all in the text beloved. The next day, after Jesus had withdrew, the people still sought Him out and the Lord cuts them to the quick:

Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. -- John 6:26 (ESV)

How many people follow the false Christs of this world because of the carnality that is satisfied? People follow prosperity teachers because they want to believe you can be saved, rich and greedy. They seek out false signs and lying wonders and experiential Christianity so they can be their own gods. They seek out dominionism to pretend they are saved while idolizing this world and its politics. They are seeking because they get their carnal needs filled. Jesus decides to deepen the teaching in the second half of this chapter, knowing full well that most would not put up with it. The teaching was about Jesus as the bread of life. The people had questioned Jesus for a sign because Moses gave them a sign through manna from heaven. Christ corrected them and said that God had given them manna and now is giving them the bread of life. When they asked to always have this bread, Jesus revealed that it was in fact He. While they were confused by the notion that we had to eat his flesh and drink His blood, the issue as Jesus described it was that they did not believe Him even after they saw. They were people following Jesus but they were not His. In end times correlation, these are the people in Matthew 7 who will say Lord Lord and He will say He never knew them. Do not gloss over this point. There are millions of people who sit under false teaching, who do not actually know Jesus, and will spend their lives serving a false Christ. This brings us to our key verses for today.

On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"

Who indeed? Who can accept the hard teaching that Jesus is Lord? That we are not in fact our own God? That we are not self-made. That we are in fact sinners, with righteousness as clean as filthy rags? Who can accept the fact that we are called to die to our self and pick up our cross daily to follow Him? That we are to turn from our sins and repent before a holy God? The people that day got hung up on the eating of His flesh and the drinking of His blood but those are representative of Christ being the Savior. People run to mega church security today because the cult of personality pastor promises them eternal life without having to hear any of the hard teachings of Christ. We no longer hear preaching about sin and repentance. We never hear about dying to self and picking up your own cross. Mega Heretic and Presidential advisor, Paula White once said that anyone who tells you deny yourself is from Satan! No Paula, but you are.

Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!

The key phrase here is -- does this offend you? He is asking those who claimed to want to follow Him if His honest teaching about who He was offended them. This is the nature of the Gospel. Remember he did not come to bring peace but rather a sword. That sword will divide a man against his father and a daughter against her mother. That sword is the Gospel and rest assured that if the gospel your pastor preaches does not divide then it is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Why? Because of the exclusivity of Christ. The world religions all want to join hands and sing Kumbaya while Satan laughs. Christianity says -- He is the way the truth and the life and NONE come to the Father except through Him. Christianity offends because it demands that man be subservient. Remember here that while the flash and blood teaching was confusing, the issue was that they did not actually know Christ and therefore all of His teaching would be foolishness to them. Today they are represented by those who come to false religion for the comfort of the feeding of the five thousand but the second something is asked spiritually of them their offense will make them leave.

The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you--they are full of the Spirit and life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe."

Some of the words of Jesus stand out as foundational teachings and this is one of them to me. The Spirit gives life -- the flesh counts for nothing. The indwelt Holy Spirit is the seal from God that we have eternal life in Jesus. Yet Romans teaches us that only the Gospel has the power of God unto the salvation of man. Acts 20 teaches us that a preacher must preach the entire will of God in order to avoid being responsible for the blood of his listeners. What does this add up to? You must attend a church that does not compromise the full Gospel of Jesus Christ unless you want to risk a false conversion. So many churches today are filled with goats who are being taught how to act like sheep but God knows who are His. So many mega-churches are filled with carnal pastors, preach carnal messages, and the result are carnal false Christians. How do Hillsong congregants tolerate sensual Silent Night at Christmas or "I like to Move It, Move It" during worship? How did New Spring Church tolerate Highway to Hell during Easter worship? How do churches across this land tolerate the eastern Mysticism and false signs and lying wonders of Bethel? The bridal paradigm of IHOP? The bible mangling of Joyce Meyer or Joel Osteen? The tithing abuse of Robert Morris? Because they do not have the indwelt Holy Spirit and are sowing only to their flesh. Those fleshly teachings however contain no life.

For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them." From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

This verse always struck me as profoundly sad. Many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him. The truth of the context reveals they may have been following purely in carnal terms from town to town but they were not following Him in the spiritual sense of the word. Likewise, those caught up in mega church heresies have a shelf life of just under three years. after that they take their false belief that they are saved and retreat back into their life prior to church involvement. Truth be told it never really changed all that much for most. Jesus teaches that if you have convinced yourself that your darkness is light then how deep is that darkness! On the opposite side of these disciples who walked away we find what real faith looks like:

"You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God."

While the flesh counts for nothing, the Spirit leads us into all truth. The first truth that is fundamental for faith is that Jesus is the Son of God. He is the Holy One sent to die for our sins. As such, His words have eternal life. I love the sound bites from this one story:

This is a hard teaching, who can accept it?

Does this offend you?

The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.

Lord, to whom shall we go?

This is the final observation here. It is not a frustrated Peter who is bemoaning having no other way to go. It is the overwhelming sense of knowing you are where you belong. To be able to rest in the assurance that the words of Jesus are the words of eternal life and that He is in fact sent by God as our deliverance. Our Lord. Our Savior. This ratio sounds about right too. The mega church numbers of five thousand plus are the ones who walk away unsaved while the smaller numbers of true disciples stay because they have come into the true light of Jesus Christ. Narrow is the way and few are those who find it. As it pertains to the NAR and Purpose Driven Church let us make some further observations:

1. Jesus did not alter his teaching for the unsaved. In modern day churchianity it is common for the preacher to water down or sugar up the Gospel. This means you do not preach anything that might scare away the goats. You certainly do not teach that we must eat the flesh of Jesus and drink His blood! Additionally, you do not preach repentance and the forgiveness of sin. This is crucial as the focus of Jesus Christ was not concern for the delicate sensibilities of the lost but rather on the fact that they were lost! These folks and the folks in mega churches today are in need of a spiritual tourniquet and the mega-heretics are applying some carnal balm and a Band-Aid.

2. There was no compromise in His teachings. There was no desire to teach sloppy agape and only speak about love and puppies and pancakes. There was no reason to distract with false signs and wonders. There was no confusion about who we are compared to who God is. Joel Osteen once said that he does not preach condemnation because he believes people know what they have done wrong. Yeah that is not true Joel. Most have whitewashed what they do wrong by comparing themselves to other humans. The Gospel compares them to a Holy God so they can realize their need to repent.

3. The teaching was designed for those that stayed. The focus of the teachings for the Purpose Driven Church is always the unsaved. That is why sermons have to do with this life and not the eternal life. Sermons today are a mix of self-help and motivational seminars designed to meet a worldly need and convince the goat to come back the following week. The teaching from John's Gospel was not designed for the unsaved who ended up walking away. Jesus knew they would walk away, yet He still designed the teaching to promote only the truth. As difficult as the teaching may have been, it was designed for those who understood that He had the words of eternal life. We accept hard teachings because we know God would never lie nor lead us astray. Our preaching should always be directed to the sheep.

4. Jesus did not pursue those that rejected His teaching. This is perhaps the most profound point here. The Purpose Driven Church through the Seeker Friendly Industrial Complex is in constant pursuit of the goats. People in these heretical camps often marvel at teachings like this because the notion of not pursuing the lost is anathema to them. The reality however is that Jesus Christ simply preached the Gospel and if the vast majority of people rejected that message and walked away -- so be it. If a small handful stayed -- hallelujah to God! The emphasis was not on the numbers of people but on the authenticity of the message. When we preach the truth of the uncompromised Gospel two things will happen -- the sheep will be fed and the goats can be drawn by the Holy Spirit. When you compromise the Gospel only two things can happen -- no one can be saved and the sheep starve.

I want to be clear. I am not suggesting this is an interpretation of John 6. Rather I saw some correlations we could examine as the bible is presented to us so that we might learn. The truth here is that Jesus had a mix of followers. Most were only following Him for carnal reasons and because carnal needs were being met. A small sliver however were following Him by faith in who He was and that He had the words of eternal life. In modern day churchianity we have a plethora of false teachers and churches that convince people to stay by appealing to their carnal needs. They present a false Christ devoid of any hard teachings like we saw in John 6. The true Gospel however divides. If preached, the lost will indignantly leave muttering, "This is a hard teaching, who can accept it?" Those that know Him will simply say, "Lord, to whom shall we go?" So where does this teaching find you today? Does it ring true or "does this offend you?" If so allow me to reiterate the words of our Lord and Savior one last time; "The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing."

Amen.

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.