These, Are

They
Sanctification a life of discipleship

These, Are They

Scripture Reading John 6:53-58 & Revelation 7:13&14
John 6:53-58
53 Then Jesus said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat
the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54
Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise
him up at the last day. 55 For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink
indeed. 56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in
him. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he
who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread which came
down from heavennot as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He
who eats this bread will live forever.
Revelation 7:13&14
13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, Who are these arrayed
in white robes, and where did they come from?
14 And I said to him, Sir, you know.
So he said to me, These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation,
and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Hymns
118 The First Noel
Special O Holy Night (Jacintha)
122 Hark the Herald Angels Sing

Introduction
John Chapter 6 is often called the great divide. It starts with multitudes
following after Jesus and ends with many disciples rejecting Him. Jesus and His
disciples had tried to retreat to a quiet place to rest and recuperate but
multitudes followed Him. Tired and hungry Christ fed them he blessed them
with such temporal blessing that they what to right there and then make Him
King. Jesus knew there motive for wanting to do this and left them retreating to
a place by Himself.
Later we find that these same multitudes follow his disciples across the sea of
Galilee hoping to see the one who fed and healed them, selfishly seeking more
temporal blessings.
Finally Jesus confronts them with the Truth of their selfish desires, seeking
temporal satisfaction, not realising that Jesus had come to give them Eternal
Joy!
Jesus breaks before them the bread of life, and offers it to them as a free gift
along with the opportunity to relinquish all desire for temporal gain and
preservation. However, sadly, many that day turned away that day because
Jesus taught that the primary purpose of His ministry, of Christianity was to
change us and not just our circumstances.

Lost in His presence

It is possible to follow Christ and be lost if we
are following Him for the wrong reasons
A-V24-26 followed Christ for miracles
Do we follow Christ for what we can get?
B- V34 Disappointed in Christ when he wouldnt
give what they wanted. The more Christ does for
those who are selfish, the more they want. For
those who are selfish there is never enough
miracles, just as there is never enough money.

Lost in His presence

It is possible to follow Christ and be lost if we are
following Him for the wrong reasons
C- How do we react when we dont get what we want? When
weve prayed for something, asked God for something and weve
been turned down? When tragedy strikes how do we relate to
God?
When God says No we often react in one of two ways
1. We think we havent gained enough favour with God.
Something is wrong with me we say, I need to do more good, I
need to impress God with my goodness. Goodness doesnt
prevent trial.
The lesson from Jesus life is not that Christians dont experience
trials and darkness but that through Jesus we will be triumphant
despite it.

Lost in His presence

It is possible to follow Christ and be lost if we are
following Him for the wrong reasons
2. God doesnt care.
Something is wrong with God we say. We want an
omnipotent (all powerful) God who will make us
omniscient (all wise). We want to make the decisions as
long as He keeps the miracles coming. Ill serve you Lord
as long as you make me feel good. As long as you
protect me
The result is that when we dont get our way we become
disillusioned, discouraged. We turn away from God if we
dont get our way or dont fully trust Him anymore.

Lost in His presence

It is possible to follow Christ and be lost if we
are following Him for the wrong reasons
D- v 27 Its not fair to hold against God that which
He has not promised. God doesnt promise that
there wont be trials but He does promise that He
will be with us through it . He promises growth
through the trials and ultimately everlasting

Why do we follow Christ?

Are we following Jesus just so that He will
change our circumstances?
v 14-15 Thought they needed a king when they
need a saviour.
We want Christ to change our circumstances when
He wants to change our characters.
v 50-53 Follow Christ so Hell change you
Bread flesh blood work from within We want christ
to work on those around us not us

Conclusion