I wonder if the truth were known, what it is that you have come to Christ for.

Some of you may not even yet have come to Christ. You've come to His church, you've come to His family, you've come into the fellowship of His people, but perhaps you haven't really yet come to Him personally. And I would very much hope that you would be encouraged to do so. But I suspect that most of us this morning would say, yes, we have already come to Christ. And that's why we're here, to bring honor and tribute to Him. There's still another question.

Having come to Christ, what is it that you've come to Him for? And I raise that question because in our scripture this morning, it seems to me that we have a crowd of people that has come to Christ with wrong motives, wrong attitudes and wrong questions. And it may be that we could relate to some of those people, or at least some of us, might find ourselves in the story. That it's possible, in other words, to come to Jesus Christ for the wrong reason.

Or for an inadequate reason, a shallow reason.

Let me just step back a little bit and put some perspective on this. Sometimes you get the impression, and I've heard a lot of sermons that would suggest that Jesus was looking for the biggest following that He could possibly get. And the church has been doing so ever since. As many people as we can possibly corral in, or to change the metaphor, get to jump on the bandwagon, we would just welcome in.

the truth of the matter really is quite different I'm impressed as I read the scriptures at how often Jesus seems to be discouraging people from following him as a matter of fact I haven't tried to count this up statistically but I suspect it would be rather overwhelming to see how often he is discouraging people or at least seeming to discouraging people who want to follow him. I remember, for instance, the demoniac whom he cured.

You remember the man who had the legion of demons and Jesus liberated him from all of that bondage and it says the man wanted to up and follow Jesus, but Jesus refused him. He said, you go back home. You tell people there what the Lord has done for you. I wonder why. Why couldn't this man follow Jesus?

Or a scribe that ran up to Jesus and said, Teacher, I will follow you anywhere.

And Jesus' answer was, Foxes have holes, Birds of the air have nests, But the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. As if to say, Are you really prepared to follow Me into homelessness?

Brutelessness.

I appreciate your zeal, but have you considered what's involved? That's a very discouraging statement. To the multitude at one point he said, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. That's the condition. He didn't want an easy allegiance.

He wanted a costly obedience. Self-denial to the point of dying on a cross if need be. Are you prepared to go that far? If not, don't talk to me about following me. He seemed to sum it all up when he said this, Which of you desiring to build a tower doesn't first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he's laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him saying, this man began to build and wasn't able to finish.

I had a vivid illustration of that. A couple of years ago, I was out in Oceanside, California, visiting Dwayne Tebow, and we were traveling around through the city, and there was one spectacular hill that overlooked the whole city and had a beautiful view out into the ocean itself. And up on the top of the hill was this tremendous housing development, half done. About 350 houses, they had had foundations laid, they had the initial framing put up, and the builder ran out of money.

And there it stood in all of its glory, half finished. And Duane said, that's the laughing stock of the whole city. Which of you desiring to build something doesn't first sit down and count the cost? Now what I draw from all of this is that Jesus wasn't really saying don't follow me, not at all. But what he was saying is don't follow me lightly.

I'm not interested in some kind of superficial conversion, some kind of surface allegiance. I'm interested in those who understand what's involved and who are prepared to go the whole way. Somebody once said, becoming a Christian is like joining a club in which the initiation fee is nothing, but the dues are everything.

It costs you nothing. Jesus Christ has paid the price. But if you want to be a member of the club,

you pay the total price every day. It's a matter of full allegiance. and we need to see that. An awful lot of our evangelism, so-called, I think would stand some correction at this point. We seem to major in a kind of cheap grace. Come on, come in, join the crowd and reduce the gospel to the lowest common denominator whereas Jesus is saying, take a look at what's involved.

I'm not at all interested in the one-day wonder. I'm interested in the man, the woman in for eternity. In for eternity.

I notice another thing, and I just call this to your attention. How often when Jesus said things that were confusing,

and people pointed that out to Him, I don't understand. What did you mean by that? Surprisingly, rather than clearing up the confusion, rather than answering their question, more often than not, Jesus seemed to compound the problem. Have you noticed that? Somebody's struggling with a metaphor or a parable or some particular statement that Jesus has made.

They're confused. He doesn't try to lead them out of their confusion. He leads them deeper into it. He makes it worse. He restates it in even more extreme terms. Think, for instance, of Nicodemus. He tells him, you've got to be born all over again. Nicodemus says, how can I be born all over again? I'm a grown man.

Jesus doesn't answer that directly he simply restates it truly truly I say to you unless you be born again of water and the spirit you won't even see the kingdom of heaven it says the wind blows in the trees and you can't even begin to understand it Nicodemus

or he talks with the Jews and he makes some what they take to be very presumptuous action in overturning the money changers' temples and they demand an explanation for it. And all he says is, destroy this temple and in three days I'll raise it up.

John includes a parenthesis. He says he was speaking of the temple of his body. But nobody understood that at the time. Nobody in fact understood that until after the resurrection. He just let it stand. Here's my explanation.

More confusion. He spoke in parables, and it says, lest they should perceive and understand.

And here, this morning, he calls himself the bread of life.

He says, unless you eat my flesh, you have no part of me. They are hopelessly confused at that. They take him to be speaking of cannibalism. How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Do you think Jesus clarifies? Oh no, wait a minute, you misunderstood. I'm speaking in a metaphor. I didn't mean literally my skin. I meant nourish yourself on me spiritually.

No, he doesn't do that at all. He repeats it and worsens it. He says, unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood.

Of course, for any Jew, the thought of drinking blood of any animal was the most abhorrent thought that he could entertain. One of the rules of kosher cooking is that you drain all the blood out of whatever meat you're fixing for dinner. The only thing blood should be used for is a sacrificial offering to God. Scripture says the life of the body is in the blood. And here Jesus is not only saying drink blood, He's saying drink human blood.

Drink my blood. They're horrified. That is the grossest turn-off that you could possibly imagine. and the scripture goes on to say toward the end of the chapter from this point on many who had been following him began to depart they left him they couldn't take it that's too strong a teaching Jesus thank you very much I was interested in you up until this moment but I can't take this

Jesus didn't run after them didn't try to clarify didn't say oh come back you've misunderstood it's really not that bad

as a matter of fact the only thing he said he turned to Peter and to the twelve and he said, will you also leave?

Peter had a marvelous answer, by the way. He said, Lord, to whom would we go?

You have the words of eternal life.

I don't understand it any more than anybody else does, says Peter, but I'm stuck with you because there's nobody else who has the words of eternal life like you do. Lord, to whom would we go? It's a good question. I raised that for you this morning. When you really begin to see what Jesus is talking about, this total allegiance, total commitment, that's pretty scary, but what's the alternative?

To whom will you go? If you will not come to Christ, to whom will you go? Who else has the words of eternal life?

as I say I think it's only a surface impression that Jesus is turning people away deliberately he's not turning them away but he's requiring that they see what really is involved in giving themselves to him he is not interested in a surface conversion he is not interested in a superficial allegiance

and perhaps the problems of the church stem ultimately from the simple fact that we are. We'll take anybody. Jesus said, count the cost. See what's involved. I want you, but I want you all the way.

Well, this particular group of people, if you read back into the preceding paragraph, you see that they were looking for him. They were waiting for him to arrive back on shore. He'd been out in the midst of the Sea of Galilee, and they're waiting. A tremendous crowd of people is anxious to come to Jesus. But as I said at the beginning, they came to him first with the wrong motive, secondly with the wrong attitude, and finally with the wrong questions.

Jesus addresses them. Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.

I know why you've come. You've come because I satisfied your physical hunger. I put bread on your table. I met your need. That's why you've come.

No doubt, that's why most people come. Isn't it true that the overwhelming majority of people, I'm sure, begin to reach out to Jesus out of some urgent need? And the wonder of it is that he so graciously, so frequently condescends to meet them even at that level. Heart's desire is that we grow up and get beyond the stage of just treating him like some kind of cosmic Santa Claus.

Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme.

His heart's desire is that we appreciate him not simply for the blessings that he gives us, but for himself.

what kind of a marriage would it be if the wife's only interest in the husband was the baubles that he could bring home night by night, week by week, month by month what kind of family would it be if the kids only love for their parents was that my parents give me gifts and trinkets

now if there's love in such a relationship of course we want to share gifts with each other to the extent that we're able. But that's merely an expression of the deeper relationship. And the same thing is true with God. The Lord is longing for us to get beyond the level of simply looking to Him as a gift giver, a blessing machine.

You came to me because you ate your fill of the loaves. So many people, it seems, never get beyond that point. The desire to use Him.

and not even to escape the rat race just to become a faster rat.

Jesus says, labor for the food which endures to eternal life.

Not the food which fills your stomach now and two hours later you're hungry again. That's important. But get beyond it. There's a food which endures to eternal life. Are you interested in that? Are you interested in being nourished in the inner man? Are you interested in life eternal spent with God? That's what I'm interested in, he says.

But the tragedy is you've come for the wrong motive. You just see the here and now. You just see the immediate need. You just want your stomachs filled.

Well, then they pursued Jesus with the wrong attitude.

You have to sort of read between the lines on this one. At first it looks as if they're asking the very best question that anybody could ask. Their response to his statement is, well then what must we do to be doing the works of God? That seems a very noble question. Labor for the food which endures to eternal life? Okay. What must we do to be doing the works of God? What is our labor? What must we do to inherit that food?

But it turns out to betray an attitude which is diametrically opposed to the one that God is seeking. And that comes out in terms of Jesus' response. He says, this is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent. What a strange work. That I believe in Him, not something that I do, but simply that I believe in Jesus.

That's what God wants of me.

But immediately he says that, the crowd begins to argue with him, begins to resist, and the fat is into the fire. Here's where they betray their wrong attitude. They say, what does God want us to do? But when Jesus answers the question, all that they give him is resistance. And what we discover reading between the lines is that their question was literal.

What must we do? You see, they're asking, how much money should we give the charitable projects? How many committees should we get involved with for the beautification of our city? How many hospitals should we build?

How many works should we do of our own effort to justify ourselves to earn our place in God's kingdom? And the attitude that that question betrays is an attitude of self-righteousness, of self-justification, of self-esteem. We think we can do it in and of ourselves. Jesus, give us the rules. We're prepared to do it.

And Jesus says, your attitude is all wrong. You can't do it. I'm sorry about that. You can't do it. I have come to give you a gift. I've come to give you life and apart from receiving that gift in no way will you ever qualify it's not something you can earn it's simply something that you receive will you receive it they say no thank you we want to earn it we think we're okay I'm okay you're okay

and Jesus says you're not okay

you need a savior you need a redeemer you need a messiah will you believe in me? and they resist there are a lot of people who would define themselves as Christians

whose attitude really is that of straight humanism being a Christian means being a good person engaging in the right causes they would see Jesus as a kind of a hero and they want to follow him relate to his cause give themselves to that great noble work whatever it might be

and Jesus says I'm more than a hero

I'm more than a cause I've come to redeem you from sin and bondage and death and hell will you believe in me?

it's interesting to note what follows this happens almost all the time when you get to that point in a conversation with somebody when suddenly the blinders are removed and they see what the real issue is and that Jesus is asking for confidence in himself and for that total commitment that we've been speaking about. You know what people do inevitably? They start playing theological ping pong. They start raising interesting intellectual questions.

You watch with your friends sometime. You get down to the real nitty-gritty, to the hub of the issue. You need Jesus Christ and in will come. Ah, yes, but what about the poor little pygmy in Africa that never heard? Or what about the problem of evil? How can a good God allow pain and suffering? Or tell me, is God so powerful that he can create a rock too big for him to lift? You know, one of those powerful questions.

Jesus gets to this point in the conversation and the people start playing theological games with him. Okay, Jesus, tell us then. what is it that you do what great work do you perform what sign will you show i mean moses fed the people in the wilderness what can you do jesus that we would believe in you now what a funny thing if you stop and think how this conversation is gone it began with them coming to jesus because he had already done a great and mighty work that had absolutely captivated them a work that was as great, if not greater, than Moses feeding the people in the wilderness.

Now that we've gotten down to the heart of the matter, it's not a good cause, and it's not a matter of simply having external needs fulfilled, it's a matter of radical commitment to Christ, now they're raising questions, what great work will you perform? And I sense a note of pathos, of sorrow, in Jesus' voice as He responds to that.

He says it's not primarily

some external work. It's not some little parlor trick. It's not a sign and a wonder and a miracle and it's not meeting your need as much as I want to meet your need. That's not the main point. The thing that I've come for is to give you Myself.

I am the bread. of life.

When are you going to get interested in me rather than just in what I do? When are you going to stop playing these games? I'm the one myself who will fulfill your deepest need, who will satisfy your spiritual hunger. I myself,

I haven't come

to pander to your motives of seeking bread that you might eat. I haven't come to give you rules that you might justify yourselves before God. And I haven't come to play theological ping pong with you that you might turn faith into philosophy. I've come to make a present of myself to you.

Will you feast upon me will you begin to devour me will you begin to nourish yourself on me and find in the process that your deepest needs are being met and transformed he who eats of me will never hunger he's not talking physically

his spiritual hunger will be satisfied he who drinks of me will never thirst again is that what you're interested in but as I said

the majority of that crowd drifted away

they had come to Jesus

but they were interested only in surface things

he wasn't really driving them away and he wasn't really deliberately confusing them He was seeking to lead them beyond the surface into the deep waters, the deep life of God. And I believe that's what he's interested in this morning. Not a once over lightly, not an hour a week in church, not some kind of Christian sugar coating, not some external commitment to a cause, not merely meeting our needs,

not merely answering our questions. but a deep satisfying love affair with himself for all eternity.

And I believe he's still looking for men and women who are interested in going into the depths with him. Let's bow our heads together.

To as many as received him,

to them gave He the power to become the children of God, even to those who believe on His name.

Lord, it would be our desire this day to feast upon You, to become spiritual parasites on the Lord Jesus Christ, Finding our reason for being, our joy in living, our purpose and our fulfillment in Him.

Even so, come into our hearts, Lord Jesus. Amen.