Nowhere Else To Go

John 6:60-71

I read a story about a monastery in Portugal that was located high on a 300 foot cliff.
The only way it could be reached was by a terrifying ride in a swaying basket.
The basket was pulled with a single rope by several strong men who struggle
as they pulled their cargo up the sheer cliff.

One American tourist became nervous as he began the journey up to the top
because he noticed that the rope was old and frayed.
As they started up the side of the cliff in the basket, he asked the monk:
"How often do you change the rope?"
The monk answered, "Whenever it breaks."

Millions of people who would never entrust their lives to a frayed rope, and yet,
they have decided that they will take care of their own souls and their own life after death.
Then, others have trusted to a human religious leader such as Buddha or Mohammed
or to some New Age philosophy.
In the end everyone has to trust somebody.
The question is: Who will you trust?
When the crisis comes, which rope will you trust?
When death comes, where you turn?

To whom will you go?

There are many in our generation who has the view that one viewpoint is as good as any other.
They would say that all issues are just a personal preference.
There are many denominations, and many competing beliefs..
Eastern religions and new age movements have had their popularity.

All these different religions and believes are being presented as a choice just like walking into
an ice cream store and choosing one of dozens of different varieties.
They believe that you can mix and match from various believes just like you do an ice cream dish.
They would create their own special concoction.

Some try to take a mixture of Eastern religions and mix them with some of the words of God,
and then throw in a mixture from some popular psychologist, and blend all these into a private creed.
Someone with this view has said: "There are as many ways to approach God as there are
many paths to His heart."
So, their message is just choose the path that is right for you.

This is nothing new.
Even back in the first century, people were confronted by a multiplicity of choices.
The Greek world offered its philosophy and esoteric experiences.
The Romans had their gods that promised political power and personal pleasures.
Various branches of Judaism all claim to have the correct version of Abraham's religion.

Christ came to earth with a choice that no one can avoid -- accept Him or reject Him.

In our Scripture passage, Simon Peter and the other disciples who were used mightily by God
had to declare their unquestioned loyalty to Jesus whom they had come to know as the Messiah.
Was Christ who He claimed to be?
Were Simon Peter and the other disciples fully committed to Christ or not?

So, Jesus uses this encounter to force the disciples to make a choice.
If any of them had any questions about Jesus, they were given an option.
They could affirm their love and commitment to Jesus or they could walk away.
There was no middle ground.

The background of this confrontation is found in John 6, where Jesus took five loaves and two fish
and fed a multitude.
After this miracle, we read in John 6:15: " Jesus therefore perceiving that they were intending
to come and take Him by force, to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone."

The crowd loved Jesus because he could give them bread at a moment's notice,
and they wanted Him to be their king.
Jesus was not overwhelmed with His popularity.
In order to weed out the crowd, Jesus made a series of statements that would prove
that his admirers were not really interested in a serious spiritual commitment.

So, in verse 44 Jesus said: "No man can come to Me unless the Father
who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day."
The people were offended at the idea that they could not come to God on their own.

Many other "hard sayings" followed that forced a moment of decision.
Those who were spiritually hungry could consider the words of Jesus and learn more about
their need for heavenly bread.
Those who cared only about physical bread would be bored with these spiritual insights.
So, Jesus separated the grain from the chaff.

Although Jesus knew that many people would leave Him, He still felt the hurt and the rejection.
Jesus never accepted rejection without pain.
For as the crowd was disbursing in disappointment and anger, Jesus turn to the twelve,
and said, "You do not want to go away also do you?" (John 6:67)

After this, Simon Peter had one of his finest moments.
In the presence of the other Disciples and within the hearing of those in the crowd,
who cared to listen, Peter asked a question that would leave no doubt where he stood:
“Lord, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life.
And we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God."
(Verses 68-69)

There is nowhere else to go?
Christ has no rivals!
If Christ is right, then all others are wrong!

Peter knew that the crowds following Jesus were truly His disciples, they would reject
other religions and other authorities.
To say, "Yes," to Jesus was to say," No," to the Pharisees.
To say, "Yes," to Jesus was to say, "No," to all other religions.

When the disciples chose to follow Jesus, they turned their backs on other rivals and religions.
If Christ was partly right and partly wrong, then He was unworthy of their allegiance.
And, if they were committed to Jesus and also to another prophet, they would be reducing
Christ to the level of a fallible man.

Either they had to accept all that Jesus was, and claimed to be, or else, they had to reject Him.
If Jesus Christ Is the Son of the living God, as Peter affirmed, then He was in a class by Himself
-- perfect, holy, and totally reliable.
There is nowhere else to go.

Simon Peter said in verses 68-69: "You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed
and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God."
This truth proclaims the nature of God, and is not subject to personal opinion.
Eternal truth is unchangeable.

When Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father
but through Me." (John 14:6)
There is no other way to God!

We, who believe in Jesus Christ, have historical and logical reasons for our trust in Him.
We do receive Jesus Christ by faith, but our faith is supported by evidence.
Christ can be believed by what He did.
His miracles were observable, and they were real.
When He turned water into wine, it was a visible miracle that was seen and known by all.

More than 5000 people witnessed Jesus multiplying five loaves of bread and two fishes
to feed every one of them and have 12 baskets full of leftovers.
No one has ever denied this miracle.

Eventually, He died and rose from the dead as further evidence that He was more than
just the son of a carpenter.
The historical evidence for Christ's resurrection is so documented and so powerful
that many skeptics have had to admit that the New Testament accounts are reliable.

Jesus Christ is unique because of what He taught.
Visualize a page with a column running down the middle.
To the left, list all of the other religions of the world, and they all agree on one thing.
They all agree that a person must earn salvation by their works.
Whether it is Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam -- human effort is always part of the process.

You can also put in this column those denominations that believe that salvation
is a cooperative effort between God and man.
They will tell you that God has done His part, and now we must do ours.

In contrast in this page that we are visualizing put in the right hand column the teachings of Christ.
Jesus taught that salvation is a free gift which is given to those who believe in Him.
No one else could make a sinless sacrifice, shedding His blood which brings forgiveness of sin
and eternal life to all who believe in Him.

Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me,
has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life."
(John 5:24)

Salvation has to be a free gift because human goodness fall short of God's holy standard.
There is nothing we can do to make ourselves worthy of God's grace,
or to accumulate enough merits whereby we might be saved.
All attempts to link Christ with other teachers of religion are superficial and misleading.
There is no common ground -- Christ stands alone.
Christ and Christ alone, presents salvation as a free the gift of God to dying and helpless sinners

Buddha taught enlightenment, yet died seeking more light.
He never could say or did say what Jesus said.
Jesus said, "I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk and darkness,
but shall have the light of life." (John 8:12)

New Age adherents teach the doctrine of reincarnation, saying that we will be recycled
until we "get it right."
But they do not have the courage to say, and could not say as Jesus:
"I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me shall live even if he dies,
and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die." (John 11:25-26)

Mohammed claims that he and his tribes were descendants of Ishmael who was a son of Abraham.
But he did not say, and could not say: "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born,
I am." (John 8:58)

Everyone must face the fact that they must either except Jesus Christ or reject Him.
There is no alternative.
We will either live with Christ eternally or we will all die and spend an eternity without God
in an endless, horrible hell.


To whom shall we go?
Education? Money? Science? False gods?
Only Jesus Christ can forgive sin and give eternal life.

I have read somewhere that:
To the baker, He is the Bread of Life.
To the banker, He is the Hidden Treasure.
To the florist, He is the Lily of the Valley.
To the astronomer, He is the Bright and Morning Star.
To the therapist, He is the Wonderful Counselor.
To the builder, He Is the Chief Cornerstone.
To the philosopher, He is the Wisdom of God.
To the scientist, He is the Creator.
To the sinner, He is the Lamb of God.
To the politician, He he is the King of Kings.

To whom shall we go?
There are no other options.
Only Jesus Christ has the words of eternal life.
"And we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God."

We must turn to Jesus because we are not able to take away our own sin.
We are not able with our own knowledge or our own strength to defeat death.
We must come quickly to Christ.
There is nowhere else to go.

Sermon adapted by Dr. Harold L White