Nov. 10, 2024

                                                                    John 6:56-71

                                                  “The Two Choices of Eternity:

                                                   To Believe or Not to Believe”

November 10, 2024                                                                                              Dr. Don Bazal

      It has been said “choices are the hinges of destiny”:  Edwin Markham.  Jesus makes this truth very clear in this passage and others:  Mattthew 7:13-14.  Here two gates are spoken of leading to two different eternal destinies, heaven or hell:  Revelation 20:11-15.  One’s choice to accept or reject Jesus is a choice of direction and of eternal destination.

Matthew 7:13-14 – “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. ¹⁴ For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Revelation 20:11-15 – Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. ¹³ And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and  death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. ¹⁴ Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. ¹⁵ And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Matthew 4:13 – And leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.

John 7:3 – Therefore His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing.

 Numbers 14:27 - “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who are grumbling against Me? I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel, which they are making against Me.

v.61 “stumble” = scandalize:

Galatians 5:11 – But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished.

John 2:24-25 – But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, ²⁵ and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.

John 12:42-43 –  Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; ⁴³ for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.

Matthew 7:21-24 – “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. ²² Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

John 1:2,14 – He was in the beginning with God. . . ¹⁴ And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Romans 8:5-8 –  For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, ⁷ because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, ⁸ and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

James 1:8 – being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Joshua 24:21 -  The people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the Lord.”

Isaiah 55:1-3,6-9 – “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. ² “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance. ³ “Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, according to the faithful mercies shown to David. . . ⁶Seek the Lord while He may be found;
Call upon Him while He is near. ⁷ Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.
⁸ “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, for are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. ⁹ “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.

John 11:25-26 – Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, ²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”