Nobody Backslides All at Once

Judas didn't leave the group in John 6. Everybody else did. He stayed. He kept eating the bread, kept following the crowd, kept his seat at the table. But his heart had already gone. He was just waiting for the right moment to prove it.

That ought to sober us. We picture apostasy as a dramatic exit. A slammed door. A day you could mark on the calendar. But that's not usually how it goes. A man doesn't wake up one morning and decide he's done with the Lord. He just stops praying like he used to. He stops opening the book. He keeps showing up on Sunday because that's what's expected of him, but the hunger is gone. He's following Jesus for the fish sandwiches, not for the flesh and blood.

That's what happened in John 6. The crowd loved Jesus when He was feeding them and confirming what they already wanted. The minute His words got personal — "except it were given unto him of my Father" — they walked. Not because the Father withheld anything from them. He didn't. The gift was offered to all. They walked because truth cost them something they weren't willing to pay.

You will not backslide by accident. You will backslide by neglect, small neglect, repeated, until one day you look up and you've drifted farther than you ever meant to go. Guard the small disciplines. They're the only thing standing between you and the fade.

This post came from one line in the middle of John 6:65 — "except it were given unto him of my Father." The whole sermon is worth your time, not just the crumb.

Pastor Fortunato
Founding Pastor & Preacher of the Word.
Pilgrim Baptist Church — Cookeville, Tennessee

https://pilgrimbaptist.church/
https://www.sermonaudio.com/solo/pilgrimbaptist/