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1 KINGS 8:41-43 

EPHESIANS 6:10-20 

JOHN 6:60-69 

The theme for our Sunday reflection is “Will you also go away?” The theme is Jesus’s question to His twelve disciples when other followers of Jesus left Jesus because His teaching became hard to comprehend. We shall proceed to discuss factors we must hold on to if we want to remain true disciples of Jesus without going away like others do.    

Firstly, without faith, one cannot follow Jesus Christ. Those who left Jesus followed him in the flesh and not in the Spirit. To have faith is to walk in the Spirit with Jesus. It is for this reason Jesus said to them “Do you take offence at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” (John 6:61-64). Again Hebrew 11: 9 admonishes us that “… without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. There are many Christians in our generation who are only adding to the numerical strength of Christendom but their hearts are not inclined to the Gospel, like the other followers of Jesus in John 6:66, they have spiritually and morally turned back and no longer walk with Jesus although they physically come to church every Sunday. Some have been baptised in the Church of Christ but have physically, spiritually and morally turned their back and no longer walk with Jesus. These people neither understand the teachings of Christ nor make an attempt to follow His teachings. They prefer to lean on their own understanding and live their own lifestyles. Jesus now poses the same question to you and me that “Will you also go away?” (John 6:67). If we share the same faith and conviction with Peter then our answer must be “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.” (John 6:68-69). This answer is an answer of faith and Spiritual conviction of a believer who knows the reason for following and remaining faithful to Jesus Christ.  

Secondly, to remain faithful and to be a follower of Jesus, we must put on the whole armor of God. Paul admonishes us in his letter to the Ephesians that “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.  Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” Ephesians 6:10-13. The elements that form the armor of God are truth, righteousness, readiness, faith, salvation, the Word of God and the proclamation of the Gospel (Ephesians 6:14-19). With the aforementioned elements in our arsenal, we shall be deemed to be victorious, faithful and true disciples of Jesus. Jesus will not doubt our discipleship status and at the end of our mission on earth, He will say to each one of us, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ (Matthew 25:23) 

Last but not least, when we do not turn our back on Jesus but follow Him, He uses us for His glory just as God used King Solomon to accomplish the task of completing the building of the temple. It is important to note that we the followers of Jesus are the temple of the Holy Spirit and through us strangers (sinners) will come to know Jesus just like King Solomon prayed that “Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name’s sake (for they shall hear of your great name and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name. (1 Kings 8:41-43). In the same vein, Paul reminds us that “… do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). The point is that when we remain faithful followers of Jesus, the Holy Spirit indwells in us as His temple hence we become elements of God’s glory for which strangers (the lost souls) will come to Christ. Those who have turned their back at Jesus and have followed their own fleshly desires cannot be the temple of the Holy Spirit for all who sin, fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24) 

In conclusion beloved in the Lord, to remain a true disciple of Jesus, faith and walking the Spirit is not an option it is a way of life, Secondly, we must possess the elements of the armor of God as soldiers of Christ to overcome all the principalities and temptations that may lead us to turn our back at Jesus and live according to the desires of the flesh. Last but not least, we must avail ourselves as the temples of the Holy Spirit that will attract strangers or our lost brothers and sisters to come to the glory of God to be saved. May the Holy Spirit enable us to walk in faith and in spirit with our Lord and Master Jesus Christ. Amen. 

JEAN-PAUL AGIDI (REV)