‘After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?”’ (John 6:66-67).

In real life, at this moment, I am lamenting over an apostate friend who is on the brink of taking his own life. We had gone to high school together and he and I picked up our crosses to follow Jesus at about the same time in the early 2000’s. He was a trophy of God’s grace in my eyes, much more so than me. We had never been friends, but our common love for Jesus drew us together. I taught him everything I knew. He taught me everything he knew. We prayed together. We sang together. At times we went to church together.

One night, he showed up at my house unannounced, in great trouble of soul. He asked if we could go for a walk. As we walked, he confessed to me that he had not prayed in months. He still believed, but he could not pray. Guilt weighed him down. I prayed for him. I have continued to pray for him on a semi-regular basis for about the past 8 years. Social media allowed me to watch his continued downward slide from half way across the country.

My wife came to me tonight and said, ‘Maybe you should write him.’ I’ve tried that before. The fact of the matter is that two of my best friends from my early years in the church have become apostates. And in addition to that, I’ve seen others, whom I spent many hours with, teaching, listening to, and learning from, who haven’t stepped foot in a church building in quite a while. And it goes beyond that, it’s not just about not going to church. It’s about a husband abandoning his wife shortly after the birth of his first child. A woman finding freedom in Christ, and then using that freedom to move in with her boyfriend. And more.

I think that they would all say they still believe the gospel in some way, but you would never get a clue of that from their lives. Apostasy is a reality. It doesn’t only happen to churches or denominations, it happens to people. That’s the reason for the warning passages in the book of Hebrews.

I have no doubt that a born again man cannot spiritually die again. We are resurrected into everlasting life, not temporary life. They were not of us, for they went out from among us. The parable of the sower is clear as well.

But, perhaps the most heart-wrenching passage in all of Scripture is John 6:66-67. Jesus sees his followers and friends walking away. He sees his inner-circle shrink from 72 to 12 in a day. And he turns to those who are left to ask them if they’re going to leave him as well. They would have. The number would shrink to 11 before all was said and done. It could have dwindled to zero were it not for God’s persevering grace.

I find myself at times looking at those around me and wanting to say those same words: ‘Are you going to go away as well?’ My friends, never take one day of grace for granted. Every day that you wake up loving Jesus is a miracle of divine grace. Seek him while he is near. Seek him while he may be found, before the sun goes down on your opportunity. If you have light, walk in the light, lest you find yourself soon in darkness.

And if someone dear to you has left the faith or fallen into gross error or sin, take courage. You are not greater than your master. The masses turned away from him. They are still turning away from him. But he never turns away from us.