Author: branches

John 8:12-30

For the past three weeks we have been looking at Jesus’ teachings that occurred during the Feast of Tabernacles…this feast was designed to remind the Israelites of the 40-years their forefathers spent in the wilderness.

For the duration of the eight day feast the people would dwell in huts made of tree limbs to remind them of how they had to live during their wilderness journey.

The Feast of Tabernacles represented a celebration in remembrance that God provided everything they needed for the sustaining of life…Jesus attempts to use that symbolism to point to Himself as the fulfillment of that imagery.

I had a difficult time with this text this past week…the text is not one of those “happily ever after” accounts that leaves us feeling better about what is going on.

As a Pastor you always want to leave your church family feeling positive about their church experience…but the dissension between Jesus and the Pharisees in these verses is one of the reasons why this text is one that is less than interesting.

ONE it’s not new material…it is a rehash of ideas and concepts that John has previously mentioned…the issues dealt with in this text are not new.

John is revealing arguments between Jesus and the Pharisees that he has previously taken up several other times in his gospel…each time adding new dimensions of truth… understanding …and application…but at the same time revealing how mis-informed the Pharisees were regarding Jesus’ claims as the Son of God.

TWO…this controversial discussion between Jesus and the Pharisees makes the reading uncomfortable…here we see Jesus not as a sentimental loving Messiah…but rather locked in the middle of a debate between Himself and His adversaries…ten times they interrupt Him in this chapter alone.

The Jews are completely clueless about what Jesus is saying…they misinterpret virtually everything He says and by the end of the chapter their frustration and hate for Jesus reaches such a climax that they are ready to kill Him.

We do not come away from this text with a warm, fuzzy feeling…instead, it troubles us…so when you look at today’s text [v. 12-30] two things are revealed:

One, the truth about Christ, and two, the truth about man.

Jesus begins in [v.12] ‘Jesus spoke to them again’ …the wording suggests that there had been an interruption in their discussion…that interruption was the woman caught in adultery.

This wording gives further evidence that this was an actual event and that its placement in John’s Gospel is in the correct location for this story.

Jesus begins with the truth about Himself…He now resumes His teaching….as you read John’s gospel something becomes obvious…John is fond of symbolism …in three successive chapters Jesus uses wilderness imagery to support the festival theme of reminding the Israelites of the time their forefathers spent in the wilderness…and how God sustained them for the entire 40 years.

Jesus is using the festival rituals as analogies to reveal the truth about Himself…that He is the human symbol of all that the Jews experienced during their years in the wilderness…He reveals three truths about Himself:

First truth…that Jesus was from above

In chapter 6 He makes a reference to Himself by using the symbolism of the manna in the wilderness…God provided physical bread (manna) during the Jews’ journey through the wilderness…it was automatic…all they had to do was go out and pick it up…can anything be any easier?

Jesus is declaring that God is continuing to provide bread…He’s providing the Bread of Life for all who believe in Him.

  ‘I am the bread that came down out of heaven’ [6:41]

In chapter 7 He points back to the time when in the wilderness God provided water from a rock… each day of the feast a pitcher of water from the pool of Siloam was poured over the altar which is symbolic of Jesus as the water of Life. The rock is a picture of Jesus who is the source of spiritual eternal life-giving water.

’If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink’ [7:37].

In chapter 8 Jesus makes reference to Himself as the ‘Light of the world’ [8:12] which seems to again point back to the wilderness and to the pillar of light that led the people of Israel through the desert (Ex.13:21). —no street lights—

The Jewish worshipers would light torches and candles during the feast as a symbol that God was with them both day and night…the pillar of fire represented God’s presence…protection…and guidance…it was in this setting and context that Jesus referred to Himself as, “the Light of the World.”

Jesus makes another statement regarding Himself as being the light of the world in chapter 9: “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” [John 9:5]

When it comes to light…there are two types of light in the world…we can perceive one…both…or neither!

When we are born into this world, we perceive physical light, we are born with sight…and by it we have evidence of a creator…Heaven declares the glory of God…therefore everyone who has ever lived is without excuse in not knowing there is a divine intelligent creator.

In the beginning of time God created light to dispel the darkness…and although that light is good…God said so in Genesis…there is another Light…God’s Light who is revealed in Jesus…a Light so important that the Son of God had to come in order to both declare and impart it to men.

Here’s the importance in that…God creates spiritual light by which we can see the truth…Jesus gives us the vision to see who we are in Him …only The Light can allow us to see that…it is only the true Light from above that can show us who we are and guide us responsibly through life.

Light in the Bible stands for spiritual illumination and truth…it encompasses all that is pure…good…and holy.

All of these things mean that we must discipline our minds and hearts to concentrate on this text and its message.

This chapter focuses on truths about Jesus which are fundamental to our faith.

Jesus is the bread that came down out of heaven

Jesus is the source of spiritual eternal life-giving water

Jesus is the Light of the World.

The things Jesus claims about Himself in this chapter are those which draw some men to faith [v. 30] and drive others away [v. 59].

Jesus begins the discourse by declaring Himself to be God by using God’s name… ‘I Am’ (Ἐγώ εἰμί) …that is God’s name…that is how He identified Himself to Moses.

By Jesus referring to Himself as “I AM” He is declaring that He is the image of the invisible God…He is equating Himself with God by using the title God gave Himself [Exodus 3:14].

This is the second of seven times Jesus uses the title I AM.

I AM the Bread of Life (John 6:35, 41, 48, 51);

I AM the Light of the World (John 8:12);  

I AM the Door of the Sheep (John 10:7, 9);     

I AM the Good Shepherd (John 10:11,14); 

I AM the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25);    

I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6);  

I AM the True Vine (John 15:1, 5).

So, in three successive chapters Jesus uses the wilderness imagery to point to Himself as someone who is more than just a man…He was God in human form representing everything the celebration was symbolizing.

Second truth…that Jesus was the “Son of Man”

Throughout this whole discourse…the Pharisees are questioning everything Jesus has to say about Himself:

Your testimony is not true [14]

Where is Your Father [19] …probably a slur against Mary regarding her being a virgin and being conceived before she was married.  

Who are you [25] …If you follow the Greek word for word the translation would be ‘who are you to say such things?’

What these men are saying is that they are rejecting Jesus on the basis of a very limited knowledge about him…having a narrow portion of evidence about him is all they looked at…all it took to prove His claims was to look at a few facts about Him.

They never took the time to look at the whole mass of evidence that gives clear evidence of who He was that is clearly written in the Old Testament:

The Messiah would be born of a woman                       Gen 3:15

The Messiah would be born in Bethlehem                     Micah 5:2

The Messiah would be born of a virgin                          Isaiah 7:14

The Messiah would come from the line of Abraham    Gen 12:3 / 22:18  

And there are countless other prophecies to show that Jesus was who He said He was…the Pharisees claimed they were speaking for God…that Jesus was not who He said He was…in reality…all they had to do was search the Scriptures because they clearly told about Jesus.

Here’s the problem…today there are countless preachers…teachers…evangelists who are doing the same thing…wanting to deceive you for their personal benefit…we must not be taken in by those who would have you believe they are speaking for God.

We have a responsibility to research them and let the facts speak for themselves before we put our trust into what they’re saying.   

The Pharisees claimed that Jesus was testifying about Himself…here’s what they’re saying…the law required two witnesses in any court proceeding…they’re alleging that the only evidence Jesus has is His own assertion about Himself.

When it comes to those who want to convince you of their spirituality we should take the advice of what the Pharisees told Jesus…it is the same advice we should take to heart…we ought to have more evidence than the evidence of the man making the claim…this was the argument the Pharisees had against Jesus.

It is the advice we should use toward those who make ridiculous claims about themselves…rather than simply believe them we have an obligation to research their claims.

Their trouble was they didn’t research Jesus’ background or they would have known He had multiple people who could testify about who He was.

Their claim about Jesus testifying about Himself was bogus…there was plenty of evidence to prove who He was.

This is a common occurrence today…it’s not uncommon for faith leaders to attempt to convince you they are hearing from God.

One such claim concerns the outrageous claim that COVID-19 is God’s punishment on the United States for allowing abortion and gay marriage…there’s nothing Scriptural about that…there’s no evidence to support that…why would you sit in a church where such outlandish statements are made?

Kenneth Copeland…TV preacher who is reportedly worth $760-million…urged believers to put their hands on their TV screens and be cured of the coronavirus, a virus for which there is as yet…no known scientific remedy.

But really if you’re an American you don’t need a remedy…a pastor (Hank Kunneman) in Omaha has claimed that God will save Americans from the coronavirus because President Trump’s administration has “aligned themselves” with the right side of life.

As a result (Kunneman) he prophesied that citizens in the U.S. will not have to fear the coronavirus because God will “give mercy”…the absurdity of that kind of ‘preaching’ is offensive.

Do we need to even look at the historical accuracy of that statement…as of last week, there have been 4,900,000 coronavirus cases in the United States alone.

Obviously, this man…as well as others has no creditability.

What we see in Jesus’ exchange with these men is the result of ignorance…they are ignorant of how ignorant they really are…Jesus’ response to them about their claims of not knowing where He came from…or who His Father is…it is ignorance resulting from a lack of knowledge.

Ignorance is what is keeping millions of people in darkness right now…many have never heard of Jesus…and that’s one problem…that’s not ignorance…that’s a lack of knowing.

BUT…for the many who have heard of Jesus and refuse to accept the physical evidence that supports an over-abundance of historical references that leave little reasonable doubt that Jesus lived and died…they are without excuse.

Here’s the tragedy…as a result they are ignorant about life and they’ll be ignorant about death.

It’s important that people see the true Jesus…this is the task of the church — that we might tell this story in a way that people will actually see who Jesus is.

Third truth…Jesus is the Savior of the world

The truth is…these guys are just like the millions of people who go through life daily…not interested in finding out who Jesus is…in Chapter 5 Jesus said to these very men,

“If you believed Moses you would believe Me because Moses wrote about Me,” (John 5:46).

They had the Old Testament Scriptures; all they had to do was read them…if they had they would have understood what Jesus said was Biblical…they would have had ample evidence that proved that Jesus was the Messiah.

Many people today are struggling for this very reason…they fail to read the Bible or go to a Biblically sound church where they can hear the truth…or…they don’t believe what the Word of God says; thus, they have no awareness of who Jesus is.

Jesus tells these men you reject my claims because you look only at appearances…

you judge according to the flesh [15]

you regard Me as nothing but a troublesome rabble-rouser who makes claims He has no right to make.

You’re not taking Me seriously because I have no political influence…no wealth… no social status…and no political power…and so you reject Me.

You haven’t even taken the time to know that I didn’t come from Nazareth…and for that reason alone you say I am not the Messiah…you’ve never even taken the time to investigate or you’d know that I was born in Bethlehem, according to the words of the prophet. You do not know Me at all…but you judge by superficial things. 

Ignorance is blocking the minds of these men and causing them to judge Jesus using human standards…judging according to the flesh and not according to reality.

Here’s the danger in that…when we judge according to the flesh that results in us not being able to see with clarity the person or the situation, we’re attempting to assess…judging according to the flesh consists of:  

FIRST…making a judgment based on our own standards or personal opinions

SECOND… making a judgment that is tainted by partiality

THIRDLY…making a judgment that is nothing more than a response to get even.  

FOURTHLY…making a judgment without showing mercy.

Finally, Jesus uses the Law to point out that He does have the necessary evidence to substantiate His claims…He is saying; as a matter of fact, I do fulfill the Law… your Law says there must be the testimony of two witnesses for something to be true [8:17] …I have two witnesses.

I am testifying about Myself…a man is always free to give testimony about himself in any court of law…but more importantly…if what he says is validated by another witness then it is much more creditable…Jesus declares,

the Father who sent Me testifies about me [18]

thus, I am fulfilling the demands of the Law.

One of the amazing things about this story is that, although these men were claiming to know God, they really did not know Him at all…this is the problem with many people today…they claim to know God, but the god they are talking about is a god of their own imagination.

All of their thinking is limited by the narrow confines of this life…they don’t understand what is going on in the invisible realms of life…they can’t see that what God is bringing to pass through all the historical occurrences on earth is not happening by chance.

When we don’t have The Light…we are unable to see the hand of God or the hand of the devil working in the earth…the constant never-ending conflict between God’s angels and Satan’s demons for control of your life…want to give you just one example how powerful the consequences of battle can be.

Billy Graham one night was seeking God’s direction for his life…having difficulty with the truthfulness of the Bible prayed that he was “going to accept this as your Word – by faith and would by faith go beyond my intellectual questions and doubts, and I will believe this to be Your inspired Word.” Obviously, the rest is history.

Think of how many people would have never heard God’s word if that decision had gone the other way…it is exactly the same in our lives…we can submit to God’s plan for our lives…or let Satan talk us out of it never realizing what could have been.   

Christians just going through the motion of life don’t understand anything beyond their own limited narrow range of facts which can’t be seen with human eyes or heard with human ears.  

Then there are those who are merely projecting an idea about God that is not real; consequently, they do not know God at all…quote from Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones about these kinds of people:

Their god is something which they created themselves, a being who is always prepared to oblige and excuse them. They do not worship Him with awe and respect, they do not worship Him at all. They reveal that their so-called god is no god at all in how they talk about Him. They draw the conclusion that God does what they believe He ought to do or not do.

What this all comes down to is what Jesus said in [v.12] if you do not have the Light of God in your life you will always walk in darkness.  

Jesus makes a pointed statement intended as criticism in [21] He tells the Pharisees that they ‘will die in your sin’. That word ‘sin’ in this verse is singular…it seems to indicate that there is one specific sin that causes men to be separated eternally from Jesus.

The reason people have multiple sins…plural…and in [v24] Jesus does mention multiple sins in their lives…is  the result of their singular sin of rejecting Jesus as their Savior…it is the sin of unbelief…this is the root problem with the entire human race.

The sin of rejecting Jesus as the true Messiah leads to all other sins…but it is the one sin of unbelief that is the single most damning sin anyone can commit.

Jesus gives them the remedy… ‘unless you believe that I AM (He), you will die in your sins.’ [24] …there are two ways to die…either we die in faith or we die in our sin…the I AM…is the only response to the sin of unbelief.

Goes back to His initial statement in [v12] I am the Light…it is our sinful condition that has rendered us blind to spiritual truth…

the god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel [2 Cor. 4:4]

unless the Lord opens our eyes, we will forever be in darkness…in this world and in the next…But…there’s a remedy:

Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but have the light of life.

After hearing everything Jesus had to say from [7:14] to [7:30] …and He’s not finished yet…which actually goes all the way to Chapter 9…He’s attempting to gain the understanding of all those in attendance.

During the whole time He’s been teaching…throughout the week-long feast is for one reason…He’s attempting to share what the statement ‘I AM the light of the world’ means.  

In order to go to heaven, we must believe that Jesus is the I AM…the eternal God… sent to earth by the Father; that He lived a sinless life …and that He died as the substitute for our sins.

Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection symbolizes everything needed to sustain life both now, and into eternity…the world believes that life is temporary…death is permanent…but the Light of the world is declaring just the opposite…that death is not permanent…and life is not temporary.

Approximately 60 million people die yearly worldwide…3 million in the U.S. alone…they all will live forever somewhere…whether with the Father or separated from Him.

John 8:1-11

¹ but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.² At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. ³ The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand in the midst of the group ⁴ and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. ⁵ the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. what do you say?”

Let me start off by sharing with you something you may already know about this story but for those of you who don’t know…it’s common knowledge in theological circles that chapter [7:53 to 8:2] is not found in the earliest and most reliable manuscripts…as a result…many believe the story of the woman caught in adultery was almost certainly not part of John’s original Gospel.

The text-critical evidence is overwhelming…this story was added later at an undetermined time and for unknown reasons.

There are thousands of Greek manuscripts which do include this story and only three that don’t…problem is the three which do not include this story are the earliest and most reliable. SO, how should the church treat this passage?

First…we must be honest with the text-critical evidence that denies any verifiable possibility that this story was in the earliest manuscripts of the Gospel of John…as Southern Baptists we believe in the inerrancy of the Bible… ‘if it’s in the Bible it’s true and it’s without error’.

I want to share with you some history regarding this story…I cannot in good conscience merely just tell you the story is true and you should believe it because I’m the Pastor or because it’s in the Bible without offering you evidence that this story rightly deserves to be part of John’s Gospel.

I look at this story from a different angle…that there are arguments to support why this text was deleted rather than it being added.

Why the Story of the Woman Caught in Adultery Belongs in the Bible

The facts of history indicate that during the early years of Christianity adultery was regarded so serious that if it could be forgiven at all it was only after severe self-punishment…so the thinking was Jesus’ forgiveness of this sin was too easy.

Such being the case, it is more reasonable to believe that the prejudice against this story by over-zealous disciplinarians was to leave it out…their motive in deleting it was a stronger motive than for keeping it in.

So, the historical evidence favors the belief that this story was actually deleted from the text rather than being added to it.

In the opening verses [John 7:53-8:2] describes the breaking up of the council meeting in which ‘everyone went to his home’ [7:53] …the next two verses [8:1-2] tell us what Jesus did in the meantime and thereafter…early the next morning Jesus ‘came again into the temple’.

This story’s placement in the New Testament between 7:52 and 8:12 is the only location in which these introductory verses fit the context.

And lastly…early in the Christian Church it had become the custom throughout the Church to read John 7:37-8:12 on the day of Pentecost…this lesson begins in John 7:38-39 with the introduction of the day in which the outpouring of the Holy Spirit would occur.

He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified

The problem was the lesson of the woman caught in adultery was placed right in the middle of the Pentecost reading that continues back up again in [v 12] …so this story was deemed inappropriate to include it…so rather than reading [8:2-11] they just omitted it… an additional reason why the early Church may have had it removed.

As time went by well-intentioned scribes who did not want the church to lose the importance of this story placed it back into the Greek manuscripts…a story that describes an actual event from the life of Christ.

So rather than arguing that this story is not a part of the original manuscripts but was added…I prefer to believe it was there but was removed and then reinserted back in.   

In this story we see two things: First…the character of God…but also contained in this story is the obvious legalistic trap by the self-righteous Pharisees to discredit Jesus…and it’s all done at the expense of this poor woman.

There are a couple reasons to indicate this was nothing more than an attempt to trap Jesus into incriminating Himself:

…FIRST…where was the man in the story? Why wasn’t he dragged before Jesus as well…maybe because he was one of her accusers?

…SECONDLY…the law required that witnesses to the adultery be produced and that a witness begin the execution…obviously there were none.

The story unfolds in four stages.

First stage sets the scene (7:45-8:2). The events of this story actually begin in [7:45] …the chapter break distracts from the story.

There’s a meeting of the chief priests and Pharisees taking place on the last day of the feast (7:37) with the officers asking the chief priests and Pharisees: ‘Why did you not bring Him? [7:45]

Look at their response…because

                ‘Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks’ [46]

They originally had gone to apprehend Jesus…but when they heard Jesus’ teaching, they found Him to be a different person than what their masters had portrayed Him to be.

What they found was a man who spoke as no other man had ever spoken…with so much grace…power…majesty…and eloquence…so they left Him alone…surely if their masters would only hear Him, they would acknowledge their own mistaken ideas about Him.

Without even hearing what Jesus was saying the response from the officers was:

‘You have not also been led astray, have you?’ [47]

This read funny because again…there’s that negative participle μή inserted in the question that expects a ‘NO’ response…what the officers are expecting in response to their question is: ‘no we haven’t been led astray.’

Now the officers who sent the men to arrest Jesus attempt to use some ‘logic’ …you guys are ruled by us…guided by us…we are your rulers and your teachers…do you see any of us believing in Him? …again, the negative participle μή is inserted in the question expecting a ‘NO’ response…could read…you see none of us believing in Him.

On the surface it may seem that the religious leaders who didn’t accept Jesus as Lord were just merely passive about who He was…that they were just neutral about Jesus …the reality is these men hated Jesus…they wanted Him dead…they had no desire to hear Him let alone follow Him.

The very men whose job it was to perform the works of God by doing sacrifices… doing temple work…who were supposed to be men of God…are actually fighting against the very person their whole life and world revolved around.

Here’s the danger…being in close proximity to God…having family members who are Christians…doing the things of God…being in church…being a church member …working in the church…doing Churchie things…won’t save you.

This report the officers got back is a little troubling to them…if they weren’t mad before, they are now…the men they sent to arrest Jesus are now acknowledging that Jesus may be more than just a man…they realize that there is something different than what they had been told or heard before about Him.

An additional problem was there were a couple Pharisees who did believe in Jesus. One in particular was Nicodemus…a man of great wealth and prominence…a member of the ruling council of Israel whose comments reflect his belief that Jesus is innocent [7:50-51].

Imagine this… The men who hate Jesus send their underlings after Jesus…when the men return, they not only return empty handed but they’re basically telling these priests and Pharisees that “Jesus is a better teacher than all of you.” Probably not what they are wanting to hear. That guy you sent us after…He is really good.

The second stage of the story (8:3-6) describes the callous and demeaning treatment of the woman they bring to Him…this is serious…this women’s death is imminent…she’s about to be killed unless something miraculous happens…and happen quickly.

They cruelly put her literally in the midst of the crowd in public humiliation [8:3]

Having set her in the middle (of them) [3]

other translations read; “in full view of everyone” or “before them all” …she is facing death and the Scribes and Pharisees are expecting Jesus, a Jewish male, to be responsible and condemn her…to be an active participant.

Scripture reveals their real motive for bringing this woman to Jesus…their sole purpose in seeking His advice is only for the purpose of trapping Him in His own words whereby they could judge Him…all at the expense of this woman.

They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him…’ [6]

Here’s Jesus dilemma…if Jesus consented to stone the woman according to the law of Moses He could have been arrested and charged with breaking Roman law because the Romans did not allow Jews to execute their own criminals.

BUT…by refusing to stone her and letting her go free…it could result in Jesus being charged by the Jews for violating the law of Moses by not having her stoned.

Obviously…they were trying to catch him in a trap…it seems whatever the decision He can’t win…He will be either violating Roman law by having her killed or He’ll be violating Jewish Law by not having her killed.

The third stage, Jesus’ response to His opponents (v. 6-9) …He writes with his finger on the ground…couple things…FIRST…why did Jesus write in the dust?

It has been pointed out [Kenneth E. Bailey] that if this were the eighth day of the feast, which was to be kept as a day of rest, even writing was unlawful…oral interpretation of the Law meant that you were performing work.

BUT writing with dust was permissible (m. shabbat 7:2; 12:5) …so…writing on the ground would have revealed a couple things…one…that Jesus not only knew the law but secondly…He’s revealing He also knows the oral interpretation of the Law.

Secondly…what did Jesus write in the dust that was so significant?

What was it that it causes these men to walk away one at time…no one knows what Jesus wrote in the dust…anyone suggesting they do is pure speculation…However there are some ideas as to what may have been written.

–First…It is possible what Jesus was writing was an Old Testament passage [Jer. 17:13]

Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the Lord, thereby turning it into a form of condemnation against them…by writing their names in the dust it was a judgment against them by writing in the dirt.

–Secondly…because they persisted [8:7] what He writes on the ground is again…a condemnation against them…maybe knowing they were also in an adulterous relationship…He begins writing the names of their girlfriends down…but no one knows for sure.

When Jesus calls for the one without sin to cast the first stone, He accomplishes several things:

— it relieves Jesus from the charge of having instigated the stoning.

— it ensures there will be no stoning, since none of the accusers will want to take responsibility and cast the first stone.

— it causes them to reflect on their own sinfulness before God

This story is not so much about an adulterous woman…but is more of what we talked about previously…people who are prone to judge.

People caught up in the rush to exact justice for either actual or perceived faults and failings of others…people unwilling or unable to see themselves in another person’s situation…this goes back to what Jesus said

Do not judge according to appearance but judge with righteous judgment [7:24].

What can be seen is Jesus forbidding unrighteous judgment…but what is “righteous judgment?” …if we are in a situation where judgment is demanded how is it to be done so it meets the definition of “righteous judgment”? …want us to consider a few things regarding judging:

FIRST…the judgment we make cannot be based on our own standards…or personal opinions…those have no part in spiritual matters…the standard by which we judge is the words of Jesus.

SECOND…we cannot make inconsistent judgments or judge with partiality…we cannot judge one more strictly than another when both are guilty of the same error. Righteous judgment must be fair and just…that must be the basic foundation of all judgment.

THIRDLY…we cannot make judgments merely as a response to someone judging us…making judgments about others only because they said something that convicted you of your sin…so in return you now accuse them of something…that is not judgment…it’s called getting even.

FOURTHLY…if we are called on to judge…we should judge with mercy…judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy…(James 2:13)

We will be judged with the same measure of judgment we have used on others.

(Matthew 7:2). I’m sure that we all desire mercy to be shown to us when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ so we should think about how we judge others.

FINALLY, here’s the hardest thing to consider when asked to judge…to judge with no regard for possible consequences…sadly, some withhold judgment because they fear losing favor…fear of physical threats…or fear of financial loss…so for them  

judgment is based on consequences…that cannot be called “righteous”!

This prepares us for the fourth stage of the story–Jesus’ response to the woman (v.10-11) …He doesn’t ask her about the charges…but rather

Where are they? Has no one condemned you? [v. 10)]

Those five points I just shared all have to do with how we are to judge others… here’s how God judges us with respect to His righteous judgment.

Said this last week…I have some tell me ‘you preach too much about a condemning God rather than about a loving God’…we prefer the idea ‘that God is good all the time.’

A misquoted verse by Joel Osteen and Rick Warren seems to confirm that idea by using Scripture that seems to echo that thought… ‘it is the goodness of God that leads to repentance’. [Rom. 2:4]

Now…that is a partial verse from the Bible…and as nice as that sounds…that verse taken out of context doesn’t address two important elements about God.

FIRST…Let me push back a little on you this morning…I’m going to say a couple things that may shock you…the first one is…God’s love is not unconditional…the idea that God loves you unconditionally is not is the Bible.

For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son…” does not say that God loves mankind but that He loved them. The Greek verb “agapao” (loved) is in the aorist tense and indicative mood…a single completed act; not a present tense love, but a past tense loved.

God’s love is not an unconditional saving love that He has for everybody or else everybody would be saved…if Salvation was automatic no one would have to meet any conditions to be saved…that’s why there are conditions to being saved.

There is something man must do to be saved…have faith in Jesus [Mk 16:15] [Romans 5:1] and believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior. [Romans 10:9]  

It’s not God’s love that admits us into Heaven when we die…it’s having faith and believing in Jesus as Lord and Savior. [Romans 10:9)

God’s love is not automatically extended to everyone…God’s love works all things together for good but only to ‘those who love Him’ [Romans 8:28].

God demonstrated His love for us in Jesus’ willingness to die on the Cross…not in our place…what Jesus did on the Cross was NOT take anyone’s place…BUT He offered Himself as a sin offering, [Heb 9:14] not to take our place.

So, God is love and God is good all the time…but it’s a love that is conditional.

Here’s the SECOND element about God…you cannot not talk about God’s love without mentioning God’s judgment…when you look at Romans 2^nd chapter that’s the central idea associated with [Rom. 2:4] that Olstein and Warren leave out.

It’s God’s righteous judgment…God seeing sin for what it is…it’s not God getting even…it’s not God saying I understand …it’s not God just accepting what we’ve done as…OK you’re not the only one doing that…God’s righteous judgment includes a day when God renders to each person according to their deeds. [2.5]

Here’s what God’ righteous judgment is: it’s God judging us fairly according to His standards based on our choices.

That is what makes God a loving God because He is a just God…people confuse God’s anger and wrath by putting them in human terms… ‘someone has wronged me, and I am making every effort to hurt them as much as I can’ … that is not how God functions.

Here’s the key to God’s judgment…He uses righteous judgment that includes holding us accountable for our actions but in a spirit of gentleness…seeking restoration and helping us back into fellowship with Him…not condemning us [Rom. 8:1].

So here we have Jesus…He’s left alone sitting on the ground writing in the dirt…with this woman standing before him…Jesus speaks these stunning words to her:          I do not condemn you [11]

WHAT?? …it’s apparent that God has just violated His own commandment regarding adultery by letting her go unpunished…that is the exact reason some scholars removed this story from the Bible…Jesus is way too soft on this sin…how could He possible say that to her…just let her go with no consequences to her sin.

Now we see the love of God…it is God’s intent to fully punish her to the full extent of His law…but she wasn’t the one who would be punished…she would go free… Jesus would be the one punished in her place.

But there’s something else that’s included in that statement that gets overlooked …it’s amazing how often Scripture is quoted but key words or ideas are left out.

Go, from now on sin no more

Let me share another confusing statement about God’s love…the first one was God’s love is not unconditional…here’s another one for you and it’s in the form of a song…it’s titled: “God Loves you Just the Way that You Are’ …let me shock you again…NO HE DOESN’T…God does not love you just the way you are.

Let me explain…notice a couple things about this woman:

…FIRST…she doesn’t claim to be the victim of ‘a false accusation’ …she doesn’t defend herself, saying: ‘I didn’t commit adultery’ … ‘they got it all wrong’ …she is apparently prepared to accept her fate.

…SECONDLY…notice the reaction by Jesus…Jesus doesn’t condemn the woman. He doesn’t lecture her about the sixth commandment…He doesn’t tell her how much she has hurt her family…He doesn’t remind her how much she has disgraced herself…Jesus doesn’t humiliate the woman…BUT…neither does He overlook her sin.

The usual interpretation of ‘neither do I condemn you’ is that Jesus in His good nature is flexible…tolerant…and not willing to be judgmental toward her.

Here’s the danger in that according to St. Augustine…goes back to that ‘God is good all the time’ …we deceive ourselves into believing we can do whatever we please in the belief that God in His goodness and mercy will simply overlook it…believing we have no need for repentance because God will save us regardless.  

That is ridiculous!! Jesus was declaring to this woman…I’m allowing you to slip out of your punishment…But: using modern terms… ‘you had better stop what you’re doing…you were fortunate this time…you must cease your sinful behavior.’

Jesus takes you just the way you are… ‘Just as I Am’ …He accepts you just the way you are but nowhere does it say God loves you just the way you are.

That’s something else about God’s love…His love won’t leave you in your present condition…Jesus could have said: ‘your sins are forgiven’ …but Jesus goes further and counsels the woman ‘to sin no more.’

In saying, ‘Go and sin no more,’ Jesus was not speaking of sinless perfection…He was warning her against a return to a lifestyle of sinful choices…His words reflect the perfect balance of “grace and truth” (John 1:14)…forgiveness is not cheap, and it does not excuse the sin that separated us from God.

With forgiveness comes the expectation that we will not continue in the same path of rebelliousness. Those who know God’s love will naturally want to obey Him [John 14:15].

When we come to Christ and receive His forgiveness, we experience a heart change [Luke 9:23; Acts 1:8]. We cannot experience the transforming power of forgiveness without being forever changed.

Every one of us, in a sense, is that woman…our sins stand exposed before God as much as that woman’s did…like her our condemnation is deserved…and yet, Jesus speaks the same words to us: ‘Neither do I condemn you.’

Why? Because He has been condemned in your place…ALL your guilt has been removed…you have been declared not guilty.

So there are a number of key takeaways:

—Jesus demonstrated grace, mercy, and forgiveness.

—God calls us to turn from sin and in turn, offers forgiveness.

—God offers all people a chance to repent and begin a new life.

But all that is conditional on you doing something.

Nehemiah 8 is the continuing story of the return of the Jews from 70 years of captivity in Babylon…if you’re familiar with that story then you know their 70 year captivity exile in Babylon was God’s chastisement of the Jews for failing to live according to God’s Word.

These events in chapter 8 take place about a century after the Jewish exiles were allowed to return from Babylonia to Jerusalem…since their return life had not been easy…the people suffered from hostile neighbors and crop failures but even worse…they remained in defiance of God’s Word.

They still had mixed marriages [Neh. 6:18 / 10:30 / 13:23-30], they failed to observe the Sabbath [Neh. 10:31 / 13:15-18] …and they neglected their tithes and offerings to God [Nehemiah 10:33-39]…as a result Hosea tells them…speaking for God:

          “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” [Hosea 4:6]

When the Bible speaks of knowledge it’s not referring to knowledge in general… but of a religious sophistication that is arrogant…that causes pride…when God’s people were destroyed it wasn’t because God had lost His love for them…on the contrary…and it isn’t that God’s people are ignorant…it’s because His people lacked knowledge …religious knowledge…they have some knowledge…but not enough…they may have just enough to make them think they know it all.

There’s a couple key things to note when looking at Hosea 4:6… ‘destroying people for lack of knowledge.’

So, what kind of knowledge did they lack?

With knowledge comes understanding…but without understanding knowledge is useless…in the context…what they lacked was both the knowledge [Hosea 4:1] and an understanding [Neh. 8:3] of God’s Word.

Without a knowledge of God they had no understanding of God…they knew about God…perhaps a little…but not enough… maybe they felt they knew God well enough…but the reality is they don’t know enough about Him.

Jesus made an emphasis to ensure the disciples had an understanding of the Kingdom of God…in Matthew 13 He gave eight parables explaining how the Kingdom functions on earth…and other parables that explains the Kingdom in Heaven.

It has never been God’s intent to keep the workings of the Kingdom a secret…it is God’s desire that we have an understanding of how He functions on earth and to a certain degree what will occur Heaven. 

The second kind of knowledge they lacked was the knowledge of God’s Word. Hosea says: ‘you have forgotten the law of your God’ [3:6]…they knew some of the Word of God…perhaps a little…but not enough…some felt they knew God’s Word well enough that they didn’t need to be taught…nothing you can tell me I don’t already know. 

Another area they lacked in was knowing the ways of God…and especially in the area of God’s mercy…they had a misunderstanding of God’s Mercy.

          God is so kind and so loving that of course He will forgive us
          Jesus died for our sins out of sympathy
          God will forgive us because we are sorry for our sins.

In understanding God’s mercy it’s important to know the difference between ignorance and rebellion…I like John Wesley’s explanation of God’s mercy…you must always differentiate between ignorance and rebellion in any given situation involving wrongdoing…even in the Old Testament there were provisions for sins that were made unintentionally.

If a wrong was committed merely due to a lack of knowledge, then that person should be shown mercy…however, if a person knows what God’s word says regarding a particular matter and transgresses it anyway…that’s rebellion…then that person was dealt with severely.

Secondly…what does it mean to “destroy” in the context ‘My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.’ does it mean that a person will physically die? …the definition in English means “to suffer death, typically in a violent, sudden, or untimely way.” Another definition is to “suffer complete ruin or destruction”.

When decisions need to be made in our life we’re puzzled on how to know the Lord’s mind…there are few subjects that Christians should get more intense about than being “led of the Lord”.

That’s another one of those phrases pastors throw out…being led by the Lord… that’s one of those confusing things that we are told to seek…but how do we approach seeking the Lord’s will?

As Christians we should want to insure we’re not acting out of self-sufficiency… by what we determine is best…when seeking the Lord’s will our initial response should be… is this according to God’s will? …do I have the prompting of the Holy Spirit? …am I being led by the Holy Spirit?

IF WE ARE IGNORANT OF GOD’S WORD — WE WILL ALWAYS BE IGNORANT OF GOD’S WILL

We should be diligent in seeking the Lord’s direction…here’s where many times things go awry…we seek God’s direction in our lives, but we are less diligent to insure we are LIVING in agreement with God’s Word. ‘you have forgotten the law of your God.’

You cannot find God’s direction in your life and expect to find it if you’re living a life that is in disobedience to God.

A phrase we as Christians should use in connection with every decision we make…every plan we form…every action we execute is: is this in harmony with God’s Word?

If you are not right with God, you can never turn your mind on anything but yourself…it’s called self-sufficiency.

The people came to that realization…they were intent on hearing the Word of God…realizing they had not been living in harmony with God’s word…so

          ‘They asked Ezra to bring the book of the law of Moses’ [8:1]

After 70 years Israel came back home to Jerusalem…they had returned to rebuild the walls of their city…to rebuild the Temple…but just as important was their need to rebuild their spiritual life.

In order for God’s people to reestablish their identity of faith, they needed to be reminded of the central truth of what made them unique among all the other nations of the world in the first place.

It wasn’t the temple…as impressive as that was because other nations had one as well…it wasn’t having a powerful city…they could have stayed in Babylon if that’s what they wanted…it wasn’t even a strong leader…Nebuchadnezzar had been the greatest king in the known world.

What made Israel unique among all the nations was that God had spoken directly to them and given them His Word…but for too long that Word had been neglected.

When we look at America today it seems that we have come to such a time as this …in fact it’s even prophesied by the prophet Amos that there would come a time when there would be a famine in the world for the Word of God.

People would actually be starving for answers to the problems of life…even among churched people there would be a longing to hear the Word of God.

The famous talk show host Oprah Winfrey (said in a new interview) she feels the reason behind the latest string of violence is that people are “missing” a “core moral center.”

“Churches used to do that… It was a central place you could come to and there was a core center of values about a way of living and being in the world. Until we can return to that we will continue to be lost,”…continue to be lost because of a lack of knowledge and understanding.

The key is we must learn to see life from God’s perspective…we need to change the way we think about ourselves and about life. 

If that is not our desire, then what are we doing gathering together every Sunday if it’s not to read and understand God’s word? 

Israel’s problem was they were outside of God’s will…punishment came upon the people of Israel because of their disobedience to God’s law.

When we’re outside of God’s will in our lives the Bible is nothing more than words on a page to us…it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been a Christian… when you’re outside God’s will the Bible has little influence in your life.

It’s how we saw the Bible before we trusted God to come into our lives … the Bible was just words to us…but suddenly the words become SPIRIT and LIFE — WHY?

Because Jesus re-speaks them to us WHEN our circumstances CAUSE the words to become new.

That is the way God speaks to us – not by visions or dreams…there’s no writing on the wall…but by words…God uses words to create something in the lives of those who listen – which otherwise could never have been known.

The people were ignorant of God’s word…it is a thin line between being ignorant of God’s Word and just being defiantly disobedient.

IF YOU ARE IGNORANT OF GOD’S WORD — YOU WILL ALWAYS BE IGNORANT OF GOD’S WILL

We read in Nehemiah that they told Ezra – bring the book…James calls God’s word the Perfect Law — inerrant — sufficient — complete — it encompasses God’s revealed will to us.

GOD’S SECRET WILL – God’s eternal unchanging purpose

GOD’S REVEALED WILL – defines our duty and responsibility…God gave us His revealed will to be obeyed and applied to our life.

1. For us to be knowledgeable of God’s Will we must read His Word. The people gathered and asked Ezra to bring the book of the Law of Moses… [8:1] …they read from it publicly from dawn until noon…standing up!

2. For us to be knowledgeable of God’s Will we must reverently hear His Word.  As he opened the book with their hands uplifted all the people said Amen then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground [6]         

3. For us to be knowledgeable of God’s Will…God’s Word must be taught. To properly apply the Bible, you must properly interpret it…to properly interpret it you must understand what the author meant for the people to whom he was writing in the context of that day.

4. For spiritual renewal, God’s people must respond to His Word.          
It is spiritually dangerous to study the BIBLE without the goal of obedient response…knowledge apart from obedience leads to pride [1 Cor. 8:1]. …our aim should always be to transform our lives by Scripture.

        and the people wept when they heard the words of the Lord. [9]

The Word of God was doing its intended work [2 Tim. 3:16] the working of the Holy Spirit in the life of a person will do two things…it is profitable for  teaching, for correction, and for training in righteousness. [2 Tim. 3:16]

Here’s God’s General Rule…It is the duty of every Christian to know the Lord’s will for their lives…this was one of the reasons for the 70-year captivity of Israel by Babylon…for them…they knew God’s will…they just elected to ignore it.

If we are truly concerned in seeking to please God daily — in all details of our lives, great or small God will not leave us in ignorance of His will concerning that.

BUT if we’re satisfied with self-gratification…by leaning on our own understanding…by trusting in our own self-sufficiency…and only turning to God for help in times of distress – then don’t be surprised when God mocks us and allows us to reap the fruits of our own folly.

Prov. 3:5-6   ⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

This verse is a promise from God…but notice…like the other 99% of promises in the Bible…it’s conditional…conditional upon our meeting three requirements.

Many people think they want to be guided by God but when a crisis arrives… temptations…testing…when important decisions have to be made…few are prepared to meet the requirements or conditions in the scriptures.

Fact is God was rarely in their thoughts before the crisis…pleasing Him was not a priority when things were going smoothly…when the Babylonians were knocking on the front door wanting to get in and they were at their wits end… they then become suddenly very pious and turned to the Lord…suddenly they were throwing pathetic panic stricken prayers up to God and asking Him to direct them.

In Jeremiah 7^th and 11^th chapters here’s what God says to them: “Behold, I will surely bring calamity on them which they will not be able to escape, and though they cry out to me … I will not listen to them.”

People have told me that I’m too critical of God…that ‘God is good all the time’ and I don’t emphasis that enough…there are thousands of articles that convey that message…go online and look up ‘God is good all the time’ there’s pages that talk about that…there’s even a song out there (Don Moen) God is Good all the Time.

God is good (all the time)
And all the time (God is good)
God is good (all the time)
And all the time (God is good)

Actually this song is a “call and response” that is often used in the African-American church …the leader proclaims: God is good; and the congregation responds: All the time…then the leader echoes: All the time; and the congregation answers: God is good.

I certainly do not want to downplay the idea that God is good because He is…but far too often there’s a misunderstanding on what that means…because God is a judgmental God and a God of wrath.

Just so you know…I don’t believe God is a God who enjoys getting revenge on people who have offended him…I do not believe that…one of the attributes of God is that God is good all the time…but another attribute includes the wrath of God.

When you understand what the wrath of God means…then there is really no conflict between the two…it’s simply God’s righteous judgment against sinful humanity.

Nehemiah uses the word ‘understand’ three times to convey the importance of people grasping the significance of God’s Word.

Here’s what Oswald Chambers says about the need to be knowledgeable of God’s Word…having understanding:

When you develop the right condition inwardly the words of Jesus become so clear that you are amazed you did not grasp them before…the reason is…you were not able to understand them before because you had not yet developed the proper spiritual condition to grasp them.

God doesn’t purposely hide things from us but until we are prepared to receive them…He withholds them until we are in the right condition in our spiritual life to receive them.

Here’s the KEYs in not being ignorant of God’s Word and having a spiritual understanding of His will for our lives. 

TRUST IN THE LORD – Count on Him in every emergency – look to Him for the supplier of every need — cast all our cares upon Him — rely upon His abounding mercy.

Give to God your undivided confidence, not looking to any other source for help or relief; trust in Him with childlike simplicity.

LEAN NOT UNTO YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING – We are not to trust in our own wisdom. Not rely on our own self-sufficiency. Go back to God’s General Rule – seeking to please God daily in all details of our lives.

IN ALL THY WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM – First, we must ask God’s permission for all that we do and more importantly — do not act without it… Anything on which I cannot ask God’s blessings is wrong…We are to seek God’s guidance in every undertaking we do with a complete dependency on Him…seeking God’s glory upon everything we do.

HE SHALL DIRECT YOUR PATHS – Meet the three conditions above and this is the sure consequence. Much needed uncertainty would be spared if only this principle were recognized…rushing ahead of the Lord or acting from a sudden impulse will usually have painful consequences [Lam. 3:25-26] – “The Lord is good unto them that wait for him.”

Obedience to the word is the most basic spiritual requirement and is the common denominator for all true believers…God has given us the written Word as a “lamp to our feet.”

That lamp to our feet is having our eyes opened so that we may turn from darkness to light…that’s conversion…their eyes are open, but they have received nothing… it’s more than an emotional experience…more than making vows – promises – or resolutions – BUT none of that is salvation.

A person must know certain things to experience conversion, but a knowledge of these facts alone will not save him…No matter how sincere I may be – mere intellectual acknowledgement and acceptance of divine truth does not bring salvation.

Salvation – means that we are brought to the place in our lives where we are able to receive something from God…His forgiveness of sin / Salvation /and the Holy Spirit.

The Jews in Nehemiah’s time were ignorant of God’s Word…they asked Ezra to read the book of Moses to them…but here’s the KEY…it was for those who could listen with understanding…because as long as 

WE ARE IGNORANT OF GOD’S WORD — WE WILL ALWAYS BE IGNORANT OF GOD’S WILL

John 7:16-24

Jesus is at the Feast of the Booths in Jerusalem…it’s one of seven religious feasts that the Jews celebrated and still celebrate today…it’s one of the three mandatory feasts in which all males were supposed to appear before the Lord.

It was a weeklong celebration when families lived in makeshift booths made of  branches and leaves (Lev. 23:40-43). Sort of like camping out to remember Israel’s 40-year journey in the wilderness on the way from Egypt to Canaan under Moses.

Jesus is in Jerusalem where He will return just six months later to be arrested and crucified…but for now He enters the city about mid-way through the eight-day celebration where He unexpectedly shows Himself publicly to the crowds in the temple [7:14].

He begins teaching in the temple and creates a certain awe in what He says…John reveals the reaction of those in the Temple to Jesus’ claims…some believed…some are indifferent…others just flat out rejected him…but it seems everyone has an opinion…there’s an open debate going on among them…some say ‘He is a good man’ …others saying, “No, on the contrary, He leads people astray.” [7:12].

The debate about Jesus continues today…a man sent by God…who taught God’s truth…sought God’s glory…did miraculous works but was and has been rejected because people then as now value the wrong things.

• Some people don’t think they need a savior…they consider themselves to be “basically good” and don’t realize that they, like all people, are sinners who cannot come to God on their own terms.

• Some people don’t accept Christ because they are caught up in the cares of the world…what’s going on in their life at that time is more important than being tied down to religion…they love life as it is and don’t want to change.

• The fear of social rejection deters some people from receiving Christ as Savior …people are more concerned with their status among their peers than trusting in Jesus…they’re like the Pharisees who loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.” [John 12:41]

• Many people are simply resisting the Holy Spirit’s attempts to draw them to faith in Christ…like the people Stephen talked about who were about to murder him, “You always resist the Holy Spirit!”

John records that Jesus makes the claim that ‘He is true’ [7:18] an interesting statement…it’s used only two other times in John’s entire Gospel and both times only when referring to God [3:33 / 8:26].

John wants us to make it known that Jesus alone shares this quality with God.

They are immediately amazed at His teaching and His wisdom…how can anyone who has never been exposed to the teachings of the religious leaders…having no formal training… ‘having never been educated’ [7:15] have such a commanding knowledge of Scripture?

There are two kinds of emotions on display in this text…one is displayed by Jesus’s brothers who are excited about his miracles …they’ve seen some of them and they want other people to see them as well…in essence they’re saying…show yourself to the world so ‘Your disciples may see your works which You are doing’ [3].

Notice they say ‘your’ disciples indicating they were not Jesus’ disciples because they didn’t believe in Him…BUT they are excited about what He can do…they believed in His miracles but not in His messiahship…that’s one kind of unbelief… believing in the idea that there is a person named Jesus…being excited about what He can do…but not believing in Him as Savior.

Then there’s the second kind of emotion displayed by many of the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem who were not excited by Jesus’s miracles…they are threatened by them and want to see him dead.

What you really have in both instances is unbelief masked behind two different emotions…the Jews’ unbelief is the same as Jesus’s brothers’ unbelief…so how are these two responses to Jesus both unbelief…there’s a common denominator for these two unbelieving responses.

On the one hand the brothers are excited about His miracles…in fact they want Jesus to do more miracles…to be more public…get exposure…they love it and they want Him to make an appearance in Jerusalem to win more followers.

Jesus’ brothers sought acceptance of people in the miracles Jesus performed…who wouldn’t want to be identified as being part of Jesus’ family…seeking the praise of people…that’s why Jesus did not go to Jerusalem with them.

It’s like hanging out with the popular kids in school so you can be seen with them.

It’s like people who only attend big churches…they like the prestige of letting people know they attend that church…they attend a church that has a big building …a huge sanctuary…they like to be associated with a church that has countless programs…probably none of which they’re involved in…and most likely attend only when it’s convenient…but they like to be associated with it through its name.  

Then on the other hand you have the anger of the Jews that Jesus is doing too many miracles and want them stopped… even if it means killing Him.

For the Jews they sought the praise of people as well…with the brothers it was being associated with Jesus…for the Jew it was through their keeping of the law… their prideful attempt to keep the Law gave them prestige…that was more important than identifying with Jesus even though some of people wondered how could they  not believe in Jesus and recognized that he was the Messiah.

[v. 26] indicates that may have been the case

The rulers do not really know that this is the Christ, do they?

They’re really asking…how is it the leaders can’t believe…there’s that negative participle μή inserted in the question that expects a ‘NO’ response…meaning…no the leaders really don’t believe this is the Christ…because Jesus is completely upsetting their whole concept of the Law of Moses.   

In fact…Jesus is accusing them of being law-breakers…His response is; ‘none of you keeps the law’ [17:19].

Jesus is calling their whole understanding of law-keeping into question…they sought approval of the people by their keeping of the Law but their whole life was a sham…their trust is in the Law, not in some carpenter’s kid.   

For the brothers, the miracles of Jesus got them human praise…for the Jews, the miracles of Jesus threaten their human praise.

In [v. 15] they raise the question of His competence as a teacher.  ‘how can this man become learned, having never been educated?’ …but in [v. 17] Jesus turns the tables…He raises the question of their competence as hearers.

I want to share the importance of verse 17 because unless you lived 2000 years ago and were a Rabbi the original intent has a meaning that is not what we think it means today.

“If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself.

There’s a modern-day application of this verse which is not exactly what this verse meant 2000 years ago…the modern-day application is anyone who is obedient to the teaching of God will know that what you’re doing is the will of God.

How do we know that…how do know that what you’re doing is the will of God…you test it.

You can be assured that what it is you’re doing is from God when what it is you’re doing lines up with the Word of God.

As opposed to what you want to do…or what others want you to do…or how much your emotions…your feelings…or circumstances want to do the opposite.

God will never speak to us or tell us to do something that is contrary to His Word.

The work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of a believer who has a teachable spirit and a desire to know the will of God is one that will be taught by Him.

Now the meaning as it applied to the Rabbis…this is further proof that Jesus is keenly aware of what they were thinking…Jesus is specifically responding to all the Rabbis who were there listening to Him.

They could relate to what [verse 17] meant from the many years of their own personal experience…it made perfect sense to them, but unless we understand a little history, we miss the true meaning of Jesus’ comments.  

What Jesus is reflecting on is their own personal life-story…He’s reading them like a book…each one of them, at some point in their life, wanted to become a rabbi… each one completed the required schooling necessary to be qualified. 

Upon completion he chose a particular rabbi that he wanted to be like…he goes to  that rabbi and asks him if he could be one of his disciples…by making this request he is telling the rabbi that he wants to be like him, and will gladly do everything the rabbi tells him to do without questioning it. 

The intent was that these rabbis, after several years of submitting to their teacher and learning only his teachings…would become a rabbi who thinks…acts…and teaches just like his teacher.

See where Jesus is going with this…Jesus is making a contrast in how He was taught to how they as young rabbis were taught…the rabbi thinks, act, and teaches just like his teacher…and Jesus is saying I’ve done the same…‘My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me’ [16] see the similarity.

The comparison Jesus is trying to make is the authority these rabbis had was not their own…they are emulating the rabbi who taught them…their authority came from the one who taught them…not from themselves… their willingness to submit to their own individual rabbi is how they learned.  

If the rabbi becomes convinced that this young man has the potential of becoming like him, the rabbi will approach him and say to him, “Follow me” …again…Jesus takes a phrase they would have been familiar with and uses it in the same way to call them.

The phrase ‘Follow me’ is used countless times in the New Testament to mean now as well as then… “Come with me as my disciple and submit to my authority and my teachings.”

Jesus is drawing a parallel between how these young rabbis were called and how He calls people today…using the same words ‘follow me’ to call His disciples.

By the teacher telling the disciple to ‘follow me’ He means your authority as a rabbi will not be your own, but the authority of the rabbi who discipled you.

When we make the decision to follow Jesus we’re committing to His authority…but in the case of these rabbis their motivation was pride, not humility…the attitude of these rabbis was proof that their teachings was not from God.

Jesus is challenging them to learn by putting His words into practice the same as they did the Rabbis who taught them.

[V. 18] He begins to focus on motives

“He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory.”

Jesus is telling them about two different kinds of teachers…the first kind is the worst kind…the teacher who “speaks from himself”. 

We see this in the Church today…we see this in the large number of cults who speak from themselves…Jesus is contrasting Himself with the teacher who speaks from himself…who speaks by his own authority…teaching his own ideas and opinions that are not based upon nor consistent with the Word of God. 

This person does not represent God…on the contrary…he represents himself and “seeks his own glory”.  …such a person is not a teacher but is in a popularity contest…his reward is the recognition and praise of others.

4 SIGNS YOU’RE SEEKING YOUR OWN GLORY AND NOT GOD’S

1. YOU’RE MORE CONCERNED WITH YOUR PERFORMANCE THAN YOUR IMPACT.

2. YOU’RE DISAPPOINTED WHEN OTHERS DON’T MENTION YOUR EFFORTS.

3. YOU MAKE SURE TO LET PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT THE SACRIFICES YOU’RE MAKING AND HOW COMMITTED YOU ARE.

4. YOU’RE IN COMPETITION WITH THOSE AROUND YOU DOING SIMILAR MINISTRIES.

Jesus uses Himself as an example of the second kind of teacher who seeks the glory of God…He says, “but He who is seeking the glory of the one who has sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”  

For Jesus, life was not a popularity contest…it was a quest to know and obey the truth…such a person is not an impostor…there is no falsehood nor deception in him. Instead of deception there is transparency…this is the description of the perfect teacher.

Jesus is telling them…you like to follow rabbis…follow the kind of teacher I just mentioned…that’s the kind of teacher you want to follow and learn from.

So Jesus gives them a contrast…

Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? [19]

What?? …hey Jesus in case you didn’t know…we are the experts and keepers of the Law…none of us keeps the law??  here’s what Jesus meant by that…Israel had gotten so obsessed on how the Law should be interpreted that they lost the spirit of the Law…instead of following what God said, they took away from what God wanted and turned it into what men decided it should be.

So Jesus gives them a scenario:

When Moses gave Israel the Law, one was the law concerning circumcision…the law decreed that male babies should be circumcised on the eighth day… [Lev 12:3] but what if that eighth day fell on the Sabbath…now you have a quandary.  

Their interpretation of the Law is that you can’t do any work on the Sabbath…so do you wait until the next day and break the law regarding circumcision on the eighth day… or do you circumcise on the eighth day and break the law that is commanding you to not work on the Sabbath?

Jesus reveals their foolish logic…He goes back to their anger at His healing a man on the Sabbath…it’s permissible to perform circumcision on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses would not be broken…but it was wrong to completely heal a man on the Sabbath (John 5:8-9).

Jesus reminds them that what He did was a miracle…but they’re offended it was done on the Sabbath…but it’s fine for them to do circumcision on the Sabbath… Jesus reminds them that the Law wasn’t broken, their tradition was! Then Jesus closes out His teaching with this thought… a statement that applies to all of us:

Do not judge according to appearance [24]

This goes back to one of the most often misquoted and mis-understood scriptures in the Bible…behind Romans 8:28… “Do not judge least you be judged” [Matt. 7:1] …this phrase is not always correctly understood or applied.

Both these verses… [John 7:24 and Matt. 7:1] point to a tendency inherent in human nature…judging is universal…the term ‘judge not’ is one of the most over-used clichés in Christianity…and almost always used out of context.

Here’s how this normally works…people will judge others for committing sins that they deem “worse” than their own.

The emphasis is on the idea that when an individual or a group of people develop their own standards of religious conduct…or their own morality…or their own personal standards, they inevitable judge everyone else by those self-made beliefs and standards…and everyone else is lowered accordingly.

Now admittedly…and to some extent…Christians have become fairly good at focusing on the moral failings of others while completely ignoring their own.

Whenever we condemn people or pass judgement on someone because they don’t do something the way we think it ought to be done…or… because we believe their motives are wrong…we’re passing judgment on them.

Notice Jesus says… ‘judge with righteous judgment’ which is vastly different than how we often judge…it’s like God’s righteous anger or God’s wrath…people confuse God’s anger and wrath by putting them in human terms… ‘someone has wronged me, and I am making every effort to hurt them as much as I can.’

That is not how God operates…God gives us the freedom to make the choice in how we will live…and each of us will have to give an account for that decision… here’s the key…in whatever decision we make we must be aware that there are consequences to those choices.

It’s not God getting even…it’s God judging us fairly according to His standards based on our choices.

With respect to righteous judgment it is God seeing sin for what it is…we too should see sin for what it is and not be afraid to point it out …but this judgment becomes unrighteous judgement when it stems from a “holier-than-thou” motive or  when it seeks to condemn rather than to restore.

Jesus is saying…don’t judge like the Jewish leaders do…they’re seeking revenge based on tradition…but judge using righteous judgment…that includes a spirit of gentleness…seeking restoration and helping that person back into fellowship with God…not condemning them.

This whole discourse…these verses we have been studying for the past four weeks, all center around trusting in Jesus.

Last week’s sermon centered on the reason to ‘wait upon the Lord’ because when we run ahead of Him, we limit Him to our human strength and power.

The week before that it was realizing there is no place we can go….no other person we can go to…no other book we can read who has the words of eternal life.

Today’s lesson is about tradition versus Scripture…the importance of understanding God’s Word rather than listening to those who would want you to believe in and keep traditions over Scripture.

The rabbis were saying this is the way we’ve always done it because it’s the Law… and Jesus was insisting…on the contrary…it is the teaching of God that has priority.

The exact reason for being in Church…for reading your Bible…for being in Sunday school…for being in a Bible study…so you don’t become like those who would have you believe in human traditions…customs…rituals…and observances.   

Here’s the danger in believing in traditions…customs…and folklore…and the devastation that occurs when people fail to accurately interpret God’s Word.

We are living in exciting times…we are witnessing Bible prophecy being fulfilled before our very eyes…but for an entire nation of people they’re still clinging to the erroneous teaching of thousands of years ago regarding Christ’s return to earth.

Substituting God’s Word for oral traditions that has resulted in the loss of countless numbers of people because they failed to do exactly what Jesus Himself said 2000 years ago ‘these are the very Scriptures that testify about me’ [John 5:39].

In addition, there are hundreds of thousands who have listened to false teachers over the years who have either re-written the Bible…added their own commentary on the Bible…or have denied the authenticity of the Bible.

Nothing has changed in 2000 years…the people in Jesus’ time mistakenly put their confidence in the religious leaders whom they trusted to tell them the truth…today people are still trusting in modern day rabbis to tell them the truth…but unlike the rabbis…Jesus is stating He speaks for God…He is speaking for the One who sent Him.

John 7:1-10

After these things — a redundant saying of John’s…he says this same thing in the opening verses of chapters 5, 6, and 7…so what things? …in this instance…after the miraculous feeding of the five thousand with five loaves and two fishes…after walking on water…after the discourse with the multitude and His disciples concerning the bread of life…after these things…He confines Himself to Galilee.  

When you do a casual reading of Scripture sometimes it’s difficult to realize that between chapters there may be a time period of weeks or even months or even years …because it seems as if things are happening in rapid succession.

Just looking at the last three chapters is an indication of that…at the end of chapter 4 Jesus is in Galilee…in Chapter 5 He moves to Jerusalem…in Chapter 6 He moves back to Galilee and in chapter 7 Jesus returns to Jerusalem.

As you read the first few verses in John 7 it would appear that Jesus’ movement is beginning to fall apart…many of His disciples have already deserted Him (6:66) … He’s unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him… so as a result He has apparently decided the best thing to do is lay low in Galilee (7:1).

Interesting statement…Scripture indicates ‘The Jews were seeking to kill Him’ …that’s an interesting statement because on the surface it seems that all the Jews were seeking to kill Him but more specifically the phrase ‘the Jews,’ most often used by John, refers to the religious leaders of Jerusalem…we don’t see in Scripture nor does it ever appear that the common people attempted to kill Jesus.

This starts way back in John 5:18…John mentions the Jews sought to kill him…not because He performed miracles…not because He healed people…not because He fed people…they had two things against him:

1. His violation of the sabbath by healing the man at the pool of Bethesda.

2. His making himself equal with God.

When you look at the best way to get exposure for yourself it’s to get out into public…that’s what all the Hollywood types do…the more exposure the more people who are aware of you and as a result the more following you have.  

Scripture says that the Feast of the Booths was near…let me explain that holiday for you…the Feast of the Booths was a weeklong celebration that occurred in September or October when families lived in makeshift booths that were made of

 branches and leaves (Leviticus 23:40-43). Like camping out.

They camped out in these temporary shelters to remember Israel’s 40-year journey in the wilderness on the way from Egypt to Canaan under Moses.

His brothers therefore said to Him…leave here and go into Judea, so your disciples may see Your works…in other words here’s a great opportunity to get some exposure.

Couple things:

This is a controversial verse of Scripture…some in the church don’t recognize the idea that Jesus had any earthly brothers or sisters…they believe that Mary remained a virgin until her death…so some are surprised at the notion that Jesus had half-brothers and sisters.

This Scripture is important in defining who Mary was…someone who seems to only get talked about at Christmas time.  

First…There’s absolutely no Biblical reason to believe that the siblings mentioned here are the children from a previous marriage Joseph had…that he brought them into his relationship with Mary…there is no credible evidence to validate that.

Secondly…there is biblical proof that Mary did have children after Jesus’ birth…

 Matthew 13:55-56:

“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren’t all his sisters with us?

Here’s the problem…over the years there have been efforts made in the Church to elevate Mary’s status…years ago there was a movement in the Catholic Church to encourage the Pope to use papal infallibility to declare that Mary is a Co-Redeemer with Jesus. —you immediately become a cult…you immediately lose any affiliation as a Christian Church.

The Church received more than four million signatures from 157 countries seeking to elevate Mary’s status dramatically beyond what most Christians believe.

From strictly a theological standpoint let me share with you the danger in this:

…First…for Catholics they would be obliged as a matter of faith to accept that Mary participates in the redemption process that can only be achieved by Jesus.

…Secondly…that all the grace that comes from the suffering and death of her Son is granted through Mary’s intercession with Jesus.

In addition, there is the notion put forth by those who want to maintain Mary’s status as a virgin…a topic that has become a heated debate in some circles.

Some may think this is a Roman Catholic versus Protestant view…it’s not…many hold to the idea that Mary remained a virgin for the duration of her life.

Without saying…Mary was an incredible woman…in fact… few women will ever even remotely be considered to be on a par with her…God honored Mary in a way that no other women in history will be allowed to experience.  

BUT…like everything in Scripture people have placed her in a position of being a goddess…some go as far as to believe that Mary was conceived immaculately…and she was thereby free from both original sin, and the effects of original sin…that is pure speculation and without any Biblical support.

Some have elevated her to the position of ‘the queen of heaven’. Let me tell you the danger in that…a ‘queen of heaven’ is mentioned in the Bible…Jeremiah 7:16-25. 

Let me share with you what God told Jeremiah concerning those who prayed to the queen of heaven:

As for you, do not pray for this people—talking to Jeremiah—do not intercede with me for I will not hear you—here’s why—My anger and My wrath will be poured out on this place, on man, and on beast and on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground; and it will burn and not be quenched.

Here’s why God said this…the queen of heaven was a Babylonian goddess of fertility…it was believed that she had the ability to help women bear children.

Jeremiah is warning Israel that God will punish them if they continued to worship the queen of heaven…here’s their reply to Jeremiah…they had no intentions to stop worshipping the queen of heaven.

And this is exactly what some have done with Mary…elevating her from being a servant of God by being the mother of Jesus to being the Mother of God…instead of commending her for being a faithful obedient servant of God…they worship her as the queen of heaven.

With respect to Jesus’ brother…John already mentioned them in John 2:12 and in Matthew…he wrote about Jesus’ brothers [Mat. 12:46-47] and His sisters in [15:55].

So here we have Jesus’ brothers giving him some friendly family advice…He should go back to Judea and do some miracles so that your disciples may see the miracles you do (7:3).

Here’s what’s interesting…His brothers were never supportive of His ministry before His death and resurrection…so why are they now encouraging Jesus to go to Jerusalem?

Could be that when many of his disciples left him they went to Judea…maybe if He would go there and do another miracle or two He could give them a second chance.

I want to talk about these people for a minute and reintegrate on something I said last week…we have a misunderstanding about how God ‘calls’ and ‘chooses’ us.

God goes to great lengths and extremes to ensure that all people on earth have an equal chance to respond to Him…BUT for those who continually reject Him they don’t have a lifetime to keep their options open.

A very difficult subject because it’s something that’s not preached today…just google ‘God never gives up on you’ and you’ll find countless articles that say no matter what you’ve done or not done…no matter how many times you’ve messed up…how often you’ve lost your way…there is one person who will never give up on you…your Heavenly Father.  Never has…never will.

NOW…on the surface that’s sounds nice…and let me say to some degree that is correct…and there are countless verses out there people use to validate that claim …but…here’s the more correct Biblical understanding…people cast people aside…WATCH THIS…NOT because God has cast them aside.

God doesn’t give up on us until we give up on Him. …it is only when we repeatedly turn our backs on Him and stubbornly refuse His offer of forgiveness that He finally lets us go…it’s not because God has cast them aside.

The Bible warns, “A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed—” (Proverbs 29:1).

That’s a Bible verse that those wanting to convince you that despite how you live or what you do God is so forgiving that He overlooks those things.

God giving up on us is a side of God that’s unpleasant…it’s not in keeping with our understanding about God because God is patient…He’s longsuffering…gracious and merciful… BUT…He is not so forever! 

For God…the past…present…and future are all the same…God is not wondering what He’ll do tomorrow…He’s already there…neither is He waiting for it to happen…for Him tomorrow has always been present.

It is not as though God is watching people’s lives unfold like a movie…He already knows the choices we will make…that’s a mystery to us…here’s what we need to realize…God knowing what I will do tomorrow does not destroy my freedom to choose what I do. 

How this all works out is mysterious…we are free…but God holds us accountable for our choices even though God already knows our destiny…mysteriously confusing.

In life there are decisions that are made…there are life principles and spiritual life principles…both of them have forks in the road…both in life and in the spiritual principles those choices have consequences.

With regards to the spiritual life principles…for some rather than coming to Christ they can reject the free gift of forgiveness and eternal life that Jesus offers and continue on in their self-absorbed life of showing little concern about anyone or anything outside their own narrow self-interests…God will let them do that.

BUT…there are consequences to that decision…here’s the confusing part of this… at some point their opportunity closes because God hardens their heart against Him.

In Scripture this is done for a couple reasons…one is to accomplish God’s purpose… the second is because someone has decided to remain ignorant and alienated from God…it’s a personal choice and God lets them do it.

Scripture reveals God hardening the hearts of certain people…fourteen times in Scripture the statement is made that God hardens someone’s heart.

With respect to Pharaoh…six times Scripture says “the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart” [Ex 9:12; 10:1; 10; 27; 11:10; 14:8] and seven times Scripture says he hardened his own heart [Ex 7:13-14, 22; 8:15, 19;  32;  9:7].

Let me explain that…texts like these must be approached carefully and accurately as to the scriptural and historical context because in every case the hardening should not be seen as dealing with personal salvation.

God hardening Pharaoh’s heart had nothing to with salvation…it was to serve a purpose…God used it as a way to demonstrate His majesty.

But with respect to salvation…God allows people to do what their own evil heart’s desire and not alter the course of their own motives.

It’s wrong to suggest that God hardens people against receiving salvation…that is contrary to God’s will…I know of no statements in Scripture where anyone who wanted to follow God was prevented because of God hardening their hearts.

A hard heart is blind to the value of the gospel and refuses to embrace Christ (Rom. 11:8)… a hard heart is synonymous with spiritual ignorance and alienation from God (Eph. 4:18).

It’s not in God’s character to suppose that He hardens people’s hearts against him… it’s an act of judgment in response to a decision they already made.

KEY…when God decides to harden someone’s heart, we can be assured that God wishes it didn’t have to be that way.

The hardening of the heart is essentially a sort of final judgment of God that takes place before someone dies…something that has evolved over a lifetime…because of their own willful sinful choices.

Back to these people who Jesus’ brothers are wanting Him to perform a miracle for…what they’re proposing is some kind of marketing strategy for Jesus…if His desire is to be a public figure, He should show himself to the world (7:4).

This might look like a great statement of faith by Jesus’ brothers, but John sets us straight: For even his own brothers did not believe in him (7:5).

Recognizing that Jesus is a miracle worker does not make someone a believer… they assume He wants to be in the limelight and they’re suggesting He do what is necessary to gain a following… ‘we’re just here to help’… in this they echo Satan’s temptation (Mt 4:1-11 par. Lk 4:1-13).

But Jesus rejects their suggestion just as He rejected the earlier attempt by some to make him king (6:15) …Jesus’ aim is not to gain a following but to reveal his Father by being faithful and obedient to Him…He does not need suggestions from others, even those closest to Him in his family.

So here we catch Jesus in a lie…

Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this feast [8]

…but when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up [10]

Taking these two verses on the surface implies that Jesus told His brothers one thing but knew He was going to do something different…that’s a lie.

BUT…Jesus’ response points out that He is working from a divine schedule which they are not a part of…twice He uses the phrase ‘My time has not yet fully come’ [6, 8].

In reality…Jesus had to attend the feast in Jerusalem…each year Jewish men were obligated to attend several feasts in Jerusalem [Deut. 16:16] …the Feast of the Booths was one of them…during that time Jerusalem would have been swarming  with pilgrims…visitors…and travelers.

Jesus intended to arrive alone in order to make a quieter entrance [7:10]

But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret

He did not go with His brothers as was the custom to travel in large processions… He went after them, traveling alone…there’s ‘your time’…then there’s ‘My time.’  

Your time…it makes no difference to you…referring to His brothers…when you go up…the world has no quarrel with you…your going won’t excite…or cause turmoil or opposition…it won’t attract attention and there’s no chance your lives will be endangered.

My time…it’s not yet come—that is, for showing Myself to the world…Jesus was completely submitted to the will of the Father…the timing of God was important… Jesus’ brothers were not submitted to God’s will in the same way, so any time was right with them.

The secret departure for Jerusalem was not an act of deception…it was an attempt to avoid unwelcome publicity…Jesus’ enemies were watching for him for the purpose of arresting him. (Tenney)

Being submitted to the will of God does not mean making God do what He has not planned to do…Jesus knew the time of His death was in the future…the Jews could have arrested Him and maybe even killed Him…but the timing was not the right timing.

Your life has already been decreed…God has already decreed the totality of your life…it’s already been decreed but it’s with a condition…it’s assumed that you will wait for it to happen…to call on it and then wait for the appropriate time to act.

The problem is we become discouraged…instead of trusting God to complete the already decreed totality in my life…we see people succeeding who have not been as faithful…who haven’t prayed as hard…but are succeeding while I’m in agony…so I take it upon myself to get the ball rolling.

For Jesus’s brothers the feast was a time of enjoyment…for Jesus He is relegated to be in hiding…it’s easy to become discouraged when we think God has not acted in our timing when in reality if we were given it too soon it would be devastating.

The prodigal son is the example of getting what we have coming but given too soon. The consequence was ugly…He got what was his but because he didn’t have the maturity to spend it wisely…he wasted it and would end up living a life eating with pigs…when we hasten the process to get to our destiny…getting what is ours to soon, we hijack God’s plans for our life.     

Abraham and Sarah believed God’s timing was off so they hastened the process… God had promised Abraham a son, but, from a human perspective, time was running out…Abraham was nearly 86 and Sarah 76…so they improvised…they acted on their own.

History would be very different if Sarah had not run ahead of God and tried to fix her problem on her own…she literally changed the course of history…the result has been thousands of years of fighting in the Middle East.

It was God’s timing that Jesus was to die at the Passover…for Jesus to be the Lamb of God He had to die at exactly three in the afternoon on the day before Passover.

For Jesus to enter Jerusalem at that time as the Messiah would have hijacked God’s plan…The right time [καιρός, the suitable time] for me has not yet come (v. 6).

Jesus going to the feast was not to appear publicly as the Messiah (because he knew this was the wrong time) …it was an opportunity again to teach the crowds the truth and invite people to Himself.

Here’s the importance of this whole sermon…God wants us to be sensitive to His timing…when we run out ahead of Him, we limit Him to our human strength and power.

While we have the free will to do so, the dangerous thing about going outside of God’s will to get what you want is you’ll have to stay outside of his will to keep it because now you’re on your own…and the problem compounds itself.

Chris Tomlin has a song ‘Upon the Lord we will wait’ and the importance in that is we can be guilty of running ahead of God…that never turns out well.

So how do I know when I’m in God’s timing…He will let us know when it is time for action…HOW…He does this by opening doors and giving us opportunities that could only come from Him….He does this through the counsel of others…He does this through orchestrating circumstances in such a way that leaves little doubt it is time for action.

Here’s the blessing about waiting on the Lord…we find that God was already “there” …been there millions of years ago…He has always known in the timelessness of eternity that we would arrive there and when we do He has already provided the answer He wants us to discover.

John 6:59-66

For the third week we’re looking at Jesus’ discourse…first to the people…then to the Jews…then to the disciples…the location of this discussion is not mentioned until well into the sixth chapter of John.

      He said all this while He was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum [59)

What a memorable two-day period it had been…first He feeds the 5000…which prompted some to want to make Him king by force…then in the middle of the night He walked on the sea…then the next day in a synagogue He speaks about Himself being the bread of life.

Jesus had referred to Himself as the bread of life and the importance of eating His flesh and drinking His blood…a concept that was too hard to accept…the one standing before them was claiming to be superior to Moses and on an equal with God.  

The statement ‘I am the bread of life’ was an especially offensive statement to the Jews…in fact even today…for us to take His words literally turns many people off.

Their reaction then is the same reaction from people today…you can hear the cynicism in their voices: What does he think we are — cannibals?”

“How can this man give us his flesh to eat,” [52]

This was most offensive to Jews because they had been taught all through the centuries that God prohibited the eating of any meat in which there remained any blood. 

The reference to eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking His blood is obviously figurative language…one of many differences we have with our Catholic brothers and sisters who believe in Transubstantiation, which is the process by which the bread and wine of the Eucharist is transformed into the Body and Blood of Jesus…that during the Eucharist the cracker turns to flesh and the juice turns to wine.

It is a metaphorical reference to the soul-saving benefit by Christ’s atoning death on the cross and the shedding of his blood.

We believe that Jesus was not speaking literally of His own flesh and blood…we see Jesus’ comments as a hyperbole to make His point.

So, what is Jesus saying? …I want us to examine these verses, so we have a clear understanding of what Jesus meant:

To eat the flesh, and drink the blood of Christ, is to believe that Jesus came in the flesh, and is truly and really man; that his flesh is given for those who believe in Him and his blood is shed for their sins.

Jesus gives six promises as a result of eating His flesh and drinking His blood.

1. Verse 53 – Having no life in oneself

Apart from Jesus we have no life in ourselves…the promise of believing is to have life in Him…having life is associated with believing in the Son of God…if Christ is present then life is present, but when Christ is absent, then death is present.

2. Verse 54a – has eternal life

“And this is the promise God has promised us, even ETERNAL LIFE” [1 John 2:25].

3. Verse 54b – Resurrection on the last day

Resurrection on the last day is the promise of believing.

4. Verse 56 – Remains or abides in Jesus

This is the promise of believing in Jesus…the wording to abide in Jesus is to live in Him or remain in Him…it is connected with eternal life…Jesus connects abiding in Him with never dying.  

Proofs of abiding in Christ…that one is truly saved and not just pretending includes obedience to Christ’s commands…[John 15:10; 1 John 3:24]; …following Jesus’ example [1 John 2:6]; …living free from habitual sin [1 John 3:6]; …and the awareness of a divine presence living in us [1 John 4:13].

5. Verse 57 – (you) Live because of Me

Eternal life is the promise of believing in the “I AM”.

6. Verse 58 – Live forever

This is the promise of eating the ‘living bread’…eternal life is the promise of believing.

Unfortunately, the metaphor of eating and drinking was so graphic…so extreme that it caused an uproar so that:  

                Many of His disciples when they heard this said. “This is a difficult  statement; who can listen to it (60) as a result: His disciples grumbled at this (61)

It’s important to differentiate between the ‘disciples’ in [60] and the Apostles—the Twelve—in [67].

Remember Jesus has been teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum to ‘many of His disciples’ [60] but in [67] Jesus is alone with the twelve.

Important to remember that when the term disciples is used it’s not necessarily referring to the Twelve Apostles…some of the people who had been following Jesus were disciples but not His Apostles.

So the phrase ‘many of His disciples’ is referencing to those who had been following and learning from Jesus…so it’s not necessarily the Twelve who are having difficulty digesting what Jesus has been telling them.

They’re grumbling at the doctrine Jesus had been teaching them…looking upon it as being absurd…ridiculous…contrary to the senses and reason…so He asks them: does this offend you?

Here’s the irony in this…they’re having a hard time believing that Jesus is the Messiah based on what He said…but just His ability to discern their thoughts proved He had supernatural abilities…that He is God and the doctrine He was teaching must therefore be from God.

They’re taken back by His claims as the Bread of Life and what it means…they’re challenged by what they have been hearing…Jesus’ teaching contradicts many of their traditional Jewish interpretations…so He goes deeper.

If you’re offended by what you have just heard…how much more offended will you be when you see the Son of Man ascending back into Heaven (62).  

They professed to believe in Jesus, as the Messiah, yet they did not truly believe in him…their faith was not a living faith, or of a spiritual kind, but a mere historical and temporary one that was hypocritical.

For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that who did not believe (64)

They may have been following him…even professing to believe in him…showing respect and esteem to him…but He could see through all the masks they put on… He knew they had no true faith in him…He knows today whether people’s faith is of the right kind or not…or whether their profession is only a verbal one.

In fact, John goes on to say that He even knew that it was Judas who would eventually betray Him (64).

Then for the fourth time Jesus makes this statement:

No one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father (65).

All four of these verses relate to the same thing causing the controversial doctrine of predestination…such words as ‘choice’ and ‘calling’ imply that God selects who He wants…and that He chooses who will be saved…and everyone is eternally lost.

There’s a controversial and a non-controversial part in that statement…earlier Jesus says:  

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day” (6:44)

The non-controversial part is the promise that Jesus will raise from the dead all who come to him…the controversial part is: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.”

Contained within the controversial part are two debates within themselves…

On the one hand no one can come to Jesus without God’s drawing him…but God draws everyone, but only some come…God’s drawing doesn’t cause the coming to Him…it only makes the coming possible…the coming to God is actually a decision each person must make on their own.

On the other hand, it could mean that no one can come to Jesus without God’s drawing, but everyone He draws does come to Him…because God’s drawing produces the coming but He only draws some since all don’t come.

How confusing is this…way too confusing…here’s my approach to it:

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.

It’s found in the Methodist interpretation of this verse…John Wesley called it ‘prevenient grace’.

Human beings are totally incapable of responding to God without God first empowering us to have faith…this empowerment is known as “Prevenient Grace.” Prevenient Grace doesn’t save us, rather it draws us to God, making us WANT to come to God, and enabling us to have faith in God.

Prevenient Grace is Universal in as much as all humans receive it, regardless of their having heard of Jesus. It is manifested in the deep-seated desire of most humans to know God.

Jesus has been doing some pretty intense teachings…in fact…theologians are still having difficulty in understanding some of the things Jesus taught…we are on our third week of looking at this discourse and all we’ve really done is just hit the highlights…so we can see how complicated it is.

Jesus has just finished explaining His claim as the ‘true bread from heaven’ …and only those who believe in Him can have eternal life.

This requires a complete commitment…not a shallow interest…His teachings challenged their beliefs and for some…it was simply too much to bear.

Here’s Jesus in the synagogue explaining the essence of salvation…only to have something horribly sad take place…here’s a commentary you might not consider good news…rather than change their minds they walked away.

As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore (66).

What would cause such a thing to occur…to turn away from Jesus…here’s the tragedy in this sermon…it is possible for disciples of Jesus to choose to walk no more with Him…and in this case…not just a few but ‘many.’

Ultimately ‘many’ rejected Christ as the Messiah…at this point there’s a large-scale defection from Christ taking place…many of the superficial followers of Jesus fell away and walked with Him no more …the grumblers were not willing to walk beside Jesus anymore.

Let’s not miss two significant truths in this matter:

…First, those that leave Jesus do so NOT because they have found a deficiency in His character…There is no blemish to be found in Him! (1 Peter 1:19).

…Second, no one walks away from the Lord because they have found a flaw in His teaching, because He is God.

People may not like His doctrine but regardless of how a person responds to His teaching…what He says is truth and is exactly what every person needs to hear and heed to.

This is the fundamental reason people reject Jesus…He simply doesn’t coordinate with their own selfish interests.

This is what we’re seeing today…when attempts are made to apply Christianity to current and world events…when preaching social reform takes precedence over the salvation of men’s souls.

The events that have transpired in America the past weeks have no Scriptural  endorsement…the death of anyone is a tragedy and there should be an investigation into his death…but the destruction and death that has occurred since has no justification in the Bible.

Should believers engage in social justice…YES…we should…actively participating in addressing racism…legal immigration…gender inequality…prison reform… human trafficking…being an advocate of the poor and for the rights of women.

Justice in its simplest form means to set things right…but as Christians we must also incorporate Biblical justice into this equation…as Christians our mission is not about choosing causes that sound appealing or supporting those that make us look good.

Biblical justice is about embracing the cause of Christ… insisting on the intrinsic worth of all human beings with the end goal of biblical justice seeing lives reconciled to God and eternally transformed.

Two things occur

First…Jesus did not attempt to hinder those who were leaving Him…he doesn’t run after them…He allows them to leave on their own free will.

Secondly…Jesus issues another challenging question, this time to the Twelve: You do not want to leave too, do you? [v. 67. …the way this question is stated in the Greek it is suggesting a ‘no’ response…’you do not want to go away too, do you.’

They must make a choice then and there… and Jesus is expecting a ‘no’ answer …since Jesus knows people’s hearts…and thoughts, His question is testing their faith and reveals their response to themselves and to one another.

Simon Peter responds on behalf of the Twelve: Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life (v. 68). The others had been offended by Jesus’ words, but the Twelve accept Jesus’ claim that his words are spirit and life (v. 63).

They do not claim to have understood everything Jesus has been saying…they won’t be able to understand until after the crucifixion has taken place and the Spirit has guided them into all truth regarding Jesus and all that he has done and taught (14:26; 15:26; 16:13).

But they do recognize that Jesus is speaking from God: We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God (v. 68). The verbs translated believe and know are in the perfect tense, which often suggests a state that began in the past and continues to the present.

Here’s what those who grumbled and left Jesus failed to understand…it’s what the Apostles realized…those who remained recognized Jesus as having the words of life…as being the Holy One of God.

There is no place we can go….no other person we can go to…no other book we can read who has the words of eternal life…for us who know that Jesus has the words of life we are in agreement with the Apostles…’Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life’ [6:68].

John 6:41-51

Last week we looked at Jesus’ words to the Jews…it is a back and forth conversation regarding His claim as the Messiah and the Jews’ misunderstanding about who it is that actually performs miracles.

They begin to talk about the miracle Moses did in feeding the Jews in the wilderness for forty years claiming;

He (Moses) gave them bread from heaven to eat (John 6:30)

After stating an already established fact…they turn to Jesus and ask Him:

…what then do you do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do you perform?

What sign do you do that we may see and believe…really…after the miracle of feeding the five thousand you have to ask…what work do you perform?

They’re not satisfied with the sign of the loaves and the fishes…they don’t believe that’s a sign that Jesus is the Messiah, so they’re asking for another sign.

They’re comparing Jesus’ one-time miracle of feeding the 5000 to the 40-year miracle of Moses giving manna in the wilderness…so Jesus contrasts Himself with that manna by pointing out that the true bread of heaven isn’t something they can just pick up off the ground and eat…it’s nothing less than Himself.

He is the bread of heaven that came down to give life, and it is only from this bread that men can obtain the satisfaction they desire…which is eternal life.

Jesus says you’re wrong in two ways;

FIRST…let me explain to you who it really was that gave the manna from heaven:

It is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven (John 6:32).

SECONDLY… and the real meaning on why it was given…what came in the wilderness was not the true bread…it was only a symbol of it…a shadow of the true bread…the real bread that came down from heaven is Me.

I came down from heaven sent from the Father…it is My father…who gives you the true bread out of heaven. (John 6:32).

Then Jesus makes them an offer…the same offer He’s been giving for over 2000 years…in verses 35 through 40 this whole exchange with these people is nothing more than one big invitation.

Jesus is giving them the opportunity to accept Him and receive Him as Lord and Saviour.

[v.35] is the OFFER…he who comes to Me…he who believes in Me…will never hunger or thirst.

[v39] is the INVITATION…this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those He has given Me. (preferred will vs. sovereign will)  

[40] is the PROMISE. That everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life.

 [v40] is the GUARANTEE of what Jesus will do…I Myself will raise him up on the last day.

This whole / offer / invitation / promise / guarantee is the result of one question: OK…you say you’re from Heaven…that God is your Father…well, since you have such a personal relationship with Him…since you two are so close…answer us this;

“What must we do, to be doing the works of God? [6:27]

So Jesus reduces this down even further…something that is easily understandable …but something that has confused the world for 2000 years.

Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (John 6:27-29)

How simple is that…here’s where the confusion comes in because there is a difference between ‘work for God’ and ‘work of God.’

Work for God is when we’re working to earn favor or score points with God… doing certain things to show or prove to God how good or close you are to Him and then because we’ve done certain things…expecting favors and blessings from Him.

This is what many Christians are busy doing…the work of God has nothing to do with baptism…taking the Lord’s supper…nothing about tithing…nothing to do with attending church to be blessed…has nothing to do about doing stuff… Christians need to realize that all the ‘work’ that was needed done…was done on the cross.

Problem is…people forget that the gospel is not a question of …What can I do to make God happy? …or…How can I please God by what I do? Those are the questions asked by those who are working for God versus doing the work of God.

The work of God means realizing that Jesus died and rose again from the dead to prove His deity…that He ascended into heaven and those who believe in him whom he has sent will also go to heaven because of what He did for us on the Cross.

BUT…that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do any works…in fact…strangely enough… the Bible stresses works…‘faith without works is dead’ [James 2:26] …that’s the second part of ‘believing in Him whom He has sent’…it doesn’t have to do with works…it has to do with His Spirit which was sent into the world in order that we might do the work of God.

This is something I have said on a repeated basis…because it’s for your benefit and God wants you to know it.

James affirms that works (or actions) are the byproduct of faith…works do not justify us or make us righteous before God nor are they the means to salvation… but our deeds are the fruit that grows from those who are obedient to God’s commands…here’s the importance in that.

All Christians will one day stand before Jesus…not to be judged between heaven and hell…that’s already been decided…but to receive in heaven your rewards based on your works which were done from a true intent to bring glory to God.

So, works are important…but it is ‘works’ that were done because you were fulfilling your God-given purpose in life…not because you wanted to please God.

Here’s the other side of that coin…those who say you don’t need to do anything for God…taking the statement literally that all ‘work’ was done on the cross to mean “I’ll just do nothing because believing in Jesus is all I need to do to get into heaven when I die” – that is an accurate statement…but that assessment comes with devastating results.  

Jesus gave us numerous parables about those whose mindset was “I don’t have to do anything”…and that’s exactly what you’ll get when you get to heaven…nothing.

With respect to the Jews…the problem is they’re in the ‘now’ …they can’t get past the statement concerning where Jesus came from and what He came for…they are frustrated by the statement:  

 I am the bread that came down out of heaven (John 6:41).

When they realized that Jesus was speaking about himself…that He was infinitely greater than Moses and that He alone was the true bread of life that descended from heaven, they began to grumble: (John 6:43).

because He said I am the bread which came down from heaven;
These words were very offensive to the Jews…they’re still offensive today…they still do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah.

They didn’t realize it then…and they don’t realize it today, that the person they’ve been waiting for… for generations was standing right in front of them.

You can almost see in your mind’s eye their reaction…turning to each other with cynical looks on their faces and saying…”What does He mean? What’s He talking about? …how can anybody ‘come down from heaven’”?

We know this guy…He grew up in Nazareth right over the hill…we know Joseph His father and Mary His mother…He’s just like one of us…they were unwilling to even remotely believe that Jesus, whom they knew to be the son of a carpenter, could consider Himself to be superior to Moses.

They immediately forgot all the wonderful things they had heard Jesus say and do. They forgot the healings, the miracles of restoration, even the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand which had taken place just a day earlier.

They focused on one thing…they can’t get over the statement: I am the bread which came down from heaven;

Because they knew Him…knew His parents…they began to regard him as an ordinary man…and in one respect that is important…here’s why…one thing about the crowd’s reaction is that it proves that when Jesus was a boy, He was no different than anyone else…He didn’t go around doing miraculous feats as some suggest and claim He did when He was growing up.

He grew up in Nazareth…He was a child just like all the other children were…the problem is…they saw only that… they didn’t know the full story…this is the reason for so much doubt today about Jesus.

People have never examined the evidence…they have never really looked at the eyewitness accounts of what Jesus did, or read the accounts of what He said…in his reply to the crowd, Jesus gives the second reason for their doubt:

They had inadequate enlightenment…it’s not enough merely to hear the facts about Jesus or to hear the story of his life.

No figure in history has been so widely portrayed in films…in drama…in books …or in narratives as Jesus…but hearing about Him is not enough…there must be an inner opening of the eyes to the soul.

How many times in the Scriptures do we see this phenomenon! We saw it with the disciples…”And the Lord opened their eyes so that they understood,” (Luke 24:45).

We need to have our spiritual eyes and ears opened so that the full meaning of what He did and said becomes evident to us so that we can begin to understand the implications of His life.

We think we choose Jesus…but there is no greater truth in the Word of God than to realize that our decision to trust in Jesus is not made by us.

Unless our eyes are opened to understand…we will never make the decision to do the work of God which is believe in him whom he has sent…that is the result of

God’s drawing us to Him…He Himself said to his own disciples, “You did not choose me, I chose you,” (John 15:16a).

Why do we choose the way we do? …to us it seems natural that everything is centered on what our wills desire…but Scripture reveals much more about our humanity than that…it reveals that unless God draws us to himself…we would never come…no one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him [44].

If left to ourselves…no one would respond if they were not “drawn” of the Father… this is a very strong word…it means “compelled,” to be “dragged along.” That is how it is used in other places of Scripture.

This is what is necessary…Jesus is clearly indicating that God the Father must draw us to himself…what a tremendous sense of assurance it is in realizing that when we came to Christ it was not on our own…but because God set His love on us and drew us to him!

That is the meaning of [v 45]: And they shall all be taught by God.

Jesus is quoting a verse from Isaiah 54:13…but how shall ‘all’ be taught by God… people are taught by God through internal illumination…this is the operation of the Holy Spirit on the heart.

God universally teaches everyone about Jesus…He gives inward illumination to “all” but unfortunately…here again…His illumination to all does not mean that all will believe on Him.

Jesus is making the claim that those who truly follow the Word of God will recognize that His claims are true…the crowd demanded that they see something—an additional miracle—before they would accept the truth. (John 6:30)

This goes back to what I said last week…the difficulty with Christianity is it’s an abstract reality that we cannot grab ahold of…is there a God because I’ve never seen Him…how can He be known because I’ve never met Him.

These are the grumbles in [43] …Jesus is pointing out that we must be willing to learn the truth before they can see Him with their spiritual eyes.  

Two qualifications are necessary: people need to (1) hear and (2) learn…a person hears and learns from the Father by something from within…it’s a deep conviction planted by the Father…Jesus Himself says so:

Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me [46].

A prerequisite for becoming a Christian is knowledge. We cannot understand divine knowledge without illumination from the Father through the Holy Spirit.

Hearing and learning convey the process of coming to Christ…the Father’s drawing is the starting point…no one can come to the Son without having first heard about Him…no one can learn about the Son except through the Holy Spirit.

It’s God who takes the initiative by drawing men to Himself. Unless the Father draws, no one can come to Him…two Keys to this whole dialogue:

Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me. (45)

It’s only the humble and teachable that God draws to Himself…the arrogant and strong willed are unable or are willing to abandon their own ideas that view themselves as in control…they believe they’re competent enough to make good decisions on their own…and wise enough to avoid the wrong turns in life.

But Jesus is saying with regards to eternity…only those who are willing to “hear” and “learn” are the ones God draws to Himself.

It’s not enough to just hear God’s voice through inner illumination…we need to learn from it and respondto it…and with that response comes a promise.

He who believes has eternal life [47]

Jesus has been explaining the true source of eternal life…a belief in the One sent by God… the one believing [ὁ πιστεύων] means not only that they may have it…or shall have it…or will have…but that they do have it.

That He Himself is the “Bread of Life” that has come down from heaven…His assurance is that eternal life is for those who believe.

Jesus again enters into a dialogue that your fathers may have eaten manna in the wilderness for 40 years but it did nothing for them in the short term.

                Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died. [49]

I remember when I was young…I couldn’t grasp the concept that I would ever get old…when I looked at the old people around me with their gray hair and in some cases their feeble physical efforts…can remember thinking to myself, “I can’t believe that will happen to me”.

Even in my late twenties I could still run times that were not that far off from the times I ran in college…I assumed I’d always be able to run that fast.

I can remember telling my daughter as we stood on the starting line…see you at the finish line and I’d be waiting for her to finish…I still tell my daughter I’ll see you at the finish line…but now she’s the one waiting on me to finish.

The years have stretched out ahead of me…Jesus’ words… ‘and they died’ are a ringing reminder that the body is headed for death…it’s decaying.

What Jesus says next is troubling in two ways…it’s extremely troublesome for some in the church, let alone those outside the church…He’s talking about eating human flesh and drinking human blood.

FIRST…that statement is an especially offensive statement to the Jews….in fact…even today…for us to take His words literally turns many people off.

Their reaction then is the same reaction from people today…you can hear the cynicism in their voices: What does he think we are — cannibals?”

“How can this man give us his flesh to eat,” [52]

This was most offensive to Jews because they had been taught all through the centuries that God prohibited the eating of any meat in which there remained any blood in it. 

But Jesus is making it more than clear that that is exactly what they must do;

SECONDLY…saying that He will give His life can only mean death, and they are troubled by that…behind their protest is the feeling that their sins are not that bad, that it should not require death to clear up their difficulties.

Many people align themselves with that same thinking today…they don’t want to believe that their sins are so bad that it requires death to cure them.

Most people think they’re pretty good people…they may admit that there is a need for a few changes…some additional New Year’s resolutions perhaps…possibly a little adjustment in behavior…but generally…they feel they’re not all that bad.

Yet everywhere in Scripture, both Old and New Testaments alike, there is this emphasis upon the necessity for blood…for a death to happen in order to cure and deliver us from the evil grip of sin in our lives. This is why the Jews protested Jesus’ words.

In these words, Jesus reveals the absolute necessity for receiving his life:

If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever [51]

In the Greek the wording suggests the eating of this bread is a one-time event…the Greek wording ‘to eat’ (φάγῃ) is in the aorist tense…and the subjunctive mood.

Here’s the importance in that…it is an action without continuation…and it means a definite outcome that will happen—If anyone eats of this bread—speaking of a one-time action—he will live forever—the definite result…to eat of this bread, in this context, means the once-and-for-all action of accepting or believing in Jesus with the promise of eternal life.  

Jesus goes on to further define the importance of that statement…and how absolutely essential it is to life…not this life, but eternal life…if you don’t have this, you are on a slide into ultimate corruption and total death.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of  man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” [53]

a theme Jesus would later repeat at the Last Supper.  

The most we can do in this life is to merely preserve life for a while…hold it at arm’s length…physical death is inevitable…but spiritual death doesn’t have to be…hence the importance of believing in and knowing the One who gives life…it’s the life that God intends for us.

John 6:26-40

Last week we looked at the 5^th sign in John’s Gospel…the miracle of Jesus walking on the water…I shared with you the importance of Jesus’ walk on the water…it was not just a matter of defying the laws of physics…it’s the more important aspect of Jesus identifying Himself as the ‘I AM.’

That statement ‘I AM’ defines who Jesus is…He is divine…He is God.   

Continuing on in the 6^th chapter, John records that the next day the people who remained on the side of the sea where Jesus had fed them the previous day thought He was still there.

There had been only one boat…they all saw the disciples enter the boat and push it out to sea…they also remember Jesus not being in the boat with them…His disciples had gone away alone on the only available boat.

The next morning the people who saw Jesus miraculously provide them food the day before looked for Him but soon realized He was not there so they got into a boat and went to Capernaum looking for Him.

Puzzled by how He got there…obviously not realizing He had walked out to the boat while it was at sea…so when they surprisingly found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” (John 6:22)

In His reply, Jesus ignores their question but proceeds to tell them why they came to seek him.

Jesus answered them, ” you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.” (John 6:26)

In other words, you didn’t come for the right reason…you came, not because you understand that I am the Messiah because the signs would have clearly pointed out that I was the Messiah…you came because you wanted another free meal.

Jesus already addressed what kind of people they were back in [John 2:24] – “He knew all men”. 

People were believing in Jesus…a belief that He was someone special…many people today believe Jesus is special…BUT not a belief that He is the Messiah.

Not all belief is a belief that saves…that’s made clear by the fact that Jesus knows what’s going on in the heart of people and does not entrust himself to them.

The word we translate as ‘entrusting’ …[[.πίστις in the imperfect]]…means a faith which does not recognize Jesus as the Messiah, but only as a prophet…someone like the Messiah…but not the Messiah,

These people, like many today, feel that the most important thing in life is to enjoy life…to be healthy…to be economically sufficient…have fun…that’s what life is all about, they think…clearly this is the majority view of people all over the world today.

Once we had no delight in God…Christ was just a vague historical figure much like George Washington or Abraham Lincoln…we knew about him but it really didn’t affect our life in any way…in fact the Bible says because of our indifference…we were once the enemies of God [Rom. 5:10].

Here’s how John Piper describe this…what we enjoyed was food…friendships… investments…vacations…hobbies… travel…shopping…and sports on TV…but not God…He was an idea…maybe even a good idea but not someone to be sought after.

That’s still the philosophy of many people today — including many Christians…so Jesus goes on to say:

Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you [27];

Two kinds of food are under consideration here…that which perishes…and that which provides eternal life…the problem is keeping these separate and distinct and in proper focus, which is one of the great challenges confronting Christianity today.

The world pulls us towards those things which perish…already used John Piper’s description of what those are…they are appealing and take our focus off what should be our priority…the food which endures to eternal life.

Jesus then goes on to make an interesting statement…

for on Him the Father God has set His seal [6:27].

Here’s the importance in that statement…God the Father distinguished Jesus from all other men by putting His seal on Him…God put His personal seal on Jesus to be the human example and representation of God… God installed Jesus to this office to reconcile us to God and bring us to everlasting life.

Then Jesus takes that one step further…He seals us.

“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.” [Acts 2:1-4] …here’s how that happens

“When you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.” [Eph. 1:13].

So, just as God set His seal on Jesus…Jesus through the Holy Spirit puts His seal on us…the importance of that is it shows ownership…who we belong to…it shows that we are approved of God.

Here’s something else…the Holy Spirit is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance… it’s just like when we buy a car or a house…we make a deposit…we give a down payment…that is what God has done here…He has given a deposit to us…He has given us the Holy Spirit as a promise that what He has begun…He will finish.

The Holy Spirit will provide us with new bodies and an inheritance when we finally get to heaven…the sealing in the Holy Spirit promises and guarantees that this inheritance is ours and is waiting for us.

Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God? [6:27]

Americans tend to think of good works as individual acts…which provides for some ambiguity…allowing for several interpretations.

Does the ‘work of God’ mean something God desires that we accomplish…OR …is the ‘work of God’ something God accomplishes?

Their question is misguided…they’re focused on what they could…or should…or must do…to please God…these people were mistaken about God’s will for them, as are many today.

They didn’t realize that Jesus was talking to them about something other than physical bread…or doing something in their own strength to please God…not realizing that He was talking about something other than what they could see… so they ask Him ‘what must we do that we may work the works of God?’

How often do we, as preachers and as a congregation, forget that the gospel is the declaration of what God does…problem is…people see this as a religious question asking: What can I do to make God happy? …How can I please God by what I do?

This question is frequently asked by those who do realize that life is more than just the physical…that there is a spiritual dimension to life as well.  

BUT is frequently asked in error because this question is usually asked by a person who has not yet learned to understand what God really wants…as a result…they usually answer their own question in one of two ways, ‘Everything,’ or ‘Nothing.’

Those who say I have ‘everything’ needed to do the works of God …are saying that God is lucky to have them on his side…they have all the resources…no help needed here…I got the money… the brains…the technical ability and the know-how to make God’s cause flourish…and they’re ready to show the world what they can do for God.

Then there are those who say you don’t need to do ‘nothing’ for God…these people have a spectator spirit…stand back and let God do it all because they believe there’s nothing they can do…these are the people who say, ‘God will do it…don’t need my help’ …they even mis-quote Jesus’ words to validate that… ‘Without me you can do nothing,’ (John 15:5) so I’ll just do nothing until He tells me to.

They say, ‘We don’t have to do anything. Just wait and watch…sit quietly until the Spirit moves…don’t get involved…don’t initiate anything…don’t try to better the problem or condition…don’t do anything…just wait…God will work it all out.’

Jesus indicates that both of these answers are wrong…they are extremes…they are both of the flesh…He says there is something we can do:

Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (John 6:27-29)

How simple is that…that means FIRST…to recognize that He is present in your life…that He died and rose again and ascended into heaven…and SECONDLY that He sent His Spirit into the world in order to make Himself available to us… believing in Jesus is more than merely a way to get into heaven when you die. So they said to him,

What then do you do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You?  What work do you perform? (John 6:30)

Again…their question is misguided…what signs do you do that we may see and believe…really…after the miracle of feeding the five thousand you have to ask…what work do you perform?

They’re not satisfied with the sign of the loaves and the fishes…they don’t believe that’s a sign that Jesus is the Messiah, so they’re asking for another sign.

So they begin to talk about what Moses did…talking about what Moses did in the wilderness for forty years…now that’s a sign.

He (Moses) gave them bread from heaven to eat…what then do you do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do you perform? (John 6:30)

Even their answer is misguided…so Jesus says you’re wrong again in two ways FIRST…let me explain to you who it really was that gave the manna from heaven:

It is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven (John 6:32).

SECONDLY… and the real meaning on why it was given…what came in the wilderness was not the true bread…it was only a symbol of it…a shadow of the real thing…the real bread that came down from heaven:

it is My father… who gives you the true bread out of heaven. (John 6:32).

and it’s Me! …I came down from heaven sent from the Father…giving life meaning …fulfillment…and satisfaction…giving life to the world.

They were comparing Jesus’ miracle to the miracle of God giving manna in the wilderness…but Jesus contrasts Himself with that manna pointing out that the true bread of heaven isn’t something they can just pick up off the ground and eat…it’s nothing less than Himself.

He is the bread of heaven that came down to give life, and it is only from this bread that men can obtain the satisfaction we desire…which is eternal life.

Last week I shared with you the importance of knowing God’s personal name… it is I AM…and the importance of knowing what that means in Hebrew…Jesus here defines who He is by once again using that name.

I AM the bread of life (6:35)

Jesus uses many different descriptions when identifying Himself…each one of them includes His true name ‘I AM’ …Jesus or Yeshua in Hebrew…is His earthly name …the name I AM is His Divine name…meaning He is the only means of salvation.

Reading verses 35 through 40…this whole exchange with these people is nothing more than one big invitation… Jesus is giving them the opportunity to accept Him and receive Him as Lord and Saviour.

Jesus enters into this dialog to explain the miracle of feeding the 5,000…being able to feed them physically for one evening is proof that He is able and willing to feed their souls forever. 

He attempts to explain to the multitude and give them understanding by speaking in blazing clarity:

I AM the bread of life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger and Whoever believes in Me shall never thirst. (6:35)

This was the first of seven titles that Christ used about Himself that start with the sentence, “I AM..” …Here’s the salient verse in this whole dialogue;

You have seen Me, and yet do not believe (6:36)

They still do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah…the person they have been waiting for…for generations, is standing right in front of them.

It’s possible to see Jesus…hear His teaching and still see nothing of value or worth …people have been doing it for hundreds of years.

We all know people who go to Christmas and Easter—Resurrection Sunday service …but still see Christianity as having little value or worth.

Here’s the difficulty with Christianity… [v.35] it’s an abstract reality that we cannot grab ahold of…let me explain…the difficulty with Christianity is with such questions as: is there a God, because I’ve never seen Him…can He be known, because I’ve never met Him.

So, in what ways has He made himself known…what is His nature…His character?

In order for the Scriptures to take hold in people they need to hear something that is relative…talk to me about something that’s functional and useable…provide me something that’s challenging…give me some information that has some relevance to it…see on the surface Jesus’ next statement: ‘he who comes to Me will not hunger …he who believes in Me will never thirst’ …on the surface that makes no sense.

BUT…with this statement Jesus announces the most earth-shattering truth to these people…it is relevant…but they misunderstood it because of their unbelief…He did not say he HAD the bread of life but He WAS the Bread of Life.

Said earlier… [v 35–40] this whole conversation is an invitation…it’s an offer extended by God through Christ…failure to embrace this offer is the example of sheer foolishness…to go through life and be near to God’s people…having a church on every street corner…seeing all the social programs that are a result of Christianity…and yet miss seeing who He is…is a horrific tragedy.

You do not want to be part of [v.36] …to have seen Him and yet do not believe…

because everyone has seen Him…people are looking for signs…but God said I have made Myself more than evident.

HOW… since the creation of the world His invisible attributes…His eternal power…and divine nature have been clearly seen…so there is no excuse [Rom 1:20].

You do not want to be part of [v.36] you want to be found in [v.35] …it’s the offer …he who comes to Me…he who believes in Me…will never hunger or thirst… then…[v39] is the invitation:

And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those He has given Me, 

This statement is referring to all those who respond to the offer of salvation…here’s what’s important to know: God may will a thing to happen…without it happening sound confusing…explanation.

God willed that Judas should continue in the faith…and have a resurrection unto eternal life like the rest of the disciples…but Judas sinned and perished…it’s evident that God willed that Judas might be saved…but it didn’t happen.

It’s God’s desire that all would be saved…here’s where the confusion comes in… it’s not going to happen…the word ‘desire’ in the Greek is the key in that statement.

The words God’s desire must be looked at very carefully…it’s God’s desire that all should be saved…but…if that were His sovereign will all would be saved… everyone would accept Jesus as their Savior.

It is through the sacrifice and the death of Jesus that all are rendered capable of salvation…that’s God’s will that…that would happen…BUT as in the case of Judas it was Judas’s decision to do otherwise

Redemption is universal…but conditional —all may be saved…but…all will not be saved because all will not conform to God’s appointed condition…this whole message comes down to this:

[v.35] is the OFFER…he who comes to Me…he who believes in Me…will never hunger or thirst.

[v39] is the INVITATION…this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those He has given Me.

[40] is the PROMISE. That everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life.  

These words indicate that only those who place their faith in Christ will be saved.

This does not mean that they are sinless, but it does mean that they sin less…they mourn over their sin…they fight against it…when they do sin they turn from it and turn back to following Christ as Lord.

Here’s what’s especially uplifting about [v40] …the previous verses are the offer… and the invitation…but in in this verse is both the promise and the GUARANTEE of what Jesus will do…I Myself will raise him up on the last day.

Those who are truly saved in Christ can never lose their salvation…these verses are Christ’s unconditional…offer / invitation / promise / and guarantee of eternal security to anyone who comes to [Him]…but God’s eternal purpose depends on how sinners choose to respond.

John 6:16-21

In today’s message I want to continue on into John’s 6^th chapter and look at the Apostle’s account of Jesus walking on the water:

¹⁶When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, ¹⁷where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. ¹⁸A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. ¹⁹When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened. ²⁰But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.” ²¹Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.

John recorded seven specific miracles which are described as signs.

• Changing water into wine at the wedding at Cana (Jn 2:1-11);
• Healing the royal official’s son (Jn 4:46-54);
• Healing the paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda (Jn 5:1-15);
• Feeding the 5,000 (Jn 6:5-14);
• Walking on water (Jn 6:16-21);
• Healing the man born blind (Jn 9:1-7);
• Raising Lazarus from the dead (Jn 11:1-45).

We’ve looked at four of them…in chapter 6 we see two of the seven…Jesus feeding the 5000 and the fifth sign… Jesus walking on water.

The miracle of Jesus walking on the water is given in three of the four Gospels [Matthew 14:22–36; Mark 6:45–56; John 6:16–21] …Luke does not record this event…the other three describe this occurrence with bits and pieces of information so you have to read all three in order to get an accurate description of the account.

Contained within this story are additional miracles that are mentioned in passing… there are two miracles associated with Jesus’ walking on water that are not even mentioned by John but are mentioned in Matthew and Mark.

Both [Matt. 14:32 / Mark 6:51] tell that when Jesus entered the boat the wind stopped…something not mentioned by John…and neither Mark or John mention Peter getting out of the boat and walking on water to meet Jesus [14:28-32].

Then there’s a miracle that only John records…the miracle that when Jesus got into the boat it immediately arrived at the place they were going [John 6:21] but even John does so with an almost ho-hum attitude…So to get a full revelation of what actually occurred you have to incorporate all three gospel accounts because none of the three contain all the elements.

This miracle seems to happen immediately following the feeding of the 5000…all three writers…Matthew, Mark, and John all show it following the feeding.

So the crowds seeing the miracle of the feeding are now heralding Jesus as King because they recognize [14]. This truly is the Prophet who is to come into the world.

They are responding to the miracle of the free handout of food…in addition to the prospect that Jesus will release them from the bondage of Roman occupation

[John 11:48 /18:31] …so because of this some of the people wanted to force Jesus to be king.

This is one of the most important statements in the 6^th chapter of John regarding Jesus’ role as Savior of the World…He is unwilling to be made King.

Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come to take Him by force to make Him king withdrew again to the mountain…” [6:15]

That would serve no purpose…this could almost…even though there is no mention of it…almost serve as another temptation from Satan…being made an earthly King would have diverted Jesus’ purpose for coming to earth.

Jesus and the disciples had crossed over the Sea of Galilee early that morning….it had been a long day and it was now evening…seeing the miracle of feeding…the crowd wanted to make Jesus King…Jesus knew their motives were not spiritual and their purposes were out of God’s will.

Jesus had to die…He was not sent to earth to live in luxury…as tempting as this was to Jesus’ human side…He took a course of action to remove Himself from that distraction…He withdrew Himself from that temptation…whether it’s Jesus or us…Paul explains how this works: [1Corinthians10:13]

No temptation has overtaken you but such is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also provide the way to escape, so that you will be able to endure it.

Then it’s up to us to exert some willpower and remove ourselves from the temptation …possible why Jesus was persistent in having the disciples get in the boat and leave the area [John 6:16] so they would not be tempted to join in with the crowd’s demands to make Jesus king…John says;

When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea [16] …getting into a boat [17].  

Mathew and Mark’s account of this is a little different…they remember Jesus being a little more emphatic about it:  

Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side. [Matt. 14:22 / Mark 6:45]

The word “made” could also be translated “compelled” or “urged” implying the disciples may not have wanted to go …they may have even argued with Jesus about it but ultimately, they were persuaded, even compelled by Jesus to go.

If the disciples had stayed, they would have possibly fallen in with the crowd’s temptation of making Jesus king…as a result… Jesus removed them from that temptation and deliberately sent them out onto the lake.

John says Jesus tells the disciples to go on ahead of Him to Capernaum [v. 16-17] …the disciples in obedience to Jesus were now returning without Him.  

while he dismissed the crowds. [Matt. 14:22] and withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone. [John 6:15]

So Jesus sent the disciples out on the lake…or sea…they’re attempting to cross… but they soon experienced some difficulty…a storm came up and the waves opposed them…the rowing was torture for them…so, here they are stuck in the middle of the sea [Mark 6:47] rowing as hard as they can…and making no progress.  

(they) started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark [John 6:17] The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. [v. 18]

Need to understand that in ancient times people feared the sea…it was a place of chaos and death…certainly not a place to be on at night and certainty not in a storm which made Jesus’ ghostly appearance even more frightening.

There are several significant points to recognize about this miracle…First, Matthew tells us that

The boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; because the wind was against it [Matthew 14:24]

Their intention was they were to only travel a short distance but the storm was so violent that despite all their efforts to control the boat the storm had actually driven them nearly four miles out into middle of the lake.

The disciples had been out there literally for hours…it was the fourth watch of the night [Matt. 24:24] making it somewhere between 3:00 AM to 6:00 AM in the morning…Jesus had initially sent them out on the sea the previous evening [16] these guys had been rowing for at least nine hours.  

When you add in the time they were with Jesus for all day preaching…healing and feeding… and now add an additional 8 hours or more of rowing some boat…they had been up for almost 20 hours that day…needless to say they were exhausted.

Here’s another miracle that’s just brushed over…Mark tells us that Jesus could see the disciples from where He was seated praying on the mountainside…being at least 3 to 4 miles away…and in the dark. [Mark 6:48]. 

When they had rowed about three or four miles [John 6:18]                       (Jesus) seeing them straining at the oars [Mark6:48]

Several Old Testament prophets parted the water…Moses, Joshua, Elijah, and Elisha…but, this is the only record of anyone ever walking on water.

As they’re straining to make some type of headway…they begin to see something…or someone approaching the boat;

they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened [v. 19]

Many have suggested that Jesus didn’t actually walk on water but that He was walking along the shore next to the water…so it gave the impression He was walking on water.

The disciples did begin their trip along the coastline…but Matthew says: ‘the boat was already a long distance from the land’ [14:24] which doesn’t sound like they were near the coastline.

As Jesus approached the boat…He could have just shouted out… ‘Dudes it’s Me’  or ‘Hey, looks like you boys could use some help’ just something to calm their fears BUT what He said would have instantly revealed who He was.

he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid. [v. 20]

That’s close…but that’s not the literal translation from the Greek…instead of… ‘It is I,’ … Jesus said: this is ‘I Am, do not be afraid.’

This is the second most important statement in the 6^th chapter of John regarding Jesus’ role as Savior of the World…the importance of this statement to identify who He is, is monumental.

I AM is the name of God…these were Jewish men…they would have all immediately recognized that name…it’s the name of God…it’s the name He uses in Exodus to tell Moses who He is.  

God states His own name for the first time in Exodus 3:14…“God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And He said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you’”.

We know that God has many names throughout the Bible, all of which have significant meaning or highlight certain attributes of God…but He only has one personal name.

The spelling in Hebrew uses only four letters יהוה – which are YHVH…Yod / Hey / Vav / Hey….in English it’s spelled YHWH…don’t know why in English it’s YHWH because there is no letter ‘W’ in the Hebrew alphabet.

This name has also been written as JHWH…which is also completely wrong… and leads to the incorrect pronunciation in the English of JeHoVaH …Jehovah is not God’s name…Jehovah is a Latinization of the Hebrew letters YHVH.

Here’s what’s really amazing about these four Hebrew letters…no one knows the exact pronunciation…the pronunciation of other biblical words was meticulously preserved by an unbroken chain of tradition passed down orally from generation to generation… but when it came to God’s name…the true pronunciation of how to pronounce YHVH is lost.

Why would the Jews preserve the pronunciation of all other words in the Bible but neglect to preserve the pronunciation of the most important name that appears in the Bible some 6600 times – the name of God himself?

The reason is that during the early 5th century the Jews decided that God’s name was too holy to be spoken aloud…based on the interpretation of the third commandment, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.”

A commandment that was intended, at its origin, to prohibit the inappropriate use of God’s name when swearing or making an oath…the Jews expanded that idea until it was prohibited to even utter the name at all except in solemn circumstances.

Even today…the name pronounced Yahweh as best we know…is not spoken outside the Temple or read aloud…instead the replacement name of ‘adonai’ is used…meaning “my lord” so we’ll never know the exact pronunciation of God’s name.  

The name that God identified Himself is I AM… אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶֽהְיֶ֑ה implies…God exists as nothing else does…I AM implies:

• an existence different from all others in existence…there is none beside Him;
• an existence that is outside of time; 
• an existence, from which all others are dependent on.

BUT it goes further than that…in the Hebrew there is a word that goes between the two “I AM” statements.

It’s the Hebrew word ăšer or asher—[[according to Strong’s Concordance of the Bible–]] here’s what’s important about this word ăšer… It can be translated as: who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that…that little word between the two I AM’s means all that.

So translators translate it in a number of different ways…I AM that I AM…I AM who I AM…I AM which I AM…see the difficulty in trying to define who God is…and why the Jews refused to speak His name.

Why Understanding Exodus 3:14 Is Important Today

Understanding the power of the name “I AM WHO I AM” is important to understand in order to comprehend the complexity of who God is.

He is all-encompassing and self-sufficient…His name is above all names…it’s a reminder that God is in control…that He sees all…and is in all…God is infinite… He is sovereign over our lives…He Is Who He Is…it affirms the identity of Jesus as the Son of God.

Unfortunately, people have lost sight of the majesty and holiness of God…could be because less than 15% of those who identify themselves as Christians are in church on any given Sunday.

What this equates to is there’s a whole generation of people that haven’t gone into a church building for anything other than a funeral or wedding…as a result…these people have little understanding of even who God is…or the sacrifice of Jesus’ death on the Cross.

As a result, the church has begun to change its message to accommodate a whole generation of people that have missed out on church.

There are many people today who are still interested in church…but realizing they have a limited knowledge of the Bible has caused some difficulty in the church.

The Church has had to come up with new ways to minister…it requires preachers and teachers to go back to the very basics of Christianity in order to make it relevant for this growing group.

But in the process, they are dumbing down their preaching and teaching by offering only emotional, feel-good theology…replacing Biblical truth with emotionalism.

Bypassing the real issues…and replacing them with “not much else you need to know” because everything has been reduced down to “God loves everyone.”

NOW…nothing wrong with realizing God loves you…and that is great for bringing in outsiders through the doors…however, emotionalism and feel-good theology doesn’t provide the substance needed for growing believers into mature Christians who need to have a deep understanding of God.

They don’t bother to learn any more than ‘God loves you’ because the church isn’t giving them any avenues to know more…if you ask most Christians today even the most basic theological questions about the Bible their response will probably be …that question is only for pastors or church leaders…because they have no Bible knowledge.

It’s one thing to not know much about who Jesus is and why His death was the single most important event in the history of the world…but it’s another to have no desire to grow.

Nowadays anyone can start a church…anyone can be a preacher…you can go online and get an ordination…seminary’s not a requirement…having Bible knowledge is not needed…as long as it’s engaging and entertaining people will show up.

Dumbing down Christianity is causing Christians to be unable to grow in their faith.

Hence the importance of knowing God’s name…the name Jesus used when He approached the boat… “I AM” …is the name Jesus calls himself…the reason the Jews sought to kill Him.

If we just look at this miracle as Jesus walking on the water, we’ve missed what John is trying to convey here…here’s the significance of this story…it’s John’s use of God’s name…I AM …it is Jesus who bears Gods’ Divine name.

That’s why when Jesus approached them walking on the water, He didn’t just shout out… “Hey dudes it’s Me’ …He used the name He told Moses… “I AM.” That was all the identification He needed.

This is where Pastors use this miracle to teach the deeper spiritual realities of life… and there are a number of them…referred to as the storms of life…if you’ve been in church very long you’ve probably heard countless sermons preached on that.

Some examples of the ways Preachers react to the ‘storms’ which are represented by… trials…troubles …and difficulties in our lives.

1.  The Lord often sends storms as a result of our disobedience [Jonah 1:17]

Jonah is the example…Jonah decides not to obey God and winds up in the belly of a big fish.

2. Some storms occur because others disobey God [Acts 27]

Paul warned the captain not to sail but he does anyway and the ship runs aground and everyone is swimming for their lives…them leaving port and running into a storm was not Paul’s fault but he still suffered.

3. Some storms occur in life because we do obey God [John 6:15-21].

We’re looking at one instance here…does anyone think the storm was a surprise to Jesus when He sent the disciples out on that lake? You can be in the center of God’s will, and still be in a storm…being a Christian does not mean being trouble free.

I’ve talked about the favor of God in our lives…but…you’re going to have some frustration in your life…God uses storms even when we are obedient to strengthen us and bring us close together and to Him.

4. During the storms of life keep your eyes on Jesus [Matthew 14:30-32].

Sometimes, God sends the storms to educate us and to teach us to trust… His purpose is not to hurt us, but to grow us. 

Peter says… ‘Hey, I want to try that walking on water thing too’…when Peter kepthis eyes on Jesus He was able to walk on water…but when he focused on the storm around him he began to sink.…Jesus reached out His hand and grabbed Peter to keep him safe…despite the difficulties in life…you have to stay focused on Jesus.  

NOW…those are all great points…and they’re all relevant…anyone of them would make for a great sermon or sermon series…but that’s all I’m going to say about the ways God uses difficulties in life to strengthen us because I want to focus on something even more relevant.

Here’s the lesson…Jesus sees us through the storm…He’s watching…He sees you …He’s aware of your situation…here’s the problem…we’re just like the disciples … we’re just like the people on Resurrection Sunday…we don’t believe it…and therefore we’re not looking for Him.  

Jesus waited a long time before He came to them—those guys had been out there all night long rowing that boat and going nowhere…they had been experiencing… darkness…anxiety…danger…and fear…ever feel like that…ever felt like you’re drowning in some problem and no one cares…I’m sure the disciples were seriously thinking they were all going to die.

It began to be daylight before Jesus came to them…they had been on the water all night…feeling the Lord had deserted them…ever felt that way…the Lord has deserted me.

I don’t know where you are today…there are all kinds of circumstances in our lives that make us feel like we’re sinking;

This coronavirus thing…maybe you’re in a hard spot in your life right now with… your job…your marriage…your children…you may be facing temptations or problems that are almost too great to bear.

You’re sitting alone…you feel like the disciples… rowing all night long and going nowhere…you find yourself on a stormy sea and feel as if your boat is going down. 

The feeding of the 5 ,000 presents Jesus as the provider of people’s needs…His walking on the water presents Him as the guardian of those who trust and obey Him.

Here’s the KEY…price of admission…Jesus always comes to us in the storms of life…BUT…He may not come at the time we think He should come…these disciples were probably all writing out their wills…this is the end… BUT…they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat [6:19].

Here’s how God works…I can preach this because I’ve experienced it…just like I can tell you God extends His favor into people’s lives because I’ve experienced it.

Often times the Lord waits until all human hope is gone [Phil.3:13] …He wants to test our faith …once OUR strength…OUR skill…OUR personal efforts to accomplish something is exhausted…after everybody’s gone home…when we’re left alone…Jesus says…mind if I take a look at the problem…because delivery from our problems should go to God and not to man.

Scripture records another time the disciples were in a storm on the Sea of Galilee [Mark 4:35-41] …and even though this time Jesus is with them…they were still afraid…even accusing Him of not caring about what they were facing.

It’s easy to get down on the disciples…but we’ve been there ourselves…when the storms of life are raging, we question whether God cares for us…might even have said it out loud “Lord don’t you care what’s happening to me?”

At that point…it’s easy to doubt God’s concern for us…to accuse the Lord of not caring about us.

Watch this…remember it was Jesus who sent the disciples out into the storm in the first place…and if you’re serious about following Jesus there’s going to be storms in your life that He’ll send you into.

Often time we begin to doubt God’s presence because we’re looking at the situation and become afraid…forgetting who sent us there in the first place…we begin to look at the problem rather than looking at the Savior.

When Jesus calmed the sea, they were amazed and said, “What manner of man is this?”  they hadn’t learned He is the One Who is in control of everything…every situation …every circumstance…even angry waves.

The Perrys – When He Comes Walking on the Water

The waves began to crash against their weak and helpless boat
The disciples feared and wondered just how long they’d stay afloat
Just when it appeared this was where it all would end
they saw their blessed savior as he came to rescue them!

Let me just say something about that…there’s going to be storms that come as a result of being on this earth…BUT that doesn’t mean everything’s going to turn out all right…because sometimes it doesn’t.

There are times in life when we are overruled…when we’ve prayed for whatever needs to be prayed for…when I’ve prayed and said seemingly all the right things… when we’ve fasted…when we’ve anointed them in oil…read all the books on encouragement…when we’ve told others they’re going to be healed…we’ve told the doctors they’re going to live…but we’re overruled and they die.

For countless numbers of people, the Christian faith is just a way to get into heaven when they die…but for countless more…the Christian faith teaches us how to live in the here and now…especially when life gets stormy.

Earlier I gave you four examples concerning how Jesus reacts to the storms that happen in our life… here’s the fifth one:

5. Jesus is always with us, even in the storms of life [Matthew 8:23-27].             Jesus waited until the boat was as far from land as possible, when all their hope was gone…then He comes walking on the water to rescue them.

Jesus knew the disciples would encounter this storm…and I can promise you He knows the storm you’re currently in and what will be the outcome …BUT …whatever the situation …circumstance or difficulty you’re in …Jesus is in the boat with you.

I’m not going to stand up here and tell you that in every situation Jesus will rescue you in some miraculous way and everything’s going to be all right…because for some of us we’re way too old to believe that.

BUT I can promise you…that whatever the result…if you’ve put your trust in Jesus…you can with assurance and conviction know that the outcome will be according to His will.

We live in a world that encourages us to believe in ourselves…that’s what separates Christians from unbelievers…we can with confidence know that whatever the situation…God knows what we’re experiencing…and despite the severity of what we’re encountering…even when we’re overruled in what we want …God is not insensitive to our request…He will never leave you nor forsake you [Heb. 13:5].

Up until Tuesday I was preparing a sermon about Jesus walking on the water…it’s a great sermon…you’ll hear it…BUT…Wednesday morning that changed because of something Elaine said to me Tuesday regarding last week’s sermon…it disrupted my normal sermon preparation.  

She told me I misspoke in my sermon regarding how we assist people who come to our church requesting assistance…she suggested that I was in error regarding what I said in how our church helps those outside our immediate church family.

Now going back to my school days, I can remember my teachers saying, ‘there’s no such thing as a stupid question because if you have a question chances are there are at least 2 or 3 others with the same question.’

I thought about that and realized there may be some here this morning with the same concerns as Elaine about how I as the Pastor view outsiders seeking assistance from our church and how we help them…I want to explain that.

The statement was something to the effect that I am reluctant to help people who are not members of our church…the example was…those wanting us to buy gas…or having us pay for overnight motel rooms…and I can tell you in the past we have done that…numerous time…so Elaine was right…we do help in some instances…she reminded me we did so just a month ago.

As I thought about that I became more convinced I should address that… but how exactly to present it to you the Church…I’ve been thinking as I worked on this message…asking my self is this a sermon?

Well I don’t know the technical definition of what a sermon is…to me it’s what I believe God is wanting me to share with you…for your instruction and spiritual growth…so that’s what I preach.

So, I want to share with you this morning something regarding that issue.

As Christians, how are we to help?

That’s a complex question…it’s not just a matter of… ‘hey you’re a church, are you supposed to help people…isn’t that what you do?’ …there really needs to be some clarification to that statement.

SO, how do we determine whom to care for and when to do something… because the Bible is full of explicit commands to help the poor and the needy…BUT at the same time who we are not to help.

Where does The Branches church fit into these Biblical commands to help…I said last week in looking at the feeding of the 5000…that if you look at that miracle only as Jesus feeding people…you have missed the entire message Jesus was trying to teach the disciples.

What I want to say to you today is an amplification of that point…the feeding part was to meet their physical need…the real message to be learned was when Jesus told the disciples. ‘you give them something to eat’ …Jesus is telling the church the same thing He told the disciples… “you give them something to eat!”

But if you just focus on the food give away you’ve missed the intent of what Jesus is saying…the feeding of the 5000 was not about giving out food… here’s what it is…you give them something that reveals the kingdom of God!

This is accomplished when the Church become the arms…hands…and feet of God…we are given the same opportunities Jesus gave to the disciples.

If Christians have an obligation to help the poor (and we do), does that mean we are obligated to help everyone…everywhere regardless of the circumstance…The answer is NO we are not…let me explain.  

Here are some biblical guidelines in defining who we are most responsible to help.

Here’s the best way to look at this…biblical guidelines in defining who we are most responsible to help is like throwing a rock into a pool of water… there are expanding concentric circles…that is the best way to think of our sphere of responsibility…as having expanding concentric circles.

In the middle is the closest circle, that’s our immediate families. “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Tim. 5:8) …I’m going to give you Scriptural references…not just my opinion…I’m telling you what the Bible says.  

This means that if you have the ability to help your immediate family and you don’t…if you have the necessary resources and yet neglect your aging, helpless parents, you are worse than an unbeliever. Family first.  

The next circle represents the members of our church…the principle is really the same: just as we have an obligation to provide for our natural family, so we ought to provide for our spiritual family.

The New Testament commands us to care for the needs of the Christians in our local churches (Acts 2:45; 4:32-37; 6:1-6 / James 2:15-17 / 1 John 3:16-17 / Galatians 6:10).

We see this in the early church that the needs of members who were poor and distressed was a priority (Acts 4:34-35; Acts 11:30; Gal. 2:10).

We are command to love one another not only with words but with actions of generosity and material support (James 2:15-17; 1 John 3:16-18).

These first two ‘circles’ are evident that charity begins at home…with your immediate family and with our church family…see in Scripture where Paul took up donations to help Christians who were struggling financially.    

Then there’s a third ring…those members of our Christian family whose needs are more distant…speaking primarily of those on the mission field… we have an obligation to care for those Christians who are not part of our immediate church family but who are engaged in doing God’s work.

Then there’s the fourth outer circle…those who have needs who are non-Christians in the world…the church should still be ready to do good to all people, but this support is less obligatory than what we owe to Christians.

It’s framed more as an “opportunity” rather than a requirement (Gal. 6:10).

There is one more category that should be mentioned…that fifth circle that includes those whose needs are so obvious…so immediate…it would be wrong not to help…the situation is such that you just can’t refuse to help.

So let me hopefully clear up any misunderstanding I might have caused… because I can assure you this church is following Jesus’ command of… “You give them something to eat!” …giving something that reveals the kingdom of God by being open for opportunities of service.

I’m going to reiterate on something I said last week using the five expanding concentric circles that explain my position…the Churches position… regarding helping those inside and outside our church.

Obviously the first circle is your immediate family…that really needs no further explanation…we are to assist our family when and if possible.

The second circle is our church family…our church has helped numerous members of our church in a variety of ways and circumstances and we will continue to do so.

When people in our church have immediate needs and have no way to address them…we are going to help…that is Biblical…and let me just say…that any help given to any member stays in confidence.

Third ring I mentioned are those members of our Christian family whose needs are more distant…speaking primarily of those on the mission field.

This church is proclaiming the kingdom of God with our support of missions including…Lottie Moon…Annie Armstrong…Advice and Aid…with our contribution to the SBC that supports missionaries worldwide.

We contribute to the Kansas/Nebraska convention and Kansas City area Baptist Association…and a dozen other independent missions and missionaries who are on the mission field. Don is Mission’s Director.  

The fourth circle I mentioned is being ready to do good to all people.

That’s a pretty wide-open statement…doing good to all people…would seem to encompass just about everyone…but it’s restrictive and we are to be selective in how we do that.  

This church does do good to people by proclaiming the kingdom of God by helping feed those at the Somerset apts. with weekly food assistance…  with back-snacks…supplying household needs…giving Christmas baskets.

We do good to people by proclaiming the kingdom of God through our partnership with New Hope Food Pantry…feeding thousands annually.  

The fifth circle includes those whose needs are so obvious and so immediate that we can’t say no…and because we are in such a unique position to help, it would be wrong to ignore it.

This church proclaimed the kingdom of God when we were approached with a request to house the homeless…a need that was so obvious we could not say no.

And after the homeless left…it cost us over $15,000 dollars to restore our church to its previous condition…not because of anything done maliciously… but mostly through the normal course of being used…BUT…our offer to help was the right thing to do because to ignore it would have been wrong.  

IN additionto what I have mentioned…this church is proclaiming the kingdom of God with our work at Villa St. Francis and Good Samaritan care homes insuring those who can’t be in church still have the opportunity to sing and hear God’s word preached.

This church is proclaiming the kingdom of God by insuring the Hispanic church…and the Algerian church have a place to worship… giving the Narcotics Anonymous folks a place to meet…and providing the Ethiopian missionary an office.

This church is proclaiming the kingdom of God with our AWANA program that for over 20 years has been proclaiming the love of God to little children.

Then there’s another circle that needs mentioning…the responsibility to help those who are least able to help themselves…people whose situation and options are limited…orphans and widows. (James 1:27).

We have assisted in the past helping widows with our support of ‘Mission Dignity’ …I will be asking our church to refresh our efforts in assisting those ladies.

Our involvement in the community through all those activities is The Branches church not only proclaiming…but demonstrating through actions, the presence of the kingdom of God.

And we do on occasion help those who knock on our door for help…and we will continue to do so but that’s where the farthest circle needs addressing.  

In the farthest circle are people that positively will not be helped by the church…I earlier mentioned being ready to do good to all people and said that was a pretty wide-open statement…but it was restrictive…these are the ones I was referring to last week…who are they?

First…Christians should not provide hospitality or do anything that would aid false teachers in their works (2 John 10-11).

Second, Christians should not support able-bodied persons who could provide for themselves but prefer laziness instead (1 Thess. 4:11-12; 5:14; Prov. 24:30-34). “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat” (2 Thess. 3:10) …in fact Paul insists that the church discipline those who persist in idleness (2 Thess. 3:14).

Along with that…our Christian responsibility to charity does not extend to those who expect others to do for them what they could do for themselves and won’t…again because of laziness.

Third…our responsibility does not extend to those who would steal from the church by abusing our Christian charity for their own selfish purposes.

Obviously, there are a thousand “What if’s…?” …and “What about’s…?” questions that arise when churches start to care for the poor.

I can’t give specific answers for every situation because the Bible doesn’t give those answers…that’s why we consider them on a one on one basis.

That is why when we are approached for help Elaine calls me and I engage Larry…Richard and Debbie into the discussion because when we do help with money it usually doesn’t come from the church budget…it comes from a benevolence fund which is outside of the church budget.

It’s not decisions I make on my own…I want the advice of other people so I can feel comfortable and confident that we have complied with Jesus’s desire that we are helping in a manner that is within Biblical guidelines.

But what about those verses in Scripture that seem to be explicit regarding how we as Christians and the Church are to support the poor…the needy and the destitute…they seem to be pretty straight forward. [Matt. 25:35-36]

³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

That sounds pretty definite to me…seems to be little leeway there…so does Matthew 25 have an application to the Church today?

I hear sermons…read in books and articles that calls for us to feed all the hungry… clothe all the naked…and visit all the sick and oppressed… because when we do that, we’re living out the Gospel in our lives…that  doing such works of charity is the way to enter Heaven.

Matthew 25 does not teach any of that…Jesus was not into free handouts …Jesus never called on the government to provide free stuff…the Gospel is not about social activism or social justice…Salvation is not the reward for doing works of charity.

Jesus lists six deeds of mercy; food…drink…hospitality…clothing…care… nursing…and visitation…which should be the concern of every Christian Church… and I think we—The Branches church—are doing those very things.

I’ve just shared how we’re doing our part…so in that respect YES it does have an application to us…and yes we are complying.

BUT…it’s important to understand to whom these verses are directed at and why they were written.

The meaning of these verses is not directed at the Church today…these verses were spoken by Jesus Himself and given as a warning to the Jews living in the last days.  

Matthew chapters 24 and 25 were written for a time right before Jesus’ crucifixion…the context of Matthew 24 must be viewed as applying to the nation of Israel and the Jewish people living during the Tribulation.

Jesus is outlining the criteria or the standards by which He will judge the Jews who go through the tribulation…they will be judged based on how they treated their brethren who were being persecuted.

Matthew 25 is a command to care for the physical needs of those who suffer hardship for the sake of Christ during the last days…these are the Brethren Jesus was talking about in Matt 25…when Jesus said, “My brethren,” He was referring to the Jewish people (Mt. 10:6; Jn. 1:11; Rom. 9:5).

SO…does Matthew 25 have an application to the Church today…yes it does …we should help our neighbors and others in physical need as we are able and have the opportunity…of course we should because they are human beings like we are. 

SO…is Matthew 25 a directive to the Church today…NO it’s not…to infer this is God’s direction to the church today is to take these verses out of context.

SO…in reflecting back on what I have shared with you this morning…to clarify myself…we do help those outside our church…BUT…we also have an obligation as stewards of God’s money to spend it wisely and not be taken advantage of.  

If we believe that anyone seeking help from out Church falls into one of those four classifications…we will be reluctant to assist them…that is biblical.

As Pastor of this church God holds me personally responsible for how the church is being managed…how we conduct our service…how we manage His money…what is being preached and taught…on the opportunities He

gives us…on every decision that is made…in everything God holds me accountable.

So what I do is make few decision on my own…I trust the advice of men in this church who are men who walk with God…I trust the Church Council and other individuals I can rely on to give me godly advice.

So how do I know if what I’m doing…what we’re doing as a church is agreeable with what God expects from us…because the answer to that does determine God’s blessing on The Branches church.

Said this three weeks ago…living a lifestyle of faithfulness and obedience leads to a life full of favor from 1) God and 2) favor from the right people around us.

Having the favor of God extends to people around you…God causes the favor of people to be on the church…the evidence that God has shown His favor to The Branches church is evident in countless ways.

Mentioned earlier the literally tens of thousands of dollars that has been donated to our church…in addition to the many ways He provides for our needs because of what I believe is God’s favor on our church.

Today’s message is a little out of the ordinary…but it’s a message that is specific to us—The Branches church—because more than anything else I want to insure that you all understand how we make decisions in our church…decisions that are for one purpose…decisions that proclaim the kingdom of God.

As a Church that has as our priority…proclaiming the kingdom of God…God will continue to bless us through our efforts to follow Biblical guidelines of faithfulness and in being obedient in the opportunities He presents to us.

It’s no different in your personal life…you…being a part of a Church that I believe is faithful and obedient in following God’s direction causes you also to fall under the umbrella of God’s favor.

And as you continue to be faithful and obedient in your personal Christian life, God will continue to bless you…it’s Scriptural…it’s a biblical principle.