Jesus, The Divider

John 7:40-53

Last Sunday night, we studied a very important text
In regards to the theology of Jesus.

It was the last day of the feast, and the people would soon be departing, and therefore Jesus stood and cried out the sermon that He came to preach.

John 7:37-38 “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'”

With the Feast of Booths as a backdrop, Jesus says:
If you want God’s Spirit, if you are looking for God’s Messiah.
LOOK NO FURTHER

“Come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rives of living water.’”

What we see this morning is the aftermath of Jesus teaching.

And while in our text this morning we find no words of Jesus,
We do learn a great deal about Him, and the results that followed Him.

This morning I am going to show you three results
That occurred because of Jesus.

#1 DIVISION
John 7:40-43
It is interesting what takes place.

Right off the bat we see that some people wanted to ACKNOWLEDGE Jesus.
“This certainly is the Prophet.”

In other words, they heard His teaching on God’s Spirit,
His teaching obviously pierced their hearts,
They were willingly ready to proclaim that Jesus was indeed from God, and speaking the words of God.

Still a second group wanted to ANNOINT Jesus.
“Others were saying, “This is the Christ.”

There was a second group that saw far more than just a prophet.
They saw Him as the One the prophets spoke of.

Isaiah 42:1-4 “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations. “He will not cry out or raise His voice, Nor make His voice heard in the street. “A bruised reed He will not break And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice. “He will not be disheartened or crushed Until He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”

It was evident that He was the One on whom God had put His Spirit.
He was the One who would “bring forth justice to the nations.”

But there was still a third group who only wanted to ANALYZE Jesus.
“Still others were saying, “Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee is He? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and form Bethlehem, the village where David was?”

Just a couple of days earlier, they were claiming that no one knew where the Messiah was to come from, but here they are quite certain.
This time their theology is correct, but their research is not.

As Jesus preaches His message,
Several different responses are occurring.

The problem isn’t the seed, it is the soil.
Some hearts take the seed of the word of God differently.

BUT THE MAIN POINT
VS. 43, “So a division occurred in the crowd because of Him.”

The thing John wanted you to know is that
When Jesus went to Jerusalem and claimed to be the Messiah,
It did not result in a unanimous following of rejoicing Jews.

The news of Jesus was accepted with mixed results.

He did not unite everyone that was divided.
He divided everyone that was united.

Many times in our lives we can’t fathom anything
That divides people as being from God.

All of these people where here for a common purpose.
They were here to celebrate the FEAST OF BOOTHS,
And to focus on all the things God had done for them.
They were united together with one purpose.

But as soon as Jesus gets through with His sermon,
They are all divided against each other.

The reason of course is because Jesus brings division.

Matthew 10:34-36 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. “For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW; and A MAN’S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD.”

Luke 12:51-53 “Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. “They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”

Many today only want a Jesus that brings peace to the crowds,
But He never brought peace to the crowd.

He had a peaceful crowd in His hometown, until He preached about a prophet being without honor in His hometown, and this crowd tried to throw Him off a cliff.

He had a peaceful crowd after feeding the 5,000, until He started claiming to be the bread from heaven, and this peaceful crowd left angry.

He had a peaceful crowd in Jerusalem, until He started turning over tables, and made a whip and drove people out of the temple, and this peaceful crowed began to conspire against Him.

He had a peaceful crowd at a Pharisees house, until He started calling them a brood of vipers, and they began to look for ways to kill Him.

He had a peaceful crowd during His triumphal entry, until this peaceful crowd began to yell “Crucify”.

Jesus never brought peace to a crowd.
He didn’t give peace as the world gives peace.

JESUS CAME TO BRING DIVISION.
“Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division;”

Jesus came to separate the darkness from the light.
John 12:46 “I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.”

Jesus came to separate the sheep from the goats.
Matthew 25:32-33 “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.”
Jesus came to separate wheat from tares.
Matthew 13:40-43 “So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. “Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”

Jesus came to separate bad fish from good ones.
Matthew 13:47-50 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. “So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

The point is that Jesus did not come to bring unity in the world, He came to bring division.

This crowd was divided over Him.
We can begin to see the tares and the wheat immerge.

The result of Jesus is division.
And I’m sure many of you have seen it in your life.

He draws His sword and He separates, even if it means separating, “father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

And He will bring division in your life.
Many times God’s word is wrongly condemned for being too divisive.
God’s word, is often downplayed or sugar-coated because of it’s divisive nature,
But the simple truth is, if the truth is not dividing the righteous from the wicked,
Then it is not the truth.

When the truth of Jesus is preached, before it every unifies, it divides.
The result of Jesus is division, and we see it in this crowd.

#2 DERISION
John 7:44-49

There were some who wanted to seize Jesus. We know who they are.

John 7:32 “The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about Him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to seize Him.”

The Pharisees had sent the temple officers to arrest Jesus,
But their plan was not carried out.
So the Pharisees said, “Why did you not bring Him?” “The officers answered, “Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.”

The officers came back confused. They went out to arrest Jesus, but when they got close to Him, even they knew they were dealing with no ordinary man, and so they decided against following the order.

So here we see that some wanted to ARREST Jesus,
But others had grown to ADMIRE Him.

And then we see the response of the Pharisees.
Vs. 47, “The Pharisees answered them, “You have not also been led astray have you? No one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he? But this crowd which does not know the Law is accursed.”

The Pharisees make fun of them.

They don’t question their ability to arrest a person,
They question their intelligence.
They deride them for being simple minded, naïve, and ignorant.

They readily point out that NONE OF THE educated, super spiritual, wise, or discerning people have followed Jesus.

In short, anyone who is following Jesus
Is obviously too stupid to know better.

The point is Jesus brings derision.
Derision is the natural step after division.

Once you are divided from someone because of Jesus,
That division always brings with it a scorn
From the one you were divided from.

1 Peter 4:3-4 “For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries. In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you;”
When you are divided from the wickedness of this world,
They will malign you for it.

Certainly this is no shock to a follower of Jesus.
After all, Jesus said they would.

Matthew 10:24-25 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. “It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!”
John 15:18-21 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘ A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. “But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.”

We know that following Jesus brings derision.
Darkness hates light
Wickedness hates Righteousness

And when we read the Scriptures, we know why.
RIGHTEOUSNESS
Matthew 5:10-12 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

THE NAME OF JESUS
Matthew 10:22 “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”

THE GOSPEL
2 Timothy 2:8-9 “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel, for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned.”

JESUS BRINGS DERISION
He was lied about, convicted, beaten, spit upon, mocked,
crucified, betrayed, and denied.

We must remember that in our lives of comfort and ease.
We think if we ever do anything that makes someone else not like us, then we must not be acting like Jesus.

If everyone loves you, then you had better rethink your lifestyle, Because everyone sure didn’t love Jesus.

Luke 6:26 “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.”

Jesus brought Division, Jesus brought Division.
#3 DILAPIDATION
John 7:50-53
Dis = “apart”
Lapidare = “throw stones at”

Literally – “To crush with stones, to break apart”
This is exactly what Jesus does.
Luke 20:17-18 “But Jesus looked at them and said, “What then is this that is written: ‘THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED,THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone’? “Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”

When we follow Jesus it brings division and derision,
But I don’t want you to think that is the end result.

Jesus also promises to break down, all of those who oppose us.

You can see that taking place here.
After the Pharisees call this crowd accursed,
Nicodemus steps up to the defense of Jesus.

“Our Law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?”

Of course the rest of the group answer in disgust.
“You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.”

You can see their disgust, and even their error.
They blatantly lie, for Jonah was from Galilee. (2 Kings 14:25)

But what is really interesting is what takes place next.
Vs. 53, “Everyone went to his home.”

They had gathered with a conspiracy to kill Jesus.
They had agreed to arrest him, they were in this thing together.

But at the last minute, Jesus breaks their allegiance.
Everything they wanted to do fell through. Their plans had dilapidated.
Jesus broke it apart.

This is illustrated in the passage we will study tonight.
John 8:1-11 tells the story of the scheme to stone a woman caught in adultery, but of course Jesus broke that plan apart as well.

Our life starts with division and derision,
But it ends in great victory.

John 16:20-22 “Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy. “Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. “Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.”

THERE WILL BE NO MORE DERISION FOR JESUS
Revelation 19:11-16 “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

The first time He entered through a manger,
Next time, “heaven opened”
The first time He was followed by 12 fisherman,
Next time, “armies which are in heaven”
The first time He walked the shore of Galilee,
Next time, “He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God.”
The first time He rode a donkey to Jerusalem,
Next time, “a white horse”
The first time He had compassion in His eyes,
Next time, “His eyes are a flame of fire”
The first time He spoke compassionate words,
Next time, “From His mouth comes a sharp sword”
The first time He wore a crown of thorns,
Next time, “many diadems”
The first time He submitted to murderers,
Next time, “He will rule them with a rod of iron”
The first time His name was Jesus,
Next time, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS”

And the result of Jesus will be
The destruction of all those who oppose Him.

Revelation 19:17-21 “Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, “Come, assemble for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.” And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.”

Jesus life doesn’t end in division and derision, it ends in victory.

I want you to know it is the same for the followers of Jesus.
We may experience difficulty here, but it is only temporary.
TURN TO REVELATION 21:22 – 22:7

I love how John first describes heaven.
Instead of telling us about all the wonderful things that are there,
He starts by telling us what isn’t.

I want you to know if you give your life to Jesus,
It will cause division for you, it will cause derision for you.

This was always the response to Jesus.
BUT SO WHAT!
Some day Jesus will break apart all those who oppose Him.

I’m reminded of a man who had recently been saved.
He had only been a Christian for a couple of days. He was speaking with a theologian at a seminary and the topic of the Revelation came up.

The theologian said, “The book is so full of signs and symbols, and cryptic language. Coupled with the various views of eschatology. In short very few people understand the book of the Revelation, Indeed, I can’t say that I understand it.”

The new Christian looked at this theologian and said, “I understand it.” Then he held his finger in the air and said, “We win!”

Pray

Jesus, The Source of the Spirit

John 7:37-39

Jesus has been preaching at the Feast of Booths.
However, the end of the feast was approaching.

Verse 37, “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out…”

I want you to understand the setting.
This feast took place during the seventh month. (October)

On the first of the month, they celebrated The Feast of Trumpets.
Throughout the Old Testament trumpets were symbolic of God’s presence, or the fact that God was about to do something big.

(i.e. trumpets at Sinai before the Lord, trumpets before Jericho)

Numbers 10:9-10 “When you go to war in your land against the adversary who attacks you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the LORD your God, and be saved from your enemies. “Also in the day of your gladness and in your appointed feasts, and on the first days of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be as a reminder of you before your God. I am the LORD your God.”

Then on the 10th day of the month came The Day of Atonement.
Of course we know the purpose of this sacrifice.
It was done for the sins committed in ignorance and was a day of extreme humility. In fact, if you would not humble yourself on this day, you were to be cut off from your people.

Then on the 15th day of the month came The Feast of Booths.
Leviticus 23:39-44 “On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the LORD for seven days, with a rest on the first day and a rest on the eighth day. ‘Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. ‘You shall thus celebrate it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. ‘You shall live in booths for seven days; all the native-born in Israel shall live in booths, so that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.'” So Moses declared to the sons of Israel the appointed times of the LORD.”

The harvest was in, the day of atonement recently completed, And a time to celebrate.

But I want you to know this feast
Came with great Messianic promises as well.
Zechariah 8:20-23 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘It will yet be that peoples will come, even the inhabitants of many cities. ‘The inhabitants of one will go to another, saying, “Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts; I will also go.” ‘So many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the LORD.’ “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘In those days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”‘”

Zechariah 14:16-19 “Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain on them. If the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the LORD smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.”

He saw it as a day when Israel’s king would rule the world
And the world would be drawn to Him.

Ezekiel also prophesied about this feast.
Not only this one, but all three feasts in this month.

Ezekiel 36:24-28 “For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. “You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.”

1) A future feast of trumpets
“For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land.”

2) A future Day of Atonement
“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and a put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”

3) A future Feast of Booths
“You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.”

These feasts had a past celebration, a present celebration,
But also a future celebration.
PAST REMEMBERANCE
Trumpets – God’s deliverance
Atonement – God’s mercy
Booths – God’s provision

PRESENT CELEBRATION
Trumpets – God’s deliverance
Atonement – God’s forgiveness
Booths – God’s provision (harvest in)

FUTURE HOPE
Trumpets – God’s deliverance (in gathering)
Atonement – God’s complete forgiveness
Booths – God’s king on the earth

During this feast you had all three reasons to celebrate.
It is during this backdrop,
And on the last and greatest day
That Jesus delivers His main sermon.

It is also beneficial to see the point of the sermon.

After Jesus finished preaching.
John adds in verse 39, “But this He spoke of the Spirit”

I want you to know what the Old Testament says about God’s Spirit

FIRST – There would be One who would provide the Spirit.
Isaiah 42:1-4 “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations. “He will not cry out or raise His voice, Nor make His voice heard in the street. “A bruised reed He will not break And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice. “He will not be disheartened or crushed Until He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”

Of course Matthew 12:17-21 showed where Jesus fulfilled this prophecy.

God promised He would send One who HAD the Spirit.
“I have put My Spirit upon Him”

SECOND – There would be those who would receive the Spirit
Ezekiel 36:27 “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”

TURN TO EZEKIEL 37:1-14

Now in that, you see the future promise of The Feast of Booths.
The day when God’s Spirit would fill His people,
And He would place them on their own land.
Isaiah also prophesied about this wonderful day.
Isaiah 44:1-3 “But now listen, O Jacob, My servant, And Israel, whom I have chosen: Thus says the LORD who made you And formed you from the womb, who will help you, ‘Do not fear, O Jacob My servant; And you Jeshurun whom I have chosen. ‘For I will pour out water on the thirsty land And streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring And My blessing on your descendants;”

Joel saw this day.
Joel 2:28-29 “It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions. “Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.”

All these prophets saw a day when God’s Spirit would be poured out and Israel would be delivered and all the earth would be gathered to them during this future Feast of Booths.
THE FEAST OF BOOTHS CERTAINLY REMINDED OF THOSE PROMISES

As the people celebrate a feast that looks to the outpouring of God’s Spirit, Jesus stands to deliver a sermon on the Spirit.

3 POINTS
#1 THE SOURCE OF THE SPIRIT
John 7:37

You and I know why Jesus waited until the last and greatest day.
It was the climax, it was the main point,
It was literally the invitation to the feast.

And Jesus “stood and cried out”

Ordinarily a Rabbi sat down to teach, but you can see here the passion in Jesus as He stands to His feet to make sure everyone hears what He has to say.

“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink”

Now there is a statement of great depth.
And it is not the first time Jesus has used such an analogy.

To the woman at the well, that desperately wanted a drink of water, Jesus said,
John 4:13-14 “Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

To the selfish crowd who just wanted their stomachs full in John 6, Jesus said,
John 6:35 “Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.”
And to this crowd who also had a definite thirst.
A thirst for the fulfillment of this feast.
A thirst for the day when God’s Spirit truly would be poured out on the dry ground.
A day when God’s deliverance was experienced.
A day when Israel could truly celebrate this feast.

“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink”

He is the source of the Spirit of God,
And three things were required if they wanted Him.

1) “If anyone is thirsty”

There had to be a thirst for something better.
A complacent attitude is not one that is ready to come to Jesus.

Remember the man at the Bethesda pool?
John 5:5-6 “A man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, “Do you wish to get well?”

Many people remain in a parched land
Because they choose to remain in a parched land.

James 4:2b “…You do not have because you do not ask.”

It is the same invitation that John would later use in the book of the Revelation.

Revelation 22:17 “The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.”

Isaiah 55:1-3 “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost. “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance. “Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, According to the faithful mercies shown to David.”

1/3 of the problem with lost people
Is that they do not even thirst for something better.
They are so content in their sin that they do not even thirst.
Many in Israel didn’t even want freedom
John 19:15 “So they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”

How many today willfully remain slaves to this world.
They are slaves of the enemy, and are completely content there.

Paul told us to pray for people like that.
2 Timothy 2:24-26 “The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.”

They are people who literally need to come to their senses.
They need to discover their thirst for freedom.

You must first thirst for it.

Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

But of course that is only an inner motivation, and there is more that must be done.

2) “let him come to Me”

You can be like the explorer and search for the fountain of youth, but there is only One who has the fountain, because there is only One who already has the Spirit.

That is why Jesus could make such claims.

Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

Those are bold claims, but He had the authority to make them. You must thirst, and you must come to Jesus.

But there is more than that.
3) “and drink”

Now this seemed to be the tough one.

We remember the crowd in John 6 who finally turned away from Jesus at the thought of eating His flesh and drinking His blood.

They came to Him, but they wouldn’t identify with Him. They wouldn’t believe. They wouldn’t allow Jesus to get inside of them.

We remember the Rich Young Ruler who indeed thirsted for eternal life, and even came to Jesus to find it, but who missed out because He would not drink.

You see, you must come to Jesus and fully surrender to Jesus.
He is the source of the Spirit of God that you have been looking for.

Jesus moves on to show us why we should come to Him.

#2 THE SATISFACTION OF THE SPIRIT
John 7:38

Jesus shows us the wonderful satisfaction of the Spirit which you get from Him.

“From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.”

So shouldn’t it say, “From My innermost being will flow rivers of living water to you”?

You see, Jesus is offering something much bigger than just provision. He is offering the presence. Instead of just receiving the benefits of the Spirit, He is offering to us to be vendors of Him.

Is that not what we see taking place in Acts 1:8?
Acts 1:8 “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

It is being filled with the Spirit so that we can carry it to others.

That is a huge concept.
John 14:16-17 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”

Colossians 1:26-27 “that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

That is amazing in itself, but look at what else Jesus says.
“will flow rivers of living water”

Now think about that.
A river was called living water because it flowed. To say “rivers of living water” is redundant

But not only that, He should have only said, “river of living water”

But you can see that Jesus is talking about a filling that will flat out consume you and flow from you in enormous fashion.
“rivers of living water”

We are talking about the headwaters,
We’re talking about getting the source in us.

That goes far beyond not being thirsty anymore.

If someone were to ask me the main difference between my religious life from 8 to 19 and from my new life from 19 til now. There is no doubt I would say the Spirit of God.

He made all the difference in my life.
His fruit, His changing power, His passions, His glory, His power…
Not only was I satisfied, but it was far greater than that.

I didn’t just get a river from God.
God put “rivers of living water” in me.

But you do need to see the first part of that verse.

“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said”

Not believes in Me like you want to.
There is a way in which God tells us to have faith in Jesus. We do it His way.

Matthew 16:24 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”

But if we do, we get the greatest satisfaction our soul could ever know.

So we see the source of the Spirit
The satisfaction of the Spirit
#3 THE SENDER OF THE SPIRIT
John 7:39

Now notice what John said.
John said that those who believe in Jesus where to receive the Spirit.

“for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified”

Now, please don’t misunderstand.

The Spirit of God was on the earth.
David spoke of the Spirit.
Jeremiah had Him.
John the Baptist Had Him.
John’s dad was spoke in the Spirit.
Indeed all the prophets of the Old Testament spoke by Him.

But none had Him in the way Jesus was talking about.
They couldn’t.

“because Jesus was not yet glorified”

They could not fully experience the satisfying power of the Holy Spirit because their sin debt had never been paid.

But once Jesus died upon that cross, and rose from the dead, And then ascended to the Father,
Now we experience the fullness of God’s Spirit.

That is why Jesus said:
John 14:25-26 “These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”

John 16:7 “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”

IF YOU WANT THE SPIRIT OF GOD
There is only One way to get Him.

And so Jesus invitation to them also becomes Jesus invitation to you.

“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me, and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, “From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.”

That means tonight, if you have no satisfaction in your soul, the answer is clear. Come to Jesus and drink, and believe in Him as the Scripture says.

Tonight if you have received God’s Spirit,

THEN REMEMBER He was meant to flow from you, not just to you. Go be a fountain to the world.

John 16:7 “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”

 

Jesus, The One You Will Respond To

John 7:25-36

JESUS FINALLY WENT TO JERUSALEM AND THE CROWDS WERE AMAZED, SINCE HE WAS NOT EDUCATED.

He had been educated, just not by men.
He was taught by God, and He spoke the things of God.

John 7:16 “So Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.”

And so Jesus continued explaining why He was indeed true.
His Inspiration, His congregation, His motivation.

THEN JESUS MOVED HIS FOCUS TO THE CROWD
AND WHY THEY WOULDN’T BELIEVE

Their standard of measure was off.
Their selective memory saw no flaws in themselves.
Their superficial ministry puffed them up.

And so Jesus told them.
John 7:24 “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

AND SO THUS FAR WE HAVE SEEN THE TWO MAIN REASONS WHY PEOPLE REJECT JESUS

They either don’t see Him as someone worthy of Lordship,
They don’t see themselves as someone deserving of submission

Two condemning beliefs are still reigning supreme with our crowd.

We will work our way through the text,
But our main sermon is found in verses 33-34.

Verses 25-26, “So some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill? “Look, He is speaking publicly, and they are saying nothing to Him. The rulers do not really know that this is the Christ, do they?”

1) You can see His boldness, preaching to those who want to kill Him.
2) You can see His wisdom, completely confounding the religious elite.
3) You can see His appeal, as the main attraction even to the disbelieving.
But mostly in these two verses, I like to see the power of Jesus.

THEY SCHEMED AGAINST HIM,
BUT THEY COULDN’T STOP HIM

You never read of Him being outsmarted…
You never read of Him being overpowered…
You never read of Him being defeated…

He always had the last word.
He always got the last laugh.
He always accomplished His purpose.
He was never even delayed in doing it.

Verse 27, “However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from.”

They say, “we know where this man is from”.

NO THEY DIDN’T.
Have we not just seen the argument.

John 6:41-42 “Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, “I am the bread that came down out of heaven.” They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘ I have come down out of heaven’?”

“but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from.”

Now I don’t know where they got that,
But it most certainly was not from the Bible.

Isaiah 9:6-7 “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”

But that isn’t all.
Micah 5:2 “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.”

It is foolish, so Jesus calls them on it.

Verse 28-29, “Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know Me and know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. “I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me.”

You see the main point of the Messiah is not where He is from, but who He is from.
THEY SCRUTINIZED HIM,
BUT THEY COULDN’T SILENCE HIM

Despite attacking His credibility, Jesus still go the message across.
“I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.”

Verse 30, “So they were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.”

They were going to “seize” Him.
Translates – PIAZO
It means to lay hold of and to bind.

It is the word used of the disciples inability to catch fish.
John 21:3 “Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will also come with you.” They went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing.”

It is also the word used of what Jesus will do
To the beast and the false prophet.

Revelation 19:20 “And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.”

But of course you see the text.
“and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.”

THEY SOUGHT HIM,
BUT THEY COULDN’T SEIZE HIM

After Jesus offended His hometown
Luke 4:28-30 “And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, He went His way.”

Jesus was completely beyond their control.
They didn’t like His message so they schemed against Him, but they couldn’t stop Him.
They didn’t like His message so they scrutinized Him, but they couldn’t silence Him.
They didn’t like His message so they sought Him, but they couldn’t seize Him.

Verses 31-36, “But many of the crowd believed in Him; and they were saying, “When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He?” The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about Him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to seize Him. Therefore Jesus said, “For a little while longer I am with you, then I go to Him who sent Me. “You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.” The Jews then said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find Him? He is not intending to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks, is He? “What is this statement that He said, ‘You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’?”

Now the good news here is that at least some of the crowd finally did have the light come on.

“But many of the crowd believed in Him; and they were saying, “When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He?”

Don’t get too excited, because in just about 6 months they will all be shouting “Crucify”.

But the focus of this text is not on them,
For their enlightenment only causes the hostility to heighten.

Look at verse 32, “The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about Him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to seize Him.”

But Jesus makes a response.
“Therefore Jesus said, “For a little while longer I am with you, then I go to Him who sent Me. You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.”

First what I want you to see is the response of the religious leaders.

Verses 35-36, “The Jews then said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find Him? He is not intending to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks, is He? “What is this statement that He said, ‘ You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’?”

Can you see the tragedy of these people. They didn’t get it at all. They thought He meant He was going to teach “the Dispersion”

“What is this statement that He said, ‘You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’?”

They schemed against Him, but they couldn’t stop Him.
They scrutinized Him, but they couldn’t silence Him.
They sought Him, but they couldn’t seize Him.

THEY SAW HIM,
BUT THEY COULDN’T SEE HIM

And this is perhaps the most dangerous of all.

The reason is because they were steeped in unbelief.
Sometimes people can’t see because they won’t see.

Some today desire to live in greed and refuse to see the poverty around them.
Some today live in pity and refuse to see the beauty around them.
Some today live in laziness and refuse to see the needs around them.

But the real tragedy is when people live in sin
And refuse to see the destruction that awaits.

And this is the point of tonight’s sermon.

Tonight you have seen reason after reason
Why people rejected Jesus.

Add to your list as to why people reject Him.
But in Jesus brief sermon of response,
What we see is the danger of rejecting.

Look back at His response to a group of religious rulers who desired to seize Him.

Verses 33-34, “Therefore Jesus said, “For a little while longer I am with you, then I go to Him who sent Me. “You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.”

This crowd had every opportunity to respond to Him and wouldn’t do it.
For some reason they continued to white knuckle the pews.
For some reason they just wouldn’t let go and follow Jesus.

SO JESUS PREACHES ON THE IMPORTANCE OF RESPONDING
There are three different times that you have an opportunity to respond.

And I want you to know you will respond to Jesus at one of these 3 times.

Will you respond to Jesus,
#1 WHEN IT IS FAVORABLE
John 7:33a
“Therefore Jesus said, “For a little while longer I am with you”

You see this crowd had done an awful lot of mocking. They had done an awful lot of suppressing, but what they needed to understand was that their time would not always be opportune.

John 12:35-36 “So Jesus said to them, “For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. “While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.”

Isaiah 55:6 “Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near.”

And perhaps Paul put it best.
2 Corinthians 6:1-2 “And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain — for He says, “AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU, AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU.” Behold, now is “THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,” behold, now is “THE DAY OF SALVATION”

So many people fail to realize this, but the salvation of God comes on His timing, not ours.

We always think there will be another service,
Another invitation, Another opportunity.

They treat salvation like it is always opportune.

The only time we get the opportunity is when God calls us.
John 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”

We may think we have forever to flirt with the conviction of the Holy Spirit, but we do not. We only have “today”.

Hebrews 3:7-13 “Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME, AS IN THE DAY OF TRIAL IN THE WILDERNESS, WHERE YOUR FATHERS TRIED Me BY TESTING Me, AND SAW MY WORKS FOR FORTY YEARS. “THEREFORE I WAS ANGRY WITH THIS GENERATION, AND SAID, ‘THEY ALWAYS GO ASTRAY IN THEIR HEART, AND THEY DID NOT KNOW MY WAYS’; AS I SWORE IN MY WRATH, ‘THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.'” Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

If Jesus is calling your heart now, now is the favorable time to respond.

The question is will I respond to Jesus when it is favorable?
There are some who will respond to Jesus when it is favorable.

But there is another time to respond to Jesus
#2 WHEN IT IS FINAL
John 7:33b “then I go to Him who sent Me.”

There is coming an end to this invitation.
I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is a final invitation for every lost soul of man.

It may be because you will die before you ever get invited again.
It may be because God will quit knocking on your heart.
It may be because your heart will get too hard to even recognize the call.

Remember the parable of the soils.
Matthew 13:19 “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road.”

There are those who have so hardened their heart that it is comparable to a dirt road and the seed no longer penetrates. They no longer even recognize the invitation.

Some have just received their last chance.
Hebrews 6:4-8 “For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.”

Jesus flat out told some when they had.
In Matthew 11 He pronounced judgment on Chorazin, Bethsaid, and Capernaum.

Matthew 11:16-20 “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to the other children, and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘ He has a demon!’ “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.” Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent.”

Then He went on to say how Tyre and Sidon and Sodom and Gomorrah would have it better in the judgment than those cities.

Jerusalem, along with the rulers had received and missed their final invitation, and look at what Jesus said to them.

Matthew 23:29-39 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ “So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. “Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell? “Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. “Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. “Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! “For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!'”

There is a final time when the invitation is offered,
If you miss it, it will never be offered again.

The question I always want to ask people is when will your final time be?
Jerusalem missed hers,
The thief on the cross seized his,
What about you?

There is a favorable time to respond and there is a final time to respond.

#3 WHEN IT IS FUTILE
John 7:34

Here is the real tragedy that those in Jerusalem faced.
Jesus actually said there would be a time
When they would want Him, but would not be able to find Him.

COULD THERE ACTUALLY BE A TIME WHEN WE WOULD SEEK JESUS, BUT NOT BE ABLE TO FIND HIM?
Apparently so,

BUT YOU SAY, “WHEN WILL THIS TIME COME?”
During the judgment.

I believe there will be scores and scores of people who will cry out to Jesus in the judgment and it will be too late.

Think about the judgment during Jeremiah’s time, do you not think there were some who sought forgiveness?

Of course there were.
My son repents during every spanking, but by the time the spanking comes around, it is too late.

I want you to know there is a time to respond to Jesus
When it is futile.

Listen to these argue with Jesus at the judgment.

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

Listen to these.
Matthew 25:41-46 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘ Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ “Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ “Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Listen to these.
Matthew 25:10-13 “And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut. “Later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘ Lord, lord, open up for us.’ “But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ “Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.”

Luke 13:22-30 “And He was passing through from one city and village to another, teaching, and proceeding on His way to Jerusalem. And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. “Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘ Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘ I do not know where you are from.’ “Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’; and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; DEPART FROM ME, ALL YOU EVILDOERS.’ “In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out. “And they will come from east and west and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. “And behold, some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last.”

Can you see that at that point it is futile to respond to Jesus.
How many wait too late to respond?

There is a favorable time
There is a final time
There is a futile time

I would just ask you again, about your response to Jesus.
We know what eventually happened to this crowd.
They would respond when it was too late.

They now sit in the fires of hell and cry out
That Abraham would send Lazarus to their brothers
To warn them not to come to this dreadful place.

But what about you.

Just don’t wait until the time is futile.

2 Corinthians 6:2 “for He says, “AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU,
AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU.” Behold, now is “THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,” behold, now is “THE DAY OF SALVATION”

Jesus, The Misjudged One

John 7:19-24

This morning we listened to Jesus as He defended the fact that He is indeed the True One of God.

We have no doubt that what Jesus speaks is true because He received His message from the Father, He was followed by those who truly loved God, and His only motive was to glorify God.

And so this morning Jesus laid out the facts as to why we should listen to Him.

But in our text this evening, Jesus shifts the focus of His sermon.
He stops shining the light on Himself, and shines it on the crowd.

This is a very important second step.

For if Jesus comes claiming to be speaking God’s truth,
And people refuse to listen to Him,
That can only mean one of two things.

1) Either He is a false prophet and the people have seen through Him
2) Or He is exactly what He says and the people will not see it.

Since we determined this morning that Jesus is indeed the true one, we have no other option than to accept the second problem.

These people are obviously in a state of determined blindness.
Matthew 21:23-27 “When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?” Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. “The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?” And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ “But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the people; for they all regard John as a prophet.” And answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” He also said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

And this is a mindset we continually see in the people of Israel.
They refused to see the truth about Jesus.

They did not like what He was teaching, “By what authority are You doing these things?”

But they would not accept that His authority was from God.

THE CRAWFORD SUNDAY SCHOOL SCANDAL

It is the same contradiction that the people are facing here.

Their refusal to follow Him
Is only revealing their own persistent blindness.

Jesus described these types of people like this.

Matthew 15:14 “Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

Later He would confront the Pharisees in much the same way.

Matthew 23:16-26 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘ Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’ “You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold? “And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated.’ “You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering? “Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it. “And whoever swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells within it. “And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. “You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. “You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.”

Jesus didn’t have many different adjectives for the religious leaders. One was hypocrite, the other was blind.

And later, in a humiliating comparison,
Jesus will actually reveal their blindness
Through healing a blind man that could see.

To which Jesus will say after this former blind man confesses Him:
John 9:39-41 “And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘ We see,’ your sin remains.”

And of course this is exactly what Isaiah prophesied.
(Interesting that no Old Testament passage is quoted more in the New Testament than this one.)

As Jesus was speaking to His disciples:
Matthew 13:14-17 “In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.’ “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. “For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

This group was obviously walking in the spiritual blindness that Isaiah prophesied.

I don’t even have to tell you how this applies today.
So many today who go throughout this world having heard the truth And yet refuse to see it.
We live in a day of determined blindness

He gives three attributes of these spiritually blind.

Although they were extremely religious, although they knew their Bibles, we are going to see that in what ways these people were blind even though they could see.

3 attributes of the religious yet spiritually blind
#1 SELF-GRATIFYING MEASURE
John 7:19

Now you understand what I mean by “measure”.
Everyone has one.

We all have that line in the sand that we draw in our brains as the difference between what is acceptable and what is not.
WOODY WOODWARD

If you where here Wednesday night and heard the testimony of Iris Blue and how she always had someone to compare herself to, and no matter how bad she lived, she could always find someone worse.

Now, if you want to know the true line, it is God’s righteousness.

This righteousness was first seen in the Law.
Deuteronomy 6:24-25 “So the LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God for our good always and for our survival, as it is today. “It will be righteousness for us if we are careful to observe all this commandment before the LORD our God, just as He commanded us.”

Of course Jesus is the epitome of this righteousness.
Isaiah 28:16-17 “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed. “I will make justice the measuring line And righteousness the level; Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies And the waters will overflow the secret place.”

But what happens is that people look at God’s measure
Through self-gratifying glasses.

Men find ways to examine God’s righteousness with glasses
That always seem to make themselves look better
And other people look worse.

Their measure is skewed to make themselves look better, and at the same time their measure is skewed to make others look worse.

Remember what Jesus said?
Matthew 7:3-5 “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

Jesus was confronting a people who were blind to their own wickedness, and that is what He says here as well.

“Did not Moses give you the Law..?”

But Jesus confronts their hypocrisy.
“Did not Moses give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law?”

You see these people looked at the Law and never saw their own flaws.
In their mind they were fine and everyone else is the sinner.

And Jesus just exposes them by asking this question.
“Why do you seek to kill Me?”

Why were they so willing to single Him out?

It is reminiscent of the famous statement of Jesus.
John 8:7 “But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Jesus point was that these people had a self-gratifying measure.
They only could see other people’s flaws, not their own.

THAT IS DETERMINED BLINDNESS
This is exactly who the Pharisees where.
Matthew 23:25-28 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. “You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. “So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”
If you are unwilling to see the truth about yourself,
You cannot see Jesus,
Because the first thing He does is
Hold up a mirror for you to look into.

Hebrews 4:12-13 “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.”

If you have a self-gratifying measure, you are missing Jesus too.

#2 SELECTIVE MEMORY
John 7:20-21

Now after Jesus points out that they want to kill Him, they have a great argument.

They simply say, “Nu-uh!”

In fact they go further than that.
They actually accuse Him of having a demon, which is making Him paranoid, and that no one really wants to kill Him.

“The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who seeks to kill you?”

My, My, My, what a selective memory.
And just to help their memory Jesus makes another statement.

“I did one deed, and you all marvel.”

NOW WHAT ONE DEED DID JESUS DO IN JERUSALEM?
That’s right, He healed the man at the Bethesda pool.

John 5:15-18 “The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath. But He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.”

It is at this point that I’m surprised someone in the crowd didn’t say, “Oh that, we were just joking.”

You see this is also a characteristic of those who are deliberately blind.
They have a selective memory.

Somehow they only seem to remember the good things they do, And conveniently forget the bad things they do.
They are unwilling to look at themselves in the mirror,
But they are also unwilling to own up to the mistakes
They have made in the past.

They’re unwilling to get honest about who they are, or what they’ve done.
A selective memory is a determined blindness,
And it will catch up with you.

Matthew 25:41-46 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘ Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ “Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ “Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

It is always tempting to look at our own deeds with selective memory.
(Ever watch a reply of a football game?)

It is a characteristic of determined blindness.
Self-gratifying measure
Selective memory

#3 SUPERFICIAL MINISTRY
John 7:22-23

Now this passage gets a little wordy here, so let me see if I can help you through it.

You will notice that Jesus makes a statement that doesn’t seem to fit.
“For this reason Moses has given you circumcision…”

FOR WHAT REASON?

And Jesus then gives a parenthetical statement to say, “(not because it is from Moses, but from the Fathers)”

So in other words, Moses didn’t give you circumcision,
He continued to enforce it or to show it’s necessity, but WHY?

For that you have to look back at Jesus initial statement.
“Did not Moses give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law?”

Moses knew that no one would be able to carry out the Law, and for this reason Moses continued to emphasize circumcision.

NOW WHERE DID CIRCUMCISION COME FROM?
That’s right, Abraham.

Genesis 17:9-14 “God said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. “This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. “And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. “And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants. “A servant who is born in your house or who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised; thus shall My covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. “But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

Circumcision was a symbol that meant you had entered into covenant with God. It was an outward symbol of inward faith.

Paul explains Abraham’s circumcision like this.
Romans 4:11 “and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them,”

Paul said that Abraham’s circumcision was “a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised”

It was an outward picture of his inward faith.

Moses gave circumcision because he knew that man would not be justified by the Law, but by faith.

So now listen to Jesus.
“For this reason Moses has given you circumcision (not because it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and on the Sabbath you circumcise a man. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath?”

DID YOU CATCH HIS POINT?

If you are willing to forego the Sabbath command of not working Because you realize that the spiritual significance to circumcision is more important.

How in the world can you fault Me for making a whole man well?
And notice the term “well”.
We are talking about a complete spiritual transformation, not just a healing.

The point is that these people had a superficial ministry.

Their ministry wasn’t about truly doing the will of God,
It was about using ministry to make themselves look good.

This is a determined blindness.
When people can’t even see that what they are doing is pointless.

That leads Jesus to make this very powerful statement.

Verse 24, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

The word appearance translates (OPSIS), and this is the only place it is translated “appearance”.

Every where else it is translated “face”.
John 11:44 “The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

Revelation 1:16 “In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength.”

You disregard Me because you don’t like how I look,
And you aren’t willing to see how you look.

Quit looking at the outward appearance of things.

Unfortunately this is all they could look at.
John 7:27 “However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from.”

John 7:31 “But many of the crowd believed in Him; and they were saying, “When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He?”

John 7:52 “They answered him, “You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.”

They couldn’t see the miracles,
They couldn’t hear the authority,
All they could see was that He was a carpenter from Nazareth and that He spent too much time in Galilee.
His appearance caused them to miss Him.

Isaiah 53:1-4 “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.”

Had they seen their own sin for what it was,
Maybe they would have more readily seen the Savior.

I want you to know something tonight.
JESUS IS THE MISJUDGED ONE
People all over the world are missing Jesus for the very same reason.

They live in a determined blindness.

They are unwilling to see that the sin the Bible talks about is in their lives.
They are unwilling to see that they are indeed the wretch that the song refers to.

They will not look past their religious ceremony, and they will not see that they are falling way short of the mark.

You cannot see Jesus if you live in a determined state of blindness.

“Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

Look at yourself with God’s eyes.
Believe you are what the Bible says you are.

And then run to Jesus.

Pray

Jesus, The True One

John 7:14-18

When last we left the book of John, we saw how Jesus brothers
Wanted Him to go up to the feast of booths in Jerusalem.

The reason of course is because Jerusalem was the true test.
Sure Jesus was able to get a large following in Galilee.
Those ignorant Gentiles would believe anyone who would put food in their stomach.

But if Jesus was real, He needed to stand before the Sanhedrin, They would determine if Jesus was real.

Jesus brothers wanted Him to work His works in Jerusalem
And then let the verdict about Him be handed down.

John 7:3-5 “Therefore His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. “For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” For not even His brothers were believing in Him.”

They wouldn’t believe until the educated elite did.

In fact, this was one of the major problems of the entire Jewish people.
Very few were willing to believe in Jesus until the religious elite did.

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

Certainly this was the mindset of the religious elite.
John 7:45-49 “The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, “Why did you not bring Him?” The officers answered, “Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.” The Pharisees then answered them, “You have not also been led astray, have you? “No one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he? “But this crowd which does not know the Law is accursed.”

It was literally the blind leading the blind
Because of their lack of conviction they were continually led astray.

Israel’s history is one of deception after deception.
You read continually how they followed the false prophets to their own shame.

It was 10 false spies who cost Israel 40 more years in the wilderness.
It was Balaam who brought an enormous plague on Israel
It was false prophets in Jeremiah’s day who kept the people in a state of spiritual apathy proclaiming, “Peace, Peace, when there was no peace.”

It is no wonder the crowd is leery of false prophets.

And so they are leery of Jesus.
And they want Jesus to go to Jerusalem to be tested.

Although the timing was not right initially, Jesus did finally go.
Verses 14, “But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and began to teach.”

Jesus was unwilling to go earlier
Because He was not looking to start another circus,
But once the feast was half over,
Jesus secretly approached and began to teach.

And then we see a marvelous statement.
Vs. 15, “The Jews then were astonished, saying, “How has this man become learned, having never been educated?”

When they listened to Jesus, there was no doubt
He spoke with wisdom they had never heard before.

Matthew 7:28-29 “When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.”

But regardless of His teaching, they were still doubting His validity.
AND DO YOU SEE WHY?
Because Jesus was not properly endorsed.

They thought the best safe guard against false prophets
Was to lean on their properly educated teachers.

Instead of examining Jesus for themselves,
They entrusted their eternity to the religious big-wigs

WE SEE THIS TODAY
“You have to go to seminary, you need to get your doctorate,
Or there are some churches who will not accept you.”

I’m not here to talk about all the flaws in that way of thinking,
But the point is, you can see the same mindset at work,
Just as it was 2,000 years ago.

And to some degree, it comes from genuine motives.
People don’t want to get a preacher who is a false prophet
That will lead the people astray.

The flaw is in thinking that they way you tell is by his education.
THIS IS NOT SO.
Jesus is going to answer the question of the people,
And in so doing, He will also show us the proper way
To evaluate a prophet to determine his validity.

It was not wrong for them to closely discern Jesus.
Jesus will later say,
John 7:24 “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

What is wrong is the criteria by which they judged Him.
People have been misjudging Jesus and His prophets for years
Because they judge according to appearance,
Instead of with righteous judgment.

AS JESUS TELLS THE CROWD HOW TO EVALUATE HIM
This morning we will see the proper way to evaluate a prophet,
And in so doing, you will see that Jesus is certainly the Messiah that God intends for you to follow.

When looking at a so-called prophet, you should look at three things.
#1 HIS INSPIRATION
John 7:16

In other words, where does he get the stuff he preaches?
When a man stands before you with a message,
It is vitally important to know where that message came from.

And Jesus is very clear with His answer to this doubting crowd.
“My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.”

This is a fact for every single true prophet of God in the Bible.
Their education didn’t come from man, it came from God.

Isaiah heard God’s message first hand.
Isaiah 6:9-10 “He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.’ “Render the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed.”

Jeremiah had God physically put the message in his mouth.
Jeremiah 1:5-9 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said, “Alas, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, Because I am a youth.” But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ Because everywhere I send you, you shall go, And all that I command you, you shall speak. “Do not be afraid of them, For I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD. Then the LORD stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me, “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.”
Ezekiel was told precisely what to say.
Ezekiel 2:3-5 Then He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, to a rebellious people who have rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day. “I am sending you to them who are stubborn and obstinate children, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD.’ “As for them, whether they listen or not — for they are a rebellious house — they will know that a prophet has been among them.”

Paul in the New Testament would agree.
Galatians 1:11-12 “For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.”

You could argue that each of these men were also educated by men,
Isaiah was a member of the King’s court,
Jeremiah the son of the High Priest,
Ezekiel was a priest,
Paul a Pharisee.

But not every prophet had such credentials.

Amos certainly didn’t.
Amos 7:12-15 “Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Go, you seer, flee away to the land of Judah and there eat bread and there do your prophesying! “But no longer prophesy at Bethel, for it is a sanctuary of the king and a royal residence.” Then Amos replied to Amaziah, “I am not a prophet, nor am I the son of a prophet; for I am a herdsman and a grower of sycamore figs. “But the LORD took me from following the flock and the LORD said to me, ‘Go prophesy to My people Israel.’

Peter and John
Acts 4:13 “Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.”

A true prophet may indeed be educated,
But the common thread for all prophets is that
Their message does not come from man, but God.

And this is exactly where Jesus got His message.
John 8:26-28 “I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I speak to the world.” They did not realize that He had been speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.”

John 12:49-50 “For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. “I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.”

John 14:24 “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.”

Jesus point is that you can trust Him
Because the word that He speaks is directly from the Father.

One of the ways we discern a true prophet from a false one.

A prophet by definition is one who speaks from God to man.
Therefore if they are not getting their message from God,
Then they are by definition a false prophet.

We would do good to remember this in our world today.
Every author in the Bible warned us of the certainty of false prophets.

There are more preachers getting sermons off of the internet today than I would care to imagine.

Every week we get promotional magazines
That are full of sermon outlines, sermon illustrations, and support texts.

Every newsletter from various organizations
Will have a sermon outline in it.

If you go the Southern Baptist Convention,
You can buy a book that has two sermons for every Sunday of the year.
Compete with points, illustrations, jokes, support texts, and even an invitation prayer.

It is no wonder Paul and Peter warned so heavily about false prophets.
They are rampant throughout our churches, but we fail to see them for what they are because they have a seminary education.

A man who gets his sermon inspiration from anywhere but God Is not fulfilling the office of a prophet.

Jeremiah 23:30-32 “Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” declares the LORD, “who steal My words from each other. “Behold, I am against the prophets,” declares the LORD, “who use their tongues and declare, ‘The Lord declares.’ “Behold, I am against those who have prophesied false dreams,” declares the LORD, “and related them and led My people astray by their falsehoods and reckless boasting; yet I did not send them or command them, nor do they furnish this people the slightest benefit,” declares the LORD.”

Jeremiah 23:21-22 “I did not send these prophets, But they ran. I did not speak to them, But they prophesied. “But if they had stood in My council, Then they would have announced My words to My people, And would have turned them back from their evil way And from the evil of their deeds.”

Jeremiah hit the nail on the head there.
Many preachers don’t want to spend the time to stand in the council of the Lord. It is much easier to go to some internet site.

Jeremiah 14:13-14 “But, “Ah, Lord GOD!” I said, “Look, the prophets are telling them, ‘You will not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I will give you lasting peace in this place.'” Then the LORD said to me, “The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own minds.”

Jeremiah 27:14-15 “So do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they prophesy a lie to you; for I have not sent them,” declares the LORD, “but they prophesy falsely in My name, in order that I may drive you out and that you may perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you.”

If you want to know if a prophet is real,
Then find out where he gets his sermon inspiration.

It didn’t matter what the educated thought of Jesus.
He is real, because He got his sermons directly from God.

He spoke exactly what God told him to say.

But if you want to test a prophet, first look at his inspiration.
#2 HIS CONGREGATION
John 7:17
Look at what Jesus is saying here.
WHAT TYPE OF PERSON WILL KNOW JESUS IS FROM THE FATHER?
“anyone willing to do His will”

SO WHAT TYPE OF PERSON IS A FOLLOWER OF JESUS?
“anyone willing to do His will”

WHAT TYPE OF PEOPLE DON’T FOLLOW JESUS?
People who aren’t willing to do His will

The point then is this.
Jesus is real because the people who truly love God follow Him, And the people who don’t truly love God reject Him.

You can tell a prophet by his followers.
Matthew 7:15-20 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “So then, you will know them by their fruits.”
Jesus says you will know them by their produce.

So if you want to see if a prophet is real, then look at what he produces.
Look at his followers.

ARE HIS FOLLOWERS WALKING IN OBEDIENCE TO GOD?
ARE HIS FOLLOWERS FEASTING ON THE THINGS OF THE WORLD?

The only way you are going to follow Jesus is if you really love God.
Those who don’t really love God but only love themselves
Won’t stay with Jesus very long.
(John 6)

We can see that Jesus is real by the testimony of His followers.
If you were around Jesus,
You either got righteous or you tried to kill Him.

You can tell a prophet by His congregation.
Sometimes by the type of people who are present,
Sometimes by the type of people who aren’t.

Look at the false prophet’s congregation.
Jeremiah 5:30-31 “An appalling and horrible thing Has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule on their own authority; And My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it?”

The righteous followed Jesus, the unrighteous would not.
John 8:42-45 “Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. “Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. “But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me.”

This also is an evidence of a true prophet.
If your followers love God, and those who don’t’ love God want to kill you, then rest assured you are on the right track.

Matthew 5:11-12 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Luke 6:26 “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.”

You see you can tell what a man is not only by the type of people who follow him, but by the type of people who oppose him.

Philippians 1:27-28 “Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents — which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God.”

We know Jesus is a true prophet because He gets His message from God, and because the people who love God follow Him.

Inspiration, Congregation
#3 HIS MOTIVATION
John 7:18

Here Jesus really opens up the comparison game.
He sets Himself beside every false prophet,
And ultimately beside Satan who is their guide.

Jesus says you will know if I’m from God by who I seek to glorify

John 8:54-55 “Jesus answered, ” If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’; and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word.”

John 12:27-28 “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘ Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. “Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”

Charles Spurgeon Spectator:
“Preacher, I saw no preacher, I saw only Jesus.”

A TRUE PROPHET IS IN IT FOR THE GLORY OF JESUS.
We live in a day of ladder climbing preachers.
They promote their education
They promote their books
They promote their abilities

They obviously do not follow the leading of the Holy Spirit,
For one of His main purposes is to glorify Jesus.

I mean, come on people, the donkey that carried Jesus
Knew the applause was not for him.

A true prophet is nothing but a donkey to carry Jesus to the people.
But you contrast that with the false prophets of the Bible.
They aren’t in it for God, but for their own benefit.

Ezekiel 34:1-3 “Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? “You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep without feeding the flock.”

My dad taught you about Satan, Look at who he tried to glorify.
Isaiah 14:12-15 “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ “Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, To the recesses of the pit.”

2 Peter 2:15 “forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;”

Look at these other passages in the New Testament
2 Timothy 3:1-9 “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith. But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, just as Jannes’s and Jambres’s folly was also.”

2 Peter 2:1-3 “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”

There is no doubt that Jesus is “The True One”
He is the One whose inspiration came from the Father.
He is the One whose congregation sought for righteousness.
He is the One whose motivation was to glorify the Father.

The tragedy is that these people still would not believe Him Because He did not have the endorsement of the educated elite.

And let me tell you something.
Jesus will never have the endorsement of the educated elite.
Jesus doesn’t want you to come because someone else did.
Jesus wants you to come to Him because He is the truth.

So let me ask you.
WHAT IS KEEPING YOU FROM FOLLOWING JESUS?
WHAT IS KEEPING YOU FORM LISTENING TO JESUS?

I can tell you the answer.
If you aren’t following Jesus, He already told us why.

Verse 17, “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.”

Jesus said the reason people don’t follow Him is because they are not willing to “do His will”.
They are not willing to obey.

No wonder people follow the false prophets.
They offer you salvation without obedience.
But I am here to tell you this morning such a salvation does not exist.

God is requiring of you today the same thing
He has always required.
Repentance, Obedience, and Perseverance
FAITH

God wants you to let go of yourself and fully give yourself to Jesus.
He is “The True One” and He is the One you must do something with.

WILL TODAY BE THE DAY YOU DECIDE TO FOLLOW JESUS?

WILL TODAY BE THE DAY YOU QUIT WORRYING ABOUT WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK?

WILL TODAY BE THE DAY YOU WILL FINALLY LET GO OF YOUR SIN AND SUBMIT TO JESUS?

The decision is yours.
John 3:20-21 “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”