John 7:14-31 (Teaching)

[0:00] Morning. Back in the Gospel of John this morning, chapter 7. Last week we covered about the first 13 verses, I believe it was, and we talked about how Jesus' brothers and family was trying to get him to go up to Jerusalem for the feast that was taking place.

[0:32] We spoke quite at length about that and how Jesus told them to go on without him. He went up afterward and how the Jews saw him there at the feast.

[0:47] That actually spoke very highly of Jesus Christ. They would know that he would come to that.

[0:58] Jesus being a Jew, this was a feast for the Jews. They began looking for Jesus as then the Jews saw him at the feast and said, where is he there in verse 11?

[1:14] We ended all that with verse 13 saying, there will be no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews. These Jews again would have been the hierarchy, if you'd like to call it that, of the Jews, the Pharisees, the scribes, the religious leaders of that day.

[1:36] That's just a real fast recap of what we covered last week. We'll pick up in verse 14 of John chapter 7. About the midst of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and taught.

[1:50] Jesus going up to this temple to teach proves that Jesus didn't fear man. Jesus had no fear whatsoever of man.

[2:02] He didn't fear the scribes and the Pharisees or the Sadducees or any other seas that there may have been. He didn't fear man at all. He had a purpose for his delay of going up to that feast.

[2:16] We may or may not have brought it up last week, that some folks will say he didn't go up the calls. He was afraid. Jesus is the very one that spoke to words in the gospel accounts that we need not fear man who is able to destroy the body, but fear God who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell.

[2:37] Jesus, speaking being the one who spoke those words, he would have had no fear of man. Jesus had a purpose for a while. He delayed and we talked about that last week, that that purpose was when they would go into Jerusalem for these feasts, they would announce their coming as they were coming through the gates and as they were going through the town.

[2:58] They'd say the family of such and such is here and the family of so and so is here. All their friends and people they may have met at previous feasts or whatever the case was would come out to greet them and Jesus did not want that pomp.

[3:12] Jesus didn't want that kind of procession as he was going in. And not only that, but his brethren knowing the reputation that Jesus Christ was gaining at this point would have sought to have profited from said reputation.

[3:31] So it says now about the midst of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and talked. So Jesus not hiding the fact that he is there.

[3:42] In fact, he's going to the temple to teach. It says in the Jews marveled saying, how know what this man letters having never learned? How know if this man letters having never learned?

[3:54] In other words, this man is not this Joseph's son. It's not this the carpenter's son. He's just a carpenter. Not only that, but something else in the back of their mind may have been isn't this just a carpenter hanging out with a bunch of fishermen?

[4:12] And things along those lines. In other words, this man's not learned. He didn't learn at the feet of the rabbis. He didn't learn in the schools of the prophets. He hasn't learned the things that these people know that the Pharisees knew and that the scribes knew.

[4:29] How is it that he is able to speak these things? How is it that he's able to know the letter of the law and know the scrolls of the law that these Jews had?

[4:40] The Jews marveled at this. They were amazed at the words that Jesus Christ spoke. And at the end, you read that several times throughout the gospel accounts.

[4:52] But at the end of the sermon on the Mount, you read a very similar phrase that the people marveled and they were amazed. They were astonished at the teachings of Jesus Christ and said, no man's ever spake like this.

[5:06] No man's ever taught us like this. He speaks with authority. And the rabbis, maybe when they would speak, they would speak their interpretation of the law.

[5:17] And yes, it may have seemed great and it may have seemed fine and well to the Jews, but they spoke it with very little authority. But Jesus Christ, when he spoke the sermon on the Mount, when he taught here in the temple, every time that Jesus spoke, he spoke with authority because Jesus Christ is authority.

[5:38] Jesus Christ is a personification of authority. No man could have had more authority than this man, Jesus Christ. And this is what the people marveled over.

[5:49] Not only the fact that he was just a carpenter's son or just this or just that, just a common peasant really, is how they would have viewed Jesus, but the authority which he would have spoke the things that he did.

[6:06] And that caused the Jews to marvel. The Jews marveled saying, how note this man, letters having never learned. Jesus answered them and said, my doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.

[6:17] Verse 17, if any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself. So back to verse 16, Jesus answered their question, how note this man, letters having never learned.

[6:32] He answers and saying, my doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. Now, this being said, and Jesus Christ being co-equal with God the Father, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit are co-equal in their existence.

[6:46] They're co-equal in their authority. They're co-equal in everything. So that being the case, Jesus could have rephrased that if he would have wanted to, but he didn't.

[6:58] And y'all have heard me say time and time again, while Jesus Christ was here on this earth, his mission was to glorify God the Father. His mission was to point people toward God the Father.

[7:12] And point people to the Old Testament Scriptures, which were inspired, of course, but to lead people to him, to point to him, and he was pointing people to the Father.

[7:24] And all throughout the New Testament, God the Father is wanting to glorify the Son. That's why he said, at the baptism, baptism, this is my Son in whom I'm well pleased, at the amount of transfiguration.

[7:37] He said, this is my Son, hear ye him. So God the Father was wanting to glorify God the Son, and God the Son was wanting to glorify God the Father. So I think that's the reason that Jesus phrased this the way that he did.

[7:52] He says, my doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself.

[8:04] If any man will do his will, what was the will of the Father? The will of the Father was a relationship with his people. The will of the Father was to tabernacle among his people, was to come and dwell among his people.

[8:20] If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine. He shall know of this doctrine which I am speaking, this doctrine which is astounding you all, which you all are marveling at.

[8:33] If any man will do the will of God, the will of him that sent me, the will of God the Father, if you will do his will, you'll know of this very same doctrine that I'm telling you about.

[8:45] This kind of goes back to 1 John, where John tells us, or pushes forward I guess, the first John I should say, where John says to try the spirits and to see if they be of God.

[8:58] And that's kind of what Jesus Christ has done them here. If any man will do the will of the Father, he'll know of this doctrine. He goes on to say, or whether I speak of myself, verse 18, he that speaketh of himself, seeketh his own glory.

[9:15] And folks, that line holds true today, just as it held true 2,000 years ago. If I was ever to enter into the pulpit, or Brother Verne, or any other preacher, and speak nothing but of themselves and of the things that they've accomplished, and of the things that they have done, they are seeking their own glory.

[9:36] And that's not what God has called any preacher or any teacher to do. God has called people to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. But the gospel of Jesus Christ is more than just to save souls.

[9:50] It is to bring glory unto God. God saves the souls of undeserving men and women, and boys and girls, to bring himself glory. And that is our primary function in this life, is to bring glory unto God.

[10:07] So he says, he that speaketh of himself, seeketh his own glory. But he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.

[10:19] So if I stand up here and talk about Spencer for half an hour, 45 minutes, however long I'm up here teaching Sunday school, and speak nothing of God, then I'm seeking glory for myself.

[10:32] I'm seeking praise from you all toward me. And folks, I don't want that. I want God praise. I want God praise for the things that he has done. I want God praise for his Word.

[10:43] I want God praise for his perfect plan of salvation. I want God praise for sending Jesus Christ into the world to save sinners. I want God glorified in all this.

[10:54] But Jesus goes on to say, but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. If we're seeking the glory of God, we're doing that for one reason.

[11:06] We're doing that because we're saved. We're doing that because we want God to be glorified. No unregenerate person, no unregenerate person will seek for the glory of God.

[11:18] No unsaved individual will do that. And we know that because Jesus says that if we're seeking the glory, but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.

[11:32] Folks, the only way that that is possible for no unrighteousness to be found in an individual is for them to have Jesus Christ abiding on the inside in form of God the Spirit, in form of the Holy Ghost of God.

[11:49] So in the verse 19, Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me? The people answered and said thou hast a devil.

[12:01] Who ghost about to kill thee? So Jesus says, did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? None of you are keeping this law.

[12:12] And these people, these Jews that he would have been speaking to here, they had Moses up on a pedestal. The Jews are as guilty of that as Christians many times are of putting people, instead of God, up on a pedestal, putting people on a throne of some kind instead of Almighty God.

[12:32] And they had Moses up on a pedestal. They've had David up on a pedestal. They've had Abraham up on a pedestal. But they were bent on the law and Moses, and the fact that Moses gave them the law.

[12:49] Well, folks, Moses did give them the law, but Moses gave them the law through the commandment of Almighty God. God is the one that gave the law. Moses just related to the people.

[13:02] And that's something that I've used several times for people that have the opinion that preachers should just not worry about studying, not worry about reading, not worry about getting their sermon in line or their lessons in line for that matter, and just step in the pulpit and open their mouth, and God will fill it.

[13:25] And I use Moses many times, and I've used him many times as an example of how God gave Moses the messages that he relayed to the people before Moses ever got to the people.

[13:38] He gave them to Moses. He gave the commandments to Moses. Moses had to come down off of the mountain and present the commandments and the word of God to the people first. But these people here, they had Moses, like I said, up on a pedestal.

[13:53] And he said, did not Moses give you the law? And yet none of you keep it the law. Moses, a mere man, gave you the law. Yes, by Almighty God, God commanded the law.

[14:05] Moses presented the law to the people. He says, did not Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keep it the law. Folks, this was a kick in the shins to these people saying, because they were saying, we have the law.

[14:19] Not only do we have the law, but we've got the Abrahamic covenant. We've got the seal of the covenant and the circumcision. We've got all of these things. But even though they had those things, they still weren't keeping the law.

[14:34] And Jesus here says, none of you keep it the law. Not the Pharisees, not the scribes, not the elders, not the common people. He says, none of you are keeping the law.

[14:48] They says, why go ye about to kill me? He asked the question, why go ye about to kill me? Jesus is trying to introduce something fresh to these people.

[15:02] Something that was completely new to them by means of grace. Jesus was trying to introduce salvation by grace to these people. And here they were wanting to stay under the yoke of the law.

[15:18] They were wanting to continue in this law keeping. And Jesus is trying to introduce grace. He's trying to introduce mercy. He's trying to introduce all these things.

[15:30] Because all these folks had known up to this point was the law. That's all they got out of the Old Testament. Although you can find grace all through the Old Testament, you can find different pictures in different places of the grace of God all through the Old Testament.

[15:48] But the one thing that they had focused on was the law. So Jesus here says, did not Moses give you that law and yet none of you are keeping the law? Why are you seeking to kill me when I'm trying to bring something better into view for you?

[16:03] Verse 20, the people answered and said, thou hast a devil. Who goeth about to kill thee? What an answer to somebody that's trying to do something good for these people, trying to show them a better way, trying to show them better means, and in fact the only means of salvation.

[16:23] And they said, you have a devil. You have a devil within you. Tell him the Son of God that he has a devil. And said, who goeth about to kill thee?

[16:35] Jesus answered and said unto them, I have done one work, and ye all marvel. Moses therefore gave you circumcision, not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers, and ye on the Sabbath day circumcise a man.

[16:49] If a man on the Sabbath day received circumcision that the law of Moses should not be broken, are ye angry at me because I have made a man every hole on the Sabbath day? And this goes back to the man that we read about a few weeks ago that as Jesus just said, Jesus healed him on the Sabbath day and nobody paid any attention to the healing.

[17:11] Nobody paid any attention to the miraculous thing that took place. But it burned everybody up inside that Jesus had done this work on the Sabbath day.

[17:24] And he tells them here, he says, if you have a baby and he circumcised on the eighth day, as the law stipulates that he should be, and that eighth day happens to fall upon the Sabbath, do you not go ahead and circumcise that baby on the eighth day, even though it's on the Sabbath, to keep from breaking the law of Moses, because you've got two laws there and they're not contradicting one another.

[17:48] Neither one of those laws contradict the other and there is nothing in the Scripture that says you should pay more attention to one law than you do another. There's nothing along those lines.

[17:59] But Jesus here is telling them these things, trying, doing his best to have them open their eyes to what he's saying. It says, judge not according to the appearance, verse 24, judge not according to the appearance, but judge, righteous judgment.

[18:17] And these are some sharp words. In fact, I believe I quoted that line just this past Wednesday, teaching through the sermon on the Mount. Those famous lines in Matthew 7.1 that the whole world likes to quote to the church and says, judge not that you be not judged, but folks, we are commanded in Scripture as Christians to pass some judgment.

[18:40] And this is one of those instances, judge not according to the appearance, but judge, righteous judgment. And if you go back to verse 18, what we've already read, he that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory, but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him, and judging not according to the appearance, but judging righteous judgment.

[19:02] Those two couple really well, those two verses couple really well. If we are indeed saved and we are indeed born again, we're going to have some righteous judgment about us.

[19:14] The Holy Spirit of God will give us some discernment, and he'll give us some wisdom. And if any of you lack wisdom, according to James chapter 1, ask of God to give us unto man liberally, and God will give that.

[19:28] He will give that to his people if we seek that from him, and he won't upbray this for it, praise God. But to judge not according to the appearance, what is Jesus saying in that line?

[19:45] Exactly, I mean, there's really no lines to read between there, no need to get out of dictionary or anything. Don't judge according to the appearance of things. And folks, this goes for people, this goes for things, this goes for doctrine, this goes for all kinds of things to not judge according to the appearance, but we judge righteous judgment.

[20:09] We judge, in other words, what flows from the inside, what comes from the inside out. That's what we can pass judgment on. And if what comes from the inside out is rotten, if what comes from the inside out is corrupt, or it's evil, or it's dark, or it's wicked, then that soul is wicked.

[20:30] I mean, there's no getting around that. But if what comes out from the inside is true, and it's righteous, and it's light, and it's helpful, if this is the case, then that person on the inside is righteous.

[20:49] They're righteous because of the Spirit of God that abides on the inside. Judge not according to the appearance, but judge, righteous judgment. Then said some of them of Jerusalem, is not this he whom they seek to kill?

[21:04] Below he speaketh boldly, and they say nothing unto him. There's no indeed that this is the very Christ. And folks, I'll just tell you right off the bat, I'm not positive that the people that were saying this were saying it in a good tone.

[21:21] Me personally, I think they were inserting some irony in saying this. I think they were trying to stir up the leaders myself, maybe not all of them, but I think there was a stirring that was happening because remember, the leaders came to the feast looking for Jesus Christ.

[21:39] Jesus Christ went to the temple afterward and began to teach. And evidently, not all those leaders were within ear shot of what Jesus was teaching. In fact, here in just a couple more verses, we'll read where Jesus cried some of the lines that we'll read here in just a moment.

[21:58] But these folks say, or the Bible says, then said some of them of Jerusalem, is this not he whom they seek to kill? Below he speaketh boldly, and they say nothing unto him.

[22:10] Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ? How many of these people, honestly, do you think truly thought that this was the Messiah that was promised in the Old Testament?

[22:23] Folks, judging by their actions, judging by their speech, not judging by their appearance, but judging their righteous slash unrighteous judgment, I would say very few, maybe a handful of them truly believe that if that many.

[22:40] And that's why I think that they were trying to stir up the Jewish leadership. Remember, Jesus Christ had just spake against them about the law of Moses and had just spoken some brazen comments to them about if your child is born and eight days later, it's the Sabbath day, do you not break one law basically to keep another?

[23:07] Do you not circumcise that child on the Sabbath day even though you're not to do any work in that day? Do you not do this thing? So these people would have been riled up at Jesus for saying the things that he did.

[23:20] How be it we know this man, verse 27, how be it we know this man whence he is, but when Christ cometh no man knoweth whence he is. How be it we know this man whence he is?

[23:32] Folks, they knew Jesus Christ as far as being fully man. That's what they knew about him. They knew this man whence he is. They knew that he came from Nazareth.

[23:45] They knew that he was the quote unquote son of Joseph and of course the son of Mary. They knew the family that he had come from. They knew the area that he came from.

[23:56] They knew all these things. How be it we know this man whence he is, but when Christ cometh no man knoweth whence he is. Well folks, this shows their ignorance of the Scriptures because the Old Testament plainly said where Messiah would be born, we're getting ready to enter into the Christmas season and all those are going to be seeing Christmas cards and things along those natures with a quote from Micah chapter 5 on there, speaking of the Messiah being born in Bethlehem and Frata.

[24:26] So they knew where Messiah would be born, but yet they're saying that this man's saying that he's Christ, but we know from whence he is, but when Christ comes, when Messiah truly comes, no man's going to know where he came from.

[24:40] And folks, that's not the case. That's not the case scripturally. The Scriptures plainly pointed at where Messiah would be born. Not only did they point at that, they pointed out that the Messiah would be born of a virgin.

[24:55] They pointed out all kinds of things, but this shows their ignorance in the Scriptures. Unfortunately, not just blasphemy, that gets Christians in trouble.

[25:07] Ignorance of the Scriptures is what causes most Christians to err in their walk with God. It's the ignorance of the Word of God. And I'm not using that term ignorance to insult anybody here or anybody that may be here online or whatever the case is.

[25:24] But if you're reading it in its literal form, we don't know what the Scripture says, and therefore that causes us to err. And that's why I encourage you to keep your nose constantly as much as possible in the Word of God, so that you know what the Scripture says.

[25:42] These people obviously had no idea what the Scripture said, because they said, we know where this man's from, but when Christ comes, we're not supposed to know where he's from. We will not know from whence he was or whence he is.

[25:57] Verse 28, then cried Jesus in the temple as he talked, saying, You both know me and You know whence I am, and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom You know not.

[26:11] This is another kick to the shins for these people. He that sent me is true, whom You know not, but Jesus cries here. So in other words, when he was teaching previously to this, he was probably teaching about like I am now, maybe a little bit louder, because it wouldn't have been as close to quarters as we have here.

[26:32] But this specifies that Christ cried as he was in the temple, as he talked, saying, You both know me and You know whence I am, and I am not come of myself, but He that sent me is true, whom You know not.

[26:49] Remember, he's already discussed that he's been sent from above. He's been sent from the Father. He's discussed that in previous chapters leading up to this.

[27:00] Jesus Christ has made it known that He is sent of the Father, and He says, You don't know who sent me. You don't know the Father, in other words, is what Jesus is telling them.

[27:11] And folks, this is the very reason that people won't come to Christ. Well, I shouldn't say the very reason, but it's a big reason. The main reason people won't come to Christ is pride.

[27:22] They won't come to Christ because of pride. They don't feel like they've done anything they need to be forgiven of, or they feel like they've done too much to be forgiven. Both of those stem from pride, saying, I've sinned so much that God can't do anything about it.

[27:38] That's a proudful thing to say, or, you know, I haven't done anything. I haven't committed a sin that I need to be forgiven of. That's pride. So pride is the number one reason that people will not come to Christ.

[27:51] But another reason they won't come is simply because they don't know who God the Father is. And we can't know God the Father personally or intimately except through Jesus Christ.

[28:04] I'm talking about people who have no clue who the Father is. They don't realize He's the Creator. They don't realize He's the Master. They don't realize that He's in total control of things.

[28:16] They have no clue who God the Father is. And Jesus here tells them, you both know me and you know whence I am, and I am not come of myself, but He that sent me is true.

[28:29] He that sent me is true. God is true. Jesus Christ is true. We quote it all the time, don't we, in John 14 where Jesus says, I am the way and the truth and the life.

[28:41] Jesus Christ is truth and He is true and God the Father is true. He says, I am not come of myself, but He that sent me is true. Whom you know not.

[28:52] Then He goes on to say, but I know Him, for I am from Him, and He hath sent me, regardless of what you people think, regardless of if you know the Father or not, regardless of if you keep His laws or not, regardless of any of these things, regardless of what justification for yourselves that you've concocted in your own mind, regardless of any of these things, I know that I come from the Father.

[29:20] I know that He that sent me is true. He says, I know Him, for I am from Him, and He hath sent me. Jesus Christ, once again, has spoken of His deity several times throughout the Gospel of John, leading up here to John chapter 7, spoken of His deity, of His, like we were talking about earlier, His co-equalness with God the Father and with God the Spirit.

[29:45] He says, I know Him, for I am from Him, and He hath sent me. So folks, out here in the world, when we present the Gospel to people and they reject it, remember, they don't know the Father.

[30:01] Remember that, first of all. Remember again, they've got the same human pride that all of us have. We've got to remember that. But also remember that just because they reject it, just because they might reject the Gospel, they might reject Jesus Christ, they might reject salvation by grace through faith, they might reject all these things, but that does not negate the fact that it is absolutely true, because that is what will discourage us.

[30:30] We will get discouraged as Christians. The more people we see reject the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the more discouraged we will get.

[30:41] And if we ain't careful, doubt will start to come in our own minds, even though we might know we've been saved for 10, 15, 20, 30, 40 years, however long it is. You know, we get 1,000 people in a row that reject the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

[30:55] It's going to stir up in our heads if we ain't careful. Maybe I believe this wrong go along. Maybe this isn't as true as I thought it was. Folks, it does not make the Gospel untrue, and it certainly doesn't make Jesus Christ untrue, just because other people do not believe it.

[31:16] I know Him for I am from Him, and He hath sent me. Verse 30, Then they sought to take Him, but no man laid hands on Him, because His hour was not yet come.

[31:27] And what I want you to notice in that line is that they sought to take Him, but no man laid hands on Him, not because He built a wall real fast, not because He outran them, not because God supernaturally intervened with some force field around Jesus Christ.

[31:49] It was simply because the hour of Jesus had not come yet. He wasn't supposed to die at this time. Jesus Christ would not die until the appointed time for Him to die.

[32:02] So, I think I brought that up previously going through John, maybe through some other Gospel accounts, how it talks about the hour of Jesus Christ, and how He was appointed to die at a certain time, and certainly appointed to die for a certain reason.

[32:20] And all the times that He slipped away from people, all the times that He ran out of the crowds or got away, it wasn't because He was fast, it wasn't because He was sly, or it wasn't because He knew a good, hiding place.

[32:34] It was simply because His hour had not yet come. Verse 31, And many of the people believed on Him and said, When Christ cometh, will He do more miracles than these, which this man hath done?

[32:47] Well, again, how many of them truly believed on Jesus Christ? With this statement, and many of the people believed on Him, Him being Jesus Christ, and said, When Christ cometh, well, Christ was right there before them.

[33:03] Christ is the one that was uttering these words. And they say, When Christ cometh, will He do more miracles than these which this man hath done? In other words, it says many people believed on Him, and those same people that were believing were yet looking for someone else, for something else.

[33:23] And the Jews nowadays, they're still waiting on Messiah. They don't believe that Jesus Christ was the Messiah that was promised in the Old Testament Scriptures.

[33:34] They're still waiting. I've said before, when you see these videos and pictures of the Jews over there at the Wailing Wall, and they're shoving them little pieces of paper in the cracks of the Wailing Wall, those are prayers begging God to send Messiah, as God promised.

[33:51] And God sent Messiah 2,000 years ago in the form and in the man of Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son. So how deeply did these people really believe on Jesus Christ?

[34:06] It's a sad statement to end on, a sad first to end on. But we'll end right there. Anybody got any questions or any comments on any of that? Alright, God bless y'all.