Jesus Is Perfect In Every Way (Part 2)
Gospel of John • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 41:42
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· 7 viewsChapter 7 plays out with multiple storylines and asks many questions. The most pressing, If this is the Christ, will you come to Him, will you believe Him above all else?
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KEY TEXTS
KEY TEXTS
REFLECTION: ISAIAH 55:6-9
6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;
7 let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
SCRIPTURE READING FOR SERMON: John 7:25-31
MEMORY VERSE: Matthew 6:5-6
5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
BENEDICTION: Romans 11:36
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
SO MANY QUESTIONS!
One of the joys of parenting is seeing your children grow in knowledge and understanding.
One of the ways they grow in that area is by asking QUESTIONS.
I’m sure many of you parents can think back over the years of your own children’s questions:
some are so innocent
some are so insightful
some are doozies…like “what’s a speakin-o-which”
Maybe you’re not a parent this morning, but you’ve heard some pretty great questions from all ages and stages
TRANSITION
TRANSITION
John’s Gospel could be placed under the headers of multiple questions that frame the identity of Christ and humanity’s need and response to Him.
Chapter 7 plays out with multiple storylines and poses some pretty great questions, too.
The most pressing come to us toward the end of our text this morning.
I’m indebted to the creative insight of so many researchers and writers to unearth some of these questions - I had started down this track, and found great help from several sources making plain so many other questions.
THE END IN VIEW
THE END IN VIEW
Let’s start with the end in mind! #SpoilerAlert
Look at John 7.43
43 So there was a division among the people over him.
So that’s where we’re headed. Toward division.
Jesus said,
49 “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! 50 I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! 51 Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 52 For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
Did Jesus come to break up families? NO…but he did come to build a heavenly family.
Some will count the cost and recognize that it will mean alienation from the people and things that some people love most.
ILLUSTRATION: DIVISION / SUFFERING
Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 4310 What Have You Suffered?
We do not know who it was who had this dream, quoted in the Presbyterian Survey. But the unknown dreamer could be any one of us, could it not?
I saw in a dream that I was in the Celestial City—though when and how I got there I could not tell. I was one of a great multitude which no man could number, from all countries and peoples and times and ages. Somehow I found that the saint who stood next to me had been in Heaven more than 1,860 years.
“Who are you?” I said to him. (We both spoke the same language of heavenly Canaan, so that I understood him and he me.)
“I,” said he, “was a Roman Christian; I lived in the days of the Apostle Paul, I was one of those who died in Nero’s persecutions. I was covered with pitch and fastened to a stake and set on fire to light up Nero’s gardens.”
“How awful!” I exclaimed.
“No,” he said, “I was glad to do something for Jesus. He died on the cross for me.”
The man on the other side then spoke: “I have been in Heaven only a few hundred years. I came from an island in the South Seas—Erromanga. John Williams, a missionary, came and told me about Jesus, and I too learned to love Him. My fellow-countrymen killed the missionary, and they caught and bound me. I was beaten until I fainted and they thought I was dead, but I revived. Then next day they knocked me on the head, cooked and ate me.”
“How terrible!” I said.
“No,” he answered, “I was glad to die as a Christian. You see the missionaries had told me that Jesus was scourged and crowned with thorns for me.”
Then they both turned to me and said, “What did you suffer for Him? Or did you sell what you had for the money which sent men like John Williams to tell the heathen about Jesus?”
And I was speechless. And while they both were looking at me with sorrowful eyes, I awoke, and it was a dream! But I lay on my soft bed awake for hours, thinking of the money I had wasted on my own pleasures; or my extra clothing, and costly car, and many luxuries; and I realized that I did not know what the words of Jesus meant: “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34).
Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 4314 Eusebius: “Nothing to Lose”
When the Emperor Valens sent messengers to lure Eusebius into heresy by fair words and glowing promises, the saint answered them: “Alas, sirs, these speeches are fit to catch children; but we, who are taught and nourished by the Sacred Scriptures, are ready to suffer a thousand deaths, rather than permit one tittle of the Scriptures to be altered.”
Then the emperor threatened to take by force all his goods, to torture him, banish him, and even kill him. Answered the courageous Christian:
“He needs not fear confiscation, who has nothing to lose; nor banishment, to whom heaven is his country; nor torments, when his body can be destroyed at one blow; nor death, which is the only way to set him at liberty from sin and sorrow.”
RECAP
RECAP
LET’S RECAP SOME OF THE QUESTIONS WE’VE ALREADY SEEN IN CHAPTER 7, THEN WE’LL DIVE INTO THE REST! (Of course I discovered these after the sermon…LOL)
1. WHERE IS JESUS? HE SHOULD BE HERE!
1. WHERE IS JESUS? HE SHOULD BE HERE!
We covered this last week as it related to God’s perfect timing! (John 7:1-13)
2. WHERE DID HE LEARN THIS?
2. WHERE DID HE LEARN THIS?
(John 7:14-18) He was not a part of the traditional path to rabbinical authority. He didn’t quote other rabbis; he quoted the Bible.
Remember in Mark 1 when it was said of Jesus,
22 And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.
3. WHO IS TRYING TO KILL HIM?
3. WHO IS TRYING TO KILL HIM?
(John 7:19-24) The Jewish leaders were because He wasn’t adhering to their legalistic way of doing things.
Remember John 1 pointed to this:
9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
Remarkable
In our text this morning, we see questions asked ABOUT Jesus and questions implied FROM JESUS!
4. IS THIS JESUS REALLY THE ONE?
4. IS THIS JESUS REALLY THE ONE?
(John 7:25-31)
Let’s look at the text together and notice a few things.
They describe him as
They describe him as
A MAN (v25)
a man that some WANT TO KILL (v25)
that SPEAKS OPENLY (v26)
while the haters keep quiet
possibly because they know He is exactly who He claims to be
we know WHERE HE’S FROM (v27)
it’s not where we thought the Messiah was coming from
(BUT THEY WERE WRONG: BETHLEHEM)
A MIRACLE WORKER (31)
He’s done a lot of “divine” things (signs & wonders) to simply be another man.
Jesus Responds (v28)
Jesus Responds (v28)
You know me
You know where I’m from (if you care to look)
You don’t know it all!
You don’t know who sent me!
(v29) I do know it all
I know why I’m here
I know who sent me
(v30) He was still in charge
God was still in charge of the timetable (they wanted to take him but couldn’t)
Transition:
Now the Drama continues to unfold in front of our eyes from the pages of Scripture.
Priests / Leaders send officers to take him
Jesus WARNS them:
33 Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. 34 You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.”
It’s a reminder that you cannot come to God on your own.
6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! 7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, 9 when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. 10 For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.” 11 Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter my rest.”
2 For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
The saga continues with a misunderstanding: vv 35-36
“What is he talking about?” “Going away…is he headed with the Greeks somewhere?”
14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
Even with all the DRAMA, Jesus extends an invitation:
5. WILL YOU COME TO ME?
5. WILL YOU COME TO ME?
(John 7:37-39)
37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Before this incredible invitation, He has warned them that this is a limited invitation - it won’t always be open.
He is calling them to make a decision…to receive the free gift of salvation that He offers OR to reject this loving Savior’s invitation.
He’s calling the THIRSTY to come.
He’s calling them to HIMSELF - not a system, not an organization, but to HIMSELF!
He’s calling them to take Him in. To drink something is to move it from the outside to the inside!
He’s promising a changed heart that flows with LIVING WATER - that others might be drawn to JESUS!
That’s the promise of the Holy Spirit here!
WOW! What an invitation!
Remember in Chapter 6 where we talked about all those incredible callbacks to Moses, the Red Sea, Manna from Heaven?
This passage here points us back to the prophet Isaiah.
The final 26 chapters of Isaiah are saturated with promises of Salvation from someone referred to over and over again as, “The Servant”.
One writer summarized it beautifully like this:
In chapter 52 we find out the Servant is God.
In chapter 53 we find out that the Servant will bring salvation by hanging on a tree, suffering, and dying in the place of sinners.
In chapter 54 we find out that the death and resurrection of the Servant allows God to offer us an eternal covenant of peace, and we can live free from fear of judgment.
By the time you reach chapter 55 you know God will send his Servant—who is God—to save his people from judgment.
Here’s Jesus in John 7:37
37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
Here’s Isaiah in Isaiah 55:1
1 “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
This invitation to thirsty people are not for those standing at one of those unlimited soft drink machines...
Those who are thirsty in a desert are dying.
In a desert water means life. In a desert, if you’re thirsty, you’re dying.
Jesus is inviting the dying to come to him for life.
NOTICE THE RESPONSE (v40-44):
40 When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? 42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” 43 So there was a division among the people over him. 44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.
Some believed and confessed /
THIS IS HIM!
THIS IS THE CHRIST!
THIS IS WHO WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR!
THIS IS WHO WE NEED!
Some rejected him because of their misunderstanding of Scripture
Some rejected him and wanted to kill him
Then the drama continues (vv45-52):
The officers come back empty-handed to the priests that sent them.
Priests: “Why didn’t you bring Him with you?” (or…back to beginning - “where is Jesus?”)
Officers: “You don’t understand, no one ever spoke like this!”
Priests: “You sound like a follower of Christ now”
Nicodemus: “Hold up, we can’t arrest him without due process.”
Priests: “Are you with Him too?” We know what we’re doing! (But they didn’t)
THE FINAL QUESTION EMERGES FROM THIS SECTION:
6. WILL YOU BELIEVE JESUS?
6. WILL YOU BELIEVE JESUS?
Which crowd are you in?
You won’t come to Jesus unless you believe.
If you believe
He is God
He is the only source of Life
You are in desperate need of the life He offers
He is gracious, merciful, and forgiving
He is the fulfillment of God’s promises.
Are you thirsty?....Better Are you dying?
Yes, we’re all dying.
Jesus invites the dying to come to him.
The one in the desert with his strength fading, struggling to go on, hears the promise of water, and he knows that’s his only hope.
Your only hope is Jesus.
Only Jesus can give you water.
Only Jesus can give you life.
Look at what Jesus promises: not only will he give you a drink, but he will put a river of water in your heart (John 7:38).
Jesus is saying, “If you’re dying (and you all are), come to me. Not only will I give you life, but I will put my Spirit inside of you so that you will always have life. My Spirit inside of you will become a river of unending life.”
He will do all of this and more.
Isaiah issued the invitation in the Old Testament
1 “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; 7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Jesus echoes here in John 7.
37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
God puts a pin is it in 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 desires take the water of life without price.
CALL FOR MUSICIANS
INVITATION
INVITATION
Public Invitations are all throughout the Bible. They didn’t start with some evangelist in a modern-day movement.
Today, I’m calling you publicly.
The Bible says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts” (Heb 3:7–8, 15; 4:7).
Do you hear His invitation to you this morning?
You will know it if this happens. It is as if He is knocking at your heart’s door and pulling at your heartstrings and saying, “You’re dying…I have what you need…I AM what you need!”
Just like Jesus cautioned his hearers in John 7, I want to caution you this morning: Every time He calls and you refuse, your heart gets a little harder.
In fact, the word the Bible uses to describe this is “callous” (Eph 4:19).
You know if you have a callus on your hands or feet, you can stick a pin in it and never feel it.
Continuing to refuse Christ’s call has the same effect on your heart.
A time may come when, even though He is still calling, you no longer will hear Him.
That is why this hour is urgent.
If you KNOW this moment that you NEED JESUS - that is God calling you to Himself! COME NOW!
Yes, “today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart.”
The Bible says, “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near” (Isa 55:6).
Seize the moment. He will meet you like the father met his prodigal son, with open arms, no pointed fingers, or clenched fists—just wide-open arms which say, “Come.”
What is the Holy Spirit leading you to do this morning?
Think about it.
If you are without Christ, what do you think He is leading you to do?
He will not lead you to walk out those back doors in rejection or neglect.
If you know Christ as Savior, but haven’t yet confessed Him as Lord before other, what do you think the Holy Spirit will do?
He will not lead you to walk out those back doors and continue to keep it a secret! That’s not how He works.
If you know Christ as Savior, but you are living in a way that betrays that to others, what do you think the Holy Spirit is leading you to do?
He will NOT lead you to leave the way you came in! The whole purpose of church is to know, love, and obey Jesus TOGETHER! And make disciple-making-disciples for God’s glory!
As Julia plays for just a moment, I’m going to stand down here. Ashlie will be nearby if there’s a lady who would like to pray.
I’m going to ask you to step out of your seat this morning and join me up front to pray together - if you would like to receive Christ as Savior and Lord today.
You are in GREAT COMPANY! The Christians in this room are commanded to pray for stuff like this to happen all the time! They will cheering you on as you move forward.
COME TO JESUS!
BELIEVE ON JESUS!
Let’s pray!
I don’t believe that God shoots blanks. Someone needs to come this morning.