If Anyone Wants to Do His Will...
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John 7:14-17
Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught. And the Jews marveled, saying, “How does this Man know letters, having never studied?”
Jesus answered them and said, “My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.
Jesus said (John 7:17). NASB "My teaching is not Mine... If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know of the teaching..." The religious leaders of Jesus’ day claimed to love God and claimed to know His word. Why were they at odds with Jesus’ teachings?
Jesus says here that all one needs is the desire to do God's will as he seeks God’s truth. If he has that desire, he will come to know the teachings of God. This lesson provides some important points on understanding the Bible.
Can we know truth? Can we know the path we are on is the right one? How? Because the Bible says so? Why is the Bible right? How can we trust it? I ask these questions because sooner or later, if you’re wearing your faith on your sleeve, you will be asked about them. What do you do when you encounter resistance to the truth?
You've heard this. Someone is involved in a question or study of the Bible with someone who belongs to a denomination or believes differently than you do. There is a discussion about what the Bible says about baptism and its role in becoming a disciple of Jesus. The person had talked to their preacher, pastor, clergyman, whomever, who had denied the very things they were reading out of the Bible as they are directed from passage to passage. They become visibly alarmed at what they are reading. Finally, in frustration, they say that their clergyman had warned them that without attending a theological school they couldn't possibly understand the Bible on baptism by just reading it. They needed a professional guide to interpret things for them. They expressed confidence that the preacher would not lie to them, so all he said about baptism as well as about the inability of the common man to understand the Scripture must be true.
In addition, many people who stand against the Way will throw up clouds of dust, claiming that the Bible does NOT answer what we need to have answered.
Beloved, we stand on a mountain of evidence in our very hands that there is a God, who He created all things, made great promises to humanity, has kept every single one along the way, and incarnated His Son on this earth. His Son grew up as a child, learned obedience and suffering, and died for our sins on a cross on a hill outside Jerusalem. His Son’s apostles figured Him dead, but He rose from the grave and appeared to more than 500 people at one time. 1 Cor 15:6
What about those who say, "Anyone can take the Scriptures and make it say what they want it to say. We can't all understand the Bible alike." Let's listen to Jesus.
14-15 "How Has This Man Become Learned Having Never Been Educated?"
14-15 "How Has This Man Become Learned Having Never Been Educated?"
Jesus had been teaching but rather than listening to what He said, notice their attitude.
Jesus had been teaching but rather than listening to what He said, notice their attitude.
They wondered how Jesus had "become learned". "What school did He go to?" Although Jesus was the Son of God, (Lk 2:52 ) He grew in stature and wisdom as a human being.
And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
Certainly Jesus is an exceptional case, but the increase in wisdom would seem to indicate that He was learning more and more as He lived life as a human.
How did Jesus respond? Vs 16 The point is obvious. Jesus did not study under any man. What He learned and taught came from the One who sent Him. Where did Jesus come from? Heaven. God.
For us, the Bible suggests that the proper way to "become learned" or to increase in wisdom is by a personal, diligent study of the Scriptures. It begins with the right attitude Acts 17:11 . "noblemindedness".
These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.
In Acts 17:11, the Bereans are commended for such. If they had gone to the religious leaders and clergymen of their day with questions about Jesus, they would have received the wrong answers! They instead went to the Scriptures (the ones they had - NT being written) and got the right answers.
Consider the people of Thessalonica: 1 Thess 1:6; 2:10-18. Good for them!
Good for us today as well when we follow suit (Eph 3:4 You can understand when you read; 2 Tim 2:15).
Learn for Yourself!
Learn for Yourself!
Don't put too much confidence in others 1 Cor. 4:6 "Don't think of men too highly."
Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against the other.
Be like the Bereans. Check for yourself. Grow in knowledge. Jesus said, Mat 5:6
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.
(Other passages 2 Pet 1:5; Col. 1:10; 1 Pet 2:2; 2 Pet 3:18).
Hosea 4:6 "My people are destroyed..." Consequences of never been educated. It is a serious thing to be in ignorance.
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
16 - "My Teaching Is Not Mine, But His Who Sent Me"
16 - "My Teaching Is Not Mine, But His Who Sent Me"
Two sources of doctrine: from heaven or from men.
Two sources of doctrine: from heaven or from men.
There is simply no need for a conglomeration of human religious laws and creeds, which can be quite confusing, especially when they are in conflict with one another as well as with Scripture (2 Tim 3:16, 17). (Think about all the "new laws we have today... amendments). Do we need new laws?
They are more than simply confusing; they are part of Satan’s plans to win the battle over each human soul.
What we need is for people to make up their minds that they are going to do the right thing; respect their Creator; respect others; listen to Him as He directs and guides; who knows us better than the Creator?
God would not give us a document that we could not understand and then tell us to understand it and live by it.
God would not give us a document that we could not understand and then tell us to understand it and live by it.
Yes, we can understand the teachings of God.
Timothy did! Not because he went to a seminary either, but as Paul told him, (2 Tim 3:14-17 ).
We are fortunate that the Scriptures are adequate for us and we are adequate for the Scriptures. That means it is a sufficient guide for our lives.
But we're also blessed with God's pattern: parents are to begin the process of teaching early in the child’s life, at home.
But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Note two things here:
first, that Timothy had learned these things as a child;
and second, He had been taught them not by a theologian but by his mother and grandmother (2 Tim 1:5).
It is obvious that not everyone is going to do right, in spite of teaching.
Here is an example. Jesus the Creator, who knows more than any man is questioned by these religious people.
Did they want to do right? What about you?
Many young people grow up knowing what's right, but when they get on their own, they do their own thing. It's not natural. But it happens.
Some of course are not taught at all, and others are not taught properly.
17 - If Any Man Is Willing... He Shall Know of the Doctrine...
17 - If Any Man Is Willing... He Shall Know of the Doctrine...
The key to understanding is in this verse.
The key to understanding is in this verse.
Let's read John 8:26-32.
Note the negative - “I do nothing of myself” vs the positive - “I always do those things that please Him.”
Back in our text vs 17. Notice some of the implications of the passage:
"If anyone..." (“someone”) shows that this statement is universal. It includes you and your neighbor.
The diplomas and degrees on the wall, or lack of them, does not really enter into it.
A good education may well enhance someone's understanding of the Bible by informing him of how people lived, dressed, talked, and so forth, but it will not save him.
"...wills to do His will..." shows the proper attitude with which one approaches the Scripture.
Jesus mentioned people who did not understand His message, not because they were intellectually incapable but because they have "closed their eyes" (Mat 13:14-17; 18-23).
And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:
‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,
And seeing you will see and not perceive;
For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.’
But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, 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.
It is not the mere hearer who understands, but the doer of the word (James 1:22-25).
"...he shall know the teaching..." shows the result of the proper attitude.
It is not who you are that determines how well you understand the teachings of the Bible but how you approach it. Anyone can twist and distort the Scriptures, but do so "to their own destruction" (2 Pet 3:16). Do you want to be understanding of the Scriptures, or unstable and untaught?
as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
Anyone can "understand what the will of the Lord is" (Eph 5:17).
Anyone can "understand what the will of the Lord is" (Eph 5:17).
Isa 65:1-2 ; Isa 66:1-2 . It seems to be a matter of attitude then.
“I was sought by those who did not ask for Me;
I was found by those who did not seek Me.
I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’
To a nation that was not called by My name.
I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people,
Who walk in a way that is not good,
According to their own thoughts;
Thus says the Lord:
“Heaven is My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
Where is the house that you will build Me?
And where is the place of My rest?
For all those things My hand has made,
And all those things exist,”
Says the Lord.
“But on this one will I look:
On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,
And who trembles at My word.
Why does one so readily grasp a Bible truth while another complains of such difficulty? Attitude.
Why do some go only so far in their growth as Christians and then stall? Attitude.
It is not that the truth cannot be known, it is whether we really want to know it! Whether we would be like Jesus, Jn 8:29. Read again John 8:31-32. Mat 10:24-25.
And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.”
Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household!
Remember the Source of All Truth and Learn of Him.
Remember the Source of All Truth and Learn of Him.
The story is told of a lady who had an unusual mode of Bible study which she later had to abandon. She in early mornings after quickly flipping through pages of the Bible, with her eyes closed, would bring her finger down on a verse. She would then open her eyes, and that verse supposedly was her special God-given inspiration and exhortation for that day. One morning as she brought her finger on a verse it said, "Judas went out and hanged himself" She didn't particularly like that verse, so she thought God would add further instructions if she tried again. The next time her finger hit the verse, it read, "Go thou and do likewise." She now being very perplexed on what to do, tries again. This time, it read, "What thou doest, do quickly." Thus, she now had her God-given exhortation for that day. Judas went out and hanged himself. Go and do likewise. Do it quickly.
We must learn to use the Bible for the reason God has given it to us. Tit 2:11-14 .
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
You want to know how to be saved? Worship? Live? Turn to the Word of God and listen to Him.