JOHN 7:25-31 | CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE
Notes
Transcript
JOHN 7:25-31 | CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE
JOHN 7:25-31 | CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE
ILLUSTRATION: When I was growing up, I was in the slow reading group through 4th grade
For whatever reason, I was not a fast reader, and so I was put into a reading group along with Matthew Gann and Brandon Duncan.
We would sit in a circle and while the rest of the class read their chapter books, we would read frog and toad.
But something happened that year that changed everything.
I was introduced to “choose your own adventure” books
I remember racing through pages to try to figure out what was going to happen based upon my decision.
Well, last winter, Tressa and I were walking through a store, when I saw the old “Choose your own adventure” books
So we bought a couple for our kid’s Christmas, and they really liked them.
So much so, that now they try to write their own stories.
I’m often asked, “Dad, which decision will you make?”
Now here is the deal, I know in my kid’s book no matter what decision I make I will eventually end up with the same outcome…
I’ll be eaten by a dinosaur
It’s how all stories end.
But even still, it’s in those moments I’m placed at a crossroads… and in that moment I must make a decision based on the information I have that will determine my fate.
EXPLANATION: We are in the middle of a Jewish feast week here in John 7.
The feast of tabernacles has been going on for multiple days at this point, and in weeks past we have seen as the people who had travelled great distances had been listening to Jesus’s teachings.
And now a new group of people are brought into the scene, “some of them of Jerusalem”
These were the people who were from the area… the locals.
They lived in this religious capital… it was their home.
And what is about to happen in on this day in the middle of the feast week is going to lead them to a crossroads.
And they will have to make a decision.
APPLICATION: This morning, I want to say, “Welcome to Whitehall Baptist Church”
If you are a guest and this is your first time here, we are so glad you came today.
If you’ve been coming for a long time, I’m glad you are here today as well.
And no matter what category you may find yourself, I want to help you reach the end of the service today and find yourself at a crossroads as well.
It’s the same crossroads this group from Jerusalem found themselves in.
So for a few minutes, let’s walk through the story, and find your way to the crossroads in the end.
V.25, THEY RECOGNIZED HIS OPPOSITION
V.25, THEY RECOGNIZED HIS OPPOSITION
Then said some of them of Jerusalem, Is not this he, whom they seek to kill?
EXPLANATION: The people who had travelled into town weren’t aware of the contention between Jesus and the religious leaders.
We saw last time as Jesus mentioned that people were seeking to kill Him and the people responded in John 7:20
The people answered and said, Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee?
But this was a different crowd, the ones from Jerusalem knew what had been going on.
They knew the backstory of Jesus and they knew all about the opposition Jesus had been facing.
From the time Jesus began His public ministry, there was a constant opposition around every corner.
APPLICATION: You know, it doesn’t take much research to find out that not much has changed in the 2000 years since these events in Jerusalem.
To call yourself a Christian, to be a Jesus follower, is to put a big target on your back.
Here in American, our persecution is often in the form of relational awkwardness.
Conversations are awkward at Thanksgiving
Maybe it’s awkward with your kids or with your parents
Maybe the kids at school might tease because you are a “Jesus follower”
But there are places around the world, where to call yourself a follower of Jesus truly costs something.
For some it will cost them their job
Others, it will cost them their family
And for some, it will cost them their life.
And when you recognize the opposition that the name of Jesus so often causes, it should lead us to ask the question… WHY?
And that is the same line of thinking that we find in our passage.
Why does Jesus have so much opposition?
V.26, THEY RECOGNIZED HIS REPUTATION
V.26, THEY RECOGNIZED HIS REPUTATION
But, lo, he speaketh boldly, and they say nothing unto him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ?
EXPLANATION: The people recognized that Jesus was being recognized by some as more than just a good man.
By a small faction of people, He was being called Christ.
ILLUSTRATION: Now, if you stuck around last week for the afternoon session, we heard about some historical evidences of Jesus.
And as we were going through the session, Dr. England mentioned something that is very important about Jesus.
It’s something that every person must recognize… Jesus could only be one of three persons.
He could have been a Liar.
He could have been a Lunatic
Or, He was actually Lord!
EXPLANATION: Here was see the people of Jerusalem are dealing with that same trilema… Was Jesus Liar, Lunatic, or Lord…
Because from His reputation, many were calling Him Christ… the Lord!
APPLICATION: Friend, which one do you believe Jesus was?
Was He a liar… so He wasn’t actually a good person
Was He a lunatic… so He wasn’t someone that should have been followed.
Or was He Who He said He was… is He truly Lord?
Throughout the New Testament, various writers would point to the deity of Jesus Christ.
Peter, who spent 3 years traveling with Jesus would write in 2 Peter 3:18
But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
When Luke wrote of the angels who appeared to the shepherds in the field, they said, Luke 2:11
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
John would later write 1 John 4:14
And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.
Paul would write in Philippians 2:9-11
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
EXPLANATION: The people of Jerusalem recognized Jesus’s reputation.
The word was spreading that Jesus was Lord.
THEY RECOGNIZED HIS OPPOSITION, THEY RECOGNIZED HIS REPUTATION
V.27, THEY RECOGNIZED HIS ORIGINATION
V.27, THEY RECOGNIZED HIS ORIGINATION
Howbeit we know this man whence he is: but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is.
EXPLANATION: In the previous two verses, it would almost seem that these people in Jerusalem believed that Jesus was Who He claimed to be.
But v.27 sheds light on what they really thought and revealed their skepticism.
There was a belief amongst the Jews that when the Messiah would come on the scene it would be like he dropped from heaven.
No one would know where he came from.
But they knew where Jesus came from… He was born in Bethlehem
He was raised in Nazareth.
So He couldn’t be the Messiah…
There was just one problem, that belief didn’t have any Scriptural basis… it was a belief they had created so they had a reason not to believe.
APPLICATION: You know, there are a lot of people that are in a similar position to these people in Jerusalem here in John 7
You can see there are some good point made in favor of Who Jesus is.
There’s an incredible amount of evidence in the fulfilled prophecies from the OT.
There’s powerful evidence in the miracles Jesus had performed
There is clear evidence in the Word of God of Jesus being called Lord.
But there is just something that is keeping you from allowing Christ to be Lord of your life.
Friend, what belief have you created that is your reason not to belief on Jesus?
For some, it’s a bad experience you had in Church.
For some, it was a person who said they were a Christian but you saw how they lived when they weren’t at church
For others, it’s something else
But whatever your belief, it is your reason that is keeping your from trusting on Jesus Christ.
ILLUSTRATION: When I was 11 or 12 years old, we had just wrapped up a baseball game in a tournament we were playing.
We found our way to a Subway for and early dinner, and at that time of life, I was not an adventurous eater.
So I ordered my regular, pepperoni, American cheese, mayo, and jalapenos to add a little spice to life, all on white bread.
As I ate my footlong sub, I felt like the jalapenos tasted a little different than they normally did… but I’m not one to let something so small get in the way of enjoying a delicious pepperoni, cheese, jalapeno, and mayo sandwish
We finished eating, got in the car and drove home and when we reached our house, it hit me.
For the following hours, I emptied the contents of my stomach like I never had before.
I had gotten food poison, and I knew exactly what caused it… jalapenos at Subway.
Over the next few years, anytime we made our way to Subway, I would order my trusty sandwich, but there was one thing that was left off… no jalapenos.
Just the thought made my stomach turn!
Years passed by, until finally one day we were once again eating at a Subway, and something came over me… “Add some jalapenos”
You’ll never believe what happened… NOTHING!
In fact, I realized I really like jalapenos and to this day, if I get a sub at Subway, I have expanded my pallet beyond my pepperoni and cheese sandwich, but I always get jalapenos
You want to know what I learned… I had a bad experience at a Subway with some jalapenos
And I allowed it to affect me for years…
But when I finally let down my guard and tried it again, I found out that jalapenos really aren’t bad… in fact, I actually enjoy them!
APPLICATION: Could it be that you have been allowing a bad experience in your life
Or some bad example of a Christian, to keep you from the blessing of a real relationship with Christ?
These people of Jerusalem were allowing an unfounded and inaccurate belief to be an excuse not to believe.
Now, here we come to the crux of the message and it’s where we will begin to land our plane this morning.
Jesus actually corrects their incorrect belief, and the Bible brings us to two separate decisions the people came to:
V.27-30, MOST REJECTED HIS DECLARATION
V.27-30, MOST REJECTED HIS DECLARATION
Howbeit we know this man whence he is: but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is.
Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, saying, Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am: and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not.
But I know him: for I am from him, and he hath sent me.
Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come.
EXPLANATION: Jesus cries out, it literally means He raised His voice.
Can you imagine what it must have been like when Jesus, God in flesh raised His voice.
You thought you were in trouble when your parents raised their voice…
Jesus is correcting their incorrect beliefs
He tells them a message he has said multiple times throughout the Gospel of John… “I’m not here just because… I was sent here by God with a purpose.”
And when the people hear Jesus tell them this, the Bible is somewhat vague when it says, “They sought to take him.”
But then John clarifies at the end, “his hour was not yet come.”
The people rejected Jesus’ declaration that He was from God and was God.
And then they wanted to take him and the connotation is they wanted to kill him.
Now if you don’t like the message this morning, we can find other ways to disagree…
The evidence had been laid before them…
They said the opposition Jesus faced
They knew the reputation Jesus had
And now Jesus has answered their created skepticism
And most of the crowd rejected Him.
APPLICATION: And the sad truth is, this is so often still the truth today.
I can give you Bible verse after Bible verse
I can tell you story after story
I can give personal illustration, historical illustrations, funny illustrations, sad illustration.
I can raise my voice or speak quietly
I can do everything in my power to lead you to the truth in God’s Word.
But there will be some, who in the end, still choose not to accept Jesus.
And it doesn’t come as a shock to me anymore… because I’m no where close to the preacher and teacher that Jesus was… and the same thing happened to Him.
Because it’s easier to hold onto your skepticism and rejection than it is to admit that God is right and His Word is true.
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
ILLUSTRATION: It’s been a few years since I shared this story, but I was over in eastern Montana helping out my father in law on his ranch.
At the time they were weeding out some of the commercial herd that had been apart of the ranch they acquired and so they were separating some of them from their registered angus herd
Somewhere along the way the job was given to me and one of the older family members to push 5 cows into a pen and lock them in.
We were in a big open corral and we had pushed the cows around and in through a narrow gate and all of the cows walked right in… except for one.
There was one commercial cow that missed it and refused to go that way.
We chased it around the corral a few times and then finally she got tired of being chased, and all of the sudden I found myself in the middle of this pen with and angry cow facing me.
About that time my father in law was coming down a hill toward the pen and he cried out, “get out of the way”
And when he did, that cow took off, right at me.
I took about 3 steps backward until in a great act of agility, I tripped and ended up on my back.
I watched as the underside of the cow leaped right over the top of me.
I’m not entirely sure how she didn’t land on me, but clearly she had more agility that I did.
I stood up and with my hands out, my father in law said I must have been thinking “what just happened”
The truth is, I was saying, “Is that all you’ve got!”
I learned a number of lessons on that day… but one of which was, no matter how much you try to force them to go where they should go… sometimes they just refuse.
EXPLANATION: Many vehemently rejected His declaration…
But don’t miss this last verse
V.31, SOME RECEIVED HIS INVITATION
V.31, SOME RECEIVED HIS INVITATION
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?
EXPLANATION: While some of the crowd wanted to kill Him… the Bible says there were many who believed on Jesus.
They said, “the evidence is clear… if this wasn’t Christ, could the real one do more than Jesus has done?”
They were saying, the evidence all points to Who He is… and we choose to believe!
APPLICATION: Friend, what will your response be?
Jesus makes an invitation to you this morning… John 6:47
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
You see, every person here is a sinner… the Bible says so, and you know it.
Every person has “fallen short” of the glory of God… His perfect Holiness and sinlessness.
And the Bible tells us there is a payment for our sins
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Friend, just like if you go and work a job, you deserve a payment for the work you do.
So when you sin, you deserve a payment for the works you’ve done.
And that payment isn’t one you want… but you are hopeless to avoid it on your own
The Bible says you have a soul that will one day live forever somewhere… either forever with God in heaven, or forever separated from Him.
And the only alternative eternal place that is separated from God is a lake of fire.
The Bible actually gives glimpses of what that place will be like, with the wailing in pain and crying out.
The Bible even says there will be people praying for someone to go and tell their friends and family members not to go there… even though it’s too late for the one there.
And the Bible says there is only one way to escape that eternal payment for our sins.
Someone had to pay it for you… but there was only One Who was a worthy satisfactory payment
John wrote it this way in 1 John 2:2
And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
That word propitiation is a fancy word that means, a “satisfactory payment”
You see, the wage or payment for your sins is death, and so Jesus came and died on the cross for your sins.
And God says that Jesus’s death was a satisfactory payment for your sins.
But God will not force you to accept that payment.
God will not force you to love Him.
No, the Bible says in Romans 10:9-10
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
APPLICATION: So friend, there it is…
The evidence has been laid before you.
The invitation has been offered to you.
There is only one thing left to do…
You can Reject it…
Or you can Receive it!
I guess we could say, you have reached to point in your book where you get to choose your own adventure.
But can I let you in on a secret… it kind of spoils the ending…
If you reject it… one day you will die (probably not by a dinosaur) and spend eternity in torments
But if you receive it, you have a promise from God that you will live for ever in the glories of heaven!
As we close the book this morning… what will you choose?
