John 7:14-24
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When you think of a Bible teacher…who do you think of?
Who would you say is the best Bible teacher?
I would go with RC Sproul. I can not tell you how much I learned from listening to RC Sproul. This guy was able to explain some of the most perplexing Scriptures in such a way that anyone could understand it. If you want to understand some hard teachings, like:
The Sovereignty of God
Total Depravity...
Election / Predestination
listen to RC Sproul.
I have a list of guys I typically listen to on a daily/weekly basis but Sproul…I just think he was the best.
Let me ask you another question:
Does it matter who let teach us?
Are there some we should not listen to?
There are so many people out there who will listen to just about anyone…as long as:
they say they’re a “Christian”.
they speak in a “church”
they say Jesus…sometimes.
it “sounds good”
But listen to me church…you not only have to read the Bible very closely…you have to listen to what people say very closely.
is this person talking really explaining Scripture or are they explaining away Scripture?
is this person promoting himself and all of his achievements and all the things he has done or is he lifting up Christ?
am I to be more like “him” or more like “Christ”?
he his stealing glory from God for himself or is he really, REALLY, giving God ALL the glory?
Lets read our text for this morning:
About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?” So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?” The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all marvel at it. Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well? Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”
Prayer:
If you remember, last week we covered verses 1-13, we read that Jesus told his brothers that he wasn’t going to go up to the Feast because it wasn’t his time. But after his brothers had gone up, then Jesus went up privately. One of the reasons for this is because the Jewish leaders were wanting to kill him.
Look on the screen:
But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private.
Now let’s look at verse 14:
About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching.
So here is the scene: the Feast of Booths is going on…Jesus says he’s not going in Judea because the Jewish leaders are wanting to kill him. His brothers are taunting him to go to the Feast and get some glory…He says, “NOPE. Im not listening to yall. I don’t get my orders from you. It’s not my time for that. Ya’ll go”.
So, his brother go and then when they leave…He goes…in private, in secret.
And about halfway through the Feast of Booths, here He is in secret…he jumps up in the temple and begins to teach.
Sometimes you just HAVE TO TEACH! Sometimes…you just have to speak up and TEACH people.
And He was on a mission for this. It says he “went up into the temple and began teaching”.
Man…I wonder about a couple of things here:
What was it that compelled him to go up and start teaching?
Was it that he was overhearing the people just butcher what the feast was all about?
Was he overhearing people tell this group over here what “they thought” it meant”.
Did He hear people over here talking about “the Feast of Booths” and they were all sitting around asking each other, “so, what does it mean to you?”
2. What exactly was He teaching?
could you imagine that lesson?
expounding to them all the references to the Feast and what it truly represented and answering all the “Why’s” that everybody had always thought but were too scared to ask their “leaders” because they didn’t want to “feel stupid”
Because that still happens doesn’t it...
Some people are scared to ask because they don’t want to feel like they don’t know something.
but ask! Ask questions! We are disciples, students, and students ask questions.
Look at verse 15:
The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?”
The people were amazed at the way Jesus taught. They were shocked that he wasn’t formally trained under some “Big Name” Rabbi.
They were mesmerized by his knowledge of the subject he was teaching...
They didn’t take to heart what it was He was saying because we keep reading and see we see that they still didn’t believe.
They weren’t truly listening to what he was saying…just marveling at his knowledge.
Sounds like many people today.
Many people are seduced into a teacher not because of “what” he says but “how” he says it.
Many people are there because the preacher is famous, maybe he wrote a book or two, or whatever...
And think about how the Jewish leaders felt about this teaching? How do you think they felt when this “man”, Jesus, came up to “their” Temple and started preaching?
Who does he think he is?
He doesn’t have the education we have...
We’ve been doing this much longer than He has...
He’s only been teaching for a few years...
Imagine what the Religious Leaders were feeling toward Christ when the ordinary people were AMAZED at how he taught...
Im sure that just infuriated them even more...
They hated to see “their people” listening and being “amazed” at his learning on the subject he was teaching.
side note: Charles Spurgeon had no formal Theological training.
So, don’t think you need a Theology degree to understand God’s Word…you just need a heart that will accept what God’s Word says.
Remember what Peter said, “we believe and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God”. (John 6:69)
Look at verse 16
So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.
teaching or doctrine: content of what is taught
The content of many is their own personal lives, their life experiences and how those experiences have taught them how to live “godly”lives.
Not Jesus though, HIs teaching…His doctrine is not His but it is the Father’s who sent Him.
Everyone who teaches the Word should think long and hard on this verse, including me.
RC Sproul said that “he must preach what the Bible says, not what he wanted it to say”.
This is why we say Sola Scriptura: Scripture alone has authority over all of God’s people.
this is where we stand here at POTR.
Let me read you a quote from Martin Luther when he was before the authorities because of ‘his teachings’...
“Unless I am refuted and convicted by testimonies of Scripture or by clear reason—since I believe neither the popes nor the councils by themselves, for it is clear that they have often erred and contradicted themselves—I am conquered by the holy Scriptures I have quoted, and my conscience is captive to the Word of God.… Here I stand. God help me. Amen”
Luther was not intimidated by the religious elites…he stood firm on the Word of God. He knew that his teaching was not his own but it was God’s Word, God’s teaching.
Look at verses 17-18
If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.
Everyone teaches things from the Bible right? Everyone uses the Bible…but how do you know what is the truth? If everyone is saying different things how do you know what the truth of God’s Word is?
The answer is given in these verses.
Look at verse 17 again:
If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.
If you are truly seeking God’s will, then you will KNOW whether the teaching is from God....OR…whether someone is speaking on their own authority.
And we need to really ask ourselves that question and not deceive ourselves.
Our hearts are deceitful above all things…who can trust it.
Are we following Christ for Christ or are we following him for some other reason?
for friendships
for community
to seem respectable
to get to Heaven and be with your loved ones?
If you are truly seeking Christ and your heart is to do the will of God…then you will know the teachings of God.
Jesus tells us how to distinguish that in verse 18:
The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.
Christ came to NOT TO SEEK HIS OWN WILL…but the Father’s will!
IN LIGHT of all that we went through in chapter 6…covering the Doctrine of Election…think about that.
Look at John 5:30
“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
Think about that!
CHRIST, God in the flesh, says:
He can do NOTHING on His own.
He does not seek His own will but the will of Him, the Father, who sent Him.
So we have a picture here of two teachers/preachers:
The First one speaks on his own authority and seeks his own glory.
The Second seeks the glory of God Alone
It is in the Second one that there is no falsehood in him.
Is Christ teaching on his own authority trying to glorify Himself or is he teaching to glorify God Alone? He is teaching to glorify God Alone!
You want to know who is speaking truth?
Ask yourself:
is this person lifting himself up or Christ Alone?
is this person talking just as much about himself or is he talking about Christ Alone?
is he seeking some glory for what he has done, is doing, will do…or is he speaking to the Glory of God Alone?
Is the person able to say what Paul said?
Look at 2 Co. 4:5
For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
Is it a “LOOK AT ME” or is it a “LOOK AT CHRIST”?
Here is another nugget from the “NOT FORMALLY EDUCATED IN THEOLOGY” Charles Spurgeon:
A woman once extolled Charles Spurgeon after a service, saying, “You are the finest preacher there ever was!” Spurgeon replied, “I know that, Madam, because Satan whispered it in my ear as soon as I stepped out of the pulpit!”
My prayer for myself is that I never become a preacher who looks to glorify myself. There are many who do…and I believe that many of them didn’t start out with a desire to glorify themselves. I am no better. This is why I have to be in community with others and have close relationships with other brothers and sisters in Christ so they can point it out when they see it. And if they see it I need to have the humility to see it and repent of it.
And this is also true for you.
When we see the old Adam in us sticking his head out of the robe that Christ has covered us with…we have to put him to death again.
We have to love one another enough to say the hard things, in love, to one another.
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so how did these Jews respond to Christs words?
Again, we see how the religious and those who are opposed of the truth of God’s word feel about those who speak the Truth of God’s Word...
Look how these Jews here felt about Christ, who IS THE TRUTH...
verses 19-20
Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?” The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?”
Like Nicodemus, like the woman at the well, and like so many others…Jesus never responds how we would respond. He responds not to their false praises or passive aggressive questions…he responds to their hearts, to what they are actually thinking.
They have the Law…the Scriptures. They claim to love them and come across as if they follow them…but they don’t.
People who are opposed to the truth will always respond this way!
When truth is shown to someone who is opposed to the truth it will always be met with hostility and deflection.
“I’m not the one with the problem…YOU’RE THE ONE WITH THE PROBLEM”.
those in the flesh, we hate the light (John 3:16-21)
The lost are against the truth
The religious are against the truth...
And I have some bad news for the rest of us...
We, Christians, are against the truth when we are not submitted to the Spirit.
When we take our eyes off of Christ, our flesh kicks into high gear and we hate to be called out for our sin...
think about your arguments with your wife
wives, think about your arguments with your husbands
think about your arguments with your friends
think about your feelings with those you “worship with” together.
our flesh likes to point the finger back at others even when we know DEEP DOWN that what they are saying is true…we just don’t want to accept the truth in our flesh.
Look at verses 21-23
Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all marvel at it. Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well?
Here is their issue. They thought they understood the Scriptures, but in reality they didn’t.
It is hard to convince someone that their understanding of Scripture is wrong when they think they know everything.
And anyone can say that right?
that can be said about you and me…we have to be fair about it.
But it goes back to verse 18.
Is what someone showing me giving ALL the glory to God? Or is it taking away some of His glory…just a little…and giving it to me?
That is how you know…according to Christ.
These Jews were so legalistic that they couldn’t see the forrest for the tree in front of them.
They saw Jesus, heard of Jesus, healing a man on the Sabbath (back in John 5) and because of that they grew to hate Him.
and the worst part is they tried to TWIST Scripture to justify it.
same thing happens today, there is nothing new under the sun.
But they didn’t really understand the Scripture.
they knew the words…but they didn’t understand the spiritual aspects of it because they were spiritually blind like those who don’t truly know Christ today.
they may know facts, but they don’t know Him.
Circumcision was a law given by Moses.
the act of removing the foreskin of males; especially as an initiatory rite into the people of God under the Mosaic covenant.
This was done on the eighth day from when the baby was born.
If the eighth day fell on a Sabbath, in order to keep the Law of Moses, they would circumcise the child on the Sabbath.
It was an act of necessity…in order to keep the Law of Moses. Sometimes they HAD to do it on the Sabbath.
But circumcision pointed to something greater than the removal of skin off of a baby. It pointed to God’s redemptive work in His people. How He has set them apart from others.
So if the cutting off of a piece of skin from a baby is a symbol of what God has done…how much more when God heals the whole body of a man who had been an invalid for 38 years?
If they truly understood the Scriptures they wouldn’t be angry but rejoicing!
So…verse 24.
Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”
When you do not understand the Word…you will not be able to judge with right judgment.
We must not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.
And the only way we can judge with right judgement is if we get our teaching from God…and God Alone.
it can not be our own teaching…based on the way the world works...
based on reason or logic
it must be based on HIs Word…this is where we get Scripture Alone
Our Faith can’t be put into a man because some man has exalted himself and we have become SO impressed by him and his accomplishments…we can not “MARVEL” over some man…but only in Christ ALONE.
We can’t attempt to receive any glory or rob God of His glory. This is why we say Soli Dei Gloria…to the Glory of God Alone
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Do you see the need we have for Christ? We can’t look to ourselves. We can’t look to some man that we respect. We can’t look to someone who has all these degrees and who has learned under “this guy” or “that guy”. We can only look to Christ! Only His Word has the words of eternal life.
Only He will change our hearts. ONLY God will conform us to the image of Christ where we can truly want to Glorify Him and Him Alone in everything we do. We are all glory hogs! We all at times are looking for the “atta-boy” or the “atta-girl”…we are weak but we have to see how weak we are and how much we need Christ to change our hearts.
Through His Word and in His Bride, the Church, we can find brothers and sisters who will love us enough to point us to our Savior.
Without His Church and without His Word…we cannot know Him.
