Division Over Jesus

Transcript

GR 361
5/25/1980
Division Over Jesus
JOHN 7:40-53
Gil Rugh

A few weeks ago we were considering the subject of the sovereignty of God, and at that time I mentioned a book to you by J. I. Packer called Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, and we now have a number of copies of this available so if you haven't secured one, I encourage you to do so. You can purchase it either in the Tape Library or there's a table set up in the Lobby this morning. The book retails for $1.95 and there's some discount on it. But I encourage you to get it and read it. It covers the subject of God's sovereignty and particularly, how that relates to evangelism. I know a number of you have had questions about that area. I think J. I. Packer does a very good job in covering the subject.

John chapter 7 in your Bibles. John's Gospel and the 7th chapter. We come to the closing verses of this chapter which we've taken in rather large chunks, but it flows along rather well. The event being the Feast of Tabernacles and Jesus takes this occasion to again present Himself as the Messiah of Israel, to challenge the nation to place their faith in Him. At a great feast like this Jesus has opportunity to confront the nation as a whole because not only are the people of Jerusalem and the leaders present, but representatives from all over the world have come to Jerusalem to celebrate this feast. So the nation as a whole is represented, and Jesus challenges them with the greatness of His person and the reality of the fact that He is the Messiah.

In verses 37-39, Jesus had stood on the last day of the feast and used the symbolism of the feast to draw attention to Himself. Verse 37 we read, "Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 'If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.'" And remember as we talked about the feast, each day of the feast the priest went to the Pool and filled the golden pitcher with water, went to the altar and poured the water in a basin beside the alter, picturing the provision of God for the children of Israel through the wilderness. On the eighth day, the last day, that was not carried out and we are on the last day of the feast here, picturing they have come into the land and the blessings of the land.

Now Jesus uses this to draw attention to the real fulfillment of that, even in the provision of the water in the wilderness ties to Him. Paul says that they drank of Christ, the Rock, in the wilderness when he wrote to the Corinthians. But He is the One who will satisfy their spiritual need, their spiritual longing, the longings of the inner person. If you’re thirsty, if you have that desire for fulfillment, for completion. If you have that recognition of need, longing for rightness with God and before God, then you are invited to come and partake of Him. "He who believes in Me" (and that’s what it means to drink of Him, to believe in Him. That’s when you partake of Christ and what He is offering.) "...as the Scripture said, from his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water." We noted this doesn’t refer to just one scripture but a number of scriptures use the analogy of water, of the spiritual refreshing that God would bring to the nation. Isaiah 12, Isaiah 44, Isaiah 55, Isaiah 58 all refer to that as well as passages in Joel, Zechariah, Ezekiel, drawing attention to the water, picturing God's provision and sustenance for His people. And going beyond physical sustenance, but drawing water from the wells of salvation as Isaiah 12 phrased it. Now this water is identified in the next verse for us as the Spirit whom those who believed in Him were to receive. So the picture is, if you recognize your spiritual need, will come and believe in Jesus Christ as the Savior, then the Spirit of God will come and take up residence in your life and He will meet your needs. He will satisfy your longings. He will bring you into that relationship with God which will meet every spiritual need and desire of your heart, provide the fulfillment and completion in life that you long for.

Now as He talks about the Spirit, it's a future fact. "This He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified." So this ministry of the Spirit was yet future. And what happened after Jesus was glorified. Now obviously the Spirit of God is present. He has always been present, and even during the earthly ministry of Christ the Spirit of God is present. John the Baptist was filled with the Spirit of God from his mother's womb. Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary. The Spirit of God came upon Christ at His baptism in the form of a dove, so the Spirit is present. But the Spirit will be carrying on a unique and special ministry after the glorification of Christ. Not until after Jesus is glorified does the Spirit come and take up residence within every single person who believes in Jesus Christ on a permanent basis. That's something that will happen after Christ is glorified.

Now it's important to note this. Some take a passage like Hebrews 13:8 where it says 'Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever' to imply that Jesus always works in the same way and does the same things. Yet here it is clear, there is going to be something different and unique done. When Hebrews 13:8 says 'Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever' that does not mean He always does the same things in the same way. It means His character is unchangeable. In His person, He is always the same. His attributes, His character do not change. But He works in different ways in accomplishing His purposes. We need to be careful. Someone will say, Well didn't Jesus do this 2,000 years ago? If He's the same yesterday, today and forever, He must do it today. Obviously not. Jesus walked on the earth in a physical body 2,000 years ago. Is He doing that today? Obviously not. He works in different ways to accomplish His purposes. His character has not changed. It's exactly the same as when He did walk on earth 2,000 years ago. Is He carrying on the same ministry with the Spirit of God as He did 2,000 years ago? No. That's what He says here. It was something future. Look over in John chapter 20. John's Gospel and the 20th chapter. We'll do the details of this chapter when we get to this portion of John. I just want to draw your attention to it. In verse 22 of John 20, "When He had said this (Jesus), He breathed on them, and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.'" Now they had not received the Holy Spirit up to this time. John chapter 20 is after the resurrection of Christ. We're in that closed room with Thomas absent. But this still is not what Jesus is talking about in John chapter 20 because if you turn over to Acts chapter 1, verse 5, "John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." Verse 8, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you..." In Acts chapter 1 that's still future. You get to Acts chapter 2, you have the Day of Pentecost and the Spirit is poured out upon those who have believed in Him. That is the fulfillment of it—the baptism of the Spirit of God, that unique ministry of the Spirit that had never occurred prior to Acts chapter 2 which places a person who believes in Jesus Christ as his Savior, the One who died for him, put that person into the body of Christ. That is done by the spiritual transaction of identifying that person with the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, and that's delineated in Romans chapter 6.

So that occurs now to every person who believes in Jesus Christ. At that point of faith in Him, the Spirit of God comes and takes up residence within the person. And the Spirit is described as a river, picturing the completeness and overflowing fulfillment and satisfaction that He provides. There is nothing else or nothing more that is ever needed. He is a river constantly supplying my every need in the spiritual realm.

So you come back to John chapter 7. The disciples would not, of course, would not have understood all that was entailed in what Jesus was talking about. The multitude would have recognized something of the prophecies from the Old Testament, but John puts this note in here in verse 39 about the coming of the
Spirit and particularly when it would occur. So when Jesus spoke it, they would not have had the perception we would have on it now. Glorification refers to His death and ultimate ascension to His Father.

Alright. Now on this discourse, there are the responses given. And we've noted chapters 7 and 8 of John are interesting particularly for the insight that they give us to the response of the people to the teaching of Jesus Christ, and key chapters for us in recognizing how people are going to respond to our message. We are success oriented. We are response oriented in the positive sense. There are none of us who do not like positive responses. I'd much rather share the gospel where a person responds and believes than I would where a person hits me in the face with a tomato! It's different. There is an excitement about being involved in God's work in a life when they are being drawn to Christ. But that's not the mark of success. If it is, Jesus Christ's ministry is a failure. Here He has presented the clarity of the truth that you must come and believe in Him, and the result of that will be the Spirit's presence in your life. And it brings two kinds of responses—it divides the multitudes and stirs opposition from the leaders. There's no great mass revival taking place in spite of the fact that the preacher is the Son of God Himself. The multitude is divided over Him and the leaders are firmly entrenched in their opposition to Him.

Note how verse 40 starts out. "Some of the multitude therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, 'This certainly is the Prophet.' Others were saying, ’This is the Christ.' Still others were saying, 'Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He?'" You note the division there is among the multitudes. Some saying this about Him, some saying this about Him, some saying something else. And there is no agreement, but there is a recognition that there is something unique. His teaching is having an impact upon those who are hearing. The first group say, This certainly is the Prophet. We've seen this expression before in the Gospel of John. It goes back to the Book of Deuteronomy and a prophecy given by Moses. Maybe you ought to thumb back to Deuteronomy quickly. Deuteronomy chapter 18 and verse 15, Moses is the speaker. "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him." Now some of the Jews had come to believe that there were two figures to come in prophecy. There was the prophet that Moses promised, and then there was the Christ or the Messiah.
And these would be two important figures that would come on the scene. Now we know that that is incorrect. Jesus is not only King, He is also Priest and Prophet. So Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of Deuteronomy 18:15 as well. He is the prophet prophesied, but among the Jews there was some division, thinking there would be two persons coming—a Prophet and a Messiah or a King. And that’s the reference as you come back to John chapter 7.

This is the prophet, the one talked about by Moses, "but others say this is the Christ." So you see, they think there's two different people here. They don't say, You're right, He's the Christ. No, they see that Christ is different than the prophet. "..others were saying 'This is the Christ.'" Christos, the anointed One, Messiah, the King promised throughout the Old Testament. But there's another group that has a problem with that. "Others were saying, 'Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?"' And they are right. Micah chapter 5 says that the Christ will come from Bethlehem.

Turn back to Micah chapter 5. Micah chapter 5, verse 2. "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel." Now the last statement here, "His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity." You'll note, this One we're talking about has eternal existence, and thus it's a reference to the Messiah and the Jews recognized that. When the wise men came, they inquired of Herod where the Messiah would be born; Herod inquired of the Jewish leaders and they said in Bethlehem. So they are correct. The Messiah will come out of Bethlehem. Now you come back to John 7—the problem they have is that Jesus is from Galilee. Now He can’t be the Christ, then. Now you see what happens? These who have some knowledge of the Scripture fail to pursue it as far as they should. There is an issue here of tremendous significance. If this One who is giving such amazing teaching as well as doing such amazing miracles is the One prophesied in the Old Testament, the Jews are at the most significant point in their history. Wouldn't the logical thing be to raise the question to Jesus? You're doing all the miracles that we would expect in the Messiah. Your teaching is of the power that we would expect from the Messiah, but we have a question. How can you be the Messiah if you're not from Bethlehem? Very easily resolved. Jesus was BORN in Bethlehem; He simply was not raised there. You'd think a matter of such eternal significance would have merited a little more pursuit to find out of there was an answer to the question. Amazing how easily people will give up on the Scriptures and set it aside rather than following it through to find out that there is a resolution to that conflict. If there is answer to that question. But it simply causes the multitude to be divided. So verse 43 says, "So there arose a division in the multitude because of Him." That's an important verse—I have it underlined in my Bible. Because you see here what has happened. The people are divided over Jesus Christ. You note this division occurs because of Him. I think it's important to see that. That in the presentation of the person and work of Jesus Christ, one sure result we can expect is division. It will divide people. Jesus spoke to this on other occasions.

Look back in Matthew chapter 10. It's interesting that Christ, the One who is to come and bring unity and oneness (and He does among those who believe in Him) is also the One who brings division and strife as a result of lack of faith in Him.

Matthew chapter 10, verse 34. "Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me." You know, Christ says He came to bring division, not peace. Now at His second coming to establish His kingdom, He will bring peace. Although at His first coming there is division that occurs. At the second coming, the setting up of His kingdom there will be enforced peace, demanded unity; but at His first coming He has brought division. Even among normal units such as the family where there is a natural bond of unity. Jesus Christ divides among members of a family, because one member of the family comes to believe in Jesus Christ and one does not and they are divided. If my father comes to believe in Christ and I do not, I am divided from him because I am a child of the devil and he is a child of God. And we function in two different spheres with totally different set of purposes and ideals.

Look over in Luke’s gospel. The gospel of Luke and the 12th chapter. Luke 12:51, "Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division." Now that ought to say something about ecumenical movements done under the guise of biblical Christianity. Christ said I didn’t come to bring unity, peace. I came to bring division. "From now on five members of one household will be divided, three against two, and two against three. They will be divided, father against son, and son against father; mother against daughter, and daughter against mother; mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law." Natural ties will be broken. The natural bonds will be broken over Jesus Christ. We’re not talking about the natural turmoil that comes out of our sin nature here, but primarily the issue is Jesus Christ. When one comes to believe in Him there is a division that occurs, and it is real, and it is true. And we have to be careful that we recognize it and not to be taken back by it. Sometimes our emphasis is so much on the rosiness of Christianity, and how wonderful it is, and it is. That’s an emphasis in John 7—the Spirit is like a river of water. He is meeting every need that a person has. But that does not mean the Christian life is easy. I have conflicts as a believer that I never had as an unbeliever. And the same is true of each one because division occurs. Those who were formerly friends cannot be friends any longer. Sometimes we're bothered and say, I used to have a lot of non-Christian friends and now I don't have any. What do you expect? What does a child of God have in common with a child of the devil? Nothing! There is something wrong with a person who claims to have become a believer and still has the old friends 20 years later. There's nothing in common. We're going two different directions, on two different roads, with two different purposes under the control of two different people. Everything is different now and it divides.

Look in Luke 6 while you're here. Now keep in mind—some of you get concerned when I get on these whatever I'm on that I'm going to give misunderstanding. I believe the offense here is Jesus Christ. The offense is caused by the proclamation of the truth concerning Jesus Christ. I know offensive Christians. They offend me and I'm a Christian! That's not the kind of offensiveness we're talking about. We're talking about the offense of being identified with Jesus Christ. Of being one who proclaims Him and makes Him known. That will produce negative as well as positive results, humanly speaking. Note verse 22 of Luke 6, "Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and heap insults upon you, and spurn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man." It's not because you're such an obnoxious person. It's because they do not like Jesus Christ. And if you are identified with Him and it’s His character and His person being seen through you, it's the message concerning Him that you are presenting, then their attitude toward Him will be reflected in their attitude toward you. You know often we present the message of Jesus Christ and we go home with our heads hanging down because people responded negatively. And we don't present it with the idea and desire they respond negatively, but with love and compassion and a longing that they come to believe in the Savior that we're proclaiming. But you know blessing is pronounced upon those who are hated for the sake of Jesus Christ, who are insulted for Jesus Christ. We sometimes say, well, it must not have been the opportune time because they sure didn't respond very well. Well, maybe it was the very opportune time to make Jesus Christ known, and their response is just an indication of your blessing. Not the kind of blessing that most of us are seeking. None of us want to be hated, insulted, and ostracized. But you note, Jesus says, blessed are you when this happens. Why? Because that's what happened to Him, and when I am clearly identified with Him that divides. And the more clearly I identify with Him the more clear the division. And while we're here, we ought to pick up the other side of this in Luke 6, verse 26.

"Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for in the same way their fathers used to treat the false prophets." Something's wrong when everybody thinks you're just so wonderful because you know who that puts you in the line of? Go back and read the Old Testament, and who did the people love so well? Jeremiah? Why do you think he spent so much time in the slime pit? Because he was an object of love? Why did they saw Isaiah in half? Because they were so much in love with him? As Jesus said on another occasion, Which of the prophets didn't they persecute? So Jesus says, Woe to you if everyone is speaking well of you. That doesn't mean you're going to run out of here and find someone to offend! That still won't put you in line with the true prophets. The true prophets were offensive. Why? Because they were proclaiming the truth of the message of God. But when that is proclaimed, there is a division made. If everyone speaks well of me, there is something wrong.
Evidently the impact of the message is not coming across.

While we're on the false prophets, let's go back to Jeremiah 5 just for a note. Note the closing two verses, 30 and 31 of Jeremiah 5. "An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule on their own authority; and My people love it so!" God says this is appalling. Why? The prophets were saying what the people wanted to hear so the people would speak well of them. And while you're there, over in chapter 6, verse 13, you have something of the motivation explained, "From the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for gain, from the prophet even to the priest every one deals falsely." For the benefit they get out of it, for the gain, for the monetary benefits that accrue to them. You know, we have to be careful if you offend too many people they won't come and hear you. If they don't come and hear you they won't put money in the offering plate. If they don't put money in the offering plate, you don't get paid. Let's face it, sinners don't like to be told they are sinners on their way to hell. If you expect them to take care of you, you won't be able to tell them that. So the false prophets said what the people wanted to hear, and the people spoke well of the false prophets. Know what God said? Woe to you if everyone speaks well of you. Blessed are you if you are ostracized, hated, for the name of Jesus Christ.

It may not be that you are ineffective in your testimony if people are responding in a negative way, and maybe you're effective. I don't know. I know that we ought to be clear and open. No question, no doubt. Is there anyone you have contact with that does not know that you believe in Jesus Christ? Does not know that you believe that Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation? Am I that clear and that open that there is no doubt about where I stand? They know that my desire is that they come to believe it as well? When it’s presented with that clarity?

Back to John chapter 7. So there was a division in the multitude because of Him. "And some wanted to seize Him but no one laid hands on Him." We’ve seen this repeated through John as well. They cannot touch Him because it’s not God’s time. That’s comforting to know. When we’re wondering how people are going to respond to you and what will they do to you? They can't do anything to you, you’re under the protection of God. And if God decides they can do something to you, then it will come. But in God’s time, Christ is secure and there's nothing they can do about it.

Now you remember back in verse 32 of John 7, the Pharisees heard the multitude muttering these things about Him and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to seize Him?—they in effect would be the temple police, to look for an occasion to arrest Christ. Now they didn't send them out to just go and arrest Him, because they don’t want to inflame the multitude. So they are sent there to look for opportunity. Just like 6 months later Judas will fit the plan. Give them an opportunity to arrest Christ and get the trial and everything underway, get those things settled and then get the multitude behind them. But they know if the temple police just walk in and try to arrest Christ they're going to cause a riot. And that wouldn't do because then the Romans would intervene, and they want the Romans behind them as though the people were supporting the actions of the high priests and the Sanhedrin. So the officers are sent there, looking for an occasion to arrest Christ. And now in verse 45, "The officers therefore came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, 'Why did you not bring Him?'" Here come the temple police and they don't have the prisoner! So the Jewish leaders say, Why didn't you bring Him? Note their testimony. "The officers answered, 'Never did a man speak the way this man speaks.'" They felt the tremendous impact that the teaching of Jesus Christ has had. Even the temple officers respond, We have never heard a man who taught like this man teaches. There is tremendous power and impact. They were in awe of Him. They may not have come to believe in Him, but they are in awe of His teaching. Now you note. You’d think the Jewish leaders would say, Maybe there is something to this. The multitudes are wondering, now even here our officers have been caused to question. But you note the arrogant attitudes of these religious leaders—"The Pharisees therefore answered them, ’You have not also been led astray, have you? No one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he?'" I mean, have you been led astray? Look at us—we're the religious leaders! We haven't believed in Him, have we? Wouldn't you think if He was the Messiah we would have recognized and believed in Him? We're the religious leaders. "But this multitude which does not know the Law is accursed." You note the arrogance here. What do the multitudes know? What do the common people know? They're accursed. They're just common riff-raff. We are the theologians! We are the ones with religious insight! And they are also the ones who haven't believed.

You know, isn't it amazing? It never ceases to amaze me. Sometime ago I was speaking to a group of 20-25 at a religious institution, and there was the professor who was there along with myself and the class. And for 2 hours we went over the gospel of Jesus Christ. And you know, after 2 hours and the majority of the class had not believed, but everyone in the class as far as I could tell, perceived what the issues were except the professor. When I got home I said to Marilyn, You know that amazes me. I think everyone in the class at least understood what I was saying even though they didn't agree with it except the professor, and he was still in the fog when it was all over. He was still saying things that the unbelieving students were reacting to! That that cannot be! Amazing. Here's the man that's the theologian, that's got all the certificates on the wall who is supposed to be the leader, and he's the dumbest one of all when it comes to spiritual things! He is the one who has the least perception of all. That’s the way it is here. They don't realize it is a testimony against themselves. No one of the rulers or Pharisees have believed in Him. That says multitudes. Here the Son of God, the Messiah of Israel, is present and what they pride themselves in is ’None of us has believed’ not realizing that they are self-condemned.

But there is one who speaks up. Nicodemus. And we remember Nicodemus, if you have any question he is the same one in John chapter 3. John refers to that in verse 50, ’Nicodemus said to them (he who came to Him before, being one of them)...' Just so you know this is the same Nicodemus, who is also part of the ruling body of Israel. He was one of them. Now it seems that Nicodemus becomes a believer somewhere along the line, whether it was in John chapter 3 or later, I don't know. But at the end of the life of Christ, he is joined with Joseph of Arimathea in asking for the body of Christ and arranging for the burial which seems to indicate that he probably may have become a believer.

Here he speaks up, and I think there are indications that Nicodemus is a believer here as he tries to at least offer some defense for Christ. But he doesn't directly defend Christ. He just tries to point out to the religious leaders that they are in violation of the Law that they claim to represent. Note what he says—verse 51. "Our Law does not judge a man, unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?" Question. We are the leaders of Israel. We are the defenders and keepers of the Law. Now the Law says we are not permitted to judge a man without having heard him first. They have already judged him. They have already determined upon His execution. They have already attempted to have Him arrested. Nicodemus says, Problem. Exodus 23, Deuteronomy 31. We are in violation of that. Now here is one of their own number testifying to them of their unbiblical action. You'd think if anybody could have an impact, Nicodemus could have an impact. He's one of their own number. He's hitting them with the Scriptures they claim to believe, and note how they respond. "They answered and said to him, ’You are not also from Galilee, are you?”’ Now what has that got to do with the point he raised? Are they in violation of the Law or are they not in violation of the Law? What has that got to do with Nicodemus being born in Galilee or not? You know what they're doing? They’re not interested in the point he is making from the Scriptures. What they’re saying is, you must be from Galilee to want to defend a Galilean. That could be your only motivation. No question here of, you could be right! They don’t even consider what the Scripture says, the point that he makes. You’d have to be a Galilean to want to defend another Galilean. Now they know he’s not from Galilee, but the point is. What motivation could you have for wanting to defend this man unless you two were from Galilee? You Galileans want to stick together. Look, search for yourself. They want to tell him to go look in the Scriptures. No prophet arises out of Galilee. Little bit of a problem here—Jonah is from Galilee II Kings says. There were some others like Nahum who may have been from Galilee. Some of them their origin is not identified. Their point is a mispoint. There are prophets who were from Galilee. Now they may be thinking that no present prophets are said to come from Galilee. But they haven’t even studied it. If they had followed through on what the Scriptures said they had to do, the point that Nicodemus is making, they would have had to bring Christ in before them. One of the points they could have made would be you’re from Galilee. The Messiah is from Bethlehem. How do you resolve that? Very simply, I was born in Bethlehem. That would have taken care of the problem. This is the responsibility of the Jewish leaders to have done this. But their minds are made up. Don’t bring anything else in. And the discussion is closed.

I think it’s interesting here. I appreciate the courage of Nicodemus to even speak up as he does. In a rather muted way, not defending Christ, but at least trying to point up the conflicts with the Law. I think it points up something that at least ought to be noted, and that is that Nicodemus by remaining a particular part of this body is carried along in the activities of this body. His testimony is muted and he finds himself involved in that which he is in total disagreement with.

Look over in John chapter 12. There are many among the rulers who believed in Christ, who remained identified with the rulers of Israel. Note verse 42 of John chapter 12. ’’Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue.” You note God's statement on this in the next verse, "..for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.” They could not bring themselves to stand openly for Jesus Christ because it would have divided them. It would have cost them the acceptance of the other rulers. They would have been ostracized and set apart, insulted; and they loved the approval of men. And what happens? They end up remaining a part of that group that ultimately will be responsible for the execution of the Messiah of Israel. How can that be? Because they were unwilling to stand. I think the same principle goes on today. How many people are afraid to come out openly in their stand for Jesus Christ so they remain part of religious groups that are unbiblical and antibiblical but they think their testimony is going to have an impact? And they don’t come out of it any better than Nicodemus did. And really what God says about them is they loved the approval of men, so they have chosen to stand there and have a certain acceptance which God says they ought not to have in the first place. If they were standing as strong as you should, as clear as you should, for the message of Christ, they would not have you in those groups! It amazes me that a Christian can think he’s having a testimony there. Well, it must be a muted testimony, because if you were having any kind of an impact at all, they couldn't tolerate you in being part of the group. So I think the life of Nicodemus and his coming up here at least points up a principle that is touched on again in John chapter 12. You and I ought to be careful of our identification, or we end up being part of that which is unbiblical. Paul warned about this in I Corinthians chapter 10 from a little different perspective. As he talked about false religious activity, and in I Cor. 10:20 MNo; but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons." As He talks about false religious activity. He says that’s really the worship of demons and Christians have no part with any kind of association at all in demon worship, so there ought to be the break there, the cut-off. There ought to be the separation. Then the warning, you ought not to be provoking the Lord to jealousy by being involved in that kind of activity.

So back to John chapter 7. What is happening? Jesus Christ has presented the clarity of the truth concerning Himself, that He is the Savior. You must come and drink of Him. You must come and believe in Him to have your spiritual longings and needs met. And when you do, the Spirit now comes and takes up residence and satisfies that longing and that desire. What does that message do? When it is proclaimed that you must believe in Jesus Christ and Him alone, it divides the group, just like it divides this group. Some will say one thing, some will say another. Some will have some superficial reasons why it probably can’t be so, and will be satisfied to pursue it no further. Just like some who said, Well, He’s from Galilee not Bethlehem, that puts it on the shelf. Here a matter of eternal significance is discarded because of superficial acquaintance or misacquaintance with reality.

But, some will believe. Some of these multitudes will believe as we saw earlier. Many of the multitude believed in Him. The message of Christ will cause division. If you proclaim Him in your home, you proclaim Him among your family and your friends, those you are associated with, and it will begin to mark you off. The testimony of Christ divides and stirs opposition, and there are no people more opposed to the message of Christ than religious people.

Now one writer noted and it’s striking that this entire ministry in John chapter 7 is carried on among religious people. This is not a ministry carried on to what we would call the pagans or those we would call worshipping nature. This ministry of Christ was carried on among the most religious people of the day and you see the result. And the more religious, the more antagonized. The multitude of religious people were divided over Him. The religious leaders were set in their opposition against Him.

You and I have the privilege of hearing that message and believing. We have the privilege of believing it and then proclaiming it. We have the joy of knowing the Spirit will use that message to accomplish God’s purposes in the lives of those that it is proclaimed to. Some will believe it, and we’ll praise God for that; but some will reject it and heap insults upon us, and we ought to praise God for the privilege of being blessed by Him in that way as well. Let’s pray together.

Father, how we thank you for the greatness of the Savior that we love and serve, for the privilege of believing in Him, of worshipping Him. Lord, for the presence of the Spirit in our lives to meet every need, to be an overflowing river in every way. Lord, thank you for those who proclaimed the Word to us that the Spirit might use it in drawing us to Jesus Christ. Lord, pray that we who have believed might be instruments in whom and through whom the Spirit works in the proclamation of the truth of Jesus Christ. Father, forbid that we should be ashamed of the Gospel which is your power resulting in salvation for those who believe. Father, pray that we might not be intimidated or afraid of those who would reject us in our message, but that in love and in compassion, Lord with the desire that men and women might come to believe that we would with boldness present Jesus Christ as the One who died, who was raised from the dead because justification is available for all who believe.

For even those here this morning, Father, I pray for the Spirit’s work in their hearts and lives. Especially those who have come and have not yet believed, Lord pray that those things that would cloud the clarity of the issue might be removed that they might see that Jesus Christ is the Savior and believe in Him, for we pray in His name