Jesus Presents the Gospel In Jerusalem

Transcript

GR 359
4/11/1980
Jesus Presents the Gospel in Jerusalem
John 7:1-24
Gil Rugh

John's Gospel, chapter 7, John and the 7th chapter. After going through chapter 6 we took a few weeks to look into the subject of the sovereignty of God, which is so evident through the 6th chapter. Particularly that sovereignty in connection with salvation or the doctrine of election. In our last study together we look at the matter of our responsibility for evangelism and presenting the Gospel in light of the sovereignty of God.

Now we’re going to pick up again with our study of John in chapter 7. And it's a natural break between chapter 6 and 7 because approximately 6 months have gone by since the feeding of the five thousand, which was the miracle at the beginning of chapter 6 which was the foundation for the great discourse on Jesus as the Bread of Life, given in the 6th chapter. Six months have transpired, we can date it again by the feast. Verse 2 tells us "the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Tabernacles, was at hand." And this was a Feast that occurred in the fall of the year around our October. And this now presents the time line as 6 months before the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Now you can see something of the highlights that John has captured for us. He focuses in on one event and the subsequent discourse in chapter 6, then he skips 6 months of time and picks up with this Feast in chapter 7, 8, 9 and 10. Four chapters will be devoted to the events that occurred on a few days in connection with this Feast. So John has just skipped over broad expanses of time to zero in on a few key events under the direction of the Spirit because there’s just too much material to present and it has been selectively edited for us under the direction of the Spirit of God.

Chapters 7 and 8 of John are interesting because they present in a fuller way than any other place in the Gospel the attitude and vocal responses of the opposition to Jesus Christ. More of what people were saying about Christ are recorded in chapter 7 and 8 than any other one centralized spot of the Gospel. You get insight into how people are responding to Christ, what they are thinking of Him. And we see definite parallels to what continues today in our attitudes and actions of people.

The chapter begins, "after these things", in other words later on, no immediately after, as we’ve just noted, but months later. "Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill Him." So, this is the attitude that has continued, we’ll see it goes back to the healing of the impotent man in chapter 5, where that crystallized the opposition to Christ to the point that the Jewish leaders determined that they must kill Christ. That is the only way to put an end to His increasing popularity, the only way to put an end to His convicting message and the evidences of the truth of that message and the miracles that He did. So He is spending His time in Galilee in the northern part of Palestine up around the Sea of Galilee, rather than down in Judea where Jerusalem the capital is located. And at the capital the opposition is of course the strongest that’s where the leadership of the nation centers, the high priests, the Sanhedrin and so on, and that is where those who are going to engineer His crucifixion have their headquarters.

Then in verse 2, "Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was at hand." This is called the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles because they constructed little shelters, little leaf shelters. They made it out of leaves and branches and so on. And they’d build them on their roof or on the side of their house and they would live in this shelter for a week, 8 days really. The foundation we go back to Leviticus 23:34, we won't turn there, you can jot it down and there we’re told the details of this feast and the Jews would build these little shelters as a reminder of the time they spent in the Wilderness and God’s provision for them during the Wilderness wandering. And so for this week, for 8 days, they would live in this little leaf shelter that they had made. Everyone moved into their own little leaf shelter and it was a reminder that we had lived in this transitory kind of dwelling and God provided for us throughout our Wilderness wandering. It’s interesting, this Feast is taken in Zachariah 14 as a focal point in the millennium, this Feast will be observed and any nation that does not come up to observe this Feast in Jerusalem will be directly punished by Jesus Christ. You can read about that in Zachariah chapter 14. Another purpose of this Feast was to commemorate the harvest. Held in the fall of the year around our October as noted, and that’s harvest time, so this Feast also celebrated the harvest and God’s blessing and provision for them in the harvest. So the two went together, God’s blessing and provision and sustaining them and carrying them through the Wilderness in their wanderings and also God’s blessing and provision in sustaining them by providing the harvest. This is one of the three major Feasts in Jerusalem, it’s one of the three Feasts that demanded that all males come to Jerusalem to observe it if at all possible. Every man, every male Jew was expected to come to Jerusalem for the observance of this Feast if it was feasible in any way. So this is the occasion.
Verse 3 picks up, "His brothers therefore said to Him, 'Depart from here, and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may behold Your works which You are doing. For no one does anything in secret, when he himself seeks to be known publically. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world." It’s interesting, here we have presented the family of Jesus Christ. We know being up in the region of Galilee and Capernaum he’d be near where His home was and know His brothers are with Him, not His disciples but His half-brothers. These would be children of Mary and Joseph after the birth of Christ, Joseph not being the physical father of Jesus but the legal father. After the birth of Christ, Mary and Joseph would have had children and these would have been the half-brothers and half-sisters of Christ. Just turn over to Matthew 13 and at least we can learn the names of these men. In Matthew 13, verse 55, we read, "Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? So He had four brothers, four younger half-brothers, James, Joseph, Simon and Judas. He also had sisters, verse 56 tells us, "His sisters, are they not all with us?" Although their names are not given and we don't know how many there were but the four brothers are those in view back in John chapter 7, questioning Christ and challenging Him.

Back in John 7:3 their exhortation is "Depart from here and go into Judea that Your disciples may behold Your works which You are doing." In other words those who really do accept You and are sympathetic to You, You ought to go to Judea." 'Now it's a prime time' is what they're telling Him. 'You claim to be the Messiah.' 'You claim to be the Savior of Israel.' Now it follows that the Messiah is a public figure and a public figure in Israel ought to be presented in Judea not Galilee, and ought to be made known in Jerusalem not up here in the smaller cities in this region. 'And what more fitting time for You to present Yourself to the nation unveil Yourself before Your disciples, than at the Feast of Tabernacles when the whole nation will be assembled here and You can really get an audience.' That's what verse 4 is saying, "No one does anything in secret, when he himself seeks to be known publicly", and the Messiah seeks to be known publicly. 'You're the Messiah of the nation Israel, therefore why are you doing these things up here in secret if you are the person you claim to be.'

Now verse 5 gives an important note, "For not even His brothers were believing in Him." They are not exhorting Him to go because they believe He’s the Messiah and they want to whole nation to have the joy of knowing it. There's a little bit of sarcasm here, "If You really do these things", you note the end of verse 4, "If you really do these things, show yourself to the world." So it's a challenge to Him, 'go and make yourself known if you're really the Messiah, let's see it.' There's enough time gone by, we are 6 months away from the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. So His public ministry has gone on for over two years. What they’re saying now is that it is time that it be made public, when you present yourself.

The response of Jesus is interesting. "My time is not yet at hand; but your time is always opportune." He contrasts Himself. My time is not yet, your time any time. Your time is always opportune. In other words, it doesn’t matter when you go to Jerusalem. But it is of special importance in the timetable of God when I go. I go as the Messiah. Now if He would follow through on what the brothers want Him to do, what will be the response? Well, six months later He approaches it according to what they are recommending now. He comes into Jerusalem accompanied by His disciples and they proclaim Him—Hosanna, it’s the Son of David, it's the Messiah! What happened? Within a week the crucifixion occurs. Why? Because it cements the opposition and brings it to a head. That's what Jesus is saying in verse 6. "My time is not yet at hand."
He knows what that kind of activity will do. It would accelerate the events that the Jews have settled themselves on, and He knows God's timetable. And it's not time for the crucifixion. When it's time for the crucifixion, He will present Himself with the greatest open public display when He marches into Jerusalem, riding on the colt, acclaimed the Messiah, and that brings the Jews to the point that the crucifixion must occur now. We can't tolerate it any longer. Jesus says it's not time for that. Your time, there's always opportunity. It won't make any difference whether His brothers go to the feast today or tomorrow, it's no big deal. But He's the Messiah and it's especially significant in the timetable of God.

Now He gives them a little elaboration here which is very crucial. "The world cannot hate you; but it hates Me, because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil." In other words, their time is always opportune because there is no opposition to them. There's going to be no fuss about them no matter when they go to the feast. But the world hates Christ, and so there is going to be special significance of when He comes and how He comes. The world cannot hate you. Why? Verse 5—not even His brothers were believing in Him. They belonged to the world. They fit in the world. They are part of the world. There's no opposition there. The world loves its own. BUT, the world hates Christ. Why? "I testify of it, that its deeds are evil."

This emphasis is repeated several times in the New Testament—that those who are identified with Christ will experience the same kind of opposition that Christ did. Look over in John chapter 15. This is in the midst of a discourse given on the last night before the crucifixion of Christ, and Christ is preparing His disciples for the time when He will not be here. And one of those things which are sure for them is the opposition and hatred of the world. And so in verse 18, He reminds them: "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." Remember what Jesus said? You can expect to be hated. "Therefore the world hates you." The world hated Me before it hated you, and it's enough for a servant to be like his master. The reason the world hates you? You don't belong to the world. The world loves its own. The world loves those that belong to the world. That's why Jesus said the world doesn't hate you—they belong to the world. They are not believers. The brothers of Christ do not become believers until after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But Jesus said, "I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." Now, it's important to recognize that. Every person who is here who is a believer in Jesus Christ is hated by the world. This is why John writes over in I John chapter 3, "Do not marvel my brethren if the world hates you." John says 'Don't be amazed if the world hates you. That's not amazing. That's perfectly consistent. You don't belong to the world, you don't fit in the world. You've been chosen out of the world, therefore it's natural that the world hates you.'

Go over to James chapter 4, and it’s interesting. This book, James, was written by the half-brother of Jesus. That James that we read of in Matthew 13:55, who would have been one of those challenging Christ in John chapter 7. One of those who would have heard Jesus say ’The world doesn’t hate you, the world hates Me.’ Now James has become a believer in Jesus as the Messiah, the Savior; and note what James writes in James chapter 4, verse 4: "You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." So you note, there is no middle ground. In John 15 Jesus said ’I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.' And those that are loved by the world are the enemies of God. There is no neutral ground. I am either the enemy of the world or I am the enemy of God. But I cannot walk in the middle, and Jesus is talking about those who think they can walk in the middle. You know, walk with one arm around the world and one arm around God, and on we go to heaven and isn’t it glorious. James says it’s not glorious, that’s adultery. In fact, what he says here is very strong. "If you are the friend of the world, you are the enemy of God." This ought to cause some evaluation and introspection. I have real questions on those who claim to have a relationship with Jesus Christ but have such an intimate friendship with the world. The Bible says that the friends of the world are the enemies of God, and I wonder how we who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ have fit so well into the world which hates Him. There is something incongruous about that. How can I fit so well if I really belong to Him? He says He has chosen me out of the world and the world hates me. Tell you how we sometimes do it—we go around in disguise so the world doesn’t know who we are so they won't hate us. Because we're all alike. We all like to be loved. Everybody wants to be loved. If I think I'm not going to be loved, that hurts. And we tend to adjust our conduct in light of how people will respond to us. And if they know that I identify with Jesus Christ and His message, they may not like
me so well so I try to mute that identification. And James says that makes you an adulteress because when you play up to the world, you're being unfaithful to God. Now that's a serious, serious situation that God would say I'm being unfaithful when I try to play up to the world so the world will like me. You know the only way the world can like me? If I deceive the world into not knowing who I really am. Because Jesus says they hate me because I belong to Him. The world hates me because He has chosen me out of the world, but I try to go around in disguise and maybe the world won't hate me so much.

Go back to John chapter 7. Note what Jesus says in verse 7, "The world hates me..." Why? "Because I testify that its deeds are evil." You know why they hated Christ? He told them that they were sinners. He told them they were under condemnation in rebellion against God, and when He testified against the world, the world hated Him. Know why the world doesn't hate us? We don't say anything. This speaks myriads about those who say 'Well, I don't say anything. My life is the testimony.' The testimony of what? That you're a good Mormon? They have every bit as good a life, probably, as most believers. At least in externals. What is your life saying? Your life better be good. Your life better be biblical, but it says nothing if it's not wedded to a verbal testimony. You know why the world will hate us as believers? We speak against the world. You know what we try to do to mute the hatred? We shut up. All I need to encourage me in my witnessing is to be told my neighbor's going to hate me when I'm done. It's hard enough to witness, and now you tell me that as soon as I tell them—you know, invite them over for a cup of coffee, go out and talk to your neighbor while he trims his hedge, and you tell him. You know, I just thought it was important that you know, we've been living together for a number of months or years next door to each other, and I have never shared with you something of utmost importance. That God says you are a sinner and in your sinful condition you are destined to spend eternity in hell. Unless you believe in Jesus Christ, there is no hope for you. Find out what kind of reaction you get when he says, Wait a minute, you don't understand. I'm Catholic. or, I'm Lutheran, or Baptist, or Presbyterian or you fill in the blank. You say, Yes, I can appreciate that but did you know Catholics are going to hell, and Baptists are going to hell, and Presbyterians are going to hell. The only people not going to hell are those who have come to believe in Jesus Christ. Then find out how many friends you have. You say you can't do that because you have to live next to that guy for the next ten years. I can't afford to move. What do you want me to do, move from neighborhood to neighborhood? Make enemies here, and move out, move out, move out? No. God never told us to move out. Every place you go you're going to be surrounded by the enemy because the world hates you. The world hates me, but I need to be careful that I don't play down the division that is there because I'm afraid they won't like me. How are the people you work with going to respond? It amazes me that people can work in the same place, month after month and year after year and no one there still knows about Jesus Christ. You know why we don't do it? We rationalize. That's why it's easier to witness to strangers than to those you know. It's easier for me to witness on an airplane than it is for me to witness to my neighbor because I get off at the airport and he go his way and I go my way, and he lives in California and I live in Nebraska, and praise the Lord. Who cares if he hates me? But you know what? When you witness to that person you've got to see tomorrow on the job, or you witness to that person so that when you go out in the back yard they're going to say 'Oh, No!' Then I begin to what? I get a little tense. That's why it's hard to witness to your relatives. Now what's this going to do to the family gathering? You're going to be excluded. But, doesn't that pretty well narrow down? Things haven't changed much, have they? The world is still the world. The world still hates Jesus Christ. The world still hates it when Jesus Christ is manifest through you and through me. So I try to put a veil over that so they won't see Christ so clearly. So they won't hear. You know, Jesus could have been much more popular if He just hadn't said so much. If He had talked less about those things which arouse such great animosity. But they're the only things of eternal importance. The world hates it. This is one of the problems I have with the emphasis on 'positiveness' today. The biblical message is negative. When you talk about sin, you're talking about a negative message. There's no positive way to tell a person he's a vile, corrupt, filthy, wretched sinner on his way to hell. That's negative! There is a positive side to it and that's the solution in Jesus Christ. But we need to be careful. We want to be so positive, and we say why do they have to be so negative? They have to be so negative because they're biblical. There's no way to tell a person about their sin except to tell them they're sinners, and you can start out by saying, God loves you and has a plan for your life. But that's all cover, that's all fog. Now let's get to the root of the problem. Let's get to the basic issue. The basic issue is that you are a sinner, and that's it. And the world will hate you for it. It will hate me. We walk about Mission: Imperative. We talk about reaching every person in this city with the gospel of Jesus Christ. I wonder, how am I going to stand to live here? You're going to make enemies, but it's enough for us to be like our Master. It's enough for us if the world hates Him, I expect it to hate me because I want to be just like Him. I want it to be His character, His message being manifest through me. So if the world should treat me like it treated Him, I would expect that that would be normal.

You know, we sometimes think our testimony has been a failure when people get angry or when people respond negatively. Probably the most effective testimonies that you have ever given have resulted in people slamming the door on you, or getting angry with you. Now I realize I go the other way, and we think of so and so who was such an abrasive clod that he would offend people if he never said anything! But I am also reminded that Jesus Christ was the most effective personal worker there ever was and He offended everyone. So if lack of offense is the mark of a good testimony, Jesus Christ doesn't need it. I rather think that being offensive is the mark of an effective testimony and I am rather please—and I hate to say this, and somebody is going to misunderstand me—but I am rather pleased when I present Jesus Christ and someone is offended, because it is a good sign that it must have hit a nerve. So I am more pleased when they believe it, and I am just put in a dither when they don’t respond anyway. A negative response is a good response because at least the impact of the message has been made clear. If they hate it, it's a good sign they recognize what's being said. At least to an extent. And it's a chance for the Spirit to use it.
So in verse 8, Jesus says " to up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come.' And having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee." So it's not My time, I'm not going to this feast. Problem. Verse 8. "I do not go up to this feast..." Verse 10. "When his brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly..." First He says He's not going, then He turns around and goes. Did He deceive them? I think not, obviously, since Jesus Christ couldn't be deceitful. But what He is saying is that He is not going up to observe this feast, and He doesn't. He goes up when the feast is half over. You were supposed to come for the beginning and stay for the feast, for the 8 days. He will not do that. He does not go to observe the feast. He goes up when the feast is half over to carry on a particular ministry, but not to be part of the feast or observe this particular feast. So He's not going up with them.

"When His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as it were, in secret." Now don't get the idea that Jesus put on a disguise or that He snuck in at night, or that He's in this city but He's hiding out. No, He goes right to the temple and carries on a teaching session. So He's not hiding, but He went up secretly in that He did not go up with the openness and the display of being accompanied by all His disciples, so that everyone would say 'Here comes the great teacher. Here comes that One who claims to be the Messiah.' He's just arriving at the city, and with the fanfare that would be associated with that—He just went up in the middle of the feast after all the festivities are underway. Everybody is busy about the feast, and then He just quietly walks into the temple and begins to teach. And there is much grumbling among the multitudes. Not grumbling in the negative sense, but this under current of mumbling, of discussion. No open discussion as we'll see in a moment.

The multitudes were talking about him; "some were saying, 'He is a good man;' others were saying, 'No, on the contrary, He leads the multitude astray.’" So here you begin to get some insight into what people are thinking, and here you have not believers versus unbelievers but you have two groups of unbelievers. Some who are sympathetic and some who are not. Some said He's a good man but they have missed the point. You know, out of these two groups, those who say He's a good man and those who say He leads the multitudes astray, those who are most consistent are those who say He leads the multitudes astray. How can you say He is a good man if you have any perception of what's going on? He claims to be the Son of God, He claims to be the Messiah, the Savior of the nation! Now that's the issue. If He's not that, He's certainly not a good man because He is a horrible liar! He's some kind of fanatic claiming to be the Son of God. You would call such a man who makes such claims a good man? You could have a man come up and stand on this platform and claim I'm the Son of God, the Messiah of Israel, the Savior of the world, and say oh, he's a good man? Obviously not! He would be a horrible man. So these people miss the point altogether. Just like the average religious person today. They think Jesus Christ was a good man! They have nice things to say about Jesus Christ. Those are the people who haven't perceived the issues at all. They are in a cloud. They don't even know what the issues are yet. He's a good man—that's not one of the issues. The issue is, is He the Messiah, Savior, Son of God? or, is He leading the multitudes astray by saying He's something He's not?

"No one was speaking openly of Him for fear of the Jews." Important statement. This is why they are grumbling, meaning they are speaking in mumbling tones. There is this under current. No one wants to come out on one position or the other because they are afraid of the Jews—the Jews here meaning the Jewish leadership. The Jews here referring to leadership because these would all be Jews here in this discussion. But fear of the Jews as the leading body.

"But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and began to teach." So you see He's not trying to be secretive. He's just not going with open display.” ‘The Jews therefore were marveling saying, 'How has this man become learned, having never been educated?'" He had not set under the formal teaching of any of the great rabbis. "Jesus therefore answered them, and said, 'My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.'" There was no admiration at this point in time for those who originated new thoughts, but only for those who were communicating the thoughts of great teachers. And Jesus says I am in that line. I haven't been educated by one of the great rabbis, but My teaching is not Mine; it's His who sent Me. Of course referring to God His Father.

So He says in verse 17, "If any man is willing to do His will, He shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from Myself." Important statement here. There will be those who know the truth of my statement. Now note, He doesn't say 'Evaluate it on these objective criteria.' Those who are willing to do the will of God, recognize the teaching. Those who aren't, won't. And it becomes rather subjective, from the standpoint that you cannot put out these five standards of criteria for truth. Those who are going to recognize it are those who are willing to do God's will. Those who aren't willing to do God's will won't recognize it.

A couple of passages say the same thing. Look over in John 8:47. "He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God." Look over in I John chapter 4, written by the same author as the Gospel of John. Verse 6 of I John 4, "We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error." Note that. People say 'Boy, that's subjective.' The one who speaks according to this book, who agrees with what God says in His Word, is also born of God.

Those who do not believe what God says in His Word, do not know God. This is the dividing line. This is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. People often get upset when you say some people are not going to heaven. They get more upset when you specify who some of those are! But you know, all it is, is recognizing what God says. We know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. How can you know it? If they are in agreement with the Word of God, they are of the truth. If they are not, they are in error. God has rendered the judgment, all we do is pass it along. Just like when the Supreme Court of this country has passed judgment on an issue, then we simply act in light of their judgment. And pass it on. You cannot do this, or you can do this. The Supreme Court has passed judgment on the issue. Well, some people are going to heaven and some people are going to hell. God, the Supreme Judge, has passed judgment. We're simply passing on what He has said. If they are in accord with the Word of God, there is truth. If they're not, they're not of the truth. That's how you measure them. So I know that Mormons are not of the truth because what they proclaim is not in accord with the Word of God. How do I know Jehovah Witnesses are not of the truth? Because what they proclaim is not in accord with the truth of God. And on and on and on. The Word of God is the standard. So those willing to do the will of God, those submissive to the truth of God respond to it. And that's in evidence. This is another indication that ought to be taken under consideration, that there is a concern that those who claim to belong to God, claim to have a relationship with Jesus Christ but there's no evidence of the Word of God at work in their life. It's not just hearing the sound of the Word. Everybody here is listening to what Jesus is saying in John 7, but He's talking about those who are willing to do the will of His Father. They'll know the truth. I have real question and real concern about those who claim to be believers in Jesus Christ and to have a relationship with God but there is no evidence of the Word of God at work in their life. I wonder, are they really of the truth? Or are they like the multitudes here who hear what is said but it makes no impact on their life? Those who really believe the truth, recognize the truth of God, will have the Word of God working in their life.

Sometimes we as elders in discussing situations in this body and different individuals in this body, or we'll talk about so and so...we have a burden for them, we pray for them. Because there is no evidence of the Word of God at work in their life. In spite of the fact that they've been here for years, there is no evidence that the Word of God is working in their life. We have no foundation to say that they are really believers. We need to be praying for them, look for the opportunity to sit down and talk with them about this basic issue. If the Word of God is not at work in your life, there is no evidence that you really belong to Him. So you need to examine yourself and see whether you really be in the faith. Are you responding? Is this book alive? Is it real? Is the Spirit using it to transform and change our lives? If not, something is really wrong. I think we ought to start at first base and ask, Am I really a believer in Jesus Christ? Will you pass it off, 'Well, I just don't have the interest in spiritual things? I'm a carnal Christian and that gives me the freedom to go on until I change different.' I think many are hiding under the guise of carnal Christians they're going to find out when they stand before the judgment that they're not Christians. I'm not saying there aren't carnal Christians. But I think a lot of those who are hiding as carnal Christians are non-Christians in disguise. If you can call a carnal Christian disguised as anything.

Alright. Back in John 7. MHe who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the one who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him." The one who speaks from himself seeks his own glory, and that's true. A person who speaks from himself, is just trying to glorify himself. How many people want to tell you what they think about God? I don't think there's a hell, as though it mattered what they thought. But they are pumping themselves up—oh, no, God wouldn't do that. How do you know? Well, I just know. That's a way of pumping ourselves up. He who speaks from himself glorifies himself as though he had great supernatural insight, that someone could tell you what God is like, tell you what God does, tell you whether there is heaven or there is a hell—that's just a way of elevating themselves. Jesus said, I don't speak from myself; I speak from the One who sent Me. "He who is seeking the glory of the one who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him." Now you note, Jesus claims to be perfect truth and perfect righteousness. Now He goes on to show the flaw and fallacy in their own self-righteousness.

"Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you carries out the law? Why do you seek to kill Me?" Now none of them obeyed the law, none of them carried it out perfectly, and here in a key area they want to kill Him. Now you note how self-righteous the unbeliever can be. Note what the multitude answers. "You have a demon!" Now that's very striking. Jesus Christ has just accurately testified concerning their character and their condition, and the response of the multitude is 'You have a demon.' Now should we be amazed that when we testify to the world concerning their sinful condition that they should look at us and say you're crazy. You're a fanatic, you're a nut! When they would look at the Son of God and say 'You have a demon?' I should be surprised that the world would think I'm crazy, that I'm a fanatic? And why should I be intimated by what the world thinks? Why should I hold back my testimony concerning the real character of that person because I'm afraid that they’ll think I'm like Jesus Christ? That should cause me shame? Amazing! You know we are crazy sometimes as Christians because we go around trying to disguise ourselves, pretending to be something we're not. We are nuts as far as the world is concerned! And when I try to appear normal to the world, they'll say I'm crazy; and you figure that out! Here I am pretending to be normal in the world's evaluation! I'm not really—I'm a kook! Now some people are really going to AMEN this when they hear it, I know! But we are! We're totally out of step. What do they say? You testify that we're sinners, that we don't keep the law of Moses, you must have a demon. You say that we would want to kill you? How could you say such a thing? Now, everybody knew that's what the Jews had in mind. Read verse 13 - "No one was speaking openly of Him for fear of the Jews." But when they are confronted by their actual condition, oh how could you say such a thing? And you say, can the unbeliever be so wretchedly deceitful? They are just portraying how sinful they really are. You point out to the unbeliever how sinful he really is—me, in rebellion against God? How could you say that? You must be crazy!
You don't really know me!

"Why do you seek to kill Me?" Who seeks to kill you? Everybody knows who seeks to kill Him! The leadership of Israel. "Jesus answered and said to them, 'I did one deed and you all marvel." Now note that. This one deed goes back to John chapter 5, that's when He healed the impotent man. And that man was healed on the Sabbath, and because Jesus violated their religious tradition that crystalized the opposition to the point that at that time the Jewish leaders determined they would have Him killed. That's what He's referring to when He says 'I did one deed and you marvel.' Now it's important to note that what really crystalized the opposition, remember we referred to this, is the fact that He went against their religious tradition. And I'm concerned that we as Christians have been duped into a soft compromised Christianity. In other words, it’s alright that I say that I believe in Jesus Christ as long as I don't offend Roman Catholics. It's alright that I say that I believe in Jesus Christ as long as I don't offend the Protestants, and don't offend the Jews, and there are pitifully few people left to offend in the Western world. If we're not careful, we have a compromised Christianity that offends no one. And Jesus offended them because He violated their religious traditions. And I need to be careful when I'm taking a stand for Jesus Christ, making clear what the gospel is, that this is inconsistent with what they are trusting in because they can go away with the confused idea that 'Oh yes, that's exactly what I believe.' It is important for me to make clear to a Roman Catholic that we do not believe the same thing. That the Mass is an affront to biblical Christianity, that it is directly contrary to what the Bible teaches about salvation. It is important that that protestant person know that their good works system—it is not enough to mouth 'Yes I believe in Jesus Christ'—they must recognize the conflict and then you will find out. It's one thing to say yes, I believe in Jesus Christ, I've trusted Him. Oh yes, we believe that too. But do you know that what you believe is in direct conflict with what the Word of God says on this subject? That there's something wrong; you came to believe in Him, but your system denies Him in what it does over here? And then we begin to make enemies because no one is so offended as someone who is told that their religious activity is not biblical.

So I think we need to be as clear and as strong as Jesus Christ was in His confronting people, that we don't let people have the mistaken idea that there is some kind of similarity in our systems. There is no similarity between the average Protestant system, the average Catholic system or Jewish system or any other system and Biblical Christianity. It is unique and contrary to all men's ideas. It's a salvation in the matter of personal faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and that ALONE! And if I'm part of a system that is denying that by its activity, I'd better get out of it or I'd better be willing to speak against it in my testimony.

Now note, here's an example. "On this account Moses has given you circumcision (not because it is from Moses, but from the fathers)..." In other words, they had circumcision 500 years before Moses, Abraham had that from God. "...on the Sabbath you circumcise a man. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath that the Law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath?" In other words, here's an example. On the Sabbath, do nothing. But the Law of Moses said to circumcise that baby on the eighth day. Now what happens of the eighth day falls on Sabbath? Then I have the Law saying do nothing on the Sabbath, and I have the Law saying circumcise that baby on the Sabbath? You know what they did? They violated the Sabbath. They went ahead and circumcised that baby because they said it was more important to circumcise that baby and follow the command of the Law to circumcise on the eighth day than it was to follow the Law and do nothing on the Sabbath. Now Jesus says, what's the problem? I healed a man on the Sabbath, is that a conflict? You do this one act to bring a man in one area into conformity with what God says he ought to be and I made him a whole man, well, on the Sabbath and that offends you? So He concludes, "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." Righteous judgment is that judgment according to the Word. Note He doesn't say 'Don't judge' like so many pious people say. "Judge not that you be not judged." I am convinced that every time I confront a person who quotes that Scripture to me I am confronting an unbeliever. "Judge not that you be not judged." I have to say that they don't understand anything at this point if they don't understand that. Jesus here says 'Judge, but judge with righteous judgment, not with appearance.' In other words, I just discern on the basis of what the Word of God says, and the validity of your system and activity and my system and activity is determined not on what men think but on what God says. And I think you have a right to judge me, but you must judge me in light of the Word of God. And that determines the validity or lack of validity in what I believe and what I teach.

So what has Jesus done? He’s confronted again. Ever note that wherever Jesus goes He makes enemies? Now this was surely not the most effective way to win friends in Jerusalem at the feast. But He must present to them the truth. Now you're here, and you've heard. And I don't know what your attitude toward Jesus Christ is, but I challenge you to consider His claim that He says that He is the Savior that can cleanse you from your sin if you believe in Him. If you are here and you are a believer, do you really stand clear for Him? To those who live around you, those you work with, those you come in contact with, is it clear what you believe? Are you clearly identified with Jesus Christ, not only in your life style but in what you say? Do people recognize that you belong to Him? Are you prepared to have enemies because of your identification with Jesus Christ? Does He mean more to you than those that you associate with in the world? Let's pray together.

Father, how easy it is to be intimidated by those who are nothing before You. Lord, help us as your people, as those who have believed in Jesus Christ,to be bold and courageous, not to be intimidated by the world; Father, keep us from being loved by the world. May we be so clear and so firm, so open in our identification with Jesus Christ in the proclamation in the message of salvation from sin by faith in Him, Father, that there is no mistaking who we belong to. Lord, keep us from committing spiritual adultery; Lord, from being in love with the world and having the world be in love with us. Father, may we be in love with you and stand against the world and with Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray