Bible Text: John 8:21-30 | Pastor: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: John |

04-22-2018

Children of God vs Children of Satan?

John 8:21-30

Last week we read Jesus saying (John 8:32), “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” His declaration here brought clarity to John 8:24, “unless you believe that I am (the one I claim to be), you will indeed die in your sins.” To die in your sins means to die apart from the salvation that has come through Jesus Christ.

Sermon Notes:

Last week we read Jesus saying (John 8:32), “you will know the truth, and the truth will
set you free.” His declaration here brought clarity to John 8:24, “unless you believe that
I am (the one I claim to be), you will indeed die in your sins.” To die in your sins means
to die apart from the salvation that has come through Jesus Christ.
Most likely we will all die one day, the most important thing we can do in this life is to
believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, for in doing so, we receive forgiveness for
sins and eternal life, meaning, we won’t “die in [our] sins.” Jesus would later proclaim
(John 11:25-26), “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live,
even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die.”
Read John 8:33-34… What an odd response to Jesus’ proclamation that those who
believe in and follow Him will know the truth [of God] and will therefore be free. As I
mentioned, in my opening refresher on last week’s lesson, Jesus is talking about being
set free from sin’s penalty, by believing that He is the Messiah and receiving Him as
God’s Son, Savior.
The Jews answer Him by saying that as Abraham’s descendants they are free and
have never been enslaved, so why would they need to be free.
But their protest is simply not true, for they have been enslaved by Egypt, Assyria,
Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Syria and now Rome, so they must not be referring to
political slavery [i.e., occupation by a Gentile nation] but it would seem they are talking
about spiritual slavery [serving pagan gods], because as Abraham’s descendants they
claim to serve the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Jews believed their religious rituals and relationship to Abraham made them
acceptable, even united with God; but they are sinners in need of the Savior’s
forgiveness just like the Gentiles who aren’t descendants of Abraham.
Jesus’ response (verse 34) is classic: Everyone who sin’s is a slave to sin, and as
the Scriptures repeatedly state, everyone is guilty of sin, no one is acceptable to God on
their own merit (cf. Romans 3:10-12; 3:23; 6:23).
The only way for sinners to be released from their slavery to sin and it’s curse, is to
be united with God through Christ’s death and resurrection (see Romans 6:1-7, 11-14);
only through Christ can a person become spiritually and eternally free from the
condemnation of sin. The reality is, every conscious person is either serving sin, and is
controlled by the flesh; or they are serving God, and are controlled by God’s Spirit.
Read John 8:35-36… The Israelites would no doubt consider themselves to be sons in
the house of God, not slaves. Sons have permanent rights in the house of their father,
where as slaves do not, unless of course they are adopted into the family and granted
the rights of sonship.
Do you see? It is through the Son of God that one moves from slavery to sin, which
brings condemnation, to sonship, adoption into God’s household, which brings reward
and inheritance (see Romans 8:1-2, 6-9, 15-16).
The truth is, it is only those who believe in, confess and follow Jesus Christ as the
Son of God who are genuine sons of God; it doesn’t matter, quite frankly, whether or not
one descended from Abraham.
See Matthew 12:46-50… Only those who do the Father’s will are truly children of
God, believers, followers and servants of the Lord Jesus Christ (see John 6:28-29;
20:29-31; 1John 5:1-5).
Read John 8:37-38… Jesus continues to unveil the truth concerning the Jews
relationship with God, clearly Jesus says they cannot assume that as biological
descendants of Abraham they are guaranteed sonship in God’s kingdom; after all, they
not only reject, but are seeking to kill God’s Son.
Ancestral descent from Abraham and physical circumcision through the covenant
God made with Abraham does not make one right with God (see Romans 2:17-18,
23-29; 9:6, 27; Galatians 3:6-14).
The Jews speaking to Christ in John 8 clearly reject the teaching Jesus is giving
them; instead of receiving Him and obeying Him as Abraham did, they reject Him and
His message. These Jews are not children of God, they don’t really know God, neither
are they willing to believe in and receive God’s Only Son.
John 8:19, “They asked Jesus, ‘Where is your father?’ ‘You do not know Me or My
Father,’ Jesus replied. ‘If you knew Me, you would know My Father also.’”
Read John 8:39-41a… Abraham was a man of faith (Genesis 15:6), “Abram believed
the LORD, and He credited it to him as righteousness,” (Genesis 26:5), “Abraham
obeyed Me and kept My requirements, My commands, My decrees and My laws.”
Being made acceptable to a Holy God, cannot be ascertained through religious
rituals, moral goodness or ancestral inheritance; but only through Christ (cf. Acts 2:21;
4:12; John 14:6; see Galatians 3:26-29).
Instead of believing in and obeying God, as Abraham had, these Jews show, by their
words and deeds, that they are not sons of either Abraham or God, for they not only
reject God’s Son, they want to kill Him (cf. John 5:18; 7:19; 8:37).
Read John 8:41b-47… These Jews respond harshly to Jesus’ statement that they are
not sons of Abraham, they vehemently remark that they were not conceived through
some sinful act of fornication, but their father is God!
Note: It would seem that their indignation at Jesus remark brings a retaliatory implying
that Jesus’ birth, unlike their own, was illegitimate [i.e., no earthy father,
born to a virgin] (cf. 8:48).
Jesus now (verse 42) removes all doubt from what He earlier implied in John 8:38,
41. Jesus came from the Father in heaven to show and to speak what the Father has
given Him to speak. They do not understand what He is saying, because their Father
the devil, was a murderer and liar from the beginning (see John 8:43-44).
Jesus is speaking here about the Garden of Eden, in the very beginning, when
Satan tempted Adam and Eve through lies and deception (cf. Genesis 3:1-7), saying
that God had lied to them, that they would not die when they disobeyed and they ate the
fruit, but instead, they would be like God, knowing good and evil. And so the curse of
sin entered our world.
Satan is the father of lies, the Jews show themselves to be his children; the devil’s
native language is lying; no wonder the Jews can’t understand nor accept what Jesus is
telling them, for He speaks the truth (see John 8:45).
The Son of God only speaks the truth, He is the truth; there is nothing false or
deceitful in Him, He is sinless. In John 8:46, Jesus’ challenges them to prove Him
guilty of any sin, which of course they cannot do.
2Corinthians 5:21 says Jesus “had no sin,” Hebrews 4:15 says He was “without
sin,” Hebrews 7:26 says Jesus was “holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners,” and
1Peter 2:22 says He “committed no sin.”
The Jews couldn’t prove Jesus guilty of anything, yet they still wouldn’t believe Him
[Gk. Jesus, Heb. Yeshua = God’s Salvation]; therefore, as Jesus earlier told them, they
would indeed die in their sins because of unbelief.
Back in John 5:25, Jesus declared to them, “I tell you the truth, a time is coming and
has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear
will live.” Spiritual deafness among the Jews was rampant and the ultimate
consequence is (John 8:47), “He who belongs to God hears what God says. The
reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”
Children of God spend eternity with God in heaven. Children of Satan spend
eternity with Satan in hell. Where you spend eternity, is determined by how you
respond to Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Lord and Savior.
1John 5:11-13, “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in
his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not
have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that
you may know that you have eternal life.”

Pastor Mike
<‘(((><

Bible Text: John 8:24-32 | Pastor: Pastor Mike | Series: John |

04-15-2018

The Truth Will Set you Free!

John 8:24-32

In John 8:24, Jesus says to the crowd, “unless you believe that I am, you will indeed die in your sins.”

The Hebrew theonym [name for God] is written with four letters [tetragrammaton], expressed in Latin as YHWH which is transliterated [spoken] as Yahweh. But most orthodox Jews would never pronounce this name, instead, they would substitute one of several Hebrew terms that are expressed in English as The Holy One, Blessed Be He, The Lord, The Name.

Sermon Notes:

In John 8:24, Jesus says to the crowd, “unless you believe that I am, you will
indeed die in your sins.”
The Hebrew theonym [name for God] is written with four letters
[tetragrammaton], expressed in Latin as YHWH which is transliterated [spoken] as
Yahweh. But most orthodox Jews would never pronounce this name, instead, they
would substitute one of several Hebrew terms that are expressed in English as The
Holy One, Blessed Be He, The Lord, The Name.
Everyone who rejects God’s Son will go to hell when they physically die;
everyone who believes in and receives Christ as Lord, will go to heaven when they
physically die (2Corinthians 5:8), “We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be
away from the body and at home with the Lord.”
Read John 8:25-30… These Jews had received more than enough proof that Jesus
came from God the Father to do His will; in fact, Jesus repeatedly made it clear that
He was the Messiah (See Luke 4:16-21).
These religious leaders (John 8:27) “don’t understand that [Jesus] is telling
them about His Father,” even though Jesus already told them that the Father is the
One who sent Him (see John 8:16-18).
Scripture is clear, the Father’s plan was to send His Son to release us from sin’s
penalty/condemnation.
John 3:16, “For God [the Father] so loved the world that He gave His one and only
Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:18, “Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not
believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of
God’s one and only Son.”
Jesus made full payment, for our sins, so that we would not have to be punished
in hell for eternity; but instead, we would be granted life eternal through His death
and resurrection (Romans 3:23; 6:23, 5:8).
2Corinthians 5:21, “God made Him [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so
that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Again (John 8:28), “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will
know that I am,” i.e., you will know that I am [who I have been claiming to be],
the One who came from the Father, to die for the sins of all people (Hebrews
9:26), “Christ has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin
by the sacrifice of Himself.” (see Hebrews 10:1-10).
All those who repent, believing and following Christ, are granted eternal life, and
even though they will most likely die physically, they can never die spiritually, in
other words, Christians don’t remain dead.
John 11:25-26, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live,
even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die.”
God provides temporary physical life [Gr. bios] to everyone on earth; but He
provides eternal spiritual life [zoe] to all who believe in His Son, for we are (John
1:13), “born of God,” (John 3:8), “born of the Spirit.”
The Son of God [The Word of God, John 1:1-2] is One with [equal to] the
Father, yet He was submissive to the Father while in human flesh (John 8:29),
Jesus says, “I always do what pleases Him [The Father].”
John 8:30 says, “Even as He [Jesus] spoke, many [of those in the crowd] put
their faith [belief] in Him.”
We are all going to die physically, some day; but if you die rejecting Jesus Christ
as Lord and Savior, you “die in your sins” to awaken condemned by God in Hell!
But, there is a way to reconcile our sinful nature with the Holy, Righteous and
Just God of Creation; for Jesus turns no one away, He forgives anyone and
everyone who repents of their sin and believes in Him for salvation.
Jesus loves you and has a marvelous plan for your life here on earth, and your
life in heaven.
Jeremiah 29:11-14, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD,
‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You
will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.”
Romans 10:9-10, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in
your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your
heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess
and are saved.”
Read John 8:31-32… To believe in is to have faith in Him; belief and faith in
Jesus Christ sets us free; but not all belief is equal to saving faith.
These Jews (verse 31) who are said to have “believed in Him,” are later, in this
chapter (cf. 8:37-47) said to be children of the devil, not of God.
Believing certain facts does not equate to saving faith. James 2:17 says, “faith
by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” In fact, in verse 18 James
writes, “But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds.’ Show me your faith
without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.”
In the parable of the sower (Luke 8:13), the rocky soil is said to be those who
“receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe
for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.”
Genuine faith will produce a changed life; not like the Jews in John 8:31a,
whose “belief” was shallow and so they fell away, like those John speaks of in
1John 2:19, “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if
they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going
showed that none of them belonged to us.”
A born-again relationship with Jesus Christ sets us free from sin’s curse, while
removing any threat of eternal judgement because of sin (Romans 8:1),
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of
sin and death.”
Grace and truth comes through Jesus Christ to everyone who repents of sin and
submits to the Lordship of Christ (honoring and obeying God’s Word).
Romans 6:18-22, “You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to
righteousness. I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural
selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to
ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading
to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of
righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now
ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free
from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness,
and the result is eternal life.”
To die in your sins (John 8:24) is to die apart from the free gift of forgiveness
and eternal life that has come through Jesus Christ, for He is (John 14:6) “the way
and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through [Him].”
Jesus is the Word of God, the living, revealed, and eternal Word of God. When
you believe in and confess Him as Lord and Savior, you (John 8:32) “will know the
truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Pastor Mike
<‘(((><

Bible Text: John 8:21-30 | Pastor: Pastor Mike | Series: John |

03-04-2018

Dying In Your Sins?

John 8:21-30

Read John 8:21-22… Jesus is going away soon, in fact, in about 6 months He will be put to death for our sins and He will be buried, but three days later He will come out of the tomb, alive, show Himself to His followers over a period of forty days, then He will go back into heaven to be with the Father.

All who die in their sins, i.e., without receiving forgiveness for their sins, will not go to heaven, where He is. Jesus had previously told these people (John 7:33) that He would be going back to be with the One who had sent Him (cf. John 1:14). Hebrews 1:3b, “After He [Jesus] had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty [God the Father] in heaven.”

Notice (John 8:22), the Jews remark, “Will He kill Himself?” The religious leaders’ sarcasm is telling, for they have been plotting to kill Jesus ever since they became aware of what He was doing and what was being said about Him, e.g., John the Baptist (John 1:34), Nathanael (John 1:49), Nicodemus (John 3:2)

Jesus Himself declared He was the Messiah (John 4:25-26), Son of God (John 5:25-27), giver of eternal life (John 6:38-40), acquitter of sinners (John 8:10-11), the Revealing Light of God (John 8:12).

In John 8:21 Jesus is clearly speaking about His own death. The Jews (John 8:22) imply that He is saying He is going to kill Himself, “Is that why He says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come.’” The Jews believed anyone committing suicide would go to hell, to “the darkest place in Hades” (Josephus, The Wars of the Jews, III, VIII. 5).

The self-righteous Pharisees believed they were going to heaven, because of their ancestral heritage from Abraham [their father]; therefore, of course they can’t, neither would they want to, go where this Jesus will end up if He kills Himself.

Jesus is going to die alright, and it will definitely be by His own authority (cf. John 10:17-18), but it will not be by His own hand (cf. Acts 2:23).

These religious leaders are not going to believe in or receive this Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah (cf. John 1:11). Jesus tells them (John 8:21), “I am going away, and you will die in your in sin; you will not be able to come where I am going.”
Read John 8:23-24… Jesus is from heaven, the scribes and Pharisees are of the earth, the world [Gr. kosmos], which here refers to all that opposes God, all that is controlled by the devil and by sinful flesh.
John 2:15-16, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world [kosmos] – the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does – comes not from the Father but from the world.”

Everything in the world was created, but Jesus [The Word of God], is the Creator of all that has been made (cf. John 1:1-3).

Back in John 8:21 Jesus tells the Jews they will die in their sin. Here (John 8:24) Jesus tells them, the reason they will die in their sins is because they reject the Savior who came from the Father, i.e., the ultimate sin, bringing eternal judgment, is not believing in God’s Son (cf. John 16:9).
John 3:18, “Whoever believes in Him [Jesus] is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s One and Only Son.” 36, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”

In John 6:28, the people asked Jesus, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Meaning, what must we do to be right with God, to be saved, to go to heaven? Jesus answers them in John 6:29, “The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.”

Wow! In John 8:24, Jesus says to the crowd, “unless you believe that I am, you will indeed die in your sins.”

The Hebrew theonym [name for God] is written with four letters [tetragrammaton], expressed in Latin as YHWH which is transliterated [spoken] as Yahweh. But most orthodox Jews would never pronounce this name, instead, they would substitute one of several Hebrew terms that are expressed in English as The Holy One, Blessed Be He, The Lord, The Name.

Everyone who rejects God’s Son will go to hell when they physically die; everyone who believes in and receives Christ as Lord, will go to heaven when they physically die (2Corinthians 5:8), “We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”
Read John 8:25-30… Jesus declared that those who reject Him, will die in their sins, condemned to an eternity in hell. The Jews ask Jesus, “Who are You?”
In the Pastor Mike version of this narrative, Jesus responds to the Jews saying, “You’re kidding, right? Haven’t you been paying any attention to the miracles I’ve done, to what I and others have been saying about who I am, since the very beginning?” See Luke 4:16-21…

These Jews have received more than enough proof that Jesus came from God the Father in heaven to do His will; in fact, Jesus repeatedly made it clear that what He says and does is in obedience to the Father.

But you know, these religious leaders (John 8:27) “don’t understand that [Jesus] is telling them about His Father,” even though Jesus just told them in John 8:16, 18 that the Father is the One who sent Him.

Scripture is clear, the Father’s plan was to send His Son to release us from sin’s penalty/condemnation.

John 3:16, “For God [the Father] so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Jesus made full payment to the Holy God of Creation, so that we would not have to die in our sins, but instead be granted life eternal through Him.

2Corinthians 5:21, “God made Him [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Jesus says (John 8:28), “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am,” i.e., you will know that I am [who I have been claiming to be since the beginning], the One who came from the Father, to die for the sins of all people (Hebrews 9:26), “Christ has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”

All those who repent, believe and follow Christ, are granted spiritual life eternal, and even though they die physically, they don’t remain dead.
John 11:25-26, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die.”

God provides temporary physical life [Gr. bios] to everyone on planet earth; He provides eternal spiritual life [zoe] to all who believe in His Son, those (John 1:13), “born of God,” (John 3:8), “born of the Spirit.”

The Son of God [The Word of God] is One with [equal to] the Father, yet He was submissive to the Father while in human flesh (John 8:29), Jesus says, “I always do what pleases Him [The Father].”

In John 8:30 we are told, “Even as He [Jesus] spoke, many [of those in the crowd] put their faith [belief] in Him.”

The truth is, we are all going to die physically, some day; but if you die as one who rejects Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, you will die in your sin, and you will awake to face the judgement of God in Hell!

But, you know, there is a way to reconcile your sinful and lost nature with the Holy, Righteous, Loving and Just God of Creation, Who will render both Eternal Judgement and Eternal Reward; for Jesus turns no one away, He forgives everyone who repents of their sin and believes in Him for salvation.

Please, if you have never seriously considered your relationship with God, who created the heavens and the earth and everything that is within them, take the time to do that, right here, right now.

Jesus loves you and has a marvelous plan for your life, both as a temporary resident here on earth, and as an eternal resident of heaven.
Jeremiah 29:11-14, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.”

Romans 10:9-10, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your

heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”

There is no reason for anyone to die in their sins (cf. Romans 3:10-12, 23; 6:23, 5:8; 8:1).

Admit to God that you are a sinner (we all are).
Repent [turn from your sins to God], ask Him to forgive you (He rejects no one). Confess Jesus Christ as your Lord, believing in Him as your Savior: He willfully

died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the grave on the third day, demonstrating His sovereign victory over sin, death and judgement, forever!

Read God’s Word daily and seek to obey what you understand, following Jesus as your example in this life.

Find and participate in a local Bible Believing, Teaching and Practicing Church, where you can serve alongside your brothers and sisters in Christ, in both word and deed, as if serving the Lord Himself, for He was crucified, buried, resurrected, lifted back up into heaven, and He is coming again, to take all those who belong to Him, to be with Him forever.

Pastor Mike <‘(((><

Bible Text: John 8:12-20 | Pastor: Pastor Mike | Series: John |

02-25-2018

The Light of God Declared

John 8:12-20

Read John 8:12… The themes of “life” and “Light” permeate John’s gospel; the

Greek word zoe [English, life] refers to the life Jesus gives His true disciples, spiritual life or eternal life; this is differentiated from the Greek word bios is also translated “life,” but it refers to physical life, also given by God.

Jesus had zoe within Himself, because He is self-existent – He was not created, He is the Creator who is eternally existent, the great “I AM,” (Exodus 3:14).

Revelation 1:8, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’”

There was a time when the universe did not exist; but there was never a time when God did not exist. Jesus Christ, the Word [Logos], is God, He has always existed.

In Christ was the light and life of God (see John 1:1-4; 11:25; 14:6; 1John 1:1-7). Without the light there is only darkness. John 1:5 says the light shines in the darkness, but darkness cannot understand [lit. overcome] it.

The demons of darkness understand very well the judgment awaiting them in Christ (see Matthew 8:29; Mark 1:34; Luke 4:33-34; James 2:19). They have tried relentlessly to keep the Light and life of God from mankind (see 2Corinthians 4:4-6):

Throughout the OT Satan tried to destroy Israel so that Messiah [the Christ] could not be born.

Satan, through Herod, tried to kill the infant Jesus (Matthew 2:16), by killing al the boys 2 and under in the vicinity of Bethlehem.

Satan used one of Jesus’ Twelve (Judas) to betray Him into the hands of the Jews (Matthew 26:21-25).

Satan thought he had won, when Jesus was nailed to the cross to die, but in reality, Satan brought about his own defeat and signed his own death warrant (see Acts 2:22-24; Colossians 2:15; 1John 3:8).

The Word of God is God’s Son, Lord and Savior.
John 1:14, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have

seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Everyone who calls on this Jesus, the Word of God, God the Son, to forgive their sins by responding to the Light of God in Christ, receives eternal Life from God, becoming a child of God.
Read John 8:13… By declaring that He is the Light and through that Light He grants eternal life to all who believe, Jesus is clearly saying that He is God!

The Pharisees tried to discount Jesus’ testimony about Himself, for the Old Testament demanded at least two witnesses to establish a valid testimony (cf Numbers 35:30; Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15).

But Jesus was not the only one testifying that He was the one who came from God the Father.

John the Baptist – John 1:6-9, 32-34

The Twelve – John 1:49; Matt. 14:32-33; 16:13-16

Nicodemus – John 3:2

Martha – John 11:27

God The Father – Matthew 3:17; 17:5

The religious leaders of Israel were not going to accept Jesus, no matter how much evidence there was.

John 12:37, “Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in Him.”
Read John 8:14-19… Jesus is the source of all Truth. Repeatedly in the Gospels Jesus declares, “I am telling you the truth!” When Jesus stood before Pilate, Jesus said (John 18:37c, NASB), “For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

See John 10:22-30… The Feast of Dedication (November-December) was about two months after the Feast of Booths, where we are presently reading in chapter 8. Notice that the conflict continues between the religious leaders and Jesus, but Jesus stays on point, He is the Light of God, bringing life from God to all those who repent, believe and follow Him, for He is God in the flesh and the fullness of God is declared in, by and through Him.

Back to John 8:14, Jesus’ testimony about Himself is true, for He is God and God cannot lie. Jesus knows where He came from and where He will return to (John 16:28), “I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”

The Pharisees don’t know where He came from or where He is going; they are ignorant of God, they judge according to their sinful nature, the flesh (cf John 8:15); their judgement is carnal, self-righteous and wrong, and they weren’t paying attention earlier, when He rebuked them (John 7:24), “Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.”

It is interesting that Jesus says (John 8:15-16) He isn’t judging anyone, but if He does judge, it is both He and the Father who stand by that judgement. John 3:17 says, “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”

But in the future, as He already stated (see John 5:22-27), Jesus will judge everyone and everything.

In John 8:17-18 Jesus confirms that the Old Testament declares the testimony of two men is considered valid; then He validates that He has two witnesses, Himself and the Father. But this doesn’t satisfy the Pharisees, instead they mockingly ask (John 8:19), “Where is your father?”

These guys don’t have a clue who they are dealing with, as Jesus points out,

“You do not know Me or My Father,” for “If you knew Me, you would know My Father also.”
Matthew 11:27, “All things have been committed to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”

On the last night with His disciples, before His arrest and crucifixion Jesus said (John 14:6-7, 9), “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you really knew Me, you would know My Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.” “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father.”

John 1:18, “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.”

Anyone, everyone, who rejects Jesus Christ as God’s Son, pronounces their own guilt before God the Father, for by rejecting the Son they also reject the Father; and in so doing, they remain in darkness apart from the Light of Christ.
2Corinthians 4:4, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” 6, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”
Hebrews 1:3, “The Son is the radiance [Greek, apaugasma = effulgence, J brilliance, brightness, illumination] of God’s glory.”

In John 8:12 Jesus declares, “I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the Light of life,” (John 1:4) “In Him [Jesus] was life, and that life was the Light of men.”

The Light or revelation of God has been clearly displayed and fulfilled in and through the life of Jesus Christ; therefore (1John 5:11-13), “This is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

God has clearly revealed His Light through Jesus Christ; therefore no one has a valid excuse to not believe in Him. But all who reject Him remain in darkness apart from Life with God.

Pastor Mike <‘(((><

Bible Text: John 7:53-8:11 | Pastor: Pastor Mike | Series: John |

02-18-2018

Jesus Exposes the Hypocrisy of the Pharisees

John 7:53-8:11

First of all, I want to make the point that most of the earliest and most reliable manuscripts omit John 7:53-8:11; those that do include it mark it, in some way, so as to indicate that John’s authorship is in question.

You may have this section of Scripture bracketed in your Bible, with a statement something like, Later manuscripts add the story of the adulterous woman, numbering it as John 7:53-8:11, or perhaps, it may simply say, this section is not found in the earliest manuscripts.

Many scholars believe this section was not an original part of John’s gospel, even though, they would probably say they believe the story is true and it really happened, but that it was added later and John didn’t write it.

Some of the later manuscripts insert the story of the adulterous woman in a variety of locations, some placing it immediately after John 7:36, or John 7:44, or John 21:25, and some placing it in Luke’s gospel, after Luke 21:37-38.

The consensus is, if the story was originally written by John and placed between John 7:52 and John 8:12, it wouldn’t be found transcribed in different locations in the various manuscripts.

There are a few issues with vocabulary and style that are not common to John’s writings, e.g., John 8:1-2 suggests that Jesus went out to the Mount of Olives for the night; but the Synoptic Gospels [Matthew, Mark, Luke] record that this only happened once, during Passion Week (Matthew 26:30; Mark 14:26; Luke 22:39), after the evening Jesus spent with His disciples, when Jesus changed the Passover meal to the Lord’s Supper, declaring that the New Covenant was made effectual through the shedding of His own blood for our sins.

Also, it is worth noting that although the Synoptics refer to the Mount of Olives many times (Matthew 21:1; 24:3; Mark 11:1; 13:3; Luke 19:29, 37; 21:37), John doesn’t refer to it anywhere except in John 8:1, which may not have been written by John.

Another vocabulary issue is that the Synoptics [Matthew, Mark, Luke] record many times that the scribes and Pharisees were paired together when confronting Jesus (Matthew 5:20; 12:38; 15:1; 23:2, 13-15, 23-29; Mark 2:16; 7:1, 5; Luke 5:21, 30; 6:7; 11:53; 15:2); but John’s gospel doesn’t put them together anywhere except in John 8:3, where it says the teachers of the law [scribes] and the Pharisees came together to bring an adulterous woman before Jesus.

Many scholars believe the text of John 7 should end at verse 52, and then begin again with what is recorded as John 8:12 (more on that next week).

Although John 7:53-8:11 is most likely not part of John’s original text, it is well accepted by the majority of scholars that this was an authentic historical event from Christ’s life, and it is possible that it was perhaps passed on by way of oral tradition. This section contains nothing that contradicts the rest of Scripture, while at the same time it presents a narrative of the Lord that is totally consistent with the character of the Son of God, who was also the Son of Man.

Read John 7:53-8:2… Luke 21:37-38, “Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening He went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives, and all the people came early in the morning to hear him at the temple.” You can see how close these passages (Luke and John) parallel one another.

Jesus was in Jerusalem and when evening came He went to the Mount of Olives; then the next morning, early, He went to the temple and many people came to hear Him teach, so He sat down to do so.
Read John 8:3-6a… The Lord’s teaching is interrupted by the scribes [lawyers, experts at interpreting the Law] and the Pharisees. The Pharisees held great influence over the Jewish people concerning all things God and religious rituals.
The Pharisees were always hostile toward Jesus, except for Nicodemus (cf. John 3:1-2; 7:50-51; 19:39-40).

In this narrative, the religious leaders bring a woman before Jesus, and the crowd listening to Him, she had been caught in the act of adultery. The Pharisees mockingly call Him “Teacher,” as the seek to have Him render a judgement, knowing that the Law (Exodus 20:14) states she is to be stoned to death, even though they don’t have the authority to carry out the death penalty under Roman rule.

Do you sense something is missing here? What about the man that was caught in the act with her? Why didn’t they bring him also? The Law demanded both the man and woman guilty of adultery to be put to death, and clearly the guilty man was known to them; since the woman was caught in the act, the man would have been there also.

This whole bringing it to Jesus thing seems staged and suspect, in that, normally the guilty parties would be tried in the Jewish courts and Jesus was neither a judge nor a member of the Sanhedrin [ruling court of Israel].

Clearly the Pharisees are trying to trap Jesus into going against the Law of Moses, rendering a judgment that would circumvent Roman rule, or perhaps they just hope to turn the people against Him.

These hypocritical Pharisees were continually coming to Jesus ill-equipped, but then, as we already studied so thoroughly, these guys just don’t get it! They think they are the premier authorities and rulers when it comes to all things God, boy are they mistaken.

Look, God is Holy and His Law is Holy, but where the Law is ineffective at showing mercy or granting forgiveness, God is sovereign and omnipotent.

Ezekiel 18:4, “For every living soul belongs to Me, the father as well as the son – both alike belong to Me. The soul who sins is the one who will die.”

Romans 2:12, “all who sin under the law will be judged by the law,” Romans 4:15, “because law brings wrath.”

The religious leaders seem unwilling to understand that God is able to forgive sinners who violate His holy law, this was accomplished through the sacrificial death

of His own Son, through whom God’s justice is fully satisfied and therefore sinners can be made righteous in God’s sight.

Romans 3:22-26, “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in His blood. He did this to demonstrate His justice, because in His forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished – He did it to demonstrate His justice at the present time, so as to be just and the One who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”
Hebrews 9:27-28, “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.”

1Peter 2:24, “He himself [Christ] bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed.” Read John 8:6b-8… The Religious Leaders of Israel were about to be confronted with their own hypocrisy. These guys were incapable of mercy and they were unwilling to acknowledge that they themselves were sinners, their misplaced self- righteousness had seared their consciences and hardened their hearts.

Think about it, these religious leaders had arrested a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery, and they were now publicly exposing her sin to a crowd, ridiculing and humiliating her; she must have been terrified, thinking that she was about to be stoned.

At this point, Jesus begins to write something in the dirt with His finger. The Pharisees continue to pressure Jesus, but He pays them no attention. He then stands up and basically says to them, “if there is even one of you who is sinless, let that man pick up a stone and throw it at the woman.” Immediately Jesus bends over again and begins to write in the dirt.

How would you like it, if the next time you are pointing out someone else’s sin, Jesus shows up and starts writing down your sins, for everyone to see?
Read John 8:9-11… Jesus was unwilling to be used by or assist these hypocritical religious leaders. It would seem that they got the point, for they began to leave from that place, oldest to youngest [common sense tells us, the older men probably had more sins written in the dirt]. None of the Pharisees and scribes were without sin, and therefore none of them were qualified to pick up, let alone to throw, a rock, at the woman.

Notice (John 8:10), Jesus now stands up, the religious leaders evidently departed while He was still bent over, writing in the dirt. We don’t know if the crowd of people was still there or not, but the woman hadn’t moved, she was sanding there; and now, for the first time in this narrative, Jesus speaks to the woman (John 8:11a) saying, “where did all your accusers go? Who is here to condemn you?” The woman replied, “no one Lord.”

If you were brought into court for a crime you allegedly committed, and there is no one there to accuse you, you would be acquitted of the crime, free to go.

Jesus had told the Pharisees who had brought the woman to Him, that if any one of them was without sin, he should pick up a rock and throw it, basically an act of condemning her, for she was indeed guilty of adultery and must be punished.

Romans 2:1, “You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.”

Paul is writing in that verse exactly what Jesus is saying in John 8. No one can serve as judge or executioner unless they are without sin, and no one is without sin (1John 1:8), “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (cf. Romans 3:23). But there is one who is without sin, Jesus Christ the Lord (Hebrews 4:14-15), “Jesus the Son of God… has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin.”

God is not just a Loving God; He is a Just and Loving God, and therefore all sin must be punished. Jesus tells this adulterous woman, who is, without a doubt, guilty of sin (John 8:11b), “I don’t condemn you.”

The only one there that day who was qualified to pick up a stone and throw it at her, did not. This woman was forgiven by God’s Son, God’s Sacrificial Lamb, and although He had not yet gone to the cross, she had received forgiveness, she was acquitted and free to go. But notice, Jesus tells her, “Go now and leave your life of sin,” i.e., she is to live differently, as one who has received forgiveness.

Only God can forgive, Jesus is God; He came to die [to make full payment for] our sins, that we might live for Him (2Corinthians 5:15), “He [Jesus] died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again,” (2Corinthians 5:21), “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Don’t be like the Pharisees who thought they were without sin, with no need for forgiveness. Instead, be honest with yourself, you are a sinner, I am a sinner, we are all sinners destined to be eternally judged and condemned to hell, apart from the salvation that comes through Christ.

The good news is, everyone who confesses Jesus as Lord, repenting of their sins and believing in Him for salvation, is acquitted of all sins (past, present, future), and will live forever in heaven with God, where (Revelation 21:4), “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” The closing two verses in the Book of Revelation declares (22:20-21), “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.”

Pastor Mike <‘(((><

Bible Text: John 7:40-8:1 | Pastor: Pastor Mike | Series: John |

02-11-2018

They Just Don’t Get it: Part Two

John 7:40-8:1

Read John 7:40-44… From the very beginning of John’s gospel account it has been clearly and repeatedly stated that it is belief in Jesus alone that brings us into a saving and eternal relationship with God.
John 20:31, “But [this is] written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.”

All those who believe in and trust God’s Son are given new birth into the family of God. This happens when God’s Spirit indwells us and places us in the Body of Christ at the moment of repentance and belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior (see John 3:1-8, 14-16, 36).

Look again at John 7:40-41a, the people are saying that Jesus must be the Prophet, or perhaps He is the Christ (see Deuteronomy 18:15-19, Moses; Acts 3:22:23, Peter).

One thing seems clear in our text today, many of the people, seem to believe that Jesus is from God. It would be those who believed who would no doubt take Jesus’ invitation seriously to heart (John 7:37), “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.”

Read again John 7:41b-42… So, some say Jesus is the Prophet, some say Messiah, but there are others who are not convinced, basically saying (verse 41b), “the Christ can’t come from Galilee, check the Scriptures, the
Messiah is to be of David’s family (see Psalm 89:3-4;

132:10-11; Matthew 21:9-11; 22:41-42).
Also, the Christ must come from Bethlehem (see

Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:3-6). This crowd is confused, they don’t seem to know that He was born in Bethlehem. Verse 43 infers that the people were conflicted about Jesus, and some of them (verse 44) wanted to grab Him, but nobody does.

This is the third time since Jesus arrived at the Feast that there has been an attempt or expressed intention to seize or arrest Him (cf. verses 30, 32). But, it was not God’s appointed time for the Christ to be sacrificed.
Read John 7:45-46… Back in verse 32 we read how the Pharisees sent the temple guards to arrest Jesus. Here in verse 45 we are told that the guards returned to the Pharisees empty handed. Their reason is that (verse 46) “No one ever spoke the way this man does.”
Read John 7:47-49… In verse 12 we are told, some in the crowd were whispering that Jesus was a “good man,” while others were saying that He “deceives” the people. Here in verse 47, the Pharisees scold the guards, implying that they have been deceived by this Jesus.

The religious rulers (verses 48-49) allege that this crowd is made up of uneducated and simpleminded fools who don’t know the Scripture, and so they bring a curse on themselves! The Pharisees see themselves as the sovereign authority on all things religious, and they judge that Jesus is not the Messiah. Read John 7:50-52… Nicodemus is a Pharisee, he is the one who came to Jesus at night (chapter 3) and declared that Jesus must be from God, based on the miracles He was doing. Nicodemus now says to the religious leaders that they themselves are going against their own law, for no man should be judged and condemned before he has the opportunity to give an account of himself (see John 12:37-43; Acts 25:13-16).

Notice (verse 52), the Pharisees come back very hard against Nicodemus, “Are you from Galilee too? Look into it and you will find out that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.”

To associate Nicodemus with the crude, uncultured and uneducated Galileans was a major putdown and insult to Nicodemus’ character and his position as a Pharisee, religious authority and ruler, in Jerusalem.

The Pharisees continue to demean Nicodemus for his overt challenge to their high position and authority, calling them into account for the way they are conspiring against Jesus without giving Him the opportunity to speak on His own behalf. They mockingly imply that Nicodemus doesn’t know what the Scriptures teach, basically alleging that he doesn’t know the writings of the prophets, for if he did, he would surely know that there is no prophet who comes out of Galilee.

But in reality, it is the Pharisees who are showing their ignorance and elevating their own self imposed importance; for the Scriptures do not bear out what they are saying. In fact, the Old Testament Scriptures tell us that Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Hosea, Elijah and Elisha were from the area of Galilee.

I don’t think we can know from the Scripture what influence Nicodemus had on any of the other Pharisees or the other self-righteous religious leaders. But one thing is quite clear in the Scripture and that is that Nicodemus continued to be a student of the Truth (see John 7:16-17; 14:6-7; 19:38-42).

Read John 7:53-8:1… This chapter ends and the next begins with people going to their own homes, probably because the sun was going down, the end of the day.

Jesus was not from Jerusalem, He may have later gone to stay with Mary and Martha in Bethany, but for now, He goes Mount Olivet, most likely to a Garden there, named Gethsemane [lit. oil press, for it was here that very large stone blocks were used to squeeze oil from the olives grown on this mountain].

Gethsemane is where Jesus would be arrested (in about six months), soon after which, He would be beaten and His own people, the Jews would cry out for Him to be put to death by crucifixion.
John 1:11-12, “He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him. Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.”

When Jesus stood up, during the last day of the Feast of Booths, and said (verse 37), “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink,” the majority of those who were there that day, either didn’t know what He was talking about, didn’t care, or they knew and were angered at His audacity to equate Himself with God.

I have been a believer and follower of Jesus Christ since August 1, 1978 and I have never looked back; for who in their right mind would climb out of a cesspool, step into a cleansing hot shower, put on fresh clean clothes, and then step back down into that cesspool.

I want to make sure that you clearly understand what this passage is saying.

Hebrews 9:26 declares that Jesus “has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Romans 3:23; 6:23; 5:8; 8:1; 10:9-10, 13).

Please, check your heart, be sure that you are not like the majority of those in the world today, nor like the unbelieving Jews of Jesus’ day who just didn’t get it! John 3:14-16, “…the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Do you get it?
1Corinthians 15:3-4, “Christ died for [your] sins according to the Scriptures [bringing forgiveness for sin], He was buried, He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” [demonstrating the eternal life that He grants to everyone who believes in Him].
Acts 4:12, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
John 20:31, “…[this is] written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.”

Pastor Mike <‘(((><

Bible Text: John 7:37-39 | Pastor: Pastor Mike | Series: John |

02-04-2018

Thirsty? Come to Jesus and Drink

John 7:37-39

Last week in John 7:25-36, we read how there was confusion among those in

the crowd, where Jesus was openly speaking at the temple. Some thought Him to possibly the Messiah, because of the miracles He had already done and was, evidently, known for.

He turned the water into wine…
He healed an invalid of 38 years, so he could walk…
Jesus walks on water, across the lake…
Jesus commands the storm to cease, it obeyed…
Jesus transports the boat He and the disciples were in, from the middle of the

lake, to Capernaum, several miles away, instantaneously…
Read John 7:37-39… Last week our text dealt with the middle of the Feast week, today we look at the last day of the Feast, the Great Day of the Feast, most likely referring to the seventh day of the Feast of Booths.

The Feast of Booths [Tabernacles, Tents, Shelters], which we studied about in the opening verses of chapter 7, was one the three major feasts of Israel. According to Josephus (1st Century historian), it was the most popular among the people.

The celebration was massive, those who lived in Jerusalem would build their booth or shelter on their roof, or in the street; whereas visitors from outside the city would construct their booths in the open areas around Jerusalem.

The Israelites would eat their meals in the booths for the week, and those who came from outside the city, some even from outside of Israel, would most likely sleep in their booths also.

There were daily activities commemorating God’s provision for the Israelites after leaving Egypt and entering the desert. Each day during the Feast, a water ritual was performed, and although these rituals were not set forth in the Old Testament, they had become tradition in the centuries before the time of Jesus.

These rituals commemorated God’s miraculous provision of water for Israel during their time in the wilderness (cf. Numbers 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 8:15; Psalm 105:41; Isaiah 48:21).

During the Millennial Kingdom, the Feast of Booths will again be celebrated to honor the Messiah’s dwelling with His people, when all the nations will be gathered into His earthly kingdom (cf. Zechariah 14:16-19).

In John 7:37-38 Jesus cries out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”

Everyday during the Feast, the High Priest would go out to the pool of Siloam and fill a golden container with water; he would then carry it back to the temple, with a procession of priests and levites. When they reached the Water Gate (south side of the inner court) a shofar (a trumpet made from a ram’s horn) would sound

three blasts to signify the occasion; and the people would recite Isaiah 12:3, and although I’m sure it sounds better in Hebrew, in English it says, “With joy you will draw water from the well of salvation.”

On the seventh day of the Feast, the High Priest would march around the altar in the temple seven times, while the temple choir sang the Hallel (Psalms 113-118), after which the water was poured out as an offering to God.

So, the priest is getting water from the Pool of Siloam, plains it in a gold container, and then carrying it into the temple while the people are loudly proclaiming, “With joy you will draw water from the well of salvation,” and all this is going on when Jesus stands up and loudly cries out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.”

Notice in John 7:37, there are three very important words that describe the Lord’s invitation for a person to be saved: thirsty, come, drink.

If a person isn’t aware of their thirst, they will not seek a drink; just as a sinner, who doesn’t acknowledge his sin, won’t seek forgiveness for his sins. A person who is aware of their need for water, must do more than recognize they are thirsty; they must find water. And once they have come to a source of water, they must now drink from that, in order to satisfy their need.

Do you see analogy here? A person must realize they are a sinner [spiritually thirsty] and that they are going to die in their sins [die of thirst], unless they come to the only source of hydration [forgiveness], Jesus Christ, from whom they must drink [believe in and receive Him].

Notice again in John 7:38, “Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” To genuinely believe in Jesus Christ is synonymous with being refreshed and rehydrated [but instead of later going into stomach] what Jesus is offering, forgiveness and eternal life, goes into heart.

There are examples in Scripture of those who come to Jesus aware of their need, but they don’t accept or partake of what Jesus offers them, instead, they go away thirsty and still in need (see Mark 10:17-22).

John 7:39a makes it clear that the “streams of living water” (v. 38c) that will flow from within a person who believes in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, is speaking of the Holy Spirit, through whom salvation is made effectual and ”those who believed in [Jesus] were later to receive.”

Anyone who heard Jesus, and was spiritually thirsty, would have received salvation that day, at the very moment they believed in Him [came to Him and drank]; for although the personal receiving of the Holy Spirit was future, the Spirit had been active, as God’s agent of repentance and power for regeneration, throughout the Old Testament and up to that time (cf. Genesis 6:3; Psalm 51:11; 143:10; Isaiah 30:1; Ezekiel 11:15).

See John 7:39b again. Those who believed in Jesus, although they have received forgiveness for sins, they would not receive the Spirit until after Jesus was glorified. When did that happen? Not until Jesus had accomplished all He had come to do, after which He would return to the Father and to the glory He had before coming to earth to save us.
John 17:4-5, “I have brought You glory on earth by completing the work You gave Me to do. And now, Father, glorify Me in your presence with the glory I had with You before the world began.”

Forgiveness was made effectual at the cross, when Jesus said, “It is finished!”

But the indwelling of God’s Spirit would not happen until Jesus ascended back into heaven. In John 14, Jesus’ last night with His disciples, He tells them He is going away, but He is going to ask the Father to send to them the Holy Spirit. Jesus tells them they know God’s Spirit for He has been with them, but He will soon be in them.

The Holy Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost, the day the Church of God, the Body of Christ was birthed. Fifty days after Jesus rose from the grave, God’s Spirit came and indwelled all those who genuinely believed in Him (see Acts 1:1-8; 2:1-4, 38-39).

Ever since the Day of Pentecost, anyone who calls on Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, believing in Him as Lord, trusting Him as Savior, immediately receives the Holy Spirit, confirming that they have eternal life.

Perhaps you are here today and you find yourself to be unsure concerning what will happen when you die, where will you spend eternity? Are you right with God? The Message of Jesus Christ is called the Gospel, meaning “Good News.” And it is good news (Acts 2:21; Romans 10:13), “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

If your heart is troubled, if you are in need of forgiveness, come to the Savior, He turns no one away.

Admit you are a sinner, we all are…

Believe that Jesus can save you, He is the only means of salvation, the only Way…

Confess your sins to Him and He will forgive all your sins: past, present, future…

Demonstrate the new life you have received in Christ (2Corinthians 5:17)… How do you demonstrate new life in Christ?

Read the Bible daily and seek to obey what you understand.

Pray – talk to God throughout your day, asking Him to guide and strengthen you, to give you opportunities to serve Him…

Fellowship and serve in a local God-honoring church where the Bible is taught, obeyed and lived out…

Pastor Mike <‘(((><

Bible Text: John 7:25-36 | Pastor: Pastor Mike | Series: John |

01-28-2018

They Just Don’t Get It: Part One

John 7:25-36

If you will recall, last week we found Jesus in a confrontation with the Jews. He

warned them (v. 24) not to judge according to how things look or, the way things seem to be; but instead, we are to judge according to the way God says things are, according to the truth, aligning with the will and the way of God.
Read John 7:25-27… Remember, this takes place during the Feast of Booths, the population of Jerusalem has swelled with travelers from all over Israel and from outside of Israel, from Gentile regions.

The crowd (v. 20) that had alleged that Jesus was demon possessed for having said the Jews were trying to kill Him; now we read that some of the locals (vv. 25-26) are asking, “Isn’t this the man they were trying to kill? Here He is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to Him. Have the authorities really concluded that He is the Christ?”

It seems the crowd is wondering, what do the religious leaders know. Maybe they aren’t sure whether Jesus is speaking the truth or speaking lies; perhaps they aren’t sure if He is or is not the Messiah.

Notice the “we” here (v. 27) this refers back to verse 25, “some of the people of Jerusalem,” seem to know that Jesus is from Nazareth in Galilee, where He had grown up; but apparently, they don’t know that He was born in Bethlehem, for then they say, “when the Christ comes, no one will know where He is from.”

So, some of the local Jews are saying they know where Jesus comes from, but it won’t be that way when the Messiah comes; He will just show up out of nowhere.

Micah 5:2 tells them, and us, that the Messiah will come out of Bethlehem. Why are they confused about this? Well, it could be because there was a widespread misguided belief among the people that the Messiah would just one day show up at the temple, and no one would know where He had come from.

Malachi 3:1, “‘Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to His temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,’ says the LORD Almighty.”

Tradition had it that the Messiah wouldn’t be known or recognized until He showed up at the temple, without warning, unexpectedly, for the purpose of redeeming Israel, i.e., bringing salvation to Israel.

Remember, this is October in Jerusalem, the Feast of Booths is being celebrated; Jesus will return to Jerusalem in about six months, when He will ride into town on a donkey’s colt, pour His heart out to the people for several days, after which, He will offer up Himself as God’s Sacrificial Lamb (see John 12:1, 12-15).

Back to John 7:28-29… Jesus raises His voice [lit. yells] to get the people’s attention, and then it seems He uses a little sarcasm, basically saying, “sure, you know Me and where I come from, sure you do.”

Think about it, Jesus is fully God and fully man, He is from heaven, where He was with God the Father before entering the womb of Mary, to be born in Bethlehem.

Honestly, the Jews don’t have a clue as to who Jesus is or where He came from (John 8:19), “Then they asked Him, ‘Where is your father?’ ‘You do not know Me or My Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew Me, you would know My Father also.”

And yet, as Christians, we do know who He is and where He came from (see John 1:1-4, 14, 18, 29, 34); Jesus came to serve His Father by making the Father known to us, so that all who believe [love and obey] the Son, will be saved!
Read John 7:30-31… It would seem that some of the Jews didn’t care for His irony and so they attempt to grab Him, but to no avail; perhaps those who thought Jesus to be a good man (verse 12) were protecting Him from being apprehended by those who thought Him to be a deceiver (verse 13).

Notice (verse 31) that many of those in the crowd believed in Him, expressing their affirmation that Christ Himself wouldn’t do more miracles than Jesus has already done (water into wine, an invalid of 38 years now walking, thousands fed from one boy’s lunch, walking on water, calming the wind and the waves, teleporting the boat with the 12 disciples in it to Capernaum).

So, what would the devout Jews of that day have known about the coming of God’s Servant, God’s Son, the Messiah Savior (see Isaiah 29:18-19; 42:6-9; 61:1-2)?
Read John 7:32-36… The religious leaders hear some of the crowd making the case for Jesus being the Messiah, this makes them angry, so they send for some of the temple guards to come and arrest Jesus. And what does Jesus do? Run and hide? Not hardly…

Jesus continued to proclaim God’s truth, in fact, these dull minded Jews weren’t even aware that Jesus is telling them of His future arrest (at Passover), followed by His crucifixion, burial, resurrection and ascension back into heaven to be with the Father.

Clearly, Jesus is saying that they will not be able to find Him or go where He is going, i.e., all those who reject Him as God’s Son, the Savior, will never enter into heaven where He will be.

These Jews are so unwilling to believe in and come to God’s Son; instead, they mock Him saying (verse 35), “where does this man intend to go that we cannot find Him? Will He go to the Greeks [Gentiles]?”

The very thought of the Messiah going out among the Greeks was an abomination. The NIV renders verse 36 as, “where our people live scattered,” whereas the NASB translates it as “the Dispersion” [lit Diaspora] which refers to the Jews who are living outside of the Nation of Israel, living among Gentiles.

This mocking questions by the Jews in verse 35 is more like a statement revealing a self-fulfilling prophecy; the Nation of Israel will reject Jesus as the Messiah, and the Gospel will then be preached to the Gentiles [Greeks].

Romans 1:16-17, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written (Habakkuk 2:4): ‘The righteous will live by faith.’”

You know, it was always God’s plan for Salvation to be offered to everyone, not just the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (See Galatians 3:22-29).

Isaiah 49:6 says it was always God’s plan for salvation to come to the Gentiles through Israel’s Redeemer, God’s Son, the Messiah, and this salvation would go out to the ends of the earth.

Reread John 7:35-36… These Jews really don’t get it, for they are pious hypocrites, devout and orthodox they would never have contact with Gentiles, whom they consider to be unclean.

So, if Jesus went out among the Greeks, these self-righteous Jews would never go there, so, in their deluded minds, they couldn’t go look for Him there and so, He would not be found by them.

But that is not what Jesus is saying, instead, as Isaiah divinely proclaimed (Isaiah 55:6), “Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.” And as Paul writes (2Corinthians 6:2b), “I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.

Turn to John 13:33, 36; 14:3-6… Do you see? The reason the Jews wouldn’t be able to find Jesus or go to Him is because they didn’t believe in Him and they wouldn’t come to Him for forgiveness and eternal life; instead, the Jews as a nation rejected Him, as we will see next week in Part Two:“They Just Don’t Get It!”

John 1:11 tells us that Jesus came to His own, the Jews, the people of His family, culture and ancestry, but they rejected Him.

John 1:12-13 tells us, “to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God,” born from above, born of God’s Spirit into an eternal relationship with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

Pastor Mike <‘(((><

Bible Text: John 7:14-24 | Pastor: Pastor Mike | Series: John |

01-21-2018

Jesus: God’s Sovereign Servant

John 7:14-24

Last week we studied about Jesus being in Galilee with His disciples and how He was not going to go up to the Feast of Booths with His family, but instead He stayed in Galilee for a time and went up later, it would seem, by Himself.

There is no mention of Jesus’ disciples in chapters 7 or 8 of John and it appears that we will not hear of the Twelve again until chapter 9. Chapters 7-8 are an ongoing confrontation between Jesus and the Jews (Religious Leaders).
Read John 7:14-16… Jesus shows up at the temple in Jerusalem, in the middle of the feast, and He begins to teach. The Jews are amazed and somewhat alarmed at Jesus’ understanding of, and ability to instruct from, Scripture.

The first thing the Jews do is to pronounce doubts concerning Jesus’ credentials and His authority to teach publicly. They are saying that Jesus had not received training from any of the established schools of rabbinical instruction they were aware of or had approved.

They knew nothing about His education but they didn’t approve of Him and therefore, they challenged His right to speak at the synagogue.

You have to love Jesus’ response to them in verse 16…

Jesus didn’t acquire His knowledge of the Scriptures and authority to teach, from any human institution, school of rabbinical training, or from any Chief Priest or Pharisee. Jesus’ supernatural knowledge of, and ability to teach, the Scriptures, came directly from God the Father in heaven, who had sent Him.

Jesus’ awareness and acceptance of His submission to the Father is repeatedly stated in the Scripture, we have already looked at many of those recorded narratives in John’s Gospel (cf. 3:17; 4:34; 5:24, 30, 36-37; 6:38-39, 44, 57); there are many more to come (cf. 7:28-29, 33; 8:26, 38, 40; 14:10, 24; 17:8, 14)

Jesus taught as one innately empowered with sovereign knowledge and authority. Jesus’ teaching was very different from that of the rabbis and teachers of the law, for they would often quote other teachers like themselves as the authority for their teaching; whereas, Jesus spoke His words with the authority given to Him by the Father whom He was serving.
Matthew 7:28-29, “When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at His teaching, because He taught as one who had authority, and not as
their teachers of the law.”

Read John 7:17… If anyone is willing to receive God’s Word, they will know that Jesus Christ is speaking the truth, in fact, He is the truth.

In John 6:28-29 the people ask what they must do to do what God requires, i.e., what must they do to do God’s will? Jesus answers the people saying, ”The work of God [God’s will] is this: to believe in the One He has sent.”

Do you see? If the people will but believe what Jesus is telling them about Himself, they will understand that He is from God, that He is God!

In John 5:39-40 Jesus says to the Jews, “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me to have life.”

God’s revealed plan and provision of forgiveness and eternal life is embodied in a person, that person is Jesus Christ the Lord (see Colossians 1:15-20)!

Read John 7:18… Many false teachers have come and gone, and there will be more as it draws near to the end of this age. You can recognize these false teachers, false prophets and wannabe messiahs by the fact that they always speak on their own authority, seeking their own glory, and their teachings do not align with the inerrant, infallible, sovereign and eternal Word of God; but instead their teachings are from their father, satan himself (John 8:44), “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

Instead of feeding and caring for the flock, these liars and deceivers fleece and slaughter the sheep (Romans 16:18), “For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people,” (Philippians 3:19), “Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things,” (Matthew 23:5-7), “Everything they do is done for men to see…” “…they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them ‘Rabbi’” [Teacher].

Jesus came seeking the glory of His Father who sent Him, and in Him there is no fault, no unrighteousness, nothing that is displeasing to the Father.
Read John 7:19-20… The Religious Leaders of Israel prided themselves on keeping the Law of Moses (in an effort to earn salvation through self-righteous works); but Jesus declares, no one keeps the Law and no one will be made righteous by doing so!

Romans 3:10-12, “As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.’”

Romans 3:20, “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.”
Galatians 3:24, “So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.”

Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.”

The Law of Moses cannot save anyone, but condemns everyone, the Law reveals sin (in us), making us unacceptable to God (cf. Romans 3:23; 6:23).

Look again at John 7:19-20… Jesus asks the Jews why they are trying to kill Him, the crowd declares that He must be possessed by a demon, otherwise why would He say that anyone was trying to kill Him (see John 5:16-18; 7:1).

Read John 7:21-24… Jesus pays no attention to the crowd’s ignorance in saying that He must have a demon; instead, He goes right to the heart of the problem, the hypocritical self-righteous elevation of law keeping.

The “one miracle” Jesus is talking about is the one we studied in John 5, when Jesus healed the invalid man on the Sabbath at the pool of Bethesda (see John 5:5, 8-9).

You would think that miracle would be enough for the religious leaders to believe in Him, but instead they sought to kill Him because in their twisted minds, Jesus was breaking the Sabbath (John 5:16-18).

Back to John 7:22-23… Jesus explains that the Jews have totally misunderstood Sabbath regulations. He reminds them how they adhere to the practice of circumcision (all male children must be circumcised on he eighth day), even if that day falls on a Sabbath.

Circumcision came through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; but it was later included in the Law of Moses (cf. Genesis 17:12; Leviticus 12:3; Luke 1:59; 2:21).

Circumcision seems to take precedence over Sabbath regulations, as the Israelites “break” the Sabbath by doing work (the circumcision of a baby), in order to keep the Law of Moses. Why then are they so angry at Jesus (to the point of wanting to kill Him) for healing a man on the Sabbath, when it is always okay to do a good deed on the Sabbath (see Matthew 12:1-13; Luke 13:10-17).

Jesus gives a strong exhortation to the Jews (John 7:24); that they should not make superficial, ritualistic or legalistic judgements about God’s will and God’s ways; instead, they should find out what pleases God and seek to do it!
1Samuel 16:7, “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Hosea 6:6, “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.”

Micah 6:8, “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Served His Father completely by dying for our sins and granting us eternal life.

Pastor Mike <‘(((><

Bible Text: John 7:1-13 | Pastor: Pastor Mike | Series: John |

01-14-2018

Jesus, Good Man or Liar?

John 7:1-13

Read John 7:1-5… “After this,” or “After these things,” is speaking of all that happened in chapter 6, which was around the time of the Feast of Passover (cf. 6:4). It is worth noting that as John opens chapter 7 he says that the Feast of Tabernacles (literally, Feast of Booths or Ingathering) was near.

Passover is cerebrated in April and the Feast of Booths is celebrated in October, so it would seem that about six months have passed since the events of chapter 6. We don’t know exactly what happened during the six months, but we do know that Jesus was preaching, teaching and healing in the area of Galilee, during that time.

The other gospel writers tell us where Jesus went in Galilee, during that time: Matthew 15:21-28 and Mark 8:22-26 tell us He traveled from Sidon, northwest of of Galilee, to Decapolis, in the southeast.

Matthew 15:29-38; 17:14-18 record that Jesus was healing people, He fed a crowd of four thousand, and He was casting out demons. It would seem that during the six months in Galilee Jesus was discipling the Twelve.
Several times in the gospel accounts we find Jesus with large crowds surrounding Him, as He taught, healed and cared for them; after which, Jesus would go away to have intimated time with the Father and then time with His disciples.

God’s Son did not come to entertain crowds, neither did He commission His Church to do so; but instead, (Matthew 28:19) to go and make disciples; usually one to one, e.g., in John’s gospel we have Christ’s example: (3, Nicodemus; 4, Samaritan Woman; 5, Invalid; 8, Adulteress; 9, Blind Man; 11, Martha).
Hebrews 10:24-25, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Discipleship happens when we influence and encourage others to know, believe and obey God’s Word, while we are influenced and encouraged to do the same.

Discipleship is growing in our personal walk with Christ – believing, following and honoring Him, and there is not anything more important or of higher priority for us than discipleship – discipling others while being also being discipled ourselves.

Notice in verse 1, Jesus is staying away from Judea because the Jews there wanted to kill Him (cf. John 5:18), “For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.” In other words, Jesus was not publicly ministering in Judea because of the increasing hostility toward Him.

Read John 7:2-5… The Feast of Booths, according to first-century Jewish historian Josephus, was the most popular of the three “pilgrimage feasts” (including Passover and Feast of Weeks), which all Israelite males are required to attend.

Jesus’ brothers didn’t understand His mission or God’s purpose (see verse 4). Jesus isn’t interested in being a public figure or gaining popularity among the people. His brothers have no clue about the threat to Him, for they encourage Him to go to Judea and perform miracles, so the people will seem them.

Verse 5 says, “His own brothers did not believe in Him.” And you know, the biblical record shows us that they would continue in unbelief until after His death and resurrection (see Acts 1:8-14).
Read John 7:6-9… Jesus basically tells His brothers that it is not yet time for the Son of Man to be revealed. Jesus will not be coerced by anyone, as He is in total submission to the will of the Father, and the Father is working things out according to His own sovereign plan.

Jesus’ brothers were unbelievers at this time, and they gave no concern to God’s will or God’s itinerary, but did whatever pleased them; in fact they fit right in with unbelieving “worldly” religious system of Judaism, for it was at enmity with God’s plan, purpose and provision of His own Son, as the payment for our sins.

Jesus tells His brothers (verse 8) to go up to the Feast, because He (verse 9) is staying in Galilee, for a time.

Jesus will not enter Jerusalem and publicly declare Himself to be the Messiah for six more months (from the events in John 7); He will arrive during Passover, riding on a donkey’s colt (cf John 12; 11:55-57).

Read John 7:10-13… Jesus’ brothers and other family members would probably go up to Jerusalem together. Jesus did not want to draw attention to Himself so,

He waited until after His family departed, we don’t know how long afterward, but we do know Jesus arrived in the middle of the Feast of Booths (cf verse 14), and that the Jews (religious leaders) were looking for Him (verse 11). John tells us (verse 12) people expressed opinions about Jesus: some saying He was a good man, while others said He was a liar, deceiving the people.

Note: Some say He was just a good teacher, but good teachers don’t claim to be God. Some say He was just a good example, but good examples don’t mingle with prostitutes and sinners. Some say He was a madman, but madmen don’t speak the way He spoke. Some say He was a fanatic, but fanatics don’t draw children to themselves or reach out to touch lepers and heal them. Some say He was a religious phony, but phonies don’t rise from the dead. Some say He was just a phantom, but phantoms can’t bleed or die. Some say He was just a myth, but

myths don’t set the date for our calendar: BC, before Christ; AD [Anno Domini] “in the year of our Lord”.

If Jesus was merely a good man, or perhaps a liar who purposely deceived people, why would so much attention be given to Him by the three major religions of the world (Christianity, Judaism, Islam), and the two major Cults (Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons).

Notice (verse 13), the people weren’t openly [publicly] speaking for or against Jesus; the reason being, their fear of the Jews [the religious leaders].

To publicly speak against the religious leaders of Israel could lead to excommunication from the synagogue which would basically cut one off from all Jewish life; for Israel was a Theocracy, of which the Chief Priests, Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes held positions of prominence and authority over the people.

Many of the religious leaders spoke against Jesus, but the Sanhedrin (the ruling court of Israel over public, civil, cultural and religious issues, much like our Supreme Court), had not yet made a public statement concerning Jesus of Nazareth; therefore the people were guarded in what they said publicly, so as not to contradict the religious leaders or oppose any ruling of the Sanhedrin.

But you know, Jesus was not in submission to the religious leaders of Israel or subservient to the rulings of the Sanhedrin, for He had come to do the will of His Father in heaven, which was completed at the cross when Jesus said, “It is finished!” and validated at the tomb, when Jesus rose form the grave and then appeared to many over a period of 40 days, before ascending back into heaven, to sit at the right hand of the Father.

Look at John 7:12-18… Jesus is not only a good man, not only a man of truth; He is the Truth and there is nothing false in Him, for He does not seek His own glory, but the glory of His Father in heaven, the One who sent Him to earth to save us (John 20:31), “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.”

Pastor Mike <‘(((><