Classic Christianity – Book of John Part 34 (06-17-19)
Bob George continues teaching from the gospel of John. Bob shared from the scripture that when your desire is to do God’s will then you will in the right attitude to believe in who Jesus claimed to be. Do you really want to do God’s will or do you want what you want and when you want it? If you have heard God’s word, are you willing to trust what you heard? Or, are you inclined to trust the words of men over the word of God? Are you persuaded that the one who said he is God really is God? If you do then you would know how mankind was created and you would not believe in evolution. You know the Holy One of God and you know that what he says is true and believe what he says. Even though Jesus is not walking on the earth today, the divine word has been recorded down for us as men were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21). The Holy Spirit resides in people who have believed the message of Christ and accepted his offer of eternal life. They have been adopted into the family of God, the body of Christ, who is the head of the church.
When the scripture says that Jesus was there in the beginning at the Father’s side and created all there is (Colossians 1:15-23), then you take him at his word. When a religious leader tells you that Mary was a virgin all her life, and you read in God’s word that Jesus had four brothers, and they were named (Matthew 13:55), then you know that what that leader told you is a deception or a lie. If you choose to believe a lie over God’s word, then what else will you believe? Will you believe that Mary is to be glorified and is a co-redeemer? How much more error is believed when you believe one error. It all comes down to this. Do you want to do God’s will? Do you want to know God? Whoever chooses to do the will of God will find out whether Jesus’ teaching comes from God or whether he speaks on his own. Whoever wants to draw attention to himself will not let God have his way in him. Whoever wants to gain honor for himself will not come to God. Why? He wants his will to be done, not God’s. Will you be able to say like Peter, ““Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Are you being drawn by the Holy Spirit to listen and be taught of God unto eternal life. Will you be nourished by spiritual food from heaven that continues into eternity?
You are talking with someone who believes in evolution. You ask him, “Who made the earth?” He replies, “It came from a molecule”. You ask him, “Who made the molecule?”
People get into believing anything they hear and believe it like God said it. People sit around and read the DaVinci code like it is the bible. It is a novel, and no truth to it at all. People read it as if God said it.
John 6:68-69
68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
Peter asked, “Where am I going to go to find the answers to life? To whom can I go?” Jesus alone has the words of eternal life. Jesus alone is the only one capable of telling me what happened eternally. Jesus alone is the one who knows what happened in the past.
Where am I going to find the answer to eternal life? Why does Peter know that? He knows Jesus is the Holy One of God.
We can turn to anything we want to turn. We can say we believe anything we want to believe. This is the real issue. Where did you get your information? Did Jesus give it to you or did you get it from man? Where are we going to learn about this control center we call the brain? Sigmund Freud or Jesus? Who has more reliable information? Jesus or Freud? Who made man? Jesus.
John 2:25
He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.
Jesus is saying, “I know man. I do not need the testimony of man for I made man”.
Colossians 1:15-23
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of[g] your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
So if you want to know how your car works, you go to the manufacturer of the car. He knows how it was made. Jesus made man. Go to him to find out how man thinks. Go to the one who manufactured you, the manufacturer of the human body, including the brain.
John 6:68-69
68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
Peter says something so profound. “Where am I going to go for spiritual truth?” Peter is saying, “Jesus, you are the only one who has the answer. I believe this because I know something. I know who you are and since I know who you are, I can rely on what you say and know you are telling me the truth. I do not care what some teacher says, some scientist says, or some theorist says. I know how man got on this earth. Jesus told me. He created man.”
John 6:70
70 Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” 71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)
One of you is a devil Jesus said, “I know who you are.” Jesus knows what is inside a man, and what a man is thinking.
Turn now to John 7. In John 7, it is the time period for the Jews to celebrate the feast of tabernacles. The feast of tabernacles occurred in the month of September or October. The feast of tabernacles is a celebration where people lived in shelters made of leaves and branches, palm or olive branches, in remembrance of 40 years they lived in the desert. You live in tabernacle for 6 to 7 days. It came at the end of the fruit harvest.
John 7:1
7 After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him.
Jesus knew the leadership of the Jews, not the common people, but the Pharisees and Sadducee’s, were waiting for him to show up at the feast in order to kill him. How amazing it is that we are so blind to our own sins. It is easy to spot sin in others but not in our own lives. These people, who were Pharisees, would see nothing wrong about killing someone who disagreed with them but yet say that working on the Sabbath is a sin. So the Pharisees thought, “It is okay to kill somebody but just do not do it on the Sabbath. That is how men rationalize their own sinful thoughts and behavior.
John 7:2-5
2 But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, 3 Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do.
How would you like to have Jesus as your brother? Here is your brother, always doing what is right, never saying a bad word, always obedient to parents. Jesus’ brothers were not fond of him. Some of you out there have brothers. They did not like their older brother, Jesus.
John 7:4
4 No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.”
His brothers said to him, “Jesus, you ought to leave here so the disciples may see your miracles”. Could it be the brother’s were speaking sarcastically? “No one like you who wants to be known publicly acts secretly. Since you are doing these things, you keep insisting on turning water into wine and walking on water and all this stuff, then go on into the city”. Would you hear the sarcasm of Jesus’ own brothers?
John 7:5
5 For even his own brothers did not believe in him.
Bob George then shared from Matthew 13:35. The Catholic religion teaches that Mary was always a virgin. Recall what was shared earlier, about believing something to be true because you know Jesus is God. So you trust God’s word over what any man or religious institution teaches.
Matthew 13:55
55 “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?
Do we base our belief system on the word of God or what Bob George tells you? You base your belief system on the word of God, even affirming what any man says is true or not by your own study of the word of God as the Berean Jews were commended for by the apostle Paul.
Acts 17:11
Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
Do you base your belief system based on the Methodist, the Baptists the Southern Day Adventists, or whoever it might be? I hope not! Do we sit around and determine what the word of God is true or not based on what scriptures teach or what someone else is telling you? Which is it? If you have not read the bible, then how would you know?
Until Bob George was saved, he never read the bible. Did Bob have intellectual knowledge that Jesus is the Son of God? Yes. Did he know what that meant? Not a clue. He thought God had a baby, and that is about it. Did Bob believe that Jesus died on a cross? Yes, for he heard about it every Christmas or at church from a hymn. Did he know why Jesus died on the cross? Not a clue. Did Bob believe Jesus was raised from the dead? Yes, he did. You hear something about it at Easter. But it was just a historical fact and not much thought given on what it all means. Bob had no clue what all that meant for him personally. He had no clue about the message of salvation.
If Bob was asked then why he believes what he believes? He would say, “I don’t know”. Somebody said it, in church or singing of a song. But did Bob ever know that by studying the word of God? No. He never studied the word of God then. Before he was born again, Bob never opened the bible. Bob heard someone ask what Presbyterians believe. Bob did not know. Bob’s answer would have been something vague like, “everything will work out in the end”. So how would you know if the church or someone else is teaching you something contrary to the word of God? We have a choice to either believe something based on what the church says or what the word of God says.
When dealing with Jesus, whether Mary remained virgin all her life, which a prominent denomination teaches, then you better take a look if that is the truth or a lie. And I will not go to the pope to find the answer. If I am wise then I will go to the scriptures to find the answer. Yet, there are people who would rather just believe what a pope says and remain blind to the truth. I could go to the Baptists and they would tell me one thing and I could go to the Catholics and they would tell me another thing. That is what man is telling me. One could be telling me the truth and one could be telling me a lie. How do I know whether it is true or not, that Jesus had brothers or sisters? I look into what Jesus, who is God, said, by looking in the scriptures.
Matthew 13:55
55 “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?
Who were his brothers? James, Joseph, Simon and Judas
Matthew 13:56
56 Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”
Jesus also had sisters but their names were not recorded. His sisters lived right among them in the time of Jesus.
Matthew 13:57
57 And they took offense at him.
His brothers would ask, “Who made him so great?” And they were greatly offended and refused to believe in him.
John 7:5
For even his own brothers did not believe in him.
You hear people say today that you have to go out and model the Christian life. If you were going to model the Christian life, would Jesus be a pretty good example? Did Jesus live his life in front of his brothers and sisters? Did Jesus live his life in front of the Pharisees? Yes, he did. Jesus lived his life in front of the Sadducee’s? Yes, he did. Did he speak what he knew to be true? Yes, he did. Did he model his own life before people? Yes, he did. Did his family believe in him? No, they didn’t. Did the Pharisees and Sadducee’s believe in him? No, they didn’t.
John 7:16-17
16 Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. 17 Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.
Do you know that the only way that you are ever going to know whether Jesus speaks truth or not is if your heart is “I want to do God’s will” or “I want to know God”.
He who speaks on his own gains honor for himself. You have two attitudes, “Do I want to do God’s will?” or “Do I want to gain honor for myself? The reason I am doing what I am doing is to gain honor for myself, to draw attention to myself. In Bob’s early day as a Christian, immature, which is the only way you can start out, he recalled his attitude in evangelizing. Being a salesman, it was quite natural and easy for him to use such skills to share Jesus. Using the four spiritual law booklet, reading it and looking out of the corner of his eye to see who was watching him. Coming back to meetings, he would boast about sharing the gospel with 15 people and 10 would come to know the Lord. He was trying to gain honor to himself or to draw attention to himself.
If you want to know what truth is, you have to have a heart that says, “Not my will but yours be done.”
You hear people pray and much of their prayers is about, “Give me. Give me”, and not about God’s will. Do you want your prayers answered, or God’s will to be done? Jesus approached Mary and asked, “Let me borrow your womb to bear the life of the child of Jesus.”
Bob recalls the song, “Mary did you now”.
Mary was indwelt with Jesus for 9 months. You and I, when born again, are indwelt with Jesus forever. As blessed as Mary was, we are even more blessed, to have Jesus living in us, our only hope of glory. To glorify someone over and above what the bible does, then that is deception. Mary and Joseph had children, James, Joseph, Simon and Judas and a bunch of sisters. Either she had virgin birth on all of those or they had a normal marriage? Which do you think it is? To say that Mary was a virgin all her life, then that is deception. But if you can say that then you can say that is who you pray to because Jesus is too busy, or to glorify Mary, or to make her a co-redeemer with Jesus. How easy it is if your premise is off just a little bit, then how easy to be off entirely. A little error can create a whole bunch of error if you let it go.
Mark 6:1-6
1 Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.
“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing?
3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith.
So the Jews of Nazareth asked Jesus, “Where did he get all this wisdom and power to do all these miracles?” They pondered, “He is just a carpenter?” That is what he did physically. Not only did his family not believe in him, but also the people of Nazareth did not believe in him. These people, living as close as they did to Jesus, how could they deny that?
Mark 3:20-21
20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”
He is out of his mind. Who said that? His family said that. What was Jesus doing? He was ministering to and healing people.
What do you mean “take charge of him”? They were essentially saying, “Find a nut house or halfway house and put him in it”. They thought Jesus was crazy, with a mental problem.
Mark 3:31-35
31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”
33 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.
34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
So Jesus is referring to those who do God’s will as his brothers and sisters. He is not referring to a physical family but a spiritual family. We have physical brothers and we have brothers in Christ. That is a spiritual bond that cannot be broken. When you have people in Christ Jesus, there is a bond that is unbreakable. There is a love for one another, and does not matter what race, black or white, or whatever color that may be.
1 Corinthians 12:27
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
Colossians 1:18
And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
There is a physical family and there is a spiritual family. The true spiritual family is the body of Christ. He is the head, we are the body. The very moment you come to Christ, the Spirit of God comes to indwell you.
Colossians 1:27
And this is the secret: Christ in your hearts is your only hope of glory.
1 Corinthians 12:13
Each of us is a part of the one body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But the Holy Spirit has fitted us all together into one body. We have been baptized into Christ’s body by the one Spirit, and have all been given that same Holy Spirit.
The Spirit of God then baptized you in body of Christ. That is you and Him. When you are placed in the body of Christ, just as your physical body, then you have different functions or responsibilities. The ear is not going to be the nose. The mouth is not going to be an arm. In Christendom , we have all noses stirring up a storm. Then you have mouths stirring up another storm. An ear is different that an eye and different than a nose. The body in all it’s diversity is to find unity in the midst of its diversity. If my back itches, my head says to the hand, “scratch the back”. The head does not say, “I do not like the back. The back ripped me off”.
1 Corinthians 12:4-5
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
1 Corinthians 12:12-20
12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by[c] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
No, the body cares for itself. The body loves itself. It cares for itself. That is what spiritual life is, a body led by the head, who is Christ. This is the body with emphasis on the head. That is why the flesh counts for nothing. Why does it not count for anything? It will be gone in a few years. Stick a hand in a bucket of water, take it out, and see how much it will be missed. Eternally, we have this marvelous life living in us, with that wonderful awareness that one day, whenever it might be, I am going to leave this body, to be present with the Lord, and I going to live with Him forever, throughout eternity. This flesh counts for nothing. What is important is what is going on spiritually in your life. If you get fed physically, you get hungry again. If you get fed spiritually, then you continue on into eternal life.
