Classic Christianity – Book of John Part 36 (06-24-19)
Bob George shares from the book of John. Jesus identifies himself as the bread of life when the Jews were all focused on physical food for daily living. Jesus was sharing spiritual truth with them, that he is the life they need to live forever. We came into this world with nothing and we will leave this world with nothing. We came into this world born spiritually dead and if we die in that state, we certainly have nothing but weeping and gnashing of teeth, where the worm never dies and the fire never goes out. The Spirit gives life and the flesh counts for nothing. So why spend all your energy focused on physically things that are here today and gone tomorrow. Listen to the very words of God, and Jesus is the exact representation of God on earth. He came from heaven to speak words from heaven and he is going back there, and in our day, he has already gone back there, so he can bring us to be with Him forever. The gospel is simple. You are dead and in need of life. We do not speak with eloquence of speech, or with wisdom of this age, or with persuasive words, or with flattery or boasting, but we preach Jesus Christ and him crucified in weakness and fear and humility.
John 6:35
35 Jesus replied, “I am the Bread of Life. No one coming to me will ever be hungry again. Those believing in me will never thirst.
So with this, the need for life, the Lord Jesus Christ began to present himself as the bread of life (John 6:35). Yes, it is true you need physical bread and water to live. At the physical level, man needs bread and water for life, but put that aside and recognize you have need of spiritual food and Jesus is that food. Jesus said he is the bread of life. Jesus is the living water. There is no other food and water available to you than Jesus Christ. Come unto Jesus for rest for your soul. Do not come unto his forgiveness, his healing, his feeding but come unto Jesus to get what you need. Jesus knows what we need even before we ask. Come to him and he will give it to you.
Ephesians 1:7
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us.
That in Him we have, as our possession, forgiveness of sin. Are you in him? Then what do you have? Forgiveness of sin. In Him you have redemption of sin. Are you in him? Then what do you have? Redemption. You do not get it. You got it.
John 3:36
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
In Him you have eternal life. Is eternal life something you get in the sweet bye and bye? Or, do you possess eternal life right now? You have eternal life.
John 17:3
Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
1 John 5:12
Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
We do not have an alley way in this life. Picture houses with a fence, a yard and an alley way. You say to yourself, “I do not want to get in this yard or that yard. I want to walk down this aisle”. You cannot be on the fence. You are either on this side or that side. There is no alley way when it comes to God. There is only a fence.
In John 6, we read where Jesus was making these claims, that he is God, and people were questioning his claims. The bible also records Jesus having brothers and sisters.
Matthew 13:55-57
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? 56 Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57 And they took offense at him.
Mark 6:3
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.
In the scriptures, Jesus’ brothers are named. It is not spiritual brothers but physical brothers. After Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph had relations to have more children. His own family did not believe in him. That is hard to imagine but it is true.
John 7:5
For even his own brothers did not believe in him.
So at the feast of the tabernacles, the celebration of the harvest in September or October, is where people built huts to dwell in to celebrate the 40 years the children of Israel living in the desert. This was a reminder of their desert experience. In this setting, his own brothers told him he should go to the feast and make himself known. “Since you are doing these things, turning water into wine, and miracles, wanting to make yourself known, go out and get yourself killed.”
Jesus would say, the right time has not yet come. This was something Jesus continued to say throughout his ministry, beginning with the miracle of turning water into wine.
John 2:4
“Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
John 7:8
You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.”
John 7:30
At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.
In Ecclesiastes, we read that there is a time for everything, a time to be born and a time to die. Jesus did everything at the right time.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-3
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
The time Jesus was talking about was when he, the Son of God, would become the savior of the world, by dying on a cross only to be raised again from the dead to give new life to man. So Jesus was heading for that time, which we call salvation. That is where Jesus was heading. Jesus was teaching under an Old Covenant and he buried us under that system, while teaching us about the New Covenant. Jesus is teaching what righteousness is, righteousness that is in him and not in you and me. He is showing us what pure righteousness is. We come to see that that pure righteousness is Jesus but not me, not any man. If you think Jesus’ teaching is hard, try applying sermon on the mount. Jesus’ teaching buried us. He was preparing us for the right time.
You had the right time in your life, the time you came to see Christ as your savior. Until that time came, God had to prepare me for that day. He prepared me by letting me get all the things I thought would make me happy. He showed me I could not be the husband and father I wanted to be. I came to the point to look in the mirror. I came not to look at what I was doing, but to see what was wrong with me. There is something wrong with me. The problem is I am a sinner and I am dead.
What does the world offer to dead people? The world sends them to a psychologist, who tells them that they are bipolar or manic depressive and then administer medicine to them to dull the brain. God wants us to become saved, children of God. All of Jesus’ teaching, the study in these gospels, is God’s preparatory work, to prepare us for that day, that day we will come to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
So his brothers went to the feast. Jesus also went to the feast, not publicly but privately.
John 7:10-13
10 However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. 11 Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, “Where is he?”
12 Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.”
Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.” 13 But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders.
Many things were said about him. Some said he is a good man while others said he deceived the people. The people were confused about him.
So we pick up in verse 14.
John 7:14-17
14 Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. 15 The Jews there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?”
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.
If anyone chooses to do God’s will. There is a prerequisite to be able to understand the word of God. That prerequisite is that I choose to do God’s will. I choose to read God’s will, not to get an intellectual assent to it, but so I can put it into practice. I want to know and do God’s will. When you have in your mind that I not only want to know but to carry out God’s will in your life, then would you not want to be like Enoch? Enoch walked with God.
Genesis 5:24
Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.
If you want to know God’s will and act upon it then you will find out that this teaching of Jesus, that we hold in our hands today, is true.
John 7:18
18 Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.
Many people do a lot of talking to gain honor to themselves. Just look at a political campaign. So many talk about what they would do. “If I were president, I would do this or that. How crazy! You do not even know what you would do when met with circumstances. You do not know what you would do, do you?” It is talk. Talk is cheap. There are people who talk and there are people who work.
How are you going to know whether you really believe what you are talking is when you are given the opportunity to work it out. Then you know whether or not what you are talking about is working.
He who works to bring glory to God is a man of truth. There is nothing false about him.
We have to realize that faith without works is dead.
James 2:14-17
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
Is James negating grace with that? No. If you have true faith in the true Jesus, then Jesus works are going to go through you. If your faith is in the right place then Jesus will be working in and through you.
You talk about all these things and talk is cheap. Is it a part of your life? You say you love one another, do you love one another? You say you forgive, but do you forgive. You say you are following Jesus, but are you following Jesus?
John 7:18
Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.
Then he gives this illustration because they were saying that Jesus was working on the Sabbath.
John 7:19
19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”
What is he saying? What do we know about those claiming to be law keepers? What about today, those claiming to be law keepers? Not one of you keeps it. But the law keepers say, “I am trying. I am giving it a whack”. He is saying, “that is not the issue. What do you have to say about that? You hypocrites! You say you are keeping the law but not a one of you keeps it. You are saying, ‘this is what you have to do to be holy in the sight of God.’ Do you know what you have to do to be holy in the sight of God? Put your trust in the Holy one who did do it because you never will but He did.”
John 7:20
20 “You are demon-possessed,” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”
John 7:21-24
21 Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. 22 Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. 23 Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”
You talk out of one side of your mouth but if a child is born on the eighth day and the eight day falls on a Sabbath, then you keep it. Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so the law of Moses may not be broken, then why are you judging me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath?
Speech is cheap. Talk is cheap. I have great animosity to people who make a big deal of what language they are speaking in, as if God is listening to your language. God is looking at your heart. Prayer is a language of the heart not of the tongue. People get all caught up in whether a person is speaking in English or German or tongues. God says he is not caring what you are saying with your mouth because none times out of ten what you are saying with your mouth is not a direct reflection of what is in your heart. When someone asks, “How are you doing?” and you say “fine” yet your guts are hanging out. Ever done that? God is too smart to listen to what we say. He listens to our heart. If God needs us to talk out loud why would we say, “let’s have silent prayer”. What do you say to a person who has Parkinson disease? Can God hear him? Is he a goner? Can he not communicate with God any more? What if your tongue was cut out or you were born without a tongue? Would you say a person who could not speak in English or German or a tongue cannot communicate with God? God is dealing in spiritual things and not natural things. We have got all caught up in natural things. What have we learned? The spirit gives life and the flesh counts for nothing (John 6:63).
You can be a learned man or a great orator but not have the spirit of God living in you. Recall Apollos who knew only the preaching of John the Baptist. He had not even heard that there even is a Holy Spirit.
Acts 18:24-26
24 Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.
Acts 19:1-3
1 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied.
What was the attitude of Paul in regards to speech?
1 Corinthians 2:1-5
1 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
Paul said that he did not come with eloquence of speech, or lofty ideas, or brilliant words but in total humility to proclaim the good news of the gospel. He said thath e resolved to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified.
Paul said he did not come in boldness but in weakness and in fear. That fear means awe. Like the ocean, when you have great awe of it that you do not want to be in it without a boat. All creation testifies of the glory of god.
Paul said, “I did not come to you all cocky and puffed up in what I was going to do for you. I did not come with persuasive words, not with men’s wisdom but in the power of God”. Does that not put all of us in a positive light? Can we too come with fear and trembling, in weakness and not in strength, to resolve to know nothing but Jesus and him crucified?
We do not come with persuasive words. We do not have to be persuasive. The gospel is simple. You are dead and in need of life. The gospel is simple. He is talking about spiritual things in comparison to so-called truth from the world. We do speak a message of wisdom among the mature but not the wisdom of this age, or rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. These rulers of this age, do you know what they are coming to? Nothing. Do you know that the only thing to last is Christ Jesus? God knows what is going to happen. Whatever happens, when you are in Jesus, you are going to be okay. Bob has lived through many presidents, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, and Nixon. Outside of one, he has not seen much difference in this world. In the final analysis, the rulers of this age are coming to nothing.
1 Corinthians 2:6-10
6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written:
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived” —
the things God has prepared for those who love him—
10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
