The Truth Matters!
The Gospel of John
John 7:25-36
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Grayson Baptist Church - November 30, 2016
(Revised August 23, 2019)
BACKGROUND:
*Please open your Bibles to John chapter 7. Tonight in vs. 25-36, we are going to focus on the vital importance of truth. But before we get started, it's important to remember the background here.
*By now, Jesus was at the annual Feast of the Tabernacles, and when we get to vs. 37, we will find out what it was all about. The Holy Spirit led John to give us a lot of detail about these two or three weeks. It's the focus from John 7:1 all the way to John 10:21, so this was a very significant point in the Lord's ministry. (1)
*Verses 1-2 here tell us that:
1. After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him.
2. Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.
*By this chapter, Jesus was in the third year of His ministry, and the Jewish rulers had been trying to kill Him for at least 6 months, possibly up to a year and a half based on the different timelines scholars have proposed.
*In John 7:21, Jesus points us to one of the main triggers for the Jews' murderous desires. There "Jesus answered and said to them, 'I did one work, and you all marvel.'"
*The "one work" Jesus mentioned was the miracle He performed at the Bethesda pool in John 5. There the Lord healed a man who had been terribly sick for 38 years. But the Jewish leaders found out that Jesus had healed that man on the Sabbath day. And they were so devoted to their manmade laws that they wanted to murder Jesus.
*John 5:16-18 explains:
16. For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.
17. But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.''
18. Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.
*Those rulers cared more about their traditions than they cared about the sick man. Jesus pointed out how wrong they here in vs. 22-24. There the Lord told them:
22. "Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.
23. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?"
24. Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.''
*With this background in mind, let's see what happened next in vs. 25-36. And as we read, please think about the fact that the truth matters.
MESSAGE:
*God surely cares about truth. We know this for one reason because the word "truth" is found over a hundred times in the New Testament. The truth always matters to God, and it ought to matter to us.
*But we live in a day when a lot of people believe that truth doesn't matter. They actually believe there is no such thing as objective truth. You can have your truth, and I can have mine.
*How bad has it gotten? In October 2018, the Christian Institute of England reported on a new survey for the Coalition for Marriage. Among the 2,000 people asked, 32 percent supported self-definition of race. Nineteen percent thought it was okay for people to choose their age. They think if I get up in the morning and decide I want to be 43, I can! But for that matter, why stop there? I'll be 23.
*Ten percent of those people also said it was okay for you to choose your own species! In other words: If I get up tomorrow and decide I want to be a horse, that's what I will be. (2)
*This is the kind of nonsense people can believe when they reject the reality of truth, especially when they reject the greatest truth of all: our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."
*Lots of people reject the truth today. They think truth doesn't matter. But the truth is that the truth always matters. The next time I get on a plane, and the gauges say there's plenty of jet fuel in the tank, I want those gauges to be telling the truth!
*The truth matters! And tonight's Scripture shows us how we should respond to the truth.
1. FIRST: WE MUST NOT HATE THE TRUTH.
*We must not hate the truth about Jesus Christ, but that's what was happening in this Scripture. Those Jewish leaders hated the truth about Jesus. That's why in vs. 25, "Some of them from Jerusalem said, 'Is this not He whom they seek to kill?'" And in vs. 30, "they sought to take (Jesus); but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come." And in vs. 32, "The Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him."
*Those Jewish rulers hated Jesus. And the Lord told us why back up in vs. 7. There Jesus was speaking to His unbelieving brothers. And He said, "The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil."
*There are many people like that in the world today. They may seem like good and pleasant people, but even bringing up the name of Jesus seems to make them mad. They hate the truth about Jesus.
[1] AND THEY HAVE NO IDEA HOW TRAGICALLY MISTAKEN THEY ARE, BECAUSE HATING THE TRUTH BRINGS CONFUSION.
*God gives us an example of this confusion in vs. 33-36. Jesus told them:
33. . . "I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me.
34. You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come.''
35. Then the Jews said among themselves, "Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him? Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks (Gentiles) and teach the Greeks?
36. What is this thing that He said, 'You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am (there) you cannot come'?''
*Without Jesus Christ, the smartest person in the world doesn't have a clue about the most important thing in life.
[2] HATING THE TRUTH ABOUT JESUS BRINGS CONFUSION. IT ALSO BRINGS CORRUPTION.
*In vs. 25, "Then some of them from Jerusalem said, 'Is this not He whom they seek to kill?'" Hating the truth about Jesus leads to all kinds of corruption, even murder.
*We got a stark reminder of this fact in November 2016. I was in Mary's office working on this sermon, when we got a call from our daughter Becky. Mary started to talk, but Becky quickly interrupted to tell us about the attack going on at Ohio State.
*Thank the Lord, she was late that Monday, but she got a campus-wide text warning about a shooter on campus. It told everyone to run, hide or fight if you had to. Now, we know that the terrorist attack wasn't from a shooter.
*At 9:21 a.m. their time, a gas alarm was reported, and students in Watts Hall were evacuated outside. I don't know if that was part of the attack or a coincidence, but the students stood outside the building for about 30 minutes while firefighters investigated.
*Then at 9:52, Muslim student Abdul Razak Ali Artan from Somalia drove his car over the curb and into the crowd outside Watts Hall. When the car stopped, he jumped out and starting stabbing people with a butcher knife.
*Then, only a minute later at 9:53, Ohio State Police Officer Alan Horujko arrived on the scene. He ordered Artan to drop his weapon. And when he refused, the officer shot Artan dead.
*Thank God, that police officer was so close! Eleven victims were hospitalized, but it could have been a whole lot worse. On Facebook Artan posted: "By Allah, I am willing to kill a billion infidels." (3)
[3] HATING THE TRUTH ABOUT JESUS CAN BRING MURDEROUS CORRUPTION. IT ALSO BRINGS GOD'S CONDEMNATION.
*In vs. 33-34:
33. Then Jesus said to them, "I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me.
34. You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come.''
*Here, the Lord was warning unbelievers that eternal condemnation is the end for those who reject Jesus.
*So, what should we do about people who hate the truth about Jesus? We should pray, -- pray hard for them! Then as God gives us the opportunity, we should talk to them about Jesus. We also should try our best to live what we believe before other people. And hopefully their hearts will be softened, because people will not be saved as long as they hate the truth about Jesus.
2. WE MUST NOT HATE THE TRUTH. INSTEAD, WE MUST HUNGER FOR THE TRUTH.
*We should hunger for the truth we find in God's Word. We should hunger for the truth like some of the people did in tonight's Scripture. We can see them in vs. 25-27:
25. Then some of them from Jerusalem said, "Is this not He whom they seek to kill?
26. But look! He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ?
27. However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from.''
*Those people had part of the truth about Jesus, and some of them were hungry for more truth. That's why in vs. 28-29, Jesus tried to give them a greater understanding of the truth:
28. Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, "You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.
29. But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He (has) sent Me.''
*At least some of those people were hungry for more truth about Jesus. And here are some crucial questions for us: Are we hungry for more truth? Are we hungry for Jesus? Are we hungry to walk with Him? To talk with Him? To love Him? To serve Him?
*In Psalm 34:8, David pleaded, "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!" But are we hungry for the Lord? And are we hungry for His Word?
*1 Peter 2:1-3 pleads with us as Christians and says:
1. Therefore, laying aside all malice, all guile, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,
2. as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,
3. if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
*God wants us to be hungry for His Word, and hungry to help others hear about Jesus.
3. HE WANTS US TO HUNGER FOR THE TRUTH. HE ALSO WANTS US TO TRUST THE TRUTH TO HOLD US.
*Jesus Christ is the ultimate truth, the greatest truth of all! Again, in John 14:6 Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." And when we believe in Jesus Christ, when we receive Him as our Lord and Savior, He holds on to us forever!
*The Lord made this truth clear over in John 10:27-29. There Jesus said:
27. "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
28. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
29. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand."
*Church: We can always trust the Lord to hold on to us, and that's what we should do! We can trust Jesus to hold on to us, and here's why:
[1] FIRST: JESUS HAS ACCESS TO THE FATHER.
*The Lord made this truth clear here in vs. 28-29, where:
28. . . Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, "You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.
29. But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He (has) sent Me.''
*God the Son Jesus Christ is the only person in the universe who can introduce us to God the Father. He's is the only one who can bring us into God's Family. And we can trust Jesus to hold on to us, because He has access to the Father.
[2] WE CAN ALSO TRUST JESUS BECAUSE OF THE APPOINTMENT HE KEPT.
*It's the appointment John mentioned in vs. 30, where "they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come." John spoke of this special hour 8 times in his Gospel. John said that Jesus' hour was not yet come. He was talking about the hour for Jesus to die on the cross.
*John Phillips explained that "John's Gospel speaks frequently of this mysterious and momentous hour. We see it first in John 2:4. There Jesus told His mother, "'Mine hour is not yet come. Next, here in vs. 30, they sought to take Jesus; 'but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.'
*In John 8:20, when Jesus was teaching in the temple, although there was mounting opposition, 'no man laid hands on him; for his hour was not yet come.' In John 12:23, when the Greeks came seeking for Jesus, the Lord said this to Andrew and Philip, 'The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.' Then in John 12:27, Jesus said, 'Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? "Father, save Me from this hour?" But for this purpose I came to this hour.'
*Next in the upper room on the night before the cross, John 13:1 says, 'Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.'
*Still later that night, Jesus prayed to His Heavenly Father. And John 17:1 says, 'Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You."
*We observe that the Lord's first reference to His "hour" was to His mother; the last was to His Father. Everything Jesus did had to do with this hour, the hour of the cross. (4)
*It was the appointed hour, an appointment that Jesus kept for us. Let this sink in! Before the beginning of time, in all eternity past, God Himself appointed the very hour that He would die on the cross for all of our sins! Christians: He is holding on to us now, and He will never let us go! We can trust Jesus to hold on to us, because of the appointment He kept.
[3] BUT WE CAN ALSO TRUST THE LORD BECAUSE OF HIS ABILITIES.
*In vs. 31, God's Word gives us another glimpse of the Lord's abilities: "And many of the people believed in Him, and said, 'When the Christ comes, will He do more signs (or miracles) than these which this Man has done?'''
*No one else can do what Jesus has done. No one else can do what Jesus can do for us! He is the only one who can save our souls! And He is the only one who can hold us up forever!
*In Isaiah 46:3-4, the Lord put it like this:
3. "Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been upheld by Me from birth, who have been carried from the womb:
4. even to your old age, I am He, and even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.
*God was certainly holding on to our Becky on the day of that terrorist attack. Here are some of the texts we sent back and forth that Monday and Tuesday.
*Monday morning, Becky said, "It's on CNN. The reporters are standing by my building on local news. Possible multiple active shooters. Eleven people transported to hospital. My building is one of the ones closed, and my parking garage.
*Tweet from one of our faculty: 'In case any of you wondering, I am ok. My students and I witnessed it though, and one student got a minor injury, so in shock. In shelter now.'
*CPD and Sherriff's Office say the situation 'is still fluid.' Scene still active. Ongoing search in Lane Avenue garage."
*'It's possible the gunshots heard were those of police trying to stop the attacker, a federal law enforcement official said. Investigators believe the assailant also used a car at the beginning of the attack, and the entire attack happened outside.' -- From CNN"
*About that time, Mary texted our son: "There are still so many questions to be answered about all of this, Eric. But, at least Becky was not there and is safe! Praise the Lord!!"
*Then Becky texted: "No one died. Multiple injuries. There's wasn't a shooter. He drove his car into a crowd and started stabbing."
*Tuesday morning, I sent: "Please tell me how close your office building was to the actual attack yesterday." "It was across the yard. Across the street from where I park. My building was in most of the shots on the news. . .
*One of our students was cut in the attack. He only needed a few stitches, but still. A group of our students and faculty are gathered in the room outside of my office right now talking about and processing through all of this.
*Had I not been running a little behind yesterday morning, I would've been pulling up right as it happened. One of the faculty had to run from the garage to the office. Another person she knew spent 2 hours holed up in the back of her SUV hiding."
*I said: "Wow. That made me tear up. I didn't know it was that close a call. I thought you were planning to go in later. I originally planned to come in by 9, but made a call, so was slower getting ready."
*"GRACE OF GOD!!!" I said. "Yeah, it's kind of surreal. I've been super contemplative today. Things are weird here now. Lots of people with a lot to process. There was a police officer in McDonalds when I went earlier. Looked like he was kind of patrolling. Or, maybe he was just taking a long time to pick a table.
*Also, I just had to email my class to let them know that they can miss tomorrow if needed. I did that because one student had already reached out. At least 3 of my students witnessed the attack.
CONCLUSION:
*There is no doubt that the Lord was holding Becky that Monday morning. And we are so very grateful for that. But even if the worst happened on Monday, the Lord would have still been holding Becky forever. And we can trust in Jesus Christ to hold on to us forever.
*That is the most wonderful truth of all!
(1) EXPLORING THE GOSPELS: JOHN by John Phillips, Kregal Publications, Grand Rapids - "His Deity in Focus" - John 10:22-42)
(2) "The Christian Institute" - Wilberforce House 4 Park Road, Gosforth Business Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE12 8DG - The Christian Institute is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England as a charity. Company No. 263 4440 Charity No. 100 4774. A charity registered in Scotland. Charity No. SC039220. - Copyright The Christian Institute.
(3) Sources:
-"The Columbus Dispatch," Columbus, Ohio - Nov 30, 2016
-https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2016/11/28/possible-terrorist-attack-osu-police-kill-black-male-attacker-armed-with-butcher-knife-during-attack-against-ohio-state-university-students/
-http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/national-international/18-Year-Old-Somali-Identified-As-Ohio-State-Attack-Suspect-403425576.html
-https://www.jihadwatch.org/2016/11/osu-jihadi-by-allah-i-am-willing-to-kill-a-billion-infidels
(4) Adapted from EXPLORING THE GOSPELS: JOHN by John Phillips, Kregal Publications, Grand Rapids - "Jesus and His Mother" - John 2:3-5
