March 23, 2002
Morning Service
Text: John 11:45-57
Subject: Unbelief
Title: Resisting the Truth
I’m proud to be from Missouri. The nickname, "The Show-Me State" has always had a lot of meaning to me. I don’t think that it refers to a state full of doubting Thomases. On the contrary, I think it speaks of common sense people who don’t jump to conclusions, who carefully weigh things before they make decisions, and are not easily swayed from their beliefs. We are a people who will stand up for what we believe in, and will not be distracted from our purpose in life. I know that I am speaking in general terms, but don’t you think that is a fair assessment of Missourians in general?
Now let’s go a step further. I think Missouri Christians fall into the same mode. Many have been in church all their lives. Others are new to Christianity. But one thing they do agree about. These are the things we have always been taught about our faith and we are going to stick to it. Good for them! Right? Well, maybe not. Like many others times in the history of Christianity, the idea of change threatens the masses. Every time a new, but completely biblical understanding of scripture comes along there are always those who are skeptical. Every time there has been a great revival break out, wherever in the world it might have been, the volunteer fire department has been there to put out the fire of the Holy Spirit, or at least attempt to.
Battle lines are drawn over theology. Fights break out over personal understanding of scripture. Arguments continue across denominational lines. Where change comes, intimidation follows. And the church languishes in yesterday’s anointing. You know, we aren’t going to agree about everything, especially religion. But we don’t need to make any more enemies than the church already has.
There was a man who celebrated his 100th birthday and a news reporter was sent out to talk to him and find out the secret of his longevity. The old man said, "I don’t have an enemy in the world." The reporter was in awe of this and asked how he was able to manage such an amazing feat. The old man, replied, "I don’t have any enemies because I have outlived them all."
It is good to get along with people but not at the cost of backing down from the word of God. As a minister of the gospel of Christ, my duty is not to make enemies, but to rightly divide the word of truth, with conviction and without compromise. So when you hear me preach something that may be a little different than what you have ever heard, go ahead, be a Missourian and then let me show you.
Our passage today takes place just before the last Passover of our Lord. Jesus has just raised Lazarus from the dead and many came to know the Lord because of that miracle. But there was a group of "Show Me" religious people out there who didn’t want to see the truth that was right before them.
We want to look at three things today that hindered those people from having the kind of relationship with God He desires.
First, there was a problem. The miracles and ministry of Jesus was different than anything they had ever seen.
Second, even though their religious leader received a word form God, they would not believe it.
Third, they would not be satisfied until the "boat rocker? was eliminated."
Church, be ready for opposition from "religious" people. They will not be satisfied until the fire is put out.
I. The problem. (Verses 45-48) The miracles of Jesus. What God had intended to draw people to Jesus had the opposite effect on the "religious". John 5:36, Jesus said, "But I have a greater witness than John?’s: for the works which the Father has given Me to finish - the very works that I do - bear witness of Me that the Father has sent Me." John 5:40, "But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life."
The religious people had watched Jesus perform miracle after miracle, one supernatural act after another, culminated by the raising of Lazarus, and they still were saying, "show me." John 3:2 Nicodemus, a teacher of the people, said to Jesus, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with Him." Paul wrote, "The Jews request a sign." Matthew 12:38, "Then some of the scribes and the Pharisees answered, saying, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You".
Jesus’ response? "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign." What Jesus was doing was not new.
The prophets of old did miracles. Jesus made them commonplace and expected. He was operating in His own authority and not on the authority of someone else’s interpretation of the word. What about today?
Do miracles happen today? Look at this article from a perfectly legitimate Christian website. I’m sure these folks love the Lord, but... "It is absolutely impossible for people to perform miracles today. In the Bible, Christians could not perform miracles unless an apostle prayed for them and laid hands on them (Acts 8:14-17; 19:5-6). Since Paul was the last apostle (1 Cor. 15:8; cf. Acts 1:21-25), there are no apostles on earth today. Since there are not any apostles on earth to pray and lay hands on people to receive miraculous power, it is impossible for people to perform miracles." Yet Exodus 15:26 says, "If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you."
We know that God is eternal and unchanging. We know that the command was given to the Israelites. But God is the eternal God who heals and He is unchanging. We know that by His stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5 Peter says the same thing (I Peter 2:24) So what are we to believe - The tradition of a church (of men) or
The Holy Bible? Colossians 2:8, "Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ." The problem is that people tend to love the world more than the word. When we take the supernatural out of the word of God and the gospel message it becomes just another philosophy. Paul dealt with the philosophers in Athens and they thought he was a babbler with some new philosophy. "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death." (Revelation 12:11)
II. Their own High Priest prophesied about Jesus and they still didn’t get it. (49-52) "It is expedient that one man should die for the people." John says that this high priest, Caiaphas, did not speak on his own authority. How can it be that one who does to know the Lord can be used in the Spirit? God can use whomever He wants to give His message. Numbers 22-24 tells us the story of Balaam. He viewed God as just one of many gods but God put words in his mouth. Caiaphas thought he was speaking words of human wisdom, but John says that he was speaking through the office of High Priest and not on his own. How many remember the amazing Kreskin? He was a self - proclaimed prophet and made predictions of the future.
There may or may not have been some demonic activity there. He did not speak from the spirit of God. Caiaphas’ words were from the Spirit, spoken by man.
John gives these words a two-fold meaning. Worldly meaning and an Eternal meaning. Caiaphas did not fully understand what he was saying. Yet it all came true. Though He spoke from a spirit of religion the HOly Spirit still used him.
III. Once he spoke those words the others sought to put an end to Jesus. (Verses 53-57) They understood the prophecy of Caiaphas from a human perspective and not from a spiritual view.
"From that day on they plotted to put Him to death."
They thought by eliminating the problem they could solve the problem. Verse 54, "Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews." He wasn’t afraid of them. He just knew that His time had not yet come.
He was walking in the Spirit. They were willing to kill Jesus during their most holy time, the Passover.
They were "Religious" in name only. They were willing to break the Law in order to get what they wanted and then justify it in the name of religion. Matthew 23:27, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like white-washed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men?s bones and all uncleanness." Very appropriate that they would be willing to shed the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God, at the feast that celebrated their deliverance from Egypt - A time when the blood of an unblemished lamb was placed over the doors of the houses and death passed over them. That’s what religious people do. They tend to take a relationship with Christ out of church and replace it with formalities. Non - Pentecostal denominations look at us and say we are crazy. We are adding something that wasn’t meant to be there. We look at them and wonder how they became so formalized when the gospel clearly talks about the Holy Spirit and His operation.
They are missing out on something that was meant for them. e question one another’s religion.
Verse 56, ?"hat do you think - that He will not come to the feast"? They were questioning Jesus’ religion.
Conclusion.
The Jewish leaders were so disturbed by the miraculous that they wanted to kill the miracle worker. Jesus had so challenged their comfortable positions that they wanted to put an end to His life. And they did it just because they were not willing to accept the truth when it conflicted with their religion.
We are a Pentecostal people. We believe in the gifts of the Spirit and that they should be operational in our church services. The apostle John tells us that we are to judge the spirits and learn to discern what is of God and what is not.
I have a few questions for you. Do you think that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are limited to those things that are listed in the Bible? Have we become so rigid in the Spirit that we would frown on some one who got really happy in the Spirit? How would we react today if some one got so excited in the Spirit that they just felt like they couldn’t stay sitting down. Granted, there are proper times for that spiritual activity to take place, but if it did - if some one was drunk in the spirit or if they were laughing in the spirit, or even if they got up and ran around because they were blessed in their spirit by the Holy Spirit, how would you respond? Would you be blessed by it or would you doubt and say, "That’s not of God!" I’m not pointing fingers today. I just want to give you something to think about. We say we want revival! At what cost? We claim that we want to se a mighty move of God’s Spirit in our church. What price are we willing to pay? Are we stuck in our ideas about what religion should be? Or are we willing to let God have his way in our church?
The last verse (57) really gives us some good advice. "Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it." Jesus said the same thing. If we know Him, we should go and tell people. You know, I believe that if we would all give ourselves to the authority of the Holy Spirit to the point where we were telling people that we know where Jesus is all the time, our spiritual rigidness would leave us.
We need to really ask God to help us in these areas.
1. To get over a problem of religion.
2. To get free in the Spirit.
3. To tell people where Jesus is so that they might seize Him.
