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[0:00] Can you hear me?

[0:19] Alright, that's good. You like that video? So did I. Alright.

[0:37] So let's go to the Lord and pray. Father God, Lord, we just come to you. Our knees are bent. And we're just trying to get close to you, Lord.

[0:50] We want to know what you have for us. And Lord, we just thank you for the many blessings you've given us. The way you sent your son to die on the cross for us. The way he conquered death.

[1:01] The way you just take care of us and bless us in many ways. You give us wonderful children. You give us spouses, Lord.

[1:12] And all of it comes from you. We know that. So Lord, now I'm going to go sit down in the background. Because I want you to be the one leading this. I want you to be the one speaking, not me.

[1:24] Because I am nothing compared to you. So Lord God, I just ask that you are with us today. And bring us, and bring this word to everyone. And open our hearts to the lesson you have planned.

[1:37] I pray this in the name of Jesus. So I want to tell you the story to start with. Okay? And I want you to know, this has to do with my sister Charity and my siblings, who are all much older than me.

[1:52] Okay? My Charity is 10 years older than me, and she's the one closest to me. Okay? So some of you know my sister Charity, and some of you don't. So, and this, I'm pretty sure happened before I was born, but my sister likes to share this story.

[2:05] Okay? So, she decided she wanted to get even with her big sister Joy. Okay? So she got my older brothers to help her in this. So they dug a pit in the backyard.

[2:19] They filled the pit with water. And then they put a covering on it like you would when you were going to trap a tiger or a lion. So then she goes out there, and she gets her sister to put her book down, because my sister Joy reads like a freak.

[2:34] She is always reading a book, even to this day. So they get her to chase her, and my sister Charity goes around it, and Joy goes through it, and goes into the pit.

[2:44] And she's covered with this water and everything else. And she's trying to get even with her sibling, because you know siblings have rivalries. Okay? I'm sure if I went and I asked any of your siblings, they would have stories about you.

[3:00] And the reason I tell this story is because when we start looking at this first set of scripture we're going to look at, we see Jesus and his siblings, and what his brothers are telling him.

[3:15] So Mark, go to the next slide. And this is John chapter 7, verses 1 through 5 says, after this, Jesus traveled throughout Galilee.

[3:27] Now I'm going to stop right there and let you understand that at the end of chapter 6, we went six months between then and now. Okay? Because he left Judea and he went into Galilee.

[3:41] And that's where he's from. We know that. But not really. He's actually from Bethlehem, because that's where he was born. But that's where his parents lived. And that's where his brothers live, is in Galilee.

[3:53] So that six months he spent teaching his disciples and getting them all. So it's been six months now since the end of chapter 6. That's the reason I stopped there.

[4:04] I wanted to make that clear to everyone. Okay? So he stayed out of Judea because the Jewish leaders wanted to kill him. Now the Jewish feast of shelters was near. So Jesus' brothers advised him.

[4:17] See, here's his siblings getting into this now. Okay? Leave here and go to Judea, so your disciples may see your miracles that you are performing. For no one who seeks to make a reputation for himself does anything in secret.

[4:33] If you are doing these things, show yourself to the world, for not even his own brothers believed in him. And now go to the next slide. And this is 6 through 10.

[4:44] It says, So Jesus replied, My time has not yet arrived. Didn't I say that in Sunday school today? That he says that numerous times? But you are ready at any opportunity.

[4:57] The world cannot hate you, but it hates me. Because I am testifying about it. That its deeds are evil. Now let's think. I'm going to stop here real quick.

[5:07] Think about every time there's an Easter or a Christmas that comes up. The world puts shows out to debunk Jesus. Or debunk God.

[5:18] Or debunk Christianity. That's how we know the world hates Jesus. And he hates the fact that we preach about how awesome Jesus is. You go up to the feast yourselves.

[5:33] I am not going up to the feast, because my time has not yet fully arrived. When he had said this, he remained in Galilee. But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, then Jesus himself also went up, but not openly, but in secret.

[5:51] Go to the next slide, Mark. So in Matthew 13, 55, it says, Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother named Mary?

[6:01] And aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? So we see that he had brothers. Now in Mark, it also says he has sisters. But I think it's important to know here that James and Judas both wrote books that are in the New Testament.

[6:23] It's also important to know that James became the leader of the church, of one of the churches. But this wasn't until after Jesus' resurrection.

[6:36] But at this time, his brothers were jealous of him. And you see that in that scripture that we just read. That's why I shared that story about my sister.

[6:47] Because you know how siblings are, right? So it's important for us to know that it took time for them to believe. They had to see Jesus resurrected before they could believe in Jesus.

[7:04] But you know, we're lucky. We didn't see Jesus resurrected. But if we believe, we believe from our heart with faith. So Mark, go to the next slide, please.

[7:20] So the Feast of Tabernacles. I want to kind of share a little bit of what that is. It's also called the Feast of Booths. So what the Jews have to do is they have to build a booth or a tavern or something.

[7:37] And when they build it, they have to leave the openings on top open. They have to leave openings in the branches because they put branches on top. And they have to live in that all week long.

[7:49] And at night, that way they can see the stars. And the whole idea is for them to celebrate when they came out of Egypt. And they crossed for 40 years.

[8:02] And how God took care of them for those 40 years. And that's what the Feast of Booths or Feast of Tabernacles is about. Because God lived with them in the tabernacle.

[8:13] And the tabernacle was that booth that they made. He lived with them out there. And took care of them and guided them. And I wanted to make sure you understood what this feast is about.

[8:25] It's one of the three important feasts in the Jewish religion that Israel must obey. So in John 7, 14-19, it says, When the feast was half over, Jesus went up to the temple courts and began to teach.

[8:42] Then the Jewish leaders were astonished and said, How does this man know so much when he has never had formal instruction? So Jesus replied, My teaching is not from me, but from the one who sent me.

[8:57] If anyone wants to do God's will, he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from my own authority. The person who speaks on his own authority desires to receive honor for himself.

[9:13] The one who desires the honor of the one who sent him is a man of integrity. And there is no unrighteousness in him. And Jesus is saying because he's speaking from God's authority.

[9:27] The same way I said, Hey, look, I'm going to go sit down and God's going to take over. I want this to be God's sermon, not Mark's. I don't want to be the one that gets anything from this. I want it to all come from God.

[9:39] The same way I know that when Matt and John get up here and speak, the same thing goes for them. They're not looking for notoriety. They want it to come from God.

[9:55] So Mark, go to the next slide. And as we get further into it, we see where Jesus replied, I performed one miracle and you all are amazed.

[10:06] So you remember in chapter six, he healed the man that had been lame for 38 years, right? And he did it on Sabbath. Do you remember that? And because he did it on Sabbath, they're still angry with him about it.

[10:19] And they still want him to explain why he did it on the Sabbath, when it's the Sabbath. The only thing you're allowed to do on the Sabbath is eat food you've already prepared.

[10:34] You're not allowed to cook food for yourself. Now, if your oxen falls in a ditch, which Sherry's does a lot, then you can do things on the Sabbath, okay?

[10:44] You can save that animal. Or if you have a male child born eight days prior, you can circumcise that child.

[10:56] Other than that, you can't do anything on the Sabbath. However, because Moses gave you the practice of circumcision, not that it came from Moses, but from the forefathers, you circumcise a male child on the Sabbath.

[11:11] But if a male child circumcised on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses is not broken, why are you angry with me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?

[11:28] Do not judge according to external appearance, but judge with proper judgment. Isn't it better to save a man's life on the Sabbath?

[11:39] That's what Jesus would say. That's the point he's making. I can save a man's life on this Sabbath and make him well. Is that more important than circumcising a child on the Sabbath?

[11:55] Does that make him evil? No, I think not. Go to the next set of Scripture. Then Jesus said, I will be with you for only a little while longer, and then I am going to the one who sent me.

[12:11] You will look for me, but will not find me. And where I am, you cannot come. This is 33 through 36, by the way. Then the Jewish leader said to one another, Where is he going to go?

[12:23] What? We cannot find him? Is he going to the Jewish people dispersed among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? Is he? What did he mean by saying, You will look for me, but will not find me?

[12:35] And where I am, you cannot come. That's what Jesus told the Jewish leaders. They didn't get it. See, we get it.

[12:46] You know why we get it? Because we know what the final outcome is. As my wife likes to say, We know the rest of the story. We know that Jesus went to heaven.

[12:58] We know that Jesus rose after three days. Go to the next door. The next slide.

[13:10] This is 37 through 39, and it says, On the last day of the feast, the greatest day, Jesus stood up and shouted out, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink.

[13:24] Just as the scripture says, From within him will flow rivers of living water. Now he said this about the spirit, whom those who believed in him were going to receive, the spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

[13:43] So it's important. We've got to understand about the tabernacle of booths, Okay? About this feast. So every day there's this altar that they have, this golden altar.

[13:56] And every day they go to the pool of Salaam. And one of the priests does, and he gets a golden pitcher, and he fills it with water. And they call this pool of Salaam living water, because it's fed by an underground spring.

[14:11] So that priest then takes that golden thing, and he walks around the altar one time. And then he goes up onto the altar, and there's these two spigots that are set up there, or holes, and they go down like this, and they go down to this thing at the bottom, okay?

[14:33] One side there's a narrow hole, and the other side's kind of got a big hole, because they also sacrificed 70 bulls that week. And so they take the bulls, the blood, and they pour it into the bigger one, because blood's thicker than water, right?

[14:49] And so they go to the top of this hill, and if you go to the next slide, Mark, or this altar, everybody is singing, at that time you will say, and this is Isaiah 12, 1 through 3, at that time you will say, I praise you, O Lord, for even though you were angered with me, your anger subsided, and you consoled me.

[15:12] Look, God is my deliverer. I will trust in him and not fear, for the Lord gives me strength and protects me. He has become my deliverer. Joyful, you will draw water from the spring of deliverance.

[15:27] So after they finish shouting that, the priest will take it, and he'll dump the water, and at the same time they're dumping the blood, and at the bottom you have the blood and the water combining together. But on the seventh day, or the last day, they circle the thing seven times.

[15:44] They go around it seven times before they go up, and the people are cheering and shouting and praising this. And then they pour the water in.

[15:56] And that's when Jesus stood up, and he said, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink, just as the scripture says.

[16:13] See, gee, when the water and the blood combine at the bottom, it's like when Jesus was crucified. You remember, the Roman guards took a spear, and they shoved it up into him.

[16:24] And this blood and water came out mixed. Because the Lamb of God, who is Jesus, is the living water.

[16:36] And you know, one of my favorite songs that we sing from time to time is the song, and I don't know the name, but off the top of my head, but it's, one of the lyrics is, I lift up my hands and spin around. And then it says, victoriously.

[16:52] You see, Jesus gave us victory. He was victorious. When he was crucified, and three days later, he came out of the tomb.

[17:03] We were victorious then. Because Christ is in us. We accepted Christ as our Savior.

[17:17] We accepted that blood and water mixed together. We accepted the fact that Jesus Christ died for our sins.

[17:28] And you know, when we sin, and we do sin, we go to him and ask for forgiveness. He forgives us. So if you go to the very last slide, and by the way, John, I'm stealing a couple of your verses.

[17:43] It says, and this is 45 and 46, because see, the Jewish leaders sent guards to go arrest Jesus after he said this. Then the officers returned to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, why didn't you bring him back with you?

[17:58] And the officers replied, no one ever spoke like this man. You see, Jesus affected them. He got to their hearts.

[18:12] They knew that what they were doing was wrong. So they left him alone. And Jesus knew it wasn't his time yet. He said that more than once in this set of scripture.

[18:28] Because God has perfect timing. God perfectly times everything that happens to us. And his son died on the cross at the perfect time to give us victory in Jesus.

[18:49] Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father God, Lord, we just thank you for this word because I know they came from you and not from me because I am not all that. Lord, thank you. Thank you for bringing us all here together, for allowing us to hear your word and to understand what you have planned for us.

[19:06] and understand that your son died on the cross for us and gave us victory. And we are victorious through him. I pray this in the name of Jesus.

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