[0:00] Well, let's turn in our Bibles to the New Testament, to the Gospel of John, chapter 7.
[0:12] The Gospel of John, chapter 7, and we'll read the first 24 verses. John, chapter 7.
[0:37] After these things, Jesus walked in Galilee, for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him.
[0:50] Now the Jews' feast of tabernacles was at hand. His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go unto Judea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest.
[1:05] For there is no man that doeth anything in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, show thyself to the world.
[1:19] For neither did his brethren believe in him. Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come, but your time is always ready.
[1:35] The world cannot hate you, but me hate us. Because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.
[1:50] Go you up unto this feast. I go not up, I go not up yet unto this feast, for my time is not yet full come.
[2:04] When he had said unto them, he abode still in Galilee. But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.
[2:22] Then the Jews sought him. And said, Where is he? And there was much murmuring among the people concerning him.
[2:34] For some said, He's a good man. Others said, No, but he deceiveth the people. Howbeit no man speak openly of him for fear of the Jews.
[2:49] Now, about the midst of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and taught. And the Jews marveled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?
[3:04] Jesus answered them and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself.
[3:27] He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory. But he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.
[3:45] Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go you about to kill me? The people answered and said, Thou hast the devil.
[3:58] Who's going about to kill thee? Jesus answered and said unto him, I have done one work, and you all marvel. Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision, not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers.
[4:17] And ye on the Sabbath day circumcise a man. If a man on the Sabbath day receives circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken.
[4:31] Are you angry at me, because I have made a man every whit hole on the Sabbath? Judge, not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
[4:49] And may God bless to us the very reading of his word. Now let's sing once more to God's praise. This time we sing from Psalm 106.
[5:02] Again, verses 1 to 5. The first four stanzas. Psalm 106. And if you have a blue praise book, that's on page 378.
[5:12] Psalm 106. Give praise and thanks unto the Lord, for bountiful is he. His tender mercy doth endure unto eternity.
[5:26] Down to verse 5. That I thy chosen's good may see, and in their joy rejoice. And may with thine inheritance triumph with cheerful voice.
[5:40] Psalm 106. Psalm 106. Verses 1 to 5. Shant This time he'll dance to him.
[6:11] The Lord can hear me now.
[6:21] The mighty blood to the ground and buttolds, has禁c mayoría of the psalms of his country, Where is the matter in an tros Sod역?
[6:49] Evangible themdas are His. Remember, Lord, in Thou love, which shall do out the still, Where thou salvation, O my God, to the sacred groan in heaven, For thou in Thy chosen good mercy, And in thy holy joy,
[7:55] And in thy holy joy, And in thy holy joy, And in thy holy joy, And in thy holy joy, Well, let's turn in our Bibles to the passage of God's Word, which we read, The Gospel of John, chapter 7.
[8:36] Now, I'd like to speak on a lot in the 24 verses which we read, But we'll maybe just select two verses to reread. Verse 5, For neither did his brethren believe in him.
[8:56] His own brothers did not believe in him. And then we'll also read verse 15 again, And the Jews marveled, Saying, How knoweth this man letters, Having never learned?
[9:12] Mankind has always believed in a supreme being.
[9:24] And historically, Historically, The history of mankind shows That we're far more prone to polytheism, The worship of many gods, Rather than atheism.
[9:45] The claim that there's no God. Actually, Atheism is a relatively new ideology. It's only two or three hundred years old in any formal construction.
[9:57] Now, historically, Historically, Historically, Historically, The eastern world has sought the one supreme being through mysticism.
[10:09] And the western world, historically, Has sought that one supreme being through rationalism. But John, The apostle, He teaches us in his gospel, There's only one way to seek him.
[10:33] And that is through Jesus Christ. There is a supreme being, But the only way to the supreme being, Is through Jesus Christ, His son.
[10:48] That's the whole message of the gospel of John. There's only one way to God. Through Jesus Christ.
[11:00] Someone has said that the first three gospels, Matthew, Mark, And Luke, These three gospels are called the synoptic gospels.
[11:17] And someone said the difference between John's gospel, Which is much more theological, It's the difference can be compared to listening to the ten o'clock news, Where you get a whole lot of information about what has happened.
[11:36] And John's gospel is more like one of these chat shows, Where you try to get to know someone personally. Where you try to find out what makes them tick.
[11:48] John concentrates on Christ and his message. You see, Jesus taught, But as we read in the text, We repeated, His own brothers didn't believe him.
[12:05] And yet, The professors and the colleges that were in the Sanhedrin, And in the temple, They were amazed that he's learning on the other hand. You see, Jesus taught, Not to attract numbers.
[12:24] Jesus taught, To create faith in God. Jesus taught, Not to increase learning.
[12:37] Jesus taught, To change lifestyles. Jesus taught, Jesus taught, Not simply to inform people.
[12:50] Jesus taught, To transform people. Now these two verses which we read, Teach us, Teach us, That Christ, Was not only greatly misunderstood, But he was also, Hated, Despised.
[13:16] His very own family, Did not believe in him. And yet, His disciples, His pupils, His students, They were astounded, At his learning.
[13:34] You remember, At 12 years of age, The professors, The professors, In the temple, They were amazed, At the questions he asked. The insight, A 12 year old, Had, Into these spiritual issues.
[13:50] Now in the first eight verses here, We have, Jesus and his disciples. And you know, If you are, The only Christian, In your household, Hold, Don't be surprised, If your only, If your own brothers, And sisters, Are not impressed with you.
[14:16] It happened, To the son of God. Tragically, Sadly, His own brothers, Did not believe in him.
[14:27] You would think, They would be supportive, Wouldn't you? After all, Isn't blood, Thicker than water? Not when it comes to Christ.
[14:39] Not when it comes to the most important thing in the world. Our relationship, To the son of God. That principle, Does not seem to, Did not seem to apply, To Jesus Christ.
[14:55] In verse five, Verses three to five, They scoff at him. Go, To your own, Disciples, And perform your miracles to them.
[15:07] They'll follow you there. We're not impressed, By what you said. How tragic. Christ's siblings, Were not, Impressed, By his claims.
[15:22] They were not, Influenced, By his teaching. They were not, Affected, By his life. And you might very well say, Could they not see?
[15:38] Yes. But you see, Religion, Is not a question of eyesight. You say, Were they not very intelligent? Yes, They were.
[15:50] But religion, Is not a question of intellect, Either. Religion, Religion, Is a question, Of spiritual, Discernment.
[16:06] You see, Jesus himself said, Do you remember, When Philip, When Peter said, I believe, Thou art the Christ, The son of the living God.
[16:17] And Jesus said, He would build his church, On that statement. Do you remember, Remember what he said next? He said, Peter, Flesh and blood, Has not revealed that, To you.
[16:34] But my father, Which is in heaven. What an example, We have here, In John chapter 7. The flesh, And blood, Of Jesus, Did not believe in him.
[16:48] His own kith, His own kin, They lived with him. They ate with him. They slept with him. They played with him as children.
[16:59] They couldn't see. They couldn't detect. Because flesh and blood alone, Is not sufficient, To inherit the kingdom of God.
[17:11] We need the working, Of God's Holy Spirit, Within us. We might be brought up, In a manse.
[17:24] Might be brought up, And all our family profess Christ, And there's this one different. Because flesh and blood, Cannot inherit, The kingdom of God.
[17:36] We need the Holy Spirit of God, To convict, And to convert us. Now you note, In verse 6 here, Jesus said, My time, Has not yet come.
[17:53] Jesus knew, When, Jesus knew, Where, He was to die. And he knew, It wasn't the time.
[18:04] And he knew, That the authorities, Were after his blood. And if he went up, With his brothers, Publicly, To the feast, Humanly speaking, He'd be taken captive.
[18:18] He knew that. But he knew, My time hasn't yet come. So I must be careful, Where I go. Isn't that interesting? Isn't there a lesson there for us?
[18:31] The fact, That Jesus knew, The timing of his death, Made him more careful, To preserve his life. Isn't that interesting?
[18:42] You and I, Mistakenly think, If we just, Knew more, Of God's secret will, Then we could, Be relaxed, And do what we want, Freely.
[18:55] Well, The Savior teaches us, Here, That because he knew, His time had not yet come, He had to be very careful. If there's anything, Clear here, Between Jesus, And his brothers, And Jesus, And the, What the lecturers, In the temple, Is, They're not, On the same, Wavelength.
[19:27] The whole passage, John, In his gospel, Concentrates on, Discussions, Concentrates on, How are they, The debates of Jesus, How Jesus tried to get, Through to them, The truth of God, And how, By nature, They just, Didn't get it.
[19:48] Why? Because the natural, Man, Cannot, Receive, The things, Of the spirit, Of God.
[20:03] Spiritually, By nature, We are, Enemies, And aliens, Of God. Look at verse 7, The world, Cannot hate you, But, Me, It hates.
[20:21] Me, It hates. Do you want to know, If you're converted? Are you wondering, Are you saved? Here's, Here's the question.
[20:34] Here's a test. Here's a mark. Do you love, Christ, Or do you hate him? That's the mark, We learned this morning, From verse 7.
[20:48] The world, The world, Hates him. You see, Faith, And love, Are two sides, Of the one coin.
[21:02] One side is faith, The other side is love. So, If you have one, You have the other. If you want to know, Is your faith, In Christ, Ask the question, Do you love Christ?
[21:17] Because, If you love Christ, Your faith is in Christ, And of course, Conversely, If you love Christ, Your faith's in him, And if you have faith's in him, You love him.
[21:30] The world, Can't hate you, But me, It hateth. The response, Well, He says after that, Because I testify of it, That the works thereof, Are evil.
[21:47] You see, The response, Of an unregenerate heart, When charged with sin, Is hatred, Enmity.
[21:58] That's the response, Of an unregenerate heart. What's the response, Of a, Regenerate heart? Humility.
[22:11] Yes, Lord, I have sinned. Yes, Lord, I'm sinful, And full of iniquity. But I come to you, And ask for forgiveness.
[22:22] Entirely, Different response. The evil heart, Rejects it. The heart of the righteous, Acknowledges, Yes, We have sinned, Against you, And it makes us, Humble, And it makes us, Thankful.
[22:43] The world, Cannot, Hate you. The brothers, The brothers, The brothers, Of Christ, Were unable, To accept him. That is, Of course, Until the resurrection.
[22:56] And then James, The brother, The brother, The half, Well, The brother of Christ, You can say it. He did become a believer, In fact, He became the first, And I think it was, Was he one of the first bishops, In Jerusalem.
[23:10] But it had to be the resurrection, That convinced him. By nature, By nature, We're ignorant.
[23:22] By nature, In fact, We've no interest, In spiritual things. So if you've got an interest, In spiritual things, Understand, That's not natural.
[23:33] It could be the Holy Spirit, Working in you. This present age today, The culture we're living in today, It actually doesn't believe, In the supernatural world.
[23:47] It wants to keep away, The supernatural. It wants to be in total, Total control. There's a pandemic, A global pandemic, And they can't do anything about it.
[24:05] There's war. Yet, We think, We should be able, To control everything. We think we're totally sufficient, To cope.
[24:16] Our leaders, Think that. Our leaders won't even, Acknowledge, There's a God in heaven. They won't acknowledge, There's a supreme being. And yet, Historically, We all know, By our consciences, There is.
[24:33] By, Nature, We hate them. By nature, We're ignorant, Of spiritual, Divine, Things.
[24:45] By nature, We're even blind. The scribes, Well, I've mentioned here, Before, I'm sure, That there really is, Only one test, For blindness, I'm told.
[24:58] And that's, To take you into a dark room, Where there's no light, And then, Shine a torch, In that, Dark room. And you ask, Can you see, The torch?
[25:12] Can you see the light, Shining in the darkness? I'm not talking about, Short sightedness, We're talking about, Blindness. If you cannot see, A light, Shining in the dark room, That's blindness.
[25:27] But, That's the way, That's the way, In the world. It's the way, In the spiritual world as well. Can you see, Jesus, The light of the world, Shining, In this dark world?
[25:41] Can you see, Jesus? You can't, Naturally, We're blind. And you can, Explain to people, You can go, If you can get into, Conversations with them.
[25:56] You, Have you ever met, Anyone, That said, He wasn't going to die? No one would, Dare say, They're not going to die. Put it away from them, That's years ahead.
[26:09] But they wouldn't say, I'm not going to die, I'm going to live forever. They know they're going to die. We all know we're going to die. But do we make, Preparations for it?
[26:23] We teach about, Sin and the curse. You cannot live, You cannot live on this earth, Without thinking, Realizing, Here, There's something wrong.
[26:35] Why do we have weeds, In the garden? Why do things, Get old, And decrepit? Why is there, Illness? Why is there, Death?
[26:48] There must be, Something wrong. It's not the way, Things were meant, To be. Why are there, Why are the animals, Wild and aggressive? Why is there, Such violence?
[27:01] Why are there, Wars? Such hatred? Why is there, Storms? These questions, Arise, If you're, Exercised at all, With this world, And the explanation, Or cursed.
[27:17] Why? Because of sin. You can explain, All that. You can give, All these answers. You can say, There's a remedy, For sin. It can be forgiven.
[27:28] And I often think, I often think, You hear a politician, He's charged, With something, And he bends, Over backwards, To avoid, Calling it sin, Or wrong.
[27:42] I've done nothing wrong, I've kept the regulations, I've kept the rules, The laws, I haven't broken, Any laws. They bend over backwards, To deny sin. And here's the wonderful thing, Here's the wonderful thing, Always remember this, Just, Call it, Sin, And it can be forgiven, Instantly.
[28:05] The gospel's wonderful, Christianity's, A wonderful religion, Just, Call it, Sin, Just, Confess it to God, Instant forgiveness, Wonderful, But start denying it, Start covering it up, Start calling it, Negative behaviour, Or whatever you like, And you've got masses of problems, You open a can of worms, But just, Call it sin, And it can be forgiven, God promises, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, To forgive us, Our sins.
[28:48] So friend, Don't be ashamed, To call your wrong behaviour, Sin, And be sure to tell God, And be sure to remind him, He sent his son, To pay for sin, There is a sacrifice, There is forgiveness, In the everlasting gospel, But the world, They can see their friends dying, They can see disease rampant, They can see society, Full of violence, Full of drugs, Full of suicide, And very often, The wealthy, Not the poor, The wealthy, Commit suicide, Young people, Commit suicide, All these things, Can flood them, But you can't see the truth, Until God, The Holy Spirit, Opens your eyes, And even once, He opens your eyes,
[29:50] Are we not then, Dead, In trespasses, And sins, Eventually, Through teaching, And through, Honest, Observation, You can see, The problems, Of life, But you can't change, You can't change, You can acknowledge it, You can be convicted, But you can't stop, Doing what's wrong, By nature, You won't pray, You won't repent, You won't believe, You can't, Give yourself, Life, But God can, Christ can, The Holy Spirit, Can, In one moment, In one moment, He doesn't even need, To speak it, He just needs to, Will it, If I will, That he tarry, Till I come, What's that to you,
[30:51] He said to another disciple, If I will, I just need to, Will it, That's all he needs to do, Wonderful, Wonderful, Grace, When God created, Everything, He just spoke it, Into existence, But isn't it, Interesting, He cannot speak again, To recreate, Unless there's a sacrifice, Unless there's a price, Being paid for sin, The death, Of his son, He cannot just speak, To recreate, He can just speak, To create, But he cannot just, Speak to recreate, Until first, Until first, There's a sacrifice, For sin, You see, Sin, Must, Be paid for, And it can,
[31:52] Only be paid for, In blood, Or death, When we speak about, The blood of Christ, We're really speaking, About the death, Of Christ, Because the wages, Of sin, Is death, But isn't it, Also interesting, Once he speaks, Once the atonement, Is made, Once the sacrifice, Is made, Once Christ, Calls out, It is finished, God just needs, To will it, He just needs, To will it, And Christ, Just needs to, Will it, To say to the spirit, Go to that, Dead soul, Go to that, Lifeless soul, That's all, He needs to say, Because he has paid, The price, Of sin, Well, What is, The sequel, To all this, Information, All this, Teaching, All this, Doctrine, That Christ, Taught here,
[32:53] To try to get them, To understand, The things, The sequel, To his claims, Who he was, What he could do, The sequel, To his teaching, The sequel, To his, Sinless life, What's the response, Well, Christ, Was so, Unacceptable, They wanted, To kill him, They wanted, To kill him, Verse 1, Verse 11, Verse 25, Bible tells it, They are simply, They wanted, What did he do wrong, What did he do wrong, He just taught, He just taught, But they want to, Kill him, They want to get rid of him, And he says, In verse 19, Why do you want, To kill me, And the reply is, You're paranoid, No one wants,
[33:54] To kill you, Verse 20, The people answered, Said, Now ask the devil, Who goeth, About to kill thee, Well, Just read verse 1, Just read verse 11, Just read verse 25, Which, Who is rational now, Of course, They were wanting to kill him, That's the response, Unbelief, On the one hand, And faith, On the other hand, That's always a response, To truth, That's always a response, That's always a response, To truth, Verse 5, That we read, For neither did his brethren, His own brothers, Believe in him, Now, Unbelief, Is the most serious sin, You can commit, It is the root cause,
[34:55] Of every other sin, Maybe you think, Your problem is drugs, Maybe you think, It's pornography, Maybe you think, It's drink, No, No, That's an effect, These things are symptoms, Of this one, Root, Sin, Unbelief, In Jesus, Now, I want to spell out, I want to spell out first, Unbelief, Is not, The same thing, As doubting, Now, Just think about it, Logically, You can only doubt, What you believe, Think about it logically, You can only doubt, What you believe, True disciples, Can doubt, Matthew 28,
[35:56] Verse 17, I'll read it from verse 16, Matthew 28, The Great Commission, Jesus, Arranged to meet his disciples, Before he died, He arranged to meet them, After his death, And his resurrection, And they arranged to meet, In Galilee, Verse 16, Then the eleven disciples, You see, There's not twelve now, One betrayed them, There's only eleven, Then the eleven disciples, Went away into Galilee, Into a mountain, Where Jesus had appointed them, And when they, The eleven disciples, The eleven faithful, True disciples, When they saw him, They worshipped him, But, Some, Doubted, True disciples, Can doubt, Now my point is, Doubting, Is not,
[36:57] The same thing, As unbelief, You can only doubt, What you believe, You question it, On the other hand, Unbelief, Unbelief, Is a rejection, A rejection, Of information, I'm not having that, I don't accept that, I don't believe it, That's unbelief, Unbelief, Is a decision, Not to accept something, Not to accept, I'm not believing that, Not having that, That's unbelief, Doubting, Ah, You doubt, What you believe, It is not good, It is not healthy, To do that, And John is at pains, To point that out, In his epistle, His first epistle, It's not good to doubt, The whole epistle, By the way, The whole epistle of John, We're looking, At the gospel of John, But the epistle of John, The epistle of John,
[37:59] Tells us in chapter 5, Verse 13, These things, I write unto you, Who believe, That you might know, That you have eternal life, It's not good to doubt, But it's not the same thing, As unbelief, Rejection of information, Rejection of evidence, Rejection of a person, That will always be the result, Sadly, Of the gospel going out, But it will never be, The only result, The other, Is faith, Verse 31, And many, Of the people, Believed on him, And said, When Christ cometh, Will he do more miracles, Than these, Which this man has done, They're saying, This man's the Christ, Many believed in him, People did believe in him, Some were convinced,
[38:59] Of the very truth, Rejected by others, And you must realise, God sent out the gospel, Because he's determined, To have believers, Follow him, And I've always, Always noticed, Do you notice in, The book of Revelation, The churches, And the seven candlesticks, Do you remember, Do you remember the warning, Christ gave the churches, What he would do, If they would not repent, You see, Repentance, When I, Was a minister, And I call, And was fencing the table, I started off, By saying, One of the marks, For the Lord's table, Is that you, Have repented, Of your sin, We're all sinners, Saints, Are sinners, Who have repented, But I changed that laterally, And I began to say,
[40:01] A qualification, Now I would say, Is you are repenting, Not you have done it, Once in the past, You're doing it all the time, You know why?
[40:15] Because you're sinning, All the time, Repentance is not something, You do once at the beginning, It's something you do, Continually, Repenting, Repenting, And you see, You'll see it so often, In the warnings given to the churches, In the seven churches of Asia, In the book of Revelation, If you do not repent, What does he say?
[40:40] What will he do, If you don't repent? I will, Remove, The candlestick, That's, Very, Interesting, He does not say, And he never says, I'll put out the candle, I am going to have a light, Shining for Christ, And if you won't have it, I'll take it away, And it will shine, Somewhere else, But I'm not, Putting out, The light, Of the gospel, I will remove it, If you refuse to repent, I'll take it somewhere else, If you're not interested, If you won't have it, Others will, And of course, Do we see that, Don't we see that, In the western world, It's rejected, The gospel, And God is working in the, In the, In the,
[41:41] In the developing world, Many countries, That have never had it, You can, You can build up a congregation, In South America, In Africa, You can build it out, In many places of the world, And here, Dwindling congregations, No interest, In the gospel, May, God, The Holy Spirit, Work in our hearts, Our souls, Our communities, Our churches, Our congregations, That we believe, On the Lord, Jesus Christ, To the saving, Of our souls, Let's bow our heads, In prayer, Our, Father, In heaven, Be pleased, To take the things, That belong to Christ, And reveal them, To us, Bestow upon us,
[42:41] The gift of, Faith, In the Lord, Jesus Christ, Hear us, In mercy, Answer us, In peace, As we pray only, In Jesus name, Amen.