Amen. Please take your copy of God's Word and join me in John chapter 7.
!
And in the development of that purpose, John over and over again juxtaposes people who receive Jesus and people who reject Jesus.
The last time we studied John together, we saw the record of Jesus standing up at the Feast of Booths and declaring,
If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
That's verse 37.
With some following comments concerning the coming of the Spirit.
And these words caused quite a stir.
We find some people in chapter 7 contemplating who Jesus is.
Others seem to believe that he is the Christ and some want him arrested.
Verse 43 says,
So there was a division among the people over him.
More than 2,000 years later, the world is still divided over who Jesus is.
Now I have a very short quotation from John MacArthur's commentary on this, which is in my notes.
But I brought a copy up here because some weeks ago I had a very dilapidated, falling apart copy that I read from.
And just as a little note, I said, I need a new one of these.
If anyone wants to get me a gift.
And I didn't really mean it seriously.
But I have since received two of them.
One came anonymously.
One was handed to me.
And I just wanted to hold it up and note before I read this brief, brief quotation.
Not just in this case, but I just wanted you all to know how very heard and loved I feel by you as a church.
Story after story I hear of pastors who preach to folded arms and sneering faces,
feel extraordinarily alone in the task that they have.
And I just feel the opposite of that.
In fact, I sometimes feel bad hanging out with pastors because I can't commiserate with them.
And I don't tell them how great you guys are because I don't want them to be discontent in the place that they are.
But thank you for loving me so very much.
I really, really appreciate it.
So, again, this issue is still at hand.
And John MacArthur says this.
The ultimate question that everyone must eventually face.
The most crucial issue determining one's eternal destiny is,
what shall I do with Jesus Christ?
His claims about himself are far too audacious to just ignore.
You must do something with him.
You must either reject him or I hope you will receive him.
How do you respond to the declaration of Jesus?
If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
Do you recognize that your soul is thirsty and it will never find the satisfaction it seeks in anything this world may have to offer you?
If you do, come to Jesus.
He is the source of living water.
Before I read our text beginning in verse 45, join me in a prayer.
Father, we are grateful for your word for these verses before us and this time we have to consider them.
And we ask humbly that you would bless our time together.
We want to behold Christ in this text.
We want to see him rightly.
If we've already placed saving faith in him, I pray that you'd give us a fresh picture of Jesus.
And if we have yet to do so, I pray that you would work that miracle in hearts this morning.
We pray this in his name.
Amen.
John 7, beginning in verse 45.
The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees who said to them,
Why did you not bring him?
The officers answered, No one ever spoke like this man.
The Pharisees answered them, Have you also been deceived?
Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?
But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.
Nicodemus, who had gone to him before and who was one of them, said to them,
Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?
They replied, Are you from Galilee too?
Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.
Now this portion of John's gospel has, surprise, a literary structure,
which you ought to be familiar with by now.
It's called a chiasm.
If that's a new word to you, please talk to me about it afterwards.
I'd love to tell you about chiasms.
This structure is a bit harder to discern.
It has been, in other portions of the book, much easier to see.
But it is there, and it places at the center of this literary structure the question,
Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?
It's the helpful interpretive lens we can pick up from that structure.
The Pharisees asked the question,
What have any of us done with Jesus Christ?
You're considering the words of this man?
Well, none of us have believed in him.
They use it as a rhetorical tool to convince the officers that they should have arrested Jesus Christ.
Now my friends, little friends mostly in our church who are learning their logical fallacies,
will know that an appeal to authority, especially your own authority,
when making an argument is shaky ground at best.
And that's what they're doing here.
It's this question,
Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him,
that's at the center of this text,
that frames for us the opening and the ending of it.
Note it with me in the following simple outline.
Number one, powerful words.
Number two, prideful unbelief.
And number three, really, really tried to alliterate number three,
so if you'll hear my emphasis,
appropriate consideration.
Powerful words, prideful unbelief,
appropriate consideration.
Number one, powerful words,
verses 45 and 46.
So the officers come to the chief priests.
They're returning to the chief priests and the Pharisees,
and they say,
Why did you not bring him?
Back in verse 32 of chapter 7,
we can see the Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him,
and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers.
So in verse 45,
we're seeing the return of those officers sent,
recorded in verse 32,
for a purpose,
to arrest him.
That's what they were sent to do.
Now, these officers would have been Levites.
They would have been religiously trained
and selected to serve as a sort of temple police.
So these are Levite men going to arrest Jesus,
and yet they return without arresting him.
And you can get this rejection narrative
if we back up even further into John chapter 5 and verse 18.
Why have they sent the officers to arrest him?
He's back in town at a previous visit.
He said some massive things about himself.
He did some healing on the Sabbath.
And chapter 5 verse 18 says,
This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him,
because not only was he breaking the Sabbath,
but he was even calling God his own Father,
making himself equal with God.
So that's what's going on here.
This is the intent of this arrest.
To seize him, to bring him,
and to have him put to death.
From our text last time we were in John chapter 7 verse 44,
some of them wanted to arrest him,
but no one laid hands on him.
We've talked extensively about God's timeline here
and it being obeyed really by everybody in Providence.
And so it's not yet been time for him to be arrested.
And so these officers return and the question is asked,
Why did you not bring him?
And their answer, verse 46, is,
No one ever spoke like this man.
Powerful words.
What has he said in between their being sent in verse 32
and their return in verse 45?
You can see in verse 33 and 34,
he says,
I will be with you a little longer,
and then I am going to him who sent me.
Remember previously he's made claims about God being his Father.
Father, you will seek me and you will not find me where I am.
You cannot come.
And then in verse 37 we see,
On the last day of the feast, the great day,
the feast of booths,
Jesus stood up and cried out,
If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said,
out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.
So these are the things that Jesus has said,
these officers have heard,
and they report back,
No one ever spoke like this man.
I'm not entirely sure what is happening in the minds of these officers,
what's perhaps stirring in their hearts.
But it would seem that they,
religiously trained men,
are just unsure at this point what they are to do with him.
The question hangs for them.
His words to them are strange.
He is declaring to be God.
He is offering to eternally satisfy souls.
These officers, as far as we can tell,
do not accept him as the Christ,
but they also do not arrest him.
Once again, MacArthur, he says,
caught between the power and grace of his message
and the hatred of their leaders,
they were paralyzed into inactivity.
Just didn't do the task they were sent to do.
Oh, I hope these men,
as we find them considering the words of Jesus,
eventually placed their faith in him.
We don't know.
But neutrality concerning the claims of Christ,
will not stand forever.
His words are too emphatic to ignore.
One day, every knee will bow before Christ.
So there's powerful words in the text.
Secondly, there is prideful unbelief.
Verse 47, 48, and 49,
and then picked back up again at the end of the text,
in verse 52.
The Pharisees answered them.
No one ever spoke like this man.
They say,
Have you also been deceived?
Notice that the officers are not in trouble
because they failed to complete the task
they were sent for.
They're not being derided
because they didn't do the thing
they were commanded to do,
but because of a concern
that they were being led astray.
The religious elite in Jesus' day
thrived by leveraging spiritual power.
They claimed exclusive understanding
of the demands of God's law.
They added all kinds of tradition
to it, interpretive tradition.
Grossly misled by the law,
and they wielded it to their advantage.
People starting to think
that maybe Jesus was the Christ
caused a genuine fear in them
that their power was going to go away.
This is their concern all along.
This is why Jesus must be put to death.
Lest he raise up a rebellion
and Rome comes in and squashes
and takes the power away.
A tiny aside for a moment at this point.
Sadly and all too often,
this type of spiritual abuse
still happens in our day.
Christian teaching
that appeals to some measure
of elite knowledge or interpretation
has no place in churches
established by and in the word of God.
Beloved, be really cautious
when teachers teach outside of the Bible.
When they act as if
they go up onto the mountain
and meet with God in a cloud
and bring a new word down.
Faithful Christian leadership
equips the saints
for the work of ministry.
Ephesians chapter 4.
And it does not claim
to have a corner on the truth.
Yesterday morning,
this is still part of my side,
we had one of our men's morning meetings
and we talked about biblical finances.
And I was trying to come up with a way
to spend two hours talking about this
and not just be me droning
on and on and on,
which I'm sure would not have been enjoyable.
And so I just thought,
you know,
I've got,
I had eight principles,
eight biblical principles,
and I thought,
I'm just going to float the principle
and then set our guys to the task
of proving it
or disproving it,
if I was wrong,
from the Bible.
And I was so encouraged
by these 22-ish men
who were there
who all had something.
I mean,
just,
I mean,
right to the Bible
every single time.
And I don't mean this
as a boast on myself,
but I'm just glad
to be part of a church
of people who hold the Scripture
as the Scripture
and aren't looking
for some mountaintop experience
for somebody
who gives leadership
to it.
Okay,
so,
they're
abusing their power,
they're claiming
to have a corner
on the truth,
that's the concern here.
Have you also been
deceived?
And then they ask
this central question,
have any of the authorities
or the Pharisees
believed in him?
This is not a genuine question.
They're not actually asking,
do you know
this has happened
in any case?
What they're doing
is they're saying,
what's wrong with you guys?
None of us
have believed in him.
I hope that you can feel
the dripping pride here
on their part.
How dare you entertain
the idea
that he's unique
in the way that he speaks?
None of us
have received him
as the Christ.
If we,
the experts,
aren't buying
what Jesus is selling,
why should
you?
Now,
these men
knew
their Bibles.
It is at this point
that I
tremble
most.
it is altogether
possible to be
familiar with
the truth
and not believe it.
To have all
the right answers,
to be able to
recite them,
spit them back
at the ready,
and yet not
have saving
faith
in those
answers.
you can know
the truth
and not hold
the truth
savingly.
Jesus said
to the religious
elites in John
chapter 5,
verse 39 and 40,
you search the
scriptures
because you
think that
in them
you have
eternal
life.
Aren't there
so many in our
day that would
commend that?
Searching the
scriptures,
what a task.
Yes,
search the
scriptures.
We ought to be
biblically
literate
people
because you
think that
in them
you have
eternal
life.
That they
themselves
are the
source of
eternal
life.
And it
is they,
he goes on,
that bear
witness
about me.
Yet you
refuse to
come to me
that you
may have
life.
Jesus is
not here
devaluing
the Bible
and neither
am I.
It is
God's word.
It is
powerful.
It is taken
up by the
spirit and
used in our
lives to
bring about
regeneration,
sanctification,
our one
day,
glorification.
It is a
powerful tool
but it's
powerful because
it speaks
the message
to us.
It takes
us to
Jesus,
to him,
himself.
They
failed to
see him
in their
knowledge.
They
had become
so puffed
up with
their
understanding
and their
positions
that they
could not,
they were
not even
willing to
entertain the
thought that
Jesus
might be
the
Christ.
They
didn't
skip a
beat.
They
didn't
stop for
a moment
to consider
if he
was in
fact who
he claimed
to be.
Well,
at least
most of
them,
most of
them,
as we'll
see in a
moment.
But before
we do,
note their
disdain for
the ordinary
people's
prideful,
prideful
unbelief.
they say
verse 48,
my summary,
none of
us have
believed in
him,
but this
crowd,
verse 49,
that does
not know
the law
is accursed.
So
spiritually
superior.
We know
the law
and haven't
believed in
him,
so they
must not
know the
law and
therefore
are accursed.
thirst.
You see,
they had
no
recognition
of their
spiritual
thirst.
To be
sure,
their souls
are not
satisfied.
They think
they're
finding it
in this
knowledge,
this position,
this power
that they
held,
but they
are in
fact
spiritually
thirsty.
You know,
most of us
are likely
dehydrated
all the
time.
Very few
of us
probably drink
as much
water as
we possibly
could drink
in a day.
Maybe,
some of you
ladies,
because you've
always got
your water
with you,
are getting
your water
in.
We're often
at varying
degrees of
understanding
of how
really thirsty
we are
physically.
Our
spiritual
thirst will
never be
met
apart from
Christ.
And you
may or
may not
be entirely
aware
of the
longing that
you have
in your
life for
something
more.
It's not
about things
in this
world.
It's not
about
relationships.
It's
about the
Lord Jesus
Christ.
The dryness
of your
soul will
find a
satisfaction
in him.
And they
have no
concern at
all.
This crowd
that does
not know
the law,
prideful,
prideful
unbelief.
May we
not be
counted
amongst
these men.
men.
But notice
thirdly,
the
appropriate
consideration.
Appropriate
consideration.
Jesus has
spoken words
of power.
They ought
to be
considered.
We see a
man do
this
considering.
Verse 50
and 51.
Nicodemus.
Nicodemus,
who had
gone to
him before
and who
was one
of them,
one of
this
council,
said to
them,
yes,
this is
the
Nicodemus
of John
chapter 3.
John
wants us
to be
sure that
we don't
miss that
fact with
this phrase,
Nicodemus,
who had
gone to
him before.
He means
for us to
note this.
Oh,
oh,
the one
who had
gone to
him before,
that
Nicodemus?
Yes,
that one,
who had
gone to
Jesus in
secret at
night because
he was
curious.
You may
remember,
he says
to him,
nobody does
these kinds
of things or
speaks this
way if
they're not
from God.
Jesus says
some interesting
things to
him about
being born
again that
Nicodemus doesn't
seem to
understand.
And then he
goes on.
It's to
Nicodemus that
Jesus says,
John 3.
16.
For God so
loved the
world,
that he
gave his
only son,
that whoever
believes in
him should
not perish
but have
eternal
life.
A lot of
other wonderful,
clear gospel
expressions in
that chapter.
However,
chapter 3
doesn't record
what Nicodemus
does after
this encounter
with Jesus.
John's narrative
just kind of
rushes off
to what's
going on
with John
the Baptist
at the
time.
And Nicodemus
passes from
the page
until chapter
7.
The very
same
Nicodemus,
a leader
amongst
the Jews.
I'm led to
believe,
because of what
happens here,
that he has
been,
from chapter
3 until
now,
however much
time has
gone by,
quietly
considering
what Jesus
said to
him.
He's
mulling it
over.
He's
giving it
appropriate
consideration.
He seems,
as we see
him here in
chapter 7,
to still
be doing
so.
He's in
that process
even now.
He brings
up this
question.
He says
to them,
verse 51,
does our
law judge
a man
without first
giving him
a hearing
and learning
what he
does?
We don't
see Nicodemus
openly defending
Jesus' deity
at this point.
He does not
make the case,
oh, but he
is the
Christ.
What might
be stirring
in his
heart,
exactly,
we don't
know.
But he
does raise
a telling
procedural
point.
His
companions
stated that
the crowd
doesn't know
the law
and they
are breaking
it
themselves.
Notice
that?
The accusation
they make
of the
crowd,
right?
They're
ignorant
of the
law,
they're
accursed,
and then
he brings
the law
to bear.
You're
breaking
the law,
is what
he says
to them.
Doesn't
our law
say,
is what
he says
to them.
He's
indicting
them as
men who
do not
practice
the law,
and he
is expressing
that he
is open
to Jesus'
claims.
Isn't it
proper that
we should
give him
a hearing
before we
judge him?
We should
think about
what it
is that
he's
saying.
Why not
hear him
out?
Nicodemus
asks.
So what
becomes of
him?
This is
all we
see here
in chapter
seven.
The man
who first
comes in
secret at
night,
then procedurally
defends Jesus
amongst the
religious leaders.
I am so
grateful that
we know.
Do you
know what
happens in
Nicodemus?
John records
for us in
chapter 19
and verse
39.
After
Jesus'
crucifixion
and before
his
resurrection,
verse 39
says,
Nicodemus
also,
who earlier
had come to
Jesus by
night.
John's doing
there.
That same
one is what
he's saying.
Remember that
one that
came in
secret?
Who earlier
had come to
Jesus by
night,
came bringing
a mixture
of myrrh
and aloes
about 75
pounds in
weight.
So he
brings the
embalming
spices when
Jesus is taken
down off the
cross.
And there's
this little
detail.
why the
detail,
John?
Why are we
talking about
75 pounds
of spices?
It's because
John means to
tell us that
he would not
have done this
by himself.
This is no
longer being
done in
secret.
This is Jesus
being taken
down off the
cross.
This is
Nicodemus,
a man of
stature,
coming with
servants in
the daytime.
a whole
parade of
people coming
to carry
this,
that Jesus
may be laid
to rest
in the
tomb.
It's
phenomenal.
Nicodemus
grew in
grace.
We get to
see that.
John chapter
3 through
John chapter
19.
One of the
ones in the
text that
receives
Jesus.
Now,
certainly there
was a point
of his
conversion.
John doesn't
record that
for us.
A point that
he was
spiritually dead
and then
became
spiritually
alive.
In your
bulletin,
the historic
quote today
says,
from Thomas
Watson,
to every
believer,
the debt
book is
crossed out.
The black
lines of
sin are
crossed out
in the
red lines
of Christ's
blood.
There's a
point at
which that
happens.
You are
unforgiven
and now
you are
forgiven.
But I
think more
often than
not,
people are
drawn to
Christ in
a process.
I think
that Nicodemus'
story ought
to encourage
many of
us who
didn't find
ourselves in
some squalor
of sin,
some sin
that the
world might
measure as
great,
and then we
suddenly snapped
and all of a
sudden our
life was
dramatically
different after
the fact,
but bit
by bit,
degree by
degree,
here we
have a
man who
was trained
in the
Bible,
who from
everybody's
perspective was
upright,
who was doing
everything that
should be done
to please
God,
and he's
made curious
about these
claims of
Jesus,
and he
approaches
him first
shamefully,
and then he's
willing to stand
up for him a
bit amongst
his companions,
and then
finally a bold
proclamation that
he's a follower
of Jesus at
his death.
Now the
response to
Nicodemus takes
us back to the
second point.
If you were
listening carefully,
you may have
noted there I
said verse 52,
and I didn't say
anything about it.
Well, here we
are now in the
text.
prideful
unbelief.
They are brutal
in their response
to Nicodemus.
Don't miss
what's going on
here.
I try to read
it with some
measure of
tone, but I
don't want to
be an actor,
so I have to
dial down the
way they
probably sounded.
They replied,
are you from
Galilee too?
Search and see
that no prophet
arises from
Galilee.
This is
mockery.
They're saying,
are you defending
him because you
are also from
the sticks?
You're from the
country?
You're a bumpkin
out there?
For some reason
you see the need
to take up for
him?
They know that
Nicodemus isn't
from Galilee.
They're very aware
of this.
And then notice
they say,
search and see.
No prophet
arises from
Galilee.
Again, these
are the religious
elite.
These are the
men who knew
their Bibles.
What's really
interesting at this
point is that
there is a
prophet that
arises from
Galilee.
Jonah undoubtedly
arises from
Galilee.
If they're
appealing to
their authority
in this text,
at this point
everybody ought
to go,
ah, you
don't have a
clue what
you're talking
about.
Yeah.
If we search
and see the
scriptures,
there is a
prophet who
arises from
Galilee.
And some
scholars, there's
a pretty good
case to be
made that
also Nahum
and Hosea
and there's
some other
possibilities as
well.
but we
know factually
Jonah.
Jonah was
from Galilee.
They have no
idea what
they're talking
about.
They have
used the
Bible to
build platforms
for themselves.
They are not
seeking to
please the
Lord.
They accuse
Nicodemus of
being ignorant
of his Bible.
Instead,
their ignorance
is exposed.
This is a
tactic of
the
deconstructionists
of our
day.
Those who
would have
people who
once professed
to be
Christians no
longer be
Christians.
With great
confidence,
they make
outlandish
claims about
the Bible
and people
just eat it
up.
You've
probably heard
people make
these kinds
of claims.
Say things
that are just
false about
the Scripture,
but they say
it with such
confidence,
no one wants
to do the
work to
actually go
and see.
Is that
something that
the Bible
actually says?
It's
happening all
the time.
Beloved,
we need to
confirm and
defend the
Scriptures.
We need the
people who
say, no,
that's not at
all what's
happening in
this grand
narrative of
God's redemptive
work for
his people.
Yes, our
God is full
of wrath,
but he's
also full
of mercy.
There's a
popular
pastor who
has suggested
in our
gospel
presentations
that we
unhitch the
gospel from
the Old
Testament.
Unwilling to
do the work
of helping
his people
understand the
Old Testament,
he says,
let's just do
away with it
so that people
can't object
any longer
in this way.
Confirm
and defend
the Scriptures
for they
express to
us our
God.
We want to
know him
by the book
that he
wrote
and share
him with
others.
So confirm
and defend
the Scriptures
for the glory
of our God
and for
the good
of people.
Powerful
words,
prideful
unbelief,
appropriate
consideration.
I'm going to
pray for us,
but before I
do,
I just want
to make a
note.
I don't
know how
many of you
are paying
attention to
our preaching
schedule.
We're off
of it on
the dates.
We'll have
to republish
that document.
But if you
look at your
text,
you may
notice
some notes,
some double
bracketing
around chapter
7,
verse 53
through chapter
8 and
verse 11.
And the
preaching schedule
says that I'm
going to preach
that text,
but guess
what?
I'm not.
What we are
going to do
is we're going
to talk about
textual
criticism.
Why it is
that there's
double brackets
around this
text and
why I don't
believe it
belongs in
the text
at all.
Why?
Because we
want to
confirm and
defend the
scriptures for
the glory of
our God and
for the good
of people.
So that's
what we're
going to
spend our
time doing
next week.
So we'll
kind of be
in John
chapter 7
verse 53
through chapter
8 and
verse 11.
How did we
get our
Bible?
Why can we
be confident
it is in
fact God's
word when we
have little
issues like
this found
here?
Let's pray.