Aug 13, 2017
by: Jack Lash Series: God's Holy Book | Category: Scripture | Scripture: John 7:17
- Introduction
A. Many people today don’t believe that Jesus was anything more than a man. They might think he was exceptional: like Martin Luther King, Jr., or like Mahatma Gandhi. But they still think he was merely a man and His words were merely the words of a man.
1. Jesus Himself repeatedly claimed that He was speaking for God, of course.
2. In John 7:16 He said, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.”(see John 3:34; 8:28; 12:49-50; 14:10, 24; 17:8, 14)
3. Today, we’re going to look at what Jesus said about knowing if what He said was from God.
II. Background of John 7:17
A. The opposition to Jesus has grown quite intense. Three groups in this story:
1. The Jewish leaders were seeking to kill him. (John 17:1)
a. So much so that Jesus is not able to go about in Judea. (John 17:1)
b. Their opposition to Jesus had grown so strong that it was dangerous even to talk about Jesus publically because of the risk of getting in trouble with the authorities. (John 7:13)
2. The Jewish people in Judea on the other hand, had a more mixed reaction.
a. There was much whispering about him among the people.
b. Some people viewed Him as a good man, others thought He was leading people astray. (Jn.7:12)
3. His own brothers (Matthew 13:55 James, Joseph, Simon and Judas)
a. 5 “For not even his brothers believed in him.”
b. You think believing children are produced by godly parents? Here are the sons of Joseph and Mary, about as godly as you can get, and their older brother was the Son of God! And yet at this point their sons were not believers!
c. What did their unbelief consist of? Did they think He was a phony? Not at all.
(1) They knew Jesus had supernatural powers. That’s clear in John 17:3-4.
(2) But they saw things from a purely human perspective. Instead of seeing Jesus as sent by God and following God’s direction, they thought the best way to get attention or make your point or prove yourself was to go to where lots of people were and show them what you can do.
(3) They certainly weren’t ready to worship their brother.
B. Who is Jesus speaking to in John 17:7? His brothers
III. John 7:17 Jesus explains why there are such different reactions to His words. So let’s look carefully at what Jesus says to His brothers: “If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.”
A. That’s the real question, isn’t it? Is Jesus just another person who shared his opinions, who told people what He thought about things, or is Jesus the Son of God who speaks God’s absolute truth?
1. If Jesus is just another man, even if He was a great man, we must view His teaching as human. We might like many things He says. We may disagree with some things He says. But like with everyone else, we have to try to take what is good and reject what isn’t.
2. But if Jesus was sent from God, if Jesus spoke not His own words but the words of His heavenly Father who sent Him — as He claimed — then we must view His words completely differently than we view anybody else’s words.
B. But Jesus teaches us hear that the only ones who will know whether His teaching was from God or whether He was speaking on His own authority were those who wanted to do God’s will, those who want what God wants.
1. “If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.”
2. There’s something God wants. We call it His will.
3. And sometimes people want for God’s will to be done. And sometimes they don’t.
4. And it’s only those who want God’s will who will be able to know whether Jesus’ teaching is from God or not. The others may have opinions about it, even strong opinions, but they are not able to know.
C. You see, God is a given.
1. Romans 1:19–21 “What can be known about God is plain to them (mankind), because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”
2. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God.
3. They knew God but they did not want God. Their will was not to do God’s will. And therefore “they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened”so that they could no longer see clearly.
D. What does this mean? Let me read 3 quotes from
1. “God’s will is not simply to be thought about and assessed, as if God is the object we may politely examine, dissect and discuss, picking and choosing what we like of him.” – Carson, D. A.
2. “The faith commitment envisaged here...renders impossible any attitude that sets us up as judges of God’s ways.” – Carson, D. A.
3. “Finite and fallen human beings cannot set themselves up on some sure ground outside the truth and thus gain the vantage from which they may assess it.” – Carson, D. A.
a. The attempt to do so is itself arrogant and rebellious.
IV. (This knowledge requires a heart-change.)
A. It is common to approach Bible Christianity as an intellectual question.
1. But even the very idea of evaluating God and His word as an intellectual question is wrong-headed.
2. People love to claim that that which keeps them from faith is intellectual. But intellectual obstacles don’t ultimately keep people from embracing Jesus and His word. The obstacle is in the heart. People don’t want to do God’s will, they want to live according to their own will. They want to do their own thing. They’re not like Jesus who prayed, “Your will be done.” They are like Frank Sinatra who sang, “I did it my way!”
3. You see, God is not someone to put on the table to analyze and evaluate. God is to be worshiped.
a. He is our judge, we are not His.
4. This doesn’t mean there are not legitimate questions to be asked or investigations to make.
a. And it doesn’t mean God isn’t often patient even with those who come with the wrong attitude (I’ve told you before that my first prayers were, “If you are there, then prove it by striking me dead! See!”).
B. Without a change of heart, people will hear but won’t get it.
1. His brothers saw and heard, but they didn’t get it.
2. "Though seeing [physically], they do not see [spiritually]; Though hearing [physically], they do not hear or understand [spiritually]" (Matt. 13:13)
C. Where does the will to do God’s will come from? Ultimately, it is a gift of God.
1. He’s the One who turns His enemy into His friend, who turns the rebel into the ally.
2. Rom. 3:11: "No one seeks after God." But, strangely enough, God says later (Rom. 10:20) that "I was found by those who did not seek Me; I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me."
a. How do people who are not seeking God end up finding Him?
3. MOSES knew that the Israelites were not going to succeed in keeping their covenant with God.
a. As he says in Deut. 31:27, 29: "For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you have been rebellious against the Lord while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die! . . . For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt and to turn from the way I have commanded you." Moses knew that the Israelites would continue to rebel because he knew that God had not changed their hearts.
b. He says in Deut. 29:3-4: "To this day the Lord has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear."
c. But although the Israelites were to rebel against God because of their hard hearts, God promised some day in the future to transform the hearts of His people, causing them to turn to God in love and obedience. In Deut. 30:6 this future transformation of their hearts is called a "circumcision of the heart": "The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts so that you may love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live."
d. This promise of a future transformation of the heart is reaffirmed in Ezek. 36:26-27: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws."
D. Just as God is the only One who can bring a dead man back to life, so He is the only One who can breathe spiritual life into a man dead in sin. Man can’t do it. It is solely the work of God: "The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing." (Jn.6:63)
1. "Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit" (Jn. 3:6)
2. “No one can come to Me unless the Father draws him...No one can come to Me unless the Father has enabled him." (Jn. 6:44, 65)
3. So, someone who wants to come to God can’t unless God does this?
a. No. Someone can’t want to come to God unless God does this.
4. If you truly want to come to God, that means He’s already been at work in your heart.
E. So, there’s a treasure here. But it’s not for everyone. It’s hidden from most of mankind. It is only for those who are willing to humble themselves before God and receive it.
1. You have to recognize your need.
2. You have to recognize that God is God and you aren’t. And you have to be willing to let Him be God and stop trying to be God yourself.
V. OK. So God has opened your ears and you know who Jesus is, you know the Bible is the word of God. So what?
A. Then you’ve been given a gift — the greatest gift! Don’t forget that. Appreciate it.
B. Listen to the words of Jesus: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear...”
1. Mt.11:15; 13:9, 43; Mk. 4:9, 23; Lk.8:8, 14:35 (7x); Rv. 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22; 13:9 (8x)
2. What does this mean? Doesn’t virtually everyone have ears? And what if He’s talking to people who have functioning ears, that is, people who aren’t deaf? That doesn’t make any sense, because they’re the only people who can hear Him in the first place.
3. Isaiah 6:9-10 God tells Isaiah he’ll preach to people who hear but can’t hear.
4. Isaiah 42:20 says of God’s people: “his ears are open, but he does not hear.”
5. Is.48:8 You have never heard, you have never known, from of old your ear has not been opened.
6. So, the concept of someone being able to hear physically but not willing or able to get the point is well-established in the Bible.
7. But what is the point of “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” then?
a. It’s not speaking to those who don’t get it, but to those who do, to those who do know who Jesus is, who do know what the Bible is.
b. To them, Jesus says, He who has ears to hear, let him hear!!!
(1) Let him pay attention! Don’t get distracted! Don’t listen to others, listen to Me!
(2) Don’t let Jesus become ordinary.
(3) Don’t ever listen to other voices in the way you listen to Mine.
8. Do you will to do His will? Words are cheap. If you do, then prove it. Pray and seek and do something about it.
a. 1John 3:18 “Let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” That applies to those who say they love God too.
b. If you know that the Bible is God’s word, then read it and listen to it and study it. Take it seriously.
c. If you know that Jesus wasn’t just a man speaking his own ideas, but that He spoke from God, then you know His words are more to be desired than much fine gold. So treat them that way.
d. On the Mount of Transfiguration, God spoke out of the cloud and said, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen. Listen to Him.” (Luke 9:35).
e. Who do you listen to more? Jesus or the radio? Jesus or your friends? Jesus or your loved ones? Jesus or the news? Jesus or your play list? Jesus or movies? Jesus or games?
f. I’m not trying to make people feel guilty. But if you KNOW that Jesus is God’s Son who speaks the word of life, then I want to challenge you to act like that’s who He is! How can you listen to all these other voices like they’re just as important as His voice? How can you listen to all these other voices more than you listen to Jesus?
9. Most people are never given the gift you’ve been given! You get it. You know Jesus. You are part of the most privileged minority in the whole world. So, act like you’re rich! You know that Jesus is the greatest treasure. So, treasure Him! Draw near to Him! Listen to Him in His word!