1 00:00:06,490 --> 00:00:08,810 I'm glad that you are able to join us today. 2 00:00:09,730 --> 00:00:12,290 There may be some others who have fallen sick. 3 00:00:13,370 --> 00:00:17,490 We pray for good health and as well as good encouragement in 4 00:00:17,490 --> 00:00:23,010 our time together. We are continuing in our study, 5 00:00:23,010 --> 00:00:25,170 our study in John, in the Gospel of John. 6 00:00:25,170 --> 00:00:28,850 We have been learning from Scripture directly who Jesus is. 7 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:32,680 Last week we saw how Jesus is the bread of life. 8 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:37,640 In John chapter 6 after feeding of the 5000, Jesus taught that 9 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:41,040 He was the bread of life and that people needed to come to 10 00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:44,240 him, eat of His flesh and drink of His blood. 11 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:48,320 That was a spiritual teaching, but one that many could not 12 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:51,160 accept. Even those who were Jesus 13 00:00:51,160 --> 00:00:53,720 disciples left him after that point. 14 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:58,760 But those who believe that Jesus has the words of life decided 15 00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:01,880 that there was no other place to go to, that there was no one 16 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:07,440 else to run to, and they stayed with Jesus for now. 17 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:12,480 And today we'll see how Jesus is from God. 18 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:17,760 Jesus is from God. There are several polarizing 19 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:22,360 issues in the world today. Just like how water and oil do 20 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:26,040 not mix and split apart no matter how much you try, there 21 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:31,920 are issues that 'cause people to go in distinct directions in how 22 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:35,600 they think and feel about it. Polarizing issues. 23 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:39,160 If you go online you you just have to see what people say 24 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:45,480 about things like the war in the Middle East, or about the guns, 25 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:51,520 firearm policy in the United States, or the import and export 26 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:56,680 policies in the country, or even things like who is the greatest 27 00:01:56,680 --> 00:02:02,480 of all time in basketball or the best K pop band ever to perform. 28 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:08,440 You will see people torn on the issue, coming in loud with their 29 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:11,560 opinions and their argumentation and their reasonings. 30 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:15,080 Well, as we continue in our study of the Gospel of John 31 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:19,360 today, we'll see that there was no greater polarizing issue for 32 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:24,480 the people in Jerusalem than the identity of Jesus Christ and 33 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:28,760 what he claimed was a polarizing thing. 34 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:32,920 Listening to Jesus, people were split in all sorts of 35 00:02:32,920 --> 00:02:36,480 directions. Using CS Lewis's words, many saw 36 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:41,880 Jesus as a lunatic, crazy man. They even thought he was demon 37 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:46,000 possessed. Others saw Jesus as a liar, 38 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:50,200 deceiving people, leading people astray from the truth. 39 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:57,440 But those who saw Jesus as Lord recognize him for who he really 40 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:02,760 is, believing his words that they would come to him and drink 41 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:06,960 and live. We'll also see how Jesus made 42 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:11,840 such wonderful invitations, though he he himself, in his 43 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:16,520 identity, in his, in his origins, in his teachings, His 44 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:19,160 claims. They were polarizing, but he 45 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:23,000 also made wonderful invitations to people to come to him for the 46 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:27,200 gift of eternal life. But not many would come. 47 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:31,720 Not everyone received his invitation or his offer. 48 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:37,120 Why is the question, what is keeping them from simply coming 49 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:41,840 to Jesus and receive him for who he is and to receive what He 50 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:44,520 offers? We'll look at the reasons why 51 00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:48,280 people reject Jesus and why people would reject the good 52 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:50,680 gift of living water that he offers. 53 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:52,760 In today's sermon. If you're taking notes, we'll 54 00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:56,240 look at 3 reasons they outlined the three parts of the sermon 55 00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:59,240 today. First reason that they were not 56 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:04,120 hated by the world. Second, they were not willing to 57 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:08,240 do God's will. And 3rd, they were not making 58 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:15,160 right judgments. There are reasons why people 59 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:19,040 reject Jesus when the offer that He makes is so good. 60 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:21,600 We'll see. The first one, they were not 61 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:27,680 hated by the world. Let's read verse one to four to 62 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:30,320 follow along as I read from verse one to four. 63 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:33,280 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. 64 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:36,360 He would not go about in Judea because the Jews were seeking to 65 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:38,840 kill him. Now the Jews, now the Jews, 66 00:04:38,840 --> 00:04:42,120 Feast of Booths was at hand. So his brother said to him, 67 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:45,720 leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples may also see the 68 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:49,080 works that you are doing. For no one works in secret if he 69 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:52,600 seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show 70 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:57,560 yourself to the world to put us in context. 71 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:03,600 Remember back in John chapter 6, after that strange, seemingly 72 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:06,400 strange invitation to eat his flesh, drink his blood, many 73 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:08,120 disciples could not accept. They left him. 74 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:11,080 They stopped following him. And that was during the Feast of 75 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:12,800 Passover. Now is time. 76 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:15,120 Now is the time of the Feast of Booths. 77 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:18,520 So it's about 6 months later. And during this stretch of time, 78 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:22,800 Jesus was going about in Galilee, specifically avoiding 79 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:25,760 Judea because the Jews there were seeking to kill him. 80 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:30,040 For now, focus on Jesus's brothers here. 81 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:34,040 They are his younger half brothers, meaning Mary had 82 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:36,520 biological children after giving birth to Jesus. 83 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:40,600 And they saw Jesus probably for this stretch of time, going 84 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:44,600 about in Galilee, realizing that his followers, for some reason, 85 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:48,280 we're not exploding, right? Jesus losing subscribers, not 86 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:51,720 getting as many likes as he used to. 87 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:57,000 And just imagine being Jesus's brothers, growing up with him, 88 00:05:57,040 --> 00:05:59,400 seeing something unique and special about him. 89 00:05:59,880 --> 00:06:02,040 That brother who was never selfish, right? 90 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:05,520 That brother who was never boasting, that brother who just 91 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:09,880 love God and love people. And now he was doing great 92 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:12,400 things. And so they come to Jesus to 93 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:16,880 offer some of their advice. Essentially, they were saying, 94 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:21,040 Jesus, what are you doing in the places like in Karawachi? 95 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:24,400 You know, you need to go to Jakarta to make a name for 96 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:26,760 yourself. Go, especially during the high 97 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:30,080 holiday season. Show yourself to the world. 98 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:34,360 It does look like on the surface, his brothers are 99 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:38,120 supportive, even excited about Jesus being known by the world. 100 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:42,160 They want the world to see his miracles, to be in awe of him. 101 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:46,920 But what's shocking here is how God's word describes his 102 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:53,280 brothers, verse 5. For not even his brothers 103 00:06:53,280 --> 00:07:00,040 believed in him. They did all that said all that 104 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:05,240 encouraged Jesus in that way, but it says his brothers did not 105 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:09,400 believe him. If they said to Jesus, Jesus 106 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:14,360 just stay home, stop trying to impress people. 107 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:16,760 We know you're not a big deal. It's not a big deal. 108 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:21,200 You're not fooling anybody. And because and they said that 109 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:24,480 because his brothers didn't believe him, we could easily 110 00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:28,400 understand. But they do seem to believe that 111 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:30,400 he can do miracles, that he can do great things. 112 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:35,280 They do believe Jesus can be great and get the crowds 113 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:39,480 following him. But this is still UN belief 114 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:46,200 according to God's word. So to Jesus brothers their 115 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:49,240 advice. Jesus declines because he is not 116 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:53,640 like them at all. They don't understand his 117 00:07:53,640 --> 00:07:56,600 mission and and that's where we begin to understand their 118 00:07:56,720 --> 00:08:00,400 unbelief. See what Jesus says in verse 6. 119 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:05,040 Jesus said to them, my time has not yet come, but your time is 120 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:08,320 always here. The world cannot hate you, but 121 00:08:08,320 --> 00:08:12,000 it hates me because I testify about it that it's works are 122 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:13,960 evil. You go up to the feast. 123 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:17,280 I'm not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully 124 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:19,400 come. But after his brothers had gone 125 00:08:19,400 --> 00:08:23,040 up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly, but in 126 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:27,040 private. The word for time here is the 127 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:31,760 word Kairos, meaning the right time or the appropriate time. 128 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:37,840 Jesus was not talking about the right time to get famous, but he 129 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:41,799 was actually talking about the right time to die on the cross. 130 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:45,880 That time would come later when he would enter Jerusalem again, 131 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:48,520 riding on a donkey in the final week before he would be 132 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:51,560 crucified, because that was his mission. 133 00:08:51,680 --> 00:08:56,880 That is what he came for and that's something that his 134 00:08:56,880 --> 00:09:00,440 brothers could not believe. Some could argue, well, his 135 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:02,840 brothers didn't know that about Jesus yet. 136 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:07,040 Well, even to that we can just look to Apostle Peter, his 137 00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:09,960 example. He believed in Jesus, but he 138 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:14,040 still could not understand that Jesus had to suffer and die, 139 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:18,440 even when Jesus told him outright that he will suffer and 140 00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:21,880 die. So our natural worldly 141 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:34,440 perspective says that having your name be known, flaunted 142 00:09:35,680 --> 00:09:38,320 with great reputation is is better. 143 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:41,840 The bigger the name on that sign, the better. 144 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:47,120 Being more famous, better. Making a name for ourselves 145 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:50,440 better. The world desires this, The 146 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:53,800 world functions like this. But Jesus is not about that at 147 00:09:53,800 --> 00:09:56,680 all. That's why Jesus says the world 148 00:09:56,680 --> 00:10:00,200 cannot hate you, but it hates me. 149 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:05,120 Because doing things for your own glory, for your own name in 150 00:10:05,120 --> 00:10:11,040 the eyes of God is evil. But that was not the way of our 151 00:10:11,040 --> 00:10:14,760 Lord and Savior, which is why the Lord hated Jesus and not the 152 00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:18,200 which is why the world hated Jesus in the world did not hate 153 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:20,920 his brothers. This just cause us to pause and 154 00:10:20,920 --> 00:10:24,840 consider what a faithful life of following Jesus should look 155 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:27,480 like. If you want to be faithful 156 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:31,000 disciple of Jesus Christ, what should your life look like? 157 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:37,200 Because we continue to live in a world that hates Jesus today in 158 00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:39,040 the same way the world hated Jesus back then. 159 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:48,600 Do we walk and talk and think and function so much like the 160 00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:51,680 world that the world cannot hate us? 161 00:10:56,200 --> 00:10:58,840 Albert Barnes make sure we see this problem. 162 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:03,440 He says you profess no principles in opposition to the 163 00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:06,440 world, so the world does not envy you. 164 00:11:06,880 --> 00:11:11,200 The world does not stand against you as you possess the same 165 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:16,160 spirit and principles with the world, they cannot be expected 166 00:11:16,640 --> 00:11:18,800 to hate you. End Quote. 167 00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:24,560 As Christians we must not be the kind of people the world looks 168 00:11:24,560 --> 00:11:26,960 at and says oh you are just like us. 169 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:32,000 No, we must regularly evaluate our walk, our way of life, our 170 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:34,920 lifestyle. That we are not like the world 171 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:38,760 specifically, that we do not seek our own glory, we do not 172 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:42,440 seek our own fame and reputation and any other self-centered 173 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:45,200 pursuit that the world encourages. 174 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:51,000 This kind of selfish, self exalting pride was at the root 175 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:55,680 of unbelief in Jesus, brothers, and we should be careful to 176 00:11:55,680 --> 00:12:01,280 evaluate our faith or lack of faith by how much we agree with 177 00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:05,000 the ways of the world. Am I like the world or am I like 178 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:08,640 Christ? That would be especially 179 00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:13,560 spiritually edifying for us as we reflect on that question, am 180 00:12:13,560 --> 00:12:16,120 I like the world or am I like Christ? 181 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:20,360 There's a good point of and also a good point of discussion with 182 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:24,920 other Christians this week. Now in verse 10, to be clear, 183 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:29,040 Jesus did not lie to his brothers when he said I'm not 184 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:31,560 going up to the feast. But then afterwards he did go 185 00:12:31,560 --> 00:12:34,920 up. We see from Jesus explanation 186 00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:38,800 that He was not following His brother's way, the world's way. 187 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:43,360 He took orders from God the Father as a perfectly obedient 188 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:47,000 God the Son. So Jesus would not go up 189 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:52,280 publicly with fanfare for His own glory, but He would go up in 190 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:57,000 private, for He had a mission, He had an agenda from the Father 191 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:02,360 as He went. See what they thought of Him. 192 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:06,680 Look at verses 11 to 13. The Jews were looking for Him at 193 00:13:06,680 --> 00:13:10,040 the feast, saying Where is He? And there was much muttering 194 00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:12,960 about him among the people. While some said he is a good 195 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:16,080 man, other said no, he's leading people astray. 196 00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:19,880 Yet for the fear of the Jews, no one spoke openly of him. 197 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:25,520 Remember back in verse one, Jews wanted to kill Jesus, so their 198 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:28,640 search for him here was not like a welcome party. 199 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:33,880 But it was a wicked manhunt. The rest of the people even got 200 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:36,680 the hint that it was dangerous to talk about Jesus. 201 00:13:36,960 --> 00:13:41,160 So for their own lives, no one dared to speak louder than a 202 00:13:41,160 --> 00:13:45,560 whisper about him. And to whisper to people that 203 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:47,680 Jesus was a good man was still not right. 204 00:13:47,680 --> 00:13:51,480 Was it because Jesus was much more than just a good man? 205 00:13:54,040 --> 00:13:57,320 There seems to be no love for Jesus here because a love for 206 00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:00,440 self is the way of the world, and a love for self leaves 207 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:04,760 nothing but hate for Jesus. And that's why people rejected 208 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:08,640 him, because they were not hated by the world, they were like the 209 00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:12,000 world. Second reason why people reject 210 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:15,000 Jesus in his offer, they're not willing to do God's will. 211 00:14:15,680 --> 00:14:18,360 The second point, they're not willing to do God's will. 212 00:14:19,760 --> 00:14:24,600 So as Jesus went to the feast following God's agenda, he went 213 00:14:24,600 --> 00:14:28,080 not to wow people with miracles, but to teach them the truth. 214 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:33,080 We see this in verses 14 to 16. About the middle of the feast. 215 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:35,360 Jesus went up to the temple and began teaching. 216 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:39,400 The Jews therefore marvelled, saying, how is it that this man 217 00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:41,720 has learning when he has never studied? 218 00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:45,480 So Jesus answered them, My teaching is not mine, but his 219 00:14:45,480 --> 00:14:50,480 who sent me. One consistent quality of Jesus 220 00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:55,240 during his ministry on earth was how Jesus taught with authority. 221 00:14:57,280 --> 00:15:01,760 He was unlike all the religious leaders and teachers of that day 222 00:15:02,720 --> 00:15:05,560 because Jesus spoke with the authority of God. 223 00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:09,000 And here again, people could notice the difference and they 224 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:13,520 marvelled that Jesus could speak like this, but actually they're 225 00:15:13,520 --> 00:15:16,840 marvelling. Their amazement actually was 226 00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:22,720 founded in it was rooted more in condescending looking, looking 227 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:26,840 down on Jesus. How is it that this man has 228 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:28,840 learning? How is it possible? 229 00:15:30,880 --> 00:15:35,800 They marvelled, but they began to marvel at how he never went 230 00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:39,480 to rabbi school. He didn't have thesis papers or 231 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:45,160 his thesis defenses scholarly degrees like they did, but that 232 00:15:45,160 --> 00:15:48,240 was because Jesus is learning was in the seminary of heaven. 233 00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:52,840 He was the divine logos, the word of God we saw in John 234 00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:55,120 chapter one who had come from heaven. 235 00:15:55,200 --> 00:16:00,040 Now in the flesh. In contrast to these pious but 236 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:03,800 proud, prideful, self-righteous religious people looking down on 237 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:06,640 Jesus like he is some uneducated fellow. 238 00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:12,160 See Jesus, When people look down on us, we are tempted to 239 00:16:12,160 --> 00:16:16,520 retaliate, to prove ourselves, to show ourselves to be the real 240 00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:20,600 deal. We want to flex our skill sets, 241 00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:23,680 our successes. Well, Jesus seems to go in the 242 00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:27,080 completely opposite direction. And again, he is unlike the 243 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:30,680 world. The world cannot love Jesus for 244 00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:34,080 who he is and what he does because Jesus humbly points to 245 00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:37,120 the one who sent him, God the Father. 246 00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:41,440 It is Jesus's own teaching because he says it's my 247 00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:44,920 teaching. And though Jesus has every right 248 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:55,760 to be exalted as the name above all names, he humbly says, My 249 00:16:55,760 --> 00:17:00,560 teaching is from God. Now what was Jesus teaching? 250 00:17:00,560 --> 00:17:05,400 Here we see in verses 17 to 18, If anyone's will is to do God's 251 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:10,480 will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether 252 00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:12,240 I am speaking on my own authority. 253 00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:16,040 The one who speaks from his own authority seeks his own glory, 254 00:17:16,760 --> 00:17:20,000 but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent Him is true, and 255 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:26,880 in him there is no falsehood. As he humbly points to God the 256 00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:31,920 Father, He now teaches how mere human beings like us could know 257 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:34,240 Jesus's teaching is from God and is true. 258 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:40,320 Jesus doesn't say here that someone needs to attain a 259 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:48,760 certain moral level or achieve certain theological expertise to 260 00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:50,960 know if Jesus is teaching was from God or not. 261 00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:57,440 No, he simply says you can know simply by committing to do God's 262 00:17:57,600 --> 00:18:02,520 will, God's will, DA Carson explains. 263 00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:06,760 God's will is not simply to be thought about and assessed as if 264 00:18:06,760 --> 00:18:09,360 God is the object. We may politely examine, 265 00:18:09,360 --> 00:18:13,280 dissect, and discuss picking and choosing what we like of Him. 266 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:20,320 No, it is a faith commitment. It is a commitment believing 267 00:18:20,360 --> 00:18:25,440 Jesus's teaching because believing Jesus teaching is a 268 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:28,960 matter of obedience. If we choose to do God's will as 269 00:18:28,960 --> 00:18:32,560 we are willing to obey Jesus says, then we will be in a 270 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:36,480 position to evaluate Jesus's claims and see that they are 271 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:40,240 true. When we come with that kind of 272 00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:45,560 attitude, we will, and that kind of posture, humble posture, as 273 00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:49,600 Jesus himself exhibited, we will discover that Jesus is teaching 274 00:18:49,600 --> 00:18:54,040 is indeed the very truth of God, and therefore that Jesus is who 275 00:18:54,040 --> 00:18:58,840 he claims to be, that he really is the Son of God, the divine 276 00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:07,320 Son who is one with the Father. So to be a Christian, then, is 277 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:11,440 not merely by association. It's not just by having parents 278 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:15,240 who are Christian, or friends who are Christian, or even just 279 00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:19,920 feeling like you're a Christian for the children here, for the 280 00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:21,400 teens. I'll repeat that again. 281 00:19:21,560 --> 00:19:25,040 To be a Christian is not by having parents who are 282 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:28,800 Christian, or simply friends who are Christian, or going to a 283 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:31,920 Christian School or just feeling like a Christian. 284 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:39,280 No, Being a Christian is a matter of your will, a readiness 285 00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:45,880 to obey God, a willingness to lay down our abilities, our 286 00:19:46,120 --> 00:19:52,800 intellects, our feelings, and to give to God all that we have, to 287 00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:56,920 live according to God's pleasure and not our own. 288 00:19:57,600 --> 00:20:00,080 That's what it means to be a Christian. 289 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:02,720 That's what it means to be his disciple. 290 00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:07,880 Are you willing? To do God's will? 291 00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:11,320 Or do you want to keep doing your own will? 292 00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:15,560 That's how you decide if you're a Christian or not. 293 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:19,320 That's how you decide if you're able to come to Jesus to accept 294 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:24,680 his words or not. Along with our own faith 295 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:27,840 commitment of obedience to God, Jesus says there's another way 296 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:29,960 to see if what Jesus says is true. 297 00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:34,760 You can think about it this way. We may know someone who is 298 00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:38,880 passionately committed to making himself or herself the centre of 299 00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:42,120 the universe, right? We can, we can see it from from 300 00:20:42,120 --> 00:20:45,160 far away. We can hear it in how they act 301 00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:48,400 and how they speak. It's just to get attention from 302 00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:53,040 people and and just to get you to do what they want you to do. 303 00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:58,200 Now it's clear we don't want to be around such people who want 304 00:20:58,200 --> 00:20:59,200 to be the centre of the universe. 305 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:02,880 We don't want to be around such people who seek their own his or 306 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:07,760 her own glory. Once you see their pattern, we 307 00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:10,520 can't trust them. Now, compared to that person, 308 00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:14,360 maybe some of us don't have to imagine very, very hard to to 309 00:21:14,360 --> 00:21:17,320 know that there's such a person that exists now to to that 310 00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:20,680 person. Imagine there's someone who did 311 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:26,400 everything and said everything in order to bring honour, fame, 312 00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:31,280 attention to God. How much can we trust that 313 00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:33,680 person? We can trust them very well. 314 00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:39,600 We can trust them a lot. Now there is only one who does 315 00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:41,280 that. Jesus. 316 00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:47,280 Jesus wasn't trying to persuade people with gimmicks or or 317 00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:53,720 flattery or with money or with even with free meals. 318 00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:58,280 That wasn't his way. He wasn't he. 319 00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:02,640 He wasn't. He didn't have mixed motives 320 00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:06,960 like many religious leaders that turn ministry into something of 321 00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:09,200 a profitable business for themselves. 322 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:16,760 No, Jesus spoke out against the evil works of the world, and yet 323 00:22:16,760 --> 00:22:23,560 he humbly came to sinful people to teach them, to invite them, 324 00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:29,440 to lead them. Jesus is the one who perfectly 325 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:33,480 seeks God's glory, not his own. He is wholeheartedly, completely 326 00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:37,000 committed to God. Exaltation, not self exaltation. 327 00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:41,360 And that is seen ultimately in Jesus's willingness to die on 328 00:22:41,360 --> 00:22:46,240 the cross, in our place, in the place of sinners who care for 329 00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:51,400 nothing other than themselves. Jesus came and he gave up his 330 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:57,280 life so that we too will no longer love our own glory, but 331 00:22:57,280 --> 00:23:02,720 love the glory of the Father. God the Father didn't have to 332 00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:07,080 force the Son to do this. No, Jesus, He willingly went to 333 00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:09,480 the cross to do the Father's will. 334 00:23:10,120 --> 00:23:13,000 For these reasons, we can trust Jesus. 335 00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:19,480 May we trust Him today. Now let's turn to see who are 336 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:23,480 not willing to do God's will. Doing God's will. 337 00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:26,640 Another way to think about it was to keep God's law. 338 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:31,880 See verses 19 to 24. Has not Moses given you the law? 339 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:36,680 Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me? 340 00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:40,440 The crowd answered. You have a demon who is seeking 341 00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:42,560 to kill you. Jesus answered them. 342 00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:45,160 I did one work, and you all marvel at it. 343 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:49,040 Moses gave you circumcision, not that it is from Moses, but from 344 00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:51,280 the fathers. And you circumcise a man on the 345 00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:54,680 Sabbath, if on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that 346 00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:56,480 the law of Moses may not be broken. 347 00:23:57,080 --> 00:23:59,960 Are you angry with me? Because on the Sabbath I made a 348 00:23:59,960 --> 00:24:04,760 man's whole body? Well, the one work that Jesus is 349 00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:09,640 referring to in verse 21 is the work that he did in Jerusalem 350 00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:13,120 back in John chapter 5. It was the work of healing a man 351 00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:17,320 who was an invalid for 38 years, meaning he was he couldn't move 352 00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:23,040 on his own for that long. Jesus came to him, simply spoke 353 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:26,800 to him, take up your bed and walk and instantly the man was 354 00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:29,480 healed. When the religious leader saw 355 00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:33,600 that the man was walking around and carrying his bed, they 356 00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:37,600 weren't celebrating at this great event that happened in 357 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:41,920 this man's life after 38 years. Instead, they condemned the man 358 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:45,280 for breaking the Sabbath because he was carrying walking around, 359 00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:49,960 carrying his bed. And then they turned to Jesus to 360 00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:54,040 condemn Jesus for breaking the Sabbath by healing a man on the 361 00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:57,800 Sabbath. So now here Jesus points out 362 00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:03,520 their hypocrisy. If the 8th day of a Jewish boy's 363 00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:08,000 life happened to be on the Sabbath, they would do the work 364 00:25:08,080 --> 00:25:12,800 of circumcision on the Sabbath. Both circumcision and the 365 00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:17,000 Sabbath were instructed by God's law, and so they would regularly 366 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:22,040 break Sabbath to uphold circumcision for the boy in 367 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:25,480 order that that young Jewish boy would have the sign that he was 368 00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:28,760 part of God's family but didn't do. 369 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:34,960 Didn't Jesus do one greater work than circumcision to make a man 370 00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:39,920 completely whole on the Sabbath so that he could go and then 371 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:44,200 worship God with God's people in the presence of God at the 372 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:49,560 temple? But they're angry enough to kill 373 00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:53,600 Jesus, which also, by the way, is clearly not keeping God's 374 00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:57,000 law. So in verse 24, Jesus commands 375 00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:01,000 them do not judge by appearances, but judge with 376 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:05,920 right judgement. Meaning that their approach to 377 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:10,560 God's law was superficial, it was only surface level. 378 00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:15,200 It points to how their approach to God was just all appearance, 379 00:26:16,120 --> 00:26:20,120 all about appearances. And we know this because the 380 00:26:20,120 --> 00:26:26,080 religious teachers had twisted God's law to make themselves 381 00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:30,880 look better on the outside compared to everyone else, to 382 00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:35,040 show themselves as law keepers when inside in their hearts 383 00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:39,400 there were law Breakers. But here as well, we see them 384 00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:42,720 twisting God's word to come to the wrong judgement about Jesus, 385 00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:47,400 judging the Son of God as a criminal who should be killed 386 00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:53,520 for doing good, great miraculous things in people's lives that no 387 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:59,880 one else could do. If their approach to God was by 388 00:26:59,880 --> 00:27:04,160 faith, they were committed to do God's will. 389 00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:08,600 They would be able to see that Jesus was not the law breaker, 390 00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:11,840 but He himself was the law fulfiller. 391 00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:17,600 For all of the law would point to Jesus Christ and what He 392 00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:19,960 would do for law Breakers like us. 393 00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:25,600 The same goes for the rest of the crowds. 394 00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:29,000 Now, not every Jew there was guilty of attempted murder at 395 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:33,360 this point, but soon enough the crowds would together in one 396 00:27:33,360 --> 00:27:37,240 voice shout out their judgement against Jesus, crying out 397 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:43,800 crucify, crucify. And so it's not hard to imagine 398 00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:47,960 that they would do such a thing then at Jesus's trial that was 399 00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:52,960 to come, because here they were already thinking Jesus was. 400 00:27:53,240 --> 00:28:00,360 Now you see the words demon possessed so to speak to our non 401 00:28:00,360 --> 00:28:02,080 Christian friends who are here joining us. 402 00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:04,680 We're glad that you're here, but we we are glad that you're here 403 00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:10,920 so you can hear and know that how to make a right judgement 404 00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:13,920 about Jesus. Do not think you can make a 405 00:28:13,920 --> 00:28:17,960 right judgement just on the surface level, just on the 406 00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:22,600 appearance level of Jesus at a distance or from what other 407 00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:27,040 people might have told you. We encourage you to study the 408 00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:31,600 scriptures to get a front row seat to all that Jesus said and 409 00:28:31,600 --> 00:28:36,280 did and taught. Go below the appearances, go 410 00:28:36,280 --> 00:28:41,800 below the surfaces where many people are stuck at, Study 411 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:44,520 together scriptures with even one of our the members in our 412 00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:48,920 church and then come to a right judgement about Jesus. 413 00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:53,440 I think all of us could agree that would be a fair judgement 414 00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:59,560 to make, to come to a judgement not without reading God's Word 415 00:28:59,560 --> 00:29:02,800 first, but to come to the Scriptures, come to God's Word, 416 00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:08,240 see how God has revealed in His truth for us, have read it, 417 00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:11,040 studied it, and then come to a decision. 418 00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:15,360 This is a call to our Christian friends here as well to never 419 00:29:15,360 --> 00:29:18,800 stop our pursuit of studying God's Word. 420 00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:23,280 Please make sure members especially to take up every 421 00:29:23,280 --> 00:29:26,560 opportunity that we have as a church for to help you get into 422 00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:29,960 God's word and study God's word together with others. 423 00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:35,120 Now the irony in the rest of today's passage is how people 424 00:29:35,320 --> 00:29:38,640 were divided in making a right judgement about Jesus. 425 00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:43,680 They were divided even though Jesus taught go beyond the 426 00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:45,640 surface, go beyond the appearances, judge the right 427 00:29:45,640 --> 00:29:48,080 judgement. The rest of this passage show 428 00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:51,280 how people are divided and they just cannot do that. 429 00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:55,280 The third reason why people reject Jesus and the good gift 430 00:29:55,400 --> 00:29:58,280 of living water that He offers is this, that we're not making 431 00:29:58,280 --> 00:30:02,640 right judgments. See verse 20, verses 25 to 27. 432 00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:07,000 Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, is this not the 433 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:11,200 man whom they seek to kill? And here he is speaking openly, 434 00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:14,160 and they say nothing to him. Can it be that the authorities 435 00:30:14,160 --> 00:30:15,800 really know that this is the Christ? 436 00:30:16,560 --> 00:30:19,040 But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ 437 00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:21,200 appears, no one will know where he comes from. 438 00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:26,360 And so those who ask about Jesus in verse 25 are now the of the 439 00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:29,400 people of Jerusalem. They knew better than the 440 00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:33,920 countryside Galileans what was going on in their city with 441 00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:37,520 their religious leaders. The people knew how the leaders 442 00:30:37,520 --> 00:30:40,720 wanted to kill Jesus and they see them doing nothing about it. 443 00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:44,680 So they wonder if Jesus is the Christ, the promised Messiah, 444 00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:49,240 but because of ideas of Christ that they already have, they 445 00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:52,440 quickly dismiss it and they go back to what they think they 446 00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:55,240 know. So Jesus continues to teach the 447 00:30:55,240 --> 00:30:56,760 way that he had been teaching in the temple. 448 00:30:56,760 --> 00:31:00,000 Verses 28 to 32. So Jesus proclaimed as he taught 449 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:03,680 in the temple, You know me, and you know where I come from, but 450 00:31:03,680 --> 00:31:05,680 I have not come of my own accord. 451 00:31:06,040 --> 00:31:08,960 He who sent me is true, and Him you do not know. 452 00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:12,200 I know Him, for I come from Him, and He sent me. 453 00:31:12,560 --> 00:31:15,720 So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on 454 00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:17,880 him, because his hour had not yet come. 455 00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:20,160 Yet many of the people believed in him. 456 00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:23,280 They said, when the Christ appears, will He do more signs 457 00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:26,480 than this man has done? The Pharisees heard the crowd 458 00:31:26,600 --> 00:31:29,720 muttering these things about Him, and the chief priests and 459 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:32,400 Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. 460 00:31:34,520 --> 00:31:37,640 Jesus again claims to be divine. In verse 29. 461 00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:42,160 He claims to his Here are his claims again to divine 462 00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:47,080 knowledge, divine origin and divine mission as it has been 463 00:31:47,080 --> 00:31:50,880 seen throughout the Gospel of John where Jesus says things 464 00:31:50,880 --> 00:31:56,240 like I know God and I come from God and I was sent by God. 465 00:31:57,120 --> 00:32:00,000 And whenever Jesus would say things like this, we see the 466 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:04,400 people responding with aggression and now it is no 467 00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:07,280 different. The people try to have Jesus 468 00:32:07,280 --> 00:32:12,680 arrested. There's a note that many people 469 00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:16,240 believed in Him, yes, but again, we see the basis of their 470 00:32:16,240 --> 00:32:19,840 believing was his miraculous signs. 471 00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:22,560 And we should know by now. If you've been listening 472 00:32:22,680 --> 00:32:27,040 carefully in all of our sermon series thus far, we know by now 473 00:32:27,360 --> 00:32:32,600 that believing because of the signs may be a good start, but 474 00:32:32,600 --> 00:32:36,240 it is not good enough to be genuine, lasting faith in Jesus 475 00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:38,320 Christ. And so the religious 476 00:32:38,320 --> 00:32:41,760 authorities, the chief priests and Pharisees then tried to 477 00:32:41,760 --> 00:32:44,760 officially arrest him, right? The crowd couldn't arrest him 478 00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:46,800 for Jesus. Time had not yet come. 479 00:32:46,800 --> 00:32:49,920 It was not time for him to be arrested and handed over to the 480 00:32:49,920 --> 00:32:53,640 authorities. Jesus was in, was in control 481 00:32:53,640 --> 00:32:58,040 over that time. And so now the chief priests and 482 00:32:58,040 --> 00:33:01,120 Pharisees in verse 32 tried to officially arrest him. 483 00:33:01,120 --> 00:33:04,240 They send officers to him and we'll get back to what these 484 00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:10,560 officers do later in verse 45. We regardless, we see the threat 485 00:33:10,560 --> 00:33:13,320 of aggression and arrest did not affect Jesus at all. 486 00:33:13,760 --> 00:33:16,800 Again, He is sovereign over time. 487 00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:21,000 He continues to do what he came to do at the feast, which is to 488 00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:24,200 teach. See verse 33 to 36. 489 00:33:24,880 --> 00:33:28,280 Jesus then said, I will be with you a little longer and then I'm 490 00:33:28,280 --> 00:33:31,160 going to him who sent me. You will seek me and you will 491 00:33:31,160 --> 00:33:34,760 not find me where I'm going. Where I am you cannot come. 492 00:33:35,320 --> 00:33:38,880 The Jews said to one another, Where does this man intend to go 493 00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:41,560 that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the 494 00:33:41,560 --> 00:33:43,840 dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 495 00:33:44,360 --> 00:33:45,720 What does he mean by saying You will not? 496 00:33:45,960 --> 00:33:48,960 You will seek me and you will not find me, and where I am you 497 00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:52,560 cannot come. Jesus here was talking about 498 00:33:53,040 --> 00:33:57,200 returning to heaven, returning to the Father, which we know 499 00:33:57,200 --> 00:34:00,160 about on this side of history, on this side of the cross and 500 00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:03,200 the empty tomb. But before Jesus died on the 501 00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:06,120 cross, rose again from the dead, and ascended into heaven, there 502 00:34:06,120 --> 00:34:09,239 was no way that people here at this time could have understood 503 00:34:09,239 --> 00:34:13,360 what Jesus was talking about. Their confusion is clear, all 504 00:34:13,360 --> 00:34:16,000 the more because they have trouble believing Jesus is from 505 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:17,960 God. How could they believe that 506 00:34:17,960 --> 00:34:20,480 Jesus would then go back to God the way he came? 507 00:34:21,840 --> 00:34:24,360 But they needed to hear and learn so that they might live. 508 00:34:24,800 --> 00:34:28,679 And so this brings us to the high point of the feast where 509 00:34:28,679 --> 00:34:31,760 Jesus would stand up and declare his invitation. 510 00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:35,199 But first, a little bit of the background of the feast. 511 00:34:35,440 --> 00:34:38,600 We are probably most familiar, most familiar with the Jewish 512 00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:43,239 feast of Passover, but not maybe not so much as the Feast of 513 00:34:43,239 --> 00:34:46,120 Booths or also called the Feast of Tabernacles. 514 00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:50,520 This feast was so important to the Jews that they often refer 515 00:34:50,520 --> 00:34:54,600 to this feast, not Passover, as the Feast. 516 00:34:56,320 --> 00:35:00,000 There was a time to remember God's care for Israel during the 517 00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:02,680 wilderness wanderings. We read earlier from Exodus 518 00:35:02,680 --> 00:35:07,520 chapter 17 how God provided water from the rock as the 519 00:35:07,520 --> 00:35:12,760 people were thirsty, as Jesus, as God LED them through the 520 00:35:12,760 --> 00:35:16,800 wilderness, through the desert and God and and we read how 521 00:35:16,800 --> 00:35:19,160 Moses struck the rock and water flowed out. 522 00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:22,680 And so to celebrate God's faithfulness during the 523 00:35:22,680 --> 00:35:26,840 wilderness time, the people built temporary shelters, which 524 00:35:26,840 --> 00:35:28,840 they called booths or tabernacles. 525 00:35:29,320 --> 00:35:32,880 They built it with organic things like leaves and, and 526 00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:36,840 branches either on their rooftops or in their courtyards. 527 00:35:37,120 --> 00:35:41,080 And they would stay in those and live in, in those booths, those 528 00:35:41,080 --> 00:35:45,320 tabernacles for that week. Not only that, this feast was a 529 00:35:45,320 --> 00:35:48,160 celebration of that year's harvest of crops. 530 00:35:48,320 --> 00:35:51,760 So this was important for a community, an agricultural 531 00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:55,040 community where they farmed for their food and their livelihood. 532 00:35:55,960 --> 00:36:00,040 And so after they put a successful harvest into their 533 00:36:00,040 --> 00:36:04,600 barns and stored that away, they were able to celebrate and give 534 00:36:04,600 --> 00:36:09,520 thanks to God during this this week. 535 00:36:10,560 --> 00:36:14,200 People also use this time to look forward to the coming year 536 00:36:14,720 --> 00:36:20,720 of and use the time to pray. It was a time of prayer for God 537 00:36:20,720 --> 00:36:24,680 to provide again the rains for the following year, for the 538 00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:29,000 following year's crops. And this prayer was dramatized 539 00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:31,120 every morning during the week of this festival. 540 00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:35,720 This this feast, people came down from the temple to the Pool 541 00:36:35,720 --> 00:36:39,080 of Siloam. A priest would fill up a golden 542 00:36:39,080 --> 00:36:43,360 picture with water to the sound of trumpets and to the sound of 543 00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:47,040 a choir singing the words of Scripture with joy. 544 00:36:47,040 --> 00:36:49,680 You will draw water from the wells of salvation. 545 00:36:50,520 --> 00:36:55,080 So just imagine the scene. And then the people went back up 546 00:36:55,080 --> 00:36:58,880 to the temple. And then carrying branches as a 547 00:36:59,040 --> 00:37:03,000 symbol of the boots of God's faithfulness, and then carrying 548 00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:06,960 fruits as a symbol of the harvest that the Lord had 549 00:37:06,960 --> 00:37:11,160 provided through the rains. And they sang, going up, give 550 00:37:11,160 --> 00:37:14,520 thanks to the Lord, give thanks to the Lord, give thanks to the 551 00:37:14,520 --> 00:37:17,280 Lord. And the priests would pour out 552 00:37:17,480 --> 00:37:24,600 that water by the altar, these prayers for rain that were 553 00:37:24,600 --> 00:37:28,040 prayed, that were acted out like this, it reminded them of their 554 00:37:28,040 --> 00:37:31,320 dependence on God, that they were not able to provide for 555 00:37:31,320 --> 00:37:34,280 themselves unless God sent the reins. 556 00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:38,040 The Feast of Tabernacles next year would be a depressing 557 00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:42,160 sight. So with that in mind, with the 558 00:37:42,160 --> 00:37:46,520 backdrop of this feast, read verse 37. 559 00:37:47,360 --> 00:37:52,040 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up 560 00:37:52,040 --> 00:37:55,840 and cried out. If anyone thirsts, let him come 561 00:37:55,840 --> 00:37:59,880 to me and drink. Jesus stood up and he cried out 562 00:37:59,880 --> 00:38:03,760 so the people would hear and know that He is the giver of 563 00:38:03,760 --> 00:38:08,080 water that truly satisfies. Jesus cried out so that the 564 00:38:08,080 --> 00:38:12,680 people would think of a deeper need that they had than their 565 00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:16,680 need for rain, a need for their thirsty souls. 566 00:38:20,680 --> 00:38:23,800 You know, when we are not thirsty, we don't think much 567 00:38:23,800 --> 00:38:26,760 about water, do we? I don't, I forget. 568 00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:31,640 Especially when we can easily just go get a cup of water. 569 00:38:33,800 --> 00:38:38,960 This is why we, myself included, people today need to depend on 570 00:38:38,960 --> 00:38:42,160 things like smartwatches that remind them to drink a certain 571 00:38:42,160 --> 00:38:43,680 amount of water at certain times. 572 00:38:44,720 --> 00:38:47,080 But what about when we are thirsty? 573 00:38:47,920 --> 00:38:49,720 How much do you think about water? 574 00:38:50,320 --> 00:38:53,960 You think about it a lot. You cannot think about anything 575 00:38:53,960 --> 00:38:56,840 else. Just be in the car with me, with 576 00:38:56,840 --> 00:38:59,200 my three kids, when their water bottles are empty. 577 00:38:59,280 --> 00:39:02,080 We're still a long ways from home in traffic. 578 00:39:02,760 --> 00:39:10,800 I'm so thirsty I need water. Can we stop, get some water? 579 00:39:10,960 --> 00:39:14,480 We can't. You can see it when when, when 580 00:39:14,480 --> 00:39:18,560 we're parched, our throats are dry, we can't stop thinking 581 00:39:18,560 --> 00:39:20,360 about water, and we want nothing else. 582 00:39:21,680 --> 00:39:27,440 Now this should be true of our thirst for God, that we cannot 583 00:39:27,440 --> 00:39:31,480 think about anything else. But because of our sin, we have 584 00:39:31,480 --> 00:39:35,440 found ways to somehow distract ourselves from our thirst for 585 00:39:35,440 --> 00:39:55,360 God and try to replace it with. All of our hearts better than we 586 00:39:55,360 --> 00:40:12,630 do, he says through the word. We have to understand this about 587 00:40:12,630 --> 00:40:16,150 ourselves. But if this is you, you are 588 00:40:16,150 --> 00:40:21,070 aware of your thirst today. Jesus says come to me and drink. 589 00:40:22,760 --> 00:40:27,040 To move away from your broken cistern that holds no water, 590 00:40:27,320 --> 00:40:31,360 stop trying to drink from empty broken containers and come to 591 00:40:31,360 --> 00:40:35,040 the never ending well of water that is Jesus Christ. 592 00:40:37,800 --> 00:40:41,120 Who here hears Jesus's invitation? 593 00:40:44,280 --> 00:40:46,360 You may have grown up in a Christian home, you may have 594 00:40:47,000 --> 00:40:50,720 heard Christian teachings, but you have never moved to the 595 00:40:50,720 --> 00:40:53,520 well. Will you come to him today? 596 00:40:53,640 --> 00:40:56,960 Come to him now and drink. Believe in Jesus. 597 00:40:57,840 --> 00:41:03,120 If you do, Jesus says in verse 38, Whoever believes in me, as 598 00:41:03,120 --> 00:41:06,480 the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of 599 00:41:06,480 --> 00:41:10,200 living water. What does that mean? 600 00:41:10,960 --> 00:41:14,480 He explains in verse 39. Now this he said about the 601 00:41:14,480 --> 00:41:17,680 Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive. 602 00:41:18,240 --> 00:41:22,600 For as yet the Spirit had not been given because Jesus was not 603 00:41:22,600 --> 00:41:26,240 yet glorified. So having your heart flowing 604 00:41:26,240 --> 00:41:29,120 with rivers of living water as you drink from Jesus, you 605 00:41:29,120 --> 00:41:33,040 believe in Him, means that you have received the Holy Spirit. 606 00:41:34,360 --> 00:41:37,720 In the days of the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was 607 00:41:37,760 --> 00:41:42,080 yet indeed active in working, but in different ways than Jesus 608 00:41:42,080 --> 00:41:44,720 is talking about here. Because in the Old Testament, in 609 00:41:44,720 --> 00:41:49,040 the Old Covenant, the Holy Spirit anointed certain people, 610 00:41:49,360 --> 00:41:55,000 certain prophets, certain kings at certain times to do certain 611 00:41:55,000 --> 00:42:00,560 works on behalf of God's people. But in the new covenant in 612 00:42:00,560 --> 00:42:06,440 Jesus, all of God's people, all believers, would receive the 613 00:42:06,440 --> 00:42:14,800 whole time permanently. This is the new covenant that 614 00:42:14,840 --> 00:42:19,000 Jesus was establishing with those who come to him and drink. 615 00:42:21,200 --> 00:42:24,320 But this new covenant would only come by the spilling of Jesus's 616 00:42:24,320 --> 00:42:29,040 blood, which is why Jesus said at his Last Supper and why we 617 00:42:29,040 --> 00:42:34,800 remembered every Lord's Supper that the new covenant is in his 618 00:42:34,800 --> 00:42:39,360 blood. When it says in verse 39 that 619 00:42:39,360 --> 00:42:44,440 Jesus was not yet glorified, it's referring to this, to Jesus 620 00:42:44,600 --> 00:42:49,680 spilling, shedding his own blood as he was glorified, lifted up, 621 00:42:50,520 --> 00:42:57,800 exalted onto the cross where he died taking upon our shame and 622 00:42:57,800 --> 00:43:02,760 guilt of sin. He died on behalf of His people, 623 00:43:03,000 --> 00:43:06,040 all who would come to him and drink by faith. 624 00:43:06,840 --> 00:43:09,920 So before giving of this Holy Spirit, Jesus needed to finish 625 00:43:10,120 --> 00:43:12,840 his work. He first needed to die for our 626 00:43:12,840 --> 00:43:19,040 sins on the cross. This is our spiritual thirst, 627 00:43:19,640 --> 00:43:23,000 our spiritual need, for all of us have sinned against God. 628 00:43:23,160 --> 00:43:27,280 We could not keep his laws. If anything, the moral laws of 629 00:43:27,280 --> 00:43:31,000 God exposed our evil desire to disobey God. 630 00:43:33,080 --> 00:43:37,160 His law said, do not covet, but because of the greed in our 631 00:43:37,160 --> 00:43:40,960 hearts, we covet and we lie and we cheat and we steal. 632 00:43:41,320 --> 00:43:45,400 Ultimately we break the law of God because we ought to worship 633 00:43:45,400 --> 00:43:47,880 Him and Him alone. But we have given away our 634 00:43:47,880 --> 00:43:54,120 worship, given away our love, our affections to idols, what 635 00:43:54,200 --> 00:43:58,720 belongs to our God, our Creator. We have given it away to other 636 00:43:58,720 --> 00:44:03,920 things, things that we think and in vain we hope that would 637 00:44:03,920 --> 00:44:10,080 satisfy our souls. We also know we have sinned and 638 00:44:10,080 --> 00:44:14,960 fallen short of God's glory. When we see the work of the Holy 639 00:44:14,960 --> 00:44:19,400 Spirit that He does in people's lives, we see in Galatians 640 00:44:19,400 --> 00:44:21,280 chapter 5. And just Please note that 641 00:44:21,280 --> 00:44:27,160 somewhere we see it there, how the evil works of our flesh are 642 00:44:27,160 --> 00:44:33,520 things like sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, 643 00:44:33,640 --> 00:44:38,640 enmity, jealousy, fits of anger, dissensions, division, envy, 644 00:44:38,840 --> 00:44:42,400 drunkenness. Those are all works, evil works 645 00:44:42,400 --> 00:44:46,200 of the flesh. And God's Word warns us those 646 00:44:46,200 --> 00:44:48,920 who do such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God. 647 00:44:50,880 --> 00:44:54,440 But the God's Word continues. But the fruit of the Spirit, 648 00:44:54,560 --> 00:44:58,040 meaning the result of the working of the Holy Spirit in 649 00:44:58,040 --> 00:45:02,720 people's lives is this Lovejoy, peace, patience, kindness, 650 00:45:02,880 --> 00:45:05,640 goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. 651 00:45:07,160 --> 00:45:12,520 If you're not convinced about your sin in the first list, then 652 00:45:12,520 --> 00:45:16,320 just look at the second list and see how you fall short. 653 00:45:18,520 --> 00:45:22,600 The good news is, as we see our sin, as we see our souls thirst, 654 00:45:23,320 --> 00:45:28,640 God points our eyes in his Word to look to Jesus, who died as a 655 00:45:28,640 --> 00:45:30,520 sacrifice for our sins in our place. 656 00:45:31,600 --> 00:45:35,440 So do you see why Jesus cried out what he cried out here at 657 00:45:35,440 --> 00:45:38,600 the Feast of Tabernacles? He was offering living water to 658 00:45:38,600 --> 00:45:43,040 all those who would come to him. Like Moses struck the rock to 659 00:45:43,040 --> 00:45:47,560 provide water for thirsty Israel, God had Jesus struck on 660 00:45:47,560 --> 00:45:52,200 the cross, pierced for our sins. Blood and water flow down from 661 00:45:52,200 --> 00:45:56,760 His side to satisfy the wrath of God that we should have been 662 00:45:56,760 --> 00:46:00,640 crushed under, that we deserve to pay. 663 00:46:03,120 --> 00:46:06,600 But through Christ's death, Christ's resurrection, and His 664 00:46:06,600 --> 00:46:11,400 ascension, He provided the Holy Spirit for us to receive 665 00:46:11,400 --> 00:46:16,360 permanently in how much we are in need of the Holy Spirit, as 666 00:46:16,360 --> 00:46:21,320 we too are pilgrims on the way in our journey to the promised 667 00:46:21,320 --> 00:46:24,920 land of heaven, where we will be with God in perfect 668 00:46:24,920 --> 00:46:28,440 relationship, without sin, without pain, without tears, 669 00:46:28,520 --> 00:46:33,480 forever For those who drink of Christ, repent of our sins, 670 00:46:33,480 --> 00:46:36,160 believe in Jesus, we receive the Holy Spirit. 671 00:46:36,320 --> 00:46:40,680 And the Holy Spirit frees us from the thirst, from the ways 672 00:46:40,680 --> 00:46:43,120 that we try to satisfy our thirst with the world. 673 00:46:44,080 --> 00:46:47,760 And he instead, he satisfies with God and the things of God. 674 00:46:48,880 --> 00:46:53,960 This transformation is how He causes us to be loving to people 675 00:46:54,720 --> 00:47:00,480 who have unlovable disposition. This transformation is how we 676 00:47:00,800 --> 00:47:06,640 how he causes us to be joyful in gloomy situations, to have peace 677 00:47:06,920 --> 00:47:11,600 in uncertain positions, kindness in the face of opposition, 678 00:47:11,720 --> 00:47:15,440 faithful in the face of temptations, to be to have 679 00:47:15,440 --> 00:47:20,000 gentleness in the face of accusations, self-control with 680 00:47:20,200 --> 00:47:23,360 great determination. All of this comes by the power 681 00:47:23,440 --> 00:47:27,640 of the Holy Spirit at work in those who come to Jesus, drink 682 00:47:27,840 --> 00:47:31,800 and live. And this power of the Holy 683 00:47:31,800 --> 00:47:37,240 Spirit impacts and the and the and how it impacts is by 684 00:47:37,280 --> 00:47:39,680 overflowing to the people around us. 685 00:47:42,560 --> 00:47:47,800 This is what we desire to be as the church here, to be a people 686 00:47:48,160 --> 00:47:52,320 captivated, transformed by the Holy Spirit, continue to live 687 00:47:52,320 --> 00:47:56,440 out in the good work that the Holy Spirit is doing in US. 688 00:48:00,720 --> 00:48:04,640 If only the people around Jesus would make a right judgement 689 00:48:04,640 --> 00:48:10,760 about him, they too would be included in this beautiful 690 00:48:10,840 --> 00:48:13,480 transformative work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. 691 00:48:14,680 --> 00:48:17,360 But making the wrong judgement based on appearances would keep 692 00:48:17,360 --> 00:48:19,480 them from coming to Jesus to drink. 693 00:48:20,320 --> 00:48:22,840 See verse 40. When they heard these words, 694 00:48:22,840 --> 00:48:26,280 some of the people said this really is the prophet, others 695 00:48:26,280 --> 00:48:29,040 said this is the Christ, but some said it's the Christ that 696 00:48:29,040 --> 00:48:31,440 come from Galilee. Has not the Scripture said that 697 00:48:31,440 --> 00:48:34,800 the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and he comes 698 00:48:34,800 --> 00:48:36,840 from Bethlehem, the village where David was. 699 00:48:37,840 --> 00:48:39,760 So there was a division among the people over him. 700 00:48:40,160 --> 00:48:42,360 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on 701 00:48:42,360 --> 00:48:45,040 him. We see here the polarizing 702 00:48:45,040 --> 00:48:48,520 effect Jesus had on this crowd. This is what Jesus meant when he 703 00:48:48,520 --> 00:48:51,600 taught another time. I have come to bring not peace 704 00:48:51,600 --> 00:48:56,120 but division because the choice is either to believe and follow 705 00:48:56,160 --> 00:49:03,360 Jesus or to reject him, seeing him as a liar or lunatic or 706 00:49:03,400 --> 00:49:09,080 worshipping him as Lord. There's no in between option. 707 00:49:09,760 --> 00:49:13,000 But the people here are split between Jesus identity. 708 00:49:13,240 --> 00:49:16,520 Some thought he was the prophet that Moses promised, others 709 00:49:16,520 --> 00:49:20,800 thought he was the Christ as told by the scriptures. 710 00:49:22,440 --> 00:49:24,640 Well, Jesus wasn't just one or the other. 711 00:49:24,920 --> 00:49:29,480 He was both the promised prophet and the promised Messiah who has 712 00:49:29,480 --> 00:49:32,560 come to take, who has come to take away the sins of the world. 713 00:49:34,720 --> 00:49:36,800 They were also split on the issue of where he comes from. 714 00:49:37,200 --> 00:49:40,520 How ironic. Jesus was born in Bethlehem. 715 00:49:40,720 --> 00:49:44,480 They could have known if they just simply asked or just did a 716 00:49:44,480 --> 00:49:47,400 little bit more research. But again, they did. 717 00:49:47,560 --> 00:49:51,800 They just stick to their appearances and conclude, I'm 718 00:49:51,800 --> 00:49:54,160 not sure about this man. Doesn't He come from Galilee? 719 00:49:57,240 --> 00:49:59,640 All that was said about Him earlier in John chapter 1 is 720 00:49:59,640 --> 00:50:02,520 true. The world was made through Him, 721 00:50:02,880 --> 00:50:07,960 but they did not know Him. We see that here, how Jesus came 722 00:50:07,960 --> 00:50:10,120 to His own, but His own rejected Him. 723 00:50:10,880 --> 00:50:14,160 We see that here too. Now look at the final verses 724 00:50:14,160 --> 00:50:17,320 starting verse 45. The officers then came to the 725 00:50:17,320 --> 00:50:20,280 chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, Why did you not 726 00:50:20,280 --> 00:50:23,000 bring Him? The officers answered, No one 727 00:50:23,000 --> 00:50:26,320 ever spoke like this man. The Pharisees answered them, 728 00:50:26,600 --> 00:50:30,080 Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or 729 00:50:30,080 --> 00:50:34,320 the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd that does not 730 00:50:34,320 --> 00:50:38,760 know the law is accursed. Nicodemus, who had gone to him 731 00:50:38,760 --> 00:50:42,920 before and who was one of them, said to them, Does our law judge 732 00:50:42,920 --> 00:50:45,480 a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he 733 00:50:45,480 --> 00:50:47,920 does? They replied, Are you from 734 00:50:47,920 --> 00:50:50,560 Galilee, too? Search and see that no prophet 735 00:50:50,560 --> 00:50:56,560 arises from Galilee. We see the Jewish leaders here 736 00:50:56,560 --> 00:50:58,720 at a worse place than the crowds. 737 00:50:58,720 --> 00:51:02,360 Actually, the crowds seem like they're still trying to figure 738 00:51:02,360 --> 00:51:04,880 Jesus out. The Jewish leaders were 739 00:51:04,880 --> 00:51:06,640 stubbornly set in their conclusions. 740 00:51:09,960 --> 00:51:15,880 They act as we would expect people to act, people who are 741 00:51:17,960 --> 00:51:21,200 set in their mindset, set in their thinking. 742 00:51:22,760 --> 00:51:26,000 They act and respond with anger that others are not following 743 00:51:26,000 --> 00:51:30,920 them, but they're following and trying to think about trying to 744 00:51:30,920 --> 00:51:34,280 follow Jesus. They're insulted by people who 745 00:51:34,280 --> 00:51:38,760 thought differently than them, and so they're mocking them. 746 00:51:38,760 --> 00:51:42,240 They're condemning them for condemning those who differ from 747 00:51:42,240 --> 00:51:47,000 them from being deceived, and they flash their authority 748 00:51:47,000 --> 00:51:53,160 demanding others to submit to them, characteristic behaviour 749 00:51:53,680 --> 00:51:57,120 of those who are stubbornly set in their ways. 750 00:51:57,760 --> 00:52:00,520 In the midst of this unappealing behaviour, we see more 751 00:52:00,520 --> 00:52:02,400 reasonable responses from two sources. 752 00:52:02,680 --> 00:52:05,200 First, the officers. These were the officers back in 753 00:52:05,200 --> 00:52:07,360 verse 32 who were sent to arrest Jesus. 754 00:52:08,520 --> 00:52:10,160 We see what they end up doing here, actually. 755 00:52:11,120 --> 00:52:15,120 So they had the authority and they had the order to arrest 756 00:52:15,120 --> 00:52:18,240 Jesus, but something arrested them. 757 00:52:21,680 --> 00:52:25,400 They could just say all the reason that they can give was no 758 00:52:25,400 --> 00:52:30,160 one ever spoke like this man. There was something again about 759 00:52:30,160 --> 00:52:34,760 Jesus's words, something about Jesus's authority that stopped 760 00:52:34,760 --> 00:52:37,240 them from doing what they needed to do. 761 00:52:39,120 --> 00:52:41,640 They were considering Jesus's words, the beginning of right 762 00:52:41,640 --> 00:52:44,440 judgement. Now also look at the reasonable 763 00:52:44,440 --> 00:52:48,400 response of Nicodemus, one of the leading Pharisees who went 764 00:52:48,400 --> 00:52:51,320 to Jesus at night in John chapter 3. 765 00:52:51,840 --> 00:52:54,360 He has been trying to make a right judgement about Jesus 766 00:52:54,360 --> 00:53:00,480 since then, and now he offers to his Pharisee friends really 767 00:53:00,480 --> 00:53:05,520 logical reasoning derived based on the law that they have 768 00:53:05,520 --> 00:53:08,800 studied together and that they know so much about together. 769 00:53:10,360 --> 00:53:14,680 He asked them cautiously. Does our law to all, to a 770 00:53:14,680 --> 00:53:21,040 roomful of apparent law keepers? Does our law judge a man without 771 00:53:21,040 --> 00:53:24,080 first giving him a hearing and learning what he does? 772 00:53:27,680 --> 00:53:29,600 But the rest of their minds were already set. 773 00:53:30,160 --> 00:53:34,000 They had prejudged Jesus without a proper hearing, without proper 774 00:53:34,000 --> 00:53:39,320 examination, and whoever else thought Jesus was more than a 775 00:53:39,320 --> 00:53:43,280 son of a Carpenter, whoever else thought Jesus was more than just 776 00:53:43,280 --> 00:53:46,680 a man from Galilee was, in their own words, accursed. 777 00:53:48,120 --> 00:53:50,280 They cursed them by the curse of God. 778 00:53:52,920 --> 00:53:56,280 What a pity they could not see past their wrong judgement. 779 00:53:56,640 --> 00:54:01,680 There were the ones accursed, standing against God and the Son 780 00:54:01,680 --> 00:54:09,600 of God, guilty of sin and even desiring death of the Son of 781 00:54:09,600 --> 00:54:16,120 God. We don't ever want Christian 782 00:54:16,120 --> 00:54:21,560 leaders to be like this, who we don't ever want to be Christians 783 00:54:21,560 --> 00:54:24,880 who are like this either, who are stubbornly set in our 784 00:54:25,080 --> 00:54:28,920 thoughts, in our ways, unwilling to learn, unteachable. 785 00:54:31,120 --> 00:54:35,360 But the mark of a faithful Christian, a faithful disciple 786 00:54:35,360 --> 00:54:40,120 of Jesus Christ, is one that humbly bows to the Word of God, 787 00:54:40,280 --> 00:54:45,120 comes to learn and to be taught by the Word of God again and 788 00:54:45,240 --> 00:54:50,600 again, to be formed by God's word and reformed and reformed 789 00:54:50,600 --> 00:54:57,200 by God's word. Instead of being unwilling to 790 00:54:57,200 --> 00:55:01,560 hear God's word, unwilling to do God's will, we must take heed to 791 00:55:01,560 --> 00:55:07,680 Jesus call to be willing to hear God's word, willing to do God's 792 00:55:07,680 --> 00:55:11,200 will, willing to make the right judgement about who he is. 793 00:55:14,080 --> 00:55:19,080 And as we do, we will continue to be amazed, in awe, marvelling 794 00:55:19,080 --> 00:55:21,760 at who Jesus is and what he has done. 795 00:55:23,040 --> 00:55:26,680 If you have found it hard and difficult to be faithful in your 796 00:55:26,680 --> 00:55:33,160 Bible reading, simply do this. How does God's Word point to 797 00:55:33,200 --> 00:55:39,880 Jesus and to this gospel? Wherever you are in the book, 798 00:55:40,280 --> 00:55:45,200 wherever you, wherever you are, even in the Old Testament, all 799 00:55:45,200 --> 00:55:48,360 Scripture points to Christ. God's Word will lead us to 800 00:55:48,480 --> 00:55:52,520 marvel at who Jesus is if we're willing to come humbly before 801 00:55:52,520 --> 00:55:56,240 him. As we close, let's look again to 802 00:55:56,240 --> 00:55:59,400 the cross. You know, how appropriate is it? 803 00:55:59,400 --> 00:56:04,120 We we, we sang earlier how on the mount of crucifixion 804 00:56:04,120 --> 00:56:07,600 fountains open deep and wide through floodgates of God's 805 00:56:07,800 --> 00:56:10,640 mercy flow to vast and gracious tide. 806 00:56:10,960 --> 00:56:16,920 Let's look again to the cross. Then as we close, we see how 807 00:56:16,920 --> 00:56:24,880 Jesus was hated by the world. Yet at the cross we also see how 808 00:56:24,880 --> 00:56:27,320 willing Jesus was to do God's will. 809 00:56:27,960 --> 00:56:32,480 He willingly laid down his life in our place for undeserving 810 00:56:32,480 --> 00:56:36,440 sinners like you and me at the cross. 811 00:56:37,080 --> 00:56:41,440 He experienced our shame, our guilt, our suffering for sin. 812 00:56:41,560 --> 00:56:44,400 He was mocked, He was humiliated. 813 00:56:45,960 --> 00:56:50,680 Others thought he was cursed by God as we hung, as he hung on 814 00:56:50,680 --> 00:56:55,480 that tree. And do you remember the words of 815 00:56:55,480 --> 00:57:02,760 our Jesus? As he said, I thirst at the 816 00:57:02,760 --> 00:57:07,320 cross we see our Saviour coming to us, willing to experience our 817 00:57:07,320 --> 00:57:12,280 dying thirst so that we would be able to come to him and drink 818 00:57:12,400 --> 00:57:18,720 and live. So come to Jesus, drink and 819 00:57:18,720 --> 00:57:22,440 live. Do that today, tomorrow, and for 820 00:57:22,440 --> 00:57:24,840 the rest of your life. Let's pray. 821 00:57:26,160 --> 00:57:29,840 Heavenly Father, we come to you aware of our thirst. 822 00:57:30,920 --> 00:57:33,360 We pray that only Jesus will satisfy. 823 00:57:34,080 --> 00:57:40,600 Keep our eyes fixed on Christ, fixed upon the cross as Jesus 824 00:57:40,600 --> 00:57:45,080 took upon our thirst in our place, and may our souls be 825 00:57:45,080 --> 00:57:48,480 satisfied again and again and again. 826 00:57:49,360 --> 00:57:52,120 Have your way in us. In Jesus name we pray. 827 00:57:52,600 --> 00:57:57,280 Amen. Let's take a moment of time of 828 00:57:57,440 --> 00:57:59,800 to personally reflect on the Word of God. 829 00:58:00,400 --> 00:58:02,200 Please take a brief moment to do so. 830 00:58:02,280 --> 00:58:06,040 Consider what you learn about yourself, but more importantly, 831 00:58:06,040 --> 00:58:10,200 what you learn about God and how your life would be different if 832 00:58:10,200 --> 00:58:15,120 you truly believed in the words that we see in Scripture.