May I please Almighty God to
bless us indeed as we meditate in his holy word. Let us turn
to the Gospel of John, chapter 7, and we'll read verse 46. The Gospel of John, chapter 7,
and reading verse 46. The officers answered, never
man spake like this man. This was a very true statement
that these officers were able to speak. And of course there have been
many, many occasions in more or less the three years that
Jesus had spoken, since he was 30 years of age and since he
had been shown to be the Lord Jesus when he was baptised in
Jordan by John the Baptist and many great and glorious words
he had spoken. There have been many miracles
also of course which had been done, but here we have a specific
statement with regard to his words. Of course the miracles
helped to greatly strengthen and demonstrate that here was
not just a mere man, here was indeed someone far greater than
mere man who could do miracles no one previously had ever been
like this man and yet the statement here is never man spake like
this man and of course the words that Jesus spoke were indeed
very wonderful and indeed very glorious and we have so many
examples of it and we can go back to what we often refer to
as the The Servant and the Mount, which is on the chapters 5, 6
and 7 in the Gospel of Matthew. And as we come down to the end
of those verses in the 7th chapter, we're told this, verse 28 and
verse 7. And it came to pass when Jesus
had ended these sayings, the people were astonished. and his doctrine. For he taught
them as one having authority, and not as the scribes." Well
that was a very true statement in those days, but it is still
a very true statement today. And the words of Jesus do come
from Jesus to our souls with divine authority. It's not just the word of men,
not just the word of a man. So often people just treat the
Bible as though it's just a book, just an historical book. People
do not realise that this book, this blessed book, contains the
words of Jesus. Indeed we could say of course
that the whole Bible are the words of Jesus, which of course
is also true, but specifically there are the sayings of Jesus
when he was on the earth, and of course the many prophecies
of Jesus in the Old Testament. And so we're told here that people
were astonished at his doctrine. And I believe that's a very good
evidence of God's goodness and mercy to us when we are given
an understanding of the truth of God, the understanding of
the doctrines of God contained in the Word of God and how everything
joins together. The great truths in the Bible
link together. There's no difficulty, there's
nothing out of place. They're all part of the whole. We can say they're all part of
the whole plan of salvation, from beginning to end. And that
displays the mercy and it displays the grace of Almighty God. And therefore today it will be
an amazing blessing if you and I are able to trace out the validity,
the truth of such a statement as this. Never man spake like
this man. The Lord Jesus Christ, that's
who this is referred to. Nobody has ever spoken like the
Lord Jesus Christ. And when we think of that, perhaps
in an overall sense, to realise that all the words of Jesus were
pure, there was no guile in his words, they were all honest,
they were all faithful, they were all the words of Almighty
God, they were all true. And we today are wonderfully
blessed with a record of many of those truths that the Lord
Jesus spoke while he was upon the earth. And so, in our little
lives, and our life is very little, and it's very insignificant,
and yet what a mercy today if you and I can say, well, I understand
what these officers spoke. I understand what they were really
declaring. Never man spoke like this man,
because the Word of God has spoken to me. It's spoken to my soul. It's spoken to my heart. And it's had a gracious and blessed
effect upon me. Perhaps it's changed the course
of my life. Perhaps it's changed the way
that I thought. Perhaps it showed to me the reality
of the Word of God. And so to bless God today for
such a great truth that these officers were able to say, never
man spake like this. And of course they were ridiculed
and no doubt We will be ridiculed for believing the great word
of God and the great truths of God, because as we read, they
answered, then the Pharisees, are ye also deceived? Have any of the rulers or the
Pharisees believed on him? For this people who knoweth not
the law are cursed. And then it's very interesting
that we have a little statement from Nicodemus. couldn't really understand what
Jesus was saying. He said, must a man enter into
his mother's womb and be born again? And as you may know that
Jesus didn't actually answer that directly. But he tells us,
verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water
and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. And that which is born of the
Spirit is Spirit. These were the words of Jesus,
the true words of Jesus, directing us to the great importance of
being born by the Spirit, not of the flesh. We're all born
of the flesh. We're all being born naturally. But what a blessing
if you and I have been born of the Spirit. And as He said to
Nicodemus, Marvel not, that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. And the Lord then said to Nicodemus,
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof,
but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth.
So is every one that is born of the Spirit. We realise it
is the work of the Spirit. speaking to our very heart. And my friends, all of us, let
us be very clear, we need this. We need the evidence of the truth
of these words as we read that never man spake like this man. And Jesus spoke, of course, and
the word to Jesus recorded in the Word of God are very clear
and they're very simple. Jesus never used complicated
language. Sometimes people use complicated
language, they want to be thought well of. They use long words. The Lord Jesus never used long
words. He never used complicated language. He also always used simple statements. And what a blessing it was. And
so he tells us this about the wind blithe, we all know what
the wind is, we all know how it blows, we all know we can't
tell when to come and when it goes. And so the Lord draws the
wonderful analogy and says, so is everyone that is born of the
Spirit. And you can hear his answer and
said unto him, how can these things be? How can these things
be? Yes, he couldn't understand. But you see, he did understand,
quite clearly understood, not perhaps at this time, but as
the words that Jesus had spoken sank down into his heart, into
his mind, and they produced that concern. And he was granted that
ability very clearly to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ because
that's why we have this statement by Nicodemus in these last verses. It wasn't any great statement
but it was an indication that he was supporting the Lord Jesus
and he wanted therefore there to be fairness. And therefore
he said, Doth our Lord judge any man before it hear him, and
know what he doeth? And again, you see, he suffered,
didn't he? Mocking really, because they
answered and said, Art thou also Galilee? Search and look, for
out of Galilee ariseth no profit. Well, thankfully that didn't
have any adverse effect upon Nicodemus, because as we read
later on in the Word of God, when after the Lord was crucified
and Joseph of Arimathea asked to take the body of Jesus and
to put it in his sepulcher, we also read that Nicodemus was the one that came and helped
Joseph of Arimathea. So we can really conclude then
that at that time Nicodemus was a fully full believer and he
wasn't ashamed to be aligned with the one that wanted to help
in the burial of the Lord Jesus. Well what a mercy then it is
to have A record, of course, of these things, because Nicodemus,
he responded to Jesus and said, how can these things be? And
Jesus said, aren't thou a master of Israel and knowest not these
things? Very, very I say unto thee, we speak that we do know
and testify, that we have seen, and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things
and ye believe not, How shall you believe if I tell you of
heavenly things? Well, the Lord did speak very
many wonderful and glorious heavenly things. And that surely is what
you and I need to understand and need to be blessed with. The words that Jesus had spoken
in this seventh chapter that we read together, we read in
the last day, that great day of the feast, that was the eighth
day, it was the last day, it was a very special day, and therefore
it was that day that the Lord says, that great day of the feast
Jesus stood and cried saying, if any man thirst, let him come
unto me and drink. For any man thirst, let him come
unto me, and drink." It is, I often think, very important. So often
we read in the Word of God the blessed words emanating from
the Saviour, and He cried. He didn't whisper. He didn't
mumble. He cried out in a loud voice,
so that people could very clearly understand what He was saying. These wonderful statements. and to he that if any man thirst
let him come unto me and drink this of course was not a natural
thirst it was a spiritual thirst a thirst for spiritual knowledge
indeed in the earlier chapters in John and that fourth chapter
you may remember it's the chapter that speaks about the woman of
Samaria It speaks about Jesus having to go through Samaria. There was no way of escape. He had to go through Samaria. He had to come and he had to
sit on the well. And there came a woman of Samaria. And there Jesus came and spoke
to her. And the woman said, How is it
that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman
of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings
with the Samaritans. And Jesus said unto her, If thou
knewest the gift of God. Well, I wonder whether you and
I know the gift of God. The greatest gift of God is this,
the gift of eternal life. Oh, says the Lord. And to this
woman, then said the woman, How is it that thou, being a Jew,
askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? The Jews
have no dealings with the Samaritans. And Jesus answered and said unto
her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith
to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of him. and
he would have given thee living water." Now the truth is, you
see, the words of Jesus, as we read here, never man spake
like this. The words of Jesus direct us
to the great need to have this wonderful gift of living water. And the Lord Jesus speaks about
that in this chapter that we read about this living water. We've spoken when the Lord called
out in that last day, He that believeth on me, as the scripture
has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. And the Lord goes on to say this.
At least this is what's recorded. But this spake he of the Spirit. which they that believe on him
should receive, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because
that Jesus was not yet glorified. It is the blessed Word of God. It is the work of the Spirit. He, but this He spake of, the
Spirit which they that believe on Him should receive." Well,
the words of Jesus. Never man spake like Him. How
clearly it was that Jesus spoke of the need that you and I have
of receiving the work of the Spirit into our hearts. And as we have this set before
us in this picture of this woman of Samaria when she asked the
question, How is it? Jesus said, If thou knewest the
gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink,
thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee
living water. That's the Spirit's work in our
soul, the evidence of the life of God in our soul. And we would have asked the Lord
to do this for us so that we have the evidence that we are
those who are born again of the Spirit of God and the life of
God is in our soul. The woman said to him, Sir, thou
hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. From whence
then hast thou that living water? Thou greater than our father
Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and
his children, and the cattle? And Jesus said, Whosoever drinketh
of this water shall thirst again. of some wonderful butts in the
Word of God, and here's a glorious butt for you and me. But whosoever
drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst,
but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of
water springing up into everlasting life. You see, the Lord directs
her very clearly to the truth that she possessed, the need
to have this water of life because it was everlasting. And the woman
said, Sir, give me this water. And I thirst not, neither come
hither to draw. Well, she didn't quite know the
secret yet, you see. But then the Lord proved to her
that He was no ordinary person. Because He said very simply,
Go, call thy husband and come hither. And the woman said, I
have no husband. Perhaps she thought that, well,
she could hoodwink Jesus by making that statement, which at that
very stage, of course, was true. Jesus said, Thou hast well said,
I have no husband, for thou hast had five husbands, and he whom
thou now hast is not thy husband in that saidst thou truly. You
see, what the effect was, this showed to this woman that here
was the Saviour which was speaking words so glorious and so truth. Never man spoke like this man. This man was speaking to her
and revealing to her the truth. However, did this man know? Because he was very God. And so this woman said then,
Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. What a blessing for
you and me today if Jesus comes and speaks to us a word which
we have the evidence must emanate from the Lord himself. And if
so, then we have the evidence, and this is to our soul the word
of God, not the word of man, the word of God. She said, Sir,
I perceive that thou art a prophet. What a wonderful blessing for
you and me today if we have the evidence of the words of Jesus
penetrating into our heart doing that for us, speaking that to
us, which no one else could really do, no one else could really
say. And it may be that the words
that are spoken to us from the Bible, the words of Jesus, may
be the words recorded in the Bible, which may speak to our
hearts and have a very blessed and a very real and a great effect
Because the Word of God does have an effect upon us. It's not something which just
passes over us and we forget about it. When Jesus speaks, you won't
forget about it, and you won't want to forget about it. Because it's the evidence that
Almighty God has taken notice of you. How very, very humbling
and therefore how true that these officers were able to give this
statement. Yes, great statement it was. Never man spake like this man. Well, are you also deceived? No, they weren't deceived. They
were speaking the truth. And it's a good thing if you
and I Therefore stand by the truth. Don't expect to have just
an easy run if you like. Expect to be tempted. Expect the devil to come and
question whether it is the word of God or not. The devil doesn't
want you to believe. And yet the word of God encourages
us to believe. And what a blessing it is if
we do believe, because that's what the Lord spoke here. He
said, He that believeth on me, as the scripture says, out of
his belly shall flow rivers of living water. And this is, of
course, the work of the Holy Spirit which comes upon us as
we're blessed with that ability to believe the Word of God. Well, the devil doesn't want
you and me to do that, does he? He'll do everything he can to
drown out the Word of God, but he won't be able to. He'll do
everything to make you doubt the Word of God, but he won't
be able to. Because of this, The Word of
God is with power. It's power from on high, beyond
that of a mere man. And because it comes with power
from on high, it has a gracious and a wonderful and a glorious
effect. In the 10th chapter we have a
very wonderful account. The Lord Jesus speaks about himself
as the Good Shepherd and his people as the sheep. And he speaks very wonderfully
about this in this 10th chapter. He tells them, I am the Good
Shepherd. The Good Shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. He says again, I am the Good
Shepherd, and know my sheep, and have known of mine. It's
wonderful, isn't it, to realise here we have the Heavenly Shepherd
who knows all about us. And as we come further on down
in this chapter, in verse 27 we read, My sheep, hear my voice,
hear my voice. And I know them, and they follow
me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Words spoken here by these officers,
Never man spake like this man. Quite clearly the word of the
Saviour to them was not the word of a mere man. It was the very
words from the Saviour Himself. And here are the words of the
Saviour Himself when He tells us, My sheep, hear My voice. And that's very clear, isn't
it? I said earlier, The Lord's words are very, very simple.
We all understand what sheep are, aren't we? And I guess some
of you have seen a sheep and a shepherd, and it's very wonderful
really how naturally sheep know the voice of their shepherd,
the one that leads them, the one that feeds them, the one
that directs them. They know his voice. And others, people
call out and shout and the sheep don't move. But when the shepherd
comes and calls or whistles or whatever it is he does, the sheep
know and the sheep lift up their heads and the sheep come and
they follow the shepherd. Well, sheep are often very foolish
creatures but they do know the shepherd and they do follow the
shepherd. And we may feel to be very foolish and silly, which
we often are. And yet what a great blessing
it is if this word should be true of us. We hear the voice,
the voice of Jesus. Indeed, as we read in the Song
of Solomon, that beautiful statement, the voice of my Beloved. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
Beloved of the Church of God. He is their Shepherd, and they
do hear His voice, and they have heard His voice, and they will
hear His voice. What is it? The evidence of eternal
life. Without it, no evidence. My friends, don't think that
the Heavenly Shepherd doesn't know you. Don't think the Heavenly
Shepherd doesn't call you. Don't think the Heavenly Shepherd
doesn't speak to you. Because He does. And that's why you and I can
praise Him for His mercy, for His goodness, for His love. What love came from the Saviour
to look upon us, unworthy sinners, great sinners, evil sinners. Yet we can bless God the Lord
came to seek and to save. that which was lost. And here
we have this statement then, my sheep, hear my voice. Have you, have I heard the voice
of Jesus? The hymn writer says, I heard
the voice of Jesus. Oh, how important it is, how
necessary it is that we have heard the voice of Jesus. And there are so many encouraging
words, perhaps none more than the words that Jesus spoke, and
it's recorded in the end of the 11th chapter of Matthew, and
they're glorious gospel words of invitation. And they're very
simple. Come unto me. And it's addressed
to a certain class of people. And that class of people are
described. All you that labour and are heavy
laden. All you who are labouring under
the burden of sin. Or labouring under the condemnation
of the law of God which says the soul of the sinneth, it shall
die. It's to those that this word
is addressed. And it's a wonderful gospel invitation. Come unto me. Never man spake
like this man. No one could speak like this
man. No one had the ability to speak
like this man. Because he who spoke was Almighty
God, come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and
the wonderful promise, and I will give you rest. You may be very
restless, restless because of your sin, not finding any rest,
like the troubled sea, and yet here is the promise. I will give
you rest. To whom? Those who come unto
me. Come unto me. Oh, wonderful,
isn't it? We read in the Revelation, come unto me, whosoever will. Take my yoke upon you. That means
to be joined to the blessed Saviour, to share Yes, share. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me. You see, we can't learn of the
Saviour if we're walking a long way away, if we're far off, you
won't even hear the words of Jesus. No. Take my yoke upon you and
learn of me. And then we have the wonderful
description of the Almighty God and how very, very wonderful
it is to think that here we have the Lord Jesus Christ describing
himself as the Almighty God, the Creator of all things, the
Judge of all things, and yet comes and speaks to those who
come to him in this way, for I am meek and lowly in heart. because he understands, therefore,
all about us. He knows our fears. He knows
our concerns. He knows what we worry about. He knows everything. He knows
our innermost thoughts. He knows our smallest thoughts.
Nothing is hidden from this God, the all-seeing eye of this great
and almighty God, for I am meek and lowly in heart. He goes on
to be so positive. And ye shall find rest unto your
souls. The only place of rest is in
Christ. There's no rest outside of Christ. You can hunt for it, you can
try and find it in this and that. There's no rest outside of Christ. And ye shall find rest unto your
souls. And then again he tells us, encouraging
in case there's people who think, oh, I can't do this, this is
just too big, it's just too much of a burden. No, says the Lord,
for my yoke is easy. It's easy. And my burden is light, and the
blessing is this. It is that we are yoked to Christ,
yoked to this One who speak in these great and glorious words,
and this One who these officers declare, never man spake like
this man. No one could speak like this
man because he was and is very God. And you and I today, can
rely upon the words of the Saviour. You and I can rely upon the promises
of the Saviour. She'll have to say, be gone unbelief, my Saviour is near. Yes, be gone unbelief. That's the devil's work. Never man spake like this man. The Pharisees, are you also deceived? And you can retaliate and say,
no I'm not deceived. Because the word came. directly to me. The Word of Almighty God came
where I was, just like the power of that Good
Samaritan. The Good Samaritan He came where
that man was. He knew where he was. He saw
him, he came to him. The Lord knows where we are.
He comes to us where we are. He pours in all the wine to heal
us, puts us on his own ass, carries us, brings us to the inn, pays
the bill. He has paid the great price for
the healing of our soul. Great price was not a course
in monetary things. It was his death. It was his
broken body. It was his shed blood which was
the price paid for our salvation. Now the devil cannot gainsay
that because it's recorded in the Word of God and it's set
down there very clearly for our encouragement, the truth of Almighty
God. Bless God then for the Word of
God. And today, bless God for the
whole Word of God. Bless God for the words of Jesus,
so that you may be able to declare humbly and yet honestly, never
man spake like this man. words have entered into my soul,
have entered into my heart, and I have the wonderful indescribable
evidence that this is the Word of God to my soul. Never man spoke like this man.