Let's turn back to John chapter
7. John chapter 7 verse 1 says, After these things, Jesus walked
in Galilee, for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews
sought to kill him. You know, at first glance, it
sounds like he's afraid. After these things, Jesus walked
in Galilee, for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews
sought to kill him. That's what it sounds like, doesn't
it? Was he afraid? Far from it. Far from it. He's the one who put the words
in Peter's mouth, we ought to obey God rather than men. Our Lord himself said, fear not
them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul,
but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and
body in hell. That's who we ought to fear. Those men tried to take him that
time. And bless Peter's heart, he drew
out his sword and he tried to defend the Lord. And he swung and he missed and
he cut off that guy's ear. And the Lord said, Peter, do
you not think that I could pray to my father right now and he
wouldn't immediately send me more than twelve legions of angels? A legion is 6,000 infantry. You don't think that he'd send
me more than 72,000 angels right now. That's what judgment day
is going to be like. Boom. He wasn't afraid. God is not
afraid of worms. Verse one says, after these things,
we just finished chapter six. After He told them in chapter
6 that He was the bread of heaven. And after it says in verse 66,
many of His disciples went back and walked no more with Him.
After all those disciples, and that means people who were following
Him around, they stopped following Him around and they left. Verse
1 says, After these things Jesus walked in Galilee, For he would
not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him. Why
would he not walk in Jewry, in Judea? He answers that question
in chapter, I mean in verse 6. He says, My time is not yet come. That's why. My time is not yet
come, and we're going to see what that means in just a minute
when we get down there. Verse 1 says, After these things
Jesus walked in Galilee, for he would not walk in Jewry, because
the Jews sought to kill him. Why did they want to kill him?
Look back at chapter 5, two chapters back in John 5, verse 16. It says, and therefore did the
Jews persecute Jesus and sought to slay Him because He had done
these things on the Sabbath day. They wanted to kill Him because
He made Himself greater than their doctrine and their law,
their Sabbath day. They loved their law and their
doctrine, more than him. That is a very real and dangerous
thing. Right? They loved their doctrine
more than him. I, Gabe Stoniker, am what we
call a Calvinist. I am. But my platform and my
declaration is not to tell men about John Calvin. I'm supposed
to tell men about Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. Nothing is greater than our Christ. Nothing. No issue. No man. Nothing comes before
our Christ. Nothing. We don't bow to the
law. And we don't bow to doctrine.
We bow to Jesus Christ. He is our master. They didn't. Verse 16 in John 5 says, Therefore
did the Jews persecute Jesus and sought to slay him because
he done these things on the Sabbath day. They loved their Sabbath
day. That's the first reason they
wanted to kill him. They didn't want him having what we call
the preeminence. Him being first. Lord of the
Sabbath. Right? Here's the second reason. Look right here in chapter 5
verse 18. It says, Therefore the Jews sought
the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath,
but said also that God was his father, making himself equal
with God." Don't you love that verse? Every time you hear that,
you know what we say? Amen. They hated that. They absolutely hated the fact
that he said he was God. Do you? That's what we love the most
about him. That is what we love the most about him. We love that
he's God. I love that he is my God. I love that I know who my God
is. Most people, yeah, I believe
in God. You know who he is? He's the
father of Jesus. You know who that is? No. I love that Jesus Christ is my
God. I know whom I have believed.
I'm persuaded He's able. But without God's grace, the
heart is wicked. It is so wicked and they wanted
to kill Him for all of His glory and His goodness and everything
that He is. Back over in John 7, verse 1 says, After these things, Jesus walked
in Galilee, for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews
sought to kill him. Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles
was at hand. Our Lord is going to go to this
feast, because it was required by law that every male attend
it. And he fulfilled all the law.
If it was required, he went. It was called the Feast of Tabernacles,
and the Lord commanded the Jews, to keep this feast on the 15th
day of the 7th month and they had to sleep in tents. That's
what the Feast of the Tabernacles was. They had to do it in the
7th month. It began on the 15th day and
they had to sleep in tents during this feast. And the reason is
because the Lord said, I want you to do this in remembrance
of the 40 years that I had you spend out in the wilderness living
in tents and wandering in tents." He's saying, don't forget where
I brought you out, what I brought you out of. Don't forget where
you came from. Turn over with me to Leviticus
23. Leviticus 23, look at verse 33. It says, And the Lord spake unto
Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The
fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be a feast of tabernacles
for seven days unto the Lord. On the first day shall be in
holy convocation. You shall do no servile work
therein." And that's just any type of work, period, any service
of any kind. Verse 36, "'Seven days you shall
offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord. On the eighth
day shall be in holy convocation unto you, and you shall offer
an offering made by fire unto the Lord. It is a solemn assembly,
and you shall do no servile work therein. Now look at verse 41. And you shall keep it a feast
unto the Lord seven days in the year, It shall be a statute forever
in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the
seventh month. You shall dwell in booths. And
that means tents. Seven days, all that are Israelites
born shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that
I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths when I brought
them out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord, your God. And
Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feast. of the Lord. Now do you know who it was who
gave that commandment back here in Leviticus 23? You know who
it was who told that to Moses? The exact same person who is
about to go attend the feast. I love that thought. Same person. Same person. He is the same yesterday,
today, and forever. Jesus Christ gave that commandment,
the Lord. Jesus Christ is fulfilling the
commandment, the Lord. He said before Abraham was, I
am. Same one. I think it's a wonderful
discovery to find out who Jesus Christ really is. You know it. The God of the Old Testament.
Jesus Christ. It's Him. Back over to our text
in John 7. Verse 1 says, After these things
Jesus walked in Galilee, For he would not walk in Jewry, because
the Jews sought to kill him. Now the Jews' feast of tabernacles
was at hand. His brethren therefore said unto
him, Depart hence, and go into Judea, that thy disciples also
may see the works that thou doest." His brethren right here are his
actual brothers born to Mary. James, Josie, Simon, and Jude,
Judas. And the reason we know that is
because there's a center margin in my Bible. His brethren says,
to go back to Matthew 12, verse 46, and that's who they're talking
about. His actual brothers born to Mary.
And it says, his brothers, therefore, after these things, after watching
him in their eyes lose all of his disciples. In chapter 6,
he just lost all of his disciples. And his brothers watched him
lose all of his disciples. And they said unto him, Why don't
you go into Judea? You'll get a lot of disciples
up there. All the Jews are headed over to the feast. Go show your
powers over there And you'll find a whole bunch of disciples.
As though he's trying to get disciples. Did you know that God is not
trying to get disciples? That is a revelation statement,
isn't it? What? Did you know that God is
not trying to win souls? That's the truth, isn't it? I'm
telling the truth. This gospel message we preach,
do you know that we're not begging anybody to accept it? Nobody. Nobody. We're not trying to convince
Anybody. The things of God and the elect
of God, they are ordered and sure. Everything is ordered and
sure. We declare this message and then
we stand back to see God's Word. That's what we do. He does not
need any disciples. Zero. He does not need me to do anything. Our God is so powerful and glorious
and He's so loving and He's so tender, but when He needs to
get His point across that He is God, He can so clearly do
it. I want to show you a verse I love. Turn with me over to
Psalm 50. Psalm 50, this is God speaking. Psalm 50 verse 12 says, if I
were hungry, I wouldn't tell you. For the world is mine and
the fullness thereof. You know, we're going to have
a bake sale for Jesus. We're going to raise money. If I were hungry, I wouldn't
tell you. He doesn't need me to do anything. Why? Because he's God. He's God. And he does what he
will with the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest
thou? None. Bless his brother's hearts. Bless their hearts. And I believe
the Lord did bless their hearts. He did have mercy on them. But
at this moment, they have no idea who he is. No idea at all. You know, maybe we could help
you drum up some business. Let's go up to Judea. You know the first thing that
every sinner is going to really learn when God gets a hold of
him. Every single sinner is going
to learn this. God doesn't need me. God does not need me. That's the first shocking thing
that a proud sinner learns. God doesn't need me. He does not need me to win souls. He does not need me to feed the
homeless. He does not need me to save myself
or help Him save me. It's extreme mercy that He doesn't
just kill me right now. It's just great mercy. It's extreme grace that He would
allow me to be in His presence at all. Extreme grace. Back over
to our text in John 7 verse 3 says, His brethren therefore said unto
Him, Depart hence and go into Judea, that thy disciples also
may see the works that thou doest. For there is no man that doeth
anything in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If
thou do these things, show thyself to the world. You know why they said if? It's because verse 5 says, for
neither did his brethren believe in him. They didn't believe in
him. If thou do these things, show
thyself to the world. His brothers right here, they
want him to show himself to the different people who came from
different regions to the feast in Judea, right? They were not
asking Him right here to show Himself to the entire world. That's not what they were asking
Him. This is another example of the word world in Scripture
being used without a literal meaning. You know, for God so
loved the world. What they're saying is, show
yourself to the world. All the different people who are going
to come and meet up in Judea. These select people. The whole
world was not there. And the same goes for the death
of our Lord. He didn't die for the whole world. He didn't die
for the whole world. He died for all those that the
Father chose out of the world. That's what He said. Verse 6 says, Then Jesus said
unto them, My time is not yet come, but your time is always
ready. The world cannot hate you, but
me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof
are evil. Go ye up to the feast. I go not
up yet unto the feast, for my time is not yet full come. The
reason he would not walk in Jewry is because the Jews hated him,
And they wanted to take him and kill him, grab him and kill him. And the time for that was not
yet come. It was not come yet. As a man,
our Lord, the man, the good man, his steps were ordered by God. A righteous man ordered by God. And he knew what those steps
were. Our steps are ordered and we
have no idea what they are until they happen. But He knew every
single step that He was to take and when He was to take it. And
the reason is because He's the one who ordered them. He's God. All things must be fulfilled
in God's time and they all must be fulfilled in God's orders.
and his brethren, they wanted him to go to Judea and show his
power and reveal his glory, and he is going to do that. He is going to show this whole
world his power and his glory and his majesty. He's going to
do that. He is going to come back and
the whole world is going to bow the knee and confess Jesus is
Lord. They are going to see His glory.
But when He does, everything that's tainted with sin is going
to be burned up. So He said, it's not time for
that yet. I must pay the debt of sin first. Everything must be in order.
I must pay that debt first for my lack. Verse 6 says, Then Jesus
said unto them, My time is not yet come. But your time is always
ready. You have your glory now. Verse
7, the world cannot hate you. That's a sobering statement.
Go over to John 15. John 15 verse 18 says, If the
world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the
world would love his own. But because you are not of the
world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the
world hateth you. He says, If you belong to me,
If I've chosen you and redeemed you out of the world, you're
going to be hated by the world for my sake. But listen to what he said over
in Matthew 5. You can turn or just listen.
It says, Matthew 5 verse 10 says, Blessed are they which are persecuted
for righteousness' sake. For theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall
revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against
you falsely for my sake." I thought about that. You tell the truth long enough
and somebody is going to say something about it. Somebody
is going to make a stink about it. Somebody is going to... And the Lord says, that's your
blessing. Isn't that something? Blessed
are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall
say all manner of evil against you falsely. We have brethren
whom this world has just said all manner of evil against them
falsely. And they did it for Christ's
sake. He said, for my sake. This is what he says in verse
12. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward
in heaven. For so persecuted they, the prophets,
which were before you. After the apostles were beaten,
it says, they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing
that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.
Our Lord endured the suffering. He was despised and rejected,
and this is what He said, the servant is not greater than his
Lord. All of His own will be hated
and rejected by this world, but they are going to be loved and
accepted by God the Father. Which would we rather have? This
world is so short, it's so fast. Back in John 7, verse 7 says,
The world cannot hate you, but me it hateth, because I testify
of it, that the works thereof are evil. Go ye up unto this
feast. I go not up yet unto this feast,
for my time is not yet full come. When he had said these words
unto them, he abode still in Galilee. But when his brethren
were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly,
but as it were, in secret. He said to them in verse 8, you
go on up to the feast, but I'm not going to go yet. And verse
10 says, when his brethren were gone up, they left him. They left him. They walked away
from him. They considered that feast to be more important than
to stay in the presence of Almighty God. Back in chapter 6, verse
67, then said Jesus unto the 12th, Will ye also go away? But for the grace of God. You
know that? But for the grace of God. We would all leave. We would
all leave. Thanks be to God that He would
keep us. Let's give Him thanks for keeping
us. Our only hope is in His preserving
hand. You know that? I would leave. I would leave. Verse 10 says,
But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto
the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. Then the Jews
sought him at the feast and said, Where is he? And there was much
murmuring among the people concerning him. For some said, He's a good
man. Others said, Nay, but he deceiveth
the people. The Jews wanted to kill him,
and they said, Where is he? The common people were torn over
him. Some of them said, he's a good man. Others said, he's
deceiving people. I don't believe that. Let me
ask you this question. And let me ask me this question. What think ye of Christ? That's
the question, isn't it? What think ye of Christ? That
is the question. Not what think ye of church.
You think people ought to go to church? Yeah, I do. What think ye of Christ? Do you think he's just a good
man like most religious people do? Do you think he's deceiving people,
not really who he says he is? You know what God's people believe
and are sure of? This is God manifest in the flesh. This is God. Peter said, Thou
art the Christ. Verse 1 right here says His name.
After these things, Jesus. Verse 6 says His name. Then Jesus. But among God's people there's
no murmuring. about this. There's no question,
thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Verse 13 says,
how be it no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews. I don't want to be hated for
the truth's sake. I do not want to not have friends. Just being honest. Being hated for his sake and
persecuted for his sake is something that our flesh fears. But our Lord has given us a word
of comfort. A word of comfort. Persecutions,
afflictions, we don't know if we can handle them. But He's
given us a word of comfort. I want us to look at it in Proverbs
29. Turn over with me to Proverbs 29. Proverbs 29 verse 25 says, The fear of man bringeth a snare,
but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. That is a promise from God. That's
a promise from God. Affliction will come. but we'll
be safe. It'll be fine. It'll be okay. Persecution will come, but we'll
be safe. We'll be fine. It is enduring persecutions,
especially from those who you thought were close to you, is
a tough thing. It's a difficult thing. But whoso
putteth his trust in the Lord will be safe. And that's all
I want to be. And that's all I want you to
be. And that's all I want my children and my wife to be is
safe. Safe. Let's put our trust in the Lord.
All right. I hope the Lord will bless that.