Thank you, Brian. All right,
Brian, if you will, let's begin turning to John chapter 7. John chapter 7. I was told to send the perfect
love, the saints in New Canaan. John wrote about one of his epistles
to you. Brethren in New Canyons, think
of us and pray for us often, I'm grateful. And then I spoke
to Brother Gabe Stoniker a little bit today and he said all the
brethren in Kingsport pray for us and love us and he does. And you know what, Clay Curtis
said the same thing this morning. I'm thankful, I like to hear
that. All right, John 7. I titled this
message, A Soldier's Failed Mission. That's what caught my eye. I
was given these eyes, I was given the experience behind these eyes,
and that's what caught my eye. That's not a common thing, a
soldier, to just give up, get right to finishing a mission,
right to the end of it, the finish line, and go, I'm not gonna do
this, and turn around and walk away. That's not common. I thought
I had a command sergeant major, that's an E9, highest enlisted
man there is in the Army, and a good man to work for, and there
was a black bear up in that come around where we worked. We called
him Tripod. He had three legs. His missing
one was front legs. And we talked to Sergeant Major
and he's a mountain of a man. Just a, I mean, he was a brute,
a kind fella, easy to work for, but he's just strong. He done
karate his whole life, was real flexible, didn't look like he
would be. He looked like a tree. And I said, Sergeant Major, I bet
you can't whip that bear. And he's, oh, wow. And we went back
and forth and teased him, you know. And we said, well, it's
only got three legs, and it's just a black bear. It ain't a
brown bear. Brown bears are dangerous. Black bears, you got a chance
of wrestling with, maybe, a small one. They ain't that bad. He
said, oh, I ain't gonna do that. He said, if I was to go whoop
that bear, he said, y'all would say it wasn't fair, because it
only had three legs. He was funny, but we planted
the seed. There was a little bit of a mission that got in
the way back in the back of his head. He thought about it. Well,
a couple weeks later, we were laying there in the grass, 6.30
in the morning, doing sit-ups or push-ups or something. Here
come old tripod. There's a dumpster right behind
where we did our exercises. Sergeant Major saw it, and somebody
yelled out, you know, there's a bear. Common occurrence. Sergeant Major
took off running. He picked up rocks. He chased
that bear up a tree. You ever seen a three-legged
bear climb a tree? They can do it quick. He didn't run up a tree.
He ran the bear up the tree. In the back of his head, he had
a mission. And he wasn't going to give up.
He had to fight a bear. They always taught us, they said,
if you were to take a town or do something, and you're the
last one standing, and you run out of bullets, and here comes
a tank, you pick up a rock and charge the tank, you don't quit. For soldiers, that's what's put
in. Good ones. Worthy ones. Worthy soldiers don't quit. There's
a mess of them, but the ones that the cream rises to the top,
and the ones that make it up there, the worthy ones, they
don't quit. I saw this in this text. I saw some soldiers that
quit. I hope we can see what just turned them around like
it wouldn't happen. That'd be special, wouldn't it?
John 7 verse 37 says, In that last day, the great day of the
feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let
him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the
Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water. But this spake he of the Spirit,
which they that believe on him should receive, for the Holy
Ghost was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Many of the people, therefore, when they heard this saying,
said of a truth, This is the prophet. Others said, This is
the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come
out of Galilee? Hath not the scripture said,
That Christ cometh of the seed of David, out of the town of
Bethlehem, where David was? So there was a division among
the people because of him. And some of them would have taken
Him. But no man laid hands on Him. No man could. There was a great division in
the same camp. Now there are some believers
here, as it tells us early in the chapter, that some believed
on Him. And some here said, this is the cross. But they were talking
about Him. They weren't running to Him. They were talking about
Him. They weren't saying, Lord, I thirst. Lord, be with me. But there was a division in the
same camp. These folks, they all put aside their differences.
They put aside their opinions. They put aside their personal
gain, their personal power here in just a short while to crucify
our Lord. Nothing's changed in this day. If I could get to hear everybody
in this county and I said, there is a holy God that rules heaven
and earth, always has ruled, always will. Man is full of sin. We have an inability we've offended
Him, we're at war with Him, and we have no desire, apart from
the Lord doing a work in us, to make amends. Not truly. Not on His terms. Salvation is
only in the blood of our substitute. God had to provide Himself a
lamb. He had to come shed His own blood.
And those that He saved, those that were put in His hand before
time, those He came and He did save them. He'll not lose a one
no matter what. No matter what. the free willers
and the reformed, the grace Lutherans, the whatever denomination you
can fill in the blank, they'll take sides together, they'll
call you an antinomian, and they'll run you out of town if they can
lay their hands on you. Crucify them. They'd kill me if the law
wouldn't stand in the way. The Lord didn't establish police
officers in this county. Nothing's changed. Verse 45 says, Then
came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they
said unto them, Why have you not brought him? We sent you
to go get this man. Why didn't you bring him officers?
Why didn't you bring him soldiers, warriors? They gave a reason. Verse 46, the officers answered,
never man spake like this man. There's never been this man that
you told us to go fetch. There's never been a man that
spake like this man. Never. No one spake like this
man. How did Christ speak? I thought,
what did he say? How did he say it that made them
acknowledge this so fast and get right there to grabbing him,
to go lay hands on him? It was not possible, the Lord
didn't allow it. But they were there, and they said, uh-uh.
And they went back to their bosses. They went back to their commanders,
and they said, we didn't finish this mission. You don't know
what you did. You don't know who you sent us
to get. Never a man spake like this man. How did Christ speak?
First, he spoke boldly. He did not mince words. Look
up in verse 25. People knew this. His enemies
knew this. It said, Then said some of them of Jerusalem, Is
this not he whom they seek to kill? He ought to keep it down. This is the one they're after.
They're after him. Verse 26, But lo, he speaketh
boldly. He spoke boldly, and they said
nothing to him. Did you hear what he said? He
spoke plainly. He spoke boldly. He didn't say,
well, maybe you could enter the kingdom of heaven. Well, I think
it may be a good idea. No, he spoke boldly. Those with the same heart he
has speaks boldly. Those that he sends speak boldly.
All around people are wishy-washy because that's who sent him.
They could say those things about their God, but that's their God.
His servant said, Thus saith the Lord. On this earth, our Lord spake
differently than anyone else had ever had. He spoke to these
people in power. His power. He spoke with authority. His authority. I have no problem
speaking the word of the Lord on His authority. I'm an ambassador.
I just tell you what He said. I don't have my own message.
I don't have my own agenda. I just represent Him. I just
tell you what He said. This is the one that sent everybody
else. He came on His authority. He
came with His power. And He read aloud different.
He spoke different than anyone else. And He read aloud different
than the normal person. And you know what? His people
read aloud His Word different too. Because they know Him. They know the Author. I have
a book of I Know the Author. I know the man that wrote it.
It's at my home. And I know His voice. You ever
done that? You read a bulletin article? hit me by Brother Henry,
and you can hear Henry read it. Can't you? You can hear his voice.
You see Brother Don wrote an article. You can hear Don in
that writing, can't you? You ever jump down at the end
and look at the name first so you know how to read it? I ought
not do that, but I do sometimes. Get halfway through and say,
that don't sound like somebody else. Okay, and I'll start back over. Because
we know the one that wrote it. Turn over to Luke chapter 4. I'm thankful that the Lord gifts
some in the ability to read the scriptures out loud, to read
something that the Lord's blessed in their hearts, something that's
fresh to them, something that's alive to them without comment. And some say, well, now we need
to have a sense of the text and we need to have the history behind
the text. Well, rarely, yes. Normally, no. Normally, you don't
have to say that. When God blesses a passage to
the heart of one of his children and he has them read it, it's
read aloud with experience. What a blessing that is to me. What a blessing that is to the
Lord's people. You see something sometimes.
I'm thankful for my pastor, and I'm thankful whenever he reads
the Scriptures. When he just gets up and reads them to me.
Because he knows what he's talking about. The Lord spoke to him
in that. There's emphasis where I may
not see it. And I say, boy, has it always been worded that way? I've never seen it that way.
It's the living Word, and it never gets tiresome to the believer. I wonder if some pastors that
have a larger congregation said, this evening I'm going to preach
on Ephesians 1. Tomorrow evening, I guess I should give you a lead-in
time. Tomorrow evening I'm going to preach out of Ephesians 1.
Man, we've heard that a thousand times in the ballgames on, and
I'm kind of tired. I had a rough day today, got
sunburnt. I just assumed taking a nap. I've heard 400 messages
out of Ephesians. What about Romans 8? There's
therefore no condemnation. And we know all things work together
for good. I've heard 25 messages on that
in the last couple of years. What about this? Lord hath appeared
unto me of old saying, yea, yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. Why did he say yea? Lord, do
you love me? I feel dead. Do you love me still,
Lord? You promised you'd love the people.
Am I one of your people? And he says, yay. Yay. I've loved you with an everlasting
love. Therefore, with love and kindness, have I drawn thee.
Where'd you get drawn to? To call out and say, Lord, do
you love me? You get tired of hearing that. Luke 4, you got
that? Christ read with authority. The
etymology of that word authority. Where'd that word come from?
It comes from the word Author. Author-ity. One that reads and
speaks. One that wrote it. How does the
Lord read with authority? He's the one that wrote it. He's
the one that wrote it. Verse 16, Luke 4, 16. And he came to Nazareth, where
he had been brought up, and as was his custom, he went to the
synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for to read. And
there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah.
And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was
written. You think he could have turned
right to it? He didn't, did he? He wouldn't
embarrass one of his children. I'd have to fumble to find it.
And you know what he did? He looked for it. What kindness. Verse 18, The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to
preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of the
sight to the blind, and to set at liberty them that are bruised,
to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the
book. Short passage, isn't it? He closed
the book and he gave it again to the minister and sat down.
And the eyes of all them that were in the sight of God were
fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is
the scripture fulfilled in your ears. And all that bear him witnessed
and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of
him. How did he speak with grace?
And they said, Is this not Joseph's son? You know when someone speaks
and they mean it. I had a friend growing up. As
we were teenagers, we'd talk about our dads. We both had firm,
steady men as fathers. And he'd say, you ever get that
dad tone? Whenever dad gets his dad tone, he doesn't have to
yell. He just speaks and he means it.
Knock it off. Wake up. Sit down. He don't have
to yell. He don't have to whip you. He
says it and he means it. and you know it, you know it.
Oh, to be like him, our great shepherd, he was never harsh
with his sheep. The religious folks, those big
church-going fellows, boy, he was harsh with them, but not
his own, not his own. I wish I'd never raised my voice
to my children. I wish I'd have said, come let
us reason together. I wish I was calm. You know why people get
mad? Why people raise their voice?
Because they're losing control of the situation. This man was
in control all the time. The possibility of him losing
control of the situation wasn't there. All the elements of all
creation was in his hand. He spoke different, he read different
than any man, and he talked different than any man. This is who these
soldiers got to apprehend, and they said, uh-uh. And they turned
around and went back. Turn over to Matthew 7. Matthew
chapter 7. You can turn to Matthew 7, but
beginning in Matthew chapter 5, our Lord saw a great multitude,
and He went up into a mountain, and He sat down to preach to
them. And He opened His mouth and taught
them. He opened his mouth and taught them. It was standing
lonely outside, but he sat. You think we got things backwards
nowadays? Well, we're almost hit it tonight.
They'll come a day, we're going to turn all this stuff off. I'm
going to take that chair and put it right there. I'm just going
to talk to you. I pray the Lord's with us when that happens. But
our Lord sat down and he taught them and he gave them the Beatitudes
and he said, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven. And then he illustrated his people
as salt and as light. Those poor people, those poor
in spirit, he spoke to them as something they could understand.
You know what salt is? We know what salt is. You know
what light is? Yeah, I know what a light is. And he said, you're
the salt of the earth. But if the salt had lost his
savor, wherewithal it shall be salted. And he said, you're the
light of the world. A city is set on a hill cannot
be hid. If you've got a light and you
put it up on top of a hill, the whole city full of lights, it ain't going to
be hit. People are going to know. He told them he came to fulfill
the law. He said, thank not that I'm come to destroy the law or
the prophets. I'm not come to destroy it, but to fulfill. He
explained to them what the law meant. That law he came to fulfill
that we think we have a handle on. He said, if you're angry
with your brother without a cause, you killed him. You've committed
murder. He said, if you look at a woman,
you've committed adultery already in the heart. It's done. He told them not to swear, but
have all your communication be yay, yay, or nay, nay. Don't
promise anything. You don't know what tomorrow
holds. You've heard that eye for an eye. He said, I tell you,
turn of the cheek. Love your enemies. Here's one
speaking to the poor, the one that came to fulfill the law,
that knew what the law was because it's his law. He had him write
it. He explained it to him, and he
says, Now I tell you, that's free from the law, turn another
cheek. Love your enemies. He said, If you're going to give,
good, but don't let anybody know what you're doing. He said, When
thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what the right
hand doeth, that thine alms may be in secret. Why? Are you giving it to men? No,
you're giving to the Lord who you're giving to. And our Father
which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. Christ
taught His sheep how to pray before needy sinners. And He said this boldly in front
of the hypocrites. He said this in power in front of the hypocrites.
He said, When thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites
are. Standing right there with them, ain't they? For they love
to pray standing in the synagogues. He sat to preach, didn't He?
standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets
out in public that they may have seen of me. Barely I say unto
you, they have their reward." Oh, man. This guy's cutting to
the chase, isn't he? He speaks boldly. He speaks in
power. He has authority. And he taught him how to fast.
Some people think that if they fast, they're going to get closer
to the Lord. And the Lord said the fast that
he'll accept is the one he gives. It took me a long time in my
lifetime. I just couldn't eat. being so miserable, you want
something to eat, and you put it in your mouth and you try
to chew and you just can't swallow it, and you chew more, and you chew
more, and you chew more, and you can't swallow it. That's a fast
the Lord gave. He's bringing somebody down.
He said, but when thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head
and wash thy face. Don't you fast and have your
face all sunk in and look all sad and pale and say, oh, I've
been fasting. He said, you go wash your face,
you comb your hair, and you look like somebody that believes God.
That's between you It's unto the Lord. That's how the fast
is. What about laying up treasures? He said, but lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust is corrupt, and
where thieves do not break in nor steal. For where your treasure
is, there will your heart be also. Not on this earth. You're dead to this world. You
seek his kingdom. And he said, no man can serve
two masters. I'll keep a foot in both pools. You'll drown.
No, you won't serve him or nobody. That's bold. He said, all these
things are more important than what we see. All these things
are more important than what we feel. He said, therefore I
say unto you, take no thought for your life, what you shall
eat, or what you shall drink, nor yet for your body. What you
shall put on is not life more than meat, is not the body than
raiment. Now Matthew chapter 7. The sermon
on the mount continues from chapter 5 to chapter 7. And I want us
to just read chapter 7. It's 29 verses. I won't comment
much. And you just imagine sitting
there, standing there while he said, and the Almighty God of
heaven and earth in a human body, He spoke these things. He speaks
these things to His people. Matthew 7 verse 1, Judge not
that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge,
ye shall be judged. And with what measure ye meet,
it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote
that is in thy brother's eye, but consider not the beam that
is in thine own eye. For how wilt thou say to thy
brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye, and behold
a beam in thine eye? Thou hippocrate, first cast out
the beam of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to
cast out the mote of thy brother's eye. Give not that which is holy
unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest
they trample them under feet, and turn again, and rend you.
Ask, and ye shall be given. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock,
and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth. He that seeketh findeth. And
to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is not
of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or
if he ask of a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then,
being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children,
how much more shall your Father, which is in heaven, give good
things unto them that ask? Therefore, all things whatsoever
ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them? For this is the law and the prophets."
We'll learn that growing up. Treat others as you want to be
treated. Our Lord says that fulfills the
law and the prophets. That's a whole kit and a caboodle.
Love your neighbor as yourself, so he's saying. Verse 13, enter
ye into straight gate for wide is the gate and broad is the
way that leadeth to destruction and many there be which go in
there at. That's strong, isn't it? Because
straight is the gate and narrow the way which leadeth unto life
and few there be that find it. That gate is one man wide. Christ
is the gate. He's the way. Beware of false
prophets, which come unto you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly
they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits.
Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? Even a good tree bringeth forth
good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A
good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt
tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not
forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire." How
could somebody respond to something like that? Lord, give me life. Put your seed in me. Grow your
tree and produce your fruit through me. You're the branch, we're
the vines. We're attached, we're one with you. Wherefore, by their
fruit ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he
that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." He's told
us that plainly too, isn't he? What is it to do His will? Believe
on His Son. Believe on the one He sent. Isaiah
told us that too. Verse 22, Many will say to me
in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? Have we not cast out devils in
thy name? And in thy name done many wonderful works. We've done
great things. We've performed miracles. And
we were preachers. We were bishops. We were elders. And then while I profess unto
them, verse 23, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that
work iniquity. Therefore, whosoever heareth
these sayings of mine, I'll just listen to him. You hear him?
Has he spoke to you in power, in authority? Has he come to
your heart? Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine
and doeth them, he said, my sheep hear my voice. I know them and
they follow me. They follow me. His sheep love his other sheep.
His sheep believe His word, His sheep feed on His word. And doeth
him, I will lock in him unto a wise man, which build his house
upon a rock. And the rain descended, and the
floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and
it fell not, because, for it was founded upon a rock. And everyone that heareth these
sayings of mine, doeth him not, shall I lock unto a foolish man,
which build his house upon the sand, And the rain descended,
and the floods came, and the wind blew. It beat upon the house,
and it fell, and great was the fall of it." How fancy you've
got to be to preach as Christ preached. Is that plain? He said, your daddies, would
you give your child a serpent? They ask you for some bread.
He spoke to us in terms we could understand. You know what houses
look like. Would you build one on a rock,
or would you build one on sand? I want a solid foundation. This
is the cleft of the rock speaking to them. Verse 28, and it came to pass
when Jesus said these sayings, the people were astonished at
his doctrine. For he taught them as having
authority and not as the scribes. Oh, that got me. I laughed. I
shouldn't have probably. I felt sorry for him after, but
I laughed. This man speaks with authority and not as the scribes."
Everyone here has heard scribes speak, haven't they? They drone
on and on. Brother Paul Mahan said that
and I got so tickled. We will now turn to 1 Corinthians 13
and read the following verses and they drone on and on. He
said they'd put a fly asleep. They talk in circles and you
really can't explain what they said, because they likely don't
know. My brother Fortner said that one time. He said, if a
man's not plain in what he has to say, either he doesn't want
folks to know what he thinks, or he doesn't know what he thinks.
There's people in this room, real famous people. I've listened
to what they had to preach, and if you held a gun to my head
and said, tell me in two sentences what they believe, I'd say, I
don't know, you're trying to shoot me. I have no idea what they believe. They
ought to go into politics, man. Talk about talking out of both
sides of your mouth. Pick something and go with it. That's just common
sense in this world, isn't it? Our Lord spoke with authority.
He spoke in power, and there was no confusion of what He had
to say. When He said, I must be about my father's business,
they didn't think, well, you've got to build a house? You're
going to do what Joseph did? No, they knew exactly what He
meant. He knows how to speak to the hearts of His people,
and I'm thankful. This one who spoke, that read, that talked,
like no man has ever spoke, read, or talked before. This is the
very same one that said, let there be light. And there was
light. Could you imagine sitting down
for about 15 years and having the Lord put that in our hearts?
He said, let there be light. We didn't know what light was.
And there was light. When He speaks it, it's so. It's
so. Because of who speaks it. Now
back in our text, these officers in the temple. the policemen
of the Sanhedrin, allegedly great soldiers. These were the warriors
of God. That was their job, their occupation. They gave up their mission. They
had a mission. What was it? Look up in verse
31. John 7, verse 31. It says, And many of the people
believed on him and said, When Christ cometh, will he do more
miracles than these which this man doeth, hath done? What they're
saying was, you all are arguing and saying, well, Christ hasn't
come yet. And he said, well, when this cross comes, is he
going to do something more powerful, more authoritative, more miraculous
than what this man has? This is him. They believed on
him. Verse 32, John 7, 32. The Pharisees heard that the
people murmured such things concerning him. They started hearing people
have nice things to say about him. They start hearing people
praise him. They start hearing people bow
to him. They're believing on him, calling out to him, Lord, I'm
thirsty. Give me to drink. And the Pharisees and the chief
priests sent officers to take him. They sent officers to take
him. Now look down at verse 45. Then
came the officers to the chief priests and the Pharisees. They
heard him talk, say all these things. And they said unto them,
Why have you not brought him? And the officers answered, Never
man spake like this man. Then answered them the Pharisees,
Are ye also deceived? They didn't say, what happened?
Why didn't you bring him back? They didn't ask him, did you try to
get him? Does he know jiu-jitsu? How did he get away from you?
There's a bunch of people that want him. They didn't say, well, you don't
have any bruises on you. You're not bleeding. All of you come
back. Didn't you try? No. They just
said, are you all so deceived? And here's their question. Verse
48. Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on
him? That's their concern. You failed your mission. You
just walked away from your mission. And they were so... They weren't
mad about that. I've been mad about that. You get out and do
it. I said, you do something. Boy, they had a greater concern
than that. The people of power. Have the rulers. That's the first
thing they come with. The people of power. Kingmakers. That's their bosses. That's who
they rejoice in. That's who they talked about.
That's who they hung out with. That's who they wanted living
on their property. The rulers. Or... of the Pharisees. Have they believed
on him? That's their position. That's
their peers' second. Power first, position second.
But these people who knoweth not the law, they're cursed.
They didn't even take a breath, did they? Why ain't he here? They say, are you deceived? Have
he the rulers? Well, what about the Pharisees?
Well, those people, now they're self-soothing. Those people that's
looking at him, they're cursed anyway. They don't even know
There's probably a bunch of Gentiles sitting down there. What shambles that was in. It's
organized religion. That's all it was. There's playing
church, making themselves gods. They're seeking a god, but they're
going out to establish their own righteousness. Now in the
midst of these, the Sanhedrin, the 70, there's only 69 of them
that was thinking this. There was one there that the
Lord had begun to do a work of grace in. You know, that's how
it happens so often. I used to be so jealous of someone
that was in false religion and they've heard lies their whole
life and didn't know, and then they heard the truth right then. Whoa, I've been sold a bill of
goods. My whole life's been a sham.
It's been a lie. That's the truth. I didn't know
God. Many times it's gradual. I don't
know when the Lord saved me. I don't know when I had life,
just as I don't know when I had physical life. I kind of start
having some memories about three years old. I remember eating
pudding on a hillside one time when I was real little. But I
don't remember the first time I heard the Lord plainly. I remember
the first message I remember remembering. I said, that's it. Did I know the Lord before that?
I don't know. Sometimes that's a gradual growth. Nicodemus here,
about 18 months before, had went to the Lord by night. And now,
he didn't just get told something and went back home. Something's
happened to this man. We'll see down the road. I'm
excited for that. Verse 50 says, Nicodemus saith unto them, he
that came to Jesus by night, being one of them. He was one
of the Sanhedrin. Doth our law judge any man before
it hear him and know what he doeth? He said, y'all want to
kill this man, let's hear him out. They don't know he's talked
to him before. They don't know he's heard this
man speak like no man has ever spoke. And they said, what's
the law say? Y'all want to stand by the law?
You want to play that game? We got to hear him out. Because
he thought if they could hear what he heard, wouldn't you imagine? That's what I'd think. If you
could hear the one that I've heard, you're going to have a
whole nother attitude. He hadn't took sides with the
Lord yet, but he started. He started speaking out. And
they answered and said unto him, Art thou of Galilee? Are you
of that hillbilly town? Search and look. You go get your
Bible. You go sit down and get your
Bible. We'll take you to church. Nonsense. For out of Galilee
ariseth no prophet. You know what? They was wrong.
They didn't understand the law. They didn't know God was there
in human flesh, and they said, there's no prophet come out of
Galilee. Do you know that's just flat wrong? 2 Kings 14, it says
that Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gathhelper. And I thought, what city is that?
I looked it up, Galilee. Jonah's out of Galilee. What
am I getting at? This is precious. Matthew 16,
verse 1. Turn to Matthew 16. These educated theologians who
spoke as scribes, they had no authority, they had no understanding,
they had no power, they weren't a sin of God, misquoting scriptures,
and they said, are you of Galilee too? Search and look, for out
of Galilee arises no prophet. They spoke on authority, didn't
they? Well, they didn't have any. Jonah was from Galilee. Matthew 16, verse 1. The Pharisees
also with the Sadducees came, and tempting, desired him that
he would show them a sign from heaven. And he answered and said
unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather,
for the sky is red. And in the morning it will be
foul weather to-day, for the sky is red and lowering. O ye
hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky, but can ye not
discern the sign of the times? A wicked and adulterous generation
seeketh after a sign, and there shall be no sign given unto it
but the sign of the prophet Jonas. What sign did these guys have?
They wouldn't know prophets come out of Galilee. And they said,
you better pay attention. They said, and he left them and
departed. And the Lord said, the only sign
you're going to get is the prophet Jonah. And he left. You give me a Bible right now
that scrolls back then. Roll that thing out. What was
the sign of Jonah? Let's read it. Learn everything
we can about this man. You got a concordance? Let's
look it up. Every place has a name. Let's
devote our time. Call in sick to work tomorrow.
We've got to find out what this is. Then he gives a warning,
Matthew 16, verse 6. Then Jesus saith unto them, Take
heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Watch out for these. Watch out
for these that are speaking their opinions and what they think,
their heresies, and what they feel, and what their maybes are.
Watch out They don't speak on authority of God because they
don't tell you what He says. They tell you what they think.
See, there's 11 there. You better watch out. In our
text, there in John 7, it says, verse 53, And every man went
unto his own house. Did they run down there where
the Lord was and cry out to Him and say, Teach us, Lord? No,
they went home. Every one of them. What about
Nicodemus? He went home too. He didn't say, Lord, you talked
to me 18 months ago. You remember me? Will you please tell me something
again? He went home. Chapter 8, verse
1. Jesus went into the Mount of
Olives, and early in the morning He came again to the temple,
and all the people came unto Him, and He sat down and taught
them. Everyone went home, and He went
to work, doing the will of His Father. He was about His Father's
business. Never a man spake like this.
Never a man read like this, never a man's taught like this, and
never a man's worked like this. Imagine the tables he built. He's a man, but he's not like
other men. Turn over to Hebrews 7, we'll
close. You that thirst, come to him. This is who you need
to come to. He's the fountain of living water.
He's one of the old Jewish historians. They said during these feasts,
they had a big rock and they'd take pictures of water and pour
the water onto the rock to symbolize. Symbolize as a token, as a picture
of that rock in the wilderness. And the Lord walked, he said,
any man comes to me in thirst, out of his bellies will come
rivers of living water. Right in front of him was the
smitten rock. We think we can talk people into believing God.
He stood right in front of them. So they burned some candles there.
They had some lamps burned. He said, I'm the light of the
world. They had the showbread out. And he said, you're going
to have to eat my body and drink my blood. Right there he was,
speaking with them. Come to him, drink. Hebrews 7
verse 23. And truly, they truly were many
priests because they were not suffered to continue by reason
of death. Lord's had a whole lot of preachers out there, and
they died. But this man, who spoke like
no one else, who read like no one else, who lived like nobody
else, the God-man, this man, because he continueth forever,
he's Almighty God, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore, he is
able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God
by him. He said, come unto me, all you
that labor and are heavy laden. I'll give you rest. he'll save
them to the uttermost, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession
for them. For such an high priest became
us, who was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made
higher than the heavens, who needeth not daily, as those high
priests, to offer up a sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then
for the people's sins. For he did this once, when he
offered up himself, This man that spake like nobody else,
he died like nobody else. For the law maketh men high priests
which have infirmity, but the word of the oath, that covenant
of grace, that was established before time. He was made a priest
after the order of Melchizedek, which was since the law maketh
the son who is consecrated forevermore. Those men didn't bow to him.
They quit their mission. Carnally and spiritually, they
failed at both. They didn't bow to him. But buddy,
they come into contact and there was no discrepancies about who
this was. This man's different. This man's
different. I pray to each of us. I pray
that I don't just read the words of a God. He's revealed to me. It's not just a man that spoke
better than any other man. He's the God man. I hope He'd
make that first and foremost in my mind every day as to who
He is. And then, out of my inability
and my spot and everything else, when I do see who He is, Lord,
put it in me to cling to You. Reveal Yourself to me. Allow
me to hear You. Allow me to read You. Allow me
to be taught of You. And then make me run to You and
beg for You to give me water. Beg for You to give me bread.
Lord, show me light. Give me faith. Keep me with you. Allow me to read your promises
and believe. I want to, Lord, I believe. Oh,
help my unbelief. I pray that for you. I pray that
for you. It's a special thing, you know,
to be around God's people. What a blessing we have. All
right, let's pray. Father, thank you for this hour.
Lord, thank you for your word, the power of your word. Make
it effectual. To our hearts, Lord, speak to
us. Make it alive. Allow us to experience that what
you say is true. Allow us to rest. Allow us to
experience rest, Lord. Allow us to lay down our guns. Make us do these things. Make
us cling to Christ. Lord, love us that we know how
to love Him. Forgive us for what we are. Be with those that suffer.
What a privilege it is to be a child that's chastened, Lord,
because we're children, and we're your children. Make us thankful. It's in Christ's name that we
ask it. Amen.