Let us look tonight to John chapter
7. This evening we will be looking
at verses 14 through 18. John chapter 7. Now about the midst of the feast
Jesus went up into the temple and taught. And the Jews marveled,
saying, how knoweth this man letters, having never learned? Jesus answered them and said,
my doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man
will to do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether
it be of God or whether I speak of myself. He that speaketh of
himself seeketh his own glory, but he that seeketh his glory
that sent him The same is true, and no unrighteousness is in
him. We looked at the first part of
this chapter last time, in which we read in verse 1 that the Jews
sought to kill him. Notice above, after these things
Jesus walked in Galilee, for he would not walk in Jewry, because
the Jews sought to kill him. The Jews in the Gospel of John
refers to the leaders, the Jewish leaders of the nation of Israel,
the religious leaders of the nation of Israel. They saw him
as a threat to their positions. And we see this very clearly
if you turn over just a few pages into John chapter 11. after the resurrection of Lazarus
in John chapter 11 and beginning with verse 46. We read, but some
of them went their ways to the Pharisees and told them what
things Jesus had done. Then gathered the chief priest
and the Pharisees, a council, and said, what do we? For this
man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all
men will believe on him. And the Romans shall come and
take away both our place and our nation. They sought to kill
him, that is the leaders, the Jewish leaders, the rabbis, the
pharisees, the Sadducees, those men in authority in the nation
of Israel. They sought to kill him because
they saw him as a threat. They realized that if he continued
that the Romans would come and destroy their nation, which they
did, but years later, and they would lose their position. And
that's what they were concerned about, their position. Now, keeping
in mind that the Lord Jesus knew this, He knew this. We know as
God, He knows all things. He's omniscient. But he knew
that the Jews were seeking to kill him, but we see him go to
Jerusalem as God's righteous servant. Remember, as the God-man,
as God manifests in the flesh, he came into this world as Jehovah's
servant, the servant of God. Isaiah chapter 42 and verse 1,
the scripture says, Behold my servant, my elect, whom I uphold. And as a servant, as a servant
of God, and as a man, as the God man, The law commanded every
male, every Jewish male, to attend these three priests, these three
feasts, rather, every year. They had to attend the Feast
of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles,
and that's the feast that was taking place at this time, the
Feast of Tabernacles. He knew that the Jews sought
to kill him, but he also knew this, he also knew this, he knew
that they could not touch him until his hour came. How many times in the Gospel
of John does he say, my hour has not yet come? There was an
hour which was appointed by God from all eternity in which his
darling son would give himself as a sacrifice, as a savior of
God's people. And until that hour came, no
one could harm him. And the same is true of you.
The same is true of me. I wish for myself, I wish I could
rest in that. I know it's true in my head.
I just wish I could rest in that in my heart. If God be for us,
who can be against us? Nothing is going to happen to
you as one of God's children that God has not predetermined. He works all things, the scripture
says, after the counsel of his own will. The very hairs of your
head are all numbered. He careth for you. Now there's
three things in these verses that I want to point out to us
tonight. First, he is in the temple in
Jerusalem teaching. We read in verse 14, now about
the midst of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and taught. Now John doesn't tell us. John
doesn't give us his teaching. He only tells us the reaction
of those who heard him. They marveled. Those who heard
the Lord. He was in the temple in Jerusalem
teaching. And we're not told the lesson,
the message, the sermon that he gave at this time. But we
are told that those who heard him marveled. And so far tonight. I want to imagine something. I said we are not told what he
was teaching, and I will only suggest that it might have been. It might have been that he was
teaching on the Feast of Tabernacles. After all, it was the Feast of
Tabernacles that he went up into Jerusalem at this time. Now,
I pointed out last week that John calls this the Feast of
the Jews. In Leviticus 23, where God gave
the instructions, His law concerning these feasts, they're not called
the Feast of the Jews. They're called the Feast of the
Lord. But they had degenerated into
the Feast of the Jews. Now Luke tells us that those
two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Remember Luke tells us
that the Lord Jesus began at Moses and all the prophets and
he expounded unto them and all the scriptures the things concerning
himself. He began at Moses. And the feasts
were given in the books of Moses, the Pentateuch, the first five
books. The Feast of Tabernacles was
given through Moses, and we can only imagine what it would have
been like to hear the Lord Jesus Christ teach on this feast, on
any of the feasts, on any of the Bibles. what it would have
been like to hear Him of whom all the Scriptures speak to point
out and bring out and show us Himself all through the Old Testament. There are three things that I
know about this Feast of Tabernacles besides the fact Three things
that I know about the Feast of Tabernacles beside the fact that
during this time, seven days, the feast lasted, that all the
Israelites were to live in booths, in tent-like places that were
made from the branches of tree shrubs. They were to live in
the streets and on the housetops of the roofs. They were to live
for seven days in these booths. But there are three things I
know besides that. I know that. You know that. Seven
days camping out, as we would say. But I know this also. I know this feast was made, was
made rather to make the children of Israel know, now hear me,
It was given unto them to make the children of Israel know that
it was the Lord who had brought them out of Egypt, and had them
to dwell in tents. If you will, keep your places
here. But let's go back to Leviticus chapter 23, where God's Word
instructed them concerning the feast. And we'll only read of
the Feast of Tabernacles. But in Leviticus chapter 23,
beginning in verse 39, here's the law concerning this feast. Also in the fifteenth day of
the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the
land, you shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days. On
the first day shall be a Sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be
a Sabbath. And you shall take you on the
first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees,
and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook, and you
shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. 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 seven
days. All that are Israelites born
shall dwell in booths. Now watch this. That, here's
the purpose. That your generations may know Here's the purpose of this feast,
that your generations, in other words, your posterity, your children,
grandchildren, so forth and so on, that they may know that I,
I, God, Jehovah, 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. I know that the purpose of this
feast was that the children of Israel would know that it was
the Lord. This was to serve as a reminder. Makes me think of the Lord's
table. Because our Lord said, this do in remembrance of me. You wouldn't think the nation
of Israel would need something to remind them of how they had
been delivered from Egypt with such great power and with the
blood sprinkled on the doorpost. But they did. And our Lord gave
us this ordinance telling us this do in remembrance of me. The second thing that I know
about this feast, besides the fact that they lived in booths
for seven days, I know that this feast, now I think there are
five feasts, maybe six, that are mentioned in Leviticus 23,
but only three of them did the law require that the Jews, the
males, go up to the place that God would name. When God gave
the law, they were in the wilderness, of course. Jerusalem was not
theirs. But when they came into the land,
God would tell them the place where He would put His name,
and that's where three times each year the male Israelites
had to come and observe these three feasts. But of all these
feasts, of all these feasts, and you can read about this later
in the book of Numbers, chapter 29, But of all these feasts, this
particular feast was the one that called for the most sacrifices,
the most blood sacrifices. On the first day of this feast,
there was a total of 32 sacrifices, beginning with 13 bullocks, 2
rams, 14 lambs, one kid of the goats for
a sin offering, and the two lambs for the daily offering. 32 animals were sacrificed on
the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles. But on the second
day, that number was reduced by one. On the first day, it
was 13 bullocks. On the second day, it was 12,
until they came down to the seventh day, and then there were seven
bullocks, those other animals, every day. That didn't change. But the number of the bullocks
came from 13 on the first day down to seven on the seventh
day. John Gill, in his commentary,
suggested that this maybe was to show them this decreasing
number of bullocks, how that that whole dispensation would
gradually wax old. until it was passed away. That old dispensation which was
replaced by the dispensation in which you and I live. The
dispensation which was inaugurated by the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ and His death. And then he said this also, that
on the seventh day, seven bullocks Seventh day, seven bullocks. You know in the scriptures the
number seven is the number of perfection. Perfection. Seventh day, seven bullocks. Especially pictured that one
great sacrifice that all of those animals pictured in some way.
All of those animals. The kid of the sin offering,
the two lambs every day. the rams, the bullocks, every
one of those animals pictured that one great sacrifice that
the Lord Jesus Christ offered on Calvary for his people. I
know that. I know this about this feast.
I know they lived in booths for seven days. I know that it was
so that they would remember, they would remember that it was
the Lord that delivered them out of Egypt, and it also, it
was a feast with the most of sacrifices, and all of them typifying
and picturing the one great sacrifice. And the last thing I know about
this feast, it was the last feast in the year. And of all the feasts,
it was the most joyful. It was the most joyful. It was
a time of rejoicing. All their crops, and they were
an agricultural society, all their crops now were gathered
into the barn, and it was a time. How many times have you read
in other nations, harvest home, harvest home. When the harvest
is reaped in the field and brought into the barns, Usually there's
a time of celebration. This feast was the feast that
was the most joyful of all. All their crops were gathered
in and it was a time like no other. You and I tonight know
that there is a day coming. There's a day coming when all
of God's chosen people shall be gathered to Christ. Jacob,
that old patriarch, when he came to die, prophesied concerning
each of his 12 sons. And when he came to his son Judah,
Judah, the tribe from which the Lord Jesus Christ sprang, when
he came to it, he referred to that offspring, that promised
one as Shiloh. Until Shiloh come, the lawgiver
will not depart from Judah until Shiloh come, the peacemaker. Aren't you thankful? Jesus Christ,
He is our peace. He is our peace. And He came. But Jacob went on to say this,
unto Him shall the gathering of the people be. A day coming. It's yet future. But there's a day coming. when
all of God's children shall be gathered to Christ. When the
last one of those whom he has chosen and given unto his son
as his sheep, when the last one hears his voice and comes to
Christ, then there will be a great gathering indeed when all of
God's children are caught up, the scripture says, to meet the
Lord in the air, to forever be with the Lord. The hymn writer,
one of the hymn writers, put it like this, what a day that
will be. When my Jesus I shall see, and
I look upon his face, the one who saved me by his grace, when
he takes me by the hand, and leads me through the promised
land. What a day. Glorious day that
will be. There's going to be a great day. A glorious day. Great day's coming,
isn't it? Oh, we look forward to that.
Now what was the reaction? I just said maybe. I just suggested
maybe. The Lord Jesus taught that day.
about the Feast of Tabernacles. And I know if he did, he was
able to bring out so, so very much of how that feast pictured
him and his relationship to his people. But what was the reaction
of those in the temple that day? Well, we read, they marveled.
What was the reaction of those two disciples on the road to
Emmaus? When the Lord Jesus began at
Moses and the prophets and spoke of those things concerning himself,
what was their reaction? Well, their reaction was this,
did not our heart burn within us? Did not our heart burn within
us while he talked with us by the way and while he opened to
us the scriptures? That's what we pray for every
time we meet here, isn't it? He's promised to be in our midst
where two or three gather. And oh, how we need him. Pastor's
a poor judge of what God may be doing in a
service. But I have been in a number of
services and heard other men preach. And I know this, what
a blessing it is to hear the gospel and for my heart to burn
when I hear of Christ, his love, his blood, his effectual atonement. What a blessing. I trust and
I pray that it's the same here with you folks. They marveled,
the scripture here says, their reaction was they marveled that
he was a man who had not attended the schools of their learned
professors, their learned rabbis. He had not set at the feet of
a man like Gamaliel, like the Apostle Paul had, or Hillel,
or any of those rabbis that were well known at that time. How? They said, how? knoweth this
man letters? And some manuscripts have scriptures
there. How knoweth this man the scriptures,
letters, having never, never learned? Now he had learned,
but he had not attended their seminaries. I was on a plane a few days ago
and we got to talking to the man next to us and He said, what
seminaries do your preachers come from? And I said, well,
I hate to tell you, but I don't know of a seminary in the United
States today that I could recommend for anyone to go to that believes
God is calling them to preach. I said, it's sad, but I could
tell that that kind of turned him off. That turned him off. I said,
he said, well what kind of churches are they? I said, sovereign grace.
He said, I never heard of that. That's too bad. I said, let me tell you what
it means. It means that salvation is of
the Lord. That God saves sinners. That's
what it means. That man is dead in trespasses
and sins and apart from the grace of God, no one would be saved. That's what it means, sovereign
grace. He said, I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy. God's grace truly is amazing,
isn't it? We know, now these men marveled
at his teaching. But we know when he was 12 years
of age, he was in the temple, the scripture says, sitting in
the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them
questions, and all that heard him were astonished at his understanding
and answers. They were amazed. You know those
people there in the synagogue at Nazareth? It's recorded in
Luke chapter 4. After his baptism, he went back
to the city in which he had grown up, and they handed him the scripture,
and he stood up to read. And he read that passage of scripture,
which says, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he hath
anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted,
went on through that passage. And there again, those people
marveled. They marveled at the gracious
words that proceeded out of his mouth. You know, one of the psalmists
on the Psalms tells us that grace was poured into his lips. But
it was just a few minutes and they tried to destroy, tried
to push him over a cliff, those same people. Now, back to our
text tonight. I have two other things I'll
be very brief on. Second, the way made plain to
all who have a will to do His will. Verse 17. If any man will
do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of
God, or whether I speak of myself. All I will say on this is to
summarize what Bishop J.C. Ryle taught from this verse.
Men do not live up to the light that they have. And yet how many
times do men complain and say, well, I don't know which way's
right. I mean, this group over here,
they say this is right. This group over here says this
is right. Another group says something
else is right. I just don't know which is right. I'm just confused. Men complain
and then they use that as an excuse to just completely disregard
God and seeking Him. But the point is, men do not
live up to the light that they have. What a lesson just in that fact,
to live up to the light that you have. Bishop Rahl went on to point
out and say that men use this as an excuse who do not live
up to the light that they have, but our Lord said here, if a
man will do his will, you show me a man, I don't care where
he is, in the darkest part, of any continent at any time, a
man who will, a man who will do his will, he shall know of
the doctrine." That's what he said. Christ's people, we know,
are made willing in the day of his power and know that his is
the doctrine of the Father. God declared through the prophet
Isaiah that the way of salvation is so plain. Yes, there's no
doubt. There's many points of theology,
many doctrines in the word of God, and there's different opinions
and different beliefs. But there's only one truth. I
recognize that. But the point I want to make
is this. The way of salvation is ever
so plain. What did God say through Isaiah? He said, The wayfaring man, though
fools, shall not err therein. Man may err in many things when
it comes to the Word of God, but not in the way of salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ said it
just as simply as it could be said, I am the way. Now that's it. I said it. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. There's nothing difficult about
that statement. If a man will, if a man will
to do his will, he shall know of the doctrine. Now, here's
the last thing. The third thing. In verse 18,
we see that A false teacher is revealed. He that speaketh of
himself seeketh his own glory, but he that seeketh his glory
that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in
him. A man who seeks his own glory
is not sent of God. A man who cries out, The sacraments,
as they like to say. The Lord's table and baptism.
Behold. They put all their emphasis on
behold. The Lord's table. Behold baptism. Behold the church. A man who
is sin of God has the same message that John the Baptist had. Remember
he said, I must decrease and he must increase. And it's not
behold me, it's not behold the table, it's not behold the baptistry,
it's not behold the Baptist church. Oh no, behold the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sins of the world. I pray the Lord would
bless these words to all of us here tonight.