Conflict Leading To A Withdrawal

In our study of the life of Christ, we have come to a point where we are wrapping up a whole section of his life tonight and will then be entering into the last section of the Lord's life the last three months of his life And what we're facing tonight is probably the most important question that anyone can ever determine and that is Who is Jesus Christ? Who is Christ? It's no doubt more important than any other question you can ask of yourself more important than discovering yourself discovering who you are or even what your purpose is in this world the most important question you can ask is Is who is Jesus Christ and that's not a new debate the debate over who Jesus Christ is? Has raged for hundreds of years goes all the way back to New Testament times and actually in his ministry We're in John chapter 10 tonight We've been in the gospel of Luke for some weeks now and we shift over to John chapter 10 I mentioned that this passage tonight concludes a major section of our Lord's life that we've been looking at called conflict and instruction It's a time when Jesus is in Jerusalem and and around the area around Jerusalem and he has been in head to head conflict with the Jewish leadership the religious leaders sometimes as we'll see tonight in John's gospel John's Favorite term for them is the Jews and whenever he uses that term He's talking about the Jewish leaders and religious leaders in particular So Jesus has been budding heads with them for three months now in the area around Jerusalem ever since ever since he was at the Feast of tabernacles back in September For three months now he's been he's been budding heads with the Pharisees and scribes and religious leaders But he's also been pulling away enough to Instruct his disciples and we've seen a good bit of that as well We spend a good bit of time at the beginning of this three months in John chapters 7 through 10 where we found Jesus in the city of Jerusalem Sparring with the Pharisees more directly and then we moved to Luke chapters 10 through 13 Where we found Jesus ministering more to his disciples also there is still some conflict and warning going on with With the Pharisees he's ministering more to his disciples at that time as we close out this phase This section of our Lord's life and ministry we move back to John's gospel. We left off some time ago in verse 21 Before we moved into Luke's gospel and now we're back to chapter 10 beginning in verse 22 and what we're going to find here is Is a conflict again with the Jews or the religious leaders that is so serious? That Jesus must actually flee for his life It's not time for him to die yet But they want to stone him on the spot with this particular conflict and so Jesus must run for his life flee for his life not scared but operating within the Father's time table It's not time for him to die yet. It's three more months and so Jesus will move out of the area of Jerusalem and Judea Until it's time for him to come back into Jerusalem for the last week of his life. Okay now So what we're going to find here in John 10 is first of all a confrontation and let's look at verse 22 Then came the festival of dedication at Jerusalem it was winter and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon's Colony now let's stop right there and get a little bit of a setting and understand what is being spoken of here again We're trying to walk in the footsteps of our Lord and trying to to figure out exactly what's going on is it's I think important to capture the time frame and the setting of What our Lord is doing here and all The text says that it is the feast of dedication Feast of dedication. There is another name for that. Does anybody know what that is? Hanukkah exactly This is a feast or a festival that is still celebrated today by Jews Where did it start? Do you remember the occasion which began the festival of dedication or the feast of dedication feast of Hanukkah Where did it start where did it come from? Yes, sure did well, okay, you're on the right track in in the 160s BC 160 years before the birth of Christ Israel had been under the thumb of the Syrians After the Greeks ruled the the known world at that time Remember Alexander the great the great leader of Greece his kingdom split when he died at the age of 33 At split into four kingdoms and one of those was Syria One of the rulers of Syria was a man by the name of Antiochus Epiphanes All of this time period is described in Daniel chapter 8 and also Daniel chapter 11 where Antiochus Epiphanes is described in what he would do to Jerusalem and also his battles with Egypt are Described especially in Daniel chapter 11 amazing prophecies 400 years before the events of Daniel that would describe Almost blow by blow battles between Egypt and Syria over the control of Israel Syria won and was in control of Israel when Antiochus had tried to use Israel as a base of operation to invade Egypt and failed And taking out his frustrations after a failed campaign into Egypt He's coming back through Israel and he walks into the temple and desecrates it by offering a pig on the altar and Destroy some of the Jewish worship Artifacts and so forth That led to an uprising a group of people led by high priest and his sons in Israel called do you remember their names? There are two Books in the apocrypha that are named after these men books that were written between the two testaments starts with an M the Maccabees. Yes the Maccabees High priest and his sons led what's called the Maccabeean revolt against the Syrians and actually were successful in overthrowing the Syrians and Restoring the temple when they restored the temple they went in and lit the The lampstand remember lampstand. We've got a picture of it here. I believe this is the lampstand six prongs seven Including the middle one where oil would flow up into the the top and And it would be lit and that was that was in the temple There was only one day tradition has it Jewish tradition. There was only one day's Worth of oil in that lampstand, but it burned for eight days and in commemoration of that event and of the Israelites taking back their temple and Purifying the temple from that day on from 164 BC on the Jews celebrated the feast of dedication Now the well-known menorah which you have a picture of here Comes from the lampstand in the temple it is the symbol of Israel's independence if you will in a sense it comes it harkens back to that time when the lampstand in the temple In Jewish eyes miraculously burned for eight days when there was only one day Worth of oil for it to burn so since that time they have celebrated every December the feast of Hanukkah or the feast of Lights it's also called because of this very event and Lighting ceremonies are take place. It's it's basically the Christmas ceremony for Jewish people even to the day so this is the feast that's being spoken of here the feast of dedication was a feast not one of the feasts in the mosaic law In the book of Leviticus. This is different. This came up after the Old Testament was done but it was observed by the Jews and that's the feast that's being spoken of here In Jerusalem now Verse 22 also says it was winter in Jerusalem and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon's Colonyd now in winter in Jerusalem it can get very cool and rainy Much like we're having this evening and Solomon's Colonyd will see a few pictures of it in the moment the Solomon's Colonyd would be a place where Where you could get out of the elements? It was a covered portion of the temple, but was still out in the public Square if you would this is a picture of Jerusalem in winter and You see snow there and those aren't all white buildings. This is actually snow on the ground and on the Muslim Cemetery there at the base of the Mount of Olives About once every seven years it will actually snow in Jerusalem in the winter time They don't get much snow, but it does happen. It does get cold enough to snow and so it can be a very cool time Very cold time. I should probably say to make clear what I what I mean of that and so Jesus is in the temple courts Walking in Solomon's Colonyd that's to look at a couple three pictures of that here is a Map of the city of Jerusalem During the time of Christ here is the temple This is the temple proper. These are the temple courts the Jews could go in this whole complex is the temple complex and notice right here Solomon's porch is this Front area on the east side of the temple. Let's look at the next picture Here again is the temple proper the temple courts for the Jews the temple courts for the Gentiles and This is Solomon's porch. Here is an artist's rendering of what it would look like This is the Jerusalem model if you ever if you ever have an opportunity to go to Jerusalem You want to go to the Holy Land Hotel and see the model of the city of Jerusalem. It is an absolutely phenomenal site It is a scale replica of the city of Jerusalem as it was in the first century and this is the replica of the temple Again, here's the temple proper where the the holy place would be and here's where the sacrifices would be offered and so forth this right here is Solomon's porch and This is an artist rendering the next picture of what it would look like in Jesus day to actually be under Solomon's porch this area right here This is the front of the temple the front entrance this area right here is Solomon's porch It's not a porch like we would think of the front of a house. It's just a a Colony aid or A covered area supported by columns, but it would allow you to get out of the weather when it was bad weather And that's where Jesus is he's walking along where he's in this particular area in the temple in the winter time Okay, that's the setting you get in your mind now what's what's happening notice What verse 22 or verse 23? Excuse me verse 24 says happened to Jesus The Jews who were there remember John's term the Jews refers to the Jewish leaders the scribes paraces religious leaders the Jews who were there were gathered around him Literally the idea is they surrounded him Jesus is walking in Solomon's Colony aid in the temple and all of a sudden he's surrounded All right, this is a purposeful if you will almost trap For Jesus and notice what they say How long will you keep us in suspense if you are the Messiah tell us plainly they literally surrounded him so they had to stop and he had to listen to them This is in their minds time for a showdown This is the showdown at the temple in Solomon's Colony They surround him and they will not let him evade the issue They basically say to him okay, we've caught you we're we're around you here. We've surrounded you now We're not letting you go till you tell us plainly Are you the Messiah? Okay, this is the confrontation That that Jesus is facing notice if you will An explanation that he gives verses 25 to 29 Jesus answered I did tell you but you do not believe The works I do in my father's name testify about me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep Jesus identifies the reason for their unbelief first of all he says I've told you so my words Indicate who I am and then secondly says my works indicate who I am verse 25 the works I do testify about me So both my words and my works. I've already answered the question You don't need more information is what Jesus is telling them that's not the issue here The issue is not sufficient information the issue is that the issue is not that I haven't told you I've told you and I've shown you you don't need more information The problem is you need a new nature That's your problem The problem is in your heart. He said here's the reason why you won't believe You will not believe me because you are not my Sheep That's the reason you won't believe what I say. It's the reason you can't grasp the significance of my works My miracles is because you're not one of my sheep now. What did Jesus mean by that? Not believers, okay? What is involved in what what is the picture of a sheep? What what idea do you get when a believer is called a sheep? Okay Follow his voice He's the shepherd and the sheep follow Sheep are followers They are they are animals that recognize a shepherd's voice and Follow that particular shepherd you remember some time ago What was when we were back in John 10 earlier in Jesus had just said I am the good shepherd That was back several weeks ago when we were in John 10 Remember I showed you a picture of sheep following a shepherd and we showed a picture of a sheepfold or sheep pin and remember we talked about it that time that it was typical in villages of that day for several shepherds to bring their sheep within this pin or sheepfold for the for the night and then in the morning the shepherd would come and Call his sheep now there may be sheep belonging to several shepherds there But the sheep that belong to that particular shepherd would recognize his voice And they would come out and follow him a sheep as a follower and what Jesus is saying you are not my followers You're not my disciples my learners my followers you you're not one of mine and He basically saying you're not a believer So that's the problem. It's not that you don't have enough information. It's not that I haven't said it It's not that I haven't shown it You got plenty of information the problem is in the heart you won't believe because you're not one of my sheep Okay Now he says something about the nature of his sheep in verse 27 my sheep listened to my voice I know them and they follow me obviously these are true believers sheep are true believers they show their true nature By the fact that they follow Christ true sheep people who who are true believers who know Christ Evidence that in their lives by following him that doesn't mean that we follow perfectly doesn't mean we don't wander off sometimes sheep do that They wander off to this little patch of grass and then over to the next one before long They're apart from the shepherd so sheep can wander but as a general rule they hear the shepherd's voice and they follow the shepherd that's characteristic of sheep In other words genuine believers not counterfeits like these religious leaders are followers of Jesus they demonstrate their nature by following the shepherd It's interesting to me that in other parts of the New Testament particularly in in second Peter Peter talks about those who claim to be followers of Jesus False teachers he's talking about in second Peter 2 and he uses a couple of different animals to describe them He says second Peter 2 verse 22 of them the Proverbs are true a dog returns to its vomit and Asal that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud Gross right Why does a dog do that It's nature it's a dog's nature to do that right why does a pig wallow in the mud? It's nature Okay, you can dress up that pig you can put cologne or perfume on that pig you can tie bow around its stubby neck and It will go right back to the to the mud because that's its nature A sheep's nature is to hear the voice of the shepherd and follow And it's interesting to me that Peter in describing those who are not true followers basically say the problem is in their nature They don't follow Christ they turn against him because Their nature has never been changed to sheep. They're still dogs and pigs They've never been changed in their nature So it's the problem is not that the Pharisees and the religious leaders It's probably the problem is not that Jesus hasn't told them who he is Problem is not he hasn't shown them who he is he says I've already told you and I've shown you the problem is your heart your nature You're not sheep Your dogs and pigs basically you're not you're not followers of mine But then notice what he says next about the sheep Great promise he makes about the sheep in verse 28 I give them who are the them the sheep and from verse 27 I give them eternal life And they shall never perish No one will snatch them out of my hand My father who has given them to me is greater than all no one can snatch them out of my father's hand tremendous promises of Of security for the sheep This is what we call eternal security Some people derisively refer to it as once saved always saved you mean you believe in that once saved always saved stuff Well, yeah, the Bible teaches it sure I believe in it But the derision is often once saved always saved and the idea is Once you get saved you don't have to worry about anything you can live like the devil you can turn your back on Christ and walk far from in the rest of your life But you got saves you're always saved right What of Jesus just say in verse 27 Sheath have a new nature They hear his voice and they following Yes, the Bible teaches once saved always saved but it also teaches what theologians refer to as the perseverance of the saints It's the flip side of eternal security eternal security is that God saves us forever The flip side of that is if you are truly saved you will hear his voice and follow him Again doesn't mean perfectly sheep do wonder at times, but as a general rule of life you won't live like the devil You won't turn your back and go whatever way you want indefinitely the rest of your life now if you're a true sheep You'll follow him and that's the flip side. That's that's the other side of the coin of eternal security So there's a balance here in this passage Perseverance of the saints in verse 27 security eternal security verses 28 and 29 But don't let the derision about eternal security water down these promises These are promises every believer should rejoice in grasping and treasuring There are four strong very strong proofs of eternal security in these two verses just look at them quickly First is that we have eternal life you see what Jesus said there in verse 28 What is it that he gives us eternal life now? Let me ask you something how long is eternal It's forever isn't it does eternal ever end Eternity never ends and it is eternal life that we have So that means that life can never end by definition right? By definition that life can never end it is eternal There is a sense in which as Peter says in one of his epistles We are partakers of the divine nature God has given us his life If you have his life eternal life Then that life is just as eternal as God is it will not end any more than God will end So if you don't believe in eternal security, you don't believe in eternal God either It all goes together It all goes together so eternal life the second proof of eternal security in this passage is that we are Given eternal life. This is very important. Jesus says I give them eternal life Eternal life is not only eternal life that lasts forever But it is a gift which means it is totally of God's grace You didn't do anything to deserve it or merit it Which also implies you you don't do anything to maintain it It is totally a gift of God's grace and whatever God gives by his grace Is without any strings attached It is a free gift entirely So it's it's all of grace It's not earned or gained in part or in whole by anything we do It's a gift totally of God's grace The third proof of eternal security here is the fact that we have this promise In verse 28 that we will never perish those that have eternal life shall never perish actually That doesn't say it as strongly as it needs to be said John uses the strongest possible negative actually there are three Greek negatives in a row here And the only way to really render it appropriately in English is they shall never know never perish I mean it's that emphatic It's very strong It's as though John is saying I want you to get this It's not just that they will never perish. They will never know never perish I'm emphasizing that they will never perish now. What is the word perish mean in the Bible? cease to be Okay, that's what we would think the word perish would would typically mean it has a little different twist in the Bible however Separation from God Okay It's important to to grasp the fact that to perish does not mean Extinction or annihilation it doesn't mean in a biblical sense To cease to exist although that's what we would normally think the English word would mean It means eternal condemnation So what it means to perish means that you are as Jamie said forever Separated from God eternally separated from God Doesn't mean you cease to exist, but you are eternally separated from God It's the same word or same idea as the word condemnation And the word condemnation in the Bible is not just judgment It is eternal judgment the word for judgment in the Greek language is is crema And the word for condemnation is kata crema which is a preposition on the front of it that gives it force and and more power this is super judgment if you will condemnation or to perish means eternal separation from God Now do you grasp what this promise is? If you're a sheep if you've trusted Jesus as your savior by a gift of God's grace that you do not merit You do not deserve You didn't gain it nor can you hang onto it by anything you do It's totally a gift of God's grace you are given and it will a life that is as long as the life of God himself It is eternal and you have the promise that you will never know never ever be separated from God And and perish and be condemned in that sense of eternal separation from God that will never happen to you Very strong passage and then the fourth the fourth proof of eternal security is the protection From that ever being taken away from us notice He says no one will snatch them out of my hand What does no one mean? Does that who all does that include Include Satan doesn't it yeah you're right Chuck Who else does it include Jewish leaders yeah You Includes me doesn't it no one that that's That's exclusive of everyone I can't snatch myself out of God's hand Okay, no one can snatch Them out of my hand and then the double promise here verse 29 my father who has given them to me is greater than all No one can snatch them out of my father's hand You you know that heard me saying it's not original with me. This is The all-state promise you're in good hands With God because you're in Christ's hands first of all no one can snatch you out and then you are doubly secure in God's hand He gave you to Christ and no one can snatch you out of his hand either so you're in pretty good hands There's nothing that can take away This promise of eternal life now in four different ways here Jesus has made the promise very clear When you get saved your life will last for an eternity and nothing can change that I didn't say that Jesus said that The Bible says that And so the blessed truth of eternal security apart from Romans chapter 8 This is probably the strongest clearest passage on eternal security in the New Testament very important passage for us to grasp Okay, so Jesus makes this promise to the sheep that the explanation is You you don't believe Because you're not one of my sheep my sheep hear my voice know me follow me I know them they follow me and I make these wonderful promises of eternal life to them Okay, that's the explanation that Jesus gives Any question or comment there yes, what Yeah, the ceiling of the Holy Spirit can be added to that Paul mentions the ceiling of the Holy Spirit twice in the book of Ephesians Ephesians 114 Ephesians 430 where We are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise the seal is a mark of ownership and a mark of security It was taken from the Roman seal of documents in that day where documents were closed and secured by a seal The Holy Spirit himself is the seal his presence in our life Marks us out and seals us protects us as being God's own possession And that's exactly what the ceiling of the Holy Spirit is talking about it is also a factor in our security So you've got yes the hand of the Father the hand of Christ and then the seal of the Holy Spirit Threefold protection. Yeah, thanks for adding that up Yes Yes sufficient There isn't a sufficient answer Yep exactly exactly that's exactly what Jesus is saying Uh, there is no answer that will suffice You because you're you're not one of my sheep I've already told you I've given you sufficient words and works the problem is you're not one of my sheep So you don't believe No, basically what he's saying is I've given you enough information. That's not the problem and so he But he is going to say it again. He is going to say it again and he just has You know that I give eternal life to my sheep and and really in verse 30 we're going to see Him saying it again very clearly for them tell us plainly well Jesus in verse 30 He's going to tell them more plainly than ever told than he's ever told them before He's going to give it to him straight Gonna tell him plainly But yes, you're right John in the sense that um What he's saying is I've already told you I've already shown you nothing is going to satisfy you So for us You know, it's the great comfort that we We hear good voice First Yeah, right you're one of a sheep Yeah And the Bible makes it clear that that nature comes when we trust Jesus Christ as our Savior That's when we're we get the nature of a sheep That's when our nature is changed Because apart from Christ we're in exactly the same Position that the Pharisees were in Now here's the interesting thing I know where we could head with this the interesting thing is Um when do these people become sheep How far back does that go? As I go back to eternity past we're talking about the election here um Jesus is going to offer them I hope we we're not going to have time to get to it But Jesus is going to offer them another invitation to come In verses 37 38 He is still handing out to them you could still come you could still come Okay Whenever there's a strong statement of God's sovereignty in the Bible You almost always find a corresponding balance of man's responsibility I'm still throwing out the invitation to you you could still come And that balance although it doesn't make logical sense and we always get in trouble We fall in one of the ditches on either side of the road if we try to make theology logical That that balance is always in scripture and we always have to keep that balance Between God's sovereignty Election predestination all of that and Man's responsibility Yes Yes, it does further condemn them and and Uh, they are condemning themselves because of their unbelief Yes I'm not sure Um Jesus Jesus is giving them time still and I think in that sense it goes together That Jesus has said Okay, there's coming a time for judgment on the unfruitful tree But I'm going to give it some more time to see if it bears fruit There's a sense in which Jesus is still giving them more time although He has also said At some point in his ministry back in Matthew 12 I'm starting to speak in parables now because you've already made your decision. I'm just going to further blind you So they're already they've already been judged But at the same time he's saying I'm going to give him more time Um There's an amazing balance between God's sovereignty and human responsibility God's God Still throwing out the invitation for us to come You see that over and over again in scripture Pardon me Yes It is part of his grace I mean up till the time he rides into Jerusalem six days before his death He's saying old Jerusalem Jerusalem how often I would have gathered you under my wings, but you would not Okay, that the Man is condemned because of his unbelief It's it's our responsibility. It's a reason why we're condemned Okay, let me just at least get the verse 30 a declaration that is made um Very simple Jesus says I and the father are One this is the clear statement one of the clearest he will ever utter That would Startle his enemies. I mean when Jesus said this Well look at verse 31 the Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him Okay, they're ready to kill him after this I and the father are One this is this should clear any doubt as to his claims as to who he is they came asking him come on now It's time we're forcing a show down here. We've got you surrounded. We're not gonna let you go until you tell us plainly Who are you are you the Messiah? Okay, I'll give you a plain answer. I and the father are one Now what did he mean by that? Did he mean they're the same person? Like there's one god sometimes he's son sometimes he's Father sometimes he's Holy Spirit Please don't answer yes to that I shouldn't have asked that quote if you answered yes, we'd have to vote you out of the church. That's an ancient heresy The nature is the same. They are one in essence not in person. They're different persons Uh, the father is in heaven Jesus is walking on the earth. They're different persons But they have the same nature and this is the this is the plain statement of Jesus saying I am God They have the same nature Deity as the father has Now the Jews didn't Miss that they understood completely what he was saying That's the reason they took up stones To stone him and they will go on to say we don't have time to really get into it Um But they say the reason we're doing this is because you're a blasphemer Well, you see it there in verse Yeah, verse 31 they pick up stones to stone him Jesus said to them I have shown you many good works from the father for which of these do you stone me We are not stoning you for any good work they replied but for blasphemy because you a mere man claim to be god Is Jesus guilty of blasphemy by their definition? What's their definition of blasphemy a mere man that claims to be God? Pardon me If he is a mere man he's guilty he's guilty But he's not a mere man. So he's not guilty right in their minds He's guilty because they think he's a mere man But he's claiming to be God that's blasphemy and they're going to pick up stones to stone him in in accordance with Old Testament law they think they're doing the right thing The problem is not their definition of blasphemy they got the right definition of blasphemy They got the wrong person being accused of blasphemy that's the problem And it all goes back to the misunderstand who he is Because they do not accept his deity the accusing of blasphemy and so um That's the accusation that We'll pick up with next time The Jews state the accusation Jesus is going to deny the accusation the accusation is you're a blasphemer You're a man claiming to be god and Jesus is going to say Uh-uh, no, I'm not He's going to deny the accusation and we'll see how he does it by quoting the Old Testament actually We'll see how he does that next time, okay? John yes Miracles Yeah They We remember what they remember how they dealt with his miracles Remember how he they said he did them what did they say about his miracles He did them by the power of the Elzebubber Satan So because I mean they couldn't deny they had done miracles you're exactly right. I mean that was obvious They saw it in Jerusalem healing of people man born blind Uh-uh man 38 years lame Laded to pull the Bethesda I mean they saw all of that they couldn't deny his miracles So because they couldn't deny the miracles what did they do? They said well they they come from Satan they attributed it to that source and that allowed them to still say You're just a mere man That's how they got by with that No way they could deny his miracles, but they attributed him to Satan Okay Times up kids are going to be crawling through here in a minute if we don't uh let go so we better better pray and let go Thank you Father for The opportunity to study your word. Thank you for Most of our Lord Our matchless Savior the one who confounded his most brilliant critics The one who could never be trapped the one who could never be surrounded The one who could never be stopped The one who had more wisdom than we could ever dream of having Maybe we sit at his feet and learn from him We ask in Jesus name amen