43 John 9-10 - Pastor Chuck Smith - C2000 Series

so we turned on our Bibles to the Gospel according to John chapter 9 Jesus had been having a dispute with the Pharisees in the temple at the time of the Feast of the Tabernacles six months or so before the Passover in which he was crucified and in the eighth chapter it records his conversations with them with his declaring unto them before Abraham was I am and so the last time we saw Jesus they were taking up stones to throw at him and he passed by them and left the temple precincts and as Jesus passed by the ninth chapter opened so that's the background they just have taken up stones to throw at him because of his claim of deity before Abraham was I am and as he passed by he saw a man which was blind from birth as far as the gospel records and only as far as the gospel records surely there are others but the Gospels only record this instance where jesus healed a person of which the scripture declared his malady came from birth now in the Acts there are a couple who had their conditions from birth and no doubt Jesus healed many with congenital ill type of illnesses but this is the only one in the gospel that is recorded distinctly as a condition that existed from birth and so his disciples asked him saying master who did sin this manner is parents that he was born blind now there were those who taught prenatal sin that a child could send while he was still in the womb and there were those who sort of held to this belief and because this was being taught by some of the people some of the rabbi's perhaps this is why the disciples said who did sin that he was born blind Willoughby was born blind him if Easton it meant that he had the sin sometimes before he was born at this time in the history of the Jews the rabbis had also adopted from Plato the idea that people pre-existed as spirits and were waiting for bodies and some of them were good spirits and some of them were bad spirits but men pre-existed as spirits waiting for bodies the teaching of Plato which of course is also the teaching of the Mormons that we all pre-existed as spirits and the heavenly King bodies were given to us that we might go through this trial period on the earth to find out whether or not we will discover the truth of Mormonism and thus can be elevated to godhood in the next world and have our own little planet and our own little system and go on as gods but the pre-existence as spirits receiving our bodies for our testing upon the earth so the question who did sin this man or his parents that he was born blind is this God's judgment upon his parents for some sins they did it is interesting to me that quite often we have that kind of a thought of a direct retribution from God when calamity comes to us God is punishing me for something that I have done or something that I did and thus this hardship or this difficulty or this painful experience is coming to me as God's judgment upon me because of some wrongdoing if that were so I wouldn't be here tonight you see if God brought that kind of a direct cause affect judgment upon people then God would have to be fair in his justice system and thus every person who did the same kind of a deed would have to receive the same kind of a judgment for it there is not that cause-and-effect type of judgment at the present time there will be and God will be just when he judges because it will be completely equal judgment but right now God is seeking to draw them into himself and Jesus said I didn't come to condemn the world but that the world through me might be saved and so their question reflected the constant attitude that people have had that attitude that was expressed by the men who came to comfort Jobe in his affliction you must have done something horrible man just confessed to God and get it over with why are you going on in your misery don't try and tell us you're innocent no one would suffer like this unless he were an evil person and yet the whole story of Jobe seeing the whole picture as we have that opportunity in the Bible we understand that it was not God's judgment upon job for some sin that he had done Satan was afflicting him in order to prove to God that job would fail who did sin jesus answered neither this man nor his parents now I believe at this point the translators made a mistake in punctuation and I think instead of a colon here they should have put a period I think that Jesus answered their question period neither of them that's the answer and I think then he goes on in making a statement that is not really related to the question the question is who did sin matter of the parents that he was born blind Jesus said neither the man nor his parents but that the works of God should be made manifest in him I must work the works of him I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day the night is coming when no man can work Jesus passed off the question saying neither of them but I must do the work of my father and in order that I might do the work of the father that sent me he went ahead and healed the man to do the works of the father but his answer to the question was neither now I do not believe that it is proper to interpret this that God allowed this man this period of blindness just in order that Christ might do a work in him in other words that it was all preset by God in that sense that he was born blind in order that God might do a work of healing it I think that that is the wrong interpretation and that interpretation comes by the colon instead of a period in the Greek text there are no punctuation marks this the translators did in order to try to give us an under and at this point I would prefer to put a period after Jesus said neither this man nor his parents period and then bringing in a new idea but that the works of God should be made manifest in him I must work the works of the Father in order to God's works might be manifested in I've got to do the work of the father for as long as I am in this world I you know the night is coming but while I'm here I'm the light while I'm in the world I'm the light of the world and when he had thus spoken he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay now why do you suppose Jesus did that I am asking a question I don't know the answer why did you do the things I don't know but it's interesting to me because I know that Jesus could have just spoken the word because he did speak the word to other blind men to Bartimaeus down at Jericho he said what would you like he said Lord that I might receive my side Jesus I go that way and and he is his eyes were open and he could see another blind man Jesus touched his eyes and then he said now can you see and he says a little bit men look like trees walking around and it's very fuzzy Jesus touched his eyes again and and when he opened them he could see clearly now Jesus rather than just speaking or rather than laying his hands on his eyes does something quite interesting maybe he is trying to create further controversy with the religious leaders who were on his case for violating the Sabbath day by healing the lame man at the Bethesda months earlier because you see it was against their law traditional interpretation of it to make clay on the Sabbath day that was against the law in fact you could not wear shoes on the Sabbath day where the soles were fastened with nails because that constituted bearing a burden if the soles were fastened with nails that's a little bit too heavy and they had all of these little weird interpretations of the law and to make clay on the Sabbath day was against their law so his spitting in the ground and stirring it with his finger and making clay out of it was a definite violation of their Sabbath day law and when he made this clay he rubbed it in the guy's eyes and they said now go down to the pool of Siloam and wash your eyes out and so the fellow made his way down to the pool of Siloam stuck his head in and washed his eyes off and when he washed his eyes out he could see and his neighbors and those which before had seen him begging said is not this the blind man who sat there and begged all these years and some of them said yes it is another said it sure like looks like him and he said I mean is this the fellow that was blind that was begging sure looks like him yeah it's me they said how is it that you can now see and he answered and said a man that is called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said unto me go to the pool of Siloam and wash and I went and washed and I received sight now notice the progressive revelation of who Jesus is - this man at this point he just knows him as a man who is called Jesus how is it that you can see well a man who is called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said unto me go to the pool of Siloam and wash and I went and washed and I received my sight a man who is named Jesus then they said unto Him where is he and he said I don't know and so they brought the man to the Pharisees and it was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay and open his eyes actually he violated two Sabbath laws it was not lawful to heal on the Sabbath day you could do nothing towards the healing if you sprained your ankle you could not run cold water on it because the cold water had a healing effect so you decide to suffer with the pain until the Sabbath day was over and then you could start running cold water on it but then it was too late and swelling it already begun but you could do nothing towards healing you could save a life do whatever you have to to save the life but nothing towards curing on the Sabbath day so there's two counts against him he made clay and he healed him and again the Pharisees also asked him how he received his sight and he said unto them he put clay upon my eyes and I washed and I can see therefore said some of the Pharisees this man is not of God because he doesn't keep the Sabbath day and others said well how can a man that is a sinner do such miracles and there was a division among them they were arguing among themselves and they said unto the blind man again what do you say of him the one that opened your eyes and he said he is a prophet so he began his a man who has named Jesus now as he is declaring he is a prophet and the Jews did not believe him that he had been blind until they called his parents and they they asked his parents saying is this your son whom you say was born blind we really don't believe that how is it that he can see if he was born blind how is it that he can see and the parents answered them and said we know that this is our son we know that he was born blind but how it is that he can see we don't know why don't you ask him he's of age now they were fearful because the rulers had already determined that if anybody had confessed that Jesus was the Messiah they were going to be thrown out of the synagogue and they didn't want to be kicked out of church and so they they were afraid to answer them and that's why they said he's of age why don't you ask him so again they called the man that was blind and they said unto him give God the praise we know that this man is a sinner and he answered and said whether he is a sinner or not I don't know but one thing I do know whereas I was blind now I can see and they said unto him again what did he do to you now how did he open your eyes and he said I told you already and you didn't listen to me why do you want to hear it again do you want to be one of his disciples then they reviled him and said thou art his disciple but we are Moses disciples we know that God spoke unto Moses but as for this fellow we don't open even know from whence he's coming and the man answered and said unto them why here's a marvellous thing that you don't know from whence he is and yet he has opened my eyes now we know that God hears not sinners but if any man be a worshipper of God and does his will he hears now a lot of people have taken this particular verse as doctrine and as Bible doctrine we know that God does not hear sinners this verse in and of itself cannot be used as a basis for a biblical doctrine that God doesn't hear the sinner's prayers because this is only a part of a conversation between a blind man who at this point isn't even saved and the Pharisees and is expressing just a common belief among the people but not necessarily a biblical doctrine and yet many people have taken this and you hear often people say well God doesn't hear sinners when they pray that is not necessarily so and the scripture surely does not confirm that as biblical truth because this is only the statement of the blind man to the Pharisees in response to their interrogations does God hear sinners when they pray how did you get saved you see if God didn't hear sinners when they prayed none of us would be saved God does hear sinners and that's part of the grace and the mercy of God however if I as a child of God and regarding iniquity in my heart when I pray then the Lord doesn't hear me that's what David said Isaiah said chapter 59 that God's hand is not short that he cannot say neither is his ear heavy that he cannot hear but your sins have separated you from God and sin can separate you from God it can separate your communion with God but to just say God doesn't hear sinners when they pray is not true God does hear sinners when they pray Jesus said and the man who was a sinner went into the temple and bowed his head and would not even so much as lift his head towards God but just smote on his breast and said O God be merciful to me a sinner and he said and that man went to his house justified because God heard his prayer now we do read that the air of the Lord is open to the righteous and he hears their cries but God has ears open also to the sinner when he is calling out to God for mercy and for help God is a gracious gun since the world began he said was it not heard that if any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind you know if a man can open up the eyes of a blind man this is something quite unique if this man were not of God he could do nothing and they answered and said unto Him thou was altogether born in sins and are you trying to teach us now they made the assumption that Jesus said was not true that the blindness was the result of this man sin you were born in sins but Jesus said nono that when the disciples asked who did sin this man was born blind yet they made that assumption because of his blindness from birth and they cast him out he got kicked out of the synagogue so Jesus heard that they had cast him out and when he had found him he said unto Him do you believe on the Son of God and he said who is he Lord that I might believe on him and jesus said unto Him you have both seen him and it is he who is talking to you this takes us back to chapter 4 when Jesus was talking with a woman at the well in Samaria and she said I know that when the Messiah comes he's going to teach us all things and Jesus said I who speak unto thee am he you believe in the Son of God who is he Lord that I might believe him you've both seen him and he's talking to you now he's at Lourdes I believe and he worshiped Jesus so we see this interesting case of a man who was put out by organized religion they put him outside the fold they cast him out but Jesus found him and took him in and some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words and they said to Jesus are we blind also and jesus said unto them if you were blind then you would have no sin but now you say you concede therefore your sin remains there is a saying there are none so blind as those who will not see that was the condition of the Pharisees they said they could see they claim to have superior understanding of the scriptures and yet they refused to see none so blind as those who will not see Jesus said if you were really blind then you could be forgiven but because you say you see you're in big trouble a man will be held responsible for that knowledge that he has they had the knowledge they saw the light they would not walk in that light so chapter 10 it would seem to be is just a continuation of this whole movement here of the blind man receiving his sight being put out by the organized religious system being taken in by Jesus Christ and so jesus said verily verily I send to you he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold but climbeth up some other way the same is a thief and a robber now later on he said I am the door if a man tries to come by any other system by any other way he's a thief and a robber Jesus that I'm the way I'm the door there's one way into the sheepfold that's through the door I'm the door try to climb over the walls or whatever that's the action of a thief of a robber if you try to enter the kingdom of heaven by your good works if you try to enter the kingdom of heaven by being religious you'll never make it jesus said I am the way the truth and the life and no man comes to the Father but by me dr. Adam Smith who traveled extensively in the Holy Land for years getting the insight into the culture of the people has written a very fascinating book giving biblical background and color by the understanding of the culture of these people and he relates of talking with a shepherd one day as the shepherd was pointing out this walled enclosure and explaining to him how that they would drive the sheep into that enclosure at night or lead them into the enclosure and there in the enclosure the sheep would be safe and dr. Smith said to him well you don't have any door how do you keep the Sheep from going out and he said I am the door he said once I have all of the sheep in I lie across the opening here and this is where I sleep and no she can get out or no wolf can get in except it cross over me now he wasn't coming from any kind of a biblical you know thing in fact he probably didn't even know the scriptures but just I'm the door I'm I'm the one you've got to come over me to get in you've got to come over me to get out now Jesus is talking about this kind of a sheepfold that they have over there the Walden enclosures where the sheep were driven in at night and he said he that enter in by the door is the Shepherd of the sheep and to him the porter openeth and the sheep hear his voice and he calleth his own sheep by name and he leads them out so in the evening when they would drive them into these enclosures for safety in the morning when they were ready to leave there would be several herds driven into these enclosures and during the night they would mingle but in the morning when the Shepherd was ready to lead them out to the fields for pasture he would go to the door and he would call and his sheep know his voice they would come out of the 'red and follow him and you could try to mimic that call but the sheep would never follow you they know the voice of the shepherd they respond to him and so he said the sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out and so it's a very colourful picture that was very familiar to those people in that culture unfamiliar to us in our culture but the idea is is that the Shepherd knew his sheep for there were sheep that were his and there were sheep that were not is and in carrying that over into the spiritual allegory tonight the world is comprised of two kinds of people those that are is sheep and those who are not is cheap to classes in the world today you're his or you're not his he knows his sheep he calls them by name now to me every sheep looks alike basically I mean I can't tell the difference between sheep I've watched them flock of sheep on the hillside to me they all look alike but you go up to the Shepherd that's watching those sheep and you'll say hey there's one of your sheep is straying away and and you'll call it by name oh I have trouble with that Joel you know he's some miserable sheep you know you call him Joel get back here you know maybe you let out a whistle and his dog will go out and start yipping and drive him back into the herd he knows his sheep he calls him by name so the Lord knows you if you're one of his sheep calls you by name knows your characteristics and they know his voice now when he puts forth his own sheep he goes before them and his sheep follow him for they know his voice so he calls his own sheep they hear his voice and they follow him though all of the sheep hear the voice only his sheep respond a week from Thursday night we will be dealing in Romans chapter 8 with that infesting passage for whom he did foreknow he did also predestinate that they should be conformed to the image of his son and we're going to be talking about predestination and those whom he foreknew he also chose and those he chose he called and he calls and though all here is called only his sheep respond and how do you know you're his sheep or not by whether or not you've responded to his call and if you have responded to his call you are his sheep if you haven't responded to his call then you're not his sheep just that simple and yet it isn't so simple when you start getting into it my sheep they hear my voice they follow me a stranger he said they will not follow but will flee from him for they know not the voice of strangers and this parable spake Jesus unto them but they did not understand the things of which he was speaking unto them and so he began to explain it verily verily I said to you I am the door of the Sheep all that ever came before me are thieves and robbers but the Sheep did not hear them now he's not referring to Moses and Elijah and the prophets when he said all that came before me are thieves and robbers but he is referring to the decadent religious system that Judaism had degraded into trying to make another way to God trying to bring man to God through works through the foolishness of the Pharisees and their endeavour to keep the traditional aspects of the law but the Sheep did not hear them I am the door By Me If any man will enter in he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture I'm the door jesus said you've got to come you've got to enter by me the religious system of Judaism isn't going to make it for you you've got to enter by me now the thief comes not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy and that's exactly what false religious systems will do for you they will steal from you they will rob you and ultimately they'll destroy you but jesus said I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly what a contrast to the religious systems and to Christianity unfortunately Christianity is often ranked as one of the religions of the world Christianity is far from a religious system as I study and analyze religious systems and make a comparison to Christianity the basic difference lies in that religions are all man's endeavors to reach God and so if I were to draw a cartoon to represent religion I would draw a circle the earth and because of my artistic ability I'd put a little stick man on the circle with hands lift it up trying to reach God man starting at his earth base I'd put him on his tiptoes trying to reach heaven trying to reach infinity trying to reach God the religious systems our man trying to build a bridge to God but no matter how tall he may stretch you cannot bridge from the finite to the infinite it's an impossibility if I were to draw a picture of Christianity I would have the round circle the earth and hands coming out of heaven towards that little man on earth for Christianity is God's endeavor to reach man when Jose Jacob was fleeing from his brother Esau and he came to Bethel and he found a rock he used it for his pillow and because of his exhaustion went to sleep as he was sleeping he had a dream and in his dream he saw a ladder and it was planted on earth and it went up to heaven and the Lord was standing at the top of the ladder and the angels of God were ascending and descending on this ladder from heaven to earth and when he awoke in the morning he was filled with the sense of awe and he said truly the Lord is in this place and I knew it not last night when I arrived here fright and tired weary sore I had no consciousness of the presence of God a barren rocky desolate place I knew it not but I know it now truly the Lord is in this place and I knew it not notice the tenses the Lord is here I didn't know it last night I sure not now that ladder between earth and heaven now religion tries to build that ladder from the earth to reach up to heaven the finite trying to reach the infinite but with Christianity the infinite has reached the finite now I can accept that the infinite can reach down and touch the finite that's no problem for the infinite God and so with Christianity I have no problem at all with religion I have tremendous problems because you have the finite trying to reach the infinite how can it happen it can now Jesus interestingly enough declared to his disciples when he was first calling them he said he'd get a marvel at this just because I said I saw you on a fig tree he'd stick around you're gonna see a lot more than this man from now on you're going to see the heavens open and the angels of heaven ascending and descending on the Son of man what is he saying I am Jacob's Ladder I am the access to God you're going to see heaven open for man for God is reaching down God is building the ladder and I am the ladder that God has made whereby man might come to God so the vast difference between Christianity and religion the religious systems will rob a man they'll destroy a man whereas Christianity will bring a man life and that more abundantly the religious systems all have their little formulas the works that you must do in order that you might be accepted by God and they have all of these little work trips that you've got to accomplish in order that you might be accepted by God Christianity says there's not a single work that you can do that God will accept they're like filthy rags in his sight to be accepted by God you must believe not by works of righteousness which we have done but by faith will God accept a man religion say you have to be good enough and worthy enough for God to accept you Christianity says there's no way you can be good enough or worthy enough that God will accept you the only way God can accept you is in his son so he that has the son has life and he who has not the son has not life so we see the contrast between the religions which Jesus said were thieves and robbers trying to bring man into the sheepfold by another way and the door whereby a man may enter into the sheepfold one system is based upon works the other system based upon faith now Jesus said I've come that they might have life and they might have it more abundantly how Satan is lied to men about the Christian experience you see it was Satan's ploy to make Christianity a religion and unfortunately he was quite successful and so in many places Christianity became a religion and whenever that transition was accomplished it died true Christianity died and it became a form and even in the biblical times Paul spoke of those who had a form of godliness but no power no life the religious system points and says now that's the way you ought to live if you want God to accept you but it gives you no assistance to live that way Jesus points and says now this is the way and you can't do it but as you believe in me I'm going to come and I'm going to end well you I'm going to take over and I'm going to make you a new person and I'm going to give you the power to do what you can't do because I want you to have this abundant life of fellowship with the father and he does for us what we can't do for ourselves by the indwelling you see no religious system gives you the power to abide by its concepts only Christianity is the infusion of God's power to live the life that God would have you to live that more abundant life in Christ Jesus then went on to say I am The Good Shepherd the Good Shepherd his life for the Sheep but he that is a hireling and not the shepherd whose own sheep whose own the sheep are not sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees and the wolf catches them and scatters the Sheep so Jesus points out the contrast between this shepherd the true Shepherd and the hireling a young minister came to me for he had been invited by a church to be its pastor and he went to the church and preached a sermon that the people enjoyed and he met the board and the board laid down for him his salary his duties and also the restrictions that they sought to put upon they gave him quite a list of what he could do and what he couldn't do and he came to me because he was wondering whether or not he should accept the invitation to become their pastor and I encouraged him not to accept it I said they're really not looking for a shepherd they're looking for a hireling they're going to hire you to be their minister to save the things they want to hear to do the things they want done but they're not really looking for a shepherd they're looking for a hireling and I wouldn't be a hireling for anybody my services are not for sale the hireling Reedy doesn't care for the Sheep the Shepherd does the Shepherd knows the Sheep he loves the Sheep he would give his life for the Sheep a hireling danger comes he'll run because he's only a hireling what more do you expect but the Shepherd will hazard his life he'll lay down his life if necessary for his flock because he loves them Jesus that I'm The Good Shepherd the other religious systems their hireling 's they'll run they'll leave you to the wolves who will rip and scatter the flock but I'm the Good Shepherd I'll lay down my life for the flock the hireling flees because he is a hireling and doesn't really care for the Sheep now unfortunately today there are many men in the ministry who are hirelings they're professionals they really don't care for the Sheep because they're high earnings and their only concern is to fleece the flock of God and there's a bunch of guys out there seeking to fleece the flock of God they sit up night figuring new ways to extract money out of people now if we write this in the letter and you know they spend or they spend thousands of dollars having professionals write these letters with the gimmicks all designed to fleece the flock of God their higher links they really don't care for the flock of God though in the letters it often says oh I've been thinking about you today Charles is everything all right the Lord brought you to my mind when I was in prayer this morning and how I would love to come to your house there in Costa Mesa and sit down and talk with you but I know you're so busy you probably wouldn't have time for me to come but why don't you write to me your request I'm pleasing clothes and offering because our ministry is facing in on hirelings fleecing the flock of God the Shepherd's concern is to feed the flock of God bring them into good pasture food that they might grow jesus said to Peter feed my sheep Peter wrote feed the flock of God which is among you and the shepherd seeks to feed the flock they might be strong and healthy God hasn't has blessed us abundantly in many ways God has blessed investments that we have made and has prospered us far beyond anything we ever dreamed and because of God's blessings I thank the Lord that I'm able to return over half of my salary to the church each year my son said to me dad why do you keep preaching why do you keep going on then you could retire because you get most of your salary back anyhow why don't you just retire down and take it easy you know why are you you know you're still pushing so hard when you don't have to anymore I just smiled said what would I do you know it's my heart it's my love it's my life feeding the flock of God I love it you don't really realize this but you can cut off my salary and I'd still be here because I love it it's just to me a glorious thing to see God work and to have this privilege it's wonderful when when people call for me to come and speak in various areas and they say what honorarium do you charge and it's a thrill to be able to say well I have a very wealthy father and he is underwritten all of my expenses I don't charge anything he covers for me oh how glorious it is to have received freely so that we can give freely I thank God for the position that he has put me in that as Paul I'm ready chargeable to no man I'm responsible to God to be his servant to do his work not a hireling you can't hire me but I want to be his under Shepherd feeding his sheep jesus said I am The Good Shepherd and I know my sheep and am known of mine that beautiful relationship that we have with him he knows me I know him he loves me I love him and I have this beautiful relationship with the Good Shepherd and as the father knows me even so I know the father and I lay down my life for the Sheep now he said earlier that he gives his life for the Sheep now he says I lay down my life for the sheep another sheep I have which are not of this full and of course he's talking about the Gentiles those who would believe in him he talking about you you're a part of the other sheep that were not of that full them also I must bring and they shall hear my voice and there shall be one fold and one Shepherd and so in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek barbarian Scythian bond or free we're all one together in him there's neither status rank whatever we're just all common one in Jesus Christ long hair short hairs coats ties and doesn't matter were one in Jesus Christ that common denominator who has broken down every barrier that man has built up to divide himself from others one of the sad byproducts of existential philosophy is the way it divides men and isolates men into an island all by himself there is no universal base of truth according to these philosophers it is only as you personally experience it and interpret it that it becomes truth to you but it is only truth to you and not necessarily to the one next to you you're isolated you're alone and so you look at modern art which is an expression of existential philosophy and you see these colors just like someone stood back at 10 paces picked up a ball of red paint and threw it at the canvas and you get this splattering effect and then you picked up a blue ball and threw it and and then he puts a title underneath sunset over the Grand Canyon and you look at that thing and you study it and someone standing next to you they say oh isn't that beautiful isn't that glorious and you think man what are they seeing you know you know in the critics a claim that as marvelous art there's an I hear there's a toe down here and a hand out over here you know on Oh classic art but for the life of me I can't see it but that's the whole idea you have to interpret it in these stories where it really leaves the end of the story hanging the guy is walking down the road and you don't know if he's going to pull out his 45 and blow his brains out and that's the end or you don't know if he's going to be reconciled to his wife and live happily ever after they leave you hanging you've got to put the end on yourself because that's an expression of existential philosophy every man must didn't interpret it for himself so you've got to put your own interpretation on the story what did it really say you know what did it mean and I don't know I think that it's really oftentimes an excuse for the senility of the writers they don't know what they're trying to say either but it appears very profound because nobody can understand it you know and so everybody acclaims it is all marvelous nobody can understand it that's glorious but what it does is isolate us puts me on this little island all by myself and I'm alone in a great big world and no one really shares my same feelings no one really shares my same thoughts and I feel this horrible isolation man has a way of building up walls between himself and others but Jesus has a way of breaking down those laws and he brings us all together and he makes this one and in declares I am the truth and he gives us a universal base for truth he is that universal base for truth so together in him we were brought together the walls are down and so as Paul said he has broken down that wall of partition that used to exist between us and has made us all one other sheep have I who are not of this fold I've got to go out and call them to that there might be one full than one shepherd therefore does my father love me because I lay down my life that I may take it again so here he is prophesying both his death and resurrection which at this point are about five months away no man takes it from me but I lay it down of myself I have power to lay it down I have power to take it again this commandment have I received in my father Jesus testified I have the power to lay my life down he demonstrated it on the cross no man takes my life from me they did not kill Jesus on the cross they hung him on the cross but he dismissed his spirit he robbed them of the opportunity of killing him they couldn't have killed him he dismissed his spirit he said father into your hands I commend my spirit and it says and he dismissed his spirit he gave his life no man takes my life I give my life I have the power to lay my life down I have the power to take it up he proved he had the power to lay it down and then three days later he proved that he had the power to take it up and he rose from the dead and we'll be celebrating that the tomb is empty he has power to take it up again now there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings many of them said he has a devil he's mad why are you even listening to him and others said these are not the words of a madman or a man that has a devil can a devil open the eyes of the blind and so there came at this point a very sharp division among the people no time lapse and between verse 21 and 22 there is a time lapse from October to December the things in verse 21 were taking place during the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem in October now John tells us and it was at Jerusalem the feast of dedication also known as the feast of lights which took place on the 25th of December this feast of dedication was their celebration of the cleansing of the temple by judas maccabees after it had been profaned by Antiochus Epiphanes the Syrian leader or leader of Syria's I do greet and this was the celebration of that cleansing again of the temple by this brave warrior and Jesus was again in Jerusalem and it was winter December and Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch and the Jews gathered around him and they said unto Him how long do you leave us in doubt if you are the Messiah tell us plainly and jesus answered them and said I have already told you but you did not believe he had already told them before Abraham was I am and and so he said I've already told you they wanted him to say plainly I am the Messiah and he would not give them that satisfaction earlier jesus said to his disciples who do you say that I am and Peter said thou art the Messiah the Son of the Living God and Jesus said blessed art thou simon flesh and blood did it reveal this to you but my father which is in heaven he acknowledged it before the disciples to the woman of Samaria who said I know that when the Messiah comes he's going to teach us all things he said woman I who am speaking to you am he but yet he had not plainly said it to the Jews and they were wanting this plain declaration how long do you leave us in doubt if you are the Messiah tell us plainly and jesus answered them and said I've told you and you believe not now the works that I do in my father's name they are bearing witness of me the opening of the eyes of the blind the healing of the man that was lame for thirty-eight years these miracles that he was accomplishing that you don't need that I tell you plainly these works testify of Who I am and if you go back in the prophecy of Isaiah concerning the Messiah chapter 61 you'll find these things written of him but you do not believe me because you are not my sheep interesting statement we'll get into that when we get into predestination as I said unto you my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me now it's three months later and he's coming right back to the last thing he was talking to them about his sheep following him so though there's been a lapse of time Jesus brings him right back to this same subject that he was talking to them about earlier now he is making some very interesting statements between concerning his sheep and listen carefully my sheep hear my voice I know them they follow me and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand you know when I read that it makes me so thankful that I am one of his sheep what a glorious assurance that brings to me tonight to be one of his sheep to have heard his voice to have responded to follow him to have received that eternal life realizing I will never perish and no man can pluck me out of his hand he said my father which gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand I am my father are one you want me to tell you plainly how plain you want it I am my father are one that's plain enough they took up stones to stone him we got the message plain enough Jesus is here claiming what is rightfully his claim equality with the Father in Philippians the second chapter we read that he who was in the beginning with God and thought it not robbery or something to be grasped to be equal with God I am the father or one claiming the equality with God claiming deity they understood the claim to them it was blasphemous and they were ready to stone him according to their understanding of the law for blasphemy people say well Jesus never claimed to be God they've never read the scriptures I and the father are one how plain can you get jesus answered them many good works have I showed you from My Father now for which of these works are you going to stone me again it's still me because I open up the vine man's eyes or because I healed the main man at the Pool of Bethesda which of my works are you going to stone me for and they said we're not stoning you for the good works but for blasphemy because that you being a man make yourself God they understood exactly what he was saying when he said I am the father are one you obeying a man are making yourself God and jesus answered them is it not written in your law I said notice in your law that I said here he's claiming the authorship of their law have you not written in your law that I said Ye are gods if he called them gods unto whom the Word of God came and the scripture cannot be broken say ye of him whom the father hath sanctified and sent into the world you blaspheming you blasphemous because I said I am the son of God if I'm not doing the works of my father then don't believe me again calling his works as a witness now what does he mean those to whom the Word of God came were called gods this we find quoted in psalm 82:6 and you might look at it there back you might put a little note in john psalms 82:6 so that when the mormons come to your door and try and prove that they have every right to claim and ascendency to thee to god and to become gods this is the basis because he said Ye are gods and in psalms 82:6 it said I have said Ye are gods and all of you are children of the Most High now notice he is quoting there I have said he's quoting the scripture what Scripture is he quoting put in psalms 82:6 exodus 22 8 and 9 and now you have your own chained reference Bible in Exodus 22 God is now laying down his law that the judges were to enact upon the people and when these things would happen this kind of a condition existed this is how the judges were to rule in those cases and so the word of the Lord is coming to the judges over Israel that they might enact upon Israel the laws of God so in verse 8 as he's talking about a situation if a thief is not found then the master of the house shall be brought to the judges to see whether he has put his hand into his neighbor's goods for all manner of trespass whether it is for an ox or an ass or sheep or raiment or for any manner of lusting which another challenge is to be is the cause of both party shall come before the judges and whom the judges shall condemn he shall pay double his neighbor now you're missing your jacket and you look all over the house and you can't find it and you go down to the store and you see your neighbor wearing your jacket and you say that's my jacket that's been missing out of my house oh no it's not it's my jacket I've bought it at Buckland's and so you've got this dispute going the man denies that he stole it from you so you come before the judges and the judges then are to make this decision the cause of both parties brought before them now the interesting thing is that the word translated judges is the Hebrew word Elohim which is the word for God's so that the judges are as gods over the people in that they are controlling the destiny of these people as they meet out their judgment they are acting in God's place and so those who make all gods were actually those judges who were enacting God's laws upon the people it was not a doctrine that you know if you're a good Mormon you and your wife can be God and have your own earth someplace but it is just declaring that the judges were called gods because of the responsibility they had of enacting God's judgments upon the people and so to whom the word came the judges the rules came to them they were then called gods and so Jesus said is it not written in your law that ye are gods I said your God so he's not really referring to Psalms but he's free referring directly back to the book of Exodus chapter 22 verses eight nine while we're on the Mormons I had a couple of young boys come to the door this past week and desired to engage me in conversation and I told them that somehow we didn't believe in the same God though they used a lot of the same terms that I use and they talked about Jesus and they talked about God and they talked about salvation through faith in Jesus Christ and through faith in his blood that was shed for our sins and and to talk to them it seems that they believe very fundamentally much as I believe but I said the problem is when you talk about God you're talking about a different God than the God that I believe in because I do not believe that Adam is my God he is not the God that I'm worshipping and serving though your prophet whom you acknowledges of prophet Brigham Young did state that Adam is our God and the only God with whom we have to do he said well you don't really understand what the Prophet was trying to tell us I said well I don't know I've read the sermon several times and I read all of his defenses of the sermon and the magazine articles in the Morningstar that followed and I said in reality don't you believe that you're going to be God and he said yes I said if you remain faithful to your Mormon beliefs and faithful to the church that you can ascend and you can be God and you can have your own planet and and all yes we believe that I said then in reality what Brigham Young was saying is in perfect consistency with what you believe you are taking it one step ahead you say we're going to ascend we're going to be God we'll have our own planet he took it back one step and he is saying that Adam somewhere in some of the world achieved this level of perfection became God and brought one of the celestial wives seeds to the earth and started the whole thing here on the earth so he only took the Mormon doctrine back a step instead of forward his death and if the forward step is a logical step then the backward step would be a logical step so Brigham Young was correct in his interpretation of your doctrine that you're going to be God only taking a back a step and step forward a step because this progression must have been going on through eternity and I said and you talked about believing in Jesus Christ and salvation through your faith in Him but the Jesus that you believe in is he the brother of Lucifer and he said yes we believe he's the brother of Lucifer and I said well then he's not the same Jesus that I believe in you're talking about another Jesus Christ I don't know the Jesus you are talking about because the Jesus that I believe in is not the brother of Lucifer because that would make Lucifer a son of God but the Jesus that I believe in is the only begotten Son of God he's not a creative being and Lucifer is a creative being of God and if you believe that Jesus is the brother of Lucifer then you brought Jesus down jesus said I and the father are one so the Jesus I believe in is not a brother of Lucifer but is one with a father until we believe actually in different gods and in different Jesus's the four boys were stunned and they walked away shaking their heads and I'm praying for them I'm praying for them very seriously there were sweet young men I didn't like devastating them but I felt that it was important that they see that the Jesus that they are proclaiming to believe in is actually a different Jesus than the one who is my Shepard whose voice I have heard and am following because the Jesus I believe in is one with a father he can say I and the father are one so this business er gods is a reference to the judges who are enacting God's laws upon the people if he called them gods unto Him the Word of God came the scripture cannot be broken say ye of him whom the father hath sanctified now Jesus said first of all the father has set me apart and has sent me into the world and you're saying to me that I'm blaspheming because I say I'm the son of God and if I do not the works of my father then don't believe me again he's calling the works these are the testimony Philip said Lord show us the father and we'll be satisfied and he said have I been so long a time with you Philip have you not seen me he that sees me hath seen the father how sayest thou then shows the father believe us now that I am in the father and the father in me or else believe me for the very works sake the works are testifying no man can open the eyes of the blind no man can do these works except God is with him as Nicodemus recognized in chapter 3 but if I do though you believe not me believe the works if I do not the works of my don't believe me but if I do the worst of my father then you don't believe me at least believe it works that you may know and believe that the father is in me and I in him therefore they sought again to take him they were going to arrest him but his hour had not yet come and thus he escaped out of their hand they had him surrounded but he escaped out of their hand and so now he went away again beyond Jordan under the place where John at first was baptizing and there he stayed stayed until he made his final trip back to Jerusalem at the call of Mary and Martha to raise their brother Lazarus from the dead and then to be arrested at the Passover and to be crucified so he's now down by the Jordan River near the area where he began his ministry with John the Baptist and many resorted unto him and said John did no miracle with all things that John's fake of this man are true and many believed on him their people who lived in the area who had heard John's ministry said there's one coming after me mightier than I the latchet of whose shoes I'm not worthy to stoop down and unloose they said everything John said about this man is true and many believed on him down there by the Jordan River and he spent the next couple of months actually from December January February March until the month of April he spent down there by the Jordan River before making his journey back to Jerusalem now in Chapter 11 we get him coming back to the area of Bethany to Lazarus and that marvelous miracle again the works if you don't believe me believe the works and now he is showing works that are indisputable as he raises Lazarus from the dead and we enter into the final aspects of the life of Christ prior to his crucifixion so chapters 11 and 12 for next Sunday again we pray that the Lord will just give you a marvelous week may he strengthen you may he give wisdom to you may he bless you on your jobs in your various activities may he open up opportunities of service and of witnessing and may he use your life as an instrument to do his work in this needy world may his spirit rest upon you in a very special way and may as you celebrate the resurrection you just be filled with that joy and that power of the Spirit that same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead as he dwells within you making you alive unto God into the things of God all to the glory of Jesus our Lord

Channel: Ken Zenk

Views: 16,628

Rating: 4.7108436 out of 5

Keywords: Bible, God, Jesus, Christ, Love, Hell, Death, Sex, Marriage, Drugs, Satan, Porno, Cancer, Sports, Girls, Music, Holy Spirit, Children, Family, Heaven, Healing, Pregnant, Aids, Gay, Movies, TV Shows, Animals, Israel Prophecy, Last Days, Christian, Jewish People, Gentiles

Id: bc2FkuZ9nUE

Length: 84min 47sec (5087 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 27 2013