The Heavenly Scholar (Part 1)

John 7 and the Setting of the Feast of Tabernacles

I'd like to speak to you this morning about the Heavenly Scholar, the Heavenly Scholar. And I want to break this up in three parts. I'm not going to get it all here today on this one sermon. This will be part one, an introduction.

I want to touch roughly on four verses from chapter 7. So please open your Bibles with me as we continue our study through the Gospel of John, the fourth Gospel. I'm grateful that this has been such a wonderful study through the Gospel of John.

And actually, Brother Keith, Tyler, recommended, didn't know exactly what direction to go in after we went through the years back at Redeeming Grace Church. We studied through the Gospel of James, I say the Gospel of James, the Epistle of James.

Went through that study. Wonderful study, wasn't it? James. Who can forget James? The Epistle of James. Powerful. Then we went through 1 and 2 Peter. And then in between we had other verses and chapters to look over, but here we are.

And thank you, Brother Keith, for recommending this wonderful Gospel of John. It's wonderful, isn't it? All about the Lord Jesus Christ. All about Christ. His person. His works. So we find ourselves here in chapter 7.

This is where we are. Chapter 7. And actually, this particular section picks up in verse 10 to 24. Verse 10 to 24. But I'm going to pick up with verse 1 just to help us all and those that have not been here as we're going through this wonderful book in chapter 7.

And just to pick up the background where it's taking us to understand the context. So that's so critical. So critical. So if you read and study chapter 7, you roughly have 53 verses. 53 verses. And there's a lot here.

And mainly Jesus, as we will be seeing, He goes up to Jerusalem. He's attending the Feast of Tabernacles. Jesus fulfilled all this. He fulfilled this. He fulfilled the law to the letter. He fulfilled it.

That's what He said He came to do. He came to fulfill the law. Not to destroy it, but to fulfill it. And He does it in every way. Perfectly. Let me begin with verse 1. And I'm going to read it to verse 24.

And again, we're only going to just cover, look at mainly at verse 10 to 13. But there's a lot here that surrounds these verses. So hear the word of the living God. After these things, Jesus walked in Galilee, and He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him.

Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. His brothers therefore said to Him, Depart from here and go into Judea, that your disciples also may see the works that you are doing. For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly.

If you do these things, show yourself to the world. For even His brothers did not believe in Him. Then Jesus said to them, My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I testify of it that its works are evil.

You go up to this feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come. And when He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee. Now we come to the section of the heavenly scholar.

But when His brothers had gone up to Jerusalem, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. Then the Jews sought Him at the feast and said, Where is He? And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him.

Some said, He is good. Others said, No, on the contrary, He deceives the people. However, no one spoke openly of Him for the fear of the Jews. Now about the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and taught.

And the Jews marveled, saying, How does this man know letters, having never studied? Jesus answered them and said, My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone wills to do his will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak of My own authority.

He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory. But he who seeks the glory of the One who sent him is true. No unrighteousness is in him. Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps it, keeps the law?

Why do you seek to kill Me? The people answered and said, You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill you? Jesus answered and said to them, I did one work, and you all marvel. Moses therefore gave you circumcision.

Not that it was from Moses, but from the fathers. And you circumcised a man on the Sabbath. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?

Verse 24, we'll stop right here. Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment. May God bless the reading of His holy word to our hearts this morning. Please bow with me in prayer as we pray within this hour of worship as God would be pleased to open our eyes and our hearts and open our ears to receive of His good word.

Our gracious Heavenly Father, we praise and thank You once again for Your holy word. Lord, as I speak this and pray this to You, Lord, I pray, oh God, that You would save us from any apathy of Your word.

Lord, help us to truly thank You from our hearts that we have Your word in our language this morning. It has cost the blood of many saints. Pray that we never ever take this for granted, Lord. We need Your blessed Holy Spirit to open our eyes, our hearts, our minds.

Lord, to illumine Your truth to our hearts and souls. Lord, we cannot do this within ourselves. Lord, I seek not to preach a perfect sermon just to speak Your word. Speak Your word in truth and power and in Your spirit.

Lord, I ask for Your divine help this morning and I ask for divine help and guidance and wisdom for all that is listening to Your word this morning that the attention not be on the messenger but on the master.

Fathers, we study this wonderful section from John chapter 7. Lord, may we be all open to Your truth and discerning by Your Spirit, seeking to understand Your will, to discern what is true and what is not true.

O God, help us and give the church today discernment that comes from the fear of You, O Lord. Ignite our hearts. Enflame our hearts, Lord, this morning that our desire would be to obey Your word, to do Your will, that we might know Your truth and be set free through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

And we ask this for Your honor and glory in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, Bev, as we have already seen last Lord's Day in chapter 7 and the previous Lord's Day, as we've been looking at that Jesus' brothers disbelieve Him, even His own brothers, Jesus made it very clear to His brothers that while they could go to the feast here of the tabernacles, the feast of the booths, whenever they wanted to, that His schedule was on the divine schedule.

His schedule was on the divine timetable. He goes at a different time frame. If you notice this, you see this in verse 10. But when His brothers had gone up, they had already gone up before Him. Jesus basically stayed behind.

The timing had to be perfect and Jesus knew the timing of the Father had to be in perfection and of providence. Then He also went up to the feast not openly as the brothers tempted Him to. Notice that?

Because they said, seek to show yourself openly to the world. Jesus does the contrary. He does what is opposite of what the brothers tempted Him to do. But as it were in secret, He goes in secret. The world's hatred of Jesus was because He spoke the truth.

That's why they hated Him. It reveals their sin and is the same today as it was then. Therefore Jesus remained in Galilee after His brothers departed from the festival. Verse 9, when He said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.

Then He goes up. Commentator on John's Gospel here at the beginning. I will give you a little front porch setting here. And this is wonderful as I read this from the Interpreter's Bible commentary. It paints a picture for us of what is happening at the setting at the Feast of Booths, the Feast of Tabernacles.

Listen to what this commentator says. I don't know who wrote it but it comes from the Interpreter's Bible. Quote, chapter 7 has nothing like the spiritual appeal for most people in the wonderful chapter 6.

Yet it too is a mastery piece of writing. As we read it, the ancient eastern city rises up and takes shape around us. We are in it, mingling with the things upon the streets, jostling and being jostled.

For there is something electric in the air, and everybody is excited, inflamable, on the edge. Everywhere there are groups, there are couples, their heads close together, their voices are low and guarded.

For there are listening ears and watchful eyes, and the officers and spies of the authorities, who knew where, perhaps unsafely near, according to verse 12 and 13. And so one had to be cautious what one said.

But all alike were discussing the one, the one topic, and risk or no risk. From it there was much arguing, and there was heated differences of opinion. End quote. How true that is. What a picture. What a picture.

And that topic concerning who? The Lord Jesus Christ. He was the topic. He was the one in which they were speaking of. And I don't know about you today, you still see on the bookshelves, and if you go into a grocery store, especially around Christmas time, around Easter time, there's always, whether it be Time Magazine, People of the World, people everywhere, even in the churches, the topic is all about Jesus Christ.

Who is Jesus Christ? Who is Christ? And everyone has a picture of Christ, and we were talking about that in the Sunday School today, a warped view of Christ of the pictures and the paintings, which are graven images, basically, of how Christ would look like, but no one knows the way He looked like.

It's best to have the picture from Revelation 1, because that's the way the Bible says His word says He looks like. His countenance is as a flame. He speaks as a flame of fire. A two-edged sword comes from His mouth.

His countenance is like the sun shining in all its strength. But here He is in flesh, concerning Jesus. The topic is Jesus. Now we come into the setting of the Feast of Tabernacles, right in the midst of this feast, and this is where we're going to be the next Lord's Day, and then we're going to have Brother Bob Self come and speak, and then Lord willing, God willing, I'll pick it up again, one more sermon, and try to get it in three here, because there's a lot here.

There's a lot here. What is said about Jesus, the setting, there's much. There's a debate. There's a debate. Warren Wiersbe talked about it. I got this from Brother Keith. He speaks of this is like a feast fight.

Not a fist fight, but a feast fight. Verses 1 to 10, there's disbelief. This is Warren Wiersbe, where I got this from. From verse 11 to 36, there's debate. That's where we are here. There's disbelief, then there's debate from verse 11 to verse 36, and then at the end of the feast, from verse 37 to 52, there's division.

You have disbelief, you have debate, you have division. So you can neatly summarize this chapter as Wiersbe did so wonderfully in those three sections, disbelief, debate, division. And here we see the debate.

We see the debate that's going on. Within this debate, right in the center of it is the Lord Jesus Christ. Everybody's got a picture of Christ. Everybody has an opinion about Christ. Different groups of people are here.

There's three groups. The first group we see are the Jewish leaders. They are what is known as the Jews.

The Jews.

He came unto His own, His own received Him not. Could be interpreted His own people, His own race. The Jewish leaders, the Jews, those who lived in Jerusalem, those who were attached to the temple ministry, those that are at the temple.

And who are at the temple? The leaders. Who are the leaders? This group would include the Pharisees, number one. The Pharisees would be like Nicodemus. That's why we see Nicodemus in chapter 3. And in chapter 2, you see Christ as going towards this direction.

And we see the temple. He cleanses the temple in chapter 2. He meets Nicodemus in chapter 3. What really attracts the people? And why many people followed Christ? The miracles. The miracles actually were to show and demonstrate who Jesus is.

Even though He met their needs. But Jesus always pointed to a spiritual application to those miracles. They were not just miracles for miracles sake. Even though the Lord Jesus Christ cared for the people as a shepherd because He saw them as a sheep without a shepherd.

He met their needs but He always would give Him Himself. He is the gospel. Notice this. He says, I am the bread of life. He feeds them physical bread and then He points to Himself. He said, I am the bread from heaven.

It was always a spiritual application. So we see the first group, the Jews. The people that was involved there, the Pharisees like Nicodemus. And the chief priest. The chief priest and we would say also the Sadducees as well and the scribes.

There's a lot of groups of religious leaders here folks. Heard this years ago but you can apply it to our day today. That the Pharisees basically summarized the group of the religious people that are the conservative groups.

They were the more conservative. Where the religious leaders and the Sadducees were more like the liberal scholars of our day. Very much, very similar. Some things don't change, do they? You got the conservatives and you have the liberals.

You have many different sects here, groups. The priests, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scholars of the day. That's one group packed all in. There's a lot of people here at the feast. The second group consisted of the people in general, the people.

We see this in John chapter 7 verse 12. The people, the people, among the people concerning him. Verse 20. The people answered and said, you have a demon who is seeking to kill you. Verse 31 and 32. And many of the people believed in him and said when the Christ comes, will he do more signs than these which this man has done?

The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning him. The Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him. So you see these groups of people, the people. These people would be at the festival, a crowd that had come to Jerusalem to worship.

So the people. Telling us that they were not basically up to date of all the gossip that was going on about Jesus. They were considered a lawbreaker by the officials. So you have the religious groups, the Jews at the temple, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes, the chief priests, the people.

The third group of people you would see composed mainly of the Jews who resided in Jerusalem itself. It says in verse 25, now some of them from Jerusalem. Some came from Jerusalem like the home base said, is this not he whom they seek to kill?

So you have basically three groups of people. These here in verse 25, they of course sadly would likely sided with the religious leaders because of the fear of the Jews. So we are seeing a very serious debate here beloved.

We are right in the midst of it and we're going to be in the midst of this the next three sermons. God willing, keep in mind that this debate really began before Jesus even arrived at the city. Keep that in mind.

Before he even arrived this debate was going on and it centered on who he is, his character. You see this in verse 10 to 13 and that's what we're going to look at today. That will be our focal point. Let me read it again.

But when his brothers had gone up, then he also went up to the feast not openly but as it were in secret. Then the Jews sought him at the feast and said, where is he? Where is he? Verse 12. There was much complaining or murmuring, same thing, among the people concerning him.

Some said he is good. Notice the different views that they have about Jesus. How many people that you know today that say Jesus is a good person? He's just a prophet. Oh, he's good. He's a good man. A lot of the cults look at Jesus like that.

And this is supposedly a religious group of people that come together for church, so to speak. They don't have the slightest idea who Jesus really is because they don't see Jesus and what do they deny?

They deny his lordship. That Christ is Lord. Remember the whole theme of John's gospel? The deity of Christ.

He is deity.

He is Lord. Folks, Jesus being Lord is everything. He is God. All the cults deny this. He's a good prophet. He's a good man. He's a created being, the Jehovah Witnesses say. The Mormons say that Jesus is a created being as well and he's even a brother of Lucifer.

Blasphemy. These people are clean cut. They're nice people. But they're on their way to hell. Sad to say, but it's the truth. Why can you say that, pastor? Who made you the judge? The Word of God judges that.

The Word of God judges that because the way they believe who Jesus is. Many said he was liar. Many said he was lunatic. And there was some that said he was Lord. And beloved, let me say this, the sum is the right.

He is Lord. Verse 12, and there was much complaining, much murmuring among the people concerning him. Some said, he is good. Others said, no, on the contrary, he deceives the people. Could you imagine saying something like that about Christ?

He is a deceiver? That's Satan's name.

Davos.

Deceiver. Verse 13, however, no one spoke openly of him for the fear of the Jews. Afraid that they would be ousted out of Jerusalem. Keep in mind, when the rulers sought to kill Jesus, they asked him, where is he?

They were seeking where he was, his location. They were not interested in worshipping him just like King Herod was not interested in worshipping him when he was born. Because his little empire was threatened.

Jesus.

And he hears about Jesus being born, King Herod, let's go back a little bit, at the birth of Christ, when he comes, he enters into the world, through the incarnation, born in a stable, and the Magi comes, the Magi comes, and seeks him for he's a king, the Messiah.

King Herod heard this, he was enraged. Not another king. I'm going to be the only king. Here comes the Savior into the world, and yet, from the time of his birth, he's rejected. And by the way, we're going to see in a minute, from the time of his birth, he calls his division.

We're going to see this according to Scripture. They did not want to worship him, and they did not worship him when he was born, and they did not want to worship him here. They wanted to kill him because Christ exposes people for who they are, and their sin.

And it's such as the gospel today, beloved. And that is the greatest love. People resist it, they do not want to be exposed, but I'm telling you, when the truth exposes us, it shows us for who we are, because our own hearts deceive us.

The heart of man is desperately wicked,.

Deceitful,.

Above everything.

It's wicked.

We don't know our own hearts. God has to expose our hearts. He has to expose us for who we are. But there's a remedy.

There's a remedy, aren't you glad?

The truth exposes us, and there's grace, and there's favor. If we come to Jesus Christ, the law shows us the strength of the sin that's in us, but there's grace and truth comes through Jesus Christ. The power of God's grace is greater.

The law condemns us,.

In which the law should.

It does a good job in doing that.

It should.

And that's the way we should give the gospel. Graciously point people,.

Say, look,.

Start, begin,.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones always said this, when you witness to people out there in the highways and the byways, begin with the holiness of God, folks. And don't take me wrong. There's a place for the love of God.

Do not begin with the love of God. Pastor, you're a heretic. No, no, no, no. Don't misunderstand me. Take them to the love of God after you take them to God's holiness.

And expose,.

Let the word of God do the work and give them the word of God for the wages of sin is death and show them the holiness of God, and then you take them to the great love of God in Calvary, because that's the remedy.

First, people must see that they're sinners. This is missing today, beloved, and the churches, it grieves me to see this because so many people get up and they talk about God's love all day long, but they never bring out the great, awesome holiness of God.

Any wonder why people are just still in their sins? They have not had their sin exposed. People think Jonathan Edwards said during the great awakening that that sermon that he preached was outdated. Beloved, let me tell you something.

When he preached that sermon, he preached with a candlelight.

He was sick.

He was frail,.

And God used that weak man. He wrote down the sermon, and he just read it, and the next thing you know, through that service, sinner's in the hands of angry God. He takes a scripture from the Old Testament, and the next thing you know, people felt like they were literally falling right into hell itself.

And most of the time, by the way, he preached on sermons of the mercy and the love of God, but that time, people, God used that sermon in a great way to cause a great awakening. Beloved, are we not there today?

We need a great awakening, but it's going to take the preached word, and it's going to take you and me. It's going to go out into the highways and byways and tell people about the holiness of God. Then lead them to the love of God.

That's why here at Redeeming Grace Church, we don't believe in part of the gospel. We believe in the whole gospel. We believe in the holiness of God, the whole counsel of God, the love of God, the mercy of God, but we also believe in the wrath of God.

How many sermons have you ever heard on the wrath of God? How many sermons have you ever heard on flee from the wrath to come? Look it up.

There's very few, folks.

And you and I know why ministers are so afraid to preach the wrath of God and the holiness of God because they're so afraid of losing an audience. They're so afraid they're going to lose their peg. God, help us.

God, have mercy on the church of the living God. I'm not saying all churches are like this. There are some out there that are faithful to the word of God, but I'm telling you, there needs to be a revival of the majesty and the holiness of God.

And here, this is what Jesus comes to do. He testifies against the world. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify of it that its works are what?

Evil.

Evil.

But he's a savior.

He saves to the uttermost and that's why repentance is such a serious thing. We must repent. That's the command. To repent and believe the gospel. According to verse 12, it's clear that the presence of the Lord Jesus was creating quite a stir among the people.

More and more miracles which He performed were compelling men to make up their minds as to who Jesus really is. There was an undercurrent, so to speak, of conversation at the Feast of Tabernacles as whether He was genuine or is He a false prophet?

Is He real or is He not real? Some said He's good. Others said, no, He deceives the people. Jesus was the main topic of debate of all the conversations here that's going on right in the midst of this debate at the Feast of Tabernacles and the crowds were divided in their opinion of Him but their fear of the religious leadership kept them from speaking openly about Him.

The fear of man is a snare, Proverbs says. And there they feared the Jews, the religious leadership. Notice, then as well as now, Jesus divides people. He divides people. This is what Jesus came to do, folks.

Let me quote Matthew chapter 10, verse 32 through 36 and listen very closely to these words. The words of the Lord Jesus Christ here and folks, this is why He came. He came to seek and save the lost but I'm here to tell you as God divided daylight from night, He divides the devil's people from God's people.

He divides it.

He's been doing this ever since He's been born, beloved. Jesus said, Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven.

This is very serious. Our confession should live up to our life.

Listen to this.

Think not that I am come.

This is Jesus.

Think not that I am come to send peace on earth. I came not to send peace but a sword. That sword is the truth, folks. He's the Prince of Peace. Only in Him there is peace. But when He comes, that sword, that truth divides.

Then He says, For I am come to set a man at Barents against his father and his daughter against her mother and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law and a man's foes, a man's enemies shall be they of his own household.

How many here can raise your hands and say that has happened in your life? I am here to tell you I've seen it in my life. When I first came to Jesus Christ, I want to give you a little personal background of a little bit of my testimony but I don't want to stay there long because I'd rather preach the Word.

But let me tell you, when I came to Jesus Christ, my Father came enraged with me. He tried everything He could to keep me from going to worship. And I thought, what did I do? What did I do here? Did I obey, disobey my Father?

Or do I go and go to obey God?

I had to obey God.

And my Father really became enraged and I tried to explain to Him. And one day He shut me up in a room and I sat there and cried and cried and cried because I couldn't go to church. Because also there was a friend coming from Birmingham, Alabama to come see me and He says, No, you're going to stay home on Sunday and greet your friend.

You're not going to church. And I said, Dad, I want to go to church. Not because it's just church sake. I want to go there and hear God's Word. Persecution came from my Father. Persecution came from...

I lost all the friends I used to run with. I got a different set of friends now within the church. I'm so thankful for that. And still is today. Is Jesus worth it? He's worth every bit of it. That's a small price to pay.

That's not a sacrifice. That's just something I want to do. That's a desire He put within me and I praise God for. Your foes will be of your own household. I'm sure some of you can relate to that just as I can as well.

Leonard Ravenhill, I don't agree everything about Ravenhill, okay? He was an old-fashioned Methodist. Especially on his view on sanctification, okay? But I am going to tell you about something he was right about.

This man could preach holiness, folks. Listen to what he said about division. And how Christ divides. This is Ravenhill.

He says,.

I think that often we overlook the first thing that Jesus ever did. Talking about when He was born. Before He knew where He was, before He knew who He was, before He could walk, before He could talk, Jesus set a pattern for His life and measure for eternity.

And what was that? He divided men. He divided men. The first thing that Jesus the babe did was to divide the nation. Most were against Him. Few were for Him. He divided men at His birth. He divided them on His blessed cross and His death.

He divided them in His life. In the synagogue here in John 7 .43. And He goes on to say this,. And He will also divide them at the judgment seat. Is that accurate? Matthew 25.

Look.

On the left hand is what?

The goats?

On the right hand will be the sheep. He divides. He will divide them at the judgment seat, said Ravenhill. And Jesus declared quite openly that His mission was to divide men. Luke 12 .51. He still divides men and He will do so until time ends.

End quote. Amen. He still divides. It's a very serious thing.

God, God,.

Tall demands. But He's got plenty of grace to help us meet those demands. He doesn't leave us as orphans. Keep this in mind. He gives us His Spirit, folks,.

To help us.

We're not alone. So anytime you feel alone, the Spirit of God comes alongside you and me to help us, to guide us, to strengthen us, to empower us, to grace us along the way. I'm so thankful for that. And that shows the grace and the love of God.

You talk about division. Listen to Hebrews chapter 4. I want to start back up a little bit because it has a lot to say here. But notice in Hebrews 4, it speaks about the promised rest. Therefore, since a promise remains in entering His rest, let us fear, lest any of you seem to have come short of it.

For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them. But the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith and those who heard it. See, it's more than just hearing the gospel.

Faith comes by hearing.

And hearing by the Word of God, by the Word of Christ. But the Spirit of God activates it. It gives us the faith.

It's the gift.

But it's the Spirit of God that applies it. It must be mixed with faith. Verse 3,. For we who have believed do enter that rest. As He said, I swore in my wrath they shall not enter my rest, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

For He has spoken in a certain place on the seventh day in this way. God rested on the seventh day from all His works. And again in this place they shall not enter my rest. Because of unbelief, right?

Verse 6,. Since therefore it remains that some must enter it and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience. Again, He designates a certain day, saying in David, now he quotes Psalm 95, Today, today, you see how important today is?

Today.

After such a long time, as it has been said, Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts. For if Joshua had given them rest, then he would not, after what had spoken of another day. There remains, therefore, a rest for the people of God.

He repeats that, notice. Isn't it wonderful? God is like the heavenly parent. He has to repeat it to us.

Because we don't get it.

Jesus repeated Himself constantly as He trained the apostles and repetitions the mother learned Him. Something very important must be repeated. Amen? For He who has entered His rest has Himself also ceased from His works as God did from His.

Now watch where the writer of Hebrews goes with this about division.

Watch this.

Let us. That's a people. That is the people of God. That's not one person. That is a corporate people of God. Therefore, be diligent. Number one, would it be diligent to enter that rest lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.

And by the way,.

He's talking about falling from law. I'm sorry, falling from grace into law keeping. He's speaking to the Hebrews. A lot of people think that fall is everlasting punishment, but that's not the context.