Enjoy the message from Pastor Joe as he continues to teach from the Gospel of John. Click here to download the sermon.
A recap of 5/6/12 (John 7:25-52):
1. Jesus claimed to know God and to be the revealer of God. His city was Heaven and His father was God the Father. General revelation (revelation that there is a God and revelation of His power and majesty, Psalm 19; Romans 1:18-20) is limited and cannot save. Jesus (as well as the Bible) is God’s special revelation. Through Jesus God can be known. J. Dwight Pentecost writes: “He could reveal the Father to them if they would listen.”
2. Dr. John Mitchell has written: “If Jesus is not from heaven, if His message is not from heaven, if He is not God incarnate, then we have no actual revelation of God, nor can we ever know God. You can point to creation if you want to, but you don’t know God through creation. You only see His handiwork. You see the demonstration of His power. You see the revelation of His Godhead, that there is a God.”
3. Jesus urges them to respond to Him in faith while they could. Only those who believe in Him will be saved. They must respond now while they have breath. Dr. Charles Erdman warns: “People reject Jesus on trivial grounds or on superficial reasoning. Is it not only ‘a little while’ that we have opportunity to accept Him; is the time not fleeting, and will there possibly be regrets and remorse, when He has gone, and the day is done, and we no longer have opportunity to receive Him and follow Him.”
4. Jesus offers “living water” to the people, water which is a continual source of satisfaction within the one who believes in Him, a satisfying, abundant life. The Holy Spirit (Who would not be given until Jesus had been glorified, that is, crucified, buried, resurrected and ascended, John 14:16,17; 16:7) would be the source of this life and this satisfaction. The Holy Spirit would bear a special relationship to saints of the church age. This water would well up in the believer and overflow to the people around them.
