So we turn now in our Bibles to
the seventh chapter of the Gospel according to
John.
After these things, Jesus walked in Galilee, for
he would not walk in Jewry because the
Jews sought to kill him.
At this point, John begins the record of
the last six months of Jesus' ministry.
And so you'll notice how much time and
attention John spends in the last six months
of his ministry, pointing out the fact that
Jesus is no longer walking so openly in
the area of Judea among the Jews.
In fact, from the other Gospel records, we
know that at this point, Jesus went first
up to the area of Tyre and Sidon
with his disciples, then on over the hill
to Caesarea Philippi, which is at the base
of Mount Hermon.
Up into Mount Hermon, where he was transfigured.
And of course, there at Caesarea Philippi, Peter's
great confession.
Now he is again in the area of
Galilee, and he stays pretty much away from
Jerusalem, except for the record that we will
receive here in chapter 7 through chapter 10,
when he goes down for the Feast of
the Tabernacles, and then when he goes down
for the final visit at the Feast of
the Passover six months later, when he is
crucified.
So at this point, we're entering into the
final six months of the ministry of Jesus
before the crucifixion.
Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at
hand.
The Feast of Tabernacles was the feast in
which they remembered God's preservation of their fathers
through the forty years of wandering in the
wilderness.
They could not have survived.
A million people could not have survived forty
years in the desert.
There's no way the desert could support that
number of people who were at that point
nomads, except the Lord had provided.
But God did provide.
He guided them by day with a cloud,
by night with a pillar of fire.
And He provided them with quail.
He provided them with manna.
He provided them with water out of the
rock.
And so it was a time of the
celebration of God's miraculous provision for their fathers
in keeping them through that forty years of
their wandering in the wilderness.
And so this Feast of the Tabernacles, which
took place in the tenth month of our
calendar, the seventh month of the Jewish calendar,
was at hand.
And his brothers said unto him, Why don't
you depart from here and go to Judea,
that your disciples also may see the works
that you do?
The brothers here, no doubt, refer to the
actual half-brothers of Jesus.
James and Jude, Simon, and they have appeared
another time in this story when they came
with Mary to rescue him from the crowds.
And at this point, they do not believe
in his claims.
But they are saying, Why don't you go
down to Judea, that they might see your
works and believe?
For there is no man that does anything
in secret, and he himself seeketh to be
known openly.
If you are doing these things, show yourself
to the world.
And so this encouragement from his brothers.
For neither did his brothers believe in him.
Then Jesus said unto them, My time, or
my season, is not yet come, but yours
is already here.
Jesus talks now much about his hour.
When he talks of his hour, he is
talking of the cross itself.
Now he is talking about just the season,
that is, the season of being revealed.
They are saying, Why don't you go down
and reveal yourself?
You know, rather than hiding out in secret,
show yourself openly.
And he is saying, The season is not
yet come, but yours is already here.
And the world cannot hate you, but it
hates me, because I testify of it, that
its works are evil.
So you go up unto this feast, and
I will not yet go up to the
feast, for my season is not yet fully
come.
And when he had said these words unto
them, he stayed there in Galilee.
But when his brothers were gone up, then
he also went up to the feast, but
not openly, but as it were in secret.
And then the Jews sought him at the
feast and said, Where is he?
And there was a lot of murmuring among
the people concerning him, for there was a
sharp division among them.
Some said, He is a good man, and
others said, No, he is deceiving the people.
Albeit, no man spoke openly of him for
fear of the Jews.
So already there was the threat of the
leadership against Jesus.
It was already declared that if anybody should
acknowledge that he was the Messiah, they would
be put out of the synagogues.
And this division, a lot of people had
been touched and healed by Jesus.
And so they were saying, He is a
good man, and the others were saying, Oh
no, he is a deceiver, he is deceiving
the people.
And so this controversy had arisen, and Christ
became a very controversial feature.
And it was sort of the buzz at
the Feast of the Tabernacles.
Everybody was talking about him.
Everybody was wondering about him.
And it was just a real buzz among
the people who had gathered.
Now, in about the middle of the feast,
Jesus went up into the temple and taught.
He wasn't there, evidently, at the beginning of
the feast, or didn't at least show up
until about the middle of the feast, after
about three days.
And the Jews marveled, saying, How knows this
man letters, having never learned?
Gramata, how does this man know the accent
of the learned, is what they are saying.
They had, in those days too, that sophisticated
accent of the intellectuals, much like we hear
from the Chabad boys.
There was that certain accent of sophistication that
was sort of exclusive in the university ranks.
And here Jesus began to talk with them
with that accent of the intellectuals.
And they said, How did he learn that
accent, not having gone to the university?
How knoweth this man the letters, having never
learned?
And Jesus answered them and said, My doctrine
is not mine, but his that sent me.
You want to know how I learned?
The doctrine isn't mine, it's his who sent
me.
And Jesus again is declaring, I have been
sent here.
If any man will do his will, he
shall know of the doctrine, whether it be
of God or whether I speak of myself.
He that speaks of himself seeks his own
glory.
But he that seeks his glory that sent
him, the same is true, and there is
no unrighteousness in him.
Now, Jesus is making some pretty dramatic claims
here.
He's saying, If I came and I started
speaking of myself, it would be because I'm
seeking my own glory, because that's what a
person who is seeking glory does.
He talks about himself, he boasts of himself.
But if I come seeking the glory of
him who sent me, then the same is
true, that witness is true.
He's not seeking glory for himself.
He's seeking glory for the one that sent
him.
And there is no unrighteousness in him.
Now, in a little while, Jesus is going
to challenge them as they get into this
dispute.
And he said, Which of you can convince
me of sin?
Which of you can point out a sin
that I've ever committed?
Boy, no way that we could say that,
is there?
No way could we make this kind of
a claim.
There is no unrighteousness in me.
And so these are pretty radical claims that
Jesus is making before the people.
He said, Did not Moses give you the
law?
And yet, none of you keep the law.
So why are you going about to kill
me?
An interesting thing.
They were accusing him, of course, and the
thing is still festering.
The last time he was down there, you
remember he was at the pool of Bethesda.
And he told the lame man to take
his bed and walk.
And the lame man took his bed and
started to walk.
And the Jews caught him and said, Sabbath
day, how come you're carrying your bed?
And he said, The guy who healed me
told me to take my bed and walk.
And they said, Who was it?
He said, I don't know.
And so Jesus later found the guy in
the temple and he said, You know, go
your way and sin no more.
And he ran and told the Jews it
was Jesus.
And from that time, they sought to kill
him because he had done it on the
Sabbath day.
And that is still festering in the Jewish
leadership.
This fact that he had violated their Sabbath
law.
So he said, Look, Moses gave you the
law.
And yet, none of you keep it.
So why are you going about to kill
me?
We were in Israel about three years ago.
And there were some young people, Jewish young
people up in the northern part of Israel
who had received Jesus Christ as their Lord
and Savior.
And they were having Bible studies and worship
in their homes.
In one of the little areas there in
the northern Galilee.
And they were under severe persecution from the
Jewish community.
In fact, while we were there, some of
the young people of the Jewish Defense League
came in or from one of the communities
came in and tore up their house, beat
them up, took an axe and broke the
refrigerator and broke up all of their furniture
and just made shreds of their house because
they were Christians.
And as far as the Jews were concerned,
they were traitors, having left Judaism according to
their thinking and received Jesus Christ.
So we had heard of these Christians and
we had invited them to come and to
share with our group.
We had some guides who were all sweet
and smiles and, you know, talking about Jesus
and Jesus did this and the Lord did
this and all.
And they were very sweet and personable guides.
And some of the people on the tour
even thought that they were close to salvation.
And when this young man got up to
speak to our group about being a Jew,
having accepted Jesus, he first of all said,
before I speak to you and share with
you my love for Jesus as my Messiah,
I would first like to say something to
my friends here.
And he began to speak in Hebrew.
And the moment he began to speak, it
was like ice water was poured over the
Jewish guides.
It was like a mask was suddenly pulled
off and their smiling faces turned and there
was hatred.
There was gnashing of teeth.
There was bitterness.
It was really tense.
In fact, they were ready to rip their
clothes almost and grab stones and stone the
kid.
And I thought, what in the world is
he saying to them, you know, that is
creating such a reaction?
This one man who at that point was
the head over the Israeli defense forces in
northern Israel and a dear friend of ours
who really is an easy going kind of
a guy and not at all religious, though
he's a Jew, he's not at all religious.
Great big old guy and a very respected
leader there in northern Israel.
He was with a group of the men
from the kibbutz.
And as this young man was talking to
them in Hebrew, these men from the kibbutz
became so incensed, they started saying among themselves,
let's kill him when he leaves here tonight.
Let's kill him.
And they were really ready to kill him.
And this friend of ours, Yoram, said to
them in Hebrew, you guys keep Sabbath?
They said, no.
He said, are you guys religious?
No.
Well, then why do you want to kill
this guy?
Just because he says he believes that Jesus
is the Messiah and he was able to
talk them out of killing him because he
showed them that they weren't really religious.
What's your what's the big deal?
What's your what's your problem?
You know, why do you want to kill
him?
You're not at all religious.
You guys just on a religious kick.
So what's your problem?
But it's interesting here.
Jesus said, look, Moses gave you the law,
but none of you are keeping it.
So why are you trying to kill me?
Because you think I violated your Sabbath day
law.
You're not keeping the law yourself.
And so the people answered and said, you
have a devil who's going about to kill
you.
And Jesus answered and said unto them, I
have done one work and you all marvel.
Moses, therefore, gave unto you circumcision, not because
it is of Moses.
It actually preceded Moses.
It came from Abraham, but it was of
the fathers.
That is, it came from the father Abraham.
And on the Sabbath day, you circumcise a
man.
Now he's referring back to this miracle on
the Sabbath day.
You see, I've done one miracle, one marvel
among you and you're all upset.
Because it was on the Sabbath day, he's
referring back to the incident at the Pool
of Bethesda, where they determined at that point
we're going to kill him because he did
it on the Sabbath day.
So he said, look, Moses gave the law
of circumcision, not because it was really of
Moses.
It came from Abraham.
But if the eighth day, the day that
the child was to be circumcised happened to
be the Sabbath day, you'll go ahead and
circumcise him anyhow, even though it is the
Sabbath.
So if a man on the Sabbath day
receives circumcision, that the law of Moses should
not be broken.
Are you angry at me because I have
made a man completely whole on the Sabbath
day?
You know, I've done a work of God
on the Sabbath day.
You do the work of God, a circumcision
on the Sabbath day.
Why are you so upset with me for
healing a man completely on the Sabbath day?
Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous
judgment.
That's good advice.
How many times we are guilty of judging
by appearance?
Oh, I have made such horrible mistakes judging
by appearances.
I have judged so wrongly judging by appearances.
In fact, I've been very unrighteous in some
of my judgment because I was judging by
appearances.
He said, don't judge by appearances, judge righteous
judgment.
Then said some of them of Jerusalem, is
not this he whom they are seeking to
kill?
But look, he's speaking boldly and they're saying
nothing to him.
Do the rulers indeed know that this is
the very Messiah?
Had they come to believe that he is
the Messiah?
How be it?
We know this man, where he came from.
But when the Messiah comes, no man knows
where he is coming from.
That was a tradition that they had developed
that the Messiah was just going to suddenly
appear just out of nowhere, sort of like
Superman, just, you know, out of the sky.
It's a burning flame.
No, it's the Messiah.
And suddenly he's standing here in your midst.
And they feel that that idea probably developed
from the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, which said,
and who shall declare his generation?
That is, who's going to tell of his
parentage and all, you know, who can declare
his generation?
He just suddenly is here on the scene.
No one knows where he came from, but
here he is suddenly in the midst of
us.
And so they said, you think that the
rulers are coming to believe he's the Messiah?
Hey, we know where this fellow came from.
And when the Messiah comes, no one will
know where he came from.
Then cried Jesus in the temple as he
taught, saying, you both know me and you
know where I came from.
And I am not come of myself, but
he that sent me is true whom you
do not know.
You may know me.
You may know that I grew up in
Nazareth, but you don't know the one who
sent me.
But I know him, for I am from
him and he hath sent me.
Notice over and over Christ declaring the fact
that he had been sent.
He was here on a mission.
Then they sought to take him, but no
man laid hands on him because his hour
was not yet come.
This is the first time we read this
phrase, except that Jesus in the first part
said to Mary, my hour is not yet
come.
But here is the beginning now of many,
many times where we're going to be reading
his hour was not yet come.
That is the hour of crucifixion, six months
or so down the road.
And many of the people believed on him
and said when the Messiah comes, will he
do more miracles than these, which this man
has done?
And the Pharisees heard that the people were
murmuring such things concerning him.
And the Pharisees and the chief priests sent
officers to take him.
They felt that this is the time we've
got to do something.
And so they sent officers to arrest him.
Then said Jesus unto them, yet a little
while and I am with you.
And then I am going to him that
sent me and you will seek me and
shall not find me.
And where I am, you cannot come.
Now he's talking in all kinds of tenses.
Notice the different tenses that he's talking in
here.
And the reason why he's talking in so
many tenses is because he transcended time.
He was living always in the eternal.
And because of his transcendency of time, he
talked in many tenses.
And Jesus said, yet a little while and
I am with you.
And then I go to him that sent
me, you will seek me and shall not
find me.
You will seek me, shall not find me.
And where I am, you cannot come.
Speaking, you're going to seek me and find
me.
But where I am, you cannot come.
You see the different tenses here.
For I am, I am in the eternal.
Then said the Jews among themselves, where's he
going?
That we can't find him.
Is he going to go to the dispersed
among the heathen and teach the heathen, the
Gentiles?
What kind of a saying is this that
he said, you will seek me and shall
not find me.
And where I am, you cannot come.
What's he talking about?
And then in the last day, that great
day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried
saying, if any man thirst, let him come
unto me and drink.
The last day, the great day of the
feast would have been the eighth day of
the feast for the feast of the tabernacles
lasted for eight days on the last day,
the great day of the feast, no doubt
there on the temple mount, thousands of people
assembled for this feast.
It was one of the three major feast
days in the Jewish calendar when all the
adult males were required to come and present
themselves before God.
According to the historian Josephus, as many as
two and a half million people would gather
in Jerusalem for these feasts during the time
of Christ.
And so you can imagine the large multitude
of people on the temple mount.
Now, there was a significant symbolic action that
took place each day of the feast as
the priest would fill the water jugs at
the pool of Siloam and singing the Hallel
songs to send the steps from the pool
to the temple mount area.
And before the people pour out these jugs
of water, letting them splash upon the pavement
to remind the people that when their fathers
were dying in the wilderness, God preserved them
by the miraculous giving of water out of
the rock when it was smitten by Moses.
And so water had a very important symbolic
part to the feast of tabernacles.
They realized that their fathers were about to
be exterminated, but God preserved them and saved
them by the water out of the rock.
And so Jesus, on this last day, the
great day of the feast, cried, if any
man thirst, let him come to me and
drink.
The thirst that Jesus is referring to is
not a physical thirst or an emotional thirst,
but that deep thirst in the spirit of
man for God.
Way down deep in every man, there is
that thirst, that need for a meaningful relationship
with God.
And I don't care who you are or
what your background is or where you are.
Every man deep down inside has the thirst
for God.
There are people who try to cover it.
They try to cover it with a facade.
They try to put on a show, an
act, a display.
They try to put on a grandiose kind
of a front, like I've got it made.
There's no problems.
I don't need any help.
I can do it on my own.
But down deep inside, there's a cry for
a meaningful relationship with God.
Classic example is that little gal at the
well there in Samaria, who was so smart
and chic and clever in her answers with
Jesus, until finally he removed her mask and
he said to her, Yes, you've told the
truth when you say you don't have a
husband, because in reality you have had five
husbands, and the man you're presently living with,
you never did bother to get married to.
And he had ripped off her mask and
she said, Sir, I perceive you're a prophet.
Our fathers say we're to worship God in
these mountains, and you say in Jerusalem, but
where can I find God?
Hey, down deep in every heart, that's the
question.
Where can I find God?
Man is thirsting in his spirit after God.
Now, we try often to fill this thirst
with physical things, but it never works.
The reason behind the pleasure mania in the
United States today is that people are trying
to somehow satisfy the deep spiritual thirst within.
People try to satisfy it with emotional experiences,
and really that's one of the big causes
of the drug abuse.
It's one of the causes of alcoholism.
It is interesting that Paul the Apostle associates
alcoholism with being filled with the Spirit.
He said, Be not drunk with wine wherein
is excess, but be ye filled with the
Spirit.
And he associates the two.
Why?
Because there is a definite relationship.
What is a man searching after when he
turns to the bottle and becomes an alcoholic?
What is he looking for?
He's looking for some kind of inner satisfaction,
a peace, a peace of mind.
He's looking for the capacity to cope.
What does a man find when he is
filled with the Spirit?
He finds a peace of mind.
He finds the capacity to cope.
He finds a fullness and a satisfaction.
And so it is only proper, and quite
proper, that Paul would relate those two things
which on the surface seem so diverse, but
when you get underneath, you're dealing with the
same issues.
Man's thirst.
One man though has a misdirected attempt to
fill his thirst.
So Jesus said, If any man thirst, let
him come unto Me and drink.
And there you have the Gospel in its
simplest terms.
That's it.
That's what the Gospel is all about.
For that man who is seeking in his
spirit for a meaningful relationship with God, he
can find it when he comes to Jesus
Christ.
You have a thirst deep inside.
You need God.
I understand your need.
Come unto Me and drink.
And then Jesus went on to explain, He
that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath
said, out of his belly shall flow rivers
of living water.
Come to Me and drink, because I will
fulfill that need in your life.
I will fill that thirst.
Not only will I fill the thirst, but
I will cause your life to become an
overflowing cup.
You know, there are times, and you know,
they're getting more frequent.
I don't know.
Maybe I'm getting old and senile, but they
seem to be getting more frequent.
Times when God begins to impress me with
His love and with His goodness, and He
begins to pour out on my heart and
upon my life of His Spirit and of
His love, until I say, oh God, I
can't take it.
It's too much, Lord.
You're too much, Lord.
You better turn it off, God.
I can't handle anymore, Lord.
I'm full, Lord.
You know, and He just keeps pouring.
Lord, I'm running over.
I can't handle it, Lord.
And He just keeps pouring.
Oh, man.
And I just get so caught away in
the glory of God and His goodness and
His love.
And as far as I can hardly handle,
well, I just can't handle.
I just, you know, you just got to,
you know, you get wiped out.
What a wonderful thing to be wiped out
in the Spirit.
Just that neat wipe out, spiritual wipe out.
Oh, man, it's glorious.
As you just, you know, you're just, well,
what can you say?
Out of His innermost being, there will flow
rivers of living water.
Now, John adds his commentary.
So, here we have John's commentary on the
Gospel of John.
As he explains to us what Jesus was
talking about.
And his explanation comes after years of observation.
He didn't know at the moment what Jesus
was referring to.
But later on, when the Holy Spirit was
poured out upon the church, and John began
to have those overflowing experiences of God's power
and love, then he understood and knew what
Jesus was referring to.
And because he wrote after the experience of
the Holy Spirit, after Pentecost, he is now
able to give the explanation of what Jesus
was referring to.
And he said, this spake he of the
Spirit that was to be given to those
that believed upon Him.
For the Spirit was not yet given.
So, John makes reference then, or makes a
commentary, that Jesus was actually referring to the
Holy Spirit.
And what was he declaring of it?
That it would be like a river or
a torrent of living water gushing forth out
of a person's life.
Now, can you say that that is your
relationship to the Holy Spirit?
In the Scriptures, I see a threefold relationship
of the believer to the Holy Spirit.
And it is designated by three Greek prepositions.
There is the first preposition, para.
For Jesus said to His disciples, but I
will pray the Father and He will give
you another comforter, even the Spirit of truth,
whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth
Him not, neither knoweth Him, but ye know
Him, for He dwells with you, para, and
He shall be in you.
The Greek preposition, in.
So, a twofold relationship there.
He is with you.
Prior to our conversion, the Holy Spirit was
with us.
It was the Holy Spirit that convicted us
of sin.
It was the Holy Spirit that pointed out
that Jesus was the answer.
And it was the Holy Spirit that drew
us to Jesus, because no man can come
except the Spirit draw him.
And when the Holy Spirit had drawn me
to Jesus, and I opened my heart and
invited Jesus to come into my life, the
Holy Spirit came in and began to reside
in me, and the Holy Spirit began to
indwell me.
So, He was with me prior to conversion,
drawing me to Jesus, and then He came
into my heart the moment I received Jesus.
And He began His work of teaching me
all things.
He began His work of conforming me into
the image of Christ.
He began that glorious work in my life.
But yet, I read in the scripture of
one further relationship that the believer can have
to the Holy Spirit.
And that is found in, first of all,
the commandment of Jesus to His disciples, to
tarry in Jerusalem, and to wait for the
promise of the Father.
For Jesus said, you will receive power when
the Holy Spirit has come upon you.
And here is the Greek preposition epi, which
means upon, over, or I like, overflows.
When the Holy Spirit begins to overflow your
life, the dynamic of the Spirit flowing forth,
and this is what Jesus is referring to
here, that third relationship.
When the Spirit has accomplished His work within
me, and now that objective work of the
Spirit, as the Spirit of God begins to
flow forth from my life, and others around
me then begin to receive of the benefit
of that work that God has done in
me.
God has to work in me first.
That's primary.
But God is never satisfied with just the
work in me.
God desires that my life be an instrument
through which He might work through me, or
a channel through which He might flow from
me, His dynamic love and power to a
needy world.
So, this He was speaking of the Holy
Spirit.
What?
He will gush forth from your life like
a torrent of living water.
Years ago, I was working with a man
who had been on a weekend retreat as
a counselor to a youth group.
And as we were working on Monday, he
said, you know, I had some trouble this
weekend at this camp where I was a
counselor.
I said, what was the problem?
He said, well, one of the speakers was
talking to the kids there and saying, now
while you're here in camp, you're getting marvelous
experiences of drawing close to God and you're
being filled with God's Holy Spirit.
He said, but when you go back from
this camp, he said, your mom is going
to tell you to do something and you're
going to say, oh, I don't want to
do it.
And he said, your attitude, because of that
attitude, a little bit of the Spirit is
going to leak out.
And then maybe you'll tell a lie or
something.
A little bit more of the Spirit is
going to leak out.
And after a while, all of the Spirit
will have leaked out.
And then you're going to have to be
refilled with the Spirit.
He said, no, that just didn't sound right
to me.
He said, but I couldn't quite put my
finger on what was wrong.
I said, well, I don't know of any
place in the Scripture where it refers to
the Spirit leaking out of your life.
I said, but I know of a Scripture
that declares it's going to flow forth or
it's going to gush out of your life
like a torrent of living water.
That's the relationship I want.
I want my life to be just overflowing.
I want God's Spirit to just come flowing
forth from my life like a torrent of
living water.
Now, many of the people and the Spirit
was not yet given because that Jesus was
not yet glorified.
Jesus said, the Spirit can't come until I
go.
Now, when I go, I'm going to pray
the Father and He's going to give you
another comforter.
And so, the Spirit was to come after
Jesus was glorified and ascended to the Father.
And of course, when the day of Pentecost
was fully come and Peter was explaining to
the people what had happened, he said, this
same Jesus has God raised and is now
there in heaven with God and has sent
forth this which you see.
And so, the proof that Jesus came to
the Father was the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit upon the church.
Many of the people, therefore, when they heard
this saying, said of a truth, this is
the prophet.
That is a reference to the prophecy in
Deuteronomy where Moses said, and another prophet shall
arise like unto myself and to him shall
you give heed.
Moses promises there were going to come another
prophet.
Now, the interesting thing today is that you
talk to many of the Jews, most of
the Orthodox, and they will say to you
that they do not believe that the Messiah
will be the Son of God, but the
Messiah will be a man just like Moses
was a man.
And they say that because Moses said, and
there shall arise another like unto myself and
to him shall you give heed.
So, he's going to be just like Moses,
they will tell you, who was a man
that God anointed to lead them out of
their captivity.
So, God is going to anoint another man
and we're looking for a man.
And what will be their sign?
We're looking for a man who will rebuild
the temple.
They believe that when the Messiah comes, he's
going to help them rebuild the temple and
that's how they're going to recognize him, a
man helping them to rebuild the temple.
This is the prophet, they said.
That is the prophet that was referred to
in Moses' prophecy.
And others said, this is the Messiah.
But some said, shall the Messiah come out
of Galilee?
Hath not the Scriptures said that the Messiah
is coming of the seed of David and
out of the town of Bethlehem where David
was?
Evidently, they didn't know that Jesus came from
Bethlehem.
That Mary and Joseph had traveled there, of
course, to be enrolled because he was at
the house in the lineage of David.
And of course, as Luke traces Mary's genealogy,
we find that she also was of David.
So, he was of David and born in
Bethlehem.
But there was a division among the people
because of him.
And this is always true.
Jesus is always dividing men.
He was deliberately dividing men.
He would say radical things which would divide
men.
He said to Martha, I am the resurrection
and the life.
He that believeth on me, though he were
dead, yet shall he live.
And if you live and believe in me,
you will never die.
Do you believe this?
You see, he said this radical thing.
And then he immediately challenged that.
Do you believe this?
Now, by asking the question, do you believe
this?
He was deliberately creating a division.
And even tonight, people are divided.
Those who believe and those who do not
believe.
So, the division that he was creating then
is the division that carries on to the
present day.
Those who believe, those who don't believe.
Those who have eternal life, those who do
not have eternal life.
Those who have a hope, those who have
no hope.
Jesus is always making the division.
Among men, and so they were divided because
of him.
And some of them would have taken him.
That is to arrest him and all, but
no man laid hands on him.
And so the officers of the chief priests
and the Pharisees came back and they said
unto them, why have you not brought him?
And the officers answered, never a man has
spoken like this man.
Then they answered, the Pharisees said to them,
are you also deceived?
Have any of the rulers of the Pharisees
believed on him?
But these stupid people who don't know the
law are cursed.
Now, Nicodemus, the one who came to Jesus
at night, being one of the Pharisees, said
to them, does our law judge any man
before it hears him and knows what he
is doing?
And they answered and said unto him, are
you also of Galilee?
In other words, are you in league with
him?
Search and look, for out of Galilee arises
no prophet.
And so every man went to his own
house.
Now, Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives.
And early in the morning, he came again
to the temple.
Now, the feast is over, but Jesus is
returning to the temple on the next day
and all of the people came unto him
and he sat down and taught them.
I told you this morning that the rabbi
always sat when he taught.
And the scribes and the Pharisees brought unto
him a woman taken in adultery.
And when they set her in the midst,
they said unto him, master, this woman was
taken in adultery in the very act.
We caught her in the very act.
Now, Moses in the law commanded us that
such should be stoned.
But what do you say?
And this they said, tempting him that they
might have an occasion to accuse him.
But Jesus stooped down and with his finger
wrote on the ground, as though he did
not even hear them.
So when they continued asking him, he lifted
up himself and he said unto them, he
that is without sin among you, let him
first cast a stone at her.
And again, he stooped down and wrote on
the ground.
And they which heard it being convicted by
their own conscience went out one by one,
beginning at the eldest, even unto the last.
And Jesus was left alone and the woman
standing there in the midst.
Now, I have a couple of, well, I
have one problem with this and then a
comment.
The problem, where was the man?
Because they caught them in the very act.
And according to the law of Moses, they
were both to be stoned.
Why did they only bring the woman if
they were caught in the act?
So there was an injustice at the very
onset in their own judgments.
They should have brought the man too.
The question, what was Jesus writing there in
the sand?
Now, of course, the scripture doesn't tell us.
So we can guess.
My guess is that starting with the oldest
of those Pharisees in the crowd who were
really pushing him and challenging, our law says
stoner, what do you say, you know?
And here was old Levi, the old man
pressing the point.
And so Jesus probably wrote in the sand
the name Levi.
And then last Tuesday at two in the
afternoon, why were you and started, you know,
writing out what Levi was doing the other
day at two in the afternoon.
And Levi said, I think my wife wanted
me to pick up a loaf of bread.
I better get home, you know, and he
split.
It says they were one by one convicted.
So Levi's gone.
So he writes Simon.
And he begins to write one of Simon's
sins of the previous day or so.
Simon gets all embarrassed and flustered and he
takes off.
And so down the line from the oldest
to the youngest, Jesus began to write their
names and write the things that they've been
doing.
Because they were all of them convicted one
by one in their own conscience.
And they went out one by one, beginning
from the eldest, even to the youngest.
Until there was no one left but the
woman.
And when Jesus had stood up again, he
just put his head down and just started
writing, you know.
Finally, when he stood up again, he saw
no one but the woman.
He said unto her, Woman, what happened to
your accusers?
Hasn't any man condemned you?
And she said, no man, Lord.
And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I
condemn you.
Go and sin no more.
That's an important thing.
Go, but don't forget the last.
And sin no more.
It's not just a license.
Jesus said, God did not send me into
the world to condemn the world, but that
the world through me might be saved.
And he that believeth is not condemned.
So here's a woman caught in the act
of a capital sin, according to the Mosaic
law.
But Jesus is saying to her, I don't
condemn you.
Because he didn't come to condemn, he came
to save.
And there he demonstrated his glorious ministry, seeking
and saving that which was lost.
She didn't need to be condemned.
She needed to be saved.
We don't need to be condemned.
We need to be saved.
Now, as we move on in Romans 8
on Thursday nights, we're soon going to be
getting to that interesting rhetorical question.
Who is he that condemneth?
It is true that Christians live under much
condemnation.
But who is he that condemns?
If you as a child of God are
living under condemnation, is it because Jesus is
condemning you?
God help us to be freed from this
stereotype picture of God that we have of
just waiting for us to do something wrong
so he can rub us out.
We so often sort of transpose the image
of Santa Claus over to God, as though
God is a Santa Claus and all of
our prayers are just to get the good
gifts.
We're not going to get the good gifts
from him.
Tell me what you want today.
What do you want for Christmas, little boy?
And so prayer is just to get all
the things from God that we want.
But in carrying that image over, we also
see him making out a list and checking
it twice, going to find out who's naughty
and nice.
And because we know that we've been naughty
and we feel guilty over our sins, we
feel that God is condemning us.
Who is he that condemns?
Paul does not declare who condemns.
He only declares negatively who isn't condemning.
He said, it is Christ who has died,
yea rather is risen again, and is even
at the right hand of the Father making
intercession for us.
He's not condemning us.
He's interceding for us.
And Jesus did not condemn the sinner.
To this woman, He said, neither do I
condemn you.
Just go and sin no more.
Then speak Jesus again unto them saying, I
am the light of the world, and he
that followeth me shall not walk in darkness,
but shall have the light of life.
He said, I am the bread of life.
Now he is declaring, I am the light
of the world.
He is making radical claims.
If a man follows me, he will not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light
of life.
And the Pharisees therefore said unto him, you
are bearing record of yourself, and so your
record is not true.
Jesus answered and said unto them, though I
bear record of myself, yet my record is
true, for I know from whence I came
and where I am going, but you cannot
tell from whence I have come or where
I am going.
You judge after the flesh, and I judge
no man.
And yet if I judge, my judgment is
true, for I am not alone, but I
and the Father that sent me.
And again, pressing the claim, the Father sent
me.
It is also written in your law that
the testimony of two men is true.
I am one that bears witness of myself,
and the Father that sent me bears witness
of me.
Then they said unto him, where is your
father?
And Jesus answered, you neither know me nor
my father, for if you had known me,
you would have known my father also.
And these words speak Jesus in the treasury
as He taught in the temple.
And no man laid hands on Him, for
His hour was not yet come.
Then said Jesus again unto them, I go
my way, and you will seek Me, and
you will die in your sins, for where
I go, you cannot come.
Then the Jews said, is He going to
kill Himself?
Because He says, where I go, you cannot
come?
And He said unto them, you are from
beneath, and I am from above.
You are of this world, I am not
of this world.
I said therefore unto you, that you will
die in your sins, for if you believe
not that I am, ye shall die in
your sins.
Notice again what heavy, radical statements Jesus is
making.
He's laying things now straight on the line.
He's declaring very plainly to them the truth.
And what is the truth?
If you don't believe in Him, you're going
to die in your sins.
For God has made provision for the forgiveness
of our sins, but that provision is believing
in Jesus Christ.
And if you don't believe in Him, then
there is no provision and you will die
in your sins, and if you die in
your sins, you are lost.
And so Jesus is just squaring off with
these fellows now.
He's saying, you're from beneath, I'm from above.
Then they said unto Him, who are you?
And Jesus said unto them, the very same
one that I told you from the beginning.
And I have many things to say and
to judge of you, but He that sent
me is true.
And I speak to the world those things
which I have heard of Him.
And they understood not that He was speaking
to them of the Father.
And then said Jesus unto them, when you
have lifted up the Son, and of course,
that term lifted up is the term that
refers to the cross.
So He is actually saying, when you have
lifted me up on the cross or when
you have crucified the Son of Man, then
shall ye know that I am, and that
I do nothing of myself, but as my
Father hath taught me, I speak these things.
And He that sent me is with me,
and the Father has not left me alone,
for I do always those things that please
Him.
What a remarkable statement to be able to
make.
Oh, I wish that I could make that
statement.
After just one day, I wish I could
make that statement.
I do always those things that please Him.
Now, the Father testified that.
He said, this is my beloved Son in
whom I am well pleased.
Jesus said, there is no unrighteousness in me.
I do always those things that please Him.
And in a little bit, He's going to
say, which of you can convince me of
sin or show me a sin that I
have done?
I do always those things that please Him.
Now, as He spoke these words, many believed
on Him.
And then Jesus said to those Jews which
believed on Him, if you continue in my
word, then you are my disciples indeed.
Now, you believe on me, now just continue
in my word.
And if you do, then you are really
my disciples.
And you will know the truth, and the
truth shall make you free.
And so they answered Him and they said,
we are Abraham's seed.
We were never in bondage to any man.
Right at the present moment, they were in
bondage to Rome, but they didn't recognize that,
and that was one of their problems.
They continually rebelled against the Roman authority.
And finally, in 70 AD, the nation was
completely wiped out because of this attitude, we
are in bondage to no man.
And that attitude brought the destruction of the
nation in the revolt of 70 AD when
the Romans sent Titus with his legions, and
they came and just wiped out the nation
itself.
But it's interesting, the spirit of these people.
We are Abraham's seed, we're in bondage to
no man.
Jesus said, you know, you shall know the
truth, the truth shall make you free.
How do you say you will be made
free?
Jesus answered them, verily, verily, I say unto
you, whosoever commits sin is a servant of
sin.
You say you're free, but if you commit
sin, you're a servant of sin.
The Bible tells us that whomsoever we yield
ourselves, servants to obey, his servants we become,
whether of sin unto unrighteousness or of obedience
unto eternal life.
Now, it is interesting how quickly a person
can become a slave of sin.
It's interesting how quickly sin can get a
hold upon a person's life and begin to
control them.
If you yield yourself, your body, to sin,
it can get such a hold upon you
that you become its slave.
And we have seen people enslaved by sin.
And Jesus is here declaring that if you
commit sin, you become the servant of sin.
You say you are free?
Oh, no, you're not.
You're the servants of sin.
And the servant abides not in the house
forever, but the Son abides ever.
And if the Son therefore shall make you
free, you shall be free indeed.
How I love my freedom in Jesus Christ.
How I love my liberty that I have
in Him.
In fact, I love it so much that
I carefully guard it.
Now, one problem that a lot of people
have is that they don't appreciate their freedom
and they don't guard it.
The freedom that I enjoy is the freedom
not to.
Not necessarily the freedom to.
I have the freedom to, but I enjoy
the freedom not to.
Because many times if I exercise the freedom
to, then I no longer have the freedom
not to.
So, it's important how you exercise your freedom.
Thank God I don't have to drink.
Thank God I don't have to do these
things.
Some people are compelled.
Some people have no control.
Some people are slaves.
I'm free.
I don't have to.
I have the freedom not to.
Because I've been set free by the Son.
And I'll tell you, Paul the Apostle spoke
about guarding that freedom.
He said, all things are lawful for me.
Man, I am free.
But, he said, I will not be brought
under the power of any.
If I exercise my freedom in an activity
that in itself can bring me under its
influence or power, I'm sacrificing my freedom and
I'm no longer free.
I'm now under the influence or the power
of this habit or whatever it is that
I have done.
I become controlled by it.
I'm now the servant or the slave of
sin.
But when the Son sets you free, you're
free indeed.
And thank God He can set you free
from any binding power of sin that you
might have in your life.
He can set you free from drug addiction.
He can set you free from alcoholism.
He can set you free from any power
of sin that might be holding you tonight.
You need not be a servant of sin
because Jesus Christ can set you free tonight
from whatever it is that is binding your
life and holding you under its influence and
power.
Whom the Son sets free is free indeed.
Oh, how I revel and enjoy my freedom.
I know that you are Abraham's seed.
Now, they said here earlier, we are Abraham's
seed.
We're not in bondage to anybody.
Jesus said, I know you're Abraham's seed, but
you seek to kill me because my word
has no place in you.
And I speak that which I have seen
with my father, and you do that which
you have seen with your father.
And they answered and said unto him, Abraham
is our father.
And Jesus said, oh no, how is it
they are Abraham's seed and Abraham's not their
father?
Because Jesus is talking both about the physical
and the spiritual.
Being of the seed of Abraham does not
make you a child of Abraham.
For Abraham was the father of those who
believed.
He was actually the progenitor of many nations.
From Abraham came forth the Ishmaelites.
They were Abraham's seed, but they weren't Abraham's
children by promise.
So, he's talking about the spiritual children and
the physical seed of Abraham.
And there's a vast difference.
And even to these Jews, he's acknowledging, yes,
you're of Abraham's seed, but he's not really
your father.
You see, spiritually, you're not a child of
Abraham because you don't believe.
And he was making that distinction.
So, I know that you're Abraham's seed.
You've descended from him, but you seek to
kill me because my word has no place
in you.
And I speak that which I have seen
and all.
They answered and said unto him, Abraham is
our father.
And Jesus said unto them, if you were
Abraham's children, you would do the works of
Abraham.
But now you seek to kill me, a
man that has told you the truth which
I have heard of God.
And this did not Abraham.
Abraham didn't try and kill me.
He believed God's works.
And that's what God accounted to him for
righteousness.
I'm telling you the word of God and
you're trying to kill me.
You're not doing Abraham's work when you're trying
to kill me.
You do the deeds of your father.
And then they said unto him, we're not
born of fornication.
This could be a reference to
the virgin birth.
They could be here declaring your mother bore
you out of wedlock.
We're not born of fornication.
And it could be that the story of
Mary had gotten around that Joseph really wasn't
the father of Jesus.
And they did not believe that he was
conceived of the Holy Spirit.
And so they are accusing him of being
born out of wedlock.
Now, the Bible asserts that Mary was a
virgin and that the birth of Christ was
a divine miracle because the power of the
highest came upon her and Jesus was the
Son of God born through the work and
the agency of the Holy Spirit impregnating Mary.
Here it seems to be a low blow
at Jesus challenging the virgin birth.
There is an interesting conclusion that can be
drawn from this.
In the accounts in the Scripture, the accounts
of Mary, the mother of Jesus, we do
find that she is one of the most
remarkable women who ever lived.
Surely the most blessed woman who ever.
When she visited her cousin Elizabeth there in
the hill country of Judea, she said, blessed
art thou among women and blessed is the
fruit of thy womb.
And from henceforth, all generations shall call you
blessed.
Why?
Because God gave to her the highest honor
and privilege that any woman could ever have.
God chose her as the instrument to bring
his son into the world.
What an honor.
But God in making that choice made the
choice wisely and no doubt chose a young
girl of highest character and virtue.
And this is demonstrated in what is called
the Magnificat of Mary in Luke's Gospel chapter
two where in chapter one there where we
hear her declaring, my soul doth magnify the
Lord and my spirit doth rejoice for he
hath regarded the lowest state of his handmaid
and goes on and just in glorious, rapturous
praises unto God expressing a depth of character
and soul that is just absolutely marvelous.
And all the way through the accounts where
Mary is brought into the picture, it's always
in a very admirable way.
Except here.
We're not born of fornication.
Your mother bore you out of wedlock.
Now, being this admirable character that Mary was
and knowing the psychology of a mother's love
for her child, there's nothing it seems in
the world that quite excels that mother's love
for a child.
That natural God-given love.
When Jesus was being tried to be crucified,
Mary could have put an end to the
whole procedure.
Very quickly, very simply.
When she saw that things were going against
her son, that he was being condemned to
be crucified, she could have stepped before Pilate
and said, hold on, wait a minute.
I'll name the man who did it.
And she could have named the father of
Jesus had there been an earthly father.
And I'm sure had there been, she would
have, knowing a mother's love.
But she couldn't.
She was helpless.
And she had to see him die because
there was no way that she could free
him by naming an earthly father because he
was born of God.
And that is one of the powerful arguments
for the virgin birth of Jesus.
It's one of the psychological arguments of the
virgin birth.
The fact that Mary could not free him
from condemnation by naming an earthly father because
he had no earthly father.
He was born of God.
But here it seems that they're sort of
casting this aspersion at him.
We're not born of fornication.
We have one father, even God.
And Jesus said unto them, if God were
your father, he would love me.
For I proceeded forth and came from God.
Neither came I of myself, but he sent
me.
Now he'd been telling, you know, he who
has sent me, he who has sent me.
And now he's telling them plainly who it
was that sent him.
If God were your father, you would love
me.
For I proceeded forth and came from God.
A plain declaration of Jesus that he proceeded
forth and came from God.
There are those that say, well, Jesus never
claimed to be the Son of God.
Wait a minute.
Right here he is proclaiming and declaring plainly
to them, I proceeded forth and came from
God.
Neither came I of myself.
I didn't come on my own.
He sent me.
And why do you not understand my speech?
Even because you cannot hear my word.
For ye are of your father the devil.
They said, we have Abraham for our father.
And then they said, we have one father,
even God.
And Jesus said, oh no.
God is not your father.
But ye are of your father the devil.
And the desires of your father you will
do.
Satan's desire to destroy Jesus.
You're going to do it.
He was a murderer from the beginning.
You're going to murder me.
He abode not in the truth because there
is no truth in him.
And when he speaks a lie, he's only
speaking of his own nature.
For he is a liar and the father
of it.
And because I tell you the truth, you
do not believe me.
Which of you can convince me of sin?
And if I say the truth, why do
you not believe me?
He that is of God hears God's words.
Ye therefore hear them not because you are
not of God.
Now, this is a very heavy thing.
Because as you are here tonight, are you
hearing God's word?
Or is this just all, you know, gobbledygook?
You know, are you saying, oh, well, you
know, get over with it, will you, man?
I want to go home, you know.
And, you know, are you really...
Does God's word speak to your heart?
Do you receive it?
Does it strike your heart?
Is it warming your heart?
Is it ministering and feeding you?
Or is it just something that's, you know,
you just sort of, you know, shoving aside?
You can very quickly tell who your father
is.
He that is of God hears God's words.
You therefore hear them not because you are
not of God.
Then answered the Jews and said unto him,
Did we not well say that you're a
Samaritan and you have a devil?
And Jesus answered, I don't have a devil,
but I honor my father and you dishonor
me.
And I seek not my own glory.
There is one who seeks and judges.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a
man keeps my sayings, he shall never see
death.
Oh, Jesus is not going to let them
off the hook.
He's just going to put the knife in
deeper.
I mean, he's ready.
You know, he's ready for a controversy.
You guys want to hear it?
All right, go.
Let's go for it, you know.
And now this radical statement.
If a man keeps my saying, he shall
never see death.
Then the Jews said unto him, Now we
know that you have a devil.
For Abraham is dead and the prophets.
And you say, if a man keeps my
saying, he shall never taste of death.
Jesus often was misunderstood because Jesus spoke of
spiritual things and these people could only think
in terms of material things.
And there is a biblical definition of death
and a material definition of death.
And from a human material definition, death is
the separation of a man's consciousness from his
body.
If they put the EKG on a person
and they get a flat reading, there's no
motion at all.
And 24 hours later, they again put the
EKG on and there is still a flat
reading.
If they then, which they often do, pull
the plug and watch the EKG and they
still have no activities.
If there still remains a flat movement, the
person is clinically dead.
It means that there is no activity in
the brain at all.
The brain or the consciousness of the person
has departed.
There's no brain activity.
He is dead.
His consciousness is now separated or has left
his body.
Now, a spiritual definition of death is the
separation of your consciousness from God.
So that the Bible says, if a person
is living only for pleasure, they're dead while
they're still living.
You see, if pleasure is your God, if
pleasure is your chief goal, if you're living
simply for pleasure, then your consciousness is separated
from God.
Thus, you are dead.
Even though you may still be alive from
a physical standpoint, yet you're dead because your
consciousness is separated from God.
God is not in your conscience, the Bible
says.
So, Jesus making reference to that spiritual definition.
If a man keeps my sayings, he will
never see death.
I will never consciously be separated from God.
Hey, my consciousness may leave this old body,
but I will not be dead.
I'll be more conscious of God then than
ever because I'll be right in the presence
of God.
Very much alive.
He that keeps my saying will never see
death.
I believe that.
I believe that completely.
I believe that one day my consciousness will
leave this body and people will read in
the paper, Chuck Smith died.
That's poor reporting.
Inaccurate, to say the least.
To accurately record, they must write, Chuck Smith
moved out of a decrepit, worn out tent
into a beautiful new mansion.
I won't be dead.
I'll be very much alive there in the
presence of God in his eternal kingdom.
For we know that when this earthly tabernacle
is dissolved, we have a building of God
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
So then we who are in these bodies
do often groan, earnestly desiring to move out,
not to be an unembodied spirit, but that
I might move into that new body which
is in heaven.
For I know that as long as I'm
still living in this body, I'm absent from
the Lord.
So I would rather be absent from this
body and to be present with the Lord.
So one day I'm going to move out
of the tent into the house.
Not dead, just moved.
The Jews said unto him, now we know
that you have a devil for Abraham is
dead and the prophets.
And you say, if a man keeps my
saying, he shall never taste of death.
Now they made a wrong assumption of Abraham.
You remember Jesus when he was talking to
the Sadducees.
And he asked them the question, you know,
they were the ones that didn't believe in
resurrection or spirits or angels.
Jesus said, how come when God spoke to
Moses at the burning bush?
He said, I am the God of Abraham,
of Isaac and of Jacob.
He's not the God of the dead, but
of the living.
They made a wrong assumption when they said
Abraham was dead.
Abraham was very much alive at that point.
In fact, he was comforting all of those
who were awaiting the Messiah.
Look, the 16th chapter.
And the poor man was taken by the
angel into Abraham's bosom where he was comforting
those who were waiting.
So are you greater than our father Abraham,
which is dead and the prophets which are
dead?
Who do you make yourself?
And Jesus answered, if I honored myself, my
honor is nothing.
It is my father that honors me of
whom you say that he is your God.
Yet you have not known him, but I
know him.
And if I should say I don't know
him, I would be a liar just like
you.
But I know him and I keep his
sayings.
You see, Jesus is not really mincing words
with these guys now.
I mean, he's laying it on them.
And then he said, your father Abraham rejoiced
to see my day and he saw it
and was glad.
And the Jews said unto him, you're not
even 50 years old yet and have you
seen Abraham?
And Jesus said unto them, verily, verily, I
say unto you, before Abraham was, I am.
This is, this is it.
This is his open plain declaration of his
divinity.
Using now that name of the eternal God.
When Moses said, whom shall I say?
He sent me, say I am that I
am hath sent thee.
The name that expresses the eternal nature of
God.
You're not 50 years old.
You mean that Abraham saw you?
And Jesus said, before Abraham was, I am.
Now, they understood what he said because they
took up stones to throw at him.
But Jesus hid himself and went out of
the temple going through the midst of them
and so he passed by.
Now, when did Abraham see him?
Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day
and he saw it and was glad.
When did Abraham see him?
It is quite possible that this is a
reference to Melchizedek.
In the Old Testament.
For when Abraham came back from the victory
over the five kings, there came out the
king of Salem, the king of peace, and
met him and gave him bread and wine
or communion.
And Abraham gave tithe of all that he
had to him or gave him a tenth
of all of the spoils.
Now, this priest of the Old Testament, Melchizedek
was called the priest of the Most High
God.
Honored by Abraham.
By Abraham giving of his substance to him,
a tithe of all that he had.
And it is quite possible that Melchizedek was
what is known as a theophany, the appearance
of God in the Old Testament in the
form of Jesus Christ.
Before Abraham was, I am.
And that Abraham rejoiced to see my day
and he saw it.
There is other evidence that shows that Melchizedek
could very well have been none other than
Jesus Christ.
It is said there was no record of
his genealogies.
He did not come from the Levitical priesthood
because Levi wasn't even born.
Levi was a descendant of Abraham from which
the family of the priest came.
So, it is quite possible that Melchizedek was
actually an appearance of Jesus to Abraham in
the Old Testament.
There is one other possibility and that is
when the angel of the Lord was on
his way to destroy the city of Sodom.
As you read the text carefully, Abraham was
talking with Jehovah or Jesus Christ as he
was interceding for the cities of Sodom and
Gomorrah.
What if there are 50 righteous people?
Will you destroy the righteous with the wicked?
Shouldn't the Lord be fair?
And as you read that, you'll find that
Abraham is addressing Jehovah and Jehovah is answering
Abraham.
So, it is possible that that is where
Abraham saw Jesus and rejoiced to see his
day.
But Jesus existed from the beginning and was
manifested during the Old Testament period.
So, just an interesting sidelight.
Next week, chapters 9 and 10.
May you be blessed of the Lord as
you go your way.
Strengthened by the power of the Holy Spirit
working in your life.
Filled to overflowing with God's love as you
go out as a light shining in the
darkness to bring that light to those who
sit in darkness that they may have hope
in a day of great darkness.
In Jesus' name.