Impact Christian Church
Jesus Who? - Week 7 - Pastor Nick Grim
Last week we were in John 6 and we discovered that: Jesus desires devoted followers
Before we begin, please remember that:
1. God has a message for you not the person that is not here.
2. Let God speak to you not me.
3. If God asks you to live differently today do something about it.
Remember that little changes are what creates growth in Jesus
Have you ever been hated and didn’t understand why?
Jesus lived out mission and was questioned and hated for it
John 7:1-5 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. Now the Jews' Feast of Booths was at hand. So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” For not even his brothers believed in him.
Have you ever had someone question who you are?
If Jesus is questioned then people will question how you follow Jesus.
People’s opinions are not as important as Jesus’s commands
How do you figure out if your doing it for Jesus or for people?
1. Put Kingdom first
Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
2. Seek out his word
Psalm 119:105-107
Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
I have sworn an oath and confirmed it,
to keep your righteous rules.
I am severely afflicted;
give me life, O LORD, according to your word!
3. Pray
Matthew 6:9-10 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven..
4. Hear His voice
John 10:3-4 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice
The story continues:
John 7:6-9 Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. After saying this, he remained in Galilee.
Many would say: The world loves Jesus
The truth: The world loves Jesus until he tells them what to do
The hard truth: Before long the world will hate you too if you follow Jesus
John 15:18-19 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
The harder truth: When you choose to follow Jesus that’s when persecution begins.
Jesus said: “The world cannot hate you” in John 7 but then in John 15 he says, “but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
Until the world views God in you than it will not hate you
Peter was crucified upside down under emperor Nero
Paul was beheaded under emperor Nero
Andrew was crucified in Greece
James was stoned and then clubbed to death in Syria
Simon was killed after refusing to sacrifice to the son God
Matthias burned to death in Syria
John was boiled alive but survived
The ugly truth: People have used this verse to justify their actions that had nothing to do with Jesus
Ephesians 4:15-16 speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
John 7:10-15 But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.” Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him. About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?”
Even when people hear Jesus they question and hate him
Have you ever heard a message that was so impactful to you and than that person didn’t get anything?
John 7:16-18 So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.
Jesus points to the Father and doesn’t take the glory
We point to Jesus and don’t take the glory because if we do we are false
Jesus is accessible to all of us if we follow
John 7:37-38 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”
In the midst of being hated and questioned Jesus never strayed from mission
His mission was to give life to everyone
Jesus lived out mission and was questioned and hated for it.