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Proverbs 16:22-33
22 Understanding is a wellspring of life to him who has it. But the correction of
fools is folly.
23 The heart of the wise teaches his mouth, And
adds learning to his lips.
24 Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, Sweetness to the soul and health to the
bones.
25 There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
26 The person who labors, labors for himself,
For his hungry mouth drives him
on.
27 An ungodly man digs up evil, And it is on his lips like a burning
fire.
28 A perverse man sows strife, And a whisperer
separates the best of friends.
29 A violent man entices his neighbor, And leads
him in a way that is not good.
30 He winks his eye to devise perverse things;
He purses his lips and brings
about evil.
31 The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, If it is found in the way of
righteousness.
32 He
who is slow to anger is
better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.
33 The lot is cast into the lap, But its every
decision is from the LORD.
Father God, we pray that you take the stony heart out of
those that don’t believe and replace it with a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 11:19 In
Jesus
name we pray, Amen!
Gospel of John 7:1-13 NKJV
In this Chapter we find Jesus teaching
and being confronted by the Jewish leaders again. It has been about six months
and the Feast of Tabernacles is about to take place. There is scripture in this
lesson that some make Jesus out to be a lair.
1 After
these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea,
because the Jews sought to kill Him.
After
these things Jesus walked in Galilee; After
these things is referring to the events of Chapter 6 which was six months
previously. We know this because in Chapter 6 verse 4 it talks about the
Passover (April) and now it talks about the Feast of Tabernacles (October) in
the next verse. John
6:4
Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.
During this six months Jesus
stayed in Galilee performing many glorious things that aren’t recorded here in
John, but are in the other three Gospels.
For He did not want to walk in Judea, because
the Jews sought to kill Him; Jesus
spent this time in Galilee preaching and teaching the people. He avoided Judea
because of the hatred of the Pharisees and their desire to kill Him. It wasn’t
Jesus time to die yet so He avoided Jerusalem.
2 Now the
Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.
This
feast is referred by some as the Feast of Tents or Shelters. During this 8 day
feast all males were required to attend. It was a remembrance of the past when
the Israelites wandered the wilderness and lodged in tents. Because of what it
represented the people were to live in tents or booths during this feast. Leviticus 23:33-43 Then the
LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 34 "Speak
to the children of Israel, saying: 'The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the LORD. 35 On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary
work on it. 36 For seven days you shall offer an offering
made by fire to the LORD. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation,
and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it. 37 'These are
the feasts of the LORD which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to
the LORD, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink
offerings, everything on its day— 38 besides the Sabbaths of the LORD, besides
your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings
which you give to the LORD. 39 'Also on
the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of
the land, you shall keep the feast of the LORD for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest,
and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest. 40 And you shall take for yourselves on the
first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of
leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD
your God for seven days. 41 You shall
keep it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your
generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All
who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, 43 that your generations may know that I made
the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of
Egypt: I am the LORD your God.'
"
3 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.
His
brothers therefore said to Him; This
phrase tells us that Mary had other children with Joseph. We know Jesus had 4
half brothers and at least 2 half sisters maybe more because of sisters being
plural. There are several verses in the Bible that tells us that Jesus wasn’t
the only child, John 7:5; Mark 3:31;
Luke 8:19. Matthew 12:47 Then one said
to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking
to speak with You.” Mark 6:3 Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary,
and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?" So they
were offended at Him.
Depart from here and go into Judea, that
Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing; Can you see the sarcasm here? Jesus'
brothers had a difficult time believing in him although some of these brothers became
leaders in the church like James and Jude, but for several years they were
embarrassed by Jesus. After Jesus died and rose, they believed.
By
the use of the Words, “Your Disciples,” they are saying that they (His
brothers) are not His Disciples, and want all to know that they have no
association with His group.
4 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."
Do
you think Jesus brothers believed that Jesus was seeking fame from men? They
didn’t believe at this time as the next verse tells us, so it could be they
never saw the miracles and if they did maybe they viewed it as some kind of
trick. Pride of life sometimes causes us to do things to gain popularity of
men, and it is possible these brothers felt this is what Jesus wanted. They
were actually mocking Jesus and what He preached.
This
verse also teaches us that people who teach the true Gospel will endure
persecution, not only from strangers, but from family, and friends. I encourage
those that suffer rejection from mother, father, brothers, and sisters to hold
your head up high and keep moving forward as a soldier of God, because we will
be persecuted just as Jesus was when we preach the truth. When persecution
comes, consider it a compliment from Jesus.
5 For even
His brothers did not believe in Him.
No
comments needed for this verse.
6 Then
Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but
your time is always ready.
Then Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come; Jesus knew what was in the hearts of the
Pharisees and that they wanted to kill Him. By this statement He is saying His
time to die wasn’t to be decided by men, but by His Father and when the right
time came, He would obey. He fully intended to go to the feast, but go
according to how the Holy Spirit would direct Him to go.
But your time is always ready; Jesus is telling His brothers they
could go and go any time they desired to go. They had nothing to fear; they
would not excite or cause a commotion.
7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify
of it that its works are evil.
The world cannot hate you, but
it hates Me; Why would
the world not hate Jesus brothers, after all they were from the same family? It
isn’t any different today. Brothers and sisters of the same family can have a
member of the family that is well liked in the community, while another member
of the family is an outlaw; inconsiderate person; or just has immoral actions.
Because I testify of it that
its works are evil; The
reason Jesus was hated was because He was teaching the New Covenant and this
tore down the ways of the Old Covenant in their eyes. The Jews were living
according to what had been taught them for thousands of years. Jesus brothers
were living the ways of the Old Covenant, therefore no one had a issue with
them. They were living in the world according to the ways of man; they were
practicing religion and not faith in God, as so many do today.
8 You go up to this feast. I am not yet going up to this feast,
for My time has not yet fully come."
You go up to this feast. I am
not yet going up to this feast; Jesus
tells His brothers to go ahead and go, He wasn’t ready to go yet. Some Bible
versions make Jesus out to be a liar with this phrase. They state that He
wasn’t going to the feast at all by omitting the word “yet”, but if you read it
carefully it states He wasn’t quite ready to go yet.
For My time has not yet fully
come; Again this speaks
of Jesus death and therefore He would go up to Jerusalem in secret after the
multitude of people would be present.
9 When He
had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.
Jesus
remained in Galilee two or three days before He made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem
for the Feast.
10 But when His brothers had gone up, then He also
went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.
With
this verse we see that Jesus fully intended to go to the Feast, but in secret
due to the hatred toward Him by the Jewish leaders. He could go, arrive, and
blend in without a crowd of people around Him announcing His presence. He would
pull a hood over His head and walk with His head down in such a way people
wouldn’t know who it was.
11 Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said,
"Where is He?"
The
Jews spoken of here was the religious hierarchy. We know they weren’t looking
for Him for the right reasons. In fact, Luther said that their malice was so
great they “forbore to name Him.” Actually, these Rulers or the Pharisees never
called Him by Name, but only addressed Him as “Teacher,” or “Rabbi!”
Jesus
knew this and this is the reason He came in secret and was lead by the Holy
Spirit. This is why we need the infilling of the Holy Spirit and that we need
to seek God’s guidance each and every day in all that we do. With the Spirit of
God leading us, we can rest in His arms each day knowing that He is in complete
control and will provide for us.
12 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."
And there was much complaining among the
people concerning Him; With
this verse we see that many were expecting Jesus to come, not just those who
were against Him, but also those that believed in Him or weren’t believers but
wanted to see more healing and miracles.
If
the only reason of those that were expecting Jesus was to witness more
miracles, then they were honoring their flesh. So many times the human flesh
gets in the way of truly believing in Jesus.
Some said, "He is good"; Those that said, “He is good” may or may
not have be saved at the time, but most likely after Jesus death and
resurrection they became true believers and started living by faith.
Others said, "No, on the contrary,
He deceives the people; This
group of Jews, most probable listened to the Pharisees and sided with the
Pharisees that Jesus was a fake and leading people away from their lifelong
teachings; that He was deceiving the Jews. They claimed He had the Devil in Him
and that what He was teaching was a cult. There was much murmuring, good and
bad.
13 However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of
the Jews.
Close
your eyes and envision what was happening among the crowd of people. You can
see those whispering to each other and one person going from one group to
another, but all that was spoken, was spoken quietly because the people feared
the Pharisees and what they would do to them. Whereas those that were against
Jesus no doubt were speaking loudly, “where is He; He claims to be Gods Son but
doesn’t come to this feast; if He is God’s Son why doesn’t He come to honor
God; what a fake He is; He is no Messiah; etc.
This
human nature is still the same today. Christians that believe know, love, and
serve God with their heart, are humble and don’t call attention to themselves,
whereas those that say they are Christian, but only believe with their lips,
many times are boastful, proud, and like to see their name in the news. You can
spot these imposters by observing their fruit.
The
Jewish religious leaders had a great deal of power over the common people.
Apparently these leaders couldn't do much to Jesus at this time, but they
threatened anyone who might publicly support him, most likely with
excommunication. Excommunication from the synagogue was one of the reprisals
for believing in Jesus. To a Jew, this was a severe punishment. John 9:22 His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed
already that if anyone confessed that
He was Christ, he would be put
out of the synagogue.
Fear can stifle our witness. Although
many people talk about Christ in church, but when it comes to making a public
statement about their faith, they are often embarrassed. Jesus says that he
will acknowledge us before God if we acknowledge Him before others. Matthew 10:32 "Therefore whoever
confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in
heaven.
Colossians 1:16 For by Him all things were created that
are in heaven and that are on earth,
visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All
things were created through Him and for Him.
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God,
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God."
The Lighthouse
Full Gospel Church
Sinners Prayer; Pray this, and if you
believe it with your heart, Jesus will save you!
“Lord Jesus I know I am a
sinner. I confess my sins to you; I am
sorry for my sins; I repent (Meaning, desiring to turn from a sinful
lifestyle.) of all my sins, and I am asking for your forgiveness. I believe that only you can forgive sin. I commit my life to you and ask you to come
into my heart, direct, and take charge of my life. I believe that you died to set me free from
my sinful lifestyle and you rose from the dead to give me eternal life, and
right now you are seated at the Right Hand of God Almighty. I believe you are
the Son of God; the only Way, the only Truth, the only Life, and my
Savior.” I believe this and have faith
you will make a new person out of me, by sending the Holy Spirit to dwell in my
heart and lead me in a new life. In Jesus name I pray Amen.”
(John
3:16,17; Romans 3:23; 6:23; 5:8;
10:9-13; Ephesians 2:8-10;
1 John 5:11-14; 1:6-10) (Sin: Rom. 1:22-32; Gal.
5:19-21; Eph. 5:3-7
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