Christ Speaking Openly - Joh..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. So the gospel according to John chapter 7, we'll be reading from verse 14 through to 31. About the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and he began teaching the Jews.

Began teaching. The Jews therefore marveled, saying, how is it that this man has learning when he has never studied? 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. Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. "'Why do you seek to kill me?' The crowd answered, "'You have a demon.

Who is seeking to kill you?' And Jesus answered them, "'I did one work, and you all marvel at it. "'Moses gave you circumcision, not that it's from Moses, "'but from the fathers, and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. "'If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision "'so that the law of Moses may not be broken, "'are you angry with me? "'Because on the Sabbath I make a man's whole body well?

"'Do not judge by appearances. but judge with right judgment. Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him. Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ?

But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from. So Jesus proclaimed as he taught in the temple, you know me and you know where I am, where I come from, but I have not come on my own accord. He who has sent me is true and him you do not know. I know him for I come from him and he sent me. So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come.

Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, when the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done? Amen. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord remains forever. Well, Church, we've been working our way through the gospel according to John for many weeks now.

I think this may be the seventh sermon in this chapter, in chapter seven. And very much what we've found from the very beginning, and every week I keep reminding us that moving forward, what we're going to see is some very strong opposition. some strong antagonism against our Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, the Apostle John has set us up to know what to expect as we read deeper and deeper into the seventh chapter of the gospel that bears his name. Because if you remember back in verse chapter one, the Apostle John said the Jews were seeking to kill Jesus.

It's a setup. It's telling us what to expect as we move forward. There's going to be opposition. There's going to be antagonism. There's going to be some strong hostility, and it's going to increase as we deepen our study, even to the point where we go through the chapters until our Lord is crucified.

Now, Lord, we know the context. Our Lord is at one of the three main feasts in Jerusalem. It's the feast of the booths. It's the last one of three. I've said before, and it's worth saying again, this feast or festival is the most expensive of all the feasts.

Some 200 animals are slaughtered and sacrificed in the space of eight days. But more importantly, this feast is the feast that attracts the most amount of people. It's only slightly after the most holy day of the year, the Day of Atonement. And so it attracts the most amount of people into the holy city, Jerusalem. So it swells, the population in this city swells up to four, maybe even five times the normal amount of people that would be residing in this city.

So it's needless to say that there are many people in the city at this point in time. It's bustling with people. Now, I've said on different occasions and we've explained what the Feast of Booth is. It's an eight day feast, essentially, to commemorate the 40 years of their Hebrew ancestors that they spent in the wilderness from the time that God had rescued them from the slavery under the bondage in Egypt to the time they enter into the promised land in the conquest. Now, during those times, we know that the people of Israel, they stayed in flimsy booths.

They stayed in tents in the wilderness. Now they do this in commemoration here in Jerusalem. Now during the twilight hours of the night, the majority of the people will do the same. They sleep in flimsy tents made out of maybe branches or something along those lines, and they would be erected across the city on rooftops, because in the Mediterranean the roofs are quite flat, and they would do it there, or they would set them up on the east there, on the Mount of Olives. And so you'd find scattered across the place flimsy tents or booths, that's the name, and people would sleep in those booths, but in the day.

In the day, mainly the most of the activity during the day would happen in one place, in the temple precinct. That's where most of the people would gather. Literally thousands upon thousands would gather in the courtyards in the temple, and they would celebrate different elements of the festival over the eight days. And it's on the temple grounds in the midst of this multitude of people that our Lord arrives halfway through the feast, we're told. And what does He do?

He begins to preach publicly. In the six or so weeks that we've spent in this chapter so far, we've already considered the verses from 1 through 24. And as I said earlier, we know that the tension is increasing. The hostility is in the air. We know it's only going to get worse as time goes on.

The Jewish religious leaders in particular, they want him gone. They want Jesus out of the equation. Verse 11 tells us that they were eagerly anticipating his arrival. They wanted nothing to do with this Jesus. They wanted to arrest him and then finally, finally put him to death.

Get rid of this Jesus. But that's nothing new. John has already recorded for us the last encounter our Lord had with these pious men back in chapter 5, at least 12 months, but most likely 18 months earlier. And it was pretty clear back then that they weren't very happy with what Jesus had to say. They didn't appreciate what our Lord said of himself, the lofty claims that he made of himself, that he spoke about himself as being divine.

You can't mistake what Jesus was saying. But mostly they didn't appreciate the straightforwardness, the piercing realities and the piercing truths that our Lord gently and lovingly spoke with. Unlike the lay people in the area who apart from the egos of the religious people, our Lord did no such thing. He's more concerned with preaching truth. He's more concerned with people knowing where they really are in relation to God.

He's more concerned with holding people accountable for their sins. So he calls the Jews on their hypocrisy. He calls the Jews on their perverted view of the law, which they interpret as they please. If you remember, that's what we said a couple of weeks ago. He calls them out on their hatred also, because they have murder in their hearts.

They're seeking to kill an innocent man. He calls them out on their superficiality, unmasking their intention to keep the letter of the law, but have no concern for the heart and the spirit of the law. In other words, they neglect the very things, the weighty things that are closer to the character of God, closer to the heart of God. Those things such as justice and mercy and faithfulness. And of course, the summary of the law is to love God with all heart, soul, strength, and mind, and love neighbor as thyself.

Beloved, cold religion has neither a heart for God nor a heart for people, and Christ exposes them as lawbreakers, verse 19. But more shocking yet, in the verses to come, he calls them out as religious frauds, because the only true God that they boast of knowing the only true God that they believe they have the oracles for. And they do have the oracles, they do have the scripture, and it has been preserved by God with the people of the Jews. They have them, but they boast of knowing God, and Jesus flat out tells them that this God, this only God, is unknown to them. Verse 28, Him you do not know, He says.

Beloved, this is a warning for us all to examine, that we indeed have a faith that is genuine, that a faith that resides not solely in our minds, but is soaked into our hearts. Because you can know the Scripture. You can recite it. You can preach it. You can teach it.

You can know it very well, but still be foreign to God. Still be unknown by God and not know God. And that is a disaster. You see, there's a difference between having scripture, or having true faith, or having an understanding, I should say, of God, or knowing God in the mind, and having a knowledge of God in the heart. There's a difference.

Because counterfeits will be found out, and they'll be rejected by Christ, just as Jesus rejects the Jews that are before Him. Now, exposing the state of one's heart is never pleasant. We know that. Imagine you stood before Christ and you can see right through. See the sins that are in your heart.

See every nook and cranny, every sin that we've suppressed and maybe we think no one will ever find out. He sees it all. That's not a pleasant experience. And so the Jews, well, they hated the Lord. And their hostility towards him was increasing and increasing, it seems, with every word he spoke.

But now we find that the crowd is growing in hostility towards our Lord as well. You see, the crowd's allegiance is for their leaders. And Jesus' piercing candidness is offensive to them also. So they do the unthinkable. We spoke about this last week.

They accused our Lord, the Lord of glory, of being possessed by a demon. They said, you have a demon. Verse 20. It's hard to imagine they would say that, but they do. Because, beloved, there is much deception going on here.

in this chapter. There's much blindness going on in this chapter. It's all evident here. And the last thing, as a congregation, a few weeks ago, the last time we were in the gospel according to John, the last thing together we examined in this gospel, and we considered, is verse 24. And that's where our Lord says the incredibly wise, much-needed words to His audience and to us.

Do not judge by appearance, but judge with right judgment. Dig deeper than face value. Dig deeper than what you've just been told. Dig deeper than what you see in a superficial sense with your eyes. Dig deeper.

Dig deeper. Dig into the Word of God. Go to the Scripture. Contemplate the Scripture. Meditate upon God's Word.

That Word, that's where truth is. Examine the truth. Because only then are you able to make righteous judgment about everything. And Jesus here in particular is saying, do that. Make righteous judgment about your religious leaders.

Examine how they teach and what the Scripture says. Make righteous judgment. And also, more importantly, make righteous judgment about who I am, who Christ is. Because yes, to err is human. but to err or make unrighteous judgment on who Jesus is will cost you dearly.

In fact, it'll cost you everything for all eternity. It matters. It really matters. And now the text that we have before us in the rest of chapter seven, the question that is on the table really is this. Who is this Jesus?

Who is this Jesus? And to answer that question, one needs to heed, as I said earlier, the wise, much needed instruction of our Lord, not to judge with appearance, but to judge with right judgment about who He is. The way the crowds at the feast would answer that question will become clearer as we work our way through chapter seven and indeed through to chapter eight. Okay. After our Lord's wise words, We come to verse 25.

Let's read it together. Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, is not this the man who they seek to kill? And here he is speaking openly and they say nothing to him. Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? Brothers and sisters, you may remember, on many occasions actually, I've said that the Apostle John refers to different groups of people in different ways.

We know that when he says, or when he writes, Jews, it's John's way of referring to the religious leaders, for the most part. They're the Pharisees, the scribes, those who are the members of the Sanhedrin and so forth. Then normally he'll refer to others other than Jews, other than the religious leaders, he'll call them the crowd or the people generally. But here in chapter 7 we actually have three groups of people and it's important we see this. The first is the Jews and we know who they are.

And then the second group of people, we find crowds. He uses the word crowds in verse 20, or people in verse 40. Now, these are the folk who don't reside in Jerusalem, but in the surrounding regions and beyond. Some are of the diaspora. That's the once residents of Judah who were expelled into exile at the time of the Babylonian overtaking some six centuries earlier.

These are the lay people who were offended at Christ back in 20, verse 20, when they said, surely you have a demon who's seeking to kill you. They didn't like that. They were sympathetic to the religious establishment, even though they may not actually be very well acquainted with them, because you're not from Jerusalem, right? But they respect them nonetheless. And then the third group of people, the third group are the ones that are being addressed in these verses that are before us.

And he called people of Jerusalem, people of Jerusalem. That's what the Apostle John writes. These are not the rulers or the leaders in religion, but they are lay folk who actually live in Jerusalem or in the vicinity of Jerusalem. These people have a greater insight of the religious practices and what goes on in this city under the name of religion. Perhaps they regularly attended the teachings at the temple, and if they lived a little further out, it would be the teaching in the several synagogues.

They would have been well acquainted with the rabbis of the area, the scribes and the religious authorities. They would have known them well, possibly by name. Likely, they were aware of the discussions and the debates that went on locally in that city, aware of the warnings that the rulers would give. regarding false teachings and false teachers. No doubt they would have been well acquainted with the power, the power that these authorities yielded, and also, on the other side, they would have been well aware of the fear that the lay people experienced under that rule.

That they knew to oppose this neatly organized religious system, with all its traditions and all its rules, and we've gone through some, could end up in disaster, even excommunication, cut off from the religious practices. And for a shame and honour society, being excommunicated would have devastating societal ramifications. For the person being excommunicated and his whole family, shame would come upon them. This is a real big deal. We don't really understand it in our society right now, but in the shame and honour society, you didn't want that to happen.

There was a real fear among these people. So being so close to the action, these people of Jerusalem were aware of the sinister plans of the authorities and what they planned to do to this Jesus. It wasn't exactly hush-hush, was it, when we read it in the text. The hostility and their intention to destroy Christ was no top secret. It's likely the Jews openly warned the people of Jerusalem about this Christ.

It's likely they warned them to steer away from this Jesus. If you see him, don't listen to him. If you know of him or his teachings, keep away from him and his disciples. This man, Jesus, is dangerous. It's likely they warned the people.

More than ever, these people These people needed to heed the instruction that our Lord gave in verse 24, did they not? Don't judge with appearance, but judge with right judgment. Exercise right judgment. Why? Because they're religious leaders.

The ones who are supposed to teach them Torah, teach them true religion, introduce them to Yahweh. These are the very same people who are leading them astray. The men they respected. The men they labeled as pious and godly in their community. They're the very same men that labeled the true Messiah.

The true long-awaited Messiah. The only hope of Israel and the world as a blasphemer. as a blasphemer. And that's what they labeled him last time Jesus was in Jerusalem, and we have the content there in chapter 5. You remember what he said?

You remember what the Apostle John said about these people and what they were thinking back in chapter 5 verse 18? It's written, this was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him. That's Jesus. Because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own father. Here it is, making himself equal with God.

How dare you, Jesus? They had additional insight, these people from Jerusalem. And it would be a stretch to suggest that everyone, at least to some degree, was familiar with our Lord. He's been to Jerusalem before. We know already this is the third trip that was recorded in the Gospel according to John, and it's likely that they had an opportunity to hear him personally teach.

It's likely that they would have witnessed firsthand, or at least heard from a reliable source, a family member or a friend, of the miraculous power of this Jesus. The healing or the casting out of demons, healing various diseases, not the least of which is the invalid man of almost four decades at the Pool of Bethesda. You remember that. And it's not as though our Lord's trips down to Jerusalem, down south, were discreet. Even this time around, we're told, he went down privately.

He went down unannounced, but in a matter of hours he was the center of all attention. So it's no surprise that these people, these people of Jerusalem, were able to identify Jesus really well. But here's the thing. Here's the thing. Knowing what they know about this Jesus, as residents of Jerusalem, knowing what they know about what they heard, the religious leaders debate and speak and warn, it's actually left them confused.

They're a confused people. Why? Verse 26b, is this not the man whom they seek to kill? And here he is speaking openly and they say nothing to him. You see, there's an inconsistency in these people's minds as to what they're seeing.

There's a disconnect between the zeal and the eagerness they experience, the religious leaders had in their keenness to eliminate Jesus, and what they're actually seeing being played out now that Jesus is there in Jerusalem. Here he is. Here he is. He's made the trip down late, but he's here. But you don't say a word or do a thing.

It doesn't make sense. When the Galileans arrived, you were all over them asking, where is he? Where is he? You remember back in verse 11. He's right here in front of you, right now, in the middle of the temple, preaching and speaking publicly, even accusing you of lawbreaking or lawbreakers, and you do nothing about it.

What gives? Why has your zeal been deflated? No doubt that's what they're thinking. But perhaps they're thinking, are you afraid of something? Are our religious leaders afraid of something?

Sure, some of the people may be sympathetic to his cause, but you know better, right? You're the religious authorities, and you're the protectors of true religion. If you've learned anything from the history of our ancestors in exile, it's to keep purity. and obedience to Torah. That's what you taught us, right?

Well, here's your chance to bring a little bit more purity. Because if there's a blasphemer in our midst who's deserving, according to you, the death penalty, so what are you going to do about it? They see nothing. No action. Are they cowards?

Or is something else happening here? And then naturally their minds will start to assess the situation. Could it be? Could it just be that our authorities have turned their convictions now and begun to actually believe the claims that Jesus is making of himself? Is it possible that our religious leaders, is it possible that they've come to be convinced that this is indeed the Christ, the long-awaited Messiah?

That's what they're thinking. That's what the passage is telling us. Could it be that His latest discourse, when He stood in the temple and began to proclaim, could it be that it penetrated their hearts and brought an about face into their beliefs? Is that a possibility? You can understand their concern if that would be the case, because that would be massive, right?

If their religious leaders began to believe that this is indeed the Messiah, the Christ, that would have big ramifications on what they believe also and what they're being taught. But beloved, of course, we've read the rest of the chapter. Those thoughts may have been entertained for a moment or two, but before long these people, as well as us, can see the Jews have not changed their mind. They haven't got a change of heart. Rather, they are even more convinced now that this Jesus is a fraud and deserving of death as we continue into this chapter.

In any case, just to be clear, the grammar in the original language of the question in verse 26 presupposes a negative response anyway. almost like a rhetorical question, assuming a no answer. But what I think really is going on is a confusion among the people here, the people of Israel or the people of Jerusalem, a confusion in relation to the lack of consistency, as I said earlier, to the zeal and the confessions of their authorities, on the one hand, and what they would deem to be justifiable actions on the other. The disconnect in their mind must cause their hearts to think that their leaders are disingenuous, right? Must be.

It's perceived as dishonest. If the Jews' convictions were so strong against this so-called blasphemer because of his teaching and because of what he claimed of himself, well, now's their chance. See, what was expected was for the authorities to grab Jesus at first sight, to arrest him, drag him away, give him a quick trial, and execute him. That's what would have been expected. But it's not as though they lacked witnesses.

Like, the Jewish laws, you need to have two or three witnesses. So the people are thinking, well, they're not grabbing him. It's not as though they're waiting for more people to witness the blasphemy. There was plenty of witnesses. Because when Jesus said his truth claims back in chapter 5, there were many people there who heard and could quite easily testify what Jesus was saying.

Many people heard what Jesus was saying, and He was indeed saying that He is equal with the Father. You can't deny what Jesus... You can come to the point and say, I don't want to believe in this Jesus, but you can't read the text in chapter 5 and come away thinking anything short of, no, this Jesus really believes that He's equal with the Father. That he believes he's equal with the Father in his work, in his power. That he believes he's equal with the Father in his honour, equal in his omniscience, and the list goes on.

Beloved, there was no shortage of witnesses here. So why the lack of action? Why the lack of courage to confront him if they felt so strongly that this Jesus is a fraud? You can understand why they may be a bit confused. But beloved, I submit to you that there's something more going on.

I submit to you that there's something supernatural and spiritual going on here. It's a spiritual reality that these people cannot see, but it's real and as real as the very temple that they stand in. And that would do well to dig a little bit deeper and consider the facts. And once they consider the facts, make right judgments. Because something big is going on here.

This is beyond a battle of the wits. This is beyond a flexing of one's religious muscles. Because even though beneath the surface the enemy and his demonic influence is going to do all he can to destroy the work of our Lord, and he is trying his very best, it's a real intense spiritual battle. But the sovereignty of God, I believe, is on display here. The reason the people of Jerusalem are confounded and confused with the actions or the lack thereof of their spiritual leaders is because the predetermined plan of God set in eternity past will not be thwarted.

And any action to arrest our Lord or apprehend Him In any way would he this derail the sovereign plan of the only God of the universe. And beloved, that sentence is an oxymoron. It's absurd. It's inconceivable. Because the words derail and the plan of God don't belong in the same sentence.

So what I believe is going on here is that the Apostle John, by inspiration of the Spirit, is illuminating to the hearts of the believers, of those who read, Not so much the surprising element of the inaction of the religious leaders, but something we could so easily miss without a second thought. And that's the fact that despite our Lord knowing full well, full well, that the Jews were out to kill him, despite the fact he knew of their eagerness to arrest him at the earliest possible time and to eliminate him, It didn't stop him from openly preaching and teaching publicly in the temple. You see, the basis for our Lord's extraordinary action under these circumstances is no doubt clearest in verse 30, which says, So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. But we'll consider that verse next week. But I think if we dig a bit deeper in the verses that we've already considered, I believe it would be a great blessing for us.

It would give us a greater appreciation, I believe, of what's actually going on right now in this text at the Feast of Booths in Jerusalem some 2,000 years ago. And beloved, it's profound. So let's back up and go back to verse 26. In particular, one word in the first part of the verse. The word is translated openly, or publicly, in some of your Bibles.

Verse 26, and here he is speaking openly. Paræsia in the original. Now, my original intention for this afternoon was to To preach a sermon on verse 25 through 31, it's probably nicely divided in our Bibles, there is a unity in that passage. But by God's grace, we'll discuss that paragraph next week. We'll continue into 31 from 27, or at least the unity of that passage.

But this week, I want to really flesh out the contents of verse 26 with you. So in the time we have together, that's where we'll be. because I do believe it speaks to some glorious truths of our Saviour, glorious truths of the plan of God in redemption, of redemption. And the principle, beloved, is profoundly practical in application for all who are found in Jesus Christ also. So we'll spend the time here.

Now, we've just spent a fair chunk of time this evening and in previous weeks painting the picture of what's going on here. The hostility and the adverse opposing conditions against our Lord. And he finds himself in these conditions here in Jerusalem, in the Holy City, at the Feast of Booths. But these are conditions that were already there before he went down. We know that.

Before he makes the journey, the Jews were already angry at our Lord. Already angry. They wanted to kill him, and it's no secret. And this Jesus, they knew that, my apologies, they knew who this Jesus was, and they wanted him out of the way. And our Lord knew, our Lord knew, that they wanted him dead before he made the trek down.

And we have to keep that in the back of our mind. Jesus knew that these Jews were bent on killing him before he made the trek down. Now, I want us to pull back and just think of the big picture. I want us to look at what we already know. Jesus spent a large portion of time in the north.

Why? We're told, because he knew of the danger that awaits him, verse 1, because the Jews were wanting to kill him. A little later we're told Jesus actually makes the trip down, but he does so discreetly. Right? Not publicly, but discreetly.

He makes it discreetly and privately. Verse 10. And even his own family members, he didn't tell them that he was going to this feast. So everything is really hush-hush. They're the details that the Apostle John gives us, and they're there for a reason.

Probably at this point, if you're reading the text for the first time, you're expecting our Lord to get there, and to probably cover His face with a hood, and to go about laying low, right? Because He's done all these things. He's gone up privately, he hasn't even told his own family. He knows of the hostility and antagonism that is against him, so you might expect him to just sort of cover up and just walk through and mingle through the crowd, hopefully without being recognised, without being noticed. I mean, why else would he conceal from his family that his intention to go down?

Why would he go down privately? Not with the caravan of Galileans, which is probably what he would have done previously. But that's not what happens. That's not what happens. See, instead, what he does is so unexpected, that if you're reading the narrative for the first time, it's actually a shock.

It's surprising. It's actually astonishing. It's not what you expected. That Jesus gets there. He gets there discreetly and privately.

He hasn't told his family. But when he gets there, he stands in the middle of the temple and begins to preach and teach. There's a shock in that. And I think that's the effect that the narrative should have on the reader. See, God's ways are not our ways.

How antithetical is it to our human minds, beloved, what we have before us? The most wanted man in the country, Jesus, comes to Jerusalem in the most populated time of the whole year, the Feast of Booths. And then when he gets there, he goes to the most populated place or precinct in the whole city, the Temple. And then he stands before thousands upon thousands, raising his voice, declaring divine truths. And at the same time, just in case the enmity and the deep hostility of the Jews wasn't deep enough, he rebukes them and indicts them to lawlessness.

Beloved, does this sound like a man who fears men? Not at all. And that's what I think verse 26 is communicating. His fearless confidence in His trust in His Father. Verse 26, and here He is, the people from Jerusalem speaking, speaking openly, and they say nothing to Him.

You see, the word openly is the word I want to look at together with you this afternoon. Parousia. See, on my count, that word is found 31 times in the New Testament, and the usage connotes three different meanings or nuances of meanings. Only a few verses back, for example, in chapter 7 verse 13, we'll start from verse 12, we have one of these meanings. There we read, some said, he's a good man.

Remember the different opinions of Christ. Some said, he's a good man. Others said, no, he's leading the people astray. Yet for fear of the Jews, no one spoke parousia, openly of him. Okay.

So here, the meaning of the word signifies that they didn't speak publicly or freely. Why? Because they were restrained by fear, fear of the religious leaders, the Jews in particular. Okay, then if we move on to chapter 10, you don't have to go there, but chapter 10 verse 24. We have another meaning.

So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, this is around Christ, and said to him, Jews being the religious leaders, listen to the question they ask our Lord, how long, they say, how long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us, parrhesia, plainly, plainly. Jesus, tell us as it is, be straightforward with us. If you are the Christ, tell us, and if you're not, Tell us. Be straightforward.

Be plain. Parousia. So we know that word parousia can mean openly or publicly, freely, or it can also mean plainly. Tell us plainly. Or be straightforward.

Straightforwardly, you might say. But there's a third usage of the word. And 20 of the 31 times this word is used in the New Testament, 20 from the 31 times on my count, and in fact, according to the first epistle of the Apostle John, it's used four times, and every single time there it's also translated either with confidence, or with boldness. With confidence and with boldness. And some of you are nodding your head because I know some Bibles actually translate it boldly, even in our passage here in chapter 7.

And an example of this is the well-known verse in 1 John 5, verse 14. And this is parousia, confidence that we have towards Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. So it can be used, this word can be used to connote freely or publicly, plain or straightforward, or with confidence or with boldness. And although a decision needs to be made by the translators, and they do a good job. They need to pick one of the three sometimes.

But there are times, as I've studied this word through the week, that I feel there are occasions where actually all three definitions are appropriate for the passage. In other words, when parousia is used, the author could actually have a rich, nuanced definition that encapsulates all three. Think about Acts chapter 4 verse 13. I know it's been a while since we've been in chapter 4 in the book of Acts. We're working through a series.

It's been a couple of months, but think of that. The context is Peter and John have been preaching in the temple. They've been placed before the Sanhedrin on the next day, and listen to what the Sanhedrin They were arrested and placed before him. Listen to what the Sanhedrin say in verse 13. Now when they, that's the Sanhedrin, saw the paracyan, the boldness of Peter and John, they perceived that they were uneducated, common men.

They were astonished. Why was the Sanhedrin astonished? Because Peter and John, uneducated men, were speaking boldly and straightforward biblical truths with confidence. Where were they doing it? They were doing it in the same place that Jesus is speaking, in the temple.

They were doing it publicly. And that was one of the reasons, if you remember when we examined Acts chapter 4, that they were quite upset. Again, in the same chapter, When Peter and John are released and they go back and meet with the Christians, if you remember, they meet with the Christians and they all corporately pray and they lift their voices to God. Do you know what part of their prayer reads like this? Verse 29, And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant your servants to continue to speak your word with all parousias, boldness.

while you stretch out your hand and heal and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus. You see the church are praying for the power to speak boldly and plainly the truth in the public place because the proclamation of the gospel doesn't happen between you and yourself in a room but it's done publicly and you need boldness i think that's the diverse meaning that diverse meaning that is used here in both those sections and there are more I believe back here in chapter 7 verse 26, I believe that that would apply for our text as well. I think that's how it needs to be understood. Because especially in light of the context of chapter 7. Because despite the real threats and the fearless, the threats that are against our Lord, and the antagonism from the Jews, with fearless confidence, He teaches straightforward truths, no beating around the bush, in the most open and public place, the temple.

And he does it with boldness, and he does it plainly for all to hear. You see, it's not that we should be surprised, as the people of Jerusalem were, who couldn't understand the lack of action or the cowardice on behalf of the religious leaders. That's not what should surprise us. Now I believe, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, what we should be taken by surprise at is the courageous action of our Lord and His fearlessness despite His enemies all surrounding Him. That's what should make our jaws drop, beloved.

Jesus fearless before His enemies. Jesus fearless before His enemies. The question that people should be asking, the question we should be asking, is how can he be so bold? How can he be so courageous in the face of such fierce opposition? People want him dead.

It is in boldness, standing there before all, looking at them in the eye, proclaiming without fear, divine truths. And the answer throughout this Gospel and throughout the synoptic Gospels to that question is that he's able to do so because of his total and complete trust in the Father. The level of boldness, beloved, despite persecution and opposition, is directly correlated with the level of trust and confidence one has in God the Father. And for Christ, that confidence is limitless. Therefore, His fearless boldness to do the Father's will is also limitless.

Because our Lord knew nothing. Our Lord knew that nothing, absolutely nothing is left to chance. All is planned. All is orchestrated by the sovereign hand of God the Father, the only God of the universe. And that, beloved, totally frees Jesus.

Totally frees Him to be completely bold in doing the work that the Father has given Him to accomplish. John 5.36. And, beloved, beyond that, it was Jesus' greatest desire, it was in fact His food to do the will of the Father. John 4.

34. But what a beautiful picture we have here of the confidence that is rooted in a genuine eternal relationship between the Father and the Son. And it's certainly not new, is it? No, we've already seen on many occasions in the fourth gospel that our Lord has complete assurance in the Father. Complete assurance that He can do the Father's will and be completely unmoved.

Completely unmoved. Completely confident, no matter how grim things look. In the last chapter, thousands upon thousands of His followers, you remember, they turn their back and they desert Christ. Turn their back. They've been following Him.

5,000 He fed. There might have been 15,000, 20,000 followers. By the end of the next day, a vast majority of them just turn their backs and walk away. Even some disciples, John says, not the 12, but those who've been following Him for a period of time, just turn their backs and they desert Him. But He's unmoved.

But Jesus, what if all your followers desert you? What if you shed your blood on that cross and no one ends up believing in you? That won't happen, is his gentle, settled voice. Remember what he says in verse 37 through 38 of that same chapter? All that the Father gives me will come to me.

And whoever comes to me, I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me. Okay, Jesus, but how do you know? How do you know that they'll come? How do you know that they'll come?

Verse 44, Jesus says, The Father who sent me, he will draw them. They'll come because the God of the universe will effectively draw them to me. I trust the perfect will of my Father, and I trust always. And I'm confident, Jesus would say, I'm confident that everything, everything will work out exactly as He sovereignly planned. I trust Him with all my heart.

That's the example Jesus is giving. And it's no different here in chapter 7. It is the Father who has given him what to say and what to speak. John chapter 12 verse 49. And now the Father's will is for Jesus to stand in the midst of thousands upon thousands of people in the temple and in front of his hostile enemies and declare divine truths pertaining to eternal life, then despite all the dangers and all the threats, despite all that, all the threats in the world, beloved, he is in the safest place imaginable, in the very will of the Father.

There is no safer place than being in the very will of God. Jesus, what if they arrest you? Jesus, what if they take you and drag you and arrest you before your time? It won't happen, is what He'll say. I trust the perfect sovereign plan of my Father.

He's never let me down and He never will let me down. Beloved, even though the climax of the incarnation of our Lord is that He would be born of a woman, born under the Lord to redeem those under the law by being our willing substitute That means being handed over to religious leaders who have rejected Him in order to crucify Him and to be ashamed and treated as the lowest of criminals, a death worthy only for the scum of the world back there on that Roman cross. Even then, but that's not for another six months. As far as Jesus isn't concerned, He'll continue to submit to the Father's will because that is His food, that is His joy, that is His desire. And he knows that he's untouchable until his time comes.

It'll come, yes, but in the perfect timing of God. And until then, our Lord has complete parousia, confidence, boldness, because of his trust in the Father. That's why the Jews didn't lay hands on him. That should have been the cause of the astonishment, I think, of the people of Jerusalem. If they were to judge with right judgment, it's not the cowardice of the Jews that should have confounded them, but rather the fearless confidence of this man, Jesus Christ.

That should have confounded them. What a testimony of the complete reliability of the sovereignty of God and the and the trust that our Lord has in His Father. What a testimony of the settled parousia confidence that Christ has with His eternal Father. A confidence that saw Him walk in the face of the fiercest fury of His enemies and the fury of the devil and His minions against Him. But He did so without fear.

A settled assurance He had in the Father's will till the end, until He obediently submitted to the Father's will to death, even death upon the cross. For this is why He came, isn't it? This was the only way he would be able to redeem wretched sinners like us. No fear because he trusts in the Father. No fear because he was only concerned to please an audience of one.

Now how does that apply to us, you may ask? It's all good and well that Christ is the perfect God, man, and He's perfect in all His ways. He's perfect in obedience, He's perfect in confidence, He's perfect in His trust in the Father, but He's divine and we're not. How does it apply to us? Well, beloved, Jesus is divine, amen, a divine, amen, but He's also our example in this.

Yes, sure, His work is unique, the cross, unrepeatable. Once and for all, we heard our brother say that this evening. He is the incarnate Son of God, the only mediator between God and man, but principally in the incarnation, He lived as we ought to live. His desire, was to exclusively, unwaveringly do the will of the Father, because of his trust in the Father. And that ought to be ours also in Christ.

As sinners, we're unable to do this. We're unable to even desire to do this. But due to the finished work of Jesus Christ, those who have been redeemed by Him, Those who by grace, through faith, have been forgiven of their sins, are united in Christ and made new creatures in Him, and now enjoying the resurrected life of the Savior, never to be taken away. Never. And the Spirit of Christ dwells in you, beloved brothers and sisters.

Romans 8, 9. And His desires are now coursing through our veins, so to speak. And the will of God for you as believers, as those who have trusted in Christ, is your sanctification. 1 Thessalonians 4.3 That is to say that the Spirit of Christ is working in and through you to make you, like your brother said this evening, like Christ.

To make you like Him in His trust of the Father. To make you like Him in His obedience. in His love for God and others, in His righteousness, in His holiness, in His true knowledge, to make you like Him in His kindness, His gentleness, His self-control, His faithfulness, to make you like Him in His parousia, in His boldness, in living out the will of God in the face of persecution or any tribulation that may come. To trust in God. To trust in Him.

To walk by His will. to apprehend the promises that we have in His Word, in His revealed Word. The Scripture, the Bible is given to you, believer. Hold to His promises. Remember, remember that God is sovereign and He's as sovereign in His plan of redemption accomplished in Christ as He is over every single facet of your life, Christian.

He's just as sovereign. He's just as sovereign. You see, we lack boldness. in our testimony, in our Christian life, because we hear this, because we fear men. We fear opposition.

We fear being ridiculed. We fear being ostracized. We fear being persecuted. We fear that our reputation may somehow be tarnished. And beloved, we fear, if we go to the root of that, it is sin.

But the root of all our fear is that we don't trust God enough. It's lack of trust in God. Remember what our Lord said is the only cause or only valid cause of fear? I hope this comes to your mind. Back in Luke chapter 12, verse 5, it's found in Matthew as well.

I tell you, my friends, the Lord Jesus speaking, Do not fear those who kill the body and after that have nothing more than that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear. Hear this. Fear him who after he has killed has the authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you.

Fear him. Beloved, that's not man. That's God. Only God has the authority to cast into hell. And if you're not in Christ, then yes, be terrified.

Because that's a terrifying reality. If you're not in Christ, then that fear abides because the wrath of God remains upon you. But there is hope. There is hope. Because by His grace, you can place your trust in Him.

Believe upon Him for the salvation of your soul. Believe He died upon that cross to cleanse you of your sins. Embrace Him by faith and come to Him if that's you. But if you are in Christ, if you have been forgiven of your sins, and if you have been united by faith in Jesus, then live in that glorious reality. It's a reality that He's purchased upon the cross by His shed blood.

What is that reality? Beloved, what is the reality that we are to live in as Christians? You want to hear it? Sonship. Sonship.

His Father has become our Father. In Christ, we have become sons and daughters of the living God, the household of God, 1 Timothy 3.15. And as the household of God, God no longer looks down upon us in anger and in fury because that has been borne with His Son upon that cross. But He looks upon us as He looks upon His Son in love and grace and mercy.

Sonship. It's a glorious reality. Glorious reality. And beloved, if we are sons and daughters of the living God, if we have come by faith, by grace, through faith in Christ alone and apprehended Him for what He has done on the cross, believing He's done that for us, we've been forgiven of our sins, if we've been united in Him, then listen, listen to what is written. Let us then with parousia, with Christ-like confidence, draw need to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need Hebrews 4 16 Beloved if you've been reconciled to God in Christ Jesus, then what do you have to fear?

What do you have to fear? He's the only one that matters Joy, you and God is the only one that matters He's the only one that should we as Christians should desire to please. It's His will, and His will alone should be the very desire of our hearts. And we know His will, because it's written for us in Scripture. That's where we find the will of God.

It's in the pages of sacred writ. And that, beloved, ought to be our food. That ought to be our desire. And if Christ has indeed reconciled you to Him, to God. You're no longer enemies.

Then because of the cross, we are forgiven. Because of the cross, we are set free. Because on that cross, He boldly bled and died to atone for the sins of His people. It's on that cross that He satisfied the wrath of God upon unrighteousness. It's on the cross, brothers and sisters, that he enabled the great exchange, our sin placed upon him and his righteousness, his faultless, perfect, perfect obedience placed on us like a robe that covers us.

Now we share in his resurrected life for all eternity, a life that will never come to an end. So if you, by faith, have judged rightly about who this Jesus is, not by appearance, but rightly about who this Jesus is, and that means if you have come to believe upon him, if you've come to be united in him, then beloved, in Christ, you're able to stand before the thrice holy God. A terrifying thought. whose eyes pierce into every, as I said earlier, every nook and cranny, every secret, every sin, every intention of the heart, every thought, every inclination of your heart, everything exposed completely before Him, but in Christ, but in Christ. You're able to stand before this thrice holy God, the only God of the universe, and you can be deemed innocent.

because of the parousia, the boldness and the fearless confidence of our Lord Jesus Christ in fully accomplishing the will of the Father in perfection. If that's you, what in the world can you fear? Let's pray.