Sermon Notes - John 7:37-53 - Pride blinds us - Littleby Baptist Church - April 2, 2023

 1.     The Jewish Spiritual Leaders did not like that some of the crowd thought He might be the Messiah.

a.      Jesus taught.

b.     He spoke the truth.

c.      A truth that should have spoken to that crowd.

d.     A truth that needs to speak to us.

e.      The sin in us and in the world stifles the truth and can prevent us from seeing and hearing the truth.

f.      We are flawed followers of Christ, but our God loves us and forgives us.

g.     Through Jesus we have a path to Glory.

h.     All we have to do is believe that Jesus is offering us an amazing gift of eternal life.

i.       That through His sacrifice we get to spend forever with our Heavenly Father.

j.       We need to follow Jesus.

k.     Part of that is letting the Holy Spirit point out the sin in our lives so that it does not prevent you from hearing and seeing the truth.

2.     We are picking up at the end of the festival.

3.     John 7:37

a.      Each day during the Festival of Shelters a priest would take a pitcher and fill it with water from the Gihon Spring and bring it back to the temple and pour it out.

b.     It was in remembrance of when God provided water from the rock while the Israelites were wandering the wilderness.

c.      It was also pointing to the coming return of our King.

d.     Zechariah 14:6-9

e.      This is pointing to the return of our Lord and His eventually ruling of all creation.

f.      When Jesus stood and cried out, He was making a statement.

g.     Jesus was proclaiming that Salvation was near for those who came to Him.

h.     Those that were thirsty, a sinner, should repent and come to Him.

4.     John 7:38

a.      Follow Jesus and have streams of living water flow from them.

b.     Streams of peace, satisfaction, fulfillment, eternal life…

c.      Follow Jesus and have the Holy Spirit within them.

d.     Follow Jesus and God will be at work in them.

5.      John 7:39

a.      The Apostle John is adding some commentary here, helping to fill in the gaps for his readers.

b.     Jesus was talking about how the Holy Spirit was going to come.

c.      The Holy Spirit, the gift, is the living water that brings regeneration, guidance, and empowerment.

d.     Jesus’ predication here came to fruition on the day of Pentecost.

e.      Acts 2:1-4

f.      After Jesus returned to His Father, the Holy Spirit came down.

6.     John 7:40-44

a.      Definitely differing opinions on who Jesus was.

b.     Some saw Him as the prophet that Moses mentioned.

c.      Deuteronomy 18:15

d.     They believed that Jesus spoke the word of God to the people.

e.      Some saw Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ.

f.      But that is part of the debate, would the Messiah actually come from Galilee?

g.     That was followed up with the fact that the Messiah was to be born from the family of David.

h.     Isaiah 11:1

i.       Jesse was David’s Father, and the Messiah is to come from their lineage.

j.       Micah 5:2

k.     The one from antiquity, from ancient times, which Jesus is.

                                                    i.     Is to be born in Bethlehem, David’s own hometown.

l.       If we look at Matthew 1.

                                                    i.     Vs. 6 and vs. 16, David is one of Jesus’ ancestors.

m.   Matthew 2:1

                                                    i.     Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

n.     Facts that were either not known, overlooked, or purposefully distorted.

7.     Some saw Jesus in favorable light.

a.      Some of them would have chosen to accept Him at His word and follow Him.

b.     Some saw some truth there but did not choose Jesus on this day.

c.      Others, wanted to seize Him but could not.

d.     Jesus’ time had not come.

8.     We have the same scenarios today.

a.      Some choose to follow Jesus.

b.     They understand enough to take that first step.

c.      Others like Jesus, admire what He stands for, but don’t want to commit.

d.     They don’t want to stand out in the crowd.

e.      Then we have those who choose to live opposite of our Lord’s teachings.

9.     This was a choice before that crowd in the Temple that day, and is a choice before all who walk this earth today.

a.      Will we choose to follow Jesus and give Him our lives?

b.     Will we be a closet Christian, but not really a Christ follower at all?

c.      Or will we fight against the King of kings?

10.  I know I broke it up into three buckets, but in all reality, they boil down to two.

a.      Following Jesus or rejecting Him.

b.     That is the choice before us.

c.      Fully follow Him or reject Him.

d.     All in or Not.

e.      Everyone will need to make the choice before it is too late.

11.  John 7:45-46

a.      Those that were sent to arrest Jesus, did not know what to think.

b.     It seems they believed that there was something special about Him.

c.      They couldn’t put their finger on it.

d.     At the same time, they were heavily influenced by the chief priests and Pharisees.

e.      They either did not feel like it was right to arrest Jesus or simply could not do it.

f.      The guards stated, ‘No man ever spoke like this!’

g.     Jesus’ words moved them.

h.     Yet, they returned to the Jewish leaders.

i.       Their was something about this Jesus, but they were not ready to turn away from what they knew and trusted.

12.  John 7:47-48

a.      Once again, the pride of men turns people away from God.

b.     The pride of the Pharisees prevented them from seeing the truth.

c.      Their pride influenced others to turn away from what they were seeing and feeling at the time.

d.     The pride of the leaders, the spiritual guides, turned people away from Jesus.

13.  Pride today keeps people from seeing who Jesus is.

a.      The pride of individuals keeps them from seeing that they need a Savior.

b.     The pride of leaders influences others to not follow the leading of the Holy Spirit when He guides us to seek out Jesus.

c.      The pride of false teachers that think they know what people need to hear instead of turning to the Word of God.

d.     It is the sin of pride that causes us to elevate our self-worth.

e.      James 4:10

f.      Don’t let pride keep you from seeing Jesus for who He is.

14.  John 7:49

a.      The Pharisees are talking down the people.

b.     That this crowd was a bunch of uneducated, ignorant people, who did not know any better.

c.      They were elevating themselves, by saying that those who do not know the law will be accursed.

d.     Implying that since they studied the law, they knew better.

e.      Sadly, their pride was interfering with them seeing the truth.

f.      The truth that they too needed a Savior.

15.  John 7:50-51

a.      Deuteronomy 1:16-17

b.     The Law required that someone get a fair chance to be heard before being judged.

c.      This Nicodemus is the ruler who visited Jesus and was challenged by Jesus telling Him that he needed to be born again.

d.     Here Nicodemus is trying to be the levelheaded person, but it did not go over very well.

16.  John 7:52-53

a.      Nicodemus was insulted by the other religious leaders for simply being a man of reason.

b.     The hatred for Jesus, the contempt for His teachings, has already blinded the religious leaders.

c.      They accused Nicodemus of being as blind as the crowd.

d.     They had already turned away from reason and embraced their pride, their sin.

e.      Their minds were made up, Jesus could not be the Prophet, the Messiah, our Savior.

17.  Pride will ruin us.

a.      Pride prevents people from seeing the truth.

b.     It causes us to raise our self-worth to unrealistic levels.

c.      When pride creeps in, we begin to think we have all the wisdom we need.

d.     It keeps us from hearing Godly wisdom and truth from others.

e.      Pride will ultimately lead to conflict, it will cause us to turn away from God.

f.      Pride will lead to destruction.

18.  1 Peter 5:5-7

a.      We are to humble ourselves.

b.     Listen to those around us with Godly wisdom.

c.      Remembering that God is God, and we are not.

d.     We may not understand what is going on, but our God is with us.

e.      He will one day exalt us or raise us up.

f.      Trust in Him by casting your cares on Him.

g.     Lay your needs at His feet.

h.     If you are unsure how to trust in Him, start by remembering that our God Loves us.

19.  If we believe that Jesus is truly God.

a.      If we believe that He loves us.

b.     Then trust in Him.

c.      Trust Him through the storm in your life.

d.     Trust that He will see you through it.

e.      Trust that the Hope you have in Him is eternal.