Honest Hypocrites? John 7:19-24

Text:  “Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to His disciples (you and I today!), saying, The Scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat (of authority); all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works; for they say, and do not.”

Matthew 23:1-3.

Good morning, honest Christian hypocrite!  Self-righteousness has no place in your life!  Self-honesty overrules any notion of personal holiness - outside the imputed righteousness and holiness of our gracious and Holy Lord God. 

Praise God for the Christian that fully realizes our total inability to be righteous and holy in the natural state.  Praise God for the depth of Christian honesty that openly admits our imperfections!  Thank the Lord God for granting us this clear vision of all within us that falls short of His glory!

“…For there is no difference; for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God (Christ’s absolute and perfect righteousness)…”  (Romans 3:22-23)

“As it is written, There is none righteous, no not one…there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”  (Romans 3:10-12)

All honest Christians realise that we are in fact honest hypocrites!

On the authority of God’s infallible Word quoted above, there are no exceptions to this fact.  All honest Christians are sincere hypocrites - and I am clearly a hypocrite too! Praise God for honest hypocrites like you and me!

We sinners can never be truly saved until we first realise we are totally lost!

In what manner can Christians like you and I be defined as ‘honest hypocrites?  Think about it, my dear friend, think about it and gain wisdom.  Christ in today’s Scripture selection is teaching a most valuable lesson to His people.  Moses, at God’s direction, gave us the Law - the Ten Commandments.  (Exodus 20:1-17)

However, it is only mature Christians that fully realise that the Law - the Ten Commandments given - were given for one main purpose.  The Commandments were given to fallen mankind to show us that we could never ever keep them!  There has never been any person - apart from the Christ Himself - that was ever capable of keeping the Ten Commandments, fact!

IF the Ten Commandments could be perfectly obeyed by just one person - then Christ Jesus, the Son of the Living Lord God, would not have had to go to the Cross for us. Christ only came to save sinners.  Praise His Holy Name!

“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.”  (1 Timothy 1:15)

“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was LOST.”  (Luke 19:10)

Therefore, it is plain to see that, if we do not realise we are totally lost, then we will never ever seek to be saved; we will perish in our sins and iniquities.

The Ten Commandments from God have been broken by every natural man and woman who ever lived.  Furthermore, if we have ever broken even one Commandment, in the eyes of God, we have broken them all. That’s a fact!

“For whosoever shall keep the whole Law (the Ten Commandments), and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”  (James 2:10)

“As it is written, There is none righteous, no not one…There is none that doeth good, no, not one.”  (Romans 3:10-12)

Okay, so we have proven from Scriptures that we are all law-breakers, but are we also ‘Christian hypocrites’?  Yes, we are.  We are indeed, my friend.

The most sincere Christians that ever walked on two feet have been, are, and always shall be Christian hypocrites.  Now, that’s telling it like it is, what?

We are Christian if we are Spiritually regenerated, ‘born again’ by God the Holy Ghost, by grace through faith; trusting only in the Atonement Sacrifice of Christ Jesus on the Cross at Calvary.  That’s how we are ‘Christians’.

We are ‘hypocrites’ because each of us, the most sincere of us, and especially the most honest of us, all preach, teach, and maintain a PERFECT standard of Christian principle, yet are - in our natural every day state - totally unable to keep that standard of Christ-like PERFECTION in our practice.  We are, in fact, Christian hypocrites.  Yet, praise God, the Lord accepts us as perfect in His Son Christ Jesus.  We are ‘…made perfect…’ in Christ Jesus.

Thought:  Vile sinners are made saints when hidden in Christ Jesus. Hallelujah!

God’s Doctrinal Stance? John 7:16-18

Text:  “Jesus answered them (the Jewish detractors), and said, My doctrine is not Mine, but His (God the Father) that sent Me.  If any man/woman will do His will, he/she shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of Myself.”

John 7:16-17.

Good morning, unbiased Christian!  What a blessing you are to a Pastor or Bible Teacher who would faithfully preach/teach the purity of the Word of God!  By your unbiased and earnest listening, learning, and Scriptural evaluation - you are a constant thrill to the heart of any such Bible Teacher who would faithfully serve the risen Christ Jesus.  The Lord God thoroughly bless you this day!

“But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the Word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.” (Luke 8:15)

“To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this Word (the Word of God revealed in our Bible), it is because there is no light in them.  And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry (Spiritually?); and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward.  And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.”  (Isaiah 8:20-22)

What a dire outcome for those that are biased against God’s Word!

Dictionary Definition:  Bias :- (noun) a one-sided mental inclination; a prejudice; any special influence that sways one’s thinking; an unevenness or imbalance…  (Chambers Dictionary page 155)

In today’s selected Bible passage in John’s Gospel we find Christ, the Son of God speaking about His mission from God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit causing His Divinely inspired words to be recorded in a narrative.  This being the case, should not you and I pay close attention to what the Master is seeking to teach us, His latter-day disciples?  I think so.

Doing God’s will is the Christians first duty to the Lord God Who condescended to grant us His grace and to save us.  We are saved to serve.

“If any man/woman will do His will (God the Father’s will), he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I (Christ Jesus) speak of Myself.”  (V.17)

This same principle must apply therefore when Pastors, Teachers, Evangelists, etc. are speaking, and seeking to lay open the will of God for our hearers. 

If we speak/write sincerely of the things of God - at all times supported by the revealed will of God in His Word - then our hearers/readers will KNOW that the doctrine we teach, the messages we preach, are in fact of God and to the greater glory of God alone.  Amen?  It is such ‘truth’ that ‘…makes us free’ indeed.  (John 8:32)

“He/she that speaketh of himself seeketh his/her own glory; but he/she that seeketh His glory that sent him/her, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.”  (V.18)

Whose glory are you and I seeking to promote - our own, or the Lord’s?

So often in this latter-day of increased apostasy, I get professing Christians, and would-be Christian leaders, seeking to refute the Gospel truths I earnestly set forth from God’s Word!  Invariably they fail to see that it is not ME they are contending against, but the written Word of God which I, at all times, quote as my only and final Authority. ‘…God’s Word is truth…’ (John 17:17)

There is none so blind as he/she who will not see!  (Isaiah 6:9-10)

As you will realise, dear reader, there are absolutely no frills attached to this website; nothing being sold for gain; no products to send for and pay for - all I have to offer is free Bible Lessons from the Word of the Living Lord God.

My sole motivation for writing these Bible Lessons and sending them forth internationally is the expanding of Christ’s Kingdom, the encouragement of Christ’s Blood-bought people; and the winning of precious souls for Christ.

In other words, running this site and sending out Bible Lessons is merely my way of fulfilling what the Scriptures define as my ’…reasonable service…’ to Christ Jesus - and what a privilege it is to do so!  (Romans 12:1-2)

Christ Jesus came to do the Father’s will, we must seek to do likewise - may the good Lord God grant us the power and the patience to do so.  Amen.

Thought: ‘…Thy will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven…’, dear Lord.

Divine Appointments! John 7:13-15

Text:  “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement; so Christ was once offered (on the Cross at Calvary) to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto Salvation.”

Hebrews 9:27-28.

Good morning, God-appointed Christian!  God has Divinely appointed thee and me to be His servants; He has made Divine appointments that we are most privileged to keep according to His Sovereign will and Eternal purpose; and because we are destined to keep God’s Sovereign appointments - who can ever prevent us in our calling and our keeping as God’s appointees?  Hallelujah!  What a blessed assurance from God!  Glory to His Name!

Dictionary Definitions:  Appointed (adjective):- fixed, furnished, equipped.  Appointee:- (noun) a person appointed to a job, position, or office.  (The Chambers Dictionary, page 74)

Today’s three verse Bible Reading in our Journey In John’s Gospel exposes the general, universal human condition - even those of us that believe in Christ - for what it is : FEARFUL.  We are naturally fearful of death.

“Howbeit no man spake openly of Him (Christ Jesus) for fear of the Jews.” (V.13)

However, God’s Word teaches us clearly that “The fear of man bringeth a snare; but whoso putteth his/her trust in the Lord shall be safe.”   (Proverbs 29:25)

Everybody (Christians included!) wants to go to Heaven, but nobody wants to die!

I want us therefore to focus our minds on the fact that Spiritually regenerate Christians (See the doctrine of Regeneration on our website), are God-appointed people.  We have not presumptuously pushed our own way into a role or position in life - we have been appointed to our role/position by our Sovereign Lord God Himself!  We are God-appointed servants of Christ.  Hallelujah!  What a Sovereign Saviour we have in Christ Jesus!  Glory…

“Ye have not chosen Me (the Lord God), but I have chosen you (born again believing Christians), and ORDAINED you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in My Name, He may give it you.”  (John 15:16)

“…Ye are not your own…For ye are bought with a Price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Corinthians 6:20)

Okay, we can now hopefully agree that you and I are indeed ‘appointees’, as defined at the commencement of our Bible Lesson for today - ‘a person appointed to a job, position, or office'.  (The Chambers Dictionary, page 74)

As those who have been in this manner ‘God-appointed’, we are thus fixed, furnished, and equipped to fulfill our Divine appointments. 

Fixed:  If ever a living soul needed to be ‘fixed’, believe me, dear friend, it was ME!  Christ in His grace took a Hell-deserving terrorist murderer, lying in a solitary-confinement prison cell, serving two Life sentences and many many years of added imprisonment for terrorist activities here in Ulster - and, on August 12^th, 1979, FIXED me; made of me a ‘…new creature in Christ.’

“Therefore if any man/woman be in Christ, he/she is a new creature; old things are passed (or continually passing) away behold, all things are become (or continually becoming) new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)  Thank you, Lord God!

The Lord at that time also, ‘fixed’ me into the Body of Christ, the Church, and has KEPT me securely fixed within that Body these  past 40 years.  I could not KEEP myself saved and serving without the power of the Lord.    (1 Peter 1:3-5) (John 15:5b)  ‘…Salvation is of the Lord…’  (Jonah 2:9)

Furnished:  The Lord God has furnished me with His strength, power, and perseverance in the faith, by the Divine power of God the Holy Spirit.  Anything of any Eternal value achieved, is achieved by His power and for His greater glory alone. Of ourselves we can do NOTHING GOOD. (Acts 1:8)  (2 Timothy 3:16-17)               (2 Timothy 4:1-8)

Equipped: We Christian believers are fully equipped for service, equipped to fully achieve any Divine appointments the Lord desires of us.  We are, in fact, equipped with a full set of Spiritual armour for the job! (Ephesians 6:10- 20)  What a Divine arsenal of Spiritual weapons!

Thought:  Fixed, furnished, and fully equipped by God - what shall we fear?  Our times are appointed by the will of our Sovereign Lord God.  Praise His Name!

Fear of Man - Fear of God? John 7:11-13

Text:  And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him (God) which is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell.”

Matthew 10:28.

          “The fear of man bringeth a snare; but whoso putteth his/her trust in the Lord shall be SAFE.”

Proverbs 29:25.

Good morning, God-fearing Christian!  Fearing the Almighty Lord God Jehovah and holding Him in awesome reverence - you fear absolutely nothing else.  Thus you cry out with the God-fearing Psalmist:

“The Lord is my light and my Salvation; whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?  When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.  Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear…”      (Psalm 27:1-3)

God-fearing men and women can be fearless in the face of all else!

In our previous Bible Lesson from the Gospel of John, we were taught how the Lord Jesus chose His timing to go up to the Feast of Tabernacles in Judaea; and refused to go up to that public feast promoting Himself by miraculous works, or with loud fanfare to publicize His arrival. 

Christ used His wise discernment, and His knowledge that the Jews sought to kill, Him to inform Him on how he should attend the feast.  We Christians do well to exercise a similar sharp discernment in this latter-day age of anti-Christian oppositions.

“Behold, I (Christ Jesus) send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves; be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.”  (Matthew 10:16)

Being God-fearing should not encourage us to be humanly foolhardy!

Today’s selected Bible reading above informs us that, “…the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, ‘Where is He?’” (V.11)

Unpopular as Christ is in today’s sinful world, the unsatisfied world still seek Him out.  Unpopular as we Christian believers are in this sin-sick world, sinners will still seek us out, and watch us to see how we live our lives in public.  We are, in Christ Jesus, ‘…a peculiar people…’ indeed.

“But ye (born again, God-fearing, Christians) are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”  (1 Peter 2:9)

We then learn from our Bible reading that, “…there was much murmuring among the people concerning Him (Christ Jesus): for some said, ‘He is a good man; others said, Nay; but he deceiveth the people.’” (V.12)

Has anything really changed that much today, God-fearing Christian?  Are you and I not treated in a similar manner by those around us in the world; those who are still in their sins and secretly hungering in their hearts for soul-Salvation?

Those that might say we are ‘good’ are wrong in their assessment of us, for the Scriptures teach clearly that - outside of Christ Jesus - ‘…there is none good, no not one’!  (Romans 3:10-12)

On the other hand, those that might say you and I are ‘…deceivers…’, could be politically correct in their evaluation of us!  How?  Because, admittedly, we God-fearing Christians preach and teach a perfect standard for daily life, yet cannot live up to it perfectly ourselves!  We Christians, if we are brutally honest, and in this strict sense of the meaning, are ALL hypocrites !  Groan…

“For the good that I would (do) I not; but the evil which I would not (do), that I do…O wretched man/woman that I am!  Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord…”     (Romans 7:14-25)

However, let it not be ever said of us God-fearing Christians - with all our faults and failings - that, ‘…no man/woman spake openly of Him (Christ Jesus) for fear of the Jews (or any other temporal Government or power!)’ (V.13)

If we are truly saved by Christ’s Atonement at Calvary - then let us be swift to tell all who will listen that we are indeed Hell-deserving sinners, yet saved by Christ Jesus Who only came ‘…to seek and to save that which was lost.’

Thought:  Fear not, there has only, ever, been one perfect Christian - Christ Jesus Himself!   Our righteousness is found only in Him.  Praise His Holy Name!