John 7:37-53
Almost Isn’t Enough
Introduction:
Have you ever had a time in life when almost isn’t enough? The doctors almost saved him. I almost got the job. We almost won the game. All the effort put in to achieving a goal counts for nothing because the goal was not achieved.
Main Point:
When it comes to the salvation of your soul, almost isn’t enough. Getting close to being saved is not actually getting saved. In the end, there are 2 kinds of people in this world: those who are saved and those who are not. Almost saved counts for nothing. Almost isn’t enough.
We have in chapter 7 so many people who are almost saved. I’m afraid we have people today who are almost saved - People who maybe like the sounds of Christianity, or, associate themselves with Christ, or are drawn to His teachings. They get close, but, they have never surrendered their pride, who’ve never humbled themselves before the Son of God and asked that their sins be forgiven in His name.
Today I want us to see in our passage some things that bring a man from “Almost Saved” to “Absolutely Saved”.
Context
Chapter 7 takes place during the Feast of Tabernacles. It is a feast that is 7 days long and is considered the greatest of all annual Jewish feasts. It is one of the 3 major annual Feasts in which all male Jews were required to pilgrimage to Jerusalem to celebrate each year. Jesus stands up and begins to teach again on the 7th and final day of the Feast. This day is considered the greatest day of the Feast. The Jews called it the great Hosanna Day. It was considered 1 of 4 days in which God would judge the world.
The Voice Over All Other Voices (37)
To be absolutely saved, you must first hear the voice of Jesus Christ calling you. Notice verse 37, “On the last and greatest day of the Feast Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If any man is thirsty let him come to me and drink.’” John says that Jesus stood and cried out in a loud voice. In all the commotion and all the hustle and the bustle and in the midst of the thousands and thousands of people the Savior stood and lifted His voice to be heard.
It reminds us of the book of Proverbs when wisdom is personified. In chapter 1 verses 20 and 21 it says, “Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech”.
The voice of the Savior is calling out and from His voice the invitation to salvation goes out to all who will hear and respond. Do you find your heart hearing the voice of God? Is the Lord calling you to the Savior? With all the distractions and all the other voices that try to consume your time do you listen? Almost saved is not enough. Your attention must be arrested by the Savior’s voice as He calls out.
The Water Within (37-38)
For Absolute Salvation you need to have the Living Water Within you. Notice verse 38, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”
These words are timely. Every day during this 7 day feast a procession led by priests would go from the temple to the Pool of Siloam. There they would gather water in a golden pitcher and proceed back to the temple. When they arrived the priests would stop at the Water Gate where 3 trumpet blasts were sounded. Then they would recite Isaiah 12:3 which says, “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation”, and after reciting that great passage the priests would march around the altar while singing psalm 113 – 118, known as the great Hallel. Finally, they would take the water up to the altar and pour it out onto the altar where it would funnel out into a basin on the side.
It was at the time of this ceremony, when all the Jews were thinking of the waters of salvation, that Jesus stood and said, “If any man is thirsty let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”
Notice the contrast: that a dry soul will have living water streaming forth. Jesus is speaking to all those who have souls that are dry and parched; to those who are spiritually dehydrated. When you believe on His Name you will have streams of living water flow from within you. The picture here is one of abundance – going from extreme spiritual dehydration to extreme hydration; rivers of living eternal water will flow from within you. It reminds us of the woman at the well in chapter 4 when Jesus said to her, “Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
But a man who is thirsty must come. Jesus said you must come to Him to receive this living water. You must come to Him and believe in Him and then your spiritual thirst will be satisfied. There is an old hymn titled, “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say”, and it has these words:
“I heard the voice of Jesus say,
‘Behold, I freely give
The Living Water; thirsty one
Stoop down and drink and live’
Of that life-giving stream;
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived,
And now I live in Him.”
The Holy Spirit (39)
Now, I love the next verse, verse 39. One very important part of good Bible study is that we allow Scripture to interpret Scripture. The Bible explains itself. Where you may find confusion over a passage, with further study you will see that the passage is explained in other places. In this way we keep Scripture as the authority in interpretation.
Here, we have in verse 39 our author giving us the interpretation of what Jesus said in verse 38. John explains to us what Jesus meant by “streams of living water flowing from within us.” He says, “By this Jesus meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not yet been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.”
This stream of living water within the believer is identified as the Holy Spirit. This is a fundamental truth concerning us children of God – we have His Spirit living inside of us. When you have God’s Spirit living in you you have Absolute Salvation. First Corinthians 3:16 says, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” Chapter 6 verse 19, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?”
Think about that for a minute. If you believe the word of truth, this Gospel of Jesus Christ, then the “HOLY” Spirit of God Almighty lives in you right now.
He – the Spirit - is a deposit in you guaranteeing your inheritance in Christ;
He has been sent by the Father and Jesus as a gift to you;
He gives you spiritual birth; He baptized you into the body of Christ;
He is the proof that you belong to Christ; He leads you in righteousness;
He teaches you and gives you understanding of spiritual truth;
He testifies with your spirit that you are a child of God;
He fills you when you yield to His leading;
He gifts you;
He fellowships with you;
He is your Comforter, your Counselor, your Helper;
He is the One Jesus promised would come after He left;
He – the Holy Spirit - is God in every way the same as God the Father and God the Son;
He is the 3rd Person of the Triune God;
He is God the Holy Spirit and He lives within you…
….that is, if you believe in Jesus Christ. Come to Jesus and drink – that is, believe in Him and you will receive in you the Holy Spirit, the stream of living water who satisfies your soul.
Also, to be Absolutely Saved, you need Jesus to be glorified. John says here that the Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified - What does that mean?
First of all it means there is a sequence here: Jesus needed to be glorified first before the Spirit would come. We have to remember that Jesus is God in the flesh. Before He took on flesh He existed with the Father in eternity equal in glory with Him. When He took on flesh, Philippians 2:6 says that “although He was equal with God in nature, He did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but He made Himself nothing.” That phrase “Made Himself nothing” means He emptied Himself of His glory; He set aside all the glory that is His as God in order to humiliate Himself by becoming a man. It is the great condescension. It is the great humiliation.
Why would He set aside His glory to become a man? Why would He humiliate Himself that way? The answer is so that He could make payment for the sins of the world. He set aside His glory (not His divinity) so that He could die for sins, and after He died for sins, then He would be raised up to eternal life having conquered sin and death and then go back to heaven to again take up the glory that is His.
He had to be glorified before the Spirit would come. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to reveal who Jesus is and what He did. Jesus wasn’t done with His work at this point in chapter 7, so the Spirit could not yet be given. When Jesus was done with His work of making purification for sins, and when He had returned to heaven, then the Spirit would come and live in those who believe.
Here’s an important point: You receive the Spirit at the moment you begin to trust Christ as your Savior. There is no layaway: there is no believe now, receive later. Christ’s work is done, Christ is in heaven, the Spirit is now available immediately to anyone who believes.
Continued Confusion in the Crowd (v. 40-44)
To be absolutely saved you’ve got to get the facts straight. Some thought He was The Prophet spoken of by Moses in Deuteronomy 18. Others thought He was the Christ. Others weren’t convinced because they knew the prophecies concerning the Christ said that He would be a descendant of King David, and that He would be born in Bethlehem. You see, just like in chapter 6, these Jews thought they knew Jesus, but, they didn’t. He was in King David’s lineage and He was born in Bethlehem.
Arrested By Jesus (v.45-46)
To be Absolutely Saved, you have to be arrested by Jesus. Look how close these guards are to salvation in verses 45 and 46, “Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, ‘Why didn’t you bring him in?’ ‘No one ever spoke the way this man does,’ the guards declared.”
These guards were sent to arrest Jesus Christ, but, upon hearing the Incarnate Son of God in all His authority and in His eternal wisdom and the power of His Word, they found themselves to be arrested. They went to take Christ captive, but, they were the ones taken captive. History accounts for many, who energized by Satan, have set out to once and for all destroy the gospel of Jesus Christ and those Christians who believe it, only to find themselves arrested by the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Let us not be mistaken, the Scriptures and the bloody history of our brothers and sisters who have suffered unspeakable evil in their death, show that the unbelieving world marvels at the courage of our words not our service. The courageous loyalty to Christ in the face of a horrifically torturous death is what, in history, has caused many murderers of Christians to become themselves martyred Christians. The faithful proclamation of the Gospel, and, the faithful vow of allegiance to Christ under the most terrible torture are what have caused executioners of Christians to be converted to Christ, and then themselves become executed.
Paul was such a man, in his own words he was a “blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, acting in ignorance and unbelief.” He fought against the Lord Jesus Christ by persecuting Christians. But, he was at once arrested by the word of God and his heart was converted so he became loyal to the One he once was opposing. Paul would suffer many persecutions, and in prison he wrote these words, “The gospel is why am suffering, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained.”
The man of God may be arrested but man cannot arrest the word of God. The word of God has the power to arrest! The word of God subdues us and secures us unto salvation. Take note that these guards were amazed by Jesus Christ, but, John fails to tell us they were truly arrested in their hearts to believe in Him. They were almost saved – which is not enough.
Ask yourself if you’ve truly been arrested by the Lord Jesus Christ. Here’s the straight fact: either your heart has been arrested by Jesus, or, you have a heart like these people in chapter 7 who want to arrest Him. The heart that is not owned by Christ hates Christ – I don’t care how kind or amazed or interested in Him someone is.
Have you been taken by Him? Has your heart been seized so that you have placed your trust in Him for the salvation of your lost soul? Pray that God would arrest you by the Gospel of Jesus Christ and redeem you from sin and death.
Nicodemus Nearly Saved (v.50-52)
In verses 50-52 we see Nicodemus nearly saved. “Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, ‘Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what He is doing?’ They replied, ‘Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.’”
Notice 3 things here: First, we can see a little more courage in Nicodemus from when we first met him in chapter 3. At that time he came in the night so that no one would see him with Jesus. Now, in chapter 7, we find him defending Jesus and running the risk of being associated with Him. Nicodemus is almost saved, but, not yet. His almost isn’t enough.
Second, his question exposes the hypocrisy of his fellow rulers. They all had just insulted the crowds because the crowds didn’t know anything about the law. And yet, in the law they claimed to know, it was forbidden to condemn someone until that someone had a hearing. Nicodemus was pointing out that they were violating their own law by condemning Jesus without giving Him a hearing.
Thirdly, they response: Instead of answering his question they throw insults at him and taunt him. They despised Galileans in general. They thought them to be unsophisticated, mixed blood - not pure Jews. Identifying Nicodemus as a Galilean was a nasty insult.
But then they mock him by telling him to go and search the Scriptures to see if a prophet was to come out of Galilee. In other words, “Nicodemus, go study up, you apparently don’t know that no prophet is to ever come from Galilee, and therefore Jesus can’t be a Prophet.” But their statements exposed their own ignorance, because Jonah was from Galilee as well as several other OT prophets. But none of it mattered, their minds were already made up.
Almost Isn’t Enough
Introduction:
Have you ever had a time in life when almost isn’t enough? The doctors almost saved him. I almost got the job. We almost won the game. All the effort put in to achieving a goal counts for nothing because the goal was not achieved.
Main Point:
When it comes to the salvation of your soul, almost isn’t enough. Getting close to being saved is not actually getting saved. In the end, there are 2 kinds of people in this world: those who are saved and those who are not. Almost saved counts for nothing. Almost isn’t enough.
We have in chapter 7 so many people who are almost saved. I’m afraid we have people today who are almost saved - People who maybe like the sounds of Christianity, or, associate themselves with Christ, or are drawn to His teachings. They get close, but, they have never surrendered their pride, who’ve never humbled themselves before the Son of God and asked that their sins be forgiven in His name.
Today I want us to see in our passage some things that bring a man from “Almost Saved” to “Absolutely Saved”.
Context
Chapter 7 takes place during the Feast of Tabernacles. It is a feast that is 7 days long and is considered the greatest of all annual Jewish feasts. It is one of the 3 major annual Feasts in which all male Jews were required to pilgrimage to Jerusalem to celebrate each year. Jesus stands up and begins to teach again on the 7th and final day of the Feast. This day is considered the greatest day of the Feast. The Jews called it the great Hosanna Day. It was considered 1 of 4 days in which God would judge the world.
The Voice Over All Other Voices (37)
To be absolutely saved, you must first hear the voice of Jesus Christ calling you. Notice verse 37, “On the last and greatest day of the Feast Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If any man is thirsty let him come to me and drink.’” John says that Jesus stood and cried out in a loud voice. In all the commotion and all the hustle and the bustle and in the midst of the thousands and thousands of people the Savior stood and lifted His voice to be heard.
It reminds us of the book of Proverbs when wisdom is personified. In chapter 1 verses 20 and 21 it says, “Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech”.
The voice of the Savior is calling out and from His voice the invitation to salvation goes out to all who will hear and respond. Do you find your heart hearing the voice of God? Is the Lord calling you to the Savior? With all the distractions and all the other voices that try to consume your time do you listen? Almost saved is not enough. Your attention must be arrested by the Savior’s voice as He calls out.
The Water Within (37-38)
For Absolute Salvation you need to have the Living Water Within you. Notice verse 38, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”
These words are timely. Every day during this 7 day feast a procession led by priests would go from the temple to the Pool of Siloam. There they would gather water in a golden pitcher and proceed back to the temple. When they arrived the priests would stop at the Water Gate where 3 trumpet blasts were sounded. Then they would recite Isaiah 12:3 which says, “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation”, and after reciting that great passage the priests would march around the altar while singing psalm 113 – 118, known as the great Hallel. Finally, they would take the water up to the altar and pour it out onto the altar where it would funnel out into a basin on the side.
It was at the time of this ceremony, when all the Jews were thinking of the waters of salvation, that Jesus stood and said, “If any man is thirsty let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”
Notice the contrast: that a dry soul will have living water streaming forth. Jesus is speaking to all those who have souls that are dry and parched; to those who are spiritually dehydrated. When you believe on His Name you will have streams of living water flow from within you. The picture here is one of abundance – going from extreme spiritual dehydration to extreme hydration; rivers of living eternal water will flow from within you. It reminds us of the woman at the well in chapter 4 when Jesus said to her, “Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
But a man who is thirsty must come. Jesus said you must come to Him to receive this living water. You must come to Him and believe in Him and then your spiritual thirst will be satisfied. There is an old hymn titled, “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say”, and it has these words:
“I heard the voice of Jesus say,
‘Behold, I freely give
The Living Water; thirsty one
Stoop down and drink and live’
Of that life-giving stream;
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived,
And now I live in Him.”
The Holy Spirit (39)
Now, I love the next verse, verse 39. One very important part of good Bible study is that we allow Scripture to interpret Scripture. The Bible explains itself. Where you may find confusion over a passage, with further study you will see that the passage is explained in other places. In this way we keep Scripture as the authority in interpretation.
Here, we have in verse 39 our author giving us the interpretation of what Jesus said in verse 38. John explains to us what Jesus meant by “streams of living water flowing from within us.” He says, “By this Jesus meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not yet been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.”
This stream of living water within the believer is identified as the Holy Spirit. This is a fundamental truth concerning us children of God – we have His Spirit living inside of us. When you have God’s Spirit living in you you have Absolute Salvation. First Corinthians 3:16 says, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” Chapter 6 verse 19, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?”
Think about that for a minute. If you believe the word of truth, this Gospel of Jesus Christ, then the “HOLY” Spirit of God Almighty lives in you right now.
He – the Spirit - is a deposit in you guaranteeing your inheritance in Christ;
He has been sent by the Father and Jesus as a gift to you;
He gives you spiritual birth; He baptized you into the body of Christ;
He is the proof that you belong to Christ; He leads you in righteousness;
He teaches you and gives you understanding of spiritual truth;
He testifies with your spirit that you are a child of God;
He fills you when you yield to His leading;
He gifts you;
He fellowships with you;
He is your Comforter, your Counselor, your Helper;
He is the One Jesus promised would come after He left;
He – the Holy Spirit - is God in every way the same as God the Father and God the Son;
He is the 3rd Person of the Triune God;
He is God the Holy Spirit and He lives within you…
….that is, if you believe in Jesus Christ. Come to Jesus and drink – that is, believe in Him and you will receive in you the Holy Spirit, the stream of living water who satisfies your soul.
Also, to be Absolutely Saved, you need Jesus to be glorified. John says here that the Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified - What does that mean?
First of all it means there is a sequence here: Jesus needed to be glorified first before the Spirit would come. We have to remember that Jesus is God in the flesh. Before He took on flesh He existed with the Father in eternity equal in glory with Him. When He took on flesh, Philippians 2:6 says that “although He was equal with God in nature, He did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but He made Himself nothing.” That phrase “Made Himself nothing” means He emptied Himself of His glory; He set aside all the glory that is His as God in order to humiliate Himself by becoming a man. It is the great condescension. It is the great humiliation.
Why would He set aside His glory to become a man? Why would He humiliate Himself that way? The answer is so that He could make payment for the sins of the world. He set aside His glory (not His divinity) so that He could die for sins, and after He died for sins, then He would be raised up to eternal life having conquered sin and death and then go back to heaven to again take up the glory that is His.
He had to be glorified before the Spirit would come. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to reveal who Jesus is and what He did. Jesus wasn’t done with His work at this point in chapter 7, so the Spirit could not yet be given. When Jesus was done with His work of making purification for sins, and when He had returned to heaven, then the Spirit would come and live in those who believe.
Here’s an important point: You receive the Spirit at the moment you begin to trust Christ as your Savior. There is no layaway: there is no believe now, receive later. Christ’s work is done, Christ is in heaven, the Spirit is now available immediately to anyone who believes.
Continued Confusion in the Crowd (v. 40-44)
To be absolutely saved you’ve got to get the facts straight. Some thought He was The Prophet spoken of by Moses in Deuteronomy 18. Others thought He was the Christ. Others weren’t convinced because they knew the prophecies concerning the Christ said that He would be a descendant of King David, and that He would be born in Bethlehem. You see, just like in chapter 6, these Jews thought they knew Jesus, but, they didn’t. He was in King David’s lineage and He was born in Bethlehem.
Arrested By Jesus (v.45-46)
To be Absolutely Saved, you have to be arrested by Jesus. Look how close these guards are to salvation in verses 45 and 46, “Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, ‘Why didn’t you bring him in?’ ‘No one ever spoke the way this man does,’ the guards declared.”
These guards were sent to arrest Jesus Christ, but, upon hearing the Incarnate Son of God in all His authority and in His eternal wisdom and the power of His Word, they found themselves to be arrested. They went to take Christ captive, but, they were the ones taken captive. History accounts for many, who energized by Satan, have set out to once and for all destroy the gospel of Jesus Christ and those Christians who believe it, only to find themselves arrested by the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Let us not be mistaken, the Scriptures and the bloody history of our brothers and sisters who have suffered unspeakable evil in their death, show that the unbelieving world marvels at the courage of our words not our service. The courageous loyalty to Christ in the face of a horrifically torturous death is what, in history, has caused many murderers of Christians to become themselves martyred Christians. The faithful proclamation of the Gospel, and, the faithful vow of allegiance to Christ under the most terrible torture are what have caused executioners of Christians to be converted to Christ, and then themselves become executed.
Paul was such a man, in his own words he was a “blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, acting in ignorance and unbelief.” He fought against the Lord Jesus Christ by persecuting Christians. But, he was at once arrested by the word of God and his heart was converted so he became loyal to the One he once was opposing. Paul would suffer many persecutions, and in prison he wrote these words, “The gospel is why am suffering, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained.”
The man of God may be arrested but man cannot arrest the word of God. The word of God has the power to arrest! The word of God subdues us and secures us unto salvation. Take note that these guards were amazed by Jesus Christ, but, John fails to tell us they were truly arrested in their hearts to believe in Him. They were almost saved – which is not enough.
Ask yourself if you’ve truly been arrested by the Lord Jesus Christ. Here’s the straight fact: either your heart has been arrested by Jesus, or, you have a heart like these people in chapter 7 who want to arrest Him. The heart that is not owned by Christ hates Christ – I don’t care how kind or amazed or interested in Him someone is.
Have you been taken by Him? Has your heart been seized so that you have placed your trust in Him for the salvation of your lost soul? Pray that God would arrest you by the Gospel of Jesus Christ and redeem you from sin and death.
Nicodemus Nearly Saved (v.50-52)
In verses 50-52 we see Nicodemus nearly saved. “Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, ‘Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what He is doing?’ They replied, ‘Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.’”
Notice 3 things here: First, we can see a little more courage in Nicodemus from when we first met him in chapter 3. At that time he came in the night so that no one would see him with Jesus. Now, in chapter 7, we find him defending Jesus and running the risk of being associated with Him. Nicodemus is almost saved, but, not yet. His almost isn’t enough.
Second, his question exposes the hypocrisy of his fellow rulers. They all had just insulted the crowds because the crowds didn’t know anything about the law. And yet, in the law they claimed to know, it was forbidden to condemn someone until that someone had a hearing. Nicodemus was pointing out that they were violating their own law by condemning Jesus without giving Him a hearing.
Thirdly, they response: Instead of answering his question they throw insults at him and taunt him. They despised Galileans in general. They thought them to be unsophisticated, mixed blood - not pure Jews. Identifying Nicodemus as a Galilean was a nasty insult.
But then they mock him by telling him to go and search the Scriptures to see if a prophet was to come out of Galilee. In other words, “Nicodemus, go study up, you apparently don’t know that no prophet is to ever come from Galilee, and therefore Jesus can’t be a Prophet.” But their statements exposed their own ignorance, because Jonah was from Galilee as well as several other OT prophets. But none of it mattered, their minds were already made up.
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