JOHN 7: 14-18
HOW TO BECOME WISE
Have you ever heard of the great con-man Frank Abagnale? His story has been told on the movie screen by Leanardo Caprio and Tom Hanks in the movie “Catch me if you can.” Catch Me if You Can was inspired by the true story of Frank Abagnale Jr., the youngest person ever put on the F.B.I.s most wanted list. Abagnale was an expert forgeror and made away with over a million dollars before the age of 18.
In real life Frank impersonated a variety of characters like starting with a substitute teacher when he was 16, then moving on to impersonate an Airline Pilot (passing checks on Pan AM for over 2.5 million dollars and jetting across the world free as a dead heading off duty pilot), a Doctor (a pediatrician in a hospital for 11 months), an Attorney (He actually passed the bar exam), and a professor in a university. And he did this between the ages of 16 and 21 years in the mid 1960’s
Once he posed as a security guard and standing outside a night deposit drop box he collected $60,000 in cash. Then when the bag was too heavy some state policemen helped him load it in his car. Another time he was caught and sent to state prison. He convinced the prison guards that he was an undercover agent and got them to let him out of jail.
Eventually he was caught and put in Federal Prison by the FBI. Today Frank Abagnale is a consultant for the FBI and he speaks as an expert on security to commercial firms and government agencies all around the country.
Here was a man who was good at passing himself off as almost anybody else. What made him effective was the presentation.
Once Frank took 8 young ladies on a world wide tour (at Pan AM’s expense) as part of an airline promotion. All of this was a cover for a scam in which he cashed checks for over $300,000 dollars in countries throughout Europe.
The ladies were simply the window dressing that turned the eyes of the bankers and made his story believable. The women thought they were in the running to win a contest to become airline stewardesses (In 1960 that was a high prestige job for you young lady!) He said, “It’s all in the presentation.”
Jesus is different. Jesus is the reality. Frank Abagnale looked like the reality but was a fake. Jesus Christ was almost exactly the opposite. Jesus was not handsome and didn’t look the part - but He claimed to be and was the son of God. Here is the God-man who looks like a peasant, works like a carpenter, teaches like a learned rabbi, preaches like a prophet, does miracles like a God. Here is the man who claimed to be God - and is not a fake. He’s the real deal.
Jesus came out of seclusion and went to the feast when it was at its height. He went to the temple and called people to make serious, studied judgments, and not simply snap decisions based on surface appearance. He points out if anyone is really earnest he can know whether Jesus’ teaching is of divine origin or not, by doing them.
I. THE WISE TEACHER, 14-16.
II. THE WILLING LEARNER, 17-18.
Jesus was the reality that looked, at least to many, like a fake. In John 7:14 we see the reality. But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and began to teach.
Jesus’ absence during the first half of the feast allowed the curiosity about Him to continue to build. After He arrives in Jerusalem He heads directly to the temple and teaches in the outer court. John does not record what He taught (unfortunately).
Verse 15 relays that Jesus was an amazing teacher. The Jews then were astonished, saying, “How has this man become learned, having never been educated?”
As the people, including the temple authorities and religious leaders, listened to Jesus’ teaching they were amazed. His knowledge and mastery of the Scriptures and His wise and authoritative exposition were undeniable. How could an uneducated man know more than the great rabbinical teachers of the day? He had not sat at the feet of these gifted, studied, and accomplished teachers, yet He surpassed them in knowledge and understanding. How could He be so wise?
In verse16 Jesus tells them the source of His amazing wisdom. So Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.
Jesus declares that the reason His teaching was so amazing was because it did not originate with Him. His wisdom, message, and power came from His Father. He gave all the glory back to the One who had sent Him.
II. THE WILLING LEARNER, 17-18.
Jesus teaches us how to delineate God’s will in verse17. “If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself.
If anyone is willing to do His will does not mean that if one happens to do God’s will he will know the origin of Jesus’ teachings. It means that there must be a definite act of the human will, a settled determined purpose to do Gods’s will.
The secret of knowing God’s will is being willing to do it. God does not give His will simply to get our approval of it or not. He does it to get our obedience. Only the one who wills to do God’s will gets to know it. It is a call for surrender to God and a trust in God.
God’s will is true but we must have faith and act on it before we will know it is. There was a man who got LOST IN THE DESERT. After wandering around for a long time his throat became very dry, about that time he saw a little shack in the distance. He made his way over to the shack and found a water pump with a small jug of water and a note. The note read: "pour all the water into the top of the pump to prime it, if you do this you will get all the water you need". Now the man had a choice to make, if he trusted the note and poured the water in and it worked he would have all the water he needed. If it didn’t work he would still be thirsty and he might die. Or he could choose to drink the water in the jug and get immediate satisfaction, but it might not be enough and he still might die. After thinking about it the man decided to risk it. He poured the entire jug into the pump and began to work the handle, at first nothing happened and he got a little scared but he kept going and water started coming out. So much water came out he drank all he wanted, took a shower, and filled all the containers he could find. Because he was willing to give up momentary satisfaction, he got all the water he needed. Now the note also said: after you have finished, please refill the jug for the next traveler.” The man refilled the jug and added to the note: “ Please prime the pump, believe me it works”! We have the same choice to make, do we hold on to what we have because we don’t believe there are better things in store for us, and settle for immediate satisfaction? Or do we trust God and give up all that we have to get what God has promised us? I think the choice is obvious. We need to pour in all the water, trust God with everything. Then once we have experienced what God has to offer, tell others to trust Him. Jesus did just that.
With every act of obedience, the truth of what Jesus says becomes more and more persuasive.
We know it is true, because God proves Himself true every time with living water. We need to tell other people, “Go ahead prime the pump, believe me it works!”
Obedience to God’s known will develops discernment between falsehood and truth. When we practice what He says, the evidence becomes internal and real. God’s Word proves itself true to those who sincerely do it.
Pastor Ray Stedman tells the story of a hard-bitting old MARINE GENERAL, one of those tough, self-sufficient characters who was use to giving orders. After he had retired he became a Christian and grew with astonishing speed. Everyone who knew him saw the change. They respected him as much as they always had, but they saw a compassion, an understanding, a patience develop in him that was never there before. He was able to get along with people with whom he had formerly been bitterly at odds. When Stedman asked a Christian leader that knew him why this was true, he replied, “When the general hears something from the Scripture, he obeys it immediately.” This is why he grew so fast.
Jesus then teaches us how to know a religious pretender from the real deal in verse 18. “He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
Jesus said they can verify if Jesus is the real deal or not. The man whose message originates in himself seek his own advancement, his own glory.
Jesus honored God. He was not seeking the applause of people. If He was, He certainly would have been teaching a different message. Instead, it was on His heart to exalt God and, in turn, humble man. Man cannot truly exalt God till He humbles himself.
How do you tell the real deal from that which is fake and false? It’s not hard. Just ask yourself, “Who is getting the honor?” Con Men are about themselves. In the final analysis they care only about themselves.
Frank Abagnale started out with his father’s Marathon credit card. He would go to the gas station and buy 4 brand new tires with his dad’s credit card. Then when the attendant would ask if he wanted them installed Frank would say, “No, I want to sell them back to you for 50 % less. You just give me cash and keep the tires. They would do it – keeping ½ the cash for themselves and the tires stayed on the rack in the gas station. Everyone was happy – except Frank’s dad when he got the bill that month for $2500 from Marathon. Who was honored in this transaction – Frank was.
The Jews and religious leaders weren’t about honoring God. They were about honoring themselves. They were not the real deal. Jesus was all about honoring God. He is the real deal.
The reason I understand Jesus is the real deal is because everything He did was about honoring God the Father. When Jesus talked to woman at the well in Samaria He did it to honor God. When He healed the man at the pool of Bethesda He did it to bring honor to the Father. Before He fed the 5000 He blessed the 5 loves and two fishes and thanked God. After the meal was over He gave the honor to God.
In all you do, do it for the glory of Jesus Christ! God will not share His glory with any man. Many who work for God feel slighted. Know for sure that God sees you, and your reward is in His book and will be in His hand.
You may not receive acknowledgment from man but you will receive it from God! Jesus doesn’t forget anything we do to honor Him. Remember the woman who poured perfume onto the feet of Jesus, Jesus said her story is to be told forever.
CONCLUSION / TIME OF RESPONSE
If there is a readiness to do God’s will, the capacity to discern God’s will or God’s message will follow. Whoever has a readiness of heart to do God’s revealed will, will recognize in the teaching of Jesus a message which authenticates itself. If they do not intend to follow God’s revealed will they will not perceive it as the truth.
Are you committed to following the revealed will of God? You cannot be the real deal unless your are ready to be obedient to God.
We need to ask our self if we are the real deal.
1) When we speak do we speak of His acts or our own.
2) Do we seek His kingdom or our own.
3) Do we honor His life or our own (Dead men don’t have rights)
4) Is financial prosperity, personal ease or some other earthly reward our basic reason for serving God?
5) Will you live for Him without receiving the praise of Men?
Prayer
