God-Exaltation as the Trademark of Truth
Gospel of John • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction: How do we know what is true?
Introduction: How do we know what is true?
Introduction:
How do you know whom or what to believe?
How can we know what is true?
Fake news vs. reality.
But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?”
And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.”
Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.
About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and 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?”
Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all marvel at it. Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is 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 made 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 come from. But I have not come of my own accord. He who 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?”
1. The people’s ideas about Jesus
1. The people’s ideas about Jesus
(v. 12-13, 15, 20, 25-27, 31)
He’s a good man (v. 12).
He’s a good man (v. 12).
-He’s healed people, done good things, taught good things, etc.
No, he’s leading the people astray (v. 12).
No, he’s leading the people astray (v. 12).
-He’s a false prophet and should be killed. (Deuteronomy 13:1-5; Deuteronomy 18:20)
But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’
“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
Fear of speaking openly (v. 13)
He’s wise and intelligent, but how? (v. 15)
He’s wise and intelligent, but how? (v. 15)
He’s demon-possessed (v. 20)
He’s demon-possessed (v. 20)
He can’t be the Messiah because we know where he’s from (v. 25-27)
He can’t be the Messiah because we know where he’s from (v. 25-27)
Maybe he is the Messiah, or at least like the Messiah? (v. 31)
Maybe he is the Messiah, or at least like the Messiah? (v. 31)
2. Jesus’s claims about himself
2. Jesus’s claims about himself
(v. 16-18, 28-29)
His teaching originated with God the Father, not with himself (humanly speaking). (v. 16)
His teaching originated with God the Father, not with himself (humanly speaking). (v. 16)
-Submitting ourselves to God’s will enables us to confirm that Jesus’s teaching is from God. (v. 17)
Jesus seeks the glory of God the Father who sent him, which demonstrates that Jesus is true. (v. 18)
Jesus seeks the glory of God the Father who sent him, which demonstrates that Jesus is true. (v. 18)
-seeking the glory of God and not one’s own glory is the mark of a true person
-we know we can trust someone who exalts God and not himself
-we distrust people who exalt themselves instead of God
-when your goal is to exalt yourself instead of God, you will do anything to make sure you get the glory
-but when your goal is to exalt God, you won’t care what people think of you as long as God gets the glory
Jesus did not come on his own, for his own purposes and glory, but for the glory of the Father (v. 28)
Jesus did not come on his own, for his own purposes and glory, but for the glory of the Father (v. 28)
Jesus knows the Father, He came from the Father, and He was sent by the Father (v. 29)
Jesus knows the Father, He came from the Father, and He was sent by the Father (v. 29)
3. Jesus’s indictment of the people
3. Jesus’s indictment of the people
(v. 16, 19, 23-24, 28)
Indirectly he tells them they should not be amazed at his wisdom in teaching. (v. 16)
Indirectly he tells them they should not be amazed at his wisdom in teaching. (v. 16)
-they’re fascinated by his teaching, but they’re focused on human credentials
They were using the law to justify themselves and exalt themselves (“Look how good I am!”), but Jesus says they are all lawbreakers. (v. 19)
They were using the law to justify themselves and exalt themselves (“Look how good I am!”), but Jesus says they are all lawbreakers. (v. 19)
They were unjustly angry at Jesus for breaking their Sabbath traditions (v. 23)
They were unjustly angry at Jesus for breaking their Sabbath traditions (v. 23)
-their traditions were unjust
They were judging by appearances and not with righteous judgment. (v. 24)
They were judging by appearances and not with righteous judgment. (v. 24)
They thought they knew all about him, but they didn’t really know him at all (v. 28)
They thought they knew all about him, but they didn’t really know him at all (v. 28)
They don’t know God (v. 28)
They don’t know God (v. 28)
-their refusal to trust Jesus and accept him and his teaching as true demonstrated that they did not know God at all (these are the Jews!)
-John 5:22-23 (Honoring the Son = honoring the Father)
For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
-John 5:42 (Loving God = loving Jesus)
But I know that you do not have the love of God within you.
-John 7:28 (Knowing God = knowing Jesus)
So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from. But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know.
· None of these things can happen (honoring, loving, and knowing God and Jesus) as long as you are in love with the praise of man.
The Root of Sin: Self-exalting Pride
The Root of Sin: Self-exalting Pride
· This is at the root of all our sin and rebellion against God – we want to put ourselves in God’s place and be our own God and get the glory that belongs to God alone.
As long as you seek to be exalted and receive honor and glory from others, you cannot know, love, or honor God or his Son Jesus Christ. And you cannot know the truth.
As long as you seek to be exalted and receive honor and glory from others, you cannot know, love, or honor God or his Son Jesus Christ. And you cannot know the truth.
· You will never be able to know and love and trust in Jesus as long as you crave the approval and praise of other people. Jesus said this in John 5:44 —“How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?”
How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
-the answer: YOU CAN’T!
Application:
Application:
1. Believe that Jesus is true and speaks the truth always.
1. Believe that Jesus is true and speaks the truth always.
· In a world where we don’t always know what we can trust and what is true, there is someone we can always trust, who always spoke the truth.
· We know that Jesus is true because he honored God and not himself. Because he exalted God and humbled himself, we can be sure that everything he says is true. He’s the only one we can always trust, because he did this perfectly.
2. Kill your self-exalting pride and your desire for human praise and seek the glory of God alone.
2. Kill your self-exalting pride and your desire for human praise and seek the glory of God alone.
· This is a constant battle for us. We must constantly be seeking to put to death our desire for the approval of others and replace it with a desire to honor and exalt God in everything we say and do.
God-exaltation is the trademark of truth. May God help us to be true – like Jesus – and seek his glory and not our own.
God-exaltation is the trademark of truth. May God help us to be true – like Jesus – and seek his glory and not our own.
