Sunday Gathering - John 7 : 25-36 - Cornelius Tanis - Sermon Only

But I'm not very good with notes because I walk around and I go off track, which is not very good.

But more than that, as we've already experienced, the presence of the Lord is really, really what we want.

I want to come, you want to come home today and really feel that God touches you.

Amen.

Well, that depends on all of us together.

open our hearts

and that's my prayer

Lord open our hearts

wide

that we may receive

what you have

because you can talk

and we can have sermons

for an hour

but if it doesn't

have the spirit of God in it

it doesn't do anything

you go home

and you're just empty

and tomorrow you've forgotten

what it all was about

I mean

anyway

I am going to start

not just stand here and pray

and we're going to go

back to the book of John. We already have been up till chapter 7. Chapter 6 was very exciting.

There was lots happening. The feeding of the 5,000, Jesus walking on the water, and then Jesus

became quite radical in his teachings. He spoke about, I am the bread of life coming down from

heaven unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you are not part of me but he said as well he said

as well the words i spoken to you are spirit and they are life but it was radical stuff and at the

end it says many disciples left him and then he comes back to his own disciples and he says

what about you guys are you not leaving as well and then peter gives his confession and says

where do we go lord we believe that you are the christ the son of god and that is such a wonderful

testimony we all should have in our hearts because it's true where do we go the world is looking for

stuff. The world is all over the place

looking for stuff.

Amen?

But what they really want

and need is

Jesus. Amen?

So that's what we're going.

And then we come to chapter 7.

And in chapter 7

it's about half a year later

because during Passover

it was this chapter 6.

Chapter 7 is

tabernacles

is in Jerusalem.

and then Jesus first not going

and then he, in secret, he went to Jerusalem

and then he meets the people of Jerusalem

and that's really what it's about

and we're going to read only a very short passage

what I'm going to talk about

and Sarah, you are coming here to talk to me.

Some of the people who lived in Jerusalem

started to ask each other,

isn't this man isn't this the man they are trying to kill but but here he is speaking in public

and they say nothing to him could our leaders possibly believe that he is the messiah but how

could he be for we know that where this man comes from and when the messiah comes he will simply

appear and no one will know where he comes from while jesus was teaching in the temple he called

out yes you know me and you know where i come from but i'm not here on my own the one who sent

me is true and you don't know him but i know him because i come from him and he sent me to you

then the leaders tried to arrest him but nobody laid a hand on him because his time had not yet

come many among the crowds at the temple believed in him after all they said would you expect the

messiah to do more miraculous signs than this man has done when the pharisees heard that the

crowds were whispering such things they and the leading priests sent temple guards to arrest jesus

but jesus told them i will be with you only a little longer then i will return to the one who

sent me you will search for me but not find me and you cannot go where i am going the jewish leaders

were puzzled by this statement. Where is he planning to go, they asked. Is he thinking of

leaving the country and going to the Jews in other lands? Maybe he will even teach the Greeks.

What does he mean when he says, you will search for me, but not find me, and you cannot go where

I am going? Thank you. Here we have a conversation between Jesus and groups of people in Jerusalem.

I'm just giving a little summary of this little text

because it might be a little bit overwhelming,

what is happening here, what's going on.

We're going through it, don't worry.

We're going through it.

But there are different groups really opposing Jesus

to the fact that the Pharisees want to call the gods to arrest him

because they want to kill him.

Jesus here in Jerusalem is rejected.

And he's redacted, he stands alone with those groups talking about him.

Can we put the first slide up?

And they have a question, is Jesus the Christ?

That is the big question, is Jesus the Christ?

Till today, that is a big question.

Do people believe that Jesus is the Son of God?

that Jesus is the Savior of this world. Jesus standing by himself here, already he was rejected

in Galilee. In Galilee, many disciples left him. And here he is in Jerusalem, standing in that

rejection. And actually, I want to take you to a little bit of background of how deep that rejection

was. It was the beginning of his suffering, because he was rejected all the way to the cross,

where he had his suffering, and he died on that cross. He was being rejected big, but here already

with those people, those groups around him, he suffered that rejection. And that goes deeper

than we think, because two things. Here he is in Jerusalem, the place of his father, the place

where the temple was. Jerusalem was very important. And then secondly, here he is on the Feast of

Tabernacles. Now, the Feast of Tabernacles was the last feast. When we look at the feasts in Israel,

they had seven feasts three big ones four four small ones and when they had the feasts they had

to go up there were big ones because they had to go up to jerusalem and be there for seven days

they celebrated for seven days now this was the last feast the first feast was passover passover

was, the deliverance of the people of Israel out of Egypt, and then they moved into the

desert, and there they received the law, and that is Pentecost, that was Pentecost, for

us it is the Holy Spirit, the coming of the Holy Spirit, for them it was the receiving

of the law, and then there is a third one, and that third feast, the Feast of Tabernacles,

In fact, it starts coming Friday for seven days.

That Feast of Tabernacles really is all about the presence of God.

That word tabernacle means tent, a tent.

Can we go to the next one?

So the people of Israel came out of Egypt and they stayed in that desert in tents.

And they moved in tents.

Now, it was a tent, tabernacles, a tent.

And then God said to Moses,

I want you, and he gave all the measurements,

I want you to make me a tent

because I'm coming to be with you.

He said, I myself, yeah,

I myself will be your God.

No, no, no, go back, go back.

I myself will be your God

and you will be my people.

I will be your God

and you will be my people.

Now hold on to that verse. It appears about 30 times in the Bible from the beginning to the end to revelations. I will be your God and you will be my people. It's like God being the heart, the center of the people, the camp in the desert.

and then he said it's not just a phrase it was the heart of the covenant of God he says because I am

going to lead you I will be a fire a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day and I will provide

for you and he did through the manna and the water out of the rock and the quail and he says and I

will protect you those three covenant pillars i will lead you i will provide for you and i will

protect you and you go through the desert with me i myself will lead you to the promised land

and you are staying in tents now today when the feast of tabernacle is the people when you go to

jerusalem they are staying in tents they're making tents of sticks and sheets and then they gaze up

to the heavens so till today in in even fancy hotels you see a hilton hotel on the balconies

they've got those little tents and say what is it what is what is that all about that is those

tents for tabernacle because they are reminded they look up to the skies and look at god saying

God is the one who provides for us, who leads us, who directs us. God is the heart of our community,

the heart of our lives. Great stuff. For us, we don't celebrate tabernacles, but because that's

still coming. Because tabernacles, Jesus would come, and Jesus would be among us. On one hand,

it hasn't happened yet on the other hand it has happened because the feast of tabernacles for us

we stay on this earth on our way to eternity when jesus comes in our life we are delivered from our

sin we receive on pentecost the holy spirit and then he leads us through our lives it is like

this world we live in is like a desert we are this is like a desert we do not know what's going on

You do not know what's happening tomorrow.

We need God.

We need to depend on God.

Our dependence needs to be on God more than we think

because we're in our pride.

We think so easily, I can do it, I know, I know.

No, you don't know anything.

We need God in our life.

And therefore, that tabernacle is so phenomenal.

Our bodies are those tabernacles,

those frail dwellings, it's frail dwellings which are passing, which are disintegrating,

because our permanent dwellings are about to come.

And that was for the people of Israel in the desert as well.

They were in temporary dwellings because only in the Promised Land they would receive their permanent dwelling.

And that's why on the Feast of Tabernacle they have those little dwellings,

Just to remind them, we are here just a short time.

We are here a short time.

Our permanent dwellings are about to come.

It's the Feast of Tabernacles.

Jesus was on the Feast of Tabernacles there in Jerusalem.

Jesus, being God, being the Son of God, was among His people.

Like the people of Israel, they received the presence of God in their midst.

But did they take him?

Did they go with him, the people of Israel,

when they were in the desert,

all the way to the promised land?

They walked with God and they rebelled.

And they did not believe God.

And that's the sad thing.

They did not believe God.

And all those promises he had for them,

about provision, about guidance, about protection,

they didn't believe him.

And by the time they were at the borders of the promised land,

How many did go to the Promised Land?

Two.

Two only.

And the rest died in the desert

because they didn't believe Him.

They didn't trust Him.

Today, that's about us.

Look at the world.

I'm going ahead of myself now.

That's us.

How many people believe God's promises?

This story, what we're reading,

is about believing God.

Can you go to the next one? I'm ahead of myself. Yeah. This, yeah, yeah. The tabernacle. No. This was the tabernacle. This was God's tent in the desert. It's just mind-blowing that God said, I'm going to make you a tent. I'm going to make a tent, and I'm going to stay with you guys.

that was the tent, that was the measures

well you have to be quick because it goes on

that was the tent

and in that tent, the next one

was the Ark of the Covenant

and the Ark of the Covenant

the presence of God

would come on the Ark of the Covenant

would be upon it

and that was his presence

among the people

and being with them

so there Jesus

and there Jesus

was in Jerusalem on the Feast of the Tabernacles, where the presence of God should be center.

It should be the center of the feast of the people. And the people there in Jerusalem,

like the people in the desert, they rejected Jesus. They rejected Jesus. And that is that

rejection that I say, it is even more than a feeling. He was rejected like his father was

rejected in the desert and there he is with all those groups of people being rejected can we go

to the next one that number one so he was rejected on the feast of tabernacles then jesus came his

word became flesh and made dwelling among us it's that that first in john 1 he tabernacled among us

that's basically what it says he tabernacled among us like on the feast of tabernacle he that's what

I said. He became flesh and dwelled among us. And there he was in Jerusalem among his people,

but his people did not recognize him. And then the next one. There he is in Jerusalem,

in Jerusalem from the Damascus gate. Jesus, the city he loves. Now, Jerusalem was very important

for Jesus because Jerusalem is mentioned 800 times in the Bible from Abraham to all the way

from Genesis all the way to Revelation Abraham had met with Melchizedek the king of Salem

in Genesis that was in Genesis with the king of Salem Jerusalem the king of peace so it was

already mentioned in Genesis, and then Abram had to sacrifice his son on Mount Moriah, which is the

Temple Mount, which is in the middle of Jerusalem. So again, it was already in Genesis mentioned,

and then David, of course, takes it as his capital, then Solomon builds the Temple, and then

well, a lot of Bible stories, they're all in Jerusalem, till Jesus comes, and Jesus is there

in jerusalem and he loves jerusalem because the temple the presence of the lord is there

till even he even he's rejected he says then to the uh to the people to the i love to to gather

you he says in luke 15 i'd love to gather you jerusalem my people i would love to gather like

a hand gathers her chicks i would love to gather but you don't want me you don't want me the

rejection there he said and i will not come again till you cry out come in the name of the lord

come you people of jerusalem when you cry out come in the name of the lord i will come back

because that is the end jesus will come back to jerusalem painted the next one i don't know

what's going on with the oh okay okay ah okay okay i see it just flashing there so like i don't

know what's going on but anyway and then he says in revelations let me see getting into my

zachariah 8 verse 3 i will return to zion and dwell in jerusalem then jerusalem will be called

the city of the truth revelation 21 verse 2 i saw the holy city jesus is coming he came on a donkey

first in jerusalem but he was rejected crucified he's coming back on a horse on a white horse

and he says, I saw the holy city,

the new Jerusalem, the dwelling of God with men

and he will live with them

and they will be my people

and God himself will be their God.

You know what I said to the beginning?

I will be their God and they will be my people.

I will be their God and you will be my people.

There in Revelation he says that

in the heavenly Jerusalem he will come back on a horse

and God will take his residency in Jerusalem

and He will be God

and we will be His people.

And there is Jesus in Jerusalem at that time

being rejected, being rejected.

Understand the pain.

He loves His people.

He's coming back there.

His Father is going to take residency in Jerusalem.

It's the capital.

Like London is the capital of the UK.

It's the capital of the world, Jerusalem.

That's where Father God is going to take up residency.

That's where Jesus is coming back.

He is rejected.

And that's how he stands.

It's a lament.

It is sad.

The early church used to have a prayer, Maranatha.

It's an ancient prayer from the early church, Maranatha,

which means, Come, Lord Jesus.

When we see the world in flames all around us,

We can only call, come Lord Jesus, because you will deal with all this stuff.

Okay, let's go to the scripture.

Verse 26, 7, 26.

Going back to Jerusalem with those groups.

Can you do the next one?

Jesus.

They ask, is Jesus the Christ?

That's the whole question on our scripture.

Is Jesus the Christ?

now we must understand Christ for the people of Jerusalem Christ means anointed one means

chosen one the anointed one because the kings of Israel were anointed with oil I brought anointing

oil for afterwards for those who are sick to come forward and we anoint you with oil and pray for

you. Anointing oil. The anointed one means the Spirit of God was upon them. They were chosen.

The kings were chosen by God. So, they look for the Messiah. Messiah is Hebrew for Christ.

Jesus means God who saves. The Lord is salvation. So, the name Jesus Christ is quite a weighty title.

Jesus Christ, the one who saves, the anointed one, the chosen one of God.

That was Jesus.

They were looking for that because during the time of Jesus,

the Romans were in the land.

They had occupied the land and the Jewish people were looking for a Messiah,

looking for someone who would take the Romans out.

So they were looking for anyone and here was Jesus.

And that's the whole discussion of our text here.

Is Jesus really that Messiah?

Even the disciples, they talked about it.

Is Jesus the Messiah?

Is He the one?

Do we need to take up swords?

And they did not understand who the Messiah was.

They did not understand who Jesus was.

So the argument starts among them.

They are wondering.

Verse 27.

But we know who this man is, they say.

We know who this man is.

He's from Nazareth. He's the son of Joseph and Mary.

So they looked at him, and they said, but we know Jesus from Nazareth.

Is he really the Messiah?

So they looked at him in the flesh.

Now we're going to get into that discussion.

Is Jesus man, or is Jesus God?

That is their discussion. Is Jesus man, or is Jesus God?

Now, first of all, they didn't understand, maybe, that Jesus,

or know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

Micah 5 verse 2 is that he will be born in Bethlehem.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

We know our Christmas story.

Maybe they didn't know.

They only saw, oh, that is just Jesus from Nazareth.

Because the Christ will come, and we will not know where he is from, they said.

Then Jesus says, you know me, but I am not here on my own.

I am not here on my own.

You do not know who he is.

I am from him and you do not know him

so Jesus here speaks

you know me but you do not know me

and I had to think when I read that

maybe a weird comparison

had to think when I was born again

when I got born again and the Spirit of God

I had received the Holy Spirit in my life

there were people saying like

but you are just the same

you know you are just

you are Cornelius aren't you

you're just Cornelius. Yes, I am.

They did not understand that I was

so excited that I met God.

And they said, but you are

just the same like you always are. Yes,

I am. But the Spirit of God came upon

me. I met God.

And I was excited. And my whole

life turned around. Because now

I was not interested in anything to do

with the world. And I was going

for what God had for my life. I

wanted His direction for my life.

And that's how I went to Mozambique and

did whatever we did in Mozambique but we were led by God and that's a little bit what this is

Jesus is God he's man what is he they're asking him what is happening and even the early church

in the early church there were discussions about who is Jesus is he man or is he God

there were early fathers and they said no he is man he's only man and then they had to come

to the council in 326, the council of Nicaea. And there they had to make the rules and said,

no, we believe Jesus was God and man. And that's what we go with. You must believe,

is Jesus God? Yes, he is. And then I say, you can only find out that Jesus is God by inviting

Him in your life. Only

then. If you do not

invite Him in your life, if you

are not born again, because that's

really what it is about.

If you're not born again, you don't understand.

You do not understand. People

in the world do not understand

that Jesus is God

and man. And that's

actually what Jesus says, because then

we get a very, very

sad first.

First, yeah, yeah, yeah.

First the next one. Yeah.

Ah, Jesus, Jesus Christ.

We don't need a counsel from Nisi to get that confirmed.

Jesus Christ, in very nature God,

he made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness, in appearance as a man.

He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death,

death on a cross.

That is our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

for us it's clear if you met him it's clear that is our savior but then he says jesus says we're

going back to the scene he says you will look for me but you will not find me and where i am

you cannot come let me say it again you will look for me he says this to the people of jerusalem

but you will not find me.

And where I am, you cannot come.

Now, that's actually the saddest verse in the Bible

because he actually condemns the people of Jerusalem.

He actually says, where I go, you cannot come

because where did Jesus go?

He went to heaven, to his Father.

And to be able to go to his Father,

to be able to be with him, you must believe.

You must believe.

And what was lacking to the people of Jerusalem?

They did not believe.

What was lacking to the people of Israel in the desert?

They did not believe.

And that's why they didn't enter the Promised Land.

They did not believe.

And Jesus Himself here, He condemns the people of Jerusalem

because they did not believe.

The next one.

Because Jesus said it Himself earlier, John 3, 16,

whoever believes in him will have eternal life and will be with him whoever believes in him

will have eternal life and be with him but whoever does not believe and that's what jesus is talking

about whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he did not believe in the name

of god's only one and only son jesus is saying this to the people of jerusalem it's that belief

it's that trusting God what he says to take it you don't understand that I

surrender you know what I said before we might walk in a desert here on this earth

alone we need God we don't understand but we want him we don't understand we

want his presence we want Jesus there is nothing else as the disciples said there

is nothing else peter said we want you jesus son of god because there is nothing else and it's only

when you believe when you surrender and receive and it's i say this here and i stand here because

i experienced it myself and i say do not be let out do not be standing on the outsides like the

people of Jerusalem. It's a warning we get in those verses, a warning that if you do not believe,

you will be an outsider. And Jesus says exactly the same to you. You cannot come where I'm going.

You will be lost. Your tabernacle, you will perish, perish, and that will be it. You will

perish, and that's it, because you did not believe the Son of God. It's powerful. And therefore I say,

anyone here who never received jesus as the savior who had any doubts about it can you do the next

one believe last slide believe it is only by faith that we enter and jesus is encouraging us

through this scripture those first those few verses when i first received them i thought like

oh boy what is this about and as i got into it i thought like wow there's a warning here there's a

warning for all of us if we don't believe we're out you're out it's only by believing that jesus

christ is the son of god you will be in you will be in and that's not just for afterlife that's for

now because he cares for you he loves you he wants to direct you in your life he has a plan and

purpose for your life and he wants to provide for you he wants to protect you all those promises

as God has in the Word of God

are for you.

And it only comes by believing.

When you believe,

all those promises come to you.

And like I said,

experience myself.

And that's why I can shout here,

wake up people, wake up.

Like I said, a broad anointing oil

for those who are sick.

If there are people sick

or not feeling well,

come forward and we pray for you.

We anoint you with that oil

because that word anointing came up.

I thought, that's a good one.

If you never received Jesus as your Lord and Savior,

I think I brought it clear enough.

Come forward.

Do not be an outsider.

Do not stand at the end of your life

and say like, I didn't know.

Yes, you did know.

If you heard it today, you heard it today.

Amen?

So if you never gave your life to the Lord,

come forward as well.

The music is going to start

and we will pray for you.

Let me just pray for you now.

Father, we just thank you

that you are,

your presence is in our midst.

We desire your presence, Lord.

We desire your presence

in our lives,

in our daily lives,

in our community

here at Jordan-Ford and Batemore,

in the community of MCF.

And we say, Holy Spirit,

work among us.

Holy Spirit, work in each person here in this room.

We pray and believe that you will take us

and that we will be with you on the last day.

Thank you, Lord.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.