Guest Speaker: Pastor Joe Sugrue
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
The Feast of Booths represents the Millennial reign of Christ when all the unconditional covenants to Israel are fulfilled and is therefore the time of Christ’s overt glory over all Israel.
Verse 3 is the introduction of the sarcastic family members.
Do miracles make people believe? No, and we have already seen that. 5000 plus saw His works in Galilee and where are they now? They left 6 months ago as unbelievers. It is the word that is important.
What they are saying is this. “If we could perform miracles as you claim you have, we would let the whole world know about it.”
If they had the power of miracles they would have been in Jerusalem the last 6 months performing signs to gather big crowds to fulfil their own approbation lust.
1. Beware of judging people by your own actions and thoughts. Only God has the right to judge and only the Word of God has the right to condemn.
2. Unless God promotes you there is no promotion. Joshua 3:7; 1 Peter 5:5,6. God did not promote those four half-brothers at this time.
Don’t ever underestimate the power of ignorance and arrogance in a human being. It produces the greatest of evils and most of the time the person never recognizes how evil their thinking really is.
Out of these brothers we only have a record of two who were eventually saved – James, who received Christ as saviour after the resurrection, Acts 1:14; 1 Corinthians 15:7; James 1:1. He became a leader of the Jerusalem church, Acts 12:17, etc.; Jude was also saved and wrote the book of Jude.
“My time is not yet come.” = Second Advent.
“My time” is the word karo which means an epoch, so He uses time here as an epoch or period, referring to the Second Advent where He will receive honor and glory and the crown of the King of Israel.
“The time for my coronation is not here, this is the time for my humiliation.” If Jesus had come first for His glory there could be no kingdom of the regenerate.
The time for the Second Advent is not now. He cannot fulfil the tabernacles [last feast = Millennium] until first of all He fulfils the Passover [first feast = cross].
“your time is always opportune or prepared,” means that they are unbelievers who can receive glory at the time they believe and that opportunity is there every day.
They want Him to show glory, glory that they don’t actually believe in, and He replies that He cannot do that until the Second Advent. Yet then He says, that they always have opportunity, not to show glory like they’d like to, but to receive it.
The only way to be prepared for the eternal kingdom of God is to believe in Christ as saviour.
Your time is now; this is the opportunity to be prepared for that glory [Second Advent] when it comes.
When the feast of tabernacles is fulfilled [which is the Millennial reign] there is only one way to be prepared – faith in JC.
“The world” – kosmos, is used for the world system and it is Satan’s world, so ideas that come from Satan represents the whole human viewpoint, the whole anti-biblical view of life.
The word “hate” is present linear aktionsart, keeps on hating, always will hate.
While they are closely associated with Jesus Christ by birth, nevertheless the kosmos is not capable of hating you because you are a part of the kosmos.
It is possible for loved ones and friends to give you advice which is exactly what Satan would say.
Jesus challenges human viewpoint every time He speaks and He exposes human thinking in all of its fallacies.
The word for “evil” is poneros, and while it means evil it also means useless, worthless, something that is spoiled. The human viewpoint of life is worthless and never solves anything.
Grace Bible Church
Basic Training in Doctrine
In verses 1-13 we have the background.
Verses 14-32, the revelation of the Son of God.
Verses 33-39, the revelation of the Holy Spirit.
Verses 40-52, the audience reaction.
Jealousy spawns a lot of different mental attitude sins and that makes it a vicious sin with great repercussions. When you find jealousy in your heart – rebound and recover immediately.
The unbeliever’s mental attitude is rejection or unbelief. The carnal believer has the attitude of indifference or apathy. The spiritual believer has the attitude of love – RMA, and the mature believer has not only love but rapport and occupation with Christ.