Search the Scriptures Daily Program #0102d:
Gary :
Please stay tuned and at the end of the program we will let you know where to send your questions for Dave and Tom to address in a future “Contending for the Faith.” You are listening to Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. Now our final segment:
UNDERSTANDING THE SCRIPTURES
We continue our exploration of the doctrine of salvation. Here again are Dave and Tom:
Tom:
We are going through the Gospel of John and we are in chapter 7, and we are going to pick up with verse 18. “He that speaketh of himself, seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.” Dave, these, of course, are the words of Jesus and this is verse 18, but I want to go back. I know, Gary, our producer, rolls his eyes when we go back, but we are going to get through the gospel, if the Lord tarries, we are going to get through the Gospel of John, but let me go back to 17. “If any man shall do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.” Now, we discussed this on last week’s program, but Dave, the one thing we left out—Jesus is talking about doctrine. Even in verse 16 he says, “Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.” Now, I thought doctrine was something that we kind of wanted to avoid. There are too many people thinking that doctrine was a bad thing.
Dave:
Well Tom, I haven’t looked up the definition for doctrine lately, but it simply is an orderly expression of truth.
Tom:
It’s teaching. I mean, every time that it’s used in other places where doctrine, another word for doctrine is used, it’s very simple. What Jesus had to say, everything that he said, his doctrine is truth.
Dave:
That’s right. It’s taking the truth and putting it in a package, an orderly package that is understandable, that’s all. And doctrine is absolutely essential.
Tom:
Dave, in 2 John 9, it says, “He that abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God.” This is pretty important.
Dave:
Well, 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and it is profitable, or to be used for,” the first thing on the list is “doctrine,” get our doctrine straight. The doctrine of God— what do you believe about God and so forth— the doctrine of salvation etc. So, Jesus is giving doctrine, he is talking about doctrine, but he says, “My doctrine, my teaching isn’t mine.” Now, we have to go back over that again, I guess, Tom, because, of course, it’s related here. Verse 18, “He that speaketh of himself, (that is, not about himself but on his own initiative). Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons, one God, none of them is independent from the others, none of them—when we get to chapter 16, for example, “When the Holy Spirit is come, he will not speak of himself. And I can remember, many years ago, saying, oh these Charismatics, these Pentecostals, they are always talking about the Holy Spirit and it says the Holy Spirit won’t talk about himself.” No, it doesn’t say that. The Holy Spirit will not speak on his own initiative. He will not speak independently of the Father and the Son. But, even among human beings, if I am the ambassador, for example, the United States to some other country, I’m not there to promote myself. I am there for the welfare of the country that I represent. And Jesus is saying if you don’t represent the one who sent you, but you are going around doing things on your own, you must be seeking your own blessing, your own success, and seeking to get people to look up to you and so forth. So, I think that’s all he is saying here, in verse 18, but, of course, he is referring to himself that he does not act independently from the Father. Then he goes on in verse 19, “Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?” Because they said they were Moses’ disciples. And Jesus says, well, if you are Moses’ disciples, he gave you the law. How come you don’t keep the law? And, in fact, Jesus in Matthew 15, he says, “You have perverted the law. By your traditions you have voided the Word of God. You have substituted your own ideas in there and he says, look, you claim to be the followers of Moses, he gave you the law. Do you follow the law? No, you don’t follow the law—you can’t follow the law. Which one of you loves God with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his mind and his neighbor as himself? You don’t do that. And then, he raises another question, it’s an accusation, “Why go ye about to kill me?” Now, that was common knowledge that the rabbis wanted to get him, they wanted to arrest him, then kill him. But the people answered and said, “Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee?” It was common knowledge there was a price on his head. Anyone knows where he is, tell us, and so forth. So, they are not being exactly honest. Jesus said unto them, “I have done one work and ye all marvel.” He is talking about the miracle he did back in chapter 6, at the beginning of it when he fed five thousand with a few loaves and fishes and that caused people to marvel, they wanted to be on his team. In fact, they were going to come and take him by force to make him their king because he could always feed them so they wouldn’t have to plow the fields and so forth anymore or raise crops—there would be money and food there whenever they wanted it. John 7:22 , “Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) but ye on the Sabbath day—now he’s going to lay something on them—circumcise a man.” Verse 23, “If a man on the Sabbath day receive circumcision, that the Law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the Sabbath day?” Remember, they jumped on him because here comes a man with a withered hand into the synagogue on a Sabbath day and Jesus says, Stretch out your hand, and it is healed. The Rabbis are furious! They can’t do that, he’s taking the people away from them. They want to have the authority over these people and this man does miracles. When it gets back to what we talked about earlier, they have seen him do miracles, in fact. They can’t doubt that. And so, Jesus says, “Look, you circumcised someone on the Sabbath day”—interesting that God would put that in there—It was the 8th day after birth. Well, that could be any day of the week, but it had to be on the 8th day, Jesus says you circumcise. “Isn’t that a work that God tells you to do that, now why are you upset with me? Because I healed the man, I made him completely well on the Sabbath day.”
Tom:
Now Dave, you pull back that you’ve read, you pull back and you take a look at the character of Jesus, it’s really stunning because he’s not defending himself, this is the way God works. When we have a gripe or a groan and the Holy Spirit is working in our lives, we are under conviction. No matter how we rant and rave about something, Jesus, in what he is saying to them, keeps cutting to the core. He’s trying to bring them to an understanding, to a conviction of where they are. They will have none of it, but that’s the way God works.
Dave:
Well, he is laying it out very carefully, and very gently, really. He is being kind to them. He says, Judge not according to the appearance but judge righteous judgment. In other words, well, because I healed someone on the Sabbath day, that doesn’t mean I am breaking the law. Now, investigate this a little further and see the things that God allowed you to do on the Sabbath day. They remember another occasion Jesus said, “Which of you, having an ox or an ass that falls into a ditch, falls in a hole somewhere on the Sabbath, doesn’t rescue it on the Sabbath? Now, if you would do that for an animal, could I not rescue a man from this illness that has bound him all these years?” That wasn’t really the issue. The issue was, he was becoming more popular than they were. They wanted to do away with him so they could restore their power over the people. But verse 25—“They just said, you have a devil. Who goes about to kill you? And then now, people are whispering; then said some of them of Jerusalem ; Is not this he whom they seek to kill?” So, they are not even honest with themselves.
Tom:
Well, this goes back to what I said about conviction. The Word of God brings conviction in every heart. Jesus is saying he knows their heart, he’s laying it out, and what are they going to do? What are they going to say? They are not going to repent but they are going to deny, they are going to reject what he has to say—this man has a devil. No, they know in their heart as we know in our hearts when we read God’s Word.
Gary :
This is Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. And now, to tell you more about our ministry, here is TBC Executive Director, Tom McMahon:
The name, The Berean Call, is taken from the book of Acts, Chapter 17:10-11, where we find the apostle Paul entering the synagogue in the Greek city of Berea after he had just come from Thessalonica. They were commended for being noble or fair-minded, not only for their willingness to hear what Paul had to say about the matter but more specifically, because they searched the scriptures daily to find out whether or not what the apostle was saying was found in God’s Word. That’s what we hope to encourage through this ministry. We want to exhort believers to give greater heed to biblical discernment and truth regarding what they are accepting as spiritual. Our prayer is that we can be used of God to stimulate Christians to look to the Bible alone as their rule of faith, authority, and practice in living lives pleasing to our Lord and Savior. Books, tapes, CD-ROM, our internet website and other items are just some of the materials we make available for serious students of God’s Word. This week we continue our special offer for new subscribers to our free monthly newsletter, The Berean Call . A free copy of Dave Hunt’s new booklet, Battle for the Mind . This timely work addresses mind power and magic, evangelical mind science, paganism, Christian Science, psychokinesis, mind control, psychic power and much more. To believe that the mind can create its own universe is to step into the occult where the demons who foster this belief will eventually destroy the soul. Unfortunately, millions in the West are accepting this mythical philosophy, forgetting that it is the very thing which has brought many deplorable conditions wherever it has been practiced. A free copy of this booklet for all new subscribers to our free newsletter, The Berean Call . Just mention, Search the Scriptures Daily, and the call letters of this station. If you would like a copy of this broadcast, ask for Program #0122 and again, please mention the call letters of this station. Next week we will interrupt our series of discussions on Dave’s book, In Defense of the Faith , to bring you a two-part special series with Martin and Deidre Bobgan of Psychoheresy Awareness Ministries, titled, “Twelve Steps to Destruction, a critical look at Alcohol Anonymous” and, “Why does the church support AA?” “Catholics and the 12-Step Mass,” we will look at that story and examine the question: “Should AA be considered a religion?” We hope you can join us. If you have questions or comments about this program we urge you to contact our offices. Search the Scriptures Daily radio ministry is made possible by God’s grace, your prayers and your financial support. I’m Gary Carmichael and for Dave, Tom and everyone here at The Berean Call, I would like to thank you for tuning in and invite you to join us again next week. In the meantime, if you desire to know God’s truth, Search the Scriptures Daily. For more information about The Berean Call and a free subscription to our monthly newsletter, contact us at PO Box 7019 , Bend , Oregon 97708 . Call us at 800-937-6638, or visit our website at www.thebereancall.org .
