Jesus Doesn’t Believe in Us (12/17/17 The Book of John #13)

ATTN: Hey, As One, I want you to know that God loves you and since He loves you, He believes in you. Even if you don’t believe in yourself, He believes in you. So, if you lack confidence, try and change to believe in yourself. Don’t doubt. Your heart will guide you. Trust your gut. Trust your instinct. God has made you His child. So, you are somebody. Have confidence in yourself. Believe in yourself. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. (I’m trying to read your reaction…)

If you had been coming to As One for a while, you should have detected something wrong with those statements. Maybe you couldn’t quite detect which ones were wrong  but somehow they don’t feel right. If you felt that way, then you had been taught well. But if you thought, “Amen, preach it brother!, finally, I’m hearing what I want to hear!”, then we have some work to do.

The world preaches it that way. The popular music and the movies tell us everyday to believe in ourselves and follow our heart. Even many churches will use the Bible to proclaim self-reliance and self-belief and self-esteem. But God doesn’t. Let me tell you what the Bible says: God loves you (that part is true) but God does not believe in you. Therefore, you shouldn’t believe in yourself either. Rather, believe in God. It sounds so wrong, doesn’t it? “God doesn’t believe in you. So, you shouldn’t either.” Who speaks like that? The Bible does. But that’s out of love. Listen, I love my two girls. But I do not trust them to drive my car and take me anywhere. If I trusted them to drive my car, they will kill themselves. So, out of love, I do not trust them. Why? Because at this point, I know their capabilities better than they do. I know what they can and cannot do. I will not trust them or believe in them for something they are not capable of handling.

So many teenagers have said to their parents, “If you love me, then you will trust me.” Parents can say back to them, “I do love you and that is why I don’t trust you!’ And if they want biblical text for it, point to John 2:23-25.

TRANSITION: I am following Pastor Eldie’s message last week where Jesus had an encounter with the Jews who were using the temple for their own monetary gain. Apparently, Jesus performed some more miracles while in Jerusalem, possibly healing the sick, and attracted by this, some people started believing in and following Jesus. And to these people who obviously liked Jesus and if this happened in 2017, this would’ve been tweeted about and would easily have a million followers. But Jesus wasn’t very impressed and did not trust them. What does it mean and why? I want to make 3 observations from this text. 1) Not all believers of Jesus are true believers. 2) Jesus didn’t find validation in people. 3) Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves.

1. Not all believers of Jesus are true believers.

It says “v. 23 many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people … and he knew what was in man”

What this means is that although on the outside these people said they believed in Jesus and wanted to become His followers, they weren’t genuine. They were believers in name only, but they weren’t believers in the heart. And Jesus did not consider them true believers. How do I know this? Because a little later in John 6:26, Jesus says to a throng of people following Him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” (John 6:26).

These people were following Jesus only because Jesus was doing things for them – such as healing their disease, making bread out of thin air and giving to them. These people were doing with Jesus exactly what the merchants were doing in the temple of God. Those merchants in the temple of God were using the temple, a place to meet God and worship God, for their own monetary gain. What they really valued and worshipped was money. And here again, we see that people are following Jesus because He was of immediate benefit to them. They weren’t true believers. The true believers are those who follow Jesus for Jesus and not what He could give.

Later on Jesus says this to clarify what it means to follow Him: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21)

You could say all you want Jesus is your Savior and Lord and that you go to such and such church, but that doesn’t mean that you are a true believer. Who is a true believer? The one who does the will of God the Father. What is the will of the Father, then? I’m glad you asked because Jesus tells us. “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:40).

Believes in HIM. Not believing in the success, money, healing that He provides, but believes in HIM, and continues to looks on the Son. This is a lifetime of commitment. And Jesus spells out what this looks like in the parable of the four soils. Remember it? There were four different soils: 1. A beaten path, 2. Rocky soil, 3. Thorny soil, and 4 good soil. 1) The beaten path represent those who hear the gospel but does nothing. No response. 2) Rocky soil represent those who receive the gospel with joy and gladness. But soon after, they fall away and nowhere to be seen. In our church’s short 7 year history, I’ve seen many in this category. They seem so excited to hear the word and do life with us, and then just a few weeks or months later, they are nowhere to be seen. Even after repeated prodding, no interest. They weren’t real believers. 3) Thorny soil represent those who hear the gospel and accepts it, but this constant battle with worries and ills of life simply drown them. Rather than taking in stride and overcoming by faith – “Hey, my God who created me and will resurrect me eventually will get me through this divorce, this unemployment, or this fighting in church – the attitude becomes, “I thought if God loved me, He will let me live a comfortable life. I guess God didn’t work. I will try something else…” And they fall away. This is still not a true believer. 4) Only the good soil, the one who perseveres,  believes to the end through thick and thin, and bears fruit, this is the true believer in the eyes of Jesus.

As One, do you believe in Jesus for Jesus? Could you say, even if you lost everything, if you have Jesus, you still have everything? Be believing!

 

2. Jesus didn’t find his validation in people.
3. 24b “he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man.” Here, John tells us why Jesus didn’t trust people. He knew them! He knew what they wanted. He knew why they were following Him – for immediate physical needs He provided for them – and so their clamor for Him and His popularity among them did not impress Him one bit. He knew they weren’t following Him for Him. He knew they were following Him for food and healing. And since He knew this, He did not look to the people to find validation for Himself. He didn’t need it because He received it from His Father.

“Not that the testimony that I receive is from man,… And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me.” John 5:34, 37

Jesus didn’t care what people thought of Him because He knew what His Father thought of Him. And that is all that mattered to Him. He didn’t come to earth to impress people. He didn’t come to gain fame and fortune, but rather to do the will of His Father.  

ILL: A boy prodigy performed beautifully the piano piece in front of a large crowd who came to witness his virtuosity at such a young age. The crowd was cheering but the boy just sat there on his chair expressionless, just looking up to the balcony. But when his master piano teacher started clapping, a beam of smile flashed across his face. The only thing that mattered to the boy was the master’s approval. He didn’t care for what people thought. He didn’t perform for them. He performed for the master.

Jesus didn’t come to do the will of the people. Jesus came to do the will of the Father. One of the greatest words that I heard that wasn’t directly from the Bible in the last 5 years of my life is this, and it kept me going in ministry in the darkest times, and that is: “Jesus did not call me to success. He called me to obedience.”

When we started this church, there were excitements and expectations and that was for us to grow like wild fire and just envelope Tacoma with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Well, it didn’t quite pan out like that. We grew, but far more slowly than we would’ve liked. Now, what if we have folded because we haven’t seen the success that we expected. All that would show is what drove us is the vision of success rather than the vision of God. All that would show is that fact that we used to God to build our own kingdom and our own fame. But God reminded us that we are not called to success. We are called to obedience. Do we want success? Absolutely. We want to see the people come to Christ and be saved and be added to the body of Christ. But if God does not give us the increase, then we will continue to be faithful. U.ntil God tells us to stop, we will keep doing what God told us to do.

Isn’t that what Jesus is doing? Actually, success was knocking on the door for Him. He was becoming famous and all kinds of people were following Him. But rather than marketing Himself and positioning Himself so that more people will gather around Him, He does the opposite. He pares them off. He cuts them off by saying things that were offensive. Things like: “you must be born again.” “You must love me more than your father and mother and children.” “you must deny yourself, take up the cross, and follow me.”

APP: We have decided as a church that we will preach what God would approve rather than what people would approve. So, we will say things that will be offensive. We will say things that will be politically incorrect. We will say things that will get people mad and not come back. But we must do what God commands rather than what would please men. And that is the promise and commitment we have to you coming from the pulpit of As One. You will hear the truth whether you will like it or not.

Jesus didn’t find validation in people. We shouldn’t either.

 

3. Jesus knew us better than we know ourselves.

Let’s get deeper into why Jesus didn’t trust these people who were following Him. He knew them. He knew their motive. He knew their intentions. He knew their underlying idol. They themselves may not have known it, but Jesus knew. You see, when it comes to God judging us, it is 100% correct, but he doesn’t just look at our actions and words and try to determine our heart. No. He looks at our heart directly and judges it for what it is so that we would have no excuse. And here’s the scary thing. Sometimes, we don’t even know ourselves why we did what we did. There are times when I thought I did something with good intentions, but later thinking about it, I’m not so sure if my motive was pure. For example, numerous times I pass by a homeless person collecting donations on the side of the highway, I think to myself “If I give him money, he will use it for drugs. I don’t want to help him in that habit, so I won’t give.” Well, is that the real reason or is it that I don’t want to give? Maybe I’m just justifying my reasons for being stingy with my money.

I think these are struggles we should go through as Christians. Because we do not even know our own heart, we are to go to God through word and prayer and listen to what He has to say about our own heart and get it aligned with Him. And rather than listening to our own heart and its own selfish desires, we should listen to God and His vision for the world. We can trust Him because He loves us better than we can love ourselves. Let me end with this little personal testimony.

ILL: When my family was at Disney World, on the last night, we wanted to see the parade. And there were thousands of people all lined up along the path of the parade to see it. Now, as a good father, I wanted my children to have the best view. And so did the parents of other children for their own kids. So, there were some touchy and angry people as they were all jockeying for position for the best view of the parade. There was rudeness and i saw a glimpse of the veneer of civilization breaking down. And of course, I felt I was justify in being rude because it’s for my kids. I want my kids to have the best experience. And those other parents were thinking the same thing – I came all this way and spent all this money for my kids to have the best experience and I feel justified being rude to others because I’m not doing it for me but for my kids! I’m being loving dad or mom by being rude to others….

Then, a thought occurred to me: What makes my child’s experience more important than that child’s experience? Why should my child be more important than any other child? Am I not lying to myself that I can be rude to others and be justified in it because I’m doing it for my child. But am I? Would God justify me in this?

As I was thinking like this, God put a thought in me: “You love your children so much as their father that you are willing to sacrifice yourself for them. That’s good. But are you willing to sacrifice your own children for others?” You know the most amazing thing about God’s grace I realized right then is that God the Father gave us His Son and not Himself. There was a time in my life I used to think, “Well, if God the Father really really loved us, then He would have given Himself to us. He would have become a human being and died in our place. But that would be too undignified for the Father to do. So, He let the jr. God in His Son Jesus to do that… “ Now that I’m a father, I know that thinking is wrong. As a father, it would be far easier to give up my life than to give up the lives of my girls. I value their lives more than I value my life. I believe God the Father feels the same about His Son, Jesus. So, when God the Father gave us God the Son, He was giving His absolute very best. “He who did not spare HIs son but gave Him up for us… “ (Romans 8:32)  Those are the most beautiful words in all the world ever uttered and ever will be uttered. That is what Christmas is about. It is not about family and friends and having a good time. It is about displaying the Father’s love for us in giving us His one and only Son . It is about Jesus.

CONC: Not all believers are true believers. Be a true believer in Jesus and persevere to the end. Jesus didn’t find validation in people and so we shouldn’t either. Find our confidence in God and not in our abilities or looks. And God knows us better than we know ourselves, and therefore, continue to learn what the word of God says about us rather than what the world says about us. Fix your eyes on God and not on yourself. Introspection helps only to a certain degree. True sanctification happens as we behold the glory of Christ. Look to Him. Listen to Him through His word. Keep coming because we will keep preaching about Him. Trust him and persevere.