| |
Book: John
 Print ( PC Only )
John 12:37
I. "Yet they believed not on Him."
A. Seeing the many miracles did not in itself make believers
of them.
1. So many times we think of our unsaved friends, and
we think that if they could only see a miracle
surely then they would believe on Jesus.
2. There are many people who are going around looking
for miracles in order to build their faith.
a. Now faith cometh be hearing and hearing by the
word of God.
b. Miracles do not created saving faith in God.
B. John has recorded for us many of the signs that Jesus has
done. He tells us of His turning the water into wine; the
cleansing of the Temple; the healing of the nobleman's
son at a distance; the lame man at the pool of Bethesda;
the feeding of the five thousand; the stilling of the
storm; opening the eyes of the man born blind; raising
Lazarus from the dead.
C. He had said six things about Himself. I am the Bread of
Life; I am the light of the world; Before Abraham was I
Am; I am the Door; I am the Good Shepherd; I am the
Resurrection and the life.
1. All of these statements are very radical, and they
force one to have an opinion of the person making
the statement.
2. In the case of the Jews for the most part, they
believed them not.
3. His disciples believed them, and John tells us
that many of the rulers believed them but for fear
of the Jews kept their belief's secret.
D. The world of that day was divided into those who believed
and those who did not believe.
1. Ever since that time the world is still divided into
those same two categories.
2. You here this evening are also divided into one of
the two camps. Believers, non-believers. Hope, no
hope, life or death a destiny of heaven or hell.
II. This unbelief was actually prophesied by Isaiah, it thus
became a fulfillment of prophecy.
A. In the 53rd chapter of Isaiah he begins "Who has believed
our report, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been
revealed?
1. We realize that the 53rd chapter of Isaiah is one of
the clearest prophecies in all of the scripture of
rejection of the Messiah and His subsequent,
substitutionary death.
2. Isaiah makes a reference that his prophecy of the
rejection and death of the Messiah would not be
believed.
B. "Therefore they could not belive."
1. This has now gone beyond the would not believe to
could not believe.
2. At the beginning of their rejection of the signs
that He was demonstrating, it was a matter of their
choosing not to believe.
3. It came to the place where it was not longer a
matter of choice, but a matter of fact, they now
could not believe.
4. They had said no once to often to the signs and
claims of Jesus Christ, and had now come to the
place where they could not believe.
5. When the incontrovertible evidence of the raising of
Lazarus from the dead has been presented to them,
they cannot change the position they have taken.
C. There was earlier evidence that they were getting close
to this point.
1. In Matthew 12 we read that they brought to Jesus a
man who was possessed with a devil, was blind, and a
mute, and Jesus healed him so that he both saw and
spake. Many people began to believe with this sign
that He was the Messiah, but the Pharisees said that
he was doing the miracles by the power of the devil.
2. Jesus warned them that they were approaching the
point of committing the sin for which there was no
forgiveness. Their attributing the works of the Holy
Spirit to the devil was showing that they were
getting close to the point of no return.
3. The sin for which there is no forgiveness is the
rejection of Jesus Christ as your Savior. He is the
only provision God has made for man's sin. To reject
Him is to assume the responsibility and punishment
for your own sin.
4. You can only reject Him so much, and God will one
day shut the door on you.
a. In the days of Noah, we find that he was a
preacher of righteousness, and for a hundred
years he warned the people of the coming
judgment of God for their sins, they rejected
his message until one day God called Noah into
the Ark, and we read the God shut the door.
b. God had told Noah, that His Spirit would not
always strive with man. That day had come when
God would no longer strive with man, and He
brought Noah into the safety of the Ark and His
judgment came upon the whole earth.
c. If God's Spirit is still tugging at your heart
to accept Jesus as your Savior, be thankful,
but also take care not to put it off any
longer, for this could be the last time God
will call you to repentance. Your heart could
go stone cold towards God and the things of
God before tomorrow morning, and it might be
said of you, "Therefore he could not believe."
III. Isaiah said again, "He has blinded their eyes, and hardened
their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, and
understand with their hearts and be converted."
A. This is a case of God confirming the position that a
person has taken like that of Pharoah in the Old
Testament.
1. We read that Pharoah hardened his heart against the
Lord, and again that Pharoah hardened his heart
against the Lord, but finally we read that God
hardened the heart of Pharoah.
2. There are two Hebrew words employed that are both
translated hardened.
a. The first is used of Pharoah hardening his
heart against God.
b. When is declares that God hardened the heart
of Pharoah, the word is "made stiff" i.e. God
firmed the position that he had already taken.
3. If you continually close your eyes to the truth,
there will come a day when God will confirm your
position, and you cannot see the truth.
4. If you continually harden your heart against Jesus
Christ, there will come a day when God will make
stiff your heart in the position that you have
taken, and you will not be able to see, or believe,
or understand the things of God.
B. These are the things Isaiah said when he saw His glory,
and he was speaking of Him.
|