Familiarity with spiritual realities, choices that God says no to, ignorance of Jesus Christ's true nature and failure to believe Jesus' words rob us of faith and drown us in a sea of doubt. John 7

If you ever visit the historic city of Astoria, Oregon, visit their maritime museum. Astoria is at the mouth of the mighty Columbia River which is four miles wide at Astoria. This was a treacherous place for ships during the 1800's and early 1900's.

Many ships were wrecked at the mouth of the river because of the sand bars that shifted location due to the flow of the river, the winds and tides. The museum has many fascinating stories about ships that were wrecked on these sand bars and about heroic rescue attempts.

Its my prayer that this message will help spare you the sorrow and pain of making shipwreck of your faith on sandbars of doubt. Your faith in Jesus Christ is a precious commodity that needs to be protected and nurtured so that it becomes strong and mature, able to withstand any gale of doubt. Each new day we choose to live for Jesus or self. This messages looks at four common hindrances to choosing Jesus.

1. Familiarity hinders many from choosing Jesus.
After two years of teaching and healing, Jesus' own brothers still did not believe He was the Messiah. "Jesus' brothers said to him, "You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do.  No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.  For even his own brothers did not believe in him." (John 7:3-53 TLB)

Matthew and Luke tell us that up to this time Jesus had healed hundreds of needy people. Notice the words,"He healed them all." ". . .  great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all."(Matthew 12:15 ) ". . .  power was coming from him and healing them all." (Luke 6:19 ) The existence of miracles does not guarantee that we will choose Jesus.

It must have been confusing for Jesus' younger brothers who were likely in their twenties to conceive of big brother being the Messiah. Big brother Jesus always seemed to have this special relationship with mother, it was as if they had a secret.

Remember, Mary knew that her son was to be the world's Messiah. He was a miracle boy, conceived of the Holy Spirit. He grew up with out sin, always making the right decisions and choices. In moments of weakness Mary must have said to the younger boys, "Why can't you be good boys like your brother Jesus?"

We don't like friends who are too good, too pure, too disciplined, too put together. Their excellence seems to highlight our lack of excellence and we feel inferior in their presence. Familiarity hinders many people from choosing Jesus and eternal life and they sink on the rocks of doubt.

2. Sin keeps us from choosing Jesus.
In verse seven Jesus gives us a clue as to why Jesus' brothers and multitudes of people would not believe that Jesus was the Messiah. "The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil." (John 7:7 NIV)

Jesus identifies personal sin as a factor that robs us of faith in Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. We hate being told that we have sinned. When Sonia corrects me, I smart and sometimes get angry with her. Correction humbles us and hurts our pride.

Sin puts distance between us and God. When we exercise faith and choose to believe that Jesus is our Saviour, we forsake our sin and close the distance between us and God. When we lose our faith we return to our sin and increase the distance between us and God.

When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden they hid from God,  put distance between themselves and God. When we pursue selfish objectives and hurtful life styles we put distance between ourselves and God.

When we put distance between ourselves and God we don't want anyone to point that out to us. That is why the world rejects Jesus, His presence reminds us of how far we are from God. Drifting from God weakens our faith, increases our doubt and the possibility of making shipwreck of our lives.

3. Knowing Jesus' true identity helps us choose Him as our Saviour.
Jesus left Galilee and slowly made his way up to Jerusalem to attend  the Feast of Tabernacles. Jesus' name was on everyone's lips and the majority of the people were divided as to His true identity.

John 7:12 says, "Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, "He is a good man." Others replied, "No, he deceives the people." But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the Jews."

2000 years later people are still putting distance between themselves and God by responding to Jesus in the same three ways. First, some say He is a good man, second, others say he deceives the people (he is a devil) and others are afraid to declare their true feeling about Jesus. It was Napoleon who made the famous remark, "I know men and Jesus Christ is more than a man."

People say that Jesus is a deluded madman for claiming to be God. William Barclay in his Daily Study Bible makes the following comment. "It is true that either Jesus is the only completely sane person in the world or He was mad.

He chose a cross when he might have had power. He was the Suffering Servant when He might have been the conquering king. He washed the feet of His disciples when He might have had men kneeling at His own feet.

He came to serve when He could have subjected the world to servitude. It is not common sense that the words of Jesus give us, but uncommon sense. He turned the world's standards upside down, because into a mad world He brought the supreme sanity of God."
In a world of change and chaos His sanity keeps my mind focused on the reality of an eternity thats worth living and dying for. That sanity gives me peace in the midst of turmoil and uncertainty. Jesus' sanity gives me security while sailing life's uncharted waters. His sanity enables me to make the choices and decisions that build my house of faith so that I can finish life well.

We can argue and debate for 70 years the reasons why we accept or reject Jesus as our Saviour and end up being further from God than we were when we first started debating 70 years earlier. Receive the words of Jesus and His words will make you a believer.

4. The Words Jesus speaks help me choose Him as my Saviour.
Jesus words build faith in our lives saving us from shipwreck. Consider the nature and impact of Jesus' teaching. "Not until halfway through the Feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach.  The Jews were amazed and asked, "How did this man get such learning without having studied?" (John 7:14 ,15)

It was the practice in Jesus day that only a disciple of a recognized Rabbi was allowed to speak in the temple. When they spoke, it was never on their own authority. They would always begin by saying, "There is a teaching . . ." They would then proceed to site authorities for every statement made.

Jesus could have said, "I don't need any other authorities." Notice the authority that Jesus claimed to have. "Jesus answered, "My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me." (John 7:16 )

Jesus reinforces that He is God taught by giving them a timeless principle that only the person who does God's will can understand His teaching. "Learning by doing," is a universal truth, not a theological one. A football quarterback can memorize all the rules of the game and all the possible plays, but that does not make him a quarterback. He learns by playing the game.

Thats the way it is in the Christian life, if we wait until we understand everything, we will never start the process. As you start living the Christian life, you understand more and more about it as the days go by. Jesus said that we learn the life by living it.  "If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own." (John 7:17 ) Faith grows out of our choice. We choose Jesus and then the light goes on. The words Jesus speaks begin to make great sense to us because we hear them as truth and life.

Familiarity keeps many people from Jesus, don't let it keep you from Him. When sin quenches your faith and puts distance between you and God, confess your sin and return to your Saviour. Don't reject Jesus' true identify, accept that Jesus is who He says He is. Last, keep on believing the words of Jesus and faith will keep growing in your life.

TLC  Discussion Questions:

1. Share the circumstances that kept you from choosing Jesus as your Lord and Saviour.
2. What are the factors that keep your friends from choosing Jesus?
3. Read John 7:1-6 and share the factors that seemed to keep Jesus' brothers from accepting Him as their Messiah.
4. Describe the tensions that would be in the home living with a perfect brother.
5. Read John 7:6 ,7 and discuss why the world hates Jesus. What light do the following verses throw on this question? Proverbs 8:36 ; 15:18-23; 17:14; Romans 8:7 .
6. Read John 7:11-12 . What would prompt these conclusions about Jesus identity? Compare John 7:47 ; Matthew 27:63 .
7. Discuss the comment on Jesus identity by William Barclay. Is it accurate? Why?
8. Read John 7:14-16 . Compare Amos 7:14-15 . John 8:28 ; 14:10. What truth in these verses is important to us today? Why?
9. What is the practical application of John 7:17 ? Compare Psalm 25:12