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Sermon

Division and Contention

by Rev. Kirby Williams

Learning to recognize and thwart the constant attacks of the enemy.

Text: John 7:40-44
Date: 06/11/2017, the Traditional service.
Series: "John: Encountering Love" Part 54

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Description:

As the Feast of Booths comes to a close, the confusion among the people over who Jesus is becomes evident. The crowd is divided and voicing widely differing opinions. But when the Temple guards return to the Sanhedrin empty handed, and Nicodemus raises questions of justness, we are given insight into the source of the division. The Jews of the Sanhedrin are in rare form as they use the age old method of "intellectual bullying" to undermine and try to destroy the teaching and ministry of Jesus. We will first analyze the efforts of the Sanhedrin and see their effectiveness in the evident division among the people. We will then note how this spirit of confusion and rebellion is still at work today as the adversary continues to relentlessly pummel the church with division and contention.


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I. Introduction
II. Exposition of the text, John 7:40-52.
A. Context
B. Division among the people, vs. 40-44, Matt. 10:34.
1. Levels of belief, vs. 40-41a.
a. Believing in the Word, vs. 40a.
b. Believing in the Prophet, vs. 40b, Deut. 18:18, John 6:14.
c. Believing in the Christ, vs. 41a.
2. Objections to the Galilean, vs. 41b-42.
a. A series of objections, vs. 41a, John 6:42, 7:27.
b. Criteria for the Messiah, vs. 42, 2Sam. 7:12-13, Mic. 5:2.
c. The tragedy of unbelief.
3. Animosity within the crowd, vs. 43-44.
a. Jesus as the source of controversy, vs. 43, Matt. 10:34-36, John 15:18.
b. Seeds of malcontent, vs. 44.
c. The hour has not come, John 7:30.
C. Contention with the Temple guards, vs. 45-49.
1. Returning empty-handed, vs. 45, John 7:32.
2. The officers' surprising explanation, vs. 46.
a. The impact of the Logos, Mark 1:22.
b. More of John's irony, John 7:37,38, 10:27.
3. The Sanhedrin's rude response, vs. 47-49.
a. Intellectual bullying, vs. 47.
b. Supreme arrogance, vs. 48.
c. The disdain of the "shepherds" for their sheep, vs. 49, Ezek. 34:4-5.
D. Contention with Nicodemus, vs. 50-53.
1. Nicodemus' objection, vs. 50-51.
a. Nicodemus re-appears, vs. 50.
b. An objection of jurisprudence.
2. Another sneering response from the Sanhedrin, vs. 52.
a. Disparaging Galilee and Galileans.
b. Yet another irony.
III. Application
A. Lessons from the text.
1. Jesus as the source of division, 2Cor. 6:14,15, 11:19.
2. The divisive work of the enemy, John 1:5,9,10, 3:20; Rev. 12:12.
B. Destroying termites.
1. Recognizing the spirit of confusion.
2. Muddling the details, John 1:1,14.
3. Intellectual bullying, John 8:44, Matt. 23:15.
a. Conscious and explicit bullying.
b. Subliminal and implicit bullying,
4. The word of the scholars.
IV. Conclusion

The Preaching Ministry of Kirby Williams
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