And we will pick back up there at verse 40, John chapter 7 beginning at verse 40, looking this morning at Christ who brings both unity and division, unity to those who are in Christ, division to those who are outside of the gospel from those who are bearers of the gospel. Let's look at John chapter 7 beginning at verse 40, reading from the English standard version, listen for it as God who speaks to us. When they heard these words, some of the people said, this really is the prophet, others said, this is the Christ. But some said, is the Christ to come from Galilee, has not the scripture said that Christ comes from the offspring of David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was. So there was a division among the people over him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. The officers then came to the chief priest and Pharisees who said to them, why did you not bring him? The officers answered, no one ever spoke like this man. The Pharisees answered them, have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him, but this crowd that does not know the law is a curse. May the Lord bless the reading of his word and the hearing of his people. There was a climatic moment that I was not able to give you a full disclosure of last week because it would have taken probably our entire time. I will not seek to do so this week either, except to just summarize and put you back into the context of what Jesus has just done. Remember last week, I mentioned that there was the day of atonement where there was a great anticipation of the Feast of the Tabernacles. The day of atonement is when the people were ritually purified, part of the day of atonement in addition to additional sacrifices is that they would take two goats and one would face the temple, one would face away. One of the goats would have a scarlet ribbon tied on it and then by the laying on of hands the priest would then ceremonially have a transference of the guilt of the people to the goat, to the head of the goat. Then the goat would be led outside of the city and there would be, I believe, some ten rest stops along the way of this goats journey and it was ten because you could only travel a half days Sabbath's walk and so as one person would take it, careful not to violate the Sabbath, they would stop at this rest area and someone else would pick up the goat and we carry it on and so it would go throughout the day until finally they reached a cliff and there the goat would be backed off of the cliff and plunged to its death, representing the eradication of sin through a scape goat and we carry that term with us today. After the goat perished going over the cliff they would use flags to signal each of the rest stops along the way, much like the signal corps might do in today's army, it's well yesterday's army, they would use flags to signal that indeed the deed was completed and the people would rejoice and now they were ready for the feast of tabernacles. They would come to the feast of tabernacles and we've already discussed this at length so I'll bring us simply to that final day when Jesus was there in the court where the priest walked up with two gold pitchers and he would take the pitchers and he would begin to pour and the one that interests us this week is the one that had water and he would pour it into a funnel of sorts and it would flow down to the base of the altar and the people would yell higher and higher you might recall because they wanted to see the water flowing out of the pitcher and what did the water represent it reminded them of God's provision in the wilderness, it reminded them that as they celebrated the end gathering of their crops and the season that God provided the rain so that they would have an abundant supply of food and then we also know the prophetic importance of it and here is why it's particularly key for us that it follows the day of atonement after the atonement was the end gathering and water we know from previous studies reminds us of the Holy Spirit and the work of the Holy Spirit and so the pouring out of the water flowing to the base of the altar following the day of atonement was to point towards the day of pinnacost when the Holy Spirit would be poured out after Christ had given Himself for the sins of man as the scapegoat for sin and then the Holy Spirit would be poured out upon the people and there would be great celebration in rejoicing and so as this priest is pouring out the water and is flowing and he's raising it as high as he can so that all the people can see and celebrate Jesus standing there then cries out we're told in a loud voice if anyone thirst let him come to me and drink whoever believes in me as the scripture has said out of his heart will flow rivers of living water imagine how stunned the priest and how stunned the people would be because all of their attention and all of their focus is on God's provision and this outpouring of God's blessing and Jesus stands up and said if you like water for life then if you come to me you'll have water that gives life and not only that but all who come to me from them will flow springs of water for life and here we find the first place that we would focus on for Christian unity when we are in Christ it is the gospel that flows from us and we find here unity for there is one gospel there is one faith one baptism for the remission of sins one Lord Jesus Christ who is Lord over all and so we share in common because we are in Christ that living water which would then flow from us and we must give special attention to this because if we are a well that is dry is there a passage to give us any assurance that a lack of water flowing from us as an indication of spiritual life and vitality and unity and are being bonded in Christ there is no such verse there is by necessity a flowing of water from those who are in Christ because it is the work of Christ through us and so here we find that those who were in Christ are said to be unified in this if anyone believes in me as the scripture is said out of his heart will flow rivers of flowing water all of us like small tributaries coming together and creating one large stream as we combine and as we come together as the church and so from this church should flow rivers of flowing water reminiscent of the scene we have in Revelation where the throne of God is established and from underneath it flow rivers of flowing of living water and so everywhere we turn in the scriptures from God's people and from God and from the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Old Testament ceremonies everywhere there is a flowing out of water representing the blessing representing the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the gospel of Jesus Christ going out nowhere do we find dry wells to be a sign of the blessedness in the blessed estate of the people and we must reflect upon that and we have to think about that and we have to question our ministries and our walk and our work and our unity that we would have rivers of flowing of water flowing out from us but while there is a unity here we find that not all who were there listening to Christ were of the same purpose they were gathered there in the same courtyard and while the Old Testament ceremonies were going on they were all celebrating because those are all external and benign there's no impact upon the individual but when you start to reach in and you start to tweak the heart of a person or when you start to get too close to them for their comfort then you begin to find where the divisions are among the people you begin to find that what they said they were celebrating just as the Jews in the courtyard did they were celebrating the promise of God's outpouring of the Spirit but when Jesus said well then here it is we find that there were many divisions about that and there were many who were not quite ready to receive it among those three groups that we see the first one called him a prophet now this would be the prophet that Moses spoke of in Deuteronomy 18 I'll take you there because it is important that we're familiar with that and Deuteronomy 18 verses 15 to 18 the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you from your brothers it is to him you shall listen here Moses is saying that will be one from your midst not one from a foreign land there will be one from among you like your brothers that will rise up and it's to him you shall listen just as you desire to the Lord your God at Horib on the day of the assembly when you said let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire anymore lest I die and the Lord said to me they are right in what they have spoken I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers and I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak to them all that I command him there were those who were there who were somewhat familiar with Christ ministry they had heard Christ speak they recognized that what he was saying is profound and so they were willing to be very respectful and willing to accept a portion of his claim they were willing to give him not everything as Messiah but they were willing to give him status as a prophet one who is a prophet they thought that perhaps he was the forerunner to the Messiah not the Messiah himself but a forerunner certainly a prestigious position to be the forerunner of the Messiah that's John the Baptist position that's not something to be taken lightly they were willing to respect this man as a prophet perhaps a forerunner to the Messiah many today talk about Jesus as a good teacher they talk about him as a wonderful moral example that we should follow they talk about how profound the teachings were and how how he was a man ahead of his time and how much courage it must have taken for him to stand alone against such religious persecution and in fact there are even religions and faith that would call him a prophet but not receive him as a Messiah these people are simply making excuses they're saying it is just too good to be true Messiah he can't be the Messiah not the Messiah but yet they can't deny that what he has done what he has said is true so they can't completely discount Jesus Christ but yet they can't receive him as the Messiah and so they receive him instead as prophet and essentially call the man they receive as a prophet a liar then there were those who did say this is the Christ so we would then rejoice and go well there were at least some that recognized him oh there were some that were giving him lip service where did these people go what did they do remember there were disciples following Jesus and when he said I am the bread of life and you must come and you must eat and take my body and eat of it and you must drink my blood if you would have life and it said that the teaching was too hard and so they left and we talked about the language meaning that when they turn and they left they didn't come back but yet they had acknowledged him and they were his disciples and they were willing to follow him but when it came to the point of them surrendering themselves they left here we have the same circumstance there were those who said this is the Christ do you notice it says nothing else about those people there's nothing else about them to mention they just said this is the Christ that's all they had to say this is the Christ but no change of life no following after him these are probably like those who would come to church just on Christmas or Easter or even just on Sunday and it then be involved in nothing else at any time this is the Christ and that's all I'll acknowledge it but I will not change and alter my life on account of it I'm not going to follow him after all I have responsibilities things to do so they give him lip service and run the risk of self deception we're having mouthed the words they have somehow deceived their mind and a thinking that they have accepted this claim that he is the Christ admitting it is claim admitting that he his claims but not coming to him gives them an orthodox head wed to a rebellious heart we can find that in all of our religious experiences all of our lives no matter where you have worshipped and what state you have come from or what nation you have found those who had orthodox heads those who were well grounded in doctrine in theology but their heart was still rebellious against Christ and you find it in their mouth and in the conduct of their lives and their lack of love for their fellow Christians you find that they have orthodox heads and rebellious hearts they'll confess Christ and then they will live in opposition to his purposes then there were the ones who said is this the Christ who comes from Galilee but has not the scripture said that Christ would be the offspring of David and comes from Bethlehem the village where David was essentially they're saying this is just a man you're saying could the Christ come from Galilee this this is just a man he's just a man like anybody else he doesn't fulfill all of the all of the pedigree requirements this is just a man and nothing more out right rejection of Christ and his person and his claim this is what we might consider to be a snobbish response I did a little work on the word snob which we have enjoyed using probably most of our lives but you might be surprised to learn it had an official beginning that word snob it was first used in the 1820s it was used at Oxford in Cambridge and it was used in an official capacity what they would write on some student's paper was and forgive my Latin pronunciation sign nobelate meaning without nobility and it was simply to separate those who had pedigree those who came from noble family from those who did not those who were simply common people and they would write this on the paper and it came to be abbreviated as period for sign and then nobelate was abbreviated n-o-b period so yet s period n-o-b period hints snob an interesting origin to a word that is not a very popular word to use so those that were distinguished from aristocracy or someone that I status would look at others outside of that and they were considered to be snobbs for seeing them so it came to mean someone that was offended at the lack of high status and others that's what it came to mean if I were a snob then I would be offended at your lack of status I wouldn't be offended at myself or my own or even my reaction I'd be offended at your lack of status not feel sorry not feel compassion not desire better things for you but take offense at your lack it believes in the equation between social rank and human worth that's what a snob is the truth of who we are doesn't really govern a snobbs attitude towards you they don't really care who you are it's from where you came it's what you represent it's how you hold yourself or your carriage are you like them in all things because snobbs combine a weak capacity for independent judgment with an appetite for the views of influential people means they can't discern for themselves the quality of the person that they're prejudicing themselves against instead they simply crave the opinion and crave the approval of influential people their beliefs are largely going to be set by public opinion they don't decide for themselves what's true they decide what is true based upon what wins the approval of who they want to be you see a snob is always insecure because they want the next higher level of status so they look at whoever it is it's the next higher and that's who they want to win approval from they want to be treated one step above where they are and so they take their views and they take what they believe to be true from public opinion and they take it from consensus that is built so that they can win approval so that they can be accepted Alan Boughton I believe is the man's name in his book in a book called Status Anxiety it's an interesting read he says this for those in low status with financial or family standing the snob is almost compelled to look the other way here we have Jesus Christ who undeniably has performed amazing work there are witnesses abundant witnesses to testify of the feeding of the five thousand of the healing of the lame of the giving sight to the blind Jesus is nearing the last third of his ministry his next trip to Jerusalem will be Passover when he is arrested so there is abundant evidence at this point that this man is more than just a mere man but their answer is doesn't he come from up north Galilee which is the same as saying if you're a native of Jerusalem he's from the sticks this guy's from the sticks where did he go to school haven't we read in verses where they say how does he teach so profoundly this man with no training and even the disciples were amazing in their teaching and they had no training these were fishermen commoners and yet their teaching was profound and they were working miracles and now these men would say how could he be the Christ Christ comes from the royal line of King David he has pedigree this guy comes from Galilee and then they say revealing their own ignorance and prejudice there's no profit comes from Galilee forgetting that Jonah came from Galilee in their own history books the Pharisees and the Sadducees should know better but so blinded by their prejudice so blinded by their own snobbishness of their own status they simply dismiss Jesus because they perceive and identify a lack of pedigree and then they decide he's not from anywhere that's respectable anyway it's interesting that none of that council of the Sanhedrin nor were the Pharisees present when Jesus made these comments how do we know that well we simply see what follows remember we had said last week that they were searching the caravans wanting to know where Jesus was they were exacerbated looking for him and so they sent guards out officers and the officers came back to the chief priests and the Pharisees and so they said to these officers why didn't you bring him you see they had sent people out scouring Jerusalem to find Jesus and bring him back they weren't out listening to Jesus they sent people to go and bring them to them bring him to them so they did come back and the officers answered no one ever spoke like this man they didn't lay a hand on him no one had ever spoke like this man before the Pharisees the Sadducees their mind was made up they never listened they wouldn't listen they decided before it ever began what the end would be and they would not listen the Pharisees answered have you also been deceived and here is the height of a snob attitude have any of the authorities or Pharisees believed him you know and how could you believe what you hear look at us we're status above you and we don't buy it so therefore you are almost required not to buy it either seeking only the affirmation of their own views and not truth they were not interested in truth they were only interested in being affirmed in their error but such division is no surprise we know in Luke 12 51 through 52 Jesus said do you think that I came to bring peace on earth no I tell you but division from now there will be five and one family divided against each other in three against two and two against three like the continental divide when snow melts water will run either east or west and it will never come together again it will float opposite oceans from the continental divide so it is when the gospel is preached before seminary I was involved in a philosophical discussion while I was air defense officer and I was feeling a calling to seminary and I'd begun to get a lot more diligent about my study and I'd begun to explore some of the Westminster confession of faith and as you might imagine as it is in your life too the doctrine of election had become a little bit of a preoccupation for me as I was trying to figure it out and understand it I got involved in a discussion and as long as we were talking people were really interested in the unit where I was serving but when I reached to my pocket and I pulled out the scripture when I looked up and I mean this very literally we went from a group of 10 or 12 when I looked up there were two remaining and the guy looked at me and he said you should have never pulled the Bible out as soon as you pulled it out they left as soon as you pulled the scriptures out they were finished they were willing to talk and argue as long as it was you against them but when you start quoting scripture well now you have just drawn a line in the sand and they're leaving and they're gone division was not Jesus's purpose but it is the gospel's effect the response he requires from us is not to be divided it is to repent and to worship and where people refuse to do that there is division there's an even greater division that we know between believers and unbelievers and Ephesians chapter 2 you were dead and your trespasses in sin in which you once walked following the course of this world following the prince the power of the air the spirit that is now work is the sons in the sons of disobedience among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and we're by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind he's just given a description of the world and of you and of me before salvation before Christ that is who we were our preoccupation was on the desires of the body and the mind and we were by nature children of wrath but God being rich and mercy because of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses made us alive together with Christ that's the gospel that God made you alive together in Christ together in Christ by grace you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him and the heavenly places in Christ Jesus so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus by grace you've been saved through faith and this is not your own doing it is the gift of God not a result of works so that no one may boast for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in him a believer trust a believer loves a believer serves Christ and a believer strives to be like Christ as it says in 1 Corinthians 6 20 you were bought with a price so glorified God in your body a believer trust a believer loves a believer serves Christ and a believer strives to be like Christ the Sanhedrin were so invested in their bad theology that they didn't even go to listen they didn't even go to listen they needed to set aside their presuppositions and dialogue with Jesus but they would not here is something I think that is also profound isn't it ironic that knowing what we do about Islam today and knowing that we have seen on the news and read in the papers that they desire to kill and destroy all infidels and the choices are one of three you can live as a Christian but you cannot proselytize in an Islamic nation and there you would either have to be a slave you would have to change to Islam or pay such a high tax that eventually you'll go broke and be left with the other two options to either become a Muslim or to live as a slave you can do one of those three things we know their treatment of women we've seen them in burkas and we read in the paper about the young lady who was raped by several men and then she was thrown in jail for it they were punished but she was also beaten and thrown in jail for the crime of being raped we know all of these things to be true we know that they have taken knives and they've cut the heads off of people who are not Muslim and yet we will have academics continue to profess that Islam is a religion of peace that Islam is the way that we should go and that Islam respects Christianity and so we wonder why why would smart people not be able to see reality or read the Muslim's own book why do they try to convince us of these things and the only thing that I can figure is because the enemy of my enemy is my friend so great a threat is the gospel because it requires that people be converted and they die to self and live to Christ and so upsetting is that that we can't even pray in the public forum because just the just the act of prayer may affect somebody spiritually and so even that has to be outlawed and so the enemy of their enemy which traditionally has been Christ it will one day be Islam but it is not yet the enemy of their enemy being Islam's enemy is Christianity and so Islam is their friend so stuck in their own presupposition so stuck in their own prejudice and need for affirmation that they are willing to lift up and hold up that which eventually would destroy them just because it also is an enemy of their long-term enemy Christianity James Boyce said divisions are natural where truth is concerned they go with strong doctrine you hold to a strong doctrine get ready for some division because you will have opposition because strong doctrine is offensive to those who want nothing to do with it because strong doctrine means change lives CH Spurgeon that great Baptist minister said I have heard of a parish a church in which there were no religious bickering none because there was no religion there was no religious strife because nobody had anything worth striving for Jesus does bring division because of the gospel that brings division but he also unifies nothing else could compel us to gather weekly nothing else could call us together the way Christ does there's neither June or Greek there's neither slave nor free there's no male or female for you are all one and Christ Jesus Cory Tinboom said be united with one with other Christians a wall with loose bricks is not good the bricks must be cemented together and that cement is Jesus Christ Thomas Watson said the gospel seldom thrives where the apple of strife grows and a w tozer the man who wrote such a wonderful book on worship to accept Christ is to know the meaning of the words listen carefully to this quote because here we find the essence of our unity in Christ to accept Christ is to know the meaning of the words as he is so are we in this world we accept his friends as our friends his enemies as our enemies his ways as our ways his rejection as our rejection his cross as our cross his life as our life and his future as our future there is where we find our unity to be like Christ and here is where we will find division but not among ourselves but between us and the world and as the world would come in instead among us yes there will be division among ourselves but if we are intent on having a vision of Christ before us and living the life of Christ and loving with the love of Christ then where is the division for Christ is not divided Christ is perfect unity with the Father and with the Spirit let me close with this from Ephesians chapter 4 characteristics of people that are unified with all humility and gentleness with patience bearing with one another in love eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace eager to maintain eagerness to maintain unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace when we take our vows of church membership we promise to support and pursue the purity and unity of the church the purity and peace i.e unity of the church there is one body and one spirit just as you were all called to the one hope that belongs to your call one Lord one faith one baptism one God and Father of all who is overall and through all and in all where will we divide where do you find division here none none Christ is of one mind and his people or of one mind one faith one baptism one God and Father of all who is overall and through all and in all will we be sinless perfection no will we offend one another yes and God will be judge of all when we begin to set up our own tribunals when we begin to divide or separate or create conditions that unsettle the peace and purity of the teaching and of the fellowship of Christ's church it's not just the brother and sister who was offended but Christ himself for this is his body that we will not tear a sunder unity in Christ this unity is left for those who are out of the gospel there is only perfect unity for those who are of Christ a true and honest sign of our conversion and salvation we come to this table to take this Lord's supper we do so because it is a symbol of all those things which we know but it also is a symbol of our unity in the faith for there is one table just as there is one Christ and there is one sacrifice for the remission of sins and so we drink while an individual cups symbolically from one cup we drink together instead of individually all at one time because Christ poured one cup for his disciples I stand and I break one loaf of bread that symbolic we symbolically we also share in the one loaf because of the unity of faith which we share all that we do symbolizes our unity in faith for I have received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread and when he get given thanks he broke it and said this is my body which is for you do this in remembrance of me in the same way he took the cup also after supper saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes let me give the warning which the scripture gives us and first Corinthians it warns us that we are not to come to this table in ignorance our profession of faith today helped us to reflect upon that this table is a place where we come with a soberness and with intelligibility where we come to this table having reflected and repented of our sin to take of this table in an unworthy manner would mean that if you are under church discipline if you are not a believer of Jesus Christ if you are living with unrepentant sin if you are content to live as the world lives and you are not striving after the things of Christ then you are expected to refrain from this table however if you are a forgiven lover of Christ if Christ is your all and though you live imperfectly in the flesh you are striving to mortify the sin in your life and to fill yourself with with Christ's likeness and every sense of the word if you are indwelling by the Holy Spirit and you come to this table knowing that you repent of your sins and you are sorry for there for their offense against God then this table is set for you to strengthen you by reminding you of the love that Christ has shown you on the cross here these words of institution we've had the words of institution here these exhortations beloved and the Lord here what gracious words are save your Christ they have to all who turn to him come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden I will give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly and hard and you shall find rest into your souls I am the bread of life he that comes to me shall never hunger and he that believes on me shall never thirst him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out blessed with you hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled