Jesus in the Lions’ Den │ Msg 3/14

0:01 Have you ever been unjustly accused? Perhaps someone charged you for a wrong when you did right or pronounced you guilty when you were innocent. Maybe it was a group of people who plotted against you, determining to destroy your reputation and to bring you down. If you've ever endured this kind of attack, you understand real pain. Pierced to the heart, you hardly could find words to defend yourself. Your accusers encircled you like lions on a hunt, baring their teeth and moving in for the kill. If anyone knows what it's like to be torn apart by enemies, It was Jesus.

0:55 In today's passage, his attackers come at him in three groups, the Jewish leaders, the crowd, and perhaps the most hurtful group, his own brothers. They swipe at Jesus and roar their threats. But Jesus shuts his attackers' mouths with his calm, truthful words. Let's listen to Jesus' responses and draw strength from him when we're cornered by enemies. I invite you to join me once again with your Bibles open in reading sections from John chapter 7. I'm reading from the New Living Translation. Take a moment to find your place, and when you're ready, we'll begin with John chapter 7, verse 1. After this, Jesus traveled around Galilee.

1:57 He wanted to stay out of Judea where the Jewish leaders were plotting his death. But soon it was time for the Jewish festival of shelters. And Jesus' brothers said to him, Leave here and go to Judea where your followers can see your miracles. You can't become famous if you hide like this. If you can do such wonderful things, show yourself to the world. For even his brothers didn't believe in him. Verse 10. But after his brothers left for the festival, Jesus also went, though secretly, staying out of public view. The Jewish leaders tried to find him at the festival and kept asking if anyone had seen him.

2:51 There was a lot of grumbling about him among the crowds. Some argued, he's a good man, but others said, he's nothing but a fraud who deceives the people. But no one had the courage to speak favorably about him in public, for they were afraid of getting in trouble with the Jewish leaders. Then, midway through the festival, Jesus went up to the temple and began to teach. The people were surprised when they heard him. How does he know so much when he hasn't been trained, they asked. So Jesus told them, my message is not my own. It comes from God who sent me. Anyone who wants to do the will of God will know whether my teaching is from God or is merely my own.

3:52 Those who speak for themselves want glory only for themselves. But a person who seeks to honor the one who sent him speaks truth, not lies. Moses gave you the law, but none of you obeys it. In fact, you're trying to kill me. And now, if you'll drop down to verse 37, we'll pick up this story with Jesus making a remarkable invitation at the temple. On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, Anyone who is thirsty may come to me. Anyone who believes in me may come and drink. For the scriptures declare, rivers of living water will flow from his heart. When he said, living water, he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him.

4:57 But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory. When the crowds heard him say this, some of them declared, Surely, this man is the prophet we've been expecting. Others said, He is the Messiah. Still others said, But he can't be. Will the Messiah come from Galilee? For the scriptures clearly state that the Messiah will be born of the royal line of David in Bethlehem, the village where King David was born. So the crowd was divided about him. Some even wanted him arrested. But no one laid a hand on him. When the temple guards returned without having arrested Jesus, the leading priests and Pharisees demanded, Why didn't you bring him in?

5:59 We have never heard anyone speak like this, the guards responded. Have you been led astray too? The Pharisees mocked. Is there a single one of us rulers or Pharisees who believes in him? This foolish crowd follows him, but they are ignorant of the law. God's curse is on them. Then Nicodemus, the leader who had met with Jesus earlier, spoke up. Is it legal to convict a man before he's given a hearing? He asked. They replied, Are you from Galilee too? Search the scriptures and see for yourself. No prophet ever comes from Galilee. Then the meeting broke up and everybody went home.

6:57 Now, will you open your Bible, please, to John chapter 7. As I say that, I'm reminded so often in my life of how amazing the Bible really is. It's just remarkable to me how we never grow old of the familiar stories in the scriptures. Isn't that true? Many of us were raised in Sunday school and church. We've spent literally hundreds, maybe if we figured it up, thousands of hours in the instruction of the Bible. And yet the familiar stories never grow old. The Bible continues to be ageless and attractive, appealing, relevant. For example, we never grow old of the story of Jonah and the great fish. We never grow old of that story.

7:55 We're very interested in how Jonah experienced deliverance from that fish. Or Noah and the ark. Or Moses as he led the people of God through the dry Red Sea. And then it caved in on the Egyptians. Or Samson as he stands between these massive pillars holding up the temple of Dagon. And by pushing those pillars aside, he experienced death and killed more in his death among the Philistines than he ever killed in his life. Or Paul and his travels from his homeland to Rome and, believe by some, even to Spain. Exciting stories of God's deliverance on his chosen men and women. As I was growing up, one of my favorite Bible stories was Daniel in the lion's den.

8:56 You remember that story, I'm sure. It's the story of a 90-year-old prophet who was a friend of the king named Darius. And according to Daniel 6, this man was faithful and he was a man of integrity, but Daniel was framed by some jealous men who wanted to see him killed. Through a chain of events, Darius was forced to cooperate with a plan that he had obligated himself to. And so he took Daniel and reluctantly put him in the den of lions. I remember the Sunday school teacher that taught that story. he really had a good memory a good imagination and he pictured the roaring of the lions and the echo in this big stone dungeon and little Daniel dropping in from the top of the dungeon and before I knew the story I could just picture Daniel standing there and praying and losing an arm and losing a leg and being eaten by these lions. And then to my surprise, they never touched him. They never put a tooth on his body.

10:16 and God graciously delivered Daniel all through the night. Worst case of locked jaw they've ever known of on record in the history of lions. They never touched him. And I always felt, even from the first time I heard the story, that the story hasn't been named correctly. It should be called the lions in Daniel's den, Not Daniel in the lion's den. They were in his den.

10:53 Henrietta Mears used to say, The world cannot breed a lion that God cannot tame. That's the theme of this morning's message. Remember that throughout what you hear from what I have to say about Jesus in the lion's den. The world cannot breed a lion that God cannot tame. There is no such thing as a creature or a circumstance that cannot be tamed by God. Now the lions in Jesus' day were not savage beasts that walked on four feet. They were people who hated him.

11:49 They were individuals who gave themselves to one supreme purpose, his assassination. They wanted more than anything to be rid of him. He was a nuisance. He was a pest. And they roared and they screamed. But the remarkable thing is not until God allowed it did they lay one hand on him. We'll see that several times in the story of John chapter 7, Jesus in the lion's den. Now let's be oriented into the passage with the help of the first couple of verses. To begin with, let's answer the question, where was he at this time? Well, the first verse tells us he was walking in Galilee. You know that Jesus was the man of Galilee.

12:42 That means he was raised in that area. That was the homeland for Jesus. It was perhaps a familiar and quiet pastoral setting. Maybe he enjoyed a time of release from the press of his ministry while he was in Galilee. Later on in the chapter, he goes to Judea for a very important reason, but we'll be there in a minute. He starts in Galilee, which is northern Palestine. He winds up in Judea, which is the central focus of the chapter, where they came for a feast in the city.

13:29 Now, why was he in Galilee and not in Judea, where the crowd was? Look at the verse. He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill him. There was a contract out on his life. The talk of assassination was in the air. Probably none of us in this place has ever known that threatening experience. Thank God. We maybe have lived under trying or stress-ridden circumstances, but we've never been the target of an assassin's bullet.

14:09 Jesus was. Jesus was so hated by many of his own people that assassination was in the air. A plan was being laid. And it was only a matter of time, they felt, before they could pin him and finish him off. So he stayed in Galilee. That's why he was there. When did this take place? The next verse helps us. It was in the time of the feast. The feast of the Jews, the feast of tabernacles was at hand, we're told.

14:50 Now there were three major Jewish feasts that occurred annually. in all three male Jews within a 20-mile radius of Jerusalem were obligated to attend. First was Passover, second was Pentecost, third was Tabernacles or the Feast of Booths. Each feast was a historical reminder of something that their forefathers had experienced and endured and they were never to forget the events when they originally occurred. And so God established these feasts or these festivals. Now this particular feast was tabernacles and it was a reminder of the days that the people of the Jews lived in little huts, shanties, lived in the caves and the dens of the earth while they were moving across the wilderness to the land of Canaan.

16:03 And even though centuries had passed since that first took place, the Jews recognized that historically, year after year after year. And not only were the Jews within a 20-mile radius obligated, but devout Jews commonly attended these feasts, especially to three great feasts each year. Edersheim writes, the setting of the feast is in the delicious cool of early autumn. Maybe it was at this very time when they gathered in Judea for this feast at Jerusalem. Maybe it was about the later part of September and into October the feast actually began on the 15th and lasted seven days from the 15th of October. The final day was a great day, the eighth day with a great climax, where a particular procession occurred that I'll explain in a minute.

17:05 Now, it was at this feast time that this particular event occurred. Generally speaking, it was in the last six months of Jesus' life. You that make a serious study of the Gospel of John should remember that when you get to chapter 7, you have come to the last phase of his life. Chapter 7 through the end of the book is in the last six months of Jesus' life on earth. John devotes a great deal of attention to that fact.

17:40 Now, in the last six months of his life, he lived in the lion's den. those devoted to his death rose up and laid plans to kill him and they are the ones we witness right here in this passage look for example at the first pack of lions the technical word is pride when lions run in a group they're called a pride and i think that is a very fitting title for these lions. The pride of lions he first faced happened to be his own brothers. Verse 3. This is now in Galilee, remember, near home, near Nazareth. His brothers therefore said to him, depart from here and go into Judea. See, they knew the feast was about to take place. They knew that's where the crowd was.

18:36 So with sarcasm, they said, Depart that your disciples may behold your works which you are doing. Do your tricks down there, Jesus. Pull it off in the lights. Don't hang around this area of Galilee. This is the sticks. Go to where the action is. Go down to Judea. Look at the next verse. No one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly, you know, it pays to advertise. Leave this area. These people around here don't amount to much. Why don't you go down where the action is? Go down to the city. Go down to Judea. If you do these things, show yourself to the world. I think they were implying, look, Jesus, why don't you trade off with them?

19:29 You do a few tricks and they'll trade you a kingdom. You think you've got something going for you? Do it where the action is. I suppose if we lived in Texas, we would say, don't hang around Muleshoe. Go to Houston. You lived in Minnesota, you wouldn't say, do your thing in Hinkley. There's nothing in Hinkley, but, you know, a hole in the road. I'm sure somebody's going to hear this message in Hinkley, Minnesota. Or if you live, you know, go to Minneapolis.

20:07 You live in, don't go to Soledad, you know. Go to Los Angeles, go to Hollywood. Or the city. It's great living in Los Angeles and knowing that our northern neighbors call themselves the city. As if it's the only one. go up to the city i went to school with a fellow that attended michigan state university and throughout his time there he referred to the university we used to say well which one friend there's a lot of them well the university where i studied you know that's sort of the the attitude here why don't you go down to the city go down to judea you want to be seen you can be seen there Now it's surprising to some people That Jesus' brothers would say that Unless of course you're from a large family You know what it's like The last ones to believe you're anything significant Are your brothers Your sisters Furthermore, there are some who believe in the perpetual virginity of Mary.

21:16 They really believe that Mary had no other children. Look at Matthew 13, verse 55. Let me show you a surprising verse, especially if you're of that persuasion. Matthew 13, verse 55. Now, he's in his hometown. He's preaching in the synagogue.

21:42 And they were astonished at his teaching. and they said, Is not this the carpenter's son? Yes. Not really, though. He's the product of the Spirit of God. He had no father on earth. He was born of a virgin, but they didn't know that. Is not his mother called Mary? Yes, that's true. And his brothers, James, Joseph, Simon, Judas, this isn't Judas Iscariot, just Judas, another Judas. He had four brothers and he had sisters as well. We're told in another part of God's word. He was from a large family.

22:34 He was the oldest in the family, but the family was large. Now Joseph and Simon and Judas and their brother came and they said, Look, Jesus, why don't you do your thing somewhere else? They were the lions that roared in the den. Back to John 7. I'll show you why they did that. Not because they were his brothers. Verse 5 tells us the reason why they said it. They didn't believe in him. There is a book in the New Testament entitled the book of James. It's written by one of the brothers of Jesus, whose name we just read in Matthew. You know he didn't even believe, he didn't even give Jesus the time of day until the resurrection.

23:27 These brothers did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah. So they roared against him with sarcasm. Now look at the answer Jesus gave. It's a gracious answer and it has been misread by scholars, by thinking people. Verse 6, Jesus said to them, My time is not yet at hand. Your time is always opportune. Verse 8, Go up to the feast yourselves. I do not go up to this feast because my time has not yet fully come. Now you read that verse and you say, well, it's his plan not to go to Judea. He tells them that. And yet a little later on in this chapter, he goes to Judea. There are those who say he lied to his brothers.

24:24 As a matter of fact, a gal named Debbie who left the first service this morning said, I could have shouted when you made a point of that passage in verses six through eight. This past week, a fellow teacher in the same school where I teach cornered me and he said, ah, you're a Christian? Do you know that Jesus lied? And she said, no, I didn't. He said, look. And she said, he opened up John seven and showed me verses six, seven, and eight. He said, now, What do you have to say about that? About that time she said the bell rang and I was so glad, you know, I didn't have an answer for him. But she says, I'll tell you later. And she said, here, the very answer came this morning. He didn't lie.

25:10 Schopenhauer, the German philosopher, takes a stab at Jesus. He says, Jesus Christ did of set purpose utter a falsehood. He told him he wasn't going and then he went. The answer is found in the original text. This is the only place in the writings of John where the word time, T-I-M-E, is translated from the Greek word which means not the destined hour of God for my death, but the season. It's the word that means the right opportunity. We would say the psychological moment. If you're in sales, you know that there is a moment where you press for that contract. Or you push for that name to go on the line.

26:05 You wait for the moment. And then you make your move. That's what the word kairos means here. All other places, it's the word aura. A very technical word meaning the destined, unchanged hour of God. Schopenhauer, this teacher, and many others. Haven't thought about that. And so they misread the statement of Jesus and they say he lied. No, he didn't lie. And John helps us understand he didn't with the use of this word. So the lions tuck their tail between their legs and make their way down to Judea. Jesus' brothers are gone. Now notice what happened. Verse 10. when his brothers had gone up to the feast, he himself also went up, not publicly, but as it were, in secret. I think rather than to play into their hands and look as though he is playing to the grandstands, he remained obscure.

27:05 He was in the shadows for a period of time. Now, verse 14 tells us when he openly began to teach. Here he is in Judea. It was now the midst of the feast that Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach. So it was on the third or fourth day of this tabernacle festival in the carnival atmosphere of the city of Jerusalem that Jesus publicly made himself present. Now that might seem to you to be a very common thing. You might think, well, certainly he would. After all, he was the Messiah. Yes, but don't forget, they were laying for him. It was a courageous act. Let me show you the other two prides of lions. We skip them.

27:59 Differentiate between the two groups, will you? First, there were the Jewish officials. Verse 11. The Jews were seeking him at the feast, saying, where is he? this group happens to be those Pharisees, the scribes, the official men of Jewry. But there's another group, verse 12. There was much grumbling among the multitude concerning him. These are the people of the streets, mainly Jews, some Gentiles. And so they were talking about him. verse 13, but they weren't speaking openly because they were afraid of the Jews. That's why I want you to keep these two groups separate in your mind. The first group represents official Judaism. The second group represents those who were followers, who lived in the city of the Jerusalem and surrounding areas and took their orders from that pocket of official men of Judea.

29:08 Now, out of fear because of those men, the multitude stayed quiet for a while, but not the Jews. The Jews, verse 15 now, began to marvel, saying, how has this man become learned, having never been educated? If you read that and think through it carefully, you will observe that theirs was a problem of academic snobbery. They saw Jesus teaching in the synagogue, in the temple there, and they looked at him and they thought, where did he get his training? Where was he schooled? William Barclay of Glasgow writes a good word at this point. There was arrogant contempt.

30:05 What right had this man, quite untrained in the theological schools, to come and lay down the law? Jesus had no cultural background. He had no training in the rabbinic schools and colleges. How had he ever learned to read? Surely no intelligent person was ever going to listen to him. Here is the reaction of academic snobbery. And yet the fact remains that many of the greatest poets, writers, and evangelists have had no technical qualifications at all. Now, that is not for one moment to say that technical qualifications and study and culture and education are to be despised and abandoned. But it is to say that we must have a care, now listen to this, that we never wave a man away or usher him out and consign him to the company who does not matter because he lacks the technical equipment of the schools.

31:16 I make a point of that because we are indeed in a day like that. A person is judged not first on the basis of who he is, but on the basis of where he trained. what kind of credentials can be presented in his defense? Nothing wrong with credentials, but something terribly wrong when they don't follow a name, when they precede even a judgment or discernment of his person, or hers, for that matter.

31:53 Now, Jesus was judged not on the basis of what he said, but the lack of schooling. Where has this fellow gotten his training? What authority does he have to speak? I have observed among those who lay heavy emphasis upon these things that they are easily threatened. Often they struggle. They're often competitive, especially around those who gain a greater hearing than they. That's exactly what happened with the Jews. Look across the page. So many verses in the chapter, we can't cover them all. Let's just follow the theme of the Jews for a moment. Look down, for example, at verse 31. Many of the multitude believed in him, and they were saying, When the Christ shall come, he will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will he? The Pharisees heard the multitude muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to seize him.

32:56 What a threat. The multitude is going to believe in him. And Jesus said for a little while longer, I am with you and then I will go to him who sent me. Meaning his ascension. He would go back to the father. You seek me and shall not find me. And where I am, you cannot come. The Jews therefore said to one another, where does this man intend to go that we shall not find him? He's not intending to go to the dispersion among the Greeks, is he? he's not going to minister to those that have left Palestine and filtered out into the dispersion. They were bothered that his fame might spread and the Greeks believe and those Hellenistic Jews might believe. And before long, they would submerge into nothingness. It was a threat.

33:47 But there is no lion that man can breathe that God cannot tame. You remember we read that they tried to seize him? But look at verse 30 again. No man laid his hand on him. They roared. They screamed. They shouted indictments, but they could not get a hold of him. By the way, it's a beautiful place to pause and say that's true in every believer's life. Some of you live in the fear of what you could call accidental circumstances.

34:29 For example, there are some who will not fly for fear of mechanical failure and a crash. There are some who will not engage themselves in a certain occupation for fear that sure is the world, With my luck, quote unquote, that'll be the last job I'll ever hold. Fear of an accident. Let me tell you something. The days that were ordained for you have been set out by God. There is no accidental death. now that's a hard pill for some to swallow I find great comfort in the sovereign hand of God Jesus stood up in the midst of that temple and declared the truth of God and these assassins as it were hanging in the background wanting to kill him could not even lay hands on him until it was God's time Please forever be released from the fears of the future, especially as it relates to death.

35:46 He knows what he's doing. I love the poem that is recorded in J. Oswald Sanders' book, Spiritual Leadership. It begins something like when God wants to thrill a man and skill a man and drill a man, when God wants to work in a man's life. The thought is when when he works on our lives, he ruthlessly perfects those whom he royally elects. How he bends but never breaks those whose good he undertakes. God knows what he's about. That's true in your life. Surrounded by the lions, I want to assure you, God knows what he's about. Just as the Jews of the nation couldn't seize him, they cannot seize you.

36:43 till God gives that okay. Now, if it were just the Jews, it would be one thing, but there was another group, the multitude. Look back at verse 12. They were grumbling. They were saying, and now look at the various opinions. Look at them. First, some said, he's a good man. Others said, he's a controversial person. He leads the multitude astray. Verse 20. Another group said, You have a demon who seeks to kill you. You're paranoid.

37:24 Why, some said he's a good man. Others said he's controversial. And some said, Why, he's demented. He's out of his mind. He's talking about people wanting to kill him. I don't see anybody wanting to kill him. He has a demon. And then there was a group, you'll notice in verse 26, who felt he was very courageous. Look, the group said, he's speaking publicly and they're saying nothing to him. It takes a lot of courage. And so there was sort of a humanistic respect for him. But I'm pleased to say verse 31 assures us there were some who believed in him. Here was Jesus presenting himself, and some believed. Verse 40 Some of the multitude, therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, This certainly is the prophet.

38:26 They said, He's deserving of our faith. of the lions roared. But you know, God tamed everyone so that they couldn't attack and even brought some of them into the family of God. What was it that Jesus said in return to their accusations? Why did they believe? Well, look at what he said about the father. Verse 16. Remember they said, where did he get his education? By what authority does he speak? Verse 16, Jesus said, My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. I get my teaching from the one who sent me. I came from the Father. If any man is willing to do his will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from myself.

39:25 You know that's true today. of you that seek the Lord's will, he delights to tell you his will. That's true across the board. You really want to know the will of God. He is delighted to come to inform you and to confirm his will in your life. He tells you. Jesus said, I came from the Father. And across the page again, you notice verse 33, he says, I'm going to the Father. A little while I am with you, then I will go to him who sent me. That's his ascension. He spoke of his coming. He spoke of his ascension. And then he let them in on a whole new truth that up till this point has never been revealed before in the ministry of Jesus. He told them about the Holy Spirit. Verse 37. On the last day, the great day of the feast, he stood and cried out, saying, If any man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.

40:31 Now, wait a minute. You can't appreciate that verse if you don't know the background. Notice when it happened, the eighth day, the last day of the feast. There was a great, massive procession from several corners of Jerusalem to a sacred place they came and they sang, they chanted, and they brought sacred vessels of gold. And they had water in those vessels of gold. And when they arrived at the rendezvous spot, they poured out the water. And as they poured the water out, these priests and the people around in traditional fashion uttered these words, Ho everyone that thirsts Come ye to the water and drink Others said in chant form With joy you will draw water out of the wells of salvation Those are two verses from the prophecy of Isaiah Now right in the middle of that chant He stood up He made himself obvious to everyone and I am convinced he said with a loud voice, this is water that gives no life.

41:46 It's only tradition. I promise you, if you will believe in me, I will give you rivers of living water that will never stop pouring out of your life. And it says, according to John, he spoke this of the spirit, verse 39, whom he had not yet given because he had not yet been glorified. Remember the chorus we love to sing? There is a river that flows from deep within. There is a fountain that frees the soul from sin. Come to this water. There is a vast supply. There is a river that never shall run dry. It's based on these verses, 37 and 38. Speaking of the spirit of life. Let me tell you something. if you have come to know the Lord Jesus Christ if you personally ask him to be your savior you know that with his coming when he came into you he brought with him his Holy Spirit and his spirit came to give refreshing new vibrant fresh life and the refreshing creative work of the spirit of God and the believer's life continues to pour out day after day as he takes control and maintains a balance in the life.

43:10 That's the joyful message of verse 37 and verse 38. But they fell on the deaf ears of roaring lions. Not completely. Not altogether. There was one man in official Judaism who listened and began to tolerate some of this truth. Verse 50 Nicodemus. Remember that name? John 7, verse 50. Here is the man who came to Jesus by night back in chapter 3. Months later, maybe even years later, a couple of years perhaps, Nicodemus said to his colleagues, the Supreme Court that had been looking to take his life, Now, our law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?

44:14 That was a fair question. It took a lot of courage to say it. He was in the minority. He looked around the Sanhedrin and he said to his colleagues, Isn't it written in our law that a man gets a hearing and we judge on the basis of what we hear? what he's doing. You know, a lot of people reject Jesus Christ, but they've never made an intelligent, serious study of his claims. I was in a radio talk show in Boston, and for three weeks, one time each week, I was sitting with another pastor, with the religious editor of the Boston globe with a Roman Catholic priest. And I think there was also a priest there, a rabbi. And we were taking phone calls from people. And naturally the conversation revolved around the Lord Jesus because I had presented that he was indeed the way and the truth and the life. No man came to God but through Jesus Christ. Oh wow, the lions roared. Not telephone lines, but lions on the end of those lions roared. And did we ever get it? So I decided that there would be one way to answer it and I just risked this approach and it paid off. I asked those that began to attack, wait a minute, Have you ever made a serious study of the New Testament or the life and claims of Jesus Christ?

45:59 And I'll say one thing for their honesty. They were honest people. Not one could say yes. Oh, some had read a few things that people had said about Jesus, and a couple admitted that they had read a portion of Matthew or Mark. But not one could say, I've studied, I've listened, I've analyzed, and I reject it. I'm not saying there will be those who would do that and never reject. I'm just saying in that case, they admitted that they hadn't. Nicodemus used that same line here. he said men how can we say he's wrong if we don't make a serious study of what he's doing you see I'm convinced by this time Nicodemus was already being pulled into the position of believing now look at their answer look at this answer just like lions they answered and said you're not also from Galilee are you?

47:07 that's not what he asked them wait answer the question wait a minute you from Galilee? what? search and see no prophet arises out of Galilee oh yeah? I searched let me tell you who arose out of Galilee Elisha Jonah and Nahum that's pretty good group, isn't it? One of them would do, but there's three of them. Maybe there are more.

47:40 Yes, there were prophets that arose out of Galilee, but you never took the time to examine the evidence, fellas. And so you're roaring in ignorance. Look at the last verse. You maybe think, boy, that's an anticlimactic part of the chapter. No, it's not. It says everyone went to his own home. That's when you do the thinking. That's when Nicodemus left their presence, went to his home, put his pillow on his bed, looked up at the ceiling in the darkness of that room and thought, I'm now convinced. Oh, you know, he thought such things as how can I handle this with my peers? how can I get these colleagues of mine to see that we're ignoring the evidence that he is in fact the son of God you see that's the feeling of a tamed lion and they are still in existence today I went to high school with one by the way he was a fellow that was frankly just as mean as he could be he dressed in black he did he wore a black turtleneck and a black tight pair of pants and had even had black hair with a big duck tail in the back you know sort of like Fonzie type of guy you know that kind of a fella he had big taps on his shoes and boy he was he was mean he was a football fiend. He played linebacker on defense. He played fullback on offense.

49:22 And he just kind of laid around in the grass and jumped up and ate people every once in a while, just to kind of, you know, keep himself alert, you know. There were kids in the school that saw that guy and witnessed to him. He just hated the name of Jesus. He just cursed and would do all sorts of things to embarrass a group of Christians. He just took delight in devouring them like the lion. Until one day, he was in a motorboat, his own motorboat, and he had a real thin, shallow hull on it with a big, heavy, Evinrude motor on the back, and he was zinging around the west end of Galveston, and he flipped, and the boat went under, and thankfully, he found a rock that was just covered with barnacles. And so he grabbed hold of that rock.

50:14 And the surf in the tumultuous squall that came up on the island was moving him up and down. And he just became crab meat right in his whole body. He just raked up and down. And suddenly he thought, man, maybe there is something to prayer. You know, I've heard about that. So he said something like, oh God, if you will save me, I'll do your will.

50:44 And it wasn't but two or three minutes until the Coast Guard, led by God, came right around the end of the jetties and picked him up. Now, he quickly forgot his promise. He healed up and he had the marks on him, but he forgot.

51:05 Then through an interesting and tragic chain of events, this fellow was dating a girl regularly and right out of his senior class he had an accident and she was killed and he was driven through the windshield cut right across his face he has to this day a wide red scar right across his face he said to me chuck you know I was in the hospital when I took my first shower after that. And he said, I took all of my clothes off and I was getting ready to get into this tub. And I looked into the mirror.

51:48 And he said, I saw the marks of a stubborn man. And he said, I just got right down on my knees, right there in that hospital bathroom. and I said, Lord, I'll keep my promise. That was a tamed lion. He roared all the way through life until God said, that's enough roaring.

52:14 That's all. world cannot breed a lion that God cannot tame friend that includes you that includes you that includes the child you think that God has taken his hand off of oh he's not a match for God just a matter of time that includes the one that you've taken off you've circled or maybe drawn out of your prayer list, you said, well, God's through there. That business friend of yours, that colleague. No, God isn't finished. There'll be a West Jetties in their life. There'll be something, accident, series of events to tame them and bring them to him. Let's bow, shall we?

53:12 The Bible is an amazing book, friend, because God is an amazing God. In some of your cases, you're sitting there thinking, oh, if you only knew, you told the story of my life. I have fought and rebelled and run and argued and now I'm at the end of my rope.

53:38 Well, my friend, God knows what he's about. I invite you today that are given to fear, rest your fear in God's hands. That are given to rebellion and running, stop it. Just like my friend, fall on your knees and say today, Lord, I'm through roaring.