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'Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man (John 2:23-25).'
I am sure you all know of the experience of seeing someone professing that they are a Christian for the first time. What a joyful time it is, and you rejoice, believing that a lost sinner has come to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.
Perhaps right at the beginning you are a bit sceptical. You suspect that this person has professed to be a Christian in order to obtain some temporal thing, maybe to win over a girl of a guy who are Christians, maybe to make some sort of an impression with others.
Perhaps as you continue on, a bit of time passes, and things just don’t seem right to you concerning the one who claims to have recently become a Christian - doubts are emerging in your mind as to whether they truly are a Christian. Old sinful habits seem to continue to dominate this person’s life, with no seeming interest in the person to change the ungodly behaviour.
I’m sure most of you have experienced these sorts of things. Just what should we do with such suspicions?
Perhaps you have been to a crusade meeting or what they call a revival meeting and you see masses of people walking down to the front at the end of the message. Many are excited when they see all these people deciding to follow Jesus. I say many are excited, but not everyone.
You see many of us have seen these things before, and they no longer excite us, but these scenes leave us feeling somewhat pessimistic. Why? Well you see, we have seen and known many that have come forward in such circumstances, and now know of precious few, if any, who continue to profess a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Today there are multitudes coming to Christ, and we have the right to ask, ‘well, why is it that the Church continues to have so little noticeable impact on the society in which we live?’ The Church has never been stronger as far as numbers are concerned, with so many professing Christians getting about, yet has it ever been weaker? Many have come to a profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ by way of the modern decision making process.
It would seem that multitudes were coming to Jesus also, in His very day, ‘Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.’ Perhaps with all this going on the disciples got all excited and thought that this is great. Look at all the people deciding to follow Jesus. But was this so?
Was the scene here at Jerusalem much different to today? Is our experience something new under the sun? I don’t think so.
The first reaction of so many Christians today when a revival or crusade meeting has ended is to think how great the time has been. Success is marked by the number of people who have made decisions for Jesus - that is, those who have walked down to the front when an appeal was issued, raised their hands, or signed on the dotted line of the decision card.
People go about praising the evangelist - wasn’t he great! Then a week or two pass, and the number of people attending the local church is not much greater than before - where are all the converts? After a year there is hardly any of these people there at all. To be sure there may be some real converts, and I know of those who were saved during such crusades - but overall, the vast majority are never seen again, until the next crusade anyhow, where they make the same decisions again. And this also I have seen.
And in the passage before us, with the multitudes believing in Jesus - we see the same sort of thing happening, ‘But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men.’
These multitudes believed in His name when they saw the things He did. There is no indication given that these people were deliberately misleading others by professing to be saved when they were not - they genuinely believed themselves to be believers.
And this is why so many people begin to associate with Jesus today, begin to come to church, etc. Sure, there are no miracles of the sort Jesus was able to do today, but people are none-the-less impressed by some of the things they see in Churches.
They are impressed perhaps by the care and concern shown to them by a certain Church so they begin to go. Perhaps they are impressed by the excitement that occurs in another Church. Perhaps they are wowed by the musical talent that they find. And so people attach themselves to the Local Church or to Christianity in general.
But are such numbers a true indication of those who are really saved - sadly, time and experience have shown that they are not. Though most of these people are convinced that that they are in fact genuine professors of Christianity, sadly the majority are not. And it is very difficult to tell them otherwise.
In the passage before us, Jesus is able to make a clear distinction between those who were only superficially impressed because of the signs, and those who possessed a deeper experience of who Jesus was. Jesus did not look upon all these people who were clamouring around Him as true disciples.
In fact Jesus is said to have not trusted Himself to them - which gives the idea of these people not being able to be trusted with Him. In other words, He knew that they were not true disciples, and when the cost of commitment to Jesus would come, these would turn their back on Him.
Jesus taught this very sort of conclusion in the parable of the Sower. ‘And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear (Mt 13:3-9)!"’
‘Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty (Mt 13:18-23)."’
Jesus knew that these people did not truly believe in Him as the Messiah promised in the Scriptures. Sure they may have believed in Him, as the Messiah sought by the Jewish populace - but as the Saviour from sin, no.
When it became evident just what He was here for, just what He was truly all about, ‘Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God (Jn 6:60-69)."’
For whatever reason they initially believed in Christ, it was no true reason - and in the end they left Him. It was not the salvation they wanted.
Here again we run into God Himself - whom but God Himself is able to know men so intimately? This is an attribute of God, Omniscience; Jesus does what God does, He is God. Jesus ‘And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.’ He doesn’t need to study body language, to try and see behind what is said, He see’s the heart - He knows exactly what is going on.
He doesn’t need to consult with a psychologist in order to work out why people are following Him, He looks at the heart - He understands all there is to know about people by understanding the real person, the inner self.
As God possess a perfect knowledge of the inner man, who knows the very thoughts of man, the very intents of the heart - so did Jesus, He is God. In fact, John chapter three is really an example of how Jesus knew exactly what was going on with Nicodemus, as we will begin to see next week.
For whatever reasons these people had decided to follow Jesus, it is clear that the Lord Jesus Christ knew exactly what was going on with them. Perhaps some were convinced in their own minds that Jesus was the political Messiah come to deliver them from the Romans, and Jesus knew that when they understood He was not that they would turn on Him, therefore He did not commit Himself to them.
For whatever reason they followed, Jesus knew that these were not true disciples, and today, though the reasons for such unbelief are different - the same sort of thing goes on.
Perhaps people want a free ticket out of Hell without the cost of discipleship; perhaps they want the opportunity of acceptance within the Christian community; perhaps its the hope of an easily obtained position in the church; perhaps the hope of keeping the peace in the family - whatever. They make a decision, genuinely believing themselves now to be Christians but are not.
And I want you to think about this this morning - very seriously. No matter how much you may fool the rest of us this morning, you do not fool God. Remember these people in our text were not trying to deceive, they thought they were following Jesus and He knew they were deceiving themselves.
How much more so is your danger, if you know you are not saved but yet masquerade as a Christian for fear of losing friends who are Christians, for maintaining a sense of belonging, or for whatever reason - God knows exactly were you stand this morning.
Have you thought about that? You may wear the appearance of a Christian, fool all of us here, but He see’s you - He knows your a fake. And as much as you try to hide it under an avalanche of activity, by being involved in evangelism, giving, praying, talking the talk, He knows you. All your flattery of Him will not fool Him; He see’s you for what you are.
Now that ought to make you tremble, for as the God of heaven and earth, as the One who will Judge the heaven and the earth, He will do right and you will not escape His scrutiny.
So now we may all be fearful, and questioning ourselves: are we truly the Lord’s? Have you exercised faith in the Lord Jesus Christ - you have, then continue to do so, even in the midst of your doubts, trust Him, for that is what faith is. It continues to cast all else aside and to rest in the Lord Jesus Christ no matter what.
And this all-knowing knowledge of the Lord ought really to be a comfort for you rather than a source of fear. And why is that - because He knows you completely, He knows that you love Him.
And though others cast aspersions at you, and do not believe your profession, keep trusting Him - He knows that you are truly His, and He has committed himself to you. You can confidently say to Him; Lord, all else doubt me, but ‘Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs (Jn 21:15).’
And you can rest in that, for He does know you, and the Judge of heaven and earth will do right - He will not condemn you again, for your condemnation has been met in Christ, dealt with, and now nothing can separate you from Him. Take heart, do not dismay.
But I must also issue a word of caution to each one of you today, and that is that you are not the Lord Jesus Christ, you do not have perfect knowledge of your own heart let alone that of others - so don’t presume that you have.
There is enough Pope in each of us to think that we can go around and pronounce people’s eternal standing and cast judgment upon their profession of Christianity - my caution, be extremely careful where you tread.
Yes, the Scripture says, ‘Ye shall know them by their fruits (Mt 7:16)’, and though this passage is dealing primarily of false prophets, none-the-less the hypocrite can be known by what he does. ‘A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them (Mt 7:18-20).’ It is precisely because he is an unsaved, ungodly sinner that a false prophet cannot bear good fruit of godliness, and that he can be detected, and because this principle is true of every unsaved person, ‘Ye shall know them by their fruits.’
My caution continues still none-the-less, for the Lord tells us that the weeds will come up with the wheat, and the tares are to be left for danger of destroying the wheat in the process of removing the weeds.
‘Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn (Mt 13:24-30).'
You cannot go about investigating each new profession determined to seek and destroy each weed - no. If you do that, you will get weeds to be sure, and you will be able to tear them out and warn them - but you will more than likely also get poor, weak and young Christians, and cause them all manner of harm - so you must not consider yourself the standard by which one is Judged as to the sincerity of their profession, that is a role that is to be left to the Judge of the universe.
But the process that we must follow is to encourage each new professor to continue on in the Lord, ‘Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you (Mt 28:20).’ Love is not distrustful, it ‘Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things (1 Cor 13:5-7).’ Our role for each new professor is to get alongside them, to provide as much support for them as we possibly can in the Lord - whether that includes prayer for and with them, Bible study tips or with them, etc.
And if they follow a contrary path, then we are to use the methods that God has left to our disposal, that of the discipline outlined in Matthew 18. And even in this situation, we are not seeking ways to eliminate them from the Church, but to restore them. So much of the attitude that gets about today under the guise of purifying the Church is wickedness - there is never a place for seeking to cast people out of the Church as an end in itself.
‘Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. (Mt 18:15-17).’
That is the process we must follow. You do not know the heart and mind of every professor, but Christ does. You do not know the inner struggle with sin that a professor is having; even the very sin that you reckon makes such a person a non-Christian. You do not know, so I caution you, ‘Judge not, and ye shall not be judged (Lk 6:37).’ This of course does not mean that you are to give up every form of judgment, but only that which is hypercritical and unbiblical.
May the Lord grant you the grace to continue on in His Name, and in His mercy, commit Himself to you - Amen.
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10/10/2006
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