In Pastor Jerry Zepnick's sermon titled 'Your Response to the Gospel', he explores the reactions to Jesus' proclamation during the Feast of Booths, as narrated in John 7:40-53. Jesus invites those thirsting for life to come to Him, causing a divide among the people. Some believe Him to be the Messiah, while others, particularly religious leaders, reject Him due to preconceived notions and pride. Pastor Zepnick highlights four responses to Jesus' invitation: those convinced of His identity, the contrary who oppose Him, the confused who wrestle with His teachings, and the compliant like Nicodemus who begin to search for truth. He emphasizes the critical question 'Who is Jesus Christ?' as the source of division and unity and calls for a personal decision on accepting Jesus' invitation for salvation. The sermon underscores the narrow path of following Christ and the challenges it poses against cultural and religious norms.

[♪ Music playing. Today we're in the book of John, chapter 7. We're going to finish up chapter 7 today. And that's verses 40 through 53. And so, let's begin by reading that.

Chapter 7, verses 40 through 53. And this is coming, remember, right off the tail end of what was his golden invitation, where he stood up and he cried out in the temple, inviting those who would like to come to him, the living water. And So here it reads, Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, Truly this is the prophet, others said, this is the Christ. But some said, will the Christ come out of Galilee? Has not the scripture said that the Christ comes from the seat of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was.

So there was a division among the people because of him. Now some of them wanted to take him, but no one laid hands on him. Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees who said to them, Why have you not brought him? The officers answered, No man ever spoke like this man. Then the Pharisees said to them, Are you also deceived?

Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed. Nicodemus, who came to Jesus by night, being one of them, said to them, Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing? They answered and said to him, Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee." Then the final verse, and everyone went to his own house.

Father, this morning we thank You for this word from You. We just pray, Father God, that it would be laid over the top. Father God of our lives today, apply it Lord God, help us to see the work of Your Holy Spirit in Your Word, in our hearts Lord God, to move us, To move us Lord God, to glorify Your holy name. I pray in Jesus' name, Amen. So in verse 37-39 we see this crowd.

This is all about the Feast of Booths that they came to Jerusalem for. They came up to Jerusalem and there was many people. Jesus came late. He didn't want to come at the beginning. Everybody was looking for Him.

And so He came late, came up to the Feast of Booths, and on the last day, on that great day of the celebration, Jesus stood up and he cried out. And so it says that Jesus stood up and cried out saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scriptures has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." He stood up and he cried this out. And so this is coming right off the backside of that. Jesus pleading with the crowd.

He sees, and I'm sure he has a compassion for lost humanity, and he cries this out, screaming it at the top of his lungs, that anyone that wants to have life should come to Him. And so the rest of the text shows this deep division caused by Jesus compelling people to choose between Him and this religiosity that they're buried in. And so they can choose him or they can reject him. He came in chapter 20 verse 31. These things are written that you might have life.

And that you might believe in Him, and that believing in Him you might have life. He came to save people from death. You're dead, you can have life. And He's telling them, you can have life, come to Me. And so, but the question is that as we look at the greater layout, the greater concept of this text and this invitation, Who would want to reject this?

Who would want to reject this invitation? We're going to look at that today. And so, This invitation, this best invitation ever in the history of humanity, it's the greatest news ever that a convicted sinner, it's everybody, a convicted sinner could ever hear. You're offered a full pardon for sin offered by a holy and perfect and righteous God who cannot let sin go unpunished. And it will tell you that in Exodus 34.7.

This is offered because we read it with Jesus talking with Nicodemus in chapter 3, remember? God's love for the world, for humanity, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. And it's offered because of this love story is written by the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross for us sinners who deserve death, eternal damnation. This was a wooden cross 2, 000 years ago. God loved us.

He sent His Son, crucified Him on that cross, that we can have a relationship with Almighty God. The question is, what do we do with this invitation? How does that invitation and this profession that we've made in Jesus Christ change our life and our walk every day? How does that reconcile? How does that come together?

So in this text today, we see what this brings to the lost world. We see how we can expect it to affect the lost world and how we can respond. We see this ruckus going on as people are trying to decide what to do with Jesus. They're all over the board on who is this Jesus? He is telling us to eat and drink His blood and body.

He's telling us that we need to eat His bread, eat the bread of life. Now He's telling us that this water will spring from us, we'll never be thirsty again. They don't know what to do with Him. But you see, from the beginning, Jesus has been both the most unifying and the most divisive person of all time. The church, His church, it's centered and founded on the work of Jesus Christ alone.

And so if you look at Matthew 16, 18, He wrote, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. This is His work. Nothing that we can do will prevail against His church. That is His bride. Nothing will prevail against it.

And so in the world there's a great hostility. And that hostility is centered around the work of Christ and what He has done. That hostility is centered around the work and the person of Jesus Christ and His teachings. So whether you experience peace and unity, or you experience strife and division, it comes down to how you answer this one question. This one question, that is, who is Jesus Christ?

That's what they're struggling with today. Who is Jesus? And I can ask everybody here, I could ask a thousand people on the street and I could get as many different questions or different answers from that question. So the question is who is he and then how do we respond? What is our reaction to that?

How does our life change through that? In the text today, this is the question that was dividing the crowd, the populace, general people that came. Maybe some of them have never seen Jesus or heard Him before. And maybe some of them knew Him very well. They've been following Him.

But it affected the crowds. It affected the authorities. It affected everyone. They couldn't agree on who Jesus was. And that's what we have in the text today.

And it's no different today. It's really not any different today. If you ask people and you see pictures, you see movies of him, right? He looks like a Fabio hair model, right? And he's walking around relatively muscular.

And he's got this full head and dish pan hands. Dressed perfectly. I'll guarantee you he didn't look anything like that. But in our minds, in our culture, That's who Jesus is. But what about when He's in the temple crying out?

He's not a soft-spoken mouse of a guy. He's not this mild-mannered, always smiling with the happy... He's crying out. Souls are going to hell. And He's got it on His Spirit, on His soul, that people are dying and going to hell.

As He cries out, come to Me! On the last day of the feast, that is not our cultural Jesus. See, we see a picture of Jesus here that we don't see elsewhere. So The temple guards are talking about Jesus. The crowds are talking about Jesus.

The priests are talking about Jesus. The Pharisees. Everyone is talking about Jesus, yet they don't know who He is. You see how important it is for us to know who Jesus is. We don't, as a culture, as a country, we don't know who Jesus is.

We still don't know. And that is a dilemma that is strong today. There's a separation from the world for those that closely follow Jesus because His way is narrow. It's number one, it's only through Him. The world isn't going to tell you that it's only through Him.

They'll make you believe that some of this work that we do, be it the fair booth or packing Christmas presents for kids, that that work that we're doing has got something to do with our salvation. And it does not. It's got nothing to do with it. He wrote in Matthew 7, 13 and 14, enter by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction. That's an eight-lane highway going one way.

And there are many who go in by it. In where? Into the pit of hell. There's many that follow that broad highway. And then he says, because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way, which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Few who find it. Very few. Don't keep your eyes on the crowd. Keep your eyes on Jesus. And keep your eyes on that narrow gate, that narrow path.

That's the way. If your way is broad and easy, You're on the wrong path. If you're breezing through life, you're not on the right path. Jesus called people to the carpet. He was not the Old Testament law where you can do this, you can do that, you can do that, and you can do that.

And then you're good with God. That wasn't okay with God. And it wasn't okay with Him. He called the scribes and the Pharisees a brood of vipers, whitewashed tombs. Christ's teachings were narrow.

They were specific. They were unconventional and He lost many disciples because of it then, and He will yet today. He wrote in chapter 6 verse 53, unless you eat my body and drink my blood, you can not have part of me. You cannot be saved. You cannot know the Father.

And I wrote out this text, Matthew 5, 27-32. There's a whole bunch of stuff in here that narrows it down from what is the law. It becomes the heart. It's not what it was. He said, you have heard it was said to those of old, you shall not commit adultery.

But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Bam! It's no longer just an action of the outward body. It is of the heart. If your right eye caused you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you.

Whoa! What about your hand? You sin with your hand, cut it off and throw it away. It's better for the rest of you to go to heaven, than for your whole body to perish. And so, he says down in the end, furthermore, in verse 31, it has been said, whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.

That was from the hardness of their heart. But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery. And whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery." See, this is a whole new standard that He's given. This way is narrow. It doesn't fit in with what people want to hear, and that's why it's causing division.

This is the problem with straight Bible preaching, with expository preaching. This is the problem with it. It divides. So after his hard words to all those in today's text, we're shown the division, the response. It starts to divide.

Jesus is given by the general crowd, the leaders, the guards. And as I studied, went through the passage today, I see four responses, different responses to the invitation that Jesus gave. And I see those yet today in the world. The first ones are those that were convinced. They were convinced, verses 40 and 41.

These received the truth. They were convinced. They were sold out. They heard it and they said, okay, I get it. I believe that.

I'm willing to stand out in this crowd and say I'm with that guy. They understood Jesus enough to know that He is the Messiah. And they received him as that and as God's anointed one. And it was told that Messiah would be a prophet. It was told of old Deuteronomy, a prophecy, the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren, Him you shall hear." And so some of the people were convinced Jesus was the prophet that Moses identified, the prophet as Messiah.

And because these people were looking for that prophet, they received Jesus as Messiah. And it says as well in Acts 322, this is a reinforcement of that Old Testament prophecy for Moses truly said to the fathers, the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things. Whatever He says to you, you will hear it. Whatever He says to you.

Those are the ones that follow Jesus. That do whatever, they hear whatever He says. So some of them believed. These were willing to stand out from the multitude. They were willing to proclaim Him, say, yep, that's my Messiah.

That is Him. The promised Christ. And some of them were the hundred and twenty that were in the upper room Later on in the book of Acts and still others said this is the Christ they had earlier been intimidated into silence by the Jewish authorities. But now after being given this invitation, their knees buckled. They could not withstand the preaching, the conviction of the Word of Jesus Christ in their heart and life, and they buckled.

They gave in, and they made Him their Savior right there. They're convinced of Jesus' true identity. And so they boldly, they say, yeah, that's my man. Do we do that today? We're in a lot of different conversations, be it work, grocery store, family meetings, get-togethers.

Do we stand boldly with Jesus? People say stupid things and do we speak up? The second group is the contrary. Those that, no matter what was said or done, they spoke contrary to it. They could not receive that.

It was contrary. These were ones that came to hear him speak or wanted to know what He spoke of, only to find something wrong with it. This is their motive. This was their dimension. They had to be knowing what He said, not that their hearts could be changed by it, but that they could find something wrong with it.

To defend their religiosity. To defend their stand on their own man-made laws and rules. So these people had a scorn for Jesus. And those contrary were the religious leaders and their followers for the most part. They mocked Jesus.

And they said, has anything good ever come from Galilee? John 1.46 back then, Nathaniel said to him when Jesus sent to get Nathaniel, and who was it? Was it Peter that said, hey, we have found the one that Moses spoke of. I'm gonna read that because it's too good. John 1.46, I'm gonna start.

Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathaniel and said to him, We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathaniel said to him, can anything good come out of Nazareth Philip said to him come and see come and see so because The religious leaders circumcised male Jews on the eighth day after birth. It's likely that at least some would have known that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. And so they knew the census, they knew the time frame, they knew that if they had done any homework at all they would have known he came from Bethlehem.

They knew he was from the seat of David. They did not know his mother was married yet they refused to look at or they did know that his mother was married. But they didn't look at facts. And the point is that stubborn pride is blinded to the facts. Stubborn pride refuses to see the truth.

They want to see what they have in their agenda. That's the end of it. And then we have in Micah 5 2 this beautiful prophecy, But you, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me the one to be ruler in Israel, whose going forth are from old, from everlasting." This is the prophecy that they should have known. They were teachers. They were students of the Word.

It was their life. The Jewish people paid them to know the Word of God. And yet, they dropped the ball. The religious Jews knew Messiah would come from Bethlehem. And Jesus Christ did.

Yet they thought he came from Nazareth. Well, that's where Joseph's carpenter shop is from Nazareth. So Jesus is from Nazareth, right? No, some of the older ones may have known. And surely they could have checked and they would have known, but this is just willful unbelief.

They looked up front and they said, we see something that we don't like, we don't like the competition, we don't like who he is, what he's got to say, and whatever He says, we're going to find a reason to not believe. It's willful unbelief. It's like saying, don't confuse me with the facts. I don't care what those Scriptures say. I'm going to do this.

The prophets foretold that He had to be from the line of David and be born in Bethlehem and Jesus fulfilled those. So those who knew this denied. And it was just willful ignorance. And the people closely followed. They followed these religious leaders.

They were terrified of them. So they would not believe. And the fact is that false teachers, they often rule through fear, boastful pride and intimidation. That's how they gain their people and their crowd. Keep their flock in.

It's no different today. Muslims, Islam, you are abandoned, you can be killed, and even the Amish. It's sad to say, but you leave the Amish family, or the Amish religion, and the family will forsake you. They will not talk to you anymore. It's painful.

The COGR, Church of God Restoration, their cult is right at this point in time falling apart. There's still those trying to hold it together. Keep in prayer those who are leaving it, that they would seek the truths of Scripture and not go after something else. That they would continue on into the truths of Scripture and come to know Jesus Christ. But the Catholics, I've seen that growing up.

There's so many examples I could give you, but even though the blind man testified of Jesus, they asked him, what's going on? What happened to you? He said, dude, really? I was blind? Now I can see.

I was born blind. I was raised blind. Now I'm, whatever, 30 years old, 50 years old, I don't know. I was blind, now I can see. Well, who was this and what did he do?

I'm telling you. I was blind, now I see. I know nothing else. Like the thief on the middle cross. What are you doing up here?

The thief on one of the crosses. What are you doing up here? Well, the guy on the middle cross said, I can come. That's it. He confessed his sin.

He repented. That's all. And so, Christ causes division. We read that the leaders wanted to seize Him. In verse 32, sent the entourage, some of the temple guards.

They're not like Roman soldiers or anything. They're on staff for the temple guards. They sent them to seize Him, but they could not lay a hand on Him. It wasn't His time, number one. God did a mighty work in the hearts of those people when they heard Christ's words.

And the third group are the confused. They wrestle with the truth. And after not arresting Jesus, they come back to the leaders saying, never has a man spoken like this. They came back empty handed. They failed their mission, and yet they didn't put their trust in Jesus.

They're confused. They hear this, they just are still seeking it out. And my prayer is that we too fail the mission that the world sends us on, or that it sends others on to arrest Jesus, to put Jesus down. I pray that that mission would be failed. And we can have a part in that.

But these were under the authority of the religious leaders. But when they heard Jesus' words, they just fell underneath it. They could not lay a hand on Him. It's the power of His words. And they came back without Him.

They came back without Him. They had no power over Jesus. They were caught between Jesus, the words that He said, and the authority of those who sent to arrest him. The Pharisees, the big shots. So they were caught right in between.

Between what Jesus said, come and drink so I can give you life and the leader saying, seize him and bring him here, we're going to kill him. They had no authority over him. Then in verse 47 the Pharisees mock the confused officers. You are not fooled by Him, are you? Surely they go on and on about making fun of these people for not arresting Jesus.

Surely you're not deceived by Jesus like some others, are you? In verse 48, the Pharisees compare those who are not spiritually refined. The masses, they're just a bunch of scrubs. Don't listen to them in knowing the Scriptures and tell them not to fall for that. Just look at His followers.

Only the cursed low life follow Jesus. Verse 49. But these men, they wouldn't arrest Him because they never heard anyone before speak like Jesus did. And you know what? There's an arrest going on and it needs to be our hearts and our lives as we hear the Word of God, as we hear and know Jesus of the Bible, the real Jesus, to be arrested by Him, to be under His authority.

The fact is that following Jesus will always lead to mockery. It will always lead to ridicule because the world hates Him. They hate Him. They hate His narrow ways. They want nothing to do with it.

Luke 9.23 says, Then He said to them all, If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." If you want to follow Jesus, deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow Him. That is the reality of it, The exclusivity of His Gospel. The fourth response group is the compliant. Here we come full circle as we meet up with our old buddy, Nico. Nico Dimas.

And the one that came to Jesus by night in chapter 3, who was given a personal direct salvation invitation, and he said, Jesus in John 3, 3-5, Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, most assuredly, I say to you, Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Although still a religious leader, Nicodemus is in the process of searching it out.

And we're not to the end of Nicodemus yet. We'll find out more about him after the death of Christ and his involvement. But in this text, he's trying to halt this dramatic effort of the Pharisees by using their own law against them and reasoning, reminding them that they need to follow the law. He's saying like, really? Are we going to go outside of our law and commit murder because he doesn't fit our religious narrative?

Right? Today we reject the real Jesus because the Bible Jesus doesn't align with our agenda, with the culture's Jesus, or the Jesus of our mind. We crucify Him too. Our culture does. Because we don't like what He said.

His way is too narrow. And that division continues yet today. And it will continue until Christ returns. The lion will lay down with the lamb. They're willing to lie.

They're willing to exaggerate to make their fake point. In verse 52, No prophet has arisen out of Galilee. False. This is not true. Jonah, Hosea, Nahum, all three of them out of Galilee.

Yet these other leaders mock Nicodemus as though he's the ignorant one. What, are you two from Galilee? Trying to make fun of them. And so, so do those that are contrary to Jesus even today. The opposers are going to mock and they're going to hate those that love Jesus.

You need to buckle up. You need to put on your armor. It's part of the Christian life. Most have already rejected Christ's invitation, though some have not yet heard it, and some are still processing it. But today, We need to ask what are we going to do with it?

We read in today's last verse, 53. The last verse, 53. Some say it shouldn't even be there. It's like one of those tagline verses. What is going on with 53?

It just says, well, everybody went home. That was done, what happened? Everybody went home. Okay, after this, everybody went home. It's not that they just went their own way.

They went to their home. We will all eventually go to our house. I've got about three places to go, and then I'm going to go to my house. And I'm going to sit down. And I'm going to ponder today in the Word of God, because I have to do something with this too.

We all have to do something with this. And it's when we're in the solitude of our own home, we're sitting, we're standing, we're lying, whatever it is, but we must decide to either receive This invitation of Jesus' Scripture or reject Him. Jesus said in Revelation 3, 15 and 16, He said, I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot, so then because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth." That's the invitation. Not to start living like a Christian.

The invitation is to die to yourself and live in Christ. My prayer is this, and this text has been in my mind, in my heart, which is Hebrews 12, 1, and 2. The faith chapter is Hebrews 11. All these men live by faith. Abraham, Moses, Noah.

All these men that live by faith. And it says in the beginning of chapter 12, verses 1 and 2, Therefore we also... And this is my prayer for those who are in Christ here, that hear this and move forward in life. Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.

Who for us, Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God? Is that our prayer today? Father, we thank you for your Word. We thank you for your Spirit, Lord God, and the work that it does in our hearts and lives. I pray for your Spirit to do a work in our lives, Lord God, through your Word.

Help us, Lord God, to see more clearly your will for us, the abandonment of our wills, our lives, and our world, Lord God, to live for you, for your name's sake, for your glory, I pray In Jesus' name, Amen.