Take your Bibles. Turn with me to the book of John. In chapter 7. Book of John and chapter 7. Last week we looking at the response of the people beginning in verse 20 and their response to and reaction to Jesus and then that which he replied to them afterwards. Today we're ready for verse 25 and As last week, the reaction was from the people. It was from, shall we say, those pilgrims, those people who were Jews, but because of their being spread throughout the nations, they were not native any longer to Jerusalem and the area of Judea. This week, there's still a reaction from the people, but it's from the locals, from those in and around Jerusalem, reading in, beginning with verse 25, and then says some of, excuse me, some of them of Jerusalem, is not this he whom they seek to kill? But lo, he speaketh boldly, and they say nothing unto him. Do the rulers know indeed, in fact, in truth, that this is the very Christ? Is that why they say nothing to him? How be it? We know this man whence he is, but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is." And then the rest of the verses will be Jesus crying out to them in the temple. The locals, those from in and around Jerusalem, they were reasoning, but their reasoning called them to come to a tragic conclusion. They reasoned. He speaks so openly, so boldly. He is not stopped. Is he the Christ? Is he the Messiah? Is he Christ? Is that why the rulers don't stop him? Why they don't say anything through him? But they came to a tragic conclusion. They said, Jesus is not the Christ. Why did they come to this conclusion? because they thought they knew him. They thought they knew his origin. They knew the family he was from and his upbringing. Therefore, they concluded he was not but a bitter man, a carpenter's son, and a carpenter from Nazareth. They reasoned that when the Christ comes, no man would know where he came from. Was that so? We're talking about, these were Jews. They had Moses and the prophets. How could they say that No man would know where he came from. Turn with me to the book of Isaiah chapter 11. Isaiah chapter 11. and looking at verse one. And there shall come forth a root out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of the root. There shall come forth a stock or a trunk out of Jesse. And yes, a branch. shall come forth." Literally, that coming forth on the branches is speaking of bearing fruit. There shall come forth out of that stock, out of that trunk of Jesse, a fruitful branch bearing fruit. Jesse, being synonymous with David. They knew what tribe he was to come from. The tribe of Judah. Turn with me now to the book of Micah. the book of Micah in chapter 5 and verse 2. But thou Bethlehem Ephrathah Though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall come forth unto me, that is to be ruler in Israel. Who's going forth? have been from a world, from everlasting. Here, that trunk, that fruitful branch to come out of Jesse is said to be gonna be born in Bethlehem. And he's the everlasting God. The son of God. And yet these in our text, that no man knows where he is to come from. As I said, this is the Jews speaking. They knew the Old Testament scriptures. Turn with me to the book of Matthew. Matthew chapter 2. And look with me at verse four. You remember, Jesus Christ had been born of the Virgin Mary to be king, they thought. Not his first coming, but his second coming he was gonna be king. But he's still royalty, still the tribe of Judah, the house of David, to be ruler. And Herod sought where he was. because he wanted to kill him. He felt his rulership was in jeopardy. And he wasn't gonna have any part of it. And in verse four, and when he heard gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together. He demanded of them where Christ should be born. I mean, even Herod knew that these Jews knew where Christ was to be born. He knew that much. about their scriptures, that he knew they knew where he was to be born, and come. And they said unto him, Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet Micah. We just read it to you. And now Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah. For out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel. Those chief priests and scribes, they knew and Herod knew that they would know where he was to be born. Let's turn back to the book of John. The book of John and back to chapter seven. but we're gonna drop down a few verses from where we're presently at. And we see that there are some in Jerusalem that know. Verse 41, John 7, 41. Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, shall Christ come out of Galilee? That would be the same principle on what these local Jews that we're reading in our text were thinking. I mean, come on. We know where this man came. He came from Galilee, he came from Nazareth, a town, a menial town in Galilee. Hath not the scripture said that Christ cometh of the seed of David and out of the town of Bethlehem where David was. Oh. See, these individuals that spoke here, they were aware of whose seed he would be and of the city in which he would be born. in Judea, but these in our text, they thought, they thought they knew Jesus. They thought they knew where Jesus came from. But they did not. They did not know him at all. Turn with me again back to the book of Isaiah in chapter seven. Isaiah chapter seven and verse 14. Therefore, the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel. That is God with us. Therefore, these in our text didn't know him at all. They thought he was born of man. But he was born of a virgin. And what does that speak? That speaks of a miraculous birth. The only way that the woman, the Virgin Mary, could have conceived and been a virgin is of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost of God. Therefore, it could be known by no man whence he comes. With man, that's an impossible feat. Ah, there's no version conceived. If you're truly a virgin, then you didn't conceive. And if you've conceived, then you can't be a virgin. You see? Really, they spoke more truth than they realized that they had. No man can know. You and I know. You and I that are saved, we know. We know because of faith. By faith, we believe that it is just as God recorded it for us. That the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, was born of a virgin conceived by the Holy Spirit. That birth took place in Bethlehem just as was prophesied a thousand years before the actual taking place thereof. They thought that since Jesus, according to their thinking, came into the world in the common, ordinary way that man is born into the world, that he could not be the Christ. Jesus. Jesus is now going to speak. Or rather, shall we say, cry out. He's, as the word means, he's going to Well, the Greek means to croak, as a raven would croak. Probably you and I would not call it croaking today of a raven, of a blue jay. We would call it the screeching, the screeching of a raven, the screeching of a blue jay. when they let out that call. Then cried Jesus, verse 28, in the temple, as he taught, saying, ye both know me, and ye know whence I am. And I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not. But I know him, for I am from him. And he hath sent me. Jesus cried out, cried out loudly. It was time for him to reply. So we say it was time for him to reply to their foolishness. And so he did so. And he spake loudly. His reply centers around his true origin. Centers around the origin they perceived him to have. And then he gives his true origin. He's a man. And men know where they come from. He, Jesus, said, in essence, he's come from God. God sent him. He said, I am come. I am not come of myself. He didn't come of man. and the mission for which he came was not his, but it was given to him by the one whom he was sent. He came not of himself. His mission and message were not his own. They were God's. They were his father's. He'd been saying that. In this case, since the fifth chapter of the book of John, He that sent me is true. He that sent me is the truth. The very essence of truth. You want to know truth? no God. You want to know truth? Look in his word. All his word is truth. You, you do not know him. He told these people who had this reaction and the people before, the travelers, the pilgrims who had traveled there for the feast, all who were gathered around and could hear his loud voice speaking, questioning his origin, questioning his purpose. He says to them, you do not know him, the one who sent me. God the Father, it's obvious you don't know him. If you'd have known him, you'd know me, the sent one. of God. They did not know the person who is truth. He was standing right before them. And later, not two months later, Just a few months, maybe. He tells his apostles, I am the way, the truth, and the life. The only way to God the Father. But these did not know him. They did not know God. They did not know the one who sent him, and so therefore they did not know him, even though he, the person of truth, was standing right before them. Had they known God, then they would have known who Jesus was. They would have known that Jesus was of God. Turn with me to the 15th chapter of the book of John. In verse 21, But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me. They know not him that sent him, they knew not him, and they Persecuted him, they put him to death. And they're gonna persecute his followers. Turn over page to chapter 16 in verse three. And these things will they do unto you because they have not known The father, Normie. Do you know him? Turn to the Old Testament. This wasn't a new thing. Jeremiah. Chapter four, Jeremiah chapter four, in verse 22. And immediately, you know, the context, we've been in Ezekiel and Jeremiah now, that we know the context. And here, God says, for my people, it's foolish. They have not known me. They are Saddish children. He still owns them as their children, even though they're foolish and have not known him. They're sadists. Just another way of saying foolish. They're fools. They're stupid. Literally the meaning of the word. Sometimes still to this day, I cringe a little bit using the word stupid because I was brought up, you don't call anybody stupid. here God called his people foolish stupid they were Jews Israelites and they have not they have none understanding they're wise to do evil that's the way of the world All the world's wise, they ought to do evil, to do that which is against God. But to do good, they have no knowledge, because they have not a knowledge of God. They have not known him. Well, not much had changed. From Jeremiah's day to Jesus' day, he'd had it. to our present day. Not much has changed, has it? Jesus said in our text, he said, I know him, or we could say, but I know him. Jesus told how he knew God. He knew God because He was from God. He was from God. He was sent by God. Turn with me back to John chapter three. John chapter three, and we're going back a few months, a year, to what is said in the third chapter of John. These are, this is John the Baptist speaking here, but he's speaking concerning the Christ, speaking to his disciples. It says, he that cometh, verse 31 of John chapter three, he that cometh from above is above all. He that is of the earth is earthly. and speaketh of the earth. He that cometh from heaven is above all. Jesus Christ came from heaven. He came from above. He's not of the earth. And having come from above, having come from God, being sent of God. He's above all. He knew God. John 1, 1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. As you all know, I love that verse. He even wanted to use it for Genesis 1-1 this morning, didn't he? He knew God because he was sent by God. Look at verse 34. For he whom God has sent speaketh the words of God. For God giveth not the spirit by measure unto him. In other words, it's not given in measurements. It's not limited in scope. He had the fullness of the spirit. It was God manifest in the flesh. He was sent by God the Father. He was God the Son. And he had a mission. And his mission was to seek and to save that which is lost. John chapter 6. Going back just a little bit ago, just before his seventh chapter, he said to those Jews gathering in his discourse on the bread of life, In verse 38 he said, for I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me. And when he gets done, just about done, or when they had taken all that they could take, they all left and went back to their homes. And so now I wonder how many of these that had left and had left these things, what Jesus said here in verse 38, had come to the feast of tabernacles and were standing around there hearing Jesus speak these words again. Chapter eight. Chapter eight and verse 42. He says to more Jews, Jews who said they believed, but Jesus tells them, they've not believed in me. You're yet of your father, the devil. He said, verse 42, Jesus said unto them, if God were your father, ye would love me, for I proceeded forth and came from God. Neither came I of myself, but he sent me. I wonder how many of these that were there at Jerusalem at the Feast of the Tabernacles and heard Jesus speak these words in our chapter 7. And how many of them had been there in chapter 6 when he spoke those words in verse 38? And now again in chapter 7 and in verses 28 and 29. And how many of them are present in the 8th chapter? when he speaks the words again. And he just plainly tells them, if God were your father, your true father, your heavenly father, you would love me. Chapter 10. Chapter 10 and verse 36, Jesus says to Jews again, maybe some of the same ones. You have to wonder, don't you? Say ye of him whom the Father has sent, sanctified and sent into the world? Thou blasphemous? Because I said, I am the Son of God. Chapter 17. Chapter 17. Jesus prays. Praise for those that the Father had given him, and that he had called unto himself, and those that were yet to come to him. In verse 21 of chapter 17, he says, that they, they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me. and I in them, in thee, that they also may be one in us, and look at the purpose of us being one in Christ and in the Father, us being one here amongst ourselves and one with the Son and one with the Father. Look at the purpose of it. That the world may believe that thou hast sent me. You see, we're not only to bear testimony with our words, but with the life that we live. We, especially the Lord's Church, the chosen of the chosen, we are to be one. We are one. body, we are to act and to function as one, not only in a congregate manner, but also as we disperse from here and go out individual members into the world. We're to live in unity with the sun, with the Father. And the only way we can do that is as we were preaching this morning, by obeying his commandments, obeying his word. And when each one of us seek to obey all things whatsoever he has commanded us, We send the testimony to the world that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He was sent by God to redeem a people unto himself. Shall we stand?