And after these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Judaea, because the Jews sought to kill him. Now the feast of the Jews, the feast of tabernacles, was at hand. His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may behold thy works which thou doest. For no man doeth anything in secret, and himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou doest these things, manifest thyself to the world. For even his brethren did not believe on him.
Jesus therefore saith unto them, My time is not yet come; but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that its works are evil. Go ye up unto the feast: I go not up unto this feast; because my time is not yet fulfilled. And having said these things unto them, he abode still in Galilee.
But when his brethren were gone up unto the feast, then went he also up, not publicly, but as it were in secret. The Jews therefore sought him at the feast, and said, Where is he? And there was much murmuring among the multitudes concerning him: some said, He is a good man; others said, Not so, but he leadeth the multitude astray. Yet no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews. But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught. John 7:1–14.
All of John’s writings have deep significance. Halfway through the feast, Jesus made His appearance in the temple. Many students of Scripture feel that the first resurrection will not take place until half of the period of tribulation and anguish coming upon the earth has ended. It could well be that Jesus’ ministry will be carried on and concluded secretly by the Body of Christ during this half a week, which is symbolical of three and one-half years. The Jews therefore marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned? Jesus therefore answered them, and said, My teaching is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man willeth to do his will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from myself. He that speaketh from himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh the glory of him that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.
Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, from within him shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believed on him were to receive: for the Spirit was not yet given; because Jesus was not yet glorified. John 7:15–18, 37–39.
The seventh and eighth chapters of John are very closely related to the Feast of Tabernacles. The eighth chapter gives the account of the woman taken in adultery. The Jews wanted to trick Jesus, and it was easy for them to find the situation they were looking for. It is significant, too, that during this time Jesus gave some of the most outstanding teaching about the Word of God. At the temple they were astonished at His teaching. When the officers asked the chief priests and Pharisees, “Why didn’t you take Him?” they answered, “No man ever spake like this man.” When the Jews asked Jesus, “Is Your teaching really of God?” He said, “If any man willeth to do His will, he will know the teaching, whether it be of God or whether I teach of Myself.”
In effect, Jesus was saying the same thing that those who walk with God today must say. People do not come into a walk with God because it has been proven to them doctrinally. They have a determination within their hearts to do the will of God; and when they hear the Word, God gives them an inner witness that it is the truth. The basis for knowing the truth is not the fact that you know doctrine and theology; it is the dedication of your spirit to do the truth. If you will do His will, you will know the teaching. If you are set to do the will of God, He is going to make known His will to you. If you do not want to do His will, you will walk in confusion, never knowing whether or not it is the truth. A man who is dedicated to do the will of God has a strange capacity that is beyond his intellect or reason. He will hear God speak to him, and then he will know that the teaching is of the Lord.
When a person hears the teaching of the restoration for the first time, he may question its doctrinal orthodoxy, because it is different than he has been taught. But the further he moves into it, the more he realizes that his preconceived ideas are wrong; and he rejects them because he finds within his heart a desire to do the will of God.
Deuteronomy 31 tells us that during the Feast of Tabernacles, the Law was read to the people every day. The eighth chapter of Nehemiah reveals that they stood and read the Word day after day, and then they kept the Feast of Tabernacles. Of all the feasts, the Feast of Tabernacles strictly required a complete dedication to the Word that God had committed to them. Once again God is bringing the emphasis upon the Word He is speaking, and this requires our complete attention. Can you see that the Feast of Tabernacles, as it is being observed by more and more believers, is truly a spiritual fulfillment of what is revealed in the Scriptures?
Jesus said, I know that ye are Abraham’s seed: yet ye seek to kill me, because my word hath not free course in you. John 8:37. Even the people who boast of being Abraham’s seed will not recognize the Word when it comes to them, if they are not set to do the will of God. Be determined that the Word of God will have free course in you, cleansing and purging, inspiring and anointing you.
I speak the things which I have seen with my Father: and ye also do the things which ye heard from your father. They answered and said unto him, Our father is Abraham. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I heard from God: this did not Abraham. Ye do the works of your father.
They said unto him, We were not born of fornication (implying that Mary had conceived and borne a son out of wedlock; however, there was no such stigma upon her, for Joseph had married her); we have one Father, even God. Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I came forth and am come from God; for neither have I come of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? Even because ye cannot hear my word. (You must have a spiritual ear to perceive what God is saying.) Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father it is your will to do. John 8:38–44a. Their will was set to follow the lusts of the devil, not the will of God.
What you are dedicated to do determines what you will know and understand of the Word of God. Do not ever get the idea that the Bible was given to reveal the truth to everyone in the world. The Bible conceals the truth until you become spiritually minded and ready to see it. Therefore Jesus taught in parables and visions, cryptic sayings and things difficult to understand.
Although the average person does not understand nine-tenths of the Bible, he does see that he is a sinner and needs Christ, and that Christ died for him. If he will accept and believe that, the next time he reads the Book, the Holy Spirit will remove the veil from some more truth and he will see the next step and walk in it. Jesus told His disciples, “I have many things to tell you, but you cannot receive them now. Howbeit when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth, step after step” (John 16:12–13). He will lead you forth into one truth after another, one level after another. As you become dedicated in your spirit to do the will of the Lord, you can be sure that He will show you the light for the next step; and as you take each step, there will always be more and more light. He will never give you all the light until you are dedicated to walk in all of it.
John 8:46–59: Which of you convicteth me of sin? If I say truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth the words of God: for this cause ye hear them not, because ye are not of God. The Jews answered and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a demon? Jesus answered,
I have not a demon; but I honor my Father, and ye dishonor me. But I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth. Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my word, he shall never see death.
The Jews said unto him, Now we know that thou hast a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my word, he shall never taste of death. Art thou greater than our father Abraham, who died? and the prophets died: whom makest thou thyself?
Jesus answered, If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing; it is my Father that glorifieth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God; and ye have not known him: but I know him; and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be like unto you, a liar: but I know him, and keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad. The Jews therefore said unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and has thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was born, I am (referring to the name Jehovah—I AM THAT I AM). They took up stones therefore to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple.
In a walk with God, you do not stand or fall by your moral strength, nor by your intellectual grasp of the Scriptures. Falling under temptation will not defeat you. What is it then that causes a man to fall away? If he receives a Word from God and backs away from it, then his light turns to darkness, and suddenly he becomes seven kinds of a fool, understanding less than the simplest child in the church. A successful walk with God depends primarily upon your willingness to do the will of the Lord—permitting His Word to have free course in you because you receive it as the Word of God and are determined to walk in it. Everything depends upon the way you receive the Word that God is bringing forth in the earth today.
The parables of Matthew 13 provide a beautiful illustration of this truth. One speaks about the different kinds of soil and its reaction to the seed that was sown on it. The seed sown by the wayside was eaten by the birds; that sown on shallow ground withered under the hot rays of the sun. Some fell among thorns and was choked and made unfruitful. Some seed fell on good soil. We love the phrase, “And it brought forth fruit—some thirty, some sixty, and some a hundredfold.” We especially like the hundredfold yield. Verse 23 tells us that those who brought it forth were the ones who received the Word with understanding hearts. They had a capacity to know that it was a Word from God. Jesus spoke in parables so that some would hear, but not understand; see, but not perceive it (verse 14). They would be snared to stumble and fall.
The Word serves a dual purpose. It rises up to condemn those who have no will set to do the will of God; they are broken on it and fail. However, that same Word yields itself in its miraculous fulfillment to the man who is set to do the will of God. The heart of such a man understands the Word, and he brings forth fruit unto God, even to a hundredfold—equivalent to a ten-thousand-percent return on the investment God has made in his heart.
God’s end-time walk in the Spirit will be like that. Some who hear the Word will turn away from it and say, “I don’t grasp it at all,” but those who open their hearts to the will of God will bring forth thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold because they have understanding hearts. They understand it, not because they are intellectual giants, but because they are spiritually oriented to God. Because they love Him and want to do His will, the Lord opens to them the mysteries and the keys. In them will the prophecy of Daniel concerning the end time be fulfilled: the wise will understand, but none of the wicked will understand (Daniel 12:10). The Lord will take the seals off the Book, and it will become an open truth to those who want to walk in the will of the Lord.
In this day of darkness, the greatest revelations of the Scriptures will come to a remnant. Marvelous truths will be revealed by the Lord out of His Word to the people who have set their hearts to do the will of God.