Now he explains in verse 18 that this - what he did in verse 16 - is how you can know he’s true: “The one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.” So, let’s put verses 17–18 together now, and try to figure out their relationship. So, if you want to be amazed, be amazed at God.” Mark of Truth They’re coming at him, saying, “You’re amazing,” and he says, “Well, whatever that is, my words are not mine they’re God’s. He deflects it from self-exaltation to God-exaltation. Now remember, when the crowds were impressed with Jesus’s learning, he said to them in verse 16, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.” So, he deflected their amazement at his learning to God. “The mark of truth is a passion for God-exaltation, not self-exaltation.” The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. Verse 18 is so, so life-affecting for me in relation to verse 17. I didn’t see this as clearly until I was a pastor at this church in the mid-eighties.
![whats keeping me whats keeping me](https://bhva.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Blog-Image-Why-Singing-is-Keeping-Me-Sane.jpg)
‘Be Amazed at God’īut we’re not going to stop at verse 17 because Jesus has much more help to give us here. When your will is in sync with God’s, your knowing will be in sync with truth. That’s the true, general truth of verse 17: you will know Jesus, you will recognize him for who he is as a true spokesman for God, when your will is brought into sync with God’s will. And the general truth would be something like this: you will discern that Jesus is a reliable spokesman from God when your will deeply and profoundly comes into sync with God’s will. If we stopped at John 7:17, which is where we are right now, and didn’t go on to verse 18, we’d have a general truth it would be a true truth, but it would be without specifics. It’s a really good one about seeing the glory of Christ and the challenge of self-glory-seeking. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.” This text has some incredible implications for our lives, as we will hear in a sermon clip, sent to us by Harley in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was preaching on John 7, particularly verses 17–18, where Jesus says, “If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. If I want to see Jesus, what must change inside of me? That’s the question Pastor John took up in a sermon in 2011.