 But that said, we're in John's Gospel tonight. We're going to look at verses 1 through 24. And I'll introduce the study by just beginning by looking at verse 1. Then I'll move on through until we get to verse 24. I'm going to close our study with verse 24 today, a verse that reads, and I'll read it to you. Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment. I'll share a few things about judging and what is Jesus referring to as we close. But just kind of as a teaser, there's so many people today who say, bro, don't judge me. So we'll have an opportunity to look at that and see what that really means. And so we'll get there eventually some day. We will. I think tonight we will. So anyway, beginning at verse 1, John chapter 7, verse 1. After these things, Jesus walked in Galilee, which is to the north. For he did not want to walk in Judea, which is in the south, because the Jews sought to kill him. So at this point, John begins to reveal the opposition that is growing towards Jesus Christ. John makes it very clear here that it's because the Jewish officials are seeking to kill Jesus. And when it speaks concerning them, the Jews, when it says the Jews, that's speaking of the officials. You know, words like that, when you're reading your Bible in the past, when people would read the Jews, they immediately began to make a statement that all Jews hated Jesus, which isn't true. It was the Jewish officials that I've been referred to. And when John makes that statement, the Jews sought to kill him, it wasn't that every Jew in Israel wanted to kill Jesus. He's speaking of the officials. The Jewish officials are wanting to put him to death. And when it says that they wanted to kill him, they sought to kill him. The word sought there carries with it the connotation of continually seeking. In other words, it's a desire of their heart that is not being placated by time. The opposition is because he had healed the crippled man at the pool of Bethesda. Remember that man who was crippled for 38 years? And Jesus had commanded him to rise, take up his bed, and to walk? Well, that miracle, as you remember, was done on the Sabbath. So ultimately, Jesus was called a Sabbath breaker. And he also was referred to as a blasphemer. These are capital offenses under Jewish law. And so when we looked at John chapter five, verses 16 and 18, those verses reveal that the Jews began to demand his death because of those charges. And so in verse one, after these things, after the things that have taken place, Jesus walked in Galilee. He went to the north because the Jews, the Jewish officials were seeking to kill him. And so this is what's taking place. He's moving to the north, verse two. Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. So when you read this, you'll know that John is reporting on events that are actually gonna take place six months later. It's after Passover. So the Feast of Tabernacles is six months after Passover. And so that points to us that hatred for Christ has been smoldering for a long time. Now this Feast that he's going to, this Feast of Tabernacles is also referred to as the Feast of Booths. It was one of the three annual Feasts that all males were obligated to appear at Jerusalem in order to keep. And the Feast of Tabernacles took its name from the tents or the booths that were built for people to stay in temporarily. And they were built, these booths were built around the temple. They were built in public places. They were built in courts. They were built on the flat roofs of the people's houses. They would even be placed in gardens. And the people who were celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles would dwell in tents for eight days in order to remember the 40 years that their fathers dwelt in the wilderness. And what they were doing in the Feast of Tabernacles and what they do, cause they continue to celebrate that Feast to this day, is they are remembering God's grace as he delivered. And also it was to encourage gratitude and obedience to the Lord. In Old Testament book of Leviticus 23, 42 and 43, it says, you shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths. That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. And so as they were there celebrating, they would remember how God delivered them. It would encourage them to gratitude. And it would also remind them that there to be a nation that is obedient. So this is what's taking place. This is the time. The Jews Feast of Tabernacles is at hand. As this is taking place, verse three. So as brothers therefore said to him, depart from here. Go into Judea, that your disciples also may see the works that you're doing for. No one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world. And then John adds this, for even his brothers did not believe in him. That's hard to believe that they didn't believe in him. What do you think it'd be like to be raised with a perfect brother? Think about that. To be raised with a perfect brother. My sisters understand this verse. No, think about that. He never did anything wrong. He never got a time out. He never was put on restriction. He never, this is one of those verses that is mysterious to me, truly is. It is mysterious to me how you could be raised with a perfect person and not see their perfection. His brothers did not believe in him. And yet Jesus never lied, never cheated, never disobeyed, never spoke back to his mother, never disrespected Joseph. He never did anything. He never did anything wrong. And yet they did not believe in him. Now let me develop something with you. Take a few moments to do this because the question has to be asked. When it says in verse three, his brothers therefore said to him, depart from here and go into Judea that your disciples also may see the works that you're doing. No one does anything in secret. Who are these brothers? Because notice it says his brothers therefore said to him, now let me give to you some explanations as I developed this passage with you. Perhaps you may already know this, perhaps you don't. Let me share some things with you. Who were these brothers mentioned in this passage? There are those who say that these who are mentioned were his cousins. There are those who say these are children of Joseph from a former marriage. These reviews held by some in the early history of the church. Well, this form of interpretation gave various, gave rise to various doctrines concerning Jesus' mother Mary. And one of those doctrines is what is called the perpetual virginity of Mary. And I went to a Catholic catechism to give you the accurate description of that term. So this is from a Catholic catechism, the perpetual virginity of Mary. This asserts that Mary, the mother of Jesus was always a virgin before, during and after the birth of Jesus. This doctrine also proclaims that Mary had no marital relations after Jesus' birth nor gave birth to any children other than Jesus. I was raised in the Catholic church. I know that's what the Catholic church teaches. I was taught that. I was taught that in catechism, the perpetual virginity of Mary, that she was a virgin prior to conception, a prior during the birth of Christ and remained in Catholic doctrine a virgin after his birth. But the natural reading of the passage gives its clearest meaning. When it says his brothers therefore said to him, these would be children of Joseph and Mary born after the birth of Jesus. When you look at Matthew chapter one, verse 25, the scripture says Matthew wrote, Joseph did not know her, the word no speaks of sexual intimacy. Joseph did not know her, did not have sexual intimacy until she brought forth her firstborn son. Until, that's another way of saying that they had it, but not prior to the birth of Christ. And so Joseph did indeed have physical relationships. In Luke chapter two, verse seven, speaking of Mary, she brought forth her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling cloths. Later than a major, there was no room for them in the inn. The firstborn is obviously a priority, but also could be describing the fact that there were other children born to her later on. Because in Mark chapter six, verse three, the question is asked, is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon and not his sisters here with us and they were offended at him. So Jesus had brothers and sisters and his brothers are mentioned in verse three. His brothers therefore said to him, depart from here and go into Judea. Now, when they're saying that, this is not a word of faith, this is actually motivated by sarcasm. There are people who don't believe in him and they rejected his claims and all concerning who he is. And they didn't believe in him. As a matter of fact, Mark gives us something in chapter three, verse 21, that is interesting how Mark says, when his own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of him for they said he's out of his mind. And so there are multitudes in Jerusalem and they're saying, messiahs should go where the public is. So advertise yourself. They're saying, if you really are who you say you are and it's not a word of faith, it's not an encouragement to express who he is to the people and all of that. It's really a rejection of them and a mocking of him. And so they're saying to him, listen, a messiah should be open, people should know it, you claim to be that, then go to where the public is. You need to advertise. You need to seek to be known. Push yourself ahead. Get the attention a messiah should receive. Do something spectacular to gain the people's attention. Promote yourself. That's what they're saying. Depart from here. Go into Judea that your disciples also may see the works that you're doing. No one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world. So promote yourself. Go out and speak of yourself. Do something spectacular, gain the people's attention. Now that's a variation by the way of a temptation he'd already conquered. The enemy had already used that kind of temptation. Luke tells us in chapter four verses nine through 12, speaking of the enemy, the devil, brought him to Jerusalem and said to him, speaking of Jesus on the pinnacle of the temple, said to him, if you are the son of God, throw yourself down from here for it's written, he shall give his angels charge over you to keep you. And in their hands they shall bear you up lest you dash your foot against a stone. Jesus answered and said to him, it's been written, you shall not tempt the Lord your God. So the enemy is already saying, do something spectacular. Do something so that people will see you and they will know who you are. And Luke adds in verse 13, when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. So those opportune times, those moments of opportunity came frequently through the life and ministry of Jesus. And once again, this is the same kind of temptation. Go out, do some miracle, draw some attention yourself, promote yourself so that people will know who you are. No one, verse four, no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. So show yourself to the world, promote yourself, display your mighty works, get famous. You'll draw crowds, people will recognize you as Messiah. We can begin to promote you, miracle Messiah. We can have signs, Jesus came to town, Jesus has turned water into wine. If you want, the cripple can be healed. Let me give you something practical about this self promotion. In ministry, in service to the Lord, self promotion is the enemy of humility. And self promotion quenches the work of the Holy Spirit. Selfish promotion is motivated by selfish ambition. And selfish ambition is a carnal need for attention, a passion for publicity. It causes us to set our agenda to reach goals that may not be of the Lord. And our endeavors to get ahead when we're promoting ourselves very often lead us to push others down so we can climb over them to reach the pinnacle of success. Selfish promotion is wrong. A. W. Tozer, one of the Christian thinkers and ministers that influences me, said Christians have fallen into the habit of accepting the noisiest and most notorious among them as the best and the greatest. They, too, have learned to equate popularity with excellence and in open defiance of the Sermon on the Mount. They have given their approval, not to the meek, but to the self-assertive, not to the mourner, but to the self-assured, not to the pure in heart, who see God, but to the publicity hunter, who seeks headlines. This was written, like in the 50s, and he was already calling out the church for this, that the church, even in the 50s, guys, was beginning to go after the person who promoted themselves. And guess what? It's worse today than it was then. My pastor, Chuck Smith, never promoted himself. And he was an example to me as a minister, not to do that either. I might have shared this with you. Perhaps you'll remember how that Pastor Chuck had an assistant pastor named Romain. I don't know if you know who Romain was, but he was a mean little meatball of a man. A real direct little drill sergeant, Marine, who was his right-hand man. And anybody who knew Pastor Chuck would have known Romain, and a very outspoken kind of guy. And one day Romain was sharing with us a group of pastors. Pastor Romain was sharing with us. And he said, you need to use the example of your pastor, Chuck Smith. He said, now this is many years ago. He said, do you know that Billy Graham? When Billy Graham is in town to do ministry, he said, did you know that Billy Graham will come into the parking lot here at Calvary Chapel Coast, Amesa, and will just sit in his car in the parking lot? Well, how would we know that? So Romain was telling us, Billy Graham. He says, do you know why he does that? He says, because he's been asked. People have seen Billy Graham. You recognize Billy Graham? People have seen him in his car just sitting there. And I've approached him. Can I help you, Reverend Graham? And Romain shared this with us. He said that Billy Graham would said, he said, I just like to come and sit in the parking lot when I'm in town because I sense the presence of the Holy Spirit here. And what a testimony. What a testimony. You know, Raul Rees comes and sits in our parking lot all the time. No, I'm, but what a testimony. What an amazing statement. My pastor had told us how that, he had been invited. Pastor Chuck had been invited, I'll say one more thing about my pastor, had been invited many times to go and to meet with the president, to give advice to him during his days of ministry when God was blowing up Calvary Chapel in the early days. And it was a phenomenon was in the newspaper. Pastor Chuck was on Time Magazine and so many other things in that day. And the Jesus movement was in full steam. And they wanted Chuck to come and they wanted him to meet with the president to be an advisor to the current president at that time. And Chuck wouldn't do it. Chuck wouldn't leave his ministry because he knew that the teaching of the word of God was more important than anything else he could have been given opportunity to do. And he never did things like that. He knew and he taught us a word of God does but he modeled for us humility. Don't promote yourself. Don't be seeking attention for you because if you're getting the attention, somebody isn't. And the one who isn't will be the Lord. When you begin to take the attention for yourself, you're stealing it from him. And the Lord says, I am the Lord that is my name, my glory I will give to no one else, neither my praise to graven images. God says I am a jealous God. His desire is to receive the glory that is his. And yet today I'm telling you and I don't want to be unkind in this but it's simply true. We're living in a day when people are caught up with their own promotion to be known is very important. And my pastor taught us a long time ago and I'll use his example one last time. You don't put your name in front of your ministry because the attention goes to you. The ministry should always bring glory to Jesus Christ. And that's why we're called Calvary Chapel. Why is that? Because Calvary is where our savior died. That's why we call it Calvary Chapel. And why is our symbol a dove? Because without the power of the Holy Spirit, we're just talking, we're just gathering. And so our symbol has been the dove, the power of the Holy Spirit. Our symbol is the word of God. Our name is Calvary. It is in David Rosales Ministries. It is Calvary Ministries to remind us of Pastor Chuck's teachings to us, but to remind us that Jesus Christ is the one who gets all the glory. He should always get the glory. Amen, amen, amen. And that's what it is. Selfish ambition is to be avoided at all costs. In Jeremiah 45 verse five, do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them. Psalm 75 verses six and seven, exaltation comes neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south, but God is the judge. He puts down one and exalts another. So Jesus came to do his father's will in his father's time. So when they're saying, go in and speak of yourself and do these things, no, he was on his father's time. It says in verse six, Jesus said to them, my time has not yet come. Your time is always ready. So when he says, my time has not yet come, the word time is a Greek word. Kairos, it means a fixed and definite time, a suitable time. It speaks of a season of opportunity. What he's saying when he says, my time has not yet come is, I'm on my father's timetable. In John five, we saw this at verse 30. He said, I don't seek my own will, but the will of the father who has sent me. So my time is on my father's schedule. I don't promote myself, but he goes on in verse six to say, but your time is always ready. In other words, it's always the right time for you to come to Jesus. In second Corinthians chapter six, verse two, Paul said, he says, in an acceptable time, I've heard you in the day of salvation, I've helped you. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. In other words, don't put it off. There have been people who say, well, I'll hear you at another time. I'll hear you at a convenient time. I used to say this, I had people begin to witness to me when I was young just before I got saved, but they would say, you need to get right with God. And I would say later on, because I got a lot of sinning to do. See, I was 20 years old. And I thought, are you kidding me? You're asking me to get saved? I've got so many drugs. I want to take so much wine. I want to drink so many people I want to be with. Are you kidding me? No, when I'm older, I honest, like some of you probably, I honest thought that I thought I, when I get older, I'll be too old to sin and I'll be bored, I might as well go to church. And that's kind of how I thought. Maybe you did too. That's how I thought, but I'm young. You know, I got a lot of things I want to do. Well, today's the acceptable day. I've never met a single person in my entire years of walking with Christ who have ever said to me, I wish I'd have waited to get saved. I've never heard that. I have heard many times, I wish I would have received Christ earlier. There are so many things, so many pains, and so many things that I suffered that I would have avoided if I had gotten right with Jesus Christ earlier. I've never heard anybody say, man, I just, you know, maybe a couple more years of sin. I just have never heard that. Now is the accepted time. And so Jesus goes on in verse seven and says, the world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify of it that its works are evil. You go up to the feast. I'm not yet going up to this feast. My time has not yet fully come. When he had said these things to them, he remained in Galilee. So he's saying the Jews will not persecute you because you are as unbelieving as they are. See, I have condemned its evil. If you were to fast forward that to today, I want you to think of how people are treated by the world when you stand up and say that you believe that life begins at conception and that abortion isn't something that we ought to be involved in, that it's a bad thing to do. Say it and watch what happens today. Talk about adultery and say it's not right for a man to be sleeping around with other people and see what happens. Fornication or greed or speak out against homosexuality and see what happens. You're not gonna be applauded, I promise you. You're gonna be persecuted. That's what's happening today. A lot. That's what takes place. And so Jesus said, listen, I've condemned its evil. You don't. You go along with it. You know, you go to work and people are saying, you know, the thing they're saying, now I don't wanna get political. Forgive me, it's gonna sound like I am, but there's a point I'm trying to make here. Let's see if I can make that point. Tell people you like Trump and see what happens. Just say it and see what happens. There is such a fixation and a hatred. And it blows my mind. You know, it blows my mind. No, I won't get political with you, but I will say that is such a fixation and such a hatred and such an opposition. So go and tell them you believe in certain things and see what happens. You know this. Go to college, speak to your professor, say it out loud in class, and say what you believe and see if your professor gives you an ovation, wonderful thinking, or see if the people in the classroom don't gang up on you. I was a college student once in a secular university, more than one secular university, and I experienced that kind of opposition and that was years ago. It's worse now. It's worse now. And so that's what's taking place and Jesus said, listen, the world hates me, but it doesn't hate you. It doesn't hate you because it hates me because I testify of it that its works are evil. And I want you to think of that. I testify against it, its works are evil because you'll see this in just a moment, but the church today in many places, we don't want to be rude and we don't want to be arrogant. We don't want to be obnoxious. We certainly don't want to be self-righteous and God forbid that we should be mean-spirited. None of that should be true of any of us. And yet the bottom line is the fact of the matter is, is when you testify of the evil, there is a response. And people do believe that you are judgmental and harsh. There's no doubt about that. In John 15, verses 18 and 19, Jesus said, if the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. And there's no doubt about that, especially we're seeing that in our day. So he tells them in verses eight, nine, go up to the feast, I'm not yet going up. In other words, I'm not under your timetable. You can go whenever you want, but I will go when it's time for me to go. So in verse 10, when his brothers had gone up, then he also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. And the Jews sought him at the feast and said, where is he? So he went secretly. In other words, he didn't go in a caravan. He's rejecting his brother's plan for him. His enemies are now seeking him. They desire more controversy. Others are murmuring about him. They're debating about him. Is this man good? Is this man evil? They're all nervous. It says in verse 12, there was much complaining among the people concerning him. Some said he's good. Others said no. On the contrary, he deceives the people. However, no one spoke openly of him for fear of the Jews. And so they're afraid to be speaking openly, so they're speaking amongst themselves. In verse 14, now about the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and taught, and the Jews marveled, saying, how does this man know letters? Having never studied. So he waits. He waits until the right time. He makes his appearance. There he is in the temple area. The rabbis very often would speak in this particular area that they're referring to. And there he is speaking and teaching. But the people begin to wonder, how can he know scripture? You see, when it says here in verse 15, how does this man know letters having never studied? It's not that he couldn't read. The Jews were called the people of the book for a reason. They could read. They were literate people. They were not illiterate. They were literate. They were people of the book. So he's not speaking about how is it possible that he can read? What is being referred to here is different. When it says, how does this man know letters? It's another way of saying, where did he get his theological training? How does he know letters? Is another way of saying, what rabbi did this man sit under? Who was his mentor? How did he learn his theology? And so he never sat under a rabbi. So is he inventing this message? Is he self-appointed? Is he without accountability? And that's what they're speaking amongst themselves. He's never studied. He's never been theologically trained. Jesus answered them and said, my doctrine isn't mine, but his who sent me. And so as he speaks, he's saying, I didn't invent my doctrine. The things, the word doctrine means teaching. The teachings that I'm giving to you come from heaven. In John 12, 49 and 50, he says, I have not spoken on my own authority. The father who sent me gave me a command, what I should say, what I should speak. And I know that his command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the father has told me, so I speak. In other words, I didn't originate this message. I'm giving you a message from heaven. That's what I'm doing. You're asking who taught me? I'm telling you, this is something from the father. My doctrine is not mine. It's his who sent me. He goes into verse 17 and says, if anyone wills to do his will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it's from God or whether I speak on my own authority. You wanna know the will of God? You will to do his will. The human will desiring to obey God's will is the condition of knowing God's will. That's what you need in order to know the will of God. And the evidence that you're doing that which God has commanded is internal. The spirit will bear witness with you. So as you're doing the things of the Lord, there is a sense that God gives you by his spirit that you are doing the exact right thing and you are believing the right thing when you're believing scripture rightly divided. Do you wanna know his will? Well, you have to will to do it. It's not just so that we can know things about God. It's so that we can do the things that are pleasing to him. And is there a hunger in your heart? Is a hunger within you, a hunger within you that drives you to seek him because I wanna know you. You know, we used to sing a song, I wanna know you Lord, much more than I do. We used to sing that, I wanna know you, I wanna see you, I want to love you. We used to sing that when I was a brand new Christian and a young believer, I wanna know you, I wanna serve you, I wanna be your servant at all of that. And it's one thing to say that, it's another thing to mean it. Because A.W., I think it was A.W. Tozer once said that Christians never lie except when they sing. You know, all that I have, Lord is yours. That's not true. And so we'll sing things to him that we don't mean sincerely. That's, there's truth to that, of course. All of us fall short of the glory of God. We know that, but the bottom line is, and this is real important, it's real practical. Blessed is one who is hungry and thirsty and after righteousness, you're gonna be filled. Do you desire to know him? Not just in knowing him, I got saved. No, I'm speaking deeper and so is Christ. Now, if you wanna know his will, do you wanna do his will? There's gotta be an internal desire, a longing that supersedes all other longings. It overwhelms all other desires. It becomes your chief desire and this one thing have I desired and that I will seek after, that I might dwell in the house of the Lord, that I might see him. These are things that are within us. And I think a lot of people today are afraid to actually just release and say, God, I just wanna be real, I just want to follow you. I wanna be a real Christian. You know, when I got saved at 20, I just last Friday was my birthday, 69 years old. I've been following the Lord almost 49 years. That's a long time, but I can tell you something. I've been sensing in my heart today, especially a longing to know him better, a longing to know the Lord, a desire to know his will, to live for Jesus Christ. He is so good and has been so good to me, but I wanna know him better. And that's what Jesus is talking about. It's not a half-hearted, well, we'll give him a shot. Let's see what he can do. It's not that at all. If a man wants to know him, if a woman desires to know him, that longing is what is going to be the condition of you growing to know him deeply. And that's what Jesus is teaching us here. Do you wanna know him? He says, my doctrine isn't mine, it's his who sent me. If anyone wills to do his will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it comes from God, whether I speak on my own authority, you will know. In verse 18, he who speaks from himself seeks his own glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is true and no one righteousness is in him. A man whose message originates within himself seeks his own advancement. That's what he's saying. He who speaks for himself seeks his own glory. A man whose message originates within himself seeks his own advancement. Proverbs 27, too, if you take notes, this is a good one. Let another man praise you and not your own mouth, a stranger and not your own lips. I had a guy I knew. And I had been saved maybe a few, two months maybe. And I forget how long, but he was an older man to me. He was in his forties and I was 20. And he was speaking to me one time. I'll never forget it. And he told me, he was a brand new Christian. He was always trying to instruct me. And I finally got tired of it because, babies ought not to feed other babies. Have you ever seen babies feeding babies? It's kind of a mess. It really is. I've seen it. Have you seen it? A little baby here putting stuff in the face of the other baby. They're feeding babies. When babies feed babies, they make a mess of both of them. And so I'm not one who wants to be fed by a baby. Even when I was a baby and this guy was a baby. And I still remember that he was always pushing his newfound opinion because he read something and it was never right. When he was reading, it was never right. And finally I told him, I said, you know, you're a very proud man. You're a very proud man. And that's very unattractive. I said, you're not humble. And he looks at me and he says, I am too humble. He goes, I'm the most humble man I know. And it was amazing. He was proud of his humility. You know, to me it was really odd. But if a person's always promoting themselves, always praising themselves, always the hero of their own stories. And I've seen that. Have you seen that? I've seen that. You turn on the television and there's a TV preacher on and sometimes they're just telling you some super story of the victories they've had. And I've heard many and I've said to myself, do you never fail? Do you never, ever fail to succeed? Ever? Do you ever? It's like the guy, you know, I was on the plane and they always have a Southern accent. I don't get it. I was on the plane and the plane was going down. And I said to myself, South, this plane's going down. And I said to myself, what should I do? Well, I should do something. I'll do something. So I stand up and I say in the name of Jesus and you watch this. Everybody gets saved. And then I baptize them in the bathroom. And I hear these stories. And it trips me out. They never fail. It's very unattractive. It really is. It's very unattractive, you know. And so don't be praising yourself and all of that, you know. The bottom line is, is you don't seek your own glory. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory. He who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is true. No one righteousness is in him. He's speaking of himself. Then he says in verse 19, did not Moses give you the law yet none of you keeps the law? Then he asks the question, why do you seek to kill me? That's pretty straightforward. Well, as he does that, he's saying you boast in that you receive the law of Moses, but you're refusing to obey what it teaches. Moses taught you not to murder. Yet you desire to kill me. Well, when he says that, verse 20, the people answered and said, you have a demon. Who's seeking to kill you? And that's a kind thing to say, isn't it? And Jesus answered and said to them, I did one work and you all marvel. Moses therefore gave you circumcision. Not that it was for Moses, but from the fathers. And you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If a man received circumcision on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with me? Because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath. Do not judge according to appearance. Judge with righteous judgment. So when it says you have a demon, at that time saying someone had a demon was like calling that person insane. They also may be accusing him of being in league with Satan because of the work he did. They considered to be blasphemous in the statements he made of himself and the work was breaking the Sabbath. And so they think that he's in league with Satan. But he says, Moses gave you circumcision. Notice how he goes on to say not that it was for Moses. 600 years before the law was given through Moses, there was a man by the name of Abraham. And Abraham was actually given orders to circumcise. In Genesis chapter 17, verses 10 through 12. This is my covenant, which you shall keep between me and you and your descendants after you. Every male child among you shall be circumcised and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins. And it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. He who was eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male child in your generations who was born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant. So 600 years before the law, Abraham was actually given orders to circumcise. But the law relating to circumcision was given to Israel in the law of Moses in Leviticus 12. Where it says in verses one through three, the Lord spoke to Moses saying, speak to the children of Israel saying, if a woman has conceived and born a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days. As in the days of her customary impurity, she shall be unclean. And on the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskins shall be circumcised. So Jesus is pointing out to the right of circumcision for a reason. He's saying this, you avoid even the appearance of work on the Sabbath, yet you perform circumcision on the Sabbath. Circumcision involves pain and actually removes something. You judge me because I give something and remove pain. This is unbelievable. And then he says in verse 24, do not judge according to appearance but judge with righteous judgment. We'll look at this for a couple of moments. You judge according to appearance. So stop judging so superficially. You are caught up with outer appearances. Now I want to note something with you and I'm going to read it again and develop this for a moment. Do not judge according to appearance but judge he says with righteous judgment. I want to look at that for a moment. He doesn't forbid judging. He addresses judging on an improper basis. Now what does that mean? Well, one of the most misquoted verses in the church today is Matthew chapter seven, verse one. All of you know it. Judge not that you be not judged, right? We all hear that, especially those of us who preach the gospel. Now, when Jesus said in Matthew seven, verse one, judge not that you be not judged. He was speaking about the unmerciful condemnation of people. He said, by practicing this kind of judgmentalism, we replace God as final judge. This is because we don't know a person's motives because only God knows a person's heart. In Jeremiah 1710, I the Lord search the heart. I test the mind even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. So today, refusing to say something is right or wrong is exalted and it's called tolerance. What is tolerance? We hear it all the time. The word tolerance is defined as the ability or willingness to bear with something in particular the existence of opinions or behaviors that one does not necessarily agree with. So today, many believe in a superficial unity glossed over by a sentimental kind of love. And the sentimental love has led to them accepting anything except biblical truth. And that's to be expected. That's to be expected from those who do not claim faith in Jesus or the Bible. That's to be expected. But when this attitude is found in the church, it is normally found in those who do not read and do not study the Bible. I recently received the following Facebook message. I got it last week. This is the message. Hello, Pastor David, how are you? I have an issue. Every time somebody brings up kids turning gay on Facebook, I state my opinion on how wrong it is and how it's a sin against God. And everybody attacks me saying not to judge. And God said not to judge people. And how dare I say this? They tell me to let the child be gay or whatever. And I'm tired of it. I'm being called names. And now I need help. Can you please give me some advice? So I wrote back and said, no, you judge. No, I didn't. Can you give me some advice? I just got an email from one of our staff ministers. And this is what the email says, Pastor, I wanted to share with you an experience we had last Friday at our mosque outreach. We were standing outside on the sidewalk having a great discussion with a Muslim man when a car drove up on the street next to us and stopped in the street. She rolled down her window and said loudly to us, I want you to know that I am Christian. I'm so ashamed of you guys that you're here in front of these Muslims place of worship instead of leaving them alone. Afterwards, I thought how sad and burdening to the heart of God, that his church, the very ones he commissioned to go out into the world and preach the only message that saves men from eternal damnation are the ones that wound their own. Instead of loving one another and encouraging one another in the call of God, the church is hurting its own. The ironic thing is that same day a Muslim man told us that he thinks what we are doing and sharing with them is a great thing because we have conviction and are serious about what we believe, his own words. The church is telling the believer to shut up and the one being witnessed to says, I respect you for telling me what you believe. If we really believe in heaven and hell, if we really believe Jesus' words, that unless a man is born again, he will not see nor enter into the kingdom of heaven. Unless we believe with the right of Hebrew said, it is appointed and to mend to die once and after this the judgment. If we really believe that, then we're gonna also believe that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life and we're gonna go into the whole world, preaching the gospel so that lives will be changed and people will be saved if we really believe that. But I have to tell you, the church doesn't believe that. By and large, many in the church are like this woman. She's just more vocal about what she's thinking. She's saying, leave them alone. Let them believe what they want. Why? Because she doesn't believe in Christ. Now that's a judgment I'm making, isn't it? But what else am I to say, if you tell me not to preach the gospel because it offends people, you don't read the Bible because Jesus was very offensive. I'm not saying go out and spit in people's faces and get mad and get into fights and everything. I'm gonna beat you up in Jesus name. No, I'm not saying that. What I'm saying, what I'm saying is we need to ask God, how can I be used by you to bring this message of salvation and transformation to a lost and dying world. We have to believe that the church is forgetting that. Quite seriously, the church is forgetting the message of the gospel. Part of the reason seems to be that believers are just not reading their Bible. And part of the reason has to be that if they attend church at all are not being taught the Bible. And often this attitude is fostered by pastors who do not teach the Bible or encourage the church to read it. It can be the fruit of teachers who do not wanna turn people off from Jesus or their church. But I've discovered something, often those who call people judges are living sinful lives and don't like being called out. So instead of receiving the Spirit's conviction, they claim people are judging them. That enables them to continue in sin and even appear to be better than their judges. In 1 Thessalonians 5, 19 through 22, Paul said it like this. He said, do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, test all things, hold fast what is good, abstain from every form of evil. You see, in claiming to being judged, they judge those whom they say are judging them. And they don't know the difference between conviction and condemnation. In this case, Jesus was giving them a more full view of what Moses commanded. He was saying, let those who profess to judge him by the law obey it and form a just and honest opinion and not be biased by the appearance of a mere technicality. We are to judge, he says, with righteous judgment. Incidentally, that's also what is used in discernment. When you hear something that's being said, you discern whether this is true or not by what scripture has to say. It's also used, judgment is also something that occurs in what is called church discipline. When somebody is violating scripture and the pastor or elders have to sit them down and bring correction. That is making a judgment. It isn't condemning them. It's calling into question their behaviors so it might line up with the things of scripture that their life will be blessed. And that's what discipline is intended to do. But people who are being convicted very often confuse that with condemnation. When this church first began, I had a woman approach me, I'll never forget her. I don't remember her name. I just remember what she said. And I'm telling you, this was 38 years ago. But she approached me. I never have forgotten. And she said to me, I don't come here. I normally, and she told me in the church she goes to, I normally go to this church. She said, I'm glad I came here today because I needed a little condemnation. And I looked at her and I said, condemnation. And I said, is that what I do when I teach? Am I condemning people? Because condemnation is bringing them to a place where they're disillusioned and depressed and down. I said, God, am I? And I think she meant conviction. I hope so. Conviction is the Holy Spirit. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. When you read the word of God, it's the word of God reading you. And you see, oh, that's what he wants, and that's not what I do. Lord, I want to do that. I'm convicted, condemned. There's no hope in condemnation. You're just being condemned. But convicted, there is hope. Because you can say, Lord, you're not pleased with this. Now I ask you to help me as I turn from it. And that's how God changes lives. That's how He works in us. It's not wrong for you to be convicted. I get convicted. We need conviction to the Spirit. So we line up with the things of the Lord. So Jesus is basically giving them a more full view of what Moses commanded. Someone said, let those who profess to judge Him by the law obeyed and form a just and honest opinion. Again, not be biased by the appearance of mere technicality. We judge with righteous judgment. Christians are not to judge on the basis of insufficient superficial information. Outward appearance is often deceptive. Somebody said, we as humans are not righteous by nature. The righteousness we have is of the Lord. It's called imputed righteousness. When Jesus instructed us to judge with righteous judgment, there is only one way that we can do that. And that is by the word of God. When we make a judgment on anything, we are to base it on what the scripture instructs us in accordance with that situation. That's judging righteous judgment. And so Jesus says, do not judge according to appearance. Judge with righteous judgment. In other words, the law that commanded man to rest also freed us to show mercy and love. And Jesus who was healing on the Sabbath was actually loving those people when these people were making improper judgment on him, condemning him, calling him a blasphemer and a Sabbath breaker because they were judging him in error, not knowing the heart of God is mercy and compassion. And that's how God works. Listen, I'm not asking any of you to go out and begin to make judgments on people. If it came off like I was, forgive me, I'm not. But what I am saying is, and I'll close with this thought, is the church is living in a dangerous period when people refuse to do what God says simply because it goes against what they want to do. And they're getting permission to continue in sin by friends who refuse to love them enough to tell them the truth. If you love somebody, love them enough to tell them the truth. I'm not saying jump on them. I'm not saying fight with them. I'm not saying be arrogant. Know who you are. Know that you're a sinner too. And exercise humility. And if you weep because it's real and your pain is real, as you're sharing with them, the sincerity of your tears very often is used by the Lord to reveal the depth of your concern. I remember my pastor, I'll bring Chuck up one last time. How he had a friend who was a minister who was committing adultery, moved out of his house and was living with another woman many years ago, obviously now. And Chuck said his heart was so gripped and broken by what this man was doing, that he went to go see him to try and win him back. And Chuck says that he went to the man's apartment and knocked on the door. The man was there, he opens the door. Chuck says I walked in, I sat down in the front room. I looked at my friend and he looked back at me and his new girlfriend, the woman he had left his wife for, was in another room. And Chuck said I walked in and I sat there and I looked at this man and he looked back at me, this friend that I've known for so long. And he said, I had no words to speak. I just looked at him and began to cry. And he said as I began to cry, I had to get up and walk out. He said I didn't say a word to him, I just looked at my friend and I wept. And he said the man was so convicted and so broken by the tears of a friend that he left the woman he was living with, went home, reconciled with his wife and moved on. He brought conviction by a broken heart. When we give permission to people to stay in sin, when we don't have a word to say because we don't want to be called judges, that's satanic, that is not the spirit. Because I told my dad, you're a good man, the best man I'll ever know, but you will go to hell without Jesus Christ. That was in hatred and that was in judgment. That was concern and that was love because I didn't want to go to heaven without my dad. You have to have a love in your heart that's willing to reach out to people and even be rejected by them. Because today if you say something, you're a judge. What gives you the right to judge me, bro? It's what they'll say, no one gave me the right to judge you but I love you and I'm telling you the truth without Christ you're lost and your life is messed up and the world doesn't care if you go to hell but I'm a believer and I do. And that's why I tell you the truth and that's why I as a pastor don't avoid the hard subjects with you because I love you and I want you to know the truth so that your life is free in Jesus Christ. That's what pastors are supposed to do. We don't avoid the truth, we call it. That's what God calls us to do. We need to judge with righteous judgment. Father, we have.