Jesus at the Feast of Booths Part 2 - Practicing Righteous Judgment - John 7:14-24

0:55But when it was now the midst of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach. The Jews then were astonished, saying, How has this man become learned, having never been educated? So Jesus answered them and said, My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone is willing to do his will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from myself. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory. But he who is seeking the glory of the one who sent him, he is true, and there is no unrighteousness in him. Did not Moses give you the law? And yet none of you carries out the law. Why do you seek to kill me? The crowd answered, You have a demon. Who seeks to kill you? Jesus answered them, I did one deed, and you all marvel. For this reason, Moses has given you circumcision, not because it is from Moses, but from the fathers. And on the Sabbath, you circumcise a man. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry with me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath? Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment. If you will remember, the whole purpose of John's gospel is to explain why Jesus was crucified. If Jesus is from the Jews and truly is the king of the Jews, why did they crucify him? It's a good question, right? And why is the temple laid low? If the king of Israel means anything, number one, the nation is devastated and their own people crucified their own Messiah. So how do we take Jesus seriously? And these were the issues the early church is facing, and John writes to address those.

2:57And we come to a passage this morning. That is really dealing with the core of that rejection. What really was involved at a deep level? What took place. And so it's in this context that Jesus is going to exhort the crowd, exhort the Jews, exhort everyone there to practice righteous judgment. Make sure you judge this situation correctly. That's where the exhortation is going to come and go. And he gives us that same exhortation today: judge and judge righteously. In fact, what is the most often quoted verse from the Bible today?

3:47Is it John 3:16? What would you say it is? Judge not, right? That's the one, Matthew 7:1. Judge not. And that's usually where it stops, right? Judge not. Don't be judging me, right? I mean, this verse is a favorite of those who wish to silence someone who raises up a biblical standard of morality. And the interpretation goes something like this: Jesus said to stop judging, so you stop judging. Stop making a distinction between what is good and what is evil, and just be quiet.

4:24Right? Because what's really immoral is making judgments or making distinctions about anything. And that's really how the interpretation goes. In fact, it's the most often quoted. And its argument is very effective, right? Because it silences so many. Pull out the big stick. Pull out. You're just a judgmental monster. Now be quiet. And that's about how it goes, right? But such an interpretation is really superficial. It takes a very little bit of what Jesus said, and it makes a hasty assessment of Jesus' words, puts words into his mouth that he never intended. But if you take a more closer look or a deeper look, you'd find that even in Matthew 7, 1, he's not saying that at all. In fact, if one keeps reading in Matthew 7, they would quickly discover that Jesus expects people to make judgments all the time. That we are commanded to make distinctions. In fact, even in Matthew 7, Jesus is saying, you need to make sure you know the difference between what is holy and what is a dog. You need to make sure you know the difference between what is a pearl and what's a pig.

5:37Right? Pearls and pigs. That'd make a good sermon, right? In verse 11, he speaks about you need to know the difference between good and evil. In verse 15, the difference between sheep and wolves. In verse 16, the difference between grapes and thorns and figs and thistles. In verse 17, good fruit and bad fruit. In verse 18, good trees and bad trees. And in verse 19, The fiery judgment that's going to come upon fruitless trees. So, John 7, I mean, Matthew 7, Jesus is very much expecting people to make distinctions, to make judgments.

6:13And those people who put into Jesus' mouth words that he never intended miss the whole point of not only Matthew 7, but what is going on explicitly in our text this morning. It's clear that what Jesus is against is he's against unrighteous judgment, hypocritical judgment, the kind of judgment that would so have a log in your own eye and seek to remove the speck from someone else's, a hypocritical judgment, a kind of judgment that's based on uneven scales. That's the kind of judgment that he forbids. In fact, the command, the main command in our passage this morning is judge. You be judging. Wow. Look at verse 24. It comes at the end of this section. Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment. Both of those are imperative commands. Do not judge according to mere appearance, but you be judging. And there's that, y'all. Y'all be judging with righteous judgment. Judgment. Judge things rightly. But the command, the imperative command is judge. Judge. You must judge. If you're going to be a follower of Christ, you must judge.

7:45But you must judge rightly. And the question is: judge what? What is that issue in this whole passage? What is the object that Jesus wants us to judge rightly on? Well, the main issue in our passage is Jesus' teaching. Look back at verse 14, the beginning of this. But when it was now the midst, that is the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach. The Jews were astonished, saying, How has this man become learned, having never been educated? So the issue is he's up there teaching. So this is in the context as he's teaching. Remember, he was a little boy. He goes into the same area and he teaches, and everybody is amazed, even as a 12-year-old. And so here he is again in these same corridors, speaking and teaching, and people are amazed. In fact, the Jews, his opponents, are like, how does this guy know what he knows? He's never gone to any one of our schools. How did he get this? I mean, his teaching was something.

9:00And many people speculate: what was he teaching on? Well, maybe he was talking about the feast itself and all its symbolism and how it pointed to himself. Good argument, right? Maybe he was talking about light. Maybe he was talking about living water. But John doesn't tell us, right? Because John's emphasis isn't upon the particular teaching, but upon the quality of teaching that Jesus was notorious for. In fact, I think one of the clearest pictures of just how astonishing Jesus's teaching was. Look at verse 32 in chapter 7. Pharisees are upset with him, so they heard the crowd muttering all these things about him. And the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to seize him. So they go out to seize him. And then in verse 45, these officers come back. The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to him, Why did you not bring him? The officers answered, Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.

10:05I mean, they were taken. His speaking, his preaching, his teaching was brilliant. It was captivating. It was soul-arresting. It was insightful. It was astonishing. So, question: where did he get this teaching? Where does this come from? It's never been taught. Verse 16. So Jesus answered and said, My teaching, that is my doctrine, my teaching is not my own, but his who sent me. It's not my own. It doesn't belong to me. It belongs to him. I am communicating something that belongs to him. His doctrine belongs to him, and I am simply teaching the doctrine of the one who sent me.

11:01So there was astonishment, and then there was Jesus' explanation. This teaching is not my own. And it really wasn't. It came from heaven. It came from his Father. And what a lesson for all of us teachers, right? All who would enter to teach in any capacity whatsoever. We are simply to be taking the message of the one who sent us. And that's exactly what Christ did. But Jesus, in that situation, he wanted people to judge rightly because they're wavering between two opinions. Is this man good? Is this man bad?

11:47And he wants them to come to the right conclusion concerning his teaching and who he is. Is Jesus from man and so speaks from a man? Who has visions of grandeur? Or who is insane? Or is he from God and speaks for God? Where is Jesus from? Let's talk about you for just a moment. Where do you honestly think Jesus is from? How do you relate to his words? How do you relate to him? This is the most important judgment you will ever make, and you're called to judge. Who is this Jesus?

12:41Is he from man or is he from God? It's the most important judgment you will ever make, and you will make it. Because Jesus inserted himself into this world. He presses himself in upon us, and we will make a judgment. Even indifference is a judgment about him. You can't set him aside. So we need to get this one right, right? He wants us to get it right. So we need to have some kind of criteria to know how to judge Jesus.

13:30He gives it to us. He gives it to the crowd that day. He gives us three principles of righteous judgment. And these are applicable to really any decision that you would ever make in life at all. There'll be some application there for sure. And we need to learn how to make righteous decisions, righteous judgments. But Jesus gives him three principles of righteous judgment so that you and I will judge rightly and especially judge his teaching rightly. He expects us to judge him in this regard. And so he gives us criteria from which to judge him. So righteous judgment. I want to talk about righteous judgment and how we practice it. First of all, righteous judgment, number one, stems from the right motive. Righteous judgment stems from the right motive. And this is based on the principle of obedience. Principle of obedience. Look at verse 17. If anyone is willing to do his will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from myself. If you will to do God's will, you will know.

14:54That's the idea. Two kinds of teachers are involved here: there's the teacher that comes from God. And there's a teacher that comes from man. One from God comes through man. There is one from man that comes through himself. Right? Two kinds of teachers. And how are we to judge between the two? The whole idea here: if anyone is willing, that is, if anyone is desiring the desire of him, if anyone is willing the will of him to do, to practice. And the idea of willing and desire here speaks about a deep-rooted determination. What is your motive for making an assessment of Christ?

15:42Is your motive or for any matter? What is your motive for judging any matter? Is your motive to do the will of him? To do the will of God? If that is your motive, if your will is to do the will of God, then you're going to be able to practice or begin to practice righteous judgment. You see, the key to knowing whether or not Jesus is from God is the will to do the will of God. An honest desire to obey God is necessary to be certain about the one sent from God, right? That's what Jesus does here. He turns. The tables on him. They were critiquing him about his teaching. Is his teaching from God or not? And Jesus turns the table and says, Let me critique your motive. Is it to obey what you learn or not? Are you driven to obey God's will or are you driven for some other reason?

16:55You see, the judge will judge them based upon how they judged the judge. Think about this: the judge will judge us based upon how we judge the judge. You see, Jesus is saying something to this effect: What you have just heard from me is not my invention. They're marveling about his teaching. He says, That's not my invention. You have heard the doctrine of the one who sent me. That's what you have heard. So the issue is not how you relate to me, but how you relate to the doctrine of the one who sent me. That's what's at issue.

17:38And if you really want convincing proof that I have come from him, then you must see to it that your mind is honest before him and your heart is willing to do whatever he wants you to do. That's the criteria for righteous judgment. Ultimately, we have to want. To have an we want to have an honest mind so that we can know the will of God and an honest heart to do the will of God. And if those and if that's not there, guess what? You're not going to hear God's voice, you're not going to see God in the speaker, you're not going to hear God in the words, even if He was standing right before you.

18:28You must have an honest mind and an honest heart. And Jesus said, Do this, and you will know that I came to speak from God. You see, you cannot know unless you do. If you have no desire to do, you will skew the information so that you won't see the obvious. Do what you know, and He will give you more. Be faithful in little, and more will be given. You know, there's a real important lesson for evangelism here, isn't there? Because deep down is what's at issue: not information or logical argument, but a heart disposition. Speak to the heart. Call people to do what they already know is right.

19:24And question their motivation, why they don't do what they even know is right. Because deep down, the issue is not just logical argument. The fundamental condition for obtaining spiritual knowledge is a genuine heart desire to carry out the revealed will of God in our lives. Pink says it well. Whenever the heart is right, God gives the capacity to apprehend his truth. If the heart be not right, what good would it be the value of knowing God's truth? God will not grant light on his word unless we truly are anxious to walk according to that light. If the motive of the investigator is pure, then he will obtain an assurance that the teaching of Scripture is of God. And that will be far more convincing and conclusive than a hundred logical arguments. So, bottom line, there's a heart issue, and only the truthful will recognize Jesus as the truth.

20:37You see, righteous judgment stems from the right motive. And this has application for us, a lesson for us, for any student of teacher, or any student of Scripture. Let our motive be obedience. As you come to the scripture, come with the intent to obey. And he Will give you light. It's also a guide for critiquing any teacher at all. Even as you critique me right now, you have to decide: are the words that I'm communicating from heaven or are they from me and earth and to what degree? Right?

21:20And let me say something. A Bible teacher or preacher who hardly stays in the Bible is not from God. There's a variety of preachers and teachers around that will take a scripture and just go off. Let me tell you something, not from God. They're communicating their own thoughts, not from God. And that's what Jesus is saying. It's a pattern here for every teacher. Righteous judgment stems from the right motive, a motive to obey. Second, practicing righteous judgment. Righteous judgment stems from the right motive. Second, righteous judgment seeks the right goal. And this is the principle of glory. Principle of glory. Look at verse 18. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory, but he who is seeking the glory of the one who sent him, he is true. And there is no unrighteousness in him. Two kinds of glory: there's the glory of man, there's the glory of God. Two goals of a teacher, right? To glorify man or to glorify God, or to glorify himself or to glorify God. The one who speaks from himself seeks his own fame.

22:53I mean, have you ever thought of it like that? The one who is more about preaching his own ideas and his own thoughts and his own clever little connections is all about himself, seeks to advance himself. It's a truism laid out here by our Lord Himself. And he's going to compare himself to this truism, to this reality. But the one who seeks to communicate the ideas and thoughts of God seeks to advance the glory of God. And that's what Jesus is saying.

23:30And this is a strong word again for anybody who seeks to be a teacher, right? Teach the doctrines of the one who sent us. That's what we are to teach. Otherwise, we seek our own advancement. And, friends, we don't have much to advance. We really don't. Just as Jesus was taken with the wisdom of the Father, we need to be taken with the Wisconsin. With the wisdom of Christ who sent us. Jesus does not take credit for the teaching. He merely communicated that which belonged to another. And why did he do that? Because he sought God's glory. He was so taken with the wisdom of his father that he sought to communicate it in all of its brilliance.

24:27Jesus was not infatuated with his own mind, as many teachers and preachers are today. I mean, you don't seem over there. Wow, did you see that connection I just made? Yeah, and I've got more where that comes from. You know, let me tell you something. You thought that was good? Let me tell you some more. Yeah, yeah, that's my teaching, and let me tell you some more. Not at all. You don't see a hint of that, right? He is taken with the doctrine of his father. And that's what he sought to advance.

25:07In fact, in John 5:44, he speaks to this Jewish generation of leadership, and he says, How can you believe when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? In other words, they violated this principle of glory. And because they violated this principle of glory, They got off in their judgment. They were not seeking the right goal. They were seeking their own advancement and not seeking the advancement of the Father. And therefore, they made a quick and hasty assessment of Jesus and dismissed him. Right?

25:47Let that not be us. Jesus spoke the words of God, and he did so because he sought the glory of God, and therefore, because of that, his words were true, a true reflection of God. There was no unrighteousness in him, there were no unjust scales, he had no mixed interest, he had no dog in an other race, he wasn't trying to propagate himself, he was all about advancing God's glory. And when you're all about advancing God's glory instead of your own, your judgment will be sound because there will be no division, impartiality. When you're all about God's glory, your judgment will be right or good or certainly on the right track.

26:50So, third, righteous judgment not only does it stem from the right motive and seeks the right goal, it sees beyond the surface. It sees beyond the surface. And this is that principle of thought, that principle of thought. I mean, he speaks about the principle of obedience, a principle of glory, and the principle of thought. Righteous judgment sees beyond the surface. And Jesus expects us to give some thought to our actions and to our judgments. He commands us to judge, but he expects us to give some thought to our judgments.

27:29As in the next six verses, they're about Moses, they're about the law, they're about the Sabbath, they're about circumcision. All of these are involved. And what Jesus expects that crowd that day, he expected them to understand the big picture of how these all relate to one another and what God's overall picture for giving them was all about, what God intended these things to teach and communicate. And he expected the crowd to get this. Well, look at what he does. First of all, in verse 19, Jesus unmasked the Jews' intentions. He just takes the mask off and he says, verse 19, Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you carries out the law? Why do you seek to kill me?

28:20You know, no part of the law is clearer than the Ten Commandments, right? Violating the sixth commandment is clearly a no-no. By anybody's terms. You shall not murder, Exodus 20, 13. And yet, at this very moment, the Jews were active in pursuing him in order to kill him without any real basis in the law. But they wanted him dead. And they're going to achieve this goal six months later. So Jesus unmasks their intentions. And then Jesus turns around and exhorts the crowd to think through the conflict. So it's clear from verses 12 and 13 that the crowd knew there was a conflict between Jesus and the Jews. But no one would speak about this because they were afraid of the Jews. And so they know there's tension. And Jesus inserts himself and he forces them to make an assessment about him and come to an ultimate judgment about himself. So Jesus puts it out there, right? And this is what he does. He invades our world. He forces us to make a judgment about him. It's what he does. It's what he does in our world today. In fact, remember in Luke chapter 2 and verse 34, as Mary and Joseph present Jesus in the temple as a child, as a baby, Simeon. You remember Simeon? What does he say? He Comes up, that prophet comes and he blesses them. And he says to Mary his mother, behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel and for a sign to be opposed. And a sword will pierce even your own soul to the end that the thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.

30:23So Jesus is a sign that's going to be the cause of the rise and fall of many. He's going to be a sign to be opposed. He is the one that through him the thoughts of many hearts are going to be revealed. He is that litmus test. The way you judge the judge is how you will be judged. Such is Jesus. Our judgment of him becomes the basis of his judgment of us. Are we open to God? Are you truly open to God? Then you will be open to the one God sent. He does this today. He did that back then. To neglect him is to neglect the God who sent him.

31:14Judge Him of little worth. Judge the God who sent him of a little worth. But that's what he does. And to embrace him is to embrace God. So just as he did back then, he inserts himself into. Our world and expects you to make a judgment about him. Look back at verse 20. The crowd answered, You have a demon. Who seeks to kill you? What are you talking about? You have a demon. And I think what they're communicating here is more of an expression that we would say, you are out of your mind. I don't think they're actually attributing him, you are in league with Beelzebub.

32:03You are motivated by Beelzebub. I don't think that's, now they'll accuse him of that in other passages, but I think here this is an expression of you're out of your mind. They associated insanity with demon possession, and I think that that's what they're communicating. You've got a demon. You are out of your mind. Insane. And so I think what's happening here is the crowd obviously knows about the tension that existed between the Jewish leadership and Jesus, but it appears they're not aware that it had reached this level of murder.

32:42But notice how Jesus responds to him, and that's what's significant here. He doesn't turn around and respond to them in kind. What does he do? He turns around and says, Let me take you by the hand and let me lead you through the The issue. Let me help you think through the issue at hand so that you don't judge unrighteously, but that your judgment will be right. And that's what he does. And he says he asks them to think through three things, three issues. He's going to have them think through three issues. First of all, think through what I just did or think about what I did. Look at verse 21.

33:27Jesus answered them, that is the crowd, I did one deed, and you all marvel. So somehow, this miracle that Jesus did, and it's unquestionably linked back to John chapter 5 that had happened months ago and many months ago, but it was still fresh on their minds. It was the issue of the paralytic, the pool of Bethesda. You remember, he heals this man who had been paralyzed all his life, an invalid, tells him, get up, pick up your mat, walk. Right? And they were astonished. I think they're astonished on two levels here. First of all, there was the deed itself. Astonishing that somebody could come up and heal like this. Never seen anything like this.

34:17But there was another level at which they were astonished. And that is, he commanded them to carry something on the Sabbath. You all know. Marveled. Why are you marveling? They seem to be more astonished at his command to the paralytic to carry his mat than they were the miracle itself. And that is, you can see this in the reaction by the Jews. They are offended. They are astonished that this guy would claim to be from God and then tell this person to carry his mat on the Sabbath. That violates our Sabbath sensibilities. You can't do that and expect to be from God, right?

35:07It says, think about what I did. You know, by the way, that's what Jesus does. He comes and he challenges our sensibilities, doesn't he? He comes and he violates our moral sensibilities. He violates our theological sensibilities. But he does so so that we might judge rightly because he's good, because our sensibilities need to be disturbed. So he starts out, think about what I did. Now he says, now think about what you did. Look at verse 22. You think about what I did on the Sabbath. Now I want you to think about what you routinely do on the Sabbath. Verse 22, for this reason, Moses has given you circumcision, not because It is from Moses, but from the fathers. And on the Sabbath you circumcise a man. Now, the whole idea of circumcision is to remove the male foreskin. The word literally means to cut around, to cut off, to cut around the uncleanness. It's the idea. And it becomes the very symbol of uncleanness and impurity. And it was the mark of the covenant between Abraham and God. In fact, Genesis 17:10, God says this: This is my covenant speaking to Abraham, which you shall keep between me and you and your descendants after you. Every male among you shall be circumcised, and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between me and you. And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generation, a servant who is born in the house or is bought with money from any foreigner who is not of your descendants. So no doubt that this graphic symbol became a picture of the need for removing sin from the heart.

37:17It was the sign of the covenant, and it was a symbol of what needed to take place in the heart. But what's important here about circumcision in this context. Is that it predated the law of Moses. And that's what Jesus is pointing to. Not only did it predate the law of Moses, because it was given to Abraham, but it trumped the law of Moses when there was a conflict between this principle and the law that Moses gave. And what Jesus is basically saying here, he's saying, look, you are convinced that the need to circumcise takes priority over normal, routine Sabbath restrictions. So even if travel is required to circumcise an individual, even if somebody has to go beyond the prescribed distances, even if somebody has to go to work and carry the equipment or do whatever is necessary on the Sabbath in order to circumcise, you not only find it acceptable, but you find it necessary and good to do so because there is a part of this boy's body that needs to be fixed.

38:35And you don't try to kill the one who comes and performs the circumcision. Right? You routinely set aside Sabbath restrictions when a greater work is necessary, and you don't set out to try to kill those who do such good things on the Sabbath. Right? So Jesus says, think about what I did on the Sabbath. Now think about what you routinely do on the Sabbath. Now, he takes him to the pointed part. Think about your double standard here. And that's where he's going to lead them. Think about your double standard. Think about your inconsistency. Look at verse 23. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry with me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath?

39:35And the emphasis here is upon the entire man, just compared to a small part of him. If it's okay to fix a small part of a man that is out of order on the Sabbath, why would fixing his entire body be considered out of order? And by the way, which one of you can do what I just did to this guy over here at Bethesda? None of you can perform that kind of surgery, right? And so that's, he says, look, who I am is greater than any of those who you have who circumcise, and what I did is greater than their circumcision. So why would you get on me for doing something greater than circumcision? How can you not be guilty of violating the Sabbath and you hold Me guilty of violating the Sabbath. You see what he's getting at?

40:36It's like, what's really going on here? Are you really zealous for the law of Moses? Or are you just conveniently appearing to be so so that you can find justification to kill me? You see, Jesus sees right through our phony religion, doesn't he? Are you really as zealous as you appear? Or is there some kind of benefit that you get from appearing religious? Well, one thing that God hates is unequal scales. It's the very opposite of righteousness and justice. Proverbs 20:10 says, differing weights and differing measures, both of them are abominable to the Lord. So let us see beyond the surface. And that's where he goes. That's his exhortation to this generation. Look at verse 24. Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment. And there's the command. You all need to be judging. Yes, you're here between two opinions, and you need to be judging the situation rightly. Don't start changing the scales to accomplish your ends.

42:02You see, they were not thinking through the principles underlying the commands. Their judgment was superficial. It lacked deep consideration, and it was wrong in this incident. Such with us. We've got to be careful of superficial judgment, quick judgments that skim across the surface, make a hasty gloss of external appearances. You see, Jesus is, look, he told the guy, carry your mat on the Sabbath. And a hasty gloss would say, This man told this man to break the Sabbath. He's a bad man. That's how the argument was going. And it was effective, right?

42:50They were guilty of a wrong judgment. And Jesus urged them to stop their unrighteous assessments and to change their ways. Judge righteously. There was something great happening at the Pool of Bethesda that day in John chapter 5. Jesus' willingness and ability to heal a man on the Sabbath testified to something incredible. And it was not that there's a criminal in your midst over here going around healing people. He's not a criminal, but that's. Where they ended up. How can you be so far off?

43:36Something far greater than the Sabbath was there. The one who gives true rest was there. Something greater than circumcision was there. The one who can circumcise the heart was there. The true circumciser was there. You see, the law, Moses, circumcision, Sabbath, all point to one individual, Jesus Christ. And they missed it. And we can miss it. God was in their midst, not a criminal. And they missed the whole point because their judgment was not right. And Jesus is saying, you should be able to tell what kind of work I performed. It was a good work from a good person, from your loving Father. That's what happened. But you missed it. Your judgment was off. And the reason your judgment was off is because your heart is off.

44:45So let's learn from them. Righteous judgment stems from the right motive. Do you really want to do the will of God? Righteous judgment seeks the right goal that you would glorify Him, not advance yourself. And righteous judgment sees beyond the surface. Quote to you comment J. C. Ryle made. The principle here is one of vast importance. Nothing is so common as to judge too favorably or too unfavorably of characters and actions from merely looking at the outward appearance of things. We are apt to form hasty opinions of others, either for good or evil, on very insufficient grounds. We pronounce some men to be good and others to be bad, some to be godly and others to be ungodly, without anything but appearance to aid our decision. We should do well to remember our blindness and to keep in mind this text. The bad are not always so bad, nor the good so good as they appear. A nugget of gold may be covered with dirt and look worthless rubbish. One man's work may look good at first and yet turn out by and by to have been done from the basest motives. Another man's work may look very questionable at first and yet at last may prove Christlike and truly godly. From rashly judging by appearances May the Lord deliver us. And we need to be delivered from that, right? Because we can be very hasty and off in our judgments.

46:42We need to see beyond the surface. We need to judge righteously, especially when it comes to Christ. He is no ordinary person, is he? No ordinary teacher, no ordinary historical figure. He is the God who made you and desires to reconcile with you. So cease your own way. Cease your fallible assessments. Judge Him rightly and come to Him willingly. Deuteronomy chapter 16: As the children of Israel were about to go into the land, God commanded them, chapter 16 and verse 18: You shall appoint for yourselves judges and officers in all your towns which the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. You shall not distort justice, you shall not be partial, and you shall not. Take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous. Justice and only justice you shall pursue, that you may live and possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

48:18Possession of the land was going to be dependent upon their ability to execute true justice. They did not. Oh, they did for periods of time, and as they did, they flourished, and the times that they didn't, ultimately they withered. In Zechariah chapter 7, verses 8, 14, give us the conclusion of what happened in the land and why they were dispersed. Zechariah 7, verse 8. Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, Thus has the Lord of hosts said, Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother. And do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor, and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another. But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing. They made their hearts like flint, so that they could not hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore, great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. And just as he called, and they would not listen, so they called, and I would not listen, says the Lord of hosts. But I scattered them with the storm wind among all the nations whom they have not known. Thus the land is desolate behind them.

49:51They did not execute justice. And when Christ came, they judged him unrighteously. And in 70 AD, they were dispersed. Despora. But God is not done with them or with us. He wants us to practice righteous judgment. He wants us to think rightly about the one he sent. And he sent him for you. And how you judge this one will be the basis on which you were judged. So judge righteously. Judge carefully. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, forgive us so often. Father, we are so hasty in our assessment of who you are and the implications of your word. Father, many times we look, seek our own way. Father, many times we are about advancing our own glory.

51:01Father, forgive us for all of this. We are basic, fundamental, raw humanity, no different than this Jewish tribe that we read about. Father, we see that it's about us. And Father, we ask that you would have your way in us. Father, help us to respond. Help us to judge rightly. Help us to seek your will and become lovers of doing your will. Help us to seek your glory and be captivated by the wisdom of your glory. And help us, Father, to think deeply upon matters. Help us to judge rightly and to come to Christ fully, completely, and rightly as you would have us. In Christ's name, amen.