This evening, we're going to
observe the Lord's Table together. I'm going to be preaching upon
this subject, idolatry. John, chapter seven, I'd like
you to read verse 24 with me. Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. Things are seldom As they appear. You know that so. And I know
that so. You and I are called upon to
judge righteous judgment. What about that scripture that
says judge not that you be not judged, should we should we just
not judge altogether? Well. You got to look at that
in the light of other scriptures. And here the Lord tells us to
make a judgment. Judge not according to appearance.
But judge righteous judgment. Appearances are deceiving. We are called upon to judge righteous
judgment. I want to do that, don't you?
Whatever it means to do that, I want. to do that myself. Now, what led the Lord to make
this statement? Look up in verse 19 of John,
chapter seven. The Lord says to. These people
he's speaking to. Did not Moses give you the law? And yet none of you keep the
law, Why go ye aback to kill me? Now, these people had made
a judgment concerning Christ, and they wanted to kill Him over
it. I mean, this was not just, well, here's your opinion and
here's my opinion. No, they made a judgment regarding Christ that
made them want to put Him to death. Look in verse 1 of chapter
7. After these things, Jesus walked
in Galilee for he would know he would not walk in Jewry or
Jerusalem because the Jews sought to kill him. They were so angry
with him, they wanted to murder him. What's he referring to?
Well, look back in chapter five. Verse 16, this is where the trouble
began, as it were. with this group of people. Verse
16, John chapter 5, And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus,
and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the
Sabbath day. They accused him of breaking
the Sabbath. Therefore he should be killed. Did he break the Sabbath? Now, according to their appearance
and according to the judgment they made, yes, he did break
the Sabbath. Did he break the Sabbath? Absolutely not. They had no understanding of
the Sabbath. They judged according to appearance. It appeared that he broke the
Sabbath. But he didn't break the Sabbath.
Look in verse 17 of John chapter 5. He's replying to them after
they seek to slay him. But Jesus answered them, my father,
work hitherto and I work therefore the Jews sought the more to kill
him because he not only had broken the Sabbath but said also that
God was his father making himself equal with God now they understood
what he's saying he was making this claim I'm equal with God
but they looked at him and said he doesn't appear to be equal
with God we know his mom and dad we know his brothers and
sisters He's the carpenter's son. Equal with God? They made
a judgment concerning Him. He can't be equal with God. Look at Him. They made a judgment
according to appearance. Back to our text in John chapter
7, they also made a wrong judgment concerning themselves. Now, the Lord said in verse 19,
Did not Moses give you the law? And yet none of you keep the
law. Why go ye about to kill me? The people answered and said,
you have a devil. You're demon possessed. You're
crazy. We're not going about to seek to kill you. You're dealing
with paranoia right now. I mean, you're paranoid. Who's
going about to seek to kill you? Now, these people made a wrong
judgment concerning themselves. According to God's holy law,
they were murderers and they didn't see it. Now, they desired
to kill the Lord Jesus, but because that they had not committed the
physical act, they thought, we're not guilty. But the Lord says,
you are guilty. You're going about to seek to
kill me. You don't keep the law. You claim
to, but you don't keep the law. And they made a judgment regarding
the Lord Jesus Christ. They said, you're demon possessed.
That's some kind of judgment, isn't it? They said to Jesus
Christ, the Lord, you're possessed by a demon. So you see, they
made some judgments, some very strong judgments, didn't they?
But were they righteous judgments? They were judged according to
appearance. And not according to righteousness. So the Lord answers them in verse
21. Jesus answered and said unto
them, I have done one work, and you all marvel." And that's not
the marveling of worship. Have you ever read in the Scripture
something regarding the Lord Jesus Christ? Like that passage
of Scripture I read in Colossians chapter 1, all things were made
by Him and for Him. And He is before all things. By Him all things consist, and
you marvel. What a glorious God. What a majestic
person. I mean, He is so far above and
beyond anything we can even conceive. That's what we think of Him.
He's altogether lovely. We marvel. He's not talking about
that kind of marveling. He's talking about the marveling
of unbelief. An incredulous view of what He
says. I've done one work, and you all
marvel. We know what work he was talking
about. Look down in verse 23 of John chapter 7. If a man on
the Sabbath day receives circumcision, that the law of Moses should
not be broken. In other words, a man can be
circumcised on the Sabbath day, and you don't accuse him of breaking
the Sabbath. Are you angry at me? Because
I have made a man every whit hole on the Sabbath day. Now this is what these people
became so upset with. This is why they wanted to kill
him. He said, I have made a man every
whit hole on the Sabbath day. Now we need to revisit what took
place. So turn back to John chapter 5. Verse 1. After this there was a feast
of the Jews. And Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now, there was
a Jerusalem by the sheep market, a pool, which is called in the
Hebrew tongue, Bethesda, having five porches. And in these lay
a great multitude of impotent folk, powerless folk. And they're described thusly,
blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.
For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled
the water. Whosoever then first, after the
troubling of the water, stepped in, was made whole of whatsoever
disease he had. And a certain man was there which
had an infirmity thirty-eight years. Now, this man was powerless. He was impotent. He could not
walk. He utterly lacked the ability
to walk. There he lays. Nothing he could
do about it. He represents what you and I
are unable. Simple. He couldn't get into
the water. The only way he could be brought
into that water is if somebody else brought him into the water.
He could not get into the water. Now what this is a reference
to is human sinfulness. Total depravity. Total inability. Now what does total depravity
mean? You're all familiar probably with the term totally depraved.
What does that mean? Does that mean everybody's a would-be axe
murderer? For everybody who would be pedophile,
well, if God restrained, took the restraints off of you and
I, we would be. We would be. There's no doubt
about it. There's no sin that you and I would not commit. You
believe that about yourself? There's no sin you wouldn't commit.
But total depravity doesn't so much mean that, although that's
certainly included. It means every faculty of man
is under the dominion and control of sin. He's understanding? He
can't understand the gospel. No matter how clearly I preach,
you can't understand it unless God opens your understanding.
The will is chained to sin. How can you that are accustomed
to doing evil do that which is good? Can the Ethiopian change
his skin or the leopard his spots? You can't change that. I mean,
your understanding, your affections, the natural man hates the things
of God. Hates them as far as what the
Bible teaches. Inability. And it's described by this in
John chapter 6, verse 44. Look what our Lord says. John chapter 6, verse 44, no
man can. That has to do with ability.
He doesn't say, no man may come. You can come if you want. And
the Lord's not going to keep anybody from coming. If you want
to come to the Christ, you can come. He's not going to kick
you out. He said, him that cometh to me, I'll let no wise cast
out. He's not talking about whether or not you're allowed to come
here. He says, no man can come to me. He lacks the ability to
come to me because of his sinful nature, except the Father which
has sent me. Draw him and beloved, this is
our crime. This is our crime, the fact that
you and I will not by nature come to Christ, that is our crime. And it was this man's fault that
he was in this condition. Look with me in verse seven. Sixteen or no, I'll find it here. Verse 13 of John chapter 5. And
he that was healed wist not who it was, for Jesus had conveyed
himself away, a multitude being in that place. And afterwards
Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou
art made whole. Sin no more, lest a worse thing
come unto thee. Now, how many different ways
are there to detect that? Now, a principle is being taught
here. I've had some very serious illnesses
before, and I guarantee you there were people who were thinking,
what did he do that made God bring that on him? Let me answer that question like
this. A whole lot worse than what I
got. But God doesn't give somebody
an affliction so much as a punishment. You have a sickness. The Lord
brought it your way if you're a believer. It's for your good.
It's for his glory. It's best. It's best. You're
not being punished because of something. I know that so. I know that so. But yet our Lord
points out that this man, he comes up to him, he says, sin
no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. He's telling this
man, this is your fault that this happened. Now, here's the
point. Here's the principle that's being
taught. God is absolutely sovereign and
men are responsible. Whatever happens to you is all
your fault. All your sin is all your fault. You can blame God's sovereignty
if you want. A lot of folks do that. But all your sin is all
your fault. God is absolutely sovereign He's
in control of everything. He's the first cause behind everything. That's the God of the Bible.
That's who He is. That's truth. And it's equally
true that all your sin is all your fault. And if I don't believe
in human responsibility, I don't really believe in God's sovereignty.
Not as the Bible teaches it. Yes, we believe in God's absolute
sovereignty. I believe in the absolute predestination
of everything. God is the cause. And I also
know beyond a shadow of a doubt that men are responsible. Inability
does not negate responsibility. Now, put that in your pot and
smoke it. Inability does not negate responsibility. This man's sin was all his fault. Now look what the Lord says to
him in verse 6, John chapter 5. When Jesus saw him lie and knew
that he'd been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him,
wilt thou be made whole? What a question. Are you willing
to be made whole? Are you? If the Lord Jesus asked
that question to you right now. Are you willing? Do you desire
to be made whole? Now, this fellow didn't understand
what he said, because look what he said in verse 7. The impotent
man answered him and said, Sir, I have no man when the water
is troubled to put me into the pool, but while I'm coming another
steps down before me. He didn't understand what the
Lord asked, because he said, I can't get in there. That's not what
the Lord asked him. He said, Are you willing to be made whole? Verse 8, Jesus saith unto him,
Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately, verse 9, the
man was made whole and took up his bed and walked. He was made to be What he was
not. Now hold your finger there in
John 5, turn back to John chapter 7, verse 23. If a man on the Sabbath day receives
circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken, are
you angry at me? Because I have made. I have made
a man every whit hole on the Sabbath day. Now, there is no
understanding of the gospel without some understanding of this word
made. I have made a man. Every withhold on the Sabbath
day. Now, let's look at a few verses of scripture in the book
of John. Turn to John 1. In the beginning was the word
And the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. All things were, and here's the
introduction to this Word by John, all things were made by
Him. And without Him was not anything
made that was made. You see, this word made has to
do with the act of creation. There was a time when there was
no planet, no planet Earth, no stars, no sun, no moon, no universe,
no material existence. All there was, was God. And He made the universe. He spake the universe into existence. He willed the universe into existence. What was not was made to be. Now, how much assistance did
he have in this act? Who did he consult with about
this? Did he ask somebody's permission before he could do it? No, all
there was was God, and he did this as an act of his mighty
will without any help, without any consulting, without any advice. He made it. Salvation is a creative
act of God. It's not a cooperative thing.
It's not God saying, well, I'll save you if you'll let me save
you. Will you let me? No, that's foolishness. It's nothing but
foolishness. He saves by an act of his will. That's what made
means. Turn to John 2, verse 11. This beginning of miracles
did Jesus in Canaan of Galilee and manifested forth his glory.
Now, that word beginning doesn't simply mean the first in order
of time. It means the chief miracle, the most important miracle. So this passage of scripture
tells us that this is actually the most important miracle that
the Lord Jesus ever did. Now, he did some miraculous things. I mean, he raised the dead. He
gave sight to the blind. It seems like this would be a
more, those things would be more important than just making water
into wine. But yet the Bible says this is
the chief miracle. It's the most important miracle.
Now, why is that? Well, look what verse 9 says. When the ruler
of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine. This is the key. The water was
made wine. And he knew not which it was,
but the servants which drew the water knew. The governor of the
feast called the bridegroom and said, Every man at the beginning
doth set forth good wine. And when men have well drunk,
then that which is worse, but you kept the good wine until
now. Now here's the point of this miracle. What happened?
Water, H2O, was made to be what it was not. It wasn't water that
tasted like wine. It wasn't water that looked like
wine. It wasn't water that smelled like wine. It wasn't as if it
were wine. It was wine. It was the real
thing. It was water and it was made
wine. It was made to be what it was
not. Turn to John chapter 5. We've
already looked at this. Verse 9. And immediately, the man, this
impotent man who was so weak and so helpless, immediately,
in an instant, right like that, the man was made whole. And took up his bed and walked,
and the same day was the Sabbath. Now, he didn't gradually recover. I remember back in 1988. I'm
going to talk about one of my health problems. Everybody's
interested in that. I had proteinuria and it's where
protein spills out your urine and I, it was a very severe case
of proteinuria. And when you have proteinuria,
protein spills out your urine, you lose your, your body's got
to compensate somewhere. And so it'll start getting to
your muscles, and eating your muscles, and I got down to 140
pounds. Maybe it was 143, but that's
40 pounds lighter than I am now. I mean, I look like a POW. And
I lost my ability to walk. I was laid in bed, but I was
on my back for weeks. And I did not have the strength
to walk. And I remember when they first
got me up, they put me on this table in physical therapy and just
kind of bent it up to try to get the blood. I don't know what
the The mechanics behind it is to get blood in my head or something
like that. I didn't mean blood in my head. The point I'm trying
to make is I couldn't just up and walk. First, I was on a walker. And I remember, I mean, it was
just gradually, gradually, gradually trying to walk. Now, did this
fellow just gradually learn to walk? Scripture says immediately. He'd been laying there for 38
years. Immediately. He picked up his
bed and he walked. And I bet he walked perfectly.
I know he walked perfectly. You see, the Lord gave him strength.
He was made whole. And notice what the Lord says
in John chapter 7 verse 23. He said, if a man on the Sabbath
day receives circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be
broken, are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit on the Sabbath day. Is that not precisely what happens
when God saves a sinner? He is made. And that's powerful
language. He has made every wit whole,
altogether whole, wholly whole, altogether sound, saved to the
uttermost. Now, here's what is meant by
that. Here's the doctrine of this. I mean, this is miraculous. We're awed by the miracle that
took place. But here's the doctrine behind
this. Here's what's meant. My whole salvation is historical. Now, what do I mean by that?
My whole salvation is historical. Well, that means it's not something
that is not yet. It could not be said to be everywith
altogether complete if some part of it had not yet been done,
could it? My whole salvation, every wit
is historical. If I will be saved, I'm not yet
saved. But if I'm already saved, I cannot
not be saved. My salvation is It's not something that is going
to be. It's something that already is. This man was not made gradually
whole, a little bit stronger every day, walked a little bit
better every day. He was made completely whole
immediately. Now, complete wholeness, everywhithole. Listen to this statement. It's
not the goal we're striving to obtain. It's the starting point. It is not that which we're seeking
after. It's where we begin. Colossians
chapter 2 verse 10 says, you not will be one of these days
complete in Him. It says you are complete, altogether whole. You are complete in Him. Every whit hole, no part is incomplete. Now, when we talk about salvation,
God's salvation. We're talking about a complete
salvation. And I mean every aspect of that
is complete. I'm completely justified. Christ is my righteousness before
God. And I'm completely justified.
I'm completely sanctified. Do you know that in heaven, when
I'm standing in the very presence of Jesus Christ, I will not be
any more holy than I am right now. Now, that's a hard thing
to get hold of, I realize that. But that shows you just how much
the flesh drags us down. You've got the flesh and that
makes that, you can only believe that by faith. You can't really
grab a hold of it and say, well, I'm really holy now. I mean,
no, it's not like that, but it's true. I'm not going to be any
more holy in heaven than I am right now. I've got the holy
nature given in the new birth. I'm altogether holy in that sense. And I'm altogether glorified.
You don't look glorified, but does the Bible say I am? Romans
8.30, whom he justified, then he also glorified. Past tense. And this is how real
union with Christ is. If He's glorified, you know who
else is? I am. Really? Really. You believe the Bible
is the Word of God? The Bible says, Whom He justified,
then He also glorified in altogether complete salvation. And this
is the confession of every single believer. Look back in John chapter
5. This is what this fellow said who the Lord did this for. Look
in verse 15. The man departed and he told
the Jews that it was Jesus which had made him whole. There's my confession. It was Jesus. Who made, all that
word means, be, all that word means, whole, all that word means. And all the glory goes to Him
because He did it all. How whole? How whole am I? Well, how whole, how sound is
the righteousness of God? In cracks in it? And he holds
in it the righteousness of God. Any way it can become unrighteous?
God's righteousness is impeccable. It's absolute. And Scripture
says in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21, For He hath made Him to be
sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Now back to our text in John
chapter 7, verse 22. Moses therefore gave unto you
circumcision, not because it's of Moses. It didn't originate
with Moses. Abraham was circumcised. It's
of the fathers. And you on the Sabbath day circumcise
a man. Now, according to the law, you
were to be circumcised eight days after you were born. Never
nine, never seven, only eight. And sometimes that eighth day
fell upon the Sabbath day. And people circumcised their
children on the Sabbath day. Now, was the Sabbath broken when
they did this? No, the Sabbath was not broken. Verse 23, if
a man on the Sabbath day received circumcision, that the law of
Moses should not be broken, are you angry at me because I have
made a man every whit hole on the Sabbath day. Now, obviously,
I did not break the Sabbath day. It may have appeared to you that
I broke the Sabbath day, but judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment. Now, here's the watchword for
this hour. Don't you want to do this? Judge
not according to appearance. Appearances are deceiving. All that glitters is not gold. Judge not according to appearance,
but judge righteous judgment. Now, I want to say this with
regard to others. I want to say this with regard
to circumstances. And I want to say this with regard
to myself. Judge not according to appearance,
but judge righteous judgment. With regard to others. Just because a man appears to
be religious, that doesn't mean he's a Christian. All that glitters is not gold. Judge not according to appearance,
but judge righteous judgment. Let's say you see a man at a
moment when he does not appear to be a Christian. That doesn't mean he's not. If I would take certain snapshots
of your life, and if you would take certain snapshots of my
life, and you would show those snapshots to somebody, what would
they say? They'd say, he couldn't be a Christian. You know that's so. You know
that's so. Does that mean I'm not? Judge not according to appearance.
But judge righteous judgment. With regard to circumstances. Judge not according to appearance.
But judge righteous judgment. Now, the example that comes to
my mind is the rich man and Lazarus. The Scripture says the rich man
fared sumptuously Every day he had it made. And what about poor
old Lazarus? He was laid at the door of the
rich man in poverty, filled with sores and disease. He had dogs
licking on his sores. There he lays every day. Which
man had God's blessing? According to appearance, The
rich man had it. According to righteousness who
had it, Lazarus was the one who was blessed of God. It was Lazarus
who was carried into Abraham's bosom. Judge not according to
the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. You know, regarding
a believer, regarding a believer and his circumstances, I don't
care what the circumstances are, they're all good. All of them? All of them. They
don't appear to be good, but they are good, because God sent
them. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are called
according to His purpose. Now, judge not according to appearance,
but judge righteous judgment. And regarding the unbeliever,
oh, he's got it made. He's got plenty of money in the
bank. He's got health. No problems. No trials. Judge
not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
If I'm outside of Christ, everything is bad. Everything. Nothing good. Judge not according
to appearance, but judge righteous judgment. So we see that we're
to judge not according to appearance, but righteous judgment with regard
to others, with regard to circumstances and with regard to self. Would
you turn with me to Romans chapter six? Paul is speaking to believers. And he says, likewise reckon
ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto
God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Would God tell me to reckon
myself to be dead indeed to sin if I were not dead indeed to
sin in fact? Would God tell me to do something
that's not so? Now, according to the scriptures,
if Christ died for me, if God has saved me, I am dead to sin. You don't live dead to sin. Maybe. But judge not according
to the appearance. But judge righteous judgment. If God says I'm dead to sin and
sin has nothing to say to me, God's law has been honored. Sin
has been put away. And I'm alive under God. If God
says I'm dead to sin, you know what? I am dead to sin. And I am alive under God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Judge not according to appearance,
but judge righteous judgment. Remember, faith is the evidence
of things not You sure can't make a judgment there according
to appearance, can you? It's the evidence of things not
seen. If I judge according to sight,
it's against faith. We walk by faith and not by sight. Judge not the Lord by feeble
sense, but trust Him for His grace. Behind a frowning providence,
He hides a smiling face. Blind unbelief is sure to err. and to scan his works in vain. God is his own interpreter, and
he will make it plain. Judge not according to appearance,
but judge righteous judgment. Amen. Let's pray.