John chapter 7, our message will
be taken from John chapter 7, verse 18 down to verse 24. I'm entitling the message from
what the Lord says in verse 24, judge righteous judgment. He said, judge not according
to appearance, the way things seem to be, but, but, judge righteous
judgment. Now the Lord instructs us that
we are to make a righteous judgment as God's people, as believers,
not based upon the mere appearance of things, but rather the way
it really is. We're not to set ourselves up
as the standard of judgment. That's nothing more than hypocrisy.
That's nothing more than self-righteousness. The one and only standard of
judgment is the Word of God. When you measure a board, or
a carpenter would measure a board, and it was to be 24 and 5 eighths,
the carpenter would not just guess, would he? Well, I think
it's about that. No, the plan calls for 24 and
5 eighths. How do you know? It's not left
to your opinion, is it? You have to take a measure, tape,
a measuring, a rule, a standard, and you find 24 and 5 eighths,
and that's where you make your line, make your cut. It's not
something you just arbitrarily guess at. You have a standard,
a rule to follow. Such is that we find in the Word
of God. The one and only standard for
judgment is the Word of God. We're not to judge, as it says
in Matthew 7, to set ourselves as a standard of judgment. But
we, as believers, are to make righteous judgments, righteous
determination in things spiritual and relating to the gospel in
one way. And that's with the Word of God.
Now these folks here in John 7 were guilty of judging the
Lord by the way they thought things appeared. Not the way
they really were. They judged themselves to be
right and they judged the Lord Jesus Christ to be wrong, didn't
they? It was just the opposite. He
was right, they were wrong. They made that fatal mistake
of judging by appearance. Turn over here to John 8. John chapter 8. And look at verse
15. John 8, 15. We're going to see
this when we get over to chapter 8. He said, You judge after the
flesh. You judge in an outward appearance.
I judge no man. just by fleshly standards, God
looks on the heart. He knows. You judge after the
flesh and we're all guilty of these things. Remember the old saying, you've
all heard this saying, don't judge a book by its cover. You heard that? Don't judge a
book by its cover. It may have a pretty rough cover,
but inside it may contain of every truth and word of God."
You've heard this old saying, all that glitters is not gold. You see, often we're quick to
make a judgment by appearance instead of making a righteous
judgment. Oftentimes, in fact, I fear most
of the time, we're guilty of the same things. We jump to conclusions. We judge by appearance rather
than the reality and truth, judging by our standard, what we think
or our opinion, rather than the gospel standard truth. Rather
than judgment according to the Word of God, the Word of truth.
Now many folks in this little community in which this ministry
is established, Zebulun. You ever wonder why this little
community is called Zebulon? Well, there's a plaque over in
town that this county is called Pike County, and it was established
and surveyed way back in the 1700s by the man by the name
of, you've ever heard of Pike's Peak out in Colorado? Same man
that established Pike County. Zebulon Pike was his name. General
Zebulon Pike. Evidently, he had some kind of
doing with this little community over here we call Zebulun. That's
why this is called Zebulun Baptist Church. But there's many folks
in this community that we call Zebulun have made judgments about this
ministry, our ministry, and about this preacher. And most have
come to the conclusion that this ministry here at Zebulun is a
failure. That's what I've been told on
more than one occasion. They make their judgment and they
judge by appearance. Judge by appearance. They'll
look out Sunday morning at this parking lot and see a lot of
vacant spaces and they judge this ministry on the appearance
of how many cars in the parking lot. Or they'll make their judgment
based upon how many people sit in the pews whether this ministry
is a success or a failure. How many people attend the ministry?
And they judge by that, by judging by appearance, they judge whether
a man's ministry is successful or a failure. I don't know how
many times I've been asked this question, well, how big is your
church? You know what I tell them? Forty
by eighty. Forty by eighty. That's the size
of this building. God's family and God's church
has a people out of every tribe, kindred, nation, tongue under
heaven. It's a big church. It's a big
church. We just see a few folks that
belong to that assembly of the redeemed. There's just one thing that determines the standard
of a man's ministry, whether it's success Or whether it's
a failure. Yes, one thing. One determination.
One thing determines whether man's ministry is a success or
a failure. What is that one thing? Is the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is the truth of God declared.
It doesn't matter if this building is full of people and running
over. And we have to add on and build
and build and big and we have buses and we have this and we
have all these different fellowships. We have a gymnasium and we have
all these things. And by appearance, we would say,
well, man, they're successful down there. What are they doing?
Catering to the flesh. There's only one thing that determines
success or failure in a ministry, and that one thing is this, is
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ declared, is the truth
of God preached. Nothing else matters. It does
not matter who preaches, or it does not matter who attends here.
What does matter is who is preached here. Is Christ preached here? The apostle put it this way,
woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel. Woe is unto me if
I preach not the gospel. What is it to preach the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ? There's a track out on the table
that will answer that question, but it's to tell the truth about
God, holy. Tell the truth about man, who's
a sinner. Tell the truth about Christ, who's a successful Savior.
Tell the truth about salvation, all of grace, and grace alone. You see how dangerous it is to
judge by appearance rather than to make a righteous judgment? Now let's consider what brought
the Lord to this statement about judging according to the right
standard, the gospel and the word of truth. Look at verse
18. John 7, 18. He that speaketh
of himself seeketh his own glory. Paul said, I preach not myself,
but Christ Jesus. But he that seeketh his glory,
God's glory that sent him, the same is true. And there's no
unrighteousness in him. The true ministry of the gospel
is all about the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. This was the
Lord's purpose in coming. This was the Lord's purpose in
living. This was the Lord's purpose in
dying. It was all about God's glory. All about God's glory. Turn to John 17. The glory of
His love, the glory of His mercy, the glory of His grace, all to
the praise of His glory. John 17, look at verse 1. These
words spake Jesus, lifted up His eyes to heaven and said,
Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy son, that thy son
also may glorify thee. The grand design of God in redemption
is the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now back to John 7, look
at verse 18. He spake, he that speaketh of
himself seeketh his own glory, but he that seeketh his glory
that sent him, the same is true, and there's no unrighteousness
in Him." Now, two things here that I love to talk about in
relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ, really three things.
His glory and the other two are the Lord Jesus Christ is the
true God and secondly, thirdly, there's no unrighteousness in
Him. You see those three things? His
glory, His truth, He is true, the only true God, And there
is no unrighteousness in the Lord Jesus Christ. The same is
true. That is, the Lord Jesus Christ
is the only true God. Turn back to John 17 one more
time. John 17, look, verse 3. John 17, verse 3. This is life
eternal. John 17, verse 3. That they might
know Thee, the only true God. Leave out the word A-N-D. The
only true God, Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. He is the
only true God. He is the true God. And there
is no unrighteousness in Him. You see that? There's no unrighteousness
in Him. The Lord Jesus Christ was tempted
and tested in all points like as we are yet without sin. Such a high priest became us
who was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sin. He had
no sin, knew no sin, and did no sin. There is no unrighteousness
in him. He performed perfect righteousness,
magnified the law of God in every aspect. That's our hope. He is
the Lord, our righteousness. There's no unrighteousness in
Him. He is the only true God. Now
look at verse 19. Didn't Moses give you the law
of God? God gave it to Moses. Moses gave it to the people. Yet our Lord said, none. Get a hold of that word. None
of you keep the law. You go about to kill me contrary
to the law. Why go you about to kill me?
So there's no unrighteousness in Him. He is the only true God. All the glory and salvation is
due unto Him. The testimony that the Lord gives
about us is there's none that keeps the law. He's holy. He's righteous. And you know
what? We're sinners. There's none righteous. No, not one. Now, it's easy to believe others
are depraved. It's easy to believe others are
sinners. How about you? When the scripture
said, there's none righteous, no not one, does that describe
you? You see, we make that judgment
on our own selves. We condemn our own selves. We
are guilty before God. We have violated violently. We've offended God. Violently,
we've broken the commands of God. He said, you go back to kill
me. We're guilty. None of us have kept the law.
To offend in one point is to be guilty of all the law of God.
You remember Romans 3? Let every mouth be stopped and
all the world become guilty before God. The law says thou shalt
not kill, yet these religious folks went about to do exactly
that, didn't they? And even before they committed
the deed, which they did, just a few months after this, what
did they What did they say? When Pilate brought him forth
and said, Behold your king, they said, Away with him, crucify
him. We have no king but Caesar. But even before they did commit
the act, they were already guilty in their heart. You remember
Matthew chapter 5 when the Lord said, You say in the law, Thou
shalt not kill, but I say unto you, Here the Lord gives the
real meaning of the law. It reaches more than the outward
act. It reaches to the intent and motive of the heart. To think
upon the act in the court of God's law and justice is guilty. Guilty. We're all guilty of murder. Murder. To meditate upon the
act is to be guilty of the act. Before God, He looks on the heart.
He looks on the heart. Now, thank God He restrains.
He restrains, but sometimes He lets the restraint go. Look at
verse 20. These people answered him and
said, we're not guilty. See verse 20? And that's what
we do. Because we're so depraved, when
God said, you don't keep the law. When God said, you're guilty. When God said, you're a murderer.
No, not me. You have a devil. That's what
they accused him of. Look at that verse 20. You have
a devil. You're demon-possessed! You're
paranoid! Who goes about to kill you? These people accused the Lord
of two terrible things. First of all, they said He's
a devil. They said He's demon-possessed and accused Him, secondly, of
being a liar. Who goes about to kill you? Well,
look at verse 1 in chapter 7. After these things, Jesus walked
in Galilee, For we would not walk in Judea, because the Jews
sought to kill him." On more than one occasion they sought
to kill him. Turn over here to John 8 again,
look at verse 48. John 8, 48. Then answered the Jews and said
unto him, Say we not, well thou hast art a Samaritan, and hast
a devil? And the Lord said, I have not
a devil, but I honor my father, and you do dishonor me, and you
seek not my I seek not my own glory. There is one that seeketh
and judges. Verily I say unto you, If a man
keep my saying, he shall never see death. Then said the Jews
unto him, Now we know that you have a devil. Abraham is dead,
and the prophets. And thou sayest, If a man keep
my saying, he shall never see death. Art thou greater than
our father Abraham, which is dead, and the prophets which
are dead? And they went out And they went
and they sought to kill him. Turn back over here to John chapter
5. John chapter 5. John chapter 5. Look over here.
When he healed that man at the pool of Bethesda, John chapter
5 verse 15, the man departed and told the Jew that it was
Jesus that made him whole. Therefore, the Jews persecuted
him and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the
Sabbath day. And then he said, My father hitherto
worked, and I worked. Therefore, the Jews sought the
more to killing, because he had not only broken the Sabbath,
but said also that God was his father, making himself equal
with God." On more than one occasion, they sought to kill him and to
do away with him, to stone him. You see, these folks made a wrong
judgment about Him, didn't they? These folks made a wrong judgment
about their own wicked heart too, didn't they? And we by nature
do the same thing. We think too highly of ourselves.
Those who commend themselves among themselves are not wise,
the Scripture teaches. Those who commend themselves
among themselves are not wise. Now you imagine, look back to
the text. John 7 verse 20. These people
answered and said, you're demon possessed. Who goes about to
kill you? The Lord knew these people, their
motive, their heart. They did seek His death. They
did go out and take counsel how they might destroy Him. But I
want you to notice how the Lord answers here. I mean, He could
have called down fire from heaven. Consumed these men with a word
of His power. And look how He answers them
in longsuffering and in mercy. The Lord answered and said unto
them, I've done one work and you all marvel. Oh, the longsuffering of the
Lord Jesus Christ. These sinful men accused Him
of horrible things, but He didn't strike back. in vengeance, did
he? He replied back, in mercy. I want to show you a scripture
here, over in, look at 1st Peter. 1st Peter. 1st Peter, chapter
2. 1st Peter, chapter 2. When he
was reviled, 1st Peter 2, 23. When he was reviled, boy they
reviled him, didn't they? He reviled not again. When he
suffered, he threatened not. that committed himself to him
that judges righteously, who his own self bare our sin in
his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sin should live
unto righteousness, by whose stripes we are healed. When he
reviled, was reviled, he reviled not again, but took our sin in
his own body on the tree." Now, back to the text. The Lord looks
back where it says in verse 21, I've done one work and you all
marvel. The Lord looks back to the cripple
that was healed at the pool of Bethesda who was made every whit
hole and made every whit hole every whit hole on the Sabbath
day and they were very upset about it. Turn back again to
John chapter 5. Let's read it again. John chapter 5, look at verse
5, John 5, 5. And a certain man was there which
had an infirmity thirty-eight years, laying at that pool. Pool
of Bethesda. And Jesus saw him lie and knew
that he had been now a long time in that case. And he said unto
him, Wilt thou be made whole? And the impotent man answered
him, Sir, I have no man when the water is troubled to put
me in the pool, but while I am coming another step down before
me. And the Lord said to him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made
whole, and took up his bed, and walked on the Sabbath. On the
same day was the Sabbath day. Now, here in John chapter 7,
this is over a year later, and they're still upset that He healed
this man on the Sabbath day. Now, verse 22 and verse 23 in
John 7, "...Moses therefore gave you circumcision." Now, the Lord
in long-suffering and in great patience is going to teach them
why, and show us again why. Moses therefore gave you circumcision,
not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers. That covenant
of circumcision was given to Abraham. The references there
is Genesis 17.10. If a man on a Sabbath day received
circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken. Are
you angry at me because I made a man ever withhold because I
made a man every whit whole on the Sabbath day?" Now, the Lord's
going to demonstrate unto us the fact that He did not violate
the law of God. He did not violate the Sabbath
day. Rather, He honored the Sabbath
day. God gave Abraham a covenant,
a covenant of blessing. And the sign of that covenant
was circumcision on the eighth day for every male child. If that eighth day fell on the
Sabbath day, circumcision was to be done on the Sabbath day
without violating the law. That was allowed. Works of mercy and works of necessity
were allowed on the Sabbath day without breaking the Sabbath. I'm going to show you two occasions
of that. Turn to Matthew 12. You know the Lord oftentimes Demonstrated that he's Lord of
the Sabbath look at Matthew 12 Here's another man who had a
withered hand and Matthew 12 look verse 10 and behold there
was a man which had his hand withered and they asked him saying
is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath days that they might accuse him
of And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you
that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the
sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, lift it out? How
much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore, it is lawful
to do well on the sabbath day. Then saith he to the man, Stretch
forth your hand. And he stretched it forth, and
it was whole like as the other. Then the Pharisees went out and
held counsel how they might destroy him. There again is another occasion
where he healed a man with a withered hand, and he did it on the Sabbath
day. Why didn't he pick Friday? Why
not Sunday? Why Saturday? Turn again to John
9, look at this. He's showing us that he's Lord
of the Sabbath. He's showing us that he did honor
the law of God. In John chapter 9, here is a
blind man that was born blind. And the Lord healed him on the
Sabbath day, John 9, verse 13. They brought to the Pharisees
him that was a four-time blind, and it was the Sabbath day when
Jesus made clay and opened his eyes. He spit on some clay and
stuck it in this man's eyes and told him to go wash, and the
Lord healed him. Then again, the Pharisees also
asked him how he received his sightings, He put clay upon my
eyes, I washed, and do see. Therefore says some of the Pharisees,
this man is not of God, because he keepeth not to Sabbath day."
They completely forgot this man who'd been blind was healed.
How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was
a division among them. Well, we'll see more about that
story when we get over there to John. Chapter 9, but the point
I'm making is works of mercy, works of necessity were allowed
without breaking the law. Now the Lord puts this question
to them. Look back to the text again.
I've done one work and you all marvel. If a man on the Sabbath,
verse 23, Sabbath day received circumcision that the law of
Moses should not be broken, why are you angry at me? Because
I made a man, who was a crippled man, every whit hole on the Sabbath
day. That was a work of mercy, was
it not? That was a work of love, was it not? That was a work of
necessity, was it not? Why are you angry with me? Because
I made a cripple hole. You remember back in John chapter
7 verse 7, the world cannot hate you, but it hateth me? because
I testify of it that the works thereof are evil." The Lord did
a marvelous work of mercy upon this poor cripple. Not only healed
his body, but the scripture said, the Lord said, I made him every
whit whole. He made him completely whole,
body, soul, and spirit. Regenerated this man, had given
him life in Christ Jesus. And this is exactly what the
Lord does to us in saving mercy. He makes us completely whole.
He takes a sinner, totally depraved and crippled, blind, withered,
dead, and raises him up and makes him every whit whole. Look what it says there in verse
23. I have made a man every whit
whole. Who did it? Who made that man
whole? The man didn't have anything
to do with it other than receiving what the Lord had done for him. I have made a man every whit
whole. That's exactly what God does
for us in saving mercy. Salvation is something that He
does. We are made in Christ Jesus by
His grace object of His love, object of His mercy, and made
new creatures in Christ Jesus. We are His workmanship created
in Christ Jesus, unto good works. You know this word, M-A-D-E,
made, is a key word. in understanding the gospel.
The Lord made Him sin for us who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. The Word was made
flesh and dwelt among us. The Lord Jesus Christ, we read
that miracle about the water that He changed into wine, but what does
it say? The Lord made water wine. It didn't just look like wine,
it just didn't smell like wine. The Lord made water wine. It was an actual thing the Lord
did. That's exactly what He does for
us in saving mercy. He makes us new creatures in
Christ Jesus. Now, that gets down to verse
24. Judge not according to appearance. That's what they did, didn't
they? But judge righteous judgment. The Lord tells them, to judge
a righteous judgment, not one based upon the opinion of the
Pharisees, or their own wicked thoughts, or the thoughts of
others, but according to the truth of the Word of God. The Lord laid down for us a spiritual
and a scriptural principle for us to follow. We are to make
judgments about all things relative to the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ, according to the Word of God. Not by our opinions. How many times have you heard
this? Well, I don't know what the Bible teaches, but I think,
I think we are to make our judgments about all things relative to
the gospel of Christ according to the Word of God. Not our opinion,
not our thoughts, not our tradition, not our standard, but rather
what does the Word of God say? What does it say about sin? How
are we sinful? What does it say about the way
of salvation in Christ Jesus? Now, in closing, I want us to
consider three things. John 7. First of all, judge not
according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment. Here's the first thing. Judge
not the Lord Jesus Christ by our opinion or our thoughts. but rather judge him according
to the Word of God. What does the Word say about
him? Whom do men say that I am? Whom do you say that I am? His
outward appearance was meek and lowly. He was a man of sorrows
acquainted with grief. In Philippians 2, he says, he's
the servant of the Lord. He appears to be a normal, everyday
man, a carpenter from Nazareth. They said of him, well, we know
his father and his mother. We know his brother and his family.
They're from Nazareth. They're carpenters. They were
judging by outward appearance, weren't they? Let us never forget
the Lord was a real man. apart from seeing God Almighty
manifest in the flesh, but let us never forget that He's our
great God and Savior." How do we know that? Is that just my
opinion? That's what the Word of God teaches.
He's also our great God and Savior who came in the flesh to put
away our sin by the sacrifice of Himself and to bring in everlasting
righteousness for His people. He appeared once in the end of
the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Daniel
prophesied of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. He came to
finish transgression. Did he do it? Did he finish transgression? He came to make an end of sins. Did he do it? Absolutely. He came to make reconciliation
for iniquity. God was in Christ reconciling
us unto Himself. He came to bring in everlasting
righteousness. Did He do it? Blessed is the
man to whom the Lord imputes righteousness without works. He came to seal up division and
prophecy and to anoint the most holy. He came to accomplish salvation. He didn't make salvation merely
a possibility. If I meet certain conditions,
that's not the standard. He actually accomplished salvation
by the sacrifice of himself. Secondly, judge not the gospel
message by our opinion, logic, thoughts, or tradition, or appearance,
but rather judge the message by the Word of God. That's the
standard of judgment. The noble Bereans, when Paul
preached the Gospel, they went home and searched the Scriptures
whether these things be so. I would have you do the same
thing. What does the Word of God teach?
Turn over here to 1 Thessalonians 5. Can you find that? 1 Thessalonians
chapter 5. The last chapter of 1 Thessalonians
chapter 5. You know what it says over here in
verse 21? 1 Thessalonians 5.21 Prove all
things. Relative to the gospel, what
does that say? Judge all things. Prove all things, hold fast to
that which is good. Judge all things. Judge not according
to appearance, but judge a righteous judgment." We're to judge all
things relative to the gospel. Find 1 Corinthians 2. 1 Corinthians 2, verse 14. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto
him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things. judge of righteous judgment,
but he himself is judged of no man, understood of no man, that
is, unbelievers. We are to judge all things essential
and relative to the gospel of Christ, our own sin. In Adam all died. We are to make
judgments about salvation in Christ alone. We are to make
judgments about salvation by His grace, salvation by faith
alone. We are to make that judgment,
that determination based upon the Word of God. Now turn to 1 John chapter 4.
We had this last week, but it will do good to read it again.
1 John chapter 4. We are to judge the message.
Just because someone stands behind a pulpit and says, Jesus, blood
and God, That does not make him a gospel preacher. Just because
he uses the word grace and mercy and salvation, that does not
make him a gospel preacher. We are to judge the message.
Who gets the glory? Christ. 1 John 4, 1 Believe not
every spirit, every preacher, but try the spirit. Prove them, judge them, whether
they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into
the world. What are we to do? Judge the message. Don't believe
everything you hear. If it's not according to this
book, Isaiah 8.20 says, if they speak not according to this Word,
it's because there's no light in them. We're to judge all things
relative to the Gospel according to God's Word, God's truth. Is
everyone that uses the name of Jesus in a religious manner preaching
the Gospel? No. Our Lord said, and we read
it in Matthew 7, beware of false prophets. They'll come to you
sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." Old Charles Spurgeon said this,
if you go hear a man preach, and when you go hear him and
you don't know much about his ministry, if you go hear him
preach, and he does not preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ, well, that's the preacher's fault. That's his fault. He ought
to. If he's a preacher, he ought
to preach Christ. Christ crucified. But to go hear Him again, that's
your fault. And to keep on hearing Him will
be to your own condemnation. We cannot sit under a man's ministry
who does not preach the gospel of God's grace. God's people
cannot and will not hear someone lie about the God and Savior
whom they love. I'm not afraid of any of you
examining the message that's preached here. Not at all. It
is one that seeks the glory of God, is true to the Scripture,
and rightly shuts out all creature merit. Can we give the Lord Jesus
Christ too much glory in the salvation of sinners? Can we
exalt Him too high? Absolutely not. Can we preach
man Too low? Heap too much condemnation on
him? Absolutely not. Just preach man as low as we
can get him. Preach Christ as high as we can. And that'll give him all the
glory and he'll use that message. Now here's the third thing. Judge
not by outward circumstance or situation. by the outward appearance
of things, but rather judge a righteous judgment according to the Word
of God." Now here's where I'm going with this last point. That's
exactly what the three friends of Job did. They judged Job by
his circumstances. Because God had afflicted Job
so and killed his family, took all of his substance, wrecked
his health, put him in the dust, His three friends came along
and said, Job, what have you done? They judged by outward
appearance, didn't they? This was a blessing from the
hand of God. Job even said, the Lord gave
them, the Lord had taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.
But Job's three so-called, he called them, physicians of no
value. His three miserable friends said,
Job, what have you done? You see, they judged by outward
appearance. Job, God said Job was a righteous man, one that
loved God. Remember the story of the rich
man and Lazarus? How the rich man fared sumptuously
and had plenty, and Lazarus was a beggar, and a beggar, and a
beggar, and they both died. Judging by outward circumstances,
we would say, well, the rich man was the one blessed of God.
Well, just the opposite was true. You see, judge not by circumstance. The beggar had all things in
Christ. For the believer, no matter what the circumstance
or situation or state of current affairs, whatever it may be,
all things are working together for good to them who love God
to them who are called according to God's purpose." You see, judge
not by circumstance, outward appearance. I've had some other
preachers up and down this road who have thought because the
Lord sent the flood here not once but twice, have thought,
God judgments on this ministry. I've had them tell me so. Just
the opposite is true. It's the blessing from the hand
of the Lord. You remember this scripture?
Do we really, and we know, do we, and we know all things work
together for good? I wonder if we really believe
that. Sometimes I, I, I'm not going to question you, but I'll
question me. You remember this scripture, 2 Corinthians 4, our
light afflictions, "...for our light afflictions, which is but
for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal
weight of glory." Judge not by outward circumstance. Judge a
right judgment. William Cowper, you remember
this, I'll close with this, William Cowper, Songwriter, he wrote
that song we sing all the time. 222, there is a fountain filled
with blood, drawn from Emmanuel's vein. And sinners there, plunged
beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains. Some years
after that, William Cowper was a manic depressant. He got very
depressed and he went about to take his own life. And back in
those days, when he called for a taxi cab that came with a horse
and buggy, And the horse and buggy showed up and he was going
to go down to the river and cast himself in the river and drown
himself. Well, the taxi cab showed up and they got in and the Lord
sent a thick fog and the taxi man said, we can't go anywhere.
They couldn't drive one block. William Cowper went back in the
house and he wrote these words, God moves in mysterious ways
his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the
seas and rides upon the storm. Judge not the Lord by feeble
sense, but trust Him for His grace. Behind the frowning providence
He hides His smiling face. His purpose will ripen fast,
unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter taste,
but sweet, sweet will be the flower." May God be pleased to
teach us to do exactly as the Lord says. Judge not according
to appearance, Judge, righteous judgment. A righteous judgment.