Jesus the Prophet (John 7:14-24)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:05.759 Please continue standing and let's turn to John, Chapter Seven, John Seven, 2 00:00:05.799 --> 00:00:14.349 verses fourteen through twenty four. John Seven, verse fourteen. About the middle 3 00:00:14.349 --> 00:00:18.510 of the feast, Jesus went up into the Temple and began teaching. The 4 00:00:18.589 --> 00:00:23.179 Jews therefore marveled, saying, how is it that this man has learning when 5 00:00:23.219 --> 00:00:28.379 he has never studied? So Jesus answered them. My teaching is not mine, 6 00:00:28.579 --> 00:00:32.700 but his, who sent me. If anyone's will is to do God's 7 00:00:32.700 --> 00:00:36.289 will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am 8 00:00:36.329 --> 00:00:41.090 speaking on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks 9 00:00:41.170 --> 00:00:45.049 his own glory, but the one who seeks the glory of Him who sent 10 00:00:45.130 --> 00:00:50.560 him is true, and in him there is no falsehood as not. Moses 11 00:00:50.600 --> 00:00:54.119 given you the law, yet none of you keeps the law. Why do 12 00:00:54.200 --> 00:00:59.119 you seek to kill me? The crowd answered, you have a demon who 13 00:00:59.240 --> 00:01:03.600 is seeking to kill you. Jesus answered them. I did one work and 14 00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:07.950 you more, and you all marvel at it. Moses gave you circumcision, 15 00:01:07.349 --> 00:01:11.790 not that it's is from Moses, but from the father's and you circumcise a 16 00:01:11.909 --> 00:01:17.950 man on the Sabbath if on the Sabbath a man's receives circumcision so that the 17 00:01:17.989 --> 00:01:22.019 law of Moses may not be broken. Are you angry with me because on 18 00:01:22.140 --> 00:01:25.819 the Sabbath I made a whole, a man's whole body? Well, do 19 00:01:25.980 --> 00:01:32.540 not judge by appearances, but judge with I judgment. God bless his word 20 00:01:32.620 --> 00:01:37.609 to us. Please be seated. So I want to speak to you today 21 00:01:37.609 --> 00:01:42.530 about Jesus's last words in this passage, verse Twenty Four. I do not 22 00:01:42.810 --> 00:01:49.079 judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment. Do not judge with appearances, 23 00:01:49.159 --> 00:01:53.640 but judge with right judgment. I want to combine that with thinking about 24 00:01:53.840 --> 00:02:01.549 Jesus as he as he is a prophet. In your bulletins you'll see across 25 00:02:01.629 --> 00:02:07.829 from our order of service a question from the larger catechism. How do how 26 00:02:07.909 --> 00:02:14.550 doth Christ execute the Office of a prophet? The answer is Christ executeth the 27 00:02:14.669 --> 00:02:20.259 office of a prophet in his revealing to the church in all ages, by 28 00:02:20.340 --> 00:02:24.659 his spirit and word, in divers ways of administration. The whole will of 29 00:02:24.860 --> 00:02:28.740 God. That's a phrase that comes up in our passage. The whole will 30 00:02:28.780 --> 00:02:34.770 of God in all things concerning their edification. That means building up and salvation. 31 00:02:36.009 --> 00:02:38.370 So what how does Jesus execute the Office of a prophet? How is 32 00:02:38.530 --> 00:02:44.599 Jesus a prophet? He is a prophet in revealing to us God's will. 33 00:02:45.439 --> 00:02:49.840 He tells us God's will and for a particular purpose, for our building up 34 00:02:49.879 --> 00:02:53.439 and for our strengthening. With that, we come to think about some of 35 00:02:53.520 --> 00:02:57.840 the words that Jesus says here, in particular verse Twenty Four. Do not 36 00:02:57.960 --> 00:03:02.229 judge with a peer Arances, but judge with right judgment. You understand what 37 00:03:02.349 --> 00:03:07.189 this means? Right to judge not by appearances, but to judge with right 38 00:03:07.229 --> 00:03:13.259 judgment. It means to make a decision about someone or about something that is 39 00:03:13.340 --> 00:03:15.300 not on the way it seems, but on the way that it is, 40 00:03:16.860 --> 00:03:22.659 and this is important in all kinds of different circumstances. Right take a criminal 41 00:03:22.699 --> 00:03:28.169 trial, for example. Can you imagine being punished for something that you didn't 42 00:03:28.169 --> 00:03:32.530 do because the judge was only seeing things how they seemed and not how things 43 00:03:32.729 --> 00:03:40.129 really were? Be Horrible, right, for nightmare life scenario. The opposite's 44 00:03:40.129 --> 00:03:45.280 also true, seeing a person who is truly guilty, and you know it 45 00:03:45.400 --> 00:03:53.719 and everyone knows it, walk free because of appearances. Being guilty or innocent, 46 00:03:53.759 --> 00:03:57.710 wrong or right, that is something that's supposed to be based on the 47 00:03:57.830 --> 00:04:01.430 truth, not on what we perceive the truth to be. There is an 48 00:04:01.469 --> 00:04:08.150 objective standard that's different from what we perceive. Now. Of course, that's 49 00:04:08.189 --> 00:04:13.020 not always easy, because we can only perceive the truth right. There's no 50 00:04:13.259 --> 00:04:16.740 access to the truth apart from our perception of it. One way we know 51 00:04:16.939 --> 00:04:21.860 this is that we sometimes get it wrong. We sometimes interpret and perceive things 52 00:04:21.939 --> 00:04:28.170 incorrectly. The summer my kids were playing with their cousins and at times when 53 00:04:28.250 --> 00:04:30.769 they were all moving fast, they're all about the same age, I would 54 00:04:30.810 --> 00:04:36.730 sometimes call them the wrong names. I would see one my child and find 55 00:04:36.769 --> 00:04:41.800 out in a moment that it wasn't my child. Right, it seemed one 56 00:04:41.879 --> 00:04:45.720 way, but it wasn't. Why? Because my perception of it was wrong. 57 00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:51.720 However, there's no other way for me to access the knowledge of those 58 00:04:51.800 --> 00:04:59.230 children, apart from perceiving it right, which means that the instructions Jesus gives 59 00:04:59.310 --> 00:05:02.269 here are very important. We need to be warned, we need to be 60 00:05:02.430 --> 00:05:08.420 on guard, that our perception needs to be tuned, corrected, made right. 61 00:05:09.100 --> 00:05:13.300 We should be people that seek the truth and try to understand the truth 62 00:05:13.420 --> 00:05:19.139 and and overcome the bad ways that we approach it. Do not judge by 63 00:05:19.180 --> 00:05:27.769 appearances, but judge with right judgment. Going back to a court room, 64 00:05:27.810 --> 00:05:32.050 judges must strive to judge based on the truth, not the color of a 65 00:05:32.170 --> 00:05:35.720 person's skin, not the brand of the clothes they're wearing. Not there who 66 00:05:35.800 --> 00:05:41.959 their friends are aren't do you remember what proverb seventeen five says? He who 67 00:05:42.160 --> 00:05:49.000 justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike and abomination to 68 00:05:49.029 --> 00:05:55.670 the Lord Right Jesus says. Do not judge by appearances, but judge with 69 00:05:55.750 --> 00:06:00.709 right judgment, because that's what God does. God judge is always perfectly based 70 00:06:00.750 --> 00:06:08.420 on the truth. He doesn't accept bribes, he doesn't have biases that distort 71 00:06:08.579 --> 00:06:12.540 his judgment and keep him from seeing what is and what isn't. No, 72 00:06:12.740 --> 00:06:16.939 God always perfectly does the right thing and and so he's calling us to do 73 00:06:17.139 --> 00:06:23.970 that as well. Here's another example. You probably had the experience some time 74 00:06:24.089 --> 00:06:28.050 in your life of picking a friend or a leader based on only how they 75 00:06:28.170 --> 00:06:32.959 looked, their outward appearances. You'd paid attention to maybe they're good looks or 76 00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:38.120 something like that, and ignored their true character and abilities. Remember what God 77 00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:43.279 said to Samuel About King Saul, who is strong and handsome, a head 78 00:06:43.360 --> 00:06:48.149 taller than all the other people. It's we read them for Samuel Sixteen seven. 79 00:06:48.149 --> 00:06:53.550 But the Lord said to Samuel, do not look on his appearance or 80 00:06:53.709 --> 00:06:59.069 the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord 81 00:06:59.269 --> 00:07:03.740 sees not as man sees. Man Looks on the outward appearance, but the 82 00:07:03.899 --> 00:07:09.980 Lord looks on the heart. All right. So this is how the Lord 83 00:07:10.139 --> 00:07:15.459 operates. He doesn't see us and all of our posturing or even a good 84 00:07:15.579 --> 00:07:18.649 looks or education or money, and go wow, that person must be really 85 00:07:18.689 --> 00:07:23.850 important or good or something like that. He looks at our hearts. He 86 00:07:24.769 --> 00:07:29.329 judges with right judgment, and Jesus is calling us to do the same. 87 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:35.959 So we have all kinds of reasons and life circumstances where this applies, various 88 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:40.600 places in our lives where we have to think very carefully about this. We're 89 00:07:40.600 --> 00:07:46.910 constantly making decisions and judgments. But Jesus, its instructions also have consequences not 90 00:07:46.029 --> 00:07:51.629 just for this life but for the life to come. When the judgment concerns 91 00:07:51.750 --> 00:07:58.189 the Work of God in Christ, nothing could be more important than getting this 92 00:07:58.430 --> 00:08:03.980 right when it comes to understanding who Jesus is and how we judge him, 93 00:08:03.620 --> 00:08:07.220 how we make sense of him, what we decide about him. This is 94 00:08:07.660 --> 00:08:13.810 a very, very big deal. Who is this Jesus? The people are 95 00:08:13.889 --> 00:08:18.490 wondering. How can he speak with such authority? Why does he feel free 96 00:08:20.170 --> 00:08:24.250 to do what the Jewish authorities are saying unlawful? What are we to make 97 00:08:24.290 --> 00:08:31.680 of this guy? And we we have some expressions of that, those questions. 98 00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:35.039 Here in this passage you have a demon. What are you talking about? 99 00:08:37.080 --> 00:08:39.639 And in the next passage as well, people will say, in Verse 100 00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:43.990 Twenty Five, is not this the man they are seeking to kill? Can 101 00:08:43.149 --> 00:08:46.590 it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? Verse Twenty 102 00:08:46.629 --> 00:08:50.750 Seven. But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ 103 00:08:50.789 --> 00:08:54.909 appears, no one will know where he comes from. So there's all this 104 00:08:54.070 --> 00:08:58.940 discussion. But, as we be read in verse thirteen last week, for 105 00:09:00.059 --> 00:09:03.539 the fear of the Jews, despite all this talk, no one wants to 106 00:09:03.580 --> 00:09:09.529 speak openly about him. But the question is still there. It's being murmured. 107 00:09:09.570 --> 00:09:13.009 Let me read to you verses ten through thirteen, and perhaps I should 108 00:09:13.009 --> 00:09:16.929 have started there, but here it is a verse ten. But after his 109 00:09:16.049 --> 00:09:20.210 brothers had gone up to the feast. He also went up, not publicly 110 00:09:20.289 --> 00:09:22.690 but in private. The Jews were looking for him at the feast, saying 111 00:09:22.690 --> 00:09:28.039 where is he, and there was much muttering about him among the people, 112 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:35.000 that kind of whispering side conversations. Did you that kind of stuff? Well, 113 00:09:35.080 --> 00:09:37.669 some said he's a good man, others said no, he's leading the 114 00:09:37.710 --> 00:09:41.629 people astray. Yet for the fear of the Jews, no one was able 115 00:09:43.230 --> 00:09:48.230 to speak freely of him. We have a lot of freedom in our country 116 00:09:48.350 --> 00:09:52.470 to speak about Jesus, to ask questions, to think carefully through is and 117 00:09:52.860 --> 00:09:56.620 what a blessing that is to be able to go to a library, to 118 00:09:56.659 --> 00:10:01.620 buy books off the Internet, to meet freely and openly here and ask questions 119 00:10:01.700 --> 00:10:05.899 and say who is Jesus? What did he do? Why does it matter? 120 00:10:07.139 --> 00:10:09.769 There are other places in the world where that's of course it's very, 121 00:10:09.850 --> 00:10:13.929 very difficult to do for fear of authorities. People Whisper in the shadows, 122 00:10:15.009 --> 00:10:22.159 they talk in the quiet places and closets and basements and outside and those kinds 123 00:10:22.159 --> 00:10:26.240 of things. But whether you do it publicly or privately, there are still 124 00:10:26.240 --> 00:10:28.799 questions that must be answered. You have to answer this question. Who is 125 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:37.590 Jesus and there are people who see Christians talking about following Jesus, worshiping Jesus, 126 00:10:37.629 --> 00:10:45.190 learning from Jesus, that have questions and that wonder. Did He really 127 00:10:45.269 --> 00:10:48.350 die on a cross? Did he really rise from the dead? He's not 128 00:10:48.470 --> 00:10:54.179 even here. How real can he be? I don't see him? or 129 00:10:54.259 --> 00:10:58.299 how could he be so prideful to claim that he's the only way that somebody 130 00:10:58.299 --> 00:11:01.419 can come through God, that he is the only door through which the sheep 131 00:11:01.539 --> 00:11:07.649 can go in and out? Or even more difficult for many to swallow about 132 00:11:07.690 --> 00:11:11.610 Jesus is this question. What right does he have to tell me what to 133 00:11:11.690 --> 00:11:18.409 do? Remember, back in when we looked at this chapter last week, 134 00:11:18.679 --> 00:11:22.720 Jesus said to his brothers, the world doesn't hate you, they hate me 135 00:11:22.519 --> 00:11:26.960 because I tell them their works are evil. Jesus is in conflict with the 136 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:31.720 world and those who don't know him and don't love him and don't follow him. 137 00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:35.350 They look at Jesus and say, who are you? Look at me, 138 00:11:39.549 --> 00:11:45.149 and that's why we have this warning. To judge Jesus is just another 139 00:11:45.269 --> 00:11:52.139 man, or worse, and unrighteous man, an evil man, a foolish 140 00:11:52.259 --> 00:11:58.779 man, is to misjudge him, is to not judge rightly. It's to 141 00:11:58.899 --> 00:12:07.090 judge out of fear, out of the biases of pride, selfjustification, and 142 00:12:07.370 --> 00:12:11.529 since is the scriptures teach us, all of humanity's destiny is tied to him 143 00:12:11.769 --> 00:12:18.440 one way or another, we cannot get this question wrong. We cannot. 144 00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:26.039 And so we ask then, I hope, together, what do we think 145 00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:31.710 about Jesus? What does he say about himself? He points us to three 146 00:12:31.750 --> 00:12:39.230 things which all mention briefly. The first thing we see in this passage alone, 147 00:12:39.269 --> 00:12:41.669 and we ultimately, you ought to look at the whole of Scriptures, 148 00:12:41.750 --> 00:12:46.860 but we're just considering this one this morning. Well, the first thing he 149 00:12:46.980 --> 00:12:50.980 points us to, and John Points us to, is that he has knowledge 150 00:12:50.700 --> 00:12:56.460 without learning. The Jews are marveling at him this for this in Verse Fifteen, 151 00:12:58.019 --> 00:13:01.570 saying how is it that this man has learning when he has never studied? 152 00:13:03.289 --> 00:13:05.730 And perhaps there are some young students here who have wished that such a 153 00:13:05.850 --> 00:13:09.889 thing could be said of them. Your teacher, how did you pass this 154 00:13:11.049 --> 00:13:15.159 test? You didn't study, you didn't come to class, there was no 155 00:13:15.320 --> 00:13:18.039 problem. Right, of course this never happens, right, which is if 156 00:13:18.039 --> 00:13:22.960 you saw something like this happening, you would be amazed, you would marvel 157 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:28.950 at it. How, how can this person exhibit such teaching, such authority, 158 00:13:28.149 --> 00:13:33.710 such wisdom? They haven't got he wasn't even go to the schools of 159 00:13:33.750 --> 00:13:37.190 the rabbis. He didn't go into all the places where one should be taught 160 00:13:37.309 --> 00:13:43.539 and not to ought to be taught. How does he know? Well, 161 00:13:43.620 --> 00:13:48.059 the answer is that Jesus is divine, that Jesus, as the son of 162 00:13:48.139 --> 00:13:56.490 God, has all knowledge. He is omniscient, he knows all things. 163 00:13:56.490 --> 00:14:03.250 When it's when I read earlier from First Samuel, that man looks on outward 164 00:14:03.250 --> 00:14:07.129 appearances. For Samuel Sixteen seven, man looks on outward appearances, but the 165 00:14:07.210 --> 00:14:09.080 Lord looks on the heart. That's one of the ways in which he knows. 166 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:16.360 He sees our inner most thoughts and feelings and actions are intentions. He 167 00:14:16.919 --> 00:14:22.039 knows them perfectly. He knows you better than you know yourself. Jesus is 168 00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:24.309 divinity. is on display here, and it's been on display in other ways 169 00:14:24.429 --> 00:14:30.629 too. It's mentioned when Jesus comes to the end of this section and he 170 00:14:30.669 --> 00:14:35.870 asked them this question about the Sabbath. In Verse Twenty Three says if on 171 00:14:35.950 --> 00:14:39.139 the Sabbath a man receives circumcision so that the law of Moses may not be 172 00:14:39.379 --> 00:14:43.340 broken. Are you angry with me because, on the Sabbath, I made 173 00:14:43.340 --> 00:14:48.860 a whole man's body well, or a man's whole body well? You Remember? 174 00:14:48.899 --> 00:14:52.820 What he's referring to is remember he was referring to a passage we looked 175 00:14:52.820 --> 00:14:56.250 at previously where he held someone on the Sabbath, and the Jewish leaders were 176 00:14:56.409 --> 00:15:03.090 very upset about this. How did he do that? Here was a man 177 00:15:03.169 --> 00:15:07.559 who was an invalid, a desperate the most desperate of situations. Jesus says 178 00:15:07.600 --> 00:15:11.240 to him, get up, take up your bed and walk, and he 179 00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:15.440 walks. He says to the woman at the well, things to her that 180 00:15:15.559 --> 00:15:18.559 she thinks nobody knew. Certainly Jesus shouldn't know. He was a stranger to 181 00:15:18.600 --> 00:15:24.190 her. How are these things possible? How did Jesus, as we read 182 00:15:24.190 --> 00:15:28.710 in a previous section, multiply a few loaves of bread to feed thousands of 183 00:15:28.870 --> 00:15:37.580 people? Who is this guy? He's not just a guy. He's got 184 00:15:39.059 --> 00:15:43.299 this man who, they say, we know where he come from, comes 185 00:15:43.340 --> 00:15:48.340 from, we know his brothers and sisters, we see his humanity. He's 186 00:15:48.539 --> 00:15:54.769 fully man. How is he doing these things? The answer is because he's 187 00:15:54.769 --> 00:16:03.090 fully God. Jesus is doing these things by his awesome, awesome, Omnipotent, 188 00:16:03.210 --> 00:16:11.399 Almighty power and knowledge. How can he speak with such authority? Because 189 00:16:11.440 --> 00:16:19.629 he's God. That's how. No one has more authority than him. Jesus 190 00:16:19.710 --> 00:16:23.990 doesn't have is, people sometimes say today, in Oster Syndrome. Right, 191 00:16:25.070 --> 00:16:27.350 you know where you are in a situation where you feel a little bit over 192 00:16:27.389 --> 00:16:32.389 your head and you're like, I don't belong here. Maybe you're in a 193 00:16:32.470 --> 00:16:36.379 job that you don't feel qualified for, in a conversation that you're not really 194 00:16:36.460 --> 00:16:38.740 equipped for, or a relationship that you don't know how to deal with, 195 00:16:40.100 --> 00:16:41.740 and they think you're one thing, but you think you're something else. And 196 00:16:41.899 --> 00:16:48.570 all the Jesus didn't have that problem. Jesus never lacked confidence. Jesus never 197 00:16:48.970 --> 00:16:56.049 was debating, you know what, these things. He was God. He 198 00:16:56.210 --> 00:17:02.399 spoke with authority and he never messed up. He never made the wrong call, 199 00:17:02.679 --> 00:17:07.880 he never said the wrong thing, he never judged things, even by 200 00:17:07.119 --> 00:17:12.880 accident, the wrong way. As I read at the beginning of our service 201 00:17:14.039 --> 00:17:21.950 from Hebrews, here is God revealed in the last times, fully, fully 202 00:17:22.069 --> 00:17:26.670 God. This is one thing that we ought to believe about him. But 203 00:17:26.789 --> 00:17:33.660 this one who speaks is also fully man, as the Jews fully know, 204 00:17:33.019 --> 00:17:37.500 and these people who are questioning him. But Jesus confesses this himself in a 205 00:17:37.579 --> 00:17:45.809 way when he says in verse Eighteen, the one who speaks on his own 206 00:17:45.890 --> 00:17:51.410 authority seeks his own glory, but the one who seeks the glory of Him 207 00:17:51.410 --> 00:17:56.690 who sent him is true and in him there is no falsehood. Jesus speaks 208 00:17:56.730 --> 00:18:03.559 about himself and the work that he's doing, his work that is the as 209 00:18:03.640 --> 00:18:07.119 he's fulfilling this will of God. He's fulfilling it as a servant. He's 210 00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:12.509 doing the will both as the son of God, but also in his humanity. 211 00:18:14.269 --> 00:18:21.069 For us, Philippians tells us this, that Jesus did not consider equality 212 00:18:21.190 --> 00:18:25.750 with God a thing to be grasped, but took on the form of a 213 00:18:25.869 --> 00:18:32.339 man. He took on humanity, he added that and became a servant, 214 00:18:32.619 --> 00:18:37.940 humbling himself in obedience, even to the point of death, death on a 215 00:18:37.019 --> 00:18:45.809 cross. Jesus speaks both as fully God and is fully man, and that's 216 00:18:45.849 --> 00:18:52.170 important, because it's as man that he will die, and it's because he's 217 00:18:52.250 --> 00:18:56.799 man, it's because he took on his our nature, that we will have 218 00:18:57.039 --> 00:19:02.920 life in him when we believe him and when we trust him, and the 219 00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:07.240 last thing that Jesus teaches us, the last thing we might say is revealed 220 00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:12.549 about him here, is that his works are not unrighteous but righteous. What 221 00:19:12.670 --> 00:19:17.509 Jesus does, to put very simply, is Jesus doesn't do bad things. 222 00:19:17.589 --> 00:19:25.660 Jesus does good things. They're accusing him of the opposite. Unfortunately. Jesus 223 00:19:25.740 --> 00:19:30.900 heals this man on the on the Sabbath, and they say, how can 224 00:19:30.940 --> 00:19:34.059 you tell a man to pick up his bed and walk? How can you 225 00:19:34.259 --> 00:19:41.049 heal him on the Sabbath? You're breaking the law, remember Jesus. Jesus 226 00:19:41.170 --> 00:19:51.650 is answered to that here is that if Moses commands the a man be circumcised, 227 00:19:51.730 --> 00:19:56.039 and you remember, circumcision was an act in which a man was sanctified, 228 00:19:56.200 --> 00:20:00.240 he was marked as Holy, a way in which he was this this 229 00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:06.359 small part of his body report to represent the whole represented a cutting off and 230 00:20:06.440 --> 00:20:12.269 a cleansing, a marking before God. Jesus says, I just made his 231 00:20:12.430 --> 00:20:19.589 whole body. Well, I just took him in his brokenness and is invalidity, 232 00:20:19.950 --> 00:20:23.220 in all of these, in his sadness and his desperation, and I 233 00:20:23.420 --> 00:20:29.660 lifted him up. You say that this thing isn't is an acceptable thing to 234 00:20:29.740 --> 00:20:33.339 do on the Sabbath. Why not this greater work? And of course Jesus 235 00:20:33.380 --> 00:20:37.970 is right and it reminds us. The point I'm wanting to make here is 236 00:20:38.009 --> 00:20:41.849 not so much about the Sabbath, which we talked about when we looked at 237 00:20:41.849 --> 00:20:47.970 that passage before, but just simply the point that Jesus is accusers are wrong. 238 00:20:48.410 --> 00:20:53.160 All of Jesus's accusers are wrong when they accuse him of doing unrighteous things. 239 00:20:53.200 --> 00:20:57.160 Why don't your disciples wash their hands? How can you tell that man 240 00:20:57.319 --> 00:21:02.920 to be healed? Do you really have authority to forgive sins? All these 241 00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:11.950 things that he's constantly accused of are false. If Jesus is accused of unrighteousness, 242 00:21:11.990 --> 00:21:15.990 you can guarantee that the accuser is the one who's wrong, not Jesus, 243 00:21:18.819 --> 00:21:22.460 and that's good news for people like us who need someone like him to 244 00:21:22.619 --> 00:21:29.980 trust in, for people like us who see an equity and injustice and unfair 245 00:21:30.220 --> 00:21:34.289 things constantly in our world, who feel the weight of that on our souls 246 00:21:34.410 --> 00:21:41.890 and in our society, to have someone who does no wrong, who acts 247 00:21:41.930 --> 00:21:48.119 as judge, is a wonderful thing. But of course you know, and 248 00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:52.480 I hope you're already thinking it. He does even more than that. Not 249 00:21:52.680 --> 00:21:56.200 only is he perfect, not only is he sinless, not only does he 250 00:21:56.359 --> 00:22:02.910 always judge perfectly and set all things right, but then he steps down from 251 00:22:02.910 --> 00:22:10.630 the judicial bench and walks into the executioners chamber so that he might die for 252 00:22:10.789 --> 00:22:18.420 people that were proclaimed guilty. That's who our Lord is. That's what the 253 00:22:18.460 --> 00:22:25.299 Sabbath Miracle Represents, a broke, consinful person being brought to life by the 254 00:22:25.539 --> 00:22:37.170 power of Jesus, by the power of God, praise God. Knowing who 255 00:22:37.170 --> 00:22:41.450 Jesus is, then it might be helpful to think about a few of the 256 00:22:41.569 --> 00:22:52.400 ways we stumble over ourselves, get wrapped up and misjudge things, some of 257 00:22:52.440 --> 00:22:56.920 the things that come out in this passage. One of the ways we do 258 00:22:56.119 --> 00:23:00.430 this is we accept the little things but not the big things, like they 259 00:23:00.470 --> 00:23:06.670 were doing with circumcision and the healing. Another thing we do it is, 260 00:23:06.750 --> 00:23:10.190 and this is really bad, we get things so backward that we say that 261 00:23:10.390 --> 00:23:17.539 the things that are of God are of the devil. We attribute to him 262 00:23:17.779 --> 00:23:22.940 evil things, as they did here. You have a demon. What are 263 00:23:22.940 --> 00:23:29.369 you talking about? We attribute to God spiritual powers of darkness and evil, 264 00:23:29.970 --> 00:23:33.210 which we ought never to do. Now, perhaps you're saying yourself. I 265 00:23:33.289 --> 00:23:36.930 would never accuse Jesus of having a demon. I would never accuse God of 266 00:23:37.049 --> 00:23:44.559 acting or being like Satan. But I think we do various ways at various 267 00:23:44.559 --> 00:23:51.279 times, perhaps more subtle than this. But when we say, why did 268 00:23:51.319 --> 00:23:56.390 God make this happen? This isn't fair, I don't deserve to be here. 269 00:23:56.029 --> 00:24:00.990 God's doing an sinful thing in my life, I think I can accuse 270 00:24:02.069 --> 00:24:07.470 him of wrong for this thing or that thing. Are we not doing something 271 00:24:07.630 --> 00:24:18.539 similar there? Are we not misjudging him, who is perfect? These and 272 00:24:18.700 --> 00:24:25.329 other things, lots of other things, are ways that we judge by appearances, 273 00:24:26.410 --> 00:24:30.730 we judge by our own circumstances, we judge by our very limited perspective, 274 00:24:30.130 --> 00:24:33.730 we judge by a very limited knowledge, we judge according to our sinful 275 00:24:33.809 --> 00:24:41.599 biases, we judge according to on and on and on ECOS. We are 276 00:24:41.839 --> 00:24:49.400 in many ways masters of self deception, and that's why this commandment is, 277 00:24:51.359 --> 00:24:56.269 honestly, very hard. Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right 278 00:24:56.349 --> 00:25:02.390 judgment, if homely. Lord, this is a very, very difficult thing 279 00:25:03.230 --> 00:25:12.819 to do, but let me encourage you with this. All close with this 280 00:25:15.259 --> 00:25:19.420 this difficult thing to do. This really this thing that's impossible will to do 281 00:25:19.660 --> 00:25:27.650 perfectly, is accomplished for us and in us in a couple ways by God. 282 00:25:30.450 --> 00:25:33.130 One Way, as I mentioned before, is that Jesus, of course 283 00:25:33.289 --> 00:25:37.839 follows this commandment, and he does so perfectly, and he does it in 284 00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:41.920 such a way that he becomes a perfect sacrifice that, when he gives his 285 00:25:41.160 --> 00:25:45.200 life for us, we are cleansed of all of our sins. God play 286 00:25:45.240 --> 00:25:49.430 as a sacrifice. God places all of our sins on him and finds it 287 00:25:51.349 --> 00:25:56.309 acceptable. His Wrath is turned away. There's another thing that God does for 288 00:25:56.349 --> 00:26:00.390 us in regards to this commandment, and that's that he gives us his Holy 289 00:26:00.430 --> 00:26:07.059 Spirit to change us so that we become capable of this in a new way. 290 00:26:10.180 --> 00:26:12.140 To it doesn't mean we get it right and perfectly all the time, 291 00:26:12.259 --> 00:26:15.900 though one day we will, as we are fully glorified by the spirit, 292 00:26:17.339 --> 00:26:22.049 but even now, in our sanctification, through the work of Christ, through 293 00:26:22.170 --> 00:26:26.089 the work of the spirit in us, we begin to see things for the 294 00:26:26.210 --> 00:26:30.849 first time. That's one of the things it means to become a Christian. 295 00:26:30.890 --> 00:26:37.319 Jesus says something similar to that in verse seventeen. If anyone's will is to 296 00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:41.119 do God's will, he will know whether this teaching is from God or not. 297 00:26:44.039 --> 00:26:48.869 But how is our will changed? The answer is by the Holy Spirit. 298 00:26:52.390 --> 00:26:56.109 I'd like you to open your hymnals and look in the back at a 299 00:26:56.230 --> 00:27:02.140 shorter catechism question. There's a longer catechism catechism version as well, but we'll 300 00:27:02.180 --> 00:27:07.380 just look at the shorter one. Verse Thirty One. We're going to talk 301 00:27:07.380 --> 00:27:12.819 a little bit about the work of God's spirit and I hope you will come 302 00:27:12.900 --> 00:27:18.009 to see why this is so encouraging. So question thirty one. This is 303 00:27:18.089 --> 00:27:22.049 paid nine hundred and seventy. I'm sorry, I should have mentioned that sooner. 304 00:27:22.410 --> 00:27:30.000 I'll wait a moment. So question thirty one is what is effectual calling? 305 00:27:30.759 --> 00:27:37.480 What is effectual calling? Effectual calling is the work of God's spirit, 306 00:27:37.519 --> 00:27:45.190 whereby convincing us of our own sin and misery, enlightning our minds in the 307 00:27:45.309 --> 00:27:52.190 knowledge of Christ and renewing our wills, he doth persuade and enable us to 308 00:27:52.349 --> 00:28:00.619 embrace Jesus Christ freely offered to us in the Gospel. Let's read that again. 309 00:28:00.660 --> 00:28:03.259 Let's read it together all I I'll give the question, you give the 310 00:28:03.299 --> 00:28:08.779 answer. Okay, what is effectual calling? Effectual calling is the work of 311 00:28:08.900 --> 00:28:17.730 God's spirit whereby convincing us of our own sin and misery, enlightening our minds 312 00:28:18.009 --> 00:28:23.769 in the knowledge of Christ and renewing our wills, he doth persuade and enable 313 00:28:23.890 --> 00:28:32.480 us to embrace Jesus, Christ freely offered to us in the Gospel. So 314 00:28:32.599 --> 00:28:37.440 you see what the cut question is. Saying them in our three things are 315 00:28:37.519 --> 00:28:42.069 mentioned in our minds, in our wills, or sorry, two things. 316 00:28:42.390 --> 00:28:52.109 They're enlightening our minds and renewing our wills. He enables us to do something 317 00:28:52.230 --> 00:28:56.579 we were previously unable to do. Effectual calling, you might put it in 318 00:28:56.700 --> 00:29:00.859 terms of verse twenty four, in our passage, is the work of God's 319 00:29:00.859 --> 00:29:07.259 spirit, whereby he changes something in us, in our nature, so that 320 00:29:07.500 --> 00:29:12.849 we no longer judge by appearances and accused Jesus of having a demon all these 321 00:29:12.970 --> 00:29:18.849 crazy things, but instead we begin to judge with right judgment. If you're 322 00:29:18.890 --> 00:29:23.170 a Christian, it's because God did this in you. He enabled you, 323 00:29:25.079 --> 00:29:33.880 he persuaded you so that you would embrace Jesus, so that you would see 324 00:29:33.920 --> 00:29:37.950 him and say, I know my problem. I am convinced now of my 325 00:29:38.150 --> 00:29:41.509 sin and misery, instead of hiding from it, instead of ignoring it, 326 00:29:41.670 --> 00:29:47.789 instead of walking sort sweeping it under the rug, I am convinced of it 327 00:29:48.349 --> 00:29:52.349 and now I embrace Jesus. That's what the spirit of God does to us, 328 00:29:52.859 --> 00:29:55.500 and this is taught in many places in scripture. Let me read a 329 00:29:55.539 --> 00:30:03.180 few passages to you, Ephesians, on eighteen, having the eyes of your 330 00:30:03.259 --> 00:30:07.690 hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has 331 00:30:07.809 --> 00:30:11.809 called you, what are the riches of his inglorious inheritance in the saints, 332 00:30:12.089 --> 00:30:17.490 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power towards us who believe according to 333 00:30:17.569 --> 00:30:22.039 the working of His light? Or Paul speaks about his mission in Act Twenty 334 00:30:22.079 --> 00:30:27.240 Six. He says to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness 335 00:30:27.279 --> 00:30:32.759 to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive 336 00:30:32.960 --> 00:30:37.349 forgiveness of sins and place among those who are sanctified by faith. In me, 337 00:30:38.589 --> 00:30:42.390 this is the mission in the work of God, to open the eyes 338 00:30:42.509 --> 00:30:47.750 of our hearts. That's why we have all these miracles right of people who 339 00:30:47.789 --> 00:30:51.740 are unable to do things and now are able to do things, who can't 340 00:30:51.779 --> 00:30:55.859 see and then can see? Who can't hear and now can hear, because 341 00:30:56.099 --> 00:31:02.900 Jesus is demonstrating how, the what these in these external ways, the work 342 00:31:03.019 --> 00:31:08.170 that he is also doing internally. And this is really good news for us 343 00:31:08.210 --> 00:31:14.890 because it means this. It means that when we believe the truth about Jesus, 344 00:31:15.170 --> 00:31:21.640 it's grounded in a reception of him that is given to us by God 345 00:31:21.759 --> 00:31:27.000 himself, that's enabled by God himself. In other words, we didn't go 346 00:31:27.319 --> 00:31:32.400 and sort of craft our own glasses and sorts, force them on our head 347 00:31:32.440 --> 00:31:37.309 and you know, they're all scratched up and wonky. No, God fixed 348 00:31:37.349 --> 00:31:44.630 our blindness and we saw. How do you know you're seeing it? Because 349 00:31:44.670 --> 00:31:49.299 I'm seeing it my I'm not just sticking some glasses on my eyes. He 350 00:31:49.619 --> 00:31:56.779 fixed my eyes. Paul says in First Corinthians twe twenty four, but we 351 00:31:56.940 --> 00:32:01.690 preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and following folly to the 352 00:32:01.809 --> 00:32:07.009 gentiles. That's how some people receive him, but to those who are called 353 00:32:08.730 --> 00:32:15.759 effectually, to those who are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the 354 00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:22.759 power of God and the wisdom of God. So what we are saying here, 355 00:32:22.920 --> 00:32:25.720 then, is that Jesus Christ, as our Prophet, works through this 356 00:32:27.000 --> 00:32:30.710 revelation, by the power of his spirit, to change our hearts, in 357 00:32:30.789 --> 00:32:34.990 our minds, so that we can see, so that we can judge with 358 00:32:35.109 --> 00:32:38.910 right judgment, and when we do, we know that it's because of him. 359 00:32:39.670 --> 00:32:43.630 We don't have to go back and rest on our own ability and say, 360 00:32:43.950 --> 00:32:45.619 boy, I'm sure I figured out how to figure out the truth. 361 00:32:47.059 --> 00:32:52.779 I'm so glad that my salvation rests on these strong abilities of mine. What 362 00:32:52.940 --> 00:32:57.900 a disaster that would be. Right. Instead, we are relying on the 363 00:32:57.980 --> 00:33:01.450 effectual work of God himself, the power of God, the wisdom of God 364 00:33:01.609 --> 00:33:09.849 and all of these other things I've read to you from the Scriptures. Romans 365 00:33:09.930 --> 00:33:16.640 says, for the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. When you begin 366 00:33:16.799 --> 00:33:22.359 to see, you don't stop seeing. You just see more and more and 367 00:33:22.519 --> 00:33:27.710 more and more and more clearly as you learn the scriptures, as you learn 368 00:33:27.829 --> 00:33:31.789 the word, as you come to know Jesus as he really is and not 369 00:33:31.990 --> 00:33:39.309 as the foolishness that he appears to be to the world. So the scriptures 370 00:33:39.349 --> 00:33:43.779 say. Therefore, do not be ashamed about the testimony of our Lord. 371 00:33:44.819 --> 00:33:49.019 I believe this is in First Timothy. Do not be ashamed about the testimony 372 00:33:49.140 --> 00:33:52.339 of the Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, Paul says, but 373 00:33:52.579 --> 00:34:00.089 share in suffering for the Gospel by the power of God who saved us and 374 00:34:00.450 --> 00:34:05.170 called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but because 375 00:34:05.250 --> 00:34:10.480 of his own purpose and grace which he gave us in Christ Jesus, even 376 00:34:10.519 --> 00:34:15.960 before the ages began. Let's pray