My morning started off this morning with an interesting interaction here at church as I got here first thing this morning and I was in my office as I usually am early on a Sunday. And Chelsea came in and said, there’s a guy out here that wants to see you. So I went out and there was a man there. Looks somewhat like a homeless man, which we’ve had those come before and seek to help them and whatnot. But this guy, I went and talked to him, said, hey, I’m the pastor here. He said, you’re the minister? I said, yes. And he said, good, I have a message for you. I have your message.

I’m a messenger from, and he rattled off a bunch of Old Testament names of God and from the brotherhood of such and such, and I have your message for this morning. And I said, well? Here at this church, we don’t typically allow people that we don’t know to give the message. That’s just not how we do things. Well, he answered me, well, can I take you somewhere privately so that I can give you the message that you are to share this morning, the message that’s come from God for you?

I said, sir, here at this church, we believe that God gave us his word in the Bible. And any message that we preach from this church is going to come from the Word of God that we have in the Bible. And so he said, well, have a good day, and he walked away.

So, in that case, turn with me in your Bibles to John chapter 7. It really is… not really ironic, but a stroke of sovereignty that happened this morning because it fits really well with our introduction to this text this morning. But again, we are in John chapter 7, and as we have been studying really the last several chapters of John, We’ve seen John really spend a lot of times telling us about the preaching of Jesus. John chapter six had a really lengthy, really the longest excerpt from one of the sermons of Jesus in the book of John. And then here again in chapter seven, we see Jesus preaching in the temple. We saw that as verse 14 told us, John 7, 14 says, but when it was now the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple. and he began to teach. And as I mentioned to start with last week, as Jesus is preaching, he says a lot of things that are hard for them to accept. Not necessarily hard for them to understand, but hard for them to accept, hard for them to hear and agree with.

But you have to remember, It wasn’t as though Jesus stood out physically as someone who was obviously different than them. He didn’t float around with a halo, and so then when he said he was God or the Son of God, then that would say, they would say, oh yeah, that makes sense, look at him.

No, that’s not what he looked like. He looked like an average Galilean man. Remember how Isaiah 53 said that he would be? Isaiah 53 verse 2 says, he grew up before him like a tender shoot and like a root out of parched ground. He had no stately form or majesty that we should look upon him, nor appearance that we should desire him. He had no stately form or majesty. He did not stand out. When people saw him, they didn’t think, oh, that must be the son of God. He looked like every other Galilean man. He probably spoke with a Galilean accent. He was truly human.

He had characteristics that every human has. Things like the fact that we all typically speak like where we are from. We speak in ways that reflect our heritage, where we came from, whether it’s from Florida or Alabama or Maine. or India, you speak with the accent that you grew up in.

And Jesus was no different. He was human. And he spoke probably like a Galilean. In fact, later, when Peter denies him, the way they identify Peter is he speaks like a Galilean, just like Jesus does. So Jesus spoke in a way that reflected where he came from. And this was true in more than one sense.

Because it wasn’t his Galilean accent that these people had a problem with. Because that’s not all that he reflected when he spoke. They had a problem with the way that he spoke that reflected his heavenly origin. They had a problem with, you could say, his heavenly accent. The things that he said. Not just the way that he said them. They had problems with the claims that he made. The things that he claimed to be, the things that he claimed he could do, because he made claims that no other human could make. Jesus claimed that he’d come down from heaven. He claimed to be the bread from heaven.

He claimed to be the light of the world. He claimed to be the resurrection and the life. He claimed to have always existed, eternally. He claimed to be the only Savior for the world. He claimed to be able to give everlasting life. He claimed to be the only way to God. He claimed that he ought to be honored and worshiped along with God. He claimed to be one with the Father, to be able to give life himself. He claimed to be able to raise himself from the dead.

He claimed to be the one the whole Bible was talking about. He claimed to be the judge of all men. He claimed to be without sin, to have all authority in heaven and on earth, to be able to forgive sins, to rule over the Sabbath. He claimed to be greater than the temple. He claimed to be greater than Jonah and greater than Solomon and greater than Jacob and Abraham. He claimed to be around before Abraham. He claimed to be the Christ, the Messiah. He claimed to be the Son of God. He claimed all of that in a Galilean accent.

So before you jump all over the case of these crowds, remember that this all came from a real man that looked and talked like they did. So if a man comes up here this morning, I already had this in my notes before this morning even happened. But if a man comes walking up this morning looking like a Florida man, speaking like a Florida man, and claiming all of these things, you might hesitate to believe him. Which is why we see the hesitation and the accusations that we continue to see in our text this morning, but there’s a difference.

Because Jesus had something that no random man would have. He had something that no one who could walk up to you, even in this day and age, would truly have. And that is that he had the truth. And he had evidence to prove it to them. He could prove his claims to them. That is what all of these signs are for, to validate the things that He claimed.

But as we have continued to see, they refuse to see what the signs pointed to. And that continues today in our text as Jesus points these unbelieving crowds back to a sign that He had already performed. And He reveals to them once again that He is who He says He is. That His claims are more than just claims. That they are the truth and that He is the truth. And yet they are unwilling to come to Him. And today, in our text, Jesus uses the law to prove it to them. And He rightly explains that this law that they claim to find their hope in, really reveals who they truly are at heart.

And in the brief exchange that we see in our text today, what we see is really a logical argument by Jesus. Really three steps in his logical argument against them. And what we see first is the accusation. The accusation both of Jesus and of the crowd. And then Jesus points out to them the absurdity, the accusation, the absurdity, and lastly, the assessment, how they are to assess the things that he is saying. So allow me to read our sermon text this morning, verses 19 through 24 of John chapter seven. This is the word of the Lord.

Did not Moses give you the law and yet none of you does the law. Why do you seek to kill me? The crowd answered, you have a demon. Who seeks to kill you? And Jesus answered them, I did one work and you all marvel. For this reason, Moses has given you circumcision, not because it is from Moses, but from the fathers. And on the Sabbath, you circumcise a man. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry with me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath? Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

The first thing we see here, starting in verse 19, is the accusation. First, Jesus’ accusation of them, against them, that they failed to keep the law themselves, the law that they were trying to find him guilty with. And then we see their accusation of him, that he had a demon. Verse 19 there says, did not Moses give you the law? And yet none of you does the law. Why do you seek to kill me? This might seem strange or out of place, like where is Jesus getting this from? What’s he talking about?

We need to remember Jesus is bringing up what happened last year when he was here in Jerusalem. And they did seek to kill him back in chapter five. If you want to flip back a couple of pages to chapter five. when they sought to kill him for doing this on the Sabbath, and it’s as if Jesus is saying, oh yeah, you think I forgot about that? In John chapter five, verse one, you see it says, after these things, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And we know this wasn’t the Passover, because that comes in chapter six. It doesn’t say specifically what feast, but likely this was the Feast of Booths from the year before. So most likely one year exactly before John chapter seven, where Jesus is speaking to them again.

And remember when he was there, he healed the lame man at the pool of Bethesda. And then that guy, the guy he healed, went and ratted him out to the Jews for healing him on the Sabbath. And we read there in verses 16 through 18, kind of the conclusion of that account. before Jesus goes on to teach them who he is. But starting in verse 16 it says, for this reason, the reason that he healed the man on the Sabbath, the Jews were persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.

So here Jesus in John chapter seven is bringing up this Sabbath controversy once again. But it continues here in chapter five. But he answered them, my father is working until now and I myself am working. For this reason, therefore, the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him. Because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was calling God his own father, making himself equal with God. Yeah, Jesus didn’t forget about that. They were seeking to kill him on this Sabbath day.

Even though some time had passed, it had been a while, Jesus remembered it. and brought it back up to them. And he uses this incident to illustrate to them what he had just said a few verses earlier. If you remember last week in verse 17 of John chapter 7 here, Jesus says to them, prodding them to figure out whether or not his teaching is true, he says to them, if anyone is willing to do his will, he will know about the teaching. whether it is of God or I speak of myself. So now he clarifies for them a few verses later.

In case you think that you are doing the will of God, in case you think that, yes, you can determine whether or not I’m true because you are doing this will of God, in case you think that’s true, verse 19, did not Moses give you the law? And none of you does the law. So to answer the question from verse 17, no, you’re not doing the will of God. Because Moses gave you the law and you don’t even do that.

And Jesus here is striking at the heart of their self-righteousness. This is why they thought they were better than him. Because they thought they did do the law. They thought this is what made them worthy of judging whether or not he was true. This very law that these Jews thought would save them. But this isn’t just a Jewish problem.

This is the problem with every unbeliever and false religious system in the world. Whether they call it the law or not. Everyone thinks they can be good enough to save themselves. that as long as I do enough good things, that’ll outweigh the bad things I do and I’ll be fine in the end, whatever that looks like. As long as my good outweighs my bad, then I’ll be fine.

And Jesus here reveals the truth of human depravity, human sinfulness. No one can keep the law. No one is good enough. That’s the reality of the human condition. No matter how much good you think you’re doing to outweigh your bad, you can’t. No one is good enough.

Even though these Jews loved the law and found their hope in the law of Moses, these Jewish leaders probably memorized the law. And they sought to keep it to earn their salvation. by obeying and honoring this law. The truth is that not one person ever entered the kingdom of God by keeping the law. No one. Paul makes this very point in Galatians. This is the point of the book of Galatians. The law never saved you. It was never given for that reason. It’s not going to get you into heaven. That’s not the purpose of the law. I can’t go into depth in Galatians this morning, but just a summary verse from Paul’s argument there is found in Galatians 3, verse 10, and he’s speaking of Jews just like this.

He says, for as many as are of the works of the law, as many people who try to find their salvation in keeping the law, in the works of the law, as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written, cursed is everyone who does not abide by all the things written in the law to do them.” See, the reason why the law can’t save you is because the law is all or nothing.

As James says in James 2.10, whoever keeps the whole law and stumbles in one point One point, he has become guilty of all. Before you even realize what the law is, before you’re even old enough as a child to understand God’s law and what it is, you’ve already broken it. So therefore, any efforts to try to keep it, you’ve already stumbled in one point or more.

So your efforts to try to save yourself by keeping it perfectly are in vain. because that was never going to save you. You can’t do enough good to outweigh your bad because that’s not how the system works. That’s not how it works. If you stumble in one point, you’re guilty of all. And your good works that you think are outweighing your bad is just your self-deception. Because you cannot do good works. Anything you do outside of faith in Christ is not good. It doesn’t outweigh anything.

Turn to Romans chapter 3 with me. I’m going to read this passage this morning. Paul really puts a point on what we’re talking about here. Romans chapter 3. Paul just explains the spiral of the depravity of man in chapter one, and then talks about, in chapter two, that both Jews and Greeks have the same problem, because we’re all under sin. And you get to Romans chapter three, starting in verse nine, this is what Paul says. What then? Are we better? Not at all, for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin.

As it is written, there is none righteous, not even one. There is none who understands. There is none who seeks for God. All have turned aside. Together they have become worthless. There is none who does good. There is not even one. Get the point yet. There is nobody. Who has done good?

Their throat is an open tomb, with their tongues they keep deceiving. The poison asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those under the law, so that every mouth may be shut and all the world may become accountable to God. Paul is getting to the point of why God gave the law. God gave the law not so that people could keep it perfectly and be saved, but so that every mouth may be shut and all the world may become accountable to God.

And it continues, because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. For through the law comes the knowledge of sin. The law was given to show us our sin. Not to save us. No one keeps the law. That’s the point of the law. To show you nobody can do it. No one is righteous. And Paul goes on to say, in a few verses, verse 23, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. All, everyone. No one keeps the law. And that’s what Jesus is telling the crowd here.

You all want to throw me under the bus for breaking the law, and yet not one of you has kept the law. Again, Jesus reminding them of the problem they had with him before. So why do you seek to kill me? Why do you seek to kill me? If you’re going to condemn me by this law, you’re all condemned too. Their problem was that he broke the Sabbath. He didn’t keep the law, therefore he needs to die. And the implication is, like we do. He doesn’t keep the law like we do. Therefore, he needs to die.”

They were trying to use the law to prove that Jesus was a sinner. But even while they were doing that, the law was condemning them for their own hatred of Him. And so in response, in verse 20, these crowds answered, You have a demon. Who seeks to kill you? In response to Jesus simply pointing out an obvious truth. None of you keep the law. In response to that, they attack him. You have a demon. Or in other words, they say he’s insane.

While it’s true at this point that it’s the Jewish leaders that want to kill him, they do reveal in verse 25 here that many in Jerusalem knew about this death warrant for Jesus. Verse 25, so some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill? They knew. They knew people were seeking to kill Jesus.

So for them to say, you have a demon, who’s seeking to kill you? Look, this guy’s crazy. He thinks people are trying to kill him. Meanwhile, everyone’s like, that’s the guy everyone’s trying to kill, isn’t it? They knew. And eventually, these crowds would join in with this murderous intent of these Jewish leaders. Because it wasn’t just the leaders who were crying out, crucify him. It was the crowds.

And here, rather than accepting a basic truth that they don’t keep the law, rather than just accepting the truth Jesus is telling them, they lash out and they respond in hostility and they accuse him in return. So this is where Jesus starts here with the accusation. And next we see the absurdity of it. The absurdity of their reaction here. Jesus goes on to explain why they have no ground to stand on. Verse 21, Jesus answered them, I did one work and you all marvel.

For this reason, Moses has given you circumcision, not because it is from Moses, but from the fathers. And on the Sabbath day, you circumcise a man. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry with me because I’ve made an entire man well on the Sabbath?”

Jesus isn’t letting this go. He reminds them specifically what he’s talking about. What do you mean no one’s trying to kill me? Remember when I healed that guy on the Sabbath day? What happened? They sought to kill me. He did one work of healing a man at Bethesda and they lost their minds. They marveled. They couldn’t believe. Oh, I can’t believe you would do this on the Sabbath day. How dare you?

But instead of responding to this miraculous healing with belief, can you believe what this guy just did? This man’s been sitting here for years. And he healed him. Instead of responding in belief, they want to kill him. Because though he had done so many signs before them, they were still not believing in him.

Jesus had done enough to show them who he was. And not only that, Jesus shows them enough to condemn them for not believing in who He is. That’s what it says in John 15. John chapter 15 verse 24, Jesus says, if I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin. They wouldn’t be guilty.

But now they have both seen and hated me and my father as well. Their reaction to these signs, the very thing Jesus is pointing out to them, is their condemnation. If I didn’t show them these miraculous things that no one else could do, they would have an excuse. Well, I didn’t see it, I don’t know. But they did see. And now they have both seen and hated me. They are without excuse.

They saw the signs and they responded in hatred. They accused him of law breaking. They pointed the finger at him for breaking the Sabbath law. But Jesus says, you don’t even keep the Sabbath law. What are you talking about? Jesus pointed out that Moses, or at least so they claimed, gave them circumcision. But as Jesus points out, no, it started before that. It started with Abraham.

But since then, every Jewish male was circumcised when he was eight days old. Well, what happens if the eighth day falls on a Sabbath? On the one hand, you have the rabbi’s laws about the Sabbath that said everything is prohibited except that which preserves life. That was in their law, that they had made these extra rules for the Sabbath day, and you can’t do anything unless it saves or preserves life. Well, that doesn’t include circumcision, so they added an exception clause. Well, except circumcision. We’ll count that. You can do that one. That can be done on the Sabbath day.

And Jesus says, don’t you see what you’re doing? You say that you fully observe the law that was given to you through Moses, including these Sabbath laws, but all you do is make yourselves loopholes and exceptions so that you’re not technically breaking the law.

So much so that you accuse me of breaking the Sabbath by healing someone. but you allow circumcision. And he never says it’s wrong that they circumcise on the Sabbath. The Sabbath must be devoted to God. So the circumcision as an act of worship is appropriate for the Sabbath, but so is healing a man, bringing glory to God.

But in their attempt to justify their hatred of him, in their attempt to find a reason to kill him, They revealed themselves as hypocrites. What’s good for me is not for thee, right? But the law always does that. The law condemns. That’s what it was for. It reveals the hypocrisy and wickedness of our hearts because no matter how hard we try to keep it, there’s always something that we miss.

James Boyce pointed out a great illustration of this from the Old Testament in his commentary on this passage. He pointed to Nathan confronting David over the sin with Bathsheba. It’s a great illustration of what Jesus is talking about that they’re doing with the Sabbath. Because Nathan tells David a story of a man who broke the law, and David immediately reveals himself as a hypocrite. just like these Jews were doing.

If you want to turn there, it’s found in 2 Samuel chapter 12. 2 Samuel chapter 12, after David sins with Bathsheba and then has her husband killed to cover up his sin. 2 Samuel chapter 12, starting in verse 1, it says, then Yahweh sent Nathan to David.

And he came to him and said, He didn’t even give any preface to this. Didn’t even say, hey, David, what you been up to? Hey, David, I haven’t seen you in a while. What have you been doing the last few days? He comes to him and says, hey, David, listen to what happened.

There were two men in one city, one rich, one poor. The rich man had a great many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb, which he bought and nourished and it grew up together with him and his children. It would eat his morsel of bread and drink his cup and lie in his bosom and was like a daughter to him. Now a visitor came to the rich man and he was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd to prepare for the traveler who had come to him. Rather, he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come.”

Then David’s anger burned greatly. against the man. And he said to Nathan, as Yahweh lives, he swears by the name of God, as Yahweh lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die. And he must make restitution for the lamb fourfold because he did this thing and had no compassion.

And David’s right. David’s right. But then Nathan said to David, you’re the man. That’s you, David. You’re the rich man who has all sorts of flocks and herds. You have multiple wives, David. But you had to go take the man who had one wife and took that wife for yourself too. David, you’re the man.

What does the law do? It condemns. The law condemns. It shows how we have violated it. Because again, Romans 3.20, because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified. in his sight, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin. There can never be hope of salvation by keeping the law, by our efforts to try as hard as we can, to do as good as we can, because we can’t. The law was made and given to reveal sin, not to save. It was never given with the intent that anyone would actually keep it perfectly.

The law was a measuring stick in order to convince us of our true sinfulness and our hopeless situation. So that people who saw their sinfulness in the law, how I can’t do it, They would realize, I need a savior from this. I need salvation. I need the grace of God. It’s been used many times, but a great illustration for the law is that the law is like a mirror.

You look in it and see what you really like. You think about the purpose of a mirror. A mirror is to show you what your face looks like, right? So if your face is dirty, the mirror will show you that your face is dirty. But the purpose of a mirror is not to wash your face. You don’t wash your face with the mirror. That would be ridiculous. But that’s no more ridiculous than thinking, if I try hard enough, to do good enough, to keep the law, that will save me. The purpose of a mirror is to point you to the soap and the water that can clean you. The purpose of the law is to point you to Christ who can save you.

This is why the sacrifices were included in the law. The sin sacrifices, the things that they were to do to pay for their sin, to pay for their law-breaking and not law-keeping. God gives them the law, do these things. Do this, don’t do that. There’s the law. As if he said, keep this perfectly, but I know you won’t, so here’s the sacrifices to pay for when you don’t. This is why the sacrifices were in the law. Because the law was given to show them how they don’t measure up. And the sacrifices were given to show them they need a substitute.

There were several sacrifices they were to make for sin. One of the most vivid illustrations of Christ was the scapegoat sacrifice. where a goat was brought to the priest and the priest put his hands on the goat and confessed the sin of the people. And that symbolized that the sins were transferred to the goat. And then they would drive the goat away out into the wilderness to die. And symbolically, it would take their sin far from them. And Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of that very sacrifice. He is the true scapegoat. He is the true Passover lamb who dies in the place of his people. He’s the scapegoat that takes our sin far away from us.

I read Isaiah 53 verse 2 earlier, verses 4 and 5 say, Surely our griefs he himself bore, and our sorrows he carried, yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken. smitten of God and afflicted. He was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our peace fell on him and by his wounds we are healed.

He fulfilled those sacrifices once for all. This is always how they were to understand the law, that you can’t keep it. You need sacrifices to make up for your failures. And ultimately one day there was a true sacrifice coming, and here he was. And they want to kill him for not keeping the law that he alone perfectly kept. But these Jews saw the law, their obedience, as the thing that saved them. They even saw the sacrifices as part of their obedience.

They didn’t see it as the grace of God and the forgiveness of their law breaking. And here the absurdity is that they try to judge the sinless one for breaking a law that they couldn’t even keep. He didn’t break it, but they couldn’t keep it. They misjudged the law, and because of that, they were lost. Because of that, they didn’t see their need for Him, the true sacrifice for their sin. Why do you think they found it so offensive that He said, none of you keeps Moses’ law? They said, you have a demon. How dare you say that? but the law they try to judge him with is what condemns them. This is the absurdity, which leads finally to the assessment in verse 24.

Jesus says, do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment. Judge with right judgment. Understand these things. Understand what the law was for, and if you do, you’ll see who’s standing in front of you. Don’t judge by his appearance, as they’ll go on in a few verses to say, we know who this guy is, this is the one they’re trying to kill. We know what he’s really like. Don’t judge by appearances, judge with right judgment.

Don’t look at Jesus and only see his physical appearance. He had no stately form or majesty that we should look upon him. Don’t look at him like they did, like just another man from Galilee who must have had a demon for claiming the things that he claimed. Don’t see him as just a good man or a good teacher. Don’t see him as just another religious martyr who died for a good cause.

Instead, judge with right judgment. See him as the true sacrifice for your sin and law-breaking. See him as the one who surely our griefs he himself bore and our sorrows he carried and we esteemed him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. He was pierced through for our transgressions. crushed for our iniquities. The chastening of our peace fell upon him and by his wounds we are healed. He was crushed because we don’t keep the law.

The sacrifices that were given to show the way in which salvation was coming So that when you see in the law that you can’t save yourself, when you finally realize that no matter how hard you try, you cannot do enough good to outweigh the bad. You cannot be good enough to be fine in the end. So when you see that you can’t do it, you’ll also see that you need a savior. And you’ll see that Jesus Christ is that Savior. He bore your sin upon himself. If you are one. From the father gave to him. He carried away your sin. Like the scapegoat. Who carried away the sins of the nation? He was the blood sacrifice. On the Day of Atonement, he died for you.

2 Corinthians 5.21 says, He made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf. He didn’t break the law. He had nothing deserving death. He knew no sin. But he became sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

Is that you? Are you in Him? Are you trusting in Him as that sacrifice on your behalf for your sin? Are you still trying to earn your way into heaven? Are you thinking that you can do enough good that God will overlook the bad? Are you thinking that, well, me and God will figure that out one day? I’ve done a lot of good things. I’m a pretty good person. God, he’ll look at me the way that I look at me, right? I think I’m pretty good. Why wouldn’t God? Stop it. Stop it.

He sent his son to die for sin, not so that you could impress him with what you think is Trust in Him today as your Savior. And if you already are a Christian, you know, sometimes we still live like this. Even though we do believe that He is our Savior and that He died for my sin, we still try to live as though I’m trying to pay off my sin debt. That whatever I do, it’s not good enough. That I need to keep working harder so God will love me.

You know, you’re trying to earn something that Jesus already earned. We can’t do that. If you believe in Christ as your Savior, your debt is paid. You cannot earn God’s favor. You already have it. Just enter into His rest. Trust in Him. Stop thinking that you’re failing because you aren’t keeping the law that He already kept for you. Trust that He did pay that debt and that you were His.

And now when the Father looks at you, He sees the beauty and goodness of His perfect Son. And now we live to glorify Him because of what He’s already done for us. That is what it means to judge with right judgment. to see Jesus and his sacrifice for what it truly is. Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with right judgment.

Let’s stand and close in a word of prayer. Our God, we thank you. We thank you for a text like this that reminds us that even though we may feel sometimes that we have to earn our way to you, we have to earn your favor, this reminds us that we can’t, that no one can, and also that he already did.

Lord, if there’s anyone here this morning that is trusting in their own righteousness to try to save themselves, that is thinking that they can do good enough to make it, Lord, show them their sin. Convict them and bring them to Christ, the only hope, the only Savior, the only way to you. And Lord, if there’s anyone here that’s in Christ but still battling with that desire to try to earn your favor through keeping the law. Lord, help us to rest in Christ, to trust that he did accomplish our righteousness and our salvation. We just need to live in gratitude to him. God, we thank you. We thank you for your word and the comfort that it is to us. We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.