Jesus invites us to judge Him, but to judge with righteous judgment that looks beyond mere appearances to the heart of the matter - that He is the Son of God sent from the Father. While the world judges based on false standards of wealth, status, and external factors, Christians must invite judgment based on God's standards of righteousness, sacrificial living, and obedience to Christ. On this Resurrection Day, we are called to judge rightly that Jesus is the risen Lord and Savior, humbly submitting our lives to follow Him.

Transcript

John chapter 7 verse 24. Jesus says "do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." Now that is a powerful and important concept that is uttered by Jesus on this occasion, and the applications that we should make to that are many and varied. As Christians, when we look at other people, we cannot get hung up on appearances, on the externals.

We cannot judge people merely by the clothes they wear, the way they talk, or what they look like, where they're from. All of those are just appearances. What matters, of course, is a person's heart and actions. How do they live? How do they serve? Do they love God, and how do they love Him? We can make application, certainly, when proclaiming the Gospel, that we cannot judge the eternal destiny of another, because, because we can't see into the hearts of men.

I am not, nor is any other man, in a position to judge the eternal destiny of another. That's stupid. But we can use righteous judgment to see the deeds, the acts of men. And we can be more motivated by that judgment to warn those who are walking contrary to the revealed will of God, as best we can tell.

Righteous judgment is what's needed sometimes among Christians, even in the church. Righteous judgment. Like in the church in Corinth, that's what was needed. Righteous judgment so that that, so that brother didn't go to court against brother. Righteous judgment within the church to convict of sin and save from God's final judgment.

And Jesus statement has bearing on, on all of those different applications. That we need to judge with righteous judgment. That we, unlike the world around us, do not need to be swayed by mere appearances. Amen. But what things look like on the outside, and what people look like, but who they really are. And those are all fine and needed applications.

But what, or more correctly, is Jesus inviting us to judge? In John chapter 7 and verse 24. Do you know? Who is it specifically that Jesus is asking us, inviting us, to judge? Him. Jesus. Jesus Christ Himself is inviting those on that occasion, and by extension, us. He is inviting us to judge Him, not based merely on appearances, but to judge Him with righteous judgment.

That is quite a concept for us to consider, isn't it? The idea of judging Jesus, and yet that's exactly what He invites every single person who comes into contact with Him. With his word, with his followers, that is exactly what he invites us to do. Uh, I'm grateful for your presence this morning. If you're, if you have your Bible and you want to turn to John chapter 7, we're going to be looking in that context to think about a few things around this idea of judging Jesus this morning.

Uh, we have, uh, some who are visiting with us. We're grateful for your presence, uh, whether you're in person or online. Thank you for being here. It is a, uh, a startling concept. I, I know it is for me to imagine that I can somehow That's kind of incredible, isn't it? When we think about Jesus and judging, certainly we think about Him judging us.

And, and He has every right to do that. And yet what we see is that Jesus invited judgment. The judge of all things. invites those who He will judge to judge Him first. He invites us to judge Him. And maybe that doesn't seem right. After all, we know what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 7, verses 1 and 2, right?

This is maybe the most quoted scripture from the whole New Testament. Judge not, what? That you be not judged. And Jesus goes on to explain that. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged. And with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. Uh, Bill Reeves, Stephanie's grandfather, Granddaddy Reeves, we called him, Uh, he had a, he had a funny little saying, something that he would say whenever somebody was being a little harsh in judgment.

And if you knew Granddaddy at all, you'd think, maybe sometimes he could be a little harsh in judgment. But, but he would, he would say this when he would observe that. Somebody being really harsh judging somebody else. He would say, I'm sorry. I just don't know why they do that to themselves. You can hear him say that, can't you?

I just don't know why they do that to themselves. Because he understood rightly. If they were judging somebody else by that standard They were judging somebody else by that kind of hypocritical or hypercritical sort of judgment. How were they going to be judged in the Judgment Day? By the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you.

And Jesus is not, on this occasion in Matthew chapter 7, and as good Bible students you know this, He's not saying, you can never judge anyone ever. But he is saying that we need to be mighty careful in our judgment of other people because the standard we use with others if we're Hypercritical about every little thing that somebody does well, that's the way we're gonna be judged as well And I don't know about you But I would like people to be a little bit more gracious in their judging of me And so I need to be a little bit more gracious in my judging of them

Jesus followed this rule too He is the judge, but how he judges is how he wishes us to judge him, too. And how do we know that God judges in our New Testament? Well, 1 Samuel chapter 16 and verse 7, referring to God in the Old Testament, of course, is as Nathan the prophet comes and, um, Samuel the prophet comes and he is going to choose the next king to follow Saul and he sees Jesse's oldest son and he says, Oh, this has got to be the guy.

He looks like a king. And God tells him on that occasion, The Lord does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. That's the way God judges and that's the way He wants us to judge as well. Not looking at outward appearance, but looking at the truth, the reality, righteous judgment.

And that, that term, that phrase, Righteous Judgment, depending on your translation, is found at least four times in our New Testament to describe the way God is going to judge on the Judgment Day. And so what Jesus is saying is, aren't you glad I'm not just gonna look at appearances, I'm not just gonna look at externals.

When I judge you, I'm gonna use Righteous Judgment. I'm gonna look at your heart. And what I'm asking you to do in judging me I want you to not judge on appearance. I want you to judge me with right judgment. With righteous judgment. And so Jesus makes that invitation to them and to us to judge by that same standard.

Righteous judgment that looks beyond the surface and the superficial to the very heart of the matter. Have you ever judged Jesus like that? Have you ever considered Him? Here, in this context, we see everybody was judging Jesus. They were making judgments about who He was, and where He came from, and what He stood for.

There at the end of chapter 6, after many people, many of his disciples decided to walk with him no longer, those closest disciples, including Peter himself, they judged Jesus based on the things that he had done, and they believed on him, and believed that he was the Son of God, believed that he had the words of eternal life, and that there was nowhere else that they could go.

They made that judgment. And at the beginning of chapter 7, his own flesh and blood brothers, his half brothers who had the same mother in Mary, they made a judgment about him, and they did not believe. They did not believe that he was who he claimed to be, that he was the Messiah. We see, as we continue through this chapter, that the crowds judged him, and they were divided, and they were confused, and some thought one thing, and some thought another, and others just threw up their hands and said, I don't know, I don't know what he is.

His enemies, they judged him. They judged him to be worthy of death. They sought to arrest and kill him. And what did they say in their judgment? Well, if you go through John chapter 7, and we don't have time this morning to read through that whole context, but I would encourage you to do that sometime.

This whole chapter is about people judging Jesus. And this is the way that they described Him. Some people said, well, He's good. He's a good man. Look at the things that He does. He must be good. Others said, no, he's just a deceiver. He, he deceives the people. They think they've seen all these miracles and heard this great teaching, but that's not, that's not true.

In fact, he has a demon or he's paranoid or, or, or, or he's just somebody who doesn't really know things. Others said, no, on the other side, he's knowledgeable. I mean, listen to the things that he says. He, he really makes a connection. He knows what he's talking about. Other people say, he's But he's untaught.

He hasn't gone to any of these schools. He, he hasn't learned any of the right things. Some people came and heard him and said, No man ever spoke like this man. I mean, he's unlike anybody I've ever heard before. And others heard him and said, He's dangerous. He shouldn't be listened to at all. All in this one chapter, we have all of those different judgments about Jesus.

And Jesus said, Judge not if you be not judged. No! Jesus invited that judgment. He said, yes, I call on you to make a judgment about me. And that's a call for every person who has ever come in contact with Jesus. In John chapter 7, some called him the prophet, some called him the Christ, some said he is just a man and a charlatan at that.

And they were all unsure about Him. They were unsure about who He was and where He came from. But what's interesting to me is that Jesus was sure of Himself. And that's why He could invite that judgment from them. He was not relying on them to tell Him who He was and what He stood for. He could stand up to that judgment because He knew who He was.

And He knew why He was here. And he knew where he came from. And maybe just skipping ahead a little bit to think about ourselves, if we know those same things, if we know who we are, and we know where we came from, and we know what we stand for, and we know where we're going, just like Jesus did. We are more ready to stand up to judgment.

Yes, Jesus invited this judgment, but it's interesting, He invited judgment, but not according to their false standards. I want you to read there at the end of the chapter, where all of this kind of comes to a head in verses 45 through 52. So if you're there at John chapter 7, verses 45 through 52. The, the officers of the Jews, the rulers of the Jews have sent people to arrest him.

And when, when they come back, these people that they sent to arrest him, notice what it says, verse 45, When the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, Why have you not brought him? We sent you to arrest him. Why have you not brought him? The officers answered, No man ever spoke like this man.

Then the Pharisees answered them, Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in him? Well, yes, but they kept it secret because they didn't want to be put out of the synagogues. But, that's their argument, but this crowd that does not know the law is accursed. All of us who really know things, we have not believed in him.

It's all of these common people who don't know squat. Those are the people who have believed in him. Now Nicodemus, verse 50, he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them, but also someone who had encountered Jesus and had to make some judgments, he said to them, verse 51, Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?

Now what is Nicodemus asking for?

He's saying the only way you can really judge somebody, not by just appearances, you have to know this man. You have to know what he teaches. You have to know what he is doing. You have to hear him and know what he stands for. And only then can you really make a judgment about him. So what do they do in verse 52?

They go right back to appearances and what they think they know already. Verse 52, They answered and said to him, Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.

Jesus invited judgment, but he wanted it to be by the right standard. Have you ever invited judgment? Asked somebody to judge you? Uh, if you showed in the Angelina County show this past week, did anything, would you raise your hand please? If you've ever shown in a county show, raise your hand please. Every single one of you have invited people to judge you, right?

I mean, that's what you're working for. You're, you're, you're preparing with your animal, you're preparing with your, uh, dessert, you're preparing, taking a good picture, whatever it is, and then you take it there and you say, judge this. And yes, by extension, if you're in the show ring, judge me and how I'm doing in showing it.

And what do you want? What do you want on that occasion from that judge? Don't you just want

To give you a genuine shot? To judge you based on a standard that everybody knows that's consistent? It's tough to be judged. It can be humbling. But we want a judge who has no partiality, who plays no favorites. Who doesn't judge you just based on, you know, who you know, or those sorts of things. No, we want somebody who judges fairly, with no hidden agendas, or unreasonable expectations, or head scratching inconsistencies.

You know, why'd he pick that one instead of that one? That doesn't make sense to me. We want somebody to be fair. We want somebody, what's one word for all that? Righteous. We want somebody to be righteous in their judgment. And Jesus demanded this same thing from these people. I want you to judge me. But I want you to judge me fairly, according to the right standard.

And we see this interplay between how they were judging and how Jesus desired for them judging, to judge Him, come up a number of times. Notice, for example, they were so concerned throughout this whole chapter about where He was from. So you look there, um, verse 27. So, verse 27 of John chapter 7. However, we know where this man is from.

Where was he from? Well, they thought from Galilee, from Nazareth. But when the Christ comes, no one will know where he was from. Now, this was kind of a misconception that they had, that the Messiah was just gonna kind of appear. And they're like, oh, I don't know where this guy came from, but he's awesome.

That's kind of their mentality. At least for some of them, and so they're like, well, we know where this guy is from. They're concerned with that. If you drop down to verse 41, some said that he was the prophet, others, verse 41, this is the Christ, the Messiah. But some said, will the Christ come out of Galilee?

Has not the scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem where David was? And as we read a moment ago in verse 52, Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen or is to rise out of Galilee. That's what they were concerned about.

Where's this guy from? Maybe we can understand that a little bit. You know, I grew up in a small town. In our county, there were just a few schools, and we were, for many years, we were the smallest school. We were, everybody was country out there, but we were the most country, if we can put it in those terms.

We were the poorest school, and so there was always this little, you know, Oh, you're from Patton Springs, you know, can anything good come from Patton Springs? That kind of mentality, right? You don't know me at all, and you're judging me just based on where I'm from. Well, what was Jesus concerned about? How did He want them to judge Him?

He emphasized whom He was from. Notice verses 28 and 29, where Jesus says this in response to their thoughts, Hey, we're not going to know where the Christ is from. Jesus cried out as He taught in the temples, saying, You both know me and know where I am from. And I, and I have not come of myself, but he who sent me is true, whom you do not know.

But I know him, for I am from him, and he sent me. You're worried about some dot on a map, Jesus said. I come from God the Father. I was sent from Him to you. That's what you should be judging. That's what you should be concerned about. And those who saw what He did and heard His words and knew they were from the Father, they believed in Him.

While those who were fixated on where He came from did not believe in Him. They judged based on appearances. And even in that, they didn't get it right. They thought that He was from Nazareth. Uh, and they said, you know, no prophet is to rise out of Galilee. They forget Isaiah 9, verses 1 and 2 that says, Galilee of the Gentiles.

The Messiah is going to be coming from there. They forgot that passage. And they didn't even know exactly where Jesus was from. That He was of the seed of David, and He was born in Bethlehem. They didn't stop to ask Him. They didn't stop to ask His mother. They just judged based on appearances. Oh, He came from Nazareth.

That must be where He's from. But even in that, they would be missing the point. Even if they knew He was from Bethlehem, even if they knew He was from the seed of David, Jesus was most concerned about being from his father. That's what righteous judgment would have judged. And yet they were not concerned about that.

It's interesting, they were also really concerned about his ability to teach. How he had been taught, where he had been taught, those sorts of things. If you go back to, um, Acts chapter 7, uh, verses, uh, 15, uh, 14 and following. Now about the middle of the feast, Jesus went up to the temple and taught. And the Jews marveled saying, how does this man How is this man learned?

Uh, no letters is a really, uh, a really, a translation that is just probably too specific. The idea is, how does this guy know stuff? How has he been taught when he hadn't gone to school? How does he know these things? So how is this, how is it that this man has learning having never studied? He hadn't gone to our schools.

He hadn't come down here to Jerusalem to sit at the feet of Gamaliel. How is he able to teach like this? And so they were so concerned about his ability to teach, but Jesus emphasized the source of his teaching. Notice in verses 16 and following. Jesus answered them and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his who sent me, my teaching.

If anyone wills to do his will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on my own authority. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory. Amen. But he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is true, and no unrighteousness is from him. You're so concerned about my ability to teach and where I learn these things, you should be really worried about the source of my teaching, that it comes from the Father.

Do we do that? Do we do that with preachers? Are we so concerned about someone's ability, the ability that they have to teach something, that That we overlook the source of that teaching. Brothers and sisters, our chief concern should be, is this teaching from God? And so we see that Jesus invited judgment, but not according to their false standards and, and they said things like, well, he's unlearned.

And you can almost imagine Jesus replying and saying, unlearned in what? Your teaching? The things that you have taught? They made accusations and said, He's leading the people astray. And you can imagine Jesus response. Astray from what? Astray from your traditions? Because they're judging Him based on this false standard.

Jesus says, Judge me. But use the right standard. By what standard? Man's or God's? God's standard is what Jesus invited. Now, I'm gonna make an application here in just a moment to how we judge Jesus, but I think there's another application that comes first. Jesus invited judgment, but not according to their false standards, and so should we.

As Christians, as those who wear His name, we should invite that same kind of judgment. I had a conversation with somebody, uh, just a couple of years ago now, Uh, this is somebody that I'd known for a number of years, who had thought about preaching, who, who actually had a lot of ability, and, and so forth, and good heart, and all those sorts of things.

Uh, and so I just, I just asked him one time. I, I said, you know, hey, why aren't you preaching? You know, I'm just, I'm curious, I'm not, not, you don't have to preach, you know, that's not something that's required of you to be right with God or anything like that, but why? I'm, I'm curious. And he said, well, Reagan, I, I just didn't want to put my family under the microscope that a preacher is going to put his family under.

I thought about that a little bit. I've been so blessed in so many ways to, to work with and be a part of the congregations I've been a part of who, who view me not just as a hired hand, but as part of the family. And yet at the same time, that idea of, I don't want people to judge me too much. I refuse to be concerned about that.

My family has nothing to hide because we are not perfect and we make no claim to it. Uh, and as you have seen me over the last. 14 ish years, you know, so many of those imperfections that I have. And so I make no claim to those sorts of things. Put me under the microscope and see my flaws. They're there and I'll show you where they are.

In fact, I'll confess them from the pulpit far too often, probably.

I know this.

For me and my house, we are committed to doing our dead level best to serve the Lord. To put spiritual things first. Do we fall short in that? Absolutely. But that is where our heart is. That's where our actions are.

And so we can accept judgment. Now beloved, that is not true because I am a preacher. That is true because I am a Christian. That every single one of us, if we are Christians, we are all under the microscope of the world. We are all under the microscope of those who, yes, are rooting for us to fail so that it makes them

You think about it in these terms, um, what is the number one reason? If you think about the people that you've talked to, the people that you've invited to church, the people that you know of who have left the church and haven't come back, but you've had conversations with them, what is the number one reason?

I'll tell you mine in a second, I'm curious to see if it's the same. The number one reason why people won't come to church or come back to church. What's the number one reason? Hmm. In my experience, all those hypocrites, there are too many hypocrites there. There are too many hypocrites in the church. And my first response is, in good fun, saying, Oh, well, I'm glad you're in the world where there aren't any hypocrites, right?

No hypocrites there, uh, only in the church. Um, but the reality is, sometimes, yeah, sometimes there are hypocrites. And even more, sometimes there are people who are trying to do what's right, and don't, and fail, and fall short. Because this is not some collection of perfectly righteous people. This is a collection of people who are saved by the blood of Jesus.

And all that is, there are too many hypocrites in the church, is a judgment. And we are warned to be ready for judgment. Judgment from the world, judgment from others, over and over in our Bibles. I want you to turn over to 1 Peter chapter 3. 1 Peter chapter 3, if you'll turn over there with me for just a moment.

Uh, I, I picked this book because we see several instances of this just kind of back to back to back in 1 Peter, 1 Peter chapter 3, notice verses 15 through 17. But sanctify the Lord Jesus in your hearts. God is set apart. He has a special place. He comes first in your life. And always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.

Having a good conscience that when they defame you as evildoers, they judge you and say you're an evildoer, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. Because it rings hollow. The test of time proves the life that you're living. For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

Sometimes you're going to be judged, even though you're doing what's good, and you can expect that. Chapter 4 and verse 1, the same concept comes up again. Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, For he who suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lust of men, but for the will of God.

God comes first. That's what I'm trying to do. For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles when we walked. Yeah, this was the way I used to live and I admit to that. In lewdness and lust and drunkenness, revelry, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. In regard to these, they think it's strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you.

Yes, you're going to be judged, and people are going to speak evil of you when you stop doing evil things. They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. But it's not just them who will give an account. Drop down to verse 15. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people's matters.

Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God. And if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? We are being judged by the world and we will all be judged by God.

And one of our God given purposes as Christians is to embrace this judgment and use it to influence those who are in that process of judging us. You're probably familiar with Matthew chapter 5, beginning in verse 13. In describing what a citizen of his kingdom is like, who we are, our purpose on this earth, Jesus says, You are the salt of the earth.

But if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? You It's been good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are supposed to bring seasoning to this world. This world is supposed to be a better place because you're in it as a Christian. And people are gonna judge that.

They're gonna look at you and say, How are they living? And we have to live our lives as God would have us to, so that they know the right way. Not just for this world to be better, but so that they can be pointed to Jesus Christ as he continues. Verse 14, you are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house that your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven.

That when people judge you, when people judge us. They might say, I don't know about all that Christianity stuff, but you know what? Barrett Lankford really believes that. He believes that stuff.

You know, I don't, I don't agree with him on everything. And, you know, sometimes I think he's a little bit of a religious nut sometimes. But, you know, Tommy Ebram, he really believes that. And he lives it. I don't agree with it, but he lives it.

Are we living our lives in such a way that we, that we welcome that kind of judgment? Not as the world judges. Not by the world's standards. Like Jesus, we should invite judgment. Because it provides light and contrast and seasoning to the world. They see how we are different. But like Jesus too, we should not and we cannot allow the world to judge us by its own standard.

We cannot come into this world and say, I want to be judged like everybody else. It doesn't work that way. Our worth cannot be tied up in what we wear and what we drive in the cup we carry around with us. In your physical successes or failures, the brands that you wear, your, your makeup, your looks, your social media feed, your alma mater, your job, your GPA, where you live, who your family is, your past mistakes and sins, if they've been repented of, all of those things are the worldly standards of judgment.

And we have to say, you can judge me, but not by those things. Because those things are appearances. Those things are externals. And I will, I will not, I will not fall into the trap of, of allowing those things to be what defines me.

And, and when somebody judges me and I fall short in some way of this standard of the world, I cannot somehow then bend to that standard to say, Ah! I want it to be different. I want people to look at me like everybody else. I want to be popular like everybody else. Beloved, you are not like everybody else.

You're called to be different. Young people, are you hearing me? Are you hearing me this morning? I know it's hard. I've been there. I've been through it.

But you have a chance to shine brighter than anybody else

if you refuse to be judged by the world's standards.

May it never be that we fall into these false standards of judgment.

When I was a, a sophomore in high school, I started out, um, on the JV football team, and then at the end of the season, I was brought up to varsity, and then the, the quarterback in front of me got hurt. Hurt and in trouble. I'm not sure which was the biggest issue.

And all season I'd been wearing, Under Armour had just come out within the last few years. That's dating me a little bit, but Under Armour was a thing everybody wanted to wear. Everybody wanted to have that UA, you know, you know. Peeking out the back of their pads. And here I was with the red shirt, just like everybody else.

But mine said champion right across the breast right there, you know? Um, and, uh, that never been a big deal until one of the other guys from the team came with a shirt and threw it at me and said, you're starting now. You got to wear, you got to wear something better than that. And I was shocked by how hurt I was by that.

I, I, I. I'd kind of hidden it, you know, through the season. I thought nobody would really notice, but oh, they noticed and they judged me based on it. Because I, we couldn't afford what everybody else did.

And in that moment I had a choice. Oh, that's a small thing. That's not a sinful thing one way or another. But in that moment I had a choice. Am I going to allow the world to judge me based on its standard? Is this going to be what's most important to me from this point forward that I want the approval of all of these people who are all of this sin?

Or am I going to continue? to shine my light in such a way that when they judge me, they are forced to use a different standard,

the standard of God. May it never be that we judge others based on those things. And we cannot allow that to be the standard by which we are judged either. So Jesus invited judgment, but not according to false standards. And so should we. And so my, my final series of questions is this, how, how do you judge Jesus?

A good man, a deceiver, crazy and paranoid. A good teacher. People had all sorts of ideas about who Jesus was and how to judge him. And in Matthew chapter 16, Jesus even asked this question of his disciples. He asked them in Caesarea Philippi, Who do men say that I am? In Matthew 16 and verse 13, Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?

What do people say about me? How do they judge me? So they said, some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. He said to them, but But who do you say that I am? Judge me. Who am I? Simon Peter answered and said, You're the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you.

This is not something that you figure out based on appearances, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock, this confession, that, that I'm the Christ, the Son of the Living God, on that reality, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

And on this day, as Barrett said, when so many around the world celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, I ask you to judge Jesus, judge Him with righteous judgment. And if Jesus really is raised And so many, so many are attending church today for that reason. If Jesus really is raised, that has implications, does it not?

For you and how you judge Him. Who is He? From whom did He come? And what does He require of you? If He is raised, He is the Son of God. He came from heaven to earth to live as a man, to die on a cross for your sins and for mine. And He rose on the third day, conquering sin, and And death, the grave, so that we might have the opportunity to be saved.

And what he requires from you is the same thing he has required. Humble submission to come and say, I'm giving my life to Jesus, and I will do whatever it is He requires. To put off the old man of sin, to confess Jesus as that Christ. I judge Him as Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God. To go down into a watery grave that just as He rose from the dead, so too we can rise to walk in newness of life.

And if you need to do that even this morning, come now. Why, together we stand.