Good morning and welcome in today. Today we’re going to take a look at a passage of scripture but before we do that I wanted to tell you a little story.
As I have mentioned many times in the past, up here in Northern Minnesota we always have a lot of mosquitoes that live with us in the woods. Our family has dealt with them for 20 years. In fact, we call May the mosquito month.
I have a very hard time getting to sleep at night when there’s one single mosquito in the house so usually what I do during mosquito season is go up to my small camper. Andrew and I built a beautiful mosquito net over the top of my bed and all I have to do before I go to sleep is kill a few that are in there.
There was one morning I got up in my camper and slowly stepped out of bed and had a glass of water. It had been so warm at night I had left the door open on the camper with a locked screen door to keep cool.
We have a black lab named Jack who used to come up to the camper and curl up by the door and sleep. There he was by the door this morning.
I went up to the screen door and gave him a little tap with my foot and said goodmorning Jack, but when he turned his head around, to my great surprise it wasn’t Jack our dog, it was a black bear! He slowly got up and wandered away into the woods.
Sometimes things don’t appear what they seem, do they. The reason is because looks can be deceiving.
John 7:24
24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
Have you ever purchased a diamond ring only to find out later that it wasn’t a diamond at all? It gave the appearance of what you thought it was but it was something completely different.
Looks truly can be deceiving can’t they. The Lord Jesus taught us not to judge by appearance.
1 Samuel 16:7 – But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.
What you see with your eyes can at certain times fool you. Some people will trust others just because they wear a suit and a tie, but inside their heart they truly don’t love God or others.
It would be very easy to rent a limousine put on a tuxedo and get out of the car somewhere and claim to be someone of great importance while the truth is, they are not what they appear to be. This is one reason you’re not supposed to judge by appearance because you can be fooled into believing something that is not true.
People judged David by his small stature when he went up to fight against Goliath. They judged him by appearance.
In the book of James they were judging by appearances even in the church.
James 2:1-9
2 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.
2 For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;
3 And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:
4 Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?
5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
6 But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?
7 Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?
8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:
9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
People were even judging our precious Lord Jesus by his appearance.
DId you know that when they came to get Jesus in the Garden that evening, they couldn’t even identify which one he was because he appeared like everybody else in the group, like a poor fisherman. Judas had to give him a kiss to identify him.
There are some people even today who give an appearance as an apostle, who even wear a nametag on their shirt and wear a robe while the real truth is that on the inside, they only desire to turn people away from the truth in Christ Jesus and His Word.
2 Cor 11:13-14
13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
My black lab was actually a bear on my deck that morning. Don’t judge by appearances, because God judges what’s inside each of us…..
He judges the heart.
Thats where I’m going to stop for right now but Lord willing we’ll talk to you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.❤
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