YOUR TIME IS ALWAYS OPPORTUNE
Text: John 7:1-8
Proposition: What should I do knowing my time is opportune?
Introduction
Jesus brothers were going up to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of the Booths. This was a weeklong feast when they lived in temporary shelters to remember the days that they lived in the wilderness. This was one of the required feasts. In order to keep the law Jesus had to go to the feast. But he wasn’t going to go up publicly like his brothers. The Jews were seeking to kill him for healing the man at the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath Day. Jesus told them their time was always opportune. They could die at any time. Jesus knew that his time to make himself known to the world had not come yet. It wasn’t time for the Triumphal Entry. This would come when he was ready to be crucified. He told them their time was always opportune. They could go to the feast anytime. No one was seeking their life, but they could die at any time.
We don’t know when we are going to die. Jesus is the only man who knew all of
his life when He would die. A few weeks ago, (August 8, 2009) a small airplane carrying the pilot and 2 of his family members collided with a tourist helicopter carrying the pilot and 5 tourists from Italy. All nine of them died. (Hays, Tom and Epstein, Victor, Pilot of Hudson collision plane chose river route Aug 11, 2009 Associated Press Writers HOBOKEN, N.J.) http://kai03.qwest.com/WindowsLive/Media/News/NewsDetail/National/Pilot_of_Hudson_collision_plane_chose_river_route.aspx?id=D9A0KUSG0@news.ap.org&client=landingpage&qid=26A3D8957EE761312AC0228DFFFFFFFF
None of them knew they were going to die. Things like this have been happening for thousands of years. When Jesus was walking on the earth. Pilate killed some Galileans while they were offering sacrifices in the temple. About the same time the tower of Siloam fell and killed eighteen people. None of these people expected to die when they did. Life is not certain. We never know when we are going to die. Our time is always opportune.
I. Believe Him (How do I know if I believe in Him?)
A. Jesus brothers didn’t believe in Him
1. John 7:5
2. Jesus brothers didn’t believe in Him. They mocked Him. They wanted to see Him do the great works that they had heard about Him doing. Jesus didn’t perform many miracles in his hometown. His brothers mocked Him. They thought He was crazy (Mark 3:21)
3. If I mock Jesus I don’t believe in Him.
4. If I use His name in vain I don’t believe in Him.
B. Believe that He is the Son of God
1. John 7:12
2. Jesus was not just a good man. He is the Son of God who resurrected from the dead to sit at the right hand of God to live forever.
3. If He is not the Son of God is a deceiver who leads the multitudes astray.
C. Speak boldly
1. John 7:11-13
2. The people were afraid to speak openly about Jesus. The Jews were seeking to kill Jesus. So nobody wanted to say much about Jesus. Nobody wanted to be identified as following Jesus.
3. If I believe in Him I will speak boldly.
4. It is hard to speak boldly when your life is in danger. Nobody wants to be killed.
5. Even the apostle Paul was afraid to speak boldly, and He needed prayer to speak boldly.
6. Acts 18:9-10
7. Ephesians 6:19-20
8. Jesus spoke boldly
9. John 7:7, Jesus testified that the deeds of the world were evil.
10. John 7:19-23
11. He told them they didn’t keep the Law of Moses. Moses gave the Commandment “Thou shalt not kill.” Yet they were trying to kill Jesus for healing the lame man at the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath. When they would circumcise a child on the eighth day if it landed on the Sabbath, which was work.
12. We are to testify of evil deeds. Don’t stay quiet about evil deeds. Speak against homosexuality, pornography, greed, immorality, and many other sins that men do.
13. Speak boldly for Jesus
a. Jesus spoke boldly at the Feast of Booths. He wasn’t walking in Judea because they were seeking to kill Him. He wasn’t going to make more trouble than necessary, but He didn’t stay silent. He testified of the evil deeds of those trying to kill Him.
b. John 7:18, He was speaking for the glory of the one who sent him.
c. We are to speak boldly for Jesus.
d. Matthew 10:32-33
D. He is not just a good man Good men don’t deceive the people into thinking they are the Messiah and the Son of God when they are not.
1. A man who does this is a liar and a lunatic.
2. One of the most foolish things a person could say is that Jesus was just a good man.
3. He is Son of God. He is fully God and fully man.
4. Colossians 2:8-10
II. Judge with righteous judgment (Why judge with righteous judgment?)
A. If you judge according to appearance you will condemn the innocent.
1. Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath.
2. John 5:1-17
3. The Jews had made up so many rules about what you could and could not do on the Sabbath. They judged the man for carrying his pallet on the Sabbath day. He was only following the instruction Jesus had given him. If Jesus gives you the instructions you should follow Him.
4. They condemned Jesus because He made a man well on the Sabbath. Jesus healed people on other days also. Why was it wrong to heal a man on the Sabbath? He had been there for 38 years, why make him wait another day. Jesus was there and he could heal him. Why not do it today?
5. Proverbs 3:28, Jesus had the power to give the man the ability to walk. It was right for him to do it then.
6. These men condemned Jesus and the man he healed. It appeared they were breaking the Sabbath, but Jesus showed them that he was not breaking the Sabbath by healing a man on the Sabbath. They would circumcise a man on the Sabbath and if their ox or donkey fell into a pit on the Sabbath they would rescue it so it was not breaking the Sabbath to heal a man on the Sabbath.
7. Make sure you have both sides of the story.
8. Hear from the one you are judging.
9. John 7:46-53
B. Jesus brothers didn’t judge with righteous judgment
1. Telling your brother to show himself to the world when his life is in danger is not judging righteously. They had grown up with Jesus. They knew Him better than anyone else, but they judged Him as a lunatic.
C. Remember others will judge you like you judge them.
1. What Kind of People Are in Your Town?
"Judge not, that ye be not judged" (Mat_7:1). There was once a wise old man sitting at the gate of an ancient city. A young traveler stopped before entering the city and asked the old man, "What kind of people live in this town?" The wise man answered with a question, "What kind of people were in the town you just came from?"
"Oh, they were liars and cheats and thugs and drunks, terrible people," the young traveler replied. The old man shook his head, "The people in this town are the same way."
Later another stranger paused to ask the same question, and again the wise man questioned his questioner, "What kind of people did you just leave?"
The second traveler answered, "Oh, I left a fine town. The people were good and kind and honest and hardworking." The wise man smiled and said, "The people in this town are the same way."
People who are kind and forgiving toward others usually experience tolerance from others themselves; those who are harsh, censorious and critical toward others find that others exhibit much the same disposition toward them.
Of course, when our Lord warned, "Judge not," He was not talking about exposing the sins of the ungodly-we must do that. Neither was He talking about withdrawing from the immoral, or restoring erring Christians, or resolving civil disputes, or "knowing a tree by its fruits." He was forbidding illegitimate judgments that stem from a self-righteous, haughty, puffed-up, hypocritical spirit (Mat_7:15; Luk_6:37-38; Rom_2:1-3). He was forbidding judgments based on inadequate information (Joh_7:21-24). He was forbidding judgments in which the person assumes the position of God, trying and sentencing brethren in regard to eternal salvation (Jos_4:11-12; Rom_14:3-4, Rom_14:10, Rom_14:13; 1Co_4:5).
What kind of people live in your town?
D. Let your judgment be tempered with mercy.
1. No Cross Examination Allowed
There was a juvenile court judge who had a very unusual experience during the course of one of his trials. An elderly man who owned a watermelon patch had caught a boy stealing his melons and had him arrested. When the time came for the trial, the man made his complaint to the court, after which the judge turned to the boy and said, "Son, what do you have to say for yourself?" The boy looked up at the judge with questioning eyes and answered, "Judge, did you ever steal a watermelon when you were a kid?" The judge was somewhat startled at the turn of events, dropped his head into his hand for a few moments of thought, and finally responded, "No cross-examination of the court allowed. The case is dismissed."
2. Luke 6:36-38
3. If we are merciful to others God will be merciful to us. I would rather have God’s mercy than his wrath.
4. Galatians 6:1, we need to look to ourselves when we reprove someone. David, the man after God’s own heart, sinned. If David had a problem with sin it is possible for us also.
III. He went about doing good (What good did Jesus do?)
A. He healed the man that had been lame for 38 years.
1. He didn’t make the man wait another day.
2. He was merciful to the man.
B. He told the man to sin no more
1. John 5:14
2. Jesus main purpose in coming to the world was to be the sacrifice for sin. This man could have forgiveness of sins because Jesus died for him.
Conclusion
Our time is always opportune. We are all going to meet our Judge. We will be judged according to our deeds. We must believe in Jesus as the Son of God. Not just as a good man or a good prophet. Those who believe that will not be saved. That excludes millions of people. Speak boldly for Jesus don’t be ashamed of Him. People need to hear that their deeds are evil so that they can repent before they perish.
Judge with righteous judgment. If you don’t you will condemn the innocent. Others will judge you like you judge them.
Our time is always opportune. It is only today that counts. So live today like it might be your last. | 
