For tonight, it'll be in John
13. John chapter 13. As you're turning there, Brother
Gabe Stoniker's gonna be preaching up in Marysville this weekend,
Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday. And then he'll be heading back
to Tennessee I was gonna try to get him come down and visit
for a while, but he already had the tickets booked. He's fast
He's got a lot of a lot of traveling to do I'm thankful for him If the Lord's enabled you to
go there I'd encourage you to go there Lord said go into all
the world and preach the gospel. He didn't say get on satellite
or right go look him in the eye If you were able to go and willing
to go, I'd recommend you go. It'd be a good thing. Good support
for those brethren there in Marysville, too. Get an encouragement to
them. We ought to get to know them. We're going to read here
in John 13. I was speaking to a fellow laborer
today, and he was dealing with somewhat of the same thing, heavy
matters. And he said, I'm swimming. He
goes, but I can't touch the bottom. And I said, I understand. We
don't know how deep it is, do we? And what I'm about to read
to you We really can't get a grasp on that. I can touch just the
hem of the garment. That's all. That's enough, isn't
it? Isn't that enough? That's good. We'll begin here
in verse 18. John 13, verse 18. So bring words. I speak not of
you all. I know whom I have chosen. but
that the scripture may be fulfilled. He that eateth bread with me
hath lifted up his heel against me. Now I tell you, before it
come, that when it's come to pass, you may believe that I
am. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that receiveth whomsoever I sinned receiveth me, and he
that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. When Jesus had
said, had thus said, he was troubled in spirit and testified and said,
verily, verily, I say unto you that one of you shall betray
me. Then the disciples looked one
on another, doubting of whom he spake. Now there was leaning
on Jesus's bosom one of his disciples whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter
therefore beckoned to him that he should ask who it should be
of whom he spake. He then lying on Jesus's breast
said unto him, Lord, who is it? And he answered. He it is to
whom I shall give a sop when I have dipped. And when he had
dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And after the sop, Satan entered
into him. Then said Jesus unto him, that
thou doest, do quickly. Now, no man at the table knew
for what intent he spake this unto him. For some of them thought,
because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, buy
those things that we have need of against the feast, or that
he should give something to the poor. He then, having received
the sop, went immediately out. and it was not. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, as you're pleased
to be with us tonight, don't leave us to ourselves.
Don't leave us to our own understanding. Make us bow to Christ. Make us
hear his word and be thankful for him and look to him alone
and not to ourselves. Lord, I pray you've gathered
two or three in this room that you'll be with us. Allow us to
put all the weight aside. Allow us to put all the history
and the thoughts and ideas we have aside and hear your word. Thank you for this hour, Lord.
Give us the ability and the desire to exalt Christ. It's in his
name that we ask it. Amen. All right, brethren. We're here
in John 13. We'll begin in verse 18 through
30. What was the Lord teaching us
up until this point? What was he teaching those first
17 verses? That's what we looked at Sunday.
He was teaching Peter something. He was giving him knowledge.
He knew what was going on, and he gave him understanding. He
was teaching Peter about justification. He said, my blood is going to
be shed, and I'm going to buy you. I'm going to pay for your
sin. You're mine. And he was teaching
him something about sanctification, too. I'm going to purify you. You'll be every whit clean. You
can't get dirty. You're in this world, and we
have to wipe you off. You need mercy every day, but
you're mine. You're for my use. That's what he was showing him.
Blood atonement. Redemption. That's what he was
teaching. And he says in verse 18, John 13, 18. He said, I speak not of you all.
Peter Wright talking about everybody. Not everybody without exception.
Not everybody in this room. I hope that hits home tonight.
I hope it hits me tonight. Maybe not everybody in this room. Look at verse 10. Jesus saith
unto him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but
is clean every whit, and ye are clean. Peter, you're clean. That's what the Lord speaks to
his children. You're clean. He said, but not all. Not everybody. Not everybody's clean. He said,
I speak not of you all, verse 18, I know whom I have chosen. I know the vessels of honor in
this room that are mine. Lord knows that he knows the
heart because he gives the heart. He said, I know my vessels of
honor and he knows, catch this, his vessels of dishonor. It wasn't that he rolled the
dice and Judas just happened to be one of them. We was going
to let, we was going to keep 11 of the 12 and it happened
to be Judas. He just, we couldn't get him
to stay in church long enough. Now this was the Lord's purpose
from eternity. He's going to take his hand off
of Judas. Judas had been completely hedged up. I don't want to get
too far ahead of myself. He'd been completely hedged. His whole
lineage had from Adam to this point. Satan's walk around looking
at him. And then the Lord goes, took his hand off of him half
a second, less than a nanosecond instantaneously. He took his
hand off of him and Satan entered into him. What a frightening
thing. He said, I know whom I have chosen,
but that the scripture may be fulfilled. He's going to say
this out loud. Prove to us who he is. He that
eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me. He that
take bread with me lifted up his heel against me. Lift up
your heel. That's what Peter literally just
did, wasn't it? Isn't that what we looked at
Sunday? Look here in verse 6. Then he
came up to Simon Peter and Peter said to him, Lord, dost thou
wash my feet? Oh, pull that leg up, didn't he? He lifted his
heel up. You get that? He picked his leg up. Then in
verse 8 it says, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Whoa. I don't know. You don't do that. You think
Peter had some pressure on him? What we read in this whole text,
verse 18 through 30, this is one of the most gracious things
I've ever seen. It seems horrible, don't it?
This is littered. I mean, from word to word, the
Lord's graciousness to unworthy sinners. It's unbelievable. This is rich, rich in grace,
rich in mercy. You think Peter might've went
through his head when he lifted that foot up? He lifted his heel. He remembered Psalm 41, said,
yea, my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, which did eat
of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. It must be me. Out of everybody in this room,
it's gotta be me. I'm the man. That's what the Lord's people
say. It's me. It's me. He thought of Genesis
3. I'll put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed
and her seed, and it shall bruise thy head and he shall bruise
his heel. I'm lifting up my heel trying
to crush his head. I'm at war with God. I heard a man say one
time, One of the Lord's faithful servants, who he maintains, he
keeps faithful. He said, before God saved us,
we were at war with God. We hated God. That fella said,
I never hated God. He ain't broke your heart yet.
I'll say it plain as day, you ain't saved. I hope God breaks
your heart, shows you you're an enemy. Can't have no peace
if they put in a war, you get down. Show peace in your heart. Why all these warnings? The Lord's
told us this several times, according to the scripture, wasn't it?
All throughout the scripture. Look here in verse 19. Now I
tell you, I'm telling you these things right now, before it come,
that when it has come to pass, you may believe that I am. He's in italics. I am. You're going to know I'm God.
You'll remember that right now, you ain't going to, I don't know
what in the world he's talking about. Real soon, by the end of this
Passover, you'll go, I get it. I get it. Only the Lord can do
that. Do you know that? Only the Lord
can do that. Man cannot. I can say a whole
bunch of stuff, and I say, tomorrow it's going to rain, and it ain't
going to rain. Bet on red and black, right? Man can just talk
a whole lot. The Lord says what's going to
happen before it happens. He's God because he controls
all things. That's who he is. Isaiah penned this. He said,
remember the former things of old. For I am God and there is
none else. I am God and there's none like
me. Nobody's like him. Declaring the end from the beginning. That doesn't say, that doesn't
just mean like this is the end. Okay. And this is the beginning. Y'all can do that. We started
this service, didn't we? And then when we're done and
we leave, that's the end of it. From the beginning, from way back
when, he said, this is how it's gonna end. This is my people's
end. This is my son's end. This is
where he's gonna be. Who's gonna be glorified. This
is what's gonna come to pass. Declaring the end from way back
when in the beginning, and from ancient times, the things that
are not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand, and I will do all
my pleasure. He says, I'm gonna do anything
I want. How can he say that? He's God. If he couldn't, he
ain't God. We're in trouble. In the beginning,
he declared the end. It says in verse 20, barely,
barely, truly, truly, I say unto you, he that receiveth Whomsoever
I send receiveth me. We may come back to that again
for just a whole hour by itself. He that receiveth whomsoever
I send receiveth me. And he that receiveth me receiveth
him that sent me. There's a positive side to that,
isn't there? You receive the messengers of God. Do you? I know some people that brag
on them and know all their names, have all their phone numbers
in their iPhones. And this one tells them something,
and that one tells them something, and that one tells them something,
and you know what? All five of y'all told me the same thing. If you got five doctors and all
five of them said, this is what you need, you need to get B vitamins.
Maybe y'all take B vitamins, right? You receive those, the
ones the Lord sends? His messengers, do you? Or do
you fight them? Tooth and toenail. That's on the positive side.
We're told to dust off our feet. I've told people, I read Titus
three times of the morning. I woke up and just couldn't get
it soaking enough. Tell them once, tell them twice,
then get back to preaching. Leave him alone. That's what
he said. Told Titus, we dust our feet off, go on to the next
town like Paul, shake your coat off. That's the positive side.
The Lord sends his messengers. He sends his good news and his
people, we receive them, don't we? I want to hear them. My brother
Gabe's going to be up in Marysville. I wish I could be there to see
him, look him in the eye. I'll receive what he has to tell me, what
God put on his heart. But on the negative too, on the
bad side, do we do that? Do we take the bad things because
God did it? Do you? Do I? I didn't turn the news on today.
Whatever happened, do we take that as God did it? Remember
David? He was speaking to his generals
and his general and his servants and he said, my son that came
forth out of my bowels, Absalom, he seeketh my life. He wants
to kill me. How much more should this binge
my? Let him alone, let him curse me, for the Lord hath bidden
him. It may be that the Lord will look on my affliction, that
the Lord will requite me good for the cursing of this day.
Oh shimmy, I was down there just cussing him and throwing rocks
at him, and that general said, I'll take his head off, nobody's
gonna talk to my king that way. He said, leave him, let him alone. That gives me goosebumps all
over my body, does it you? God says that, leave him alone.
The Lord sent him to cuss me. And maybe the Lord will do something,
teach me something good out of this, out of him cussing me.
Strike on. Strike on. Verse 21. When Jesus
had said thus, he was troubled in spirit. Do you believe that?
Can you explain it? I believe it. I have no idea
how to explain that. He was troubled in spirit. He
was touched with the feeling of our infirmities. I've watched
people. I've watched preachers. I've seen human beings stand
up and preach the gospel and then leave it. Have you? That troubles my spirit. I can't imagine. Here's the holy
God in human flesh surrounding a sin-cursed world. and knowing
his 11 is going to have one of their friends. It's his friend.
They were friendly. They got along good in the world
as world's concerned, but they're going to have one of their friends
who they thought was a brother walk out on them and do what
seems to be the worst thing that could be done. Heavy thing. Imagine his soul. He was troubled in spirit and
testified and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you that one of you
shall betray me. Then the disciples looked one to another, doubting
of whom he spake. Now, there was leaning on Jesus's
bosom, one of his disciples whom Jesus loved. That's John, that's
who's writing this right now. Simon Peter, therefore, beckoned
to him. You get what happened? That one
lift up his heel against me, that scripture's fulfilled. I
just lifted up my heel. Oh! And he looked at John and
went, You ever had one of your brothers,
you ever had your brother ask for you, mom or grandpa or somebody? Ask
him, you ask him. That's gotta be me, you ask him.
And so John did, didn't he? So Peter therefore beckoned to
him that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake, and
then lying on Jesus' breath, said unto him, Lord, who is it?
Peter was biting his nails, wasn't he? Then the Lord answered John's
question. He told John, we'll see that
in a minute, because everybody at the table didn't know what he was talking
about. He whispered to John or said it low enough only John
could hear. John asked a question, John got the answer. He writes
it to us. Jesus answered, verse 26, he
it is to whom I shall give sop when I have dipped it. And when
he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son
of Simon. That dipping of sop, I don't know about this culture,
we sopped up gravy when I grew up. And in my house, I wasn't
allowed to. My dad said, there ain't no sopping
in this house. And you couldn't take a biscuit and bust it up
and get all the gravy or the juices or whatever from a steak
or whatever it was. You couldn't do that at his table. That's
the rules. It's his house. It's his rules.
I didn't sop stuff. I'd have got my hand popped right
then, so I didn't. And I vowed when I grow up, I'm
gonna sop everything I can. I about did this evening, didn't
I? This was a custom in that time. You ever had them last
drippings of something that just tasted good? Big roast or something,
ribs, juice, gets you a good old piece of doughy white bread,
extra gluten in it. And take and just dip that in
or wiggle it, and they give it to somebody. Oh, that's precious.
Here's a, Brian, this is the best part. It's yours, buddy. He said, the one that I'm just
nothing but gracious to, that's who's gonna betray me. Has the Lord been good to you?
You betrayed him. After the sop, the Lord was doing
a gesture of kindness. A gesture of goodness. That's
all he was. Everything he said was good.
Everything he did was good. He can't do nothing that ain't
good. He's a holy God. He gave him the last bit of bread. Here you go, buddy. After the
sop, Satan entered into him. Peter wrote, be sober. That means
not drunk on the wine of Babylon, not drunk on false religion,
not drunk on lies. Be diligent because your adversary,
the devil, as a roaring lion, as a hungry lion, walketh about
seeking whom he may devour." Imagine them 12 there. Satan
didn't know which one it was going to be. Maybe he knew it
was going to be one of them, but just walking around, just
teeth out showing, hungry. Judas had been kept this whole
time. Satan didn't know no difference. And right then, the Lord put
sop in him and let him go. Leave him alone. And immediately,
Satan entered into him. What does that teach us? Do I
honor these apostles? God made him an apostle. You
get that? Jews didn't just dumb luck in
there and a bunch of fellows didn't go lay their empty hands
on there, his empty head, and make him an apostle. God Almighty
ordained him to be in that position from a time past. He purposed
him to be an apostle. I'm not an apostle. He was. And
it pleased God that that one was a betrayer from the beginning.
Knowing that a devil was sitting there with him. Knowing that
one that hated him was sitting right there with him. He gave
him last supper. Yet he broke bread. He washed
his feet. He fed him. Gave him the sop.
Done everything for him. They all teach us the lessons. What's that mean? I wouldn't
get into man worship. I don't care what some old writer said.
If it's against what this word says. And it troubles my soul. I worry
for the souls of people. I say, here's what the scriptures
say. Oh, I heard Spurgeon said that, so now I believe it. I
don't care what Spurgeon said. God said it. Judas was a chosen apostle by
God. And Satan entered into him, circling
him. You think listening to false messages is being sober and diligent? You think that's a good idea?
You want to tempt him? You want to tempt God? Dance
with the devil? That woman with an issue of blood,
she went to a whole lot of doctors that couldn't do nothing. She
hadn't been to the great physicians, she just went to physicians. They're on
every corner, didn't she? Did they help her? No, they harmed
her. It wasn't for her good, it was for her harm. And it cost
her money, or it cost her time, or it cost her more blood. Leaving
things, I was growing up Ouija boards were big and my pastor
said, I don't think there's nothing in them, leave them alone. Don't
go looking after those things. Don't go watching those things.
Don't go seeking those things out. Leave it alone. That's dangerous. Lord said to him, that thou doest. Do quickly. I know what you're
going to do. Get to it. Do it quickly. Now, verse 28, now no man at
the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him. They
said, he gave him the best piece of bread and said, get after
it, buddy. I don't know what he's talking about. For some
of them thought because Judas had the bag that Jesus had said
unto him, buy those things which have need against the feast. He was the treasurer. We need
some things for his Passover, go get them. If you got something
to do, go do it. Or that he should give something
to the poor. Maybe the Lord's gonna have him go give something
down there at the soup kitchen. We don't know what he's doing.
He just told him to go after it. He had things to do that we don't do. He then,
having received the sop, went immediately out, and it was night.
That time stamp we have here, and it was night. That's not
just letting us know what time of day it was, was it? That's
not accidentally there. He went out in darkness. He left
in darkness. He loved darkness more than light.
He went out of us because he was not of us. It's a sad thing,
isn't it? Only the Lord and John knew at
this point, maybe not even Judas. Maybe at that point Satan had
entered into him, but maybe he thought he's doing something
beneficial. Maybe he thought he was really helping the gospel
age. That's what our Lord's going to tell us here in a few more
chapters. John 16, he said, these things have I spoken of you that
you should not be offended. Don't be offended. They shall
put you out of the synagogues. They're going to run you out
of town. Yea, the time cometh that whosoever killeth you will
think that he doeth God service. I could take at least two hands
for me to count how many God fearing pastors, men that get
up and just tell you what God says, people trying to run them
off actively. And if they could, if there wasn't
laws in this country, they'd kill them. They'd bash their heads
in with stones. But Judas left now, every one
of them thinking it was them, didn't it? I won't have you turn
for time's sake. But we read these different accounts
of these things happening, and that doesn't mean there's a contradiction. That means we get a different
angle. We can learn something different. The Lord was kind
enough to have one event and give us different stories from
it so we can learn. We read over Matthew 26, don't
we? The Lord said, verily I say that one of you is going to betray
me. And it says every one of them. The Lord looked you in the eye
and said, you're going to betray me. What would you say? Every one of them said,
Lord, is it I? I felt so sorry for Peter lifting
his feet up. I said, I'd have probably done something worse.
I'd have tipped the ball over. Oh, it's got to be me. Lord, is it
I? Lord, is it I? Lord, is it I?
And then Judas, which betrayed him, said, Master, is it I? My pastor called him Master a
whole lot. The Master come here. The Master's here with us. God
looks on the heart, doesn't he? Don't matter what you say to
me. Don't matter what you say to somebody else. Don't matter
what you say in your home. God looks on the heart. They all
said, Lord, is it I? And he said, Master, is it I?
And he said, thou said. Come out of your mouth. You said
it. What makes the difference between Peter and Judas? That's
the title of this message. The difference between me and
Judas. What's the difference between me and Judas? What's
the difference between you and Judas? Seriously, what's the
difference? What makes us to differ? Outwardly.
Outwardly. Think about that. Peter looks
worse, don't he? I've spent all week thinking
about this. Peter looks worse. Like many saints throughout time.
Like many of God's men throughout time. Like many of God's women
throughout time. A difference between Peter and
Judas. One openly rebuked the Lord a couple times. You'll never
wash my feet. I'll never forsake you. Never,
never, never. Didn't he? Denied him three times
for the cockroach. The other one was zealous. The
other one had the only additional office. We called him additional
duties in the military. They all were apostles. Judas
was an apostle and a treasurer. He held the bag. He's the only
one. You count them for double honor. Well, he gets a little
bit more honor, doesn't he? And he was zealous for God's
money. Now, to his own lust, Mary broke that alabaster box.
He said, what are you doing? That's a year's weight. We could
have sold that and gave it to the poor. We could have done
something more efficient with the church's money. God's going to run out
of money. Seems zealous, doesn't it? Seems
like he's making a wise decision. And we ought to esteem those.
There's elders. Those are people that preach.
They preach the truth. They're not pastors, but they
preach. They're elders. Lords grow them up. And there's song
leaders, and there's Sunday school teachers, and there's treasurers,
and there's some offices God gives in this day and age, in
this church age, in this local assemblies, and we ought to esteem
those people. They labor for us. They labor for the ministry,
don't they? For our benefit, but for the Lord's, who they're
working for. But who makes us different? Might look different
on the outside. Who maketh thee to differ, Paul wrote. Who? Turn
over Luke 22. Luke 22. Sometimes it feels like we're
just being made weaker and weaker and weaker and weaker, and that's
a good thing. Because in my weakness, I see his strength. When I've
been made low, I see him lifted high, isn't it? Good to be made
weak, isn't it? We're weak. Who maketh thee to
differ? Not what, who? Look here at Luke 22, verse 31. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon,
that's Peter. Behold, you pay attention to
me, and this is every one of God's children. Satan hath desired
to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. Can a wheat fight
a colander? No, it just bounces around. Just
fluffy, isn't it? Satan desires every one of the
Lord's children, every one of his sheep. and he wants to sift
us like wheat. You're powerless to him. He's been around longer. He's
stronger. He's smarter. You can't whoop him. You're sheep. Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath
desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat. What a mess
we're in. Verse 32. But, but God, right? But I have prayed for thee. The
Lord Jesus Christ, who the Father hears always, tells Peter, it's
all right, I've prayed for you. I've prayed for you, that thy
faith fail not. And when thou art converted,
you ain't gonna see this now, you're gonna experience it, strengthen
thy brethren, strengthen thy brethren. You're gonna deny me,
and you're gonna go through all these things, and you ain't gonna
look like a believer What won't a believer do? We'll run as hard
as we could. We can't get out of his hand.
You'll deny me even publicly. To a teenage girl, a 13 year
old girl there said, hey, ain't you one of Christ's disciples?
Uh-uh. He's scared death of her. He's
a commercial fisherman. And he said, now, I prayed for
you. Your faith ain't gonna fail.
And when I convert you, you're gonna be repented. You're gonna
look back to me. Now, strengthen your brethren. That's called
confessing your sins. People want others to get up
in front of church, tell them all the nasty things they've thought
or done. That's stupid. That's someone that hasn't been
enlightened. They haven't seen, they don't walk in light. Strengthen
your brethren. Say, I'm an idiot. I'm prone
to wonder. I'm weak. He's strong. Oh, now
we're having a confession, ain't we? Now we're telling what the
truth is. That's witness. That's a true confession. And
he said to him, Lord, I'm ready to go with thee both to prison
and to death. I'll die with you. And he said, I tell thee, Peter,
the cock shall not crow this day before thou shalt thrice
deny that thou knowest me. You're going to go through this,
and I'm going to prove to you I said this is going to happen
in the beginning. That's how it's going in. You're going to
see it, and you'll tell everybody about it. How? How does the Lord pray
for him? He says he prays, doesn't he?
He said in John 17, I pray for them, in his high priestly prayer.
I pray for them, Father. I pray not for the world, I pray
for everybody, but for them which thou hast given me, for they
are thine. I pray for those that you've
given me before time was. And he said in Hebrews 7, he's
able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing
he ever liveth to make intercession for them. They're in Romans 8. That's the
context Paul was talking about. We say Romans 8, 28. And we know. What's and mean? Well, it goes
with something else. The Spirit makes groanings and
intercessions we can't even understand. It interprets all the stuff I
ask of miss out of this mouse. Here's what it means. That's
good. All things work together for
good because he's interceding for us. He's praying for us,
isn't it? Sit down in Romans 8, 34. Who's
he that condemneth? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God. That's
what I've been telling Peter, and then with the washing of feet, isn't it? I'm
going to die. I'm going to put my blood on you, and I'm going
to raise you. You can be raised with me. who also maketh intercession
for us. He prays for his people. He makes
intercession for his people. And we have a hope because he
prays for us. That's our hope. Our expected
end is that he's gonna get what he asks. Father, glorify thy
name. That's gonna come to pass. If
he wills, it's gonna happen. Solomon wrote this. He said,
this I recall to my mind. That means it wasn't in his mind.
And then he'd come back in. We forget, we wonder, we're prone
to, This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope." It's
of the Lord's mercies that we're not consumed. What's there between
Peter and Judas? What's there between me and Judas?
The Lord's mercies, His graciousness, His will, His power, and His
prayer. That's the only reason this fellow
looking at you ain't consumed. That's it. Ain't nothing in me.
It's the Lord's mercies that we're not consumed because His
compassions, He loved those and He prays for those He loves.
They don't fail. They fail not. They're new every
morning. His mercy is never more great
as thy faithfulness. He's faithful to pray for our
faith. The Lord's my portion, saith
my soul. Therefore, I will hope in him. My faith is he's faithful. My faith has nothing to do with
my faith. It's the object of my faith who gifted me that faith.
It's his faith, and he gave it to me, and he prays for it, and
he's gonna keep it to the end till I look him in the eye. Well,
that ain't got nothing to do with me. Amen. I wouldn't have
it any other way. Tickled to death. Now, I see
Judas and I'm scared to death. That fear we looked at the other
day, that's the afraid part. And I see who he is, and now
I honor him. Don't we? He's come to us. He's
told us, you're clean. He told Judas that. He told Peter
that, didn't he? Knucklehead. He said, you're clean. What does he pray? What's the
result of that? Turn over to Romans 3. Just a few pages to
the right. Romans 3. Romans 3 verse 21. But now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifest, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets. Everything he said from a long
time ago, it's right. It just keeps getting proved
right on it. Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ. If you have a Bible
that says, by faith in, your pastor's telling you something
to do, throw it away and get you a King James Version that
says, by the faith of Christ. That's the accurate translation.
Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ
unto all, all his people, that's to us. He sends that to us and
upon all. It's in us and on us. All them
that believe, for there's no difference. What's the difference
between me and Judas? All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God, there's no difference. Being justified
freely by his grace. That's it, his grace, his unmerited
favor, because he wanted to, out of love. So I'm gonna make
a whole generation just like my son. And I'm gonna take the
worst of them and make them like him, and so I get the glory.
being justified freely by his grace through the redemption
that's in Christ Jesus. That's what he's teaching him,
that redemption, he's going to buy them with his blood. I'm
going to wash you. And God has set forth to be a propitiation,
a bloody sacrifice, an acceptable bloody sacrifice, mercy seat
through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for
the remissions of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God to declare, I say at this time, his righteousness. That's
who gets all the glory. that he might be just, and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." Where's boasting then?
Can Peter say, well, I just stuck it to the end. I just, you know,
held on to my faith. No, there ain't no boasting.
It's excluded. By what law? By the law of faith,
isn't it? What's that faith? If you have
faith, God gave it. And if he gave it, it ain't gonna
fail. You got it forever. It's little. Oh, ye of little
faith. Did you hear that? It's real little. I can't move
no mountains. And if I could, I shouldn't. I'd have enough
faith to wait for him to move it, wouldn't I? What was the
end of Peter? This one denies him. This one
just butted him and said never and yelled and boasts. What was
Peter's end? Well, it's when you converted
to your brethren, huh? He stood at Pentecost in front
of 3,000 people that had just killed Christ. The ones that
actually were there at the cross. They killed him, and he looked
them dead in the eye and preached to them. 3,000 were added to
the church that day. Wasn't it? The very ones that were standing
at the cross, the Lord saved some of them. What was the end
of Judas? This zealous man that looked after the church's money
and was so diligent. He committed suicide like somebody
that has no hope, because he didn't. Wildly different ends,
isn't it? One more thing. Turn over to
Hebrews 11. This is precious. Hebrews chapter 11. Our faith is that Christ is faithful. Our righteousness is the Lord
our righteousness. Isn't it? It's Him. It's a person.
And so here in Hebrews 11, people call this the Hall of Fame of
Faith. Be careful. Everywhere it says
faith, I want you to replace that with Christ. Ready? Let's read it. Hebrews 11, verse
1. Now Christ is the substance of
things hoped for. That's Him. What do you hope
for? You hope to go to kick up gold in heaven? No, it's a person. He's who I hope for. The evidence
of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained
a good report. Through Christ, we understand
that the worlds were framed by the word of God. He teaches us
that he made the world so that the things which are seen were
not made of things which do appear. By Christ, Abel offered unto
God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. He did it. By which
he obtained witness that he was righteous. That's what the Lord
told him, you're clean. And the same thing it had to
be, that's what he told you. Do you know that? You're clean.
God testifying of his gifts. Good, my wonderful servant, look
what good things you've done. And by it, he being dead, yet
speaketh. By Christ, Enoch was translated
that he should not see death and was not found because God
translated him. For before his translation, he had this testimony
that it pleased God, that he pleased God. But without Christ,
it's impossible to please God. For he that cometh to God must
believe that he is. Not that we are, that Christ
is. That's who this is talking about. You see that? and that
Christ is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. By
Christ, Noah, being warned of God of things not seen, as yet,
it never rained. He moved with fear, with respect,
and prepared an ark to the saving of his house. He commanded his
house. They said, boys, get in the ark, and they did it. By
the witch will, he condemned the world and became heir of
the righteousness, which is by Christ. By Christ, Abraham, when
he was called to go out of that place which he should after receive
for an inheritance, obeyed. And he went out not knowing whether
he went. Christ with him. By Christ, he sojourned in the
land of promise. As in a strange country, dwelling
in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of
the same promise. For he looked for a city which
hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. And through
Christ, That's the only way this could happen. You understand
that? Through Christ. Also, Sarah herself received
strength to conceive seed. That 99-year-old woman had a
baby because Christ made her have a baby. He put life in her
and was a deliberative child when she was past age because
she judged him faithful. Her faith was he was faithful,
isn't it? Who had promised. She believed God. That's what
he says. He said it. Do you believe him?
Wherefore sprang there even one, and him as good as dead, so many
as the stars in the sky and the multitude, and as the sand which
is by the seashore innumerable. These all died in Christ, all
his people, how precious it is in the sight of the Lord when
his saints die in Christ. They come to him, isn't it? These
all died in Christ, not having received the promises, but having
seen them afar off, knew he was coming, they believed him, and
were persuaded. of them and embrace them and confess that they were
strangers and pilgrims on this earth. That's the end of them. That's what happens. We're going
to be in him, be with him, made like him, see him face to face.
If you see that you're totally helpless outside of Christ and
you see his faithfulness, what does that make you do? We're
going to look at this next week, but I want to read it back in
our text. Let's be it. I'll let you go. John 13 verse
31. John 13 31. Therefore, when he
was gone out, Jesus said, now is the son of man glorified.
And God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God
shall also glorify in himself and shall straightway glorify
him. Little children, yet a little while I'm with you, ye shall
seek me. And as I said unto the Jews,
whether I go, you cannot come. So now I say to you a new commandment
I give you. In light of all this stuff that
the Lord has done for us. I mean, rebels, enemies of God. And while
we were still in our sins, he saved us. He prayed for us. gave
us and shed his blood for us and covers that and will keep
us to the end. In light of that, we're going to give you a commandment. Now you do it. And if he commands,
if he commands the winds to blow, they're going to blow. If he
commands his child to do this, his child's going to do it. Period. It's gonna happen. A
new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another, even
as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this
shall all men know you are my disciples, if ye have love one
to another. If he's done that work in you,
and he's done that work in me, and I know what I am, and you
know what you are, and he's with us, what's left but love? Don't that make you happy? Ain't
that just relieving and contentment? I'm happy, I'm real happy. Oh,
that's solid, isn't it? You got something. That's tangible,
isn't it? Let's pray together.