from skipping over those verses
that are not pleasant. The betrayal of Judas. One of
you, he said, will betray me. That's not pleasant. That's not
a happy subject. Although in these verses we do
have a ray of light, because he says in these verses, I know
whom I have chosen. That's the title of the message. I know. whom I have chosen is
very clear throughout the Word of God that
God has chosen a people out of this world to save. You can't read the Bible and
deny that. They are sinners. Christ died
for sinners. I have good news for sinners. Nobody else. I'm serious. Nobody else. I have good news
for sinners. Christ died for sinners. The
sinners are going to be saved. He's going to save all those
sinners he died for. The law can't condemn them. If
he died for sinners and he satisfied God's justice toward those sinners,
Justice can t condemn them. That d be double jeopardy. Justice
is satisfied. He died for sinners. They are
sinners. They are lost spiritually. They
are children of wrath by nature, even as others. They have the
same nature everyone else has that s born into this world.
It is pleased God to take and make a multitude of sinners His
As Samuel said, it is pleased God to make you his people. God
did that. God did that. I did not make
myself a son of God. God did that. Yeah, I didn't
make myself a son of my mother and father. They did that. And
God did that through them. He used them. God did that. We
give all the praise, the glory, and the honor of our salvation
into the hands of our Heavenly Father, don't we? We do. God saved me. God saved me. God is going to populate that
new earth I spoke of this morning, earlier, with a people just like
His Son. They're all going to be conformed
to the image of His Son in spirit. They're going to love like He
loves. Be righteous as he is righteous. Kind as he is kind. Could be just like him. You take
away the doctrine of election and nobody's saved. Is that so
or not? That's so. No one is. Even among
the angels that fell, there are the elect angels. We don't skip
over this. This is something to glory in. I know whom I have chosen. God said that. Now he says in
verse 18, I speak not of you all. When he says, I know whom
I've chosen, I speak not of you all. You see, we cannot apply
the scriptures to everyone indiscriminately. We have to apply the scriptures
to whom the scriptures are speaking. We can't just indiscriminately
apply them to everyone. Christ said, I speak not of you
all. Look back up in verse 10. Jesus says to him, he that is
washed need not save to wash his feet, but is clean every
wind and every way he's clean. And you are clean, but not all. He said, not all of you are clean.
There's one of you not clean. There's one of you that's a son
of perdition. And that's why he says in verse 18, I speak
not of you all, I know whom I have chosen. Now he's not speaking
here of chosen to an office. This particular verse has to
do with chosen to salvation. Then this statement clearly shows
the deity of Christ because he says, I know whom I have chosen. He shows his deity here. FOR
ONLY GOD CAN CHOOSE TO SAVE AND THE ONES TO SAVE. THIS CLEARLY
TEACHES THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION. IT TEACHES THE SOVEREIGNTY OF
GOD IN SALVATION. IS GOD SOVEREIGN IN SALVATION
OR IS HE NOT? IS SALVATION IN HIS HANDS OR
IS IT IN MY HANDS? OR IS IT A COOPERATIVE EFFORT?
If it's a cooperative effort, I'm in trouble because I never
cooperate with God. Because God said, I'm light,
you're darkness. Christ said, you will not come
to me that you might have light. You won't do it. You won't do
it. So it teaches the sovereignty
of God and salvation. Do you know anyone better to
choose than God? Do you really want God to leave
you, yourself, me, to myself, to make the final choice? I was
born with a natural enmity in my mind. My natural enmity against
God says, away with God. It says the same thing it says
in the Psalms, the fool was said in his heart, no God, there's
no God, no God for me, I'll be my own God. That's what he's
saying in Psalms, I'll be my own God. I'll be my own sovereign. I'll
make the decisions. Thank you. I don't want to be left to that. It teaches us that salvation
is not by chance. God did not give me a chance
to get saved, did he? God saved me. He didn't give
me a chance. He just saved me. That's the
gospel. It's not by chance, it's by choice.
God's choice. He said, you're mine, you're
not gonna perish. And he has the right to do that. And it's
an election of grace. What's that mean? There's a remnant
according to the election of grace. Here's what it means. I didn't deserve it. I did not
deserve God saving me. I don't deserve it. It's all
of grace. Now brethren, if we understand
grace, the very definition of grace says it has to be sovereign
or it can't be grace. It has to be sovereign if you
understand what grace means, the definition of it. It's void of any merit on my
part. Listen to these scriptures. Let's
let the scriptures talk. This is not a doctrine that we
hold and others hold this. No, this is Bible. This is Bible. Romans 9.11 For the children,
being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, talking
about Jacob and Esau, that the purpose of God, according to
election, might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. Romans 11.5 Even so then, at
this present time also, there is a remnant, according to the
election of grace. It's an election of grace. just
like the angels that he did not let them fall. In 1 Thessalonians 1.4, knowing
brethren beloved your election of God, God chose you. And then
in 2 Peter 1.10, wherefore the rather brethren give diligence
to make your calling and election sure. Christ said, I know whom I've
chosen. See, that's a ray of light in this dark portion of
scripture. But he goes on to say this, but
that the scripture may be fulfilled, he that eateth bread with me
hath lifted up his heel against me. That was a sign, and when
you lifted up your heel against someone in that day, it was a
sign of deep enmity, an enemy, an enemy. The Lord did not make
Judas betray him. Here's what the Lord did. He
let Judas be Judas. That's all he did. He let Judas
be Judas. And if the Lord leaves me and
you alone, we will betray him also. You know, in this same
portion of scripture, we'll look at probably Lord willing next
week, in this same portion of scripture, Peter said, Lord,
I'll die for you. I'll die for you. I will not
deny you. And the Lord said, before that rooster crows, you're
going to deny me three times. Now you would have thought that
when Peter was questioned by that little maid, he would have
remembered this. He didn't, did he? He denied
the Lord three times. He denied Him. Brethren, if it
wasn't for the grace of God, the power of God, we are kept
by the power of God through faith. If it wasn't for that, every
one of us would deny the Lord. We'd leave him. We'd leave him
right now if he let us. That's sad, but it's so. But
listen, Judas was never a believer. He never believed God, like Simon
Magus. You know, he says he believed he was baptized, and then later
on, he tried to purchase the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And
Peter said, your heart's not right with God. A profession
is not salvation. It's possession. It's being possessed
by Christ. Christ in you, the hope of glory.
That's salvation. He never loved the Lord Jesus
Christ. He was a hypocrite from the beginning,
and the Lord knew it. He knew it. Not everyone that
says, Lord, Lord, knows the Lord. That's what scripture said. Not
everyone says, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven.
You see, the tare looks like the wheat. You let a tare and
a wheat grow together, you can't tell which one's which. You remember
over in, I think it's over in Matthew, they said, Lord, you
want us to pull up the tares? You know, the enemy came by night
and he sowed the tares among the wheat. And they said, you
want us to take them up? He said, no, leave them alone. The angels
will do that at the end, because you know what you'll do. You
know what I do? We pull up the wrong ones. We pull up the wrong
ones. Somebody say something we think
is not right. We pull them up. There's a tare. We toss them
out. And it could be a wheat. It could
be a wheat. So the Lord, you know, here's
one of the things I've learned. I'm not, I've got out of the
business of saying who's lost and who's saved. That's God's
business. I do know this though, to believe
another gospel is to be lost. I do know that he doesn't save
by another gospel. That's so. But the terror looks like the
wheat. But here's good news, here's good news. Our Lord is
not fooled. He's not fooled. Listen to 2
Timothy 2, 19. Nevertheless, the foundation
of God standeth sure, having this seal. The Lord knoweth them
that are His. He knows them that are His. Now
he says here in verse 19, I tell you before it comes to pass,
I'm telling you this before it happens, that when it comes to
pass, you may believe that I am, you see the word he's been added
by the translator, that you may believe that, listen, that I'm
God. I'm God. You know, no one can
tell the future, but God. I know there's some out there
that claim to be able to tell the future. Only God can tell
the future because he's the one who purposed it. He can tell
you exactly what he purposed that's going to happen tomorrow
and the next day, whenever. But here he tells them what is
about to happen so that when it happens, they may believe. It's to strengthen their faith. They may believe that he's the
great I am. You know, when he says I am,
they knew what God said to Moses. Who shall I say sent me? I am
that I am. And when he said, you may believe
that I am, I am God incarnate. That's who I am. I am God incarnate. I'm the Messiah. You may believe
I am the Messiah. I'm the son of God. You see, we have the scriptures
that we may believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why we are
given the scriptures. that we may believe on Christ.
But he also tells them this ahead of time so that when it happens,
it won't be a stumbling block to them. Judas was with them
for three years. They never suspected him in any
way, shape, or form. This is how close the terror
is to the weak. And the Lord here, listen, in
verse 20, the Lord shows the dignity of their service. You
remember, you remember last week, the Lord took a towel. He disrobed
himself. He took a towel, girded himself
with it, and he bent down and he washed the disciples' feet
and dried them with that towel. And Peter was offended by it.
He said, you don't wash my feet. He did the service of the lowest
servant in the house. He washed their feet. He showed
them what it is to have true humility and how we are to serve
one another. But now he flips it. Now he's
going to show them the dignity of their service. Here's the
you see, we serve with humility. There's nothing there's nothing
that's not that's beneath us. We serve the Lord and we serve
one another. But now he's going to show the
dignity of their service. Verily, verily, I say to you,
HE THAT RECEIVETH WHOMSOEVER I SEND, RECEIVETH ME. HE'S PUTTING
THEM ON THE LEVEL OF HIMSELF. AND HE THAT RECEIVES ME, RECEIVES
HIM THAT SENT ME. THOSE WHOM THE LORD SENDS ARE
HIS AMBASSADORS. YOU KNOW I STAND HERE THIS MORNING
AS AN AMBASSADOR OF CHRIST? I REALIZE THAT. NOT LIKE I SHOULD,
BUT I DO REALIZE. I STAND HERE AS A REPRESENTATIVE
an ambassador of the King of Heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ. And the way I'm treated is the
way you treat Christ. You know, everywhere I go, I'm
telling you, everywhere I go, preaching, conferences and stuff,
every person says, that congregation loves you. I'm told this, couldn't
tell you how many times, those people love you. And I always
reply, I know they do. by the way they take care of
us. Christ said, as you've done it unto the least of these my
brethren, you've done it to me. The way we handle the Lord's
ministers, he's telling us right here, is the way we handle him.
And if you receive, he said, those who receive you, that is,
receive your message, they receive you, your message, they receive
me, and they receive the Father who sent me. It's all one package,
so to speak. It's one package, and this shows
the oneness of Christ and His ministers. But it gives a sobering revelation
here in verse 21, here's a sobering revelation, a dark revelation,
disturbing revelation, it disturbs the Lord. You know, what if this was said
here this morning to us? The Lord said, one of you One
of you who profess to know me, one of you will betray me. You're
going to leave me. That's disturbing. Our Lord found
it disturbing. He felt the betrayal. It says
here, when Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit and
testified and said, verily, verily, truly, truly, listen to me, listen
to me. I'm telling you, one of you shall
betray me. He felt that betrayal. He was
not indifferent as though, well, this is supposed to happen. You
know, this is what's next. No, he was disturbed. It was
disturbing to him. See, many times we see the humanity
of Christ in his groanings. He groaned. When he's at the
grave of Lazarus, he groaned. He wept. He wept over Jerusalem.
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered you together
as a hen doth gather her brood, but you would not. It troubled him to tell them
that one sitting at the table would betray him. Not a stranger,
a familiar friend. Remember when Judas kissed him,
what he called him? Friend, friend. And the disciples looked one
on another, doubting they were at a loss. OF WHOM HE SPAKE,
THEY WERE BEWILDERED. THEY WERE BEWILDERED. YOU KNOW
WHAT THAT SHOWS? THEY WERE AT A LAW. THEY DIDN'T SUSPECT JUDAS
AT ALL. THEY HAD NO CLUE WHO IT WAS.
THERE WASN'T EVEN A HINT IN ANY OF THE DISCIPLES AS TO WHO IT
COULD BE. NOT A ONE. THIS IS WHY WE CAN'T JUDGE BETWEEN
THE TARES AND THE WHEAT. And the disciples, they were
alarmed as well as they should be. They were alarmed. I mean,
really, that's disturbing. That's disturbing. And we see this in verse 23 through
25. There was leaning on Jesus bosom
one of his disciples. This is John speaking of himself.
He just leaves his name out. Whom Jesus loved and that does
not mean the Lord loved him more than he did the other disciples
He just saying Jesus loved this disciple John speaking of himself
the Lord loved me The Lord loved me The Lord loves Simon He loved
all of them. He loves all his children, you
know, God loves all his children the same. He has no favorites
He can't and be God God can't love less and be God He loves
every one of his children the same. And Simon Peter therefore beckoned
to him, beckoned to John, that he should ask who it should be
of whom he spake. He then, lying on Jesus' breast,
said unto him, Lord, Lord, who is it? Who is it? THIS WOULD SCARE ANY CHILD OF
GOD TO THINK OF BETRAYING CHRIST. WHO IS IT? In one place they said this,
listen, over in Mark and in Matthew they said this, and they began
to be SORROWFUL and to say unto him, one by one, IS IT I? IS IT I? You know we should always
apply the scriptures to ourselves first. Is it I? I'm glad, I'm so glad they didn't
say, I know who it is. It ain't me. But they said, is
it I? And you know, they said that
one by one, then it came to Judas and Judas said, is it I? But
now he just mimicking what the other said. He didn't mean that. And it says here in Jesus answered
in verse 26, Jesus answered, and I believe this, I believe
he whispered this into John's ear. He it is to whom I shall
give a sop when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the
sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. I believe he
whispered to John because if they had known that Judas was
gonna do this, what do you think Peter would have done? I mean,
this is the one who drew the sword and cut off the high priest's
servant ear. You think Peter wouldn't have
jumped on him? He'd have jumped all over him.
But I think the Lord just whispered to John, it's the one. Give the salt. Because when he
did, they still didn't know what was going on. They didn't know.
But I want you to notice something here. I didn't know this, I didn't
recognize this, and I've preached from this before. But for the
Lord to offer a portion of His meal to Judas, you know, that
was seen as an act of friendship in that day, to give someone
a piece of bread. It was an act of friendship.
Even though Judas' heart was wicked, our Lord's heart was
good. Isn't He the one who said, if your enemy hunger, what? Feed him. And our Lord, with
no malice in his heart, offered him a piece of bread. And the
other disciples saw that as an act of friendship. They didn't
see what was behind that. They didn't know. I think John
knew it when he whispered into John's ear. But after the sop,
and I'm gonna close, after the sop, Satan entered into him.
You see, Satan's in, he's in league with Judas. Judas is in
league with Satan. And Jesus said to him, that I'll
do us due quickly. It's time, the hour's come. You're
gonna betray me, get it done. Get it done. After one of the
greatest acts of kindness, the Lord offering him a piece of
bread, came the greatest act of sin, betraying him. Judas heard the Lord say, one
of you will betray me. Think about this. Judas heard
him say, one of you will betray me. And knowing he was going
to betray him, because it says in the other gospels that he
was, he sought the opportunity to betray him. He knew he was
going to betray him, but he couldn't stop himself. Even though the
Lord said, one of you is going to betray me. You know why he
couldn't stop himself? You can't change prophecy. What God says is going to come
to pass, it's coming to pass. It's coming to pass. He told
old Nebuchadnezzar, you know, Daniel revealed that dream to
him. He said, God's going to take the kingdom from you. He's
going to take it from you. And a year later, what happened?
He walks out on the balcony and said, my soul, look what I've
done. And God put him out to pasture
for the next seven years. He couldn't change it. Peter,
now here's the best, probably the best example. Peter, who
said, I will never leave you. I will die for you. And the Lord
said, before the rooster crows, you're going to deny me three
times. And you would have thought that Peter would have thought
of that, at least before he got to the third time. You know,
the first time, all right. Second time, it's like something's
going on here. THE LORD TOLD ME I'D DO THIS, BUT HE DID IT,
DIDN'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT. YOU KNOW WHY? YOU CAN'T CHANGE
THINGS. YOU CAN'T CHANGE GOD'S WORD.
YOU CAN'T CHANGE PROPHECY. IT SAYS THAT HE HAS DETERMINED,
IT SAYS THIS IN THE SCRIPTURES, HE HAS DETERMINED THE END FROM
THE BEGINNING. GOD DIDN'T MAKE JUDAS DO WHAT
HE DID, JUDAS DID WHAT HE DID AND GOD TOLD US WHAT HE'S GOING
TO DO. told us what he's going to do and the lord told them
what he's going to do before it comes to pass that when it
comes to pass you may believe that i'm god i'm god and it was time listen listen
it was also time for satan to bruise his heel go back 4 000
years from that period of time and god said the seed of the
woman you're gonna you're gonna bruise his heel and he's gonna
bruise your head even satan couldn't stop from doing that He was told
that 4,000 years earlier and he couldn't stop, he couldn't
not do it. But I want to point something
out here as I close. They still thought well of Judas. Now no man at the table knew
for what intent he spake this unto them. For some of them thought,
because Judas held the bag that Jesus had said unto him, by those
things that we need of against the feast, or that he should
give something to the poor. We ought to think the best of
one another, shouldn't we? That just stood out to me. We
ought to think the best of one another. It's better to think
the best and be proved wrong. than to think the worst and be
proved wrong. Be embarrassed and, you know, that's something
you can't change. It's better to think the best
and be proved wrong. They thought the best of him.
They just thought he's going to go out and get some money, buy some
stuff for the feast and give to the poor. Still didn't don
on him. Still didn't don on him. And in verse 38, then having
received the sup, He went immediately out after the Lord telling him
this. He went immediately out and listened.
This is so appropriate. And it was night. It was time. It was time for the spirit of
darkness to work. How appropriate that it be in
nighttime that Judas goes out and betrays him. Darkness. Aren't you glad that God chose
to save a multitude of sinners? Aren't you glad of that? Aren't
you glad of that, Paul? Because the only difference between
me and Judas is the grace of God. That's the only difference. All right.