your Bibles, if you would, to
John chapter 17. We'll continue our study in this
wonderful chapter that we've been looking at on Wednesday
nights. It's been a wonderful study, a wonderful journey through
John chapter 17. I'll be honest, I never did an
in-depth study in this chapter until this study here. I've read
it many times, but never did an in-depth study. And this has
just been such a wonderful, wonderful study. I'll tell you what, it's
just been, there's so much packed into these verses that sometimes
there's two or three messages in each verse. It's absolutely
amazing. Tonight's verse, I could have
made two messages, but I decided to bring it back down into one,
because last week we looked at the word kept, and we're gonna
notice that the same word is used twice in this verse here,
but in the Greek, the words are two different words in the Greek.
One means to be watchful, and one means to guard over. So just
keep that in mind as we read these words kept. One means to
be watchful, the first one, and the second one means to guard
over. To guard over. Let's read John chapter 17 verses
6 to 13. I have manifest thy name unto
the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they
were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word.
Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given
me are of thee. For I have given unto them the
words which thou gavest me, and they have received them. Now
that's by grace, right? By grace they've received them,
just like for us we've received Christ by grace, God's grace,
God's mercy. And have known surely that I
come out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst
send me. I pray for them, I pray not for the world, but for them
which thou hast given me, for they are thine. And all mine
are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them. And
now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and
I come to thee, Holy Father. Keep thou thine own name, those
whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are one.
And here's our verse for tonight, verse 12. While I was with them
in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest
me, I have kept, so watched over and guarded. And none of them
is lost, but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled.
And now I come to thee, and these things I speak in the world,
that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. So verse 12 will
be our verse for tonight. Let's read it again. The Lord
Jesus Christ, in his high priestly prayer, proclaims these words.
While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name.
Those that thou gavest me, I have kept, and none of them is lost,
but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. And note the Holy Spirit, who's
the true author of these words, right? He's bringing to remembrance
to the Apostle John what the Lord said in this high priestly
prayer. But remember, he's the true author
of these words, so he brings those things that Christ said
to remembrance to the Apostle John. this high priestly prayer. And note the tenderness. This
is something that I've seen all through this study. The tenderness
that the Lord Jesus Christ has for those that the Father gave
Him. The love that He has for those that the Father gave Him.
The kindness that He shows them. Think of that. And He's speaking
about the Apostles in this portion here. But it can also be applied
to all the elect of all the ages. He watches over us and He guards
us. Isn't that wonderful? To think
that God Himself, the Almighty God, who has all things in His
power to do whatever He wills, guards over us and watches over
us. That's absolutely amazing, isn't
it? That's comforting, isn't it? I comforted my soul when
I saw those two words today, and I thought, my, if God's guarding
me and He's watching over me, what do I have to fear? I have
nothing to fear. As Psalm 27 says, whom shall
I fear? Right? God is my God. God is my Savior. God is my Lord. God is my Redeemer. And His name
is the Lord Jesus Christ. My, whom shall I fear then? Who can bring anything against
us? Now people can rail on us and say all kinds of evil things,
can't they? Right? They can say a lot about
Wayne Boyd, and there'd be a lot that's true. But I'll tell you
what they can't bring against me. They can't, they, oh my. All the things that they bring
against me and you as a believer, It doesn't mean a hill of beans,
beloved. Because it's God that justifies.
We're justified by God. That's what's most important,
isn't it? Who can be against us? Who can go against the Almighty
God and not be crushed? No one. That's who protects us.
That's who watches over us, beloved. Now we have things that occur
in this world and they hurt, don't they? But I have learned
and I'm still learning and dealing with things that will cause me
to constantly look to Christ. And even this weekend, I got
worked up about some stuff and a dear friend wrote me, a dear
brother, and said, just look to Christ, Brother Wayne. Just
look to Christ. Just keep your eyes on Him. And
I knew that to be the truth, okay? I knew that! But I got to process the situation,
right? Aren't we all the same? We got
to process the situation. Well, the Lord took me out of
it yesterday. Praise His name. Praise His name. Right? But it
was Him taking me out of it. And it's glorious. And He uses
means, beloved. He uses people around us to encourage
us and to stand right beside us and not waver. And it's a blessing. I'll tell you why. You guys are
a blessing to me and you stand for the gospel. You're a blessing
to me. You really are a blessing. And
that's what we need to do is just stand for the truth. And
so note the tenderness that the Holy Spirit brings forth here
from the words of our Savior, right? God the Father has placed
us, and in this portion he's talking about the apostles. God
the Father has placed into the care, the apostles into Christ's
care. And he said, well, I'm with them,
I've kept them. I've kept them. Now he's giving them back to
Christ, or to the Father. Remember we saw that earlier
in our study? He's doing it again here, too. He says, I kept them,
Father. I kept them in your name. And
while I was with them, I kept them. Except for the son of perdition,
who was never one of the elect. He's not one of the elect. Now,
he was one of the chosen apostles. but he wasn't one of the elect.
Remember the wheat and the tares? Remember how, there you go, brother. Leave him alone. The Lord knew,
before he even came into this world, the Lord knew from eternity
that Judas would betray him. Because it all happened according
to what? The foreknowledge of God, right? He was crucified
according to the foreknowledge of God. Nothing catches God by
surprise. The Lord Jesus Christ is God
in the flesh. He's all-knowing. He knows everything. And when I was reading for the
study and I was thinking about that, I thought, He knows even
my thoughts and how wicked they are. And yet He says, I love
you, Wayne. My, oh my. I can get myself pretty
worked up, can you? It don't take me much to get
pretty worked up. I'm being honest with y'all.
I can get worked up real quick. And I need the Lord to calm me
down. I need Him to calm me down. Because otherwise I'm liable
to say something I'm going to regret. Is it so with you? Oh, it's so
with me, I'll tell you. But by the grace of God, I don't
put my foot in my mouth as much as I would, right? My, oh my, God is so good to
us. Note something that is so bought
so clearly through these verses. Look at this. God the Father
has placed the apostles into his son's care while he was in
the world. And he kept them. He's telling
us, he's actually praying to the Father saying, I've kept
them. Look what he says. While I was with them in the world,
I kept them in thy name. He watched over them. And again,
that's what he does for every believer in Christ, right? He
watches over us. Then he brings forth that they
were given to him by the Father and he has kept them. Look at
this. Those that thou gavest me, I've
kept. I've guarded them, that they
won't be destroyed. Amen. Isn't that wonderful? Remember,
he said, Peter, Satan desires to sift you, but I've prayed
for you. Remember, Christ prayed for us.
We're gonna see in this wonderful prayer later on, he's just petitioning
the Father for all the elect of all the ages. If you're one
of his people, that includes you and me. Isn't that amazing? To know that the Son prayed for
us 2,000 years ago and the Father's still answering that prayer today. Isn't that amazing? We're living
proof, beloved. We're living, He keeps us. We
don't fall away because He keeps us. Left to ourselves, I guarantee
every one of us would fall away, but He keeps us, beloved. He
keeps us because Christ prayed for you and I. Isn't that wonderful? That's so comforting. Oh, that's
so comforting. And he's talking about the disciples
here when he says he's kept them. And again, Judas was never one
of the elect of God. He was one of the disciples,
but he was never one of the elect of God. Because Christ said that
all he died for shall come to him, right? And that's all the
elect of all the ages. Judas perished in his sins. He
died in his sins. And we see here in this verse
that he's called the son of perdition. The son of Apollos. Gil brings forth the son of Satan. My oh my. And that being not,
he's born dead in trespasses and sins, right? Born dead in
trespasses and sins. Dead. Controlled. His very nature,
like anybody else in this world, is dead in trespasses and sins.
And I'll tell you this though, there is no instance in the scriptures
of God's true people apostating. Of leaving him. He will never cast away any of
us. Yeah, amen. Praise God. He'll never cast one of us away.
Never. Not ever. And that's comforting,
I'll tell you what, that's comforting. Because think of this, Judas, his betrayal led, not just his
betrayal though, think of this too, it's not just his betrayal,
but it's his sin that led to his eternal doom, right? It's
his sin that led to his eternal doom. Betraying Christ was just
one of the many sins he committed in his life. Just as like we've
committed many sins in our lives, and we still will until the day
we die, but praise be to God, they're not counted against us,
because Christ died in our room and place. And that's incredible. But he was just getting what
he deserved. Just like if God... God didn't have to save anybody,
beloved. He chose to save. He wasn't obligated. He chose
to save. He didn't owe us nothing. If
we got what we deserve, we get hell. See, Jadus was just getting
what he deserves. But we don't receive what we
deserve. We receive mercy, beloved, and grace in Christ Jesus our
Lord. It's absolutely amazing. So this verse is bringing forth
that he was one of the twelve. Again, he wasn't one of the elect,
but he was one of the twelve. And the eleven who were the elect
were kept, and the son of perdition was lost. And what did Christ
have to do? Just leave him in his sins, right? Just leave him
right where he was. And this also shows us, too,
that there's professors in the church who aren't true believers. This man carried the bag for
Christ. He was a treasurer. My, oh, my. It's incredible. We'll look at him a little bit
later in this study. I would like us to turn to Romans
chapter nine. And always remember, beloved,
that God is absolutely sovereign. And if we are the people of God,
again, we don't get what we deserve, or else we'd go to hell. But
you know what we're called in the scriptures? We're called
vessels of mercy. Do you know that? vessels of
mercy. Me? That's what the scripture
declares. That I as one of God's children,
and you as one of God's children, if you're a believer, if you're
born again by the Holy Spirit of God, that you are called a
vessel of mercy. That's amazing. Now we don't
know who the vessels of mercy or who the vessels of destruction
are. Because the opposite of the vessels of mercy is the vessels
of destruction. But we have no clue who they
are. Therefore the gospel goes out and God the Holy Spirit does
the saving, does the calling, does the regenerate. No preacher
can save anyone. All I am is a mouthpiece for
God. Blowing through the gospel trumpet
like that. I told Norm, we're still laughing
about the raspberry. Right? Just trumpet. All we can
do is put it through the gospel trumpet, and the gospel trumpet,
it goes out, and the Holy Spirit does whatever he wills. And we
rejoice. We just rejoice. That's what
I love about the internet, with the ministry we have with the
internet. We don't know what God's doing. And that's good,
but we just look at what's going on. We go, oh my gosh, look at
that. Look at what the Lord's doing. You know, his word won't
return unto him void. Never. Oh, it's marvelous. But look at this. And even the
verse we looked at tonight shows Christ's sovereignty. He kept
all those who the father gave him. He kept them. Except the
son of perdition, right? But again, he wasn't one of those
given to him in eternity. He was one of the twelve chosen. But he wasn't a sheep, he was
a goat. But look at this. Romans chapter
9. I'll tell you what. If ever you want to take someone
to a chapter in the scriptures and say, now look at this. This
shows you the absolute sovereignty of God. And God's people, we
rejoice. I rejoice over this scripture. This is absolutely
amazing. Now when I was a young fellow, I think I was about grade
three or four, I went to a school and they sent us to a special
place off campus to do some pottery work. And I'd never done pottery
before and it was pretty neat. They'd give you a lump of clay,
right? And then they'd have you form something, right? And then And then they take it
and they bake it. And mine just looked like lumps
of whatever, right? But then they let us go on the
wheel. And they said, well, okay, if
you want to do this here and you can form a candlestick. And
I made my mom a couple of candlesticks and bless her. She said, oh,
those are beautiful. They were the ugliest candlesticks.
I'll tell you why. But they were beautiful to her
because I made them for her. Right? That's what's most important. But when you got to get on that
wheel, you could form that clay to whatever you wanted to. You
know, you can make a bowl. It's not hard to do it either.
You just put your hands in there and cup it and go around and
it makes the bowl. And then the candlestick, you
make the base and then you work your way up to the top part and
all that. It was fascinating. And it's
all done with water, of course, too, while you're doing it. so
the clay becomes moldable and pliable to form it into whatever
you want. So keep that in mind. God is
going to show us here in this scripture a glimpse of his sovereignty
by using a metaphor of a potter working with clay. First of all, he starts off here
in verse 11 talking about Esau, in Jacob, for the children being
not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, okay,
they hadn't done, they're not even born yet, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand, not of works, look
at this, but of him that calleth. Both were born dead into trespasses
and sins, right? But before they were even conceived,
God had chosen Jacob. And I remember someone saying
this one time, they said, well, the scripture says, and we're
gonna look at this scripture next, that God loved Jacob, but hated
Esau. How could God hate anyone? And
the old preacher said to his grandson, yeah, he said, when
you find out how he could love Jacob, then you're gonna know,
you're gonna know something. Because they're both made out
of the same lump, aren't they? Humanity. We all come from the
same quarry. We're all dug from the same quarry,
beloved. And Adam and Eve are our mother
and father, right? And our father fell. We fell
in him. Look at this. It was said unto
her, the elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob
have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we then say? Is there
unrighteousness with God? Now, when people read that, right
away they say, well, that's not fair. That's what they say. And
that's what Paul's addressing here. Is there unrighteousness?
Is it fair that God loved Esau or loved Jacob but hated Esau?
Is that fair? Well, who are we to say anything? We're just the clay. Right? We can't say anything. We're
just the clay. It's God's choice to do whatever he wills with
the clay, isn't it? We're going to see that. So Paul faced this
question too. Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid. Let it not be. We know that in
the Greek. Let it never be. For he sayeth
to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I'll have mercy, and I will
have compassion on whom I'll have compassion. Look at that,
eh? God's, that's God's sovereign
choice right there, isn't it? That shows you that election
is according to the free grace of God. It's God who has mercy
on whomever he wills, and whomever he wills not to show mercy to,
he doesn't show mercy to. Now, I tell you, as one of the
receivers of His mercy, I praise God that He had mercy and compassion
on me, that I'm included in that number, that He had compassion.
I tell you, I'm so thankful. Praise His name, praise His name. Look at this. So then it is not
of Him that willeth. Oh, wait, but people are so big
on free will. So it's not of Him that willeth.
See, it's so clear in Scripture, isn't it? It's not of our will.
If it was of our will, we'd never come to him. Because we're dead
in trespasses and sins when we're born into this world. We have
to be made willing in a day of God's power. We have to be born
again by the Holy Spirit of God just to come to Christ. So he
says, it's not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth. It's
not according to your works then, whatever you do. Runneth would
be applied to like working at something. No. What is it from then? Where does
election stem from? But God that showeth mercy. Do
you know, I'm looking at people here tonight who God showed mercy
to. God's showing you mercy, beloved.
Isn't that wonderful? Oh my, praise his name, right? Praise his name. Look at this,
now he's gonna give us an example. For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up. See, he's
absolutely sovereign. God raised Pharaoh up. That's
why we can't complain about the president and his believers.
Because God raises him up, right? It's true. Yeah, amen. But we can't, really. We shouldn't. Because it's God
who raised him up. And we need to submit to it in
sovereignty. That's how it is. That's what
he says here. He's raised up Pharaoh. Even
for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my
power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout
all the earth. Well, now, it's still declared what God did for
the Israelites, isn't it? How he delivered all them from
Egypt. It's still declared. You know,
every Easter, one of my favorite older movies is on with Burt
Lancaster. Is it Burt Lancaster, The Ten Commandments? Is it Burt
Lancaster plays in that? I can't remember who that is.
Charlton Heston, that's who it is. I love that movie. I just
love it. I know some folks say, well,
it's not very biblical. Just let me enjoy the movie, okay? It's
a good old movie. There's no cussing in it. I really
like it. My oh my. But it's neat. I especially love
when the Red Seas parted and they go through the Red Sea.
That's by the power of God. Then we see it close up into
the Egyptians. My goodness, that really happened,
beloved. So he's telling us here that
he raised up Pharaoh for a reason. That his power, his great power
might be shown. And it was in the deliverance
of all the Israelites out of the land of Egypt. Look at this. Therefore hath he mercy on what?
Whom he will have mercy. He says it again. And whom he
will, he hardeneth. That just means he just leaves
them alone. Just lets them go. I'll tell you why. If God had
left me where I was, I don't know what I would have become.
I don't even want to think about it. I'm serious. My, oh my. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why
doth he yet find fault for who hath resisted his will? Is there
anyone who's resisted the will of God ever? People say, well, you can resist
God. You can resist the Holy Spirit and not be saved. Well,
I'll tell you what, God's elect will never resist the Holy Spirit
because they're made well and by Him. By Him. He has all the power, beloved.
That's why we pray, oh Lord, make our relatives willing to
come to Thee, Lord. Please, save their souls if it
be Your will. Pray that for my kids all the
time. Lord, if it's Your will, please save them. Make them willing
to come to Thee. My. And why, Paul's saying, why
do you find fault with God? See, natural man finds fault
with, well, election's not fair. I don't want fair. I don't want fair. I want mercy,
don't you, beloved? I want mercy. Who hath resisted his will? Not anyone I know that's coming
to him. I'll tell you what, if the Holy
Spirit's drawn a man or a woman, They're not a team of wild horses
that'll keep them from coming to Christ, I'm telling you what.
Oh, they're gonna come. Now here we go, look at this. Nay, but O man, who art thou
that replyest against God? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? What? My, oh my. You ever make something,
build something? Does it say to you, why'd you
make me? Why'd you do this? It's foolishness, isn't it? Paul's
bringing forth here the utter foolishness of this. Look at
this. Now, here we go. Here's the Potter
aspect. I love this illustration, beloved, because it's so vividly
brings forth God's absolute sovereignty. Hath not the potter power over
the clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor and
another unto dishonor? So the potter who works, the
master potter who works that wheel, right? And it's amazing,
when you see someone who really knows how to do it. The teacher
there, when I went there, she was incredible. She could just
get that thing humming, right? But you get a master potter,
they can take a lump of clay, break it in two, make it two
different things. And they can make one thing and just crunch
it up and toss it away, and then they can make this beautiful
other thing. And as the clay say, hey, I didn't want to be
thrown away over here. No, clay is an inanimate object,
isn't it? Unless it's worked upon, it can't do anything. It
can't even become anything unless it's worked upon. We're dead
in sins. Unless there's a work of the
Holy Spirit of God, we can't do anything. We can't become
a new creature in Christ, but God the Holy Spirit can make
us a new creature in Christ, can't he? All according to his
will and his power. Now look at this verse. Verse
21, hath not the potter power over the clay of the same lump
to make one vessel under honor and another under dishonor? God's sovereignty is being taught
here. His absolute sovereignty is being taught here. What if
God, willing to show His wrath and to make His power known,
endeared with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to
destruction? Is God not longsuffering with
this world? Oh, He is, isn't He? The rain
falls on the just and on the unjust, doesn't it? The very
breath we breathe comes from Him. my oh my look at this so his wrath will fall on those
fitted to destruction but look at look at this verse 23 this
is amazing and that he might make known the riches of his
glory on the vessels of mercy which he had afford prepared
unto glory every believer in christ is a vessel of mercy Isn't that beautiful, beloved?
We can leave here leaping for joy that we're a vessel of mercy,
not by anything we've done, right? Because the lump, the clay can't
make itself into anything. But God declares here that his
people are vessels of mercy. We've received mercy. We've received
mercy and grace from our great God and King in and through the
Lord Jesus Christ, beloved. which he had aforeprepared unto
glory." We're going to glory. When we leave this life, we go
right to glory, beloved. We go right to glory. Look at this, even us whom he
hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles.
Well, praise God, that's what we are. Hallelujah. We're a bunch
of Gentiles. As he saith also in Osi, I will
call them my people, which were not my people. That's us! That's
us, beloved! Oh my! And her beloved, which
was not beloved. And it shall come to pass that
in the place where it was said unto them, ye are not my people,
there shall they be called the children of the living God. Oh
my! Isn't that wonderful? Now let's
go back and read verse 17. With all that in our minds, and
he tells us about those who God gave him, he keeps, our Lord
Jesus Christ. He says, those that thou gavest me, that
I have kept, me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but
the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled.
Now note here, our Lord prays that while he was in the world,
and this does not imply that Christ was not in the world at
the time he prayed this, because he was in the world at the time
he prayed this. He's still saying, he's just saying, while I was
with him in the world, I kept him in thy name. He's bringing
forth his humanity here. He's bringing forth that he was
really upon this earth. He was about to leave this world,
beloved. He was about to go to Calvary's
cross and die for the sins of his people and redeem them with
his precious blood and then be buried and rise again on the
third day, up into glory. So he's bringing forth that he's
about to go out of this world in bodily form. Now, will he
still be with his people, even though he leaves bodily? Absolutely.
He said, I'll never leave you nor forsake you. So he's not
talking about spiritual things here, he's talking about bodily,
I'm gonna be leaving. I'll no longer physically be
with them, but I'll be with them in the spirit, amen. I'll be
with them in the spirit. He's not saying he would not
be in the world any longer with his disciples, again, because
spiritually he would be. He would be with them, and he's
always with us. Again, this is to be understood
as his body, not his spiritual presence, but his bodily form. Then he says, I've kept them
in thy name. This is, he kept them by the Father's authority.
He kept them by the Father's power. He kept them in the Father's
doctrine, which is all about Christ, all about Christ. Then our Lord proclaims, those
thou gavest me, I have kept. Again, that being those who are
in our text who were given to him, his apostles, again, not
speaking of Judas Iscariot, because he was never one of the elect,
but those who were given to him by the Father, he's kept them.
And then the Lord brings forth how he keeps his people. By an
example of the apostles, he says, and none of them is lost. Here,
never lose one of his people, beloved. Not one. Well, we may have doubts, right?
Here, never leave. We're never gonna get out of
his hand, and we don't want to. He won't say, oh, I'm done with
you, Wayne, you messed up too much. Here, never do that, beloved. That's wonderful. Isn't that
wonderful? My, His love for us is so different
than any other love in this world, isn't it? My, oh my, He keeps
us close to Him. This implies that none of them
is lost. This implies that He keeps us close, beloved. He keeps
us from the evils of this world. How easily we would become entangled.
I know how easily I'd become entangled in the things of this
world if He didn't keep me from it. And you know, anybody says,
well, that's not me. I'm spiritual. You're just lying.
Because if God didn't keep us, we'd be gone Jesses, wouldn't
we? We'd be gone. But he keeps us from evil, the
evil of this world. He keeps us from temporal ruin
and eternal ruin. He keeps us from all that. I
like what Bruce Crabtree said about our salvation. He said,
Brother Wayne, we can't mess it up. Oh, that's wonderful. Oh, that's glorious. That's glorious. My. And he does this for all
his people because every one of us as believers are kept by
the power of God. Individually, we're kept by the
power of God. Same power keeping us, but he keeps each of us individually.
Let's read John 17 again. He says, Well, I was with them
in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those thou gavest me
I have kept, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition,
that the scripture might be fulfilled. Note, none of the apostles are
lost except the son of perdition. God will not lose one of his
sheep, not one. John 6, 37-39 says this, All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. For I come down from heaven not
to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." Now
this is the Master's words, this is the Lord Jesus Christ's words.
He said, and this is the Father's will which has sent me, that
of all, Dave, Brian, Linda, Jill, Anne, Wayne, Vicki, Diane, all,
All the elect, all of them, all which he hath given me, I
should lose nothing, but I should raise it up again at the last
day. Hallelujah! That's wonderful, isn't it? But Judas isn't one of his sheep.
Judas, he's lost. All God's got to do is leave
him where he is. Just leave him where he is. Listen
to the, I pulled this verse out of Weiss' Greek Literal Bible. Listen to what it says in this.
When I was with them, that being his people, I constantly maintained
a watchful care over them. Now he's speaking about the apostles,
but we know that that is the same for us, right? Constantly
keeps, maintains a watchful care over them. In your name, those
whom you have given me, and I guarded them." Remember I said the two
words kept were different words? Watchful and guarded. I guarded
them. Does he do the same for you and
I, beloved? Absolutely he does. He watches over us constantly,
and he guards us. He guards us. Then he goes on
to say this, and no one of them was lost except the son of perdition
in order that the scripture might be fulfilled. Now Judas, again,
is not one of the Lord's sheep. He's a false professor. He's
a tare amongst the wheat. And as Dave said earlier, the
Lord said, just leave him there, didn't he? Leave the tares amongst
the wheat. It'll be sorted out at the end.
It'll be sorted out at the end. And the only one who knows he's
a tare is the Lord. No one else has any clue. No one else has any clue. And
beloved God, this scripture brings forth that our Lord keeps safe
his elect of which Judas was never a part of. Turn if you
would to Psalm 41. Psalm 41, we'll see where the
scripture shall be fulfilled about Judas. And then we're gonna
look at a couple of scriptures in the New Testament to see how
those were fulfilled by Judas. This is amazing here. Psalm 41,
verses 7 to 13. David's penning these words,
right? And we know, like what Brother
Norm says, every psalm is a messianic psalm. It's all about Christ.
But David is the one penning these words. And David had many
people come against him in his life for his faith, his faith
in God and trusting in God. He had his own son turn against
him. Oh my goodness, I couldn't even imagine that, but that happened
to him. He had trusted advisors turn against him. Men who were
with him, soldiering with him, turning against him. So he's
had it happen a lot in his life. But he's just kept looking to
Christ, didn't he? And he keeps pleading to Christ. And our Lord here brings forth
his people through all kinds of things. Now, notice here in
Psalm 41, we see there's one who would turn against the Messiah.
One who was among those he chose to be his disciples. Look at
this, one who was right in the midst of him. He
calls him a familiar friend. Look at this, Psalm 41, 7 to
13. All that hate me whisper together
against me. Against me do they devise my
hurt. Now they did that with Christ,
didn't they? They whispered against him, and they devised his hurt.
In evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him, and now that he
lieth, he shall rise up no more. Yea, mine own familiar friend
in... Look at this. Now, here's the prophecy right
here. Yea, mine own familiar friend in whom I trusted, which
did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. That's the prophecy about Judas
Iscariot, beloved. And it says, but thou, O Lord,
be merciful unto me and raise me up that I may requite them.
By this I know that thou favourest me because mine enemy doth not
triumph over me. Christ crushed his enemies at
the cross, didn't he? Oh my. And as for me, thou upholdest
me in mine integrity and settest me before thy face forever. Blessed
be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting. Amen
and amen. Note in verse 19 of Psalm 41,
again, this prophecy about Judas. Yea, mine own familiar friend
in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted
up his heel against me. Note that, eh? Now, Jesus trusted
Judas with the bag. He was the treasurer. He trusted
him with the bag of money. Knowing, yeah, even knowing who
he was. He held the money. He held the
money for the sustenance of the 12, right? For them to eat and
for the master to eat. And for relief for the poor also.
Turn if you would now to John chapter 12. This gets pretty
incredible here and remember, Remember what we read there.
I'll read it again to us. I said verse 19. It's actually
Psalm 41, verse 9, not 19. Look at this in John chapter
12, verses 4 to 6. Then saith one of his disciples,
Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him. Will there be no hint that he
would betray him? Why was not this ointment sold
for 300 pence and given to the poor? This he said, that he cared. He didn't care for the poor,
beloved. See? He didn't care for the poor.
He didn't care that she put this ointment upon Christ. Oh. He said, well, this should
have been used for the poor. This ointment sold for 300 pence
and should be given to the poor. He never intended to give it
to the poor. And look what it says in verse
six. How do we know that? It says, this he said, not that he cared
for the poor, but because he was a thief and had the bag and
bear that which was put therein. Oh, he is just so full of pride.
I'm the treasurer. My, oh my. I praise God for Brother
Dan. He's such a humble man. Such a faithful man. My, but this, I'll tell you what.
Jesus was full of self-righteousness. I'll tell you that. You can see
it in his words here. My, oh my. Now turn, if you would,
to John chapter 13. Oh, here we go. Okay, remember the prophecy that
said, yea, mine own familiar friend in whom I trusted. Christ
trusted him with the bag. Trusted him with the money. Even
though he knew he was a thief, he still trusted him with the
money. Because he knew, he's known from eternity who should
betray him. This doesn't come to Christ,
he knew it. He's God. He's God. Look at this, John
chapter 13. Again, I'll read Psalm 41, 9.
Yea, my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, which did eat
of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. Now look at
this in John chapter 13, verses 21 to 30. When Jesus 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. Now, I absolutely
love the disciples' response. You know why? Because we all
have in us the ability to betray Christ. And how do we know that? Look
what they said. Then the disciples looked one
on another, doubting of whom he spake. Now there was leaning
on Jesus' bosom, one of the disciples which Jesus loved. That's John.
So all the disciples were like, is it I? Is it me? I bet you Judas didn't say that. But the other disciples probably
did. You know, it's like when people say, I wouldn't have yelled,
crucify him, crucify him. If I'd have been there, that's
just a downright lie. Because everyone who's dead in
trespasses and sins would have yelled the same thing. Yeah,
they'd have said, give us Barabbas. That's just being honest, beloved.
But by the grace of God, by the grace of God, we'd say the same
as the disciples here. But as God, He knows who the
betrayers are. He knows, He knows, He knows,
He knows right down. Now there was leaning on Jesus'
bosom one of the disciples whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore
beckoned to him that he should ask who it should be of whom
he spake. So here's John. John never, John
never, I love John. He doesn't identify himself as
I'm John, the one who Jesus loved. He never does that. He just says
the disciple who Jesus loved. Could you imagine this? I've
thought about this before. Here's, here he is. He's got his head
on the breast of Christ. You know, I used to lay my head
on my, on my brother's, brother's chest when I was little. And
I could hear their heartbeat, beloved. He's listening to the
heartbeat of God in the flesh. My, oh my. Isn't that amazing? And there was nothing weird about
that. When I laid on my brother's breast, there's nothing weird
about that. They're my brothers. I love them. I just laid my head on
them. And I could hear their little tickers thumping. My. So here's John, he knows,
he knows it. Peter's like, John, ask him,
ask him who it is. We're all the same, aren't we?
We're all the same. Hey, John, he'll tell you, he
might not tell us. We are all the same, beloved.
Oh my gosh. He then laying on Jesus' breast
saith unto him, look at this, Lord, who is it? Who is it? Jesus answered, He it is to whom
I will give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he dipped
it, the sop, 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. Go and do it quickly. And now look at this. Look how
the... We're all clueless. When there's unity in the church
and then someone's causing division, sometimes we don't even know
about it until it rears its ugly head, right? And look at these
guys, they're just like us. Because we don't want to have
division in the church. We don't want that. Look at this. Now no man at the table knew
for what intent he spake this unto him. Why didn't they, for
some of them had thought because Jesus had the bag, that Jesus
had said unto him, buy those things which we have need of
against the feast, or that he should give something to the
poor. The Lord kept it quiet, didn't
he? Oh, our great King, he's so,
you know, how that must've hurt, knowing that Jesus was gonna
betray him. But he knew that everything must be fulfilled,
right? That would start in motion his crucifixion. And he says,
let's go and do it quickly, Jesus. What you're gonna do, just go
do it quickly. Let's just get it over with. Because he knew
that appointed time had come, right? Remember they had tried
to capture the Lord at other times, and they never could.
They wanted to throw him over a cliff one time, they couldn't
do it. He just went right in the midst of them, walked right
away. But now it's his time. The time of the crucifixion,
that he had died to be the savior of his people. He'd already lived
the perfect life for us, now he's gonna go die for us, beloved. My, oh my. So we see then that
the one who would betray the Messiah, he'll also lift up his
heel against him. Turn now, or actually just look
a little bit further up in John 13, 18. Look at this. Look at
this. Remember it said that he'd eat
bread with him and then he'd lift up his heel against him?
Look at this. John 13, 18. I speak not of you
all. I know whom I have chosen. But
that the scripture may be fulfilled. He that eateth me had lifted
up his heel against me. You see how that everything we
looked at in that prophecy is right there with Judas. He trusted
him with the bag. He ate with him. And now here
he's saying he's going to raise his heel against me. My. Psalm 41, 9 again, yea, mine
own familiar friend in whom I have trusted which did eat of my bread
hath lifted up his heel against me. So what are we to do in these
circumstances? What do we do when we're being
taught a lesson by the Lord? What are we to do? We're just
to flee to Christ, aren't we? We're just to look to him. So
don't marvel if we face persecution for our faith, beloved. Christ was persecuted. Christ
suffered in this world. Don't be surprised if we suffer
persecution down the road for our faith, or even in amongst
our friends and family. Don't be surprised. They persecuted
our master. They hated him without a cause,
right? or do the same to us. We don't understand it. We scratch
our heads. Why? Why does this have to happen? It's according to God's purpose
and will, isn't it? We read there in John 13, 21,
our Lord was troubled in the spirit and he testified and said,
verily, verily, I say unto you, one of you shall betray me. God knew who would betray him.
Christ knew who would betray him. He knew this from the beginning. Not from the beginning of his
ministry, but far, far before that. He knew it before he chose
the 12. He knew it from the beginning
of time, beloved. He knew it from everlasting. This being
fixed by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, which
he is the all-knowing God knew. He knew that. He knew what preparations were
being made for his betrayal. Think of that too. He knew that
there were secret meetings going on. He knew that. He knew Judas would run to them
high priests. He knew it. And yet he allowed
it to happen. You know why? To save us from
our sins, beloved. that he might go to Calvary's
cross and die for our sins. My, he already knew what Satan
had put into Judas heart too. And he said, go and do it quickly,
Judas. Oh my, what a savior, what a
savior, beloved. He knew what was coming. And
yet he willingly faced it, didn't he? Scripture says he set his
face like a flint, like a stone, immovable stone. I must die for
my people. I must redeem them from their
sins. I must, or else they'll never
be saved. Now this shows us in what we've
looked at tonight, in those corresponding verses in John 13 and in Psalm
41, 9, it shows us our God's sovereignty, doesn't it? He is
absolutely sovereign. He is God incarnate in the flesh
and nothing, absolutely nothing escapes his eyes. Nothing, nothing. No secret meetings, no plottings
against him or against his people even. None of that escapes his
eyes. None of it. It's all bare before
him, isn't it? Things people say behind our
backs. He knows it all. And he's going to deal with it
all, isn't he? He's going to. He's going to deal with it. He showed us in the past that
he deals with things, doesn't he? I'll tell you why. You don't mess with God's people.
You've heard me say that so many times. You don't mess with God's
people and you don't mess with God's church. You just don't. You just do not do that. And
praise his mighty name that not one of God's sheep will ever
be lost. Not one. Not one. And we have
that from the lips of the master, his own words. All that the Father
has given me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. Hallelujah.