When I initially started preaching
on each one of the disciples, I kind of had it in my mind that
maybe I would skip Judas Iscariot. I'm sure you can understand why
I thought that, but that would not be right. It is a part of
the scripture. And I've entitled this message,
What About Judas Iscariot? A comment that I've heard from
many people during these sermons is you've humanized the apostles.
We look at them as men with halos over their head and not sinning
and so on, and they're sinners just like you and I are, but
I would like to try to humanize Judas as well. Why am I saying
that? Well, what do you think of when
you think of Judas? You think of the one who betrayed
Christ. And people who are not even familiar with the message
of the scriptures, if there's someone that is a traitor or
someone who practices treachery, what do they call him? Judas. It's a common way of thinking. Have you ever known anybody that
named their son Judas? I dare say not. It's like you
don't hear anyone name their daughter Jezebel, I don't think. The only Judas I've ever known
was there was a woman that I knew that had gone in a very bad direction,
and she named her dog Judas. And just no fear, it seemed like. And that's the only, an animal
named Judas, but I've never known a person named Judas. And like I said, I would like
to humanize his character to where we don't automatically
think of, well, the wicked Judas, the traitor of Christ. He was
that. He was a wicked man. There's no question about that.
He was a lost man. The Lord called him the son of
perdition. But it's easy to demonize him and not learn from this.
Now, what do you mean by demonize? Well, the Republicans demonize
the Democrats. The Democrats demonize the Republicans. You have that going on all the
time, and we really ought not do that, whatever your position
is. But demonizing people, or what
people do who seek to justify their position, actions, or behavior,
they demonize somebody in order to justify themselves, what they're
doing. I've had that happen to me. I'm
sure you've had it happen to you as well. It's part of life. I would say that Judas was initially
very infatuated by the Lord Jesus Christ and admired him very much. Now you think about that. He held the office of the treasurer.
That means they trusted him. They trusted him with the money.
They thought he's probably the most trustworthy one of the bunch. None of the disciples knew that
he was the traitor. He had a high place. He was hand-picked
by the Lord Himself as one of the twelve disciples. He heard the Lord speak. He was
an eyewitness of His miracles. He saw these things. He saw Him
control the weather. He was on the boat when the Lord
said to the storm, peace, be still, and there was a great
calm. He was with the disciples in amazement. What manner of
man is this that even the winds and the sea obey him? When he
was sent to preach, and he was sent to preach, they went out
two and two. There is nothing that insinuates that he didn't
preach the gospel. And I don't have any doubt that
this man performed miracles. All the miracles of the other.
11 disciples performed and you can perform miracles and not
have saving faith But I know this about this man Judas He
never trusted the Lord Jesus Christ He never did that and
he never loved the Lord Jesus Christ turn with me for a moment
to John chapter 13 and Verse two, John chapter 13. And supper being ended, the Passover meal, the Lord's
table, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot,
Simon's son, to betray him. Look in verse 10. This is after
he has washed the disciples' feet, verse 10. And Jesus saith
to him, he that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but
is clean every whit. And you are clean, but not all.
For he knew who should betray him, and therefore said he, you're
not all clean. And he was speaking of Judas.
And I'm glad he said that. What if he wouldn't have said
that? We'd think, well, he's talking about all the disciples,
and we know what happened to one of them. But this is inserted
to let us know that everybody he cleansed was cleansed, but
not all were cleansed. Judas wasn't. Look in verse 18. He says, I speak not of you all. I know whom I've chosen. I know
whom I elect are, but that the scriptures may be fulfilled.
He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against
me. And now I tell you before it
came, that when it has come to pass, You may believe that I
am he. Now he tells them ahead of time,
this is what the scripture taught would take place, this betrayal.
And he quotes Psalm 41, nine at this time. Would you turn
back to Psalm 41? This was all a part of God's purpose. Psalm
41. And the Lord quotes this as being
about him. Now David's talking about somebody
else, but the Lord quotes this as being about him. Look in Psalm
41 verse nine. Yea, mine own familiar friend,
in whom I trusted, which to the eat of my bread hath lifted up
his heel against me. Look in Psalm 55. Psalm 55. Verse 12. For it was not an enemy that
reproached me, then I could have borne it. Neither was it him
that hated me that did magnify himself against me. Then I would
have hid myself from him, but it was thou, a man mine equal,
my guide and mine acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together
and walked into the house of God in company. In both of those
Psalms, David is talking about the same man. And the Lord uses
this to prefigure Judas and how he would be portrayed. Now, who
was this man he was talking about? We'll turn to 2 Samuel chapter
15. 2 Samuel 15, verse 12. And Absalom sent for Ahithophel,
the Golanite, David's counselor, David's dear friend, the one
David trusted, the one David sought counsel from. Ahithophel,
from his city, even from Geo, while he offered sacrifices.
And the conspiracy was strong. Now, this is talking about the
conspiracy during Absalom's time, where Absalom was drawing away
people after him. The conspiracy was strong. for
the people increased continually with Absalom. Look in verse 31
of this same chapter. And one told David, saying, Ahithophel
is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O Lord,
I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.
Now remember, Ahithophel was his good friend, and now all
of a sudden he has joined up with Absalom. Look in chapter
16, verse 23. And the counsel of Hithophel,
which he counseled in those days, was as if a man had inquired
at the oracle of God. That's how trusted this man was.
When he gave counsel, people thought it was equivalent to
the very word of God. So was all the counsel of the
Hithophel, both with David and with Absalom. David looked at
this man in this special way. And he betrayed David and went
over to Absalom's side. Look in chapter 17, verse 14. And Absalom and all the men of
Israel said, the council of Hushai, the Archite, is better than the
council of Ahithophel. For the Lord had appointed to
defeat the good council of Ahithophel to the intent that the Lord might
bring evil upon Absalom." I love that statement regarding God's
sovereignty. He determined that Ahithophel's
good council would be defeated. Now, who is this man, Ahithophel,
where he's speaking, In Psalm 41, nine, my friend that took
sweet counsel together, he's raised his heel against me. You
know who the fell was? He was Bathsheba's grandfather. Now think of the enormity of
that. He was good friends with David
and he knew what David did to his granddaughter. And from that
point, he began to despise and put yourself in his place. You
reckon you might do the same? If somebody did your daughter
that way and had her husband killed, he began to despise David. You can certainly understand
that. That's why I'm saying, listen, human, so to speak, you see why
he felt that way. Now the Lord uses this man to
prefigure Judas, the traitor. David's trusted friend. And there's no doubt that his
beginning, speaking of Judas, it appeared good. He was a follower
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord handpicked him as a
disciple. Christ called him friend. And
when he called him friend, he was not insincere. He wasn't
just saying that. He said, friend, wherefore art
thou come hither? In Matthew chapter 26, 50. Psalm,
thou who art my friend. Now, the earliest peak we have
of Genesis or Judas is found in John 6. Would you turn with
me there? John chapter 6. This is after Peter's great confession
of Christ. Verse 69, we believe and are
sure that thou art that Christ, the son of the living God. John
chapter six, verse 70, Jesus answered them, have not I chosen
you 12? And one of you is a devil. Now he's speaking of Judas Iscariot.
They didn't know he was speaking of Judas Iscariot at that time,
but that's who he was speaking of. He spoke of Judas Iscariot,
the son of Simon, for it was he that should betray him being
one of the 12. And you know what the word devil
means? It means an accuser. It means a slanderer. That's
what the word means by definition. And Satan is called what in Revelation
12? The accuser of the brethren who
accuse them night and day before God. Now, what a horrible thing
it is to slander someone's character, to malign them, to make accusations
against them. Is there anybody here not guilty
of that? Everybody in here, if you're
honest, you know that you have been guilty of this same thing,
being a devil, being a slanderer, being a maligner, being an accuser. And do you know the Lord even
mentions him in John chapter 17, his great high priestly prayer
for his people? Look at verse 12, John chapter
17, verse 12. 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, speaking of Judas, the son of destruction,
that the scripture might be fulfilled. The scripture said this is gonna
happen, the scripture's gonna be fulfilled. Now he points out,
None of mine are lost. But if he didn't tell us that,
we'd think, he's talking about Judas too. He was wrong there.
Because Judas was lost. Judas was the son of perdition.
If he didn't point this out to us, we would think, well, we
wouldn't understand the atonement. You mean he could die for him
and cleanse him and he ended up being damned anyway? Well,
that didn't make any sense at all, and it doesn't make sense.
And I'm so thankful the Lord has placed this here for us.
You see, everybody that he died for must be saved. And if Judas
is the son of perdition, if he's not saved, Christ never paid
for his sins. You remember what the Lord said
in John chapter six, verse 39? This is the will of him that
sent me that of all which he has given me. That's election. Of all which he has given me,
I should lose nothing. He said concerning his sheep,
I give them eternal life and they shall never perish. Now, if Jesus Christ died for
Judas just the way he did Peter, all that's meaningless. And it's
saying that God can punish the same sin twice. He punished Judas'
sin in Christ, and then he turned around and punished it in Judas
again, which would be unjust on God's part. God's just. He's
not going to demand punishment for the same sin twice, punish
it once, and then punish it again. So I'm so thankful that the Lord
has pointed that out to us. Judas was the son of perdition. And this act of betrayal that
Judas made, this act of betrayal, and you think, you know, the
Lord said it'd be good for that man had he never been born. Now
that is a scary statement, but that's what the Lord says about
this man. It'd been good for that man if he'd never been born. But this act of betrayal was
determined by God. Look in John chapter 13, Verse 18. I speak not of you all, I know
whom I've chosen, but that the scripture may be fulfilled. He that eateth bread with me
hath lifted up his heart against me. Now I tell you before it
come, that when it's come to pass, you may believe that I'm
he. I told you this was gonna take place. This was determined
in the scripture. And I want you to think of the high regard
the Lord Jesus Christ had for the scripture. If there is anyone
who could have just said something without quoting the scripture
and being truth and verity, it's him. But even the Lord Jesus
Christ always referred to the scripture. This is what the scripture
says. So turn with me for a moment
to Luke 22. The act of betrayal was determined
before it was a decree of God. Look in Luke chapter 22, beginning
in verse 21. Behold, the hand of him that
betrayeth me is with me on the table, and truly the son of man
goeth. What are the next words? As it
was determined, it was determined for this to take place. The son
of man goeth as it was determined, but woe unto that man by whom
he is betrayed. Now, what did Peter say on Pentecost?
Please listen to this carefully. This is important for us to understand
this. When Peter began that message on Pentecost, he began it with
these words, him being delivered, speaking of the death of Christ,
Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. You have taken and with wicked
hands have crucified and slain. In chapter four, the early church
said, for the truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou has
anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and
the people of Israel, were gathered together for to do whatsoever
thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. Everything that happened to the
Lord Jesus Christ, put the thorn crown on his brow, when they
beat him with the cat of nine tails, when they pierced his
hands and his feet. Everything had been determined
by God Almighty before the foundation of the world. It was God's counsel
being done. Now, a part of that which was
determined before was this betrayal. And you know, every event that
takes place has something to do with the lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. Every event. I might not understand
it all, but with God there's no unimportant events. He controls, He orchestrates
everything. That's what God's sovereignty
is. If He's not sovereign over all, He's not sovereign at all.
He controls everything. And I'm so thankful it's that
way. Think if it's not that way. I would shudder to think what
could happen. But thank God He controls everything
and He created the universe. to the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's called the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. Now turn back to John chapter
13 for a moment. And supper being ended, verse
two, and supper being ended, the devil having now put into
the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him. Now, if somebody says, that sounds
awful, the devil putting it in his heart. Well, isn't Judas
just like every other unbeliever? You remember what the Lord said
to the Pharisees? You're of your father, the devil, and the lusts
of your father you will do. Don't look at Judas as some kind
of poor victim of the devil. No, he was the devil's servant,
and he was doing the lusts of his father. That's what every
unbeliever is. There's children of God, there's
children of the devil. The Lord makes that so plain,
particularly in John chapter eight. You're of your father,
the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. All natural men do the bidding
of the God of this world. Look in John chapter 13, verse
18. I've already looked at this. He says, I spoke not of you all.
I know whom I've chosen, but that the scripture might be fulfilled.
He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against
me. Now I tell you, therefore, before it come, that when it
has come to pass, you may know that I am he. Not that which I'm compelling
you to do, and you just are a helpless victim of my sovereignty. When
you do this, Jesus was doing what he wanted to do. When he lifted up his heel against
the Lord, he was doing what he wanted to do. Now understand
this, just believe it. I don't understand how this is
so, but God is absolutely sovereign over every event and men are
absolutely free in everything they do. How can both of those
things be so? I don't know. It goes beyond
my head. It goes beyond your head. But
it's so. Men do what they want to do. You can't blame God. You're
not a victim. You can't blame God sovereignly.
When you sin, it's not because God caused you to sin. When Judas
sinned, it wasn't because God caused Judas to sin and caused
the death. No. All your sin is your fault. You
believe that? All of your sin is your fault. You have no excuses. You can't
say it's because God sovereignly decreed that I do that. That's
what that fellow in Romans 9 said. When he said, when God said he
had mercy on whom he will have mercy and whom he will, he hardens
and the man said, why is he at fine fault? Who has resisted
his will? How can that be right? How can God hold me responsible?
If he hardens my heart, how can he hold me responsible for committing
that sin? I love Paul's answer, nay, but
who are you, old man, to reply against God? Shall the thing
formed say to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus?
This is who God is. This is who man is. Yes, God
is completely sovereign over everything. I'm so thankful for
that. And yes, man is completely responsible for his own sin.
And God is completely sovereign over the free and uncoerced action
of every man. And what's the alternative? The
alternative is bad. It's real bad. You mean something's
outside of God's control? I don't even, I shudder to think
of that. But oh, the good God, the glorious
God, the gracious God, the sovereign God, who works all things after
the counsel of his own will is in complete control. I have no doubt that Judas began
to hate the Lord Jesus Christ. He started out with a high opinion
of him. And he began to hate him. Look
back in John chapter 12. Then Jesus, six days before the
Passover, came to Bethany, where Lazarus which had been dead,
whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper,
and Martha served. But Lazarus was one of them that
sat at the table with him. Then Mary took a pound of ointment
of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and
wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with
the odor of the ointment. Then saith one of his disciples,
Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him. Why
was not this ointment sold for 300 pence and given to the poor?
This is a waste. This, he said, not that he cared
for the poor, but because he was a thief. And he had the bag,
and bare what was put therein. Now, unlike Ahithophel, who had a
reason to despise David, Judas had no reason. As a matter of
fact, when he comes back to the priests and throws the money
down, he said, I have shed the innocent blood. He didn't say
I've shed innocent blood. He said, I've shed the innocent
blood, the only innocent blood there is. He was talking about
the sinlessness of Christ. Christ never gave him a reason
to despise him. but he was the child of perdition. He was no less sinful than you
and I are by nature. He was what you and I are. And
we're gonna see that even more as we consider what this man
was like. But the one action that Christ
called a good work, Judas criticizes. Do you know the only work that
Christ ever called a good work was this work? She hath wrought
a good work upon me. Why trouble ye her? Now, the
Lord knows what a good work is, doesn't he? Oh, he knows. But Judas, all he could do is
criticize her for this, all this big waste of money. You could
have fed so many poor people and this for a smell, for a good
smell, you break this box of ointment and could have been
done with so much good and you do this. The Lord said, she's
brought a good work on me, but he didn't see it that way. You
see, John tells us he was a thief. He was a thief. Now generally,
when we think of a thief, we'll think of shoplifting. I bet nobody
in here shoplifted anytime lately. Hope that's the case. But being
a thief is a whole lot more than shoplifting, stealing things
from stores. You can be a thief by stealing
time, by being lazy. You can be a thief by taking
credit where it's not really due. You take it to yourself
when it ought not come to you. You can be a thief when you rob
glory from God and give the glory to yourself when it ought to
come to God only. That's a thief. I'm looking at some thieves.
Every one of us. I'm a thief. You're a thief.
Every one of us. I mean, I wish it wasn't that
way, but as long as this flesh is here, You're gonna have a
tendency, I'm gonna have a tendency to try to give glory to myself.
He was a thief. He failed, and anytime somebody
fails to give God the glory, they are a thief. This man was
insincere. Look in Matthew chapter 26. Beginning in verse 21. and as they did eat. You know,
the Lord was giving the Lord's table and he knew what Judas
would do. This is not my notes, but I just
thought about this. He knew what Judas would do. And he didn't keep him from taking
the Lord's table. Isn't that amazing how people take the Lord's
table and use it as a way to discipline people? You're not
living right, you're not living good, you don't get to take the
Lord's table. You can't take the Lord's table
until you get your life straightened out. Lord knew this devil was
there, a demon, that's what he called him. And he took the Lord's
table. And another thing, when the Lord was washing their feet,
you know somebody else's feet he washed? Judas. Judas. And Judas already knew
what he was gonna do when this, Satan had already, entered his
heart and he knew he was going to seek to betray the Lord even
while the Lord was washing his feet. And the Lord knew that.
Look in Matthew chapter 26, I mean 25, yeah, 26 verse 21. And as
they did eat, he said, verily I say unto you that one of you
shall betray me. And they were exceeding sorrowful
and began every one of them to say unto him, Is it me? Am I the one that's
going to do this? Now, that's the proper response.
You know Peter's response. They might do it, but not me.
And you know who messed up the most was Peter.
But at any rate, at first, when he says, one of you are going
to betray me, Lord, is it I? And he answered and said, he
that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray
me. The son of man goeth as it's written of him, but woe unto
that man by whom the son of man is betrayed. It had been good
for that man if he'd never been born. Then Judas, which betrayed
him, answered and said, Lord? No. Teacher. Master. Teacher. Is it I? And let me tell you
this about Judas. Not one time did Judas ever call
him Lord. He called him master. Hail master
when he came to betray him. Hail master, master. But he never
called him Lord. Why? He had no love for his Lordship. Now, every believer in this room,
you love His Lordship. Don't you love it that He's the
Creator? Don't you love it that He controls everything in providence?
He's the Lord over everything that takes place, everybody,
Lord of the dead, Lord of the living. He's Lord of Satan, He's
Lord of demons, He's Lord of unbelievers, He's Lord of believers.
He's Lord! He controls, He's the Lord! and
how we love him as being the Lord of salvation. That means
salvation is of the Lord. He is in control of salvation.
He can save me. He can will my salvation because
of who he is, because of the power of his lordship and the
power of his blood. If he dies for me, my sin's gone.
I must be saved because he's Lord. We love his lordship. I love what Paul said in 1 Corinthians
12, three, no man can say that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy
Ghost. And I know people have said it
audibly, they didn't believe it, but he's talking about saying
it and loving it. If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart that God
hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Judas never
said Lord. And what was the sign he used
to betray him? Remember when the Lord said,
Jews, betrayest thou the son of man with a kiss? He said,
whoever I kiss on the cheek, that's the one, get him. And
he came and kissed the Lord on the cheek. That was his way of
betraying him. Now, think about this. We read of the Lord being kissed
on other occasions. But where was he kissed? The
feet. Not on the cheek as an equal, but on the feet as one who is
to be worshiped. He didn't have a lack with true
humility because he just didn't really know who Christ was. He
wouldn't be kissing him on the cheek that way. He'd be kissing
his feet as the Lord of all. He sold Christ for 30 pieces
of silver. And you know, Zechariah 11, Zechariah
tells us that's the amount he's gonna be selling. It's almost
like, did you just look up Zechariah and say, well, how much do I
need to sell it for? No, he did what was in his heart. It was
determined. in Zechariah chapter 11, that
this was gonna take place, but the fact that he could sell Jesus
means all his religion was about was personal gain. What I can
get. How I can be benefited. And you know, that's true today.
I wanna serve the Lord because it'll make me have a better marriage,
it'll help my finances, it'll help my health, it'll help my
well-being, That's not worship. You worship him for who he is,
not what you can get out of him. He's to be worshiped, and he's
worthy of worship. If he casts me off and sends
me to hell, he's still worthy of worship. He is the son of
God. But Judas knew nothing of that.
He was ready to sell him. Moments notice. Turn to Matthew
chapter 27 now. Verse three. Then Judas, which
had betrayed him when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself. Now he saw he had done wrong.
He repented himself and brought again the 30 pieces of silver
to the chief priests and the elders saying, I sinned and that
I betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, what is that to
us? See thou to it. And he cast down the pieces of
silver in the temple and departed and went and hanged himself. Now, when he saw he was condemned, he had regret. He had remorse. He knew what he did was wrong.
He saw that he was condemned. And I think it's very interesting,
it says he repented himself. He had no repentance toward God.
He repented himself. You see, repentance is toward
God. It's a change of mind concerning God. Now, he had remorse over
his sin. He had regret over his sin. He
thought, oh, if I just hadn't have done that, he would have
said, oh, wretched thing that I did. I knew nothing of a wretched
man that I am. His problem was what he did,
and he didn't understand that his real problem was who he was. And where does he go back when
he's in trouble? He goes back to the law. He goes back to the
law. He goes back to the chief priests.
And that's what a natural man does. They go back to the law,
how they can fix this thing. Law can't do anything for you
except condemn you. But he went back to the law. And I don't have any doubt. You
listen to me. I don't have any doubt. If he would have come
to Christ like that leopard did, like the thief on the cross.
Lord, remember me when you come in your kingdom. Lord, have mercy
on me. If he would have come to Christ
like that, I don't have, I know Christ would have received him.
There's never been a sinner that came to Christ for mercy that
he turned away. Nope, you're not worthy of that, not gonna
have you. No, you've been determined to this end. No, anybody that
comes to Christ for mercy will be received. If you come to Christ
for mercy, you will be received by him. He says, him that cometh
to me, I will in no wise cast out. That's a promise. He can't lie. That's who he is. Now Judas, insincere, a critic,
a thief, a covetous man, Practice false repentance. That is not what I was. That is not what I would be. That is what I am right now. What's the difference between
me and Judas? God the Father elected me. Christ
willingly took on my sins and put them away and gave me His
very righteousness. God the Holy Spirit gave me spiritual
life so I see the beauty of Christ and trust Him only. Now, I've
said this I don't know how many times. It came from a Henry Mahan
message back on American Avenue. He brought a message entitled,
Four Questions for Thoughtful People. Great message. He introduced it by saying, most
people, when it comes to religion, they check their brains out at
the door. Boy, that is true, isn't it? I mean, the silly things
people believe that are so contrary to reason. He asked these four
questions for thoughtful people, and he used Judas and Peter. He said, if God loved Judas and
Peter the same, what does the love of God have to do with salvation? Nothing. If God willed the salvation of
Peter and Judas equally, What does the will of God have to
do with salvation? Nothing. It's what Peter did and Judas
didn't do. If Jesus Christ died for Judas just as much as he
did Peter, if he paid for the sins of Judas and Peter, and
Peter saved and Judas is lost, what does the blood of Christ
have to do with salvation? Nothing. It works. It's what Peter did that Judas
didn't do. If God the Holy Spirit calls
all men the same, what does the Holy Spirit have to do with salvation?
Absolutely nothing. Now, what we're talking about,
it's the difference between believing grace and believing lorks. Judas was a wicked man. There's
no question about that. We don't justify anything He
did. Is He any more wicked than you
are? Do you believe that? Do you not
know that you would be the betrayer of Christ if He didn't prevent
you from it and keep you from it? And that the only difference
between you and Judas himself is Christ Himself. Let's pray. Lord, we tremble with fear at
how easily we could prove to be Judas Iscariot himself. And Lord, we ask that we might
be kept. We ask that we might be preserved. We ask that we
might be saved by Your grace. We ask that we might be found
in Christ. We ask that we might be kept. Kept by the power of God through
faith unto salvation. Lord, how we thank You that You
promised You are Him who is able to keep us from falling and to
present us faultless before your throne with exceeding glory. Have mercy upon us, reveal yourself
to us, and save us for Christ's sake. Speak to each heart here
according to your will. In Christ's name we pray, amen.
Matt, come, lead us in closing here. Let's close with number 110.
Number 110, Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed? Please stand. Alas, and did my Savior bleed,
and did my Sovereign die? Would He devote that sacred head
for