Stricken, Smitten, & Afflicted

[0:00] The following message is given by Walt Alexander, lead pastor of Trinity Grace Church in Athens, Tennessee. For more information about Trinity Grace, please visit us at TrinityGraceAthens.com.

[0:14] John chapter 13, I'm going to begin reading in verses 18, or verse 18. Read all the way to the end of the chapter. This is our Lord. I am not speaking of all of you.

[0:30] I know whom I have chosen. But the scripture will be fulfilled. He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.

[0:45] I'm telling you this now before it takes place, that when it does take place, you may believe that I am he. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I sent receives me.

[1:03] And whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit and testified, Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.

[1:23] The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table close to Jesus.

[1:35] So Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, Lord, who is it?

[1:54] Jesus answered, It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it. So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.

[2:09] Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, What you are going to do, do quickly.

[2:20] Now, no one at the table knew why he had said this to him. Some thought that because Judas had the money bag, Jesus was telling him, Buy what you need, what we need for the feast, or that he should give something to the poor.

[2:39] So after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night. When he had gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.

[2:58] If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and glorify him at once. Little children, yet a little while I am with you.

[3:18] You will seek me. And just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, Where I am going, you cannot come.

[3:30] A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

[3:42] By this, all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going?

[3:55] Jesus answered him, Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward. Peter said to him, Lord, why can I not follow you now?

[4:06] I will lay down my life for you. Jesus answered, Will you lay down your life for me?

[4:18] Truly, truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.

[4:30] This is the word of God. The 20th president, James Garfield, had the second shortest presidential term to date.

[4:41] He was in office for only 199 days. He wasn't assassinated. He wasn't impeached. On July 2nd, 1881, three months into his presidency, he was shot, but he didn't die of the gunshot.

[5:01] He died of sepsis. Before the days of careful sterilization, the physicians, trying to save his life by caring for his wounds and trying to remove the bullet from his side, accidentally spread bacteria throughout his body.

[5:24] The result was brutal. President Garfield battled infection, fever, sores, and abscesses, all throughout his body, throughout his abdominal cavity, until he finally died 199 days into his presidency on September 19, 1881.

[5:48] But in and through all the brutal pain he endured, President Garfield proved himself to be a man of exemplary character. Those around him marveled at his kindness, patience, cheerfulness, and deep gratefulness as he lay in the bed for months in agony and slowly dying.

[6:08] One of his friends said, Throughout his long illness, I was most forcibly impressed with the manner in which those traits of his character, which were most winning in health, became intensified in illness.

[6:25] He says, Throughout his long illness, I was most forcibly impressed with the manner in which those traits that had defined him, defined who he was before the illness, became intensified in the illness.

[6:42] The character that marked his life became more striking, more sudden, as infection ripped up his body.

[6:57] This morning, we return to the study of the last words of Jesus to his disciples. The hour has come. The darkness is at hand. Jesus will soon be delivered into the hands of sinners to suffer.

[7:14] But as the hour approaches and arrives, as he gathers his disciples one final time to tell them what will happen, we should be, we are forcibly impressed with the exemplary character of Jesus Christ.

[7:32] I hope that's what we see. You know, we go up into the upper room today. Jesus is facing the test of his life. He's already prayed in John 12, Father, save me from this hour.

[7:42] And then he says, Well, no, don't save me. It's for this hour that I have come. And yet, on this night, on this night in which he will be betrayed, Jesus spends the evening caring for his disciples.

[7:55] The evening when he needed care the most in his life, he spends the evening caring for his disciples, telling them what will happen to them, so they don't lose heart and fall away.

[8:05] Even when he reveals that one of them, one of the twelve, will betray him, Jesus doesn't talk about how he feels, like our culture encourages us to do. He assures the disciples, it's all according to plan.

[8:20] He promises they will see him again, even when he tells Peter that he will deny him three times. Jesus assures him, all will not be lost. And so my hope is, and through this message, that you would be forcibly impressed again with the stunning character of Jesus Christ, the stunning graciousness of his heart, and the privilege of following him.

[8:45] And where we're going is, it is necessary for Jesus to suffer, but let none who follow him fall away. It is necessary for Jesus to suffer, but let none who follow him fall away.

[8:56] We're going to break this out in three points. The first is the betrayal of Judas. The betrayal of Judas. Our passage begins by describing the betrayal of Judas, or the beginning of the betrayal.

[9:10] Each of the gospels include the fact that one of the twelve deceives Jesus and hands him over, but John describes this scene more carefully and more extensively than all the others.

[9:24] Jesus has already alerted us that there is trouble in the ranks. Look up there in verse 11.

[9:45] The one who's bathed does not need to be washed except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are all clean, but not every one of you. So he's alerted that something is going on. Not all have been cleansed of sin.

[9:57] Verse 18, he begins, I am not speaking of all of you, so you will be blessed if you obey me by washing the feet of other people and serving them. But not all of you will be blessed because not all of you are of me.

[10:10] He begins abruptly in our text in verse 18. But after that, he gets very specific. He says, But, verse 18, the scripture will be fulfilled.

[10:22] He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me. He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me. Jesus is referencing Psalm 41, 9, and says, This scripture will be fulfilled.

[10:38] We've seen those fulfillment formulas all throughout the Gospels, but here he says, This one will be fulfilled. Now, from Jacob to Achilles, the heel has been the occasion of ambition, deceit, and failure.

[10:51] But what does it mean that someone will lift their heel against Jesus? All the smart guys argue about this, but it's something like someone will take cruel advantage of him, walk out on him, betray him.

[11:07] But the shock of this verse is not that someone will do this. The shock of the verse is that the someone who will do this is one who ate the bread with me.

[11:23] That's the context of Psalm 41. David's talking about being betrayed by a close friend, by a trusted friend. Who will this betrayer be? We're not left long in suspense.

[11:36] Jesus says in verse 21, After saying these things, Jesus was troubled and feared, and said, Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.

[11:49] If you're following the Gospel of John, Jesus has been talking about trouble all along. He's been coming up against the chief priests and the scribes, saying, You are of your father, the devil.

[12:01] So they're very aware. Jesus has trouble, and he's announcing that trouble is coming. There's a cloud, a storm cloud coming for his life, but they would not, disciples would not have imagined that the trouble was going to come from within.

[12:17] It's a provoking reminder that most of the time, the trouble that undoes churches comes from within, not from without. So guard your kids. I'll guard your mouth from slander more than that.

[12:32] But, you know, the first thing we need to see in these verses is the humanity of Jesus Christ. After telling the disciples that someone would betray him, look at verse 21, Jesus was troubled in his spirit.

[12:45] Jesus is visibly upset, obviously unsettled, deeply disturbed. Jesus is, more precisely, in a state of turmoil at the thought of being betrayed by one of his closest friends.

[13:08] There's a completely disorienting and distressing effect to being betrayed, particularly by someone who is close. There's a shock when you find out that one of your friends has told your secret.

[13:19] It could begin so innocent, I mean, so young at four and five and fourth grade and fifth grade or something like that in the playground and you realize someone has ratted you out.

[13:34] Someone has told your secret, told your story. There's a deep debilitating pain when a family member who is supposed to love you, mocks you, ridicules you, and hurts you.

[13:45] There's a distressing loss when your spouse betrays you, cheats on you. All that disorienting, all that disorientation and distress is what is falling on Jesus Christ right here.

[14:00] Throughout his life, Jesus has remained fully God. The mystery of who Jesus is, Jesus has remained fully God his whole life. He has continually upheld the word, or upheld the universe by the word of his power, even when he was in the cradle.

[14:17] Even when he was in his mother's womb, he has known all along that Judas would betray him. There's nothing he does not know. He knows all things. And for three years, Jesus has walked with Judas, ate with Judas, prayed with Judas, taught Judas, given Judas money to buy what was needed, yet all alone, he knew Judas was going to betray him.

[14:37] So why is he so troubled? This is the Son of God. This is the one who knows the end from the beginning.

[14:47] Why is he so troubled? Who upholds all things? Who knows the plan of God? Yet, this is the Son of God. Yet, this is Jesus, the Son of Man.

[14:59] We're invited into the mystery of his humanity, who is fully human, with a fully human nature. You know, I think we often think about Jesus Christ as some sort of superhuman, who flies above the trials and temptations of life, who plays basketball and never misses a shot.

[15:16] It's a confusion of the understanding of who Jesus is. Jesus has a fully human nature, a fully human mind.

[15:28] He knows all things, yet has to learn how to write his name. Fully God and truly man. He can say out of the same mouth, I am the bread of life, and I'm hungry.

[15:44] He can say, I am the resurrection, and yet I weep. I know the beginning from the end, and yet I need to grow in wisdom.

[15:58] Jesus does not know the trials and temptations of this world theoretically. He knows them experientially. He knows the plan of God.

[16:09] He knows the full human nature. Like us in every respect, yet without sin, so that he could rescue us. Like us in every respect, so that he could comfort us in every affliction, even the agony of betrayal.

[16:24] The second thing we have to see in just this little section is the plan of God set in motion by Jesus Christ. Jesus knows the plan of God. Jesus knows the scripture will be fulfilled.

[16:34] He introduces that as the context for this gathering, yet he acts in the Passover meal to set the plan in motion. Now, we've talked about this past couple weeks. Jesus would have been seated at a U-shaped table, and as the host, he would have been seated in the middle.

[16:49] They would have been lying, so to speak, with their feet out, which made sense for him going around the table to wash their feet. He would have been seated. There would have been someone at his right and his left, the places of honor.

[17:01] And so after Jesus says, one of you will betray me, you can imagine the commotion that starts in the room. The questions, the uncertainty, the cloud that moves in as the disciples begin wondering, who is it?

[17:15] And I love the way John tells it. Peter kind of motions for John. John, you're over there. You're close. Why don't you talk to him? And John's leaning back. They're close. I think in that culture, they would have had no problem sitting closely.

[17:29] John literally leans back and says, Lord, who is it? Who is the one? Jesus says, it is he to whom I give this morsel of bread.

[17:48] Now, in those days, it might have been common for the host of the feast to take a bite, dip it in something, and give it to someone, much like if you had an honored guest at your house.

[17:59] You might serve the plate for them and set them up in the room or something like that so it might have been common. Nevertheless, that is what Jesus does. Judas is apparently close to Jesus in this table.

[18:10] He can reach to the far ends of the table, so he dips it and reaches perhaps to his left to the most honored seat and gives Judas a bite.

[18:22] just close enough for John to see and hear it all, to be a witness to who Jesus is pointing to. Judas takes it and eats it.

[18:34] What you must see is that everything that has been planned is set in motion right here, set in motion by the Lord Jesus Christ. The scripture is fulfilled.

[18:45] He who ate the Lord's bread will soon betray him. The desire that was placed in Judas' heart, we remember that in verse 2 during supper, the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot to betray him.

[19:03] Well, the desire gives way when Satan enters him. Is that demon possession? Who really knows?

[19:16] But nevertheless, he's taking control. The Savior dismisses him. What you're going to do, do quickly. So you see the collision of things that are starting all set in motion, waiting on Jesus' cue.

[19:30] Judas had a desire to betray him, but all he can do now is obey the command of Jesus. What you must do, do quickly. As Jesus said, no one takes my life from me.

[19:40] I lay it down. Take it out, and I lay it down of my own accord. But it's not as though Judas had no choice. The final act of giving Judas a morsel to eat is a supreme display of his love.

[19:55] Jesus has already washed his feet, and now he gives him this morsel to eat, symbolizing his desire to shower his love and grace and kindness to him, but Judas refuses.

[20:08] Judas chooses to betray him. American history, there's no more infamous traitor than Benedict Arnold. Heard a story recently. He was a British officer who fought for the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War.

[20:23] He assisted in the siege of Boston, the capture of Fort Ticonderoga, an invasion of Quebec and Quebec City and the defense of Philadelphia. He famously injured his leg in Quebec City and then further injured it in the Battle of Saratoga, New York.

[20:43] Two years later, unhappy for a number of reasons, Arnold defected. He committed treason. He went back to the British. Today, there's an unnamed statue of a left leg in Saratoga.

[21:00] Many believe it's the leg of Benedict Arnold. It's only the leg because it's the only loyal part of him.

[21:13] But there's no loyal part of Judas any longer. The final act of love and giving him a piece of bread functions also as a judgment just like the gospel does.

[21:36] John 3 says, this is the judgment. The light has come into the world. People love the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. But everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light lest his works be exposed.

[21:51] And so Judas went out immediately into the darkness of night as we know from John's gospel into the darkness of sin.

[22:04] Point two, the glory of Jesus. The betrayal of Judas, the glory of Jesus. After the mood, after Judas leaves, the mood immediately changes.

[22:18] We all know there's a mood in the room. You might come into a room and realize there's a mood in this room. I don't know what happened before I got here but I got to figure out. You could cut the tension with a knife when Judas was in the room but when he expels the room, the room is cleansed so to speak of the betrayer and Jesus begins to unveil his heart to them.

[22:40] Jesus has already said that his hour has come but Judas being cast out so to speak it's the last barrier to the onset of his hour.

[22:55] Judas is in the hour of darkness but in a far more significant way the Lord's hour of darkness has arrived and so Jesus turns to his disciples and begins to speak freely.

[23:07] He begins to prepare them for what will happen next. It's very interesting contextually that in these several verses Jesus kind of announces the themes of all that he'll hit in the upper room discourse as a whole.

[23:20] He prepares them firstly for the cross. Look in verse 31. These are loaded words that we don't often think through but when Judas has gone out Jesus says now he is the son of man glorified and God is glorified in him.

[23:34] If God is glorified in him God will also glorify him in himself and glorify him at once. So throughout if you remember and well you don't remember because we haven't gone through it but if you've read the gospel of John Jesus has been talking about being lifted up.

[23:52] Remember he talked about when Moses was in the wilderness and he lifted up the snake people looked at it and were saved. He says so too if I'm lifted up I'll draw I'll give eternal life to all who see me and believe.

[24:06] Later he says when I'm lifted up you will know that I am God. In John 12 he said when I'm lifted up I will draw all men to myself. What Jesus is saying this lifting up is going to be his moment of glory.

[24:21] Now in the Old Testament we think about the moment of glory. We think about the temple or the tabernacle when the glory crowd came to rest upon the people of Israel when they were worshipping the Lord but the glory of God will be most supremely displayed in the cross for there Jesus will fulfill the mission for which he was sent by the father when he lifted up.

[24:44] John 1 says we have seen his glory glory as of the only son from the father full of grace and truth no one has seen God the only God he has made him known where is the glory displayed in the finished work in his death resurrection and exaltation remember he said I don't need food my food well some places he said my food is to do the will of him who sent me the title he uses often in John is I am the sent one what am I the sent one for I'm the sent one for a mission and he goes to the cross to accomplish that mission and is exalted to accomplish that mission and when he completes that mission he's glorified he's exalted far above just another holy man or another prophet or something like that he's exalted as the son of God he's exalted as the sacrifice for sin as the accomplisher of our salvation he's glorified and then

[25:53] I love the way it says and then the father's glorified too just a glory fest why the father's glorified as the one who sent him the son is glorified as the one sent the father's glorified as the giver the son is glorified as the gift that's what's going on here it points us to the wonderful truth of the gospel that Jesus Christ says if I be lifted up I'll draw all men to myself the one message we proclaim week in week out is the message of Jesus Christ all who sin are slaves to sin but Jesus says just like that staff with a snake in the wilderness it be lifted up if you'll look to Jesus Christ you will be saved you don't have to have it all figured!

[26:41] out look to him for salvation believe how far you've fallen but Jesus knows this is a lot for disciples you know just suddenly washing their feet and then burst into this glory sermon he turns to them knowing that his death resurrection and exaltation are all one he turns back to his disciples look in verse 33 he says little children yet I am a little while I am with you you will seek me just as I said the Jews so now also say to you where I am going you cannot come little children a better translation might be my dear children he's already referred to him as his own as his own who are in the world and now in an escalation of these terms of affection he says my children it's as if we're gathered around the deathbed of

[27:47] Jesus Christ because that's where these types of conversations happen in the same way that Abraham Isaac Jacob and David like President Garfield and so many of our family Jesus is speaking his final words to those he'll leave behind think about that that's who's speaking to us these are the ones I know I leave a lot of people behind but these are the!

[28:17] he's speaking to those ones he holds most dear I am with you for only a little while I'll soon leave where I'm going you cannot come I called you to follow me and you follow me but now I'm going you can't come it's not difficult to imagine the cloud of uncertainty and anguish that now fills the room this room is constantly changing moods on this night Jesus tells them what they must devote themselves to after he leaves he says a new commandment I give to you that you love one another just as I have loved you so you also are to love one another there's nothing new about this command in one sense love one another Leviticus 19 says love your neighbor as yourself

[29:20] Jesus said the two great commandments You should love the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength you shall love your neighbor as yourself nothing new about the command but there is something new about how we are to fulfill it he says just as I have loved you just as I have loved you now love your neighbor as yourself is a high bar I don't know if this is a news flash but you don't have to choose to love yourself you don't have to remember to love yourself I plan for this week love myself you don't have to write it down to be generous with yourself to do good to serve yourself to deliver yourself coffee whenever you want coffee so that is a high bar to love your neighbor as yourself but love one another just as I loved you is an all time high bar is there any command in scripture more loaded with freight this command comes just after

[30:28] Jesus does the unthinkable and washing the disciples feet proving that there is nothing too low for him no person too low for him the wash basin is still sitting beside the table it's still there in eyesight the command comes just after he tells him a servant is not greater than his masters so if it was this way for me it must!

[30:52] be this way for you this command comes just after he says I will be betrayed this command comes just after he announces I will leave this world but most significantly what the disciples will never forget is this command comes just before the cross just before the love cost his life just as I have loved you how have I loved you by laying down my life there's no storyline we love more than selfless sacrifice I read the story of a

[31:52] US F-111 fighter bomber returning to its base in a small village in England on September 17 1992 the pilot Captain Jeremy Lynn and navigator Major David McGuire had been on a routine training flight and as they approached the runway!

[32:11] their aircraft suffered a total hydraulics failure I don't know what that means but it's bad and you always hear it in these reports leaving the pilot with very little control of the plane the control center at the base instructed the crew to eject but ejecting would mean that the plane would crash into the houses in the village Captain Lynn and Major McGuire chose to stay at the controls and steer their damaged plane with no hydraulics over the village they barely managed to escape the houses and by that point it was too late to eject they crashed they were both killed no one else was injured how about that for a last act isn't that how you want to go out die of a heart attack on vacation die falling out of your tree stand or you want to die laying down your life that's what we're called to do none of us will must lay down our lives in the same way as

[33:29] Jesus Jesus is laying down of his life as we talked about last week was a sacrifice yours will not be he laid down his life in our place and for our sins but all of us must lay down our life in a similar way that's the kernel to Christianity the New Testament Christianity so how do we love one another let's get practical I think we do it by devoting ourselves to all those one another in scripture we welcome one another we welcome one another we welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you to welcome means to receive to accept to take to yourself someone else well that's what Christ has done he's washed your feet he's taken you all the way in he said you're part of me it's much more than a handshake or a high five or even a hug it's the opposite of aloofness or safe distance it's the father who runs to meet the son and welcomes him in in the local church it's a joyful greeting to reassure a cup of coffee to settle a couch to give you rest a jacket to keep you warm do we welcome and receive others like this do we take them in far too often in churches we stop welcoming each other and we start keeping score start making a list of grievances a list of offenses start brooding over them and before long instead of welcoming one another we begin blasting one another maybe not as loudly maybe just in our hearts maybe in a cold shoulder are you keeping score

[35:13] Jesus could still give bread to Judas is there anybody you couldn't give anything to we rejoice over one another we outdo one another in showing honor we celebrate one another we draw attention to one another's strengths we point out grace in one another's life we bear with one another you know in the great love chapter that's often read at weddings the apostle Paul says love bears all things what does that mean what does it mean to bear with one another well ask my wife she can give you a tutorial after the service she bears the in greatest measure my sins my failures and all my annoying oddities and she doesn't leave bear with one another you know to bear with one another means you say you don't have to change for me to love you now that'll change some things if you say that you don't have to be perfect for me to love you I know you and I'm staying it may cost me may damage my reputation may require sacrifice sleepless nights but I'm in here why must we love one another like this why is this the last thing the Lord gives us or the great command he gives us well because no one will know we belong to him if we don't verse 35 he says by this all people know that you're my disciples if you have love for one another will the world really know we belong to him if we we're no different than the world we just love those who love us

[37:00] Francis Schaeffer said that this verse gives the world a right you know we often talk about the world in harshly negative terms at times but this gives the world a right what do they have a right to do it authorizes them to do what do they have a right what do they have the authority to do they have the authority and the right to judge whether you're real I thought that was an insider no they might have the best perspective gives the right to judge whether Christians are true Christians by how they love one another point three the failure of Peter Peter can't get over what Jesus has said he just said I'm going away Peter can't get over it like a kid who learns he's going on vacation tomorrow and can't think of what to pack you know that's what Peter is going on he realizes the Lord is leaving and he can't think of what to do next he can't think about what the Lord is saying so Peter says

[38:01] Lord where are you going where are you going Jesus answers him where I'm going you cannot follow me now but you will follow me afterwards Jesus is separating his going and their following what he's going to do right now is something he can only do in the cross the resurrection the exaltation but they will follow afterwards this is going he's going he must do alone but they will follow afterwards and then Peter interjects so he clearly doesn't understand all of what the Lord is saying Lord why can't I follow you I would lay down my life for you it's hard not to applaud and commend his heart Peter's question seems innocently enough why can't I follow you I want to go much like like Moses said to the Lord if you don't if you don't go with us we're not going from here you know I long to be with you and be with you where you are so Peter's question seems innocently enough but Peter's assumption is deeply arrogant he says

[39:10] I will lay down my life for you Peter assumes Jesus is trying to protect him from danger by saying he cannot follow you cannot follow because I'm trying to protect you from danger and so he's saying I'll follow you wherever you go I'll follow you and stand with you no matter what you face I'll follow you and stand with you even if it costs me of my life Peter's unaware of his utter weakness blind to his imagined independence blind to his arrogance and pride it is no less heinous than the old poem Invictus I am the master of my faith I'm the captain of my soul no you're just a breath you're just a mist Jesus corrects him now this is stiff remember when Peter said you shall not go to the cross in Mark 8 Peter took him aside you're not setting your things on things of God you're not setting your mind on things of God this is no less stiff he says and it's emphatic in the original language will you lay down your life for me perhaps more literally do you put your life in place of mine

[40:40] Peter's failing to see that he must die alone in a way unlike any other for the sins of the world the irony of all this is that die for him is exactly what Peter fails to do when Judas returns and kisses Jesus to identify him to the soldiers in John 19 Peter brandishes the sword he drew it and struck one of the high priest's ear Malchus's ear and cut it off he's willing to kill for Jesus but Jesus says put it away but when it comes time to die for Jesus Peter denies and so the Lord says in his third truly truly sobering statement his 18th

[41:43] I think in the gospel of John truly truly I say to you the rooster will not crow like they do in the middle of the night 2-3 in the morning they will not crow until you've denied me three times Josh Howerton points out on the night of Jesus' arrest Peter was willing to kill for Christ but not to die for him there's a type of counterfeit faithfulness that's willing to kill for Jesus but not willing to die for him there's a counterfeit faithfulness I believe in our day people that are willing to kill for Jesus to stand up for him to sign petitions!

[42:25] for him to vote down candidates! stand in the way of his purposes but are not willing to die for him not willing to stand with the church to face persecution to throw their lot in with the church to give their money away give their life away to embrace the cost there's always this tension and so Peter the apostle was unwilling to die as the Lord foretells as he warns us it's necessary for Christ to suffer but let none of us who follow him fall away now what are we to say end of a message like this don't be like Judas don't bite and devour like an unloving church don't be like Peter if that's it then there's no hope we are just as backstabbing as

[43:28] Judas just as unloving as any dead church just as faithless and flimsy as Peter wonderfully that's not where the text ends notice what Jesus said verse 38 says the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times right foretells what's going to happen Jesus also foretells what's going to happen after that look in verse 36 where I'm going you cannot follow me now but you will follow me afterward think about that Peter's denial does not negate Jesus promise that he will follow him afterwards you know if Jesus was coming to look for people that would never fail he wouldn't have gotten one so after the denial after the cross what happened

[44:37] Judas never turned back but Peter did do you love me feed my sheep three times to undo the denial so too with us the faith to persevere rest on the promise of sustaining grace that he who is with us has promised to be faithful to the end may God help us Father in heaven we thank you for sitting and studying these words thank you for unveiling to us your heart we pray more and more make us people that love one another make us people that follow hard after you that we offer our lives to you completely and sincerely we don't want to play games take these things seriously we thank you for the glorious good news that he who came us and sought us is the one who will keep us to the end the one whom we will follow after all our failures in

[45:53] Jesus name amen you've been listening to a message given by Walt Alexander lead pastor of Trinity Grace Church in Athens Tennessee for more information about Trinity Grace please visit us at Trinity Grace Athens dot com trombone you