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Hold on to me when it's too dark to see you When I am sure I have reached the end

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Hold on to me when I forget I need you When I let go, hold me again

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When I don't feel like I'm worth defending When I'm far off, I'm not pretending

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Hold on to me when I start to break in Desperation I can eat the weight of identification

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Hold on to me, hold on to me Hold on to me when it's too dark to see you

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When I am sure I have reached the end Hold on to me when I forget I need you

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When I let go, hold me again

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I could rest here in your arms forever Cause I know nobody loves me better

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Hold on to me, hold on to me

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It has happened a number of times in my life that I have seen myself or somebody else

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quote, get caught with their hands in the cookie jar unquote. You heard that term before?

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It means we've reached a little too far, we've gone once too often and then are trapped, caught.

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It's obvious that what we have done is not right or that we are guilty.

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And today we're going to look at two men who were caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

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They were trapped. It's interesting as we look at it you're going to see how it develops

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because the truth is they were right in the open. They were obviously there.

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They were so good at going to the cookie jar and taking another cookie right in front of people

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and not being caught that they were brought up short, they were startled, they were surprised, amazed

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and the natural emotional response was extreme when they were finally caught with their hand actually in the cookie jar.

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It's like if you were a magician you could take a cookie over and over and over again and no one knew

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and suddenly you reached in the cookie jar and somebody grabbed your arm and it's like that.

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So the two men are Peter and Judas and you may know a little bit of their story already

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but we're going to take a snippet from several spots along each man's story and then kind of compare them

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and then compare them at the moment where they each got caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

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And one thing that you will see is that they were both very sorry for what they did.

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But the outcome is completely different.

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So we will not get to the actual text that's listed up there with the sermon until the end

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and that is where we will actually do the comparison.

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So grab your Bibles if you're working along with me and we'll read the first text together today

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and it's in John chapter 12. Amen.

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Thank you Brother Ron. This is John chapter 12.

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What we're going to see here is an example of an offense where Jesus offends Judas.

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Now you kind of expect it to be the other way around because Jesus is the weaker man in the occasions that we see them

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but John chapter 12 we're going to begin reading in verse 3.

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It says, Mary therefore took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard

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and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair

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and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

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But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples who was intending to betray him said,

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Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?

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Now he said this not because he was concerned about the poor but because he was a thief

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and he had the money box. He used to pilfer what was put into it.

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Jesus therefore said, Let her alone in order that she may keep it for the day of my burial

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for the poor you always have with you but you did not always have me.

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So Judas is offended and accuses Jesus.

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Now understand this is Jesus and the disciples and the people that they're talking to.

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So publicly in front of everybody Judas says, Hey this isn't right.

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This perfume that she's wasting on your feet, you can use water for your feet.

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You don't need three hundred denarii perfume.

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He accuses Jesus of being wasteful, at least wasteful with regard to the resources

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that could have been used to help the poor.

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Now we see his motivations. Obviously he's already planning on betraying Jesus

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but more importantly his motivations is he wanted that three hundred denarii to go into the coffer

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so he could pilfer a little bit of it and no one would notice.

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You got that much money and the coffer is pretty full.

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You can take a little bit here and there and no one would notice.

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But he shows public offense toward Jesus.

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Now go a little further along then and you look in Matthew chapter 26.

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So the story has advanced now and we're literally on the night of Jesus' arrest.

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Matthew 26 and we read verses 14 to 16.

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It says, I'm sorry this is not the night of his arrest.

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I said that wrong. This is the night of Judas' initial betrayal of Jesus.

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And then we'll get the arrest in a minute.

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Then one of the twelve named Judas Iscariot went to the chief priests and said,

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What are you willing to give me to deliver him up to you? And they weighed out to him thirty pieces of silver.

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And from then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray him.

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Now on the first day of the unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus saying,

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Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?

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Jesus then tells them go in the city, the donkey thing happens and all of that and the Lord's Supper begins.

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So Judas has made an agreement with the Jewish high priest, the priests in the temple there in Jerusalem,

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to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.

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Now if he was a follower of Jesus and offended at the moment of the wasting of the perfume,

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he spoke up, he betrayed Jesus publicly essentially by calling Jesus a thief, calling Jesus a wasteral,

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wasting the perfume and so on.

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But then Jesus explains to him why let her alone, it's okay, she's preparing her for the day of my burial.

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And then now he is going behind Jesus' back.

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Now we realize every day he is with Jesus, every day he is with Jesus and he's been doing amazing things with Jesus.

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So now continuing then on verse twenty,

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Now that evening had come he was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples and as they were eating he said,

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Truly I say to you that one of you will betray me.

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And being deeply grieved they each began to say to him, Surely not I, Lord.

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So each disciple going around the table saying, Surely not I, Lord, I'm not the one that's going to betray you, but watch this.

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And he answered and said, He who dipped his hand with me in the bowl is the one who will betray me.

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The Son of Man is to go just as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed.

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It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.

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And Judas, here's the phrase, who was betraying him, who had an active plan already to betray Jesus, answered and said,

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Surely it is not I, Rabbi. He said to him, You have said it yourself.

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Now did Judas say that he was betraying Jesus in what he just said?

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He asked the question, Surely not I, Rabbi, just like all the others did, didn't he?

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Or did you notice a difference?

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What's the difference between what all the other disciples said and what Judas said?

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He called him Rabbi and not Lord. What's a Rabbi?

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A teacher, right? Or a master in instruction who can take disciples who will then learn his teachings and they will take it to other people.

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So that is indeed what Jesus was. He was a Rabbi, but he wasn't the only Rabbi. There are lots of Rabbis, right?

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But he was the only Lord. He was the only God in the flesh. He was the only God the Son.

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So the other disciples say to him, Surely not I, Lord, but Judas says to him, Surely not I, Rabbi.

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And in claiming that he is just a Rabbi or just a teacher, he is letting it be known subtly

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that he doesn't recognize Jesus as Lord and Savior, Master, that Jesus doesn't have the right.

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And so then Jesus says to him, You've said it yourself.

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You're saying yourself that you do not recognize me for who I am. Jesus announces his betrayal.

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Then look at Luke 22, 47 to 48.

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We're following the story essentially of Judas throughout his path of betrayal.

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And now we're going to see it kind of enacted. OK, 22, 47, 48.

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And it says, While he was still speaking, behold a multitude came.

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Now that was Jesus. He said, Why are you sleeping? Rise, pray that you may not enter into temptation.

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That's what he was saying to the disciples there again in the garden.

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While he was still speaking, behold a multitude came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve,

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meaning one of Jesus' disciples, was preceding them. And he approached Jesus to kiss him.

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He had told them, The one I kissed, that's the one who is Jesus, arrest him.

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And he approached Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus said to him, Judas,

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are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?

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And so here it is, the betrayal. When those who were around him saw what was going to happen,

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they said, Lord, shall we strike with a sword? They knew that a betrayer was in their midst,

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and they knew that the guards had come to take Jesus.

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We'll read one more passage. And it is Matthew 27 verses 1 to 5.

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And we're going to see now what happens.

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Matthew 27 verses 1 to 5. It says, Now when morning had come,

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all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death.

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And they bound him, and they led him away, and delivered him up to Pilate the governor.

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Then when Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that he had been condemned,

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he felt remorse, that means he was very sorry, his heart was aching,

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and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying,

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I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.

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But they said, What is that to us? See to that yourself. In other words, you take care of that.

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And he threw the pieces of silver into the sanctuary and departed, and he went away and hanged himself.

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Pretty gruesome end to Judas' story of betrayal.

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Okay, now we take up Peter's story. Look at Matthew chapter 26 beginning in verse 33.

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We're just back a little bit there. 26, 33.

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Peter answered and said to him, Even though all may fall away because of you, I will never fall away.

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Even though all may fall away because of you, I will never fall away.

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Jesus said to him, Truly I say to you, that this very night before a cock crows, you shall deny me three times.

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Peter said to him, Even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you.

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And all the disciples said the same thing too.

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And look at John 18.

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And we're going to verse 10. John 18 verse 10. And the story unfolds.

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Simon Peter, this is in the garden. Simon Peter, therefore having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's slave and cut off his right ear.

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And the slave's name was Malchus. Verse 11.

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Jesus therefore said to Peter, Put the sword into the sheath, the cup which the Father has given me. Shall I not drink it?

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So Peter was willing at the moment of Jesus' arrest to go down fighting.

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He was willing to draw his sword and strike at whoever was nearby.

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The armed men who had come, the high priest's servant in this case, got in the way and lost his right ear temporarily.

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Now we know Jesus heals the ear and he doesn't suffer, but interesting things do unfold from that.

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But what we see here is Peter is willing to fight for his Lord. He's willing to step up.

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He said, I will not deny you, though everyone else might, I won't.

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And he drew his sword and he struck. So he was willing to fight.

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And if that had ensued into a fight, unless God had miraculously intervened, all the disciples would have died.

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The armed guards and then Roman soldiers aplenty in Jerusalem, they would have killed them.

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Unless they would have run and been hiding and whatever few of them might have gotten away, that kind of thing.

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But then we see in that moment Jesus saying, No, you can't fight for me.

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You cannot fight off this cup that God has given me.

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Then we go to Luke chapter 22.

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Luke chapter 22.

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And we're in verses 54 to 62.

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And 62 is the first of our contrast verses.

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We've already read the one from Judas, but we'll read it again.

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Luke 22, 54 to 62 says this.

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And having arrested him, they led him away.

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And they brought him to the house of the high priest. But Peter was following at a distance.

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So there is Peter who said, I will never deny you, Lord, and drew his sword at the arrest.

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He's still, everybody else is scattered, but Peter is still following Jesus.

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Literally following him. And he follows at a distance.

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And after they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter was sitting among them.

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And a certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the firelight and looking intently at him, said,

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This man was with him too. So the servant girl sees Peter and she says, This guy, he was with Jesus.

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He was one of his disciples, or at least he was following him around.

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But he denied it. This is Peter. He denied it.

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Saying, Woman, I do not know him.

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He didn't have to quite go that far to say I do not know him.

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He could have said I wasn't a follower, I wasn't a disciple, and I was interested.

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Lots of people were following him around. Lots of people were interested in what he had to say.

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And I was interested. So yeah, you may have seen me there.

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He could have lied or whatever, but he doesn't say it. He said, I do not know him.

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He completely outright denied Jesus. 58.

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And a little later, another saw him and said, You are one of them too.

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But Peter said, Man, I am not.

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So he denied being a disciple. So first he denies knowing Jesus, and now he has outright denied being a disciple.

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And after about an hour had passed, another man began to insist, saying, Certainly this man also was with him, for he is a Galilean too.

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But Peter said, Man, I do not know what you are talking about.

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And immediately, while he was still speaking, a cock crowed.

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And the Lord turned and looked at Peter, and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had told him before a cock crows today, you will deny me three times.

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And 62 says, And he went out and wept bitterly.

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And the words there where he wept bitterly are very similar in context and in language to the words where it says Judas had great remorse.

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In Matthew 27, 5, it says, They said to Jesus, You take care of this. You solve this problem.

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And he went out and hanged himself.

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And here we have Peter with great remorse.

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And you may know, probably do, that Peter repents, comes back to Jesus.

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There's this great episode where he says, Do you love my sheep? Or do you love me, then take care of my sheep?

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And that's all coming later. Right?

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And Peter becomes one of the leaders of the early church. So we have two men.

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Yes, Peter seems devoted, following around, but I want to be clear about something.

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There was a time when Jesus sent out the twelve disciples.

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You remember this story at all?

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He sent out the twelve disciples.

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And they were doing things.

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And all but Judas was able to miraculously heal people by praying. Does that sound right?

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That's not what it says, is it?

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Judas as well, all twelve of them were miraculously healing people with prayer.

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But only the eleven, not Judas, was able to cast out demons and evil spirits and free people from possession. Right?

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No. Even Judas, in the name of Jesus, all twelve were casting out.

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And everywhere they went, town to town, they were seeing people get saved.

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And then it came that a man came and brought to them his son who was plagued by demon possession.

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And the other disciples didn't try to cast out the demon, but Judas did. Right?

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And Judas couldn't cast out the demon.

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No, actually all twelve of them tried to cast out the demon and all twelve of them failed.

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And then they went to Jesus and that's when Jesus said, this kind comes out only by prayer. Right?

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Judas was a disciple in every sense of the word.

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He was able to cast out demons, he was able to heal, he was able to teach the gospel and see people respond.

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All of that was happening.

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But he does betray Jesus to the high priests.

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There's a lot of theories, you know, did he betray him initially thinking, well, Jesus can handle them?

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Did he betray him initially thinking, well, Jesus said he had to be betrayed by somebody.

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And at the dinner, certainly, Jesus dismisses him to go and do what he's got to do.

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So Judas could be thinking, Jesus is part and parcel with this.

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This is part of Jesus' plan that he'll be betrayed and all that has to happen. Right?

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Now we know the word says that the devil came on Judas and led him in a certain direction and so on.

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Someone has said that they thought that he was possessed himself.

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You understand that a person doesn't get possessed if they are a true follower of Jesus Christ.

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So let's compare for just a moment the stories of the two.

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I've given you a synopsis here and I'll go through them first of all.

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Both Peter and Judas were warned of their betrayal.

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Now listen, if Jesus comes to me and he says, Dan, in the future, you're going to betray him.

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You're going to deny that you know me.

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First of all, I'd be heartbroken because I love Jesus and I don't ever want to deny that I know Jesus.

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I don't ever want that to be the case.

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I'd say, please Jesus, don't let that be the case.

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I really don't want to deny you. Right? I don't want to ever do that.

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But it's Jesus, so whatever he says is how it goes. Right?

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They were both warned of what they were going to do.

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Peter was warned he was going to betray Jesus. Judas was warned.

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Both of them received the reward that they were looking for.

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And so I don't understand that with Peter, but Judas is pretty easy. Right?

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He went asking for money and they gave him 30 pieces of silver and he received the 30 pieces of silver for betraying Jesus.

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In Peter's case, I submit to you that the reward that he was looking for was safety.

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He was denying and lying that he didn't know Jesus at all, that he wasn't a disciple of Jesus,

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and that he wasn't a follower of Jesus at all. He completely denied Jesus.

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And he did that because he was seeking safety. He didn't want to get brought into trial himself.

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So he received the reward that he was offered and that he was pursuing.

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Their betrayals were foretold by Jesus, not only to them, but to others.

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All people were all present in the room when Jesus said that Peter would deny him three times before the cock roared.

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They were all present in the room when they said, but they didn't catch that Judas was going out to betray them then.

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What they caught was, they thought, well, Jesus might have been going out to buy supplies.

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They didn't understand that Jesus was dismissing him to go out and betray him.

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Both of these men hid in plain sight. Judas did it all the time.

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Pretending to be a disciple and able to heal and able to cast out demons and whatever. All the time.

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He was right in plain sight. He was getting away with it all the time.

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Nothing bad was coming of it. Jesus wasn't confronting him.

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Jesus didn't confront him and tell him he couldn't be a disciple when Jesus knew that he was going to betray him.

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So he was like, you could still be my disciple, even though he was planning to betray him.

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And Jesus obviously knew that because he said, the one who dipped his hand with me, that's the one who betrayed me.

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You said it yourself. Remember? Jesus knew. And he didn't tell him, you can't be a disciple anymore.

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So he was in plain sight, even though his heart was betrayal, he was in plain sight.

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Judas arranged the arrest of Jesus. Peter, at the foot washing, who had their feet washed?

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Peter and Judas. They both had their feet washed by Jesus.

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He got down on his knees, took most of his clothes off, his outer garment, and had a towel on himself.

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And he kept washing their feet and wiping his hands and wiping their feet with the towel that he was wearing.

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Judas' feet and Peter's feet, there was no difference between the two men.

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They were getting away with it right in front of everybody, hiding in plain sight.

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Some say that Judas was affected by the devil, and we don't say that about Peter.

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But he was recognized as a disciple, so was Judas.

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In fact, they really only allowed him to betray Jesus because he was a disciple, because he could deliver Jesus over into their hands.

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If he was just some guy, if he claimed to be able to deliver Jesus over and couldn't, he'd have been in big trouble.

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But he could, because he knew where they were meeting, because Jesus had taken him to the garden for prayer and time alone, in peace, together.

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Many times, he knew exactly where they would be, in the garden.

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Judas had a position of extra authority and was trusted amongst the disciples.

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Peter didn't necessarily have that.

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Judas was the treasurer.

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If there was any officer among the disciples, there was only one.

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The treasurer. That was the only office that they had.

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In fact, Jesus said, the greatest amongst you shall be your servant.

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And who was serving the disciples?

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The only one that was serving the disciples day in and day out was Judas, because he was serving as treasurer.

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He was the only one who had a position amongst their body of people.

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He was serving as treasurer.

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And so the greatest amongst you will be your servant could literally be Judas.

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Not Peter.

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So, in the status of the Kingdom of God measured out, it looked like Judas was the greater, because he was the only one serving.

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Peter promised to abide in Jesus and to never, ever betray Him.

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He literally promised to never do what he did.

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Judas didn't make that promise.

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Judas didn't promise, I'll never betray you, Lord.

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In fact, at the dinner, it was clear to him that it looked like Jesus knew that he was going to betray Him.

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And then Jesus said, okay, go quickly and do what you have to do.

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So Jesus was literally setting Him up or allowing Him or pushing Him in the direction it seemed like to Him, of course.

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Both men, when they realized what they had done, wept.

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But Peter called Jesus Lord and Judas only called Him Rabbi.

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Both promised to abide.

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Both betrayed Him.

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Both preached repent.

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Both cast out demons.

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Both healed the sick.

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And then both had great remorse when they realized that they had betrayed Jesus.

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The primary difference is their belief.

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And we'll come back to that in a moment.

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So we've compared these two men.

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And now there are three points I want you to see.

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The first one is that in some sense all men have betrayed God.

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Now before you look at Judas and you think, man, he's a jerk.

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And if I was there, I'd slap him in the face for doing what he did.

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Or I'd beat him up.

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Or I'd follow him to the temple and stop that from happening.

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Or before you think anything like that, your adventurous soul starts to think about how bad Judas was and how much he deserved justice.

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Once you understand that you and I have betrayed Jesus pretty much just as much.

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If you're in this room and you've heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, whether you're saved or not,

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if you've heard the truth that Jesus died on the cross for your sins,

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and then you have sinned after you heard the truth that Jesus died on the cross for your sins,

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and I'm going to submit to you that that's all of us,

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then we have betrayed him.

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Indeed, Paul says, we have crucified him again by knowing that he paid the price for our ultimate sins and then continued in our sin.

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I submit to you that all people have betrayed God.

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And so that makes us much like Peter or much like Judas.

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Now, we can't physically betray him to the point that he would be arrested and crucified again.

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Only Judas could do that in his day.

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I guess Peter could have done it too if he wanted to.

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They had that choice.

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We cannot deny him on the night of his crucifixion for our own safety

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because we don't live in a time where people are regularly being crucified for Jesus, thank God.

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But our betrayals are no less poignant and no less powerful. We have betrayed Jesus.

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Now, when I realize I have done something that Jesus wouldn't want me to do, I am sorry.

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The truth is these men both had remorse for their actions. They were broken.

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They were beat up over the fact that Jesus was so good and they were so bad.

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I was doing youth ministry in our church, a matter of fact.

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There was a young man who came to Bible study and he thought it would be funny to throw a bean bag intentionally

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from just about three or four feet away and hit me in the side of the head.

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And it hurt.

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And then there was another young man there who was in the youth group as well.

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And he said, you know, why would you do that?

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He's like, he's the nicest guy I know. Why would you ever do that?

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And the first young man said, because it's fun.

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Now, I'm not saying it's fun, but the bottom line is we betray him because there are certain results that we want.

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And sometimes we get the results. They both got the results they were looking for.

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And then we betray him again later and we get the results that we're looking for.

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A lie will sometimes get you what you want.

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If you lie the right lie to somebody, like for example, if you did something wrong and you lie to your parents or lie to an authority figure,

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you may get away with what you did wrong. So we betray Jesus and then we get what we want.

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That's what we do.

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But then ultimately, we realize that we have done wrong. We shouldn't do that.

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I mean, we think about it. We go, oh, man, you know, Jesus, I realize you died for me.

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I really shouldn't lie. I shouldn't steal.

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I shouldn't do these things that whatever it is that you know that he doesn't want you to do,

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or I should do these things that I know you want me to do.

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And we say to Jesus, I'm real sorry.

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Maybe you pray to Jesus and you confess your sins to him.

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And John writes that he is faithful and just and he will forgive your sins and he will cleanse you of all unrighteousness.

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And so you do that.

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You maybe learn that somewhere along the way. If I confess my sins to Jesus, he is faithful and just to forgive my sins. Why?

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Because he paid for them all in the cross, past, present and future.

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And then I do that and I say, I'm sorry, Jesus, I'm real sorry.

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I feel sorry. And then he does it. He cleanses me.

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And then I feel better. He makes me feel better after the fact.

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I don't really feel like I'm hurting so bad anymore that I did something so stupid again.

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These men show remorse for their actions, both of them.

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Now, they can't physically go at that time on the night of his arrest and confess to Jesus and say, Jesus, I'm sorry.

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I betrayed you. They can't do that. It's not available to them.

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Not physically anyway. And Jesus is still present physically on the earth at that time.

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So notice, they both betrayed him and they both showed remorse.

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And so I submit to you that in this room, here's what we have.

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We've all betrayed him.

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And if you recognize who Jesus is and you realize that he died on the cross for your sins, then you're probably sorry for having done that.

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So you could be Peter or you could be Judas.

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But notice the difference. One winds up a dead body hung.

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It says that they took that 30 pieces of silver and they bought a field for the poor to be buried in because the temple treasury couldn't accept it back because it was blood money.

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So they believed in the uncleanness of money. It was soiled by what had been done with it.

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And so they couldn't take it back. So they bought the potter's field for poor people to be buried in.

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They didn't have anywhere else to be buried.

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And that's where Judas hung himself.

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And after a while, because no one would have anything to do with him, hanging in the tree, the rope burst, he fell down on the ground and his guts poured out all over the place.

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All nasty and wormy and disgusting.

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That was Judas' end.

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And not his eternal end. His eternal end was probably in hell forever.

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Eternal damnation separated from the one that he really didn't want to be with anyway.

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Forever.

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That's a pretty severe end.

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One man wound up a dead body gushed out on the ground in a field while the other man is alive, repents, and becomes a leader in the church.

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The first high priest of high priests, if you will, under Jesus in the new church in Jerusalem.

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Both were warned. Both received their desired reward.

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Do we want to go over the list again?

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Bottom line is they had all those things in common, but one man winds up dead, a body gushed out on the ground after hanging himself, profiting not at all.

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And the other man winds up alive, a Christian serving God.

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We'll see who do you want to be.

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I want to be alive, a Christian serving God, don't you?

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So we need to know the secret.

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We need to find somewhere in those texts the words that we read.

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And we read them together.

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So you can do this if you're processing it in your head.

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Do that.

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Do this if you're processing it in your head.

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What was the difference?

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Where did we see a difference?

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An undeniable, definite difference in the presence of Jesus.

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What was the difference?

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What was the difference between Peter and Judas?

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Don't say, well, Judas betrayed him and got him killed, right?

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Because the betrayal of Peter is no less than the betrayal of Jesus.

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In fact, I submit to you that the betrayal of Peter is more so.

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Because Judas could have betrayed, Judas could have betrayed Jesus the way he did and still been a disciple.

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It's not right.

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What he did was wrong.

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But he was named a disciple and his position was never taken away.

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So by name, by position, even by his belief, remember?

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The greatest amongst you should be the servant.

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And he was the treasurer.

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He could have thought of himself as the greatest disciple.

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Now that would be pride and arrogance.

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I understand another betrayal of Jesus.

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I get that.

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He could have betrayed Jesus seven ways till Sunday and still been named a disciple.

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His sin is no greater than the sin of Peter who said, no, no, I do not know the man.

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No, no, I am not his disciple.

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I was not following him and learning from him.

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He publicly betrayed.

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He renounced his position as a disciple.

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You see?

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His betrayal is equal at least to Judas' betrayal.

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But there is a reason why the guilt, the culpability, which means you get punishment for what you did wrong, right?

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Is brought down on Judas but not on Peter.

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In the verses that we read, what is the reason?

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We read the verses.

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We compared.

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There was a moment of time.

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Both men are present.

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One man did one thing.

421
00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:53,000
One man did another.

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What is the difference?

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Did you hear it?

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One man still recognized one another.

425
00:34:58,000 --> 00:34:59,000
That is right.

426
00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:01,000
That is it.

427
00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:05,000
Peter still recognized him as Lord.

428
00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:07,000
What does that mean?

429
00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:10,000
He said, you are my Lord.

430
00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:12,000
It is not me that is betraying you, is it?

431
00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:14,000
What can your Lord do for you?

432
00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:15,000
Well, he is master.

433
00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:17,000
He is ruler of your life.

434
00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:21,000
Even when you are in sin, he is still master ruler of your life, right?

435
00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:24,000
And he can forgive your sins.

436
00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:27,000
What can your teacher do for you?

437
00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:29,000
What can your teacher do for you?

438
00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:31,000
He can add to your reason.

439
00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:33,000
He can add to your wisdom.

440
00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:36,000
He can even point you to the Lord.

441
00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:41,000
But what he can't do is forgive your sins.

442
00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:45,000
So faced with this problem, Peter says,

443
00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:47,000
I am a screw up.

444
00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:48,000
I am a sinner.

445
00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:49,000
I am wrong.

446
00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:54,000
I have horrible remorse for what I have done, which Jesus prophesied that I would do it.

447
00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:56,000
I have horrible remorse for what I have done.

448
00:35:56,000 --> 00:35:59,000
But that being said, there is still a Lord.

449
00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:01,000
There is still a Savior.

450
00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:11,000
There is still someone who, if he so chooses, can forgive my sin and make something out of me that I may be with God for an eternity.

451
00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:13,000
He recognized there was a Lord.

452
00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:15,000
Somebody who could do that.

453
00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:17,000
And that was part of the process of what Jesus was doing.

454
00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:28,000
Peter, on the other hand, only saw, I am sorry, Judas, on the other hand, only saw Jesus as a rabbi, a teacher, not a person who could forgive sins.

455
00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:33,000
If you come to God this way, I recognize you God.

456
00:36:33,000 --> 00:36:35,000
You are an awesome God.

457
00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:38,000
I want to try to do whatever it is that you want me to do.

458
00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:39,000
I want to follow your commands.

459
00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:46,000
I am going to be your child, like a family member, that one day I may come to be with you.

460
00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:48,000
I see that you teach great things.

461
00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:51,000
I see that your commands are excellent.

462
00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:54,000
I see that your creation testifies of you.

463
00:36:54,000 --> 00:37:03,000
But if you do not come to God through Jesus, who is able to forgive your sins, you will never have a right relationship with God.

464
00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:11,000
Because it was Jesus, God the Son, Jesus, Lord, Jesus, Savior, who died to pay for those sins.

465
00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:16,000
It is Jesus now, more importantly, who stands every day making intercessions.

466
00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:21,000
So who is standing making intercessions for Judas at the right hand of God?

467
00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:24,000
You would want to say no one, wouldn't you?

468
00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:26,000
But that is not so.

469
00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:28,000
It is Jesus.

470
00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:33,000
Jesus is standing daily willing to make intercessions for Judas.

471
00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:43,000
But Judas was not willing, did not recognize him as Lord, did not call him Lord, did not allow him to save him, did not allow him to pay the price for his sins.

472
00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:49,000
So that when the high priest or the priest in the temple say, okay, you deal with it.

473
00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:52,000
Here is my question to you.

474
00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:56,000
How are you going to deal with the fact that you lied?

475
00:37:56,000 --> 00:37:59,000
How are you going to deal with the fact that you stole?

476
00:37:59,000 --> 00:38:04,000
How are you going to deal with the fact that you were lazy when you should have been diligent?

477
00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:12,000
How are you going to deal with the fact that you did not study his word or pray or worship the way you should have after you recognized supposedly who he was?

478
00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:15,000
That is the same exact betrayal as Peter.

479
00:38:15,000 --> 00:38:20,000
You are betraying Peter this way when you do not do what it is that God would have you do in the way of the spiritual disciplines.

480
00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:21,000
Why?

481
00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:27,000
Because you are not practicing the spiritual disciplines because you have a reward that you want to seek in this lifetime.

482
00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:35,000
When you do not spend an hour a day in prayer or worship or in your Bible or whatever, you get to use that hour some other way.

483
00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:40,000
You might get to use the watch TV, which causes you a sensation of peace.

484
00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:41,000
It removes your stress.

485
00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:42,000
I get to divert myself.

486
00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:45,000
I do not have to think about what I am doing at work.

487
00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:48,000
I do not have to think about what I am going through or what my friend said.

488
00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:54,000
I do not have to think about just being in this fantasy world for a while.

489
00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:57,000
Let us say you do not spend time on spiritual disciplines and you work.

490
00:38:57,000 --> 00:39:04,000
If you work your job and you are working more hours, maybe over two jobs, I have to work more hours and get more money and put away.

491
00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:06,000
If somebody comes and asks me for help, I can give it to them.

492
00:39:06,000 --> 00:39:15,000
If I want to have a better house or I want to have a better car or I want to have a better retirement or I want to have more stuff to give on birthdays or I want to be able to buy.

493
00:39:15,000 --> 00:39:18,000
I do not have to say I do not have enough money to buy what I need.

494
00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:19,000
I have to work more and more and more.

495
00:39:19,000 --> 00:39:23,000
Because you do that, you do not take the time to focus on Jesus.

496
00:39:23,000 --> 00:39:31,000
You do not take the time to read this word and understand that this book, cover to cover, is all about Jesus from Genesis 1 to the end of Revelation.

497
00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:38,000
The theme of the entire Bible is written by over 40 men over 1,400 years in 40 different countries.

498
00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:41,000
That theme is Jesus.

499
00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:44,000
We are not going to take the time to spend time on this.

500
00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:51,000
You are betraying him in the same way that Peter did because when you do that, you get some result.

501
00:39:51,000 --> 00:39:52,000
You feel safe.

502
00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:55,000
You ever read your Bible and go, oh, that hurts.

503
00:39:55,000 --> 00:39:57,000
I have done that.

504
00:39:57,000 --> 00:39:58,000
Oh my goodness.

505
00:39:58,000 --> 00:39:59,000
I feel terrible.

506
00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:02,000
So when you do not read your Bible, you do not get those feelings.

507
00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:04,000
At least not in the same way.

508
00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:07,000
You may be convicted by the Holy Spirit.

509
00:40:07,000 --> 00:40:13,000
But over time, you can get him to quiet down.

510
00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:18,000
You get out of bed and you choose not to serve him and you go, oh, you know, I should have read my Bible today.

511
00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:19,000
I should have prayed.

512
00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:27,000
Instead of listening to my secular music and trying to figure out whether God's saying anything at all through that, which he does, I should have listened to some Christian music.

513
00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:28,000
I could have had some worship.

514
00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:34,000
Or I should have spent some time mulling over the memory verses that Pastor Dan asked us to memorize for the week.

515
00:40:34,000 --> 00:40:38,000
Or I should have spent some time meditating on that sermon from last week or that verse that we read.

516
00:40:38,000 --> 00:40:44,000
Or I could have gone on the podcast for the church and listened to a sermon from six months ago and see what was going on then.

517
00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:50,000
What God was saying and what God's saying to me now through that same thing back then, his living word.

518
00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:58,000
But if you put all that aside, you can find lots of times to entertain yourself, to distress yourself, to feel good about yourself or others,

519
00:40:58,000 --> 00:41:01,000
to try to manipulate your family members to get them to do what you want them to do.

520
00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:07,000
And you get a lot of resources and you're betraying Jesus in the same way that Peter did.

521
00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:12,000
But I submit to you that when you realize it, like during a sermon like this, whatever, you start thinking,

522
00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:16,000
okay, well, I feel bad. I feel sorry that I'm not spending it.

523
00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:22,000
And Satan uses guilt. Jesus doesn't. Jesus is not interesting and you're feeling guilty.

524
00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:26,000
If you insist upon feeling guilty, that is your choice.

525
00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:29,000
Right? And it's no different than what Judas did.

526
00:41:29,000 --> 00:41:34,000
He said, ah, there is no Savior and Lord.

527
00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:39,000
So when the priest told him, what's that to us that you betrayed him that way?

528
00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:42,000
You betrayed innocent blood. What does that matter to us?

529
00:41:42,000 --> 00:41:46,000
We can't do anything about it. You go and deal with that yourself.

530
00:41:46,000 --> 00:41:51,000
So you know what he did? He dealt with it. He dealt justice to himself.

531
00:41:51,000 --> 00:41:58,000
He killed himself and sent himself to hell for an eternity because he was the betrayer who deserved what he got.

532
00:41:58,000 --> 00:42:02,000
But so do I. I deserve it too. And I don't want it.

533
00:42:02,000 --> 00:42:06,000
Even though I deserve it, I don't want it. And we deserve it.

534
00:42:06,000 --> 00:42:09,000
And even though we deserve it, we don't want it.

535
00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:15,000
So what I'm asking you is, do you see Jesus as Lord and Savior?

536
00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:17,000
A Lord is a person who tells you what to do.

537
00:42:17,000 --> 00:42:22,000
And then you will eventually at some point in time fail to stand up under those commands.

538
00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:26,000
You won't get them all right. And you're going to need a Savior.

539
00:42:26,000 --> 00:42:29,000
As John also writes, that he is an advocate for us.

540
00:42:29,000 --> 00:42:33,000
We have an advocate before the Lord so that when we sin, and by the way, he says,

541
00:42:33,000 --> 00:42:38,000
he who says he has no sin makes God out to be a liar.

542
00:42:38,000 --> 00:42:42,000
So that when we sin, we have an advocate. You've got to keep coming back to Jesus.

543
00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:46,000
You've got to be willing that he should hold the reins of your life.

544
00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:56,000
A long time before Jesus was ever on the earth physically walking with his disciples.

545
00:42:56,000 --> 00:43:03,000
A very wise man named Solomon wrote a lot of Proverbs.

546
00:43:03,000 --> 00:43:08,000
I know that it was the entire book. I think a lot of it was he collected them up and so on.

547
00:43:08,000 --> 00:43:10,000
He collected them all up into this volume.

548
00:43:10,000 --> 00:43:14,000
And we'll look at one last verse today and it is Proverbs 29.

549
00:43:14,000 --> 00:43:17,000
So if you're with me in your Bible, go for Proverbs 29. I'm going to read it to you.

550
00:43:17,000 --> 00:43:23,000
It's just 29.1 is all we're going to read.

551
00:43:23,000 --> 00:43:27,000
Proverbs 29 verse 1, it says this.

552
00:43:27,000 --> 00:43:34,000
This is before Jesus came to the earth, before Judas betrayed him, before Peter betrayed him.

553
00:43:34,000 --> 00:43:39,000
But the truth is, remember, they were doing things right out in the open.

554
00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:42,000
They were being false right in front of Jesus.

555
00:43:42,000 --> 00:43:47,000
Like saying, I'll never betray you. I'll die before I'll betray you.

556
00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:55,000
False bravado, false pride, arrogance, believing in themselves that they were so good.

557
00:43:55,000 --> 00:43:58,000
And that how would anybody ever dare think otherwise?

558
00:43:58,000 --> 00:44:01,000
That was Peter. We don't even know necessarily Judas did that.

559
00:44:01,000 --> 00:44:06,000
Although Judas promised not to betray him. We know that.

560
00:44:06,000 --> 00:44:08,000
But Judas served and was the treasurer.

561
00:44:08,000 --> 00:44:15,000
And probably in his own mind was the greatest of all the disciples and the followers of the rabbi.

562
00:44:15,000 --> 00:44:17,000
Proverbs 29.1 says this.

563
00:44:17,000 --> 00:44:24,000
A man who hardens his neck after much reproof will suddenly be broken beyond remedy.

564
00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:27,000
Do you hear me?

565
00:44:27,000 --> 00:44:32,000
You can get away with it as many times as you are willing to try.

566
00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:38,000
You can feel remorse as many times as you realize and recognize that you've screwed up.

567
00:44:38,000 --> 00:44:44,000
And you can come back to Jesus, recognizing him as Lord and Savior and be forgiven.

568
00:44:44,000 --> 00:44:48,000
But the truth is a man who hardens his neck, that means you continue to be stubborn.

569
00:44:48,000 --> 00:44:51,000
You continue to not do what it is that the Lord want you to do.

570
00:44:51,000 --> 00:45:00,000
Samuel said the sin of rebellion is like the sin of witchcraft.

571
00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:02,000
He said rebellion. He left out the sin part.

572
00:45:02,000 --> 00:45:05,000
He said the rebellion is like the sin of witchcraft.

573
00:45:05,000 --> 00:45:06,000
What do you know about witchcraft?

574
00:45:06,000 --> 00:45:09,000
It's the pursuit of power in the spiritual realm.

575
00:45:09,000 --> 00:45:10,000
What else do you know about witchcraft?

576
00:45:10,000 --> 00:45:13,000
It's attractive. Right? Am I getting this right?

577
00:45:13,000 --> 00:45:16,000
Tommy's got personal experience, don't you? Right?

578
00:45:16,000 --> 00:45:17,000
So it's the pursuit of power.

579
00:45:17,000 --> 00:45:19,000
You think you can control things in the spiritual realm.

580
00:45:19,000 --> 00:45:21,000
You're pursuing a reward.

581
00:45:21,000 --> 00:45:23,000
It may make you feel a certain way.

582
00:45:23,000 --> 00:45:24,000
But here is the truth.

583
00:45:24,000 --> 00:45:27,000
It's attractive. It's alluring.

584
00:45:27,000 --> 00:45:31,000
It's leading you forward into it all the time.

585
00:45:31,000 --> 00:45:32,000
That's what it is.

586
00:45:32,000 --> 00:45:40,000
He said the spirit of rebellion is like witchcraft.

587
00:45:40,000 --> 00:45:43,000
You can't keep saying no.

588
00:45:43,000 --> 00:45:47,000
You know what passive aggressiveness is?

589
00:45:47,000 --> 00:45:48,000
You ever hear anybody say,

590
00:45:48,000 --> 00:45:52,000
I don't need your passive aggressive attitude. Right?

591
00:45:52,000 --> 00:45:58,000
You say things like, I hear what you're saying,

592
00:45:58,000 --> 00:46:02,000
and clearly I need to listen to you because you're smarter than I am.

593
00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:04,000
That's passive aggressive. Right?

594
00:46:04,000 --> 00:46:06,000
Clearly you know better than I do. It's passive aggressive.

595
00:46:06,000 --> 00:46:08,000
You're challenging the other person.

596
00:46:08,000 --> 00:46:11,000
You're exercising your authority in a way that you're saying,

597
00:46:11,000 --> 00:46:19,000
I know that you think it's passive aggressive.

598
00:46:19,000 --> 00:46:25,000
Peter and Judas sinned against Jesus by betraying Him.

599
00:46:25,000 --> 00:46:27,000
They hardened their neck.

600
00:46:27,000 --> 00:46:30,000
Peter did not betray Jesus once.

601
00:46:30,000 --> 00:46:32,000
He did it three times before the cockroach sang,

602
00:46:32,000 --> 00:46:33,000
I do not know the man.

603
00:46:33,000 --> 00:46:35,000
I am not one of his disciples,

604
00:46:35,000 --> 00:46:38,000
and nor was I even traveling with him.

605
00:46:38,000 --> 00:46:41,000
There were thousands who it were, but I wasn't.

606
00:46:41,000 --> 00:46:45,000
A man who hardens his neck after much reproof,

607
00:46:45,000 --> 00:46:48,000
correction, redirection,

608
00:46:48,000 --> 00:46:50,000
Jesus is saying you don't want to be like that,

609
00:46:50,000 --> 00:46:53,000
will suddenly, all of a sudden, one time,

610
00:46:53,000 --> 00:46:55,000
your hand is in the cookie jar one more time,

611
00:46:55,000 --> 00:46:59,000
will suddenly be broken beyond remedy.

612
00:46:59,000 --> 00:47:01,000
Now I'm not talking about you being unsaved.

613
00:47:01,000 --> 00:47:04,000
If you're saved and you're playing these games with Jesus,

614
00:47:04,000 --> 00:47:06,000
you will remain saved, but at a point in time,

615
00:47:06,000 --> 00:47:09,000
you will send the sin unto death,

616
00:47:09,000 --> 00:47:11,000
as it's described in the New Testament.

617
00:47:11,000 --> 00:47:12,000
You will send the sin unto death, and Jesus will say,

618
00:47:12,000 --> 00:47:14,000
you're no good for me anymore,

619
00:47:14,000 --> 00:47:15,000
so you can stand your ground for a little while,

620
00:47:15,000 --> 00:47:17,000
but eventually you're going to die,

621
00:47:17,000 --> 00:47:18,000
and you're going to come to heaven,

622
00:47:18,000 --> 00:47:20,000
because you're not really being productive for the Kingdom of God.

623
00:47:20,000 --> 00:47:21,000
You're playing too many games.

624
00:47:21,000 --> 00:47:22,000
You keep doing it over and over and over again,

625
00:47:22,000 --> 00:47:24,000
and God will just say, that's it.

626
00:47:24,000 --> 00:47:26,000
There's no value in your salvation.

627
00:47:26,000 --> 00:47:27,000
You're not changing.

628
00:47:27,000 --> 00:47:28,000
You're not growing.

629
00:47:28,000 --> 00:47:31,000
You're not transforming Romans 12, 1, and 2.

630
00:47:31,000 --> 00:47:33,000
You're rather being conformed to the sense of the world,

631
00:47:33,000 --> 00:47:34,000
and if you're going to do that anyway,

632
00:47:34,000 --> 00:47:35,000
you're hurting the Kingdom more than helping it.

633
00:47:35,000 --> 00:47:40,000
You may as well just come home.

634
00:47:40,000 --> 00:47:41,000
A man who hardens his neck.

635
00:47:41,000 --> 00:47:44,000
If you continue to be stiff-necked over and over again

636
00:47:44,000 --> 00:47:46,000
after much reproof, you get corrected,

637
00:47:46,000 --> 00:47:48,000
and you continue to go in the way of rebellion,

638
00:47:48,000 --> 00:47:50,000
you continue to not do what it is that you're supposed to do,

639
00:47:50,000 --> 00:47:51,000
or do what it is you're not supposed to do,

640
00:47:51,000 --> 00:47:53,000
even if you have remorse afterwards,

641
00:47:53,000 --> 00:47:56,000
you will suddenly be broken beyond remedy,

642
00:47:56,000 --> 00:47:59,000
which means there's a moment in time in which Jesus will say,

643
00:47:59,000 --> 00:48:03,000
I am done using you.

644
00:48:03,000 --> 00:48:07,000
I cannot make out of your life what I want to make out of your life

645
00:48:07,000 --> 00:48:09,000
because you continue to refuse.

646
00:48:09,000 --> 00:48:10,000
You're a stiff-necked.

647
00:48:10,000 --> 00:48:12,000
I correct you, and rather than learning from correction,

648
00:48:12,000 --> 00:48:14,000
getting better and better and better,

649
00:48:14,000 --> 00:48:17,000
you continue to commit and do the same things over and over again.

650
00:48:17,000 --> 00:48:19,000
I'm not talking about losing your salvation,

651
00:48:19,000 --> 00:48:21,000
but you continue to put me on the cross again and again.

652
00:48:21,000 --> 00:48:22,000
That's what he said.

653
00:48:22,000 --> 00:48:24,000
He said it was like as if we were crucifying him again.

654
00:48:24,000 --> 00:48:25,000
You continue to deny me.

655
00:48:25,000 --> 00:48:28,000
You continue to betray me, and you've got to stop,

656
00:48:28,000 --> 00:48:29,000
and you won't, okay, you won't.

657
00:48:29,000 --> 00:48:31,000
Finally, there's nothing more.

658
00:48:31,000 --> 00:48:34,000
I'm done.

659
00:48:34,000 --> 00:48:36,000
And I'm going to bring you home, and you're going to be with me,

660
00:48:36,000 --> 00:48:38,000
but your opportunity to lead other people to Christ,

661
00:48:38,000 --> 00:48:39,000
your opportunity to be the church,

662
00:48:39,000 --> 00:48:41,000
your opportunity to serve God in this lifetime,

663
00:48:41,000 --> 00:48:43,000
and to continue to progress forward

664
00:48:43,000 --> 00:48:45,000
and maybe live until a ripe old age,

665
00:48:45,000 --> 00:48:47,000
still preaching the Gospel, still growing in me,

666
00:48:47,000 --> 00:48:49,000
still reaping rewards on earth

667
00:48:49,000 --> 00:48:54,000
and storing up treasures for yourself in heaven, I'm done.

668
00:48:54,000 --> 00:48:56,000
And that's what happened with Judas,

669
00:48:56,000 --> 00:48:59,000
and Judas wasn't saved, and he had no Savior,

670
00:48:59,000 --> 00:49:00,000
and he had no Lord,

671
00:49:00,000 --> 00:49:02,000
and so he took matters into his own hands,

672
00:49:02,000 --> 00:49:04,000
and he hung himself, and his guts fell out in the potter's field,

673
00:49:04,000 --> 00:49:08,000
and then he went to hell for an eternity, most likely.

674
00:49:08,000 --> 00:49:12,000
I only say most likely because it's not my position to judge.

675
00:49:12,000 --> 00:49:14,000
But according to what we see in the Word,

676
00:49:14,000 --> 00:49:16,000
it looks like that's the case.

677
00:49:16,000 --> 00:49:21,000
Peter, on the other hand, recognizes Jesus as Lord,

678
00:49:21,000 --> 00:49:25,000
repents, turns back to Jesus,

679
00:49:25,000 --> 00:49:29,000
and continues to grow under our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

680
00:49:29,000 --> 00:49:32,000
and becomes a leader in the church.

681
00:49:32,000 --> 00:49:35,000
If you love Jesus, you will follow His commands,

682
00:49:35,000 --> 00:49:38,000
but if you follow His commands without loving Jesus,

683
00:49:38,000 --> 00:49:43,000
you will ultimately betray Him to the point of no return.

684
00:49:43,000 --> 00:49:47,000
But if you love Jesus and intermittently follow His commands,

685
00:49:47,000 --> 00:49:49,000
feeling remorse and continually coming back to Him,

686
00:49:49,000 --> 00:49:53,000
He will continue to forgive you,

687
00:49:53,000 --> 00:49:56,000
bless you, and cleanse you of all wrong righteousness,

688
00:49:56,000 --> 00:49:59,000
but eventually He's going to be done with your antics.

689
00:49:59,000 --> 00:50:05,000
He's going to be fed up with your foolishness.

690
00:50:05,000 --> 00:50:11,000
Understand, we don't get everything right on this side of Heaven.

691
00:50:11,000 --> 00:50:13,000
You're never going to do that.

692
00:50:13,000 --> 00:50:17,000
I'm not talking about being perfect and never sinning again.

693
00:50:17,000 --> 00:50:19,000
I'm talking about stopping, betraying Jesus,

694
00:50:19,000 --> 00:50:21,000
and doing what you know to be doing, as Paul would say,

695
00:50:21,000 --> 00:50:27,000
holding on to that which you have attained.

696
00:50:27,000 --> 00:50:29,000
Know the difference between a Savior and a Lord.

697
00:50:29,000 --> 00:50:31,000
A couple of closing illustrations.

698
00:50:31,000 --> 00:50:40,000
A party of tourists was on its way to Palestine,

699
00:50:40,000 --> 00:50:43,000
and its guide was describing some of the quaint customs of these.

700
00:50:43,000 --> 00:50:46,000
Now, said he, you are accustomed to seeing the shepherd

701
00:50:46,000 --> 00:50:51,000
following his sheep through the English lanes and byways.

702
00:50:51,000 --> 00:50:53,000
Out in the east, however, things are different,

703
00:50:53,000 --> 00:50:56,000
for the shepherd always leads the way, going on before the flock,

704
00:50:56,000 --> 00:50:59,000
and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

705
00:50:59,000 --> 00:51:02,000
The party reached Palestine, and to the amusement of the tourists,

706
00:51:02,000 --> 00:51:05,000
almost the first thing that they saw was a flock of sheep

707
00:51:05,000 --> 00:51:08,000
being driven along by a man.

708
00:51:08,000 --> 00:51:11,000
The guide was astonished, and immediately made his business

709
00:51:11,000 --> 00:51:13,000
to accost the shepherd.

710
00:51:13,000 --> 00:51:16,000
How is it that you are driving these sheep? he asked.

711
00:51:16,000 --> 00:51:20,000
I have always been told that the eastern shepherds lead his sheep.

712
00:51:20,000 --> 00:51:23,000
Oh, you are quite right, sir, the shepherd said.

713
00:51:23,000 --> 00:51:26,000
The shepherd does lead his sheep, but you see,

714
00:51:26,000 --> 00:51:30,000
I am not the shepherd, I am the butcher.

715
00:51:30,000 --> 00:51:34,000
If you allow the things of this life to become your motivation,

716
00:51:34,000 --> 00:51:38,000
you may be part, or in your own mind, part of the flock,

717
00:51:38,000 --> 00:51:44,000
pushed along by your desired rewards, and who controls those?

718
00:51:44,000 --> 00:51:48,000
Satan, evil spirits, and the dark kingdom.

719
00:51:48,000 --> 00:51:52,000
In contrast, the word says this, you may be familiar a little bit

720
00:51:52,000 --> 00:51:54,000
with Psalm 23, and in the beginning it says,

721
00:51:54,000 --> 00:51:56,000
he maketh me to lie down by green pastures.

722
00:51:56,000 --> 00:52:00,000
The force of maketh me to lie down there is very strong.

723
00:52:00,000 --> 00:52:03,000
It is not.

724
00:52:03,000 --> 00:52:06,000
God arranges for me to have the opportunity to lie down

725
00:52:06,000 --> 00:52:08,000
by green pastures.

726
00:52:08,000 --> 00:52:12,000
It is this, he compels me, he forces me,

727
00:52:12,000 --> 00:52:21,000
and when I don't want to, he makes me to lie down.

728
00:52:21,000 --> 00:52:25,000
That's the force of that phrase,

729
00:52:25,000 --> 00:52:29,000
compels me to lie down in green pastures.

730
00:52:29,000 --> 00:52:33,000
An American traveling to Syria became acquainted with a shepherd.

731
00:52:33,000 --> 00:52:36,000
Each morning he noticed the shepherd carrying something to the sheep.

732
00:52:36,000 --> 00:52:39,000
The traveler followed him one morning and found that he was taking food

733
00:52:39,000 --> 00:52:42,000
to one of the sheep that had a broken leg.

734
00:52:42,000 --> 00:52:44,000
As he looked at the animal, he said to the shepherd,

735
00:52:44,000 --> 00:52:46,000
how did the sheep break its leg?

736
00:52:46,000 --> 00:52:48,000
Did it meet with an accident, fall into a hole,

737
00:52:48,000 --> 00:52:50,000
or did some animal break its leg?

738
00:52:50,000 --> 00:52:54,000
No, said the shepherd, I broke the sheep's leg myself.

739
00:52:54,000 --> 00:52:55,000
Let me say that again.

740
00:52:55,000 --> 00:52:59,000
No, said the shepherd, I broke the sheep's leg myself.

741
00:52:59,000 --> 00:53:01,000
You broke it yourself?

742
00:53:01,000 --> 00:53:03,000
The traveler, who queried the surprise traveler,

743
00:53:03,000 --> 00:53:06,000
yes, you see, this is a wayward sheep.

744
00:53:06,000 --> 00:53:10,000
It would not stay with the flock, but would lead the sheep astray.

745
00:53:10,000 --> 00:53:12,000
Then it would not let me near it.

746
00:53:12,000 --> 00:53:16,000
I could not approach it, and so I had to break the sheep's leg

747
00:53:16,000 --> 00:53:19,000
that it might allow me day by day to feed it.

748
00:53:19,000 --> 00:53:22,000
In doing this, it will get to know me as shepherd,

749
00:53:22,000 --> 00:53:27,000
trust me as its guide, and keep with the flock.

750
00:53:27,000 --> 00:53:30,000
Are you a wayward sheep?

751
00:53:30,000 --> 00:53:32,000
Are you doing things that God would have you to do,

752
00:53:32,000 --> 00:53:34,000
or doing things that God would have you not do?

753
00:53:34,000 --> 00:53:36,000
Does God need to break your leg

754
00:53:36,000 --> 00:53:39,000
so that you will learn to be fed by Him?

755
00:53:39,000 --> 00:53:41,000
Before you say that, it doesn't happen.

756
00:53:41,000 --> 00:53:43,000
Two stories from relatively earlier,

757
00:53:43,000 --> 00:53:44,000
we were planting in New Heights.

758
00:53:44,000 --> 00:53:46,000
The first one was, I ran into a woman at a block party.

759
00:53:46,000 --> 00:53:48,000
She accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior.

760
00:53:48,000 --> 00:53:50,000
Didn't see her for a long time after that.

761
00:53:50,000 --> 00:53:52,000
Then I ran into her at Christmas caroling.

762
00:53:52,000 --> 00:53:54,000
We went up on her front porch on Platte Street,

763
00:53:54,000 --> 00:53:56,000
right behind the church building is where she was living.

764
00:53:56,000 --> 00:53:59,000
I said, you said you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior,

765
00:53:59,000 --> 00:54:03,000
and I let her pray the gospel to be sure, blah, blah, blah.

766
00:54:03,000 --> 00:54:05,000
Pray the gospel prayer.

767
00:54:05,000 --> 00:54:08,000
Then she said, yeah, okay, I believe.

768
00:54:08,000 --> 00:54:10,000
I said, okay, well, you need to come get in the church.

769
00:54:10,000 --> 00:54:11,000
She said, well, I can't.

770
00:54:11,000 --> 00:54:12,000
I work two jobs.

771
00:54:12,000 --> 00:54:14,000
I babysit my grandkids so my daughter can work.

772
00:54:14,000 --> 00:54:15,000
She can survive.

773
00:54:15,000 --> 00:54:17,000
I said, well, you can bring your grandkids to church.

774
00:54:17,000 --> 00:54:19,000
She said, well, the truth is I mostly sleep on the couch.

775
00:54:19,000 --> 00:54:21,000
I'm so tired because I work 40 hours at one job

776
00:54:21,000 --> 00:54:23,000
and 35, 40 hours at the other job.

777
00:54:23,000 --> 00:54:24,000
I just don't think I can do it.

778
00:54:24,000 --> 00:54:26,000
I said, well, you really need to.

779
00:54:26,000 --> 00:54:29,000
I said, you're going to grow in the Lord as part of the body.

780
00:54:29,000 --> 00:54:31,000
You really need to do the things that God would have you to do.

781
00:54:31,000 --> 00:54:32,000
And she said, well, I'll give it some thought.

782
00:54:32,000 --> 00:54:33,000
And she still didn't come.

783
00:54:33,000 --> 00:54:37,000
So ran into her again later in Christmas caroling the next year.

784
00:54:37,000 --> 00:54:38,000
Christmas caroling.

785
00:54:38,000 --> 00:54:39,000
She came out.

786
00:54:39,000 --> 00:54:40,000
She was so grateful.

787
00:54:40,000 --> 00:54:41,000
And I said, okay, come to church.

788
00:54:41,000 --> 00:54:42,000
She said, okay, I'll do it.

789
00:54:42,000 --> 00:54:43,000
I'm going to do it.

790
00:54:43,000 --> 00:54:45,000
She said, in fact, just recently I had a minor illness and so on,

791
00:54:45,000 --> 00:54:48,000
and so I can come to church because I'm only working one job right now.

792
00:54:48,000 --> 00:54:50,000
And she said, I'll be there Sunday.

793
00:54:50,000 --> 00:54:51,000
So she started coming.

794
00:54:51,000 --> 00:54:52,000
She came about three, four Sundays in a row.

795
00:54:52,000 --> 00:54:53,000
She was loving it.

796
00:54:53,000 --> 00:54:55,000
She brought her grandkids like the second or third Sunday.

797
00:54:55,000 --> 00:54:56,000
She was loving it.

798
00:54:56,000 --> 00:54:57,000
She was worshiping God.

799
00:54:57,000 --> 00:54:59,000
She's like, Jesus is awesome.

800
00:54:59,000 --> 00:55:00,000
And it was going good.

801
00:55:00,000 --> 00:55:04,000
I remember her sitting in the back row of the building at 609 Main Street

802
00:55:04,000 --> 00:55:07,000
in the new sanctuary that we built over there.

803
00:55:07,000 --> 00:55:09,000
Then suddenly she stopped coming.

804
00:55:09,000 --> 00:55:10,000
And I went and visited her.

805
00:55:10,000 --> 00:55:11,000
I said, why did you stop coming?

806
00:55:11,000 --> 00:55:14,000
She said, well, I went back to work at my second job and I'm so tired.

807
00:55:14,000 --> 00:55:16,000
And I babysit my grandkids every Sunday.

808
00:55:16,000 --> 00:55:18,000
And I mostly sleep on the couch while I'm babysitting them

809
00:55:18,000 --> 00:55:19,000
and just let them play, blah, blah, blah.

810
00:55:19,000 --> 00:55:21,000
And she said, so I don't think I can come.

811
00:55:21,000 --> 00:55:22,000
I said, you don't want to do that.

812
00:55:22,000 --> 00:55:23,000
I said, that doesn't sound good.

813
00:55:23,000 --> 00:55:25,000
I said, you were really getting into it, right?

814
00:55:25,000 --> 00:55:27,000
You heard the voice of Jesus talking to you, right?

815
00:55:27,000 --> 00:55:28,000
She said, yeah.

816
00:55:28,000 --> 00:55:31,000
And then suddenly I said, you really need to come back.

817
00:55:31,000 --> 00:55:34,000
And she said, well, I'll think about it, but I wouldn't count on seeing me.

818
00:55:34,000 --> 00:55:35,000
And she didn't come back.

819
00:55:35,000 --> 00:55:37,000
Christmas caroling the next year.

820
00:55:37,000 --> 00:55:39,000
This is the fourth year in a row.

821
00:55:39,000 --> 00:55:40,000
Christmas caroling.

822
00:55:40,000 --> 00:55:41,000
Christmas caroled her house.

823
00:55:41,000 --> 00:55:42,000
And knocking on the door, she took a long time.

824
00:55:42,000 --> 00:55:43,000
She said, I'm coming.

825
00:55:43,000 --> 00:55:44,000
I'm coming.

826
00:55:44,000 --> 00:55:45,000
Don't leave.

827
00:55:45,000 --> 00:55:47,000
And she comes to the door.

828
00:55:47,000 --> 00:55:49,000
She's on a cane with those four post feet.

829
00:55:49,000 --> 00:55:51,000
And she's walking like this.

830
00:55:51,000 --> 00:55:53,000
And she comes up to the door.

831
00:55:53,000 --> 00:55:54,000
And I said, oh, I'm so sorry.

832
00:55:54,000 --> 00:55:55,000
I said, what happened?

833
00:55:55,000 --> 00:55:56,000
I thought maybe she was in a car accident.

834
00:55:56,000 --> 00:55:58,000
She said, I was working my second job.

835
00:55:58,000 --> 00:56:01,000
She worked at Tom's Barbecue down on Front Street.

836
00:56:01,000 --> 00:56:02,000
She said, I worked at my second job.

837
00:56:02,000 --> 00:56:05,000
And all of a sudden, I had a massive stroke.

838
00:56:05,000 --> 00:56:10,000
I fell over in the middle of the lobby of the restaurant.

839
00:56:10,000 --> 00:56:13,000
She said, now I feel totally ashamed because this is what I said to God.

840
00:56:13,000 --> 00:56:16,000
And I know she said it because she told me she said it before it happened.

841
00:56:16,000 --> 00:56:19,000
She said, I told God He's going to have to strike me.

842
00:56:19,000 --> 00:56:21,000
He's going to have to get control of me.

843
00:56:21,000 --> 00:56:25,000
He's going to have to do whatever He has to do to get my attention.

844
00:56:25,000 --> 00:56:29,000
And then two weeks later, she had a massive stroke in the restaurant.

845
00:56:29,000 --> 00:56:31,000
And then she couldn't work two jobs anymore.

846
00:56:31,000 --> 00:56:32,000
She couldn't work at all.

847
00:56:32,000 --> 00:56:33,000
She was filing for disability.

848
00:56:33,000 --> 00:56:35,000
She was losing her house and everything else.

849
00:56:35,000 --> 00:56:39,000
She couldn't hardly, she couldn't have sung worship because her speech was so slurred.

850
00:56:39,000 --> 00:56:41,000
And she would have made some sounds.

851
00:56:41,000 --> 00:56:44,000
But she couldn't do the beautiful singing that she was doing before.

852
00:56:44,000 --> 00:56:47,000
How many times are we going to put our hands in the cookie jar before we realize

853
00:56:47,000 --> 00:56:51,000
God is seeing every one of those transgressions?

854
00:56:51,000 --> 00:56:54,000
And you're coming to Him with sorrow and He's cleansing you of all unrighteousness.

855
00:56:54,000 --> 00:56:56,000
But then you go and do it again.

856
00:56:56,000 --> 00:56:59,000
That's willfully picking up that which you said you were going to put down.

857
00:56:59,000 --> 00:57:00,000
We need to be growing.

858
00:57:00,000 --> 00:57:05,000
And if we keep playing games, He's eventually going to strike us to remind us who the shepherd is.

859
00:57:05,000 --> 00:57:07,000
You say, I don't believe that.

860
00:57:07,000 --> 00:57:13,000
Ephesians 2 says, you were once objects of wrath and you are no longer.

861
00:57:13,000 --> 00:57:17,000
If indeed you are following the Lord and doing the things that He has set aside for us to do.

862
00:57:17,000 --> 00:57:20,000
One more guy, this Hispanic guy came to one of our block parties.

863
00:57:20,000 --> 00:57:23,000
He said to Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior, I made about five visits with him.

864
00:57:23,000 --> 00:57:26,000
And I kept going on my fourth visit.

865
00:57:26,000 --> 00:57:29,000
I said to him, I said, look, are you going to, because he kept saying he was going to come.

866
00:57:29,000 --> 00:57:31,000
I said, are you going to do this or not?

867
00:57:31,000 --> 00:57:32,000
You said you're following the Lord, you need to come.

868
00:57:32,000 --> 00:57:34,000
You get involved in the church, get baptized, whatever.

869
00:57:34,000 --> 00:57:37,000
You need to start taking steps, stop playing games.

870
00:57:37,000 --> 00:57:42,000
And he was very adamant that he had become a follower and he was determined to be a follower of Jesus.

871
00:57:42,000 --> 00:57:46,000
And he said, I don't know, I think God's just going to have to do something to get my attention.

872
00:57:46,000 --> 00:57:56,000
Standing on his back porch, the corner of, someone tipped my tongue, green lawn, green, green wood.

873
00:57:56,000 --> 00:57:59,000
Green wood that runs this way up to Main Street and his house is about three blocks up.

874
00:57:59,000 --> 00:58:01,000
I think it's on the corner of White Street.

875
00:58:01,000 --> 00:58:04,000
Anyway, standing on his back porch, he said, God's just going to do something to get my attention.

876
00:58:04,000 --> 00:58:05,000
God's going to have to correct me himself.

877
00:58:05,000 --> 00:58:08,000
Once I see that God has done something, then I'll move.

878
00:58:08,000 --> 00:58:11,000
And until then, I'm just, I don't know, I just can't find the motivation.

879
00:58:11,000 --> 00:58:13,000
Every Sunday I find something else I have to do.

880
00:58:13,000 --> 00:58:15,000
I just can't find the motivation to start working again.

881
00:58:15,000 --> 00:58:17,000
I went back, I told you, I went back five times.

882
00:58:17,000 --> 00:58:18,000
I went back the fifth time.

883
00:58:18,000 --> 00:58:21,000
The first four times I went, his wife never came to the door because she was sick.

884
00:58:21,000 --> 00:58:24,000
She was very overweight, had asthma real bad.

885
00:58:24,000 --> 00:58:25,000
She was sick. She was struggling.

886
00:58:25,000 --> 00:58:27,000
She could never come to the door.

887
00:58:27,000 --> 00:58:31,000
But the fifth time she came to the door, she said, just a minute, just a minute, I'm coming.

888
00:58:31,000 --> 00:58:33,000
And she came to the door and I met her for the first time ever.

889
00:58:33,000 --> 00:58:34,000
And I said, hello.

890
00:58:34,000 --> 00:58:36,000
I said, I came to talk to, and I said his name.

891
00:58:36,000 --> 00:58:39,000
And she said, well, he can't come to the door right now.

892
00:58:39,000 --> 00:58:40,000
And I said, I'm sorry.

893
00:58:40,000 --> 00:58:41,000
Is everything okay?

894
00:58:41,000 --> 00:58:42,000
She said, no.

895
00:58:42,000 --> 00:58:46,000
She said, he's down in bed, has been for about a week, week and a half.

896
00:58:46,000 --> 00:58:51,000
She said that he had a massive stroke and he has congestive heart failure.

897
00:58:51,000 --> 00:58:53,000
And they think, you know, he may not live a couple more months

898
00:58:53,000 --> 00:58:55,000
because his health condition isn't good enough for him to have the surgery.

899
00:58:55,000 --> 00:58:59,000
And she said, I wanted to come and talk to you at the door because I need you to pray for him.

900
00:58:59,000 --> 00:59:01,000
And I said, absolutely.

901
00:59:01,000 --> 00:59:03,000
And she bowed her head and I bowed my head.

902
00:59:03,000 --> 00:59:06,000
We prayed together for him, but he never recovered.

903
00:59:06,000 --> 00:59:10,000
He died about a month later.

904
00:59:10,000 --> 00:59:13,000
Is your hand going in and out of the cookie jar?

905
00:59:13,000 --> 00:59:17,000
Are you transgressing against the Lord and Savior of the entire universe?

906
00:59:17,000 --> 00:59:20,000
Is he there trying to make intercession for you and you're refusing?

907
00:59:20,000 --> 00:59:22,000
Or are you being found faithful with that which you know?

908
00:59:22,000 --> 00:59:24,000
Will you hold on to that which you obtained?

909
00:59:24,000 --> 00:59:27,000
You say, well, I know, but I'm busy and it's hard and whatever.

910
00:59:27,000 --> 00:59:35,000
Listen, ain't nobody, nobody on the face of the planet ever been busier than Jesus.

911
00:59:35,000 --> 00:59:38,000
They would try to pull away for a short period of time to get a little bit of rest

912
00:59:38,000 --> 00:59:41,000
and the crowds would hound them.

913
00:59:41,000 --> 00:59:44,000
Read the New Testament.

914
00:59:44,000 --> 00:59:48,000
And before you say, but it hurts or it's awkward or whatever,

915
00:59:48,000 --> 00:59:51,000
ain't nobody went through more hurt or awkwardness than Jesus.

916
00:59:51,000 --> 00:59:56,000
They took his clothes, put a purple robe on him, put a crown of thorns on his head, beat him.

917
00:59:56,000 --> 01:00:01,000
First of all, beat him about the head with the crown of thorns on with a rod

918
01:00:01,000 --> 01:00:08,000
so that it punctured his skin, probably cracked his skull, minor stress cracks.

919
01:00:08,000 --> 01:00:15,000
Then they whipped him until you could see the sinew, the bones, the muscles in his back.

920
01:00:15,000 --> 01:00:21,000
Then they made him carry his cross, but he couldn't because he was so beat up near death.

921
01:00:21,000 --> 01:00:23,000
So they grabbed a sign and made him carry the cross.

922
01:00:23,000 --> 01:00:27,000
Then they hung him on the cross with his back chewed up like that.

923
01:00:27,000 --> 01:00:34,000
He had to push up on the nail that was through his feet, grinding his back on the wood of the cross

924
01:00:34,000 --> 01:00:36,000
to be able to exhale to take another breath.

925
01:00:36,000 --> 01:00:39,000
And he was like that for hours.

926
01:00:39,000 --> 01:00:43,000
And we're inconvenienced by what he desires us to do.

927
01:00:43,000 --> 01:00:45,000
Now it's time to repent and turn to the God of the universe.

928
01:00:45,000 --> 01:00:47,000
It doesn't matter what you've been through, what you've done.

929
01:00:47,000 --> 01:00:51,000
Time to repent and turn and say, okay, I'm going to progressively do more.

930
01:00:51,000 --> 01:00:54,000
When you're a hundred, if you live to be a hundred and you're not working

931
01:00:54,000 --> 01:00:56,000
and you're on disability or you're in your deathbed or whatever,

932
01:00:56,000 --> 01:00:59,000
you're going to be reading your Bible every moment you possibly can and praying

933
01:00:59,000 --> 01:01:01,000
and thanking Jesus that soon you're going to come to be with him.

934
01:01:01,000 --> 01:01:05,000
Why not bring some of that devotion and that faithfulness forward to now?

935
01:01:05,000 --> 01:01:07,000
Let's get busy being the kingdom of God.

936
01:01:07,000 --> 01:01:09,000
Let's get busy practicing the spiritual disciplines.

937
01:01:09,000 --> 01:01:13,000
Let's stop being Judas or Peter and denying him.

938
01:01:13,000 --> 01:01:16,000
Let's do what it is that he's called us to do.

939
01:01:16,000 --> 01:01:20,000
Let us stop finding our solace in entertainment or games or whatever

940
01:01:20,000 --> 01:01:27,000
and realize that Jesus alone can provide the peace of God that you need inside you.

941
01:01:27,000 --> 01:01:30,000
Not that you can't partake of all the good things of this life,

942
01:01:30,000 --> 01:01:33,000
according to Galatians 6, they were all given to us to enjoy.

943
01:01:33,000 --> 01:01:35,000
There's nothing wrong with it.

944
01:01:35,000 --> 01:01:37,000
If it's blatantly sin, then cut it out.

945
01:01:37,000 --> 01:01:39,000
Don't have anything to do with it.

946
01:01:39,000 --> 01:01:43,000
There are many things in this world that are good and you can enjoy.

947
01:01:43,000 --> 01:01:45,000
But God is a God of mercy and kindness and grace

948
01:01:45,000 --> 01:01:50,000
and he wants to save our souls and lead us like that wonderful shepherd,

949
01:01:50,000 --> 01:01:55,000
not like that butcher, not driving us, but lead us

950
01:01:55,000 --> 01:01:57,000
because we love him and we're willing to follow.

951
01:01:57,000 --> 01:02:00,000
And not like that shepherd that has to break his sheep's leg

952
01:02:00,000 --> 01:02:03,000
to get his attention and get him focused on the shepherd.

953
01:02:03,000 --> 01:02:07,000
But like that shepherd that just says, come on, and you say, yes, Lord.

954
01:02:07,000 --> 01:02:11,000
Not, yes, Rabbi, not, yes, teacher, not, yes, I'm almost in,

955
01:02:11,000 --> 01:02:14,000
not, yes, I'll almost understand or reason when it makes sense

956
01:02:14,000 --> 01:02:16,000
that I'll do what it is you want me to do.

957
01:02:16,000 --> 01:02:18,000
But yes, Lord.

958
01:02:18,000 --> 01:02:21,000
Now I'm giving you an opportunity here with a song,

959
01:02:21,000 --> 01:02:24,000
but the truth is it's not from me.

960
01:02:24,000 --> 01:02:26,000
It may even be for me.

961
01:02:26,000 --> 01:02:31,000
That we would repent and turn to Jesus again today and say, yes, Lord.

962
01:02:31,000 --> 01:02:33,000
Who betrays you, Lord?

963
01:02:33,000 --> 01:02:35,000
Surely not I, Lord.

964
01:02:35,000 --> 01:02:37,000
It is me.

965
01:02:37,000 --> 01:02:39,000
I am betraying you.

966
01:02:39,000 --> 01:02:41,000
I am filled with remorse.

967
01:02:41,000 --> 01:02:44,000
Save me, Lord.

968
01:02:44,000 --> 01:02:48,000
It is he who will be saved, not the man who says, I'm good,

969
01:02:48,000 --> 01:02:52,000
but the man who says, Lord, forgive me.

970
01:02:52,000 --> 01:02:57,000
I'm a horrible sinner and I'm trusting in you alone.

971
01:02:57,000 --> 01:02:59,000
We'll have the praise team come forward at this time

972
01:02:59,000 --> 01:03:01,000
and lead us in our closing hymn.

973
01:03:01,000 --> 01:03:04,000
But I'm asking you today to take very seriously the appeal of Jesus

974
01:03:04,000 --> 01:03:06,000
and continue to stick your hand in the cookie jar

975
01:03:06,000 --> 01:03:08,000
and continue to not be faithful.

976
01:03:08,000 --> 01:03:11,000
Continue to do little things and then afterwards you always have to go,

977
01:03:11,000 --> 01:03:14,000
oh, I'm so sorry, oh, I'm so sorry, oh, I'm so sorry.

978
01:03:14,000 --> 01:03:16,000
We're in Proverbs 29, 1.

979
01:03:16,000 --> 01:03:18,000
If you continue to step back and continue to do those things

980
01:03:18,000 --> 01:03:20,000
and never grow, never learn, unwilling,

981
01:03:20,000 --> 01:03:22,000
you're eventually going to be caught with your hand in the cookie jar

982
01:03:22,000 --> 01:03:24,000
and you will be stuck.

983
01:03:24,000 --> 01:03:26,000
And it's not just two sorry men who have been stuck

984
01:03:26,000 --> 01:03:28,000
since the beginning of time.

985
01:03:28,000 --> 01:03:31,000
It's millions.

986
01:03:31,000 --> 01:03:34,000
Let us not be sorry men and women.

987
01:03:34,000 --> 01:03:38,000
We're in Proverbs, we're in May, we're just standing here.

988
01:03:38,000 --> 01:03:46,000
We're in Proverbs, we're in May, we're just standing here.

989
01:03:46,000 --> 01:03:48,000
Mr. Dan, I just want to thank you so much for tuning in

990
01:03:48,000 --> 01:03:51,000
to our New Heights Fellowship Baptist Church of East Toledo podcast today.

991
01:03:51,000 --> 01:03:55,000
I hope you were blessed by the considerations of whether we're like Judas or like Peter.

992
01:03:55,000 --> 01:03:58,000
Let us not betray the Lord, not once, not many times.

993
01:03:58,000 --> 01:04:00,000
If we do get stuck betraying Him,

994
01:04:00,000 --> 01:04:03,000
we will head into destruction in a new and different way.

995
01:04:03,000 --> 01:04:05,000
This is not about salvation per se.

996
01:04:05,000 --> 01:04:07,000
Jesus Christ paid for salvation.

997
01:04:07,000 --> 01:04:09,000
So if you've trusted the Lord completely for salvation,

998
01:04:09,000 --> 01:04:12,000
Him alone, then you will be saved. Praise God.

999
01:04:12,000 --> 01:04:16,000
But if you've decided to play games with your salvation,

1000
01:04:16,000 --> 01:04:18,000
then you will eventually be caught with your hand in the cookie jar.

1001
01:04:18,000 --> 01:04:21,000
Hey, check us out online at ChurchToledo.com.

1002
01:04:21,000 --> 01:04:23,000
If you want to give to the ministry, you can text G-I-V-E,

1003
01:04:23,000 --> 01:04:27,000
that's G-I-V-E, to 419-419-0095.

1004
01:04:27,000 --> 01:04:30,000
That's 419-419-0095.

1005
01:04:30,000 --> 01:04:35,000
You can give an offering to the ministry of New Heights Fellowship Baptist Church of East Toledo.

1006
01:04:35,000 --> 01:04:37,000
And those offerings will help to support this podcast.

1007
01:04:37,000 --> 01:04:40,000
So I hope you're blessed by listening and perhaps God will lead you to give.

1008
01:04:40,000 --> 01:04:45,000
If you're thinking about tithing to New Heights, I would give you this consideration first.

1009
01:04:45,000 --> 01:04:49,000
Please consider that you are to tithe to your church, the church that God has called you to.

1010
01:04:49,000 --> 01:04:54,000
The first 10% of income, first fruits, 10% gross off the top goes into the tithe.

1011
01:04:54,000 --> 01:04:57,000
And the New Testament standard of tithing is not really tithing.

1012
01:04:57,000 --> 01:05:00,000
It's sacrificial giving, which is usually above 10%.

1013
01:05:00,000 --> 01:05:04,000
And so if you're working toward 10%, it may be sacrificial giving for you right now.

1014
01:05:04,000 --> 01:05:07,000
But when you get above 10%, then that's truly sacrificial giving.

1015
01:05:07,000 --> 01:05:13,000
And that's when you've honored God with your finances in the way that Jesus would honor God, I suppose, is the way of saying it.

1016
01:05:13,000 --> 01:05:16,000
But anyway, if you're thinking about tithing to New Heights, let me say this.

1017
01:05:16,000 --> 01:05:22,000
Check out our Can I Be a Member page on our website or in the Life of Toledo app.

1018
01:05:22,000 --> 01:05:28,000
And you might find that you can be a member non-resident until God moves you to residency and you can attend.

1019
01:05:28,000 --> 01:05:31,000
You might be in California or you might be in Uruguay.

1020
01:05:31,000 --> 01:05:33,000
We've got listeners literally all over the world.

1021
01:05:33,000 --> 01:05:39,000
And so if you happen to be out there in the world somewhere and you know that God is calling you to be a part of New Heights Fellowship Baptist Church,

1022
01:05:39,000 --> 01:05:44,000
then you could consider tithing to us, although I still recommend you consider tithing to a local church near you.

1023
01:05:44,000 --> 01:05:48,000
And then you could send an offering to us. That might be more in line with the way God would normally do it.

1024
01:05:48,000 --> 01:05:52,000
But check out our Could I Be a Member of New Heights Fellowship Baptist Church of East Toledo.

1025
01:05:52,000 --> 01:05:55,000
We believe that there are members of our church that might be scattered all over the world.

1026
01:05:55,000 --> 01:05:57,000
We can make whatever kind of connections we can make.

1027
01:05:57,000 --> 01:06:01,000
And if God is leading you to be a member, you need that information so you can figure out how to be a non-resident member

1028
01:06:01,000 --> 01:06:06,000
until God moves you to near us or until we plant a church near you that you can be part of.

1029
01:06:06,000 --> 01:06:15,000
So check us out online at ChurchToledo.com or NewHightsFolkshipChurch.org or in our app at Life4Toledo in the App Store.

1030
01:06:15,000 --> 01:06:20,000
God bless you today. I hope he leads you to serve him right where you are, reaching new heights in Jesus.