Betrayal

As I'm sitting there preparing my heart to proclaim God's word, I feel compelled to make an apology for the text we're going to be studying this morning. I do not mean I'm asking forgiveness for the text we're looking at, because it is God's word and all good is good for reproof and correction. I mean, I want to give an answer as to why we're looking at this text. It is a difficult, hard text. If you're new with us, We look at all of God's Scripture and we just walk through books of the Bible because we believe that is the way that we will hear the full counsel of God. We won't pick out the text and the parts that we like the most, but we'll hear from God as He intended it to be spoken thoroughly and fully. I give an apology or I make an apology as I just want to give an answer. We just walk through God's Word so that He will speak to us in every possible way. See, our text this morning is difficult. If you're new with us, if you're visiting, if you're not a Christian, this is a difficult text for everybody sitting in this room. It's especially difficult for me standing up here because we're going to hear about someone who walked with Jesus for three years. And betrayed him. We're going to look at all the disciples who all deny him. We're going to look at the gospel of Jesus Christ, the grace of Christ that reconciled 11 of those, but not one. Our passage is difficult because it's very personal, too. As we look at those who have denied Christ and betrayed Christ, I myself, I'm reminded of friends. This reminds me of friends and loved ones that I have walked with and worshiped with and went to school with, and I know now they're not walking and following Christ anymore. I was once with them and benefited from their ministry, and now I know that they've denied the faith. Some of them have left their spouses. Some of them are seeking alternative lifestyles. They once led Bible studies. Many of them are seeking to be ministers, and now they have nothing to do with Christ. This is hard. It's difficult to reconcile. How could someone be walking and appearing to love Christ and knowing all about him and then turn their back on him? Deny him with their words and deeds. This morning, the passage is difficult. It's difficult for us personally and it's difficult for us spiritually. So you pray with me again. We thank you for your word, Almighty God. We thank you for those passages that lift us up. We thank you, Lord, for these passages that warn us and rebuke us and correct us. Lord, as we look to your word, Help us to see the depth of our own sin so that we can sing all the more assured that we are blessed by Your grace. So that we can sing with greater confidence. And can it be? How could it possibly be that a sinner such as I could be loved by a God so holy and righteous and true? In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. We're in John. We'll be looking at chapter 13 and in a lot of our passage we're going to be reviewing from last week and then looking at a few more of the verses. We are not going to be looking at verses 31 through 35 this week. We'll be looking at that next week. Chapter 13 is startling in every possible way. Jesus moved from a three-year public ministry. Now he's focused in on disciples. He has been proclaiming for three years publicly, I am the son of God. And now he's just talking to this few, the twelve, to prepare them in a private ministry to disciple them, get them ready to serve the church, to be the leaders of the church. And then he has something to startle him. Almighty God gets down on his knees and begins serving man. Or more so that the righteous Savior gets down on his knees and he starts washing the feet of sinners. And again, all this in preparation so that they will be confused by this now. And then when he dies for them, it's preparation. He's training them to realize what he has come to do as Almighty God is serve them and save them. One of the great emphases I believe we have to make in chapter 13 is declared in verse one of the end. He loved them to the end. That's the motivation behind all that he's doing. He loved them to the end. We're going to see the love of Christ. We're going to see the depth of our depravity. Our passage, our message this morning can be summed up thus. We need to fear the power of sin and Satan by trusting the power of Jesus to save. We fear the power of sin and Satan, and we trust the power of Jesus to save. I will read chapter 13 in its entirety. And again, we will not be looking at verses 31 through 35 this morning. Now, before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put in to the heart of Judas Iscariot Simon's son to betray him, Jesus, knowing the father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going back to God, he rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples feet. and to wipe them with a towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, Lord, do you wish you wash my feet? Jesus answered him, What I am doing, you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand. Peter said to him, You shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I do not wash you, you have no share with me. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus said to him, The one who is bathed does not need to wash except for his feet, but is completely clean, and you are clean, but not every one of you. For he knew who was to betray him. That was why he said, Not all of you are clean. When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garment and resumed his place, he said to them, Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. I am not speaking of all of you. I know whom I have chosen. But the scripture will be fulfilled. He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me. I am telling you this now before it takes place, that when it does take place, you may believe that I am he. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I sin receives me and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit and testified. Truly, truly, I say to you, One of you will betray me." The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at a table close to Jesus. So some of Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, Lord, who is it? Jesus answered, It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it. So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Then afterward, after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, what you are going to do, do quickly. Now, no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought because Judas had the money bag, Jesus was telling him, buy what we need for the feast. that he should give something to the poor so after receiving the morsel of bread he immediately went out and it was night when he had gone out jesus said now the son of man glorified and god is glorified in him if god is glorified in him god will also glorify him in himself and glory glorify him at once little children yet a little while i am with you You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I say to you, where I'm going, you cannot come. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, just as I loved you. You also are to love one another. By this, all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going? Jesus answered him, where I'm going, you cannot follow me now. But you will follow afterward. Peter said to him, Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you. Jesus answered, Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times. This morning, we're going to be looking first and mostly at Judas, who is a very difficult, and important character in the gospel of Jesus Christ. So first, I want to go back to how John has introduced Judas a couple of times already in the gospel. We can go back to John six where Jesus has given bread. And you see here that he's he's fed thousands and they're coming and then he makes his teaching more and more difficult. It becomes more and more hard for those who want to follow him to follow him. And many leave. And Jesus continues to say that the only true disciples are the disciples that the Father is calling to myself. He says in verse 70 to go ahead and begin to prepare them. Did I not choose you, the 12? So he chose all 12, verse 70. Yet one of you is a devil. He spoke of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the 12, was going to betray him. We see here in John six where there is a dispersal of many of the so-called disciples, those who are thickly following Jesus. And that's when he begins to introduce one of you that I have chosen to be with me is of the devil, knowing that he would betray him. We can flip over to chapter 12 and there's a powerful contrast between Mary, who takes a pound of expensive ointment and worships Jesus. And Judas says, what a waste. We could have sold this and we could have given it to the poor. But John tells us, no, that is not the heart of Judas. He's lying because he's of the devil. He was greedy. He was more interested in using the money for his selfish gain rather than the glory of Jesus Christ. We see here a character. He's spending all this time with Jesus. But he's of the devil. He's going to betray him. And we see there he's driven by greed. This is one of the marks we see through of Judas. Now we look at our passage, John 13. This is found on page 900 of the pew Bible. If you were using a pew Bible. Jesus is celebrating the Passover meal. He sits down with them. It says in verse two that Satan had already put it into his heart. Satan had already been tempting Judas. We don't know why. There's many theories as to why Judas thought it was good to betray his master. We're not sure, but we do know that it was a work of Satan and we know that he was a greedy man. We also know from the passage Ben read earlier from Matthew and what we've read here, this was the plan of God. The betrayal did not catch Jesus surprise. It did not throw God off. It was part of the plan of God. After it introduces this long introduction to the story that that John gives us, he loved his disciples to the end. He trusted the father. He begins to wash their feet. This is a great act of service. In verses 10 and 11, we focus there. Jesus said to them, the one who has bathed does not need to wash except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you. He's pointing out there that I'm going to clean you from your guilt, I'm going to wash you of all your sins, but not all of you have been clean. One of you will remain in your sin. Jesus then applies the act of service to disciples, you just serve one another. And he says in verse 18, I am not speaking of all of you. I know whom I have chosen. Now, that can make it sound like Judas isn't chosen. We know from John 6, he is chosen. He's saying, I've chosen my own betrayer. One of you is not truly one of my disciples, but I chose you to be with me. He even chose him to be in that inner circle. And then he says in Psalm 41, it's quoted so that it might be fulfilled. This is that verse in its entirety from Psalm 41. Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me. A close friend. Judas was one of his close friends. Judas was one who was with him all of his days. This has been foreordained in scripture. This was supposed to happen. And this is preparing the disciples so they know when it happens, this was all in the sovereignty of God. There's three agents when it comes to Judas's betrayal of Jesus. First, Judas chose his own path from his own wicked heart. Judas chose his own path from his own wicked heart. He is a lover of money. We see this character being built up. You see his character being described. He loves money. He doesn't love God. He chose his path from his own wicked heart. Secondly, and these are compatible truths. We may not understand how they're compatible, but they have to be together understood as true. Secondly, God has sovereignly controlled Judas's evil. He's not the cause of it. He is not the cause of evil, but we see here a beautiful description of how God is in control of all things. He's even able to use evil for good. He doesn't cause evil. He's not the author of evil, but it is still under His sovereign control. Third, the third agent. Satan has seized the opportunity to heighten his rebellion against God. He's going to kill God. You see here, Jesus, he submitted himself to the father. He knows the father's plan. He knows the father's good. He knows what the father's doing. And he submits himself to it. It's no accident. Judas wasn't an accidental betrayer. This was what was intended, and we should look to be able to look at this and see God is able to use evil for good. This makes him praiseworthy. We can't believe in the cross and its benefit for us and God's sovereignty in it if we don't believe God can use evil for good. He used the greatest evil, the death of his son on the cross, for our greatest good, our salvation. Now notice here, Jesus was troubled in verse 21. This is a mix of anger, anxiety. He's troubled. Truly, truly, he says it very straightforward now. One of you will betray me. And they're all looking around. Who? Who could it possibly be? Now, it's important to get the picture here. There's a short table and they were clining to eat, which means they're sitting on their seat there. They don't have a chair. They're sitting on the bottom and then they lean over with their left arm. So the reclining is they're sitting on their bottom, they're leaning over the left arm, so they eat with their right hand. So this is the picture. Judas is here. John is here. They're eating with their right hand and they're leaning over, and that's why John is able to lean over and talk to Jesus. Now, we just saw Peter say, no, Jesus, you're not going to wash me. And he has a big foot in his mouth. So Peter, learning from that one mistake, he isn't eager to do it again. He still has some foot and mouth. So he says, hey, John, you say it this time. We've been there. Hey, John, I've already got, you know, kind of in trouble today. Would you say something to get some clarity? So he leans over. John asks who it is. And Jesus, what does it tell him? Says, whoever I give this bread to. with his giving of bread, which he dips in a fruit puree. It's an act of gentleness on Jesus' part. He identifies his betrayer with an act of gentleness and kindness. Something I forgot to mention here, but he washed Judas' feet. All the disciples. He's been kind to Judas. And here, what an act of love and care, which is also a final word of judgment. Here's the bread. When you take this as your judgment and then we see immediately after John tells us Satan entered into him. And the God of plan accelerates the God of the plan of God is being executed. Jesus says what you do do quickly and the disciples are confused. They don't yet have the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit. It's very important that we notice here, especially in John, because he uses darkness and light so powerfully. Look at the end of verse 30. He received the morsel of bread. He immediately went out. And it was night. Now, I know because it's a lunar calendar, it's a full moon out. Light is shining in the darkness. But because Judas had set his heart and his love on the darkness, he could not see the light. Jesus was standing right there in front of him, the Son of God speaking to him. He's already been identified as the betrayer. And yet, because he loves the darkness, he cannot recognize the light. He can't even recognize his own sin and what it will do to him. It's scary. The power of sin and the power of darkness. We can look forward as to what will happen. In chapter 17, the conclusion of this one day intense course on being a disciple, John 17, Jesus' prayers, he concludes verse 12. He identifies Judas as the son of destruction so that the scripture might be fulfilled. And then we look at chapter 18. This is when Judas comes and he betrays the son of God. And then finally, if we go to Matthew 27, which I'll let you do later, you see that Judas's life, he ended with suicide. Because he has no hope. He just betrayed God, God ordained it, God led him to it, God was sovereign over it, and God gave him no grace to repent. Judas died hopeless with remorse for what he did, but still hopeless. I want to now condense down all these different details and give us some bullet points of what we see here. First, Jesus chose the one who would betray him. That's just startling. He put that close to him for that many years, the one who would betray him. Judas was a disciple, not just one of the 70, but he's one of the inner 12. Now, I remember asking my grandfather early on, he was the one who witnessed to me, so he was the one I went to with all my questions. And I asked him, shouldn't Judas be in heaven? He did what God wanted him to do. And of course, he responded, absolutely not. Scripture is very clear. He's a son of destruction. Well, how is it that he did what God wanted him to do, but yet now he's in hell? Well, it's because he He did what God wanted him to do and that God removed his grace from Judas and let him go after his own sin. The scripture is very clear. Even though many have tried to make Judas a hero, there are some Christians groups that say Judas was the greatest apostle. That's false. He's a son of destruction given over to his own sin and he was given over to his own wicked heart and Satan used that to kill Jesus. Now, what should really scare us about Judas? Judas chose his own betrayer. But what should really scare us is that he spent his entire ministry. Judas is with him. He was with Jesus for three years. He heard him speak. He saw him do miracles. But yet he was not one of his true disciples. Jesus, at the end of the day, will say to Judas, I never knew you or what John says in his epistle, first John to somewhere among you. They were not of you and they've departed. One of the things that should cause us to question is, do we know God? Does Christ know us in a way that saves us? Are we just spending time around the things of God? It's shocking. He walked with God and stole out of the purse of God. He would betray God for 30 pieces of silver. How could he be so cold? How could he not recognize the glory? And before we get too judgmental on Judas, I want to ask you this. How many of us have been sitting here listening to the holy things of God, the scripture read, his songs sung, his word proclaimed? And how many of us have actually thought about what we're going to do after church? How many of us has gotten our day planner and thought, what are we going to do after church? What are we going to do this week? How many of us have been distracted sitting here for just an hour already? And we can't stay focused on the holy things of God that are being done, being read, being heard, being sung. I've been distracted. It's so easy to be around the holy things of God and not let them move us to worship him in his glory because we are so hard hearted. We're so prone to sin. We get so wrapped up in the mundane, even the profane. It's hard to worship God. But by his grace, he gives us the opportunity to worship him. So if we think about Jews, we have to first realize we're like them. We're like them. We can be around the holy things of God and not worship wholeheartedly and with complete focus. Judas, yes, had a unique role, had a unique sin. It's the betrayal of God, but we do we not deny him when we refuse to worship him as he deserves? If we ask ourselves if we're true disciples, if we're not just here being part of the church, if we're truly, truly part of Christ and his headship, we have to ask ourselves, do we show fruit? Is there faith and following and fellowship? One of the hardest things, one of the most demanding and difficult tasks I feel proclaiming God's word to you is helping us recognize the depth of sin. This is why Judas is important. This is why we're studying Judas, because I think we should be able to see the depth of sin. It's difficult to talk about how deep our sin is, but as we look at Judas, We have to realize how we could be so much we were just like him apart from the grace of God. We deny Christ apart from his grace. The second thing we see. Jesus served the one who betrayed him. Jesus served the one who betrayed him. Jesus kneels down and he washes all the disciples feet, even Judas. This is amazing, God kneeling down before man, a holy God, a righteous man kneeling down before sinners, but he is even humbling himself to the point of serving the one he knows will betray him. The beautiful teaching we see here is that Jesus is a friend of sinners. We praise God, he is a friend of sinners because we are sinners and he has made himself our friend. If we think about Judas, we have to realize we are also guilty of the death of Christ. It's our sins that sent him there. It's the father who looked down upon us and said, look what they have become. Look what they're doing. There's no way for them to be saved, to be reconciled to me unless I send my son and punish him for their sins. It's our sins that send Jesus to the cross. Yes, Judas has a unique role in betraying Him, but it's our denial of God which ultimately sent Jesus to death. We have to realize we are guilty in order to praise God for His abundant grace. This is why we sing songs like Depth of Mercy. This is why we sing songs of declaring, Depth of Mercy, can it be? I have spilt His precious blood, trampled on the Son of God. This is us. We can look over to Amazing Grace as we will conclude later, not right now. Amazing Grace, how sweet to sound, that saved a wretch like me. Until we realize that we're the wretch, until we realize we're the worm, Until we realize what we have done in our sin, we can't praise him for his amazing grace because it's not grace. We think we earn it unless we realize we're guilty for the death of Christ. We see here also in Judas, I want to focus on a specific sentence, it's greed. He's stealing out of the money purse in chapter 12, he's selling Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. He's like Esau, he gives up his entire heritage because he had an appetite. His God was a stomach for Esau, for Judas it's money. He has set himself against the kingdom of God. He's more interested in his selfish gain than God's glory. He has been driven by his greed. And we've prayed for those who are graduating and moving into a new stage of life. I want to challenge you all, especially you are graduating college. You're going to now go and set your your your way in life. Are you going to seek to have a life that seeks to make money? Are you going to seek to have a life that is meaningful and brings glory to God? Now, some people say, well, that's a false dichotomy. It's not. You can pursue money and you might accidentally have a meaningful life. But I promise you, if you seek to have a meaningful life that glorifies God, God will arrive for your every need. What is your life direction going to be? Is it for your greed and your comfort or is it to glorify God with everything you are? I challenge you. Pray for prayerfully consider your next decisions and how they set you up to either be a glorifier or someone controlled by greed. Second application we can see here is that Jesus taught that we are to love our enemy. He taught this and he modeled it. Can you imagine he's sitting there kneeling at the man he knows will betray him? He's doing this for all the disciples. They're all going to deny it, but he's washing the feet of the one he knows is against him and will betray him with a kiss. Brothers and sisters, this is a model of love that is for us. We are to love our enemy. You know, who we love demonstrates how we think about God's love. If we only love the people that we think are worthy of our love, we think we're worthy of God's love. If we only love those who are worthy of our love. We think we're worthy of God's love, but we see that God was abundant in His grace when we were so unlovely. That will move us and motivate us to love who we think are unworthy. The third thing we see, Satan tempted Judas and entered him. Satan seizes this opportunity to kill God. Something I want to make very clear, Satan cannot enter into a Christian. This is how we are not like Judas. Satan cannot enter us and possess us. We are filled and sealed with the Holy Spirit. So, praise God, we are protected from this particular kind of power of Satan, but yet we're constantly tempted by Satan. He's constantly trying to entangle us and ensnare us in the sins that we're so prone to. And so we start flirting with sin. Satan takes that opportunity and he wraps us in it. Satan is all around us, trying to distract us. I give you the words from James four as an exhortation, or do you suppose it is no purpose that the scripture says he yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us? He's longing for the worship he created us for, but he gives more grace. Therefore, it says God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. You're wretched and mourn the weep. Mourn and weep. Let your laugh return to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourself before the Lord and he will exalt you. We're either drawing closer to God or we're drawing closer to what Satan wants us to be wrapped in. The second question that I want to make sure we answer. Can you lose your salvation? Did Judas once have a salvation, and did he lose it? Well, absolutely not. There are numerous clear scriptures. We could go to Romans 8, we could go to Philippians 1. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. It's His love that saved us to begin with, and nothing can separate us from the love of God. So what happens when people fall away? Well, this is what we call spiritual desertion, and this can be defined as thus. A spiritual sorrow and trial as a result of which a person now being truly converted to God fails to feel his or her heart delight in God and divine things. It results from darkening of one's own assurance and clarity with respect to appropriation by a personal faith. Now, I know from talking to numerous members of Jefferson Park Baptist Church, there's a lot of spiritual desertion. right here with us. This is a difficult thing. I believe you're Christians, but this describes so many of the folks I've talked to so well. A spiritual sorrow and a trial as a result of which a person now being truly converted to God fails to feel his or her heart's delight in God and the divine things. And there's the result. It's a darkening of your assurance. It's a failure to appropriate what Christ has done for you by personal faith. That's the key. We have to believe that we are who Christ says we are. We have to believe that he has done for us the things that he says he has done for us. We have to have our identity, first and foremost, in that beautiful gospel of Jesus Christ that says, I have predestined you. I have adopted you. I've redeemed you. I've forgiven you. You're a child of God. Quit giving yourself over to Satan. Walk worthy of that calling. The darkening happens when we start letting sin cloud the way we view ourselves. Friends. Do not let your assurance and your delight continue to be questioned in your own mind. Seek the things of Christ and for your identity to be secured in who he says you are. One of the ways we do this as a church is to remember the resurrection regularly. We come every Sunday to hear of God's word, to hear rebuke and correction and encouragement. But this particular Sunday, we have the Lord's Supper. We set this before us and we take it together to symbolize our unity under his headship, but also the great salvation he's done for us. We have a number of questions we want you to ask, and one of them is, have you sinned against one another? But one of the questions in 2 Corinthians 13, 5 are the challenges. Examine yourselves to see whether you're in the faith. Friends, examine yourselves. I want you to ask these questions. Are you trusting Christ alone to save you? Not Christ in my works. Am I trusting Christ alone and what he can do for me to save me? If my faith demonstrated in a remorse and repentance of sin, do I hate sin and do I do I want to get rid of it? Am I working towards that? Being miserable and sin is one of the great evidences of a true convert. If you're miserable and sin, I have great faith for you. It shows that you're no longer of the world, you can no longer delight in the things of the world. Your heart's been changed. Examining yourself doesn't mean you find yourself sinless. If you have to be sinless, no one's taking it this morning. If you have to be sinless, we'll just keep it up here. We'll sing songs and we'll all feel guilty. It's not what it's for. It's for those who see their sin and realize they're helpless and in need of a savior and longing for the grace to overcome the sin so they once again delight in God. As we conclude, I couldn't just conclude or speak of Judas. We have to go to Peter. Look at verses 36-38. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going? Jesus answered him, where I'm going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow me afterwards. Peter said to him, Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you. Jesus answered, will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, The rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times. Peter can't resist himself. He has to speak up. Where are you going? I'll be with you. I'll never deny you. I'll lay down my life for you. Can you imagine the pain in Jesus thoughts and his feelings as he asked him, will you lay down your life for me? As Jesus is completely abandoned, by his disciples, and he will be forsaken by God. He marches to his death alone because Peter refuses to stay committed. And yet he hears Peter saying, I'll lay down my life for you. And Jesus knows, no, you won't. Not yet, at least. You'll first deny me. So what's the difference between Peter and Judas? I think we find this answer in Luke's account where Jesus says this in the warning of Peter. But I have prayed for you, Jesus says, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. It's the grace of God that calls Peter to remain a disciple and be restored. It's the grace of God alone. It's the grace of God alone that restores us and gives us a heart that we can believe. It's amazing, God allows Peter to fail so boldly. But that's part of the refining process that God had intended for Peter. We must cling to the cross. So that we do not deny Christ. A passage worthy of our memorization and meditation this week is from Second Timothy, chapter two. Paul sets it aside by saying this thing is trustworthy for if we have died with him, we will also live with him. If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we deny him, he will also deny us. If we are faithless, he remains faithful. Listen to those two last passages. If we deny him, he would deny us. If we are faithless, he remains faithful. What a beautiful paradox. The first says, fear your sin and the holiness of God. If we deny him, he'll deny us. The second, rest in his grace. For when we are faithless, he remains faithful. Let me conclude by reading the last verses from the epistle of Jude. Listen to the word keep. But you must remember, beloved, speaking to the church that has been filled with false prophets and false teachers, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, they said to you in the last times there will be scoffers following their own ungodly passions. It is these who cause divisions, worldly people devoid of the spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God. Waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life and have mercy on those who doubt, save others by snatching them out of the fire to others, show mercy with fear, hating even the garments stained by the flesh. Notice, he said, keep yourself in the love of God now, verse 24, now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory of great joy. To the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, authority before all time and now and forever. Amen. Will you pray with me? Father, we praise you for such a glorious gospel that you have sent your son to die for us while we were still sinners. While we were unlovely, you loved us. While we hated you, you poured out your mercy upon us. Help us to recognize the depth of our sin. Help us recognize in it the depth of your love. Give us the power of your Spirit to keep ourselves from the sins that entangle us. To keep ourselves in the love of God. We praise you because you are the God who keeps us from stumbling and you will present us blameless in your presence on that last day. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.