Words of Eternal Life

I became a Christian just like everyone else. I heard the words of life and I believed. I came to Christ a very difficult way, though. I chose to live in rebellion against what I was taught in church and by my parents. I lived waverly throughout high school and in my foolishness, I moved out of my parents' house without telling them the day I graduated. I estranged myself from my family, from God and from anything good. And something happened while I was living this way that I began to realize this was empty and I began to read the Bible. And thankfully, those I was hanging out with, they were pastor's kids. I was thankful in that they told me what to read. They directed me to the Gospel of Matthew and it was amazing. Every time I would open God's word. And I would I would look at Proverbs or Matthew. I would be overwhelmed that every time the fool was mentioned, I just I matched the description perfectly. And every time Jesus spoke. It overwhelmed me that he knew what life was really about. He knew what life was meant for. He was directing me towards what life was should be. I heard the words believe, repent and live, but I wrestled for months. It wasn't until I found a letter my grandfather sent me that had these words applied to my own life and pointing out specific sins. You see, the words of life had to first confront foolishness. They first had to offend me in what was wrong in order for me to see how precious, how powerful, how much life was in those words. This morning, we're going to look to the the words that give life from Jesus Christ. As we think of this in the backdrop, I keep remembering the father's words at Jesus baptism. This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him. He sent Jesus to teach us how foolish we are in our own ways, how foolish we are in our own sin. If we listen to him, we'll see life. will receive life. This morning, our message is simple. Jesus gives life to all who believe in him. Jesus gives life to all who believe in him. Now we're in John 6. If you're using a few Bible, please feel free to take that with you if you want the Bible. It's on page 892. If you're using a few Bible. We're following a long story and teaching. We're actually continuing it where Jesus fed 5000. That crowd, they came to Him. They wanted more bread. Jesus didn't give them bread. He continues to teach them that they must believe in Him, the bread from heaven. He is the bread from God who gives true life. He quenches their hunger, what they're truly hungry for. And He continues to offend them more and more. He intentionally makes the teaching more and more difficult to the point where He finally says, you must eat my body and drink my blood. And the crowds disperse. This morning, we were going to focus in where he now is going to confront and correct his disciples, not just the crowd, his disciples. And what we see here is that Jesus isn't looking for half hearted disciples. First of all, we see he makes the message very clear because the gospel watered down is not the gospel. It must be the entire gospel or it's no gospel at all. And then further, we see he's calling true disciples. He wants disciples who love him and follow him with all their heart. Turn with me to John 6. Hear God's word beginning in verse 60. When many of his disciples heard it. Referring to him declaring, you must eat of my body and drink of my blood. They said, it is a hard thing. Who can listen to it? But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the son of man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh is of no avail. The word that I have spoken to you, the words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. There are some of you who do not believe. For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe and who it was who betray him. And he said, This is why I told you that one can come can that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the father. After this, many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the twelve, Do you want to go away as well? Simon Peter answered him, Lord, To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life and we have believed and have come to know that you are the holy one of God. Jesus answered them. Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil. He spoke of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him. Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you that your Word gives life. May we look now to your Word. May we look to what your Son has taught us, what has been recorded for us. Correct us. Lord, if someone is here and they don't know you, convert. Change us, Lord, for your glory. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. The first thing I want us to see, I think that our text is pointing to, is that the gospel is difficult to hear. The gospel is difficult to hear. Just look at verse 60. When many of the disciples heard it, they said, this is a hard saying. Who can listen to it? This isn't just the crowd. These are disciples. These are those who have been following him for some time. They've seen miracles. They've heard him teach. But now as he's making the teaching more difficult, he's getting more precise with what he has come to do. They declare this is hard. Who can hear it? Now, the word hard is or difficult. This isn't just referring to an intellectual problem. They're not just saying, I can't wrap my head around what you're saying. Could you please explain the parable or the metaphor? That's not what the word indicates. More so than the hardness, it's indicating the concept of it's harsh. It's offensive. It's difficult in the sense that it's scandalous. What Jesus has taught them is offensive to them. And we're going to see that it's played out now as he continues to reveal to them how offensive and scandalous the gospel is. Let's first ask, what would be offensive? As we go back, if you weren't here last week, we covered a lot of texts. What would have been offensive? First, they came for bread and he refused them bread. He had fed 5,000 people and they had come and they said, give us the bread again, and he refused to give them bread. So they could be offended that there's no more bread. They could be offended that he's actually said he's greater than Moses. He contrasts himself and God with the bread Moses gave in a way that he's declaring he has more authority than Moses, the great prophet of the Old Testament. More so, it could be that he says he is from above. This is a bold claim of deity. He is saying that he has come down from above. He is the life that God has given to the world. But if we really think about what's been said, the real focus is that he said, you must eat my flesh, you must drink my blood. This is a difficult metaphor. Now, as he has said, I am the bread that's obviously using a metaphor. He has also said, you must eat my bread. You must eat my mind. You must eat the bread. You must drink the blood eating. There is a is referred to belief. You must believe in me in order to receive the salvation. So it may be offensive because they haven't yet understood what he's actually saying there. Or maybe it's offensive because they did get it. It could be offensive because they understood what he was actually referring to, that it wasn't just that he was going to give his life to them. He was going to die for them. He was going to be crucified. He was going to be the lamb that was a substitute like Isaac's. The one given for Isaac in Genesis 22. He would be the lamb that was slain for Israel. He would be the lamb that was slaughtered in Isaiah 53. He suffered and endured great pain for us. But we thought his suffering was punishment from God. He was wounded and crushed because of our sins by taking our punishment. He made us completely well. All of us were like sheep that had gone wonder who had wandered off. He had we had each gone our own way, but the Lord gave him the punishment we deserve. It may be offensive, but I believe it probably is offensive because I think they started to get it. He would have to die for their sin. That's morally confusing. That's difficult. First, am I that guilty? Am I that corrupted? Am I am I under God's judgment in that way? And then why would he send his own son to die for me? It's morally difficult, it's harsh and it's confusing. The disciples continue, who could ever listen to this? Jesus's words are difficult on sinful ears. We are dull of hearing. We are slow to respond. We're so self-righteous, it's difficult to hear how sinful we really are. But the teaching of Jesus Christ points us to that. Now, here's the good news. When we hear what Jesus is saying, it's actually the words of life. He has come to save. Let's look to those words of life beginning in verse 61. But Jesus. Knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this. Well, this is Paul there for a second. We see his divine action already here. He's able to know their thoughts without them voicing them. He is divine. He knows their thoughts and they're grumbling. Now, everything about Chapter six is pointing us back to the Exodus redemption, the Brad, Jesus walking on the water. Everything is pointing us back. And here we have typical Israel grumbling. That's how they respond to God's goodness. And God being gracious, he confronts them in their grumbling. Jesus, knowing it himself that the disciples were grumbling, he said to them, Do you take offense of this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? There's a spirit who gives life, the flesh is no help at all. The words that I've spoken to you are spirit and life, but there are some of you who do not believe. For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe and who it was who would betray him. So they've said that's hard. What you're saying is hard, Jesus. And he says, do you take offense at this? Now, the word offense, that's the same word we get the word scandal from. That this is morally offensive. What Jesus says is scandalous to those who have daffodil ears to spiritual things. Peter's going to later on say you have words of eternal life. Here are the words of eternal life. So what does Jesus say? It's very interesting when we have to first discern what does he mean He's going to ascend to where he was before. What does this mean? Because this is the heart of what Jesus is going to be saying here. He's going to ascend to where he was before. He's already said, you've got to eat my body. You've got to drink my blood. If you can't handle that, how are you going to ever respond to what's going to come ahead when I ascend to where I was before? As I think of this, I believe John 17 is very helpful. John 17 is the high priestly prayer of Christ. It's it's his final and enlarged prayer that helps us see the inside into his relationship with the father and his purpose beginning in verse one of John 17. Father, the hour has come. Glorify your son, that the son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom you have given him, and this is eternal life. that they know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. I believe John 17 is actually further explaining what Jesus is saying here, and he's going to ascend to where he was before. We see Jesus making the prayer request at the end. Bring me back into your presence. Bring it back into that glory that I once had with you before I humbled myself and took upon a stature becoming like man as you sent me to the creation, the creator taking upon himself a created nature. But how he gets back to that point is what's most interesting. Notice he begins, the hour has come. The hour is always a reference to the cross. The hour has come. The hour has come. The time for me to die is at hand. I have come to do your work. And what is his work? Is to die on the cross for sinners. Then the father will glorify him. I believe what he's declaring here. If you can't handle the teaching that I'm giving on the bread, how can you ever see how I'm going to ascend back to the father? To the father first descended from glory. Then he died on the cross. Then he will ascend back. The ascension is in reference, I believe, to the cross. That is how he will ascend back. We see the glory of Christ on the cross. Now, the cross is less offensive. Why is the cross so scandalous? Why would the cross, why would his death be so offensive that he would say, if you can't handle what I'm telling you now, you'll never be able to handle what happens to me later? See, the cross was used for the most vile, the most despised criminals. Those folks who died on the cross were those who were put to a shameful death because it was the most shameful penalty. It was scandalous for them to think, here's my master, here's the one that I'm sitting under his teaching. I'm saying I want to be like him and he's going to go and he's going to die the most shameful death. He will be ridiculed, to be dressed up and mocked as if a king, even though he is the great king, to be beaten and spat upon. It's scandalous to think that our leader would die on a cross. There used to be a popular slogan for Christians. My boss is a Jewish carpenter. There's some truth there, but that really doesn't get to the heart of the gospel. A more faithful slogan. My master died a shameful, painful death on the cross. It's not just a Jewish carpenter. He's almighty God and he's good and he died shamefully. We have to look at this. My master, my Lord, in whom I have trusted, he died shamefully. He was killed among thieves and murderers, rapists, liars and adulterers. Why? Why did he die such a shameful death? Friends, it's because we're guilty of coveting. We're guilty of lust. We're guilty of anger. And we're guilty of deception. You see, The scandal of the cross is us. We're the scandal. It's our evil and it's our sin that makes the cross so scandalous because Jesus Christ was good. He was righteous and he had to die in our place. It's offensive because we see how sinful we are. It's offensive because we see how far God had to come to save us. It's offensive because we see our sin and what it deserves. The good news is because of the cross, we can have life because on the cross we can see that our sin has been washed away, our guilt is removed, as we sing, Arise, my soul, arise, we can have confidence. But only after we first see Our sin is the scandal. Friends, this is why we boast in the cross, Galatians 6, 14, but far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. You don't boast in something shameful unless there you received life. We can reflect upon this from the words of the hymn, When I survey the wondrous cross, When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died, my richest gain I count but loss and poor contempt on all my pride. Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, save in the death of Christ my God, all the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to his blood. You see, friends, that the cross is where we see the glory of Christ. As everyone here, you think of the cross and you'd have to decide, was it the glorious God who died for sinners on the cross or was it a foolish, deceived man who died shamefully? It's the only two options we have. As I pray, you will see that it was a glorious God who died in the place of your shame and that we will boast in him. As we continue in these verses, the Spirit gives life. Verse 63. It is the Spirit who gives life, but the flesh is no help at all. The words that I've spoken to you are Spirit and life. Now, we already saw in John 3 when Jesus comes and he's speaking with Nicodemus, he says he must be born again. It's the Spirit that gives regeneration. It's the Spirit that applies what Christ did on the cross to our hearts, to our lives. So there we see it's the life that comes from the Father through the Son of the Spirit. But what does he mean? The flesh is no help at all. We've seen the word flesh referred to in John 6 earlier, where he says, you must eat my flesh. He can't be referring to his own flesh. The word became flesh. He had to become like us in every way. In verse 51 of chapter 6, and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. So we see that Jesus is human nature. It is helpful because he had to become like us in every way, but he had no sin when he's saying the flesh is no help. I believe he's speaking of our own nature. I believe he's speaking of our sinful lives without being eliminated by the spirit, looking at the words of Christ, hearing them without the elimination of the spirit left to ourselves. We are too dull to hear the words of life. We are too dead to properly respond. As we look at the bigger picture of John, Jesus has been given life in himself. He is life. He came to give us life. The Spirit takes that life and he gives it to us. Jesus is the word. What he proclaims is the words of life. We must hear them again. Jeremiah 15, 16, Your words were found and I ate them. And your words became to me a joy and a light of my heart for I'm called by your name. This needs to be our prayer that this is what we declare we have done, we see, we hear the words and we believe them. Look at verse 64, but there are some of you who do not believe. And then we have one of these great parenthetical inspired study notes from John. For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe and who it was who betray him. He knows who doesn't believe him, and he's making the teaching more and more difficult so that he removes the false disciples. He wants the true disciples to be following him. He's not about getting numbers. He wants faithful followers. Now, one of the questions I want to present here, is it simply being human that keeps us from knowing and recognizing God? Is it just simply being human that keeps us from knowing God? I don't think so. See, God created us to know him. God created us to be known by him. It's our sin. It's our love for things against God that truly keep us from hearing him. We'll discuss the betrayer later on. For 65, the third main thing we see this morning, the father must call, the father must call, and he said, this is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the father. No. Jesus is telling us this is how you get to the sun, this is how you come to the sun, the father calls. Well, as we think about this, it's important to know what kind of father is this. If everything hinges upon the fact that the father must call what kind of father, how we respond depends on the kind of father. First, he's a father of lights. He is a father that does not change. He does not shift like the shadow. He's a father of lights who does not change. Secondly, he's a father who gives every good and perfect gift. He's a good God. He's a righteous God. If we ask, what would he ever hold back from us? We have to look and say he didn't spare his own son. How would he ever keep from anyone a good gift? He is the father who loves perfectly. This cannot be questioned because he sent his son. He's the father who is good and only desires good. We have to recognize he is the just and equitable God. If you're not a Christian this morning, God is good to you. If you're not a Christian this morning, you have to be able to recognize God has been good with you. He is patient with you. You're under your sin, you're under the judgment of your sin, and yet you're still alive. He has been long suffering with your sin and your rebellion. The very fact that you're alive demonstrates that God is patient. He's been kind to you. You're fed, you're closed, you have friends and family. Something else, if you're not a Christian this morning, God is speaking to you. You're here hearing God's word, you've heard it read, you've heard it sung. I pray now you're hearing it proclaimed. God is speaking to you. The key question is, do you hear it? God is good to you. The fact is, are you responding to his goodness? How are you responding to God's goodness? If he is speaking to you, how are you responding? I heard you, friend, respond by getting on your knees and asking God, let me hear you. Because only and only by hearing the words of life will you receive life. If you're a Christian this morning, the father is good. He sent His Son to die for you. That gives us great assurance. It gives us great hope. The Father opened our eyes so that we could see the Son. We now must boast in the Father. We must rely upon the Father and realize that our entire new life is dependent upon Him. The fourth thing I want us to see this morning in our text, verse 66. Jesus' words turn many away. After this, many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. Some of the disciples, this was too offensive. It was too hard again. It wasn't intellectual difficulty. It was spiritual. It was offensive. They leave. And this demonstrates they were never called by the father. You can look back to John six verses 38 through 40. I don't come from heaven to do what I want. I didn't come from heaven to do what I want. I came to do what the father wants me to do. He sent me and he wants to make certain that none of the ones he has given me will be lost. Instead, he wants me to raise them to life on the last day. My father wants everyone who sees the son to have faith in him and have eternal life. Then I'll raise them to life on the last day. Those are the father calls the son keeps. He doesn't lose them. But Jesus is making the teaching harder to to demonstrate these disciples, they weren't called. These disciples, they never believe they demonstrate their sin. It demonstrates their lack of calling. It demonstrates their lack of commitment. Why would they leave? Because they were called and it was offensive. I want to talk about the fact that we have many friends. who were once walking among us, professing the name of Christ, who are no longer making that profession, I want to think about how do we care for them and think about that? First, trust God's grace, it is sufficient and it is efficient. If God save them, he will call them back to him. He will not. Let them continue in sin. The beauty of the gospel is whenever God calls someone to be his own child, they can only be miserable in sin. That's the beauty of the gospel is that you die to that old life. Sin can only entertain so much for a true Christian. And so they may go away for a while and they may they may entertain that sinful desire they have. But in the end, they will only be miserable because God has given them the desire for him And it can only be satisfied in him. We must trust God's word. We must recognize that these folks, they need to hear words of correction. They need to hear words of love. They need to hear us coming alongside them and telling them this is not a lifestyle that represents a profession of faith. We have to trust God's word and that he promises us if they are his, he will call them back. If he began a good work, he will complete it. Very practically. If you have a friend who, you know, they once professed Christ, they once walked with Christ, but they're not doing any more two things, pray for an opportunity to share the gospel with them and then look intentionally to take advantage of that opportunity. God will give you. A little more precise and a little more difficult. Many are saying my child's not believing. How do I work through and think about the fact that my child may have once professed faith, but they're not walking with the Lord. My child is saying that they're not a believer. I have a few things in terms of just thinking through how to counsel yourself and one another if a child is one that's walked away. First, if you're a parent, be slow to blame yourself. This is the natural first step. Be slow to blame yourself. You have authority over your child. Yes, you are the one who influences who they become as a human being. Yes, you have a great responsibility. Yes, but you don't have authority to give life. God is the one who converts. Be slow to blame yourself. Recognize that Proverbs 22 6 train of a child and the way he should go, even when he is old, he will not depart from it. That's not a promise. The genre matters. It's a proverb. It's a general principle of wisdom. It's not a promise. Your child salvation, it's not dependent upon you. It's dependent upon the God who calls the good father. Now, there are there are ways to reflect. And as we think about this, I want to ask three questions first, is there a place for reflect on what we can do better? Absolutely. Can you cause God to call your child because of successful parenting? No. Can you cause God to call your child because of successful parenting? No, you do not have authority in who God calls. Can you keep God from calling your child because of bad parenting? Praise God. No. God will call whom he calls is effectual. Now, if you think about how we evaluate ourselves, I do have two questions you should ask. Does your child know you love them? That's the first question you should ask, does your child know you love them? Do they know that you care for their best well-being? And the second question is this, does your child know you trust and love Christ? Do they hear what you're saying and do they see it matter in your life? Second way I want us to think about how we can care for one another. We must be intentionally encouraging one another in our efforts. Fathers, you need to be constantly encouraging your spouse, your wife, in her efforts to train up and love her children, your children. If Mother's Day is the only day you encourage your wife, you're failing. Make that loud and clear. If it's not a regular thank you for the way you are constantly encouraging and teaching and training up our children. You're failing. We need to hear that spouses, mothers and fathers, we need to hear that from each other constantly. We need to be doing this early on. Another challenge for our families as we gather together. I want you to listen to this. Live in such a way that no one will ever think you have it all together. Live in such a way that no one will ever think you have it all together. You see, there's such a sinful tendency to look at others and compare yourself, and you always think they've got it all together. Or you may think I've got it all together against them. The truth is, we are all horribly failing. And it's God's grace that makes anything matter. Now, as I think about the fact that we fail and we think about how we've taught our children every Sunday, I ask myself, how much did I fail? This is God's word, only Jesus speaks God's words perfectly. So how much should I fail? And then I wrestle through it. I ask one question. Was the gospel clear? So that really matters at the end of the day. As we're teaching and training of our children, is the gospel clear? Parents, encourage your children to know the gospel and encourage one another in proclaiming the gospel. And they think about the fact that we've got to live in such a way that no one will ever think we have it all together. That's a way of caring for one another. So that we don't build up a self-righteousness or a fear. The truth is, no, there's only been one perfect parent. And it's God the Father. And he had to send his son because we're all so imperfect. We must recognize we're not perfect. We need to quit flaunting and putting up a facade as if we are. Third, be faithful to make the gospel clear. This is the one responsibility you have. Make the gospel clear and trust the Holy Spirit to do the work. Fourth, trust God's call to be effective. If he began a good work, he will complete it. Let's continue our passage, our fifth. point, Jesus' words give eternal life. Beginning in verse 67, so Jesus said to the twelve, so he's narrowed down. He had the crowds, he had his disciples, now he's got the twelve. Do you want to go away as well? Now, what we do not see in our English translation, there's a way of asking a question in Greek that expects either a yes or a no. This particular question is asked in such a way that it expects a no. He's asking in a way that's rhetorically challenging them, are you going to go away as well, knowing that they're they're not? And we see some of Peter speaking up first, of course, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life and we have believed and I've come to know that you are the holy one of God. Peter always speaks for the rest of the group, Matthew 16. Jesus says, who do you say that I am? And Peter says, you're the Christ. And then Jesus says, this has been revealed to you from above. And this is very similar to that same very declaration. It's John's equivalent to Peter's confession. You are the holy one of God. You are the Christ. You are the anointed one. Let's look at this confession of faith, because it is a proper response to seeing the glory of Christ on the cross. First, he addresses him as master or Lord. Lord, you are still our master. We're not going anyway. He asked the question, to whom shall we go? There's no other rabbi. There's no other teacher. There's no one else who says the things you're saying. There's no one else. John, the Baptist disciples, they could go to Jesus. That was a step up. Leaving Jesus going somewhere else. Who are you going to go to? They recognize he is the great prophet. Where else could we go, master? Second, there's the great affirmation. You have the words of eternal life. The implication is that we're dead. We need life and only Jesus speaks these words of life. There is no other source of life. He came to preach the good news. He is the savior for sinners. The law, it reveals to us that we're horrible. I was sharing the gospel with a young man, and we walked through the purpose of the law, and I explained, well, the law is so you can realize or recognize you're horrible. And he said, why would God want me to think or feel horrible? I said, well, what if you are? What if you are horrible? Then you need a Savior. And there you see the purpose of the law. It helps us to see how horrible we are and how gracious and loving God is that he has come to speak words of eternal life. Even the Lord, that's words of eternal life, because we must first realize we're dead to receive the life. He continues to make a profession of faith, we have believed and have come to know. They believe that they trust him, they've eaten the bread, they see who he says he is, they see him do the signs and miracles, they're starting to see what's ahead and they believe. Now, we know Peter is going to have a little problem later on. He denies the Savior. But the Savior keeps him. That's the beauty of the gospel. How often do we deny Christ or our life by choosing sin over Christ? The Savior keeps us. It is a profession of faith in that he sees who he is and he believes and he grows in his understanding. He says, We have come to know you, knowing is not just an intellectual knowledge, a personal knowledge. We come to know that you are the holy one of God. The last thing I want us to see is verses 70 to 71. Difficult verses. I believe the heading here should be Jesus chooses us to die for us. Verses 70 and 71, Jesus answered them. Did I not choose you, the twelve? First, as Jesus responded to Peter in Matthew 16, this has been revealed from above. I believe Jesus is telling Peter, I chose you. He's reminding Peter, I chose you. You're making the profession of faith, but you're my chosen disciple. Let's make sure you know where it initiated. Did I not choose you, the twelve? And this is where it gets very complicated. And yet, one of you is a devil. He spoke of Judas, who was going to betray him. Now, how does he refer to Judas as a devil? In John 17, 12, in that high priestly prayer, he refers to Judas as the son of destruction. In John 13, 2, he declares to Judas, the devil put it in your heart to betray me. Go do your business. You see, Judas has believed the lies, he's being led by the father of lies, and he's now living out the lie. So there's some difficult truths here. The first thing I want us to see that Judas has been given over to his own sin. Judas represents a life without God's grace. He has been left to his own devices, which are only sinful. And he has chosen to follow the sinful lies of the devil, and that is why he is of the he is a devil. God's grace alone is what saves us. God's grace alone is what keeps our sin from multiplying and multiplying and consuming and devouring and destroying us. Judas here, like Pharaoh in Egypt, like the sons of Eli before him, he was given over to his own sin and it was ultimately and only destructive. The second thing we need to see. Jesus is sovereign over evil. This is his 12. This is his closest companions. He put a betrayer amongst his first 12 disciples. Can you imagine what it's like every day to see Judas and know what he's going to do? Every day, this most intimate friend He knows what he's going to do. He knows where it's going to lead. He knows that Judas is going to betray him and it's going to send him to the cross. Jesus does this as demonstrating he's sovereign over evil. He chooses a betrayer and puts him in his midst, sovereignly orchestrating his own death for us. The third thing we should see or conclude from this, Jesus loves sinners. Why else would he take a betrayer and put him in his midst? Why else would he orchestrate his own death from a friend? It's because he loved. He loves us and he chose his own destruction for us. Friends, as we see Jesus teaching, it becomes more difficult. It will become more difficult as we continue to go through the Gospel of John. The bar gets higher and higher as we are declared. We are taught, trust Christ. Not what my hands have done, what he has done. To trust him completely and fully. To follow him while abandonment. Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you that you have sent your Son. We thank you, Lord, for the words we have that they are eternal life. Help us, Lord, to trust them. Help us, Lord, to follow them. Help us, Lord, to obey you because we know you have bought us. We thank you, Lord, for the words of Jesus. We thank you, Lord, for the cross. Help us, Lord, to boast in it. We thank you, Lord, for the resurrection that gives us hope. Help us, Lord, to follow you by the power of your spirit. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.