And It Was Night (John 13:21-38 Jeff Kliewer)

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Sermon Notes: notes.cornerstonesj.org And It Was Night

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and I want to say good morning to everybody. Choices, temptation, righteousness.
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If you take time in the book of Proverbs, these themes are going to be there.
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The reality of the temptations and the folly, the blessings of righteousness and choices that we make.
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If you have, as a believer, and I firmly believe that as a believer with the
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Holy Spirit within you, if you have a desire to follow the way of God, the path of righteousness, it says in Proverbs 2 .20,
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you will walk in the way of the good, and you will keep the paths of righteousness.
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How does this happen? There's some tremendous clues to that in the beginning of the second chapter of Proverbs.
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It says, receive his words. So as a believer, you have the
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Holy Spirit, and so when you either hear the pastor speak, you go to a study, or on your own, you read the scriptures, you not only are reading words, but you are actually receiving these words because the
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Holy Spirit will give you insight. Treasure his commands, it says. So take these realities, the truth that scripture gives, and put them deep into your heart, so when these choices, when these lures of temptation come, you are ready at the quick with the truth of the word.
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And then it says, then you will be attentive to wisdom. If you receive his words, if you treasure his commands, he will promote within you wisdom.
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My challenge to you, if you want all of this, spend time, spend time in the truth.
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Spend more time in the truth than you do on other options that are out there. Then you will be led to making right choices.
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I got some great announcements this morning. I guess every week there are great announcements, but I want you to listen to this one very carefully.
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Our next congregational meeting is not going to be on a Monday, it's going to be on a Wednesday. What did
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I just say? Thank you. We had some scheduling conflicts in June, and what we came up with is going to be the 14th.
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That is a Wednesday. We will continue to notify you of it, but please come out for that.
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It will be seven o 'clock as usual. Shortly after that, on that Saturday, on the 16th, we will do our cleanup day.
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We had scheduled it back in May. We got rained out. We've rescheduled it to June 17th.
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Right before that is going to be our baptism right here on our property. An amazing celebration of life in Christ as we have individuals that are going to publicly proclaim who they are.
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We're going to have a barbecue along with it. Jeff says he has a ginormous water slide.
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Going down a water slide is not baptism, okay? Okay. But you don't have to go to a class to go down the water slide.
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I think Jeff said it's 72 feet tall? No. 22 feet tall. That's tall enough.
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So join with us and celebrate with those who are going to be baptized. Speaking of schedules, sometimes you take things off the schedule.
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Tomorrow being Memorial Day, we will not have the evangelism class tomorrow in reference to Memorial Day, the final fourth class will be the
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Monday after that. Also speaking of schedules, and I know this is Memorial Day weekend, but we have a number of people that still desire, we will be meeting tonight for prayer meeting at six o 'clock.
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So please join us with us for that. And then speaking of future schedules, is
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Tim in the congregation right now? He's probably out with the children. Many of you have seen
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Tim here on a Sunday with an amazing young lady,
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Mary Beth, who is now his amazing fiance. And so he has announced to us that Tim and Mary Beth are engaged.
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We don't have a date or a location. I'm sure all that information will come.
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We grieve, but not as those without hope. And we rejoice when one of our brothers or sisters is at home with the
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Lord. God has in his province and in his sovereignty called Loretta home.
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She is with the Lord and in completely restored situation. We know that she is in glory with the
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Lord. And so to the Petty family, to the Cleaver family, our prayers, our prayers are with you.
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Let's pray. Before we do that, I apologize. The services are being planned for this coming
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Saturday. There will be a time of visitation from nine to 11 and the memorial service itself from 11 to 12.
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And that will continue to be promoted. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the many blessings of life that you give.
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We thank you that you sent your son, that our sins, as many as they are, are atoned.
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We thank you that we become your children, that you give us the Holy Spirit so that we can walk with you.
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We can walk in the way of good and keep to the paths of righteousness, that you show us these ways.
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Lord, thank you that we can be called your children, that we can walk with you.
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Lord, we do thank you for this country, for the many who have sacrificed their lives standing the line so that we may live in peace.
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We remember them, Lord. We pray blessings on their families. We pray,
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Lord, that you would be with us today with those in our midst who have need, especially praying that you'd be with the
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Petty family at this time. Father, be with Pastor Jeff as he brings the word to us and prepare our hearts to hear, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.
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Will you sing with me? ♪ You came down from heaven's throne ♪
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This earth you fought was not your own ♪
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A love like this, above all ♪ A love like this, above all ♪
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A crown of thorns to mark your name ♪
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Forgiveness fled upon your face ♪
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A love like this, above all ♪
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On the altar of our praise ♪ Let there be no higher name ♪
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Jesus, Son of God ♪
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You laid down your perfect life ♪ You are the sacrifice ♪
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Jesus, Son of God ♪
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You are Jesus, Son of God ♪
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You took our sin ♪ You bore our shame ♪
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You rose to life ♪ You defeated the grave ♪
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A love like this, the world will know ♪
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Because you took our sin ♪
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You bore our shame ♪ You rose to life ♪
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You defeated the grave ♪ A love like this, the world had known ♪
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On the altar of our praise ♪ Let there be no higher name ♪
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Jesus, Son of God ♪
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You laid down your perfect life ♪ You are the sacrifice ♪
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Jesus, Son of God ♪ You are
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Jesus, Son of God ♪ So there is no ♪
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The cross was enough ♪ On the altar of our praise ♪
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Let there be no higher name ♪ Jesus, Son of God ♪
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You laid down your perfect life ♪ You are the sacrifice ♪
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Jesus, Son of God ♪
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You are Jesus, Son of God Amen.
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He is Jesus, the Son of God. In 2 Corinthians it says, Praise be to the
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God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We know that there's great reward for us as believers, that we know the truth.
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The truth of God's word, that Jesus not only was a man, but completely God. He is a part of the
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Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. There's no other religion on this earth that believes that.
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And when we stand on those truths, we have the hope. We have the hope that we believe in a
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God who is over everything. And only to him be the glory and praise because he is our salvation.
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Let's sing together. ♪ To God be the glory ♪
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Great things he hath done ♪ So loved he the world ♪
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That he gave us his Son ♪ Who yielded his life ♪
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And atoned for sin ♪ And opened the life gate ♪
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That all may go in ♪ Praise the Lord ♪
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Praise the Lord ♪ Let the earth hear his voice ♪ Praise the
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Lord ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ Let the people rejoice ♪
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O come to the Father ♪ Through Jesus the
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Son ♪ And give him the glory ♪ Great things he hath done ♪
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O perfect redemption ♪ The purchase of blood ♪
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To every believer ♪ The promise of God ♪
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Alive is the King ♪ Who truly believes ♪
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That all men can see ♪
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Praise the Lord ♪ Let the people rejoice ♪
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Through Jesus the Son ♪ And give him the glory ♪
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Great things he hath done Amen. Lord, we come before you, before your throne, and we know that it's all because of what you've done on the cross.
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All the glory and honor go to you. We know through the cross that we have freedom, that death isn't death for us.
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We know that as believers, we can stand before you if we accept you and put our faith in you.
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We are thankful for what you've done in our lives. We sing to you,
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O Lord, for the glories that you have done. Let it be sung throughout the world.
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♪ See, on the hill of Calvary ♪ My Savior bled for me ♪
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My Jesus set me free ♪
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Look at the wounds that give me life ♪ Grace flowing from his side ♪
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No greater sacrifice ♪ What he's done ♪
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What he's done ♪ All the glory and the honor to the
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Son ♪ My sins are forgiven ♪
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My future is heaven ♪ I praise God ♪
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For what he's done ♪
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Sing for the freedom he has won ♪
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Even death is dead and done ♪ His life has overcome ♪
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Speak, say the name ♪ Above all names ♪
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What he's done ♪ What he's done ♪ All the glory and the honor to the
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Son ♪ My sins are forgiven ♪
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My future is heaven ♪ On a throne of majesty ♪
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The fathers will complete ♪ Reigns in victory ♪
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Sing hallelujah to the King ♪ He is worthy to receive ♪
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All the worship we can give ♪ What he's done ♪
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What he's done ♪ All the glory and the honor to the
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Son ♪ My future is heaven ♪
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I praise God ♪ For what he's done ♪
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What he's done ♪ What he's done ♪
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What he's done ♪
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I praise God ♪ For what he's done
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Amen. Let's pray.
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Father, as we open your word this morning, we pray that you would fortify our souls and make us strong.
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That it would never be said of any of us that we were ashamed or embarrassed of your word and of your truth.
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Lord, we pray that you would make us strong this morning to stand upon every single word that you have spoken, the full counsel of God.
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That we would be bold and that we would trust you to fulfill your promise for you said that you would build your church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
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So Lord, we trust your means of grace, the unadulterated truth of your word for the building up of the church.
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In Jesus name we ask, amen. It is the text of scripture that must determine what the preacher is to say.
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The preacher is not at liberty to bring whatever it is he fancies into the pulpit.
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Rather, it is our job as preachers to study the text of scripture to discover from the text what is the main idea, what is the thrust of this passage and then bring that to the congregation, making application to the culture and what is happening.
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This is what is called expository preaching. Now, sometimes the text does not bring us a warm and fuzzy message.
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Sometimes it brings us the hard edge of truth. And today it is my job to warn about the infiltration of churches, subversively by elements that do not necessarily love
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Christ and his people because our text today is about the identification of Judas, son of Iscariot, a subversive element sent into the church.
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The title of the text, of the passage that I'm expositing, and therefore what is the title of my sermon is,
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And It Was Night, which comes from John 13, 30. This is not a bright and happy message, but rather it is one that exposes the darkness.
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God is glorified in the truth, whether the subject is as dark as the night or as bright as the day.
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John wasn't afraid of the dark, and we must likewise face dark forces head on when we go to the scripture.
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Now, as I open the text this morning and as I bring up some relevant issues in the culture,
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I recognize that I have a danger to one side of me. And that is by being critical of anyone, it can make me look judgmental and in some sense harsh or critical.
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And it is possible that I could overstate a case and therefore myself step into error.
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And I think many preachers avoid saying hard things because they're afraid of looking caustic in the pulpit.
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But I also see another danger on the other side, and that is to say less than what the text does because the desire of the preacher is to be well received.
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I would rather have you guys nodding your heads in agreement and smiling and perhaps laughing.
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I would rather have that than deer in the headlights. And so the temptation of the preacher at times is to say less than what needs to be said because by nature,
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I think humans are people pleasers. When Nathan needed to say a hard thing to David, you are that man, he said what he needed to say.
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And throughout scripture, we find that just like in our text today where John will name Judas son of Iscariot, calling a person by name, in the same way you have
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John identifying deatrophies in one of his epistles.
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Deatrophies loves to be first. And really, Paul is the king of the call -outs by name.
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Remember so many times, like in the book of Philippians, he calls out Judea and Syntyche who had just become disagreeable.
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He calls out in 2 Timothy, Philegius and Hermogenes and Crescens.
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How do we even know these names except that Paul called them out? Remember Alexander the coppersmith and Demas in love with this present world.
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Did you know that Paul even called out Peter, the so -called Pope? Peter at one point had refused to sit and eat a meal with the
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Gentile believers because in the presence of the Jewish believers, he wanted to be part of the in crowd, you know, the cool kid table.
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So he refused to eat over here and Paul came to him and before them all to his face, called him by name and identified that hypocrisy.
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This was common for Paul. And so I must warn the church about Timothy Keller because it is not my job to judge the eternal fate of someone, to say whether someone is going to heaven or hell, but it is my job according to scripture to guard the church like a watchman on the wall against destructive teachings.
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The role of an elder in Titus 1 .9 is not only to know the truth, but to refute those who contradict it.
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The watchman on the wall in Isaiah 62 .6 and Ezekiel 3 .17 -19 is called to warn of danger when he sees it.
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And to do less than that would be a lack of love. Timothy Keller sadly passed away ten days ago.
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And we should rightly pray for his family and be compassionate and never delight in the death of anyone.
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To have a heart and to care and to love deeply, even those with whom we disagree.
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But last Sunday, just a week ago, the number one trending tagline on Twitter was,
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Thank you, Tim Keller. And you see, just because somebody dies doesn't mean that their influence dies with them.
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In fact, often what happens is that when people die, there will be those who lionize them.
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And actually the influence of that person will increase after death. And so it is important to warn about some dangers.
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Baptist News Global writes that Tim Keller is probably the most influential
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American minister to die since Billy Graham. That might sound a little overstated because he didn't fill stadiums.
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You know how Billy Graham preached in New York City to hundreds of thousands of people for 30 straight nights.
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We never saw that in the ministry of Tim Keller. But what we did see was an influence that went into the pulpits across America.
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He became one of the most quoted pastors along with John MacArthur and John Piper of the last two decades.
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In fact, behind the scenes, he founded a ministry, as he called it, called Docent Research Group.
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And behind the scenes, he was writing the sermons for the most influential pastors in America, including the president of the
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Southern Baptist Convention at the time. That's Docent Research Group. The pastors of this country were enamored with Tim Keller's teaching because they saw in him someone who was able to reach a postmodern culture.
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And even in New York City, a church grew to almost 5 ,000 people.
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Now, my friend from Dallas was just here in first service, and we were talking about how in Dallas, Texas, a church of 5 ,000 is just par for the course.
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That's every church on the corner in Dallas, Texas. But in New York City, that was quite an accomplishment.
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But how did Keller achieve this kind of success, numerically speaking? His motto was,
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Church as usual will not work. Church as usual will not work.
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And so he sought to fundamentally transform the way the church operated in America.
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As the culture has departed from the biblical Christian moral ethical system in favor of this postmodern secularism, the goal of Tim Keller was to accommodate that and not be fundamentalist.
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He wanted to distance himself from any kind of dogmatic fundamentalist preaching.
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He thought that if we don't change with the times, the preacher will be preaching to empty pews.
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But I fundamentally and categorically reject that manner of thinking. I believe the power to build the church comes from Christ by the
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Holy Spirit and the faithful preaching of every word that God says in this book. The gates of hell will not prevail against the church, and we can trust the power of the word to transform sinners into saints.
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And that transition is always supernatural in the first place. It is not something that we manufacture by compromising with the spirit of the age.
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So I want to give you a few quotes from Tim Keller as a warning. He does affirm the creation, that God is behind creation.
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But he says this, I think Genesis 1 has the earmarks of poetry and is therefore a song about the wonder and meaning of God's creation.
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I think God guided some process of natural selection. As the ministry of Ken Ham in Answers in Genesis has clearly demonstrated, when you reject the clear teaching of Genesis 1 to 11, you have fundamentally undermined the authority of scripture.
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The word of God speaks clearly. And it is not metaphorical in the case of creation.
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God created in six days and rested on the seventh. In regard to biblical sexuality,
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I will say that Tim Keller upheld the Christian sexual ethic, at least at the highest level, the surface level.
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But there were many ways in which he undermined the Christian sexual ethic as he affirmed it.
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For example, when he was teaching on the Trinity in November of 2016, he wanted to illustrate the divine dance of the persons of the
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Trinity. And so to do so, he had three men dance around the stage like ballerinas wearing tight white pants.
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And therefore, while overtly claiming to uphold the Christian ethic, he undermined that ethic by the display of these men dancing like ballerinas.
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He also said it is very misleading to say that homosexuality is a sin. And he tried to parse the difference between same -sex attraction and homosexual practice, platforming a group called
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Revoice. Sam Albury, Rebecca McLaughlin, and those who would identify as same -sex attracted but not believe in the power of God to change the heart and the attractions of a person.
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In regard to race, critical race theory, and the winds and waves of doctrine, this cultural moment which really reached a fever pitch in June of 2020 after the death of Floyd.
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Tim Keller writes, if you have white skin, it's worth $1 million over a lifetime.
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You have to say, I don't deserve this. I am the product of, and standing on the shoulders of, other people who got that through injustice.
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The Bible says you are involved in injustice even if you didn't actually do it.
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It's a definition of critical race theory. It is a compromise with the spirit of the age.
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And so when the riots were happening in the summer of 2020, Tim Keller tweeted, while the immediate reaction might be to condemn the rioters, the gospel pushes us to first understand the pain of our brothers and sisters.
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He quotes MLK, a riot is the language of the unheard. What is it that America has failed to hear?
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He in this was capitulating to the spirit of the age. And sadly, two days later,
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David Dorn would lay dead for defending private property. In regard to economics,
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Tim Keller was very influenced by Marxism. He quotes in his own books,
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Generous Justice and Prodigal God, Gustavo Gutierrez, Reinhold Niebuhr, Charles Taylor, Miroslav Volf, Nicholas Wolterstorff from Yale, Vinoth Ramachandra and Dorothy Day.
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All of these have Marxist tendencies and some are outright Marxist.
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Many times advocating the ethical form of Marxism as demonstrated by someone like a
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Tony Blair or the president of Venezuela. But in these economic understandings, he does not believe that free market capitalism is a biblical construct.
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He says that any particular strategy, high taxes and government services versus low taxes and private charity may be good and wise.
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He empties the Bible of a voice to speak to economics as an absolute truth one way or the other.
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And he opposes those who speak clearly. When Votie Bauckham and John MacArthur crafted the
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Dallas Statement on Social Justice, he opposed them and wrote what the statement is really trying to do.
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It's trying to say, don't worry about the poor. Don't care about the injustice. It's not really that important.
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That's what it's saying. And in this, Tim Keller supports a need -based theory of justice that people need to be given according to their needs rather than what they are owed.
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But this fundamentally subverts the gospel of Jesus Christ as justice is defined in Romans 3, 21 to 28.
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And Romans 6, 23, the wages of sin is death. Justice is giving people what they are owed and there is a fundamental distinction between justice on the one hand and charity on the other.
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The collapsing of those two categories is in fact Marxism. And it is what
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Keller advocated in his many books. On abortion, Keller would advocate for life.
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But at the same time, he would say that Christians cannot say to the other Christians, no one can vote for so -and -so.
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He thought that either party might be supporting life just in different ways. One by lifting people economically and the other by writing laws against abortion.
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But I would say to that, you cannot vote for a Nazi, the murderous
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Nazi regime and in the same way, you cannot vote for a Democrat who supports the killing of babies.
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There is a clear moral ethical line at the point of murder of children in the womb.
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You see, the blurring of clarity is the compromising of truth.
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Keller did not want to preach like John the Baptist to the murderous state. His definition of sin was quite deficient.
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He says no one ever learned that he is a sinner by being told that they are and therefore would shy away from defining sin.
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He in fact says no one can prove any moral values to be true. They are in the end all matters of faith.
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Much of the rage on Twitter is because we are holding others to moral values they don't own and we can't prove.
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Because his doctrine of sin was therefore deficient, likewise his gospel lacked clarity and he even said one of the signs that you may not grasp the unique radical nature of the gospel is that you are certain that you do.
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His definition of the gospel was revolutionary in nature and those who missed this
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Marxist element of social justice embedded in the gospel, he claims are missing the gospel itself.
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But I would remind you of the gospel once and for all delivered and never to be changed.
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According to 1 Corinthians 15, 3 and 4 that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures that he was buried and that he rose on the third day according to the scriptures.
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Church, the gospel is clear. Cody Leibold summarized the teachings of Tim Keller this way and we'll be done and move into the text.
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Keller embodied the specific pattern of the way the spirit of the age has attempted to infiltrate churches.
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His explicit aim was to rid churches of anything resembling fundamentalism. In action, what that meant was ridding the church of the aspects of biblical faithfulness that would have an appearance of being dogmatic or outside the
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Overton window of what is culturally acceptable to pagans.
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He effectively gave pagans a veto over much of what he was willing to say except that he continued giving some form of gospel presentation.
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How accurate of a presentation we can debate. It was as if he thought that you could reach more people by telling them less of what
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God said. The people he taught and the people who tried to imitate his ministry were, like Keller, embarrassed of God.
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Church, did Timothy Keller fail like Judas? Or like Peter?
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Judas failed to repent and believe in Christ and was eternally lost. Peter failed to stand up for Christ even though he genuinely believed but Peter was eternally forgiven.
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Only the Lord knows if Timothy Keller was a betraying
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Judas or a floundering Peter. But any pastor who fails to warn the flock about that influence where that influence is strong is himself failing like one or the other.
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Listen, Keller was a modern man but these themes of betrayal and love of darkness and light they go back in time.
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Let's read them in John 13 21 to 28. Church, this is a heavy passage.
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John 13, 21 to 38. After saying these things
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Jesus was troubled in his spirit and testified, Truly, truly, I say to you one of you will betray me.
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The disciples looked at one another uncertain of whom he spoke. One of his disciples whom
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Jesus loved was reclining at table at Jesus' side. So Simon Peter motioned to him to ask
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Jesus of whom he was speaking. So that disciple leaning back against Jesus said to him,
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Lord, who is it? Jesus answered, It is he to whom
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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.
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Then after he had taken the morsel Satan entered into him.
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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.
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Some thought that because Judas had the money bag Jesus was telling him buy what we need for the feast or that he should give something to the poor.
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So after receiving the morsel of bread he immediately went out and it was night.
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When he had gone out Jesus said, Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him.
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If God is glorified in him God will also glorify him in himself and glorify him at once.
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Little children yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me and just as I said to the
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Jews so now I also say to you where I am going you cannot come. A new commandment
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I give to you that you love one another. Just as I have loved you you also are to love one another.
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By this all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.
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Simon Peter said to him Lord where are you going? Jesus answered him where I am going you cannot follow me now but you will follow afterward.
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Peter said to him Lord why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.
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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.
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There are forces of darkness exemplified by Judas that infiltrate the church for a time then end in damnation.
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And there is another kind of failing exemplified by Peter that capitulates to culture with the fear of man yet will be forgiven.
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The distinguishing feature between the Judas betrayal and the Peter denial is the presence or absence of love.
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Love for Christ and love for the bride of Christ which is the church. Now last week we left off at John 13 20 in the previous three verses we had seen that Judas' betrayal was a fulfillment of prophecy.
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Jesus himself will quote Psalm 41 9 He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.
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Remember Jesus had just bent down to wash Judas' feet and so it's appropriate to quote from Psalm 41 9 that this very heel that he just washed will be lifted against him.
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Psalm 45 had also prophesied the betrayal of Judas Jesus could have handled it if it was an outright enemy but this was his companion his beloved friend who was turning his back on him.
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His words were as smooth as butter but they were drawn swords. Judas to the outsider looked like he loved
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Jesus but in his heart he hated him. Zechariah 11 12 and 13 foretold that Jesus would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver that handsome price at which they valued him.
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That money would be thrown into the temple and then used to buy a potter's field and the imagery of a hythophel with King David in 2
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Samuel 16 pictured the beloved counselor the friend of David who then betrays
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David and goes on to hang himself. All of these prophecies foretell the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot but what it shows is that none of these things take
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Jesus by surprise they were written ahead of time in the word of God. Jesus knew this all along he was aware so it's remarkable in verses 21 and 22 that his heart is troubled.
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After saying these things Jesus was troubled in his spirit.
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He was troubled by the treachery of Judas. Judas that very night would hang himself and would depart into outer darkness and would be suffering eternal hellfire that would never be quenched and Jesus would and is righteous to judge in that way and yet he's troubled in spirit and I think it is because in the complexity of the character of God he is capable of wrath and love at the same time.
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He does not delight in the death of the wicked. You don't see
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Jesus delighting over Judas but rather he's troubled in spirit he's hurt he's deeply wounded and in some sense his heart goes out to Judas.
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He has a general love for all people. Even the most treacherous man who ever lived says much about his character.
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What a contrast with the betrayer who on the outside plays the part of a friend and yet will betray
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Jesus with a kiss. A kiss of death. Looking the part of virtue acting like a friend kissing him on the cheek and at the same time in his heart filled with every unclean thought.
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Jesus is so different from Judas here. So does
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Jesus love everyone the same? Verses 23 to 26 tells us that he does not.
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There is a special love that Jesus has for the church. For you who believe in him.
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It's different than the kind of love that he has for the reprobate. The reprobate will be tread under the wrath of the fury of God Almighty in the winepress of his wrath forever.
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I like to describe the difference this way. Men, you should love every woman in your life.
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But your love for your wife should be unique and special. It should not be a flat love that is equal to all women.
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But rather you should love your wife with a special affection. In the same way,
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Christ is a loving God who loves humanity for God so loved the world, the cosmos, everybody that he gave his one and only son.
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But there is a special unique love for the bride. A choosing kind of love.
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A special affection. And so look at verse 23. One of his disciples, now in contrast to Judas, whom
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Jesus loved. You can't flatten that out. There is some special affection that Jesus has for John.
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Even among the 12. He is in the inner circle of three and the one next to Jesus' heart.
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The special love that Jesus has for John. It could be that he's the youngest. It's likely that John is between 17 and 20 years old at this time.
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And notice in verse 23 they're reclining at the table I don't want you to picture this like Leonardo da
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Vinci in his famous painting The Last Supper. They're not all sitting along a table posing for a picture.
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In fact, there wouldn't even have been a table like that. It would have only been about a foot high and spread out.
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And the way they would recline at table were on certain kind of couches low to the ground. And each person would prop themselves up on their left side.
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Facing the table and one another. So they would sort of fan out around the table and they would use their right hand to take the food.
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So what we have here in verse 23 is this picture of Jesus and his friends reclining at the table.
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This puts John directly on Jesus' right in the place of honor. And when you picture
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John laying his head on Jesus' shoulder that again is not like it's often pictured.
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I don't think he's hugging him and stroking his hair. I think what you have here is a leaning in to ask a question.
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You see in verse 23 one of his disciples whom Jesus loved reclining at Jesus' side
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Simon Peter across the table motions to him to ask
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Jesus of whom he was speaking. So as they're at the table
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John simply leans in to Jesus so near to him as Peter beckons him to do that.
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John MacArthur points out at this point that it's interesting that the so -called Pope had to intercede through John to get to Jesus.
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Simon Peter simply gives him a signal. I think he maybe just gave him big eyes like you know, ask him.
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Talk to him. It says he motions with his hand but notice in verse 24 he wants to know, verse 25 that disciple leaning back against Jesus so he comes in close to him and says whispering who is it?
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And I don't think Jesus announces to everybody I think he quietly answers John this way it is he to whom
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I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it. So he takes the bread he dips it in the olive oil and just off to his side he hands it to Judas.
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Isn't that an interesting picture? He identifies him and John will say here verse 27, after he had taken the morsel
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Satan entered him. Satan entered
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Judas Iscariot. That means, and we know Satan was already working in and around Judas.
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He had already betrayed him at this point. He had taken the money. He was looking for an opportunity. He didn't know where the last supper was going to be therefore he couldn't have brought the soldiers, but now he'll go out to this place.
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He knows where Jesus is. So he's going to go get the soldiers but here's what it says. Satan entered him.
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He was fully possessed by the devil. Now how do you picture that?
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His head spinning around the text makes exactly the opposite point.
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Look at verse 29. Some thought that because Judas had the money bag,
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Jesus was telling him, buy what we need for the feast or you should go give something to the poor.
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After receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out and it was night.
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The point here is that the disciples, besides John who was told what this meant, the dipping of the bread, they all thought he was going to do something good.
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He looked like one of them and even in this moment of betrayal, they didn't get it. Let me tell you something about infiltration of churches.
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Subversive elements that enter the church do not look like monsters. They look like saints.
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The most saintly of the saints. The most virtuous of the saints. Very hard to pick out of the crowd.
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The disciples are completely confused and they totally miss what's happening.
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That should be a lesson to evangelicalism at large and to every local church.
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Satan is like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour but he has a certain way of putting on sheep's clothing and looking like a lovable little sheep.
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And that's how Judas was regarded but the text says and it was night. I titled my sermon and it was night for this reason.
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Night is a metaphor that John has been building through the text. Remember John chapter 9? Salvation is when your eyes are opened, you see the light, you come to Christ in the light of day.
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John 9 4, that healing of the blind man. Jesus says that night is coming when no one can work.
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We must work the works of God while it is still day. The imagery here, light is truth.
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Darkness is the covering and Judas here is in the darkness of his soul.
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He hasn't been enlightened. He hasn't come to saving faith. He's a monster on the inside and it was night communicates the depth of that depravity and the wickedness of his heart.
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Verse 31, when he had gone out, Jesus said, now is the son of man glorified and God is glorified in him.
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If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and glorify him at once.
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There's a lot of glorify in that sentence, isn't there? Are you tempted to just skip it because what does that mean?
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Glorify, glorify. Well, what's happening here is in the rejection of Jesus, the sufferings of Christ have begun and God is glorified in the darkness of this night, which will culminate then in the beating at Pontius Pilate's feet.
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The crown of thorns, the beating of the soldiers and the mockery and the darkness, the three dark hours on the cross.
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In these dark hours at the cross of his suffering, which happens this very next day,
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God is glorified in the obedience of the son. Jesus so values the father that he says not my will but yours be done and he goes to this place of suffering and in this the father receives glory.
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Conversely, the second half of the verse, verse 32, if God is glorified in him, watch this,
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God will also glorify him in himself. So the father is glorified in the son, in the sufferings of the cross, but likewise in a little while the son will be glorified in the father in heaven.
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So in verse 31 you have the humiliation of the son and in 32 the exaltation of the son with the father.
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Does that make sense? Ellicott explains it in better words and with more precision.
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The thought is that the humiliation by which God is manifested to the world is the glory of God in the person of the son of man.
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Make sense? God is glorified in the sufferings of Jesus and that this shall be followed by the glory of the son of man in the person of God at the exaltation not simply and generally by his return to the glory of the pre -incarnate state but by his return to it as the son of man.
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So he's humbled as the son of man and God is glorified in his suffering but there's coming a short time later the exaltation of the son in glory where his glory is manifested with the father and that glory is shared for all eternity where angels fall down and worship and sing holy holy holy and where my mother -in -law right now is lifting hands in praise.
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Humiliation and then exaltation. So he leaves us with the command verse 33 to 35 little children yet a little while I am with you.
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This happens very soon. You will seek me and just as I said to the Jews so now
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I say also to you where I am going you cannot come. A new commandment
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I give to you. That you love one another just as I have loved you. You also are to love one another.
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By this all people will know that you are my disciples. If you have love for one another.
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Church they will know that we are Christians by our love. Didn't we already have a command to love?
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Isn't that the greatest command? The second that Jesus summarized already.
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Why is this a new commandment? It's a new commandment because just as I have loved you so you are to love one another.
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Jesus is demonstrating in his suffering his willingness to die for them.
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Greater love has no one than this. The one who lays down his life for his friends.
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And you are my friends he says in John 15 15. I no longer call you servants because a servant does not know his master's business.
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From now on I call you friends. He's telling the church to have a special devoted love for the church.
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The outsider should be able to look into the church and say wow look how they care about each other.
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The special love the washing of one another's feet. Look how they care. This is what he wants of us.
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A love for the sheep. The way the good shepherd laid down his life for the sheep.
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I was at a pastor's conference this last week. Calvary Chapel over at Joe Fosh's church.
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And a guy named Mike McClure from California came. Great pastor.
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There came a time where his love for his flock was put to the test.
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How deep did that love go? Because Newsome, that wicked governor told him you are not to meet in person.
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Meanwhile the suicide rates in California were skyrocketing. Depression and anxiety.
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And all the horrors of the government lockdowns were in full force. And he was a pastor that loved his flock.
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And the governor said you are not to gather in that name. The flock needed to sing hymns one to another.
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They needed to take communion to remember the Lord's body and blood. They needed to hear the preaching of the
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Word of God under the power of the Holy Spirit because that is food to them. And the command was given not to neglect the assembling of yourselves together as is the habit of son.
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So here's Mike McClure's trial. You feed the flock.
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You meet. Or you get fined. And he so loved the flock that he took the fine and that mounted to $1 ,000 and then $2 ,000 and to this day the fine over his head is over a million dollars.
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How much did he love his flock? Well, the township manager at the time
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I'm not sure if it was the sheriff or some other official, came to him to appeal to him to stop meeting.
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And Mike McClure said to him, listen, you tell me about these social distancing rules of yours, but if you saw a little boy in the street and a
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Mack truck was bearing down upon him, wouldn't you disregard the six foot rule and go grab that kid and rescue him?
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Because your love would compel you to rescue this little boy, right? Anybody here would do that.
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And he said, that's what I'm doing for my flock. I love them and they need the Word of God. They need each other.
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And I'm rescuing them from this Mack truck of these government lockdowns. You know what the township official said?
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He said, look, I agree with you. I get it. You're right. And so Mike McClure said, then what are you doing here appealing to me to go and close my church?
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He said, that's what the people above me told me I had to tell you. And that is the difference between the
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Judas fear of man or Peter fear of man spirit and what it means to love.
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Love is only tested when it will cost you something. It's one thing to say, I love you, brother.
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It's another thing to be there for you when you're hurting. It's another thing to give time and energy and to suffer whatever consequences come.
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The church should be all about the church not trying to compromise with the world, to appease the world.
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We should stand upon the rock Christ Jesus and take his word in our hands and come what may we will not turn from this word.
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Love is tested in the fire. That's the new command to love like Christ.
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Peter had it in his heart to love. He loved his Lord. But here lastly, he too fails for the prophecy of his failing.
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Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going? Jesus answered him, where I am going you cannot now follow me, but you will follow me afterward.
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Look at Peter. I think he's sincere. Lord, why can I not follow you now? Don't you think he wants to?
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Look what he says. I will lay down my life for you. He meant that.
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He genuinely was willing to die for Christ. Jesus answered, will you lay down your life for me?
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It's interesting that he asked that question because in the end Peter will lay down his life for him as an old man.
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But here as a young man, truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.
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John will explain in his epistle, 1 John chapter 5 verses 16 and 17, that there is a sin that leads to death, and I do not say that you should pray about that.
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But there is a sin that does not lead to death, and you should pray about that. Judas Iscariot was possessed by the devil.
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He was lost for all eternity, and no amount of prayer would change that. Peter was like you and I.
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Genuine in love with Christ, and yet knowing this about ourselves, I'm prone to wander,
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Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. There's a kind of feeling, a kind of failing that is not unto death.
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And church, I want you to hear this. Every person in this room is prone to that. Peter was genuine.
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Of course he was not yet indwelt with the fullness of the Holy Spirit. That would come at Pentecost. But even after Pentecost, there was that compromise in Peter's life where he was trying to look good amongst the
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Hebraic believers, and he showed favoritism towards them over against the
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Gentile Christians. If that's true of Peter, how stable are we?
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And so this passage is a warning against compromising. When you're put to the test, sometimes you'll stumble, but that's why you go back to Jesus to wash your feet, right?
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In your notes, I gave you a summary of how to understand that sin that leads to death. It's in the application section.
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I won't read it now, but you can look that up later. I want to close just by issuing this warning.
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In the churches, a local church or evangelicalism at large, it is the
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Bible -believing preachers and saints who build things.
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Listen. The church is built by the Word of God. The apostles and the prophets are the foundation,
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Ephesians 2 .20, and therefore, we build things. We build denominations. Yale Divinity School and Harvard Divinity School and Dallas Seminary and Westminster and Princeton, United Methodist Church, the
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Episcopalian Church, the Methodist Church, the EFCA. We build things by the Word of God, but progressives can't build anything.
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Did you know that about them? They can't build anything because they have no power.
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So you know what they do? They infiltrate. They're subversive.
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They work their way into positions of power and influence in the denominations, and then they subtly and slowly move those institutions to the left, farther and farther away from the biblical ethic until they own them.
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They infiltrate and take over. We must be on guard against this.
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It's true in local churches as well. There's always a danger that those who do not uphold the
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Bible will see the influence of a church, especially a growing church. Be on guard and seek to take influence like Judas or even so simply as like Peter, a genuine believer who fails because of fear of man.
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Lastly, I want you to consider Balaam. Remember Balaam when he was called upon by Balak to curse the people of Israel?
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This like full frontal attack against Israel. And when he tried to do it, the power of God was too much and all he could do is turn around and what?
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Bless Israel. We say, yeah. If some demoniac came into this church, we would drive him out in Jesus name.
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No fear of that. You think Balaam gave up?
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Revelation 2 14 tells us that he and Balak had a subversive plan.
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After that full direct onslaught failed, you know what they did? They sent some of the
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Moabite women into the camp to seduce some of the men.
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And the men of Israel began to intermarry with the Moabite women and fall into sexual temptation. And then from the inside out, they perverted the camp.
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What they could not do directly, they could do by subversion. Revelation 2 14.
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And so we're going to turn to prayer and this is, I know, it's a heavy sermon. But the text dictates that because this is a sermon about the night.
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When you read John 13 21 to 38, this is not a flowery and happy message.
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It's a stern warning. There will be subversive elements and wherever Tim Keller ended up in eternity, that's for God to judge, not us.
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But the teachings against not showing favoritism, about favoritism in the church regarding race and economics and sexuality and creation, the authority of the word, the clarity of the gospel.
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We must be aware that there are going to be subversive elements entering into the church that we must resist.
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And so let's pray for that. Father God, we thank you so much for your word and the warnings we find in John 13.
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Father, protect us from the evil one.
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Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Father, we pray that you would keep this church,
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Cornerstone Church, planted on the rock. Never turning to the right or to the left, but planted right in the scriptures.
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Protect us from deceitful elements and subversion. We pray that every
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Judas Iscariot would be exposed. And Lord, I have in mind what's happening in the
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Evangelical Free Church. As Pastor John and I go to California in June, we as a church ask that you would give us victory, exposing the darkness.
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And Lord, I would so boldly ask that you would turn the entire ship of the EFCA, that the denomination would turn away from social justice rhetoric of diversity, equity, inclusion, and continue steadfast in the word of God and the whole counsel of scripture.
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We pray for victory in California, not for our sake, but for the sake of the name of Jesus.
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And Lord, we pray for our own selves because we are prone to wander, like Peter, with good resolve yet weak in the flesh.
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Lord, I pray right now in Jesus' name that you would remove the fear of man from every person involved with Cornerstone Church.
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Let us not capitulate to culture. Lord, I pray that we wouldn't give an inch the wicked flee while no one pursues.
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But the righteous are as bold as a lion. I pray that you would stir up courage in your people, the courage that Peter only found in his older years, that we would be willing to die with you if need be.
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We would not deny you. Strengthen us,
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Lord, for the battle. Fortify us in your truth. Your word is truth.
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In Jesus' name, amen. At the impulse of thy love, take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for thee.
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Take my voice and let them sing, always only for my
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King. Take my lips and let them be filled with messages from thee.
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Take my silver and my gold, not of mine would
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I withhold. Take my intellect and use every power as you choose.
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Here am I, all of me.
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Take my life, it's all for me.
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Take my will and make it thine, it shall be no longer mine.
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Take my heart, it is thine all, it shall be thy royal throne.
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Take my love, my lord, I pour at your feet each treasure store.
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Take my soul and I will be ever only all for thee.
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Here am I, all of me.
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Take my life, it's all for Here am
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I, it's all for me.
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Take my life and let it be consecrated
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Lord to thee. Romans 16 17 to 20
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I appeal to you brothers to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught.
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Avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ but their own appetites and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
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For your obedience is known to all so that I rejoice over you but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.
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The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.