 we're in Matthew 26. We're going to be looking at the simple subject that's really very deep, the subject of betrayal, the betrayal of the Lord Jesus Christ by one of his comrades, one of his companions whom we know by the name of Judas. And so we'll be looking at betrayed today found in Matthew 26 verses 47 through 56. So let's begin reading together at verse 47. I'll read to verse 56, give you some highlights and some background reminding you of some of the things that are taking place up to this point and then moving into the passage and looking at it as a Bible study to see what is it that's going on and looking for application. How does that affect us today? And so beginning at verse 47 and reading to verse 56, Matthew chapter 26. And while he was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now, his betrayer had given them a sign saying, whomever I kiss, he is the one who sees him. Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, greetings rabbi, and kissed him. But Jesus said to him, friend, why have you come? Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took him. And suddenly one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. But Jesus said to him, put your sword in its place for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot now pray to my father and he will provide me with more than twelve legions of angels? How then could the scriptures be fulfilled that it must happen thus? In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and you did not seize me. But all this was done that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled, then all the disciples forsook him and fled. So Jesus is ministering in the garden of Gethsemane. The name Gethsemane literally is oil press and that's where he's at, the place of pressure. And we've seen how that the Lord had been in fervent prayer and we'd seen the effect of that that night. And as he's been there, he's been speaking to his disciples and he's been teaching them that they need to remain spiritually alert. You see he'd been attempting to prepare them for what was about to take place. Earlier Matthew tells us in chapter 26 verse 2 that after two days, Jesus said after two days is the Passover and the Son of man will be delivered up to be crucified. So Jesus has been preparing them for the events that are about to transpire. As he had been teaching them in verse 31 of chapter 26, he had said to them, all of you will be made to stumble because of me this night for it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. So he's preparing them for what is about to take place, even telling them that they will forsake him and that they will flee. Now obviously as we've been going through the passage, we know that the apostle Peter did not believe that was possible for him, though he would have felt that it would be possible for the others. For himself it wasn't possible, but Jesus is saying, no, indeed it is possible. All of you indeed will forsake me, you will flee. So in spite of all this preparation, the disciples failed to grasp what he was saying. As he's in this garden and we saw this last time, he had withdrawn to agonize in prayer. And as he had done so, they had fallen asleep. In verse 40 it says that he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. In verse 43 he came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. Now Luke is called the beloved physician. He was a doctor and Luke gives us a doctor's observation of what contributed to their falling asleep in Luke 22 verse 45. It says, when he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep exhausted from sorrow. And so they were so exhausted from the sorrow and the sorrow of heart that they just took the natural root and they fell asleep. But Jesus was busy praying. See after this Jesus went away a third time and he prayed the same prayer that he had just prayed. He prayed, if this cup cannot pass away from me unless I drink it, your will be done. Well, in the midst of all of that, his disciples were still not listening to him. They weren't heeding his words. They were still yielding to their flesh. They were spiritually unprepared. They were dealing with their sorrow in a natural way. They were simply sleeping. And that's why in verse 45 he came to his disciples and asked the question, are you still sleeping and resting? They were so subject to their natural appetites, they didn't even consider him. And then in verse 46 he said, rise, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand. Well, Mark tells us in chapter 14 verse 41, he came the third time, said to them, are you still sleeping and resting? But he went on to say, it is enough. The hour has come. Behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. It is enough. Those words can simply speak of them taking in enough rest and it's time to get up and to go. You're going to need energy to deal with the rest of the events of this night. You see, his disciples had failed to be aware of him, but he remained aware of them. He's their shepherd. He simply watched over them as they took their rest. So on his own part, he was strengthened. He was at peace and he was prepared. Verse 45 tells us, though, that the hour came upon them and they were unprepared. Jesus went out to meet his enemies instead of allowing them to approach him. That's what verse 46 is saying. When it says, rise, let us be going. See who betrays me, he who betrays me is at hand. They're about to find out who this betrayer is. They still don't know. That is, Judas is the one who's betraying them. Remember that night when Judas had left the supper? They thought that Judas was simply going on an errand. In John 13, 29, some thought because Judas had the money box that Jesus had said to him, buy those things we need for the feast or that he should give something to the poor. So they're going to find out now who the betrayer is. Jesus had said, one of you will betray me. They at the table had begun to speak amongst themselves, discuss amongst themselves as to who Jesus might be speaking concerning. They all had said to him, is it me? And now they're going to find out who this betrayer is. It's Judas. It says in verse 47, while he was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people. So here comes Judas. And Judas is making his appearance. As he did so, that must have shocked the other apostles. It's interesting that he's still referred to as one of the twelve. He's referred to it that way because it amplifies his treachery. One of Jesus' trusted apostles is betraying him, but he didn't come alone. John tells us in chapter 18 of his gospel, verse 3, that Judas, having received a detachment of troops and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. Mark 14, verse 43 says immediately while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. And so he came with a multitude which included a detachment. When it speaks concerning a detachment, that's what is called a Roman cohort. That's 600 men. The officers speak of the temple police armed with swords and clubs. Again, Jesus had said, let us go. So he went out to meet them. And as he was still speaking, Judas now enters into the garden. Now, remember, there were eight of the apostles that were stationed in the garden. So he was allowed to get past those eight who were stationed at the entrance. And he approaches Jesus now to complete his mission. It's dark. And so it would be easy for Jesus to simply melt in with the others. So how is Judas going to identify Jesus amongst the other men? Well, notice verse 48. His betrayer had given them a sign saying, whomever I kiss, he is the one who sees him. Mark 14, verse 44 adds the words, take him, lead him away safely. When I first read that, lead him away safely, I thought, well, perhaps Judas was showing some compassion for the master, but that's not what that means. And it says, lead him away safely. He's really speaking in terms of the safety of those who are arresting Christ. And he's saying to them, lead him away in order that he might not escape from you. And so as this is all taking place, and that's their sign whomever I kiss, verse 49, immediately he went up to Jesus and said, greetings rabbi and kissed him. We're going to look at that for a moment. Greetings rabbi and kissed him. Psalm 55 verse 21 says this, his speech is smooth as butter, yet war is in his heart. His words are more soothing than oil, yet they are drawn swords. As we look at this, I want to develop this with you. I want to give you three things in the simple greeting where it says, greetings rabbi and that he kissed him. One, the word greetings can be translated rejoice. It's an expression of joy. It was intended to express the joy of Judas at finding Jesus and being with him. Second, a kiss is a salutation that demonstrates love between friends. And Judas kissed him tenderly again and again. So it would be clear that it was Jesus. Now, when we read concerning that Judas came and kissed Christ, we have to put it in its cultural perspective. At that time, a man would kiss another man on the cheek and it was intended to demonstrate a friendship, a relationship, a love. It was something that was personal and it was something that was beautiful. We Americans today maybe see that as a little bit odd even to this day. I mean, when I first got saved and I was being taught about being affectionate and having love and demonstrating love, that was a new idea for me that I could actually hold another man's hand in prayer or hug another man. That wasn't something you did. Not in my day. You don't hold another man's hand when you're praying with them. You've got to be kidding me. You look at them, but you don't hold their hand. I can still remember when I began to learn to pray and we used to have a bunch of people who would form a circle and they'd say, okay, we're going to pray and I would do what I had been taught. I'd put my hands in front of me and they said, no, no, no, we don't do that. We hold hands. You've got to be kidding. You've got to be kidding. No, no, we hold hands and so I hope there's a girl next to me. I wouldn't, but there were guys and I can still remember grabbing their hands and squeezing it real tight. Like, don't get any weird ideas, you know that kind of thing. I was real uncomfortable with it and I had a friend named George and George was very affectionate and George would walk up to me and he would hug me, high brother, and he'd hug me and I wasn't used to that. We didn't do that. That wasn't part of the way I was raised. My dad was not a physically affectionate man. Like, most of your dad's probably, if you're a man, your dad probably wasn't very affectionate. Either mine wasn't. My dad would hit me in the back of the head or punch me in the arm and that was love, you know, but I, so when I actually had a man, my age, putting his arms around me and holding me, I, you know, I was really, so I started learning at an early age what affectionate, affection in Christ really is, you know, the scripture says greet one another with a kiss, you know, and I thought that's great. But when you find out that it's the men would actually give kisses to other men, I had to learn an awful lot about what that meant and very insecure for a long time about that. Even when this church began, I was still learning to be affectionate at all and one day I was out in the front after, after church service. It's been over 30 years now and there was a guy who was there. I'd never met. It was his first time there and he wanted to talk to me. I was standing outside. He walks up. I still remember it like it was yesterday. He walks up to me and he had this real, real kind of like testosterone was just coming out of every pore of this guy. He is very macho, very macho guy and he's kind of standing all straight like this and he's talking to me and he wants to talk to me. It's his first time in church and he wants to talk about what it means to be a Christian and I'm sharing with him about that. But I'm picking up his vibe and this is Mr. Macho, you know, and I'm picking up his vibe and as we're speaking, here comes one of my friends who's very affectionate to me, very affectionate to me and he comes walking by and I see him and he, he waves at me and I say, and I wave back, how you doing man, you know, and he goes and he walks past me and comes back and walks up in front of Mr. Macho and when he walks up he says to me, I haven't kissed you in a long time and he kisses me. He still does and I thought, oh, you know, welcome to the family man. You know, so this, this affection is actually a very biblical thing. The men would actually give greetings of love and affection to one another and that's what it's all about. So when he comes in and he says to him greetings, that's another way of saying, I rejoice, I've been looking for you and now I have found you and I'm with you. Greetings and then he kisses him as the salutation demonstrating the love that was between friends and what's interesting also on top of this when it says that he kissed him, the word kissed means repeatedly and tenderly. So it wasn't just walking up and giving him just a little peck on the cheek, if you will. It was the kind of thing where he took him and started smothering his face with kisses, not out of affection, but to make sure that those who were going to arrest Jesus knew that this is the one whom I spoke of, the one I kissed and I'm making sure that you know that this is the one that you're to take. He said to him, Rabbi, the word Rabbi is another way of speaking of him as being his dear teacher. He said, you are our teacher and you have given us joy and love and I am showing this joy and love to you. But in reality, I'm using your own teaching to betray you, betrayed with a kiss. You know the word worship, the word worship is from the old English worthy ship. We break it into worship, worthy ship, and it speaks concerning the worthiness of God when you worship him. And Bible commentators that I have read over the years have pointed out that worship can also be described as kissing the face of God. Worship is kissing the face of God. Judas is acting out worship by kissing the face of God but he's doing it with hypocrisy because he's betraying him. Rabbi, you have taught us to love one another. You have taught us to care for each other in every way, shape, and form. I've heard all of your teachings. You are very dear to me and I'm simply expressing to you in practical action the things that you've taught me when in fact my act of worship is in reality an act of hypocrisy and betrayal. As I was thinking about this even this morning I was praying, God help me not to worship you like that. Not to kiss your face with hypocrisy in my heart. Not to say I love you Lord when in fact I've got other plans and I'm doing other things. Not to say I will follow you and I'll do the things that you've taught me to do when in reality I ignore the things that I know are true. Let my heart not be like Judas. And when this is taking place I want you to see how Jesus responds to him. Notice verse 50. Jesus said to him, friend, why have you come? Friend, when you look up the word friend because the New Testament was written in the Greek language and so what you do if you want to get a meaning, understand the root of this is you look up the Greek and the Greek word when he says friend is translated close companion. It speaks of somebody that you worked side by side with. It's a word that today, not so much today as in past years, the word comrade when we use the phrase like he's a comrade in arms or this is my comrade, it's a way that speaks of a closeness in a work relationship and a life experience for comrades. And so Jesus speaks to him and says you're a friend, you're a close companion, I have worked side by side with you, you are my comrade, my close affectionate friend and in essence it could be like Jesus is saying Judas, remember all that you have gone through with me as you're doing this. Remember, remember that you were numbered amongst the twelve selected from the multitude. Remember as we go through the Gospel of Matthew we've seen that multitudes would follow Christ and out of the multitudes Jesus had the seventy and then out of the seventy Jesus had the twelve and so he would be saying to him out of all of these people who followed after me, Judas remember first and foremost that all of those people that would have liked to have had time with me who would have liked to have spent time with me heard my words and well you were one of those twelve I selected you from the multitude and Judas remember you were given my message to proclaim to those who are lost and Judas remember you were given power to cast out demons and to heal those who are sick. You need to remember you were given the knowledge of things that were hidden from others in Matthew 13 when Jesus gives a series of parables the disciples approached him and began to question him concerning his teachings and he said you're the ones that have been given the privilege of knowing these things and these are things that are hidden from others but to you they have been revealed you gotta think for a minute what an incredible privilege it was where some things were hidden from the multitudes that these men were given teachings about. They knew things that others desired to know. Judas you were one of them. Judas you were selected from the multitudes. Judas you were given the message of salvation you proclaimed that message to the lost. Judas you received power from heaven you cast out demons you healed the sick. Judas you were given knowledge of things that were hidden from other people and Judas you were there in Caesarea Philippi the time that I asked the question who do men say that I the Son of man am and Judas you were there when I said but who do you say that I am and and Simon Peter said thou art the Christ the Son of the living God you heard that and you heard me when I said to him blessed are you Simon Bar Jonah flesh and blood did not reveal this to you but my father in heaven you saw that you've been around from the beginning all these years you've heard so many things you've done so many things you've been witness of so many things you were there you saw me raise the widow of Nain Son from the dead you saw me raise Jairus his daughter from the dead and recently you saw me when I stood at the tomb of Lazarus and I said Lazarus come forth and he came forth you saw it you were there you saw Peter when he walked on water twice you saw the miraculous medium of thousands and and you were there when I cast a legion of demons from the men of the gatherings you saw these things you saw me perform my first miracle you saw me cleanse the temple twice you saw me when I showed that mercy to that woman caught in the very act of adultery and you saw me when I extended mercy to the woman at Simon the Pharisees house I've cared for you Judas I taught you I camped out with you I've trained you and I've loved you and even now I speak to you graciously I speak with kindness instead of anger Luke 2248 Jesus says Judas are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss friend why have you come comrade companion co-laborer why have you come that question places responsibility on Judas Jesus is basically saying is this what it has all come down to are you betraying me with a kiss the symbol of friendship of tenderness of devotion you called me rabbi I call you friend that you're betraying me and you're doing it as an outward show of affection John gives us more insight in John 18 verses 4 through 8 Jesus knowing all that was going to happen to him went out and asked them who is it you want Jesus of Nazareth they replied I am he Jesus said and Judas the trader was standing there with them when Jesus said I am he they drew back and fell to the ground again he asked them who is it you want they said Jesus of Nazareth I told you that I am he Jesus answered if you are looking for me then let these men go that to me has a bit of ironic humor to it because at first they're standing and you have to picture they've got a great group of people behind them they're armed with swords and clubs they have their lanterns and their torches they're there as arresting officers they're belligerent and they're very they're very intimidating and that's why I see a bit of humor in it because Jesus said who are you looking for they said Jesus of Nazareth he says I am he and then John says when he said I am he they fell to the ground and so the next question has to be asked to them it doesn't say they got up it has to be asked him whether they're down in the ground and he said who are you looking for to me that's kind of a funny picture because these people are there to arrest him and yet he's in control they weren't in control of him he was in control of them who are you looking for I told you I'm he then let these go as a good shepherd he's caring for his sheep well as this is all taking place you can imagine what it would have been like I mean a moment before they had been praying and Jesus had been ministering to them you have eight men who had stationed were stationed at the at the gateway to enter into that garden it's now filled with people it's loud there's a lot of commotion going on Judas has walked up Peter James John are there they see Judas as he walks up to Jesus takes him by the shoulder starts smothering his face with kisses then you see Jesus responding have you come to betray me what are you doing and you see all of this taking place and as it is you have this this man Simon Peter who's watching this take place and remember Simon had earlier said the I will I will not only go to prison for you Jesus I will die for you and now it's his opportunity as he sees his taking place and they're coming to take his master and it's so much commotion the apostle Peter is there and he takes out his sword the Bible tells us in John 18 verses 10 and 11 Simon Peter who had a sword drew it and struck the high priest servant cutting off his right ear the servant's name was Malchus Jesus commanded Peter put your sword away shall I not drink the cup the father has given me Luke tells us in chapter 22 49 through 51 when those around him saw what was going to happen they said to him Lord shall we strike with the sword one of them struck the servant of the high priest cut off his right ear Jesus answered and said permit even this he touched his ear and healed him this is going down it's real Peter doesn't know what to do so he pulls out his sword and he takes a swing and it just so happens Malchus is in front of him even to this day in the Middle East there are certain things that occur with the use of your left hand and other things that occur with the use of your right hand your right hand you will use your hand to eat you'll shake hands with your right hand the left hand could be used for a variety of things including personal bathroom duties and so that even back 2000 years ago if you wanted to insult somebody you would hand them your left hand because that is a great insult so the boys even if they were natural left handers would be trained with the use of the right hand so we know that the Apostle Peter would have drawn a sword with his right hand we know that he would have used his right hand he'd have pulled the sword with his right hand to use it now why am I bringing that up because I want you to notice that the gospel writers told us Malchus's right ear was cut off his right ear portion of his ear was cut off his right ear so if I'm the Apostle Peter there's a commotion going on and there's people around me and I'm going to protect the Lord and I pull my sword and I swing my sword at somebody and I hit their head if they're facing me which ear is going to get hit their left ear how come Malchus's right ear got cut off because he hit him from behind it's a punk no he he hit him from behind he just swung it's a good thing he was a fisherman and not a swordsman by the way because he only cut a portion of his ear off what if he'd cut his whole head off that would have been interesting because Luke tells us that he touched his ear and healed him what if he cut his head off he could have taken his head put it on backwards this will help you in case somebody sneaks up no but that is kind of funny to think about you know later on Malchus would have gone to see what had happened he knew the burning sensation of losing a portion of his ear he knew what that felt like and blood would have poured out and caked on his neck and later on he would have seen as he was washing the wound how that he had actually been healed by the one that they had come to arrest the mercy of God even to the very end and the apostle Peter doesn't understand what's going on at all that's why in verse 52 Jesus said to him put your sword in its place for all who take the sword will perish by the sword now that would be said to stop the violence from escalating because it would have gotten very heavy had Jesus not done something quickly and it would have resulted in the death of the apostles somebody said Matthew's words are obviously not a general rule declaring the unlawfulness of all warfare but are limited in their range by the occasion resistance at that time would have involved certain destruction as the Roman soldiers would have slaughtered them more than that it would have been fighting not for God but against him because they would be fighting against the fulfillment of his purpose you see acts of violence to achieve personal ends is never to be rewarded and we need to remember that the battle is spiritual and Jesus would be saying had you watched and prayed you would have understood that he goes on and he makes this statement in verse 53 do you think that I cannot now pray to my father and he will provide me with more than 12 legions of angels 12 legions of angels represents 72,000 angels now what is that saying if I needed help I have 72,000 angels at my disposal Simon I don't need your help in 2 Kings in chapter 19 in the Old Testament that chapter records how an Assyrian army came against a king a king of Judah by the name of Hezekiah about 700 years before Christ and as this Assyrian military force came against Hezekiah Hezekiah began to pray and he asked God save us from this certain destruction and so there was a prophet at that time by the name of Isaiah and Isaiah sent word to Hezekiah that God had heard Hezekiah's prayer and sent the message God says he will defend the city to save it for his own sake and for David's sake and in 2 Kings 1935 it says it came to pass on a certain night that the angel of the Lord went out and killed in the camp of the Assyrians 185,000 and when people arose early in the morning there were the corpses all dead and so Peter Jesus is saying I have access to forces that would immediately annihilate the entire Roman army do you really think I need your anger to accomplish my plans remember James 1 20 the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God sometimes we think that because there are things that are wrong that we need to do something to defend God we have to be aware of the fact that the Lord is able to very ably defend himself as Christians we realize that the society that we live in has transformed it has changed remarkably in not that many years in not that many years the society that we live in today would grieve and it used to grieve my mother from a different era my mom on occasion would say to me son I just don't get it I don't understand where this world is going to because she came from an entirely different background and a different United States my mother and my dad your grandparents perhaps came from a different background entirely different there are things today that would cause them to blush that young people today think is normal they think it's ordinary and it's real it's just the way it is and people don't even think about it anymore at all so many things but my parents and your grandparents great grandparents they came from an entirely different background and my mom would say things on occasion to me like you know I'm ready to go home David she'd tell me I'm ready to go home she said this world is getting so different it's so much worse than when I grew up in and I would say to her mama you know it's just time to strap on the sword and go to battle I mean we as Christians this is what it's always been about we're out there to reach people for Jesus Christ don't lose heart mama God is on the throne things are going to be okay and yet at the same time my mom had a point she would make a point because it was legitimate there were things she would see that she would see now on TV that is like porn I mean when you have hamburger commercials that are porn hamburger commercial that are porn that wasn't the world my mom and dad grew up in they didn't grow up in that there was a thing called decency there was something called modesty I see our I see Christians argue about modesty today I see people arguing saying it's your fault if you stumble and and are tempted by the way that person is dressed it's your fault because we're so self-centered we have substituted so many things for for a lot we we think that we're actually having a personal conversation when we have text messages we think I use my all the time I use my phone like anybody else does but I don't substitute that for real relationships and yet there are people who think they're having real relationships because they text one another when in fact it's simply saying to someone I don't have time to talk to you I will get back to you when I feel like it that's what we're doing that's why people will go to church today with a man on a screen like the Wizard of Oz you don't need a pastor their body they're talking to you I'll just look at them like I do on on the screen at home I don't even have to be there there are people who aren't on church on in church on Sunday because they're watching a worship service in terms of music at one church so they move through the teaching on another and they never go out they never serve they don't contribute they do nothing they just take that's what it's like today see we don't understand and so what happens is people like me can get frustrated and people like you sometimes and we can say what happened to this nation that we lived in what happened to this nation that used to fear God what happened to a nation that used to pray a nation that used to care and we will we actually will mythologize the United States into it was like was a great seat on a hill and in fact we've always needed the gospel of Jesus Christ we've always had sinners we've never had a righteous president we have had Christians who were in office but we've always needed to preach the gospel we've always needed transformation and what happens is we get kind of concerned about that and before you know it we get angry and then you get mad Christians marching over this and angry about that and the world looks at us and says where's this message of love and you say oh it's a message of righteousness indeed it is but where's your love see pastor Chuck Smith my pastor hated hippies he hated me and people liked me why because we were slobs and dopers and drunks it was Kay who loved the hippies his wife and they would they would be there at Huntington beach and she would she would be looking at kids and perhaps me and people liked me walking by you know barefoot it loaded drunk or whatever at the beach and she would she would be there with Chuck and Chuck would be there with his arms folded and he'd be saying those dirty slobs ought to get a job and then he'd look at his wife and she'd be crying praying Jesus save those kids we need that today too by the way don't we we need that today we're angry we're so angry we're living in angry times the wrath of man the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God it doesn't the Apostle Peter's there with this little sword and you say and I'm going to defend God and Jesus says put your sword away put your sword away I don't need your help I really don't Peter appreciate your zeal you see Peter earlier had said to Jesus I'll die for you I can't help but admire this man I mean all of these people inside of that garden and there's the Apostle and he says let's go down I like him I like men like him I do fighters warriors I'll take you out turn around let me hit you in the head Marcus it wasn't a punk later on John speaks concerning the fact that the Apostle Peter by himself pulls up a net with 153 fish in it any fisherman in this room knows how powerful you'd have to be to be able to pull up that large a catch by yourself he was powerful he was he was a man's man he was a man's man but he was wrong and Jesus said put your sword away how is God's word going to be fulfilled if you try to act out in the flesh that's what Jesus is saying verse 54 how then could the scriptures be fulfilled that it must happen in this way the Bible said Isaiah 53 verse 1 who has believed our report to whom as the arm of the Lord been revealed the Bible says I'm going to be rejected the Bible says a friend will betray me Psalm 41 9 even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted who ate my bread has lifted up his heel against me the Bible says and I'm going to be sold for 30 pieces of silver Zechariah 11 12 they weighed out from my wages 30 pieces of silver the scriptures prophesied it's got to happen you're trying to thwart it once again you're opposing the work of the Lord Peter the work of the Lord in salvation remember Jesus had prepared them once again Peter had resisted back in Matthew 16 it says in verses 21 and 22 from that time Jesus began to show to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed be raised the third day and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him saying far be it from you Lord this shall not happen to you he's done it before you're thwarting the will of God with your fleshly effort scripture has to be fulfilled this is done that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled he said in verse 56 and then all the disciples forsook him and fled again he had said that earlier verse 31 all of you will be made to stumble because of me this night for it is written I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered as much as you'd like to believe you'll remain faithful when it comes down to it when the rubber meets the road you're going to get up and you're going to go you're going to leave me I will die for you no you won't no you won't you will forsake me they left perhaps they were afraid of suffering perhaps they were afraid of even dying whatever it is the scripture says it all the disciples all the disciples forsook him and fled they forsook him but he never forsook them one of my scriptures that I love and I'll close with is in the book of Hebrews which simply says one of the verses simply says I will never leave you nor forsake you when you read that in the original language it is I will never never never it's a triple emphasis I will never never never leave you nor forsake you Jesus once said and now I am alone and yet I'm not alone for you are with me though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death you are with me God doesn't leave you you can start walking away from him and some do you go through pain and you go through sorrow you go through moments where your own heart is ripped out of your body and shown to you almost in a visual way where your heart well you say God show me my heart and the Lord does it's like he sometimes he opens your chest and pulls out your heart and says you want to see it it's desperately wicked and you see it and you say oh my God oh my God that is me that's the way I am listen you get saved and you walk with the Lord and God begins to do new things in your life but after a while you begin to realize that so much of the old person is still there and so much of that old nature desires to be dominant and you find out you actually in a spiritual life have a spiritual war and it's a warfare that seems to be constant and it doesn't stop and there are times when you feel like the Apostle Peter you walk on water and then like the Apostle Peter you sink there are times when you can have a very high relationship with the Lord where everything is firing on every cylinder and God is moving and then there are other times when you say I'm a wretch God how could you and the enemy because the whisper in your ear and sometimes friends will will harm you and then sometimes your heart will betray you and the people you love the most sometimes hurt you the most your family and your friends but he never forsakes you I will never never never leave you nor forsake you thank you Jesus for you remain faithful when I'm unfaithful you're good when I'm not you're there when I'm absent you empower me when I'm strong and you heal me when I'm broken thank you Jesus for your goodness to me you are a savior worth worshiping and I love you Christianity Christianity you're never alone you're never alone you're never alone he loves you and though they forsook him and fled he never forsook them and he bled that's how it works in Christianity he took it upon himself so that you could be set free by him he knew what his men would do he told them what they would do but he had also said to the Apostle Peter I have prayed for you that your strength fails not and after that you have been converted strengthen your brethren you're going to learn you're going to learn and you will be strong because I will make you strong that's how it works God breaks a man that he might shape that man and once he's broken you and made you then you can stand strong in him because you will know without you I can do nothing but with you I can do all things