 So here we are. We're in John chapter 13. We're going to be looking at verses 31 through 38. And as we begin, before I read these verses, I would say to our online viewers, hey, we love you, wish you could be with us. You can't obviously be with us in person, but you're able to be with us watching online. And so, you know, welcome. And I know we're reaching people in different states right now because we're getting letters, emails, you know, letters as kind of old, isn't it? We're getting emails and messages from those who are watching us. And so why don't you take a moment to send us a hello. We'd like to know that you're listening and we pray that this is something that is ministering to any needs that you might have. So we're going to be looking at John 1331 through 38. I chose to entitle this particular installment of our study of the Gospel of John. I took it out of one of the verses we'll be looking at where it simply says, love one another. And we'll see that in just a moment. So beginning at verse 31. I'll read verses 31 and 32 and get into our study. John writes in John 13 verse 31 and 32 and he had gone out. Jesus said, now the Son of man is glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and glorify him immediately. And so last time we were together, we were in chapter 13. We closed with chapter 13 verse 30 where it speaks concerning Judas. And it says in verse 30, having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately and John says, and it was night. In other words, Judas, who has betrayed the Lord, has gone out to complete his betrayal. We know that he is going to Jesus's enemies in order to lead them to where he knows Jesus will be. And so as we open up our study, we have to begin by asking ourselves, why is he doing this? Why would he be provoked to do something like this? And there are obviously various reasons that we could approach. But one of the things I'd remind you of is that while he was at dinner in Bethany, Mary, one of Jesus's disciples, had poured out costly ointment on Jesus. You remember that? And you remember that Judas was there as part of the dinner party and he'd gotten upset over this and he loudly protested in front of everyone. In John 12 verse 5, he asked the question, why was this fragrant oil not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor? And so he's pretending that he's concerned with the poor, but what he did is he had a calculator for a brain. And he looked at the costly ointment and his mind went to the value of it. And because he had the purse and he was a treasurer and he was stealing from it, he began to see that this was a loss to him. Now he's pretending to be concerned for the poor and he's going to use this to criticize. He used it to criticize Mary as well as Jesus. And this is so often the case. We're even seeing this take place as I give this study. There's one political party that's claiming to care for people while withholding any aid for them. And I just can't begin to believe that they care so much for others while they are doing nothing to help them. You see, real concern would provoke people to come to the aid of those who truly need it. In Proverbs 3.27, the writer said, do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is in the power of your hand to do so. And so sometimes we pretend that we care. Sometimes we say, oh, this could have been done. We could have sold it. We could have given to the poor. When in fact, Judas didn't care about that at all. What he's doing is he's using it to divide because this is what would be called an effective ploy to hide your real motives. Because what he's doing is he's hiding his real motives behind the veneer of caring or compassion. It works because truly compassionate people will agree when somebody makes a statement like that. So Judas is using a veneer of compassion. He's saying, oh, we could have sold it and given to the poor. And those who really have hearts for those who are poor are going to side with him because he spoke to them in a way that drew them to agreement. But in fact, he's only using that because he's upset that he wasn't able to use that money for himself. As is so often the case, his outspoken criticism is echoed by those who heard it. Matthew tells us in chapter 26 verse 8, but when his disciples sought, they were indignant saying to what purpose is, and notice to what purpose is this waste. And that's a very old, it's a very effective tactic of the enemy. What he's trying to do at this point, guys, is divide and conquer. In the time of pressure, he divides and conquers. You are my staff, you know, we're obviously speaking to my staff right now as this is going out over the airwaves. Be careful that you're not divided. Be careful that we unify in the things we're going through. Be very careful. Because one of the things the enemy does is he sows seeds of discord to disturb the flow of the spirit. That's what he does. It is so common. I call it Christianity 101. It's a basic thing that is so common every person ought to know that. And yet when we have concerns in our own hearts, when we're concerned of something else, everybody else's concerns have a way of disappearing because ours will always take the front, always. And the enemy uses that to divide. He uses that to destroy. And that's what he did on this night. Why was this fragrant oil not sold? It was worth at least 300 days' wages. We could have given it to the poor. And then John says, this he said not because he cared for the poor, but because he was the treasurer. He had the money bag and he took what was in it. We have to watch our own hearts because one of the things the enemy likes to do is he likes to divide in order to conquer. Now, who would think that it's a waste to give their substance to Jesus? The answer is very simple. The one who doesn't love him. In Job 21, verses 14 and 15, we read that the wicked say to God, depart from us, for we do not desire the knowledge of your ways. Who is the Almighty that we should serve him? And what profit do we have if we pray to him? What do we gain from this? What is our profit? You see, Jesus openly rebuked such an attitude because he knew that Satan was the one influencing Judas. In Mark 14, 8 and 9, Jesus said, she has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint my body for burial. Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her. And so what she has done is what she could. Now, this open rebuke may have been the catalyst that moved Judas to finalize betraying Christ because in Matthew 26, 14 through 16, Matthew said one of the 12 called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, what are you willing to give me if I deliver him to you? And he counted out to him 30 pieces of silver. So from that time, he sought opportunity to betray him. Well, when you look at Exodus in the Old Testament, Exodus chapter 21, verse 32, that verse tells us that this was the standard value of a slave. You see, for Judas, Jesus had no value outside of the financial gain. He would be able to realize if he sold him. You see, for him, religion was a system of profit and loss. It was something that didn't appeal to his heart. Money was more important to Judas than peace with God and caring for other people. And we see this in times of crisis. We see people begin to greedily gouge prices so that they may profit. We all heard of Matt and Noah Colvin. They bought almost 18,000 bottles of hand sanitizer, and they drove around Chattanooga, Tennessee and into Kentucky, filling a U-Haul with thousands of bottles of hand sanitizer, and then sold them on Amazon for between, listen, between $8 and $70 each. I bought four. No, $8 and $70 each. And the next day, Amazon pulled his items and thousands of other listings for sanitizer, wipes, and face masks. The company suspended some of the sellers behind the listings and warned many others that if they kept running up prices, they'd lose their accounts. eBay soon followed with even stricter measures, prohibiting any U.S. sales of masks or sanitizer. Now, while millions of people across the country search in vain for hand sanitizer to protect themselves from the spread of the coronavirus, Mr. Colvin is sitting on 17,700 bottles of the stuff with little idea of where to sell them. Think about that for a minute. Profiting off of another person's pain. Profiting off of somebody else. You know, Proverbs chapter 10 verse 2 says, treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivers from death. So the time has come. Judas is fully committed to betraying Jesus Christ. And at the dinner table, Jesus made it clear to him that he had been discovered. You see, in John 13, 27, it says, after the piece of bread, Satan entered him and Jesus said to him, what you do, do quickly. So Judas left the table and he entered into fullness of spiritual darkness. That's basically what it's saying in verse 30, when it says, having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately and notice again, it was night. He entered into the depth of spiritual darkness. So the table is now occupied only by those who are loyal to and love Jesus Christ. And so as this is taking place, verse 31, when he'd gone out, Jesus said, now the Son of man is glorified. God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and glorify him immediately. God is glorified. Judas disappears into the night and Jesus resolves to finish the work of salvation. And he knows it's time to be glorified and he's going to be glorified to his death on the cross. His hour has finally arrived and in his atoning death, his father will receive glory as his son fulfills his mission. When Jesus prays in John 17, verse 4, he says, I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work he gave me to do. And so Jesus is bringing glory to the Father. Notice how verse 32 says, if God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself. So how is God glorified in him? Well, Jesus is about to die. And the redemption of the world brings glory to God. We need to remember that Jesus died to redeem us, but the Father who gave him receives glory for doing so. His death is the greatest evidence of God's love for the world. There are people who are asking, where is God? Where is God now? When I was a young man, so I'm talking about many years ago now, when I was a young man, I used to teach Bible study in Norwalk. I was 24 or so at this time. And one of my neighbors, my name was Claudette. One of my neighbors had a little boy. He was a few years old. And he got very sick. And so Claudette was a member of my Bible study. You've got to understand I was about 24. And Claudette was probably at that time close to 40 years old. She wasn't a younger woman by any means. She had several children. And so she was probably around 40 or maybe even older. And she had had her last child in her later years. And now he's very sick. He's got a very high temperature. And again, she was a member of my Bible study. And she came to the house and she wanted to talk to me. And she lived just down the street, just a few houses. And she came to my house and we were talking. And I'll never forget how she said to me, where is God now? She says, my son is so sick. Little, his name is Ernie. She called him Little Ernie. Little Ernie is so sick. He's so sick he's got a fever. Where is God now? And again, I was 24 years old. I'm not the fount of wisdom by any means. And questions such as that, I still to this day don't have an adequate explanation for those kinds of questions. But I do remember responding this way when she said, where is God now? And I said, where is God now? She said, yes. I said, where is God now that your son is ill? I said, he's in the same place he was when he watched his son Jesus die on the cross. He hasn't moved. He loves you. And he hears your prayer. I believe that. I believe that since I was a little Christian if you were a young believer in Christ. 24 years old. I got saved at the age of 20, but I'd already started teaching the word. I already began to see how God loves us. And I think this world right now, guys, needs to know that. It's true on the one hand that what we have done is we have taken our puny little fists and we have begun to shake them in the face of God. We have legitimized things that God has prohibited. We have made things valuable that God says are abominable. We have taken sports and we have our sports on Sundays, which is a day of rest, which is a time when people ought to be worshiping the God who gave us the freedoms that we have. But instead of worshiping him, we have made our Sunday, our sports day. We have taken actors and actresses and people on the screen and we've made them our idols and our role models and we've taken our eyes off the one who really matters and our families that we haven't really valued to the degree that we could. We get our kids, those of us who are parents who have children who are young enough to do this and on a weekend, instead of teaching them the things of the Lord throughout the week really, but on the weekend, even the believing parents will take Sundays off to go to soccer camps or to go travel on soccer teams and all. And we've taught our children, we've taught them that worshiping God is not really something that's that necessary. You can do that while you're kicking a soccer ball or playing softball. We've taught them that. We've taught them to not value the Lord and value time with God. That's what we're doing. And I suspect that what the Lord is doing right now is actually putting people in the same house who don't talk to each other very often and giving us the opportunity to actually get to know one another a bit because sometimes we don't even know our families. Sometimes we're so busy with other things, pursuing other things to the degree that we don't even know our own children and we who are grandparents perhaps don't even know our own grandchildren. So these are the things that are taking place and we have an opportunity right now as a church to take our eyes off of things that don't matter and put them on the things that do and to glorify the Lord and to remind the world that God is a just God, but God is also a loving God and God has done something. He sent his son Jesus Christ and in that way the church have been preaching this for 2,000 years and we tell people that Jesus Christ is Lord. He loves you. He laid his life down on a cross for you. Voluntarily died for you. We should love him in return and that brings glory to God and that brings glory to the Lord because in Christ he is glorified. That's what he's saying. God will also glorify him in himself. Not only will God be glorified, but Jesus himself will also be because Jesus receives glory because he will be exalted all power and authority is given to him. Now how will God glorify him through his resurrection and by his return? In Romans chapter 1 verse 4 Paul said that Jesus through the spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the son of God by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus Christ, our Lord. In 1 Peter 322 we read Jesus has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him. Jesus is glorified and that's what took place in his death barrier, resurrection, his ascension and in the future even more glory will be given to him. And he continues in verse 33 little children I shall be with you a little while longer you will seek me and as I said to the Jews where I'm going you cannot come so now I say to you all right notice this with me remember Jesus is around 33 years old you know I have some in this room close to that age some who passed it a long time going just won't admit it but 33 that's not that old so what am I wanting to point out look how he spoke to his men little children what does that say that says he has a tenderness and a love for these men is there anything that we as a church ought to have for one another if it's not love and this is just expressing it just even as he begins to speak and he calls him his little children this is tenderness he's speaking to him as this little children what is he doing he's preparing them because he's about to die violently and he's about to depart and how does he prepare them he reminds them first of what he has said to his opponents because that's what he's saying here as I said to the Jews where I am going you cannot come so now I say to you in John 7 34 he had said you will seek me and not find me where I am in John 8 21 Jesus said to them again I'm going away and you will seek me and will die in your sin where I go you cannot come so that where I go you cannot come is speaking of the days between his crucifixion and resurrection they're going to desire to see him he's not going to be there with them and again after his resurrection he returns to God and for a time they're going to be willing to be separated from him and so we'll be reunited but for a time we will not be together and then he gives something here and this is one of my favorite scriptures and we'll spend a moment looking at it together verse 34 and 35 a new commandment I give to you that you love one another as I have loved you that you also love one another by this all will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another I was 20 years old I went into a church for the first time in a long time and all of you know this story but some haven't heard it and I walked into this church after drinking and smoking marijuana and I was barefooted I was a hippie kid I had the long hair I expected to be kicked out of the church when I walked in because you couldn't walk into the church I attended at that time in the condition I was in I would not have been welcomed I would have been ushered out the door and I knew it you couldn't walk into a church barefoot you didn't walk into a church with alcohol beer on your breath your eyes glazed because you're smoking pot they had to walk me out and I walked into that church and it was packed and I remember it like it was yesterday that was almost 50 years ago but I still remember it I remember walking in I remember seeing how crowded this small chapel was and how I sat there amongst all of these hippie kids and as I sat there I began to ask myself what is different about this place there's something different here I'd been to church off and on all of my 20 years been in church didn't like it didn't like the people in it didn't like the way it was run didn't like the ministers I was raised Catholic so I didn't like the priests I didn't like it at all my friend kept on saying you need to come to church and I kept saying why I don't need to I already know enough you know why guys let's keep this in mind when I walked into that church there was something there that I didn't feel anywhere else in this world I didn't know what it was and I found out not that day but I found out later it was something I'd never felt in a church and it was something I'd never felt in my family in the world it was something I never felt in relationships something I'd never felt with my friends it was love it was love it was pure love I felt that I'm not a believer who believes that if my emotions tells me this is so it must be my heart is deceitful it's desperately wicked that I can lie to myself there's no greater deception than self-deception I realize that but when the Holy Spirit touches you when the Holy Spirit is working guys don't forget this when the Holy Spirit is present oh God is love and you'll sense His presence that's what we're supposed to have by the way as a staff isn't it love for one another isn't that what we're supposed to have I think so is it lacking sometimes? absolutely when we get caught up with our jobs and we forget our Jesus you will have problems I promise you that Jesus made it very clear this is one of my favorite scriptures by this shall all may know that you are my disciples if you have love one for another the mark of a true believer is the love of God and that's what we're looking at in this passage before he says a new commandment that word new in the original language Greek it carries the connotation of something that is fresh a fresh commandment I'm giving you a new look at this in other words fresh this new commandment is that you love one another now notice he says as I have loved you you see before I'm crucified I must give you that which will enable you to continue my work I must equip you to do works of service that will last and be a testimony to this lost world to be most effective Jesus by his spirit equips his disciples that they might be able to share his message and there are things that they're going to need if they will reach this world because in order to reach the world they will need things they're going to need for example is peace because there's going to be opposition and that's something that even at this moment they don't have it's something that he needs to give them notice if you look ahead to chapter 14 at verse 1 notice how he says there let not your heart be troubled you believe in God believe also in me there in need of something they don't have at that moment so he says I'm going to give you certain things that will help you I'm going to give you peace later on in chapter 14 verse 27 he says peace I leave with you peace I give to you not as the world gives do I give to you let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid is that something we can apply right now is that let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid neither let it be afraid that's a volitional thing neither let it be afraid gives me the insight that I can let it be afraid I don't cast my cares on him in John 16 verse 33 these things I've spoken to you that in me you may have peace in the world you will have tribulation but be of good cheer I have overcome the world do you believe that guys today do you do you I do too I do too what a testimony the church can be to the world if we don't run around afraid like everybody else doesn't mean we put aside common sense and doesn't mean we're presumptuous and testing God no I'm not saying that I'm simply saying that what we should do is trust God because who else do you have to trust and who is more trustworthy and when you cast your cares on him you do it because he cares for you and his peace that passes understanding will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus as a second thing by the way he said he would give to us because of the sorrow and the tribulation the anguish I'm going to give you something else not only peace I'm going to give you my joy later on we'll see in chapter 15 of John verse 11 where he says these things I've spoken to you that my joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full in James 1 verses 2 through 4 remember how James said my brethren count it all joy when you fall into various trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience that patients have it's perfect work that you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing I'm going to give to you what you don't have I'm going to give to you peace and I'm going to give to you something that the world won't understand I'm going to give you joy I'm going to give you the strength strength that you need comes through joy comes through the peace that God says that he'll give to us and then I'm going to give you what is possible the key if you will for people to receive my message like the other necessary things it's something that you need to be immersed in I'm going to give you a command and the command is to love one another but I want you I'm commanding you to love one another with the kind of love I have had for you because that will empower and enable you to work together it is my love Jesus is saying that will keep you united and it's my love that will make it possible to remain one through anything you endure that's another thing that we need to do you know what the enemy loves to do he loves to divide as mentioned earlier so we all scatter to our own concerns but in times of struggle and trial it's better for us to unite in prayer in love caring for one another that's what we need to be doing right now and it's something that is becoming more and more obvious as the days go by you know I was sharing recently on facebook live how that I get these feeds where people are advertising things and there's this one fella who's trying to sell me on what he calls the disney land approach to church and because I guess we're supposed to make our services kind of like a theme park and I actually wrote to this guy I actually wrote on his page and you know I said the problem with having a disney land model for churches the pastors are goofy and the church becomes mickey mouse and that's true that's what happens you know pastors become goofy you know and the church is a mickey mouse operation and then I have other guys who are writing saying oh we can help you to improve the look of your sanctuary and the look of your grounds you know because they want our churches to be like resorts you know but in times of struggle and pain do you think people need to come to be entertained and to walk on a nice peaceful campus if you don't have the gospel of Jesus front and center if you don't have the hope of Christ in the middle of that sanctuary if the people walking around that they're encountering who are staff members don't have a sense that God is moving then they have every right to question whether or not we really believe it's really important for us in this hour of crisis and I really believe I really believe that this is time for the church to shine perhaps it's for a moment like this that we've come into existence guys we need to remember that and I'm not preaching just to you I'm speaking to my heart I too have concerns I too carry things in my heart my wife Marie and I are part of that group that's not supposed to be going out because we're old she is at least my hope is in my God and I'm not presumptuous I'm not running around testing God to see whether or not no I'm I'm wise I'm applying the wisdom God gave to me through his word and by his spirit I'm not going to test him I'm not going to jump from the pinnacle of the temple to see if his angels will hold me up but at the same time I walk through the valley of the shadow and I will fear no evil for he is with me and that we need to understand and like Spurgeon said and I mentioned this to you recently like Spurgeon said so long ago he said the worst thing that can happen to a Christian who dies of a disease as he goes to heaven and that's something to remember now it's not that I'm going to run out there right now and say oh I want the disease I want to go to heaven I want to stay I want to be here as long as God allows me to and I want to be with my grandchildren I'm hoping that Joseph and Karina will come on give us one more I want that you know I want to see my grand babies grow up a little bit I want that but should David Rosales die? David Rosales is with the Lord and that's my hope you know absent from the body present with the Lord you know and anyway Jesus said if you believe in me I will never die we just move into life in its fullness we need to understand that but getting back to it as he speaks concerning this he's talking about love love one another he said as I have loved you and notice again verse 34 he says a new commandment now in what sense are we to understand that this is a new commandment all you need to do is remember the Old Testament law of Moses and the law the law of Moses is standard it wasn't really that demanding because it had a human measuring rod if you will in Leviticus 1918 it says do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people that love your neighbor as yourself I am the Lord it had a human measuring rod love your neighbor as yourself it's not that demanding but Jesus raises the standard by commanding them to love one another as he loved them so that speaks of motive a motive that informs and directs our love we love one another and you might want to note this in your heart if not on a paper we love one another to the degree that we've experienced his love I want to talk about that for a minute we love one another to the degree that we've understood and experienced his love what am I saying when I say that as Christians we need to know that we love people because he first loved us we love people because we've been loved by God yeah there are those who don't know him Jesus spoke of men's heathens God do they not love their own what makes you any different if you're loving your own even heathens do that they love their own children they love their own family they love their own friends that kind of love isn't that deep when we as a church and I hope I can make this clear because this is what I was meditating on just yesterday when we as believers understand we begin to comprehend with all the saints the depth of God's love for us changes your entire way of life many people are constantly doing things so that they may be loved by the people they do things for their love is shallow because love for them is a bartering ship if I do this for you would you do that for me if I'm good to you will you be good in return and when somebody isn't good to them in return I'm not going to love you anymore that's kind of how people are we use people because we want them to care for us and appreciate us but what happens when you spend time and this is something the Puritans used to do this is something that what they used to call the mystics of so long ago would do is they contemplated the depth of God's love and it changed their lives they contemplated the depth of God's love they would focus their attention on the depth of God's love God demonstrated his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us and they would consider that and their hearts were knit to his act of sacrifice not the rewards that were coming those were something that we received because we belong to him but the motivation for my life has got to be more than self-serving it has to be more than receiving a reward more than that yes the motives of what he's talking about love one another as I have loved you how have you loved me because I really believe you know where a lot of people in counseling I see this when I minister to people I've been doing this for a while now people are so caught up with how they're treated by others so caught up with it sometimes it's just petty instead of saying you know what it is for me look what God has done for me look who am I to judge somebody else and their walk with God who am I to do that who am I because God has been merciful to me changes the way that you are you are with people and if my wife could tell you anything has changed over the years I think that's an aspect of my life and my love I think a lot of people have watered down their own sinfulness to the degree that they don't think they were that bad I really do it's a root of self-righteousness it's what the Pharisees were all about they'd stand on street corners and pray or they'd give their gifts to be seen by men they'd do their religious fasts so that people would say oh what a righteous person you are and Jesus taught us otherwise guys how do you get to that place spend time in the Word it's a mirror and let the Word judge you all you need to do is be in the Word you know we're part of the problem not the problem I see in the church today they're not in the Word they're just not reading if they do it's because they have to read these many chapters today so I can go through the Bible in a year they're not meditating on it they're not saying God show me my heart because guys when you read your Bibles don't you get convicted I do I don't do that I'm not like that my heart isn't like that help me to love other people God first loved me and it's the degree of love that he has for me that helps me to empty myself of myself because if he's truly loved us if he's truly known his love we love others and that's how you know you're a Christian in 1 John 3 16 by this we know love because he laid down his life for us and we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren he died for us he laid his life down and we can show that we understand that by being sacrificial in our own hearts and so many who claim to be Christians who have an understanding of the depth of God's love they haven't comprehended the depth of their sin they haven't comprehended the depth of his forgiveness and they haven't believed his deep love for them is real they remain unmoved how deeply does he love us and what has he done to reveal his love he laid down his life for us in John 15 12 and 13 we understand that you love one another as I have loved you greater love has no one than this than the lay down one's life for his friends we know that self-preservation is the strongest instinct and yet Jesus voluntarily gave up his life and when you read the Bible the Bible's simplest revelation of God is that he's love for some reason we seem to either dismiss it we take it for granted or we just reject it God doesn't simply love God is love in John's writings he gave us three definitive statements about God in John 4 24 we saw this in chapter 4 here of the Gospel he said that God is spirit in 1 John chapter 1 verse 5 he said God is light and in 1 John 4 verse 8 he went on to say God is love three definitive statements he's spirit he's light and he's love and God's love is the characteristic that identifies a person as a believer in Jesus Christ if we had no words to speak how would they know we're believers how how if we had no words to speak how would they know we're a believer how would they know that by the way we are with people by our tenderness by our compassion by our generosity by our concern by our sacrifice that's how there's a historian his name is Philip Schaff and Philip Schaff wrote Christianity is primarily not merely doctrine but life a new moral creation a saving fact first personally embodied in Jesus Christ the incarnate word the God man to spread from him and embrace gradually the whole body of the race and bring it into saving fellowship with God in the individual believer it begins not with religious views simply it comes as a new life as a creative fact in experience taking up the whole man with all his faculties and capacities releasing him from the guilt and the power of sin and reconciling him with God restoring harmony and peace to the soul and at last glorifying the body itself you see this understanding of his love and what he did transforms us it gives us a new way of life when that's not totally centered on self in first John 4.16 we have known and believed the love that God has to us God is love he who dwells in love dwells in God and God in him and so again notice verse 34 Jesus said love one another as I've loved you because we know that God demonstrated his love in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ we were helpless and unable to save ourselves and yet God sent his son to rescue us I read an illustration I'll share at this point let's imagine that you are on death row various religious teachers have come to visit you first enters Buddha and as he's speaking to you he says all is misery so you must work for your own salvation and then the next one who enters in is Muhammad he says you must come to realize that this is simply the will of Allah then you have Krishna the Hindu teacher of reincarnation and he says better luck next time finally the jailer approaches your cell and he opens the door and Jesus walks in and the jailer says Jesus paid the price for your freedom and he's come to take your place he's seen Colossians 2 14 Paul said Jesus wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us which was contrary to us he's taken it out of the way having nailed it to the cross so the heart of God was most clearly revealed when he gave his son to die for us and Jesus loved and he demonstrated it by dying he said in John 10 11 I am the good shepherd and the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep so as Jesus is speaking here and he says by this all will know that you are my disciples if you love one another well Simon begins to speak and he says Lord verse 36 where are you going Jesus answered him where I am going you cannot follow me now but you shall follow me afterward Peter said to him Lord will you lay down my life for your sake Jesus answered him will you lay down your life for my sake most assuredly I say to you the rooster shall not crow till you've denied me three times imagine that for a moment imagine that all that pathos all that emotion all of that pouring out of him he's listening to him he's hearing things he doesn't want to hear where are you going you're saying the same thing to us that you said to those who rejected you surely you don't think they were the same kinds of people surely you don't think that we don't love you Jesus answers in verse 36 where I am going you can't follow me now your work is not done but you will follow me you will suffer for me Peter you will die for me but the time is not yet for this to take place it will later and Peter said to him why can't I follow you now I'll lay down my life for you in Matthew 2633-35 Matthew says Peter answered and said even if all are made to stumble because of you I will never be made to stumble Jesus said to him assuredly I say to you that this night even before the rooster crows you will deny me three times Peter said to him even if I have to die with you I will not deny you and so said all the disciples under the right circumstances even the most faith-filled person can stumble I don't condemn the Apostle Peter for being a human being I just don't he had such a passion for the Lord can't help but love him you really can't you can't help but love this man they call him that big burly sailor how do we know he was big and burly right doesn't describe him doesn't say he was six foot two weight 300 pounds but we know he was strong because we'll see it later on when he pulls in a net full of fish 153 that's a powerful man so this was a very powerful man perhaps he had learned over time to rely on himself to rely on what was inside of him it's possible that that took place with this man and his love for Christ can you imagine it can you imagine I have friends that remind me of the Apostle Peter men who like the Apostle later on will do pull out a sword and take off the head of anybody near him men with that kind of vibrant love and devotion but under the right circumstances the Apostle Peter was also capable and did but also capable of denying now I love you so much I could never lay my life I would never save my own life I will die for you Jesus really but the others at the same time notice that so said all the disciples and so what do I learn from this and I'm going to close here at this point what do I learn well one I need God's strength to remain faithful even though I know I will still fall you see Luke 22 31 through 34 the Lord said Simon, Simon, indeed Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat but I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail and when you've returned to me strengthen your brethren they said to him Lord I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death and he said I tell you Peter the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know me Satan asked for you he obtained you he's going to sift you that's what's going to happen but here's the key I have prayed for you and guess what he ever lives to make intercession for us too I have prayed for you and after you converted the king James you returned to me strengthen your brethren in the humbling of the apostle Peter a minister was born keep that in mind anybody who says I'm better than somebody else needs to learn they're no better than anybody else and that gives you a position to humbly minister to those who are broken till you learn that there seems to be a lot of churches today that are pastored by success oriented men but not broken men broken men broken women are the ones that God uses in his kingdom the apostle Peter and we'll see this later on in his restoration he was a broken man and later he was a used man by God the second thing Jesus prays for us even as he prayed for him the third thing Jesus wasn't taken by surprise you know he doesn't say really oh and then when Peter fails man I didn't think he could fail Jesus wasn't that way he wasn't taken by surprise my mom said when I was a young boy my mom said you know David when someone comes up to me and tells me that you did something that was bad she says I'll always say the same thing and she did she said I don't doubt it and she said I'll also say I did a lot worse you just don't know about that was my mom she wasn't taken by surprise by the evil of her son you know and Jesus was not taken by surprise by the failures of his disciples so perhaps there's somebody watching right now who needs to hear that in your failure you didn't surprise him he knew what you would do with the gospel when he gave it to you and he still gave it to you don't forget that because you may fall but get up and he'll make you stand confess your sins ask for forgiveness ask the Lord God forgive me I'm a failure I need you because that's what God does he restores my soul he heals me and he can heal you too he wasn't surprised he knows our frame he remembers that we're dust and so he prayed for Peter but he prays for us may we use our experiences even the ones that we have regretted but may we use them to somehow turn around the things that we've had may they somehow be used at least experientially to help us understand others especially from the standpoint of being forgiven sinners not to return to that vomit anymore but not forgetting what it was like so that we can help other people especially in this time and as we're about to close there are some people watching right now who need to get right with God you need to maybe you at one time were following the Lord you turned away you may be drinking right now you may have just watched something on the on your computer that you shouldn't have watched there are things you're doing that you know are separating you from the Lord a heart that's hardened and a lack of love and forgiveness for those who hurt you whatever it may be you know right now the Lord can forgive you He can cleanse you He can give you new life He can empower you with this Holy Spirit you need to turn away from your sin you need to say God be merciful to me I haven't sinned forgive me wash me and cleanse me I will follow you and if you want to do that we're going to pray right now and I'm going to ask you to pray along with me let's bow our head for a moment father and I pray first and foremost for those who are listening here in this room may we follow you but also Lord I lift up those who are watching online in Jesus name I pray that you would touch them Lord open their eyes to see working them and as our eyes are closed right now if you need to get right with the Lord and you have a sincere desire and you don't know how to can do so by simply asking and if you sincerely with faith can pray with me then I encourage you to do that and just pray father forgive me I know that I'm a sinner Jesus died on the cross to save sinners Jesus died to save me forgive me of my sins cleanse me of my life forgive me Lord I will follow you from this day forward every day of my life in Jesus name amen and if you prayed that prayer with us right now please contact us at CalvaryCCV.org let us know what you did so we can follow up with you and so Father in Jesus name I ask that you would use this time for your glory and we give you praise in your name