Christ Loving His own

It has been said that when we come to John chapter 13 and the chapters thereafter, 14, 15, 16, and 17,

which have been termed or described as the Paschal Discourse, that we are, as Christians, on holy ground.

We should put our shoes, spiritually speaking, from off of our feet, because we are led into really holy territory in this portion.

You'll see that in chapter 12 of John's Gospel, there's mention made of the feet of Christ.

At the beginning of chapter 12,

we have that lovely story of the sister of Lazarus

taking the pound of ointment of spikenard very costly

and anointing the feet of Jesus

and wiping his feet with her hair.

The Bible says the house was filled with the odor of the ointment.

Notice Christ's feet were not washed.

Because his feet, spiritually, did not have any dandruff.

There was no defilement, but rather his feet were anointed.

But when you come to chapter 13, the story is different.

Because here we have the Lord washing the disciples' defiled feet.

That part of us that touches the earth, that part of us that's in contact with the world, with the earth, needs to be washed.

And here there's not an anointing.

Not an anointing with ointment of the disciples' feet, but a washing with water.

And it speaks to us of so much spiritual truth.

But this narrative that we're about to enter here in John 13 and the following chapters

has always been regarded by God's people as a unique portion of Scripture

and a most precious portion of the Word of God.

It is.

It is a record of the last moments spent by the Lord Jesus with his disciples before he went to the cross.

It's therefore very significant.

We might ask how the Lord was employed at this time.

What was the work that he was engaged in during this solemn season?

The writer of this gospel, he's known as the beloved disciple, John,

who leaned on the Lord's breast.

He doesn't tell us everything that took place in the upper room during that night.

For example, he doesn't tell us here in John's gospel about the institution of the Lord's Supper.

But he does record incidents and utterances that are not mentioned by the other evangelists,

Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

But he does show us...

the Savior's love and tenderness toward his disciples

as he is about to go to the cross.

It has been stated that this narrative contains really three things.

It comprises three particular things.

First of all, the wonderful act of Christ washing the disciples' feet

with the warnings and the indications that he gave them in confession.

In connection with that, as to the conduct of Judas, the traitor,

of whom we read in chapter 13 from verse 2 to verse 30.

Secondly, you have this tender discourse of consolation

that ensued immediately after the traitor had left the upper room

from chapter 13 verse 31 to chapter 16 verse 33.

And then thirdly, you have what we call...

the master's intercessory prayer.

The great high priestly prayer of Christ

in John chapter 17,

which was uttered just before he entered the Garden of Gethsemane.

And it is interesting for us to note that in that prayer,

it's as if the Lord is speaking after the cross has taken place.

The language that he uses...

indicates this, because it's as though he's speaking in the past tense

of something that has already occurred.

For example, chapter 17 verse 4 says,

I have glorified thee on the earth.

I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

Now we know that that was not strictly speaking the case

until...

when he was on the cross, he cried out,

tetelestai, in the Greek,

one word, which means, it is finished.

It's done.

The transaction is over with.

It is finished.

But see, this prayer is being prayed before he went to the cross.

But yet it is anticipatory.

It's a prayer that brings us into the throne room of God.

It's a prayer that brings us to...

eternity.

And the Lord speaks in this way.

I have glorified thee on the earth.

I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

Having loved his own which were in the world,

the Bible says,

he loved them unto the end.

This is like an inscription.

Over the doorway of this passage of Scripture.

All that Jesus now does and says,

the Apostle John traces it up to love.

Pure, unbridled, unmingled love.

Having loved his own that were in the world,

he loved them unto the end.

That's one of the most tender statements

in the whole of the Word of God.

Now you'll notice that all of this took place,

the evangelist tells us,

before the feast of the Passover.

John 13 verse 1.

Before the feast of the Passover.

But he also mentions a particular fact here of a moral kind,

of the utmost importance,

giving us an insight into the mind of our Savior.

Because he not only tells us when this was,

but what the Lord's frame of mind was at that time.

Before the feast of the Passover,

when Jesus knew that his hour was come,

that he should depart out of this world unto the Father.

The Lord was not unaware of all that was about to happen.

After all, he planned it,

along with the Father, from all eternity.

None of this would take,

take him by surprise.

When Jesus knew,

or you could say,

Jesus knowing that his hour was come,

that he should depart out of this world unto the Father,

he then loved his own which were in the world,

he loved them unto the end.

And then it talks about when supper was ended,

the devil having put into the heart of Judas Iscariot

to betray him,

Jesus,

knowing that the Father had given all things in his hands,

that he was come from God and went to God,

he riseth from supper,

laid aside his garments,

and took a towel and girded himself.

And all of this is figurative.

It's not only literal,

it actually happened,

but it also has a spiritual application

and we'll come to that in due course.

But the idea plainly here is that

it's just because he knew,

not merely although he knew,

but because he knew that his hour was come,

that he should leave this world.

And that consequently his disciples

were going to be left alone in this world.

Just as he had previously loved them,

so he now manifested that love

in a very peculiar manner.

When we read the scripture,

we discover a number of times,

especially in John's gospel,

that there were times,

when the Lord escaped from the hands of the enemy

because his hour was not yet come.

See, there's a time

for every purpose of God.

There was an actual time for Christ to die.

He wasn't going to die a minute before that

or a minute after it.

And that's the same with you and me.

You're not going to leave this earth

one minute before you're supposed to

or one minute after you're supposed to.

Jesus, when he knew that his hour was come,

the ordained hour,

the predetermined hour,

the hour that had been chosen from all eternity,

it was now before him.

And having loved his own which were in the world,

he loved them unto the end.

There's a couple of things that come before us here

right away in this portion

that we need to,

consider.

The first thing that I want us to think about

in these circumstances

is the wonder of Christ's love for his people.

My friend, Archie Martin,

from Virginia,

who's been with the Lord now for

quite a number of years,

over 10 years I guess it's been,

or it's coming up 10 years,

which is hard for me to believe.

But Archie loved to sing.

One of the songs that he loved to sing

was Ship Ahoy.

Ship Ahoy.

He played him singing that

at his funeral.

It was amazing.

But another song that he loved to sing,

probably more than that one,

was the wonder of it all.

I can just hear him sing it.

Oh the wonder of it all.

The wonder of it all.

To think that God loves me.

Oh the wonder of it all.

The wonder of it all.

That God loves me.

Does that thought bring wonder to your heart?

Do you stop and think to yourself,

this is an amazing thing that God would ever love me?

Because it is an amazing thing.

Having loved his own which were in the world,

he loved them unto the end.

Now think about this.

Think about the objects

of God.

Of the Lord's love.

Who were they?

Well they're called his own

that were in the world.

They were his chosen ones.

But he talks about that in John 17.

Them which thou hast given me

for they are thine.

He's talking about his elect ones

and in particular his elect ones

that were right before him at that time,

his disciples.

These were the objects

of his love.

Now of course,

this verse is applicable

to all God's people.

Even to you and to me today.

Having loved his own which were in the world.

The Lord loves us

who are in the world.

But these objects of his love,

these disciples in particular,

were men who were about to forsake him

in a shameful way

in just a few hours time.

And that really

brings the love of Christ

into great sharp focus.

Knowing perfectly well

that these men

were about to forsake him

and fail him

and run away from him

and leave him alone.

In full view of that approaching display

of weakness and infirmity,

our blessed Savior never ceased

to have loving thoughts

of his disciples.

He wasn't tired of them.

He wasn't weary of them.

He wasn't fed up with them.

He wasn't grieved with them

and upset with them.

He loved them

to the last.

I think that's a remarkable thing.

Because the Lord knew

what was going to happen.

He knew that they wouldn't stand by him.

Even though Peter said,

Lord, though all the world

is against you,

I'm not going to stand by you.

Though all men forsake thee,

yet will not I.

Typical Peter.

I'll not be running away, Lord.

If the rest of these guys run away,

I'll not be running away.

What happened?

Peter ran away.

But the Lord loved him.

And the Lord loved you

and he loved me.

And I'm talking now to Christians,

even though he knew

that we would often fail him.

That we would often sin against him.

That we would often fall.

That we would often do things

that we shouldn't do

and fail to do things

that we should do.

He has loved us.

You know what the devil loves to do?

He loves to tell you as a Christian

that when you fail,

that when you don't do

what you ought to do,

that the Lord doesn't love you anymore.

The Lord's fed up with you.

He's had enough of you.

He's done with you.

That's what Satan loves to say.

He's the accuser of the brethren.

But of course, he's a liar.

Of course, he's a liar.

There's no way that the Lord ceases to love you.

And this is not to make us complacent as Christians

or to think that holiness doesn't matter

or it doesn't matter the way we live.

But I'm telling you,

it doesn't matter what you do or say.

Christ will never cease to love you

if you're his.

You know what that ought to do for us?

That ought to cause us

to want to live for him more.

That will not cause us to say,

as we're often accused of saying,

oh, well, I'll just live like the devil

because the Lord still loves me.

Remember Paul dealt with that objection in Romans?

Where sin abounded,

grace did much more abound.

Paul could just anticipate

the argument of people saying,

oh, well, we'll just sin with impunity then

because the Lord will still give us grace.

Paul said, no, no.

Shall we sin that grace may abound?

God forbid.

How shall we that are dead to sins

live any longer therein?

That's the attitude of the true Christian.

We don't want to sin against the Lord.

We don't want to fail the Lord.

But the fact is we do.

We do fail him.

Often.

Repeatedly we fail him.

And if we'd been there with those disciples,

we wouldn't have been any different from them.

We would also have run away.

But yet he loved them unto the end.

You know the love of Christ to sinners

is of the very essence and marrow of the gospel.

That the Lord should love us at all

and care for our souls.

That the Lord should love us

before we ever loved him

or even knew anything about him.

That he should love us

so much as to come into this world

to save us.

To take upon him our nature.

To bear our sins

and to die for us upon the cruel cross.

This is a wonderful thing.

He loved his own.

And it's a kind of love

which is

incomparable

among men.

There's no love like it.

It's one of the things that Peter tells us

the angels of God desire to look into.

They crane their necks

to examine how God saves sinners.

And this is a truth that

true Christian ministers

should be proclaiming

without ceasing.

And should never be weary of proclaiming it.

The love of Christ for sinners.

If there's someone listening to me tonight

maybe you're someone watching on the internet.

I want to tell you that Christ loves you.

Remember what it said of the rich young ruler?

Who went away sorrowful.

He never did apparently get saved.

But the Bible says that Christ loved him.

What will you do with the love of Christ?

Will you spurn the love of Christ?

Will you refuse the love of Christ?

Will you push the love of Christ away from you?

That's what you do when you reject the gospel.

The objects of this love

sinners.

But no less wonderful is

the fact that the Lord loves saints.

He loves the saints.

The saints.

And of course

we're talking about the fact that

after we've been saved

His love never leaves us.

He bears with our countless infirmities

from the day we're saved until we die.

He goes on forgiving us

and forgetting about our sins

incessantly.

He's never provoked to cast us off

and to give us up.

That's something He will never do.

This is a marvelous thing.

J.C. Ryle commenting on this portion said

No mother watching over the waywardness

of her feeble baby

in the days of its infancy

has her patience so thoroughly tried

as the patience of Christ is tried by Christians.

Yet His long suffering is infinite.

His compassions are a well that is never exhausted.

His love is a love which passeth knowledge.

People who want to be saved

should never imagine that the Lord would never save them

because they're too bad to be saved.

The chief of sinners can come to Christ with boldness.

The Apostle Paul described himself as such.

We can trust Him for pardon.

The dying thief rejoiced to see

that fountain in his day.

And there may I, though vile as he,

wash all my sins away.

This loving Savior who's described here

as one who loved His own which were in the world.

You know He delights to receive sinners.

He does.

He delights to receive sinners.

And as a believer

though you fail the Lord

and you do things and say things

and fail to do things that you ought to be doing

and deny the Lord in that way

you should never imagine

that the Lord will ever cast you off

because of your failures

that the Lord will dismiss you

on account of your infirmities.

My Bible tells me

He will not break the bruised reed.

He will not quench the smoking flax.

The Lord Jesus will never reject any servant of His

because of feeble service and weak performance.

I'm glad about that.

Those who the Lord receives He always keeps.

Those whom He loves at first

He loves at the last

and all the way through.

See the love of Jesus is

that which passeth knowledge

and understanding.

And the promise of Christ to sinners

will never be broken.

And it's a promise for saints

as well as sinners.

I've often had to lean upon it

John 6.37

Him that cometh to me

I will in no wise cast out.

Oh the wonder of the love of Christ.

We think of the objects

objects of that love.

We think about the operation

of that love.

Think of how the love of Christ

went into operation

in the lives of these disciples.

How He proved over and over

in the days of His flesh

His love for the disciples.

And right here in this passage

He did so again by washing their feet.

That was an act of love.

That was an act of mercy

on His part.

Oh yes the Lord knew they were going to forsake Him.

He knew they were going to run away.

He knew about their weakness.

But He still loved them.

And He still cared

for them.

The love that Christ had

for His people

was a love that was

proved over and over and over

in the lives of these

disciples.

Think of how He accompanied with them.

How He prayed with them.

How He put up with their foibles.

Remember how they were in the boat

and they were accusing Him

of not caring for them.

Did the Lord forsake them

because of that?

Did the Lord say that's it?

I'm done with you guys

talking like that about me.

That's it.

No.

He rebuked their unbelief

and then He continued to use them.

They fell asleep

when He was praying with them.

But He didn't cast them off

on that account.

The Lord Jesus

continued to love His disciples.

And He will continue to love us.

He does love us.

Our brother before the service

was properly commenced tonight

was playing that little children's hymn.

I love the simplicity of the children's hymns.

Jesus loves me.

This I know.

For the Bible tells me so.

Little ones to Him belong.

They are weak.

They are strong.

They are weak.

But He is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me.

How do I know?

The Bible tells me so.

That's how I know that Christ loves me.

That He will always love me to the end.

I am the object of His love.

And the Lord has shown me

over and over and over again

the operation

of His love.

And we think about the occurrence of this love.

This is a love that never comes to an end.

Let's mark this.

Having loved His own which were in the world,

He loved them unto the end.

Now obviously this particular text

is anticipating all that's going to happen

in the chapters

that are to come.

Including Christ going to the cross.

He loved them to the end.

But it goes even beyond that.

It goes on out into eternity.

To where there is no end.

But He loves us unto the end.

He will always love His people.

It would be a wonder

if the Lord loved us for a period of time

and then ceased to love us.

And we could at least say,

well,

He loved us for that length of time at least.

But the love of Christ

is endless.

The love of Christ

is perpetual.

The love of Christ

is eternal.

And this is again

part of the wonder of it.

Do you know that the love of Christ for us

never had any beginning?

I know that that boggles the mind of people.

And you stop to think about that

and wonder,

how could that be?

I mean,

how could there be such a thing

as love without a beginning?

Surely there had to be

some beginning point

to that love.

But no,

the Bible tells us,

does it not?

Yea,

I have loved thee

with an everlasting love.

Therefore,

with loving kindness,

have I drawn thee.

I have loved thee

with an everlasting love.

We sang it tonight,

deliberately.

Loved with everlasting love,

led by grace,

that love to know.

Think about love without a beginning.

There never was

a time

when time didn't even exist yet.

Eternity,

when the Lord did not love His people.

He set His love upon us,

His own,

that's what they're called,

His own,

chosen by Him.

But the great thing is that

not only did that love of Christ

not have any beginning,

but it has no end.

On out into the endless ages of eternity,

the love of Christ for His people

will continue.

I remember once we were singing

in our church in Scotland,

Amazing Grace,

How Sweet the Sound,

and there was a fellow

who came to me afterwards

and he objected

to what we were singing.

Because he said,

John Newton wrote

that when we get to heaven,

we've no less days

to sing God's praise

than when we first begun.

He says,

did he not realize

there are no days in heaven?

Well, of course,

strictly speaking,

that's true.

But the fact of the matter is

in the Bible,

it speaks about the days of eternity

in relation to Christ

there in the prophet Micah.

If you were to look at that verse,

it's often quoted

in relation to the Lord's birth

at Bethlehem.

It says,

there in Micah chapter 5

in verse 2,

Thou Bethlehem Ephrathah,

though thou be little

among the thousands of Judah,

yet out of thee

shall he come forth unto me

that is to be ruler in Israel,

whose goings forth

have been from of old,

from everlasting.

If you look at the margin

of your King James Bible,

it is the days of eternity.

Of course,

there are no days in eternity,

but this is God's way

of speaking about this

for our human understanding.

If there were days,

they would be endless days.

And one of the other hymns

speaks of that, doesn't it?

To endless days.

There's no end to the love

of Christ for his own.

We will be in heaven forever

and forever

and forever.

What an amazing thing

to consider the wonder

of Christ's love

for his people.

The commentator

who wrote that lovely volume,

The Inner Sanctuary,

how he described these chapters,

Charles Ross,

he said this,

Ask that tender-hearted mother,

which of her many children

recurs oftenest to her memory,

those of them who are safe

at home under the parental roof

or the one that is far away at sea.

And she will tell you

with tears in her eyes

that while she loves them all,

it is her sailor boy

who is exposed to so much danger.

And just so,

only in an unspeakably higher sense,

while Jesus loves all his own,

he regards with peculiar care,

corresponding to their necessities,

those of them that are still in the world.

See, we're here

having to put up with all

of the vicissitudes of life,

all the trials and temptations

and afflictions.

And those who are already in heaven,

yes, they are recipients

of the love of Jesus.

But oh, how much do we need

that love of Christ

to be manifested to us

in this nasty, horrible world

in which we live.

And the Lord loves us.

He loves us with a never-ending love.

There's a lot more that I could say

about the ways in which

the Lord manifested his love

to his people.

One of the things that

reveals this to us

is his continual companionship

with them.

In the days of his flesh,

the Lord sought no other company

than theirs among the sons of men.

Think about that.

Isn't that amazing

that he would choose out these,

a motley crew,

fishermen and so on,

tax collectors,

and he would spend

all of his time with them

and travel throughout Galilee with them,

not seeking out really

any other company than theirs.

How tenderly,

how graciously

he instructed these men.

And his instructions

were always so very simple.

The Lord used very simple illustrations.

The parables, for example.

Behold the fowls of the air.

They toil not, neither do they.

Look at the lilies of the field.

He loved them so well.

Someone said they were exceedingly dull

scholars like you and me.

And there's no teacher on the earth

that would have borne with them

as Jesus did.

But their Lord and Master's love

remained always the same.

His love was stronger

than their unbelief

and their ignorance.

When Peter's wife's mother

lay sick of a fever,

the Lord entered that house,

spoke the word,

and the fever left her.

That was a family crisis

in Peter's family.

We forget about that.

We forget that was

an exceedingly sad time

for that family.

And Jesus came

and spoke peace

to that situation.

Think of what he did

when Lazarus was dead.

He'd been buried for four days.

And the Lord interposed there,

proving that he was

the resurrection and the life.

And he cried out,

Lazarus, come forth.

Everywhere at all times,

the Lord was at the call.

He was at the beck and call

of his disciples,

ever ready to help them

in every difficulty.

And with what patience

did he bear with them

in their weakness

and their infirmity.

Think about the time

when Peter took the Lord

and began to rebuke him.

What a sad thing is that.

How insolent of Peter

to start rebuking the Lord.

We read about it

in Matthew chapter 16.

What a sight this is.

Peter rebuking his master.

The Lord could have said to Peter,

I'm done with you, Peter.

He did say,

get thee behind me, Satan.

But his love to Peter remained.

Unabated.

Even when he rebuked him,

he loved him.

And we should remember that

even when the Lord rebukes us,

when the Lord speaks to us

and convicts us,

maybe through a message,

something that's preached

and it really cuts into our hearts,

that's the love of Jesus for us.

He loves us.

He wants us to be better.

He wants us to improve.

He wants us to grow in grace

and in the knowledge of himself.

He wants us to have victory over sin.

His love never fails.

His love never falters.

And who can tell tonight

how many ways the Lord loves his own

that are in the world still tonight.

Visiting them with his gracious presence

in hard times.

Instructing them.

Guiding them with his word.

Preserving them by his providence.

You and I are being kept every day.

From a thousand ills without even knowing it.

And someday the Lord will show us

all the things that he kept us from.

He strengthens us by his grace.

He comforts us with his love.

He's doing a work in us

all the time.

He loved them unto the end.

But let's just very quickly deal with this.

From the wonder of the love of Christ for his own.

We have brought before us here the wickedness

of counterfeit Christian profession.

The wickedness of counterfeit Christian profession.

Verse 2.

And supper being ended.

By the way this is not the last supper.

This is not the institution of the church.

This is not the institution of the communion feast.

But this particular supper was ended.

The devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot

Simon's son to betray him.

That's who was behind that.

Yes Judas was the betrayer.

Yes he was the traitor.

But the devil was involved in it.

Satan put this into his heart.

And then it says that Jesus knew that the Father

had given all things in his hand and so on.

The devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot

Simon's son to betray him.

The Lord spoke of him later on here in verse 10.

He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet

but is clean every whit.

And ye are clean but not all.

In other words not all of you.

Not all of you disciples are clean.

Spiritually clean.

Why?

What's he talking about in verse 11?

For he knew who should betray him.

There it is again.

The knowledge of Christ.

The Lord was not unaware of what was going on.

He was absolutely clear as to what was going to happen.

He knew who would betray him.

Even when he chose Judas as one of the disciples.

He knew he was choosing a devil.

He knew that he was choosing a rebel and a traitor.

He knew what would happen.

Therefore said he ye are not all clean.

You know great corruption can often be found in the heart of a great professor of religion.

Someone said of Judas Iscariot he was a man who kissed the door of heaven but went to hell.

He kissed Jesus who is the door to heaven but he went to hell.

How close can you be to being a Christian without being one?

That's the lesson there.

You know Judas is a fearful character when you stop to think about it.

I'm not saying it is the case.

But if you did have a ratio of one in every twelve who is a traitor.

Think of what that would mean in the church of Jesus Christ.

One in every twelve.

One in every twelve who is not really saved at all.

In the apostolic band there is a man who prayed with the others.

Who preached with the others.

Who healed people like the others.

Who pointed people to Christ like the others.

And yet he is one into whose heart the devil put the idea to betray Christ.

This is often described in the gospels as Judas one of the twelve.

Do you ever notice that?

One of the twelve.

He is one of the apostolic band.

Think about it.

Chosen by Christ himself at the very same time as Simon, Peter, James and John and their companions.

He was chosen to be a disciple.

Why did the Lord do that?

We don't know.

But for three years he had walked in the society of Christ.

He had seen the miracles of Jesus.

He had heard the preaching of Jesus.

He had experienced many proofs of the Messiahship of Jesus.

And he experienced the loving kindness of Jesus.

You know the Lord was gracious to him just like the rest of them.

As I said.

As I say.

He had even preached himself.

He had wrought miracles in the name of Christ.

And when the Lord sent out his disciples two by two.

Mark 6 verse 7.

Judas Iscariot no doubt must have been one of a couple that was sent out.

How would you like to be the other one of that couple?

And think about that in the aftermath of it.

We went out preaching together.

Me and Judas.

And yet Judas was a betrayer of Jesus and he went to hell.

What a solemn thing that is.

There's no greater warning to people in history or in the Bible.

Of the danger of false profession.

As Judas Iscariot.

Because Judas Iscariot may show us to what lengths a man may go in religious profession.

And yet turn out to be a hypocrite.

And never have been converted in the first place.

It's a fearful thing.

One of the Puritans said when I get to heaven.

I think I'm going to be surprised.

When I find some of those who are there.

Who I didn't think would be there.

I'm going to be surprised because there are folks who I thought would be there.

And they're not going to be there.

Of course the greatest surprise of all will be that I'm there.

But not all is gold that glitters men and women.

Not everybody who says they're a Christian is a Christian.

Not everybody who professes Christ is truly his.

The Lord knoweth them that are his.

And I would never want to scare anybody or try to frighten anybody about these matters.

But I'm just preaching what happens to be the absolute truth.

The uselessness of the highest privileges spiritually.

Unless you have a heart to value those things.

And you turn those things to good account.

That you use your privileges.

Spiritual privileges.

And Judas shows us this.

Spiritual privileges on their own without the grace of God will save nobody.

And oh how deep is the hell that Judas has gone to.

And one of the saddest statements in all the Bible is in Acts chapter 1.

Where the Bible in referring to Judas Iscariot tells us that he had purchased a field with his ill-gotten gains.

Here's how the Bible says this.

Here's how the Bible describes it.

Acts chapter 1 verse 18.

Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity.

That's the 30 pieces of silver.

And falling headlong he burst asunder in the midst.

And all his bowels gushed out.

Terrible, gory, gruesome death.

And it was known unto all the dwellers of Jerusalem.

As much as that field is called in their proper tongue Asseldamah.

That is to say the field of blood.

For it's written in the book of Psalms.

Let his habitation be desolate.

Let no man dwell therein.

And his bishopric let another take.

Then when they were choosing a replacement for Judas.

Verse 25 says that he may take part of this ministry and apostleship.

From which Judas by transgression fell.

Notice this.

That he might go to his own place.

What was his own place?

He had his own corner in hell.

Reserved for him.

All the uselessness of a mere head knowledge of the things of God.

Just because somebody can talk about the gospel.

And preach and pray.

As if they could bring the angels down from heaven.

Is no proof that they are truly saved.

I witnessed the sad spectacle of a man who was training for the ministry.

Who could pray the angels down from heaven as it were.

Being found out to be a pedophile.

An abuser of young men.

A sodomite.

And who served time in prison.

Because of his crimes.

But he professed to be saved.

I remember sitting in prayer meetings and praying alongside him.

I remember him preaching at meetings that I was at.

This is the story of Judas.

This is a terrible thing.

But let's never be surprised if we see hypocrisy and false profession among Christians.

In our day.

Because it happened in the Lord's day.

Judas Iscariot.

Supper being ended.

The devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot Simon's son to betray him.

How many people do you know who would call their child Judas Iscariot?

I don't know too many.

I know some parents would call their children Peter and James and John.

They might stop short with Bartholomew right enough.

But they're not going to call their child Judas Iscariot.

But here's a man who had great privileges.

But he went to hell.

I think it's true that what J.C. Ryle said about this matter.

That hypocrisy in religion is a strong and direct evidence that there is such a thing as true religion.

You know you think about the fact that there are counterfeit bills.

A lot of times you'll know that stores will not take from you a $50 bill or a $100 bill.

They just won't take it.

Because they're easily counterfeited.

And counterfeiters like to counterfeit the bigger bills because they make more money that way.

But the reason that there are counterfeit bills is because there are real bills.

There are true currency.

And so they copy that true currency in order to try to fool people.

And so bad money, as Ryle said, is a strong proof that there's good coin somewhere.

Hypocrisy is a strong and direct evidence that there's such a thing as true religion.

And thank God there is.

So when the worldlings will say to you,

I know these hypocrites.

I met this guy who said he was a Christian and he was nothing but a hypocrite.

Does that mean that all Christians are hypocrites?

I remember a fellow saying that to my mother one time.

She said,

Well, here's a storekeeper.

And you go into him with a 20 note, a bill.

And he examines it and he looks at it for the watermark and the little line.

And he realizes, yeah, that's a true bill.

Because he examines it.

He looks at it.

He finds out if it's a true bill.

But he gets a false one.

He gets a counterfeit 20.

Does that mean that he then refuses all the other 20s?

That come his way that day?

No, of course not.

What he does is he examines those 20s to make sure that they're genuine.

Yeah, there are hypocrites.

Yeah, there are people that are not true Christians.

But by their fruits you shall know them.

And you can examine those who are the children of God and all other things being equal.

You'll find that there are those that are genuine, sincere, real and true Christians.

May we be those.

Now, maybe your faith is feeble.

Maybe, like the disciples, your faith fails you at times.

Like Peter, you're walking on the water but then you begin to sink and you start crying out.

You take your eyes off the Lord.

Maybe, like those other disciples, you think the Lord doesn't care that you're going to perish and you're crying out.

Maybe your knowledge is small.

Your failures are frequent.

Your faults are many.

But let's seek to be true and real Christians.

And if the Lord were to say to us,

Lovest thou me?

May we be able to say with Peter,

Lord, thou knowest all things.

Thou knowest that I love thee.

Lord, you know that I love you.

I hate my sin.

I hate the sins that made thee mourn and drove thee from my breast.

I don't want to fail you, Lord.

I don't want to live in a way that will bring disgrace to your name.

I want to serve you with all my heart and soul in mind.

Thank God the love of Christ is a love that overcomes every fault.

Love covers a multitude of sins and it certainly does in our case.

For having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.

What a privilege to be loved by Christ.

With this I'll finish.

When John is writing in his gospel about himself,

he always describes himself in this way.

The disciple whom Jesus loved.

You'll notice he doesn't say the disciple who loved Jesus.

Now, that was undoubtedly true.

He did love Christ.

But he's not emphasizing that.

He's emphasizing Christ's love for him.

I'm the disciple whom Jesus loved.

And I'm glad each of us that's a true Christian can say that.

I'm the disciple whom Jesus loved.

May I love him in return with all my heart and soul and mind and strength.

More love to thee, O Christ.

More love to thee.

Let's pray.

Father, we thank thee for thy word.

Write it indelibly upon our hearts.

We pray in the Savior's name.

Amen.