Two Final Gleanings from the Passage

Introduction: Review of Previous Gleanings from John 13

0:03 Let's turn again to the portion that we have considered for several messages in recent days, John chapter 13. And I shall read in your hearing the first 17 verses, John chapter 13.

0:25 Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his hour was come, that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own that were in the world, he loved them unto the end. And during supper, the devil, having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he came forth from God and goes unto God, rises from supper, lays aside his garments. And took a towel and girded himself.

1:08 Then he pours water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. So he comes to Simon Peter. He said unto him, Lord, do you wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do you do not know now, but you shall understand hereafter.

1:36 Peter said unto him, You shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I do not wash you, you have no part with me. Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him, He that is bathed needs not save to wash his feet, but is completely clean.

2:06 Amen. And you are clean, but not all. For he knew him that should betray him. Therefore he said, You are not all clean.

2:18 So when he had washed their feet, and taken his garments, and sat down again, he said unto them, Do you know what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you say, Well, for so I am. If I then...

2:37 The Lord and the teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say unto you, a servant is not greater than his Lord, neither one that is sent greater than he that sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you.

3:09 If you do them.

3:12 We come this evening to our fifth and final study in this wonderful portion of the Word of God, a portion which, as I indicated in introducing our first study in it several weeks ago, was precisely the place where I picked up my own personal devotional reading through the New Testament subsequent to my eye surgery, and God ministered so wonderfully to my own heart, and I have been greatly encouraged by the ways in which a number of you have indicated God has been ministering to your own heart. And in opening up verses 1 to 11, I sought to identify and underscore what I call the primary significance of this incident of the foot washing,

3:57 namely that it sets before us Jesus, the Savior of the towel and of the basin. And the central thrust of that whole incident is found in the words, of our Lord to Peter, in verse 8, If I wash you not, you have no part with me. Jesus consciously did what he did, that there might be, as it were, an acted-out parable of the very manner in which saving mercy would be brought to his people, namely, by the Lord of glory, divesting himself of all of the accoutrements

4:40 of deity, humbling himself, taking the form of a servant, going down to the depths of the humiliating death of the cross, that thereby he might provide a righteous salvation and a just pardon for sinners. And the very essence of saving faith, then, is that soul-humbling, flesh-withering posture of the sinner who is prepared to embrace, Jesus as his Savior, Savior with the towel and the basin, to acknowledge that there is no hope for salvation apart from the shedding of His own blood,

5:23 on behalf of guilty sinners. And then in our second message we considered what I call the secondary significance of this incident, and that is that our Lord is teaching that, the disciples of Jesus, are a society, society of the towel and of the basin. He procures redemption by the towel and the basin, and all for whom redemption is procured and to whom it is applied become a society of the towel and of the basin.

5:57 The teaching of verses 14 and 15, If I, the Lord, and the teacher have washed your feet, you ought also to wash one another's feet, for I have given you this example that you should do as I have done unto you. And then we came back to the passage for what I called some further observations and applications or gleanings from the passage. And in two messages we considered,

6:27 I asserted that the foot-washing incident contains a striking explanation of the distinction and inseparable relationship between the initial and the continuous cleansing from sin based upon the sacrifice of Jesus. Verse 10, He that has had a tub bath, he who is bathed all over once for all in the laver, and the moment of regeneration does not need save to wash his feet to deal with the ongoing defilement of sin, and such a one is completely clean.

7:09 Then secondly, we noted that the foot-washing incident constitutes a convincing manifestation of how fruitless are the best of spiritual privileges without the transforming power of inward grace. In this very sense, we read that Judas Iscariot has already had deposited in his heart this disposition from the devil to betray the Lord Jesus. In this very setting in which Jesus is washing Judas' feet externally, Jesus said, you are not all clean.

7:48 In just a few minutes after this incident, we will read in verse 27 that Satan himself enters Judas. And it isn't long before he goes out into the darkest of nights in order to hand over his Lord externally, hand over Jesus to the Jewish authorities. All of the means of grace that we traced out in this man's life from his very birth and infancy, all the way to the upper room and the incident of the washing of his feet by Jesus, underscore,

8:25 underscore the tragic, frightening reality that the best of privileges apart from inward transforming grace are utterly fruitless. And then we saw in the fourth place that the foot-washing incident contains a comforting articulation. I'm sorry, I skipped the third. The foot-washing incident contains a moving illustration of the infinite patience of Jesus toward his sinful, but true disciples.

8:58 Here in this very setting, it was the outcropping of their carnal ambition that probably was part of the reason that Jesus did what he did. In a parallel passage in Luke, we saw that they were in this very context debating and arguing about who would be the greatest in the kingdom. There was carnal ambition. There was pride and unwillingness to take the towel in the basin and wash one another.

9:25 On another's feet, there is Peter blurting out, you shall not wash me, then telling the Lord, wash me all over, calling the shots. And yet of such ones, Jesus said, you are clean. Of these very ones, Jesus says, you are clean. And he patiently bears with them until the eleven who are clean become useful servants of himself and of his kingdom in the coming days.

9:55 And then, fourthly, we noted that the foot-washing incident contains a comforting articulation of a vital principle of God's providential dealings with his people. Verse 7, as our Lord said to the disciples, what I'm doing now you do not know, but you shall understand hereafter, applies not only in its limited scope in that specific setting, but of many of his dealings. His dealings with us, his people. His dealings with us seem to have no rhyme or reason.

10:33 Often God's providence is seen to counter his promises.

10:39 Often there seems to be no congruity between his promises and his providence. And in such context, we have one of two choices. We have the choice of seeking with our little finite minds and our limited perspectives, to interpret what God is doing, and to demand that he show us how his providence fits his promises, or to become skeptical and cynical and bitter, or to bow our necks and say, Lord, what you do now I do not know, but I have confidence that I shall know hereafter. The hereafter being in the unfolding providence of God in this life,

11:25 to some degree, but ultimately, when we see him and we then understand and know as we are known. Now then, we come tonight to two final observations, gleanings from this passage. The first of those two is this. The foot-washing incident contains a convincing refutation of the teaching that one can have Jesus as his Savior while receiving, while refusing to submit to him as Lord and Master.

Gleaning 5: Refutation of 'Savior-Only' Teaching

12:05 The foot-washing incident contains a convincing refutation of the teaching that one can have Jesus as his Savior while refusing to submit to him as Lord and Master. Now there may be some of you who blissfully are ignorant of this teaching. There are others of you who are not. Others of you, no doubt, have been exposed to it.

12:32 I would be greatly surprised if there are not at least some who have not only been exposed to it, but have desperately sought to embrace it. Now let me describe the teaching and then consider from the passage the convincing refutation of that teaching. Now while there are various ways in which this teaching is presented, the essence of the teaching is this. You and I are sinners.

13:05 We have broken the law of God, and as such we are guilty and deserving of divine wrath. So far, so good. Dozens of scriptures could be brought to bear in order to demonstrate that any teaching that asserts that all of us are sinners, we have broken the law of God, as such we are guilty and deserving of divine wrath, such teaching is thoroughly Biblical. Furthermore, the teaching goes like this.

13:36 However, Jesus died to absorb the wrath of God on our behalf. So far, so good. Many scriptures asserting Christ died the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God. He became a curse for us.

13:52 All of the texts that speak of Christ's substitutionary curse bearing work upon the cross. Then the teaching goes on and says this. If you and I are willing to accept this Jesus as our Savior, that is, if we are prepared to trust in what He did upon the cross, we will be saved from the guilt, the penalty of our sin. We will be delivered from the wrath of God.

14:25 However, in presenting that wonderful Biblical teaching, However, in presenting that wonderful Biblical teaching, biblical truth, this teaching does not in any way articulate the necessity of repentance in connection with such faith. It sounds no clarion call to the sinner that he must not only entrust himself to the Savior, that he might be delivered from the penalty of his sins, but that he must turn from his sin, and entrust himself to the Savior, that he might be delivered from the power and from the practice of sin.

15:11 In this teaching, the fact that when Christ is received, it is a whole Christ, received by the whole man, is totally ignored. Faith becomes an internal mental nodding to the fact that Christ took the rap, to get me off the hook. And then often with this teaching, there is immediately a synergistic form of assurance given to the one who has tipped his mental hat to the fact that Jesus took the rap for sinners. And the person is told, have you now trusted Jesus as your Savior?

15:55 Yes. What does the Bible say? He that believes on the Son has life? Yes.

16:00 You have believed, you have life now. The biggest danger you face is ever doubting that what you've done right now in tipping your internal mental hat to Jesus is anything other than an eternal fix with regard to the problem of your sin. If you have any doubts, remember this day. Write it in the flyleaf of your Bible.

16:22 Write it down and go back to it. Never, never doubt. And furthermore, you must never doubt that once in Christ, always in Christ, you are safe and secure forever. Where this teaching prevails and people show no subsequent patterns of a changed life, of radical cross-bearing discipleship and attachment to Christ, no suggestion is made by those who teach it that perhaps the so-called convert is not really a convert, but rather, there is no opening up of the biblical doctrine concerning spurious faith, of stony-ground hearers,

17:07 of thorny-ground hearers. If there is any instruction at all to try to bring these people to a higher level of spiritual experience, of obedience to Christ, it is couched in these words. Now you've trusted Jesus as your Savior, but it's evident you have not taken Him as your Lord. Your lifestyle indicates that what is Lord in your life is your own lust, the standards of the world, your friends, your acceptance with your peers, and that should not be.

17:42 You need to go further now and take Jesus as your Lord. And if you don't, you're going to lose some rewards in the last day. And 1 Corinthians chapter 3 is bent into the service of this teaching that when you die, your works, that is, your shoddy life will be burned with fire, but you will be saved. There is no question.

18:07 Once saved, always saved. You're in Christ because you've accepted Christ. You have this syllogistic assurance. Your main problem is you haven't gone on to take Jesus as your Lord.

18:19 Now that's not a caricature. Books are written. Whole systems of teaching on the Christian life are spun out and constructed upon that teaching. That's not a caricature.

18:29 That's not a caricature. That's not a caricature. That's not a caricature. That's not a caricature.

Biblical Refutation from John 13 and Matthew 11

18:29 That's not a caricature. Now, I say, John 13, while it is not the main intention of the passage, nonetheless, because the universal teaching of the Bible contradicts this instruction that I've laid before you, does present a convincing refutation of this teaching. And where is that refutation? Having sought to describe the teaching, now the convincing refutation in this passage.

18:59 Remember the central issue. Remember the central issue. Remember the central issue. Remember the central issue.

19:00 The central issue is verse 8. If we would have any part with Jesus, we've got to start with having Jesus wash us. In the proclamation of the gospel, it is right to set forth Jesus, not primarily as prophet to teach us, as king to rule us, but as priest to forgive us and to intercede for us. It is right and proper that Christ's office as priest should have center stage in our proclamation of the gospel.

19:37 That's the primary emphasis of this passage. If I wash you not, you have no part with me. And it is in that union with Christ that the virtue of his own precious blood makes us clean. However, of those concerning whom Christ says you are clean, excepting Judas, notice what he can say to them as a present reality of their relationship to him in spite of their sins and their dullness in this very passage and in a lot of others.

20:20 What is the nature of their relationship to him? Is it one simply that Jesus is their savior by whom they are clean?

20:32 No, the passage indicates it is a relationship that involves much more. Verse 13. You call me teacher and Lord. And I sought to demonstrate that that means they both referred to him and spoke of him with those two titles.

20:53 When you speak of me and you find this, particularly in the gospel of John, they say, the teacher said, the Lord said, the Lord did, and when they addressed him, they would address him as rabbi, as teacher, and as Lord. And in so doing, Jesus says, you say well. Now that's a key concept in what I'm trying to demonstrate from the passage. If they were merely parroting the objective reality, he is the supreme teacher and he is the sovereign Lord, and in order simply to acknowledge their recognition, that's what they would do.

21:33 That's what they would do. That's what they would do. That's what they would do. That's what they would do.

21:33 That's what they would do. That's what he is objectively and external to them. Jesus would not have said, you call me teacher and Lord and you say well. He would have said, and you say hypocritically.

21:45 You address me and speak of me as teacher and Lord, but as he says in other settings, Luke 6, 46, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? And then goes on to use the parable of the wise and the foolish builder. And the only wise man is the one who is wise. The one who hearing the word of God does it.

22:07 The one who not only says to Jesus, Lord, but who embraces him as his sovereign in the depths of his being. So when Jesus said, you call me teacher and Lord, you say well, because what they said was an honest expression of their heart's relationship to him. You remember what Peter said in John chapter 6 when disciples are hearing stuff that was going down with great difficulty. And it says upon these things, many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more.

22:48 And Jesus turns and says, will you also go away? What was Peter's answer? Lord, to whom else should we go? You have the words of eternal life.

22:59 You are our teacher. We are fastened in our hearts to the utterances that come to us. We are fastened in our hearts to the utterances that come to us. From your mouth to whom else shall we go?

23:10 You have the words of eternal life. He didn't simply say you are the only ground of the pardon that will secure eternal life. He says you alone have the words of eternal life. We're bound to you as our teacher.

23:29 And they were bound to him as their Lord. And though at times they did not understand even in this very passage, Simon Peter, verse 36 of John 13, Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going? Jesus said, where I go, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow me afterwards. Peter said, Lord, why can I not follow you even now?

23:54 I'll lay down my life for you. I'm bound to you as my master. Where you go, I go. Now he didn't know his own weakness and his own heart.

24:03 But that was the fundamental disposition of the heart. He was attached to Jesus as his teacher and his Lord. These were not mere titles upon the lips when they spoke to him and about him to others. You say, well, for so I am.

24:21 You are all clean. Who are the clean ones? Those who could say in truth, he is my teacher and he is my Lord. Furthermore, he goes on to say in verse 16, truly, truly, I say unto you, a servant, a bond slave is not greater than his Lord, neither one that is sent greater than him that sent him.

24:52 Who is the Lord here and who is the bond slave? Christ is the Lord. Bond slaves are the eleven who are clean, who own him as teacher and as Lord. Here the imagery is the bond slave is not above his Lord.

25:08 You are my bond slaves. You have embraced me as a slave embraces the rule and government of his master. So you have embraced me as your master and as the commissioning sovereign is greater than those whom he commissions and sends. Here our Lord is acknowledging that he is the commissioning sovereign.

25:33 They are the obedient sent ones. So you see, without any kind of unnatural theological wrestling and manipulation in the very fabric of our Bibles, and this is found throughout the New Testament, nowhere is it taught that one can consciously receive Jesus as Savior from the penalty of sin while deliberately refusing to embrace him as sovereign Lord and Master.

26:11 That teaching that is wretched, soul-destructive teaching basically says one can have all the benefits of the cross of Christ while willfully rejecting the implications of the crown of Christ. God has joined the cross and the crown and it is a whole Christ received with the whole heart as priest to forgive me and intercede for me as prophet to teach me and king to rule over me is of the very essence of saving faith. Now, I am not saying that none of you came to true faith

26:52 unless you heard clear, solid, biblical exposition of these things. You should have, but you may not have. But if the Spirit of God wrought a genuine work in your heart, though you may have never heard about the lordship of Christ and the threefold offices of Christ, the Spirit of God never brings a sinner to embrace Christ as a partial Christ, but always as a whole Christ with the whole heart. Always, always without exception.

27:26 And so in this passage, we see a very convincing refutation of any notion that Christ can be received as Savior while being willfully rejected as Lord and as Master. And I deliberately purpose not to bring a lot of other scriptures to bear on this issue, but let me just turn to one other wonderfully touching, familiar gospel invitation to show that when I say this is spread throughout our Bibles, I'm not overstating the issue. Turn to Matthew chapter 11. This is just one corroborating passage,

28:09 a passage so often used, and legitimately so, as a gospel invitation, a invitation to sinners. Hear the Lord Jesus having identified His own person as being one with the Father, being the one to whom the Father has delivered all things into His hands, the sole medium of knowing the Father. No one knows the Father save the Son, and He to whomsoever the Son wills to reveal Him. Now verse 28 of Matthew 11.

28:39 Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will reveal to you the Son of God. I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest unto your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Come unto me, the Lord Jesus said.

29:04 He bids all those heavy, burdened, pressed down in the context, most likely the dominant thought, is those people who are under those, those people who are under those, those burdens, crushing burdens of Pharisaic external religion, multiplying rules and regulations. He says, come to me, I'll give you rest. But in inviting them to come in promising rest, notice our Lord does not separate it from these other words. Come to me, take my yoke upon you, and learn of me.

29:39 Come for rest, come for a yoke, come to be taught. Ah, Jesus! I like the rest part. Can I have the rest?

29:51 I don't like the yoke part. That means I don't call the shots anymore. That means I don't set the directives. I don't run my own life.

30:02 I know what a yoke means. It binds two oxen together to plow in the same field, in the same direction, at the same pace, at the direction of the farmer who stands behind. No, no, Lord. I like the rest.

30:17 But no yoke. And you see, Lord, I've got some ideas about life and reality and marriage and the home, and I'm not so ready to say the Bible is going to wash my head of everything but your truth. Jesus said, and you go find another Savior to give you rest. You come to me, there's a yoke.

30:39 You come to me to learn. Don't insult me by trying to snatch at my promised rest while refusing. Listen. Listen, my gracious yoke.

30:49 It's a gracious yoke. It's easy. And my burden is life, but it is a yoke and it is a burden.

30:58 You see, it's everywhere.

31:00 And I trust that you as the people of God will be well armed with your Bibles, that when you're seeking to help people and any brand or any examples of this brand of teaching leaks out, that you will wisely and graciously seek to help people to see this is a soul. This is a destructive, soul-damning error. And if there's anyone sitting here who rests his or her salvation on the fact that there was somewhere in the past where you tipped your mental hat to Jesus and you had no dealings with Jesus that made Him teacher and Lord, master, sovereign in your life,

31:45 in the depths of your consciousness of what you're living for, you had no saving dealings with Jesus. And the sooner you face it and begin to have biblically framed, biblically defined saving dealings with Jesus, your soul will be safe.

Gleaning 6: Christ's Sovereignty Over the Devil

32:09 Now then, we come to gleaning number six and the final one. This foot-washing incident contains a comforting demonstration of the absolute sovereignty of Christ over the most insidious, insidious purposes and plans of the devil.

32:32 This foot-washing incident contains a comforting demonstration of the absolute sovereignty of Christ over the most insidious purposes and plans of the devil. As we've had occasion to notice in earlier exposition of the passage, the devil is very present in the upper room and in the foot-washing incident. He's put something into the heart of Judas hisaw, He's put something into the heart of Judas hisaw,

32:56 Judas Iscariot. The devil himself will enter Judas Iscariot. That means he had to be in the room to enter someone else who was there. And I want us to view this in such a way that we go out of here with a measure of the confidence of faith that the devil hates. The devil is a big bluff, and he likes it when he can spook the people of God.

33:21 And I want us to see in this incident the comforting demonstration of the absolute sovereignty of our Jesus over the most insidious purposes and plans of the devil. You know, who've sat under my ministry for any time, that again and again I make reference to that first gospel promise. God speaks it in Genesis chapter 3 in the context of dealing in judgment and mercy with Adam and Eve. And with the devil, the three parties to the initial sin, the devil, the man, and the woman.

33:59 And in speaking to the devil, God gives the first gospel promise. To me there's a wonderful irony in that. The one who instigates the sin of Eve and of Adam is the one who first hears that God in grace is going to undo what he's done. It's talking to the devil that the gospel is first preached.

34:20 And God says in Genesis 3.15, unto the devil and I will put enmity between you and the woman, between her seed, your seed and her seed, he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. Though Adam and Eve had aligned themselves with the devil by their sin, Jesus, I'm sorry, God speaks saying, in the seed of the woman, I'm going to crush your head. I'm going to break up this order.

34:51 This alignment. I will inject enmity where now there is amity and harmony. I'm going to bring enmity, gospel enmity. And from that point onward, this old world has been the theater of a cosmic warfare with eternal consequences.

35:12 That's what this world is. It is the theater in which this initial gospel promise and announcement of irreconcilable war, warfare between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, has been announced. That warfare is coming to its most critical engagement at a Passover in Jerusalem. The devil, who had attempted to kill Jesus from his very appearance on earth has failed.

35:44 You remember? He stirred up the envious, fearful, jealous heart of Herod that someone who might be a threat to my throne is, been born. Let me kill him. And all the babies are slain, two years old and under. The devil

36:02 later sought to render Jesus unfit to save by defiling him with sin. Think of the brass of the devil coming to the Son of God and in face-to-face encounter seeking to seduce him into sin, even by quoting the Bible to him. The devil, who placed murderous designs throughout the ministry of Jesus in the hearts of the religious leaders, how again and again it says they sought to destroy him, but it was not yet his hour. In the heart of that one who was a liar and a murderer from the beginning, according to John 8 and verse 44,

36:46 the peculiar object of his murderous design. His insidious, demonic passions is Jesus. He's out. If he can do more than bruise his heel, he'd like to destroy him. And now we come to the upper room. And what is the context?

37:07 Verse 2. Verse 2 is the context. It is a context in which the devil, having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son. To betray him. Verse 21. When Jesus had thus said he was troubled in spirit and said,

37:28 truly I say unto you, one of you shall betray me. And then in verse 27, and after the sop, then entered Satan into him, that is Judas. Jesus said, what you do, do quickly. What were the purposes and plans of the devil? He wants to kill Jesus.

37:52 He knows that if he's to be killed, he must be handed over to the religious authorities, who in turn will seek to get him handed over to the Roman authorities, because at that time, under Roman rule, the Jews could not use capital punishment as a form of punishment upon their own. The Romans alone had that right. But while the purposes and plans of the devil are very real, and he's injecting them, into the heart of a fully responsible creature named Judas, he is stirring up those attitudes of envy and jealousy among the religious leaders and heartlessness among the Roman leaders.

Jesus' Control Amidst Betrayal

38:36 Where is Jesus' control in all of this? To put it most bluntly, who is really in charge? Well, look at verse 3a. See its significance. The devil's already done his work. Putting it

38:53 into Judas' heart. He's going to kill him. He's going to kill him. He's going to kill him. He's going to kill him.

38:53 He's going to kill him. He's going to kill him. He's going to kill him. He's going to kill him.

38:54 To betray Jesus. Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands. You see the contrast? Here's the devil's action. But above and over and utterly surrounding it are the hands

39:12 of Jesus. All things have been put into his hands. This was already asserted early in John's gospel, chapter 3 and verse 35. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hands. We find it in the gospel of

39:36 Matthew. Matthew 11, 27. All things have been delivered unto me of my Father. Matthew 28, 18.

39:46 All authority has been delivered unto me. Now follow me closely. The Bible clearly teaches that subsequent to his death, the Father has given all things into his hands. He has given resurrection and ascension. That our Lord Jesus enters into a formal investiture of messianic

40:04 authority in a context of glory. You hear me now? A formal investiture with messianic authority in a context of exaltation and of glory. That's what Peter's talking about in Acts chapter 2.

40:22 He being exalted by the right hand, of God. He has been made Lord in Christ. He has sent forth this which you now see and hear. And that's a wonderful truth. And we must not in any way deny it, overshadow it.

40:39 However, we must not think that while here in the period of His humiliation, Christ is anything other than the Messianic Lord who has all things delivered into His hands. We've looked at four explicit affirmations of that. All things have been delivered unto me of my Father. All authority has been given unto me. And so while the devil is working really,

41:14 powerfully, insidiously in the heart of Judas, and while Judas as a responsible moral creature is bolivian, he is not a moral creature. He is not a moral creature. He is not a moral creature. He is not a moral creature. He is not a moral creature. He is not a moral

41:25 creature. He is not a moral creature. He is not a moral creature. He is not a moral creature.

41:25 Embracing the suggestions of the evil one, the devil is active. Judas is active. But blessed be God, Jesus is active. And His activity encompasses and overshadows and restrains and governs all of their activity. See, just as you and I would be blown back into the

41:51 abyss of nothingness if Jesus did not uphold every atom in our being, Colossians 1 and 1, he upholds all things by the word of His power. The devil would go back into the abyss of nothingness if his very existence were not upheld by Jesus. Same thing with Judas. And that's why we have this wonderful touch, Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands. He came forth from God and goes back unto God. So when Jesus knows

42:27 what the devil is doing and what Judas is thinking and is in control and says, all of this is but fulfilling Scripture, verse 18, I know whom I have chosen, but that the Scripture might be fulfilled. And when the devil enters into Judas, Jesus knows it, but he's the devil at the end of a rope in Jesus' hand. Judas and the devil are not independent, creatures, but they are in the hands of Jesus. To accomplish what Jesus purposes for His

The Devil's Defeat and Christ's Glorification

43:08 own glory and for the advancement of His own redemptive purposes. Look at chapter 12 and verse 31. Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

43:29 And I, if I believe, will be cast out. And I, if I believe, will be cast out. And I, if I believe, will be cast out. And I, if I believe, will be cast out. And I, if I believe, will

43:32 be cast out. And I, if I believe, will be cast out. And I, if I believe, will be cast out. And I, if I believe, will be cast out. And I, if I believe, will be cast out. And I, if

43:34 I believe, will be cast out. And I, if I believe, will be cast out. And I, if I believe, will be cast out. And I, if I believe, will be cast out. And I, if I believe, will be

43:36 cast out. And I, if I believe, will be cast out. And I, if I believe, will be cast out. And I, if I believe, will be cast out. And I, if I believe, will be cast out. And I, if

43:38 He said, I'm going to die, and I'm going to die by crucifixion. And I'm going to die by crucifixion that in my death I will then draw to myself all kinds of men from all over the earth because in my death will be the death knell of the devil. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. So who's in charge?

44:03 The devil has his schemes and nefarious plans, a murderous heart. He wants to kill Jesus. But all he's doing under the control of Jesus is killing himself.

44:19 Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And in the complex of activities surrounding his betrayal and death, look at verse 31 of chapter 13. Now therefore he was gone out, that is Judas. Jesus said, look at this.

44:34 Now when he was gone out, Judas, gone out to do what? To hand him over to the authorities. Jesus said, I want to tell you what he's accomplishing. This is what he's going to accomplish.

44:47 Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. Now if that doesn't take some of you very staid, polite, white, Anglo-Saxon, Euro-culturally conditioned, people, and at least make you want to shout, something's wrong.

45:12 Think of it. The devil thinks, I finally got my man to get to the man. I've entered him now. And I will activate in him perspectives and desires and attitudes that will result in killing the man I'm after.

45:31 And Jesus said, you know what they're both going to accomplish? They're just going to accomplish my being glorified.

45:38 It's in his death. It is. It is in his burial, in his resurrection, in his ascension. Christ is glorified.

45:44 It is now made evident to the entire moral universe who he is, what he came to do, and that he could not be frustrated in the accomplishment of that design.

45:57 And that's a lovely little touch, only in John's Gospel.

Christ's Display of Control in the Garden

46:02 You know how the Lord, I don't want to be cheeky, but in a sense, rubs that very truth under Judas' nose. After Judas goes out into the world. After Judas goes out into the darkness of that night, not only externally, but internally. A preview of the darkness of the eternity to which he is gone.

46:22 You know, the next time we see Judas, it's in the garden, in John chapter 18. And when we see him, what happens? We read in John 18, in verse 3, Judas then, having received the band of soldiers and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, comes thither with lanterns. and torches and weapons.

46:47 Jesus, knowing all the things that were coming upon him, see who's in control, went forth and said to them, Whom are you seeking? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said, I am he. And Judas also who betrayed him was standing with them.

47:08 When therefore he said unto them, I am he, they, who, the entire group, including Judas, went backward and fell to the ground. Again, therefore he asked him, Whom do you seek? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said, I told you, I am he.

47:27 If therefore you seek me, let these go their way.

47:32 See what our Lord is doing? Judas, you've accomplished your designs. The devil put it into your heart to betray me. You consented with your will.

47:43 And with that consent of the will, you opened yourself up to a further dimension of devilish power. The devil is your enemy. himself in some way that I cannot explain scripture says entered into him and all the pieces fit together they're prepared to cooperate with him in handing over Jesus and when he stands with that crowd after Judas kisses him on his cheek we learn that from the other gospel records Jesus says I am he and apparently just the majesty with which he spoke the words or perhaps in a very temporary like a flash bulb out shining of his glory they are all plastered on the ground including Judas

48:23 Jesus says I'm in control around here you may think that your murderous designs and your covetous perspectives have taken over the field but I want you to know all things have been delivered into my hand so when the devil is doing his dirtiest work this passage underscores so beautifully that Jesus is still in control you find that comforting I do I do because the scripture tells us and here I want you to notice this text from the book of the revelation that when the devil

Comfort for Believers in Spiritual Warfare

49:06 was unable to kill the seed who was born the man child that was born we read in revelation chapter 12 perhaps we should pick up in verse 13 when the dragons saw that he was cast down from the earth he persecuted the woman that brought forth the man child and they were given to the woman two wings of a great eagle that she might fly to the wilderness verse 15 the serpent cast out at his mouth after the woman water is a river that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream and the earth helped the woman and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the river with the dragon which the dragon cast out at his mouth

49:50 and the dragon waxed angry with the woman and went away to make war with the rest of her seed. And how are they identified? By two things that keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. That's us, folks.

50:12 He don't like us. He don't like us. And he can't touch the seed of the woman that cost him.

50:23 So he's going after the next best thing. All who are joined to him, all who are united to him, and his influence is real. We do not make light of the reality of the devil, of the schemes, the wiles Paul calls them, the stratagems of the devil. We are not ignorant of his stratagems.

50:48 Take the shield of faith wherewith you be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. Your adversary Peter says the devil goes about as a roaring lion. But what are we to do?

51:03 Run away and hide in the nearest bush now, he says. Whom? Resist steadfast in the faith, in the knowledge that you're united to one who is in control, who's conquered him. And in Christ we are more than conquerors.

51:21 Luther had it right, and though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us, we, we will not fear. Why? For God hath willed his truth to triumph through us. The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him, for lo, his doom is what?

51:45 Sure. His doom is sure.

51:50 One little word shall fell him. I say as we meditate upon this lovely portion of the word of God, the incident of the foot washing contains this comforting demonstration of the absolute sovereignty of Christ over the most insidious purposes and plans of the devil. And that's your Christ, and that's my Christ. That's the Christ who indwells us, the Christ who at the right hand of the Father prays for us, that we will be kept from the evil one. I will,

52:31 Father, that those whom you have given me be with me where I am, that they may be whole, to my glory. Jesus is going to get what he prays for. And when we are in the midst of fierce temptation where we believe that we are having, as it were, very close dealings with the devil, the last thing he wants us to do is stand our ground in the consciousness of our union with Christ and say, get behind me, Satan. You're a defeated foe!

53:03 I resist you! Steadfast in the faith of Jesus. All things are in his hands, including you, devil. And I am in Christ, and he is in me. And we are more than

53:16 conquerors through him that loved us. Well, my dear brothers and sisters, I hope you've been able to suck some sweetness from this portion of the Word of God. And I wrote down at the end of my notes a word for some of you that have found no sweetness in this. All you found is the crazy old man getting excited again. Here's what I

Gospel Invitation: Embrace Jesus as Whole Christ

53:42 wrote. Who would not want a Savior such as Jesus? That's the question. Last question, the bottom of my notes. Who would

53:54 not want such a Savior as Jesus? A Savior of the towers and the basin. The Savior of infinite patience with his sinful, dull, but real disciples. A Savior who has conquered the evil one, who controls all that he does and all the minions of hell. Who

54:22 would not want to be in such a Savior and to know the blessedness of eternal life? I trust that the contemplation we have made of him as his people would make some of you blessedly jealous. For that Jesus is yours if you will have him. He is yours if you will have him. He is yours

54:52 if you will have him.

54:57 Have him as the only one who can cleanse you from your sins. Have him as the one who alone has the right to govern your life. Have him as the only one who has a right to teach you all that you need to know about reality. To please God here and to be taken to be with him in the age to come. If you will have

55:21 him as your priest to forgive and intercede for you, your prophet to teach you, your king to rule and govern you with a gracious easy yoke. He is yours if you will have him. Why will you not have him? What unseemliness have you discovered in him that we haven't?

55:44 What unreasonableness have you discovered in him that we haven't? Are you answering anything? Anything coming to mind? If not then you see it's sheer madness that you do not possess him, receive him, embrace him. It's moral

56:04 madness. It's spiritual suicide. May God grant that this day you will say enough with this madness, enough with this suicide. Oh God be gracious to me. Lord

56:20 Jesus, forgive my folly, my stupidity. Lord Jesus have mercy upon me. Let us pray.

Prayer

56:37 Our Father, how we do thank you for your holy word. Thank you for the richness of that word. We thank you that it speaks of our Savior and we earnestly pray that our faith would indeed be strengthened as we have contemplated his glory as the one into whose hands all things have been delivered. We plead our Father that you will help us as your people to love his yoke, to love him with the towel in the basin, to love him as he brings our minds under the discipline of his truth. We do pray

57:15 that you'd seal your word to the hearts of your people and that you would yet be merciful to those who do not know you. That there would be some who would mark this day as the day when they turn from moral and spiritual madness and spiritual suicide and laid hold of him who is life and offers life in himself. We trust you our Father to accomplish your purposes through your word and to your name be the praise and honor and glory through Christ our Lord. Amen.