Sunday Sermon
sunday morning 10th Aug 2008
John 13 v21-30
The betrayer leaves.
The next stage in the events that lead up to the death of Christ, is the leaving of Judas.
Up until this point the Lord had his faithful group of disciples following him, with him. Now the fellowship is about to break up.
And in this event we are shown the terrible consequences of sin.
We like to play with sin and think that it is our friend and that it does no real harm. But we need to see that, all along, the only thing sin does is divide and destroy.
From a human point of view this next event is of pivotal importance because it leads directly to the capture of Jesus and then his death on the cross.
From a human point of view the narrative is dark and despairing, full of doom and gloom.
Context:
Jesus has just finished washing all the disciples feet.
He has already warned them that not all of them were clean - v10.
Now he can contain it no more. He is deeply troubled in spirit v21.
He makes the terrible testimony / declaration - someone will betray him!
The disciples are already in a state of bewilderment after the foot washing but now! This is terrible devastating news. There is a betrayer in their ranks!
They want to know who it is. Peter is desperate for answers as always!
He gets John to find out, then Jesus lets them know that the betrayer is Judas!
But they don’t know what he is going to do or how it will all pan out.
Jesus tells Judas to go and do what he has to do.
That leaves the disciples just as confused as before v28.
They don’t understand what is happening!
Judas then leaves and it is dark outside. It was night!
Satan had entered his soul thus he was dark on the inside and now that he is out in the night it is nothing but dark all around!
In these verses we are drawn to see the terrible effects of sin.
Is sin that big a deal? Is rejecting Jesus that big a deal?
1) sin emotionally and psychologically affects the Lord. V21.
Some cleaver theologian has called God the Great Unmoved Mover!
When we see Jesus in scriptures we need to remember that he is the image of the invisible God! And we should know the God cannot be put in a box!
We can come to know him but we will never know him fully! He is God.
In Christ we see God more fully than anywhere else.
What do we see of him here?
We see he is moved by sin! V21 he is troubled in spirit!
He suffers same emotional experience that he suffered at the tomb of Lazarus!
He is more moved by sin than any of us ever are because he is Holy.
He is pure, he has never sinned! Thus he is able to see it clearly in all its ugly guises.
He is about to suffer the consequences of our sin on the cross, and here he suffers the consequences of Judas’s sin!
Note how devastating it seems to be! Yes betrayal is particularly cruel. To be rejected by his friend, companion, disciple! But it is only one sin!
Think then of the suffering on the cross! When the punishment that was due the world was laid on his shoulders!
2) sin causes confusion and upset amongst the disciples v22-26
Sin, is like old age - I’m told it does not come by itself!
Sin never just sits alone. It has its consequences all around.
Judas maybe thought his actions were no big deal! But even here before the actual commission of it, the disciples are troubled and confused.
Eventually they are led to abandon the Lord and run for their lives.
And Peter is led to disown the Lord with cursing and swearing!
Sin does that. It is not just a personal matter.
The consequences can be long lasting and destructive.
3 A) sin causes Judas to be possessed by the devil v27
Judas’s own personal sin eventually led to him being possessed by the Devil.
He had opened himself up further and further to the work of the devil that in the end the devil takes possession of him!
But not until this point. He had every opportunity to repent, to turn to Christ, even a few moments before as Jesus was washing his feet!
Now it is to late, his fate is sealed!
His choice of going the way of sin, enjoying the fruits of sin for a while, ultimately leads to his eternal loss!
And that the ultimate effect of sin:
3 B) sin causes total separation from God v30
V30 is perhaps the most important verse to remember when we think of indulging in sin!
Judas went out!
That is he left all that was good and pure and beautiful in the world behind.
He separated himself, he went out, he divided. Sin divides it never unites!
And it was night
Internally his soul was full of darkness, possessed by the devil.
Externally all was darkness too.
There is nothing nice about sin. No colour, no shape nor beauty. No fun or laughter.
We need light to live, but there is no light in sin!
The world need light to grow and cannot survive without it, the darkness of sin kills and destroys. Judas went out and it was night.
He went out into death, not life!
sunday evening 10th Aug 2008
Abram lessons in faith 4. Genesis 13.
Intro:
We pick up the story here remembering the terrible actions that Abram had taken when faced with his first challenge to his faith.
He ran to Egypt telling lies about Sarai and then is found out and Pharaoh kicks him out with a rebuke - “why didn’t you tell me…” 12v18.
The first challenge to his faith he failed. How is he going to recover?
Does his faith bounce back? What happens next?
Chapter 13.
V1-4.
The opening verses tell us that Abram goes back to where he should never have left.
He retraces his footsteps back to the place of his first alter.
We are also given the detail that Abram had become very wealthy v2.
So what are we to make of this return?
This is a walk of repentance! It is a walk of shame in many ways.
Why had he been so foolish! It is a walk of bitterness, God had told him to go to the promised land and he had left it for Egypt!
Nonetheless he returns, and even better he again calls on the LORD v4.
Lesson one : Faith needs repentance.
Repentance is walking back to the place where God has called us to be!
Sometimes we may need to take time to repent properly.
We may need to consider where we have gone wrong and then deal with it.
Doing whatever it takes to make things right. Making apologies to others etc.
For Abram it involved going back to the place of worship!
Where he had built his first alter!
That is the aim of repentance to bring us back to worship.
To bring us back to fellowship with God.
Because the effect of sin is to stop our worship! It puts a block in the way to God.
We need repentance: “repentance is the drainage system of the soul.”
“keep a short account with God” “getting dressed is an act of repentance”
V5-7
Next we see Abram is about to face another challenge. This time the challenge comes from within the family. Previously it was an external circumstance that cause Abram to lose faith and run to Egypt. How would he react here?
The problem was the family had become too prosperous for the land!
A good problem to have perhaps.
There wasn’t enough space for everything.
And Abram’s people were beginning to fight with Lot’s people.
It was a tricky situation. Abram had the right to do what he wanted. He was the elder, and the guardian of Lot. So it was up to him to make the first move.
What is he going to do? Act in faith and trust God or just do what he wants?
Thankfully he has learned lessons from his past mistake and this time he acts in faith.
V8-13
His actions prove that he is acting in faith. V8-9
a) he first seeks peace. V8. Blessed are the peacemakers - there is a cost to peace making and that is what follows, the giving up of certain rights.
b) then he gives Lot the first choice - not demanding his own rights!
Lesson 2: faith learns very important truths from its mistakes.
a) It learns primarily to trust God more!
Faith learns that fellowship with God is more important than material well-being.
Living by faith is more important than comfort.
What do we seek first? To be comfortable or faithful?
Through our mistakes we learn that being faithful the thee most important thing.
Indeed we might never learn that lesson unless we sin!
Abram puts God first when faced with this second challenge, he has learned!
How about you?
b) Also this learning from our failures highlights the glory of God.
It shows that nothing is lost in his economy!
Joel 2:25 "I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten….
Romans 8:28 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
V14-18
In this final section we see again the gracious God of faith speaking to Abram.
V14 makes it clear that God comes only after Lot has left.
That is only after Abram has won this battle of faith.
So in a sense we can think that God is rewarding Abram for his faithfulness.
How different that is from before! God left him in his folly whilst in Egypt for a time. He did not speak to him, he withdrew his close presence!
But not now. Yahweh comes to him with tremendous words of encouragement:
V15 he is to look around and all that the land that he sees is his and his offspring’s!
V16 his offspring will be beyond number
V17 he is to go on and explore the whole land
V18 - in response Abram obeys and then builds and alter to the Lord, he worships.
Note what has happened here:
God is forgiving him for all his past sins! He is not holding his folly against him.
He is restoring the covenant promises to him! Praise God.
Lesson 3: where sin leads to destruction, faith leads to blessing!
In our life of faith as we follow the Lord we need to keep this great truth in mind.
We will only ever experience Gods blessing as we live obediently to him.
How obedient are we?
A test: does our obedience lead to acts of worship? The vibrancy of our faith can be gauged by our holy desires.
e.g. what do we think of Gods people and the fellowship of his people? Do we look forward to the Lords day? Do we love to worship and sing his praise? How about praying and reading? Do our souls love to feast on the LORD?
Be honest with yourself in these things and if the answers are negative then seek God afresh by the road of repentance!
Remember how God dealt with Abram, he forgave his sin, he restored the covenant blessings!
He will do the same for you, because he is the same God and we are the same sinful people in need of his mercy at all times.
