Gospel According to John - Week 25: Whom Do You Seek?

[Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] hey [Music] hmm ah [Music] ah [Applause] [Music] [Music] hey church fam we're so glad you've joined us for 11 22 online i'm kristen and my family and i worship alongside you every single week whether you're new to 11 22 or you've been here for a while we are so glad that you're here the church of 1122 is a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with jesus christ and all means all so no matter where you are or who you are you are welcome here with us this week we'll be continuing in the gospel according to john's series the apostle john gives us his account of experiencing jesus's life as we dive further into scripture we'll walk through jesus's ministry his signs his miracles his death resurrection and post-resurrection appearances if you haven't already done so make sure you grab a john journal this is a great resource to use as we dive deeper into john's account of the gospel you can access the journal by visiting coe22.com john or visit the app so here at the church of 1122 we respond to the gospel in three ways first we sing so sing out and worship wherever you are we'll have a time to sing both before and after the sermon today we also bring god gave us his first and his best so we respond by doing the same at any time during the service you can bring god your first and your best by clicking on that give button and finally we pray we pray because jesus prayed and we believe it's one of the strongest ways to discover and deepen our relationship with him please share your prayer needs or questions by clicking on the request prayer option but before we get things kicked off take a look at this video of one of our ministry partners who is focused on the next generation and an event we all can be a part of called the great futures weekend [Music] [Applause] i'm here with my dear friend paul martinez fellow 11 20 tour and the ceo of the boys and girls clubs of northeast florida and every single year as a church we rally together to support the mckinsey run in honor of the life and legacy of mackenzie noelle wilson and it helps support and resource children all across our community the mckinsey foundation and the boys and girls clubs have joined efforts together over the last couple of years to serve more kids and we could not be more proud of what you're doing and what our community is doing for this effort and this year the mckenzie run is growing which is good news instead of a one day event it's now going to be a whole weekend of exciting opportunities to support so paul i want you to tell us a little more about what we can look forward to this year thanks pastor mackenzie's legacy is such a huge part of helping kids grow and have opportunities to succeed this year we have an entire weekend of events for people to connect to and support we can keep helping serve children and their families this fun three-day event is november 18th to 20th all hosted at the tpc sawgrass i mean the best location day one november 18th we have a kickoff reception at the clubhouse with hors d'oeuvres live auction life-changing stories and a ton of fun day two november 19th we'll host a golf tournament at the players stadium course the course we will have 120 golfers followed by an award ceremony and opportunities to learn more about all that's happening through the boys and girls clubs in northeast florida and then the final day day three the granddaddy the event we have all grown to love mckenzie run which will also be held on the stadium course at tpc as always there will be a community village they are featuring food live music community partnership and more to learn more visit bgcnf.org all the information is there sign up rsvp is there mackenzie wilson's life and legacy has played a huge part of our church's story and the stories god is shaping in children all over our region it's exciting to see it grow thanks to you pastor and to the church for being such a huge part of it we couldn't do this without you well it is truly our pleasure to partner with you to reach one more generation a whole bunch of kids that a lot of folks overlook jesus doesn't overlook them our church doesn't overlook them and you don't overlook them and so thanks for all that you allow us to do with you to reach one more generation and so to our church family thank you for being involved now log on get more info sign up show up we'll see you there [Music] come on let's stand up and worship the lord together [Music] please be a weapon that's silence [Music] [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] let faith [Music] [Music] you [Applause] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] we praise you [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] like [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] god [Music] [Music] we pray to you [Music] come on sing this new song to the lord this morning sing evergreen your love is evergreen those seasons change but you never will and everything [Music] but you never will oh you never will [Music] [Music] begins to bloom standing here with you your spirit is the source of life and underneath your shade i can rest in grace your presence is my heart delights sing evergreen [Music] and never agree your love is evergreen [Music] [Music] it's not in your [Music] you're making all things [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] how many of you can testify singing [Music] loving peace [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is oh [Music] [Music] is [Music] foreign [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] to know how sweet and oh how sweet to trust in jesus in love with him [Music] oh [Applause] i'll read a passage of scripture for you this morning especially after that last song think about the faithfulness the steadfast love of jesus in the midst of all things uh including this patient kind all of the fruits of the spirit in the middle of what we're about to read and study this morning let me read it for you this is john he says when jesus had spoken these words he went out with his disciples across the book brook uh kidron where there was a garden which he and his disciples entered now judas who betrayed him also knew the place for jesus often met there with his disciples so judas having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the pharisees went there with lanterns and torches and weapons then jesus knowing all that would happen to him came forward and said to them whom do you seek and they answered him jesus of nazareth and jesus said to them i am he and judas who betrayed him was standing with them when jesus said to them i am he they drew back and fell to the ground so we asked them again whom do you seek and they said jesus of nazareth jesus answered i told you that i am he so if you seek me let these men go this was to fulfill the word that he had spoken of those whom you gave me i have lost not one then simon peter having a sword drew it and struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear the servant's name was malcus so jesus said to peter put your sword into its she shall i not drink the cup that the father has given me so the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the jews arrested jesus and bound him praise god for the character of god expressed in jesus christ amen the reality is we would never look for a king like that would we we would look up we would look up to the high and mighty and so were they so were the jews but god expresses his love and his character and his peace and his patience and his kindness in the person of jesus christ and this is what we have to worship this morning it's a good thing isn't it isn't it a good thing so just love to focus your uh prayer and your worship on the good king let's sing it out [Music] and let the king of mile be the mountain where i sing it out [Music] [Music] i [Music] you are yes you are you are [Music] you are good [Music] inside myself is [Music] my [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] you are good you are good [Music] [Music] you're never gonna let [Music] let [Music] [Music] you're never gonna let me down [Music] you are good [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] you're never gonna let me down [Applause] [Music] let's pray god we did not take the initiative to find you that's just not the way it went down and the truth is if we had gone looking for you we would not have recognized you because of the way that you came born in a manger a simple carpenter's son this is the character of god expressing himself to us in jesus christ the goodness of god expressed you are good all the time even when we don't deserve at your good and even while we were still sinners christ died for us and here we are god inside your family covered by your blood we love you we pray that you draw many many many many people close to your heart as we lift you up through unpacking your word today if you agree with that prayer in jesus name say amen amen amen thanks for worshiping with us thanks for joining us here at 1122 the church of 1122 is a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with jesus and guess what all means all so whoever you are whatever your story is you are welcome here with us if you've been here for a while welcome back church fam and if this is your first time we'd love that you're here we want to connect with you and get to know you so let us know who you are in that chat we respond to the gospel in a few ways around here one way we respond is through prayer prayer is so powerful and at any time during the service today you can click on the request prayer option and you will be connected with someone who is ready to pray with you we also bring we bring because god gave us his first and his best by giving us his son jesus we are merely stewards of what god has given us so we respond by giving it back to him if at any time during the service you'd like to give just click on that give button there are many ways to respond to the good news of the gospel here at 11 22 and if you're new to the movement or looking to get connected a great next step you can take is by participating in discover 1122 discover 1122 is a way for you to connect with your faith family and we want you to join check out the link in the chat to find out how you can take part in discover 1122 right after today's service okay there's two really cool things i want to share with you guys if you joined us for saturated then you may remember that we talked a lot about one of our ministry partners who were focused on reaching one more generation and an awesome event we can all be part of this fall called great futures weekend the next generation is at the heart of so many things that we do here at the church and this is just another way that you can join in you can find out more information at coe22.com local outreach and the other second awesome thing which we love us some awesome is daring saturated we got to hear for the first time an 11 22 worship original called evergreen it was amazing and guess what september 24th we all will have the chance to add it to our playlist you can download evergreen and other 1122 worship originals on all major streaming platforms okay as we get ready to dive back in to continue to unpack john's account of the gospel and see the many ways that jesus displayed his love for us through his encounters with those like you and me a great resource to pair along is the john journal if you haven't already done so you can get access to this journal by visiting coe22.com or check it out on our app before we get started we want you to know that whether you have been a part of our church fam for a while or if this is your first time joining us we are so thankful that you're here and as we prepare our hearts we pray god would continue to meet you right where you are bringing you closer and closer to him now it's that time for you to grab your bible grab your journal and let's experience god's word together as a church fam [Music] my name is jeff kopp i'm the prison ministry director here at the church of 1122. the lord is always working through all things and he is he's doing an incredible incredible thing in the prisons and we as a as a serve staff going into prison we're just trying to stay out of the way so the majority of men at union will not walk out of that prison we've seen dozens of salvations at union and when you see one man accept jesus christ as lord and savior in that prison it'll take your breath away through the department of corrections we got approval for all of our sermons to go on to the tablets that all the inmates in the state of florida have so now we're seeing this huge response all over the state of florida so now we're looking at the model for the female prison and we have members of our church that live in other areas that bring weekly sermons into prisons that aren't in jacksonville they're nowhere near jacksonville we could go into many many more prisons if we empower our our members and serve staff to go in and share the sermons in prison there's no like perception that everything's going awesome you know you walk in with a blue jumpsuit and you're behind razor wire like no one's faking it in there you see god just using this moment in their life where he stripped away all the noise all the distractions and he says can you hear me now can you hear me now [Music] so steve was a guy easily recognizable and was just a guy that was always sitting in the front row and just said to us from day one he was he couldn't believe that he was there at a church in prison i think i was like the second like the second service they had i was here i missed the first one because i was in confinement but i caught the second one [Music] right here at baker throughout all my prisons i got about 28 years built up but i came from you know like a small family and uh you know my dad was like alcoholic and uh my uncles are like outlaws from out of georgia chapter and my upbringing was built on hate they just drilled it and installed it in us you know if it ain't white it ain't right you know [Music] it's just what it was it was just hate hate hate you know as they dropped us off at school go in and go out the back skipping school i wind up in the streets breaking in cars robbing and stealing and you know at the age of 17 i called an armed robbery they gave me 10 years knowing what i know now and then looking at my past i was i was a dead man walker i didn't have no direction i was just like running renegade if i know what i know now i'd have been like jesus man i know your hand take me with you take me with you i know now that he made way from what i used to be when i used to like be hateful and not like a man for the color of her skin now i can like you know i can tell you brother i love him from hate to love the things that we were taught hate [Music] and now all of a sudden love love that's jesus christ [Music] [Applause] [Music] amen and amen and amen welcome to 11 22 a movement for all people to discover and deepen our relationship with jesus christ amen and all means all and i want to welcome all of our campuses and those of you watching online but especially you brothers at union and you brothers at baker we love you we are for you and no matter what you've done or who you did it with jesus died for you amen if you got your bibles and you better john chapter 18 is where we're going to be john chapter 18 and we've got a lot to cover so we're going to go fast beginning in verse 1. now the teaching ministry of jesus is over and the bible says when jesus had spoken these words that these words that he had just spoken is the high priestly prayer that we just covered he spoke these words and he went out with his disciples across the brook kidron where there was a garden which he and his disciples entered now what i want to do is i want to back up to matthew chapter 26 because the garden that he goes into is known as the garden of gethsemane if you ever go to israel with me i will take you there it's a beautiful place it's not a garden like you think about gardens with like flowers and stuff there are a few flowers there but it was a it was like an olive grove and we find out in the synoptic gospels in matthew mark luke that there was a private section to this garden so apparently jesus had like a rich friend that would give him keys to this walled off part of the garden and the disciples would go there often as a time of prayer and from the garden you can see the eastern wall of jerusalem it's a beautiful place and so they go to this garden but what john is going to do is john is going to skip over a whole bunch of the stuff that happens in the garden but i want to go to matthew to see what like the context of what's happening in john now again we've talked about this several times there are four different gospels matthew martin luke and john and a part of the reason that they share different different details is because they're just different men coming from different different backgrounds and talking to different audiences all of the events are true and the same they are just sharing some of the different details so matthew records it this way in matthew 26 36 it says this and then jesus went with them to a place called gethsemane gethsemane means the place of crushing in gethsemane today archaeologists found a first century olive press that is theirs this big huge like stone wheel thing and and and what they would do when they would pick the olives in order to make olive oil and extra virgin olive oil there were three different presses that happened in gethsemane first of all they would just put the olives in a bag and they would just kind of sit them on this bag up on the shelf in the bag and just just from the gravity would pull out some of the olive oil that was crushing one and then they would take the olives and they would put it in the press and they would run the big wheel around them and olive oil would come out and that was crushing too and then finally they would grind the pit of the olive and that was the ultimate crushing and jesus on that night he takes the disciples into this place of crushing and he is about to go through his own crushing at least three different questions he's gonna go to the house of caiaphas and guards we'll talk about this in the upcoming weeks guards are gonna they're gonna they're gonna put a like a pillowcase over his head and they're gonna punch him in the face and they say okay prophet who punched you and then caiaphas doesn't know what to do with him so he sends him to pilate and pilate is going to have him flogged and then ultimately the wrath of god is going to be poured out on jesus at the cross so jesus went with him to a place called gethsemane and he said to his disciples sit here while i go over there and pray and taking with him peter and the two sons of zebedee that's james and john he began to be sorrowful and troubled don't don't cruise by those words too fast that jesus the almighty maker of heaven and earth the one in whom all authority has been put under him the one that spoke everything into existence the one who created everything for him by him through him and to him the one is before all things finds himself in a situation where he is sorrowful and troubled and here's why i say this you ever struggle with depression never struggle with anxiety you ever have thoughts and feelings going on in your head and you feel like i don't think i can handle this i don't know what to do with this well i've got really good news jesus knows exactly how you feel he knows exactly how you feel you see in the book of hebrews we find out that we do not have a high priest that cannot sympathize or empathize with us that he was tempted in every way does your mind ever tell you things about god that may not be true that are temptations for you to believe well apparently jesus understands what it feels like to be in that place he is sorrowful he is troubled and here's how we know and then he said to them to the three disciples with him my soul is very sorrowful even to death remain here and watch with me here's what jesus says the author of life looks at his boys and says i don't think i can handle this i feel like i'm going to die this is what jesus is walking through and then going a little farther the bible says he fell on his face now in the greek that does not mean like he laid down on his face by his own will it is as if something else pushed him down onto his face that jesus looking into the very near future understanding what god the father has called him to walk through and understanding that he would become sin and endure the full wrath of god he falls down on his face luke tells us that during this time in 2244 and being in agony he prayed more earnestly and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down onto the ground have you ever heard this phrase god will never give you more than you can handle you ever heard that i don't know who made that up but they're dumb and should be punched in the face and say handle that okay you know why because it's just not true it's just not true now i think whoever made that up they're taking a verse out of corinthians that said we will never be tempted beyond an escape so that's true there's no temptation that ever comes your way that you cannot resist by the power of the blood of jesus but the essence of the gospel is that we have more than we can handle the essence of the gospel is i can't handle the sin in my life i can't make the payment for the sin in my life i can't do anything to earn a right relationship with god heck my whole life is more than i can handle and often times god will lay a burden on his people so that they will get to the place in their life where they realize i can't handle this god i need you to do for me what i cannot do for myself and listen to this you got to stay with me to the end or it'll sound crazy jesus could not handle sin it killed him it killed him the wrath of god poured out on sin was too much for jesus to handle because if he could just handle it he could have just lived through it and defeated it but it killed him however he was resurrected from the grave and so he didn't handle death he overcame death so even when we have too much to handle then the good news is is it because he overcame then we can overcome no matter what trials and struggles that we're going through this is why paul will say that we're more than conquerors not because we conquer stuff because we stand with the one who has conquered but in this moment jesus feels like he's going to die he goes a little farther in the garden he falls down on his face and he prayed and he prayed not like said his prayers i mean he prayed he's gonna pour out his heart and soul to the father and here's what he says my father if it be possible let this cup pass from me neither nevertheless not as i will but as you will i want you to see what he's saying some translations say this father if there be any other way let this cup pass from me what's jesus talking about here jesus in the garden of gethsemane is handling the the number one criticism that people have of the claims of christianity today i mean most people are semi-pro jesus you know they're okay with him i think he was a pretty good guy and nice and you know he could do miracles and feed people and had some nice things to say all right anybody that thinks that didn't has never actually read the words of jesus but whatever you know what i'm saying he's got a pretty good pr campaign going on however the thing that people can't seem to get their mind around is this but who do you think you are to claim that jesus is the only way well first of all it's not like we made this up i mean jesus himself said it we covered it weeks ago john 14 6 jesus says i am the way the truth and the life and no one comes to the father except through me you have to do some serious biblical gymnastics to make that say anything other than the fact that jesus is the way the truth and the life and no one comes to the father except through me and so now jesus knowing what is in store for him in order for that to be a reality in order for him to be the way in order for sin to be paid for and for sinful men and women to be reconciled to a holy and just god he knows what's around the corner and one more time he comes to the father and he says all right let's just be clear god if there be any other way here's what he's saying he's like god if 21st century america is right and i'm just one of the many paths to the top of the mountain then let's just go at another path i mean if you could just obey the 10 commandments and be good enough then let's just go with the good enough path all right i mean nobody will make it but we can give them a try if you can just align your chakra if that's what it is we could visit mecca if we could if we could just get enough runs around life that eventually you come back enough times you're really reincarnated enough times that you just you know you drift off into a blissful nirvana why don't we go with any of the above options if the answer to be with you is d all of the above then let's just scratch c off of the equation here and go with one of the other options jesus is asking his father the same thing that every single one of us has asked or been asked you mean jesus says the only way he's like look father if oprah's right and we're all just worshiping you and we'll call you by a bunch of different names but somehow we're just going to all float up to you one day anyway it seems like an awful waste of my blood tomorrow on calvary why don't we punt that and go with some something else father if there be any other way let this cup pass from me and then the real surrender but not my will but your will be done now he is pouring his heart out he is sweating blood he feels the sorrow of the weight of the sin of all of mankind and mankind including your sin and my sin right now he feels that in the garden verse 40. and he came to his disciples and he found them sleeping and he said to peter so could you not watch with me for one hour and he warns him watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak and then again for a second time he went away and he prayed you see he's warning peter because peter that night has made some incredibly bold claims peter that night at the last supper has said i will never leave you i will never forsake you jesus i got you and so he says all right you got me will you come pray for me and he can't stay awake for an hour and then jesus goes back a second time my father if this cup cannot pass that's what this is if this cup cannot pass unless i drink it your will be done the cup that he is talking about here is the cup of the wrath of god the psalms talk about it jeremiah talks about it isaiah talks about it and this illustration of the cup in the old testament in the old testament kind of goes something like this basically because god is holy and because god is just every single time we sin whether it's covertly or overtly whether it's the sin of commission or omission but every single time we reject god whether it's rebellion or religion every single time we say forget you my will not your will be done it is as if this cup with our name on it is filled up with the wrath of god and filled up with the wrath of god and filled up with the wrath of god nobody likes to talk about the wrath of god except the bible talks a lot about the wrath of god because god can't rightly love us without rightly judging sin he is holy he is perfect he is just but the key is god is love he has to be stirred to wrath but there is no shortage of our sins stirring him to wrath and every single time we sin against an almighty holy god a cup of the wrath of god's judgment that will be poured out for the judgment of that sin is being stored up for us and jesus the second time he prays he goes before his father and he says okay father if this cup can't pass unless i drink it your will be done the image is like this just think about every single time you have ever sinned past present future every single time and the cup of the wrath of god is stored up and stored up and stored up and stored up and i don't know what your cup would look like but i'm telling you what joby martin's cup is a tidal wave worth of cup of wrath to be poured out and on the day of judgment here comes the tidal wave the dam breaks and here it comes i mean like a hundred foot wall of water surging towards me and in my own strength there's nothing that i could do but be overwhelmed by it and then jesus the christ the son of the living god the substitutionary atonement stands in that way and he drinks and drinks and drinks and drinks and drinks up all of the cup of the wrath of god and then slams it on the ground and says it is finished that was that's what jesus is praying about and again he came and found them sleeping for their eyes were heavy and so leaving them again he went away and he prayed for the third time saying the same words again you ever pray to god and you don't get the answer you're looking for well i got some good news jesus did it over oh okay father you sure on this cup thing okay because he knew what he was about to endure and then he came to the disciples and he said to them sleep and take your rest later see the hours at hand remember all throughout the gospel of john all the way back to the wedding at cana when his mom mary comes to him and says son they're out of wine and he's like woman what does this have to do with me for my hour has not yet come and now his hour has come see the hour is at hand and the son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners verse 46 rise and let us be going see my betrayer is at him all right i don't i don't know what you think the garden of gethsemane looks like in all of that but but but the first time i ever went i wasn't expecting this this verse made a lot more sense to me when i was standing in the garden of gethsemane because when you're there the the kidron valley separates the temple mount from the mount of olives the garden of gethsemane is sort of at the foot of the mount of olives but it's up a little bit you know and the east gate of jerusalem is 400 yards 500 yards and from almost anywhere in this little olive grove you can see the very gate and so jesus is pouring his heart out to the father and then he has to wake his disciples up three times and the third time he wakes them up he just goes he can see he literally from where he is standing can see guards soldiers temple guards roman soldiers with torches and swords and clubs and he just simply sees them coming he's like all right wake up boys this is about to go down so when john says they went to the garden that's all that was happening there so back to john 18 verse 2. now judas judas who betrayed jesus also knew the place for jesus often met there with his disciples and so judas having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the pharisees went there with lanterns and torches and weapons and by this we know that judas has been working on this plan for a while you don't just run by and get a band of soldiers to follow follow you around that they had pre-planned this first four and jesus knowing all that would happen to him came forward and said to them whom do you seek don't run by that question too fast let me ask you whom do you seek and most often most often in our society the actual answer is me i'm seeking me i'm seeking what you can do for me and oftentimes even at church man people bring that into the church and they're like all right lord what can you do for me and so he asked him whom do you seek now check this out i love this and they answered jesus of nazareth and he said to them i am and then boom they're gonna fall on their face seven times we've studied this seven times in the gospel of john jesus makes these i am statements he uses the covenant name of god that we find in exodus chapter 3 moses is out just minding on his own business working for his father-in-law tending some sheep there's a bush on fire he walks up to it he talks to him happens to be god take off your shoes because you're standing on holy ground and he's like all right what you got and then and then god through the burning bush says moses i want you to go to pharaoh and i want you to tell him let my people go and he says okay cool but if they ask me who sent me who should i say sent me i can't be like i was talking to the burning bush pharaoh would be like i think you were burning some bush and you're crazy that's what's going on okay and so he goes so he gives him his covenant name yahweh i am that i am i be that i be it's hard to translate the the eternal now this is why we find out in in in god's experience that's not past and futures there's just now he always was he always is he always will be and he says you tell them yahweh supposed to sound like your breath like breathe in in breathing out yah way and so now you fast forward thousands of years in the garden of gethsemane the soldiers that think they are in charge the religious leaders that think they are in charge the political leaders that think they are in charge because they got they got numbers they got torches they got lanterns they got clubs and they show up and jesus says who are you looking for and they go we're looking for jesus of nazareth now part of the reason they had to ask and we find out in the other gospels that judas betrays him with a kiss is because he can't like look up his instagram account you understand so they got to be like which one is he and judah says the one i kiss that'll be him and then who you looking for and jesus says i am the covenant name of god and then look at their response i love this look at their response judas who betrayed him was standing with him and when jesus says to them i am he they drew back and they fell to the ground so they didn't like curtsy jesus said who are you looking for i'm looking for jesus i am and then boom they down let me just give you a little warning this is what every single one of us will do this is a little foreshadowing of his second coming jesus wants us to understand as believers now as we read the rest of the text when they handcuffed jesus and put him in back of the squad car and drive him down to the station it was a part of the pre-ordained plan it is not like they are doing something to him that he did not know was going to happen because at any moment he could just say let the bodies at the floor boom and they all fall down now here's why i share this with you you got two options when it comes to jesus you can bow or you can bow those are the options but the timing makes all the difference in the world if we in response to the gospel right now bow then what we will receive when we bow our knee to the lordship of jesus christ is we will receive grace and salvation but if you were sticking that stiff neck if you were the lord of your own life and you wait until his second coming you will also bow and you will receive judgment and damnation and so jesus just wants to make sure they know that nobody's taking his life he is giving it up on his own accord and so they ask him again he asked them again whom do you seek and they said jesus of nazareth i don't know if they're all laying down it doesn't say specifically and jesus answered i told you that i am he so if you seek me let these men go this was to fulfill the word that he had spoken of those whom you gave me i have lost not one this is important because if you're paying attention to bible study you should ask well what about judas did he not lose judas what jesus is establishing here is that judas was never one of his judas was never one of his we'll come back to that that's scary verse 10 who's going to step up simon peter my guy here's an opportunity then simon peter having a sword which i love this means that the disciples packed praise god having a sword and you know coming off of dinner where he's just been told you're going to betray me and he's like uh-uh not me maybe he thinks this is the opportunity okay see this is the moment jesus thought i was going to let him down but i ain't ever going to let him down all right and so he pulls a sword out having a sword he drew it and he struck the high priest's servant and he cut off his right ear you know what it means not only does he stumble with his words he also stumbles with his sword the chop the ear off is not a move i don't know if you know this right you've never been watching braveheart and they go off of the ear they don't do that okay he's trying to chop his head off his guy in the ear the guy is famous for the rest of his life the servant's name was malchus right and so jesus said to peter put your sword into its sheath shall i not drink the cup that the father has given me but apparently jesus we find out in other gospels that jesus picks up the dude's ear and puts it back on his head which is crazy to me the guy still arrests jesus i'm just going to tell them you i don't know what i regardless of what i thought i believed about this guy if somebody chopped my ear off and the guy put my ear back on my head i think i'd be like you know what i think i've just switched teams red rover red rover jesus called me over i'm with you now okay so but as i think about it honestly i see i see god do miracles in people's lives in our church all the time restore marriages and bring prodigal children back home and do stuff like that and yet still people stand on the opposing side of jesus even after he has graced him like this and so i don't know in my mind jesus is while he's putting this guy's ear back on he's looking at peter and he's like bro put your sword away are you even being serious around right now this is not what we're gonna do you live by the sword you die by the sword now i think a part of what john wants us to understand here is that jesus is the greater adam that jesus came to put back in order what adam and eve disordered in the garden of eden they are in the garden the enemy shows up with temptation adam ultimately says not your will but my will be done and then when when god judges adam and eve when he kicks them out of the garden if you'll remember in genesis then a seraphim or like an angel is put there with a sword to guard the garden now you fast forward thousands of years and god's in the garden again but he is the new adam the new man the enemy comes with a temptation and instead of saying okay i'm going to go with what i want jesus says not my will thy will be done now i am going to make right what was broken in the garden so peter you can put the sword away we won't need the guard to door to the entrance anymore by what i am about to walk through by drinking this cup i am going to reunite this trader race with their king face to face that's what's happening here and so the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of jesus arrested jesus or the officers of the jews arrested jesus and they bound him and first they led him to annis for he was the father-in-law of caiaphas who was the high priest that year it was caiaphas who had advised the jews that it would be expedient that one man should die for the people so the way i want to close our time is uh if you guys are bringing these chairs out i want to look at the four primary players here in the garden of gethsemane and so that's why we have these four chairs thank you sir because what i want you to do is i don't want to call it a story because it's not a story this is an actual event the garden of gethsemane is a place jesus is a historical reality these dudes were in the garden praying and some people came up and they're basically four different players in this event there was jesus ultimately we can describe jesus this way not not not my will but your will be done there's peter chopping off ears and following after jesus there's judas the betrayer and then they're the the soldiers that come on behalf of the religious leaders and political leaders with their own agenda to arrest jesus now the question i want to get to is simply this which which of these four chairs do you sit in which of these four chairs do you sit in now the the ones on the end are probably the easiest to distinguish let's be honest okay now as soon as i ask this i know there's some of you and i see it in the seat of jesus well god bless your ministry you might want to humble yourself but but there are seasons in our life hopefully if you walk with jesus the crazy thing is if you have surrendered your life to the lordship of jesus christ then when god looks at you he sees the righteousness of his son that jesus says we have been seated with him at the right hand of god the father that's pretty cool but what i mean in in this chair illustration is this hopefully there are seasons in your life where you were ultimately submitted to the will of god now this does not mean an easy road jesus was not having an easy day but no matter the cost no matter the circumstances you're saying hey i'm following after jesus not because he makes my life better but because he is better than life ultimately this is the goal now there's some people way over here and you were anti-jesus now i don't know if you're sitting in one of our campuses today maybe maybe you're watching online looking to just critique everything that jesus says i would implore you jesus loves you he died for you bow now so that you receive grace and salvation do not wait until he comes again and you bow in judgment and damnation but these two are the ones as the lead pastor of this thing straight up man scares me to death scares me to death there's peter and judas now i know some of you are like i would never betray jesus your facebook does the way we treat our spouses does the way we withhold the good news of the gospel of jesus christ to somebody at work that launches you a stinking softball i don't know what to do with my life and you're like you should say words right there okay i mean that is t-ball evangelism right there no my everybody can hit that one but here's what i mean from my perspective up to this point until the bible tells us what's happening in the heart of judas peter and judas are like indistinguishable how can you tell that one's a follower of jesus and was the betrayer of jesus they're both followed him around they both heard every sermon they were both a part of all the miracles and yet if you were to just do a little survey of the disciples they look indistinguishable and here's why this freaks me out i'm telling you i shed tears over this i pray for you over this i didn't mean to sign up to pastor the fastest growing church in america i didn't know that was what was going to happen we were just going to preach the gospel glorify god and worship in word open a walmart and whatever else we could and just watch what god does and god is drawing tens of thousands and online hundreds of thousands of people to sit under the gospel teaching of jesus and yet here's what i know every single weekend there's some people and you may be screwing up that you're a follower of jesus and there are other people and you're around him you just don't know him and i can't tell the difference i can't because up to this point up to this point listen okay if you if you follow the disciples around for their three years of their discipleship with jesus wouldn't you think peter was the guy that wasn't going to make it i would peter screws up all the time peter is the worst that's why he's my favorite gives me hope as a jesus follower but peter screws up non-stop i mean peter's in the boat one time they're rolling across the sea of galilee there's a bunch of wind and waves jesus comes walking by on the water peter's like i got an idea can i come out there with you boss and he's like come on big boy jesus get i mean peter gets out and walks on the water the bible does not say how far he walks i'm thinking it's at least three steps for any of you my age and older i'm sure it was like the ric flair kind of walk because he was into himself and then he takes his eyes off of jesus he fixes on the wind and the waves he's afraid he begins to sink and so he cries out lord save me and immediately jesus takes him by the hand puts him back in the boat and looks at him in front of everybody else and says you have little faith what are you so afraid of why do you doubt he's a constant failure literally the next like the next chapter in the bible jesus takes all the disciples on this camping trip to caesarea philippi it was like sin city and he asked this question who do people say that i am and they all step up and they're like well they think you're like a good moral teacher but that's really it and then jesus says but who do you say that i am and peter is always going to speak first always going to speak most he says you are the christ the son of the living god and then jesus says to peter this idea did not come from you this is a divine revelation from my father i'm gonna change her name to rock calls him rocky man new nickname and he says and upon this rock the public decoration of the gospel upon this rock i will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it and then he says to peter i'm going to give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven pretty cool day in peter's life amen and then on the same page in my bible jesus then goes on to lay out the gospel life death resurrection of jesus and the bible says that peter rebukes jesus how does that go down jesus christ get in my office not on my watch you're not dying we got a lot invested in jesus incorporated okay and so jesus says to peter get behind me satan look i know you got a dad wound because when you were growing up your daddy said you're not that smart i understand okay counseling will help you with that but when jesus the author of life calls you the devil that's the level of counseling it ain't gonna fit so you understand on the same page in the bible the guy sitting in this seat goes from pope to the devil do you understand you want to talk about screw-up and then shortly after that jesus invites the same three guys that can't stay awake during the prayer meeting up on the mountain of transfiguration and jesus is is transfigured i don't even know exactly what that means except that his divinity is bursting forth through his humanity and peter is there with the same boys again and jesus is talking to moses and elijah and literally what is happening on the mountain of transfiguration is the personification of romans chapter 3 the prophet and the law is bearing witness to the gospel and then peter's like you know what there's jesus the son of god we're enveloped in this cloud the father is there there's moses there's elijah i should probably say words and paul and peter sticks his dumb head in there and says it is good that we are here he makes it all about him once again and then mark says as he continued to speak because he did not know what to say god the father speaks up and says behold my son in whom i am well pleased listen to him that's hebrew for peter would you just shut up the temptation that jesus is warning about here in the garden is that peter later this night after sitting at the lord's supper by the way he almost screwed up the lord's supper you remember this in the book of john 13 jesus gets up from the table dresses himself as a servant and he starts washing the disciples feet and then when he gets to peter peter's like nah man boss you ain't washing my feet and jesus says well if i don't wash your feet then you have no part with me if i can't wash your feet you're gonna go to hell and it's like who will bathe my whole body and jesus is like good gracious dude what why do you always screw everything up i'm not gonna give you a whole bath you're making this whole thing weird okay i'm instituting a sacrament here can you just shut up for a second he screws up everything everything that night that night he promises never leave you jesus i'd never forsake everybody else may leave you not me i would die for you when jesus gets arrested on the way to caiaphas's house a couple of people were like aren't you with him you sure not me and then a servant girl it matters because her testimony would not have even have been admissible to anyone and she looks at him as he warms himself by this charcoal fire and says no i recognize your accent you're with him and the bible says that he curses and says no so blank no whatever you would say there that's this guy now if you were and then what about tonight he's chopping people's ears off now listen maybe with a good heart i think i think he got all welled up i'm team jesus which honestly is some of us you ever get all fired up from a sermon and you walk into your office and be like you know what i'm going to share the gospel in here and by lunchtime you look around and i look at everybody's ears all over my office i think it's me my primary form of evangelism is maybe hush okay and jesus looks at peter it's like bro you're doing it all wrong and what do we know about judas up to this point now the gospel writers do give us some commentary about him but if you just followed him around he sat under all the same teaching he was a part of all the miracles judas had fishes and loaves in his hand and handed them out to fifteen thousand twenty thousand people on multiple occasions judas was there when the blind would see when the lame would walk when sins were forgiven in fact one time if we were evaluating the discipleship of these two i think judas would probably get the nod because one time this lady comes in and she was she was a woman of sin which means she was a prostitute and she comes in and she's got this expensive ointment it's worth like a year's salary and she breaks it and she pours it on the feet of jesus and she sobs and she wipes his feet with her hair and you know what you know what judas does judas is like yeah we're not being good stewards we're not be that money could be used for something else how dare we spend all this money to try to make much of jesus we could spend that money better let me tell you what the modern church would do with that they'd be like yep you're on the board of trustees that's the kind of wise decision-making we need around here why should we be extravagant in the worship of god that's crazy but on the night that he's arrested the screw-up follows him and judas betrays him and the reason judas betrays him because he doesn't know him he doesn't know him he knows about him he's been around him he knows his people judas just doesn't know jesus as his lord that's what scares me to death about this place i'm talking to you he he was a staff member he was the treasurer he had a staff position followed him had responsibility up into this moment we of course he is in he's with him he knows all the things he can answer the right questions some commentators say that the reason that judas i don't know why they made this up okay i can't find any historical evidence or biblical evidence of this but when i was in seminary these crazy liberal professors told me that the reason that judas he wasn't a bad guy the reason that he did this is because he believed that jesus was the messiah and if he tipped the first domino then jesus would come in and take over to which i was like uh you should read your bible first because jesus says he was filled with the devil and then secondly even if those things were true that means he's not surrendered to jesus that jesus is a means to his own political end and jesus will not be a means to your political end he won't jesus did not come to take sides he came to take over that's what lordship means and so what scares me church is that every single week people show up here and show up here and show up here and you know how to do the stuff man you're the best church ever the best people i've ever preached to i've ever been around you do everything we ask you to do you sponsor all the kids some of you worship with your hands up you go to discover 11 22 you go to disciple group you're the most generous church on the planet and you could do all those things and die apart from christ and live a christless eternity please please please don't betray jesus with a kiss you know what that means to sit under the gospel to be a part of and around his people for years and years and years and years and never surrender your life to his lordship that's what it looks like to betray him with a kiss today because here's the thing judas doesn't know him and if you say why do you say that how do you say that in matthew 26 the bible says this and when it was evening he reclined at the table of the twelve this is the lord's supper from matthew's perspective and when it was evening he reclined at the table with the twelve and as they were eating jesus said truly i say to you one of you will betray me and they the disciples were very sorrowful and they began to say to him one after another is it i lord is it i lord he said i lord 11 times is it i lord because what they're saying is i am not beyond sinned but you are my lord and savior that's what every one of them are saying it's going around the table is it our lord is it i lord is it i lord when you get to the end of that paragraph in matthew chapter 26 it says and judas speaks up judas who would betray him answered him is it i rabbi there it is judas never surrendered his life to the lordship of jesus he only followed him as a leader and a teacher i'm afraid especially in the south i'm afraid people man they show up to the church and they're pro man they're into it but they're just kind of entertained by the show and they don't know jesus so the treasurer the staff member the good steward doesn't know jesus but do you know why the screw up you know why jesus can work with the screw up we studied it months ago in john chapter six you remember this john chapter six jesus feeds five thousand men plus women plus children a little bit of bread a little bit of fish everybody's full bellies i'm just going to tell you when people have their bellies full your ministry will grow oh i like that and meet my needs that's what's happening here it's growing and growing and growing and then jesus is going to thin the herd a little bit i mean he's wrapping up his teaching for that day after everybody's full and he's like all right just one more thing i got one more point all you note takers want to jot this down unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you have no part with me imagine that no takers eat my did he say fish what do you say flesh do you get flesh don't worry about it it's probably a parable he's going to explain it okay yeah you're right let me explain unless you feast on my flesh and drink my blood you have no part with me and in john 6 66 the bible says that many disciples left him and never followed him again and then jesus looks at the disciples he looks at peter you want to leave too now why does jesus ask him that because he wants to leave he knows the thoughts he knows the heart of every man he has the biggest screw-up on the of the bunch there how about you man you want to leave peter's like this is a hard teaching i'm beginning to rethink my life choices that whole fishing business seems way more lucrative now than following the crazy cult guy that says we gotta eat we're not even allowed to eat pork much less the prophet do you understand jesus you're screwing this whole thing up for us i'm sure all of that is going on and even with all of those competing thoughts here's what peter says to whom shall we go to whom shall we go you're the only one that offers eternal life we have we believe and have come to know that you were the christ the son of the living god and you know what jesus does she's just like yep i can work with that forever you see there's this very famous story and this one is the story this one is a parable it's one of my favorites everybody loves to preach on it we call it the prodigal son luke 15. the fact that we call it the prodigal son is evidence that we miss the point of the story prodigal means lavish it probably should be called the prodigal father because the point of the story is not just that rebellious people can get saved now again man every i love to preach it who doesn't love to preach this this kid comes with his dad younger son forget you dad i'm out of here give me what's coming to me and this is how you know it's a jesus story because the dad gives him his part of the inheritance if i came to my daddy when i was a teenager said daddy won't you give me what's coming to me he's like i'm about to show you what's coming to me that's how it would go at my house not this dad he gives it all to him and the kid goes and squanders it away on lavish living on prodigal living that's where we get the title that's why we mistitled it he comes to his senses he comes home the dad utterly embarrasses himself for the sake of his son when he sees when he sees the younger son coming from a long way off he runs to him jewish men didn't run they wore those choir robes man they had to hike it up show all that mantha nobody needs to see that he would expose himself run to his boy and then hug him the boy's filthy he's got pig slop all over him the moment the dad touches the sun who has pig mess on him the dad becomes unclean leviticus says if your boy teaches treats you that way you stone him you kill him so maybe a part of the reason the dad runs to the boy and wraps his arms around him so if the rocks start flying by the servants then he'll take the beating he gives him his robe that's righteousness he gives him his ring that's his name he gives him sandals that's his identity throws a party we love that part that's not the real point of the story you see the reason jesus tells the story is for the judases of the world in luke 15 1. pharisees are listening to him teach and they're ticked because the sinners and tax collectors like jesus so he's like all right i got a story for you the back half of the story is i think what jesus was really trying to drive home there's also an older brother there's also an older brother in the prodigal son story and the older brother is aggravated he's angry that the the grace shown his younger brother was extended to him because the older brother thinks that the dad exists for his own benefit and not the other way around the older brother thinks that the dad owes him something because of his birth and because of his behavior that is not the good news of the gospel the reason god gives us anything is because we are born again in him and because of his behavior because of christ's perfect life and his sacrificial death and so the dad in luke 15. he goes after the boy luke says it this way but he the older brother was angry and he refused to go in and his father came out and entreated him and entreated him that word entreated means to beg that word entreated means to plead and listen to me a first century estate owner that can put on a multi-day party he wasn't going to beg for anything and yet the dad goes out to the judas goes out to the one that's got a whole lot of right behavior but doesn't know the father and the bible says he begs him he pleads him he's like what are you doing what are you doing what are you doing son what are you doing and and the brother is angry he's like what are you i can't believe you would throw a party for my brother he's wasted everything he even starts making stuff up he wasted everything you gave him on prostitutes it didn't say that anywhere else in the text and now you're gonna throw a party for my brother you never even gave me a goat here's what he's saying because of my behavior you owe me there's a whole bunch of church people and that's how they walk in before the lord because of my behavior you owe me because of my behavior you owe me a good marriage you owe me well-behaved kids you owe me a healthy body and you for sure owe me heaven and if that is your stance even if you go to church and go to church and go to church and hang around with church people and listen to sermons for the rest of your life you don't know jesus as your lord and your savior and so the dad entreats him the father came out and begged the older son but he answered his father look these many years i have served you and i never disobeyed your command yet you never gave me a young goat that i might celebrate with my friends but when this son of yours not brother of mine when this son of yours came who has devoured your property with prostitutes you killed the fat and calf for him and and said to him son this is the dad's response son you are always with me and all that is mine is yours it was fitting to celebrate and be glad for this your brother was dead and is alive he was lost and it's found here's what the dad is saying the same grace that your brother needed to be in right relationship with me is also offered to you because you need that same grace too just because you've been around the property and just because you have access to all the blessing for your entire life if you don't know me then you have missed the entire party which seat are you sitting in which seat are you sitting the difference between this seat betraying jesus with your words in your life betraying jesus with a kiss means to reject the good news of the gospel of jesus christ for eternity and to be a follower of jesus forgiven and redeemed even if we consistently screw up because we will and because we do the difference between here and here is this surrender jesus says whom do you seek whom do you seek and the only way the only way for us to come to him is through surrender it's not through more knowledge it's not where you were born it's not about your behavior the only way you and i can come to a saving relationship with god the father through his son jesus christ is to surrender is he your lord have you ever surrendered your life to the lordship of jesus christ i want to give you that opportunity right now at baker union online at every other campus in this room right now i want to give you that opportunity and i know there's a bunch of you they've been walking with jesus for a while but lately in your time lately in your speech lately in your attitude you've been betraying so maybe as there are some people at all of our campuses that surrender their life to the lordship of jesus christ maybe for those of us who have been walking with him a while maybe once again today we would surrender again we would take up our cross again today and follow after jesus would you bow your head would you close your eyes and if you would say for the very first time you were ready to move seats you were ready to get out of the betraying jesus with your words and life and move into the i surrender seat if you were ready to admit it i'm a sinner in need of a savior i believe that somehow when christ died on the cross he drank the full cup of the wrath of god slammed it down for all eternity and says it is finished and that counted for you then confess him as lord right now and if that's you would you lift your hand high in the air would you say father here i am i admit it i'm a sinner in need of a savior i believe that when christ died on the cross it counted for me and jesus right now i confess you as lord our good and gracious heavenly father god we love you we love you we love you and the only way that we can love you is because you first loved us jesus thank you thank you thank you that in the garden you declared not my will but your will be done and the will of god is that everyone who would believe would receive the right to be called a son or a daughter of god god we thank you we thank you that you continue to save and god would you remind us would you remind us that constantly in our world we run into things that are more than we can handle so god we thank you that you have overcome and because you are the overcoming king then we can overcome by what you do in us and through us and to us we love you we prayed in jesus name amen would you please stand as we respond we respond by singing and bringing and praying we'd be a fool to run out of the presence of the lord be afro to get in a hurry on to the next next task when jesus invites us come to me come to me so i don't know what's going on in your life he does why don't you bring it to him why don't you why don't you lift up your voice and just say god i just want to i want to clear out some some clutter in my life and i just want to make room for you to do whatever you want to do respond [Music] and here is where i lay down every bird in every crown oh this is my surrender yeah this is my surrender and here is [Music] this is my surrender and i will make room for you to do whatever you want to come do whatever [Music] [Music] come do whatever you want to [Music] is [Music] [Music] to do whatever you want to do whatever [Music] whatever you want to do [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is break down [Music] [Music] oh [Music] is foreign [Music] is [Music] whatever you want [Music] whatever [Music] god is so good in the way he pursues us which is why like the song said i will make room for you to do whatever it is that you want to if you have something weighing on your heart let us pray with you and for you just click on the request prayer option to be connected with someone and if you just surrendered your life to jesus we are so excited for all the things god is doing in your life as you continue to discover and deepen your relationship with jesus one mores are extremely important around here and like pastor joby said who is that one more for you who is that person in the chair for the next three weekends it is a one more weekend and so whoever it is that you want to hear the good news of the gospel we encourage you to fight invite them you got three weeks to do so not just those three weeks but anytime but especially the next three weeks okay every week throughout the john series we get the opportunity to receive a prayer blessing from one of our pastors but before we pray together whether you're joining us online because that's where you found us or if you normally attend in person we are so glad that you're here now let's receive this prayer blessing together church let's pray together jesus forgive us for betraying you with our lives and actions we confess we run from you we try to take your work into our own hands and we betray you for what we think is our good thank you that when punishment comes for us you stand in our place thank you for taking the punishment we deserve thank you for being our savior help us to ever be faithful to you in jesus name amen church we'll see you next week be free [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] you

Channel: The Church of Eleven22

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Id: 7GbXExbUb38

Length: 108min 29sec (6509 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 26 2021