Jesus Always Does His Best

I'll ask you to turn to John 13, if you would, again, John 13. Once again, chapters 13 through 17, these marvelous words and events, which took place, as far as the record goes, one day before the cross. And although what is written here, what's recorded for us, was one day before his death, the end or that portion of his redemptive ministry, yet it's not how man would write it.

It's not what you'd expect. If you were going to write something the day before you died, and you knew full well all that death would mean, maybe your chapters would be a little different than these chapters. It's amazing.

There's no gloom in these chapters. They're not filled with anxiety and fear and despair and so on. You'd never guess on the level of earth that these chapters were just before a violent death, and one who knew all of that.

Let me give one Bible illustration, not from John, that all it does, again, is set this... I want you to sense these chapters again before we begin to look at the heart of God. I'm referring to that marvelous event, the transfiguration of our Lord Jesus. You remember the story, Peter, James, and John were there, and then suddenly before their eyes they saw the Lord, the brightness of the Lord in all the Shekinah glory, and His flesh was actually glowing brighter than the sun in full strength.

And in that light, Peter and James and John saw three men, remember. They saw Elijah and they saw Moses, but of course the Lord Jesus was in the center. Now, the Bible tells us that a conversation was taking place on top of the mountain.

And I'm not talking about Peter, James, and John, what were they talking about, but the Bible tells us that Moses, Elijah, and Jesus were talking. And you know, the Bible tells us what they were talking about. What a conference, what a tremendous fellowship, what a discussion.

Luke is the only one that tells us what they were talking about. It's in Luke chapter 9, verse 30 and 31, and I'll quote it for you here. Behold, two men were talking with him, and they were Moses and Elijah, who appearing in glory were speaking of His departure, which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

And that's tremendous. They were on the Mount of Transfiguration talking about His departure that He was about to accomplish. We're talking about what we're studying.

The day before His death, His suffering, the cross. But I love the wording of Luke where he says, The death He was about to accomplish. We don't usually talk about death that way.

He accomplished death. If our loved one dies, we don't say, Well, my mother, dear mom just accomplished death. We don't think of it that way.

She succumbed to death. She submitted to it. She was overpowered by it.

I can see how we might say she accomplished life if she knew the Savior. But this idea of accomplishing death, that's why these chapters are not filled with anxiety. Yes, the next day He would die a violent death, but He was going to accomplish it.

I have a Webster's Dictionary that was sent to me about a month ago from a brother in the Lord. And what it is, it's a first edition facsimile of the 1828 edition. It's the original Webster.

Very interesting how words change and all. I looked up the word accomplish. It says to complete, to finish entirely, to obtain by a successful exertion.

John 13-17, the Lord Jesus was not succumbing to death. He was about to accomplish death, to succeed by successful exertion. He was going to accomplish death.

Of course, the disciples, as we discussed yesterday, they didn't have this view of death. And so there's a few frustrations that they express, a little anxiety. But as far as our Lord Jesus was concerned, this was a time of victory for Him and a time of triumph and glory.

And so these chapters carry that spirit. It's all conquering, these chapters. I suggested that one of the main contributions to these five chapters is to unveil the heart of God.

The Lord Jesus was saying, in effect, I came to earth as God the Son in order to reveal the Father. And now, just before I die, let's sort of review. I want you to see this.

And it isn't that He had a text. It isn't that He had notes. Him was saying, all right, now here's my next point.

In fact, the revelation of God's heart that we're going to look at this morning, He didn't teach them. He didn't review it. He didn't say, all right, now here's the next thing.

But you see that by watching Him. And you see Him move. And you see His own heart.

Last night we looked together at that first burden that He had, that He wanted, it seems, to release. And that is that God Himself is the servant. And God is the foot washer.

And He is the refresher. And He is the one that ministers unto us. And we express that principle.

We're not saved to serve. Not primarily so. We're saved in order to be served by Him.

In order that we might serve. Now that's a spiritual principle. That's a law of heaven.

That's a law of God. And He wanted us to understand that. All right, that brings us this morning then, as God graces us, to this next unveiling of God's heart toward us.

A revelation that's precious beyond words. What I trust that the Lord will enable us to do this morning is just catch a glimpse of the heart of Christ. Now all through these chapters, we see the Lord in connection with His disciples.

There's a revelation as He touches Judas. There's a revelation as He touches Peter. There's a revelation as He touches Thomas.

There's a revelation as He touches Philip. There's a revelation as He touches the elder Judas, not Iscariot. And every time He communicates, something is shown of His heart.

And so what I'd like us to look at this morning is really one principle, one truth. But it's illustrated twice. Once as His heart reached out and touched Judas.

And then good old Peter again. Once as He touched Peter. And I pray as we see the Lord Jesus in connection with Judas, in connection with Peter, that we'll be able to see this second unveiling of God's heart.

Now obviously any time you come to this book, you don't study the Bible to know the Bible. You study the Bible to know the Lord. And we're going to look at Judas and we're going to look at Peter.

But we don't want to get lost in Judas and we don't want to get lost in Peter. We're looking at Judas in order to see Jesus. We're looking at Peter in order to see Jesus.

Because He's the same. Yesterday, today, and forever. And whatever He's ever been, He is now.

And whatever He is now, He ever will be. And so we want to see what He was in order to know what He is. And so we'd like to look at that.

I'll ask you to follow along please from John 13-21 to chapter 14-3. It really doesn't end there, but that is a place we can stop comfortably. 13-21-30 talks about Judas and then really the rest of that begins to talk about Peter.

Beginning at verse 21 of chapter 13. When Jesus had said this, He became troubled in His spirit and testified and said, Truly, truly, I say to you that one of you will betray Me. The disciples began looking at one another at a loss to know of which one He was speaking.

There was reclining on Jesus' breast one of His disciples whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore gestured to Him and said to Him, Tell us who it is of whom He's speaking. And leaning back thus on Jesus' breast, said to Him, Lord, who is it? Jesus therefore answered, That is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him.

So when he had dipped the morsel, he took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. And after the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Jesus therefore said to him, What you do, do it quickly.

Now, no one of those reclining at the table knew for what purpose He had said this to him. Some were supposing, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus was saying to him, Buy the things we have need of for the feeds, or else that he should give something to the poor. So after receiving the morsel, he went out immediately, and it was night.

When therefore he had gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately. Little children, I am with you a little while longer.

You shall seek Me, and as I said to the Jews, I now say to you also, where I am going, you cannot come. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love one for another.

Simon Peter said to Him, Lord, where are You going? Jesus answered, Where I go you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me later. Peter said to Him, Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You. Jesus answered, Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a cock shall not crow until you deny Me three times.

Let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in Me.

In My Father's house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you, for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also, and you know the way where I am going.

We will leave the text there. I am going to ask you in your imagination to come back again the night before our Lord Jesus was to die. And I speak sort of as a fool when I say this because we try to put so much humanity into our study of the Scriptures.

But do you think the Lord Jesus had anything on His mind that night, the day before His death? Do you think there was anything that He was thinking about? And don't forget, with omniscience, I know He was man and He was going to suffer as man, but He was also God. And in fact, this whole section begins, and Jesus, knowing that His hour had come and knowing that the Father had given this into His hand and knowing He was going back, He knew by 9 o'clock in the morning He would be hanging on the cross. And He knew it.

His hour had come. He knew He would be unjustly tried. He knew He would be cruelly treated, shamefully treated.

He knew He would be forsaken by those who claimed to be true to Him, whatever it meant. And we wrestle with these big things. He knew what it meant to bear the sins of the world, to become sin for us.

Somehow there would be the mocking of Satan and the demons around the cross. In three hours, because He was infinite, He would crush eternity. And in three hours, He would suffer what finite man would have to suffer for eternity.

Think He had anything on His mind? He was going to experience for the first time in His unbeginning beginning, broken fellowship from His Holy Father God. Think He had anything on His mind? Anything to trouble Him, to agitate Him, to move Him? That's why verse 21 is so amazing to me. When Jesus said this, He became troubled in His spirit.

And the original language is very, very strong. He became agitated. He became moved back and forth, bothered, disturbed, upset.

And He says, truly I say to you, one of you shall betray Me. Now with all that was on His mind, all that He could have been troubled about, what was troubling Him this night? What was agitating His spirit? And according to that passage, He was bothered about Judas. Agitated about Judas.

Not because Jesus was going to be the victim of a betrayal. That wasn't the point. Not because their friendship was going to be broken.

I don't even think He was troubled because of this gigantic satanic sin that was about to take place. But He began to be moved. He began to be stirred.

He began to be agitated. Troubled. Not in some surface way.

Not just some sympathy or pity. But His great heart began to pound hot for Judas. He loved Judas.

He was troubled over Judas. Concerned for his destiny. Judas was quickly slipping away.

And that touched the heart of the Savior so much. He was so moved. Troubled.

This night, when so much was about to happen, He looks at Judas. And His heart begins to stir. A million reasons to be stirred when He's moved over Judas.

I believe you'll miss one of the beauties of these chapters if you do not see the heart of our Lord Jesus Christ beating hot in love for Judas. Marvelous illustration. Now, He didn't just discover this.

It didn't just say all of a sudden He realized this is the one. John 6.64 says, Jesus knew from the beginning those who did not believe and who would betray Him. He always knew that.

I want to spend a couple of minutes to show you the heart of Christ stretching out for Judas. I want you to see that. Because Christ's heart for Him magnifies Christ's heart.

If He would stretch out for Judas, the Bible says the Lord's hand is not shortened. Well, this display of love shows you how long His arm really is. Again, I don't want to get lost in Judas, but I want to give a few things about Judas, things you already know, but I want to put it in perspective in order that we might see His heart as He reaches out for Judas.

Almost universally, every time someone hears the name Judas, they sort of cringe. He's known, infamous, Judas. Proverbs 10.7 says, The name of the ungodly shall rot.

Well, His name has rotted. My son David and his wife Sandy are expecting their first child in August. And every now and then we get a phone call.

What do you think of these names? And they're naming the child. In fact, I think she is one day overdue and he starts naming the child. But since he's called, he's never mentioned these names.

Dad, what do you think of Jezebel? If it's a girl, think that would be a nice name? How about Judas? Or twins? Judas and Jezebel. He doesn't mention those names. The name of the ungodly shall rot.

In fact, he didn't even say Adolf. Or Benedict. He doesn't mention those names.

Judas. I've got a book home discussing whether Judas was saved or not. It's amazing how many arguments go in favor of that as well as the other way.

We don't know that. I don't want to deal with that. I want you to just see the heart of Christ as it reaches out for Judas.

We've got all kinds of things. You find them in a dictionary. Just look up Judas.

And you read about a Judas trap, a Judas light, a Judas flower, a Judas tree. They've got everything for Judas. You know when you go into a motel and they've got this little hole in the door and you look out and you can see down the hallway? That's called a Judas hole.

That's a peep hole. It's a Judas hole. Any hole that peeps through a door is called a Judas hole.

That's the sad story of Judas. He's just got that reputation. By the way, his last name was not Iscariot.

That's the town he lived in. If we named our names like that, I'd be Ed Waterbury because that was just the place he came from. Anyway, away from Judas.

On the night before the Lord Jesus was to die, his heart began to be moved. He was stirred, agitated for this man. We need to understand that Judas was just a sinner like we are.

He was just another man, a sinner. Now, I realize there's all kinds of theories about Judas and some would want to take him right out of the pale of humanity. If you do that, you miss the heart of Christ.

He was just another sinner. Here's a couple of the theories I read about Judas. Some say he never existed.

That he was just a creation to make the story flow. I'll throw that out right away. Some say he was an incarnation of Satan.

You know, because one of you is a devil and so on. And they say that this wasn't even a man. This was Satan incarnate again, the ape of God mocking the incarnation of Christ.

Others say he's a misunderstood hero. That really he wanted Jesus to play his hand and Christ was dragging his feet. And so in order to force him, he just sort of exposed him saying, now Christ will show his self.

Others think he's a loyal patriot. That before Judas betrayed Jesus, Jesus betrayed Judas. And they say that Judas found out that he was false.

And so because he was such a true Jew, he was going to expose him to the Jews. And besides, he was just submitting to authority. Christ had told him to do that.

And the Romans had said, if you know where he is, tell us. Or the Jews had said. And others think that he's just a puppet of God.

A victim of providence. Predestined. He didn't have a choice.

It was all prophesied. And instead of using the sovereignty of God to cut the knot, they use the sovereignty of God to create the knot and problems that aren't really there. The point that we'd like to see, and then we'll move right into what I want to show us, that if you make Judas less or more than a plain old sinner that needed the Lord, you're going to miss this heart of Christ as he reaches out to us, the plain sinner.

You might not like the idea of being thrown in the same pot with Judas, but I'll tell you one thing. There's tremendous hope if you dare to do it and dare to see yourself this way because you see the heart of Christ. The only difference between Peter and Judas, between Peter's denial and Judas' betrayal, is Matthew 26, verse 41.

And that's the only difference. The Spirit is willing and the flesh is weak. Peter had a willing spirit and Judas didn't have a willing spirit.

That's the only difference between them. Sin was the same. Let me just begin the principle by stating it this way.

I want to show you the way Jesus reached out for Judas. And I've got to use human words, but you know what I'm saying. Jesus did His best for Judas.

Jesus always does His best. He never goes halfway. Jesus did everything for Judas and especially as it came to the end when His spirit became agitated, He's reaching out for that man, reaching out, and for our discussion, it's sort of incidental whether Judas responded.

Leave that. The point is Christ kept reaching out and reaching out. And I'd like to show you several ways, and I'll go through it rapidly, how Jesus reached out for Judas.

First of all, why was He chosen as one of the twelve? Not theologically. There might be some fancy reason. I think He was chosen as one of the twelve because that was the opportunity that would give Him the greatest advantage of receiving the Lord.

That's why you came the path you came. That's why I came the path I came. The Lord engineers our path to give us the greatest possible advantage of knowing a full God.

And that was the best path for Judas. That's why He was chosen. Because He had the most opportunity as one of the disciples of Christ.

And you know how privileged He was as a disciple of Christ, chosen by Christ Himself, an eyewitness of the miracles and the ministry of Christ? According to Mark 6 and Matthew 10, Judas worked miracles. He was sent out by the Lord and he worked miracles. Trusted by the others, and having an office, and all breaking bread with the Lord Jesus.

You know, the Bible records that when Jesus spoke about worldliness, and greed, and anxiety, and the love of money, Judas was there. Hearing that from the lips of Christ. And when Jesus gave that parable of the camel passing through the needle's eye, and the difficulty of the worldly rich making it, Judas was there.

Christ was always reaching out for Judas. In Matthew 20, verse 18, He warned that someone's going to betray Me. And He kept bringing that up.

In chapter 6 of John, verse 70, He said, One of you is a devil. I don't know, if I were Judas, as I read the record, my heart would almost say, why don't I come around? He warned them, it's better for the one who betrays Me that he'd never been born. If you were Judas, wouldn't that begin to stir things up inside? He told them when He washed their feet that one of you is dirty.

And they all began asking, Is it I? Is it I? Even the fact that He washed his feet. Let me ask you this, brothers. If you knew someone's going to betray you tomorrow, would you wash his feet tonight? Break his toe.

Jesus kept exposing him. Gradually, little by little. He didn't just come out.

He could have stood out there. That's the one. That's the one that will betray Me.

Of course, I think he'd have another problem on his hands if he'd done that. Peter would have leaped over the table and grabbed him by the neck, you know. Even the one that He gives the morsel to in that day, that was a sign of intimate friendship.

The one that received that morsel. And then when all the disciples began asking, Is it I? Is it I? Is it I? Then the Bible says Judas asked the same question. And the Lord Jesus answered, Thou hast said.

Wouldn't you think by that time that he'd come around? But Christ is constantly reaching out for him. Verse 30 that we read, Judas went out and it was night. Well, I know that was physical night, but it's night in another way too.

Remember, Judas had made preparations with the high priest to identify the Lord Jesus with a kiss. I'm going to ask you brothers to turn to John 18 just for a moment. Verse 3, Judas then, having received the Roman cohort and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons.

Jesus therefore, knowing all things that were coming upon him, went forth and said to him, Whom do you seek? They answered him, Jesus, the Nazarene. He said to them, I am he. And Judas also, who was betraying him, was standing with them.

When therefore he said to them, I am he, they drew back, fell to the ground. And again he asked them, Whom do you seek? And they said, Jesus, the Nazarene. Jesus answered, I told you that I am he.

If therefore you seek me, let these go their way. Now, did you ever get the context of that tremendous passage? Judas had prearranged to identify the Lord Jesus with a kiss. Jesus wouldn't let that happen.

Here they come, the whole army, and Jesus sees them coming, and he runs out before Judas can kiss him. And he says, Who are you looking for? Jesus. It's me! He doesn't need to be identified anymore, does he? It's me! And when he said that, they all fell down, and Judas fell down.

He's got to get back up again. And he gets back up, and Jesus is almost set with his heart. He said, You don't have to go through with this.

You don't have to kiss me. I've been identified. And he says it a second time, Who are you looking for? And they said, Jesus.

He says, It's me! And then Judas goes up and kisses him. How the Lord Jesus was reaching out constantly. And then in Matthew, we have another little insight.

Matthew 26.50. As Judas approached him to kiss him, Jesus says, Friend, do what you've come for. Friend? Friend? Call Judas friend? He called the Pharisees whitewashed sepulchres and snakes and goats and adulterous generation and hypocrites. He calls Judas friend.

You've got to see the heart of Christ longing for this man. Here he is the day before the cross. He's going to bear the sin of the world.

And his heart is Judas, Judas. He's agitated. He's troubled for Judas.

He calls him friend. What a heart. The last words Jesus ever said to Judas that are recorded is Luke 22.48. Jesus said to him, Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss? Now the fact that those are his last words and that they're in the form of a question implies that they could be answered.

That question could be answered. And it was the last reach of Christ. He said, You don't have to do this, Judas.

Friend, are you betraying me with a kiss? And he could have answered, No. And I think even after he'd betrayed him, though there's no record of it, I think the door of mercy was still open. You know, he still could have come.

Joseph's brothers sold Joseph as a slave and they found forgiveness later. And I don't have any doubt that the Lord Jesus loved Judas more than Joseph loved his brothers. And I just know that if Judas would have come and fallen down at the feet of Christ looking for mercy, even then Christ would have ministered unto him.

The principle is just this, brothers, that Christ always does his best. No matter how willful we are against him. No matter how we resist.

No matter how stubborn we become. Judas is a marvelous illustration of someone who keeps saying no, no. And the heart of Christ is reaching and reaching and reaching.

There's never a time when you can say, well, he's given up on me. Never a time. Because he didn't know Judas.

He just kept going and going and going and reaching and reaching and reaching. Alright, if you can put that in one of your cabinets. Put it away for a moment.

Turn back to chapter 13. And I won't read it again. I'll read a couple of verses.

36. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going? Jesus answered, Where I go you cannot follow me now, but you shall follow later. Peter said to him, Lord, why can I not follow you now? I lay down my life for you.

Jesus answered, Would you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a cock shall not crow until you deny me three times. Let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God.

Believe also in me. Before we look at the principle here, let me remind you that it was man and not God who gave us chapter and verse divisions in our Bible. And they're not always in the right place, I don't believe.

Sometimes they help us and sometimes they're broken up in the wrong place. Acts 21 always amazed me. That chapter ends with a comma.

I just thought they could have gone a few more words on that one. The chapter division between 13, John 13 and John 14 is very unfortunate, I believe, because it breaks the content of what's being communicated. It interferes with the message.

You know, when Augustine and some of the early church fathers read their Bibles, they didn't have chapter and verse divisions. There were none then. In fact, it wasn't until 1,200 years after Christ that they had the chapter and verse divisions.

So thank you, Mr. Cardinal Hugo, who gave us these chapter and verse divisions as he was trying to write a concordance back then. He has helped us in many ways. But I think in a few ways he's divided it in the wrong place.

In our English Bible, you know, since the Geneva Bible in 1560, we've had the chapter and verse divisions. Let me back into the principle by beginning in chapter 14-1. Let not your heart be troubled.

Believe in God. Believe also in Me. Now, what was Christ referring to when He said, Let not your heart be troubled? Well, there were many things, but I think in the context it goes back to His comment in verse 33.

He said, I'm leaving. And then there was this whole discussion, where are you going? And I want to go. I'm leaving.

Now, in verse 36, Peter asks, again representing us, Lord, where are you going? It's a simple question. And of course, Peter's on the level of earth and he's saying, I want geography. Where are you going? But Christ is talking spiritually again as He so often does.

He's not talking about going from point A to point B. In effect, in the context, He's saying, where am I going? I'm going to accomplishment. I'm going to fulfillment. I'm going to completeness.

I'm going to a finished work. My mission is done. My job is finished.

I've finished the work. I've run the race. I've finished the course.

Where are you going? It's over for me. I'm going to my reward. It's not a place.

I'm not going to Bethany. I'm not going to Galilee. I'm not going to Jerusalem.

I'm not going to Nazareth. My mission is over. I'm going to my Holy Father God.

My race is done. I've finished my course. It's finished.

And then He said this to Peter, and it's marvelous. Verse 36, Where I go, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow me later. This is bigger than announcing martyrdom.

Where I go, you won't follow me now, but you will follow me later. Notice the emphasis on now and later. Jesus said, later.

Peter said, now, Lord. I'm ready now. And Jesus said, no, no.

You can't follow me now. You'll follow me later. There's a process that must take place in your life.

You are not ready now. It takes time. I've finished my course.

You'll finish yours later. Not now. But Peter didn't understand, and he didn't like the word later.

And so in verse 37, he said, Lord, why can't I follow you right now? Don't talk about later. I'm ready right now. There's nothing that process can do for me.

There's nothing that time can do for me or waiting. I'll prove to you, Lord, that I'm ready right now. I will lay down my life for you.

Isn't that proof? I'm ready now? I personally believe that was Peter's greatest statement that he ever made on his own. Now, he made greater statements, but not on his own, like Matthew 16. You know, flesh and blood does not reveal that to you.

But I think this, I will lay down my life for you, is the greatest thing. This came right out of Peter's heart. This is the greatest statement he ever made on his own.

The most honest, the most sincere, the most loving confession that he ever could have made. But Peter not only did not know Christ, Peter didn't know Peter at this time. He didn't know the awful possibilities of his own heart.

He didn't know the weaknesses of his flesh. And then the Lord Jesus discovers to Peter a shocking reality. Peter, I say you need a process.

Later you'll follow, not now. You say, I'm ready now. You say I'm going to lay down my life for you.

Peter, the fact is you're not going to make it through the night. Before the morning comes, you're going to deny me. What you aspire to is one thing.

Reality is another thing. Instead of laying down your life by being true to me, you're going to save your life by being false to me. And by the morning, and this is not some little denial that takes place in your head, you're going to deny me so publicly, you're going to curse and swear and yell and scream, and everybody's going to know about it.

And that same tongue that's boasting tonight is going to curse me, deny me tomorrow. Now in the context, that troubled Peter. That upset Peter.

Because the whole thing was absurd. It was ludicrous. You've got to be kidding me, Lord.

Here I'm talking about the ultimate sacrifice, I'll lay down my life for you, and you're saying I'm going to scream my head off and deny you by morning. What kind of a man do you think I am? I am a loyal disciple. Now try to catch God's heart.

First he says, there is a process. You will follow me. Every one of you.

Peter's a representative. You will follow me. Later, you're not ready now.

It was so impatient, you know. We hate this idea of time and maturing and development. But in our society, everything is instant.

Instant this and instant that. Instant add, water and stir, and you've got everything. Instant pudding and instant rice and instant tea and instant meals.

And my girls came home with a big ad. Look at this, instant pets. And it is.

You add water and stir. And you get these little creatures. Amazing.

Everything is instant. Instant houses. Instant credit.

You know, we just slap that on our relationship with God. And we come over and instant holiness. And instant rest.

And instant faith. And instant surrender. And instant knowledge of God.

We say, I'm ready. Jesus said, oh, you don't know. You will follow me.

Later. And our heart says, why can't we follow you now? We are ready. Don't you know I've listened to five tape series? I read the books.

I've been reading Victoria's Books all my life. And I've got the devotional and Christian radio every day from the time I wake up until I go to, we're ready. Also, Lord, I've been to Bible school.

Went to seminary. Listen to this, Lord. Luo.

I know Greek. I know Hebrew. I got a library.

And the Lord says again, to every brother, to every sister, you will follow me later. But in the meantime, there is a process. All right, now go back to 14.1. Not 14.1. 13.39. I refuse to separate these chapters.

I got 39 verses in 13 and one less in 14. Try to get this. Here's the context.

Peter, you will deny me. Let not your heart be troubled. Don't separate that, brothers.

That is an amazing thing. Ultimately, Peter, you will arrive. There's a process.

You'll follow me later. You're going to make it. You're not adequate yet.

There's an awful lot of God you need to see and an awful lot of Peter you need to see. There's a lot. Here's what the Lord said, and here's the principle, and we'll tie it together with the Judas principle.

The Lord Jesus looked at Peter and said, Peter, I appreciate what you shared earlier because you stole my thunder. Peter, I'm about to make you into a man of God. There is a process, and I've already seen the worst in you, Peter.

I know I shocked you by telling you what's going to happen tomorrow. I've already seen the worst in you, and I'm not troubled. Let not your heart be troubled.

Do you realize what the Lord was saying to Peter that night? You're going to make it. Later, a lot of things need to be done. There's a process.

You will follow me. I've accomplished my mission. I've finished my course.

I've run the race. I'm done. You can't follow me now because you haven't finished.

Later seems so long to Peter, but you know he's had his later now for more than 1,900 years. It's not so long. In a few hours, we'll all be there.

There's a process. I've seen the worst in you, and I'm not troubled. Let not your heart be troubled.

Peter represents all of us, and I think the Lord Jesus is saying, Look at him. You're going to make it, brothers, not in your own strength, not in your own steam, not in your own power, but you're going to make it. There's a process.

Let not your heart be troubled. You know, it's amazing. We're going to stumble along the way.

The righteous man falls seven times and rises again. That number seven, as it's used there, is the number of perfection. He's not saying you're going to fall six plus one times.

He's saying there's never going to be a day when you stop falling. The sign of a godly man is not he's a man that never falls, but a man who falling rises again. The righteous man falls seven times and rises again, and he's always getting up, and nothing that is unshakable will ever be lost in your falling.

We're going to make it. Believe in God. Believe also in me.

Brothers, aren't you glad this morning that the very worst in you does not stand in the way of God's perfect plan in your life? Isn't that impressive? He's already seen the worst in you, and he's not troubled. My, that's tremendous. Let not your heart be troubled.

I love in this connection John 15, 16. You did not choose me, but I've chosen you. I've appointed you that you might bear fruit and that your fruit might remain.

Peter didn't volunteer for this, you know. He was called. He was drawn.

The Lord Jesus could never look at Peter and say, I got ripped off. He already knew the product before he chose it. Let's say I went to the grocery store for Lillian.

She said, get me half a dozen tomatoes. So I pick out all these tomatoes, and one of them is soft and squishy, a little bit rotten. I bring it home, and Lillian takes the tomatoes.

She sets them out on the table, and she sees that squishy, rotten, soft tomato. And she begins to scream at it, yell at it. Tell her how stupid it is, you soft tomato.

You're soft in the head. You're all squishy. You call yourself a tomato.

What kind of a tomato are you? You can't even hold yourself together. Oozing out on all your brothers. Terrible tomato.

You know what the tomato would say? Hey, time out. Talk to him. He chose me.

I didn't volunteer for this. Before the foundation of the world, Christ knew all about you. He's already seen the worst in you.

And He chose you anyway. And He's not troubled about anything that's happening in your life. Let not your heart be troubled.

Now put those together. Here's Christ reaching out for Judas. And if that is saying anything, and put them both together, if it's saying anything, the principle that He longed for them to see, the unveiling of God's heart, is God is always for you.

He's always for you. He's never against you. He's always doing His best for you.

And there's a process. And it takes a little time. He didn't just say, alright, now a word about heaven.

And then jump into chapter 14. In my Father's house are many men. He's still talking to Peter.

And He's talking about the process. And He says, I go to prepare a place for you. He's not talking about, I'm going to heaven to prepare a place for you.

I always picture Him up there building something. He's talking about going to the cross. I'm not going to heaven to prepare a place for you.

I'm going to the cross to prepare a place for you. And He's talking about this tremendous process. He's saying, at the end, you're going to make it.

He shows it in the end. You're going to be there. But meanwhile, you've got to be prepared for the place.

And there's an awful lot of Christ to see. Some of you have been saved a lot longer than I've been saved. Why didn't Christ take you to heaven as soon as you trusted Him? Oh, there's Billy, praise God, take him to heaven.

Didn't He love you enough? Say, well, He left me here because I've got a job to do. You ain't got no job to do. You've got a God to know, not a job to do.

And I'll tell you, there are ways that earth can show you Him that heaven can't. In fact, every revelation of Christ in this book is for time. There's no trouble up there.

So if you're going to see Him as the one who delivers you from trouble, you better see it here. If you're going to see Him as advocate, you better see it here. If you're going to see Him as rock, as fortress, deliverer, husband, you better see it here.

You know what I'm saying, brothers? I'm saying this, that if you miss the revelation of Christ here, you miss it forever. Because even in heaven, you will not be able to see Him in the ways that you can see Him here. That's why you're still here.

To reveal Christ in ways that heaven can't. And as ages roll upon ages, if you don't see Him that way here, here He's your friend, here He's the lifter up of your head. Here He's your rock.

Here He's your comforter. Here He's the smelter. Here He's the potter.

Don't miss those. That's what life is all about. It's knowing God.

It's seeing Jesus. And that's what Peter hadn't seen yet. He said there's so much you need to see, Peter.

There's a process. You're going to make it. Because I'm for you.

You're going to make it. I've already seen the worst in you. And I'm not troubled.

You're going to make it. You're going to arrive later when you're prepared. When you've seen this full Christ, things haven't changed.

That still is hard for us. You say, well, you don't know what's going on in my life. It doesn't seem like God's for me.

Turning things upside down and, oh, He's for you. He's for you. Sometimes it doesn't look like He's for you because of His marvelous wisdom.

You see, the reality is sometimes we're not for Him. And so He beats you up and drags you over on His side to show you He's for you. And once you're on His side, then you know He's for you.

If He stretches out like that, poor Judas. If He tells Peter, Peter, there's a process. Be patient.

You've got to see me. And with that revelation, you'll see yourself. Oh, you're going to see some things that will shock you, and you'll be so ashamed, and you'll want to run to a cave and pull it in after you.

You'll be embarrassed to the dust, the possibilities of this heart. But I'm not troubled, Peter. Let not your heart be troubled.

Oh, may God show us this heart of God, always for us, always on our side, always reaching out. God is never upset, never troubled. Meanwhile, my heart says, all right, Lord, now.

He says, later. Oh, may God give us the eyes to see that. Let's pray.

Father, thank You so much that You've already seen the worst in us, and You're not troubled. Oh, teach us not to be troubled, but to have faith in God. Believe also in Christ.

Oh, You work this in our hearts, we pray. In Jesus' precious name, amen.