God, and as we continue to look at the Gospel of John, we'll be looking this morning at John chapter 6 and verses 69 to 71. John chapter 6, verses 69 to 71, and we'll just be looking at those words uttered by our Lord Jesus Christ, and one of you is a devil. and one of you is a devil. That was what our Lord Jesus Christ said to the twelve and that is our topic for this morning. Now remember the background. The prospect of free food. The prospect of free gain, free blessing, free food. After the miracles of the feeding of the 5,000 by our Lord Jesus Christ. After the miracles of the turning of water into wine in Galilee. There was this prospect of free food. But there was also the prospect of free medical care for our Lord Jesus Christ that heals the sick. Here He has come. So that there were these prospects. free food, free medical care, what more can you ask for? It's all there. And that prospect brought multitudes, he brought multitudes to our Lord and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Multitudes of his followers, they went all the way, remember, they had gone, he was not there by the Sea of Galilee, they took the boats and they followed him to Capernaum. Too good to be, we cannot let that go. And there they followed Him. They were there in multitudes. But they went for the prospects I have mentioned. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself says it. Because we've seen it in verse 26 of John chapter 6. The Lord Jesus Christ said, Most assuredly I say to you, you seek me not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. It was because of the food you ate, because of what you got. And it's the same thing today. People use the same gimmick to invite people, come to Jesus for your prosperity, come to Jesus for your wealth, come to Jesus for every other thing, except Jesus himself. And the Lord said, you came not for me, you came for what you could get, and that's why you came. And that was the prospect that drew them to our Lord and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, when the Lord Jesus Christ began to present his doctrine, the doctrines of Christ. When he began to preach to them, when he began to preach the truth of the gospel to them, they were offended, and they walked with him no more. They were offended, and they left him. Verse 66, we've already seen it. From that time, many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more. They left Him. They abandoned Him. If you will not give us the food and the free medical care, that's what we want. If you will not give us what we want, then we'll leave you. And so they left. And Christ did not give them what they wanted. And what He gave them, they didn't want. They didn't like. And so they left. But it was the very opposite with the twelve. with the apostles, the ones that our Lord Jesus Christ has selected to be his apostles. It was not simply the food and the supernatural works. They were not thrill seekers as many of the followers were. They were not simply interested in the supernatural activities of our Lord and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. No. They were interested in Him. They were interested in His divine words, the divine teaching. They were interested in His doctrine, the doctrine of our Lord and our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we have seen, the Apostle Peter says in verse 68 He says to the Lord Jesus Christ, Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. And we have seen that that was a reference to what our Lord Jesus Christ had already said in verse 63. Our Lord had already said in verse 63, it is the spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit and they are life. The apocrypha was saying on behalf of the twelve we have received your word as it were you have given them to us we have received them they have imparted life to us we are alive we want more but there's no other place to go for them you alone can give us the words of everlasting life there is no other to go to it's unthinkable to go to somebody else or anywhere else because you alone have the words eternal life and as we conclude this chapter and as we look at verses 69 to 71 of John chapter 6 and as we look at them under this title I've mentioned at the beginning and one of you is a devil as we do that I want us to look at two things the first is this the great confession of faith made by the Apostle Peter on behalf of the twelve there in verse 69 And then secondly, I want us to consider this amazing revelation by our Lord Jesus Christ in verses 70 and 71. Great confession of faith by Peter. And then the amazing revelation by our Lord Jesus Christ. And so the first thing we notice in verse 69 then is the apostle Peter says, we believe and we know. We believe and we know and this is the great confession that the Apostle Peter makes. We have already seen something, that in the healing of the son of the noble man, which we saw and came across in chapter 5 and there in verses 46 to 54, in that healing, of the son of the noble man. We noted that although with man, seeing is believing, man insists on seeing before he believes. We have seen that with God, the order is always reversed. He reverses the order. Believing is seeing, especially when it comes to the things of God and the things of the Spirit. It is in believing that we see. It is in believing that we come to know. in believing that we understand so in chapter 5 and there for example in verse 48 our Lord Jesus Christ says in chapter 5 and in verse 48 of chapter 5 he says these words Wrong reference, sorry, not 48. In chapter 4 and verse 48 please. Chapter 4 verse 48. Then Jesus said to him, unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe. Unless you see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe. And then in verse 50, the Lord Jesus Christ says to the noble man, in chapter 4 verse 50, He says to him, go your way, your son lives. And what was our Lord Jesus Christ saying to the noble man here? He says, believe, and you will see your son healed. This is what he was saying to the noble man. Listen to the comment there by the Apostle John, verse 50, chapter 4. Jesus said to him, go your way, your son believes, your son lives. So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and he went his way. And what happened? He saw his son healed. But he had to believe first. He believed the Lord Jesus Christ. And then he went and he saw his son healed. And you remember when we looked at it, by the time one of his servants came and met him on the way, He said, your son leaves. He asked him when that happened. And he told him the very hour. And the noble man remembered that was the very hour that the Lord Jesus Christ said to him, go, your son leaves. And when he believed, that was when it happened. Allah says, 48, you people want to see signs first before you believe. And remember he has said in another place, no sign will be given to this perverse generation. But then he says to the noble man, you go, believe, and then you will see. He believed, he went, and he saw. Because it is in believing that we speak when it comes to God, and when it comes to the things of the Spirit. Here, in chapter 6 and in verse 59, the Apostle Peter repeats the same order. He reminds us of this spiritual order, that when it comes to the things of the Spirit, the order of God is always opposed to man's order. For he says here in chapter 6 and verse 69, we have come to believe and to know. We have believed and so we know. It is in believing that we come to know. When it comes to the things of God and the things of the Spirit. And this is always the spiritual order. It is never changing. When it comes to the things of God and the things of the Spirit, we believe and so we are sure. That is another translation of what the Apostle Peter says. We have come to believe and we are sure. We have come to believe and we are certain. So that certainty comes from believing. Faith and then knowledge. Until we believe in Him, until we truly believe in Him, we will never know Him. God is knowable, but only those who believe in Him, come to know Him. You will never truly know God, until you have believed in Him. We must believe. If we are to know this true and living God, it is only when we have believed in Him that we come to truly know Him, that we come to be sure of Him and of the things of the Spirit. It is only when we believe that we become certain of the things of God and the things of the Spirit. And it is always the spiritual order. God always reverses man's order because His ways are not our ways. They are far far highly removed from our ways. And in His ways it is in coming to believe and have faith and trust in Him that we come to know Him. That we come to be certain of Him. That we come to understand Him. And we can only be certain of God. and spiritual truth when we have come to believe and trust in Him. And until we believe and trust in Him, we will never be certain. You will never find an unbeliever out there who is certain about God and about the things of God. It is only when we believe in Him, It is only when we trust in Him and have faith in Him, that we are assured by the witness of the Spirit, that He is, and that He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. But we must believe, we must have true and absolute faith in Him first. Divine order is always like that, faith and then certainty. You see, assurance, insight, knowledge are the fruits of faith. They are the fruits of believing. Turn to Hebrews chapter 11 with me please. Hebrews chapter 11 and there in verse 3 of Hebrews chapter 11 Hebrews chapter 11 verse 3, the Hebrew writer says, By faith we understand. It is by faith that we understand. It is not that we understand and so we have faith. No. He says, by faith we understand that the world we are framed by the Word of God so that the things which are seen we are not made of things which are visible. It is by faith. that we understand. Apart from faith, there is no true, genuine spiritual knowledge. By faith, we understand. We believe and we know, says the Apostle Peter. Now secondly, this morning, I want us to consider one of you is a devil, says our Lord Jesus Christ. One of you is a devil. John chapter 6, there in verse 70. John chapter 6, verse 70. Remember what the apostle Peter has said. Peter has said, to whom shall we, speaking on behalf of the twelve, go? Also we have come to believe And at the beginning of verse 17, look at how the apostle John writes it. Jesus answered them. It was Peter who spoke, but Jesus answered them, not answered Peter. Jesus answered them because Peter was speaking on their behalf. So he answered them. He looked at them. And at this point in time, it was as if our Lord Jesus Christ looked at the apostle Peter and said to him, did you say, we? I know better. So the Lord says to him, did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil? Peter, you may have said, we, but I know one of you. He is a devil. I selected you, brought you all together as apostles, yet one of you is a devil. That means on the word there is one of you is a slanderer, one of you is a false accuser. One of you will slander me. One of you will accuse me falsely. This is what the Lord was saying to them at this point in time. Now, the devilish character of Judas, if you like, is brought out by this fact. We've already seen. Majority of the people have gone. They didn't like the doctrine of Christ. It offended them, they wouldn't accept it, and they left. They will not remain as hypocrites. But what brings out the devilish nature, the devilish character of Judas, even here, very clearly, is that while all the others who did not accept the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, left. He remained. He remained. He remained as if he believed. And remember, he remained as if he was in full accord with our Lord Jesus Christ. Even when Peter spoke on their behalf, he never said, count me out. He continued with them, He remained with our Lord Jesus Christ and He was in close fellowship with our Lord and our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. We saw in 1 Samuel 16 verse 7, The Lord, we see the outside, but the Lord sees the inside. And He was saying here to Peter, I see the inside, I see all of you, and one of you indeed is a devil. Now at the point that this was happening, of course, the other eleven, including John, did not know that our Lord was speaking of Judas. They had no clue, they had no idea. They didn't know it was Judas that he was speaking of. In fact, if you look at Matthew chapter 26, the Gospel of Matthew chapter 26, you will notice there in verse 22 of Matthew 26, verse 22. After our Lord Jesus Christ has said in verse 21 of Matthew 26, He said, Assuredly I say to you, one of you will betray Me, And this was before his crucifixion in verse 22, and they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to him, Lord, is it I? This was long after this incident in John chapter 6. And they were asking, Lord, is it me? Is it I? They had no clue, they did not know who the Lord was speaking about here. And they had no suspicions whatsoever. But at the time that the Apostle John was writing his gospel, of course, he's able to say to us in verse 71, he spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray him, being one of the twelve. At this point, of course, he knew. And so he puts it down and he tells us it was Judas Iscariot that our Lord Jesus Christ spoke of. But I want to finish with this question. Why was there a Judas among the twelve apostles? Why was there a Judas? The Lord who sees in the insight, knows the insight. Why did he allow a Judas among the twelve? The Lord himself tells us. In this same gospel of John, chapter 17. In John's gospel, chapter 17, and there in verse 12, tells us, where he says, While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. Those whom you gave me, I have kept. And none of them is lost, except the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. There was one Judas among the twelve, because the scriptures had to be fulfilled. There was one among the apostles, because scriptures had prophesied it. And here, our Lord Jesus Christ was making a reference to Psalm 41 verse 9, and some other scriptures like that. It was a reference to Psalm 41 verse 9 and other scriptures indeed that refer to this son of perdition that was going to betray our Lord Jesus Christ. In Psalm 41 and there in verse 9, we read indeed Psalm 41 verse 9, not Job 41. Psalm 41 and verse 9, Even my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me. And there are other scriptures like that, that refer to Judas, and prophesy of the fact that he, who was close to the Lord, was going to betray him. And these are the scriptures that our Lord Jesus Christ is referring to. Scriptures must be fulfilled. That's the first reason. But A.W. Pink gives us other reasons. In the first place, he says, the selection of Judas furnished an opportunity for Christ to display His perfections in doing the will of God, which included, of course, the selection of Judas. In Hebrews, chapter 10, and there in verse 7 of Hebrews chapter 10, in verse 7, the Lord, we're told by the Hebrew writer, when he came, he said this to his father, then I say, behold, I have come In the volume of the book, it is written of me, to do your will, O God. The son came to do the will of the father. Included in the will of the father was the choice, the selection of a Judas. Of a one who will betray him. One who will be closely associated with him for three good years, but will still betray him. And he was associated with our Lord Jesus Christ for at least three years. And beyond a shadow of doubt, he followed the Lord Jesus Christ through all. And what do you think of that? A. W. Pink shows us. He says, what a great trial this was. to the person of our Lord and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, he was perfectly man. And here he had a man whom he knew will betray him right from the beginning. And for 3 years he walked with him. He ate with him. He had fellowship with him. And he was there among his closest 12. He was always with him for three good years. So that Judas was like a thorn in the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ all the time. But never once, never once did the Lord Jesus Christ raise his voice against Judas. Or say the wrong word to Judas? Never. And three years he was very close to him, but he walked with him and went with him. He was there in every way. And the Lord Jesus Christ knew this before he even began. But the Lord Jesus Christ did not hesitate. to do his father's will, as we are told here in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 7. He came to do the father's will, and the father's will he did perfectly, not without any shadow of complaint whatsoever. He did it perfectly well. Again, the selection of Judas provided an impartial witness an impartial witness to the moral excellency of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Father testified of the moral excellency of his Son, our Lord and our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Prophet had prophesied, indeed the Apostles, all mentioned, they testified to the moral excellency of our Lord and our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Perhaps they were biased. Perhaps it is because they liked him. Perhaps because they were closely associated with him. But one enemy was there, Judas. And he bore a testimony. And in Matthew chapter 27, we read something of that testimony. He was an enemy. Although he was there all the time, he was not one of Christ. He was clearly an enemy for he sold him. He sold him to those whom he knew were going to kill him. And in Matthew 27, there in verses 3 to 4 of Matthew 27, then Judas, his betrayer, Seeing that he had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned by betraying innocent blood. I have sinned, he said, by betraying innocent blood. And they said, what is that to us? You see to it. Even Judas who sold him testified of the fact that he had sinned against innocent blood. Next, the selection of Judas gave occasion to uncover the awfulness of sin. Just imagine three years. Three years, very close, to our Lord and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, experiencing His love, experiencing all those perfections that seemed to come out of Him, as it were. He saw all that the Lord Jesus Christ did, He experienced them very closely along with the other eleven, And he in one sense partook of all that the eleven others partook of. Now imagine all this and then at the end betraying this emperor, betraying our Lord and our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Sin is truly awful. There is no telling what a man in sin can do. There is none. It is awful. He saw the glory of the Son of God. He experienced it. And still he sold him for a price that he couldn't use anyway. But that is how awful sin is. And that's how terrible sin is, especially in the eyes of the Holy God with whom we have to deal. But then consider next, the presence of Judas supplies the sinner with a solemn warning. It is a solemn warning to every sinner. You may be close to the Lord Jesus Christ physically, You may be close to his people. You may be associating with the people of God all the time. You may be born to a Christian family. You may be born in a Christian home. Maybe you've heard the doctrines of Christ since we were a baby. Perhaps you have been there, you have witnessed a lot of miracles in the name of our Lord and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. You've seen it all. But you are not saved. And there are many like that. They are always in the church, always amongst God's people. They are there behind their Christian parents all the time, but they are not saved. They are not saved. It is a serious and a solemn warning. We can deceive ourselves and think that coming to church will save us. Being here will save us. Witnessing the baptism, you may even be baptized and still be unsaved. It is a serious warning to each and every one of us. But then consider next. The presence of Judas shows that we may expect to find hypocrites among the followers of our Lord Jesus Christ and among the leaders in the church. Judas walked with our Lord Jesus Christ. He traveled with Him. When he thirsted, Judas thirsted with him. When he hungered, Judas hungered with him. He went through it all. He toiled with him. He went all the way and he was always there with him. Remember he preached. He was one of those that were sent to preach. He preached the gospel. He performed the miracles. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Judas Dean! He was always there. Yet, he was the greatest of all hypocrites. He was there. We can be in the church, we can hold the highest position in the church, brethren. We can, as some people put it, have an eminent position in the church, and still not be Christians, and still not be saved, and will be lost completely and totally. Be warned, your position in the church will never save you. Only the Lord Jesus and Him alone. And then finally, The presence of Judas affords us one more illustration of how radically different God's thoughts and ways are from ours. They are completely and radically different from our own thoughts and our own ways. He is different. God appointing a devil as one of the closest companions of the Saviour there? No. Humanly speaking, no. But that's what the Lord does. And that's how He operates. In order that His name may be exalted and His perfections may be seen and honoured and adored and glorified by all. He is truly God. But let me make one or two applications as we close this morning. There are many, many people who are very cultured people, very polite people. They will never venture to call any person a liar. They won't do that. Very offensive. They would not like to do that. There are many people. Yet the same people continue to make God a liar in every day of their lives, as they remain in their unbelief. We've heard the truth, and as long as you remain in your unbelief, every day that you remain in your unbelief, you make God a liar. Of course, most people will say, No, no, you are putting words in our mouths. We have never said God is a liar. Or they may say, but we never thought of it that way. Whichever way you have looked at it, whichever way you have considered it, just consider God's Word. Come with me to 1 John. 1 John chapter 5, and there in verses 9 and 10 of 1 John chapter 5. In 1 John chapter 5 verses 9 and 10, this is what the Word of God says, If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. For this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in his heart. He who does not believe God, has made him a liar because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of his son. Are you a true Christian? Are you a true born-again believer? The father has said of his son, this is my well-beloved son, hear ye him, listen to him, obey his commandments, Have you obeyed? Have you believed truly in the Son of God the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Have you been baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit? If you have not, the Word of God says, you have refused the testimony of God concerning His Son. And as you continue to do that, you make Him a liar. There are no two ways of putting it. He who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of his son. Have you? We believe men all the time, all the time. We trust them. That's why we go about our lives anyway. We trust our manufacturers, so we can get on the coach, we can get in the bus, we can get on the train, but we trust what they have done, we trust what they say. Go and do, we have agreements, we have contracts, we have tenancies, we have everything, because we trust the people that we reach this agreement with. God says, if you can trust men, why don't you trust me? Why don't you? Secondly, here, with the Lord Jesus Christ, we have seen Peter and Judas, two people. Peter made a great confession when he said, we have come to believe and to know, implying that there is an act that was completed in the past which has a continuum bearing upon his life and the lives of those he was speaking of. We have come to believe and to know. We continue to believe and we continue to know, says the Apostle Peter, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the true anointed of God. He is the Son of God, the only Savior of the world. The initial faith of the disciples leads to continuous commitment to Him who has called them and saved them and brought them to Himself. and it leads to loyalty, complete and absolute loyalty to our Lord and our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. You see Peter, but we see Judas as well. Judas is a devil. He will betray our Lord and our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. But he continued following the Lord Jesus Christ. He continued following Him for selfish reasons, reasons best known to himself, He continues following the Lord Jesus Christ perhaps for what he could gain from our Lord Jesus Christ. Which one are you? Are you a Peter? Do you believe? And do you know? Or are you this great hypocrite? That comes only for what you can get. Only for what you can grab. Come to the Lord for who He is. and come and hear his words because it is his words that give eternal life. I pray that if you have been like a Judas that the Lord will open your eyes and your hearts and help you to be a Peter even this morning. Let us pray.