Amen. Turn, please, to Matthew 20. Matthew 20. We've been in this chapter for a while, and we want to deal now with the idea that we've actually touched on before. Do you desire to be great? How do we know who's great? How do we know that situation? Well, the Bible tells us, and the Lord Jesus Christ tells us. And we'll be looking at two other passages today that are somewhat companion passages of this, even though they don't take place at exactly the same time. And I'm talking about a passage in Luke And I'm talking about a passage in John about Jesus washing the disciples' feet. So, Matthew chapter 20, I'm gonna make some initial observations from the text, starting in verse number 20. Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to him, came to Jesus, with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from him. And the mother of James and John come with her sons to ask. And so, verse 21, and he said to her, notice he addresses her, interestingly enough, because she's only coming to something to ask, what do you wish? And she said to him, grant that these two sons of mine may sit one on your right hand and the other on your left in your kingdom. Okay, so it's her that she's kneeling and he addresses her, verse 22. But Jesus answered and said, you do not know what you ask. And then I think we can shift our attention here and he now looks at the disciples. We know that because of what he says to them. Are you able to drink the cup that I'm about to drink and be baptized with the baptism that I'm baptized with? They took that as a hopeful sign. They thought, okay, maybe this request is going to be granted. They said, yes, we are able. Oh, that's a big mistake. What a big mistake. They didn't know what they were talking about. They didn't know what they were asking. And they obviously had to be taken down a peg or two. This was actually a chance for them to rethink this request. It was a very gentle rebuke that should have said, oh, well, wait a minute, wait a minute. It's their chance to take it back. But he's really asking, do you really want to go through what I am going to go through? Now, they can't be the sin bearer, they can't do all the things that Christ is going to do, but they obviously don't understand. Do you even begin to understand the issue of what he's asking them? Well, they don't. But all you gotta do is flip back to verse 17 of the same chapter. Then Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the 12 disciples aside on the road, and said to them, Behold, we're going to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and deliver him to the Gentiles, and mock and scourge him, and crucify, and the third day he'll rise again. Are you able to go through that? We're able. That's what they're saying. So Christ warns them again, verse 23. So he said to them, You will indeed drink my cup and be baptized with the baptism that I'm baptized with. He's not saying the same thing's going to happen to you, but they're going to suffer persecution. In fact, James will be one of the first Christian martyrs. Stephen, as we think, is probably the first Christian martyr. There may have been some others in between Stephen and James, but James was the first disciple to be put to death. And we see that in Acts, I believe, 12, if I remember correctly. But anyway, it's verse 23, he said, and you will indeed drink my cup and be baptized with the baptism that I'm baptized with. But to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give, but it is for those whom it's prepared by my father. The answer is no. That's exactly what's being said here. Just says a little bit more than no, but they're denied. And so another warning, and then a denial of the request. And verse 24, we've mentioned it a few times. And when the 10 heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brothers, because they were on the side of Jesus. And they said, how could these guys think like that? How could they possibly think they're better than us? And I know, that's probably not what they were thinking. They're probably thinking, why are they asking that? That's what I want. That's my place there. And certainly, the first pope would have been very offended, Peter. There you go. Oh, well. Some of you know that's a joke, don't you? Some of you are going, what is he talking about? OK. Well, they don't understand the kingdom of heaven doesn't operate like the kingdom of men. And how do I know that? Because Jesus had to say it over and over again. Turn, we're going to go back here, so keep your finger here, but turn to Luke chapter 22. Luke chapter 22, and while you're turning there, we're gonna start reading verse number 20. I don't know how many times this same scenario was repeated, but it didn't happen just once. It happened a few times, and it's given to us in all the Gospels, and sometimes it's placed in different places, and we don't think that it's just a matter of misplacing one incident, because we believe in inspiration. We believe that this was a continual problem that they had, at least until the resurrection, and maybe up until the day of Pentecost. We just don't know when it ended. We do know that it did end, though. They quit talking this way. They finally figured it out. By Pentecost, they had it figured out, that the kingdom of God is not like the kingdom of men. So, Luke 22, verse 20. Let's just read it. And here we are in the upper room. at the Lord's Supper. So verse 20, Likewise he also took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you. But behold, the hand of my betrayer is with me on the table. And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed. Then they began to question among themselves which of them it was who would do this. And in that questioning, I think we can be gracious to the disciples, because we do know from another place, they said, Lord, is it I? Lord, is it I? Instead of, Lord, is it him? Lord, is it him? They were asking, Lord, is it I? Which is exactly what they should have done under those circumstances. Okay, continue reading here. Verse 24, though. But there was also a rivalry among them as to which of them should be considered the greatest. And he said to them, the kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors. Now, let's keep that word benefactors in your mind. I'm going to come to it in a minute. But not so among you. On the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. For who is greater, he who sits at the table or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet, I am among you as one who serves. Back to Matthew. That just gives us a little more insight that this wasn't an isolated time, that this Matthew was not an isolated time, but this was a problem that seemed to continue amongst them, and it's always a temptation, especially for men who are called to actually be leaders. And these guys are called to be leaders. There's always a desire. It's something that has to be mortified. Those men that rise to leadership positions often desire to have even more leadership, and even more leadership, and even more control. That's a human desire, and you see it happen in the world all the time. Not supposed to happen in the church. Not supposed to happen in the kingdom of God. It shouldn't be that way. So, back to Matthew, Matthew 20, verse 25. But Jesus called them to himself. Okay, after the ten heard it, and they had indignation against the two brothers, Jesus called them to himself and said, you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them, yet it shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant, and whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many. Okay, so that's where we will go today, and then we'll go to John in just a few moments here. Well, the way things work in the kingdom of this world hasn't changed very much in the entirety of humankind. Those with power rule, and those who are weaker are ruled. And you see that around the world. You see it in every place where there is some kind of dominion. And when the weak muster enough power, what happens? When the weak manage to muster enough power, just think what's happening over in Hong Kong right now. They're trying to throw off the shackles of what has become burdensome to them and retain their freedom. They're losing their freedoms. This is my opinion, of course, but I'm using it as an illustration. And so they're fighting. Now, can the people of Hong Kong really hope to win a battle against China? Humanly speaking, that really couldn't happen. And if China decides to go in there with an iron fist and all of their military might, these protesters, who some of them are like Wall Street people, and some of them are students, they're not going to do very well. And we would pray that that wouldn't happen. We wouldn't want to see that kind of bloodshed happen anywhere. But that might be what it would take to quell the rebellion, so to speak, of what they feel is unfair to them. Well, it's harder for us to understand as Americans, but I think we understand it too. We're privileged to live as free men and women. And you think of the freedoms that we have. And I know it's easy to complain against the government. It's easy to talk about how oppressed we are and everything like that. But truthfully, our freedom is very rare in the course of human history. Now, Luke used the term benefactors, right? There's an interesting thing that comes from the Greek. You have to know Greek, and I wouldn't have picked it up unless I heard it from somebody else. But these benefactors, that's what the rulers called themselves, and it's a Greek word that means benefactor, and it's a common title that they would often take upon themselves, the eurgites. It's what they would use. And they would call themselves that in the ancient world. And we translate it benefactors. But the people, if they didn't like their rulers, by changing a couple of letters from benefactor, and you can do this in English. There's words you can change. You change a couple of letters around and it becomes something very, very different. In the Greek, you can change that word benefactors around, and it becomes evildoers. And it sounds pretty similar, but it means something very, very different. And so in their conversations with one another, they would call their leaders evildoers. And the leaders are calling themselves benefactors. It's just a human thing. But what's the point that Christ is making? Okay, that's the way the world works. My kingdom doesn't work like that. That's what he's saying. My kingdom isn't that way. The church isn't supposed to be that way, okay. In fact, think about this. Deacon at its root means servant. Now I sent an email out yesterday. It was a mistake, an email. I just sent it out real quickly. And I said, Deacon Mike, okay. Now, Mike is a deacon, and I'm a deacon too, but he's Pastor Mike, right? But I didn't even catch it. I was trying to think the deacons and Mike is what I was really thinking, but it came out deacon Mike, I didn't catch it. Off it went, you know? And I said, well, you know, sorry I demoted you, Mike. But that's not really a demotion at all, because it's whatever service that God has for us, okay? And a deacon at its root means servant. That's what deacon means. And what does minister mean? Means servant too, right? That's what a minister is, a servant. So we talk about minister when I go like at the city council meetings to pray. They'll call me Reverend Steve Markadon, or they'll say minister at Sovereign Grace Baptist Church, Steve Markadon. And they mean that as a title of respect. But really, if you think about what minister means, it means servant. That's what it means. And that's what a pastor has to be. And that's what a pastor must be. He's not a lord. He's not a benefactor. He's a servant, a servant of God, first of all, and a servant of the people. And that's what deacons are, too, in their sphere. They are not lords, to lord it over you, but they're called to a position of service. And so it's very, very different. It's very, very different than what the world does. So we might think of the ministry as a title of respect, but all you gotta do is think what the word means in its English root, and you see why the pastoral office, which is one of service, is called the ministry. Now turn to John 13. And remember, when we're talking about the church, we are talking about God's kingdom, God's kingdom on earth, that then flows into God's kingdom, eternal kingdom. John 13, the famous incident of washing the disciples' feet. And sorry to say, this account in Matthew that we read was not the last time the problem reared its ugly head, as we already saw in Luke. And it had to be repeated in the upper room. And evidently, it's very possible that this happens first, or maybe Luke's account happens first. It's really hard to know. We just have a hard time putting these things together. But we know the disciples had a dispute. who is the greatest among them. And Christ, without speaking, girds himself with a towel and begins to wash their feet." Let's read it together, John 13. Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come, that he should depart from this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. What a blessed verse that is. Think about that, the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside his garments, took a towel, and girded himself. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with a towel in which he was girded. It doesn't say a thing about him even saying a word. This was a parable in visual form. And then he came to Simon Peter, and Peter said to him, Lord, are you washing my feet? Jesus answered and said to him, what I'm doing now, you do not understand now, but I'm sorry, what you are doing, you do not understand now. What I am doing, okay, I'm gonna get this right, okay. What I'm doing, you do not now understand. I still didn't get it right, but we'll go on. That's what happens when you're reading all these different translations. It's stuck in your mind a different way. But Mike was right. Pastor Mike was right. I'm reading through the ESV in my personal devotions this year. So there you go. You can read different translations. I'm going to read seven again. Jesus answered and said to him, what I am doing, you do not understand now. But you will know after this. Peter said to him, you shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, if I do not wash you, you have no part with me. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. We'll explain why in a moment. Jesus said to him, he who's bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean, and you are clean. But not all of you, for he knew who would betray him, and therefore he said, you're not all clean. Now, we could go on, but it would really, you know, that's enough for us to know. You can read the rest of the chapter, and it's very, very good. And you can go on into 14, 15, 16, and 17. That's the upper room discourse of all some of the holy place of scripture, of course. All scripture inspired, all scripture is important. But there are some scriptures that just stand out. And certainly Christ talking in the upper room to those that he loved to the end stands out because these are the hours right before he sacrifices himself for our sins. Well, washing their feet. Why would he do that? Well, the reason is because it was the servant's job. It was usually the lowest place of all. The low man on the totem pole. The servant who is least got to do this. Now, this is very foreign in our culture, but it does come up in the New Testament. Mary, Lazarus' sister, washed Christ's feet with costly ointment. Another woman that, as Christ was dining with a rich man and a powerful man, came in and washed Christ's feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair, and that man judged her harshly and judged Christ harshly, because he's thinking, if Christ, if Jesus knew who this woman was, he would not let her touch him. And Peter rebuked him. Peter rebuked him and said, she loves me. And she did this out of love. But you didn't even bother to wash my feet or care about my feet whatsoever. That's the passage. You can look that up later. Now, this was the custom of the day. Let me explain the custom, and it will help explain the washing of the feet. You would travel, of course, if you were going to go to a special event or a special dinner, people didn't take baths all the time. They didn't take showers. They didn't take baths all the time. Those were rather unusual. But if it's a special thing that you're going to be doing, you took a bath and you cleaned yourself up, and now you walk to that special event, and you were clean, but not totally clean because your sandals and your Your feet and all that were now dirty. And so it was now customary for the person who actually has had a bath and is basically clean to have his feet cleaned as he gets into the home of the host. And the host would not do that. He'd have one of his slaves or one of his servants do that. And so they'd remove your sandals, wash your feet, you didn't need a bath, you're already clean except for the surface dust of the road. That's the physical aspect of this, but Christ is talking spiritually too. So Christ gets up from the supper. He's the host of the feast. He girds himself with a towel, begins to wash the disciples' feet. Nobody else had bothered to do this. No one asked to do this. Nobody wanted to do this because they all wanted to be the greatest, and they didn't want to make themselves the least by taking this role upon themselves. No one wanted to lose the possibility of being honored as the greatest by purposely saying, I'm the least. So Christ does it, figuratively speaking. Now let me say this, Christ was not instituting a new ordinance for the church. There have been a minority of people over time that think that's true. We have baptism, the Lord's Supper, and foot washing. No, Christ wasn't instituting foot washing at all as an ordinance of the church, and very few have actually held to that over time. Foot washing is kind of bizarre in our culture, and I've never, I've been in Christian circles since I was 10 years old, and I'm a little older than that now, and I've never been in a foot washing service. How many of you have ever been a foot washing service? Okay, some of you have done that. Some of you have done that. I think that's a mistake. I'm not going to blame you for doing that. But I think it's a mistake to have a foot washing service. It's kind of bizarre. It's a little different. And it doesn't fit our culture. In fact, it probably tells our culture something else than servanthood. So I don't think that's a good idea myself, you know. But, you know, instead, this was the servant's role. And it is good that we have service, and there's many, many ways that we can show service to each other, and show deference to each other, and show love to each other, and show appreciation to each other, and serve one another. There's many, many ways we can do that, and that's really what's being taught here. So Jesus comes to Peter, you'll never wash my feet. And the other disciples were probably embarrassed. It would appear that Peter wasn't the first one he went to. The others didn't know what to say. And Peter didn't know what to say either, but it never stops him, right? So he says it anyway. And Peter thought he was being humble. Peter thought he was doing the right thing. And I can understand why Peter would say that. But what is true humility? True humility is doing that which is pleasing to the Lord in an attitude that's willing to obey and to obey Him immediately. So when His will is clearly revealed, we must do His will, even if it's distasteful. And no doubt, it was distasteful for those disciples to have Jesus washing their feet. Now that's human, and that's physical. But now let's apply it spiritually. Because there's a spiritual application here. And if you read the rest of the chapter, you'll see that. And it's even in what we just read. The greatest significance of the passage is spiritual. It's made plain by the conversation between Christ and Peter. If it was only about service, look at verse eight again. If it was only about service, Christ wouldn't tell Peter, unless I wash you, you have no part with me. If it was only about service, he wouldn't say that. It's a lesson in humility, and it's a picture of redemption. It's about regeneration. It's about the new birth and the effects of the new birth. Look at verse 10 again. Jesus said to him, he who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean. That's why I said you take the bath beforehand, and then you just get that little bit of dirt off you as you're up in the upper room there. But he's completely clean, and you are clean, but not all of you. I'm not saying somebody forgot to take a bath. No. For he knew who would betray him. Therefore he said, you are not all clean. It's about regeneration. It's about the new birth. He tells Peter, if I don't wash you, you have no part with me. Then Peter cries out, then wash me thoroughly. You're already clean, except for one of you. and it's the thorough cleansing that God does when he changes a sinner's heart and makes him to be a child of God. And regeneration is a one-time act. The foot washing symbolizes sanctification and our daily cleansing from sin and our continuing reliance upon Jesus Christ. And every man who comes to Christ is regenerated by the power of the Spirit. And this is the understanding that causes almost all of Christianity to say, no, foot washing is not an ordinance. This is meaning something else. It's regeneration. It's what Christ does for us. Every man who comes to Christ is regenerated by the power of the Spirit. He has a new heart. He's been born again. He's been cleansed from his filthiness. And these and many other figures are used of regeneration. But what happens to us as we walk through this world? will become defiled with sin. Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan makes that point very clear in his Pilgrim's Journey to the Celestial City. Walking through this world, we do become defiled with sin, not totally defiled. And not lost, because we can't lose our salvation. That's an impossibility. Once the Lord has saved us, he never takes our salvation away from us. There are all kinds of false Christian doctrines that would tell you that, that you can lose your salvation. And then there's others, even things like the federal vision, that really sound very much like that. My son and I were talking about the federal vision this morning. And really, to me, it's many, many things wrong with it, as I've mentioned before. But one of them is that basically, I believe they're wrong on the purpose of regeneration. I believe they're wrong that you can lose regeneration. So anyway, walking through this world, we become defiled with sin. Not totally defiled, not lost. But why in 1 John does it tell us to confess our sins? And he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Why does he say that? He's saying it to Christians. because we do need to confess our sins to God. We do need to tell him that we've sinned. We do need to ask for him to work in our hearts and our lives. This is called sanctification. It's part of sanctification. We do need to ask God's forgiveness for the daily sins we commit. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those that have sinned against us, or forgive us our trespasses, forgive us our debts. These sins are covered by the blood of Christ. They've been paid for at Calvary. These sins will not sink us down to an eternal hell. And if we don't repent of them, God will find a way to bring us about to repentance of them. Christian friend, that's what God does. But these sins will cause us to be dirty and lose a felt sense of the presence of fellowship with the King. So it's part of our practical sanctification to confess our sins to God. But we also need to realize that he forgives those sins, and we need to accept that forgiveness. We have an advocate. He pleads for us, and he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Guess who had their feet washed that day? Judas was up there, and Jesus would have washed Judas' feet. The betrayer, and he knew he was a betrayer, he washed his feet, but you know what? That didn't do Judas any good at all because he never had the bath. He was never regenerated. Judas had his feet washed that day, but there was no real sanctification because there'd been no regeneration. I wonder, and we can only wonder, but let me speculate just a little bit here. Didn't it go through Judas's mind that this humble Jesus was the very one he'd already bargained to betray? He'd already done that. I wonder what he thought as Jesus washed his feet. I'm speculating. The Bible doesn't tell us this. But, and I'm guessing, but I think there was probably an inner disgust within Judas because of what we think Judas really wanted. Judas wanted Jesus to set up his earthly kingdom and he wanted to be great in that earthly kingdom. In fact, I'm gonna guess now because he was the treasurer amongst the disciples, maybe he wanted to be the treasurer of this earthly kingdom and think how rich he would be then. He was already pilfering. He was already stealing. He was already taking from the very small sack of money that they had. Just think, if Christ had the kingdom of this world, and he was the treasurer of it, can you imagine the riches that he would have? Okay, speculation, true. But there was something really wrong in the heart of Judas. Of course, the Bible tells us the devil entered into him. But when the devil entered into him, it was with thoughts. There was some thought process going on in his mind. Well, anyway. We think that Judas had wanted to be part of a new revolution. They would throw off Roman bondage. He would be important in the new kingdom. And it was obvious that it was not going to happen. He betrayed Jesus. Now, you can't be sanctified before you're justified. You can't be sanctified before you're justified. You can't begin to progress in holiness while you're absolutely covered in the filthy rags of your sin, and you're lost. You can't progress in holiness. All of our sins are as filthy rags, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Now, his people are saved by his blood, the blood of Christ, but not Judas. He was absolutely defiled, even as Christ washed his feet. And we would read on, Christ handed him the sop and said, what you are about to do, do quickly. Look at verse 26, if you're still in John. Look at verse 26. Jesus answered, it is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I've dipped it. And having dipped the bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. Now, you might ask the question, why didn't the other disciples know? He'd actually plainly told them, it's whoever I give the sop to. He's the one that's gonna betray me. I mean, they should have known that. But another cultural thing comes into play, and we are creatures of culture, like it or not, and also their minds were blinded at this particular time. It was considered an honor to get the sop. When the host gave you that, he was honoring you. So the other disciples would have watched that. Judas gets it. He gets up and leaves. They don't think, ah, that's the guy. Look what he's doing. They thought, oh. The Lord's giving him a job. He's gonna go do something. In fact, one of the other gospels tells us they thought he was gonna go out and give something to the poor. They thought he was gonna go make a donation of some type. That's what they thought. They didn't think, ah, Judas is going out to betray him. They just didn't think that way. But when Judas went out of the room, the room was cleared of hypocrites. The false believer is gone. And now Christ is able to share his heart in the fullest. to those that are there with him. The 11 in the room, the ones that he loved to the end, he shares his heart with them. Chapter 13, chapter 14, chapter 15, chapter 16, chapter 17, up to 17, all the way through there and his high priestly prayer. Let me give you some final applications here, okay? Final applications. The first thing I would say, and I've already kind of touched upon it, but the means of grace are given for our sanctification, right? For those of us that are Christians, the means of grace are given to us to help us progress in holiness and in our practical walk. But the means of grace don't do any good to a lost person. They don't know. You might qualify that. Well, it's the preaching of the word that's going to bring them to salvation. That's true, okay. But the lost person takes the Lord's Supper. It doesn't do them any good. It may do them harm. The lost person can be baptized. It doesn't do them any good. It may do them harm. The means of grace are to build up Christians, not build up the lost people. Now, the Lord will use the word of God to bring about regeneration. So I will qualify it with that. But other than that, was Judas better off because of the three years he spent with Christ? I heard uh-uh, and you're right. He wasn't better off. He was worse off. He was worse off, wasn't he? And you would think, that, you know, well, he was worse off. He sinned against knowledge, he sinned against light, he sinned against the benefits of grace all around him, and he received earthly blessings from the grace that was all around him, and so he might have looked good to people, but he never participated personally in that grace. Let me make an application here, one that's very apropos. I've made this application many, many times, but it needs to be made many times. liken it to a child who grows up in a reformed church, liken it to a child that grows up in this church. But he never, or she, never comes to grace themselves. There could be a lot of benefits, humanly speaking. There could be morality that's ingrained. And they may even have some good doctrine. They may be able to enunciate some good doctrine because they've learned. And they may even know some good practical ways to live life, but to reject Christ in the midst of so many blessings is an absolute curse upon you. An absolute curse. That's a scary thing. It happens here. I really fear for, I'm gonna be blunt now, I really fear for some of our pedobaptist brethren, and those are those that baptize infants, because some of them, not all of them, but some of them say to their kids, you've been baptized, so now you're a Christian. And so the kid grows up, thinking he's a Christian, becomes a teenager, you're a Christian, living a fairly moral life many times, you know, off into his own home, he may still go to church. He may even raise his children in church, baptize them and tell them, you're a Christian now. And what happens over time? Doesn't take more than a generation or two before the church is full of lost people. And then what happens to that church? Liberalizes. and becomes like so many of, and to use our Presbyterian friend, I have many Presbyterian friends, many Presbyterians I respect, but there are many Presbyterians and Lutherans that, well, to find a Christian amongst them would be hard. There are many congregations that are like that. That's just the natural thing that happens. Well, it happens in Baptist churches too, so I'm not just picking on them, you know. Second of all, The means of grace are for Christians, is what I'm trying to say. Second of all, there's a lot you can say about how this instruction tells us how we're supposed to live our lives with one another, preferring one another, above one another. And it's very instructive on how elders are supposed to be shepherds and lead their people by servanthood, not by lording it over them and not by being a benefactor that you can turn around and say it's an evildoer. Pastor needs to be a minister and serve in the place that he is. Now Judas was a false believer, but he shared in the physical benefits of the true believers, even though Christ knew his heart. Now this is where we need to be really, really careful, because we don't know the hearts of one another. We don't. And when we think we do, we can be harsh, we can be judgmental, we can be really difficult to deal with, and difficult to deal with one another. Christ reads hearts, but we don't. And even though Christ knew the heart of Judas, he really had exposed him, but he didn't overtly expose him yet. It was left to Judas to expose himself by his actions, which he did, and then there wasn't any question. In fact, when Judas brings the soldiers with him, Peter draws his sword, right? And I think he would have been willing to cut off Judas's head if Judas was leading the pack, and he could. He was swinging at somebody, and he really actually did injure somebody, but okay. You know that's true. It was left to Judas to expose himself by his actions. Christ can read hearts perfectly. You cannot read someone else's heart perfectly. And guess what? I can't do it either, even though I'm a pastor. I can't read someone else's heart perfectly. And if I think that I can, I will go from being a servant of the people of God to a lord over the people of God, telling them how to live their lives and what they exactly must do, and it has to line up with what I need it to be and what I think it ought to be. Christ protected the disciples from Judas. Yes, he did. Christ was not gonna let Judas harm them or bring anything against his own people. He didn't allow that. But you know, what do you do? What do you do in our situation? Unrepentant sinners that are members of the church, what do we do? Unrepentant sinners that are exhorted. Unrepentant sinners that are told. Unrepentant sinners that we try to bring to repentance and bring and talk to them and plead with them and minister to them. What do you ultimately have to do? What church discipline's for? That's church discipline. Church discipline isn't misreading someone's heart. Church discipline is working with someone and dealing with someone and listening to them and exhorting them, and when they refuse to repent, church discipline, okay? So, it's not like, oh, we can't judge. You know, who are you to judge? You can't judge. No, we have to judge righteous judgment. There's time that that has to happen, absolutely. But elders, and really all Christians, must likewise exercise caution and not harm a true believer by unjustly reading their motives. And many of us have that in us to want to do that. Let me make two more applications, and we'll be done. How about you? How about me? Am I a Peter? Sometimes I am. I can relate to him. I don't know what I would have done. It would have been a shocking thing for Christ to come and wash the disciples' feet, but I could see myself saying, no, no, and getting up and saying, let me wash your feet. I could see me doing that because I wouldn't have understood what was going on. I can understand not letting Christ clean my feet, but we must. We must let Christ cleanse us because we're incapable of cleansing ourselves. So we must. Christ must go to the tree and pay for my sins and pay for your sins. And it hurts us to see him humiliated. I think of this when we take the Lord's Supper. We'll do that again tonight. I think of this and there's joy in the Lord's Supper, but I always have a tinge of sorrow at the Lord's Supper too because I think of what Christ did. and the pains of the tree, and all that it cost him. It pains us to see him made sin for us. And our own sins testify against us that we are not worthy. But if we stop there, we've missed the boat. Because we are not worthy, and we can't earn it, and that's what grace is all about. And that should thrill our hearts. That's what grace is all about. You cannot work for it at all, and you cannot cooperate with God to get grace. If it was cooperation, it'd be works, but it's all of grace. We're humble, we're poor, we're blind, we're beggars, we're vile. I remember, and this actually did happen, in the Crystal Cathedral before it was a Catholic church, used to belong to Robert Schuller. They used to sing a hymn that we sing, but they changed the words. I'm serious about that. They changed the word. Would he devote that sacred head for such a worm as I? Robert Schuller said, no. And so they change the words and they start singing it differently. Would he devote that sacred head for such a one as I? So that's a little change. It's a massive change that takes away the truth. No, he's right. These aren't inspired words, but it's an inspired doctrine. Would he devote that sacred head for such a worm as I is correct. And that's the way we should sing it. Now, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with changing the words of a hymn. That's not the point. But he got the doctrine wrong. He got the doctrine wrong because his belief was that we need a second reformation and the reformation that we need is that we need to learn to love ourselves. That was his second reformation. It's in print. You can read it. You don't have to wonder if I'm telling you the truth. Robert Shuler has fallen out of disfavor now. And in fact, I think he's even gone. I don't think he's with us anymore. But nonetheless, he was a big thing back in the 70s and 80s. He was a big thing. And a very bad thing, by the way, with this doctrine. So anyway, we're humble, poor, wretched, vile beggars. And if we ever receive grace, it's because God gave it to us. And that's what grace means. Am I a Peter? Am I a Judas? Am I a Judas? Are you pretending to be a Christian? Now I talk to people about their souls. And one of the things I often talk to people about is assurance of salvation. How do I know I'm a Christian? How do I know that God's accepted me? Maybe I'm deceived and nothing but a branch for the burning. I've had that conversation with many and some of you. Let me tell you something pastorally here. Judas was not deceived. The comforting thing about Judas, to a soul that's feeling oppressed, is that he knew he was Judas. He knew what he was. He was willing to lie. He was willing to cheat. He was willing to steal. He played the good Christian game all the time knowing that he was a fraud. His conscience was so far gone, he went and talked to the priests and sold out Jesus and betrayed him. The Christian heart cries out like this. I love him, but not as much as I should. But do you love him? Have you come to him for salvation? Have you come to him with nothing in your hand? Have you come to him with God, be merciful to me, the sinner. Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling. God, I deserve death. I'm the one who sinned. I deserve hell. And if you threw me there, it would be just of you to do that. But he'll never do that to those that are his. No one who comes to Christ for mercy is ever turned away. No one's ever perished at the foot of the cross. He came to save sinners. Are you a sinner? Then you're in the class of people that Jesus came to save. That should comfort your heart. He didn't come for the righteous. And by that, you know he means self-righteous. I've talked to Christians, though. I think I'm a Christian, but I just don't know. I'm so afraid it's gonna turn out that I'm a Judas. I'm not sure I ever had anybody say those exact words, but you understand what I mean? The category? Christian friend, you are not going to turn out to be a Judas. Not if you know the Lord, and not if you refuse to deny the Lord. Nobody becomes a Judas. Judas is the guy that fakes it from the start. He knew he was a fake. He's willing to play the game right up to the end, even to giving Jesus a kiss on his cheek. Even attending the upper room, knowing in his heart of hearts he was gonna betray the Lord, even to letting Christ wash his feet. And then to take the sop, which was a sign of honor, at the Passover feast, the sop went to the privileged guest and willingly go out and do probably the most heinous crime that's ever been committed by a man. There are degrees of sin. and betraying the spotless son of God, I can't imagine there could be a sin worse. Hitler himself could not compare with that. Christian friend, that's the kind of fear you don't need to have. I've seen some people gain assurance of salvation by finally coming to the point that they're willing to say to God, if you cast me into hell, it's what I deserve. But I'm still going to serve you. Would never happen. But when the heart comes to that place, that you realize this is a little bigger than you. This is a little more important than you. It isn't all about you. It's all about him. When you come to that place, your attitude changes. And sometimes assurance of salvation comes. I speak as one who battled horribly for over 10 years with assurance of salvation. Some of you know my testimony, I've given it before. Battled horribly with condemnation. And the Lord has been gracious and granted assurance. Chapter 18 of our confession talks about this. and tells us that we can know, that we can know and how to know. And I'm just giving you some today that tells you how you can know and how to know. And so look to the Lord, trust him. It's by his grace, it's by his mercy. Repent of your sins. Jesus calls sinners to himself. Amen. He does call sinners to himself. And may God continue to call sinners to himself again and again and again and use this church and your witnesses to help towards that end. Let's look to the Lord in prayer. Father, we thank you for your word. Your word is truth. We know our own minds can deceive us, but help us to learn good doctrine, help us to learn good truths, and help us to have them reach down into the very depths of our soul. Help us, above all things, to see Jesus Christ as the one who needs to be honored and magnified and glorified. And may us in our own little ways, and our own ways are going to be little in the grand scheme of things, but let us in our own little ways be those that serve you and serve others by your grace and for your glory. And Lord, if there be some Judas's amongst us, we know that Judas never came to grace, but Lord, you came to call sinners. And so we would not expect Judas's amongst us, but we would expect those that repent and believe to be amongst us. And would you bring souls to Christ Jesus the Lord, the only Savior of sinners. Would you cause them to call out to your name? Would you cause them to follow you in the waters of baptism? Would you cause them to be amongst us as a member of this church? And we would be thrilled and glad to see that happen by your grace and for your glory. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.