Matthew chapter 26, let's read from verse 26. Now while they were eating, Jesus took the bread, and blessed him, and gave it to his disciples, and said, Take, eat, this is my body. And when he had taken up the cup, and had given thanks, he gave them, saying, Drink of it all. because this is my blood of the new covenant which for many is shed for remission of sins. And I tell you that from now on I will drink no more of this fruit of life until the day that I drink it again with you in the kingdom of my Father. And after they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. And this is where we are this morning. Verse 31. Then Jesus said to them, All of you will be outraged at me this night. For it is written, I will cry to the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. But after I have risen, I will go before you to Galilee. But Peter answered and said to him, Even though all may fall upon you, I will never fall upon you. Jesus said to him, Truly I say to you, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." Peter said to him, even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you. And all the disciples said the same thing. Let's go to our God together in prayer. Lord, it is a joy to gather with your church. I thank you this morning for my brothers and sisters in Christ, for all the good things that you have done and continue to do in this congregation. I thank you for all that we have already enjoyed together this morning, from the study in the 9 a.m. classes, the prayer, the reading of your word, the song praises, everything has been a joy for our souls. a medium that you use to strengthen us and preserve us until the end, we thank you. And now Lord, we have gathered around your word, we ask you for your blessing on the time of preaching, joyfully confess, I confess that in the next hour, we need you. Without you, the word would not come out as it should. Without you, it will not be received as it should. So we raise our eyes to you. As we have sung, we see the head of the church, the savior of this church, and we ask his blessing on this time of preaching. work in our hearts in such a way that we are fed, your sheep are fed, where we need correction, we are corrected, where we need strength, we are strengthened, but we are aware that some of those who listen to me do not know you, and we ask you that this be the great day of salvation for them, and their eyes be opened, and they may be brought to repentance and faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior. One of the things that we delight in as we read the Word of God is that the Bible gives us the truth about the people of God. I know you can see this and recognize it by reading the Bible. The Bible never stops telling us everything that is true about God's people. That includes the negative things of the people of God. The same is true of the apostles. God gives us the truth about the apostles. We see their weaknesses. At times, we hear their foolishness. We see them stumble. The question, however, is, I want you to consider this morning, when you see this, when you see the word of God, how it honestly presents the people of God, and thinking about the apostles of Christ this morning, how do you see yourself when you see them? How do we see ourselves? When we see the weakness, the stubbornness, the stumbling of the people of God, how do we see ourselves? Do we see ourselves as superior to them? Do we think that we are above the kind of foolish thoughts and words, wrong decisions, bad decisions that we sometimes see in them? And just as we see them compare themselves among themselves, And we laugh at that while they're debating who's going to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. When we see that they compare each other, don't we recognize that sometimes we don't compare ourselves to ancient disciples, but as they did, we compare ourselves to contemporary disciples. We compare ourselves to those who are around us and to the disciples who we see from a distance, but we see them and we compare ourselves to them. Do we look at others and think that we are strong? Do we look at others and think that we are wise? Do we look at the famous failures of the disciples and think, I would not fall the way that they fell? This morning, we have come to some verses that remind us that no disciple has ever saved himself. Never. No disciple has ever saved himself. The story of a disciple is not the story of a hero. The story of every disciple is the story of someone who has been rescued, delivered, and then being kept. We are not being kept by our own strength. The Lord has rescued us and he is the one who keeps us. So that every true disciple in this room should know that all praise, all glory, must be in accord with what we read, for example, in Judges 1.24, and that which is powerful to keep you without fall, and to present you without stain before his glory with great joy. To the only and wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, empire and power, now and for all the centuries. This not only belongs to him now, but it will always belong to him. All glory, all praise, all majesty is for God, because he is the one who has saved us, and he is the one who keeps us without falling, and he will present us a day without stain in front of his presence. The story of the disciples is not the story of heroes. The story of the disciples is the story of people who have been rescued. This is so clearly displayed in the night when the great shepherd told his disciples that they would fail. Jesus tells them, You will fail me, but I will triumph, says the Lord Jesus, and I will keep you. You will fail me, but I will keep you. So on this night, when there is such a visible failure on the part of the disciples, at the same time there is a glorious dignity and a strength that we see in our Savior. So this morning, we're going to think about the strength of the Savior who will be overthrown, the strength of the shepherd who will be overthrown. We'll look at this under three headings. The first is this, the great shepherd informs, the great shepherd informs. Beginning in verse 31, then Jesus said to them, all of you shall be outraged at me this night. Because it is written, I will go to the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you to Galilee. As we saw in the previous verses, they leave the high place and are on their way to the Garden of Gethsemane, and as they are on their way to the place, Jesus tells them what is to come. The great shepherd is also the divine prophet. not only warns them in general terms, but in specific terms, including the number of times that Peter would deny them. Three times you will deny me. At that level, at the level of specific terms, he is telling them exactly what is coming. What is coming? What does he tell them? He tells them that the shepherd will be overthrown. heridae al pastor, y las ovejas del rebaño serán dispersadas." Jesús está citando. Zacarías 13.7. And if we see that verse in its context, starting in Zechariah 12, verse 1, what we find is that the prophet Zechariah is talking about the liberation and salvation, ultimately, of Israel. He is looking forward to the promises of the Kingdom. the fulfillment of the promises of the kingdom. But as is common in the prophets of the Old Testament, there is a mixture of things that are closer than others. So the ultimate salvation and liberation in the last instance of Israel and the future kingdom, the Messiah reigning, but that burden is given through the prophet Zechariah. We see elements of the first coming of the Messiah and the second coming of the Messiah. And when Zechariah describes the first coming of Christ, he describes this shepherd who is struck down and his sheep being scattered. When we read Zechariah 3, verse 7, the sword that strikes down the shepherd is called by the word of God. The sword is the Lord's judgment on this shepherd. And it kind of reminds us of what Peter declared on Pentecost, what Jesus suffered, suffered by the hands of evil men, and they are responsible for what they did to the Messiah. And yet, what they did was simply the will of God that ordered from all eternity for our salvation. The sovereign plan of God is executed, His will is done, and yet the sinners are responsible for their place in the plan. crucifying him. Who crucified him? The sinners. They are responsible for it. But what has happened is according to the definite and predetermined knowledge of God. That's what Zechariah 37 declares. Peter continues, to which God raised up the pain of death, for how impossible it was that it was held back by it. So Jesus tells his disciples that he is this shepherd that Zechariah 13, 7 speaks of, and they will be scattered. They are his sheep, and they will be scattered. So he informs them that the shepherd is going to be overthrown, and at the same time he informs them that they are going to fail him. Verse 31, Jesus tells them, all of you will be scandalized by me this night. Las ovejas tropiezan, se dispersan, todos lo dejarán por lo que le pasa a Jesús. He's talking about a failure on their part. Leon Morris says, it's not easy to find an accurate translation for the verb. Some translations say they will fall, they will lose their faith, they will take offense. But Jesus is not saying that they will really fall or abandon their faith in Him. He is indicating that they will have a serious lapse. And even though it will be a lapse of character, they will fail Him. But that does not mean that they will stop being disciples, or that they will no longer trust Him, or that they will be offended by Him. Lenski comments, Morris comments on Lenski, the disciples did not take offense at Jesus, they were simply caught and overwhelmed by what happened to Jesus. This is written in the scripture, so it must be fulfilled. But there is comfort in this thought also, because it clarifies that what will happen will be in fulfillment of the divine purpose. Although our Lord is telling his disciples of their faults, he is putting them in the context of the fulfillment of Scripture. And as Morris mentions, there must be comfort there even when there is a big failure. William Hendrickson says, all of you shall become truthful to me. The verse, the verb basically means to be caught. They are going to be struck down. They are going to be trapped. They are going to fail the master. And if we go to verse 55 of Matthew 26, we notice what's going to happen next. At that time Jesus said to the people, How against a thief have you gone out with swords and sticks to burn me? Every day I sat with you teaching in the temple and you did not learn me. But all this is happening so that the scriptures of the prophets may be fulfilled. Then all the disciples, leaving him, fled. What is he informing them? What is he telling them in advance? The shepherd will be overthrown and the sheep will be scattered. Thirdly, he tells them that the shepherd will be risen. Even as he tells them about their failures, he tells them about their triumph. Verse 32, but after I have been raised, after I have been raised, the Son of God offering himself as our sacrifice for sin, the Father pleased to crush him. Isaiah 53 verse 5. But the wound was by our rebellions, ground by our sins. The punishment of our peace was upon him, and by his wound we were healed. Genesis 10, verse 55. With all this, Jehovah wanted to keep him from suffering. When he has put his life on the cross for sin, he will see the lineage, he will live for many days, and the will of Jehovah will be in his prospered hand. It is the will of God to crush his own son, because in this way God will save the sinners. The Son will suffer for us, but He will not be abandoned. He will rise from the dead by His Father, by the power of the Spirit of God. The perfect obedience of the Son will mean our salvation and honoring the Father. And the Father will honor His Son by raising Him from the dead and restoring Him to glory. Peter declared it in Acts 2, verse 23. To this, delivered by the certain counsel and anticipated knowledge of God, you burned and killed six men of Inicus, crucifying him, to whom God lifted up all the pains of death, for it was impossible that he should be held back by it. For David said of him, I saw the Lord always before me, because he was at my right hand, and I will not be moved. Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue rejoiced, and even my flesh will rest in hope. Because you will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will you allow your saint to see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life. You will fill me with joy with your presence." That's a promise made by David's offspring, the Messiah, the Son of God. As Peter goes on to declare, you can find David's tomb, but the tomb of Jesus is empty. So the shepherd is struck down, the sheep scatter, the shepherd is resurrected, and he informs them that the sheep will be gathered together. But after I have been resurrected, I will go before you to Galilee. I'm going to meet you again in Galilee. And this is indeed what happened after the resurrection of Jesus. But in these words in which he is preparing them and informing them, think about the glorious security that is found in this information. Because if he knows how to find them again in Galilee, it means that he has risen, but it also means that his faith has been preserved. You're going to fail me, but I'm going to keep you. You're going to fail me, but I'm going to keep you. Henrickson also comments, interpreting this in light of the prophecy and the New Testament, we can say that Jehovah Himself put on the Mediator all our iniquities, Isaiah 53, 6. It was He who overthrew Him, punished Him, made Him suffer, made His soul an offering for sin. It was God the Father who did not excommunicate His own Son, Romans 8, 32. As it is indicated in verse 56, the sheep were scattered, they fled, They were going to flee in all directions, the beauty in all this. Not only did Jesus love them, but this prediction served the purpose of bringing the sheep scattered together at one time, when they reflected on the fact that their teacher had announced this to them in advance in love. Hendrickson is saying, and he's right, not only is this information given in advance, it's a means of God, a way in which the Savior will reunite His sheep. They will remember these promises that were given before He suffered. They will remember the fact that His resurrection was announced in advance and that He would meet them in Galilee. The words So the first thing we see in the text is that the great shepherd informs his sheep. But now we see a second thing. In verses 33 and 34, the great shepherd corrects. The great shepherd corrects. Responding, Peter said to him, even though everyone is mad at you, I will never be mad at you. Jesus said to him, I tell you for sure that this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny me three times. Our Lord tells them what is coming, what becomes clear, very next verse. The Lord tells them what is coming, and what we see now in this verse is that the disciples did not receive the information well. Immediately, the overestimation of Peter unfolds. In verse 33, we see Peter's overestimation. But I want you to note, when we get to the end of verse 35, it says that all the disciples said the same thing. Peter, again the leader of the Twelve, He is the spokesman, he is the one who expresses what was an attitude found in all of them. It is not only Peter who does not receive these words well. The whole group of disciples does not receive this information well. And what is on display is the fact that Peter does not know himself well. What he says, he says it sincerely, but then it will be proven that he was wrong. I'll remind you that Luke gives us a fuller version of what happened. Jesus had prepared Peter with additional words. Luke 22, 31. He also said to the Lord, Simon, Simon, here Satan has asked you to work as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith may not be broken. And you, once again, confirm your brothers." Peter said to him, Lord, I am willing to go with you, not only to prison, but also to death. And he said, Peter, I tell you that the rooster will not sing today before you deny three times that you know me. Thinking about what Matthew gives us and Luke in chapter 22, we must recognize that what Peter is doing is ignoring, completely ignoring what Jesus is telling him and disputing with what he doesn't ignore. Peter ignores a lot of what Jesus tells him, and when he listens to Peter, he doesn't agree, he disputes with Jesus. What is it that Peter ignores? Considering Matthew 26 and Luke 22 in the first place, he ignores what was said about the design of the enemy. Jesus says to Peter, Peter, are you dealing with something more than you and I? The great enemy of your soul has asked permission and has been given permission to plow you like wheat. You are involved in something bigger than you, Pedro. that of course should have humiliated Peter and a sense of despair for the mercy of God, but he doesn't even hear it. He just doesn't comment on it. Your Lord is telling you that something is happening in the invisible realm and you don't even comment on it. So, Peter ignores this, and secondly, he ignores what has been said to him about the intercession of the shepherd. Simon, Simon, Satan has asked you to work as wheat, but I have asked for you, I have prayed for you, I have prayed for you that your faith does not fail, and when you return, when you return, strengthen your brothers. Jesus says to Peter that he's interceding for him. And on the other side of his failure, the failure will be used as a way in which Peter can strengthen his brothers. This, of course, means not only failure, but regret. Jesus is telling Peter that he will fail, but you're going to have to repent. When you come back, when you've repented, then you're going to strengthen your brethren after your failure. But Peter doesn't even comment on this. He just totally ignores it. He doesn't say a word about it. Ignore in our text in Matthew 26, ignore the fact that Jesus is telling him something about all the disciples. Verse 31, you will all fall away because you know, except for Peter. He says, every single one of you will stumble on this night. each one of you will fail this night, including you, Peter. That includes you. Now, Peter, this is one of those statements he hears. He doesn't ignore it, but he does fight it. And he disputes it in such a way that he exalts himself. That's why I say it's an overestimation. Peter says that his loyalty, not only against what Jesus said, but against the rest of his brothers. Notice what he says. Verse 33. Even though all may fall upon you, Think about what he's saying. He's saying, Andrew might, John might, Juan might, go down the list. I could see some of the other guys doing this, but not me. I will never do this. So, not only is he disputing with his Lord, he is actually treating his brethren with disdain. He is exalting himself above them, above the other disciples. He ignores what he's been told of his Savior's triumph. Jesus talks about resurrection. But what he does hear, he disputes. And what he clarifies is that he has been hurt. Everyone is hurt by this thought that they would fail their teacher. But not only has Peter been hurt emotionally, but also in his pride. He understood that the Lord was treating him as a leader, and the disciples saw that. So his thought is, having been treated this way by the Lord, even if everyone else should fall, Lord, I won't do it. Which means he ignores the perfect knowledge that Christ has about him. Peter thinks he knows himself better than Jesus knows him. What does Jesus do in verse 34? He corrects it. Peter's overestimation, verse 33, corrects Jesus. Jesus said in verse 34, Notice that Jesus corrects Peter with great solemnity. He says, truly I say, what I'm telling you you can count on, what I'm telling you is certain. He corrects Peter urgently. He says, this very night, We're not talking about something in the distant future. It's right upon us. It's going to happen in just a moment. He corrects Peter with specific things. Not only does he say this very night, but he also says it before Rooster Crows. You will deny me three times. negarás que me conoces tres veces. Tenían las vigilias de la noche enumeradas en este tiempo. La tercera vigilia de la noche, tres de la mañana a seis de la mañana. referred to as the singing of the rooster, the third vigil of the night. The Gospel of Mark says this, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13, Mark 13 Peter, you will deny me three times before you hear a rooster crow." And you move down in our chapter to verse 69, Matthew 26. It says, Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a servant girl came up to him and said, You were also with Jesus the Galilean. But he denied it before everything, saying, I do not know what you mean. And when he went out to the door, she gave him another one, and she said to the bystanders, this man was also with Jesus the Nazarene. And again he said with oath, I do not know the man. After a little while, the bystanders said to Peter, you are also truly one of them, because even your way of speaking reveals you. Then he began to curse and swear, I do not know the man. and immediately the rooster crowed. So Peter remembered the words of Jesus, which he had said to him before the rooster crowed three times, and as he went out, he wept bitterly. So he notes, our Lord notes, not only the nearness of Peter's failure before the night is over, before the rooster crows, but he also notes the persistence of the failure of Peter. He won't fail once, he won't fail twice, he's going to fail three times. This is something he's going to persist in. Peter knows that this is wrong, but out of weakness and fear, he is trapped by this and succumbs to it, just as Jesus said. The great pastor informs, the great pastor corrects. Thirdly, in verse 35, the great pastor keeps silent. Peter, how do you respond to this? I'm telling you the truth. Verse 35, Peter said to him, even if it is necessary to die with you, I will not deny you. And all the disciples said the same thing. I confess, I don't fully understand how this can happen, but I know how we are, and I know it can happen. But how do you hear the teaching of Jesus, the miracles of Jesus? How do you say what you say about Jesus, Peter? You're the Son of God, you're the Son of God. How do you know all this? is about to happen, and you dispute with him. How do you do this? So even the promise that Jesus gives him doesn't slow the other disciples down. He stops Peter and the other disciples from saying this. What does Jesus do then? He does nothing. He doesn't say anything. He just goes on to the Garden of Gethsemane. He's silent. Why? Because he knows they're going to get the lesson. You can argue with him, you can dispute with him, you can deny him. You don't know yourself the way he knows you, but he doesn't need to keep telling you that because you will find it through experience. Experience will be your teacher. The inability to hear Jesus is all over this passage. Jesus speaks of his failure, but he speaks of the restoration. They don't hear that. There is no comfort in them, only pain. There is no security, only arguments. He tells of his death and resurrection, they only hear of his death. He tells of his failure and his reunification, and they only hear about his failure. And what they hear, they don't believe. What do you learn from this? Their failure begins with their willingness to dispute with their Lord, with their lack of ability to carefully listen to what the Lord tells them and believe Him. This contributes to the very thing that Jesus tells them that is coming. The great shepherd informs, the great shepherd corrects, the great shepherd chooses silence. So I want to finish this morning with three points of application for us. First of all, do you realize that the means for our growth sometimes involves silence? Sometimes the Lord leaves us to the hard teacher of experience because we refuse to hear him. We don't listen to him. And therefore he allows us to be taught by a much more cruel teacher than his voice. And it is by our failures. At some point, if someone won't listen, you have to leave them to learn the hard way. I'm not discarding the reality of family discipline, the discipline of the church. I'm not leaving that out, but there are things that don't fall within the scope of the discipline of the church, but even there you can see stubbornness. You can see the need of a person, the people who love them, trying to help them, trying to teach them, but they will not listen. So there is a point where we take a step back and say, Lord, I leave it to you. This is not something for the discipline of the Church, but they are not willing to know and listen. So I leave it to you, knowing that you are faithful. to teach your people, your children, what they don't want to hear. Proverbs chapter 5, verse 7. I hope the day we're not in this gym anymore because of the noise. Proverbs chapter 5, verse 7 says this. Now, O sons, listen to me, and do not depart from the reasons of my mouth. the father warning his son about a promiscuous woman. Keep your way far from her, and do not approach the door of her house, that you may not give to the strangers your honor and your years to the cruel. Let not strangers take away your strength, and your works be in the house of the stranger. And at the end of your life, when your flesh and your body are consumed, and you say, how I hated the council, and my heart despised the repression. I did not hear the voice of those who were teaching me, and I did not bow my ears to those who were teaching me. I am in the midst of the society of the congregation, almost in all evil. What does the writer of Proverbs say? If you don't listen to me, one day you will learn the lesson and it will break your heart that you didn't listen to before. You will wish that you had listened. You will find yourself in circumstances that you never would have wanted to be in, and the reason you are there is because you didn't listen. There is someone here that is listening to me this morning, like these disciples. You are not willing to listen to the voice of your Lord, and so one day you will find yourself with the rod of your Lord if you are saved. You will find yourself with the rod of your Lord because you do not listen. Proverbs 19, 29. Prepared are the judgments for the flesh-eaters, and beatings for the backs of the foolish. Proverbs 17, 10. Repression takes advantage of understanding more than a hundred beatings to the foolish. How do you know a man who has wisdom versus a man who is foolish? The man who has wisdom listens. But the man who is a fool, you can beat him a hundred times and he doesn't learn the lesson. So sometimes our shepherd, like his disciples, he deals with us in a way that in a certain silence, you won't hear my voice, you will learn the lesson in a hard way. Second place, the majesty of our shepherd. When we see this text, the majesty of our shepherd is seen in his loneliness. Jesus goes through this alone. And we'll see tonight, when we get to the Garden of Gethsemane, our Lord in his true humanness desires that his disciples be with him in his moment of trial, but they continue to fall asleep. He goes through this alone. And I thought John MacArthur made an outstanding point about this. Listen to what he says. He's a skeptic. The skeptics ask questions like, what kind of leader is this guy that all leaders leave behind in their time of great need? What kind of leader is it that has so little control over his disciples that he can't keep them from running away when the battle increases? Hasn't there been many heroes in history who have stood firm for minor causes and greater danger? How is it that someone who did Such great things as Jesus could have been such a poor builder of men. But Matthew reveals that in the purposes of God, the failure of the disciples increases and intensifies the greatness of what the Lord achieved, contrasting their impotence, and that serves to magnify His power. Their infidelity serves to magnify their fidelity, and their dishonor serves to magnify their majesty. We look at Jesus and we see his disciples failing him in total. And yet there he goes, through the cross, all alone. You will fail me, but I will save you. You will fail me, but I will preserve you. I will be raised, we will be reunited. Your failure magnifies his faithfulness. We see that in our own case. Do you see that in your own life? How often do you fail him? And yet, he never fails you. He is always faithful, even when we are unfaithful. And in that way, He is magnified. Which brings me to my third final observation, application. The work of salvation of the shepherd, the work of the shepherd. Sometimes in his silence, sometimes in his loneliness. And the saving work of our pastor, the third point, the saving work of him is magnified by our own impotence. We look at this scene and we're not in doubt that we are saved by a company of men. We were saved by one. Jesus saved us. Jesus saved all his men, and he saved us all by himself. The disciples all failed, but Jesus didn't fail. They didn't come to his rescue, but he rescued them, and he rescues us. So, for this passage, our overestimation is broken. Like Peter, we overestimate ourselves, but these verses shatter that overestimation. What is your story? We talk about our love for Jesus, and we really love Him, but these verses say that we are not saved by our love for Jesus. Because if left to ourselves, our love fails. Your love for Jesus could not save you. Your determination for Jesus could never save you. Peter is sincere and determined. I don't care if I have to go to prison or die. I will not fall into the devil. He doesn't, but Peter fell into the devil. His determination could not save him. His sincerity, our sincerity could not save us. But I'm honest, I know you're honest, but you really can't save yourself. Your love can't save you, your determination can't save you, your sincerity can't save you. What you say cannot save you. Peter speaks these arrogant words, but his words are false, and the words of Jesus are perfectly true. We are not saved by our profession. Nuestro Salvador nos salva. Y después de salvarnos, luego nos pastorea. Nos pastorea de manera que hace uso aún de nuestros peores momentos. He makes use of his failures in advance for his reunification. He makes use of Peter's failure to strengthen his brothers, and in the same way. Jesus has saved us. Jesus keeps us. And in our failures, even in our failures, our biggest failures, our most visible failures, our most painful failures, he takes those. And because he is our great shepherd, he uses them. Not only to strengthen us, but to strengthen others. What do we see in our verses? We see the strength of the shepherd who will be struck down. How will Christ be glorified in our lives in this church when we increasingly understand know more and more that the story is not us, but Him, Him from beginning to end. We do not save ourselves in any sphere of our salvation, even in progressive sanctification. Even though we are active and there is this synergistic work, If He does not support us, at every step we take, we will fall. So that from beginning to end, our story is Christ. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. And on this night, when they would fail, they learned that Jesus would not fail. And so we joined with Judas and saying that all my sins were forgiven. in saying that all majesty, glory, and authority belongs to Him. It has belonged to Him from all eternity until all eternity, because He is able to keep us, powerful to keep us without falling, to present us without stain in front of His glory. His grace to us is strength. His grace to us is strength. His grace to us is strength. His grace to us is strength. His grace to us is strength. His grace to us is strength. His grace to us is strength. A faithfulness that brought us to you and a fidelity that guards us when in our own strength we could not guard ourselves. We joyfully agree that we are not saved by our love for you, we are not saved by our determination for you, we are not saved by our confessions. Our salvation is explained by our Savior from beginning to end and in Him we glorify ourselves. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.