Our sermon this morning comes from Luke 22, verses 28 through 38. This is a second part of the sermon where we're standing with Christ in the midst of our trials. Jesus here is coming to the end of his first earthly ministry and his work. He knows that he is about to go, be arrested, and be crucified. And he's coming to his disciples and he's speaking to them these words. Luke 22, starting with verse 28. You are those who have stood by me in my trials. And just as my Father has granted me a kingdom, I grant you, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom. And you will sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail. And you, when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.' But he said to him, With you, I am ready to go both to prison and to death. And he said, I say to you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied that you know me three times. And he said to him, when I sent you out without money belt and bag and sandals, you didn't lack anything, did you? They said to him, no. Nothing. And he said to them, but now, whoever has a money belt is to take it along, likewise also a bag. And whoever has no sword is to sell his coat and to buy one. For I tell you that that which is written must be fulfilled in me. And he was numbered with the transgressors. For that which refers to me has its fulfillment. And they said, Lord, look, here are two swords. And he said to them, it is enough. Pray with me. Father, help us now as we come to your word. Please speak to our minds. Please speak to our innermost beings and be glorified as we think rightly about you and rightly about the circumstances of our lives. Please show us how to love you. Please show us how to respond to you and all the temptations and all the tensions of our life. It is in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. When are you tempted to deny Christ? When is this burden placed upon you? When Jesus looked at Peter and he said to him, you will deny me. When he looked at him and says, Satan has demanded to sift you like wheat. Where is that in your life? When Peter heard that, Peter imagined this situation where Jesus was going to be on trial. Peter would be brought up and stood next to him and they would ask the question, do you deny him? And Peter said, I'm ready for that. I'm ready that as I'm looking at Christ, as I'm standing with him, I'm ready to say, no, I will go with him to death. You and I, we probably have that same sensation. We imagine if we were put up on trial, we would say, I stand with Christ. Well, we look at the work of Satan and Satan moves very differently than the ways that we would expect. Satan, he comes in and he sneaks in and he whispers and he puts you in a situation where he's just calling you just a little off sides. just a little bit in this moment. If we look forward and we'd see where Peter was tempted, he wasn't stood up on trial, he wasn't standing with Jesus, he was just warming himself by the fire at that moment. Somebody says, wait a second, your accent, where are you from? Aren't you one of his? Probably didn't even recognize in that moment that what I'm doing is denying Christ. in our own lives? Where are the pressures and the tensions for you? Where are the commandments brought up and mocked? Where is Christ mocked in your life? And how are you doing in those moments? To stand with Christ. To stand for Him in the midst of your trials. Now I promise you, we're all gonna fall. We're all going to do these exact same things. We're going to do them in our minds. We're all going to do them in our hearts. We're all going to do them with our hands. It will be a reality in every single person's life. Now, I invite you at this moment to just go ahead and take a sigh of relief. It means you're not alone. It means when you sin, you can say, Jesus knew this was coming. When you sin, you can say, my preacher sins too. When you sin, you can say, Peter sinned, Paul sinned, Moses sinned, they all sinned. Christ came because you and I would sin. And He still loves us. He still loves us. While we were the enemies of God, while we were yet sinners, the Father gave His Son and Christ laid Himself down for us. Your shortcomings, your failures, the times where you deny Him in your life, even these things do not separate you from the love of Christ. We see the attitude and the posture that Christ presents and he places on Peter and he says, but Peter, I've prayed for you. And when you return, strengthen your brothers. We understand from scripture that Christ stands and he is always making intercession for you. When you fall and you land in that muck pile in the midst of your sin and you say, ah, here I am again, Christ, even in those moments, says, right. But I prayed for you. And when you return, strengthen your brethren. See, this is standing in Christ. It's standing in Christ when we understand that when we fall, and that it will happen, we're going to get up again. We understand it. We will bear it. Being a Christian will be patterns of confession and repentance in our lives. An excitement in the acceptance that we continuously have in Christ Jesus. That we are rescued and we are saved. So the point this morning is that we are standing with Christ in our trials. So standing with Christ in your trials doesn't look like you this victorious warrior in the sense that you've beaten every sin in your life, and that you have absolutely overcome, and you shine as the righteous one in the midst of your house, or you shine as the righteous one in the midst of your church, or you shine as the righteous one at your job. We stand with Christ, who shines as the righteous one. He is the one who overcomes. He is the rescuer. He is your salvation. So these trials are going to come and they're going to be like those waves that knock you down and knock you down and knock you down. Do not be surprised when fiery trials come against you. Do not be surprised when your knees are skinned again and again from stumbling. But see this as your calling, as your opportunity to come back to Christ and to stand in Him. Now, as we are standing and as we take our stand in the gospel, and this is what Christ was preaching all along, and this is why he was being rejected, he was putting love for God and love for neighbor higher than other people's opinions of him. He would heal on the Sabbath, at which time all the lawyers and all the preachers who were there would say, nah, sinner. He would eat with tax collectors and sinners and all the lawyers and all the preachers said, no, sinner. And he was rejected and he was put down again and again. You too, as you stand for any form of righteousness, will indeed be put down again and again. Our fourth step, which is our first step this morning in part two, is stand with Jesus in rejection. So I'm going to be placing a bunch of heavy things on you this morning to show you the reality of what the Christian life is going to look like in this world. It's going to be rough and you're going to be put out from the in crowds as you stand with Christ. Verse 28, you are those who have stood by me in my trials. We run to John 1, 11, and we see Jesus being rejected and put out there. It says, he came to his own, and those who were his own did not receive him. We can look and see this as a practical reality of Jesus's ministry. He came to his own, and his own did not receive him. you will find this very likely playing out in your life. If you are a first-generation believer in your family, you are going to find yourself coming to your own and your own not receiving you. In whatever circles in life that you travel in, if it's your house, if it's your family, if it's your job, if it's your workplace, if it's the community of Eastvale, wherever you live, you will find this reality, you will be rejected as you take stands for the gospel. And I'm being careful at this moment to say, taking a stand for the gospel, because it's by the gospel we must be known. being known in Christ as we stand with him. Now, this rejection, we have the satisfaction, though, seeing that we are not undone in this rejection. Jesus was rejected, we will be rejected, and we are with Christ. John 15, five, Jesus makes the statement, I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he bears much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing." You see, as you are rejected by the world, you are still actively being received by Christ if you are standing in Christ. We do not fear their rejection. We do not fear their wrath. Because we have the acceptance of Christ. Matthew 28, 20. When Jesus gives the Great Commission and He says, go out and make disciples of the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, what's He say next? What are the last lines of Matthew? And lo, or behold, or look, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. We are standing in Christ. John 15, 19. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world because of this, the world hates you. Some of you have experienced that. Some of you have gotten so uncomfortable in different circles or in a workplace, you had to leave. You are not of the world. If you were of the world, the world would love you. But since you're not of the world, it says it hates you, as it had rejected Jesus. Luke 10, 16. Now be careful here. This is the scripture, and this is absolutely true, but I'm also warning you, knowledge puffs up. Don't be puffed up with this one. Luke 10, 16, the one who listens to you, listens to me. And the one who rejects you, rejects me. But the one who rejects me, rejects the one who sent me. So this is saying, as you are speaking the truth, and they are rejecting the truth, they're rejecting Christ, and they're rejecting the Father. Don't get cocky with that. but stand in that in humility. We humbly bring the truth, not because we're the shining righteous one, but because we cling to the shining righteous one. That's where we are in that. And this is a bit of what we're looking at later on when we talk about the rewards and the throne. So we'll come back there. So our next step, standing with Jesus, is going to be a bit of bearing the awkwardness. You think I make things awkward? I know I do. Jesus made things much more awkward than I do. Jesus would stand up in a situation, he would stand up in church and say that exact thing everybody was hoping he wouldn't say. He would just lay it out there. He would speak the truth clearly and plainly, and he would make everyone around him squirm. We have the obligation to stand with Christ even in the awkwardness. There's the awkwardness in John chapter six. You could just read that whole chapter to see the awkwardness of Jesus. How he just lays it out for the people and applies the tension. We see an awkwardness that exists in the midst of the church in verses 37 and 39. And I'm looking at John six verses 26 through 68 specifically. But verses 37 and 39, Jesus says, the one who comes to me, I will certainly not cast off. It is the will of the Father that all that he has given me, I lose nothing. In verse 44 and 65, no one can come to me unless the Father draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day. Jesus displays and shows an awkwardness there and saying, I rule over salvation. It is mine. You all want your free will and you want salvation to hinge on you. Jesus would pound the pulpit and say, no. All that the father calls to me, he says, will come to me. And he says, I will lose none of them. This will make you strange in the church in the United States of America. This will make you a minority in the church in the United States of America. This will make it an awkward situation that you stand for the sovereignty of God over salvation. but it is what Christ says and we stand with him in the midst of it. Jesus brings out other heavy truths and strange statements. He looks at them all as they are looking at him and starting to wonder, do I want to follow this guy? And then he says in verses 53 through 54, and by the way, you have to eat my flesh and drink my blood. Jesus says strange and hard things. Later on, as he was talking with Peter, He says to Peter, so do you want to leave? People just start leaving when he says, God rules over salvation. I rule over salvation. You want life? Eat my body. Drink my blood. And they all start leaving in droves. And Jesus turns to Peter and says, are you going too? Peter, at that point, whatever he was thinking of the crowd at that point and where they were going, whatever he was thinking of his livelihood, he shrugged and said, You've got the words of life. Where else can I go? Christ makes it hard. He speaks hard truth. He speaks truths that are awkward in our culture. He speaks against same-sex marriage. He speaks against fornication. He speaks against all of these things in our culture. And it's awkward. And it's hard. And people imagine we're doing the opposite of what we're doing. People imagine you're speaking against love. But when we speak the words of Christ, we're speaking true love. And we stand with Christ in the midst of this. Again, verses 66 through 68 in John 6. As a result of this, many of his disciples withdrew and were not walking with him anymore. So Jesus said to the 12, you do not want to go away also, do you? Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Our next step, number six. Now we get to do the positive swing here. Look forward to the great rewards. Verses 29 and 30 from Luke 22. And just as my Father has granted me a kingdom, I grant you that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. We look here and we can ask, well, what are we talking about here? And we can say, well, immediately in this world, sitting at my table, we have the benefit and the blessing of the Lord's Supper. This picture that He loves us and our opportunity to display our accepting of His offer of salvation. This display as we proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. I struggled with this picture of them sitting on these thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel. That was why we ran to Revelation chapter three. Jesus said, the one who endures to the end will sit on the throne with me as I sit on the throne with my father. The throne is that picture of judgment. Now let's take judgment and ask, what is judgment? What is it to judge? The judge is to declare between right and wrong. You and I, as we have been given the words of truth, we have this blessing. We know right from wrong. We can look at the apostles going forth and preaching and proclaiming the Kingdom of God. Proclaiming what is right and what is wrong. And declaring Christ Himself is right. Christ Himself is King. You and I are in that place. We have been given the truth. We announce, we even announce the judgment, the discernment of Christ between right and wrong. These great rewards to which we look forward, 1 Corinthians 2.9 makes this statement, but just as it is written, Things which eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and which have not entered into the human heart, all that God prepared for those who love Him. Take that scripture as an antidote for sin. when you're tempted to run away, where you're tempted to deny Him, where you're tempted to indulge in the flesh. Because in those moments, we imagine that we can make a meal better than Jesus is going to make for us. We can give ourselves a higher pleasure. We can give ourselves a higher honor. We can give ourselves a better safety if we indulge in the flesh, if we do not stand with Him. But here He says, you can't even imagine what I have in store for you. the blessings, the goods, the riches, if you will stand in me. Psalm 73, 28 gives us a bit of that picture. But as for me, the nearness of God is my good. I have made the Lord God my refuge so that I may tell of all of your works. We see the great beauty that we have also in Romans 5, 17. For if by the transgression of the one death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one Jesus Christ. Your sons and daughters, we reign with Him. And our next step is that pattern that we will be looking for in our own lives, in our own hearts, and in one another's lives, and in one another's hearts. Verse 32, But I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail. And you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. I'm not looking for people who never stumble. I'm not looking for people who never fall. I'm not looking for people who never sin. Christ has made it clear, that's not who you will be. You who sin, even you who doubt, I ask you the question, do you call on Christ? Do you call on Christ when you sin? Will you call on Christ when you doubt? Will you look down at yourself when you fall and you're seeing the ground far too close once again? And will you stand up? Will you return to Christ? Will you trust in His righteousness? Will you trust in His salvation? Proverbs 24, 16, For a righteous man falls seven times and rises again. It's not that a righteous man never falls. See, I invite you to keep coming back to Christ. I invite you to keep coming back to His fullness, to His love, to His grace, to His mercy. Proverbs 26.11 gives us that disgusting passage. It says, like a dog that returns to its vomit, so is a fool who repeats his folly. I ask you, if a dog can return to his vomit, can you return to Christ? If you've run after these sour and these disgusting things, can you run back to Christ? Can you take that sweetness and that warmth and that forgiveness? Can you live in that? Can you dwell in that? You who doubt, I invite you back. Every time you doubt, I invite you back to that warmth. to that acceptance, to that salvation, to be in that place of Christ. Here is sweetness. John 1.14, And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. That's who I'm offering you this morning. The only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And I ask you, you who sinned, what do you need? Grace. Guess what? He's full of it. Full of grace. You who sinned, what do you need? Truth. Guess what? He's full of that too. I invite you to this warm place of standing with Christ in your trials. The temptations in your heart, in your mind, in your home, in your workplaces, in all the shadowy places where you find yourself. Stand with Him who is full of grace, and truth, and endure to the end with Him in this grace, in His truth. Pray with me. Father, thank You for loving us. Thank You for blessing us. Thank You for praying with us. Father, thank You for the opportunity to turn to You again. We thank You for receiving us again and again. Please, Father, help each of us Particularly those of us who doubt. As we doubt ourselves. As we may doubt our own faith. As we may doubt our salvation. To fill us with Your grace. To fill us with Your truth. As we stand in You. As we love only You. As we trust only You. Champion of our salvation. The guardian of our souls. Our great Savior and King. It is in His name that we pray. Amen.