CROSS TO COMMISSION | But After | Matthew 26:30-35 | Philip Anthony Mitchell

we'll be fades we fades If you are a guest, we want to welcome you to 2019 church where we are striving for the spread of the gospel and the multiplying of disciples. To all of our digital disciples watching live right now from across America and around the world, we welcome you into this holy gathering. You are our family. We pray for you. We cry for you. We believe God for you. And we thank you for being a part of this family from wherever you are. If you are not a follower of Jesus Christ and you crept into this gathering or onto this live stream, we know that you are either in this live stream, in this chat, so we know that you are in the room. We are thankful that you are here. If you are not a follower of Christ, we acknowledge your presence. We want you to know that you can belong before you believe and you can be amongst us before you believe. And as I am keenly aware, like there is a clock on me right now counting backwards, that time is running out on humanity. I would only nudge you from this platform that by the grace of God, in a moment of prayer or while a song is being sung or during the word being proclaimed, you might sense and feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit and surrender your life to the Lord Jesus Christ before time has run out on you. There is no one prepared to die apart from the covering of the Lord Jesus Christ. And for as much as we make plans for next week, you have no guarantees. You will see that. And so in the day you sense the Spirit of God drawing you, that is the day of salvation. We pray you will not harden your heart when the Spirit draws you. We pray that by God's grace, the next time I stand here, you will be inside the family of God. As a church, we've been studying one of the most important books in the New Testament, the book of Matthew for the last three years. We're coming down to the final three chapters of that study. In our final teaching series through the book of Matthew called Cross to Commission, in which we are walking through Matthew chapter 26 through 28 together. This is the apex of Matthew's writings. Everything that Matthew has recorded from chapter one to chapter 25, this is the apex of his writings. It is for this purpose that Matthew wrote to prove to a Jewish audience that Jesus was the Promised Messiah, that he is king. He is the lying of the tribe of Judah. And then this last three chapters that we study together are critically important. These last three chapters cover the final days and the final hours of the one you call Lord and Savior. It records what we call the Passion of the Christ. Some of you are old enough to remember that movie. Some of you are too young, maybe you didn't watch it. You should go back and watch that movie. It is Matthew chapter 26 to 28 in which they made the movie, The Passion of the Christ. It is for this purpose Jesus came. This records the greatest event in human history. The Lord Jesus Christ was sacrificed and died on a cross for your sins and mine. Without that we all would be hell bound. No matter your morality, no matter your good behavior, no matter what you think about yourself, we have no hope apart from the cross of Jesus Christ. No human being has hope apart from the cross of Jesus Christ. What we approach in chapters 26 to 28 is the single greatest events of human history. The death of Christ and the resurrection of Christ. In fact Paul said, if Christ is not raised all of this is in vain. So when we talk about the resurrection that should well up joy in your heart, especially if you follow of Christ, let me repeat. If Christ is not raised all of this is in vain. And if history serves me correctly, he is the only founder of a world religion who was raised from the dead. And we're seen alive by over 500 witnesses. Some of them wrote that they saw men alive. Can't say the same for other world religion progenitors. Was not seen alive after they died. They are buried and they are not coming back to life in this life. I will text today in Matthew chapter 26 verses 30 through 35, six short verses. Holy Father, God I pray right now with my own weakness for my brothers and my sisters, all of us, those who would hear this message as long as it will live before you return. How wary I am Lord of what we see in our nation and around the world. Empty services and dead sermons and people just going through the motions with the tag Christian on their life, not knowing that you are coming. God I pray you would, you would awaken men and women, the remnant across this nation and around the world as we are living in the final hours of the church age. You would stir up revival in cities all across America and around the world. You would turn the hearts of sons and daughters away from idols. And our love affair with everything other than you. You would snatch the unbeliever from hell's doors before fire consumes them Lord. You would deliver the American church from her adulterous affair with the culture. From being a whore for things God outside of Jesus. You would deliver her from being a prostitute with things in the culture that she would turn to the only one that truly loves her God in this hour. I pray spirit of the living God you would minister to those under the sound of my voice that this moment would go beyond a sermon beyond proclamation God that they would be a light of revelation in the hearts of your children. I ask God that they would hear your voice speaking to them this morning. I pray for grace and help and the mighty and the majestic and the matchless name of our Lord and soon coming King. Jesus Christ. Amen, amen, amen. You all heard that phone go off. That's what we need right now an alarm to go off in this country and Africa and the United Kingdom. That's what we need. We need alarms to go off because I feel like in America we're doing church and we're sleeping and not paying attention. As I was looking over this passage, I thought about the fact that one of the greatest blessings that you and I have in this life is right here in the room. It is our human relationships and it is through human relationships the Lord will funnel into the human experience things like comfort and joy and laughter and strength and shoulders and memories and bonds that transform lives. It's through our human relationships the Lord will funnel into your life. Some of the greatest blessings you will ever know in this life will come into your life on two legs as God works through our human relationships to bring into our lives. Some of the most meaningful things we will ever enjoy in this life, they come through our human relationships. They make life more meaningful. They make life more enjoyable. And almost all of us can attest or testify to all of the great things we have experienced through the context of the deep bonds we've had in our human relationships, things we have experienced through the bonds of marriage, through the bonds of friendships, through the bonds of relationships and situationships, through the bonds of friendships and mentorships and coaching, through the bonds of family and siblings and husbands and wives, through the bonds of brothers and sisters. We can testify if we live long enough of all of the great valuable things that God has funneled into our life through our human relationships. And for that we thank God for those things. Without that the world would be boring. But at the same time, for in as much as our greatest joys come from our human relationships for those of us who have lived long enough, we can also testify that from the same well comes our greatest joys, is the same well has come our greatest pains. Because if we have lived long enough, we can testify not only has great joys come out of our human relationships, but the truth of the matter is our deepest pains and disappointments have also come out of our human relationships. And if you live long enough, you can testify to both. It is the dichotomy of human life that from the same well of relationships come our deepest joys and even our deepest pains and sorrows. And among those categories of pain, one of the greatest categories of pain, a human being will ever know because of human relationships is the pain that enters our life as a direct result of betrayal and abandonment. It is that person you love who betrayed you. It is that friendship you had when that person betrayed you. It is that family member who betrayed you. It is that business partner who betrayed you. It is the spouse that walked away from the relationship. It is the father that walked away from a child, the mother that abandoned the child. It is the person that walked out of a relationship. It is the person you love to betrayed you or the person you love to abandon you and not only abandon you, but abandon you in an hour of need. And I know what it is to be in human relationships and be on the receiving end of the pain of betrayal. And I know what it is in human relationships to be on the receiving end of being abandoned by people you love, especially when you need them the most. The Scripture says about Jesus that he was a man acquainted with sorrows and grief, that he knew the joys and the pleasures of human relationships, spending time with his disciples and going to weddings and laughter and joy. And as much as Jesus knew the blessings of human relationships, our Lord also knew the pain of betrayal and abandonment, especially from those who thought they can walk with him through anything. This is a very difficult pain to endure when you have been betrayed or when you have been abandoned. It is a very difficult thing to walk through. It is a very difficult thing to bounce back from. And Jesus, who was fully God, was also fully human is why the right of Hebrews tells us that as a great high priest, he can't identify with the pains that you and I experience in this life. This is all of what we read and what we deal with in Matthew 26-28. This is all of what we are studying that will send Christ to the cross. This is all of what we approach in this passage of very difficult conversation between Christ and his closest friends. It was Jesus in the final hours of his life. He's in the city of Jerusalem in a room in someone's house in that city. And in that room was his closest disciples, his closest friends, these 12 men that he spent three and a half years walking with them and eating with them and talking with them and doing ministry with them, sleeping with them and traveling with them. It was in that room on a Thursday night, just hours before he's crucified. It was in that room on a Thursday night, the Lord got down on his hands and knees and washed the feet of men he created because he was God in the flesh. It was in that room that night, he said, one of you will betray me and then the spirit of the devil entered into that man and he left the room on that very night. It was in that upper room where Jesus began to teach his followers about the coming of the Holy Spirit and the work of the Holy Spirit. It was in that room when he said that I am the true vine. It was in that room when he said, I am the way. It was in that room when he began to teach them that they will be hated and that would have hostility towards them in the culture. It was in that room, he began to teach them about the work of the Holy Spirit in the earth. It was in that room he gave the Holy Spirit a pronoun, he. And not she. We have too many people that think they're theologians because they have platforms and too much erratical doctrines in America where we think that because we want God to be a God of inclusion, we call God he, she, or it. The devil is a liar. The Scriptures does not support that. God has a pronoun, Father, male. Jesus gave the Holy Spirit a pronoun, he. When he comes, he will teach you all things and he will remind you of all things and he will convict the world of sin. He, he, he. That's why we got to stop listening to everybody on social media and read the Scriptures for ourselves. Woe to those who change the Word of God. For the Lord said of his own mouth, you cannot add to them Scriptures and you cannot take away from them Scriptures. The last time that I checked, God was a he. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. It was in that room on a Thursday night, hours before he would be betrayed and crucified that God gave his followers, man, a perpetual audience. The Lord supper, the bread that represented his body and the wine that represented his blood and he said, this is the blood of the new covenant. It was in that room, he was explained to them, I have now fulfilled the law. The old has passed away and now a new ordinance was coming into humanity. The ordinance of the new covenant that Jesus will be the head of that new covenant. It was in that room, he did all of that. All these things you read in John 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17, it was in that room, he prayed over them and prayed for all of us who would follow after him. And it was in that room, we come to this passage where Matthew recorded a very difficult conversation. I want to just go back to verse 26, what you would learn last week in Matthew chapter 26, verse 26. Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread and after blessing it, he broke it and he gave it to his disciples and said, take, eat, this is my body. And he took the cup and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them saying, drink of it all of it. This is my blood of the covenant, which is a new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of their sins. I tell you, I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it and you with you in my father's kingdom. So everything I just told you happened right before this. Everything from John 13 to John 17 happened right up to this moment that he gives them the new covenant through the Lord's Supper. And then we come to our text in verse 30. And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Stop, pause. I want you to notice in the text that the Lord has just sat in an upper room and has just taught his followers all these things you can find in John's recording. It is a solemn moment. It is a prophetic moment. It is an important moment. He is hours away from being executed. He gives them very important teaching in that upper room. He gives them the last supper in that upper room and then watch. They seal the moment with a song. The hello. I just want to draw your attention to this. It's not the bulk of what I'm going to teach, but I just want to draw your attention to the fact that they showered teaching in worship. They showered teaching in singing. And I would like to believe that maybe it was their custom to do this. I could see them in my mind right now, like fireside chats in Jerusalem, traveling in Israel, the Lord sitting with them in circles, talking to them, teaching them, loving them. And then before they got up from that circle, maybe breaking brand, having a couple of wine, and then singing a song together, they probably had a practice of singing songs after teaching and proclamation. Man, this is what I want for us. I know it's new, like to lean into opportunities like this. We have the same opportunity each week when we come to solemn moments like this, where we sit and listen to the proclamation of God's Word. And then we want to take a moment to sing over you after that. But we don't like to lean into moments like this that are solemn. Instead, we're more concerned about beating your brother to the parking lot instead of singing in the presence of the Lord. We're more concerned about getting to a restaurant instead of eating the bread of life. We're more concerned about trying to get out to get to the merch station instead of sitting in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Man, we've been just dishonoring God's presence and dishonoring solemn moments, and we act like you will always have these moments. See? These disciples did not know this was the last time they were singing with the Lord. They have no idea this is the last time they will get to watch. Have corporate worship together. It's just like we run in and run out. We take this for granted. I'll do better next week. You have no idea if this would be the last time we have corporate worship together. Someone here may not be here next week. Ten years from now, the rate we're going, if we don't take a stand for Christianity, if we don't vote right and pray right, ten years from now, the Scriptures might be illegal in America. Don't say you was not warned, and you can tear me down on social media all you want. There is another entity taking over the whole world while we're playing church that will persecute Christianity and put believers to death. You keep having your little dead conferences and your little dead sermons that are completely disconnected from what's happening right now. Y'all can hate me all you want and make videos about me all you want. Do not say you was not warned. Do not say God did not send a prophet to America. Right through diplomacy and the people we vote into power and aggression, we will see the persecution of Christians if we don't stand up and wake up and vote right and pray right and take a stand for this word. I'm telling you, they had no idea this would be the last time they would sing corporate worship together. This is why when you are mature, you learn to discern moments and lean into them. It's like being in the presence of people who are smarter than you and being quiet. Instead of telling them your resume, you are stupid to do that. When you're in the presence of people who are wiser than you, you shut up and listen and learn. When you sense the Spirit of God moving in an atmosphere, you sit there and you enjoy his presence. You don't even know if he'll call you home next week. It's just so quick to get to the parking lot. They end a solemn moment with worship, not knowing it will be the last time they would have an opportunity to gather like that in corporate worship. They slide off to the Mount of Olives. I'm still on top of that mountain in Jerusalem. A gentle slope just outside the ancient city of Jerusalem. It is at the Mount of Olives, at the base of that mountain. There's a garden. I've stood in that garden. I'll show you a picture of it next week. It has olive trees. Some of them are 2,000 years old. They put a fence around it to protect those olive trees. Some of those olive trees were there when Jesus was there. I'll show you a picture of it next week that I snapped standing at the gate. It was at the Mount of Olives where the Lord would often go to spend time with his disciples in that garden. We learned that from John chapter 18. In John chapter 18, we learned that Jesus would often go to that garden to hang out with his disciples. Watch. That was a place he would slip away for respite and for relaxation and for intimacy with his friends. For Judas to find him there. Especially when your betrayer knows your movements. When they watch your movements on social media and they watch who you hang out with, and they got their eye on your husband, and they got their eye on your wife, and they got their eye on your ministry, and they got their eye on your platform. Or Judas was very familiar with the movements of his Lord because John 18 says Jesus would spend time at the foot of that mountain in the garden. It is also on the Mount of Olives where the prophet tells us that the Lord will return when he returns to the earth. The scripture tells us his feet will touch the top of that mountain. That mountain will split in half. Water would run out of that mountain down the Kidron Valley towards the Dead Sea. In the bitter waters of the Dead Sea, I'm swam in it, can't drink from it, you can die, it will turn sweet. So they slide off to the Mount of Olives, and after they get to the Mount of Olives, Matthew records a very painful conversation between Christ and his disciples. Matthew who was there, look what he said happened. He said, then Jesus, look what he said in verse 31. Then Jesus said to them, you will all fall away because of me. This night, for it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. Stop. The Lord goes into the garden, and he looks into the eyes of the ones who are closest to him, and he said to them, probably with pain in his heart tonight, all of you are going to fall away from me. You all will abandon me on this night. There is the Lord. I was away from being brutally beaten to the point he's not recognizable. That's what Isaiah said. Isaiah said the Lord was beaten so bad he could not be recognized. Like these little fake pictures you see of Christ on a cross and his face is perfect and his lips are perfect and his ears perfect. No, that's not biblical. Isaiah said God was beaten so bad. Jesus was beaten so bad he was unrecognizable. A massive lump of just blood and flesh. They could not recognize his face. He was beaten so bad. He was hours away from taking one of the most brutal beatings recorded in human history. He's hours away from a crown of thorns. He's hours away from people spitting in his face that he created. He's hours away from carrying a cross beam down the Via della Rosa all the way to the top of God, God, to be executed for your sins and for mine. He's hours away from begging his Father, if there's any other way this thing can be done, please Lord, let this cup pass from me. He's hours away from looking for an option out of what he's about to suffer. His humanity now rising up on the inside of him. He didn't endure that pain as a spirit for you. Since we love sin so much, he endured that pain as a man for you. He's hours away from carrying the sins of the whole world and his Father turned his back on him. He's hours away from all of that and in the time he needs his friends the most. He looks them in their eyes and he prophesies to them, not next week, next year, next month, tonight. Y'all all will abandon me on this night. You all will leave me alone on this night. You all will be offended at me on this night. I was from now. These men were witness, one of the most brutal beatings in history. They were witness Christ carrying across and in their mind they would think we ain't ready for all of that. Yeah, you've been with them for three and a half years. You ate with them for three and a half years. You talked with them for three and a half years. Traveled with them for three and a half years. Ministered with them for three and a half years. Peter, you walked on water. You seen him raise the dead, but you only follow him until it's inconvenient. And before we condemn them, you and I do the same thing. We love to name Christ until it's inconvenient. We love to be faithful to Christ until it's inconvenient. We love to keep showing up for Christ until it's inconvenient. We love to say we love him until he demands something of us we don't want to do. This is American way. How people are faithful to the Lord until he demands something of them that makes them feel uncomfortable, pushes them out of a comfort zone, or pushes them to a place of inconvenience. We have too many of us that follow Christ so long as it is convenient for us to follow him. But don't tell me to forgive. Don't tell me to reconcile. Don't tell me to let something go. Don't tell me to be faithful. Don't tell me to be generous. Don't tell me what to do with my home, my children, whatever the case may be. We're no different than these disciples. They follow the Lord and call him rabbi and call him teacher. And they talked about they love for him. They did all of that until it was inconvenient. And we do the same thing. And there is the Lord about to be abandoned by his followers. But I want to draw your attention to the words for it is written. I will strike the sheep, the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered. The Lord in this moment quotes from Zachariah, the prophet who says, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. The Lord now takes the prophetic words from Zachariah chapter 13, brings it all the way to present day, first century, and then applies that passage to himself. This is so powerful. I wish I had to, I could spend a whole message on packing the fact that all of the Old Testament points to Christ. And from Genesis to Malachi, it's all about Christ. And then the Exodus is all about the deliverance of Christ. And they pass through a sea because it is the baptism of Christ. And when they set up camp, they set up camp in the form of a cross. If you can fly over it with a drone, you will see the children of Israel set up like a cross, prophesying the death of Christ. And all of the laws point to the fact that we need Christ. The entire Old Testament reveals Christ. He's hidden in the Old Testament. The whole Old Testament is about him, but I want you to see this. He says, watch these words for it is written. Now this is powerful to me. Why? Because watch, the Lord tells them, Pete, the text, you're all going to abandon me this night. And then the next thing he says, it is written. You're all going to abandon me this night. And then he says, it is written. You're all going to abandon me this night. And he says, it is written. Oh, the abandonment is not accidental. I'm going to help some of you. The abandonment of Christ is inside the sovereign will of Almighty God. So you mean to tell me the failure of this man was inside the will of God? That the Lord was not caught by surprise by the fact that it was going to abandon him because it was already written that they would abandon him. It was written that the shepherd Jesus would be struck, crucified, and his followers would scatter and Israel would scatter. It was already. So you mean to tell me that the Lord knows about our failures, even those inside the context of his perfect will? So you mean to tell me there are some things you have failed at, fallen, made mistakes that did not catch God by surprise, that there are some things you have done that actually happened inside the context of God's will? Yes, I'm telling you right now that there are some areas you failed, some places you've fallen, some mistakes you made that God absolutely allowed. And he allowed it because it was written for the purpose of fulfilling the plans he has for your life. Jesus. Some of you have been persecuting your own self for so many years, not realizing the area he let you fail, the mistakes he allowed you to make, some of that God used to produce in you the man and woman you are today. You was in a false religion inside his will. You failed in that season inside his will. You was mad at God inside his will. There are some things that God has allowed in your life. There are some things God has allowed in life that he allowed it inside the context of his will. Watch this. This is the beautiful marriage between sovereignty and human weakness. The end humanity that God absolutely, listen to me, man, God absolutely planned and knows about all of your stumbles. And there's some areas he knew. I know what it is as a young believer to fall away from God. I know what it is to run from a pastoral call for four years when the cross of the calling to this right here seemed too much for me to bear and I bounced the other direction. Four years running from God. I know what it is to run from God for four years. I know what it is to fail God early in my relationship with him. I know what it is to fall and make mistakes. I know what it is to do all of that. And I know what it is to look over my shoulder and say, look what God has allowed that. It has helped to produce in me the man that I am. God, I am right now. Let me just insert this for some of y'all, and I'm going to come back to this in a few moments. Man, what I'm living right now is called a second chance. So my faithfulness to him is on steroids. Watch. Because I've already abandoned him in the past. You better believe God used this abandonment to change those men. You better believe these men never forgot about this abandonment. You better believe that these same men who were cowards on this night were the same men, men who were powerfully preaching the gospel after they saw a resurrected Jesus. You better believe that the Holy Spirit used this failure to produce in them a faithfulness that would cause them to even become martyrs for Christ. And you better believe that the same God who transformed these men through failure is the same God who was able to transform you and strengthen you and preserve you and build your character through the things you have failed and not just through your successes. This is how we don't let the devil rob us of the testimony, not only that I was faithful, but that I made mistakes and God still used it for my good. Thank God for Romans 8.28 that he works all things. I looked the devil in the face and said, the God that I serve, he works all things. Paul did not say he works some things. No, he works all things. For good, for those who love him, and this is how you don't let the enemy keep persecuting you for things that are behind you. Because if it's under the blood, it has been weaponized. My failures more than my mountaintops produced in me the faithful man I am today. Maybe that's not your story, but that thing you keep running from, maybe God wants to use it. It's not a big platform or a large Instagram following or thousands of people that you think this is what made me faithful. I was faithful when it was 50 of us. I was preaching like this when 2019 started with 183 people. These men will get another chance. I know what it is to get another chance. Some of you, it's the things that you despise sometimes the most that God will use as a scalpel to perfect something in your heart that made you a better man, a better woman, a better husband, a better father. It's your failure with the first child that made you a better father with the second child. It's your failure in the second marriage that made you a better husband. The Lord knows how to use all of that. The only stuff he won't use is the stuff you won't let him. So we give him access to the mountaintops and the valleys. We give him access to the successes and the failures and let him use all of it for your good. For it is written. So he told him to watch. I'm almost done. Tonight, all of you are going to abandon me tonight. The Lord had to bear the pain of that. Watch this next verse, verse 32, but after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee. Oh, my Lord in heaven. The Lord just looked these men in the face. Watch the text. The Lord looked these men in the eyes and said, You're going to abandon me. The next thing he says, but after. He said, but after I'm raised up, I'm going to go before you. He's talking to them. Future context. He's already telling them you're going to survive what you're about to go through. The fiery trial they're about to go through that night. He's telling them they're about to go through a fiery trial and you're going to survive it. He's telling them to their face. You're about to fall and get back up. You're about to fail and get back up. You're about to go through a fiery trial and you will survive the trial. I'm talking to all of you that have experienced a but after who have looked trials in the face and felt the peace of the Holy Spirit letting you know you will survive the very thing you're about to enter. Is anybody thankful for a but after? Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Watch. He says, but after. Underline. But after. You're going to fail me tonight, but after. And I have lived, but after. Watch. After I will go ahead of you. He's already saying you will fail me as a... You will fail me tonight. I will be a shepherd tomorrow still. You will forsake me, but I will not forsake you. You will abandon me, but I will not abandon you. You will betray me, but I will not betray you. You will fall away from me, but I will not fall away from you. He says, I will go ahead of you to Galilee. He's ready telling them I'm going to be a shepherd on the other side of this. You will forsake me tonight. I will not forsake you. For all of us who hurt God have bad seasons messed up somewhere. He will not abandon you the way you abandoned him. Will not forsake you the way you forsake him. Will not turn his back on you the way you turn your back on him. He said to them, after. Watch. I'm almost done. After I am raised. After I get up for myself. He said after I am raised, meaning someone else will raise me. I have so much faith in the Father I will go to the cross because I have confidence he will raise me from that tomb. Oh my gosh. This is Jesus showing faith in the Father to be willingly put to death with confidence while I'm laying in there. He will raise me from that tomb. The Lord did not get up on his own. Let's me not read Romans when it says, if the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead. Jesus was not resurrected in his own strength. The spirit of God raised Jesus from the dead. The Lord had so much confidence in the Father that he trusted him even with his death. That I will lay in that tomb and the Father through the spirit will raise me from the dead. But that's not what the Scripture says only. It says if the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in you. You don't even know how powerful you are. You don't know the help you have. You don't understand who lives on the inside of you. You don't even understand who lives on the inside of you. That's why you should go back and read John 14, 15, and 16. Do you understand the power that lives on the inside of you? Power, the Holy Spirit that gives you the power to not be a slave to sin. The power to live holy. The power to pray the will of God. The power to lay hands and see people heal. The power to believe for miracles. The power to see signs and wonders. The power that raised Christ from the dead. The power to be the president and the Holy Spirit lives on the inside of you. That's what the Scripture says. You have an identity crisis because you don't understand the power of the Holy Spirit. You be afraid of people because you don't understand the power of the Holy Spirit. You be feeling helpless in times of need because you don't understand the power of the Holy Spirit. You be saying, I've got an assignment, but I don't know how to do it. Of course you don't, but you've got the power of the Holy Spirit. You think I'm up here in my own strength? I come up here every week in weakness, and I preach in the power of the Holy Spirit, and sometimes try the whole way home. I got up this morning discouraged, and I'm preaching to you right now in the power of the Holy Spirit. The one that empowers you for every assignment. You say, I'm afraid, but the Holy Spirit. I'm insecure, but the Holy Spirit. I feel ill-equipped, but the Holy Spirit. I don't know how I'm going to figure this out, but the Holy Spirit. I don't know how that door is going to open, but the Holy Spirit. I don't know what to do in the circumstance, but the Holy Spirit. I can't remember that passage, but the Holy Spirit. I feel too weak to pull this off, but the Holy Spirit. How are we going to do access in three months? Feeling the nudge to move to Atlanta to join 2019. Where am I going to get a job, and where am I going to live, and how am I going to bounce back? But the Holy Spirit will lead in God. Amen. Verse 33, Peter answered him, though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away. Lord. Never mind Peter didn't hear the part about the resurrection. He didn't hear the part about the but after. All he focused on is that the Lord is rebuking them for falling away, and he tries to explain away the rebuke. So he does what we do. He puts the other disciples down to prop himself up. They will fall away. Verse 10, they're going to fall away because Judas already left. Those 10, they're going to fall away. Me, I'll never leave, Lord. Peter is a victim of self-righteousness and, watch, a dangerous, misplaced confidence. Watch in himself. Not in the one who's talking to him. In himself, and this is what we do. This is the danger of self-reliance. We say, I can do this without God. This marriage, I got this. The parenting, I got this. Ministry, I got this. All the, he's self-reliance. This is the danger of being overconfident in the flesh. We want to do ministry without praying, and preaching without praying, and singing without praying, and marriage without praying, and parenting without praying, and we're doing business without praying. He said, I got degrees. You're doing business deals without praying. This is the danger of overconfidence. When you think you can do fill in the blank without God, we have to avoid that. Jesus says to him in verse 34, No, Peter, truly, I tell you this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times. Not only is my words not going to fall to the floor, Peter, you will deny me, but you're going to be the first person to do it. Forget the other 10. You're going to be the first one to do it. They're going to make it to the morning and bounce. You won't even make it through the night. Watch. This is the Lord everybody watch, revealing to his follower the blindness of his weakness. Look at me. Everyone under the sound of my voice, you all have blind spots. As strong as you think you are, as righteous as you think you are, with all your degrees, all of your businesses, all of your acumen. There are people in this room who think you are so strong, but what you don't see is that you have blind spots and the Holy Spirit will punch you in your soul to show you those blind spots. This is why you should always be thankful for conviction and you should always be thankful when God puts people in your life who is a chorus to keep telling you things about yourself that you can't see. Why everybody keeps telling me the same thing about myself? Because it's there. You just don't want to accept it. We keep telling you about this area. We keep telling you about yourself in this area. That's why you should be thankful when you have a wife that tells you about yourself or husband who tells you about yourself or friends who tells you about yourself. When the Lord is using people to point out your blind spots, we are foolish to push away. We are wise to say, thank you for showing me that and go process that in prayer. You all have blind spots. You need to thank God for the conviction that shows you those blind spots is why David prayed a powerful prayer, Lord, search my heart and show me if there's anything in me that is grievous. This is a powerful prayer. I pray this all the time. Lord, deliver me from my own self deception. If there's things in me I can't see. Don't let me think I'm some hot shot preacher and some hot shot podcast. Show me everything in me that's nasty, dark, sinful, that hurts other people. Punch me in my soul. Make me cry. Show me me. Do you pray that way? No, you don't. You don't. You don't pray that way when you assume you have it all together. Peter assumed he had it all together. I'm done, son. Verse 35, Peter said to him, even if I must die with you, I will not deny you. And all the disciples said the same. So Peter does not even listen to the rebuke of the Lord. He is so self-reliant and so blinded by a dangerous confidence that he really thinks that he has the strength in his own self to survive what the Lord is about to go through. And the beauty of the text is that the Lord sees in us our weaknesses and our strengths. And the Lord in his graciousness likes to work in our weaknesses, less those things damage us and damage our relationships. This is a beautiful passage to me because it shows us that the Lord in his sovereignty and his perfect loves, he deals with us in our strengths, he deals with us in our weaknesses, but he does not abandon us in our weaknesses. This is powerful to me because I believe that this incident changed these men's lives. I believe that after these men rebounded from this and made them stronger, wiser, more bold, man history tells us that these same men, all of them will go on to give their lives as martyrs for the Lord Jesus Christ with the exception of John. It reminds us how God is faithful to us even when we're not faithful to him. It reminds us how the Lord cares enough to rebuke us and open our eyes from seeing the things that we don't see. It reminds us of how the Lord deals with us as a loving shepherd on mountaintops and valleys and strengths and weaknesses. It reminds us of how the Lord's faithfulness does not shift when you shift and does not change because you change. He says, I will never leave you, nor forsake you. It reminds us, man, that God is committed to us when we're doing well and when we're faithful and when we're not. When we're having good seasons and when we're not, he's faithful to you. And it reminds us that in the sovereignty of the Lord, there is nothing that's going to happen in your life that he does not know. And it reminds me of this last thing before I pray for you. You see how Peter was talking to the Lord on that night? The Lord knew that we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we a man that was going to do all of this because nothing in Peter surprised the Lord and for you he knew exactly what he was going to get when he called you when he said to you come he knew exactly what he was getting he knew about your failures your insecurities your hang-ups he knew about the times you would walk away and come back he knew exactly what he was getting when he called you there was nothing in you that has surprised him he handles all of your beauty and all of your ugliness and I'm encouraging myself right now especially in those times when you feel like you've disappointed the Lord you're going through a hard season you're the Lord knew exactly what he was getting when he said come he knew about everything you would do every time you would fail fall down every mistake you would make he knew about the times you would walk away mad at him and he would have to bring you back like come let us reason together he knew about all of that when he said come there is nothing happening in your life that he did not know or did not plan for this is the faithful Lord that you and I serve who is worthy of all of our praise our affections our faithfulness our honor our devotion he's worthy of your entire life so Lord to you we pray thanking you for that your faithful that your faithfulness does not shift in our failures and our weakness and in our frilties God revealed to us those areas where we are blind and we cannot see areas that are damaging our marriage damaging our friendships damaging our relationships revealed to us those areas and give us the humility to adjust to course correct and Father God I pray right now something like awe would rise in the hearts of these your sons and daughters their love for you would be deepened when they consider that you would never leave them no forsake them they will continuously and perpetually until you come be the recipients of but after but after but after I pray this right now in the mighty and the majestic and the matchless name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ you were the other oh we fades we we we we we we we we He can see and he can hear you. Come on, church. Sing to him. You are the of it all. We give you our every praise. For from you are all things. And to you are all things. You deserve the glory. You are the of it all. You are the of it all. Oh Lord, you are the of it all. You created all things. For from you are all things. And to you are all things. You deserve the glory. You are the of it all. You are the of it all. All of our praise, all our worship. You are the of it all. When you're good pleasure Jesus. For from you are all things. You are all things. You deserve it. You deserve the glory. You are the of it all. Night and day, let incense arise. Day and night, night and day, let incense arise. Day and night, night and day, let incense arise. Day and night, night and day, let incense arise. Day and night, night and day, let incense arise. Let it be a word that sacrifice people for you. Night and day, let fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades You are the only one For from you, Lord For from you, Lord And to you, we're all safe For from you, we're all safe You just heard it You just heard it, Lord You were the worthy of it all You were the worthy of it all We give you our absolute best today, Jesus You were the worthy of it all We'll try ourselves completely out before you From you, Lord Until you lower off Until you lower off You just heard You just heard You're glory Hallelujah Hallelujah Wherever you are Hallelujah Thank you, Jesus Thank you, Jesus