Introduction:
Warnings to Hypocrites (John 13:21-30):
- Jesus Knows if you are a hypocrite. (John 13:21)
- Your hypocrisy will be Found Out . (John 13:22-27)
Luke 12:1-3 - Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.
Proverbs 28:13 - Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.
- Hypocrisy only leads to Regret . (John 13:28-30)
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:54-00:58
Open up your Bibles with me please to John chapter 13.
01:01-01:47
You know I want to circle back to something that Kent Chevalier said last week. He dropped a lot of truth bombs on us but there was one truth in particular that he shared that I want to circle back to and he talked about me loving this church, and I do. I love this church. I don't mean this building, you are the church, and whether you're sitting here, you're streaming this, wherever you are, I just I want you to know I love this church, and I consider it a huge blessing to be a part of this church. And I wonder, you know, why some people are just so down on the church.
01:49-01:55
You know, as a pastor, I hear all the time reasons that people give for not going to church, right?
01:56-01:59
We surveyed 100 people, top three answers on the board.
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Give me a reason why people don't go to church.
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Don't shout it out.
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I'm gonna give you a couple.
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But these are reasons that people give for not going to church.
02:11-02:13
One reason they say, well, they just want my money.
02:13-02:14
They just want my money.
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And I wanna go on record to say, I do not want your money.
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All right?
02:19-02:22
And the Lord certainly doesn't need your money.
02:22-02:23
He owns everything.
02:23-02:24
All right?
02:24-02:25
We encourage giving, why?
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Because it blesses you.
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Right?
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You think you're gonna do better with the money that God's entrusted to you?
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You think you're gonna do better handling it yourself than if you partner with God on that?
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Good luck with that.
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So no, we don't want your money.
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We encourage biblical stewardship 'cause it blesses God, it'll bless you.
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Testament out in sea.
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Another reason that people say, I don't go to church.
02:55-03:02
They say something like, "Well, you know, I went to this church and my needs weren't met." And you know, there's a fundamental problem with that thinking.
03:03-03:06
And the problem is you think the church is about serving you.
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And yes, people get served at church, true, but if your mindset is walking in here as a consumer to say, "What can you do for me?
03:14-03:15
What can you give for me?
03:15-03:17
What services can you provide for me?
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We are here to serve and we are here to worship and we are here to exalt the name of Jesus Christ.
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Okay, I love you, I already established that, but I love Jesus Christ way more than we are here for him, right?
03:35-03:45
So, you know, for somebody who says, well, my needs weren't being met, you might wanna check your motivation or check what you think the church is about.
03:46-03:52
You know, one of the big reasons that people give for going to church, we've heard this one a lot, haven't we?
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The church is just full of hypocrites.
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It's just full of hypocrites.
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You don't wanna talk about that one this morning.
04:03-04:05
That's what you call an uncomfortable laugh.
04:06-04:07
Did you hear that?
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Some of you are still doing it.
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It's gonna get uncomfortable.
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And that's okay.
04:14-04:15
That's okay, right?
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People are like, we just want people to be comfortable in church.
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And I wanna go on record to say that is not my concern at all.
04:21-04:23
I don't care how comfortable you are.
04:23-04:26
I want the seats to be padded, but that's like it, okay?
04:27-04:30
Because God's word should make us uncomfortable, right?
04:30-04:33
It should shake our cage a little bit, right?
04:34-04:42
Jesus in John 13, He just gave this lesson on serving others in humility by washing the disciples' feet.
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And now the focus of the passage turns to Judas.
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And we're gonna talk about Judas today because he is really an interesting case.
04:55-04:56
I mean, think about Judas.
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He hung out with Jesus Christ, God in the flesh for three years.
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How could someone so close to Jesus end up in such a bad place.
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I mean Judas, he's infamous, right?
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I mean his very name is synonymous with evil.
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And even when the disciples are listed in the New Testament, every time Judas is mentioned there's always this qualifier.
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Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him?
05:35-05:36
That's always there.
05:37-05:45
Every time the gospel writers talk about Judas, it's like, "By the way, he's the guy that betrayed Jesus." And nobody names their kid Judas, right?
05:47-05:54
I mean, I've known some Judas and I've known some Judes, but I can't remember somebody naming their kid Judas.
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It's like naming your kid Hitler.
06:00-06:05
But I want to tell you this morning that Judas is a great example for us.
06:05-06:12
You're like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, great example of what?" Well, he's a great example of a lot of things for us.
06:12-06:14
First of all, he's a great example of lost opportunity.
06:16-06:23
What better opportunity could any human being have than to rub shoulders with God incarnate for three years, and Judas had that.
06:26-06:28
His story ended horribly.
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This is a great example of idolatry.
06:35-06:36
Like what's idolatry?
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Well, just take a look at Judas because his idolatry was tied up in his love for money.
06:42-06:44
We talked about that not too long ago, right?
06:44-06:56
Remember John 12, the whole affair with the appointment, Mary comes in, anoints Jesus, and Judas is standing there and he's like, "I can't believe she did that because that money could have been given to the poor." And John's like, "He was a thief.
06:56-06:59
He wasn't really interested in giving to the poor.
06:59-07:01
He was just interested in getting his hands on that money.
07:02-07:04
But he was a thief.
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His idol was money.
07:08-07:24
And at this point in John's gospel that we're going to read today, after three years of following Jesus and realizing that Jesus wasn't going to be the lucrative cash cow that he thought Jesus was going to be, Judas is like, "I'm ready to hit the ejector seat button now.
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"I want out, done." Judas is a great example of lost opportunity, of idolatry, and he's a great example of hypocrisy.
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That's what we're talking about today, hypocrisy.
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You know, the New Testament word for hypocrite refers to someone wearing a mask, not a COVID mask.
07:45-07:49
It refers to, literally it refers to an actor.
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You know, somebody on stage at a theater that was portraying a role, they would put a mask on to portray that role, and that's the New Testament word for hypocrite.
07:59-08:04
It's somebody who is pretending to be something that they are not.
08:05-08:07
That's what the word hypocrite meant.
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It sounds funny if we say it in our day, like if I stood up here and I'm like, hey, Harrison Ford is one of my favorite hypocrites.
08:13-08:14
She'd be like, huh?
08:14-08:16
But that was how the word was used.
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He's a guy that is constantly pretending to be something he's not.
08:20-08:23
He's not really Indiana Jones or Han Solo, okay?
08:23-08:24
He's pretending.
08:25-08:26
He's a hypocrite.
08:29-08:44
Judas' story, even though Judas' story is unique in the way he betrayed Jesus, I want you to see this morning that the Judas' heart is not unique at all.
08:47-08:54
Because the church has always had and has and will always have Judas's.
08:56-09:07
The church is always going to have, including this church, people who appear to be on board, but secretly ain't having it.
09:10-09:12
There's some people streaming this right now.
09:12-09:12
That's you.
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There are people sitting in this room right now, that's you.
09:20-09:22
These are people that aren't in church for the right reason.
09:24-09:26
Like, well, then why would they go?
09:26-09:38
Like if somebody's not having it, if somebody doesn't love Jesus, if somebody hasn't received the gift of salvation, that Jesus Christ purchased on the cross, if somebody isn't on board, why would they go to church?
09:41-09:41
I don't know.
09:42-10:04
your spouse happy? Maybe you're here to make business connections? No, that's why some people look for a church. "Oh, there's a lot of people I can get roped into business and that'll help me make money." Some people go to church to feel just to feel better about themselves. I don't know.
10:07-10:27
But I want you to know that if you're here or watching and you haven't really received Jesus Christ, and you know that, even though I might not know that, I'm talking to you today.
10:30-10:58
I'm talking to somebody that's part of this church, but really your heart's just not really in it. You're just here. And you've learned how to say what you need to say, you learned to go through the motions, you've learned the lingo and the all of the things that are expected when we come here. You've learned that, but deep down you're like, "Yeah, I'm not really into that. That's not really my thing." I'm talking to you today.
11:01-11:04
I'm talking to you, you aren't really here to worship.
11:06-11:10
The band's up here leading us in worship and you're just like, "How much longer?
11:11-11:14
Not really into this." I'm talking to you.
11:15-11:16
You're not here to seek God.
11:19-11:21
You're not here to receive the Word.
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You're just pretending to care about that stuff.
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And I gotta tell you, the world loves hypocrites.
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The world loves hypocrites.
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Do you know why?
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Because hypocrites validate their unbelief.
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Like, see, I knew it.
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I knew those church people were nothing but a bunch of phonies.
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And when they see a hypocrite exposed, the world's just like, see, see, see?
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The world loves hypocrites, but I gotta tell you, God, not a fan.
11:54-11:54
Not a fan.
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So again, I know we have some hypocrites here.
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I know that because I would be naive to think otherwise.
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So what I'm hoping for today is that Judas's story wakes you up.
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That's what I'm hoping for.
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That you get into God's word with me and you're like, "What the heck, man? I don't want that to be me." I believe that's why we have this.
12:22-12:27
So on your outline, if you're taking notes, which I always encourage, today's just warnings to hypocrites.
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Number one, jot this down.
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Jesus knows if you are a hypocrite.
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Jesus knows.
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Look at verse 21.
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After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit and testified, "Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me." Now, Jesus knew that Judas was going to betray him.
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All right?
12:58-13:03
We, even from the gospel of John, which we've studied to this point, we've seen it over and over and over.
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John chapter 6, verses 64 and 70.
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John chapter 13, verses 10 and 18.
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Jesus pointed this out on multiple occasions, but He was always kind of vague about it.
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Now, not so vague.
13:17-13:20
At this point, Jesus absolutely had to call Judas out.
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You're like, "Well, why did He have to do that?" Well, think about it.
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If Jesus did not explicitly and directly call Judas out, it would forever put a big question mark on his sovereignty.
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If Jesus didn't call this out, don't you think the other disciples, after the arrest, the cross, the resurrection, don't you think the other disciples would have been like, "How did Jesus not know about Judas?
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How did he not see that coming?
13:52-13:54
I thought he was Lord, but boy, he was sure blindsided.
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We had a rat right in the middle of us and Jesus never knew about it.
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So you see, Jesus had to call this out.
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He had to show, "Look, I know what's going on here.
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I know that one of you is not on board here." Jesus was showing he's not a victim.
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This is a fulfillment of Scripture.
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But here's what you have to see, church.
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It says Jesus was troubled in his spirit.
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was troubled in his spirit.
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The whole time, everything Judas saw, everything Judas heard, and deep down he still hated Jesus.
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And the response here is it says Jesus was troubled.
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Have you ever been betrayed by someone?
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Have you ever been betrayed?
14:48-15:29
you thought was super close to you, someone that you love very much, and they stab you in the back. It's devastating. It is absolutely devastating. And you see now the betrayal is getting closer, and it says that Jesus was torn up about it. And we need to see this because Jesus wasn't some emotionally detached robot that was like, "Now is the time that I'm about to be betrayed, but it's in the scriptures, so let's just get on with it and go about our business, because we're trying to keep a timeline here, people." That wasn't Jesus.
15:31-15:40
He's sitting here having Passover with his closest friends, and you can just see, you know, he was troubled.
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It's like somebody sitting right here hates me to the point that they'd rather have hell.
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He was torn up about it.
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He knew. He always knew.
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It troubled him.
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And you know, it's the same thing for hypocrites in the church today.
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Jesus knows, okay? Jesus knows.
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Your secret little flirty thing that you have going on, Jesus knows about that.
16:26-16:31
Your gambling, Jesus knows about that.
16:32-16:36
Your alcohol problem, Jesus knows about that.
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Your pornography addiction, Jesus knows about that too.
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Your hatred or unforgiveness you have for somebody sitting here, Jesus knows all about it.
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Here's the thing, you can keep it hidden from me, and you can even keep it hidden from the people in your small group.
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And if you're expert level hypocrite, you can even keep it hidden from your spouse.
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But you don't have anything hidden from Jesus.
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If Jesus knew that one of his closest 12 disciples was a hypocrite, Jesus knows that you are.
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All right?
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So number one, Jesus knows.
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Let's get that just like in the clear right now.
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You ain't fooling him.
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Secondly, write this down, your hypocrisy will be found out.
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Your hypocrisy will be found out.
17:38-17:39
Look at verse 22.
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The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke.
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One of the disciples whom Jesus loved, that was John's way of identifying himself, by the way.
17:58-18:01
John wasn't like, when he talks about himself in the story, he's not like, "Me?
18:02-18:09
Me?" He's very humble, he's just referring to himself as a disciple whom Jesus loved.
18:10-18:10
Alright?
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So that's John.
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"Was reclining at the table close to Jesus.
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So Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking.
18:20-18:39
So that disciple," John, "leaning back against Jesus said to him, 'Lord, who is it?'" there to try to get this scene in your head. I know when you think of the Last Supper you might think of that painting, right? That's not what it looked like.
18:40-18:45
That painting, it's like Jesus said, "Hey, everybody on this side of the table, we're gonna get a picture." All right?
18:48-19:00
That's not what it looked like. Actually, it would have been a U-shaped table and the disciples and Jesus would have laid around one side and the other side was serving, okay?
19:00-19:15
And they weren't sitting in chairs, they would have reclined on their left elbows on the pillows with their feet like away from the table, but they would have been reclining on these pillows on their left elbow so that they could eat with their right hand.
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And you're like, well, wait a second, what about left-handed people?
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They had to sit at the kids' table.
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I'm assuming.
19:30-19:34
But Judas, he had to know that Jesus knew.
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I mean, every time Jesus talked about, you know, "One of you is a devil and one of you will betray me." And these words here especially, Judas had to know that Jesus knew, but you know, none of the other disciples did.
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Clueless.
19:51-20:00
That's like for me to stand up here and say, "We have a horrible hypocrite sitting in this you would look around and be like, "I can't imagine who.
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I can't imagine who.
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Oh, he's so nice and she's so sweet and definitely not him." And you'd be like, "No, not here, not in this church." Well, that would be the sentiment around this table.
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Jesus is like, "One of you is going to betray me." And you can see the other disciples looking around like, "Not him, no, not him.
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He's a little weird, but he wouldn't do that.
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And he's got a little bit of a anger issue, but he wouldn't do that.
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So your Bible says that Peter signals to John, like, "Hey, hey." Apparently John was sitting closest to Jesus, right?
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And he said, "Hey, hey, ask him who?
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Ask him, ask him." John does.
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Look at verse 26, here's the response.
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"Jesus answered, 'It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.' So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.
21:01-21:06
Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him.
21:09-21:18
Jesus said to him, "What you are going to do, do quickly." Okay, so this morsel and this bread, what's going on here?
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Well, as part of the Passover meal, They would make this paste out of like raisins and dates and figs and herbs and vinegars and they'd make this paste and then they'd take their flatbread and they'd dip it into the paste.
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So Jesus did that and he handed it to Judas and your Bible says that when Judas took it, Satan entered Judas.
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And don't miss this, Jesus knew that because he said, "What you're going to do, do quickly." Jesus knew right at that moment, it's happening now.
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So Jesus says, "Go, do it." And I imagine at this point, Judas was probably glad to leave.
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And Jesus wanted Judas gone because Jesus wanted to address things to the real people, not the hypocrites.
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She's like, "Okay, I gotta talk to the real ones here." So here's a question.
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Did Judas have a choice?
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Or was Judas just predestined to betray Jesus and he had no say in the matter?
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He was just sort of this preordained puppet.
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Judas was not forced to betray Jesus.
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Yes, God knew that he would.
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We saw that in verse 18, quoting Psalm 41, verse 9.
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God knew that he would, but Judas was a victim of his own choices.
23:09-23:10
And we even see the progression.
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Look back in verse 2 in chapter 13.
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It says, "During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him..." Do you see the progression?
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Satan put it into his heart.
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And here, at this moment, the choice is finally made.
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And there's something you have to catch here.
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It's the Passover meal.
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The first bite was given to the guest of honor.
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Wrap your brain around that.
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The first bite was for the guest of honor.
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So Jesus took it and he dipped it and he extended it to Judas.
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And I believe that was Judas' last chance.
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That when he took the morsel, that was Judas ultimately making his choice.
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And you're like, "Well, why do you say that?" Because of what the text says.
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It says at that moment when he took it, that is when Satan entered him.
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That was his point of no return.
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That was, "My decision is made, I'm selling out Jesus." You see, Satan can't enter a person without permission.
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And it's sort of a paradox, right?
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The gospel of Jesus Christ cannot enter a hard heart, but Satan can only enter a hard heart.
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That certainly describes Judas here.
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So, Jesus knows and you will be found out.
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You're going to be found out.
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You're like, "Do you mean like in heaven and stuff?" I mean, you'll be found out long before that.
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You'll be found out here.
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I want you to see something Jesus said earlier in his ministry.
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chapter 12.
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Jesus said, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is what?
25:24-25:31
Hypocrisy." Jesus goes, "Watch out for the hypocrites." But look at his commentary on hypocrisy.
25:32-25:33
Are you going to see this?
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He says, "Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known." or is this thing you think you're hiding?
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It's coming out.
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He says, "Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light.
25:50-26:05
And what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops." And he's not just talking about those of you with toddlers that repeat the things they hear at home at school, and you're gonna have that uncomfortable meeting with the teacher, I've been there.
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He's saying, "Hypocrite, hypocrite, "think you're hiding something?
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"The day's going to come, "and God is going to make sure of it "that everybody knows what's really going on.
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"It's gonna happen.
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"So here's what I wanna say to you, hypocrite.
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"It is better to come clean now "than for someone finding out about it, and it comes to light that way.
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And I want you to ask anyone that's ever come to me for counseling for anything.
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I have an addiction, I'm hooked on pornography, I cheated on my wife, I've been stealing from work.
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Ask anyone that's ever come to me for counseling.
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One of the first things I say to them is, I am so proud of you for stepping up.
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Because most people want to keep these things hidden, but you've come to me saying, It's in the open, I want to deal with it, let's deal with it.
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Whatever needs to happen, let's deal with it.
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I say, "Look, I'm proud of you, and I will do anything to help you get to a better place.
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Thank you for stepping up, you're doing the right thing.
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There's no condemnation, I want to help you.
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Ask anyone that's come to me for counseling.
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Also, if you can find them, ask anyone who got caught.
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Ask anyone who kept their sin hidden and it got caught and I found out that way.
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Because that is a different conversation.
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Those people don't stick around.
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And in many cases, those people aren't welcome to stick around.
27:52-27:57
Proverbs 28.13 says this, "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper.
28:01-28:16
But he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy." you, if you want to repent, we will work tirelessly to help you get on track.
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Whether it's back on track with your walk with Jesus or maybe you've never had one, I will spend any amount of time, I will do whatever it takes to make sure that you understand the gospel and not just me, talk to our elders, talk to Mark, talk to Rich, we will do anything.
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For the person that steps up and says, "Look, I'm a mess, I wanna repent." We will do everything to help you.
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But if you get caught, unrepentant, which you will get caught by the way, according to Jesus, then I'm gonna deal with you on that level.
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And that's not near as comfortable.
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Jesus knows. You're going to be found out. Better to deal with it now. I'm going to give you one more reason that you better deal with it now. Number three, write this down, hypocrisy leads to regret. Hypocrisy only leads to regret. Look at verses 28 through 30.
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Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him, why Jesus said to Judas, "What you're going to do, do quickly." It says no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some Jesus was telling him, "Buy what we need for the feast." Or that he should give something to the poor.
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So after receiving the morsel of bread, he, Judas, immediately went out and it was night.
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So it seems that, you know, the whole Jesus handing the morsel to Judas as the means of identification, it seems that only Peter and John caught this 'cause the rest of them didn't see this.
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And you're like, why are you laughing?
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I just think this is kind of funny, to be honest with you.
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Their conclusion.
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They're sitting around having Passover.
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Jesus turns to Judas and says, "What you're about to do, do quickly." And some of the disciples were like, "What's that all about?
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What's going on there?" Oh, obviously Jesus wants Judas to give something to the poor because he has the checkbook.
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I mean, doesn't that seem funny to you?
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Could you imagine like being at Thanksgiving dinner and you're sitting down eating and like somebody says, "Hey, could you run down to Light of Life and make a donation?" You're like, "Right now?
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We're in the middle of eating." Yeah, now, go now.
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What you're about to do, do quickly.
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But that was the conclusion that some of the disciples had.
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Kind of weird timing to be charitable right in the middle of a Passover meal.
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Like that's probably what Jesus was doing there.
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But not as funny, verse 30.
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Look at the last phrase.
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Says the Judas went out immediately, but look at the very last phrase.
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It says, "And it was night." I mean, that's pretty obvious symbolism, right?
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All through John, we've seen this contrast between light and dark, light and dark, coming to the light of Jesus Christ, staying in the dark, keeping your sin.
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We've seen this contrast throughout John.
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And it says, "Now Judas immediately runs out." And he says, "And it was night." Obvious symbolism.
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Judas ran out into the night and it would forever be night for him.
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It's always gonna be night for Judas from this point.
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Most of you probably know how Judas' story ends.
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I'm gonna paraphrase it for you.
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Judas was paid 30 pieces of silver.
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That was the price of a slave, by the way, according to Zechariah 11, verses 12 and 13.
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And then Judas went and betrayed Jesus with a kiss.
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And then Judas regretted his betrayal and he threw the money back.
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But it was too late.
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And then Judas ran out and he hanged himself.
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Even before Jesus' trial, Judas was dead.
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He took his own life and is even to this very day living in a state of eternal regret.
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And here's the horrifying thing, church.
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You know, we said Judas' hypocrisy, His idolatry was his love for money, right?
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What you think about this?
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Judas got exactly what he wanted, true or false?
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He got exactly what he wanted.
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He got his money.
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He got it.
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30 pieces of silver.
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In his hand, he held the very thing that he wanted most, and he hated it.
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He ended up hating it so bad, he went back to the temple and threw it.
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I don't want this.
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And they're like, I'm sorry about Sherlock, but the deal is done.
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He got exactly what he wanted and he hated it.
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And I have to ask you, hypocrite, Is that how you want your story to end?
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Like Judas.
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Because I gotta tell you, that hidden sin of yours, I mean, Judas's was money, but that hidden sin of yours, like Judas, you might be getting exactly what you want.
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Whatever that is, you might be getting it.
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and you know it's wrong, and you know you shouldn't, but you love it more than you love Jesus Christ, and you may have it in your hands right now.
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Getting exactly what you want in the short term, but in the end, I promise you, you write this down.
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I promise you, you're going to hate that thing.
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you're gonna hate it.
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And that thing is going to be to you a symbol of regret because it's going to cost you everything.
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So have you been a hypocrite?
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Jesus knows.
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It's going to be found out and it's not going to lead you anywhere but regret.
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Today, it's time to step up and receive the forgiveness and healing that Jesus Christ offers.
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God loves you so much.
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God loves you so much that He sent His Son to die for your sin, and the hypocrisy that wants to cover up that sin.
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Jesus Christ died for that.
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The ultimate demonstration of God's love.
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Therefore today is the day of grace.
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Today is the day of confessing and forsaking that hypocrisy.
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I'm going to ask our elders as the worship team comes forward, I'm going to ask our elders, I'm going to ask those of you who are going to be elders, if you would please come forward and stand in front of the platform here.
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I want to ask our elders up here to pray with you, that if today you would like to take a different path than the one Judas took.
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Today you can do that.
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Your story doesn't have to end like his.
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Regret, eternal regret and sorrow.
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Your story can end in victory.
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You know, in just a minute we're going to worship And I'm sure there's somebody sitting in this room that might be thinking, "Well, if I go up, what are people going to think?" And I would say, "Well, isn't the concern about what people think what got you into the problem of hypocrisy in the first place?" Who gives a rip what people think?
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Aren't you more concerned with what God thinks?
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And maybe that's the problem.
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Maybe your problem has been you haven't cared about what God thinks.
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You've only cared about what others think.
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So I'm saying today's the day to humble yourself there.
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All right?
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Today's the day to say, "I'm coming clean.
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God knows I'm going to be found out anyways, so it's better to deal with it head on." So don't be inhibited by what people think, because I've got a newsflash for you.
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The people that love Jesus Christ that are here or are watching this stream, they are They're cheering you on and they are praying for you when you come up.
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So I'm going to lead in a short prayer and I'm gonna ask the worship team to begin worship.
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And our elders are up here.
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Now's not the time to be shy.
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Now's the time to say my life is not gonna end the way Judas's ended.
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I'm coming clean today.
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Let's pray.
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Father in heaven, we are so self-absorbed and self-deceived by nature.
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And I pray today, Father, that you would, by the power of your gospel, by the power of your word, Father, we would step up.
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We just read about the path that Judas took.
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He took the morsel and he ran out into eternal night.
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And God, we thank you for the grace of Jesus Christ that our story doesn't have to be like Judas'.
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So I pray Father, as we stand in a minute, we sing, I pray Father for your Holy Spirit to bring anyone who needs prayer, anyone who's going to step up.
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Father, let your spirit give them a holy boldness that they've never had before, so that today can be a new day for them.
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Father, we thank you.
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Thank you for your grace.
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Help us to receive it, Father.
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We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read John 13:21-30
What was your big “take-away” from this passage / message?
Why didn't Jesus make sure everyone knew Judas was the betrayer (John 13:28)?
Did Judas have a choice here, or was this predestined for him – and he had no choice? Defend your answer.
If Judas was never really on board with Jesus, why do you think he became a disciple in the first place? What does this say about why hypocrites stick around the church today?
Breakout
Pray for one another.