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00:00:01 uh so for scripture reading today it will be in four parts okay so is it'll be from Matthew 26 to 27 so first I'll be reading uh verse 14 to 16 in 26 and then 30 to35 and then 69 to 75 then in chapter 27 I'll be reading verses 3 to 10 okay I'll be reading from the NIV uh verse 14 then one of the 12 the one called Judas es scariot went to the chief priest and asked what are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you so they counted for him 30 pieces of silver from then on Judas watched for an
00:00:46 opportunity to hand him over verse 30 when they had sung A Hymn they went out to the Mount of Olives then Jesus told them this night you will all fall away on a of me for it is written I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered but after I have risen I will go ahead of you into Galilee Peter replied even if I all even if all fall away on account of you I never will truly I tell you Jesus answered this very night before the rooster crow you will disown me three times but Peter declared
00:01:31 even if I have to die with you I will never disown you and all the other disciples said the same verse 69 now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard and a servant girl came to him you also were with Jesus of Galilee she said but he denied it before them all I don't know what you're talking about he said then he went out to the Gateway where another servant girl saw him and said to the people there this fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth he denied it again with an oath I don't know the man after a little while those standing
00:02:17 there went up to Peter and said surely you are one of them your accent gives you away then he began to call down curses and he swore to them I don't know the man immediately a rooster crow then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken before the rooster crows you will disown me three times and he went outside and wept bitterly uh chapter 27:3 when Judas who had betrayed him saw that Jesus was condemned he was seized with remorse and returned the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and the
00:02:58 elders I have sinned he said for I have betrayed innocent blood what is that to us they replied that's your responsibility so Judah threw the money into the temple and left then he went away and hanged himself the chief priests picked up the coins and said it is against the law to put this into the treasury since it is blood money so they decided to use that money to buy the Potter field as a burial place for foreigners that is why it has been called the field of blood to this day then what was spoken by Jeremiah the
00:03:39 prophets was fulfilled they took the 30 pieces of silver the price set on him by the people of Israel and to use them to buy the Potter field as the Lord commanded me this is the word of the lord well this morning we are going to to well towards the last bit of the book of the ma the gospel of Matthew and we're going to come into the most exciting part I think the crucifixion was already preached on by our Elder yidan in Easter so we're sorry this near Easter and we're not going to do that again we're going to focus on that
00:04:21 period just before the crucifixion uh we're be looking at that today and then also after Arnold sermon we'll be looking at the time in the Garden of Gethsemane but today we're going to be looking at the tale of two betrayals if you look into the uh Bible reading there are two people who are prominently displayed by Matthew in this last two chapters one is Peter and one is Judas and it's basically to learn the difference between the both of them that could impact our own lives let's start with the word of prayer Lord we ask ask
00:05:00 that you open up our ears and more importantly our hearts so that the word of God will be implanted and does his work because you have a word for us for every single one of us this morning both here and even those at home we ask for jesus' sake amen so here we have in the passage uh Judas conspiracy for betrayal then there's a Passover which uh our chairman ulam preached on last week and then Peter's denial and the prediction and then what happened to Judas later on betrayals you know betrayals do not
00:05:41 necessarily wind up in Death betrayals happen every single day Unfaithful husband treacherous coworker your boss who promised to make your senior manager but never comes true every year something comes up how many of you put your hands up ever been betrayed by someone put your hands up wow only one Morita son uh 1 two three four five so this sermon largely irrelevant because most of you have never been betrayed by anybody right so you will not have resonance well I hope you will have because some of you too
00:06:24 shy to put your hands up and uh admit to the fact you've been betrayed but betrayal is uh replete in our history and our experience I remember learning it for my form five uh the hikayat hanga who is basically our greatest hero uh he was actually betrayed by the king because they thought he had an illicit Affair and then you know the king wanted him killed but somebody else one of the high officials actually prevented that and then his best friend H jabat was very upset that the king um had done
00:07:01 this and he wanted to avenge his friend H's death all right but and he went around killing people and an H actually didn't die he actually you know was resurrected in terms of his his his uh come out from hiding and then the king ordered hanga to kill his best friend H jabat and they get special sword taming sari sword and they fought for seven days in the end H jabat died so it's a it's a story story of betrayal very common in our background in the history of this country we also have a betrayal
00:07:37 some years ago remember these two fellows right uh anoir Ibrahim said it involve the Betrayal involves our former friends he's too kind he says former friends from basatu and a small group from PK who have just betrayed us and this is Dr J right so uh we're going to look into the Bible the Bible always have people's story told side by side and the reason why you tell people's story side by side because they are basically a foil okay in literature a foil is somebody else who reflects you can reflect off and see
00:08:13 the difference so that you could actually make a choice and decide you got Peter and Judas Paul and uh Saul and David shim and me meil Simon and Mary for example so let's first of all look at the facts of this case of this betrayal right first of all Judas Judas was one of the 12 Apostle disciples he unprompted went to the chief priests and said what will you give me if I deliver him over to you and they paid him 30 pieces of silver and from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray now somebody
00:08:56 didn't come up to Judas and make him an offer that he couldn't refuse this is out of his own heart he went and asked for an opportunity he wasn't bribe before the election you he actually went and sought and solicited so this is a premeditated motive and all for what the price of a slave is 30 pieces of silver which is one month's pay one month's pay and he sold out his master for which under whom he actually uh learned at his feet for the last three years and there was satanic influence because if you look at Luke 22
00:09:36 Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot who was of the number of 12 he went away and conferred with the chief priest so Satan must have seeded the idea into his brain as he often does in Temptation for many of us and he went on now if you look here Jesus actually warned him that this is going to happen and was evening he reclined at the table with the 12 the Passover as they were eating he says truly I say to you one of you will betray me and they were all very sorrowful and began to say to him one
00:10:11 after another is it I Lord and he answered it is he who has dipped his hand in the dish with me to betray me so be careful when you're sharing your soup whoever dips there is the one closest to you right and he's the one going to betray so Judas is actually warned premeditated warning is there and then consequences the son of man goes as is written of him but woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed it would have been better for that man if he had not been born Judas who would betray him answered
00:10:52 is it I I Rabbi and he said to him you said so I mean she's already warn he says is it I and Jesus said to me you the one who sa not me and it's better for you not to have been born which means terrible consequences and yet Judas went ahead it's a deliberate action uh John tells us after warning him after he had taken the morsel Satan entered him and said Jesus said to him what are you going to do do quickly faster go and after receiving the morel bread he immed immediately went out it was night so here we have a premeditated
00:11:35 deliberate planned action which was warn repeatedly by our Lord and yet he immediately went out and did it the ultimate irony is in this painting you betray your closest friend with an act of Love external act looks nice a kiss kiss kiss be careful when people kiss you they betray you with a kiss and he ran up to Jesus at once and said greetings Rabbi and he kissed him and that's when the Roman gods descended Upon Jesus and and if you look back into Judas life he actually had evidence of a problem with his
00:12:18 character uh John 126 says and he said this not because he cared about the poor which is you know here was a situation when a woman took one year's pay and invested in Alabaster bar JW of perfume and poured it on Jesus feet a you know this money-minded fell say is very bad very stupid and this Judas Judas said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief having charge of the money back he used to help himself to what was put in so he was the treasurer finance minister so he take a
00:12:49 little off skip a bit off the top that's what he used to do let's look at Peter here's Peter and 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 right and Jesus said to him this very night before the rooster crows you will deny me three times and Peter said to him even if I must die with you I will not deny you and all the disciples said the same yes right and if you look at this whole passage I want
00:13:25 you look at the slide I don't want to read all to you I'm just going to tell you what happened I underline three places three times different people went up to Peter hey brother you know this fellow Isa and what did he say I don't know three times and he's the guy you fast go backwards in time and say oh I'm going to be with you I took up my sword cut out of last year and yet at the right time innocent young girl asked him do you know this man I don't know him at all total human failure and not only
00:14:06 that Peter said to him previously even if I must die I will not deny you but others are no different all the disciples they sit the same big talk talk big but when the crunch came when the test came they all went away verse 56 then all the disciples left him and fled the crunch it's such irony isn't it you walk 12 years well 12 disciples for three years and in the end when the crunch comes when you need them they run away and that is a portrait of our Human Condition we're total wimps and if you
00:14:54 look it is serious you may say Judas is worse than Peter but it's serious because you know what Matthew writes so everyone who acknowledges me before men I will acknowledge before my father who is in heaven but whoever denies me before men I will also deny be before my father who is in heaven didn't Peter deny Jesus Christ three times it is serious as serious as What Judas did but what's the difference between Judas and Peter what's the difference between Judas and all the disciples I think the difference between
00:15:34 them is the difference between regret and repentance which is my proposition to you today regret is common to all and it's about us repentance is less common why because it's about him and lastly repentance is a movement not just a state of mind first of all repentance is common to all and is about all of us then when Judas the betrayer saw that Jesus was condemned he changed his mind and brought back you know the the the silver the word here is very important it's called meta change Momi which means
00:16:14 basically that he had regret he was sorry he changed his mind a man completely overwhelmed with emotions of remorse and and guilt mainly regret and if you look at Peter he doesn't say he was regretful but he actually showed it he went out and wept bitterly after the third time and the cro he cried he cried which means it's not tears of Joys are he regretted it so they both regret it now the problem is there's a process of regret for most of us psychologist tell us first of all you got denial oh no no man God I I I didn't
00:16:58 betray you no I was Ste your friend bewilderment want shock the desire then to punish yourself to say why am I like that and then you replay called rumination you replay that dastardly act with you at the worst time in your life go over and over and over and and and and and you wonder to God why can I just reverse the tape and go back and do it again can I have a do over again and again and again and I think we all we all do that it you know what regret is Regret is a response to self we think it's a response to God
00:17:36 actually it's not regret is a response to self it's very common uh if you look at this uh uh this chap recently after the verdict was read out and you say I was very surprised and very shocked in fact the verdict was given out in 2019 and Dr M said I'm shocked that najib is shocked after the high court rulle I'm shocked that he shocked everybody shocked well that because denial you know is the first phase and obviously bewilderment and denial has not escaped najib now it comes to his wife she also so shocked I must admit
00:18:17 there I'm very sad at least here there's some regret I is it regret with what has happened he said nobody saw me taking the money nobody saw me counting the money if that's the conclusion I leave it to God so she said all transferred via cryptocurrency uh this is again denial right why are we in denial when you first uh get this problem well it's because of deception James 1:22 a very clear be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving yourself don't laugh it doesn't just reside in that famous dynamic duo who's
00:18:54 going to spending their time in kajang uh not hospital but uh prison it involves all of us because we come to church we hear a great sermon we're jumping up and down we're telling each other highi my God I was touched and you go out and you do the opposite why and you don't feel guilty about it you know why because of deception we are deceiving ourselves anyone thinks it's religious and does not Bridle his tongue the simple matter he deceives his heart his person's religion is worthless right now
00:19:30 Judas actually had consciousness of guilt because when he saw that Jesus condemned he changed his mind brought back the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders and say I have sinned by betraying innocent blood here is consciousness of guil at least he had that going for him but there's a difference if you look Langkawi there's a nice Bridge you know that goes right across how many you been to branka and went across this bridge put your hands up ah one fellow two two three okay you you are the lucky few people who have
00:20:03 traversed regret to repentance very important this is the most important Bridge you must cross only three fellas hand to Lanka the rest of you should go you know why because the pain of regret and sorrow of regret pushes you from one end of Lanka to the other the other end is the promised land it's called repentance without the pain without the sorrow you will not go from regret to repentance if you stay uh if you can't stay stuck then you're in trouble here you have 2 Corinthians 7:10 it says Godly grief or regret
00:20:43 produces repentance that leads to Salvation without regret where else worldly grief produces death so sin and you consciousness of guilt will produce regret and pain and sorrow but you can resolve this in two ways one Godly sorrow and two worldly sorrow one leads to life and one leads to death that's the problem right so regret is like leaving your boot stuck in the mud you can't get out of the Vicious Cycle of denial bewilderment rumination replaying it over and over and over again you know what the problem
00:21:21 is Regret always focuses on yourself and why do we do that we are there because of this issue of I identity who we actually are psychologists tell us that three types of self one is your actual self the real you the other one is the ideal self what you think is the most ideal person in the world for you you may have a hero somewhere or the odd self what other people tell you you should be or the image you hold in front of people your ideal self could be Brad Pit or Superman you know this is unattainable but the odd self is the one
00:22:00 that people give you a for ah very good H you come to church every week I see you know Come Rain or whatever you're still here is the odd self you feel good because you're performing in front of other people right and then there's the real self and the problem is with regret it focuses on yourself let me give you an example of another pair here is Saul King Saul the first king from The Tribe of Benjamin and he's supposed supposed to take over the city of the aites aites and then he's supposed to kill the king
00:22:36 and and and also take all the sheep and oxen and offer it to the Lord he actually disobeyed and by that very Act of Disobedience the Lord had decided to take the kingship away from him and here he said Samuel said to him when he went over his sin Samuel said though you are little in your own eyes are you not the head of all the tribes of Israel the Lord anointed you King over Israel you see in his own mind Saul low self-esteem he didn't think he was tall guy you know taller than David but he didn't think he was that crash hot in
00:23:21 his own eyes he wasn't 6ot tall in his own eyes he was 3et tall and I think that applies to many of us but in God's eyes who did God choose out of all the people of Israel God chose Saul at that time he didn't choose David he didn't choose Nancy he didn't choose anybody he chose Saul so what God chose didn't matter what he saw and what other people thought of him that mattered why and then regret is actually focused on self we look like this in the picture a failure that's what matters right the
00:23:58 consequences is a conflict of identity whenever we come into a problem of Temptation or trial our identity is threatened we either react in two ways fragility or hostility fragility means oh I'm so terrible I'm like Judas but or hostility you say I'm bad I'm going to kill you there only two ways most people will react if you honest with your life right if people criticize you you either dissolve into a molten mass of Tears or you strike back and T him back that's what most people will do can and Abel right God accepted the
00:24:40 sacrifice of Abel and he didn't accept the sacrifice of Cain and how did he react he could either kill himself no k's not going to kill himself he killed his brother because that was the person who was somebody in fact Abel's name was habel which is basically Vapor nothing nobody lightweight and Cain thought he was somebody when he was nobody he had to cancel him out and here you have Judas his actual identity conflicted with what he felt he should have been that hero disciple of Jesus for three
00:25:18 years and when he didn't match up he basically killed himself and this exagerated for us as Christians because you know why every time we mess up every time we ruminate about our sin there's somebody pointing finger at us and called Satan Satan tempts us to sin and when we sin he then us either way he wins here you see in Revelations I heard a loud voice in heaven saying the Salvation the power of the kingdom of God and the authority of Christ has come for the accuser of the brothers have been thrown down who accuses them Day
00:25:52 and Night Before Our God I'm sure you're all familiar with the accusations of Satan the moment you mess up first of all come and there is a worst for the leaders of this church Elder like that lost temper and then the the the devil has got L helpers in the church too you know they also say like that that's when we struggle our ideal self our odd self or actual self and once you cancel these two we're left with our actual self which doesn't look very palatable isn't it regret you need to recognize like seeks to change
00:26:34 situation repentance changes the heart you look in your house there's mold growing here and there you know what you do with the mold I got developers here and all that right I usually just paint it what happens if you paint the molder why it gets worse why because the leakage of the water is the one that cause the mold and all you're doing is painting the mole and then when we actually have sin and regret what we're doing is we are just painting over the mole oh I no I see if I don't see it it won't happen to me again right regret
00:27:12 looks for an escape of his consequences well repentance looks for restoration relationship right you you betrayed your wife you did something which you should not have maybe had an affair and all you do is give the flowers as a bribe so she'll get off your back and if you're much richer you give her Lumber guini and and basically just to get her off your back but basically further down the line all you take is six months later on same thing why same thing because that regret actually was self-pity you gave the Lamborghini you
00:27:51 gave the flowers not to her but to yourself to buy time repentance true repentance looks for the rest restoration of relationships now you look at Samuel Saul said to Samuel you know after you know I have sinned yes I have sinned I admit it I have transgressed the commands of the Lord and your words Samuel's words because I feared the people and obeyed their voice he gave an excuse and he depersonalizes sin sin is actually sin against God but I I I've I've actually Sinn I've transgressed the Commandment ments of the Lord not the
00:28:30 Lord the Commandments and then your words La your words not not so valuable right and then he says but then he says I have sinned yet honor me now before the Elders of my people and before Israel and return with me that I may bow before the Lord your God right here we can see what happens there's no repentance there a regret he says because of this I acknowledge I got sin but please come with me so that I don't lose faith I'm King you know and pray with me in front of all the elders all right that I may bow before
00:29:06 the Lord who God your God you know did you see the word there it's your God you know he depersonalizes sin it's all about him and he doesn't have a god it's Samuel's God it's somebody else's God and that is why he's ruminating and stewing in regret you see regret focuses on self imagine if you I'm sure all of you have been through a traffic light and the guy in the white suit comes up to you and say and the first thing you think about you know what to get him off my back either you bribe him or you say nice
00:29:53 things to him I somebody asked me for MC did you imagine that no money asked for MC regret focuses on getting yourself out of the problem repentance focusing the fact that you actually broke the law and sped across the red light and you could have killed other people and the law was there for particular reason that's the difference between regret and repentance eobot Spencer wrote he actually not good example because he's this guy is a racist but so don't don't read his books but this part I like yeah because he supported slavery
00:30:33 in America 1854 he was around you know but this part is very real a man tries to establish righteousness of his own out of his reformations another out of his duties another out of his painful attempts or painful convictions as you just now mentioned your own torments of mind it's evident that you are trying to be righteous before God through your pain and your attempted penitence and if you should find any Peace of Mind in that way it would only be a deception so what kabot Spencer is saying that regret
00:31:11 focuses on self-righteousness so in order to get self-righteousness when you have Sinn and regret what you do is you sacrifice give God an extra you know Lamborghini offering plate comes around right write big check or you clean up your life and say I will not drink anymore I won't take drugs anymore I'll clean up your life so that your life will look more acceptable or the last part you focus on making your own life miserable you don't eat you don't drink you wail the whole day you wear sackcloth put ashes on your head as if
00:31:49 that would bring something back to you and the Japanese have this tradition uh uh we got somebody Japanese here with us sitting there right in front and she would be well familiar that the Japanese when they actually have a crisis of identity a samurai who's got the odd self which to be a brave Warrior he actually fails his Emperor he has to kill himself to atone as if that moment of sacrifice makes up in God's eyes as it were for the sin and self-righteousness is a prison imprisons you and and it deludes
00:32:30 you in thinking you can manipulate God because you refuse to believe in his grace that's about regret the next section was repentance is less common why because it's all about him so I'm going to talk to you about this process we all have regret and we don't handle handle it in the right way the right way is it's about him here is Peter later on when Jesus is actually cooking for them at the side of the beach he's busy where Jesus had met him before fishing he's always fishing and he found that Jesus was there right the the man
00:33:15 who had been resurrected his master whom he had betrayed if he was Chinese he would take the boat and go the other direction we call it pis my goodness how am I going to face God isn't that how my face Jesus I'm the one deny him three times and he told me already but it was the opposite he took off his outer garment which is symbolic the fact that all his pretension all his self image oh you don't care stripped half naked never mind he jumped into the water into the sea he swam he ran whatever it is
00:33:49 towards Jesus Christ he's excited when he should have been embarrassed think about the last person whom you betrayed do you think you would do that you wouldn't do that and there's a reason and when they finished breakfast Jesus said to Simon Peter son of John do you love me more than these the issue for repentance focuses not on us if Peter looked at himself and saw how unworthy he was and he would Replay in the middle of the boat when he saw Jesus ah Jesus I remember three times I said I didn't know
00:34:31 him how H how how to face him most of you would think that right how to face him and the issue is do you love me right and you look Peter later on preached in the first sermon given he said repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the Forgiveness of sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit the word repent matoa is a change of your outlook in life it's a massive 180° turn right you know what he said this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and forn knowledge of God
00:35:12 you crucified and killed in the hands of Lawless men God raised him up losing the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it so what he did was address the people to change their mindset why they had regret right because Jesus is the one you killed you're the ones who voted for him to be killed and to save Barabas and then they heard this they were cut to the heart see this is Regret but they did more you know what they said what shall we do you see you can stay at this side of Lanka bridge in
00:35:51 regret and you ruminate or the pain and sorrow can push you onto the side called repentance repentance what shall we do David and bat Sheba the difference between him and King Saul he actually murdered bat sheba's husband Uriah he actually had adultery right is not in fact there probably sins which are worse on the scale of magnitude than what Saul actually did but he said against you and you alone I have Sinn and done what is evil in your sight that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment he comes
00:36:30 right out and said it's you it's all about you I've sinned against you I let you down I've betrayed you I stabbed you in the back he didn't hide and you know why because David is described as the man after God's Own Heart all he cared about in his sin was that he hurt God and he let God down when we sin oh we interested in is getting out of the consequences and the fact that we our self image J already and we walk around people call you a betrayer here the sacrifices of God are a broken Spirit a broken and contrite heart oh
00:37:17 God you will not despise you see one must be grieved not by how but but how offensive and Grievous our sin is to God not simply afraid that God's going to punish you know the moment you see first thing you think my goodness going to go to hell if that's the case that you don't love Jesus Christ I can tell you that you don't have a loving relationship with Jesus you are not saved because that's not how a proper Christian reacts a proper Christian is Christ in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ when you sin it's someone
00:37:51 you sin against that's the focus so you have worldly grief and godly grief Godly grief is dishonoring God all you care about that is you Dishonored God and worldly grief is oh I supposed to be like Superman now I'm like horrible Guy Can't Live myself going to kill myself right and then the clue is in the restoration remember the words son of Simon Simon son of John do you love me and he added this words more than these why does Jesus do this three times he asked you do you love me but the first time he
00:38:26 says do you love me more than and this other time he didn't say you know why because this is what Peter said Peter said when he was told that he was going to deny Jesus Christ they will though they fall away because of you I will never fall away even if I must die with you I will not deny you and all the disciples said the same his self-esteem was built on comparism isn't it the other Fells you know they all Che but me know I'm okay man that's right and you walk around the church you see everybody
00:39:00 else see oh the fellow Samuel he just came I see him in church once a month not very dedicated Christian right right I mean and then the all the the the the the the the offering bag goes around and I I heard three coins myself right check now I mean self-esteem is often don't laugh we all do that is built on comparison that's why when it come to repentance Jesus ask him do you love me more than these are you actually comparing right so it is not based on the magnitude of his love compared to others that he can boast about because
00:39:38 he can boast about the fact that he loves Jesus more than everybody else even that also can boast right but he's actually saying I love you do you love me this is an English Professor that wrote couple of words recently when she became a Christian that I I really caught my eye her name is Rosario uh champagne Butterfield and she writes this words I learned the first rule of repentance that repentance requires greater intimacy with God than with our sin how much greater how about the size of a mustard seed repentance is a
00:40:14 intimate Affair and for many of us intimacy with anything is a terrifying Prospect and I'm the first guy to put my hand up and tell you I'm afraid of intimacy but Rosario's words are very very striking he's saying that our intimacy with God has to be greater without intimacy with sin so which means she's painting a picture in life when you sin you only two places where you can stand there's no in between you either stand with God against your own sin or you stand with sin against God it's all or nothing and that's sex
00:40:47 shocking isn't it here we have the Mary who actually cries tears and brings an alabaster bar Jar full of perfume which which uh Yen preached about years pay and she paed it on to Jesus feet and she's crying all the time and she's repenting and Jesus said therefore I tell you her sins which are many are forgiven for she loved much but she was forgiven little loves little and he said to the woman your faith has saved you go in peace faith is about trusting the person her pray her tears and the offering of a
00:41:32 Year's pay was because of her love for Jesus Christ it is not because she's such a horrible person I've been a prostitute I did all this bad thing I'm going to come for you and then cry cry cry use my beautiful hair and wipe your feet that is the opposite it's about how she loved our lord Jesus and you compare her to the guy's house whom Jesus went his name is Simon Pharisee and he said you you saw this woman I entered your house you gave me no water for my feet she wet my feet with her tears and wiped
00:42:05 them with her hair you gave me no kiss but from time I came in she has not ceased kissing my feet you did not anoint my head with oil she has anointed my feet with ointment a stark contrast the Bible puts Mary next to Simon and refusal to do that is idolatry our identity is based on something more important than God's glory our glory is more important refusal to repent is to elevate our souls above God's glory and so we wind up with Judas trapped in regret and unbelief you know why he throws the 30 pieces of
00:42:51 silver he's trying to take the videotape and Rewind you think throwing the 30 pieces of silver will allow you to RND the vide tape although in those days no video tape right you can't the deed is already done and he knew he couldn't rewind so therefore he couldn't reverse the circumstance he couldn't live at a self-image he couldn't let go of his own sin because he was looking at himself he didn't look at the Lord this example of a man called shim if you look in one uh 2 Samuel 19 he's a guy when David was
00:43:30 attacked by his son Absalon who betrayed him and he joined forces with Absalon shim comes from Saul's tribe right I'm going tell you a story of two sons two people from Saul's tribe one shim and he scolded David he cursed David repeatedly and he took rocks and throw at David you know how terrible that is and the people in David's anage wanted to take the sword and cut his head off but d Avid said no don't cut his head off later on absalon's hair got caught in some branches be careful men long hair bum
00:44:06 you know get caught in branches and joab going shoot three arrows and kill him so the tides change now David coming back across the river Jordan to regain his Kingdom ah no more barisan new PKR coming new government and she may change his T no more throwing rocks you know what he did and shim son of girad the benjamite from bahim Hed to come to the men of Judah with the men of Judah to meet King David and with him were 1,000 men from benjam he didn't come alone he bring all his kak 1,000 people all right and um and
00:44:49 shim son of G fell down wow very good like repentance before the king as he was about to cross the River Jordan and he said to the king let not my Lord hold me guilty or remember how your servant did wrong on the day the Lord the king left Jerusalem do not let the king take it to heart yeah small thing on that one H don't get so angry I don't throw The Rock The Rock wasn't very big no small small rock on the earth for your servant knows that I have sinned here is about self minimizing the consequences of his
00:45:25 action right and then therefore behold I have come this day I have come this day with 1,00 men first of all the house of Joseph to come and meet my Lord the king you should be very honored you know I'm coming here give you apology you see this is Regret because political Winds of Fortune have changed it is not repentance contrast his relative mephi boset son of Jonathan son of Saul meet was left behind in the palace he was betrayed he couldn't join King David and you know what he said the son of Saul
00:46:09 came to meet the king he had neither taken care of his feet nor trimmed his beard nor washed his clothes from the day the king departed until the day he came back in safety wow wow wow W you could smell him a mile away never washed his clothes for in the whole duration David was the way isn't it and then he says but my Lord the king is like the angel of the Lord see see the focus my Lord the king is like the angel Lord do whatever seems good to you me and my father's house all my father's house
00:46:42 were but men doomed to death before my Lord the king you have set your servant amongst those who sit at your table what further right do I have to cry for the king he's just saying reminding the king that in that those days when Saul's Dynasty fell we all supposed to die isn't it but you saved me and put me on your table right and okay all right so uh what further right do I have to cry before the king so here we have true repentance true repentance doesn't focus on self it focuses the fact that you are useless
00:47:22 you're hopeless there's nothing you can offer and he puts himself at the mercy of the king right Psalm 32 with the word I acknowledged my sin I didn't cover my iniquity I will confess my transgressions to the Lord and you forgave the iniquity of my sin confession in Greek is homologous which means come to the same mind same opinion as God with regard to your sin so repentance is less common because it's about him it's all but it's repentance also a movement not just a state of mind if you look at the individual lives of
00:47:59 Judas and Peter you will see the difference between regret and repentance if you look at Judas do you know that this is called the Judas goat why do they call it a Judas goat well because this goat is a very loving goat he will go to all the sheep and make friends and somehow the Sheep like foreigners on you know okay so they will follow the goat as he leads them you know where slaughter house and it's true this is actually a Judas goat they got a Judas steer how many of you have named your children
00:48:39 Judas I bet you none isn't it unless you really hate your child I've never in my life I lived home 63 years I ever met somebody called Judas hey hi Judas Bo why because the life tells you that this is a despicable person in fact you look at Dante's Inferno who writes he says there are many levels in Hell the top level uh is due to uh uh uh lust and gluttony and greed heresy the nine level of Hell is What betrayal treachery and there you have casers Brutus Judas all kind makan Halfway by Satan see
00:49:23 betrayal and the history proves it nobody's name after Judas you look at this if you go to Rome St Peter's Basilica he was the leader of the Apostles he preached the First Gospel message 3,000 were saved numerous Miracles two books of the New Testament instrumental in acceptance of the Gentiles and he was martyred upside down for Jesus Christ and Jesus said this words when he saw the Pharisees and Sadducees which is a warning to us you brood of vipers who warned you to flee from the Wrath to come be bear fruit in keeping with
00:50:03 repentance repentance although the word is metor is a change of your mind but will result in a movement of your feet bear fruit in keeping with your repentance John preached about this parable about a man had two sons and he went to the first and said go and work in the vineyard and he answered I don't want to go and afterwards he changed his mind and he went that is a picture of repent repentance not just the state of mind you I repent for it's actually a movement of your hands repentance is action how do I
00:50:41 repent well first of all you can't repentance is actually granted by God God May grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth that they may come to their senses and ESC escaped from the snare of the devil after being captured by him to do his will repentance is a movement of God and uh Jesus told Peter beforehand Simon Simon behold Satan demanded to have you that he may sift you like wheat I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail and when you have turned against to strengthen your brothers his
00:51:19 faith did fail right let me correct it this Faith did fail but faith in totality he recovered you see we will all fail but it's whether we repent you turn back and strengthen and and Peter did fail make no doubt of it but he came back it's all about coming back it's not about failing we're so obsessed about failing because we're obsessed about our identity it's not about your identity it's about him coming back to strengthen your brothers that's what counts we are to seek not only that God will grant
00:52:00 repentance we are to seek the Lord while he may be found call on him while he is near let the wicked forsake his way and the righteous his uh un righteous man his thoughts that let him return to the Lord that he may have compassion to him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon so we're asked to turn and the bottom line about turning is that guaranteed God will pardon you guaranteed God will love you so what's not what's against turning right we have to seek with our hearts and this is Jesus talking to the
00:52:32 Pharisees just before the condemnation of Jerusalem he says how often would I have gathered your children together as a hand gathers a brute under the wings and you were not willing see your house is left desolate so before judgment comes God tells us come he paints a picture that he's like a hand who brings all of you underneath his wings to protect you the the whole reason of repentance is not to let you lose Fai not to humiliate you not to denigrate you but to Pardon you and lift you up he wants to make you righteous and
00:53:10 blameless Psalm 32 bless it you know everybody wants blessing and prosperity go all about blessing you know what the biggest blessing is forgiveness of sins that's the biggest blessing not your job not the bonus it's a forgiveness it says blessed is the one who transgressions forgiven whose sin is covered blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity and those Spirit there is no deceit many are the sorrow of the wicked but the steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord he is glad in the Lord and rejoice
00:53:42 oh righteous and Shout for Joy you are upright in heart so it turn a whole bunch of evil Sinners and horrible people who smell like me so said right a mile away you can smell him and they are blessed they are righteous they are upright what's that not that why don't we repent and then the third thing not only we have to seek him God will bring us repentance we are to trust God's word God's word's given to you this morning we have to trust it you know why for as the heavens are higher than the earth so
00:54:17 are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts you may not understand the trouble you're in you may not understand how it's so counter intutive that you have to lose your face and repent but as the heavens are higher than the earth so my ways are higher than your ways for as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return but water the Earth making it bring forth and Sprout giving seed to the swer and the bread to the eater so shall my word that goes out from my mouth it shall not
00:54:53 return to me empty it shall accomplish that which I purpose and shall succeed in the things for which I sent it which means the word of God sent out this morning to every single one of your hearts do you know Isaiah says it won't come back it will accomplish it will accomplish that is God's promise unless your calling stand up and say God's a liar he's not working my heart it will accomplish you know a couple of years ago there was Devastation in Australian bush I'm going going back to see my sons after 3 years
00:55:29 so I'm looking forward and my mind is focused that and was complete Devastation thousands of hectars of land burnt and and Wildlife destroyed almost tears your heart to see the pain but you know that's a picture of our own lives destroyed by the fire of our sin and we look can be mourn and yet God sends rain and there's green shoots there's a little bit of life and you go back to the Australian bush today it's teeming again and it's a picture of our life right no matter how devastated you think your life was which was right
00:56:20 in the middle of the bushire we thought it was all over the Lord will come in the midst of darkness and he will bring healing to your soul and healing to your family healing to your life and all we have to do is to seek Him and trust that that word just like that snow just like that water will come into your devastated life and will bring new life and you can start again if only we repent my word will accomplish and then the fourth thing not only we are to God will grant repentance we have to seek Him and Trust his word
00:57:01 the four things that we allow his grace to transform us Romans two or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance because of your heart and impenitent heart you're storing wrath for yourself on the day of Wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed you see God's kindness is given to us why why should I Repent because God's grace is there for you that's the reason why we're going to come to the
00:57:36 Lord's Supper to make sure you have in your pocket the elements if you don't have put your hands up but the Lord's Supper is particularly important today because the Lord's Supper is about repentance you know it wasn't Judas betrayal that brings the most pain to our Lord's heart you know what's the greatest pain on that day on that day it wasn't the fact that he was betrayed by the one he loved most well he loved Judas because he was with him for three years and he betrayed him with a kiss there was somebody who was with Jesus
00:58:16 Christ from eternity past Inseparable three in one and on that day when he hung on the cross that person that father that God said quiet he turned his face away and Jesus cried out with anguish and that anguish is the one that most hurts my God my God why have you forsaken me you know Tim Keller says these words I'll bring to you in the Lord's Supper that infant L happy being God would tear his life apart for us if you even get a glimpse of that it will heal the diseases of your soul why should we
00:59:15 repent it's because it is a response to Grace that God suffered the greatest pain which is the impetus for us to to place our weight on him you know the psalmist says the Lord is my light my salvation Whom Shall I Fear the Lord is a stronghold of My Life whom shall I be afraid this morning when we take of the bread we are taking the bread and saying that we are sinners and that this bread represents his body his death for us and we're saying that no longer are we going to be married or weed to our self-esteem and
00:59:56 our odd self or ideal self or the real self but we are replaced by Jesus living in our hearts he will be our light he will be our Salvation he will be our stronghold couple of months ago Will Smith lost it on the Academy Award he went up there and he slapped Chris Rock The Slap which was heard around the world and it's very interesting because David Chapelle a fellow American comedian wrote in uh CNN yesterday he said what will will did the impression of a perfect person for 30 years and he ripped his mask off and showed us he was
01:00:45 as ugly as the rest of us whatever the consequences are I hope he doesn't put his mask back on again and let his real face breathe I see myself in both men you know that's a slap that was heard around the world and for a brief moment he let the world see who he was and and David sheal is saying all of us are like that we are having a per a facade an image of a perfect man and we all walked around with the image of perfect man until something happens and we slip we act as if we not sin us that's why when I was in Catholic
01:01:23 Church the hardest thing in the Catholic church is what confession we need to take out our mask we need to stop pretending we need to repent that's why James says confess your sin to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed the prayer of righteous person has greatest power as is working so there opportunity later after the Lord's supper for you to come at and be ministered to you know there's blessing in Repentance all of us need to repent so take the bread before you right now and as we taking this
01:02:06 bread we are saying you know please if you are not a sinner don't take the bread it won't do you any good if you are a sinner if you betrayed our Lord Jesus Christ if you are a useless piece of de then you take the bread perfect people like Simon don't need bread sinful people like the woman prostitute needs bread and I'm one of them and when we take this bread we acknowledging we are sinners and we acknowledging that he died for us and when we take this bread we're saying our Lord Jesus Christ This
01:02:53 is Your Life given for us this is your life life live through us so let's all together take this bread in his name this is the blood that Jesus had bled on the cross for us the blood represents a covenant it's a promise it seals the promise the deal you know what this seals it seals the fact that when you take this Blood you are blessed no matter how horrible your sin is no matter where you've been and know you don't know what's going to happen tomorrow the Lord's blessing is going to be with you when we look at you all I
01:03:47 see I don't want to see the mask we see the love of Christ we see the Life of Christ and the and the worship team will sing it is Christ that lives in US repentance is about him not about us so let's drink this blood in celebration of what he done for us and in Hope of the life that we will live or he will live through Us in his name let's take this let's pray father God we come before you and we pray for every single person in this this Hall that your word has gone forth this morning it will not come back void your word has gone
01:04:33 out forward through the internet it will not come back void it will accomplish its purpose for which it was sent it will drill down into the hearts that will compel us to look away from ourselves and look towards you that it is you who are beautiful you who are marvelous and more importantly it is you will live in our lives to transform it to the beauty that you have always meant it to be for this we praise you for Jesus sake amen why do we stand together and sing this song as a response to his great
01:05:16 love response to how he has forgiven us and as a response to how he's living in US [Music] what gift of Grace what gift of Grace is Jesus My Redeemer there is no more for heaven now to give he is my joy my righteousness and freedom my steadfast love my deep and boundless peace to this I hold my hope is only Jesus for my life is Holy bound to his oh how strange and divine I can sing all is mine yet not I but through Christ in me [Music] tonight is dark but I am not forsen for by my side the savior he will
01:06:48 stay I labor on in weakness and rejoicing for in my need his power is display to this I hold my shepherd will defend me through the Deep valelly he will all the night has been and I shall overcome yet not I but true [Music] [Applause] [Music] Christ no F I dread no F I dread I know I am forgi the future sure the price it has been paid for Jesus and suffered for my heart and he was raised to over come on let's de together to this I hold my sin has been defeated Jesus now and never is my oh the chains are released I can't
01:08:24 see I am and not I but through [Music] [Music] Christ with every bread I long to follow Jesus for he has said that he will bring me home and day by day I know he will renew me until I stand with joy before the Lord to this I hold my hope is only Jesus and all the glory ever more to when the is com still my shall we and not I but you Christ through this I hope through this I hope my hope is only in Jesus all the glory never more to live when your R is complete still my shall we me yet not I but through
01:10:00 Christ when the when the is my shallat not but through Christ in me yet not but through Christ in let's remain standing for the benediction yet not I but Christ in us so as we depart let us allow the word of God to sink into the depths of our souls let it ruminate let it percolate let it produce fruit now may the Lord God of Peace who through the blood of the Eternal Covenant brought us back from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ the great Shepherd of the sheep equip you with everything good for doing his
01:11:04 will and may he work in us what is pleasing to him through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever and all these people said amen you may be seated those of you who would like to have prayer please come and uh talk to us we may pray with you and for you we are all sinners we all need repentance
