Amen. Please remain standing for our scripture reading. Our Old Testament reading comes from the book of Proverbs, chapter 3, verse 5 to 7. If you are using the church Bible, you will find it on page 671. Page 671, Proverbs 3, 5 to 7. The one question that I want all of us to ask this morning is where our confidence relies, upon which, upon who our confidence in the Christian life lies. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him. and he will make straight your path. Be not wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and turn away from evil. Now turn to the Gospel of John, chapter 13. As we all together make our way through the Gospel of John, John chapter 13, beginning from verse 36 to 38. If you have not noticed it already, we're going to conclude chapter 13 by God's grace this morning. I'll read it in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going? Jesus answered him, where I'm going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward. Peter said to him, Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you. Jesus answered, will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times. Let's pray. Gracious and heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of your word. Your word is holy. It is eternal. It is inerrant. And we ask you now to use this perfect and holy word in our hearts and our ears. so that the preaching of your Word would conform us to the likeness of your Son, Jesus Christ. In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen. You may be seated. Those of us who are pastors, when we engage in conflict resolution, with church members and family members. We witnessed a lot of things. And as I was preparing this sermon this week, one incident came to my mind. A daughter, a Christian, who denounced her father for divorcing her mom only to marry a woman with whom he had a secret sexual affair. Everyone who was involved in that meeting supported the daughter, calling her dad to responsibility, pointing him to Jesus for repentance, But after a while, something that nobody expected took place. She changed her tone and she made this statement toward her husband, her dad. She said to her dad, I will never, never under any circumstances throughout my whole life, I would never do or commit a sin like this. What's wrong with that? Condemning her dad for the sin he committed? I would say biblical. Anyone would support that? But do you see the problem of the statement that she made later on? The problem was self-confidence. The statement she made was this young woman trusting in herself. And let me tell you what happened after a few months, maybe six months, she divorced her husband, duplicating the same sin that her father committed to marry a boyfriend with whom she had secret affairs. the danger of self-confidence, the danger of overestimating your own gifts, your own spiritual knowledge, and take pride in yourself and above others, a very dangerous place. for any Christian to be in the Christian life. Remember what Paul tells us. In fact, he exhorts believers in 1 Corinthians 10-12. Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed, lest he fall. You see, Paul was saying, be careful how you view your Christian life in relation to others. Be careful how you treat others when they fall into sin. If you think you are standing, take heed, lest you also would fall. You see, in the Christian life, to take pride in your own righteousness, on moral values, is very dangerous. See what Paul is saying, be careful, it will take you to falling. This is the lesson to everyone of us from Peter's encounter with Jesus this morning, and I'll tell you why, is no matter what the world tells you, no matter what family members tells you, self-trust, self-confidence will take you to a disaster. People might tell you, you are somebody. People might tell you, believe in yourself. Trust in yourself. People might tell you, hear to your heart. Trust in yourself. That's exactly what Peter did. Peter was an apostle. Peter was a disciple. He knew Jesus so closely. He knew the scripture. But he took pride in himself. And I want us to consider the danger of self-confidence in the Christian life this morning under three headings. First, beware of self-trust. Be on guard about trusting in your own moral qualities. Be careful. Secondly, walk in conscious dependence on Christ. So first, beware of self-trust. Be careful. That's a warning. That's a warning. That's exactly what Jesus told Peter. But first, let me refresh your minds about where exactly we are in our consideration of the Gospel of John. Remember, we are at the upper room with Jesus and his disciples. And Judas, the betrayer, left the room. And if you are like me, I love how the reformer Martin Luther describes that. He left with clean feet, but unclean soul. Jesus washed his feet. He left with clean feet, but unclean soul. He went out, he left the room for eternal destruction. Judah's departure, he left with Him heading to destruction. Then Jesus remained with the 11 disciples, the true disciples, and He started giving them timely, urgent, and pressing instructions before He would be crucified on the cross. You remember He taught them to serve one another the way He served them. He taught them to love one another in a way that He loved them. to love Him, to love the glory of the cross. Very timely instructions. Jesus was telling His disciples, I want you to do these things if you are really my disciples. In my absence, this is how I want you to live out the Christian life. Serve one another the way I served you. Wash one another's feet. Be humble toward one another. Love one another the way I loved you, unconditionally. and then love me and love the cross. Now notice carefully on what happened as our Lord Jesus Christ was teaching the disciples about the importance of serving one another, loving one another, loving Him, loving the glory of the cross. Notice what happened. One of the disciples, the most loyal disciple, one of the disciples, the most outspoken one, Peter, was not paying attention. to what Jesus was teaching. How do we know that he interrupted Jesus? His mind was somewhere else. He was stuck. Do you know where he was stuck? He was stuck with Jesus' statement about his departure. In verse 13, Jesus told him, sorry 33 little children yet a little while I'm with you you will seek me and just I say to the Jews so now I also say to you where I'm going you cannot come that's where Peter stuck he was not paying attention so he interrupted Jesus our Lord left that discussion early and He was teaching about service and about love, but Peter was still thinking about Jesus' departure. Now, why do you think John is remembering this? Why is John writing this for us? After 65 years? You know, Jesus After Jesus' death, 65 years, now John is writing these things for us. Why don't John make his focus on the most important things? Jesus' crucifixion, the teaching about love, service one another, sanctification, growth in the Christian life. There are other things that John would speak about. And if John remembered Peter's encounter with Jesus about self-confidence. Why? Two reasons. First, it is so, so crucial, so important for God's people to remember that his most loyal disciple betrayed him three times. We need to remember that. It's a fact. It's history. In the Christian church, people actually can deny their master. Not one time, not two times, three times! And then secondly, you see, John was writing this after 65 years. He was writing this because he wanted God's people to learn about the danger of self-confidence. The danger of having a high opinion of yourself, your Christian life, above others. To become proud about your Christian life, about your commitment to Jesus Christ, comparing yourself with others, very dangerous thing to do in the Christian life. Now let's come back to Peter's question in verse 36. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going? Why is he asking that question? Not only for the sake of information. Are you going to Jerusalem? Are you going to Jericho? Are you going to Galilee? Where are you going Lord? But he was also thinking, as he was asking this question, he was also thinking in terms of, you know, danger that Jesus might face. You can understand that from his words, from the statement that he was making. Do you know what Peter was saying to Jesus? You just told us you're going somewhere, and wherever you go, Master, wherever you go, Lord, you need me. I need to be there. Now remember, don't be hard on Peter. Remember this about Peter. Peter often got things wrong. One Bible commentator said he only removes his one feet only to put the other feet on his mouth. That was Peter. But everything that he said, everything that he did, he did all those things out of a profound love for Jesus. Yes, he was wrong. Yes, he was wrong to rely on himself to believe in his own strengths. But he was doing that out of love for Jesus. And Jesus corrected him. Jesus rebuked him. That's what Jesus does with his sheep. But I want you to grasp what Peter was saying to Jesus. Don't go anywhere without me. Wherever you go, you will need me. You know, he confessed him as the Christ, the son of the living God. So he recognized him as a king. Now he's considering himself as the protector of the king. He even said, I'm ready to lay down my life for you. And it got worse in the Gospel of Mark, where Peter said to Jesus, if this man fall, if this man deny you, if this man flee, I will never deny you. Maybe this man are weak. Maybe this man are less strong. Maybe this man are afraid. But me? No. I will protect you. I will lay my own life for you. Do you see the problem with Peter? He was thinking of himself as the protector of the Messiah. He had a very high opinion of himself. And do you see how he was condescending above the others when he said, I'm not like them. They might fall, they might become afraid and run away, but I will not do that. Philippians 2, 3. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit. What does conceit mean? Conceit means to have a high opinion of yourself. could be your gifts, it could be your understanding of the scripture and the Christian life, your devotion, your Christian devotion. Now Paul said, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Making yourself holier than others. Take pride in oneself. Paul is saying, do not let yourself, your spiritual gifts, and devotion deceive you. And have a high opinion of yourself above others. Remember King David, whom God called a man after my own heart. King David. Remember Peter himself, the leading apostle. David fall into sin. Peter denied Jesus three times. He was afraid of a little girl. Not a soldier, not soldiers of the Roman government, but a little girl. When she said, you are one of his disciples, he was afraid. Remember them. You see, I'm going to lay down my life for you. Now listen to Jesus' response, how he shows him the danger where he was. Jesus answered him, where I'm going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward. You see, Jesus was saying, I'm going to the cross. I'm going to the cross to die on behalf of sinners as an atoning sacrifice for sinners. Peter, you cannot atone the sin of anyone. Peter, you cannot die on the cross as I am going to die on the cross. You're not the Messiah. You're not the Christ. Peter, stop and think about who you are. Stop trusting in yourself. Be careful of self-confidence. You will never die on the cross. You're not the Redeemer. Yes, you will die afterward. You will die for the cause of the gospel. You will die when your time comes, but it's not the time for you now. It's not the time for you to die now. But Jesus was showing Peter what his problem was. Now, listen to how Jesus exposed Peter to his problem. Jesus answered, will you lay down your life for me? Peter, I want you to think about your own strengths, your self-confidence carefully, seriously. Will you lay down your life for me? You have no idea what is coming. You have no idea how you will respond to Persecution to the sword from the Romans! Peter! Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times. Beloved, do you know what you and I need to pray all the time? That we will never learn this lesson in a very, very severe and hard way like Peter did. This is for our learning. This is for our instruction. You can just listen to it and learn from it. An abundant self-reliance, abundant self-confidence on anything in our life, anything what we have. Jesus told him, in fact, Peter, you will not die for me. I will die for you. You will not die for me. In fact, it would be worse. You will deny me three times. You will tell everyone that you don't know me. And you will do that fearing a little girl. Proverbs 16, 18, pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Be careful. Watch out. Be on guard about how you view your Christian life in relation to others. Be humble. Do not rely on yourself. We read this in Proverbs chapter 3. Do not lean on your own understanding, verse 5. And in verse 7, be not wise in your own eyes. Be careful. Self-trust is very dangerous. Secondly, we think about the remedy now. What's the remedy? What's the solution? How do we overcome self-trust? You know, today, you know, the TV will tell you to trust in yourself. Any magazine that you, you know, secular magazine that you read, you know, believe in yourself. Trust in yourself. How do you overcome that temptation? First, by putting your confidence only in God. Only in God. Jeremiah 17, 7. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord. Now listen to this. Whose trust is the Lord? Not self. Not what you have. Not what you know. Not on the gifts that God has given you. the ability to preach, the ability to expound the word of God, the ability to do any Christian activity according to the scripture. You've been a mature believer. You know, all these things are good, and praise God for them. But you should never put your confidence on them. There will be a sinking sand for you, and you will go down. You will fall. So you put your confidence on God. You develop this conscious and constant dependence on Christ. We don't see Peter saying to Jesus, you know, Lord, I love you. I even love you to the extent of dying for you, but I can't do that by my own strength. Help me. Jesus would have told him, you know, Peter, I appreciate your love, but you don't need to die for me. I'll die for you. I'm going to die for sin. Yes, you will die for the gospel. But now the issue is dying on the cross. And you are almost at the point where you're telling me, you know, that you're going to share the cross together with me? That's pride, Peter. That's self-trust. That's self-confidence. Stop! Stop doing that. Hebrews 10 35, therefore do not throw away your confidence, confidence in God. You know, there are times in the Christian life, you know, sometimes knowingly, sometimes without knowing it, we throw out our confidence in God and then we put it on ourselves. I can do this. I know this. So and so doesn't know this. So and so, you know, can fall. I'm not going to fall. I'm strong. That's the reason why Paul said, be careful. If you think you are standing, you'll fall. And you'll fall big time, like Peter. And in Proverbs chapter 3, you see when the wise king tells believers not to rely on themselves, not to rely on their own wisdom and understanding, over and over again says trust in the Lord. Trust in the Lord. 2nd Corinthians 12 10 For the sake of Christ then, I am content with weaknesses. Listen to Paul. I'm content with weaknesses? What? He was bragging about his weaknesses. But listen why? Listen to why? Why is he doing that? Who in the world today would take pride of his weaknesses? and exalt Christ over his life. For the sake of Christ then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." When I'm weak, then I'm strong. Because God's strength works through my weaknesses. And what people see in my life is not my own strength, my own commitment, my own devotion, but the work of God's grace in me. So put your confidence on Christ. You remember Paul in Ephesians 6, 10. Finally, be strong. How? Be strong. How? In the Lord. Not in yourself. Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Not the might of yourself. Whatever that might is. Whatever that might is, don't put your confidence on that, but on Christ, on Christ Jesus. Secondly, flee from self-trust. Flee from self-trust. It's sin. Self-confidence. Flee from it. 1 Timothy 6, 11. But as for you, O man of God, woman of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness. Flee from other worldly things. Flee from self-righteousness. Flee from self-trust. But pursue, go after these things, righteousness, the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, godliness through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, faith, faith alone in Christ, love for Christ and for one another, steadfastness for the things of the Lord, gentleness toward one another. You know how you overcome self-confidence? By becoming compassionate toward those who fall into sin. You don't descend over them, telling them you are more holier than them, but you remind them, I am also a sinner, saved only by grace and through faith in Jesus Christ. Now I'm calling you to repentance. I'm calling you to change. I am like you. I'm not over you. That's love. That's compassion. But they should never sense in your life as a Christian, because of your own weaknesses and self-trust, self-confidence, they should never sense that you are acting like Peter toward them. You remember in Galatians chapter 6? In Galatians chapter 6. Paul exhorts believers, brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Now listen to this. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. So as you call others to repentance, watch out. Be on guard. that you are not taking pride in yourself. Lest you will also fall. You will also fall. Yes, call them to Christian responsibility, Christian duty. If anyone caught in any transgression, you, who are spiritual, should restore him in spirit of gentleness. Not only pastors, not only elders, as a brother in Christ, as a sister in Christ. Go to that sinner gently and with kindness confront him about his sin. Call him to repentance. Call her to repentance. But make sure that that is done in love and kindness. Not with pride. So flee. from self-trust, be compassionate toward others, and be humble. You know, this is so beautiful. I don't know how many of you have noticed this, but let's ask this question, and I'll finish with that. Do you think Peter learned his lesson? Yes. How do we know? Listen to Peter. In 1 Peter, chapter 5, verse 6, this is Peter. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time He may exalt you. Now listen to Peter here. Close yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud. He opposed him. God in the flesh opposed him. He knew that. He experienced that. He learned his lesson. Now he's preaching his teaching about humility. He's warning all believers, be careful. Don't be proud. Avoid self-trust. God opposes the proud, but he gives his grace to the humble. He gave him his grace. You remember Peter leaving that room, and he cried bitterly? And Jesus told the other disciples, it's OK. I already prayed for him. so that when He is restored, He would bring others to repentance. It's okay, I prayed for Him. He's my sheep, He's my child, He's my servant, He's my disciple. I prayed for Him. Beloved, if you are in Christ, Jesus has already prayed for you. But that doesn't mean that you continue in sin, that you continue living in sin. You don't take Jesus' love and prayers for you as a license for sin. You don't do that. The child of God doesn't do that. The child of God repents, as Peter repented. Did you hear his words? Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God. God opposes the proud. How does God oppose the proud? Jesus told Peter, Peter let me tell you what's coming into your life. You will deny me three times, you will fall, and you will fall big time. Peter, it would be bad. It would be bad for you, it would be bad for the Church, it would be bad for your company, the other disciples. Do you know why? When Peter said, I will lay down my life for you, the other disciples in the Gospel of Mark, they repeated the same. Yes, I will also die for you. I will also die for you. He was a bad influence on the other disciples. Pride, all of them. No one was willing to wash the feet of the master. He washed their feet. No one was willing to be humble. All of them said, yes, we will go to the cross and die for you and die with you. And now Peter is saying, don't do that. God opposes the proud. Don't be proud. Don't trust yourself. Avoid having a high view of yourself over others, especially fellow believers. Stay humble. Stay humble because God opposes the proud, but he gives his grace to the humble. Let's pray. Our gracious and heavenly Father, your word is indeed precious. It is crucial and important for us as your children Now we pray that you would grant us your Holy Spirit to be on guard about self-trust, self-confidence, the spiritual arrogance in the Christian life, viewing ourselves as more holier and righteous than others. Oh Lord, help us to Imitate even your son, Jesus Christ, in his humility, his perfect humility, living his life, always saying to you, your will, not my will. Lord, help us to overcome the temptation of self-trust and believing in ourselves, in our own strengths, our own gifts. our own devotion to you. But Lord, help us to put our trust, our confidence only in Christ. As Paul reminded us, I can do all things by the strength that Christ gives me. Help us to put that confidence on Christ. And when we fail, help us to repent, and to repent truly and from the heart like King David. begging you not to take your spirit away from us, but to restore us to the fellowship with you. Bless us with true faith and true repentance toward your son, Jesus Christ. In his name we pray. Amen.