Well, as I mentioned earlier, we are still walking through John, the gospel of John. We're on John chapter 13 this morning. We'll be talking about the last three verses of this chapter. Remember the context of John 13 through 17. This group of chapters in the gospel of John. Jesus is alone with his disciples. He's talking to them for much of this part of the gospel in the context of the Last Supper. He's alone with them. He's preparing them for what is soon to come to pass. He's praying for them in one of the most beautiful prayers that we will read in Scripture. And what's the purpose? He knows he's about to be crucified, and he wants them to be ready. He wants them to understand the purpose and the point of His death, but also to prepare them for it. Now, He's just told them that there's one of them who would betray Him. So one of their twelve is going to betray them. He's already washed all of their feet. He washed Judas Iscariot's feet as well. And then He said that one would betray Him and that they would all desert Him, including Peter, the supposed rock. Peter would also desert him. Although Peter pushes back against that. He doesn't think it's true. So we're going to read John chapter 13. Verses 36 through 38. Please stand for the reading of God's Holy Word. 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 me afterwards. 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. Amen. Please be seated. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our Lord will stand forever. Let us pray. Oh Father in heaven, we come to you as your children. We are hungry as your sheep in need of food. Please grant us the presence of your Holy Spirit. Please open our eyes, soften our hearts. Please work a work in us that would comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable by the power of your Holy Word. Strike a straight blow with this crooked stick, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, betrayal. Betrayal is a part of life. If you live long enough, someone will betray you. We all face various kinds of betrayal throughout our lives. It's nothing new in human history. If you remember, it's one of the very first events in human history the betrayal of Adam and Eve, betraying God, the Almighty God, the most massive betrayal of all. But then throughout the scriptures, we see multiple examples of betrayal. And it just, if you start thinking about it, you begin to realize that there's something about betrayal that is particularly frustrating and hated. Jacob, if you remember, tricked his father and his brother in this betrayal of trust to get the birthrights, to get the blessing. It's something that Cain seems to have never forgotten. This betrayal, this betrayal of trust. You remember Joseph was betrayed by his own brothers. First they wanted to kill him, and then they decided to sell him into slavery, as if that were somehow better. He was betrayed by his own family and sold into slavery. And yet, by the help of God, he was able to forgive. But this betrayal was a powerful, powerful work in the life of Joseph. To bring Joseph into a place where he could be used powerfully by God to save much of the civilized world I also thought of Doeg. Doeg betraying the high priest's family, Ahimelech, to Saul, and then went and murdered all of them. The whole family. Well, in our own history, we have traitors that are famous. We all know these traitors in our history in the United States. You remember in the Revolutionary War, there was a general officer who went over to the British. How could he do that? Benedict Arnold, in the middle of the war, went over to the other side. And of course, a famous traitor in World War II was this Norwegian man who basically betrayed his whole country over to the Nazis. for power for himself. His name was Quisling. And even today, if someone calls you a Quisling, it's not a good thing. They're calling you a traitor. All humanity despises traitors. And conversely, all humanity loves faithfulness and loyalty. Is it no surprise that steadfast love or loyal love is one of the attributes of God that's again and again and again seen throughout the Scriptures? Unfaithfulness and treason are universally hated. So Jesus has just told His disciples that one of them would betray them, and Jesus was going to die. They're all in shock. Peter, of course, is indignant. And rightly so. We would all want to feel this way. I don't want to ever do that, Lord. But Peter had a lesson to learn. That there's a bit of the unfaithful traitor in all of us. He wasn't as strong as he thought he was. Hence the title of the sermon, which is just false confidence. Or you could make it personal and you could name this sermon, Will I Also Betray Him? So I'm going to give you three points, each beginning with the letter F. First, we're going to look at a faulty focus or a failure to listen. on the part of Peter, a faulty focus. Secondly, a false confidence, and thirdly, a future betrayal. Faulty focus, false confidence, future betrayal. It's a fairly simple sermon, and it follows the scripture through these verses in order. First, let's look at the faulty focus of Peter. What am I talking about? Simon Peter just asked a simple question. Lord, where are you going? That seems reasonable. But to understand Peter's question, I think you have to go back a few verses. During his supper, of course, this master, their creator, the king of kings, has just washed the feet of his disciples. Interesting thing to do. We talked about it a few weeks ago, but interesting. Before his death, he washes the feet of his apostles. Why? He's showing them what sacrificial love should look like for the rest of their lives. this last act before His crucifixion is an act of sacrificial love, even for the one who would betray Him. And He would be glorified in this betrayal and the resulting death. But then He tells them they need to focus on this word of love, this new gospel, this new commandment to love one another. This seems to be the focus of the message. I'm going to be glorified and do what I have to do. And what you have to do is love each other. Like that's it. But, let me just read verses 31-35, what comes right before this text. When he had gone out, when Judas had gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. So the betrayer is going out to do his thing and Jesus says, I'm going to be glorified in this in this whole event. I'm going to be glorified in the betrayal and in my crucifixion and in my subsequent resurrection. I'm going to be glorified. This is what I've come to do. Verse 33, little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me just as I said to the Jews. So now I also say to you where I'm going, you cannot come. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another just as I have loved you. You are also to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples if you love one another. So he's going to be glorified in his crucifixion and death and subsequent resurrection. They cannot come and do this. Only he can do it. But in the meantime, they need to focus on their job, which is to love one another. Because by this all people will know that they are disciples of Jesus. Because they have love for one another. So Peter, what he's doing is he's bypassing the message of Christ and His glory, and he's bypassing the message of sacrificial love one for another, and he's going to this part that Jesus says he can't do. Which is to go with Jesus. He doesn't know exactly what that means, but he knows he wants to go with Him. And he keeps pressing this point that Jesus has not explained fully for him. Exactly what's going to happen? Where is he going to go? He wasn't listening very well. For this to be the first question out of his mouth, to say, where are you going, Lord? He wasn't very quick to listen, it seems. And yet, like Peter, I think we often are tempted to get it wrong as well. We also are tempted to focus on other things rather than the main thing. Here, Peter seems to focus on points that Jesus is not focused on. Like, where are you going? That's not the focus of what Jesus is saying. He's given them clear guidance. Rather, Peter wants to focus on what he wants to focus on. The provocative, maybe, the flashy, or the explosive, uncertain things that he doesn't know the answers to. rather than the daily practical things that we know we should do. He's just told them. Love one another. This is your focus. John Currid says of this passage, we love to dabble with disputes over doubtful things, and we get bored with the gospel and sound doctrine. Why? It's because it's much easier to delve into these questionable things than to live every moment to the glory of God and to love others sacrificially. That's the hard work of the Christian life. To live day after day for Christ. In an ordinary, normal life. A normal Christian life. Focusing on God's Word and prayer. Focusing on our love for others. Trusting Jesus for things that we cannot understand. And just loving God and loving others. This should be our focus. Now certainly there are other issues that we need to understand. There's a priority here that Christ has given Peter. And Peter's not focusing on the priority. Our lens for viewing daily life, and this is, I think, the key for the first point. Our lens for viewing daily life should be what Christ said, the love of Christ. We love others and love God with all of our heart, soul and mind. Let the love of Christ control you, Paul tells us. The love of Christ, let it control you. So Peter had a faulty focus on his own interests. Where Jesus was going. He wants to know more about that. It's not a sinful focus. I'm not saying that. But it's a focus that's off the mark. It's not where he should be focused at this moment in time. He needs rather to trust in Jesus and focus on loving his brothers. But more seriously, Peter also has a false confidence in his own strength, in his own faithfulness, in his own constancy. This is the second point, a false confidence we see in verse 37. Peter said to Him, Lord, why can I not follow You now? Jesus had just told him in verse 36. Where I'm going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow me afterward. And Peter's replying, but why can't I go now? I will lay down my life for You. I think this is a wonderful response. Again, like Peter, we see ourselves so much in Peter's words. Peter says, I don't care if you say I can't go, I want to go. I would do anything. I would even lay down my life. He's just been told he can't go, and yet he says he wants to go anyway. Clearly, Jesus is trying to redirect Peter to what is important. And that's Jesus in His work, not Peter's work. Jesus' work. Jesus' faithfulness, not Peter's faithfulness. But Peter isn't listening. He actually doubles down. He thinks he's up to the task. He thinks he's ready to follow Jesus everywhere and ready to die for Him. The synoptic gospels fill out. the fullness of Peter's confidence. This is one of those events in Jesus' life that is in every one of the Gospels. Except for Mark, maybe. But listen to Luke 22. Jesus tells Peter that Satan has asked to sift him like wheat. And Peter seems to reply that he's ready to go with Jesus to prison and to death. It's his response to this. It's like Peter's saying, OK, we'll bring it. I'm ready. Matthew 26, even if all are made to stumble because of you, I will never be made to stumble. He's looking around the table and he's like, all these other guys, they might fail you. I'm never going to do that. Jesus, I would never stumble. In Matthew 26, Jesus says to Peter what he says here in John, no, you will deny me. He tells him, no, you will deny me. Peter said, no, even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you. So certainly there's something in this that's commendable, isn't there? The Spirit is definitely willing. We all believe that Peter really wants to do this. He wants to serve Jesus faithfully. But his flesh is so weak, He has a focus on his own strength rather than on the work of Jesus Christ. He thought he was so strong. He thought he was so faithful. And yet we all know the story. Within a few hours of this conversation, he would deny Jesus. He would deny that he even knew Jesus. And Jesus had warned him that this was going to happen. That he was weak and that he would falter. But he did not heed the warning. Rather, he proclaimed his His faithfulness, and that His love was sound and steady and sure. And that He was better than all those around Him. These weak people who certainly were going to fail. Who were certainly going to fall away. I think it's appropriate to remember R.C. Sproul Jr.' 's maxim of Scripture hermeneutics, where he says, when you read of someone else's sin and unfaithfulness in Scripture, remember that it's there for you. We all have this in us, this very willing spirit and weak flesh. We're all actually delusional regarding the strength of our own hearts for Jesus. All of us are. I think Paul is very wise and learned the same way Peter did, that him who thinks he stands, he should take heed, lest he fall. 1 Corinthians 10.12. we should all be very wary of our own hearts and our own ability to fall into sin. Our attitude, I believe, when you see others falling into sin or you see things happening around the world that are just outrageous and sinful, certainly there's a part of us that wants to call it out for what it is and say, this is evil and wicked and affront to God. But when it comes to your own heart personally, you need to have the attitude that but for the grace of God go I. We all have a little bit of Peter in us. JC Ryle says these verses show us how much self-ignorance there may be in the heart of a true believer. Let it be a settled principle in our religion that there is an amount of weakness in all our hearts of which we have no adequate conception. And that we never know how far we might fall if we are tempted. Yes, there is a self-righteousness in all of our hearts. Heeding the warnings of Scripture. Remember, if God were to withdraw His sustaining hand from your life for just a moment, we would all quickly fall away. And apart from the Holy Spirit, you would never come to Christ. So, two points of application. Be very wary of your own spiritual strength. When you are weak, then you are strong, Paul said. In other words, the strongest Christian is the Christian who knows just how much he needs Jesus every day of his life, and just how quickly he would fall away without the Spirit of God. The strongest Christian is the Christian who is most aware of his own spiritual weakness and his need for Christ. The second point of application, I would say, is when you see a weak brother in the church or see someone fall from grace, Have great compassion for them. Certainly, you call out evil when you have to. Most recently, of course, I've talked about it with some of you because it affected me greatly, but a pastor and preacher, Steve Lawson, had an affair with a young woman. I was really disturbed by this thing. It's evil. It's outrageous. It's an affront to Christ and His church. But then we all have to remember, he's just a man. Right? He's just a man. Yes, he's removed from ministry and rightly so. But then we show him love and patience and pray for him, remembering that that could also be us. Ryle goes on to say our Lord has many weak children in his family, many dull pupils in his school, many raw soldiers in his army and many lame sheep in his flock. Yet he bears with them all and cast none away. Happy is that Christian who has learned to do likewise with his brethren. You see, Jesus was kind and compassionate to Peter. He knew Peter was going to do this. And He still is feeding Peter. He's telling him the truth in love. And He knew more about Peter than Peter knew about himself. All the bluff and the no follow-through. Jesus knew what it was. But He also knew that God was not finished with Peter yet. So go and show grace to a weaker brother and those who fall, as Christ did as well. And if it's you, if you are the weak one, lean into Jesus. Remember His work on the cross. There is now, never, no, no, no guilt, no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. Remember the work of God for you to bring you into the family. Yet even Jesus' warning did not cause Peter to take heed at this moment. Jesus answers in verse 38, Will you lay down your life for me? He's telling him, you're going to betray me. This is the future betrayal that Jesus knows is coming. Peter, will you really lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow until you have denied me three times. So if you have chickens, you know that the rooster crows right about the time the sun comes up, maybe a little bit earlier. It was something that Jesus knew was going to happen. This was truly, truly going to happen. Jesus says to Peter, truly, truly, I say to you, this is certainly going to happen, Peter. You need to listen. You will deny me three times before the rooster crows. It's nighttime now, so it's within six hours or so. You'll deny me three times. This is finality. Three denials. His supposed strength will be shown to be weakness and cowardice. But Peter doubles down. You remember Peter was the one who pulled out his sword in the Garden of Gethsemane and cut off the ear of the servant, Malchus, the servant of the high priest. He was going to use his own strength and his own ability and follow through and make Jesus eat his words. And yet after that, even Peter fled. Calvin says that Peter is blamed for pretending to be a valiant soldier. while he is beyond arrow shot. In other words, it's easy to boast about your faithfulness and your constant courage or steadfast love. It's easy to boast about it when you're sitting around a table, drinking wine and having a Passover meal in a warm room with your friends. Jesus knows better. He's going to use a simple chicken to bring home this point. And indeed, this was all part of God's plan. This was part of God's plan for the growth of Peter and the growth of his church. We see Paul talking about the same kind of thing in his own life. That God would humble him so that he could lift him up and use him. In 2 Corinthians 12, he was explaining that he had been lifted up to the third heaven. He had seen heaven. And he said, unless I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me. lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, in my weakness, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Like Paul, like all true believers, God will make you usable. There's no such thing as a prideful Christian. God will work the pride out of you, often through tribulation and hardship. There's certainly no such thing as a prideful pastor or spiritual leader, which Peter is learning now. God has His way of making us useful, and we need to be trained by the difficult providences of God. And those who refuse to be trained by Him, they are not truly His. So let me conclude with this. All of our successes and failures, just like Peter's failure here and his successes, it's all to the glory of God and for Peter's own good. Remember in verse 36, Jesus told him, where I'm going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow me afterwards. Jesus told him he couldn't follow him now, but afterward he would. What does he mean? Why would he say this? It's the sacrifice of Jesus that's in view, not the sacrifices of Peter. Right now, we need to focus on the sacrifice of the Almighty God. Jesus would be sacrificed on the cross. He was the one who was going to be faithful when all else failed. Everything that Peter professed was only seen in Jesus that day. He was the only faithful one. Jesus wasn't going to run. He wasn't going to flee danger. He walked right into it. This was His Father's plan. To the very end, He was going to be faithful. Will you lay your life down for me, Peter? Actually, no, I will lay my life down for you. So Peter's boastful and prideful arrogance is contrasted with Christ's humble and determined will to do the will of His Father. to redeem and atone for the sin of a lost humanity. This is a fulfillment of the prophecies of Scripture. This is the one thing that has been focused on in all of Scripture, pointing to this moment, the death of our Savior on the cross. This is the glorious plan from the very beginning. So Peter is shamed and silenced by his failure. We know that. He goes out weeping. Weeping. and he feels that hurt and that wound probably for the rest of his life to some degree. Peter's shamed and silenced, but Jesus is glorified and magnified by his victory over sin and death. Afterwards, Peter would be called to suffer for the name, yes, as are all Christians. Not like Peter, of course, but all Christians are sons of God if we suffer with them, Paul says in Romans 8. Suffering and fiery trial are part of the Christian experience. But we need to learn from these things to rely on Jesus, as difficult as the trial might be. Never again did Peter rashly trust his own confidence. He learned from what he suffered. He learned to trust in the Word of Christ. I like how our Confession of Faith, chapter 5, talks about the providence of God. This is a great comfort to someone who is facing the consequences of sin or suffering in the moment because of sin. The most righteous, the most wise, righteous, and gracious God doth oftentimes leave for a season His own children to manifold temptations, the corruption of their own hearts, to chastise them for their former sins, or to discover unto them that hidden strength of corruption and deceitfulness in their hearts, that they may be humbled and raise them up to a more close and constant dependence for their support upon Himself, and to make them more watchful against all future occasions of sin, and for sundry other just and holy ends. God will allow us, like Peter, often to fall, but our focus needs to be immediately put back onto Jesus. To have no confidence in the flesh, but rather to look to the cross of Christ and the gospel for strength. You also can trust your almighty God in the situation that you face today. That God might be your strength. If you feel strong like Peter. Beware. If you feel weak. Comfort yourself in the cross of Christ. And in your Savior. If you are comfortable today, be warned, receive the warning. Receive what Peter refused to receive. But if you tremble at the Word, if you tremble at the flesh and the devil and the world which oppose you, be comforted in our King, King Jesus, His person and His work. He may humble you, but He will never leave you or forsake you. He's always with His children. He will give you strength to stand. He'll give you courage when the fiery trouble comes. So have no confidence in yourself. but put your confidence in our Savior, Jesus Christ. Let us pray. Our precious Father in heaven, Jesus, our Savior, Holy Spirit who regenerated our souls, triune God, we come to you and we pray that you would indeed do your work in us. Lord, none of us wants to fall. None of us wants to to fail you as Peter did in this moment, and yet we know all too well that we, like Peter, are subjects to failures and to sin. Pray that you would give us wisdom and strength to fight the battle within, that we would be sanctified by your Holy Spirit, that the reading and preaching All of the common grace that you give us, the prayers of your people, would all be effective to that end. For those this morning who are struggling with a sin, a betrayal, or a rebellion, we pray that you would bring them back as you restored Peter. Restore them to yourself. For those who really do think they're so strong, We pray that you would open their eyes to understand the depths of their own sin and their ability to fall. Lord, we pray that all of it would be for your glory and to the purpose that we might lean more heavily and look more closely upon the face of Jesus, our Savior and our Lord and our King, the one who is faithful, the only one who is steadfast, the only one who is loyal to a T, the only one who will never leave us or forsake us. Let us fix our eyes upon Him, the author and the perfecter of our faith. We pray this all in Jesus' name.