His Best for My Worst (Dr. Philip Samaan, 08/23/25)

We're so fortunate in these troubled times to

have Jesus our best friend. You know, the seminar

today, and we'll have one presentation after

the fellowship meal, having to do with the culture

of Jesus where I was born. I'm familiar with

the culture. And the book I use in my class,

Life and Teaching of Jesus at the University,

is based on this book. God help me to write,

the Middle East Messiah, cultural insights into

his life and ministry so that we can deepen and

enrich our understanding of Jesus. That's what

we're going to talk about today. And talking

about friends, what a friend we have in Jesus

as his special music showed us. You know, it's

interesting to read that, what a friend we have

in Jesus. Hear it in music, it's even more effective.

Think about that song throughout the day. Remind

yourself, whatever happens to you, Jesus is your

faithful, everlasting friend. He doesn't gossip.

He does not stab you in the back. He's the same

yesterday and today and forever. And I'll tell

you something about that. written by a poet from

my part of the world. His name is Gibran, Khalil

Gibran. His works, his poetry, translated into

English. And this is what he says about genuine

friendship, referring to Jesus, our best friend.

This is what he said. I'm translating from the

Arabic. Which says literally, a genuine friend

is someone into whom you can pour out all the

contents of your heart. Be careful. Don't lose

everybody. Only to Jesus. Pour out all the contents

of your heart. Both wheat and chaff together.

All of us have wheat and chaff, more or less.

Jesus is the only one who only has wheat. But

we can pour out all the contents of our hearts.

Chaff and wheat together. What does he do with

that? He keeps what's worth keeping, the wheat,

in one hand. With the other hand, he gently blows

away all the chaff. Have you ever found anyone

like that in this world? Be careful. I said,

be careful. I mean, you can trust your spouse

to pour out all the conscience of your heart,

maybe. Sometimes that's not the case. But be

careful. May Jesus be the best friend you have

where you can share anything you want to share

with him. He knows it already, doesn't he? He

still loves you in spite of that. Most people,

we're all human. We're all a bunch of sinners.

Most people throw away all the wheat and hold

on to the chaff. It's interesting. Jesus Throws

away our chaff, keeps our wheat. But sometimes

we do the opposite. Shouldn't we learn from Jesus?

People come to me and say, Dr. Saman, I've known

you for 50 years, 60 years. You never gossiped

against me. I can't trust you. I say, well, it's

only because of Jesus. Humanly speaking, I cannot

be trusted. Our trust must always be anchored

in the trust of Jesus. The title of this message

is His Best for My Worst. Whose best? Christ's

best. Whose worst? My worst. What do you read

in this title? What message do you get from this

title? His best for my worst. Can you give me

some examples? What do you think about when you

think about Jesus' best? What do you think about

when you think of your worst? Well, first of

all, Jesus died of a broken heart that was more

severe than the thrust of the spear and the crown

of thorns on his head and all the beating, all

the flogging. He died of a broken heart. He came

to save his own people, but his own received

him not. Even his disciples ran for their lives.

He gave his perfect broken heart for our sinful

heart. His best. For my worst. In Sabbath school,

we talked about he gave his robe of righteousness

to us for our sin. He gave his life above the

eternal for our death. His best for our worst.

I mean, I can mention many examples. Look at

his prayer on the cross of Calvary as the Pharisees

were relishing all the agony, all the pain he

was experiencing. He prayed for them. Father,

forgive them for they don't know what they're

doing. It's not easy to pray for your enemies.

We live in a culture. We live in a world. Where

people want revenge. They want to get back at

each other. It's everywhere in politics. Don't

politicians want to get back at each other? Even

you look at the royal family in the United Kingdom.

With all the dysfunction there. Hopefully Prince

William and his wife Kate. try to bring some

respect and confidence in the royalty. Look at

the dysfunction. You don't even want to think

about all that darkness. All I say is this. Our

royalty is Jesus, the Lord of Lords and Kings

of Kings. And someday his light will dispel all

darkness. There is hope for us. If you become

discouraged in this world, remember Christ Jesus

is coming. to make everything right. Doesn't

that inspire to stand up for the right today?

Very few people stand up for the right. His best

for my worst. And I'm referring to Judas. In

the culture of Jesus, you don't betray your friends.

That's the most shameful thing. Jesus invested

so much in Judas. He didn't even expose his problems

to the public. He tried to help him, love him,

guide him, doing his best for him while Judas

in his heart was rejecting Jesus. And what did

Christ's friend Judas What did he do to reciprocate

how Jesus treated them? He went to the Sanhedrin,

the Jewish leaders of Israel, and he conspired

with them to sell his friend. Do you hear what

I'm saying? To sell his friend. You could sell

chicken. You could sell vegetables. You could

sell cars. You could even sell a harp. But do

you sell people? Well, but not just people. To

sell Jesus, the most precious friend we can have.

To sell God. In other words, to sell God. To

sell the son of God. For how much? 30 lousy pieces

of silver. Which was the price of a slave? To

sell him with 30 pieces of silver the price of

a slave. That was the most shameful thing in

that culture. Oh my. If you sell your friend

for lousy money, you are to be detested. To be

ashamed for the rest of your life. Because in

that culture you have the shame and honor. People

do anything to protect their honor. Jesus gave

Judas his life and his broken heart. And he gave

him back by selling him a certain piece of silver.

In Sabbath school, we talk about the Greek word.

I'm not expecting to be my Greek students. Just

one word for today. No, two words. One word in

Greek, one word in Aramaic. What was the word?

Somebody remember? Describing Jesus in John 3

.16? For God so loved the world, he gave his

what? What's the Greek word? One word only. Somebody

remember? If you don't remember, I want to ask

Pastor Hudson. He remembers. The word is monogamous.

That's all. One word. No begotten nothing. You

say, well, come on. Are you reading from the

King James Version? No. I'm reading directly

from the original language, Greek. Is that a

good translation? It's not a translation. It's

the original language. That's why at Southern

Adventist University, our ministerial students

spend four years studying Greek and Hebrew. Why?

Because they need to understand the Bible, its

original language, to get the real meaning. Because

you have different translations, different wording.

It used to be the King James Version, and people

memorized things in that version. But now, how

do we teach our young people to memorize? What

translation? You know, like... To me, the King

James Version, even though it's old English,

but yet it's poetic. The Lord is my shepherd,

I shall not want. It's easy to memorize. But

the Greek tells you the exact meaning. And what's

the literal meaning? Monogamous, unique. For

God so loved the world that he gave His unique

son. Whosoever believes him should not perish

but have everlasting life. We talk in Sabbath

school about this term being so meaningful, so

significant, unique. Because we have unique problems

in this world that need unique solutions. One

of you mentioned one unique problem is sin. It

is. It is a unique problem. And who can solve

the problem of sin? You can pay a psychologist

a million dollars. And by the way, psychologists,

psychiatrists charge a lot of money. Can they

solve the problem of sin? I'm putting you on

the spot here. Think about it. Who can solve

your problem of sin? You go to religious founders,

Muhammad of Islam, Buddha of Buddhism, Confucius

of Confucianism. Who can solve the problem of

sin? It's a unique problem. Nobody can solve

it. We're stuck with sin. And sin is a killer.

It's a virus that kills you. And people worry

about COVID -19. And what's the best vaccine?

And now there's a great debate, should people

have taken the vaccine or not? People didn't

think much about future consequences. You read

it on websites. My point is this, a greater Virus

is the virus of sin. We don't have debate about

what is the best vaccine. It's the shed blood

of Jesus that can cure the worst of sins. And

the sequel. To this unique problem of sin is

death. Sin causes death. Sin separates from God,

the source of life. Death is our worst. How did

Jesus solve that problem? By dying in our stead.

For the ways of sin is death. But the gift of

God is eternal life. I like the word eternal

because everything in this world is temporary.

I like teaching. Oh my, I love teaching. I miss

teaching. I'm retired now. Because as a human

being, I only have a limited life to live. You

start young before you know it. Decades pass

by. I've been living in the South 28 years. That's

a lot of years. And you become old and you retire.

I mean, I wish I could have been teaching eternally.

You can't. I mean, doctors retire, spend so much

money and effort and study to become a surgeon,

and now they're retired. Jesus never retires

from taking our sins away and giving us his robe

of righteousness. He never retires. from taking

our death away and giving us eternal life. Can

you imagine someday when Jesus comes he's going

to give us eternal life. Can you fathom that?

I mean people look at me and my wife Sharon and

they think I robbed the cradle. Thanks a lot

because they think I really look old and she

looks much younger than me. In heaven will not

compare each other with each other. We'll all

look young, vibrant. I met a brother here. He's

about my age, being a good Samaritan, active,

growing a garden, working hard physically, and

he went to the roof of a friend to help him clean

his roof. And he slipped and fell all the way

down. He injured himself. Till this day he is

suffering from this injury. The day will come

where he will never suffer injury again. No more

injury. No more suffering. No more sin. No more

separation. Can you imagine an existence without?

Satan. And you think about it. No Satan forever.

And no sin. And no sickness. I call these the

multiple S's. Even though my last name starts

with Saman, S. But S is good. It goes also for

Savior. For salvation, but also it's Satan, no

more Satan. In this world, there'll be no more

Satan. Can you imagine a world, a universe, without

Satan, without sin, without suffering, without

sickness, without surgery, without separation?

I mean, that's something we should look forward

to. And you enjoyed Mary Beth's music? Did you?

I mean, that's the best we can do in this world.

But can you imagine being in heaven and hearing

the angels play golden harps? You think the angels

are good musicians? Mary Beth, how would you

feel hearing angels playing harps? Won't that

be amazing? And not only is it amazing, by the

grace of God, you're going to learn from them.

You think you can learn some more? Thank you

for being my wife's teacher. I appreciate it.

She thinks you're an amazing teacher. She never

had a teacher like you. Maybe I'm dwelling on

this too much. Jesus is eager to give his best

in exchange for our worst. There was a... a religious

convention held in the Far East where different

religions met together, representatives of different

religions meeting together, Buddhists, Hindus,

you know, Christians, others. And each delegation

was to bring a portrait. To represent the essence

of the religion. The Buddhists brought a portrait

of Buddha. People worshipping him. And other

delegates brought other pictures to depict the

essence of the religion. Christians brought a

picture. And the sermon is about that. The picture

of who? The picture of Jesus bending at the feet

of Judas, his betrayer, the most shameful act,

and washing his feet. In that culture where I

grew up, even to this day, people... sit on the

floor on carpets. Especially during Jesus' time,

they just sat on the floor, on the carpet. And

when he washed his feet, his head almost touched

the feet of Judas. Now, what's the significance

of that? Well, in that culture, during Jesus'

time and during our time, The head represents

the most sacred, the most noble part of the body.

And the feet represents the opposite, the most

base, the most filthy part of the body. In America,

can we relate to that? Is there? I don't know.

In the Spanish culture, do you? Maybe some people

are from the Orient. I don't know. But it's a

real thing. If you want to really give somebody

a great compliment, you say, you're my head.

That's the greatest compliment you can give anybody.

But if you want to curse somebody, you say, you're

my feet. Let me even tell you more about this.

When I first came to the United States, in the

last century, let's say, in 1967. This is 2025.

Wow, almost 60 years. I went to an academy in

Portland, Oregon. I was the only international

student. So I was a novelty on campus. Everyone

talked to me like, and by the way, the culture,

clash of cultures. In my part of the world, if

somebody invites you to have a meal with them

on Sabbath, like we do, you don't say yes right

away. Isn't it interesting? And so I got many

invitations. I was a novelty. People want to

invite me home. I said, no, thank you. I don't

want to bother you. You know what Americans,

students said? Okay, it's up to you. I'm like,

please, insist. Don't give up on me so quickly.

Because in my culture, the culture of Jesus,

you don't say yes right away because that would

seem valuable. That means you're desperate. That

means you're starving to death. You are in such

trouble. No. Here in America, it's simple. If

you want to eat, fine. If not, it's okay. In

my culture, it's not okay. Like in my heart,

I would say, please ask me again. They never

asked me again. So I'm missing out on many good

meals. And finally, I still remember names. Stephen

Huey, a classmate of mine who was very sympathetic

and nice, he said, hey, Philip, people think

you're stuck up. You're proud. Why? I'm not.

I'm very humble. I'm made to be humble, you know.

He said, no, when they invite to eat at their

house, you don't accept the invitation. So they're

worried about you. What's your problem? I said,

I don't have a problem. It's not my problem.

It's their problem. He said, what do you mean?

They're offering to invite. I said, but they

don't insist. The key word is insistence. Don't

give up on me easily. Oh, no, no, no. This is

a different culture. Your culture in the Middle

East is not the same as here. So this is what

you do. Listen to me now. You're learning to

be Americanized. Listen to me. I want to help

you. Thank you. I need all the help I can have.

He said, when they invite you, say yes. Make

it simple. Would you like to come to a hospital?

Yes. Don't think. Just say yes. And from that

time on, I had free lunch. Almost every Sabbath.

But I had to experience starvation before I experienced

feasting. Different culture. The culture of Jesus,

even though you might not agree with me, is not

an American culture. I don't hear any amen here.

Why? Why? Because he was born as a Jew in Palestine.

And so the most sick and noble touching the most

filthy. We read in the commentary about that

experience in the book Desire of Ages. I believe

it's inspired commentary. This is what the author

said. Said as The hands of Jesus washed the filthy

feet of Judas. Judas felt within his being, to

the core of his being, the tremendous love of

Jesus for him. He felt it through and through.

He was totally immersed in the genuine agape

love of Jesus. Now doesn't that tell you something

about Jesus? Washing the feet of the one, the

deceiver, the thief, who to make money, he was

selling him for a third piece of silver. Yet

Jesus loved him genuinely. Excuse me? I cannot

love someone like that. Somebody is selling me.

As a friend to go to the cross. Washing his feet.

And. The love of Christ. Penetrated his heart.

Through and through with genuine love. Judas

felt it. And he almost repented. He almost repented.

He didn't have to be the one. Selling Jesus.

He almost repented. Why didn't he repent? What

was the problem? Why didn't he repent? What was

his problem? What hindered him from repentance?

And when the Holy Spirit convicts our hearts

to repent of sin, why do we choose to repent?

Do we want to wait until Jesus comes? It's too

late. Why not now? So why do you think he didn't

repent? If you don't know the answer, I'm going

to ask my wife. By the way, they put your name

as special music. And so I imagined in my head

that you were playing. That was nice, wasn't

it? But someday, I promise you, you play in heaven,

you play as good. So why do you think he did

not? You know, I'm a professor, so I get the

audience involved. I'm picking on my wife right

now. And I have confidence that she'll have the

answer, otherwise I don't ask the question. Why

do you think he did not humble himself and repent

in front of his fellow disciples? By the way,

he lied to them. They had no idea he was a sinful

person. They thought he was the best. In fact,

when Jesus said, one of you is going to betray

me, and Peter said, is it me, Lord? John said,

is it me? And Judas never said, is it me? And

the disciples thought he'll never be the one

betraying Jesus. It's amazing how people can

be so deceiving. It's amazing how the outward

appearance sometimes deceives people. Only God

knows the heart. So, Shirley, I'll try to make

the answer simple. So, in front of his four disciples,

why wouldn't he want to repent? You see, I knew

you knew the answer. Did you know the answer?

You see, you're learning something from her.

You teach her how. She teaches you how. It's

good. It's all reciprocal. Aha, that's the exact

answer. And of course, my wife heard the sermon

before, so she read my book also. She reads my

books. Anyway, it was a matter of losing faith.

Oh my, losing faith. What does that mean to lose

faith? To be embarrassed, to be shamed. If I

repent of my sin, my fellow disciple will lose

respect for me. I lose faith. I can't have this

cover up anymore. They know my real self. And

today there are many people who are willing to

be lost and not to lose faith. Not to be embarrassed.

Can you imagine when Jesus comes and you're lost?

You say, Lord, but I didn't want to lose faith.

I'd rather die than lose salvation. It's so spiritually

stupid to say I'm willing to pay the price of

losing salvation instead of being embarrassed.

That's what happens to many people. And then,

Judas decided not to lose faith, not to be embarrassed.

And he decided to turn his heart against the

love of Jesus. Wicked heart. Deceptive heart.

Turning against the loving heart of Jesus. Jesus

gave him his best. And Judas, to help with his

words, he needed help. At that point, he decided.

To betray him. To go through with the plan. To

save face. And he walked away. To receive the

money. That very evening. It's interesting. The

reactions of people. You know. People react differently

on Jesus. What did the disciples think? Oh. Jesus

whispered in his ear. He needed to go and get

more supplies for the Lord's Supper. And Jesus

said, there goes a devil. Almost saved. The love

of Christ can conquer any obstacle. Almost saved,

but not saved. He turned out to be a devil. How

close salvation is to being lost. Just remember,

unless we're vigilant, the devil can work on

us too. Didn't he work on Peter? Peter was saved.

He was humble. He had problems. And when Jesus

asked the question, who do you think I am? He

said, you, the Christ, the son of the living

God. He said, Flesh and blood didn't reveal this

to you. It's my Father in heaven who revealed

this to you. Peter was used by God the Father

to make that statement. A few verses later, Jesus

was telling him about, I'm going to suffer, to

die for the human race. Without my death, there'd

be no salvation. I mean, this is the greatest

accomplishment of Jesus. He came to die. Why?

Only in his death we could have life. And Peter

began to rebuke him. No, you'll never do that.

You'll never die. I don't accept that. And what

did Christ say to the same person, Peter, a few

minutes later? The opposite of what he said before.

What did he say to him? Huh? Get behind me, Satan.

Mary Beth, he said, God revealed this to you.

Now, he said, get behind me, Satan. Excuse me?

Salvation is so close to being lost. Our minds,

our hearts, they are the battlefield for the

great controversy between good and evil, between

Christ and Satan. Be careful. That's why I said

be vigilant. Satan's specialty is deception.

Deceives people who don't even know what's happening

to them. Remember? Lucifer. His name in heaven

before he sinned. Lucifer was the greatest of

angels. The closest to God in glory. Brightness,

love, goodness. But when he decided to be jealous,

became deceptive, and what happened? He deceived

a third of the angels. Perfect angels in a perfect

heaven. A perfect existence. He was able to deceive.

Perfect angels. A third, I don't know how many.

Thousands? Hundreds of thousands? I don't know.

Many. A third of them. The Bible talks about

thousands of thousands of thousands. Can you

imagine? To deceive a third of the angels in

a perfect environment. Now then, I just want

to enmasse Satan so we can be careful in these

last days. I just want to make it applicable

to us. Are we perfect angels? Are you a perfect

angel, sir? Your wife is a perfect angel, right?

Are you a perfect angel? Raise your hand if you're

a perfect angel forever hold your peace. You

want to raise your hand? Excuse me, how about

you? You graduate from Southern. Didn't they

make you a perfect angel? No. Even parents who

look at their child, look at their baby, she's

an angel. No, we're all born in sin. What point

am I trying to make here? What's this whole fuss

about? If Satan in heaven, in a perfect heaven,

deceived perfect angels, how much more he is

capable of deceiving us today in this sinful

world. Plus, he refined his skill of deception

for thousands of years. Just think of what I

call his tactics, psychological games. You know,

people come to university, UTC, and study psychology

for years. Then they want to finish their master's

in psychology two more years, get their master's,

PhD, maybe four more years. About ten years to

become PhD in psychology. Excuse me? Satan got

a major. His major is psychological games. It's

not four years. It's not six years. It's not

ten years. thousands of years to refine his specialty

in deception. I'm just telling you the reality.

He worked on Peter. He worked on Judas. He can

work on all of us. So what's the only answer?

What's our only hope? Our only hope? To cling

to Jesus for dear life. Every moment. That's

the only safety. Look what James said. What did

James say in James 4, 7? He said, therefore,

submit yourselves to Christ. That's the first

thing we do. Resist the devil and the devil will

flee from you. It's interesting how Satan loves

that verse by twisting it. He specializes in

twisting. You know what he says? The first you

do in the spiritual warfare is resist me. After

you resist me, then you can submit yourself.

Oh no, it's wrong. Like getting a kit, trying

to put together, you don't follow the right order.

You got things mixed up. You have to undo everything.

No, the first thing is we submit ourselves to

Christ. That's the first thing. If you start

resisting, you're going to be defeated. Your

wife works for a Tazutin, right? Do you work

for them too? Okay, that's okay. Let me ask you.

I mean, if Satan comes to attack you with his

skill of deception for thousands of years, and

if he was able to deceive perfect angels, and

you're not a perfect angel, sir, do you think

you're going to succeed by resisting him by yourself?

Absolutely not. Absolutely not. So the secret

here for victory is start by submitting yourself

to Christ. And you and Christ become one united

formidable front. And what happens when you become

united with Christ? Oh, the second step is resist

Satan. Who resists Satan now after you submit

to Christ? It's you and Christ united. Does that

make sense? Do you think Christ is strong enough

to defeat Satan? You think so? He's God. He defeats

Satan in heaven. He defeats him every way. So

if you want to be victorious, hang on to Jesus.

You say, well, how much do I resist? Ah, proportion

to your strength. That's only logical. Is Christ

stronger than you? By exceedingly stronger. Therefore,

you go along for the ride. But Jesus does most

of the resisting. And what does James say at

the end of that? He says, then Satan will flee

from you. As I counsel a lot of Christians, many

of them are fleeing from Satan. Afraid and fleeing

from Satan. It's high time for Satan. To flee.

For a change. There's a statement in the book,

Desire of Ages, commenting on this, that says,

Satan trembles. Not just flees, he trembles.

What does it mean to tremble? To shake in your

boots, right? Satan not only flees, he trembles

and flees before the weakest soul who finds refuge

in the mighty name of Jesus. The weakest soul.

Do you feel you're the weakest soul? Does this

apply to you? Compared to Jesus' strength, you

are the weakest soul. But Jesus rejoices. In

helping the weakest. Like Paul said. We are strong.

In Christ. When we realize our weakness. Our

weakness becomes strength in Jesus. I'm trying

to really make sense to you. Does that make sense?

Do you resonate with me? I mean. I grew up on

a farm. Orchards. Olive trees. pomegranates and

figs and grapes. My dad was building a wall to

divide the land to terraces. And I was just like

four years old. Four. Much younger than now,

but I never forget that experience. Some things

should be learned. They remember all their lives.

Makes an impression on them. Let's make good

impressions on our children at last. Here, my

dad was... putting these stones on top of each

other. He came to the end of building this wall.

And there's a big stone left. And he said, I

want to put this big stone on top. Maybe the

big stone was bigger than me. I don't know. It

was big to me. He said, my son, I need you to

help me. You got to have confidence in people.

I need you to help me. What can I do, Daddy?

He said, see, I'm putting my hands under that

rock. Can you please come down and put your hands

under the rock? Because I want you to help me

lift it to the top. I'm using illustrations that

should make logic to you. And that is what? Oh,

this rock kept lifting up and up. And I said,

wow. Am I that strong? He came to the top of

the wall. He said, thank you, son, for helping

me lift that rock. I come back to you, sir. I

come back to you. To what extent I lifted that

heavy rock? Maybe a pound. Maybe less. You're

a little child, maybe. It weighed at least 50

pounds. Who did most of the lifting? My dad.

Why? Because my dad was stronger than me. And

Jesus is stronger than you or me or anybody.

So it's logical. He lifts the heavy weights.

That's why he's described as the burden bearer.

So many people I meet in council, they allow

these burdens to crush them. I say, why don't

we go to the burden bearer? He is disappointed

when we don't listen to his invitation. Come

unto me, O that labor. I'll give you rest. I

can lift these burdens off your shoulders. I

have big enough shoulders to deal with all these

burdens. Satan, when we trust Jesus, when we

submit to Christ, he is... It's almost two. It's

so true, but people have to believe and practice.

Satan will tremble and flee before. Before who?

Jesus? Of course he does. No, no. Before the

weakest soul who is united with Jesus. We share

in Christ's destiny, life. And strength. Who

finds refuge in the mighty name of Jesus? Refuge.

We live in a world where we need to have refuge.

What's your refuge today? Is it friends? Or is

it your best friend Jesus? I'm telling you, in

these last days, we must have Jesus as our best

refuge. You know, people can share. can show

they care about you. Care, quote, unquote. But

Jesus not only cares, he can do something about

the situation. Jesus, our best friend, what a

friend we have in Jesus, he cares and he can.

Going back to the, I'm not using my notes. I'm

speaking from my heart. Going back, I just remembered,

I said something coming to this country in 1967.

I attended an Adventist academy in Portland,

Oregon. My first day in school. New culture,

new language, new friends. I remember my U .S.

history professor. I still remember him. I remember

his name. Mr. Jack Heisler. Jack Heisler. He

passed away already. He was my U .S. history

professor. And I sat on the second pew. The second

row of chairs. In front of me, the first set

of chairs, there was a senior like me, fellow

student, big guy. You know, in my part of the

world, I was kind of okay, kind of average. I

was average in my head. In America, I'm short.

It really humbles you. And so that's why when

I have students, especially young ladies who

are like 5 feet or 4, 11, I spend time talking

to them. I said, no, I appreciate talking to

you. Why? I said, because that's the only time

I feel tall. In heaven, we'll be made perfect,

okay? But my point is, here you have an experience

that lasts forever. Always remember that. Why?

Because this student here, about six foot six,

football player, with big boots. He sat here,

and I don't know, this teacher. He never really

walked around like, I cannot sit behind my desk

to teach. Come on, you have to move around. And

so what did this student do? So the teacher,

Mr. Heiss, was sitting right there in his chair

behind his desk. And this student put his boots,

wrapped them up on that desk. And to be honest

with you, sitting behind him, The face of the

teacher is blocked. His boots block the face

of the teacher. I don't know. Do you think it's

a good idea to do that? To me, it wasn't. To

me, it wasn't a good idea. Because to me, in

my culture, the culture of Jesus, what he was

saying to his teacher, your face, the most noble

thing about you, the most sacred thing about

you, is not worthy of my... Filthy feet, the

worst thing about me. I know, it didn't mean

it that way. No, it didn't mean it that way.

I still don't think it's a good idea. I mean,

but it was all fun. It's okay. I'm just relaxing,

stretching. The teacher didn't seem to mind.

And that's the point I want to make here. And

that is... When you come to Jesus with the worst

thing about you. The worst thing about you. What's

the worst thing about you? Don't tell me. Tell

God. Right now, think about it. What's the worst

thing about your life? What's the worst sin?

What's the thing you're ashamed of the most?

Maybe your wife doesn't know about it. Maybe

your husband doesn't know about it. Nobody knows

about it. And it's making you so, it makes you

feel so bad. You're ashamed to even tell God

about it. I mean, how long have you been feeling

this way? Are you planning to die with that feeling?

There's relief. Jesus, if he did that to Judas,

and I know none of you here want to sell Jesus

for a third piece of silver. What's the worst

thing about you? And Jesus would have washed

your feet. Can you imagine? Jesus would have

washed your feet. Like at the academy, we had

a week of prayer. I didn't have many friends

yet, so somebody came to wash my feet. Of course,

I was sitting in the chair. I wasn't on the rug.

And here I am washing my feet. I don't like when

we have the ordinance of humility and people

joke around. No, focus on something sacred. So

here I was sitting down and he came to wash my

feet. And the thought that crossed my mind. Still

remember that. If our living during the time

of Jesus. And even if I were Judas, as bad as

Judas, I would look down and see the head of

a man washing my feet and his tremendous love

penetrating my heart through and through, willing

to forgive any sin to cleanse me from all unrighteousness.

And I ask the question, would somebody please

tell me, who is this person washing my feet?

He is your God. He is the Son of God. He is Jesus

Christ. Wow. And I assure you, as he was willing

to do this for Judas, he was willing to do it

for you. So what's the worst thing about you?

I want to give you a moment right now to simply

think about it. It's coming to our thinking now.

It's sacred. It's a sacred thing that only God

maybe should know about. If you focus on it too

much, it might be depressing, but there's great

help on the way. And Jesus is telling you right

now, give that to me. I want my best. And Christ's

best is a lot, a lot, the most. The best, Christ's

best is a lot. I want to use my best to help

you at your worst. Do you believe with all your

heart that Christ's best can help every one of

us at our worst? Yes or no? Let me ask the question

again. Do you think Jesus' best can help you

at your worst? Amen. Let's bow our heads. how

fortunate we are to be associated with you. Perfect

love, perfect forgiveness. Right now as our hearts

are moved by that love. Judah's heart was moved

by that love. He almost repented. Dear Lord,

we don't want to be like that. Almost saved but

not saved. Even now, we offer you the worst about

us. You can read that from afar. You read our

hearts. Please, Lord, we submit our worst. To

your best. Forgive us. And help us. Never to

have any excuse. Saving face. Not being embarrassed.

This is nothing. Compared to being lost. Like

Paul said. All I have to go through is like.

trash, like rubbish. All the suffering of this

life is rubbish compared to salvation, to eternal

life. Help us to be spiritually smart. Make the

right decisions. May we submit ourselves to united

with you. And may Satan As we witnessed him together,

may Satan tremble and flee before the weakest

soul. That includes everybody here. Because we

choose to put our trust in that mighty name of

Jesus. Lord, Peter had problems. In some ways

more than Judas. Judas was more polished, more

educated, more refined, more classy. But the

secret about Peter, because the devil used him

too, was to keep trusting you, humble himself.

Hmm. And he taught us a lesson. Peter did. That

the greatest good work we can do is what? To

keep coming to Jesus regardless. Whatever it

is. I'm walking on water. Now I'm drowning. Lord,

save me. Peter, learn to come to you, no matter

what. And because I stuck it out with you, he

made it. May we stick it out with you. Not about

our perfection. No. Holding on to you for dear

life, saying, I won't let you go until you bless

me. Lord, I believe. Help me on my unbelief.

We can never perish. While we do this, we can

never perish. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus' name,

amen.