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Lessons we can learn from Judas

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  1. Welcome to the Cross Power Church podcast.

  2. You're listening to a service from our church in Campbell, TX.

  3. We pray this message strengthens your faith and points you to the

  4. cross. Now let's join the service.

  5. Have your Bibles this morning going to be in a few places

  6. here. And brother Brian Rayburn will

  7. be here next week. We will be gone.

  8. So you'll come worship with him and he's he's great, great

  9. messenger of Jesus Christ. Amen.

  10. I had someone hear him preach one time.

  11. He said, pastor, you're supposed to get somebody worse than you

  12. when you're gone. That way everybody thinks you're

  13. good when you get back. But I said, I'm not about me.

  14. I'm about building the Kingdom. Hey man, so when I'm gone, I'm

  15. going to bring you somebody good.

  16. Hey man, but good to be in the House of the Lord.

  17. Let's stand and read. I've preached this seems like

  18. the last couple years prior to Easter because there was a lot

  19. going on this week and the next week there was a lot going on

  20. for eternity forever. Well, I want you to get the

  21. mindset of this that today as I preach this, but I think it's

  22. the body of Christ. If people can understand that

  23. this life that we play so much value on, you know, Jesus

  24. disciples, they didn't get it until he was gone.

  25. But the life that we play so much value on, it's really only

  26. a test. It's a test to get us stronger,

  27. to get us to the end of this life.

  28. And ultimately, if we obey Christ, it will land us in

  29. heaven if we pass the test, right?

  30. And in Deuteronomy chapter 8 and verse one, it says every

    Deuteronomy 8 chapter mention

  31. commandment which I command you today, you must be careful to

  32. observe what we could preach, that today that you may live and

  33. multiply. See the commandments of God and

  34. the things that are written in the Word of God, they're not to

  35. take away from us, they're to multiply us.

  36. They're to add to us. And if you're careful to observe

  37. them, you may live and multiply and go in and possess the land

  38. which the Lord swore to your Father's.

  39. You shall remember that the Lord your God LED you all the way

  40. these 40 years in the wilderness, Anybody in the

  41. wilderness this morning to humble you and test you.

  42. I like that he always astounded me when I read this because he

  43. it says he humbles us and he test us to know what was in your

  44. heart. But wait a minute.

  45. He's an all seeing, all knowing God.

  46. Doesn't he already know I have those questions?

  47. But He said to know what was in your heart, whether you would

  48. keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you

  49. to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you did not know,

  50. nor did your father's know that He might make known that man

  51. shall not say it with me. Man shall not live by bread

  52. alone, but man lives by every word that proceeds from the

  53. mouth of the Lord. Who else said that?

  54. Matthew chapter 4 and verse four, Our Lord and Savior Jesus

    Matthew 4 chapter mention

  55. Christ quoted that to whom? To Satan when he came and

  56. tempted him. He said man shall not live by

  57. bread alone. Father, we come before you

  58. today. We pray for grace today.

  59. We pray for your strength to preach the word one more time.

  60. Father, I, I pray that you touch my speech today.

  61. I pray that you would touch each and everyone here, but most of

  62. all, you would help us to realize that we're in a test

  63. today. The trials, that and the

  64. afflictions that come our way, they're to test us, to make us

  65. stronger, to land us in the presence of our loving Savior.

  66. We thank you for those that are here.

  67. We thank you for those that are gone.

  68. They're ministering this morning that you would touch the bikers

  69. in a special way. It's in your son's name, we

  70. pray, Amen. A test, a challenge.

  71. It's designed to assess our character and our faithfulness.

  72. We just read about that. God sent the test to those

  73. children of Israel. A test is only what I preach.

  74. This someone time part of this. A test is only a test, but it is

  75. meant to elevate us, it not bring us down.

  76. It's meant to build us up. And we've all been through tests

  77. and trials in this life. Some have passed, some have

  78. failed. How about you?

  79. I like to think the older I get, I've learned more and I pass

  80. more tests. But yes, we fail many times.

  81. Maybe you're at a test today. Maybe you've just come through a

  82. test. Or you could be headed to a

  83. test, right? A place of testing, but a test

  84. is set before God's children and we're always meant to pass the

  85. test. When we look at this Bible, you

  86. know, I think a lot of people they, they read the Bible and

  87. separate their life from it many times.

  88. But the Bible is a book about broken people.

  89. How many know that it's a book? Not everyone that's written in

  90. the Bible, you're supposed to act like it was people that

  91. failed test. It was people that passed a few

  92. tests. But yet we are to learn from

  93. every one of them that was tested.

  94. And we're to humble ourselves and learn how to get through the

  95. test. And the testing went all the way

  96. through to the New Testament. And this is where I want to

  97. preach to you. Really, today is about a man

  98. named Judas. We sang about him last week.

  99. How many know who Judas was? He was a disciple of Christ.

  100. He was the one that betrayed Christ for 30 pieces of silver.

  101. But I want to look back at some lessons we can learn.

  102. So we've learned that tests come not to be failed.

  103. You know, there's there's preachers that will tell you.

  104. Well, Judas was referred to in Zechariah 3 as what he was a man

  105. of perdition. He he was a man that was doomed

  106. from birth. The Bible says Zechariah

  107. prophesied him as that upon his life, that there would be a man

  108. that would betray Christ for 30 pieces of silver.

  109. And Jesus even referred to Judas which was going through a test.

  110. So there's two different ways to look in John 17 and 12, Jesus

  111. said he was talking and praying to God.

  112. He said I kept them in your name.

  113. Those you gave me I have kept and none of them is lost except

  114. the son of say it with me perdition meaning doom for

  115. destruction. He was talking about Judas here.

  116. So Jesus knew, but yet he let Judas see it.

  117. You know we get we can see churches today.

  118. Well, you can't let these people do this.

  119. You can't let them do that. But Jesus knew that how Judas

  120. was, but yet in my opinion, he give him a chance, see someone

  121. somewhere along the way. He knew that maybe Judas was in

  122. an unredeemable state. As I said, it was at Zechariah

    Zechariah 11 chapter mention

  123. Chapter 11, not 3 that this was prophesied.

  124. But see, Jesus had something different.

  125. He could see a head. He knew how Judas would actually

  126. end up. But I have always thought the

  127. second thing about Judas, because if we believe that after

  128. the cross of Calvary, after Jesus walked out of that tomb,

  129. come on somebody and he he was returning to the right hand of

  130. the Father and grace had hate planet earth.

  131. I think it made things a little bit different.

  132. We have to know that it did. And I think if Judas had not

  133. have hung himself and took matters, had he went out and

  134. prayed? Had he went out and sought God

  135. because, see, Judas didn't do anything that we have not done.

  136. He did not Christ, he failed Christ.

  137. But yet if he hadn't took matters into his own hands after

  138. the cross, would salvation have been available to him?

  139. I believe it would because we read in the book of Jonah that

  140. God changed his mind on a whole nation that he was going to

  141. destroy. Just so Judas was labeled as the

  142. man of perdition, the man that would ultimately be doomed and

  143. betray Christ. But let's go to Matthew chapter

    Matthew 26 chapter mention

  144. 26. I want to read a few things

  145. about this. I preached on it over the years

  146. and always give give different takes on it.

  147. But I want to look at some lessons we could learn from

  148. Judas. Think about it.

  149. Someone had been in the presence of Christ.

  150. History tells that Judas had even cast some demons out.

  151. He carried the offering for for Jesus ministry.

  152. So Judas was a figure in the ministry of Jesus Christ and yet

  153. he come out and he failed and he end up committing suicide and

  154. hanging himself. So I think there's some lessons

  155. we can learn because Judas was at a place that he was with

  156. Christ. But what do you think the number

  157. one thing was? I'm going to give you 7 things

  158. here that Judas did not do that I think we could learn from.

  159. And Matthew chapter 26 and verse 19, 26 and 19 it said.

    Matthew 26 chapter mention

  160. So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and they

  161. prepared the Passover. When evening had come, he sat

  162. down with the 12 and now as they were eating, he said assuredly,

  163. I say to you, one of you will betray me.

  164. He gives a warning and they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each

  165. of them begin to say to him, Lord is said I didn't worry

  166. about the betrayal, but the teaching automatically focused

  167. on Lord is said I and he answered, and he dipped his hand

  168. with them in the dish. He one who dips with me in the

  169. dish will betray me. The Son of Man indeed goes just

  170. as it is written of him, but woe to the man by whom the Son of

  171. Man is betrayed. It would have been better for

  172. him that he'd not have been born then Judas, who was betraying

  173. him already in the process of it, He answered and he said,

  174. Rabbi, is it I? And he said to him, you have

  175. said it. So see, the deal here is Judas

  176. knew that what was going to happen.

  177. Christ had already revealed it to him.

  178. But the first thing Judas did is what I see today in the body of

  179. Christ. He refused change.

  180. He refused change. He knew who God was, but he was

  181. never willing to really change. He started out a disciple and he

  182. ended up to a devil. So many today accept Jesus

  183. Christ. They're told they're saved, but

  184. they never say it. With me change many go to

  185. church. We see this a lot today.

  186. I just the Lord laid this on my heart in her in the people that

  187. are looked up to that in the world today who are the number

  188. one people that we that we look up to.

  189. It's not preachers. What is it It's about worship.

  190. It's Hollywood. We spend a lot of our time

  191. watching Hollywood. We spend the rest of our time

  192. for most people listening to secular music, right?

  193. And now we are seeing what what was Satan when he was in heaven?

  194. He was the leader of worship. He knows about singing.

  195. He knows how a good song can get into your spirit, Amen.

  196. He knows how something that somebody wrote in going to a

  197. dark time of their life and a lot of music is good.

  198. I'm not saying that, but I have never seen in my day and my

  199. time. It would be no different than me

  200. standing up here professing to know Jesus Christ this morning,

  201. right? Right.

  202. And then going somewhere else that is worldly and doing

  203. something different. But yet we keep listening.

  204. I see all these videos of these these these people that have

  205. wrote powerful songs, songs that you can feel the presence of the

  206. Lord. And then my question is, why do

  207. they think they have to go to somebody in the world to get

  208. esteemed and share their song with what they wrote?

  209. And we say, oh, well, it's heartfelt.

  210. It's this. Well, when you look at the other

  211. things that are posted about those people, they haven't

  212. changed, Amen. If I own a strip club or a

  213. nightclub and I profess to know Jesus Christ, and I'm going to

  214. sell out and I'm going to follow Jesus and I'm ultimately going

  215. to end up in heaven, I think I would have to sell that and get

  216. rid of it. Amen.

  217. But yet we see the world is refusing.

  218. I'm not the world. The Christians are refusing to

  219. change. And it is what it is, tearing up

  220. the body of Christ because we think we can take.

  221. I'm going to tell you something. You can't take the anointing of

  222. the Holy Spirit and mix it with the world.

  223. It will not work now, not ever. Judas is a great example of

  224. that. He refused to change #2 We read

  225. in John chapter 12 one through 7 it was Jesus.

    John 12 chapter mention

  226. He it was about the time that he was passing through Bethany and

  227. it says 6 days before the Passover in John 12 and one it

  228. says Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus was.

  229. I like this right here, Nick. Give me just a hair more volume

  230. there. I'm having to strain a little

  231. bit. When Lazarus, where Lazarus was

  232. who had been dead, Jesus was eaten with a man that had been

  233. dead because he'd raised him from the dead.

  234. There they made him a supper and Martha served, but Lazarus was

  235. one of those who sat at the table with him.

  236. And I can picture Mary, she says she took a pound of very costly

  237. sphinctered oil and anointed Jesus.

  238. She began to take her hair and she began to wash the feet of

  239. Jesus. And Judas is sitting in the

  240. shadows. What did I say about Judas?

  241. He refused to do what change. He began to see her washing with

  242. a sphinctered oil and washing the feet of Jesus and and Judas

  243. had it in his heart. He said, you know, this stuff is

  244. worth a year's wages. It's worth a whole year's wages.

  245. We could have sold it and went and give it to the poor, but the

  246. Bible says that really wasn't what was in his heart.

  247. He didn't care for the poor, but because he was a thief and he

  248. had the Money Box and he used to take what was put in it.

  249. But Jesus said let her alone. She has kept this for the day of

  250. my burial. She she knew what was going to

  251. happen for the poor. You have with you always, but me

  252. you do not always have. See Judas wanted to give God

  253. something but not everything. I ask you today, what are you

  254. holding back? You're praying and you're

  255. seeking God and and the things that you hold back from God

  256. could be the very place that he's testing you in to get you

  257. to what you're praying for. But you keep holding it back.

  258. We keep holding back something from God and God cannot move

  259. when we hold back. I'm not saying he can't, but he

  260. won't. What are you holding back?

  261. What you're holding back could cause your spiritual death.

  262. The third thing, Judas, as we read this passage of Scripture

  263. and I see this so prevalent in a lot of lives today, Jesus, Judas

  264. thought worship was waste. Think about it, He thought

  265. worship was waste. We see it all the time.

  266. I don't, I don't clap, my church don't clap.

  267. We don't see any need in clapping.

  268. My church don't do that. The Bible says raise one hand

  269. without wrath and another hand without doubting.

  270. That is a commandment from God. We praise because he inhabits

  271. the praise of his people, because he's worthy of our

  272. praise. But I don't think Judas ever got

  273. that in his spirit that worship was not waste.

  274. If he would, he would have said, Mary, go ahead and wipe his feet

  275. down. Go ahead and worship because

  276. this could be the last time that we're in the presence of our

  277. Savior, Jesus Christ. He never got that.

  278. He never got that worship was not waste.

  279. Can I tell you, any worship you do, God hears it #4 Judas knew

  280. about Jesus, but he did not know him.

  281. We have a lot of people like that.

  282. They've read the book, they bought the best sellers.

  283. They know about Jesus, but they they really, really don't know

  284. him. In Matthew 26 and 25, when

  285. everybody was saying, they was saying, they was saying teacher,

  286. they was saying Lord, is it I Lord is it I?

  287. That means he's, he's ABBA Father.

  288. He's Lord of all. Judas never got that.

  289. He still referred to him as rabbi, our teacher.

  290. He never got that he was Lord of all.

  291. He never got that. He was the one.

  292. Judas knew about Jesus, but he did not know him.

  293. All the others said, Lord, but I fear it's possible to attend

  294. church and know about Jesus but yet not have a change in your

  295. life. Jesus knew for three years that

  296. that Judas would betray him, but he never exposed him until the

  297. final hour. My prayer is in Philippians 3

  298. and 10 that I might know him and the power of his resurrection.

  299. Right. The fifth thing, Judas had

  300. incorrect timing. How many times do we have

  301. incorrect timing? What is incorrect timing?

  302. We try to get God to operate on our time frame.

  303. We spent countless hours in prayer because we haven't looked

  304. back and we haven't really changed in our life.

  305. We haven't wanted to give God everything.

  306. We just give Him some things. But we still think that worship

  307. is waste. Many times.

  308. We still only know about Jesus. But Judas had incorrect timing.

  309. Many scholars believe, and I've heard all kinds of different

  310. things when you look this up. But Judas, he believed that

  311. Jesus was the one that would overthrow all the bad kingdoms

  312. of the earth, and that by by him betraying him, he could speed up

  313. the end times and could speed up Jesus coming back to this earth

  314. as the second coming. Many people believe that, but

  315. that's not what the Bible says. See the he believed that the

  316. nation of Israel could be won back from the Roman Empire,

  317. maybe by speeding up the betrayal of Jesus and going

  318. forward with it. But see, we can't press God to

  319. do things and take things into our own hands.

  320. Judas would soon learn this. I know when it will happen.

  321. I've learned exactly when it will happen in my life.

  322. The things I'm praying for. Have you learned that yet?

  323. It'll happen exactly when God wants it to.

  324. Judas had incorrect timing. The sixth thing, Matthew chapter

  325. 2648. I'm going to read a little bit

  326. here. It said now his betrayer who had

  327. given them a sign saying whomever I kiss, he is the one

  328. sees him. And in verse 49, he said

  329. immediately he went up to Jesus and he said, greetings, here he

  330. is again. He he's calling him rabbi.

  331. He still thinks he's a teacher. He doesn't think he's the King

  332. of kings and the Lord of Lords. And in verse 50, he says, but

  333. Jesus said to him, friend, why have you come?

  334. Then they came and they laid hands on him.

  335. I wanted to ask you today when you, if you've ever got a hold

  336. of Jesus, if you've ever got your hands on him, Judas was

  337. right there. I challenge you.

  338. Never let him go. Judas never learned this.

  339. He was right there. He was in the ministry.

  340. Man, this ought to be a wake up call for us today.

  341. We prayed a simple sinner's prayer and been water baptized

  342. and many have never went any farther.

  343. Judas was way farther than that. He was involved.

  344. He was with Jesus, but he let him go.

  345. He let him go. I'm sure that Judas did not know

  346. at this time that it would be the last time that he could let

  347. him go. It would be the last time that

  348. he's seen Jesus as he was. If you ever get lay hold of

  349. Jesus, don't let him go. He won't let you go.

  350. Don't let him go. People and religion will let you

  351. down, but Jesus will never let you go holding fast.

  352. One translation says never let him go.

  353. If you ever get delivered from the things in this life, don't

  354. let him go because there's seven other spirits the Bible teaches

  355. that are waiting to come in and take you farther than you've

  356. ever been in your life and keep you longer than you want to stay

  357. and cost you far more than you can ever pay.

  358. I said never let him go. If you've ever been saved and

  359. cleansed, don't let him go, though sometimes you're broken.

  360. Sometimes you're afraid, That's OK.

  361. Don't let him go. Keep coming back.

  362. Don't let him go. It may be a long journey, but I

  363. challenge you, don't let him go. And the 7th most priceless

  364. lesson, I believe of all of them that we can learn from Judas.

  365. If you don't finish your assignment, somebody else will.

  366. Think about that. Judas took the 30 pieces of

  367. silver that which he had took in exchange for the betrayal of

  368. Jesus Christ. Man, when I read that, I, I

  369. think of all the people that have told what they have taken

  370. in exchange for the blessings that God has given us, what

  371. they've taken in exchange for the blood that covers every sin

  372. we've ever committed. See, if we don't believe that

  373. Jesus could be forgiven, then I can't believe that I can be

  374. forgiven. But he took those 30 pieces of

  375. silver and he went to the temple and he throw them out on the

  376. temple floor because he had realized a moment too late.

  377. He had realized what he had done.

  378. He betrayed many believe that it was about this time that he's

  379. carrying the bag by money that Jesus had done been flogged and

  380. had done been beaten. Maybe even the crown of thorns

  381. had already been placed on his head.

  382. The the Bible says that you know that he was beaten beyond

  383. recognition. The one that Judas had just

  384. betrayed had been beaten, and I believe that Judas probably got

  385. a glimpse of him. He had seen what he had done,

  386. and he took the 30 pieces of silver, the very thing that he

  387. had took in change in exchange for Jesus Christ.

  388. Anybody ever been there? The very thing that you took in

  389. exchange, you just throwed it down and you didn't want it in

  390. your life anymore because you realize that it wasn't worth the

  391. peace and the joy and the things that you had when you were

  392. serving God. But he threw it on the ground.

  393. See, whatever you take in exchange for Jesus, it will

  394. become very costly. He took it and he threw it on

  395. the floor of the temple, and he went out and he hang himself.

  396. There's no way out. See, that's where the enemy

  397. wants you this morning. I have no way out.

  398. History tells that Judas took the sash from his robe and went

  399. out on a Cliff and hung himself, and the sash broke.

  400. You won't find this in the Bible.

  401. This is what history tells. But people supposedly seen it.

  402. And he fell down a Cliff and hit on rocks, and a wagon came by

  403. and they couldn't stop. And they run over him with the

  404. old wagon wheels and squashed his guts out on the ground.

  405. See, the enemy does not stop. He does not stop, but he took

  406. it. He threw it on the ground.

  407. He took matters into his own hands and he hung himself.

  408. See in Acts chapter 1 and verse 26.

    Acts 1 chapter mention

  409. This was after Judas was dead, after Jesus had ascended into

  410. heaven. There was only 11 disciples.

  411. Now think about that. There's only 11, only 11

  412. disciples. Now they cast lots and it landed

  413. on a man named Matthias. They had to pick the 12.

  414. And as we go to Revelations, I'm going to close here in a minute,

  415. But in Revelations 21, we read of what heaven will be like.

  416. If you've never read Revelations 21, I want to read a lot there

  417. this morning, but I'm I'm not going to be able to go home and

  418. read about it. Go home and read about what

  419. heaven's going to be like. But in Revelations 21, is John

  420. the Revelator seen heaven, He said now the wall of the city

  421. talking about heaven. Stay with me right here.

  422. If you hear anything about Judas, you need to hear this

  423. today had 12 foundations. Think about that.

  424. Heaven is built on the on the 12 apostles.

  425. It has 12 foundations. Think about it.

  426. The 12 apostles, I'm not going to name them all, but it was

  427. built upon what they did for Jesus Christ and the truth

  428. that's written in this word. And it says now the wall had 12

  429. foundations and all them were the name of the 12 apostles of

  430. the Lamb. Think about that.

  431. Judas name could have been on one of those foundations, but

  432. yet now I don't even know if we'll be able to see them but

  433. it's possible there could be the name Judas with a line through

  434. it and under it could be Mattheus.

  435. If you ever lay hold of Jesus, don't let him go.

  436. The wall of the city had 12 foundations.

  437. Could it be that Judas name could have been on one of those

  438. foundations and now it's etched out.

  439. But now we're preaching a gospel that says that no matter what

  440. you do in this life, you're going to heaven.

  441. If you prayed the sinner's prayer, yes, that's what's being

  442. preached. It doesn't matter what you've

  443. done. But you just would have sure had

  444. a entrance, wouldn't he? I want to look at what Jesus

  445. said about it in Revelations chapter 3.

    Revelation 3 chapter mention

  446. Out of all the verses in the Bible that you've ever read,

  447. I'll promise you this is the most eye opening, the most

  448. spiritual eye opening scripture that you have ever read.

  449. And Jesus was writing it, revealing it to John.

  450. John was writing it in Revelations 3 and he was writing

  451. it to what he referred to as the dead church, the Church of

  452. today, the church that's more involved in building programs

  453. than they are saving souls. The church that resembles much

  454. the life of Judas, if I really be honest with you today,

  455. because they refuse to change. They have let the world change

  456. them. They have not been transformed

  457. from the world. They've been conformed.

  458. The church has been conformed, whether you like it or not and

  459. you want to believe it or not, the church has been conformed to

  460. the world. Same thing I was talking about

  461. Hollywood and all the singers that think they have to conform

  462. to whoever because they're popular.

  463. My Bible says what does a man gain if he profits the whole

  464. world and loses his own soul? And then he says a comma.

  465. He says or what? Will you give an exchange?

  466. I'm just going to go ahead and say it.

  467. I've listened to Brandon Lake, some anointed singing, some

  468. anointed songs, but why was he worried about in an interview

  469. that people was ridiculing him for singing with Jelly Roll?

  470. If it was the right decision, why was he question himself?

  471. When I hear from God and even though the world don't agree

  472. with it, or maybe you don't agree with it, if I know it's

  473. from God, I don't care because I know it's from God.

  474. Now when I stagger from the past a little bit and I know that I'm

  475. wrong and there's a little bit of doubt in there.

  476. Amen. But it's called the almighty

  477. dollar. Why was people that raised in

  478. church that sing annoyed songs and then they have to go out in

  479. the world and sing about sex, drugs and alcohol.

  480. Why did they strike? Because they I've heard them say

  481. I just couldn't make it in the gospel world.

  482. There was no money. But there's eternity.

  483. There's eternity. We better wake up because of

  484. this verse right here. See, the world has changed the

  485. church, but I want to recap these four clothes Judas refused

  486. to change. Judas wanted to give God

  487. something, but not everything. If you don't believe me, go

  488. research it. Go read about Judas.

  489. He did all these things. He thought worship was waste.

  490. The church today thinks worship is waste.

  491. Judas knew about Jesus, but he really didn't know him.

  492. Judas had incorrect timing. He thought he could force some

  493. things. He never learned that if you

  494. ever get your hands on Jesus, if you ever get close to him, never

  495. let him go. But Judas would ultimately learn

  496. if you don't finish your assignment, somebody else will.

  497. But in a world that plays with the things of the Spirit and is

  498. not serious about it, read Revelations chapter 3 verse one.

    Revelation 3 chapter mention

  499. This is to the dead church. He said to the Angel of the

  500. church and saw to write these things says he who has the seven

  501. spirits of God and the seven stars.

  502. He said I know your works, that you have a name, But what does

  503. the church have a name today? Not only do they have a name,

  504. but they're recognized by their name.

  505. Hello. How weak is that?

  506. I limit God by my name. Hello.

  507. Because I'm a Methodist or Presbyterian, I ordained gay

  508. ministers. That's your name now.

  509. That's your name now. You recognize homosexuality is

  510. OK in the body of Christ. That's your name now.

  511. I'm of this, I'm of that. That means we don't operate in

  512. the gifts of the Spirit. You can pick your church.

  513. The church has a name. That's what Jesus said.

  514. I know your works, that you have a name that you look alive, you

  515. look like something's going on down there, but you're really

  516. dead. Oh, come on, somebody, He says.

  517. Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain.

  518. See, it's never too late. As I said last week, if you've

  519. if you, you got to take heed lest you fall.

  520. If you fail, that means you were once standing, right?

  521. So a righteous man may fall, but get back up, be watchful.

  522. Strengthen the things which remain.

  523. I may not have much. I've been in the places of my

  524. life where I didn't have anything but obedience.

  525. Amen. Everything it looked like that

  526. I'd done for God was failing. But I had obedience.

  527. I had a promise from God of what I was to keep doing.

  528. All I had was obedience, and I kept obeying.

  529. Strengthen that which remains within you that are ready to

  530. die, for I have not found your works perfect before God.

  531. Verse 3. Remember, as you stand to your

  532. feet, remember, therefore have you have received and heard.

  533. Hold fast and repent. Therefore, if you will not

  534. watch, I will come upon you as a thief and you will not know what

  535. hour I will come upon you. Isn't that powerful?

  536. You know, that's the most scary thing in America right now.

  537. Under the other administration, I feel like a lot of people was

  538. praying God change America, God help America.

  539. Now it seems like that you, we feel like we've arrived.

  540. We feel like everything's OK. I will come upon you as a thief.

  541. This is Jesus talking, and you will know not what hour I will

  542. come upon you. That tells me there's no time to

  543. get ready. When Jesus, when Gabriel sells

  544. the horn, there's no time to get ready.

  545. You know at that time, it doesn't matter how many times

  546. you failed, It doesn't matter how many times you've fallen.

  547. All that matters is that you're standing.

  548. This is why it's important. You ready for the most powerful

  549. verse in the Bible that should shake you and wake you As a

  550. Christian, you have a few names even in Sardis, who have not

  551. defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, for

  552. they are worthy. He who overcomes shall be

  553. clothed in white garments. Are you ready for this?

  554. Are you ready for this? The Church ain't ready for this,

  555. because everybody thinks they're saved, he said.

  556. But if you, if you're found worthy.

  557. And he who overcome shall be clothed in white garments.

  558. And I will not blot out his name from the Book of life, but I

  559. will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.

  560. He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to

  561. the churches. Would you bow your heads?

  562. I want to read this one more time.

  563. He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I

  564. will not blot out His name from the book of life.

  565. Jesus has the power to do that. He had the power to save us.

  566. He has the power to unrecognize us.

  567. I didn't say it, the Bible did, but I know when I read that at a

  568. young age it got my attention. But I ask you, would you take

  569. these lessons from Judas this morning and would you learn from

  570. them? Because the enemy's still

  571. robbing us the same way that he did Judas.

  572. When we refuse to change, he convinces us to give God

  573. something, but not everything. He convinces us, as he did

  574. Judas, to think that worshipping was waste.

  575. Judas knew about Jesus, but he did not know him.

  576. Oh, that I might know him in the power of his resurrection.

  577. Don't have incorrect timing. Rely upon God's timing.

  578. If you ever get your hands on Jesus, don't let him go.

  579. Would y'all come and play something this morning?

  580. I want to play that Amazing Grace one more time.

  581. And if you don't finish your assignment, somebody else will.

  582. As your heads are bowed, I want you to think about this message

  583. this morning as we're leading up to Resurrection Sunday where we

  584. will celebrate the resurrected Savior.

  585. I'll just give you one thing that come up.

  586. There was another that would deny him named Peter, but yet

  587. Peter went out and repented. And when Jesus walked out of

  588. that tomb, as we will celebrate Sunday after next, what

  589. happened, He wanted to make sure he said go get the others, but

  590. make sure Peter comes. Man that touches my heart.

  591. Make sure that Peter, he, he knew about me and he was part of

  592. this ministry. And he even took a few steps on

  593. the water that night. He took a few steps, but he got

  594. his eyes off of me and he denied me.

  595. But you know what, I can still use him.

  596. Peter straight a little bit, but I can see Peter.

  597. Maybe he's at the Garden of Gethsemane.

  598. Maybe he's back on his fishing boat.

  599. Peter had went back to his fishing boat.

  600. He thought all was lost and then he's seen the Master.

  601. If you ever have laid hold of Jesus, I don't care what you're

  602. doing right now or what you have done, don't let him go.

  603. How many is glad you didn't let him go?

  604. And when you did let him go, he didn't let you go.

  605. He didn't let you go. God, we thank you for your grace

  606. today. We thank you for people in this

  607. Bible that we can learn from. I don't want to be like Judas.

  608. I want to know that this life is only a test, and if I pass the

  609. test, I can enter in. Don't refuse change.

  610. Whatever God's trying to change in your life, I can promise you

  611. when you give it to him, there's going to be something way better

  612. that will come into your life. I can't promise you it's

  613. material, but I can tell you it's peace that surpasses your

  614. understanding. If you could receive peace today

  615. that surpasses your understanding, your life would

  616. be much easier. Peace that surpasses

  617. understanding. Father, we love you today.

  618. We thank you for this word. Most of all, we thank you for

  619. your son Jesus and his Amazing Grace.

  620. Thanks for listening to the Cross Power Church podcast.

  621. May you know that true hope, peace, and salvation can only be

  622. found in Jesus. If you're near Campbell, TX, we

  623. would love for you to join us in person.

  624. You can find service times at crosspowerchurch.com.