"Upper Room" Pt. 2

Hi, this is John Ozanting, lead pastor of Evolve Church, and this is the Evolved Church Podcast.

Thanks so much for tuning in.

We hope that you find today's message encouraging and full of hope for wherever you're at.

As we uh step into part two of a brand new series uh that we started last week, if you missed last week's Sunday, we're in uh the book of John, the Gospel of John, chapters 13 through 17, uh, which is kind of this beautiful peek at an intimate conversation between Jesus and his followers uh in the upper room, what's called the upper room discourse.

John 13 · chapter mention

And on our journey to Easter in the season of Lent, uh, I want to invite you to uh engage every week with these messages.

Pull out your smartphone, pull out a notebook, pull out a Bible, uh, and participate as we invite you into Scripture.

But today, before I read our text, I want to just share a story with you from World War II uh about a Japanese soldier named Hiru Anoda.

And you could look this guy up on Wikipedia and fact-check my story and know that this isn't just um kind of a fictional account, but something that actually took place.

This Japanese soldier, and he's there in this photo in the foreground, and uh during World War II, he was tasked with some other Japanese soldiers to an island in the Philippines called Lubang Island.

And they were fighting on behalf of Japan, and in the jungles of Lubang Island, um they were they were doing their duty, they were fighting as soldiers, and then the war ended, but they didn't get the message.

And so after World War II ended, Hiro Inoda and his friends, there were four of them, they continued to fight World War II, even though it was done.

Inodo initially held out with a soldier that one that surrendered in 1950, and two that were killed in 1954 and in 1972.

These men did guerrilla warfare on the island of Lubang.

They didn't believe the flyers that were dropped.

They were mailing the airdropping these papers on top of these guys saying, Would you quit it?

The war's over, stop fighting.

Flyers and letters from their family.

The war is over, you can come home.

And they didn't believe it.

For years they survived on wild fruits and games, stolen rice, and occasionally engaged in shootouts with local police and soldiers and militia.

And in 1974, an adventurer named Norio Suzuki discovered Hiru and with the help of a former commanding officer officially relieved him of duty.

And this photo is from 1974.

Twenty-nine years after World War II ended, he finally believed the truth.

The war is over.

That he was engaged in a fight that had ended.

And it took a commanding officer to come and say, Hey, let me let me officially relieve you of duty.

For 29 years he believed this lie.

And as I heard that story, I thought of a consistent theme that I've experienced as a pastor, as a thought leader, as a as a spiritual leader, as a member of a local church.

In 27 years of ministry, one of the consistent themes that I've seen is how many people believe and live and behave and respond a certain way because of a lie that they've anchored their lives to.

People living out of a posture of brokenness and deceit and accusation.

There's this lie that they've believed, and they engage in behavior, or they show up in a marriage or in a family, or as a parent, or in the workplace, because of a lie that's gripped their hearts and lives.

So I want to begin today by asking you this question: How often do you pause to take stock and inventory of your heart and invite the Holy Spirit to bring awareness to the lie of the enemy?

See, as followers of Jesus, we have an adversary, we have a foe.

His native language, the only language Satan speaks, is lies.

And his MO is steal, kill, destroy.

He is an accuser, he is a deceiver.

And the thing about being deceived is if you're deceived, you don't know you're deceived.

And so we need the power of the Holy Spirit and the authority of Scripture and invitation of Christian community to help us unpack and maybe see, even for the first time, a lie that's gripped our heart, gripped our lives.

How are we living?

How are we responding?

How are we behaving based on how the enemy has lied to us?

And so here's some questions to reflect on connected to this idea of living a lie, and connected to the truth that Jesus wants to make us free today.

What is it that's kept you from giving your all to the way, the truth, and the life of Jesus?

Some of you would call yourself a nominal Christian.

Some of you would call yourself a generational Christian.

You're a Christian only because you were born into a Christian family.

And you might be sitting in a room like this today just out of religious duty and obligation.

You were taught that it's right to go to church on Sunday.

But if you're honest, there's something that's kept you from giving your all 24-7 to the way and the truth and the life of Christ.

What is that?

Is it that you don't trust that God is good, even though Jesus says he is?

Is it something else that's kept you from going all in for Christ?

Another question to reflect on who or what has convinced you that you're too far gone to encounter the love of Jesus?

Some of us here in the room today live enslaved to sin and shame.

We're held captive to a belief that because I've behaved in a certain way, God will never fully accept me as his own.

I'm too far gone.

The third question to reflect on: where has darkness and despair held you in bondage and robbed you of walking in the confident light and life of Jesus Christ?

Because of what's happened to you, because of the circumstances, life has felt dark.

There have been many seasons that have felt like despair.

And because of that, you've believed that maybe you'll never fully experience the light and life of Jesus.

How have your failures, your shortcomings, robbed you of the gift of participating in the mission of Jesus?

The things that you've done that have caused you to believe that God can never use you, God can never invite you to be an active participant in the work that He's doing on planet Earth in our lifetime.

So here's some questions to reflect on.

And so, Lord, we come, we come boldly to your throne of grace.

Scripture invites us to step with confidence into undeserved favor that Jesus makes possible and to ask for all that we need according to your word.

And so today, what we need is to be transformed, to be set free, to be made whole, for the lie of the enemy to be broken, for the deception and the accusation of the accuser to have no hold on us anymore.

We invite you, Holy Spirit, to have your way in us as we step into the story of Scripture in the upper room.

We ask that these words wouldn't just be words on a page, but would be spirit and life, rightly dividing within our hearts the word of truth, helping us to see clearly who Christ is and who we are because of Jesus.

Today, God, we give you all that we've brought into this room.

Our joy, our significance, our faith, our shortcomings, our brokenness, our failure.

We bring it all and we lay it at your feet and simply say, Come, Holy Spirit, thank you that you're working in your people, in your church today and every day.

Amen.

Part two of the upper room, subtitled The Betrayer, The Denier, and the Mission.

As we go back into John 13, and this is your study for the week.

John chapter 13, verses 18 through 38, where we're going to spend our time today.

John 13:18–38

And I want to challenge you to find four or more days this week to just spend some time in John chapter 13.

John 13 · chapter mention

Four or more days out of seven to start your day with 10 or 12 minutes of quiet, where you run to your Bible before you run to anything else.

Scripture before phone, scripture before email, scripture before social media.

Put him first in your day.

And we have a method of reading the Bible that we call soap at Evolve Church.

S-O-A-P.

Join me.

S stands for, O stands for, A stands for, P stands for, if you missed that, scripture, observation, application, prayer.

This is a method of reading the Bible.

You don't read the Bible like you read a Tom Clancy novel.

You read it not to just be entertained or to check a box.

You read it to invite the Holy Spirit to make something brand new on the inside of you, to change you from the inside out, to help you understand the righteousness that you have in Christ and the new identity that God has given us because of Jesus.

And so, Scripture, that's the passage, John 13, 18 to 38.

Observation is Holy Spirit, what do you want me to see while I'm reading this?

What do you want me to observe while I'm reading these verses?

A, how can I apply it to my life?

And P, pray.

Pray that God would fill you with confident hope and authority to walk in what He's revealed to you.

Because all through John 13, as we learned last week, is an invitation to do what Jesus did and hear and put into practice the words of Jesus, to live as Jesus lived, to follow the example of Jesus and know that in our obedience, God blesses us.

And so as we go into John 13, verses 18 and on today, I've got three observations that I want to bring to the room, or what I'm going to call three truths about Jesus, that I want to encourage us to see together today.

John 13:18

And the first truth is this Jesus gives us every opportunity to choose him.

Starting in verse 21, now Jesus was deeply troubled, and he exclaimed, I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.

And picture, as we did a few moments ago, Jesus reclined at the table with his twelve disciples, sharing a meal together in the upper room.

And sharing a meal around Passover was a season of feasting and remembering the faithfulness of God.

But the tone turns somber and sad as Jesus exclaims, One of you will betray me.

The disciples looked at each other, wondering whom Jesus could mean.

The disciple Jesus loved, subtle flex from the author, by the way, John's writing.

And this he's talking about himself.

John's like, Me, the disciple Jesus loves, sitting next to Jesus at the table.

And Simon Peter motions to John to ask, Who is Jesus talking about?

Who's going to betray him?

So that disciple, John, leans over to Jesus and says, Lord, who is it?

And Jesus responded, It's the one to whom I give the bread that I dip in the bowl.

And when he dipped it, he gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscarian.

When Judas had eaten the bread, Satan entered into him.

Then Jesus told him, Hurry and do what you're going to do.

But none of the others at the table knew what Jesus meant.

Since Judas was their treasurer, some thought Jesus was telling them to go pay for the food or give some money away to the poor.

So Judas left at once, going out into the night.

So here's Jesus at the table, brokenhearted, saying, Somebody at this table is going to betray me.

And John leans over and says, Lord, who is it?

And there's this exchange where Jesus takes a piece of unleavened bread and dips it into a bowl and hands it to Judas, and Judas gets up and leaves.

Warren Wearsby writes about this text that in verse 21, Christ openly told the disciples that one of their number would betray him.

And actually, this statement from Jesus is one final warning for Judas.

I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.

In other words, Judas, I see you.

What's in your heart?

Christ had washed Judas' feet, had quoted psalms to him a moment before, and now openly warns Judas, thus giving Judas every opportunity to change his mind.

And when Judas accepted the dipped bread, he finally yielded to Satan, who entered into him, making Judas a child of the devil.

And like the Holy Spirit, Satan works in and through human bodies and wills that are surrendered to him.

And it was night signifying the darkness of Judas's heart and the fact that this was the hour for the power of darkness.

Judas's heart is the issue, not Christ's love, not Christ's willingness, not Christ's sacrifice.

See, there's no limit and no end to the perfect love of Jesus through self-sacrificial love in both word and deed.

Jesus did everything he could do to break through the lies and the deceit that had gripped Judas's heart.

For three years, Judas pretended.

He pretended to be a follower of Jesus.

He played the game with the other eleven.

He played with sin as a treasurer.

Scripture reports that he was deceitful with the money and stole.

He put off his salvation.

And ultimately, he chose to stay in deception.

And it must have broke Jesus' heart.

It must have pained Jesus that after three years of doing life with Judas, that he still chose the way of sin and destruction.

Can you hear the brokenness and the sadness in the Savior with his most intimate friend saying, one of you will betray me?

John Piper writes, so I want to encourage you with this.

This part of Christ-like Christian living is turmoil of soul.

Most certainly Jesus was in turmoil.

Not sinful turmoil that comes from a lack of trust in the promises of God, but a holy turmoil that comes from love for someone who's about to destroy himself and defame God.

And this is the love of Christ made evident at the table.

A holy turmoil, such love for Judas, knowing that he was about to destroy himself and defame God.

You know, there's some mysteries surrounding Judas, but one thing is clear: Judas made a deliberate choice.

He chose to give way to the lie and the deception when he betrayed Christ.

What deliberate choice are you making?

What deliberate choice are we making as a people of faith?

To those of you wondering if you're too far gone, know this.

Jesus shows us the full extent of his love with Judas to model how far his love's willing to go for you and for me.

Judas was included in the self-sacrificial cleansing love of Jesus when he washed all of their feet.

Judas quoted, or Jesus quoted from the psalmist to invite Judas to soften his heart.

And Jesus gave one verbal warning saying, Hey, I know what's about to take place.

It's not too late.

He extended every available opportunity for Judas to change his mind.

And here's the good news, evolved family.

He does the same for you and for me.

Jesus has extended every opportunity through his selfless sacrifice and his perfect love to say, don't believe the lie that you're too far gone.

Neither height nor depth, width nor breadth.

There's nothing that can separate you from the love of Christ.

What is it that's kept you from giving your all to the way and the truth and the life of Jesus?

What lie from the enemy has you caught in a moment of deceit where you're saying, maybe it's not worth it?

Maybe Jesus' love is for them, but not for me.

Who or what has convinced you that you're too far gone to encounter the genuine love of Christ?

Not just know about Jesus' love, but to experience the fullness of it.

As Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide and long and high and how deep his love is.

And may you experience the love of Christ, though it's too great to understand fully.

Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Can you sense the power of the Holy Spirit breaking through whatever lie has tried to convince you that you can't experience the love of Christ?

Can you feel the weight and the authority of Jesus' self-sacrificial love in the room?

Saying, I've already done all that's required for you to say yes to receiving my love.

The first idea, the first truth is Jesus gives us every opportunity to choose him.

The second thought is this, truth number two, it is always the right time to pay attention to your heart.

I love that this journey of faith starts on the inside and works its way out.

Maybe you grew up in a religious tradition, much like I did, that had you believe the lie that if I get everything on the outside, tickety-boo, and all my ducks in a row, then maybe God will see me and love me.

And Jesus, in classic Jesus form, takes a common narrative in the world and flips it right upside down and says, actually, no, your discipleship to me is an issue of how your heart is doing.

In verse 36, Simon Peter says, Lord, where are you going?

And Jesus says, You can't go with me now, but you'll follow me later.

Peter says, Why can't I come now, Lord?

I'm ready to die for you.

And Jesus answers, Peter, die for me?

I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you're gonna deny me three times that you even know me.

Weirsby writes that after Judas leaves the room, Jesus warns Peter about his own approaching testing and failure.

Peter was anxious to discover another person's sins.

Now he had to face his own sin.

Judge not that you be not judged.

Or as Jesus says, don't look at the fleck in your brother's eye, pay attention to the log in your own eye.

Peter's boast showed his lack of understanding of his own heart.

Self-confidence is dangerous in the Christian life.

And Peter was self-confident.

I'll die for you, Jesus.

But will you really live for me when it costs you?

Will you really live for me when everything's on the line?

See, there's a bit of Peter in all of us, a self-confident boast that shows up when there really isn't anything at stake.

In rooms like this, which are beautiful, we're bold and courageous to lift high the name of Jesus.

But what about where it truly counts out there?

What about where it truly counts in the marketplace?

In your vocational calling, in your high school campus.

In your university classroom.

What about where it really counts?

You're not one of Jesus' disciples, are you?

You're not one of those Christians, are you?

You don't actually believe the Bible's true, do you?

Peter's readiness to die for Jesus is not quite what he thinks it is.

His use of the sword in the garden shows that he's ready in certain circumstances to face death boldly.

There's truth as well as error in Peter's words.

But he was not ready to stand for Jesus when all seemed lost.

And this is where I see myself in Peter.

When things are good, I'm like, I'll live for you, Jesus, but when things are really challenging and hard, where are you, Lord?

Are you as good as Jesus says you are?

Peter wasn't ready to stand for Jesus when all seemed lost.

Because that demanded a different brand of courage and devotion.

And that different brand of courage and devotion is exactly what your world needs, what my world needs.

It's a courage and a devotion that's ours through the power of the Holy Spirit, a courage and a devotion that says, I will shine bright for Jesus regardless of the cost.

I will live boldly, unashamed for the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ, even if it hurts me, even if it offends somebody, even if it hurts somebody's feelings.

Today's a good day for me to pay attention to my heart.

Every day is a good day for me to be aware of my surrender to Jesus on a heart level.

Romans 1 says, I'm not ashamed of this good news about Christ.

It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes, because unlike Hiru Anoda, our war is still waging.

We're not fighting, though, against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

Our war is waged in the spiritual, not in the natural.

Get on your knees and pray, God, can I shine bright for your name's sake?

Get on your knees with your Bibles, tear stained on the floor every morning and say, Jesus, what will it cost me to live boldly for your name's sake today?

Where has darkness and despair kept you in bondage and robbed you of walking in the confident light and life of Jesus Christ?

No more.

The power of the enemy has been broken because of Jesus.

It is for freedom that you've been made free.

So walk free.

Where is the lie of the enemy?

Silenced your voice from publicly and privately aligning your life with Jesus.

Not just in rooms where it's comfortable.

Keep showing up, keep worshiping, keep singing loud, keep leaning into public spaces where scripture is being taught in a way that impacts your heart and your life, and then use it out there where it counts the most.

God's word is our indispensable weapon, still our best weapon to thwart the lie and the deception and the accusation of the enemy.

Are we preparing to courageously and boldly defend our faith in Christ when it matters most by being literate students of the scriptures?

Do you own a Bible and do you read it?

And my high challenge as your pastor today, if I can just shepherd you for a moment, four or more days a week, four or more days a week is the difference maker.

Or you rise early and find a quiet space to simply pray, Lord, I want to experience your love as I read your love letter to me.

Scripture.

And as I read, help me observe the person of Jesus.

Help me apply a little bit more of Jesus to my life.

And I pray that I would live today as a conduit of the grace and the love of Jesus.

Observation truth number three.

The work of Jesus isn't finished.

And we're invited to join in.

Verse 18 to 20.

I tell you this beforehand so that when it happens, you'll believe that I'm the Messiah.

And I tell you the truth: anyone who welcomes my messenger is welcoming me.

Pause for a moment.

Who's the messenger?

This is Jesus saying, anyone who welcomes Jesus' messenger, who's the messenger?

We are.

You are.

Put up your hand.

I'm the messenger.

Come on, say it with me.

Anyone who welcomes you, the messenger, welcomes Jesus.

And anyone who welcomes Jesus is welcoming the Father.

And then verse 34, he goes, I'm giving you a new commandment.

Love each other, just as I've loved you.

You should love one another.

Your love for one another will prove to the world that you're my disciples.

And I love this consistent invitation, this consistent language from Jesus.

We see it in John 13, we see it in Luke chapter 10.

Luke 10 · chapter mention

Jesus says to his disciples, anyone who accepts your message is accepting me.

Anyone who rejects you is rejecting me.

Anyone who rejects me is rejecting God.

Matthew 10, we see it again.

Anyone who receives you receives me.

Anyone who receives me receives the Father who sent me.

I love this.

Anyone who welcomes you, anyone who accepts you, anyone who receives you, anyone who grabs a hold and takes a hold of the good news of Jesus Christ aligns their life with the Father.

See, the mission of Jesus is here assigned the highest theological significance, the most absolutely binding authority, the authority of God Himself.

Failure to close with Jesus is failure to know God.

And because Jesus' disciples represent him to the world, you and I, our mission, our ministry takes on precisely the same absolute significance.

I want to live a life that helps people close with Jesus so that they can know God.

I want to be the kind of neighbor that helps people close with Jesus so that they can know the Father.

I want to be the kind of customer that helps people know and experience and encounter the love of Christ so that they can close with Jesus to know the Father.

I want to be the kind of husband, I want to be the kind of father, I want to be the kind of pastor, I want to be the kind of friend, I want to be the kind of nephew and son.

And I desire the same for you.

That the love of Christ wouldn't be just something that we would experience, even though that's important.

It would be something that fills us with such holy turmoil to see those who are about to destroy their lives and defame God, that his love compels us to help others close with Christ.

It is vital, it is absolutely significant that we carry the message of Christ Jesus to those who know him not, so that they might welcome and accept and receive the gift of Jesus to close with Christ and as such to fully know God.

I love Eugene Peterson's paraphrase of 2 Peter 3.

Don't overlook the obvious here, friends.

With God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years is as good as a day.

God isn't late with his promise as some measure lateness.

And the promise that's being talked about here is Jesus coming again.

Listen to this.

God is restraining himself on account of you.

Holding back the end because he doesn't want anyone lost.

He's giving everyone space and time to change.

This is our Jesus.

So once again, I want to encourage you with this.

Part of Christ-like Christian living is turmoil of soul.

Not sinful turmoil that comes from a lack of trust in the promises of God, but a holy turmoil that comes from love for someone who's about to destroy themselves and defame God.

Who do you love deeply with a holy turmoil that is on the verge of destroying themselves and defaming the Father?

Does the love of the Father fill us with a holy turmoil that comes from a love for someone else?

Because by this they will know that we're disciples of Jesus, by how we walk in love for one another.

And that's the invitation.

33 and 35, little children, yet a little while I'm with you.

Hear the heart of Jesus.

This is the only time in Scripture Jesus uses the words little children.

The only time.

Just for a little while longer, I'm with you.

And so hear my words, a new commandment I give you.

That you love one another just as I have loved you.

And also you're to love one another.

By this, all people will know that you're my disciples.

If you have love for one another.

And it's the love of Christ at work within us that compels us with holy turmoil to step out of the room today and align our lives with the mission and the message of Jesus.

Thank you so much for listening to today's message.

If you're ever in the Edmonton area, pop by for a visit.

And if you need any more information, visit Evolvechurch.com.

We hope to see you soon.