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Turn with me in your Bibles to 
the gospel of John as we return to our studies in this fourth 
gospel. It's been a few weeks. We're 
starting a new section in John's gospel. Remember, a basic overview 
or outline of the book is a prologue in chapter 1, verses 1 to 18, 
where the apostle gives us a sort of behind the scenes view of 
the word. the Word who became flesh and 
dwelt among us. And he tells us, or he begins, 
with a discussion of theology proper. God, the Father, the 
Son, and the Holy Spirit. And then we have what's called 
the Book of the Signs, or the public ministry of Jesus, which 
begins in chapter 1 at verse 19 and continues to chapter 12. 
and verse 50, and here we come thirdly to what has been called 
the Book of the Passion. And basically what we have here 
to the end of chapter 20 is Christ's preparation for and ultimately 
his death and resurrection. And so it's a very instructive 
portion of John's Gospel. The book then ends with an epilogue 
in chapter 21. So our focus this morning will 
be on chapter 13, just the first three verses, because I think 
in the first three verses what we find is an introduction to 
the rest of what we find in chapters 13 to 16. So I just want to read 
from verse 1, we'll read to verse 17, and then I'll pray. So John 
13 verse 1, Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew 
that his hour had come, that he should depart from this world 
to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he 
loved them to the end. And supper being ended, the devil, 
having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's 
son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all 
things into his hands and that he had come from God and was 
going to God, rose from supper and laid aside his garments, 
took a towel and girded himself. After that, he poured water into 
a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them 
with the towel with which he was girded. Then he came to Simon 
Peter, and Peter said to him, Lord, are you washing my feet? Jesus answered and said to him, 
what I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will know after 
this. Peter said to him, you shall 
never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, if I do not 
wash you, you have no part with me. Simon Peter said to him, 
Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus said 
to him, he was bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely 
clean. And you are clean, but not all 
of you. For he knew who would betray him. Therefore he said, 
you are not all clean. So when he had washed their feet, 
taken his garments and sat down again, he said to them, do you 
know what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord, 
and you say, well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and teacher, 
have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 
For I have given you an example that you should do as I have 
done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, 
a servant is not greater than his master, nor is he who is 
sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, 
blessed are you if you do them. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
gracious God and Holy Father, we thank you so very much for 
the Lord's Day. We thank you for the great privilege 
that is ours to gather together with the people of God on the 
day of God and the house of God. We pray that you would be glorified. 
We pray that you would increase our love for you and our love 
for one another. Bless our fellowship. The fellowship 
of the saints is so wonderful to be able to spend time with 
the people of God and to get that refreshment and that encouragement. As well, God, we pray for the 
ministry and the power of the Holy Spirit as we consider the 
scripture now, we pray that we would bask in and see and marvel 
in the glory of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the 
world. We thank you for that love that He displays. We thank 
you for that gospel of our salvation, namely His life, death, and resurrection. And we pray that all over the 
earth today this gospel would be proclaimed, that it would 
run swiftly, that it would be glorified, that it would accomplish 
the purpose for which you send it. And God, may it be the case 
that from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, sinners 
would come to the Father through the Son by the Spirit. And we 
pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, as we come to chapters 
13 to 16, we have what's been historically called the upper 
room discourse. Some today call it the farewell 
discourse. I don't want to argue about which 
is preferable, but we'll proceed under the auspices of the upper 
room discourse. And I think there's two reasons 
why Jesus does what he does in this particular discourse. In 
the first place, he continues to teach and instruct his disciples 
concerning not only himself, but the Father and the Holy Spirit. 
In other words, Trinitarian theology looms large in the instruction 
of our Lord in this upper room. And that shouldn't surprise us. 
Again, the prologue in John 1, verse 1, in the beginning was 
the Word. The Word was with God and the Word was God. And then 
in verse 14, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. and 
then the constant emphasis by our Lord in His teaching ministry 
on the fact that He was sent by the Father, that He was sent 
by God, that He came on a particular mission to save His people from 
their sins. So it shouldn't surprise us that 
when we come to the Upper Room, Jesus is giving His disciples 
more instruction concerning the Triune God. But I suspect also 
he continues to prepare the apostles for the ministry they will undertake 
after his death, resurrection, and ascension to his father's 
right hand. In other words, these men are 
going to be the men that we see in the book of Acts that basically 
turn the world upside down. And so Christ is preparing them, 
Christ is fitting them, Christ is giving them information to 
assist them in that task. And it won't be the case that 
they'll go out and everybody will be saved under their preaching 
and everything's just going to be wonderful. It's going to usher 
in a latter-day glory right there in Judea. No, there would be 
converts, there would be churches planted, but there would be great 
opposition, there would be great persecution, there would be great 
enmity. The sort of enmity that the people 
had toward the Lord Jesus Christ, they then spend on the church 
and the apostles. So Christ wants to instruct them 
concerning these things for their fittedness for gospel ministry. In fact, Sinclair Ferguson made 
this observation. He says, I've often reflected 
on the rather obvious thought that when his disciples were 
about to have the world collapse in on them, which they are. They 
don't know it here at this particular point, but that's exactly what's 
going to happen. He says, I've often reflected 
on the rather obvious thought that when his disciples were 
about to have the world collapse in on them, our Lord spent so 
much time in the upper room speaking to them about the mystery of 
the Trinity. Huh, you think that's the kind 
of stuff we need in the midst of chaos, in the midst of flux, 
in the midst of opposition, in the midst of persecution? Absolutely 
positively. A great big dose of the knowledge 
of God goes a long way to steadying the people of God. And that seems 
to be one of our Lord's tactics with reference to these men. 
Ferguson concludes, if anything could underline the necessity 
of Trinitarianism for practical Christianity, that must surely 
be it. In other words, a knowledge of 
who God is empowers and enables the apostles in the first century 
and the church in the 21st century to engage in exploits for the 
most time. If we don't know our God, we 
don't understand God, we don't have an appreciation for the 
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, what is it that we're 
about? What is our function in this world? Certainly we're to 
shine as lights in a crooked and perverse generation, but 
we're supposed to hold forth the Word. We're supposed to be 
a people of the Book. We're supposed to be a people 
of understanding. We're supposed to be a people 
marked by 2 Peter 3.18, but grow in the grace and in the what? 
In the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We're 
to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and 
strength. We're not to be conformed to 
this present evil age, but rather we're to be transformed by what? By the renewing of our minds. 
In other words, brethren, we need doctrine. And that's precisely 
what Christ gives to these disciples in the upper room to prepare 
them for the eventuality of church planting, disciple making, and 
opposition from both unbelieving Israel and then the civil state 
in the Roman Empire. So let us now look specifically 
at verses 1 to 3. As I said, I think it functions 
as an introduction to the entirety of the discourse. The discourse 
goes from 13 to 16. It does function to introduce 
this foot-washing episode. God willing, we'll look at that 
next Sunday morning. But I think verses 1 to 3 basically 
modify, control, or are over the entirety of this upper room 
discourse. So there are three things to 
consider here. First, the arrival of the hour in verse one. Second, 
the opposition of the devil in verse two. And then thirdly, 
the resolution of Jesus in verse three. Or we might say his commitment, 
his resolve, his willingness to go to the very end on behalf 
of his people. But note the arrival of the hour. 
Verse 1 tells us, now before the Feast of the Passover, when 
Jesus knew that His hour had come, that He should depart from 
this world to the Father. So the setting of the context 
historically is the Feast of Passover. We have noted this 
in our studies in John's Gospel. It's basically as if John's gospel 
is structured around the Passover. You've got several mentioned, 
and here specifically, we see the events connected to Passover 
that are affecting our Lord Jesus Christ. So his death at the cross 
coincides with what you find in Exodus chapter 12. Remember 
that Passover feast where God tells the children of Israel 
that you need to take an animal out of your flock, you need to 
kill it, and you need to take some of that blood, and you need 
to splash it above the doorposts on your house. And when you do 
that, by faith, understand that the angel of God Most High will 
pass over. And it's not based on the faith 
of the particular individual, it is rather based on the blood 
that is sprinkled on the doorpost. It's not the strength of the 
Israelites' faith, but it's the power of the blood of the Lamb. 
And so what we find in the book of John is a new exodus, not 
out of Egyptian bondage, but out of the slave market of sin. 
We find the true Lamb of God, which is Jesus Christ our Lord, 
John 1, 29. Behold the Lamb of God who takes 
away the sin of the world. And then we see, in connection 
to all of this, the celebration of the Passover, which yields 
itself to the institution of the Lord's Supper. So Jesus Christ 
is the antitype. The Old Testament points forward 
and promises one to come, and he is the fulfillment. As Paul 
tells us, he is the yea and amen of all of God's promises. So 
the particular historical context is the Feast of Passover, but 
then notice specifically the theological context. Now, before 
the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had 
come, This hour has been referred to in several places in John's 
gospel, most closely here in chapter 12. You can turn back, 
chapter 12, specifically at verse 23. But Jesus answered them saying, 
the hour has come that the son of man should be glorified. And 
then dropping down into verse 27, now my soul is troubled and 
what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, 
but for this purpose, I came to this hour. So this hour has 
sort of been in the backdrop of John's gospel all throughout. 
But now the hour has come. And the hour is not left up for 
grabs in terms of what does it mean. It's associated with his 
glorification. It's associated with his soul 
sorrows there in 12, 23, and 27. And it's associated specifically 
here in 13.1 with his departure from this world back to the Father. So in John 1.14, the Word became 
flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. We see that 
Jesus came to His own, according to John 1.9 and 10, but His own 
received Him not. So now the hour has come that 
He returns to the Father. So what does that mean? It means 
it's through the death on the cross and resurrection from the 
dead that he ascends back on high to lead captivity captive 
and to give gifts to men. So Christ understands this, Christ 
knows this, and Christ uses or seizes the opportunity to prepare 
his disciples. So the identification of the 
hour and then the description of the hour, it's right there. 
When Jesus knew that his hour had come, that, this is explanatory, 
that he should depart from this world to the Father. This is 
what John has been alluding to in this mention of the hour up 
until this particular point. It's arrived, it's associated 
with his glory, it's associated with soul trouble according to 
his humanity, and it's ultimately associated with those events 
of his death and resurrection. The hour had come. And then notice 
this last statement in verse 1. Having loved his own who were 
in the world, he loved them to the end. This is why I suggest 
that what we find here in verses 1 to 3 basically control the 
entirety of chapters 13 to 16. In other words, why is he teaching 
his disciples? Yes, he wants effective ministry. He wants effective disciple making. He wants effective church planting. 
He wants effective resistance to tyranny. He wants effective 
Christianity in that first century. All that's true, but why does 
he instruct them in chapters 13 to 16? It's because he loves 
them. Having loved his own who were 
in the world, he loves them to the end. So I would suggest that 
the love that Christ has is the motivating factor to the words 
that he speaks. In other words, he's not chastening 
them, he's not chiding them, he's not reproving them, he's 
not rebuking them. He's using truth calculated to 
promote health in them, to promote earnestness in them, to promote 
mighty exploits for the glory of God by them, but he is doing 
it because he loves them. In fact, if you look back throughout 
redemptive history, we call it the 11th hour. When a man comes 
to die, what does he do? What would you do in your 11th 
hour? If you knew that today you were going to die, what would 
you do? Well, I've always wanted to climb Mount Shem, so I'm going 
to schedule that in at 1 p.m. I'd like to have a good meal 
at 5 p.m. and then I'll breathe my last. Well, when you look 
at the 11th hour of men in Scripture, you know what they often do? 
They gather their family about them. They gather them round 
about. And what do they do? In the context 
of love for their family, they instruct them. They encourage 
them. They teach them. They try to 
pass on nuggets of wisdom to them. Paul in 2 Timothy chapter 
four, I would argue, is his 11th hour gathering together the people 
of God. And what is large in the mind 
and heart of the apostle? Preach the word, be ready in 
season and out of season, convince, rebuke, exhort with all long 
suffering and teaching. Why? Because the time will come 
when they'll no longer endure sound doctrine, but they'll gather 
up teachers that'll scratch their itching ears. The other reason 
he gives us, for my departure, is at hand. He knows that he 
has fought the good fight. He has finished the race and 
he has kept the faith. This is what was important to 
Paul, was to pass on the baton of the necessity of gospel preaching 
to advance the kingdom of God on earth throughout this age. 
And when we come to Jesus, it's love that brings him to this 
place where he encourages his people and several things that 
he does. He exhorts them that they humbly 
serve others. I'm going to argue next week 
that foot washing is not to be a sacrament in the church. I 
don't think he means that we need to always wash each other's 
feet or have a day of the year where we wash each other's feet. 
I think the idea is humble service. Be willing to wash the feet of 
a brother or a sister in Jesus Christ. In other words, give 
yourselves to other service. That's the emphasis. Born out 
of his love for them. The exhortation that they love 
one another. In other words, he doesn't just say, do basically 
what I've done. I love you. I've loved you to 
the end. Go ahead and love one another. He does that in 13, 
34, and 35. The exhortation that they be 
not troubled, 14, 1 to 6, that's pretty appropriate, right? He 
loves us. So what does he do? calms us. He loves us. So he 
says, essentially, Psalm 4610, be still and know that I am God. 
I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. 
Don't lose your mind. Don't freak out. Don't end up 
in a state where you're ineffective, but be not troubled. Hope in 
God. Believe in me. As well, the emphasis on his 
unity of essence with the Father. He does this because he loves 
us. He wants us to understand the beauty of the triune God. 
He gives us instruction on the role of the Holy Spirit, chapters 
14 and 15 and 16. He gives instruction on the relationship 
of the vine and the branches, again, because he loves us. That's 
the emphasis. and then as well the emphasis 
on his love for his people again in chapter 15, 9 to 17, and then 
the warning that the world is going to rise up in opposition 
against them. Somebody prayed in the last hour 
and it was so appropriate and so fitting. Isn't it amazing 
when we read, you know, Voice of the Martyrs or these accounts 
of martyrdom or persecution, what's the crime of the Christian? 
Well, you know, they strap on C4 and they go down to the city 
square and they blow everybody up. No, that's not what they 
do. They, you know, menace society. They promote all kinds of lawlessness 
and sexual perversion and the murder of babies and the murder. 
No, that's not them either. Well, you know, they don't pay 
tax. Yeah, they do. Paul tells them to, according 
to Romans chapter 13. What's their crime? We believe 
on the Lord Jesus Christ. You got to really hate God to 
want to hate somebody and hurt them because they believe in 
him. And this is precisely what the 
Lord does exhort them with. If the world hates the master, 
they're going to hate the servants. I'm not telling you this because 
I hate you. I'm telling this because I love you and you should 
know this. And then the encouragement ultimately at the end of the 
discourse that he has overcome the world. He says, I've told 
you these things so that you might have peace. In this world, 
you will have tribulation. Don't you love the truthfulness 
of our Savior? He doesn't say, well, you know, 
everything's going to be hunky-dory. You're going to just go unaffected 
by this horrible world. You're going to just live perfectly. 
You're always going to get the races. You're always going to 
get the promotions. Your wife's always going to have a smile. 
Your children will always be obedient. They'll be the dutiful 
little ones that just say, yes, mommy. Yes, daddy. No, no, no. That's not what he says. In this 
world, you will have tribulation. The master, because he loves 
us, doesn't lie to us. But he says, but be of good cheer, 
for I have overcome the world. So it's love that is the motivating 
fact behind his words to these disciples. Look again at verse 
1 and notice the emphasis on this. It says, when Jesus knew 
that his hour had come, that he should depart from this world 
to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he 
loved them to the end. So the objects of his love are 
his own, not just his own in that upper room, but his own. All those that the Father gives 
me, John 6, 37, will come to me. And the one who comes to 
me I will certainly not cast out. Turn over to John 17, after 
the upper room discourse, Jesus as the high priest prays. And 
in 17.9, he says, I pray for them. I do not pray for the world, 
but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. And then 
notice in verse 20, I do not pray for these alone, but also 
for those who will believe in me through their word. So back 
to John 13, verse one, this is calculated specifically to be 
an encouragement for the 12 apostles, but it's also for us, having 
loved his own. What is it behind the Lord Jesus 
Christ in terms of His mission? Certainly the triune God, the 
Father, the Son, and the Spirit, covenants to save a people from 
their sins. Christ is the mediator. Christ 
is the one that takes on our humanity with all of its essential 
properties and common infirmities thereof, and He comes to save 
us. There's love back there, too. 
I wonder at times if we forget that. God so, what, loved the 
world that he gave his only begotten son. This idea or this caricature 
of Christianity as an unloving sort of a system, it couldn't 
be farther from the truth. God commends his own love toward 
us, Romans 5, 8, and that while we were still sinners, Christ 
died for us. It's love that is the perfection 
in our Lord Jesus Christ. He had loved them, but then it 
goes on to say that He loved them to the end. And His own 
there, those given Him by the Father, they're not morally superior. I don't want anybody here that 
perhaps isn't a Christian to somehow think, to be considered 
his own. You've got to wear suits and 
go to church twice on Sunday. You've got to be familiar with 
the hymns. You've got to have some sort of knowledge of Sunday 
school. He just assumes all this stuff. And this is a class of people 
that sort of satisfy those requirements, and so they become his own. No. That's not it at all. Ask anybody 
sitting here that has faith in Jesus. Are you in Jesus because 
of you? Nope, not even a little bit. I'm in Jesus because of Jesus. Election doesn't find men in 
Christ, Gill said. Election puts men in Christ. We're here because God first 
loved us. The His-own-ness is not the morally 
superior lot. The church-going folk, they've 
got a confession under their arm, they've got their Bible 
under their arm, and they're ready. No, no, no. We're dead 
in our trespasses and sins. We are deceitful. Our hearts 
are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. We're 
vile, helpless, guilty. We are at odds with the living 
and the true God. So, His own are not the ones 
that are somehow morally superior. His own are those whom the Father 
gave to the Son before the foundation of the world. His own are those 
who have benefited from the glory of God Most High, who has chosen 
for Himself a great multitude that no man can number. And I 
would suggest as well that that argues there is hope to be had 
in Jesus. If sinners are in Christ, that's 
an encouragement to other sinners to look unto Christ, isn't it? When Paul says this is a faithful 
saying, worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the 
world to save sinners, that right there is good, but Paul ups the 
ante. Paul wants to make sure that 
you understand the gravity of the statement that Christ Jesus 
came into the world to save sinners. Paul then goes on to say, of 
whom I am chief. So there is not a sinner on the 
face of the earth that can say, well, you know, I'm just too 
wicked to be saved. No, you're so wicked, you must 
be saved, and it's only by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul the apostle, chief of sinners, 
we hear him, and we see him, and we read his letters. We forget 
that road to Damascus, We forget the extradition papers that he 
has in his hand as he moves to Damascus to arrest believers, 
men and women, to bring them back to Jerusalem so that they 
could be punished, so they could be sentenced up to including 
death. Saul of Tarsus was a wretch. He was a bad guy. He was not 
the sort of guy that you'd want to hang out with, and you're 
certainly not the sort of guy or girl he'd want to hang out 
with unless he was putting the handcuffs on you and taking you 
back to the tribunal so that you could get your sentence. What happens? Christ saves the 
chief of sinners. for encouragement to other sinners. There is forgiveness with thee 
that thou mayest be feared. If we confess our sins, He is 
faithful and just to forgive us of our sins. The blood of 
Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from what? From all sin. Ephesians 
1, 7, in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness 
of sins according to what? The riches of His grace. Not just the little meager amounts 
of His grace, but the riches of His grace. So the objects 
of divine love here are not a morally superior class of people, but 
miserable, guilty sinners that God in His free mercy and grace 
set His affection upon. But as well, consider the love 
of Jesus as it comes to us in verse 1. Having loved his own 
who are in the world, he loved them to the end. I think this 
does reflect at least three things here. When we consider the love 
of God, it's a different sort of a consideration than the love 
of man. We love, you probably have somebody sitting next to 
you or somebody in your life somewhere that you love. You 
can say that of a certainty. I love this person. I love my 
children. I love my grandchildren. I love 
the bones of my wife. That's a Liverpool sort of an 
expression. I love the bones of this person 
expresses just how much you love them. So we have the capacity 
to love. We can increase in love. We can 
diminish in love as well. People cross us, and we don't 
love them so much anymore. But you see, it cannot be said 
of us, as it is of God in 1 John 4, 8, and 16, that we are love. We can love. We can grow in love. We have the ability to love. 
But with God, his perfections are God. All that is in God is 
God. And so when it says, God is love, 
it doesn't mean he has the capacity to love. It doesn't mean he increases 
or diminishes in love. God is love. God is righteousness. God is holiness. God is justice. He's not so many 
parts making up God. God is his attributes. All that 
is in God is God. So when Jesus says that he had 
loved them, or when the narrator tells us, having loved his own 
who were in the world, he loved them to the end. We learn first 
of the unchanging love of Christ for us. the unchanging love of 
Christ for us. That's a mind-blowing concept, 
but brethren, let it blow your minds once in a while, because 
it's glorious. The Lord God Most High is immutable. He is impassable. There is no 
shadow of turning. There is no variation with thee. The Lord God Most High loves 
his people in an unchanging way. Now, we ask the question, well, 
how could that be? I mean, I'm kind of a wretch 
on Tuesdays. I miss coffee. I got a few bad 
meetings. And by Tuesday afternoon, I'm 
not only not loving myself, I quite despise myself. And yet, you're 
telling me that God's love is unchanging? I'm not telling you 
that. Moses, the prophets, the apostles, 
our Lord Jesus, they're telling you that God's love is unchanging. 
A second thing is that God's love, Christ's love for his own, 
is constant. That's good news, isn't it? Again, 
we don't have to worry on Tuesday afternoon, you know, is the lightning 
bolt going to come and get me? It might, but that's not an expression 
of his hatred for you. You might need a lightning bolt 
to exit you from this present evil age and take you into the 
glory of his kingdom. But the love of Jesus is constant. It's not fluctuating. It's not 
chaotic. It's not so many vicissitudes 
in a world of flux. So for whatever issues and challenges 
and problems and trials that we face in the creaturely realm, 
we don't have that problem with our great God. We don't have 
that problem with our blessed Savior. And then I would suggest 
that the love of Christ is infinite. This kind of flows together, 
not a lot of difference in unchangeable and in constant and in infinite, 
but it is good to think through it. It is good to ponder it. 
In fact, turn to the book of Ephesians where the apostle wants 
the church in Ephesus to consider this very thing. He wants them 
to consider not their love for Jesus, which can be a bit depressing 
from time to time, but Jesus' love for them. That's a good 
exercise, brethren. To be a scholar in Christ's school 
of love is a good endeavor. Notice in 3.14, the apostle tells 
them how he prays for them. For this reason, I bow my knees 
to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family 
in heaven and earth is named. And now he has three specific 
petitions, three things that he asks of God relative to the 
people in the church in Ephesus. And the first is verse 16, that 
he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to 
be strengthened with might through his spirit in the inner man, 
that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I want 
you to be strong. I mean, brethren, again, we struggle. 
There's a lack of courage, a lack of fortitude, a lack of those 
sorts of things, but all things being equal, we ought to pray 
Paul's prayer with him to fill us such with the Holy Spirit 
that we're strengthened with all might in the inner man so 
that we may endeavor to glorify you in this present evil age. 
And then notice that second petition focusing upon the love of Jesus. 
That you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend 
with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and 
height to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge. Again, 
brethren, that's not our love for Christ. That doesn't pass 
knowledge. If we do love Him, we should 
love Him. That He does love us is absolutely 
amazing. It's absolutely glorious. It's 
wondrous. And that's Paul's point, to know 
the love of Christ that passes knowledge. In other words, it's 
infinite. You can ponder it as it's revealed 
to you in Scripture. You can stand in awe and amazement 
as it's revealed to you in Scripture, as you understand the doctrine 
of justification by faith, the presence and power of the Holy 
Spirit. But can you get to the point where you have it all tied 
up in a nifty little package? Well, there's the love of Christ 
for me. No, it passes knowledge. See, when we preach the gospel 
of Jesus Christ, we're not offering just a few meager benefits to 
the weary soul. There is everything in Jesus. 
Everything that the desperate soul needs is to be found in 
our Lord Jesus. That's why we say, come to Jesus. You're a sinner, you need Jesus. 
You need stability and peace in Jesus, come to Jesus. You 
need this understanding or you want this kind of love? Come 
to Jesus. The third petition is quite curious 
as well, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 
I think the context indicates that what we have there is something 
of temple. You remember that Shekinah glory came down and 
filled the temple of God Most High? Paul says, I want you to 
be strong, I want you to know that love, and I want you as 
the people of God to be filled with all the fullness of God 
Most High. I want the Shekinah glory to obtain when you gather 
together in your worship services and as you conduct yourself in 
the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. But back to our passage, 
we have a love here that is very specific. It is unchangeable, 
it is constant, it is infinite. It is glorious, it is wondrous, 
and it is worthy of us celebrating and praising and rejoicing and 
delighting. Now notice secondly, according 
to verse two, the opposition of the devil. The opposition 
of the devil, he's never far away in terms of the goings-on 
in this present world. Now verse one, or I'm sorry, 
verse two says, and supper being ended, or during supper, as the 
other sort of translations translate, it's tough to know which exactly 
supper is in view. I thought I was a shoo-in understanding 
that, and then I read Gil, and I thought, I'm not sure what 
supper is going on here. But we know it's close to Passover, 
it's close to the institution of the supper, the Lord's Supper. 
So I tell you to read Gil and maybe get confused as I am, but 
I don't know that that's good counsel. He can exit to the two 
days prior to Passover when Jesus has supper at the house of Simon, 
the leper. At that point, we see that the 
devil has come to Judas, in terms specifically of pilfering money 
from the money box. Again, whether that's the case, 
Poole suggests that there were a couple of different meals on 
the Passover, and this wasn't the specific Passover meal here, 
but that was coming. So again, tough to nail it down, 
but we have the general proximity in terms of Passover, we're there 
theologically in terms of the hour, and we see specifically 
here the machinations of the devil this close to the cross. 
So notice, with reference to the opposition of the devil, 
we read, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas 
Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him. Now the meaning of the phrase 
is not that he has omnipotence. He's not God. The devil is not 
like God. The devil is creature. There's 
only one creator, one infinite. The devil is creature or finite. So he's not got omnipotent powers. He can't make you do something. 
So if you ever say, well, the devil made me do it. No, theologically 
that's incorrect. He could tempt you to do it, 
but he didn't make you do it. So I think that's what's in view 
here in verse 2. He's tempting Judas to this particular 
act of treachery. He's tempting Judas to betray 
the master for 30 pieces of silver. He's tempting Judas to get in, 
sort of swing, this plan and purpose to execute the Lord Jesus 
Christ. Now, as you read this, and as 
you consider the machinations, that's a good old Puritan word, 
of the devil, you know what's going to happen, right? You know 
it's the purpose and plan of God that Jesus must be betrayed, 
that Jesus must be delivered up to godless hands, that Jesus 
must be crucified, and that Jesus must be raised from the dead. 
So the devil here is playing on the harder affections of a 
godless wretch under the sovereign power and control of God Most 
High. It doesn't mitigate the responsibility 
of the devil as that arch fiend, and it certainly doesn't mitigate 
the responsibility of Judas, but it demonstrates the absolute 
sovereign power of God most high. Peter does the same thing in 
the book of Acts on the day of Pentecost in chapter two, verse 
23. He talks about you nailing, godless hands nailing Jesus Christ 
to the cross, but it was done so according to the predetermined 
plan and purpose of God. The apostles praying in Acts 
4, 28 and 29, they praise God because of what he put in the 
hearts of Pontius Pilate and Herod to accomplish his purposes. See, brethren, I think we have 
this delusion that God's like a doctor or a surgeon. Thankfully, 
he's not, but we can use the analogy so far as it works, but 
he has all these sterilized instruments. That's what happens if you've 
had a surgery, right? You don't see the doctor wiping it off 
on his pants or blowing it. I've often joked, when you have 
your first child, they drop their binky and you go and boil it 
to get all the hairs off it and all the spots. By the second, 
third, fourth child, yeah, you're just rubbing it on your pants 
or blowing it. six, seven, eight, you probably don't even do that, 
just shove it hair and, you know, blemishes right back in their, 
in their mouth. So, so we have this idea that 
God just works with these sterilized instruments. See, the problem 
is in this world, there's no sterilized instruments. Everything's 
a mess. So God works with the mess that 
he has, and as the scripture testifies, he overrules it for 
his glory and for our good. Joseph saw this. You meant this 
for evil, but God overruled it for good, Genesis 15, 20. Those 
same passages in Acts 2 and Acts 4. When we see the horror of 
the crucifixion, Jesus, according to Hebrews 7, 26, is holy, harmless, 
and undefiled. So whence the cross? Why did 
they execute him? Because it was the purpose and 
plan of God. Because without the shedding 
of blood, there is no remission. And that shed blood had to come 
from the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. So 
in order for that to happen, there had to be the machinations 
at the lower level, overruled, overseen, and ultimately decreed 
by God Most High for the salvation of His people from their sins. 
So the devil comes along, he presents this temptation to Judas, 
and we see specifically this is what happens. It's already 
been announced, chapter six, verses 70 and 71, Jesus already 
referred to Judas as a devil. As well, he makes this reference, 
or he's gonna make further explanation in chapter 13 here, verses 18 
to 30, but also in chapter 12, verses four to six. So this isn't 
the first announcement, This isn't the first sort of, wow, 
this is going to happen. It's coming to fruition. It's 
coming to pass. In fact, look at a parallel in 
Luke's gospel. Luke chapter 22. Luke chapter 
22. It's an interesting situation 
that we find here. Luke chapter 22, specifically 
at verses 3 to 6. This is representative of what 
you find in Matthew and in Mark as well, what we call the Synoptic 
Gospels. But notice in 22.1, now, the 
feast of unleavened bread drew near, which is called Passover. 
And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might 
kill him, for they feared the people. Then Satan entered Judas, 
surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve. So he went 
his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains how 
he might betray him to them. And they were glad and agreed 
to give him money. So he promised and sought opportunity to betray 
him and to them in the absence of the multitude. Now, I know 
this is going to sound like an argument from silence, and it 
is, but it seems like a pretty loud argument from silence. Notice 
in chapter 22, same chapter, verses 31 to 34. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, 
indeed Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat. 
But I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail." 
Again, it's a bit of a different context. It's not as if Judas 
and Jesus are talking, and Jesus says, you're going to betray 
me, but I prayed for you. There's no mention there of prayer. 
And again, different, but I think what we're supposed to glean 
from this is that the people of God have their challenges. 
The blood-bought children of God do at times some pretty horrible 
things, but they've always got the love of the master on their 
side. Simon, Simon, indeed, Satan has 
asked for you that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed 
for you that your faith should not fail. And when you have returned 
to me, strengthen your brethren. So you see, there's this resolve. There's this announcement that, 
Peter, you're going to do some things that are unsavory. I've 
prayed for you. You're going to return to me. 
And when you return to me, I want you to strengthen the brethren." 
So he loved them and he loves them to the end. And that loving 
to the end includes the cross, to be sure, but it transcends 
the cross. It's resurrection. it's Ascension, 
it's current session, it's His intercession for His people from 
the right hand of the Father, it's His advocacy on their behalf 
according to 1 John 2. He loves them to the end. He 
grants the Spirit. He grants the graces of faith 
or of perseverance. He grants us that ability by 
His grace to enter in finally to His presence. So that love 
to the end doesn't have a terminus. It doesn't have a termination 
point. That's more calculated for us. There's no end in the 
divine. There's no beginning and end 
relative to God Almighty. That's language for us. That's 
in the manner of men. So when it says he loved them 
to the end, don't think, well, in 15,000 years, it's going to 
be all spent up. No, the hymn writer was closer. 
When we've been there 10,000 years bright, shining as the 
sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise than when we first 
begun. Eternity is what awaits the people of God and love on 
behalf of God to them. Back to our text, we've got the 
identity of the betrayer. He's called Judas Iscariot. He 
is called or identified as a devil in 670 and 71, and he was a thief 
according to chapter 12, verses four to six. But you know what's 
a bit scary here? He was an apostle, right? What does that mean? It means 
that whatever your office or your place in the Christian church, 
you're not off limits to the attack of the devil. He goes 
after apostles too. Simon, Simon, Satan has requested 
to sift you like wheat. See, just because you might be 
a pastor or a deacon or a really good guy doesn't mean you're 
immune from the onslaught of the devil. Now, I don't say that 
to make you unhappy or sad. I say that so that you'll be 
on guard. According to Peter in 1 Peter 
5.8, the devil roams about like a roaring lion seeking whom he 
may devour. Thankfully, Christ is our intercessor 
that prays for us. So the prominence of a particular 
office doesn't mean you're immune from the assault of the devil. 
But as well, the prominence of a particular office doesn't argue 
that you have grace in your heart. So in other words, you're a pastor, 
you're a deacon, you're a really good guy. That's not ultimately 
the issue. The ultimate issue is what think 
ye of Christ? Do you look to Him in faith? Do you believe on Him? Have you 
received His righteousness? Have you been forgiven of your 
sins? It doesn't matter your office 
if you're a graceless soul. And so Judas stands as a warning 
beacon on the pages of Scripture, wagging his devilish finger at 
us to be on guard, to be watchful. The devil does roam about, but 
the safest place for the believer to be is believing in Jesus Christ. And then, of course, the nature 
of the betrayal. The Father determined it, Acts 
2. Jesus Christ willingly underwent it, the Book of the Passion. 
But Judas is responsible. John Gill says, This was an affair 
determined by God, known by Christ, and which He foretold to His 
disciples. Yet all this did not in the least 
excuse the malice of Satan and the wickedness of Judas. It just 
does end. Again, there's a lot that could 
be said here. We're not going to say it, but just suffice to 
know that this does not remove the liability for punishment 
from Judas Iscariot. We see that he goes to his own 
place according to Acts 125. The viciousness of his crimes 
against the majesty of Christ meant he went to his own place. The apostles there are praying 
for his replacement and they say incidentally that he went 
to his own place. And that brings us finally to 
the resolution or commitment of the Savior. Notice in verse 
3. So we've got this sort of dark statement in verse two, 
right? I mean, the devil's there, Judas 
is there, with the devil having sort of entered him and, you 
know, plied his wares and gotten him to agree. That casts a bit 
of a shadow over everything. But see, verse three is calculated 
to dissipate that shadow. It's calculated to bring us back 
to reality. Greater is he that is in you 
than he that is in the world. The devil will ply, the devil 
will engage, the devil will try, but Jesus is always Jesus. He's always got power. He's always 
got authority. He's always got what we need. 
So notice in verse three, he highlights the knowledge of his 
authority, and then he highlights the knowledge of his mission. 
So verse three, Jesus knowing that the father had given all 
things into his hands. Kind of a contrast, isn't it? 
Satan gave Judas a particular enticement and Judas succumbs. You see, that doesn't rock the 
divine order. It doesn't rock the messianic 
agenda. Jesus was given all authority 
by the Father. And we remember from John's gospel, 
he has the authority to save. He has the authority to condemn. He has the authority, according 
to John 5, to execute judgment. So Christ, going into this upper 
room discourse, going into that high priestly prayer, going into 
Gethsemane, going ultimately to the cross, knows of a truth 
that God has furnished him for this hour. That is an encouragement. So whatever problems verse 2 
may cause for us and cast a shadow on the narrative, verse 3 says, 
but wait a minute, it's Jesus after all. It's Jesus who has 
all authority. It's Jesus whose Father has given 
him all authority. But it's not only that. Jesus 
is conscious of His mission. Look at verse 3 again. Jesus, 
knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, that's 
authority. But then the mission is stipulated 
at the end of verse 3, and that He had come from God and was 
going to God. We might just say that the hour 
was the purpose for which the Son of God came. That does not 
relinquish the importance of the 33 years of absolute, perfect 
obedience to the law of the Father, but it is to suggest that that 
hour sort of culminates everything in that messianic mission. He 
came from the Father. Why? He came from the Father 
to take on our flesh, to live in perfect obedience to the law, 
something that you and I could never do. Then He went to the 
cross in our flesh and was crucified, something that we could do, but 
it wouldn't atone for our sin. And then He was raised again 
with that selfsame body. Now, in that, he accomplished 
everything that we need. We need righteousness because 
we're unrighteous. Well, that's the glory of the 
work of Jesus. It's imputed to us or given to 
us and received by faith alone. But we also need all those sins 
washed, don't we? We need to be cleansed. Well, 
that comes through his precious blood and the death on the cross. 
We need the sort of final seal that this is, in fact, the real 
deal. Well, the resurrection from the 
dead. In fact, the apostle summarizes gospel truth in Romans 4.25 by 
saying that Christ was delivered up because of our offenses and 
he was raised for our justification. So Christ here introducing the 
upper room, or rather John introducing it to us, tells us the problem 
in terms of the devil and his opposition, but gives us the 
remedy in the authority and in the mission of the Son of God. 
Two themes that we see in the prologue, two themes that we 
see constantly in the book of the signs. What does Christ continually 
invoke when he's dealing with the religious leaders in their 
opposition? His origin from the Father vis-a-vis 
his identity and his authority. In other words, he was a man 
with a mission and he was resolved and purposed to fulfill it. That's 
the vantage point in which he prepares the disciples now to 
teach them specific things such that they'll then go out knowing 
that great love of Christ, knowing the benefits of his life and 
death and resurrection, knowing what he has received from the 
Father, knowing that he will come again in glory to judge 
the living and the dead. That's what activated the power 
of the early church when they went and did what they were called 
to do. And I would bring this to a conclusion 
by highlighting that reality. It wasn't just the first century 
church that needed good doctrinal theology concerning who God is. It was them. They did need it. They needed to understand that 
when they're in Acts 17 and they're being accused of preaching another 
king, Jesus, They're not gonna be shaken by that. They're not 
gonna go, well, no, we submit to the civil state. No, we do 
preach another king, Jesus, because he is the one sent by the Father, 
clothed with authority, with a specific mission, and he has 
called us now to go and to proclaim his gospel to the ends of the 
earth. Those first century apostles needed it. These 21st century 
disciples today need it. What's going to move the church 
to get outside of our comfort zone, to go do the task of disciple-making, 
of evangelism, of missions? Is it self-help? Is it therapy? Is it guilt manipulation? Is 
it pastors who scold you? Well, you better share the gospel 
with five souls this week, or I'm going to let you have it 
on Sunday. Brethren, scolding is, you know, mothers do that 
with their children, and rightfully so. Kids need to be scolded, 
but the people of God need God. They need the Father, the Son, 
and the Holy Spirit. They need, in this divine and 
infinite being, there are three persons or subsistences, the 
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, each having the divine 
essence, each having that blessed power and glory and will. And 
then there's those three persons by which we understand God even 
more fully. The Father is unbegotten, the 
Son is begotten by the Father, the Spirit proceeds from the 
Father and the Son. It's that kind of stuff that moves the 
church off the couch to go proclaim His glory, to go proclaim His 
excellencies and His power. We're not preaching some feeble, 
weak, little God. We're preaching the Most High, 
from everlasting to everlasting. We're preaching blood atonement 
through the second person of the triune God He took on our 
humanity so He could suffer in our place. Brethren, it's that 
kind of stuff that moves the church to function in the capacity 
that God has purposed. It's not the self-help, it's 
not the encounter group, it's not the birdbath theology that 
is that deep or shallow. We need the truth as it is in 
Jesus to empower us by the Spirit to go do what we're supposed 
to do. This concept, well, you know, doctrine just divides, 
let's just love Jesus. What Jesus are you loving without 
doctrine? The Jesus after your own fashioning? 
The Jesus that looks like you? The Jesus that functions like 
you? I'm glad it's not that way, but 
we have the Jesus revealed to us from Genesis to Revelation. 
That's the Jesus and the doctrinal understanding of that Jesus, 
along with Father and Son, the true and living God who exists 
eternally in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We need that to 
get up, to go, and to make disciples of all the nations. But not just 
disciple-making and outside, you know, out there, but inside. Corporate worship. What gets 
you out of bed on a Sunday morning? Oh, I can't wait to see so-and-so. 
I'm not saying that's bad. I'd hate it if you said, I can't 
stand the thought I'm going to see so-and-so today. That wouldn't 
be happy. But really, what was it that 
David was commenting on when he says, I was glad when they 
said unto me, let us go to the house of the Lord. And look at 
the leadership of David there. I was glad when they said to 
me." He kinged, theologized, and lived, and worshiped in such 
a way that it was a contagion to others. So that they on Lord's 
Day morning would come and say, David, it's time to go to the 
house of the Lord. I was glad when they said unto 
me, let us go to the house of the Lord. Again, what causes 
us to move into corporate worship, but the object of that worship? 
The triune God. We have an audience with God 
Most High. The book of Revelation, chapter 
one. Where do we find Jesus Christ? He's in the midst of the lampstands, 
brethren. Well, it just doesn't feel like 
that. Well, you better believe it because that's what scripture 
tells us. Paul's petition that you be filled 
with all the fullness of God. He's using temple tabernacle 
language. When Solomon constructed the 
temple, when they offered up sacrifice, that Shekinah glory 
of God filled the temple. That's not unique to the old 
covenant. We have it in the new covenant. when all the fullness of God 
comes down and is with his people. So it's this kind of theology 
that motivates and moves the church to function as she is 
supposed to. And then the final thought when 
we close is, please don't miss what the passage says about Jesus. He loves, he loves to the end. And he has the authority, and 
he's engaged the mission to express, to demonstrate, and to showcase 
that love. You don't have to ask the question, 
well, how does Jesus show that he loves? Just read from this 
point on. Just read as he goes into Gethsemane. Just read as those godless hands 
are placed upon him, taking him before the Sanhedrin, then taking 
him before Pontius Pilate. Pilate himself knows this man 
is not guilty. This is because of the envy of 
the mob. but he nevertheless capitulates to that mob. Why? So that Jesus could fulfill the 
mission and save his people from their sins. So think about that, 
enjoy that, and may it indeed animate us in our lives, not 
just outwardly in terms of evangelism and missions, but internally. Let us come in the public worship 
of God to God himself, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Well, let 
us pray. Our gracious God, we thank you 
for this brief section, this introduction to the Upper Room 
Discourse, and such a wonderful statement concerning the person 
and the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Again, we pray that this 
message would be preached throughout the earth, and we pray that many 
would come out of darkness into marvelous light by your power 
and for your glory. And we pray through Jesus Christ, 
our Lord. Amen. Well, let's stand and we'll sing 
the doxology in praise to our God, 568.