WHAT JUDAS MISSED-XI—John 14:1-11(John 13:18--17:26)
OR--‘WHILE YOU WERE OUT/AWAY’
Attention:
Ray was a 5-year-old. At Ray’s request, each morning his mother pinned a bath towel to the back shoulders of his T-shirt. Immediately in his young imaginative mind, the towel became a brilliant magic blue & red cape...& Ray became Superman.
Outfitted each day in his “cape,” Ray's days were packed with adventure & daring escapades. He was Superman. This fact was clearly pointed out when his mother enrolled him in a kindergarten class. During the course of the interview, the teacher asked Ray his name.
“Superman,” he answered politely & without pause.
The teacher smiled, cast an appreciative glance at his mother, & asked again, “Your real name, please.”
Again, Ray answered, “Superman.”
Realizing the situation demanded a little more authority, or maybe just to hide her amusement, the teacher in a voice quite stern, said, “I will have to have your real name for the records.”
Ray knew he'd have to be totally honest with the teacher, so he guardedly slid his eyes around the room, making sure no one was listening. Ray then hunched closer to the teacher, & patting a corner of the frayed towel at his shoulder, answered in a voice hushed with conspiracy, Ray said,
“My real name is Clark Kent.”
Appearances can sometimes be deceiving. And our imaginations can sometimes keep us from believing the truth.
Judas showed by his decisions, that he was not a fan of Jesus...
Judas Iscariot was not a fan of God’s design, as it involved a personal momentous decision-based relationship with Christ Jesus as Savior & Lord.
Judas Missed vital life lessons because of his unbelieving heart attitude AND as a result, Judas Missed his life’s focus due to his physical absence from Jesus...
Judas missed the entirety of Jesus’ example & teaching which took place from the time of his prematurely leaving their gathering in the upper room(13:30; Mk. 14:15) until he arrived in the Garden of Gethsemane, with the detachment of soldiers, chief priests & Pharisees to arrest Jesus!(18:3; Mat. 27:27)—[Roman cohort(speira—the tenth part of a legion=600 soldiers)]
Need:
God’s People Practice...
*Gathering with the Church!
*Allowing God to use them despite their faults!
*Following God’s plain direction for them!
*Being an encouragement to others!
*Fulfilling their God-appointments!
...In doing so, they will never miss out on something vital & life-changing for themselves, their spouses, their children, & others!
Previously we have found that
JUDAS MISSED...
13:18-27—
•The PRIVILEGE Of BEING CHOSEN.
•EVIDENCE Of MESSIANIC FULFILLMENT.
•His ANCIENT WARNING.
•A MEMORABLE MISSION.
•His REPRESENTATIVE CALLING.
•The TRUE GOD.
•The WARNING Of BEING A HINDERANCE TO GOD.
•The WARNING Of DENYING PERSONAL SIN.
•The EASE & BLESSING Of SEEKING The LORD’s WISDOM.
•The CONFIDENCE Of ALTHOUGH LIMITED Yet TRUE KNOWLEDGE.
•The WARNING Of BEING OUT For YOURSELF.
•The WARNING Of GAINING ‘PERMISSION’ RATHER THAN FOLLOWING GOD’s ‘DIRECTION.’
13:28-30—
•The WARNING ABOUT The DAMNING VOICE Of AVARICE
•The WARNING That SIN TAKES SELFISH ADVANTAGE Of OTHER PEOPLE’s STRUGGLES
•The DANGER of PREYING Upon OTHERS
•The WARNING That SIN PROMOTES The DIFFICULTIES Of OTHERS In ORDER To PROVIDE OPPORTUNITY For SELF
•The WARNING SIGNS Of HIS OWN RUSE(Cf.-:22)
•The WARNING Of The INSATIABLE LUST/DESIRE Of The FLESH
•The WARNING Of the CONSTANT COMPULSION Of FLESH
•The PHYSICAL REPRESENTATION(Darkness) Of HIS SPIRITUAL REALITY
•The WARNING In DARKNESS
13:31-32—
•His PERVERSE ROLE In GLORIFYING GOD
•The FACT That GOD’s GLORY IS IN JESUS & VICE-VERSA.
13:33—
•A FOUNDATIONAL LEARNING CURVE
•.JESUS’ FINAL WORDS.
•The IMPORTANCE Of GOD’s TIMING.
•The IMPORTANCE Of PERSONAL PATIENCE.
•The IMPORTANCE Of JESUS’ PHYSICAL ABSENCE.
•The IMPORTANCE Of PREPAREDNESS BASED On PRESENT KNOWLEDGE.
JUDAS also MISSED...
13:34-35—
•A ‘NEW’ COMMANDMENT Of GOD.
•LOVE For The FAMILY OF GOD....
•The TELLING EXAMPLE & APPLICATION Of GOD’S LOVE.
•His OPPORTUNITY For LIFESTYLE WITNESS.
•The WITNESSING POWER Of LIVING OUT GOD’s LOVE.
13:36-37—
•TRUST In JESUS’ WORDS.
•CONTENTMENT With JESUS’ WORDS.
•The SATISFACTION In JESUS’ PROMISE.
•The WARNING Of SPIRITUAL IGNORANCE.
•The WARNING Of PIOUS PRIDE.
13:38—
•The WARNING Of MISINFORMED Or POORLY THOUGHT-OUT INTENTIONS.
•The WARNING Of DENYING/MISJUDGING ONE’s PERSONAL POTENTIAL For FAILURE.
14:1—
•REAL FREEDOM From ANXIETY.
•JESUS/Christ/Messiah CENTERED BELIEF
14:2a_1—
•ETERNALLY GRACIOUS HOUSING
We encourage you today to put the godly knowledge you receive into practice for the sake of yourself, your family, your community, your country, & for the sake of & betterment of the world.
14:2a_2—Judas missed(& threw away)...
his SOURCE For TRUTH/Reality
Explanation:(14:2b)Center/Wellspring
14:2a_2—““In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.””
“If it were not so, I would have told you.”
If there was no ‘place of abiding’ for the disciples to stay in His Father’s “house,” then Jesus would have absolutely “told” them of that reality. They knew He was being honest with them.
*Jesus cannot lie(see ‘Argumentation’). Therefore, His people are to be truth tellers as well!:
Titus 2:6-8—“Likewise exhort the young men to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you.”
Isa. 63:7-8—“I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD And the praises of the LORD, According to all that the LORD has bestowed on us, And the great goodness toward the house of Israel, Which He has bestowed on them according to His mercies, According to the multitude of His lovingkindnesses. For He said, “Surely they are My people, Children who will not lie.” So He became their Savior.”
Col. 3:8-10—“But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, & have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,”
*...Whereas the devil is the Father(originator) of lies. He desperately wants to be your source for belief. He wants to interject doubt into truth(Gen. 3:1-5; Rom. 1:22-25). Satan wants you to be so confused & perplexed about truth, that you will become frustrated & write-off truth as merely subjective—take it or leave it, doesn’t really matter, nobody knows for sure, irrelevant—thus condemning you to hell!
Gen. 3:1—“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?””—Planting a seed of doubt.
Rom. 1:24-25—“Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, & worshiped & served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”
Jn. 8:42-45—“Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth & came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, & the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, & does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar & the father of it. “But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.”
*That which is TRUTH...That which is REALITY, we find it in Jesus!
Truth is NOT necessarily what you ‘took away’ from the way you were raised. Truth is not necessarily what family, or best friends, or the media(TV, Radio, Internet), or school teachers, or your boss, or your employees, etc. might speak. Truth is what God speaks & reveals thru His Christ/Messiah/Anointed One, who is was & is Jesus(Savior)!
Our own thoughts concerning reality/truth can dog us, particularly in regard to anything that we cannot(or will not) see or touch physically. And possibly even more frightening, our own thoughts concerning reality/truth can dog us, because we may simply misunderstand.
Keeping potential ‘misunderstanding’ at bay is one of the central reasons why we are gathered here today. That potential is why we gather in small group discussions(Sunday School/Small Groups) before we gather for worship...It is also why we have scheduled fellowships, reach out to the community, aid the community in difficult times like hurricanes & fires, etc. It is why we hand out free biblical materials along with free fun, food, & drink, & why we seek conversations among those who question God’s existence, presence, design, motives, solutions, etc..
Rom. 1:18-21—“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness & unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power & Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, & their foolish hearts were darkened.”
“If it were not so/Otherwise”—ei de mh(ge)—Lit.=‘But if not’——ei—Conjunction—1) If, whether. Strong—a primary particle of conditionality; If, whether, that, etc.—&—de—Conjunction—1) But, moreover, and, etc.. Strong—a primary particle(adversative or continuative); But, and, etc..—&—mh—Particle—1) No, not lest. Strong—a primary particle of qualified negation(whereas ou, ouk, ouc expresses an absolute denial); adverbially--Not, conjunctionally--Lest; also(as an interrogative implying a negative answer[whereas ou expects an affirmative one])--Whether.
“Told”—epw——1) To speak, say. Strong—a primary verb(used only in the definite past tense, the others being borrowed from erew, rew, & fhmi); To speak or say (by word or writing). “Go”—poreuomai—1) To lead over, carry over, transfer—1a) To pursue the journey on which one has entered, to continue on one's journey, 1b) To depart from life, 1c) To follow one, that is: become his adherent. Poreuomai expresses motion in general, often confined within certain limits, or giving prominence to the bearing; hence the regular word for the march of an army. Strong—To traverse, i.e. Travel(literally or figuratively; especially--To remove [figuratively, die], live, etc.).
Argumentation:
Jn. 8:38-44—[Jesus said to the Jews who believed Him]—“I speak what I have seen with My Father, & you do what you have seen with your father.” They answered & said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You do the deeds of your father.” Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father--God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth & came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, & the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, & does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar & the father of it.
Whether you are lost or saved, Once we step away from God’s direction, we have fallen to invite the dragon, the deceiver, the liar, the slanderer, the prince of the power of the air, the enemy to guide our steps & determine how we think & relate to the world!
Titus 1:1-3—“Paul, a bondservant of God & an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect & the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior;”
Heb. 6:10-20—“For God is not unjust to forget your work & labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, & do minister. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith & patience inherit the promises. For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, & multiplying I will multiply you.” And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men indeed swear by the greater, & an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure & steadfast, & which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Jn. 6:64-71—““But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, & who would betray Him. And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.” From that time many of His disciples went back & walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe & know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, & one of you is a devil?” He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.”
2Pet. 3:11-14—“Therefore, since all these things[the earth & heavens] will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct & godliness, looking for & hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, & the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens & a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot & blameless;”
Illustration:
The discrepancy between our Google Maps Computer Application & that which is used by Ford Navigation/The Ford Navigation is ‘behind-the-times’/At this writing, it still will not recognize that there is a Zaxby’s restaurant in Crawfordville, FL/Google Maps has more current information/That is one example of why Google Maps enjoys the reputation & popularity that it does, while I don’t even know the name of the company that compiles the Ford Navigation maps/Also it is one of the reasons that Ford has updated their wired & wireless systems to include navigation from Google Maps as well as their own/SOURCE For TRUTH-Reality
Application:
?Like Judas, have you Missed your SOURCE For TRUTH/Reality?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
Judas was not a fan of God’s design.
Action:
Therefore, JUDAS MISSED...
•his SOURCE For TRUTH/Reality(14:2a_2)
!You must not miss what Judas missed!
Pt# Jn. 14:a_2 Presented 06/09/2019am to:
FBC Cbelle
206 Storrs Ave. SW(SE Ave. A)
Carrabelle, FL 32322
